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Cornell University Library 
 PR 4646.048 
 
 A Study of Maria Edgeworth, with notices 
 
 3 1924 013 454 701 
 
OH?- 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of tliis bool< is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924013454701 
 
ff'j'^^ C'{^r//'A'-p/\^/_ ''' 
 
 '•Sci:f]Sm—i.[e.oii 
 
A STUDY 
 
 MARIA EDGE WORTH 
 
 WITH NOTICES OF 
 
 HER FATfej!^- AND FRIENDS 
 
 ^5; GEACE A. OLIVER 
 
 AUTHOK or "LIFE OF A. Ij. EABBADID " 
 
 ,' 'i Tli^ y^lj-^pin^ gr:Jce of iconiJn©a«Seii*e \a tVe HiaTk«of all -the^ valid mi*RdD, 
 , V'5'^*-^tJp,*3iJi^JoOg^ -SJCredoIiUtlJe^f £2hak*peaiief 6erv«nte9, FmnE'rtn, — the ' 
 coramoD-sense which does not meddle with the ahsoliite, but takes things at their 
 word, — things as th^^ppe^r."' -^'^iis&so'N^.J^oetr^a»^Jnwginati07L. 
 
 TBIBD edition: 
 
 BOSTON 
 A. WILLIAMS AND COMPANY 
 
 ©lb Corner 3300fegtore 
 1882 
 
tn 
 hm 
 
 ./:-'j7S ^'> 
 
 2S-37 
 
 COPYRTOUT, 1882, 
 
 By GllACK A. OLIVER. 
 
 iftanWin 'pt.tii : 
 
 RAND, AVERY, AND COMPANY, 
 DOSTON. 
 
TO THE 
 
 PRINCESS HELENA KOLTZOFF-MASSALSKY, 
 
 " Countess Doha d'Istria," 
 
 THIS 
 
 STUDY OF MAJRIA EBGEWOUTH 
 
 IS DEDICATED, 
 
 AS A SLIGHT TEIBUTE OF AFFECTIONATE REGARD FOR ONE WHO HAS 
 
 DEVOTED A LIFETIME TO THE LITERATURE OF THE EAST, 
 
 AND THE ELEVATION OF "WOMEN IN THE ORIENT, 
 
 THUS LINKING ANCIENT TIIOUallT WITS MODERN PltOOEESS. 
 
PEEFAOE. 
 
 Happy hours of childhood passed in reading the 
 " Parent's Assistant," "Frank," and "Early Lessons," 
 were followed by years in which I enjoyed the Moral 
 and Fashionable Tales. "Ennui," too, had its invalua- 
 ble lesson, — that the pursuit of pleasure as an occupation 
 can only result in misery and mental and moral destruc- 
 tion. As one of the thousands who have laughed at the 
 wit and cried over the pathos of Maria Edgeworth's 
 works, I desired to. know something of the personal his- 
 tory of this gifted woman. 
 
 Inquiries soon revealed the fact that, there was no 
 adequate sketch of Miss Edgeworth. Mrs. S. C. Hall 
 had drawn a picture of her during a few days' visit at her 
 home. Miss Julia Kavanagh had written a brief sketch 
 for her biographies of English Women of Letters. Mr. 
 Hayward, in preparing a review of the Memoir pub- 
 lished by the Edgeworths, gave the longest biographical 
 and critical sketch of her as yet attempted ; but it was 
 only a review article, not sufficient in itself to appear 
 alone. The biographical sketches of her in magazines, 
 etc., amounted to very little, being at best brief an(3 
 meagre. 
 
 V 
 
Tl PBEFACE. 
 
 A thorough survey of contemporaneous literature gave 
 here and there an interesting mention of Miss Edgeworth ; 
 and I have gleaned carefully what seemed of value from 
 various sources. 
 
 Full and exhaustive criticisms of her works in the 
 great reviews of the day, and the magazines and papers, 
 leave nothing to be desired on that score. She was 
 awarded a first rank in the lists of novel-writers ; and, 
 though time may have lessened the readers of her books, 
 their influence on literature is quite evident from the 
 constant references to her in the writings of English, 
 American, and Continental authors. 
 
 This Study has its limitations and shortcomings ; but 
 great labor and much time have been expended on it, and 
 an earnest desire has prompted its plan and execution, 
 — that of offering something to the public about one of 
 its great story-tellers. 
 
 Miss Edgeworth has been allowed to tell her own story 
 as much as possible. Undoubtedly a much smaller book 
 could have been made if the present style of brief biogra- 
 phies had been adopted ; but there is still a prejudice in 
 my mind in favor of original letters, etc. There is some- 
 thing personal in the touches of life so added. 
 
 I have received aid and encouragement from my family 
 and friends during the years of work and waiting since 
 this sketch was begun. To Mr. Justin Winsor I am 
 indebted for the free use of tne Public Library durino' 
 his tenure of office, when he dispensed the treasures of 
 that institution with a judicious and generous hospitality. 
 
PBEFACE. "Vll 
 
 Mr. W. H. Forbes has generously given me the illus- 
 trations for the book, which are capital reproductions of 
 the engravings and cuts done by his albertype process. 
 The last time I ever saw my genial friend Mr. James 
 T. Fields, his parting words were very encouraging as 
 to my work ; and he always felt a warm interest in the 
 subject. 
 
 I must also acknowledge the kindness of W. Morris 
 Beaufort, Esq., of London, who hunted for "The Mental 
 Thermometer " in the British Museum Library ; and also 
 found there M. Pictet's account of his visit, and made 
 copies of the same. To the courtesy of Miss Peabody, 
 daughter of F. H. Peabody, Esq., I am indebted for the 
 letter to her grandfather, which I print. Other friends 
 have kept the subject in view, and I have been urged to 
 continue what often seemed a very great undertaking. 
 Mr. Avery L. Rand, of Messrs. Eand, Avery, & Co., and 
 Mr. Cupples, of Messrs. A. Williams & Co., have inter- 
 ested themselves very kindly in the work, and made the 
 details of printing and publishing as easy as possible 
 for me. 
 
 Only those who write for the public know how difficult 
 it is to please the general reader, how much more diffi- 
 cult to satisfy themselves. It has been a great pleasure 
 and interest to study the works and survey the life of 
 Maria Edgeworth, and I hope this may find readers 
 among those who love the name and memory of one who 
 consecrated her best efforts to the public good. She was 
 one of those noble spirits who belong to all nations. 
 
Viii PEEFACB. 
 
 Her writings may pass out of sight, but her influence 
 will long be felt. 
 
 These lines of our poet Stedman well describe her 
 power : — 
 
 " JJ'o woman's head so keen to work its will, 
 But that the woman's heart is mistress still." 
 
 GRACE A. OLIVER. 
 
 "Red Gables," Swampscott, 
 October. 1882. 
 
 PREFACE TO THIRD EDITION. 
 
 The cordial reception given to this sketch of Miss 
 Edgeworth, by the press, the public, and friends, has 
 caused a demand for another edition. A few typographi- 
 cal errors have been corrected ; and I have placed in a 
 second appendix a letter from Miss Edgeworth to Gerard 
 Ralston, Esq., kindly sent me by F. H. Peabody, Esq., 
 which came too late for insertion in the body of the book. 
 I have only to add, that I feel indebted to many for kind 
 words of encouragement, and the friendly manner in which 
 this work has been received. 
 
 GRACE A. OLIVER. 
 
 124 BoTLSTON Street, 
 Nov. 25, 1882. 
 
OONTEIi^TS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. Pj^oj,. 
 
 Introdaotion. — Settlement of the Edgeworths in Ireland. — 
 Sketches and Anecdotes of the Family. — Marriage of Rich- 
 ard Edgeworth. — Birth of Richard Lovell Bdgeworth. — 
 Early Years. — Schools. — Visits England. — Warwick. — 
 Bath. — Returns to Ireland. — Anecdotes. — Mock Marriage. 
 
 — Years of Idleness. — Dublin University. — "Rnt.erfa Dyfriyrl. 
 
 — Acquaintance with the Elers Family, — A Tragic Story . 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 Visits his Parents at Bath. — Runaway Marriage. — Receives 
 his Father's Forgiveness. — Visits Ireland with his Wife, 
 
 — Death of his Mother. — Return to England. — Settles at, 
 Hare Hatch. — Occupations. — His Wife's Management. — 
 Son born. — Enters the Temple, and studies for the Bar. 
 
 — Maria born. — Mr. Edgeworth's Visit to Lichfield. — 
 The Lichfield CoJerie — Dr. Darwin. — Anna Seward. — The 
 Misses Sneyd. — Thomas Day. — Other Friendships formed 
 with Mr. Keir, Dr. Small, Mr. Watt, Mr. Wedgwood, and 
 Mr. Bolton. — Day's Admiration for Miss Honora Sneyd.— 
 Her Rejection. — Transfers his Affections to her Sister 
 Elizabeth. — He adopts Two Girls. — Mr. Edgeworth inher- 
 its his Paternal Estates. — He becomes desperately in Love 
 with Miss Honora Sneyd 25 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 Mr, Day and Mr. Edgeworth visit France, accompanied by 
 Young Richard. — Richard's Education. — Residence in 
 France, — Employment there. — Mrs. Edgeworth's Death. — 
 Mr. Edgeworth returns to England. — Second Marriage.— 
 Maria goes to Ireland with Mr. and Mrs. Edgeworth. — Life 
 there. — They return to England. — Mr. Day's Marriage. — 
 Mr. Edgeworth's Irisb Journey. — Mrs. Edgeworth's Illness. 
 
X CONTENTS. 
 
 Paoe. 
 
 — Maria sent to Boarding-School. —Mrs. Edgeworth's Death. 
 
 — Maria's First Literary Worls. — Her Removal to a London 
 Boarding-Scliool *9 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 Mr. Edgeworth's Third Marriage. — Maria's School-Life. — 
 Visits Mr. Day in Vacation. — His Influence over her Mind. 
 —Maria accompanies the Family to Ireland. — Bdgeworths- 
 town. — Manner nf Livinj i f at that Time in Ireland. — Maria's 
 Occupations. — Translates "Adele et Theodore." — Writes 
 much, without intending Publication. — Their Social Life. — 
 Death of Mr. Day. — His "Writings. — Death of Honora 
 Edgeworth. — Mrs. Ruxton. — Her Character . . . .69 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Maria's Method of Work. — She joins her Father and Mother in 
 England. — Life at Clifton. — Dr. Darwin. — Mr. Edgeworth 
 meets Old Friends. — Maria visits Friends. — Dr. Beddoes. — 
 Return to Ireland. — .Disturbances in Ireland. — The " Free- 
 man Family." — "Letters for Literary Ladies." — "Practi- 
 cal Education." — Continued Disturbances. — " Parent's As- 
 sistant." — At Work on "Practical Education." — "Moral 
 Tales."— Death of Mrs. Elizabeth Edgeworth. — Friendship 
 formed with the Beaufort Family. — Mr. Edgeworth marries 
 Miss Beaufort 90 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 Internal Dissensions. — French Invasion. — The Edgewortha' 
 Alarm. — Their Flight. — They return to Edgeworthstown. — 
 Defeat of the French. — Quiet restored. — "Practical Edu- 
 cation " published. — The Plan of this Work .... Ill 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 Maria visits England. — Writes "Forgive and Forget," and 
 " To-morrow." — Mr. Edgeworth and Maria meet Old 
 Friends. — Mrs. Barbauld. — Society at Clifton. — Visit to 
 London. — Johnson. — Return to Ireland. — " Castle Rack- 
 rent."— Maria prints more " Moral Tales." — " Belinda." — 
 " Essay on Irish Bulls." — Professor Pictet's Visit to Edge- 
 worthstown. — A Journey to Paris proposed. —Dr. Darwin's 
 Death 
 
 135 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 The Edgeworths' Departure for England. — Places of Interest 
 visited. — Maria visits Miss Watts. — France. — The Low 
 
CONTENTS. xi 
 
 Fasb. 
 Countries. — Arrival at Paris. — Mr. Watt. — The Edge- 
 worths make many Pleasant Acquaintances and Friends. 
 
 — French Scientific Men.— Dumont. — Lord Henry Petty. 
 
 — The Delesserts. — Mme. de Pastoret. — French Society. — 
 Mme. d'Ouditot. — Literary Men. — Noted Women. — Maria's 
 Works translated into French, German, and Spanish. — Po- 
 lice Surveillance. — Maria meets M. Edelcrantz. — An Offer 
 
 of Marriage. — Her Decision 155 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 Maria visits La Harpe. — Mi. Edgeworth ordered to leave Paris. 
 
 — Maria goes with him to Passy. — He receives Permission 
 to return. — A Visit to Mme. de Genlis. — Rumors of War. — 
 Departure from Paris. — London. — York. — Edinburgh. — 
 Society there. — Dugald Steward. — Dr. Alison. — Dr. Greg- 
 ory. — Professor Playfair. — Elizabeth Hamilton. — Maria's 
 Enjoyment of Edinburgh. — A Visit to Glasgow on their 
 Way to Ireland 179 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 "Popular Tales." — "Emilie de Coulanges." — "Ennui." — 
 "Leonora." — " Griselda." — Maria visits Black Castle. — 
 Reading for "Professional Education. " — Maria has a Severe 
 Illness, — Reads "The Lay of the Last Minstrel." — Visits 
 at Pakenham Hall and Castle Forbes. — "Leonora." — Visits 
 to Friends in 1806. —Lady Morgan. — "Kitty Pakenham." 
 
 — Visits from Friends. — Death of Charlotte Edgeworth. 
 
 — Coolure. — Library and Garden at Edgeworthstown. — 
 Disturbances among the Lower Classes. — A Natural Curi- 
 osity. — Work on " Professional Education." — Publication 
 
 of this Book 203 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 "Corinne." — Sir Walter Scott. — Mari.i's Assistance of her 
 Father in writing. — " Ennui." — Maria begins " Vivian." — 
 Social Life. — "Cottagers of Glenburnie." — Maria makes 
 Visits. —A Visit from Primate Stuart. — " Tales of Fashion- 
 able Life" published in 1809. — Notices of this Book. — 
 Maria plans for Future Work. — Summer Visitors. — Mr. 
 Johnson's Death. — Mrs. Inchbald. — Mrs. Barbauld's Edi- 
 tion of "British Novelists." — "Belinda" placed in it. — 
 Maria writes Mrs. Inchbald. — Sir James Mackintosh's Opin- 
 ion of Maria's Works. — Maria's Criticism on Books of the 
 Day. — Mrs. Leadbeater. — Maria edits her Book. — Irish 
 Theatricals 227 
 
XU CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. . Page. 
 
 A Visit to Dublin. — Church-Spire Building. — " Patronage." — 
 '.IX be Absentee." — Raising of the Spire constructed by Mr. 
 Edgeworth. — Maria malies Visits in Ireland. — 1813, the 
 Edgeworths make a Visit to London. —Enthusiastic Recep- 
 tion of Maria. — She makes many New Friends. — Misses 
 Mme. de Stael. — The Party travel through England before 
 they return to Ireland. — Sir James Mackintosh . . .255 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 Return to Ireland. — Maria begins the New Series of " Early 
 Lessons." — A Visit from Miss Elizabeth Hamilton and 
 other Friends. — " Patronage " published. — Lord Dudley. — 
 Mrs. InchbaId. — "Waverley." — Maria writes Scott. — A 
 Visit to Dublin. — 111 Health of Mr. Edgeworth. — A Visit 
 from Mr. Ward. — Anecdotes. —Maria at Work on "Har- 
 rington " and " Ormond " 282 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 Letter to Mrs. Inchbald, with "Comic Dramas." — Continued 
 Illness of Mr. Edgeworth. — His Death. — Maria's Distress. 
 
 — No Work done for many Months. — Maria rouses herself 
 to work on her Father's "Memoir." — A Visit to Bowood. — 
 Lord and Lady Lansdowne. — Dumont. — Moore's Diary. — 
 Other Visits. — The Grove. — Hampstead. — The Misses 
 Baillie. — Again at Bowood. — Byrkeley Lodge. — Trentham. 
 
 — Smethwick. — Lady Elizabeth Whitbread's House. — Ken- 
 sington Gore. — London Friends. — Duchess of Wellington. 
 
 — Deep Dene. — Home. — "Memoir" 309 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 A Visit from the Carrs. — Maria reads New Books. — Memoir 
 completed. — A Continental Journey. — England. —Oxford. 
 
 — Paris. — Old Friends revisited. — Mme. Re'camier. — Mme. 
 de Pastoret.— Cuvier. — Prony.- Other Celebrities.— French 
 Society. — Many Changes. -Politics. — Mme. de Rumford. — 
 Geneva. — Dumont. — The Moillets. — A Visit at Pregny. — 
 Coppet. — Chamouni. — A Town on the Borders of Lake 
 Geneva. — Visit to Mme.de Montolieu. — Again at Coppet. 
 
 — M. de Stael. — Memories of Mme. de Stael. —Maria writes 
 "Rosamond" at Pregny. — M. Pictet de Rochemont. — Re- 
 views of the "Memoir." — Painful Experience for Maria. — 
 Paris. — Much Visiting. — A Call upon Mme. de Roche- 
 jaqueUn 333 
 
CONTENTS. Xlll 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. p^gj, 
 
 Return to England. — Bowood. — Ireland. — Improvements in 
 Edgeworthstown. — England in 1821. — Visits to Smethwick 
 Grove. — "Wycombe Abbey. — Mr. "Wilberf oroe. — Gatcombe 
 Park. — Anecdotes. — Easton Grey. — Bowood. — Salisbury 
 Cathedral. — Deepdene. — Sequel to "Frank." — Hampstead. 
 
 — "The Pirate" read. — Misses Baillie. — Mrs. Somerville. 
 — Many Literary People. — Anecdotes. — Mrs. Fry's Reading 
 at Newgate. — Almack's. — Sir Walter Scott invites Maria to 
 Abbotsford. — She accepted for a, Few Months Later. — 
 London Society. — Mrs. Siddons's Acting. — Ireland. — "Harry 
 and Lucy." — A visit to Scotland. — The Stuarts. — Edin- 
 burgh. — Mrs. Fletcher's Description of Maria. — Scott . . 362 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 Account of the Meeting between Maria and Sir Walter Scott. — 
 An Evening with him. — Edinburgh seen with Sir Walter. 
 
 — The Lakes and the Highlands. — Abbotsford. — Happy 
 Visit. — Return to Ireland. — -Home Affairs. — Visitors. — 
 The Mental Thermometer. — " Take for Granted." — Mr. 
 Constable. — The Visit of Sir Walter Scott to Ireland. — His 
 Stay at Edgeworthstown. — Their Trip to Killarney . . 388 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 Maria and Sir Walter Scott travel to the Lakes. — Delightful 
 Days. — Return to Dublin. — Parting of the Novelists. — 
 Irish Commercial Diflficulties. — Maria meets the Crisis in 
 Money Affairs successfully. — Sir Humphry Davy. — Capt. 
 Hall. — Maria forms Habit of Morning Exercise. — "Take 
 for Granted" announced without Permission. — Miss Anna 
 Edgeworth's Bequest. — Maria's Disposition of it. — Fire. — 
 Capt. Hall's Journals. — Scott's Introduction to the Waver- 
 ley Novels. — Many Deaths among Maria's Friends. — Maria 
 at Work on " Helen." — Distress and Famine in Ireland. — 
 Visit to England. — Sees many Friends. — Lansdowne. — 
 Duchess of Wellington. — Baillies. — Carrs. — Mrs. Wilson. 
 
 — Mackintoshes. — Herschels. — Ireland. — Enjoyment of 
 London. —Notes for " Helen." — I^eath of Scott . . .419 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 " Helen." — Maria still at Work on this Book. — Encouragement 
 from Friends. — "Helen" finished, — Received with Great 
 Interest by the Public. — Remarks on "Helen." — Sir Cul- 
 ling Smith. — Maria's Visit to Connemara. — Letter from Col. 
 
XIV CONTENTS. 
 
 Pagb. 
 Stewart.— Answers Mrs. Stark.— "Dublin University Maga^ 
 zine" 444 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 Visit of the Ticknors to Edgeworthstown. — Remarks of Maria. 
 —Letter to "W. B. O. Peabody.— Mrs. Farrar's Visit to Maria. 
 
 — Condition of Ireland at this time. — Mr. Sprague's Sketch 
 of his Day with Maria. — Leigh Hunt's "Blue-Stocking 
 Bevels."— Southey.— A Visit to England.— Mrs. Sigourney's 
 Meeting with Miss Edgeworth. — Maria made Honorary 
 Member of the Royal Irish Society. — Hall's Account of 
 Edgeworthstown and the Family. — A Visit to Maria. — Im- 
 pressions of Maria's Home Life 465 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 Severe Illness of Miss Edgeworth. — A Visit to Trim. — Frede- 
 rika Bremer. — Lady Lansdowne's Character. — Last Visit 
 to England. — Sydney Smith. — Observations of his on Maria's 
 Conversation. — Pleasant Stay in London. — Trim. — Illness 
 there. — Lady Georgiana Fullerton. — Armagh. — Lever's 
 Tribute to Miss Edgeworth. — Maria's Interest in the Poor 
 on the Estate. — "Writes "Orlandino." — Remarks on Tem- 
 perance. — Simpkins & Marshall ask for Prefaces to Maria's 
 Collected Works. — Her Reply. — Mr. Prescott . . . EOJl 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 Miss Edgeworth's Continued Interest in Literature. — Lady 
 Cecilia Clarendon. — Mrs. Wilson's Death. — Note in Macau- 
 lay's History on Maria. — Maria's Letter about a Severe 
 Illness. —Lines to Ireland. — Maria's Gift to the Irish 
 Porters. —Maria's Sudden Illness. — Death. — Her Wishes. 
 —Her Habits. — Her Disposition. — Her Mental Training. 
 
 — Intellect. — Notes. — Methods of Work. — Summary. — 
 Character and Influence 518 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 The Mental Thermometer 541 
 
A STUDY 
 
 MARIA EDGEWORTH 
 
 NOTICES OF HEK PATHEK AND FRIENDS 
 
A STUDY or MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Introduction. — Settlement of the Edgeworths in Ireland. — Sketches 
 and Anecdotes of the Family. — Marriage of Richard Edgeworth. 
 
 — Birth of Richard Lovell Edgeworth. — Early Years. — Schools. 
 
 — Visits England. —"Warwick. — Bath. — Returns to Ireland.— 
 Anecdotes. — Mock Marriage. — Years of Idleness. — Dublin Uni- 
 versity. — Enters Oxford. — Acquaintance -with the Elers Family. 
 
 — A Tragic Story. 
 
 Many causes have combined to prevent any one 
 from writing the life of Maria Edgev^orth; and 
 what was not done early has become more and more 
 difficult as years passed on. Hers was not an ordi- 
 nary literary career, made up of the grinding poverty 
 and soaring aspirations and almost insurmountable 
 obstacles which so often, unfortunately, beset the 
 path of genius. She was well born and bred, care- 
 fully educated, and socially surrounded by Great 
 Britain's and Europe's best and finest minds. Her 
 circle of intimate acquaintances, friends, and rela- 
 tions, takes in the very first names in politics, litera- 
 ture, science, and art. While her extensive view of 
 life and society gave her breadth and ease, it in no 
 wise detracted from her originality, her genius, or 
 her industry. 
 
Z A STUDY OP MAEIA BDGEWOETH. 
 
 Maria Edgeworth was Irish only in her sympathies, 
 not her birth : for on her mother's side slie was de- 
 scended from an English family of long standing; 
 and the Edgeworths, though long settled in Ireland 
 and intermarried there, were of English origin. 
 
 It is quite impossible to write an adequate sketch 
 of Maria Edgeworth's life, without introducing at 
 every turn her father as a prominent factor in her 
 literary work. He was her " guide, philosopher, and 
 friend ; " and, in order to complete the picture of 
 her life, we must introduce some preliminary account 
 of the Edgeworths, and give a description of the 
 character and early life of Richard Lovell Edgeworth. 
 Their lives were so long parallel, as she was born 
 before he was twenty-two years old, that of neces- 
 sity an accaunt of one must constantly mention the 
 other. Mr. Edgeworth, in writing his own memoir, 
 which was finished after his death by Maria, says : — 
 
 "My family came into Ireland in the reign of Queen 
 Elizabeth, about the year 1583 : they had been established, 
 as I have been told, at Edgeworth, now called Edgeware, 
 in Middlesex. 
 
 "Edward Edgeworth, who was the bishop of Down 
 and Connor in Ireland, in the year 1593, dying without 
 issue, left his fortune to his brother Francis, who was 
 the clerk of the Hanaper, in 1619. This gentleman, from 
 whom I am lineally descended, married an Irish lady, Jane 
 Tuite, a daughter of Sir Edmond Tuite, Knight of Sonna, 
 in the county of Westmeath. She was very beautiful, 
 and of an ancient family. It happened, that, being once 
 obliged to give place at church to some lady whom she 
 thought her inferior, she pressed her husband to take out 
 
HEE ANCESTORS. 3 
 
 a baronet's patent -which had been prepared for him. At 
 this time patents were, as he expressed it, 'more oner- 
 ous than honorable ; ' and he refused to comply with his 
 wife's request. The lady, waxing wroth, declared that 
 she would never go again to church. The gentleman un- 
 gallantly replied, that she might stay or go wherever she 
 pleased. In consequence of this permission, which she 
 took in the largest sense, she attached herself to Queen 
 Henrietta Maria, with whom she continued in France 
 during the remainder of the queen's life. 
 
 "Upon her husband's refusing the baronet's patent, 
 she obtained it for her brother. Sir Edmond Tuite. She 
 returned to Ireland afterwards, at Queen Henrietta Maria's 
 death ; but she disregarded her husband's family and her 
 own, and laid out a very large fortune in founding a 
 religious house in Dublin. 
 
 "Her son, Capt. John Edgeworth, married the daughter 
 of Sir Hugh Cullum, of Derbyshire. He brought her to 
 Ireland, to his castle of Cranallagh, in the county of 
 Longford. He had by her one son. Before the Irish 
 rebellion broke out, in 1641, Capt. Edgeworth, not aware 
 of the immediate danger, left his wife and infant in the 
 castle of Cranallagh, while he was summoned to a dis- 
 tance by some military duty. During his absence, the 
 rebels rose, attacked the castle, set fire to it at night, and 
 dragged the lady out, literally naked. She escaped from 
 their hands, and hid herself in a furze-bush till they had 
 dispersed. By what means she saved herself from the 
 fury of the rebels, I never heard. She made her way to 
 Dublin, thence to England, and to her father's house in 
 Derbyshire. After the rebels had forced the lady out of 
 the castle, and had set fire to it, they plundered it com- 
 pletely ; but they were persuaded to extinguish the fire 
 from reverence for the picture of Jane Edgeworth. Her 
 
4 A STUDY OF MAEIA BDGEWOKTH. 
 
 portrait was painted on the wainscot, with a cross hang- 
 ing from her neck, and a rosary in her hands. 
 
 "Being a Catholic, and having founded a religious 
 house, she was considered as a saint. The only son of 
 Capt. Edgeworth was then an infant lying in his cradle. 
 One of the rebels seized the child by the leg, and was 
 in the act of swinging him round to dash his brains out 
 against the corner of the castle- wall, when an Irish ser- 
 vant of the lowest order stopped his hand, claiming the 
 right of killing the little heretic himself, and swearing 
 that a sudden death would be too good for him ; that he 
 would plunge him up to the throat in a boghole, and leave 
 him for the crows to pick his eyes out. Snatching the 
 child from his comrade, he ran off with it to a neighbor- 
 ing bog, and thrust it into the mud ; but, when the rebels 
 had retired, this man, who had only pretended to join 
 them, went back to the bog for the boy, preserved his 
 life, and, contriving to hide him in a pannier under eggs 
 and chickens, carried him actually through the midst of 
 the rebel camp, safely to Dublin. 
 
 " This faithful servant's name was Bryan Ferral. His 
 last descendant died within my memory, after having 
 lived, and been supported always, under my father's 
 protection. My father heard this story from Lady Edo-e- ' 
 worth, his grandmother, and also from a man of a hun- 
 dred and seven years of age, one Bryan Simpson, who 
 was present when the attack was made on Cranallagh 
 Castle, and by whom the facts were cu-cumstantially 
 detailed. 
 
 "Mrs. Edgeworth, the daughter of Sir Hugh Cullum, 
 lived but a few years after her return to her father's house 
 in Derbyshire. Her husband, Capt. John Edgeworth, had 
 followed her to England. Some time after he was left 
 a widower, he determined to return to reside in Ireland, 
 
A RUNAWAY MATCH. 5 
 
 On his way thither, he stopped a day at Chester, it being 
 Christmas Day. He went to the cathedral ; and there he 
 was struck with the sight of a lady who had a full-blown 
 rose in her bosom. This lady was Mrs. Bridgman, a 
 widow of Mr. Edward Bridgman, brother to Sir Orlando 
 Bridgman, the Lord Keeper. As she was coming out 
 of church, the rose fell at Capt. Edgeworth's feet. The 
 lady was handsome, so was the captain : he took up the 
 rose, and presented it with so much grace to Mrs. Bridg- 
 man, that, in consequence, they became acquainted, and 
 were soon married. They came over to Ireland. Capt. 
 Edgeworth had a son, as I have mentioned, by his former 
 wife ; and the widow Bridgman had a daughter by her 
 former husband. The daughter was heiress to her father's 
 property. These young people fell in love with each 
 other. The mother was averse to the match. To avoid 
 the law against running away with an heiress, the lovers 
 settled that the young lady should take her lover to church 
 behind her on horseback. Their marriage was effected. 
 Their first son, Francis, was born before the joint ages 
 of his father and mother amounted to thirty-one years. 
 
 "After the death of Captain Edgeworth and his wife, 
 which happened before this young couple had arrived at 
 years of discretion, John Edgeworth took possession of 
 a considerable estate in Ireland, and of an estate in Eng- 
 land, in Lancashire, which came to him in right of his 
 wife ; he had also ten thousand pounds in money, as her 
 fortune. But they were extravagant, and quite ignorant 
 of the management of money. Upon an excursion to 
 England, they mortgaged their estate in Lancashire, and 
 carried the money to London in a stocking, which they 
 kept on the top of their bed. To this stocking, both 
 wife and husband had free access ; and, of course, its 
 contents soon began to be very low. The young man 
 
6 A STUDY OP MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 was handsome, and very fond of dress. At one time, 
 wben he had run out all his cash, he actually sold the 
 ground plat of a house in Dublin, to purchase a high- 
 crowned hat and feathers, which was then the mode. He 
 lived in high company in London and at court. Upon 
 some occasion King Charles II. insisted on knighting 
 him. His lady was presented at court, where she was 
 so much taken notice of by the gallant monarch, that 
 she thought it proper to intimate to her husband that 
 she did not wish to go there a second time ; nor did she 
 ever after appear at court, though in the bloom of youth 
 and beauty. She returned to Ireland. This was an 
 instance of prudence, as well as strength of mind, which 
 could hardly have been expected from the improvident 
 temper she had shown at first setting out in life. In this 
 lady's character there was an extraordinary mixture of 
 strength and weakness. She was courageous beyond the 
 habits of her sex in real danger, and yet afraid of imagi- 
 nary beings. According to the superstition of the times, 
 she believed in fairies. Opposite to her husband's castle 
 of Lissard, in Ireland, and within view of the windows, 
 there is a mount, which was reputed to be the resort of 
 fairies ; and, when Lady Edge worth resided alone at Lis- 
 sard, the common people of the neighborhood, either for 
 amusement, or with the intention of frightening her away, 
 sent children by night to this mount, who, by their strange 
 noises, by singing, and the lights they showed from time 
 to time, terrified her exceedingly. But she did not quit 
 the place. The mount was called Fairy-mount, since 
 abbreviated to Firmount. ' ' ' 
 
 1 Firmount: from which, in after times, the Abh^ Edgeworth 
 (celebrated as attending Louis XVI. on the scaffold, to whose branch 
 of the family this part of the estate descended) called himself M. 
 de Firmont. The abb^ was Lady Edgeworth's grandson. Her 
 fifth son, Essex Edgeworth, was the abba's father. 
 
LADY EDGEWOETH's COTTEAGE. 7 
 
 Of the courage and presence of mind of this Lady 
 Edgeworth, who was so much afraid of fairies, Mr. 
 Edgeworth gives an instance. 
 
 " WhUe she was living at Lissard, she was, on some 
 sudden alarm, obliged to go at night to a garret at the 
 top of the house for some gimpowder, which was kept 
 there m a baiTel. She was followed up-stairs by an igno- 
 rant servant-ghl, who carried a bit of candle without a 
 candle-stick between her fingers. When Lady Edgeworth 
 had taken what gunpowder she wanted, had locked 
 the door, and was half-way down-stairs again, she ob- 
 served that the gui had not her candle, and asked her 
 what she had done with it : the girl recollected, and an- 
 swered, that she had left it ' stuck in the barrel of black 
 salt.' Lady Edgeworth bid her stand still, and instantly 
 returned by herself to the room where the gunpowder was, 
 found the candle as the girl had described, put her hand 
 carefully underneath it, carried it safely out, and, when 
 she got to the bottom of the stairs, dropped on her knees, 
 and thanked God for then- deUveranee. This lady, with 
 all her courage and virtue, had a violent temper, which 
 brought on family quarrels between her and her husband 
 and her many sons : so that the very early marriage which 
 I have mentioned turned out unhappily. She recmred 
 continually to the large fortune which she had brought her 
 husband, and complained of being treated with neglect. 
 Her husband had learned prudence, however, and man- 
 aged to push his fortunes as a courtier and soldier, and 
 to leave to his eight sons a handsome property. Lady 
 Edgeworth Uved till she was ninety." 
 
 Francis Edgeworth, her eldest son, was the grand- 
 father of Richard Lovell Edgeworth. 
 
8 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 " He was a loyal man, a zealous Protestant ; so much 
 so, that he was called Protestant Frank. In his youth 
 he raised a regiment for King William, which, when he 
 had completed, he gave up to his father. Sir John, who 
 required it from him. A memorandum of an intended 
 grant from the crown, of three thousand pounds, on 
 account of the expense of raising this regiment, and as 
 an acknowledgment for the service, still remains (unpaid) 
 among our family papers. My grandfather became colo- 
 nel of the regiment after his father's death. He was a 
 man of great wit and gayety, fond of his profession, quite 
 a soldier, and totally regardless of money. He married 
 successively several wives, one of whom, an English lady, 
 was a widow Bradstone. Her daughter. Miss Brad- 
 stone, my father's half-sister, married Thomas Pakenham, 
 father to the first, and grandfather to the present. Lord 
 Longford. Thus he became connected with the Paken- 
 ham family. Col. Francis Edgeworth, besides being 
 straitened in his circumstances, by having, for many 
 years, a large jointure to pay to his mother, was involved 
 in difficulties by his own taste for play, — a taste which, 
 from indulgence, became an Irresistible passion. One 
 night, after having lost all the money he could command, 
 he staked his wife's diamond earrings, and went into an 
 adjoining room where she was sitting in company, to ask 
 her to lend them to him. She took them from her ears, 
 and gave them to him, saying, that she knew for what 
 purpose he wanted them, and that he was welcome to 
 them. They were played for. My grandfather won upon 
 this last stake, and gained back all he had lost that night. 
 In the warmth of his gratitude to his wife, he, at her 
 desire, took an oath that he would never more play at 
 any game with cards or dice. Some time afterwards he 
 was found in a hay-yard with a friend, drawing straws 
 
A LAWSUIT. 9 
 
 out of the hay-rick, and betting upon which should be the 
 longest. As might be expected, he lived in alternate 
 extravagance and distress ; sometimes with a coach and 
 four, and in very want of half a crown." 
 
 Col. Francis Edgeworth left his affairs in such 
 disorder at his death, " that his son, the father of 
 Richard Lovell Edgeworth, then a child of eight 
 years old," would have lost his whole property, had 
 not Mr. Pakenham, his guardian, taken care of him 
 and of it. Mr. Pakenham, finding his half-nephew 
 to be an " uncommonly steady disposition, advised 
 him to go to the Temple, at eighteen, instead of 
 going to college. This prudent counsel he followed, 
 and there applied himself closely to the study of the 
 law; and by perseverance in his profession, and mak- 
 ing himself" master of his own affairs, he recovered 
 a considerable part of his estate, which had been 
 unjustly detained from him by some of his own 
 family. His son relates "a singular detection of 
 fraud in one of the suits in which he was engaged. 
 A deed was produced against him, which was wit- 
 nessed by a very old man, who was brought into 
 court. His venerable aspect prepossessed the court 
 strongly in favor of his veracity. He said that he 
 was an ancient servant of the Edgeworth family, 
 and had been accustomed to transcribe papers for the 
 gentleman who had executed the deed. He began by 
 declaring, that he had foreseen from the particular 
 circumstances of the deed, which went to disinherit 
 the heir of the family, that the transaction might 
 hereafter be brought into dispute : he had therefore, 
 he said, privately put a sixpence under the seal of 
 
10 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 the deed, which would appear if the seal were bro- 
 ken. The seal was broken in open court, and the 
 sixpence was found to be dated five years subsequent 
 to the date of the deed : the deed being thus proved 
 to be a forgery, my father gained his suit." 
 
 The readers of " Patronage " must remember how 
 much the point of that story depends upon this 
 very anecdote, which Maria has introduced as the 
 evidence on which the fortunes of Mr. Percy turned 
 in the nefarious attempt of Sir Robert Percy to 
 deprive him of the mesne rents, after he had dispos- 
 sessed him of his estates by an earlier suit. The 
 finding of the coin there restores him his entire 
 estate, and the whole passage is one of those genu- 
 ine bits of real life which she depicts with so much 
 truth and vividness. 
 
 Mr. Edgeworth, after this incident, and gaining 
 other suits, became rich in a few years ; and, " in 1732, 
 he married Jane Lovell, daughter of Samuel Lovell, 
 a Welsh judge, who was son of Sir Salathiel Lovell, 
 that recorder of London who, at the trial of the 
 seven bishops, in the reign of James II., proved him- 
 self to be a good man, though he was but an indif- 
 ferent lawyer. He lived to the age of ninety-four, 
 and had so much lost his memory as to be called the 
 Ohliviscor of London. Of him I have heard my 
 father relate an anecdote," says Richard Lovell 
 Edgeworth, "which has been told of others. A 
 young lawyer pleading before him was so rude as to 
 say, ' Sir, you have forgotten the law.' He replied, 
 'Young man, I have forgotten more law than you 
 will ever remember.' " 
 
ME. EDGEWOKTHS BAELY YEAES. 11 
 
 In Galton's " Hereditary Genius " he mentions 
 the Edgeworths, and classes them as an example of 
 his theory. He also names Sir Salathiel Lovell as 
 an ancestor. In naming Mr. Edgeworth, the father 
 of Maria, he says, he exhibits " a singular union of 
 sober sense and inexhaustible invention." 
 
 Samuel Lovell, the Welsh judge, as he was pass- 
 ing the sands near Beaumoris, "going the circuit," 
 vi^as overtaken by the night and the tide : his coach 
 was set fast in a quicksand; the water soon rose 
 into the coach; and his register and some other 
 attendants crept out of the windows, and mounted 
 on the roof and on the coach-box. The judge let 
 the water rise to his very lips, and with becoming 
 gravity replied to all the entreaties of his attend- 
 ants, " I will follow your counsel, if you can quote 
 any precedent for a judge's mounting a coach-box." 
 
 After Mr. Edge worth's marriage with Miss Lovell, 
 he abandoned the profession of the law, and resided 
 on his estate in Ireland, with occasional visits to 
 England. He had eight children, four of whom 
 died in their early infancy. Richard Lovell Edge- 
 worth was born in Bath, in the year 1744. When 
 he was six years of age, he became, by the death of 
 his elder brother Thomas, his father's heir. He tells 
 us that as the result of this event, — 
 
 "The views of my education changed, and my life was 
 now to be preserved with an increased degree of care and 
 precaution. ... I was naturally strong and active ; but 
 I was now obliged to take a course of physic twice a 
 year, every spring and autumn, with a nine days' potions 
 of small-beer and rhubarb, to fortify my stomach, and 
 
12 A STUDY OF MAKIA BDGEWOETH. 
 
 to kill imaginary worms. I was not suffered to feel the 
 slightest inclemency of the weather ; I was mufHecl up 
 whenever I was permitted to ride a mile or two on horse- 
 back before the coachman ; my feet never brushed the 
 dew, nor was my head ever exposed to the wind or sun. 
 Fortunately my mother's knowledge of the human mind 
 far exceeded her skill in medicine." 
 
 This lady, having become a cripple by accident, 
 after the birth of her son Richard, devoted herself 
 to literature for her diversion and relief from ennui ; 
 and to her, probably, he owed the taste for science 
 and literature which he afterwards displayed, and 
 with which he so strongly imbued the opening mind 
 of his daughter Maria. 
 
 Richard Edgeworth was first sent to school to the 
 clergyman of a neighboring village, the Rev. Patrick 
 Hughes, the early instructor of Goldsmith. After 
 a few months of preparatory study there, combined 
 with a good deal of whipping, he was ready for a 
 higher school, and placed at Dr. Lydiat's at War- 
 wick, in England. He was then about eight years 
 old. He says of this school and the harsh treat- 
 ment he received there from the older boys, — 
 
 "I had been accustomed to the affection of all my 
 family at home, and was totally unacquainted with that 
 love of power and of tyranny which seems almost innate 
 in certain minds. A full-grown boy, just ready for col- 
 lege, made it his favorite amusement to harass the minds, 
 and torment the bodies, of his younger school-fellows. A 
 little boy with remarkably long flaxen hair, and myself, 
 were the chosen objects of his cruelty. He used to knot 
 our hair together, and drag us up and down the school- 
 
SCHOOL LEFE. 13 
 
 room stairs, for his diversion. One evening, when Dr. 
 Lydiat and all the boys except my tormentor and myself, 
 had gone to church, he caught me, and, confining me 
 with iron grasp between his knees, he pulled a small black 
 box from his pocket, which, with a terrific voice and coun- 
 tenance, he informed me was filled with dead men's fat, 
 with the fat of a man who had lately been hanged : this 
 he invited me to eat ; and, upon my refusing to do so with 
 manifest signs of horror and disgust, he crammed my 
 mouth till I was nearly suffocated. The box contained, 
 it is true, nothing but spermaceti ; but to me it was dread- 
 ful as poison." 
 
 Travelling in England in 1752 was at all seasons 
 difficult, but in winter a great exposure. And as 
 the Edgeworth family were living at Bath, the boy 
 was to spend his Christmas holidays at school. Mrs. 
 Dewes, the sister of Mrs. Delany, so well known to 
 all who have ever read the life of that charming 
 woman, was herself all benevolence and sympathy; 
 and, on a visit to her own sons at the school, saw 
 little Richard, and invited him to Welsbourne, her 
 home, which was about four miles from Warwick. 
 There he went, and passed a very delightful Christ- 
 mas. His mother had known Mrs. Delany ; and he 
 found himself received by the master and mistress 
 of Welsbourne as one of the family, and saw old 
 English hospitality. His description of it all shows 
 what country life in England was at that time. 
 
 " The tenants of Mr. Dewes were invited to a Christ- 
 mas dmner of excellent cheer, and their wives and 
 daughters passed the evening in mirth and unreproved 
 pleasure. The fiddle and a good supper sent all the 
 
14 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOKTH. 
 
 young people happy to their homes, and Mrs. Dewes's 
 cheerful and instructive conversation spread universal 
 satisfaction among the elder part of the company." 
 
 The four Dawes boys and young Edgeworth passed 
 their time very pleasantly in the usual sports of the 
 season, and read in the evening from the little books 
 then printed by Newberry in St. Paul's Churchyard, 
 or deciphered anagrams which Mrs. Dewes and some 
 young lady visitors gave them. 
 
 Mrs. Delany, writing Mrs. Dewes from Bulstrode, 
 the home of the Duchess of Portland, Dec. 2, 1753, 
 says, among other things, — 
 
 ."I am delighted with your journal, and that Master 
 Edgeworth is so well-behaved a child : it would have 
 been indeed grievous to have had your great good-nature 
 and humanity hurt and ungratefully returned, as it would 
 have been had he proved a bad boy." 
 
 After an attack of whooping-cough, which pre- 
 vented his study, he was removed from the school 
 at Warwick. On his way with his father to Bath, he 
 
 says, — 
 
 " Our journey lay in some places out of the high road, 
 and across corn-fields. Our vehicle was a two-wheeled 
 carriage, something like a French chaise de poste ; and, 
 as we travelled slowly, I had time for observation. I 
 recollect, however, only one thing that caught my atten- 
 tion : when we came on the high road to Cirencester, I 
 saw a mau carrying a machine five or six feet in diameter, 
 of an oval form, and composed of slender ribs of steel. 
 I begged my father to inquire what it was. We were 
 
IRELAND. 15 
 
 told that it was the skeleton of a lady's hoop. It waa 
 furnished with hinges, which permitted it to fold together 
 in a small compass, so that more than two persons might 
 sit on one seat of a coach ; a feat not easily performed 
 when ladies were encompassed with whalebone hoops of 
 six feet extent." 
 
 On his parents' return to Ireland, he was placed at 
 Drogheda school ; of which Dr. Norris was master, 
 and it was then considered the best in Ireland. 
 While there he profited by the excellent instruc- 
 tion, and made some lifelong friends. Among 
 them were the two sons of Chief Baron Foster : 
 John, the eldest, became afterwards the celebrated 
 speaker of the Irish House of Commons ; and Wil- 
 liam, who was successively Bishop of Kilmore and 
 Bishop of Clogher. While at this school, Edge- 
 worth became celebrated for feats of strength ; and, 
 during 'his vacations, he was invited by Baron 
 Foster to visit his sons at Collon, where he hunted 
 " desperately " with the Fosters. Thinking he had 
 some cause of grievance, Richard persuaded his 
 father to remove him when he was about four- 
 teen years old to a school at Longford, kept by a 
 man named Hynes , and so well did he profit by his 
 studies, that in two years more he was prepared to 
 enter the University of Dublin. 
 
 About this time (1754) his mother, who had long 
 been an invalid, consulted Lord Trimblestone, " a 
 Roman-Catholic nobleman who had resided many 
 years abroad, and become famous for his skill in 
 medicine and benevolent attentions to persons of all 
 ranks who applied to him." Mr. Edgeworth relates 
 
16 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGEWOBTH. 
 
 the following anecdote of one of this nobleman's 
 remarkable cures. 
 
 "A very delicate lady of fashion, wlio had, till her 
 beauty began to decay, been flattered egregiously by one 
 sex, and vehemently envied by the other, began to feel, 
 as years approached, that she was shrinking into nobody. 
 Disappointment produces ennui, and ennui disease : a train 
 of nervous symptoms succeeded each other with alarm- 
 ing rapidity ; and after the advice and the consultations 
 of all the physicians in Ireland, and the correspondence of 
 the most eminent in England, this poor lady had recourse 
 in the last resort to Lord Trimblestone. He declined 
 interfering, he hesitated : but at last, after much inter- 
 cession, he consented to hear the lady's complaints, and 
 to endeavor to effect her cure : this concession was made 
 upon a positive stipulation that the patient should remain 
 three weeks in his house, without any attendants but those 
 of his own family, and that her friends should give her 
 up entirely to his management. The case was desperate, 
 and any terms must be submitted to where there was a 
 prospect of relief. The lady went to Trimblestone, 
 was received with the greatest attention and politeness. 
 Instead of a grave and forbidding physician, her host, 
 she found, was a man of most agreeable manners. Lady 
 Trimblestone did every thing in her power to entertain 
 her guest, and for two or three days the demon of emmi 
 was banished. At length the lady's vapors returned : 
 every thing appeared changed. Melancholy brought on 
 a return of alarming nervous complaints, — convulsions 
 of the limbs, perversion of the understanding, a horror 
 of society: in short, all the complaints that are to be 
 met with in an advertisement enumerating the miseries 
 of a nervous patient. In the midst of one of her most 
 
LORD TEIMBLESTONE. 17 
 
 violent fits, four mutes, dressed in white, entered her 
 apartment ; slowly approaching, they took her without 
 violence in their arms, and without giving her time to 
 recollect herself, conveyed her into a distant chamber 
 hung with black, and lighted with green tapers. From 
 the ceiling, which was of a considerable height, a swing 
 was suspended, in which she was placed by the mutes, so 
 as to be seated at some distance from the ground. One 
 of the mutes set the swing in motion ; and, as it approached 
 one end of the room, she was opposed by a grim mena- 
 cing figure armed with a huge rod of birch. When she 
 looked behind her, she saw a similar figure at the other 
 end of the room, armed in the same manner. The ter- 
 ror, notwithstanding the strange circumstances which sur- 
 rounded her, was not of that sort which threatens life ; 
 but every instant there was an immediate hazard of bodily 
 pain. After some time the mutes appeared again, with 
 great composure took the lady out of the swing, and con- 
 ducted her to her apartment. When she had reposed 
 some time, a servant came to inform her that tea was 
 ready. Fear of what might be the consequences of a 
 refusal prevented her from declining to appear. No 
 notice was taken of what had happened, and the evening 
 and the next day passed without any attack of her dis- 
 order. On the third day the vapors returned, the mutes 
 re-appeared, the menacing flagellants again affrighted 
 her ; and again she enjoyed a remission of her com- 
 plaints. By degrees the fits of her disorder became 
 less frequent, the ministration of her tormentors less 
 necessary ; and in time the habits of hypochondriacism 
 were so often inteiTupted, and such a new series of ideas 
 was introduced into her mind, that she recovered perfect 
 health, and preserved to the end of her life sincere grati- 
 tude for her adventurous physician." 
 
18 A STUDY OP MARIA EDGBWOETH. 
 
 Before young Edgeworth entered the university, 
 his attention was turned from his studies for a time 
 by the festivities attending his eldest sister's wedding. 
 She married Francis Fox, Esq., of Fox Hall, in the 
 county of Longford, a gentleman of good family and 
 fortune, living near Edgeworthstown. All kinds of 
 gayety followed this event, and Richard Edgeworth 
 was among the wildest participants in these jovial 
 scenes. It was at one of the dances given in honor 
 of the wedding that the mock-marriage occurred, 
 which sufiSciently alarmed his father, and caused 
 him to institute a suit of jactitation of marriage in 
 the ecclesiastical court, to annul these imaginary 
 nuptials. The whole affair was a joke, and hardly 
 worth noticing, any more than other boyish freaks, 
 such as dancing, hunting, and shooting so violently 
 that for three nights successively Richard went from 
 one amusement to another without being in bed ; 
 and it was after a raking pot of tea — that Hibernian 
 potation taken to refresh the spirits of those who 
 have sat up all night — that this wedding ceremony 
 was gone through, with a key of a door for a ring, 
 and a " few words of the ceremony gabbled over " 
 by one of the company, with a white cloak round 
 him for a surplice. When " The Quarterly Review," 
 long years after, sent forth that cruel notice of the 
 Memoirs which so hurt Maria and the Edgeworth 
 family, this incident was commented on in the most 
 severe language by the reviewer. That gentleman 
 actually counted this as a marriage, and added it to 
 Mr. Edgeworth's four marriages as another. The 
 young lady married shortly afterwards. 
 
SCIENTIFIC STUDIES. 19 
 
 A change for the better in the active boy's tastes 
 was made by the good influence of Lady Longford, 
 Avife of the Lord Longford who was nephew of 
 Richard's father. His cousin's wife was the worthy 
 companion of this nobleman, who was a man of " su- 
 perior abilities and politeness." She was a woman 
 gifted by nature with talents, wit, and humor, to 
 which she added a taste for literature not common 
 in the women of her day. She did not try to thwart 
 her young cousin in his passion for field-sports, but 
 gave him the key of the library ; and this hint soon 
 had the desired effect, for he shot till he was tired 
 of it, and then found the library a most attractive 
 place. His taste for field-sports vanished, never to 
 return. His active mind was early roused to an 
 interest in science ; and the electrical machine of the 
 traveller Mr. Deane — whose wife Mrs. Edgeworth 
 interested herself in when her son was seven years 
 old — made a lasting impression on his mind. This 
 philosopher was detained at Edgeworthstown by his 
 wife's illness ; and, grateful for the kindness of Rich- 
 ard's mother to her, he showed him, while he was 
 on a visit to Dublin, his workshop and all his scien- 
 tific instruments. Among other things, he allowed 
 him to see an orrery which he was making. This 
 machine he afterwards bequeathed to the University 
 of Dublin. 
 
 One feels some doubt as to the wisdom with which 
 Lord Longford allowed young Edgeworth to win a 
 hundred guineas at faro, and then lose it all again, 
 to try his disposition, and see if he were in danger 
 of becoming a gambler. 
 
20 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOKTH. 
 
 The usual career of a young man of property was 
 at that day either idleness, which always has so 
 many dangers, or a profession ; and this latter seems 
 to have been Richard's lot. He was entered at 
 Dublin University, 1761 ; and there he passed an 
 extremely idle, misspent period of his life. He 
 himself wishes "to pass over" his residence there. 
 His father removed him in 1761 to Corpus Christi 
 College, Oxford, as a gentleman commoner. He 
 resolved to amend his life, and seems to have thor- 
 oughly regretted the dissipations of Dublin. 
 
 Another danger awaited him. Mr. Elers, an early 
 friend of Mr. Edgeworth, was requested by him to 
 take an interest in his son while at the university. 
 Mr. Elers frankly told Mr. Edgeworth that he had 
 " several daughters grown and growing up, who, as 
 the world said, were pretty girls , but to whom he 
 could not give fortunes that would make them suita- 
 ble matches for Mr. Edgeworth's son." This hon- 
 orable statement did not prevent, but rather hastened 
 and determined, Mr. Edgeworth's resolution ; and he 
 took his son with him to Black Bourton, an ancient 
 seat of the Hungerford family, whose heiress Mr. 
 Elers had married. As Mr. Edgeworth did the very 
 thing Mr. Elers feared (fell in love with and mar- 
 ried one of his pretty daughters who had no fortune), 
 some mention must here be made of the occupants 
 of Black Bourton. 
 
 Paul Elers was of German descent, and a lawyer 
 by profession. He was requested by Mr. Grosvenor, 
 a friend of his whom Mr. Hungerford had selected 
 as his daughter's husband, to visit Black Bourton, 
 
MB. ELERS. 21 
 
 and examine the title-deeds of the estate, and take 
 the necessary steps to secure it to him. Mr. Grosve- 
 nor was not fascinated by his intended bride, and 
 Black Bourton did not seem to yield attractions to 
 compensate. He grew melancholy, and told Mr. 
 Elers " The girl is a sad encumbrance to the estate." 
 His friend felt differently, and spoke so admiringly of 
 Miss Hungerford, that Mr. Grosvenor replied, "A 
 thought has just struck me: suppose you were to 
 take the whole bargain off my hands." After some 
 preliminaries, this strange change was actually ef- 
 fected : Mr. Elers became the husband of the heiress, 
 and Mr. Grosvenor "returned with light heart to 
 London, delighted at his escape " from matrimony ; 
 and his friend became the possessor of an estate of 
 eight hundred a year, and the lady. His prospects 
 as a rising lawyer were, however, spoiled by this 
 marriage; and he was, at the time of Mr. Edge- 
 worth's introduction to the home, father of a large 
 family, and poor. 
 
 "The family at Black Bourton, at this time," says Mr. 
 Edgeworth, "consisted of Mrs. Elers, her mother Mrs. 
 Hungerford, and four grown-up young ladies, besides 
 several children ; the eldest son, an officer, absent on 
 duty. The young ladies, though far from being beauties, 
 were handsome ; and, though destitute of accomplish- 
 ments, they were, notwithstanding, agreeable, from an 
 air of youth and simplicity, and from an unaffected good- 
 nature and gayety. The person who struck me most at 
 my introduction to this family group was Mrs. Hunger- 
 ford. She was near eighty, tall and majestic, with eyes 
 that still retained uncommon lustre. She was not able 
 
22 A STUDY OF MAKIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 to rise from her chair without the assistance of one of 
 her grand-daughters ; but when she had risen, and stood 
 leaning on her tortoise-shell cane, she received my father, 
 as the friend of the family, with so much politeness, and 
 with so much grace, as to eclipse all the young people 
 by whom she was surrounded. 
 
 "Mrs. Hungerford was a Blake, connected with the 
 Norfolk family. She had formerly been the wife of Sir 
 Alexander Kennedy, whom Mr. Hungerford killed in a 
 duel in Blenheim Park. Why she dropped her title in 
 marrying Mr. Hungerford, I know not ; nor can I tell how 
 he persuaded the beautiful widow to marry him, after he 
 had killed her husband. Mr. Hungerford brought her into 
 the retirement of Black Bourton,^ the ancient seat of 
 this family, — an excellent but antiquated house, with ease- 
 ment windows, divided by stone frame-work, the princi- 
 pal rooms wainscoted with oak, of which the antiquity 
 might be guessed by the tarnish it had acquired from 
 time. In the large hall were hung spears, and hunting- 
 tackle, and armor, and trophies of war and of the chase, 
 and a portrait — not of exquisite painting — of the gallant 
 Sir Edward Hungerford. This portrait had been removed 
 hither from Farley Castle, the principal seat of the 
 family. 
 
 ' ' In the history of Mrs. Hungerford, there was some- 
 thing mysterious, which was not, I perceived, known to 
 the younger part of the family. I made no inquiries 
 from Mr. Elers, but I observed that she was for a certain 
 
 1 The proper name of Black Bourton is Bourton Abbots. "The 
 old manorial pew belonging to the Dean and Chapter of Christ 
 Chnrch College formerly belonged to the Ellers, or Elers, family. 
 At the back of it is the old family marble tomb and effigy. Bourton 
 Abbots was a fine old mansion-house, a vestige of which is not now 
 to be found, though relics of the old oak carvings are scattered 
 among neighboring cottages." 
 
MKS. HUNGEEFOED. 23 
 
 time in the day invisible. She had an apartment to 
 herself above stairs, containing three or four rooms ; when 
 she was below stairs, we used to make a short way from 
 one side of the house to the other, through her rooms, 
 which occupied nearly one side of a quadrangle, of which 
 the house consisted. One day, forgetting she was in her 
 room, and her door by accident not having been locked, 
 I suddenly entered. I saw her kneeling before a crucifix, 
 which was placed upon her toilette, her beautiful eyes 
 streaming with tears, and cast up to heaven with the 
 most fervent devotion ; her silver locks flowing down 
 over her shoulders ; the remains of exquisite beauty, 
 grace, and dignity in her whole figure. I had not, till I 
 saw her at these, her private devotions, known that she 
 was a Catholic ; nor had I, till I saw her tears of contri- 
 tion, any reason to suppose that she thought herself a 
 penitent. The scene struck me, young as I was, and 
 more gay than young : her tears seemed to comfort, not 
 to depress her ; and, for the first time since my childhood, 
 I was convinced that the consolations of religion are fully 
 equal to its terrors." 
 
 The young man found himself unseen by the lady, 
 and quietly withdrew with the lesson he learned 
 from this scene. 
 
 Richard received an unlimited invitation to the 
 hospitable mansion at Black Bourton, and soon 
 became as one of the family. He "laughed and 
 talked, and sang with the ladies, and read Cicero 
 and Longinus with their father, who, notwithstand- 
 ing my youth," says the narrator, "and my pro- 
 pensity to female society, filled many of my hours 
 with agreeable conversation." His college life was 
 
24 A STUDY OP MAETA EDGEWORTH. 
 
 passed very much the same as the other students 
 spent theirs; and he distinguished himself neither 
 by his levity nor studiousness, though he made good 
 progress under his excellent tutor, Mr. Eussell, 
 whose son, some years later, was Master of the 
 Charter House. 
 
BATH. 25 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Visits his Parents at Bath. — Runaway Marriage. — Receives his 
 Father's Forgiveness. — Visits Ireland with his Wife. — Death 
 of his Mother. — Return to England. — Settles at Hare Hatch. — 
 Occupations. — His Wife's Management. — Son born. — Enters 
 the Temple, and studies for the Bar. —Maria born. —Mr. Edge- 
 worth's Visit to Lichfield. — The Lichfield Coterie. — Dr. Dar- 
 win. — Anna Seward. — The Misses Sneyd. — Thomas Day. — 
 Other Friendships formed with Mr. Keir, Dr. Small, Mr. Watt, 
 Mr. Wedgewood, and Mr. Bolton. — Day's Admiration for Miss 
 Honora Sneyd. — Her Rejection. — Transfers his Affections to 
 her Sister Elizabeth. — He adopts Two Girls. — Mr. Edgeworth 
 inherits his Paternal Estates. — He becomes desperately in Love 
 with Miss Honora Sneyd. 
 
 During the vacations he went to Bath, where his 
 mother and father were living on account of the 
 former's health. Bath, at this period, was the resort 
 of England's most distinguished men and women ; 
 and young Edgeworth became a man of fashion, and 
 at the same time philosophized upon the people he 
 met there. He says he "was particularly struck 
 with the appearance of the then Duke of Devon- 
 shire. He had retired from the court in disgust; 
 and the chagrin visible on his countenance made me 
 early perceive that the smiles or frowns of princes 
 have more power over the happiness of human 
 beings than those who are at a distance from sover- 
 eigns can conceive." He saw Beau Nash, then at 
 the zenith of his fame, the imperious ruler of fash- 
 
26 A STUDY OP MARIA EDGEWOETS. 
 
 ion in Bath, at whose command no lady might appear 
 as she chose, no man could be admitted to a public 
 assembly without conforming to the dictates of this 
 petty tyrant, who denounced aprons, and forbade 
 boots in his evening assemblies, and in person ad- 
 dressed those who wilfully or ignorautly disobeyed 
 his rules. There, too, he saw "the celebrated Lord 
 Chesterfield," and "looked in vain for that fire 
 which we expect to find in the eye of a man of wit 
 and genius. He was obviously unhappy, and a mel- 
 ancholy spectacle." 
 
 Mr. Edgeworth thought his son should marry 
 early, and introduced him among the best families 
 in Bath ; but already he had paid attention to one 
 of the Miss Elers, and he says, " felt myself insensi- 
 bly entangled so completely that I could not find 
 any honorable means of extrication." He did not 
 conceal his change of feeling when he returned to 
 Black Bourton, but found the lady, who was not so 
 changeable, held him to his promise , and so they 
 visited Scotland, in 1763, where minors were married 
 when they contracted an alliance without their par- 
 ents' consent. At the time of this injudicious mar- 
 riage with Miss Anna Maria Elers, Richard Lovell 
 Edgeworth was but nineteen years old ; and his eld- 
 est child, a son, was born before the father was 
 twenty years of age. His father, Mr. Edgeworth 
 senior, was much displeased at this marriage, and at 
 first refused his approbation, but finally gave his 
 consent to what he must have felt a thing he could 
 not remedy, and had the young couple remarried 
 by license with his consent. Richard Edgeworth 
 
ME. edgewoeth's mothee. 27 
 
 took his young wife and infant son to revisit his 
 parents in Ireland ; but his mother only survived his 
 arrival at Edgeworthstown a few days, ending her 
 life of suffering with the fortitude and calmness she 
 had displayed throughout her long illness. Her son 
 bears ample testimony to her many admirable quali- 
 ties and her love of literature ; which she kept in 
 spite of early discouragements, and cherished by con- 
 stant exercise in reading and study, so that, during 
 her twenty years of helpless invalidism, she did not 
 want for objects of interest and thought. 
 
 "I believe I have mentionecl, that, a few hours after 
 my birth, she, by some mismanagement, lost the use of 
 one arm, and almost of her left side. ... In a word, her 
 health was most deplorable. Yet, under all these afflic- 
 tions, she was cheerful, and had the full use of her excel- 
 lent understanding. Literature was not the fashion of 
 the times wlien she was young. My grandmother, as I 
 have been informed, was singularly averse to all learn- 
 ing in a lady, beyond reading the Bible, and being able 
 to cast up a week's household account. By what acci- 
 dent my mother acquired an early and a decided taste for 
 knowledge of all sorts, I never heard ; but her application 
 and perseverance were probably stimulated by the pre- 
 ventive measures that my grandmother took to hinder her 
 from wasting time upon books. 
 
 The year passed by Mr. Edgeworth at his father's 
 estate in Ireland was extremely distasteful to him. 
 He read " some law and more science." 
 
 He made himself an orrery with the few tools he 
 had, and began that course of busying himself with 
 such pursuits which engrossed all his thoughts till 
 
28 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 his children's education in some measure occupied 
 his time, and Maria's literary tastes gave him another 
 field for that active and restless spirit vi'hich was the 
 ruling and motive power of his life. He was unfor- 
 tunate in being an only son and the inheritor of a 
 good estate ; for his temperament was one particularly 
 suited to active life, and the largest scope allowed 
 him by the life of a country gentleman did not 
 amount to that which a professional career would 
 have afforded him. He endeavored to occupy himself 
 well always, but only succeeded in busying himself 
 with trifling inventions and some writing. These 
 we shall notice later ; for the time we speak of he 
 says, — 
 
 " I never passed twelve months with less pleasure or 
 profit. ... I felt the inconveniences of an early and 
 hasty marriage ; and, though I heartily repented my folly, 
 I determined to bear with firmness and temper the evil 
 which I had brought on myself." 
 
 In the autumn of 1765 the young couple returned 
 to England, and on their journey stopped for a few 
 days at Chester, where Mrs. Edgeworth's aunts re- 
 sided. There Mr. Edgeworth first heard of Dr. 
 Darwin,! whose acquaintance he was soon to make, 
 through a congeniality in pursuits which led him to 
 introduce himself to Dr. Darwin. This he did in 
 order to show him a new coach he had invented, on 
 hearing that Dr. Darwin had arranged one to turn 
 in a small compass without the incumbrance of a 
 crane-neck perch. 
 
 ^ Erasmus Darwin, an English physician, known to fame as poet 
 and botanist. Born, 1731; died, 1802. 
 
HAKE HATCH. 29 
 
 Mr. Edgeworth says, — 
 
 "From Chester I went to Black Bourton, where I 
 found the family in great distress. Mr. Elers was, by the 
 malice of an enemy, confined for debt. Meantime Mrs. 
 Elers was left to manage as well as she could at Black 
 Bourton, and to take care of a number of helpless chil- 
 dren, some of whom were but seven or eight years old." 
 
 They resided several months with Mrs. Elers ; 
 and Mr. Edgeworth endeavored to give his wife's 
 younger brothers and sisters some instruction, and 
 to cheer Mrs. Elers. He at last found it necessary 
 to leave Black Bourton, and establish himself in a 
 home of his own. He took a house at Hare Hatch, 
 between Reading and Maidenhead, in Berkshire, 
 where the young couple began to live by themselves. 
 Mr. Edgeworth made his son an allowance ; and, as he 
 had several terms to keep before he could be called 
 to the bar, economy was necessary. Their modest 
 establishment " was on a very moderate footing. I 
 kept a phaeton with a pair of ponies, a man who 
 took care of them and of the garden, one man and 
 two maid servants. By the good economy of my 
 wife we lived comfortably. She superintended the 
 care of the garden, which, under her management, 
 was always productive." 
 
 The neighboring people were wealthy, and simple 
 in their mode of' life and thoughts. Card-playing 
 was the usual evening entertainment, and presently 
 Mr. Edgeworth found himself engaged in mechanical 
 and scientific studies by himself for want of society 
 of the kind he enjoyed. Smiths and carriage-build- 
 
30 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 ers were, with a workshop of his own, a great re- 
 source; and he visited their shops frequently. It 
 was not till many years later that he became more 
 interested in general literature, and then ventured 
 on authorship. His hobby was scientific and me- 
 chanical studies. When it became necessary for him 
 to keep terms at the Temple, he was obliged to live 
 in London more or less ; and there he became inti- 
 mate with his brother-in-law, Capt. Elers, who lived 
 much with his aunts, the Misses Blake, in Great 
 Russell Street, Bloomsbury. 
 
 In 1767 Mr. Edgeworth was making experiments 
 in telegraphing at Hare Hatch, and also trying 
 experiments of various kinds with carriages. He 
 resided at Hare Hatch, with the exception of short 
 visits to friends, till he again went to London to 
 complete his terms at the Temple. While he was 
 experimenting in telegraphing, trying flying carriages, 
 and visiting his friends in London,, who found him 
 a very agreeable companion, his second child was 
 born, Jan. 1, 1767. 
 
 This child was Maeia Edgewoeth, whose birth 
 in her grandfather's house at Black Bourton undoubt- 
 edly pleased her parents and relations; but they 
 could hardly have realized that before her death her 
 name would be known and respected throughout the 
 world where the English language and literature were 
 understood, and a love of learning and pure morality 
 appreciated. The early years of Maria's life were 
 passed largely at Black Bourton with her grandpar- 
 ents, and at Hare Hatch with her mother and father. 
 Mr. Edgeworth was not a bad husband ; but he has 
 
MRS. EDGEWOETH. 31 
 
 left unequivocal testimony to the fact, that his home 
 was most uncongenial to him, both in direct state- 
 ment and in inference from his frequent absences 
 from home. He says, — 
 
 " My wife was prudent, domestic, and affectionate ; but 
 she was not of a cheerful temper. She lamented about 
 trifles ; and the lamenting of a female, with whom we live, 
 does not render home delightful." 
 
 But he thinks he lived at home more than was 
 usual with men of his age and time. He was absent, 
 however, very much ; visiting London often, and 
 occasionally Birmingham. Of his visit to Ireland 
 with his young son and Mr. Day, some account must 
 be given ; as well as that visit made to Lichfield, 
 where he was introduced to that celebrated coterie of 
 which Dr. Darwin was the great man, and Miss Anna 
 Seward 1 the queen. There he met Miss Honora 
 Sneyd, the adopted sister of Miss Seward, who expa- 
 tiates on her growing charms in many a verse, and 
 laments her death with mournful numbers, more 
 filled with genuine feeling than with poetic fire. Mr. 
 Edgeworth's first visit to Lichfield occurred curiously 
 enough. He had heard of Dr. Darwin's success in 
 constructing a famous phaeton upon a new princi- 
 ple ; namely, " that in turning round, it continued to 
 stand upon four points nearly at equal distances 
 from each other ; whereas in carriages with a crane- 
 neck, when the four wheels are locked under the 
 perch, the fore carriage is very unsteady, being sup- 
 ported upon only three points." 
 
 1 Anna Seward. Famous in her day as a poetess. The friend 
 and biographer of Dr. Darwin. 1747-1809. 
 
32 A STUDY OP MARIA EDGEWORTH. 
 
 Mr. Edgeworth, acting upon this hint, made him- 
 self a very handsome phaeton , and, upon its being 
 approved by the Society for the Encouragement of 
 Arts, he told the society whence he derived his plan 
 for making it, and wrote also to Dr. Darwin. The 
 doctor, though he thought him a coachmaker, wrote 
 him a very civil answer, and invited him to visit him 
 at Lichfield. 
 
 The visit of Mr. Edgeworth to Lichfield was 
 attended with results of vital importance to his 
 future happiness, as we shall see in the course of our 
 narrative. His first introduction to Dr. Darwin was 
 oddly made. He reached his house, to find him out, 
 but was hospitably received by Mrs. Darwin, who 
 invited him to supper. Presently Dr. Darwin ar- 
 rived, bringing with him a drunken man whom he 
 had found nearly suffocated in a ditch , and, when 
 this gentleman was viewed by candle-light, it was 
 found that he was Mrs. Darwin's brother. They 
 took it very coolly, but assured Mr. Edgeworth that 
 this was the first time he had ever been intoxicated 
 in his life. 
 
 " During this scene I had time to survey my new friend. 
 Dr. Darwin," says Mr. Edgeworth. "He was a large 
 man, fat and rather clumsy ; but intelligence and benevo- 
 lence were painted in his countenance. He had a consid- 
 erable impediment in his speech, a defect which is in 
 general painful to others ; but the doctor repaid his audi- 
 tors so well for making them wait for his wit or his 
 knowledge, that he seldom found them impatient." 
 
 After some conversation, and a little evident sur- 
 prise at finding Mr. Edgeworth at supper with his 
 
DE. DARWIN. 33 
 
 wife, " "Why ! I thought " said the doctor, " that you 
 were only a coachmaker ! " — " That was the rea- 
 son," said I, " that you looked surprised at finding 
 me at supper with Mrs. Darwin. But you see, doc- 
 tor, how superior in discernment ladies are even to 
 the most learned gentlemen : I assure you that I 
 had not been in the room five minutes before Mrs, 
 Darwin asked me to tea." 
 
 In Galton's " Hereditary Genius," he says Dr. Dar- 
 win "sprang from a lettered and intellectual race, as 
 his father was one of the earliest members of the 
 Spaulding Club." 
 
 One listener gives a description of his conversation 
 which will amuse the reader. He was talking about 
 the Calmia flower, which it turned out afterwards he 
 had never seen. 
 
 "It is a flower of such exquisite beauty that it would 
 make you waste the summer's day in examining it : you 
 would forget the houi of dinner, all your senses would 
 be absorbed in one, — you would be all eye." I smiled, 
 and asked him to describe it. " What, in the first place, 
 was its color?" — " Precisely that of a seraph's plume." 
 We laughed, as he intended we should, at the accuracy of 
 the description. He told us afterwards that he had heard 
 much of the flower, but as yet had not seen it." 
 
 The doctor was pleased to find in the maker of 
 the phaeton an intelligent and well-informed gentle- 
 man, and the next day introduced him to some lit- 
 erary people, among whom was Miss Anna Seward. 
 
 "How much of my future life," he exclaims, "has 
 depended upon this visit to Lichfield ! . . . . Miss 
 
34 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 Seward was at this time in the height of youth and 
 beauty, of an enthusiastic temper, a votary of the Muses, 
 and of the most eloquent and brilliant conversation. Our 
 mutual acquaintance was soon made, and it continued to 
 be for many years of my life a source of never-failing 
 pleasure. 
 
 " It seems that Mrs. Darwin had a little pique against 
 Miss Seward, who had, in fact, been her rival with the 
 doctor. These ladies lived upon good terms ; but there 
 frequently occurred little competitions, which amused 
 their friends, and enlivened the uniformity that so often 
 renders a country town insipid. The evening after my 
 arrival, Mrs. Darwin invited Miss Seward, and a very 
 large party of her friends, to supper. I was placed 
 beside Miss Seward ; and a number of lively sallies 
 escaped her, that set the table in good-humor. I remem- 
 ber^ for we frequently remember the merest trifles which 
 happen at an interesting period of our life — that she 
 repeated some of Prior's 'Henry and Emma,' of which 
 she was always fond ; and, dwelling upon Emma's tender- 
 ness, she cited the care that Emma proposed to take of 
 her lover, if he were wounded : — 
 
 ' To bind his wounds, my finest lawns I'd tear, 
 "Wash them with tears, and wipe them with my hair.' 
 
 "I acknowledged that tearing her finest lawns, even 
 in a wild forest, would be a real sacrifice from a fine lady ; 
 and that washing wounds with salt water, though a very 
 severe remedy, was thought to be salutary ; but I could 
 not think that wiping them with her hair could be either 
 a salutary or an elegant operation. I represented, that 
 the lady, who must have had by her own account a choice 
 of lawns, might have employed some of the coarse sort 
 for this operation, instead of having recourse to her hair. 
 
MISS SE-WAED. 35 
 
 I paid Miss Seward, however, some compliments on her 
 own beautiful tresses ; and at that moment the watchful 
 Mrs. Darwin took this opportunity of drinking Mrs. 
 Udgeworth's health. Miss Seward's surprise was mani- 
 fest. But the mirth this unexpected discovery made fell 
 but lightly upon its objects ; for Miss Seward, with per- 
 fect good-humor, turned the laugh in her favor. The 
 next evening the same society re-assembled at another 
 house, and for several ensuing evenings I passed my time 
 in different agreeable companies in Lichfield." 
 
 The following stanzas were written on the window 
 of the George Inn, at Lichfield, by the Rev. W. B. 
 Stevens of Repton, Derbyshire. They were sent by 
 Anna Seward to the ladies of Llangollen. 
 
 " Fair city 1 lift, with conscious glory crowned, 
 The spiry structure of thy Mercian state ; 
 While History bids her ancient trump resound 
 How War, in wrath, unbarred thy blood-stained gate. 
 
 Not that the praise of ancient days alone 
 Is thine, fair city, blest through every age : 
 War's scythed car, yon miracles of stone. 
 Bow to the splendors of thy lettered page. 
 
 Here Johnson fashioned his elaborate style ; 
 And Truth, well pleased, the moral work surveyed ; 
 Here, on her darling's cradle wont to smile, 
 Thalia with her Garrick fondly played. 
 
36 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOKTH. 
 
 And here the flower of England's virgin train,— 
 Boast of our isle, Lichfield's peculiar pride, — 
 Here Seward caught the dew-drops for her strain 
 From grief and pity's intermingled tide. 
 Exult, fair city 1 and indulge the praise 
 A grateful stranger to thy glory pays." 
 
 During this visit to Liclifield, Mr. Edgeworth made 
 many pleasant acquaintances and friends. There 
 and then he met the lady destined to be his second 
 wife, Miss Honora Sneyd. Mr. Seward, who was a 
 canon of Lichfield Cathedral, as well as rector of 
 Eyam in Derbyshire, was a man of learning and 
 taste, fond of society, and very amiable. His many 
 good qualities drew around him a circle of warmly 
 attached friends ; and his residence, the bishop's pal- 
 ace at Lichfield, was the resort of the cultivated peo- 
 ple of the neighborhood. Mrs. Seward was a worthy 
 wife to this excellent man, and seconded him in his 
 good works. Under. her, care iliss Honora Sneyd, 
 the daughter of Edward Sneyd, Esq., was brought 
 up and educated. Mr. Sneyd became a widower in 
 early life, and his relations and friends were anxious 
 to alleviate his loss by taking charge of his five 
 daughters. Mrs. Seward, with her daughters Anna 
 and Sally, had the care of Honora ; who acquired an 
 ardent love of literature and an elevated taste from 
 the influence and training of Miss Anna Seward. 
 
 The foibles of Anna Seward were many, but she 
 had a clear head and a warm heart. Early flattery, 
 and the distinction paid her in a coterie like that of 
 Lichfield, were injurious ; and her egotism and vanity 
 
MISS SEWARD. 37 
 
 were increased to the detriment of her finer qualities. 
 When Mr. Edgeworth first met her, Miss Seward 
 was not an acknowledged authoress ; nor was it till 
 1782 that her first poetical romance of Louisa was 
 published. All her works show a superabundance 
 of language and epithet, and her later writings are 
 almost unreadable from the gushing sentimentalisra 
 with which they abound. She was an industrious 
 and scholarly writer : says herself of her habits in a 
 sonnet, — 
 
 " I love to rise ere breaks the tardy light, 
 Winter's pale day." 
 
 The verbose and extravagant pen of Miss Seward 
 described the advent of Richard Lovell Edgeworth 
 at Lichfield, in her life of Dr. Darwin, thus : — 
 
 "About the year 1765, came to Lichfield, from the 
 neighborhood of Reading, the young and gay philosopher, 
 Mr. Edgeworth, a man of fortune, and recently married 
 to an Elers of Oxfordshire. The fame of Dr. Darwin's 
 various talents allured Mr. Edgeworth to the city they 
 graced. Then scarcely two and twenty, and with an 
 exterior yet more juvenile, he had mathematic science, 
 inechanic ingenuity, and a competent portion of classi- 
 cal learning, with the possession of the modern languages. 
 His address was gracefully spirited, and his conversation 
 eloquent. He danced, he fenced, and winged his arrows 
 with more than philosophic skill ; yet did not the con- 
 sciousness of those lighter endowments abate his ardor in 
 the pursuit of knowledge." 
 
 She was once talking about two brilliant spirits 
 of different sexes with Mr. Edgeworth, when he 
 
38 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGBWOKTH. 
 
 exclaimed, " If that man and woman were to marry, 
 they would skim the moon ! " 
 She writes of Mr. Day, — 
 
 "He was less graceful, less amusing, less brilliant than 
 Mr. Edgeworth, but more highly hmaginative, more classi- 
 cal, and a deeper reasoner." 
 
 To return to Mr. Edgeworth's life at Hare Hatch : 
 he there made and perfected several machines, for 
 which he received a gold and silver medal from the 
 Society for the Encouragement of Arts, etc. At 
 this time (that is, shortly after his return to Hare 
 Hatch from Lichfield, where he met Dr. Darwin and 
 his friends), Mr Edgeworth made the acquaintance 
 of several men who were celebrated for their talents 
 and taste. Among these were Mr. Keir of Birming- 
 ham, Mr. Bolton, Mr. Watt, Mr. Wedgwood, Dr. 
 Small, and last, but not least, must be named Mr. 
 Thomas Day.^ 
 
 "This mutual intimacy has never been broken but by 
 death, nor have any of the number failed to distinguish 
 themselves in science or literature. Some may think that 
 I ought with due modesty to except myself. 
 
 " Mr. Keir, with his knowledge of the world, and good 
 sense ; Dr. SmaU, with his benevolence and profound 
 sagacity ; Wedgwood, with his unceasing industry, ex- 
 perimental variety, and calm investigation ; Bolton, with 
 his mobility, quick perception, and bold adventure ; "Watt, 
 with his strong inventive faculty, undeviating steadiness, 
 and unbounded resource ; Darwin, with his imagination, 
 science, and poetical excellence ; and Day, with his un- 
 
 1 Thomas Day, a poet and miscellaneous writer, author of the 
 well-known story of Sandford and Merton. 1748-89. 
 
ME. DAY. 39 
 
 wearied research after truth, his integrity and eloquence, 
 — formed altogether such a society as few men have the 
 good fortune to live with : such an assemblage of friends 
 as fewer still have had the happiness to possess, and keep 
 through life." 
 
 " The Linnsean Society of the Midland Counties 
 was well known once," says Galton in his " Heredi- 
 tary Genius." Wall, Bolton, and Darwin were the 
 chief notabilities. There is frequent allusion to a 
 man whose name alone remains, but who appeared 
 to exercise a marked effect on his associates, Dr. 
 Small. 
 
 The extraordinary man who sought Mr. Edge- 
 worth's friendship, and for twenty-three years was 
 his most intimate and esteemed friend, was at this 
 time a student at Oxford, and lived at Barehill, in 
 Berkshire. He was of the same college as Mr. 
 Edgeworth, and had his tutor. Mr. Edgeworth and 
 Mr. Day had many points of common interest ; and 
 " to the day of his death," he writes, " we continued 
 to live in the most intimate and unvarying friend- 
 ship, — a friendship founded upon mutual esteem 
 between persons of tastes, habits, pursuits, manners, 
 and connections totally different. A love of knowl- 
 edge, and a freedom from that admiration of splen- 
 dor which dazzles and enslaves mankind, were the 
 only essential points in which we entirely agreed." 
 This eccentric young gentleman could not have 
 been at all prepossessing in appearance : " he seldom 
 combed his raven locks, though he was remarkably 
 fond of washing them in the stream." Full of con- 
 tradiction, he scorned — or affected to scorn — love, 
 
40 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 and delighted, even in the company of women, to des- 
 cant on the evils brought upon mankind by love : he 
 used, after enumerating a long and dismal catalogue, 
 to exclaim with the satiric poet, — 
 
 " These, and a thousand more we find : 
 Ah I fear the thousand yet unnamed behind." 
 
 With all his eccentricities, Mr. Day was amiable 
 and virtuous ; and though he affected to scorn 
 beauty in women, and was determined not to marry, 
 yet his life was riiade up of philosophy, and most 
 unphilosophical attempts to marry. Mrs. Edgeworth 
 took a strong dislike to Mr. Day, and her husband 
 says this " jealousy was a source of great uneasiness 
 to me." Mr. Day made a visit to Ireland with Mr. 
 Edgeworth after he had known him a year or two, 
 and there wished to marry his sister, Margaret Edge- 
 worth, who listened to his proposal, but seemed not 
 to feel very warmly towards her admirer. He had 
 entered the Temple ; and she was prevailed upon to 
 acknowledge, that if in a year's time he should con- 
 tinue in the same mind, and improve his manners, 
 she might be induced to reward him by her hand. 
 Miss Edgeworth studied metaphysics, which Mv. Day 
 had recommended her; but she did not find encour- 
 agement in her study, and gave up both her lover 
 and her studies, not long after, to marry Mr. John 
 Ruxton of Black Castle, a gentleman who was in 
 the army, but soon after left it. Mr. Day, who was 
 much chagrined by his rejection, was no wise daunted 
 by it, and then put his extraordinary project into 
 execution of educating himself a wife. He selected 
 
DEATH OF ME. EDGEWORTH's FATHER. 41 
 
 for this purpose two orphan girls from the foundling 
 hospital, of the ages of eleven and twelve. One, 
 the first he took, was apprenticed without Mr. Edge- 
 worth's knowledge to him, as it was necessary that 
 the girl should be thus bound to some jnarried man. 
 His visit to France for the purpose of secluding 
 these girls from all influences but his own became 
 rather monotonous, and he returned in 1769. 
 
 The second girl, after Mr. Day's return from his 
 visit, was found by him either "invincibly stupid," or 
 perhaps not disposed to follow his eccentric arrange- 
 ments. On Mr. Day's return, after he had parted 
 with the unruly girl, he took a house at Stow Hill, 
 near Lichfield, and began there to devote himself 
 anew to the education of Sabrina Sidney. 
 
 It was after his settling himself at Stow Hill, that 
 Mr. Edgeworth spent the Christmas of 1770 with 
 him. In the year 1769, while Mr. Edgeworth was 
 still at Hare Hatch, his father's health failing sud- 
 denly, he was called to Ireland , and he found him 
 in Dublin, suffering under the disease of which he 
 died in his seventieth year. Mr. Richard Edgeworth 
 was a man of excellent character, and highly re- 
 spected by all who knew him. For twenty-five years 
 he sat in the Irish parliament. He was twice offered 
 and declined the baronetage j to which he had a claim 
 as ancient as James the First, when a patent was 
 prepared for Francis Edgeworth, clerk of the Han- 
 aper. 
 
 By Richard Edgeworth senior's death a material 
 difference was made in his son's affairs. He suc- 
 ceeded to an estate which was sufficiently large to 
 
42 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 relieve him from the necessity of following a profes- 
 sion ; and he was not called to the bar, though he 
 had completed his terms. 
 
 It was during Mr. Edgeworth's Christmas visit 
 at Lichfield in 1770, that he began to see the " supe- 
 riority of Miss Honora Sneyd's capacity." 
 
 "Her memory was not copiously stored with poetry, 
 and, though no ways deficient, her knowledge had not been 
 much enlarged by books ; but her sentiments were on all 
 subjects so just, and were delivered with such blushing 
 modesty (though not without an air of conscious worth) , 
 as to command attention from every one capable of appre- 
 ciating female excellence. Her person was graceful, her 
 features beautiful, and their expression such as to 
 heighten the eloquence of every thing she said. I was 
 six and twenty ; and now, for the first time in my life, I 
 saw a woman that equalled the picture of perfection 
 which existed in my imagination. I had long suffered 
 from the want of that cheerfulness in a wife, without 
 which marriage could not be agreeable to a man of such a 
 temper as mine. I had borne this evU, I believe, with 
 patience ; but my not being happy at home exposed me 
 to the danger of being too happy elsewhere." 
 
 In short, Mr. Edgeworth, who certainly was re- 
 markable for his power over all his family and 
 friends in impressing them with his strength of 
 character, had great eccentricities and peculiarities ; 
 and he is reported to have said, " I am not a man of 
 prejudice: I have had four wives; the second and 
 third were sisters, and I was in love with the second 
 in the lifetime of the first." On this Christmas visit 
 his fate was sealed ; and his home, already distasteful 
 
MAJOR ANDBB. 43 
 
 to him, became still more unattractive. Miss Honora 
 Sneyd is the lady whose connection with Major 
 Andrei is made the subject of a note by Miss 
 Seward in her "Monody on the Death of Major 
 Andr^." 
 
 In this note Miss Seward asserts that Mr. Andr^, 
 in despair upon Miss Sneyd's rejection, entered the 
 army. He certainly was deeply attached to the lady ; 
 but the parents on both sides discouraged the match 
 from prudential motives, as Mr. Andrg had no for- 
 tune. Mr. Edgeworth attempts to disprove the fact 
 that Major Andr^ was engaged to Miss Sneyd, and 
 thinks it very strange that Miss Seward should " in- 
 sinuate " that he was jilted by her ; but the dates he 
 brings to prove that Major Andr^ entered the army 
 two years before Miss Sneyd married him have no 
 special value. 
 
 Mr. Edgeworth says, — 
 
 " Mr. Andr6 appeared to me pleased and dazzled by 
 the lady. She admired and estimated highly his talents, 
 but he did not possess the reasoning mind which she 
 required." 
 
 George Augustus Sala undoubtedly thought Miss 
 Seward's opinion the true version of the case ; for, in 
 a stetchy article in " Belgravia" some years since, he 
 said of Major Andr^, — 
 
 "He was bred to commercial pursuits; but he aban- 
 doned the pen for the sword, and obtained a commission 
 in the line. He rose to the rank of major, and to fill 
 the high post of adjutant-general to the British army in 
 
 1 Andr^, John, torn in England, 1749. "Was hung as a spy In 
 America, Oct. 2, 1780. 
 
44 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOETH, 
 
 America. He was personally as beautiful as Raphael. 
 He was learned and accomplished, painted admirably, 
 drew caricatures, wrote charming verses ; and his epistles 
 to Honora Sneyd (whom he failed to win, and who mar- 
 ried a kind of madman, and died early) are among the 
 most charming love-letters in our language. ... It is 
 true that he had been jilted by a woman, but time and 
 employment are the best of Roman cements to mend a 
 broken heart withal." 
 
 Mr. Edgeworth would have been annoyed by hear- 
 ing himself described as a "kind of madman." 
 
 Miss Seward says of the attachment between 
 Andr^ and Honora Sneyd, — 
 
 "All the dark color of Andre's fate took its tint from 
 disappointed and unconquerable attachment to her." 
 
 In alluding to Honora's feeling, she says it was 
 " a mere compound of gratitude and esteem." Col. 
 Barry, who succeeded Major Andr^ as adjutant- 
 general to the British forces in America, wrote 
 Miss Seward of Honora, that she was "the only 
 woman he had ever seriously loved, that he never 
 beheld a being in whom the blending charms of mind 
 and person could approach the lustre of those which 
 glowed in the air, the look, the smile, the glance, and 
 the eloquence of Honora Sneyd." Miss Seward calls 
 her "my Madame de Grignan." She says of this 
 young lady,— 
 
 "To the varying glories of her countenance, when she 
 was expressing her ow?i, or listening to the effusions of 
 genius, no pencil could do justice." 
 
MISS SKEYD. 45 
 
 In Miss Seward's poem, written in 1772, called 
 " Time Past," she says, — 
 
 "Affection, friendship, sympathy, — your throne 
 Is winter's glowing hearth ; and ye were ours. 
 Thy smile, Honora, made them all our own : 
 Where are they now f Alas I their choicest flowers 
 Faded at thy retreat ; for thou art gone. 
 And many a dark, long eve I sigh alone, 
 In thrilled remembrance of the vanished hours, 
 When storms were dearer than the balmy gales. 
 And winter's bare, bleak fields, than green luxurious vales." 
 
 She addressed Sonnet IV. to Honora Sneyd, 
 " whose health was always best in winter," — in May, 
 1770, — and tells her she prizes less the beauties of 
 spring than " drear winter's naked hedge and plashy 
 field," because these please Honora. 
 
 Miss Seward tells a story of " an awkward, pedan- 
 tic youth, once resident for a little time at Lichfield. 
 He was asked if he liked Miss Honora Sneyd. ' Al- 
 mighty powers,' replied the oddity, 'I could not 
 have conceived that she had half the face she has ! ' 
 Honora was finely rallied about this imputed pleni- 
 tude of face." The fair Honora probably was the 
 cause of unsettling Major Andre's mind, if noth- 
 ing more ; and she effectually disturbed the equa- 
 nimity of Mr. Day, who also took it into his head 
 to fall in love with her, and wrote her, finally, 
 after several months of courtship, an enormous 
 packet containing a plan of the life he wished to 
 lead, and a proposal of marriage, in which he pointed 
 out to her the folly of living in the world, and wished 
 her to retire from it with him. He intrusted this 
 
46 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 packet to Mr. Edgeworth, who had so far suppressed 
 his own feelings as to visit Lichfield with his family, 
 to try and overcome his secret attachment to Miss 
 Sneyd. Mr. Day, who had combated his apparently- 
 hopeless attachment, and written him a letter of 
 good advice, now asked Mr. Edgeworth to be his 
 ambassador to Miss Sneyd. Mr. Edgeworth says, 
 " I delivered it, with real satisfaction, to Honora ; " 
 but whether it was because it would set at rest his 
 friend's pretensions or not, is uncertain. Mr. Day 
 had for Miss Sneyd's sake sent Sabrina Sydney to 
 school. He was destined to a severe disappointment. 
 Miss Sneyd " would not admit the unqualified con- 
 trol of a husband over all her actions : she did not 
 feel that seclusion from society was indispensably 
 necessary to preserve female virtue, or to secure 
 domestic happiness." And she declined leaving her 
 mode of life "for any dark and untried system." 
 This was a blow to Mr. Day, who was really ill for 
 some days, and took to his bed ; where Dr. Darwin 
 bled him, and administered with his philosophical 
 reflections "to that part of him most diseased, — his 
 mind." In a few weeks the lover's mind was di- 
 verted by the appearance of Miss Elizabeth Sneyd 
 at Lichfield. 
 
 Mr. Edgeworth says of this meeting, — 
 
 "I had introduced archery as an amusement among 
 the gentlemen in the neighborhood, and had proposed a 
 prize of a silver arrow, to be shot for at a bowling-green, 
 where our butts had been erected. All the ladies who 
 frequented the amusements of Lichfield were assembled ; 
 
MISS ELIZABETH SNEYD. 47 
 
 and Miss Seward appeared with her usual sprightliness 
 and address, accompanied by Honora. 
 
 " We had music and dancing: some of the gentlemen 
 fenced and vaulted and leaped ; and the summer's even- 
 ing was spent with as much innocent cheerfulness as any 
 evening that I can remember. Miss Elizabeth Sneyd and 
 her father came among us in the middle of our amuse- 
 ments. Just as a country dance was nearly ended, Miss 
 Honora Sneyd introduced me to her sister, desiring me 
 to dance with her, to prevent her being engaged by some 
 stranger, with whom they might afterwards not choose to 
 form an acquaintance. Miss Elizabeth Sneyd was, in the 
 opinion of half the persons who knew them, the hand- 
 somest of the two sisters : her eyes were uncommonly 
 beautiful and expressive, she was of a clear brown and 
 of a more healthy complexion than Honora. She had 
 acquired more literature, had more what is called the 
 manners of a person of fashion, had more wit, more 
 vivacity, and certainly more humor, than her sister. She 
 had, however, less personal grace : she walked heavily, 
 danced indifferently, had much less energy of manner 
 and of character, and was not endowed with, or had 
 not then acquired, the same powers of reasoning, the 
 same inquiring range of understanding, the same love of 
 science, or, in one word, the same decisive judgment, as 
 her sister. 
 
 " Notwithstanding something fashionable in this young 
 lady's appearance, Mr. Day observed her with complacent 
 attention. Her dancing but indifferently, and with no 
 symptom of delight, pleased Mr. Day's fancy ; her con- 
 versation was playful, and never disputatious, so that 
 Mr. Day had liberty and room enough to descant at large 
 and at length upon whatever became the subject of con- 
 versation." 
 
48 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGEWORTH. 
 
 This lady claims our interest ; for she became Mr. 
 Edgworth's third wife in course of time, in defiance 
 of law and "prejudice." Mr. Sneyd, who had hith- 
 erto lived in London, assembled all his daughters to 
 live with him at Lichfield ; and Miss Elizabeth, who 
 had till then lived with Mr. and Mrs. Henry Powys 
 (of the Abbey), Shrewsbury, was the next object 
 of Mr. Day's attention. She, on her part, was struck 
 by Mr. Day's eloquence; and she listened well (a 
 great attraction) while he "descanted at large and 
 at length upon whatever became the subject of con- 
 versation." His educating a young girl for his wife, 
 " his unbounded generosity, his scorn of wealth and 
 titles, his romantic notions of love, — which led him 
 to think, that, when it was mutual and genuine, the 
 rest of the world vanished, and the lovers became all 
 in all to each other, — made a deep impression upon 
 her." In short, his heart was caught at a rebound ; 
 and Elizabeth had made more impression in three 
 weeks upon Mr. Day than her superior sister had in 
 twelve months. 
 
ME. EDGEWOETH'S EEGAED FOE MISS SNEYD. 49 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Mr. Day and Mr. Edgeworth visit France, accompanied by Yoimg 
 Eiehard. — Richard's Education. — Eesidence in France. — Em- 
 ployment tliere. — Mrs. Edgeworth's Deatli. — Mr. Edgewortli re- 
 turns to England. — Second Marriage. — Maria goes to Ireland 
 witli Mr. and Mrs. Edgeworth. — Life there. — They return to 
 England. — Mr. Day's Marriage. — Mr. Edgeworth's Irish Jonr- 
 ney. — Mrs. Edgeworth's Illness. — Maria sent to Boarding- 
 School. — Mrs. Edgeworth's Death. — Maria's First Literary 
 Work. — Her Eemoval to a London Boarding-School. 
 
 Me. Day's regard for Honora Sneyd died with 
 her rejection. Mr. Edgeworth's " former admiration 
 returned with unabated ardor." Tlie more he "com- 
 pared her with other women, the more he was 
 obliged to acknowledge her superiority." Honora 
 herself " conversed with me with freedom," he says, 
 " and seemed to feel that I was the first person who 
 had seen the full value of her character. Miss Sew- 
 ard shone so brightly, that all objects within her 
 sphere were dimmed by her lustre." She was, how- 
 ever, generous and noble-minded, and showed and 
 felt only gratification at seeing her dear young friend 
 admired so strongly by their new friend. Mr. Day 
 alone knew the intense feeling with which Mr. 
 Edgeworth regarded this charming creature, and he 
 used all his philosophy to represent to him the 
 danger of allowing himself to think of Miss Sneyd 
 at all. Mr. Edgeworth himself knew that there was 
 
50 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGBWOETH. 
 
 but one certain method of escaping suvjh dangers, — 
 " flight ; " and he resolved upon going to France. 
 Mr. Day, who, meanwhile, had been convinced by 
 Elizabeth Sneyd that " he could not with propriety 
 abuse and ridicule talents in which he appeared 
 deficient," such as riding well, dancing gracefully, 
 and the other accomplishments, thought he would go 
 with his friend, and make himself worthy of his new 
 lady-love. She, meantime, put herself through a 
 course of reading, and promised not to go to Lon- 
 don, Bath, or any other public places of amusement, 
 till his return. 
 
 Mr. Edgeworth, with a mixture of his usual sang- 
 froid and philosophy, endeavored to persuade him- 
 self and all his friends that he felt no more than 
 common esteem for Honora ; he took every opportu- 
 nity of declaring his intention of living on his Irish 
 estates on his return, and of persuading her that 
 " young women who had not large fortunes, should 
 not disdain to marry," even if they could not find 
 heroes. "Honora listened, and assented ;" and they 
 left England and the ladies, to try France. They 
 were accompanied by Richard, Mr. Edgeworth's 
 eldest child. This boy Mr. Edgeworth had deter- 
 mined, shortly after his birth at Black Bourton in 
 1764, to educate according to the system of Rous- 
 seau. He says, — 
 
 "His 'fimile' had made a great impression upon my 
 young mind, as it had done upon the imaginations of 
 many far my superiors in age and understanding. His 
 work had then all the power of novelty, as well as all the 
 charms of eloquence; aud when I compared the many 
 
ROUSSEAU'S SYSTEM OP EDUCATION. 51 
 
 plausible ideas it contains, with the obvious deficiencies 
 and absurdities that I saw in the treatment of children 
 in almost every family with which I was acquamted, I 
 determined to make a fair trial of Eousseau's system. 
 My wife complied with my wishes, and the body and mind 
 of my son were to be left as much as possible to the edu- 
 cation of nature and of accident. I was but twenty-three 
 years old when I formed this resolution : I steadily pur- 
 sued it for several years, notwithstanding the opposition 
 with which I was embarrassed by my friends and relations, 
 and the ridicule by which I became immediately assailed 
 on all quarters. 
 
 "I dressed my son without stockings, with Ms arms 
 bare, in a jacket and trousers such as are quite common 
 at present, but which at that time were novel and extraor- 
 dinary. I succeeded in making him remarkably hardy ; 
 I also succeeded in making him fearless of danger, and, 
 what is more difficult, capable of bearing privation of 
 every sort. He had all the virtues of a child bred in the 
 hut of a savage, and aU the knowledge of things which 
 could well be acquired at an early age by a boy bred in 
 civilized society. I say knowledge of things, for of books 
 he had less knowledge at seven or eight years old than 
 most children have at four or five. Of mechanics he had a 
 clearer conception, and, in the application of what he knew, 
 more invention, than any child I had then seen. He was 
 bold, free, fearless, generous : he had a ready and keen 
 use of all his senses and of his judgment. But he was 
 not disposed to obey : his exertions generally arose from 
 his own will ; and though he was what is commonly called 
 good tempered and good natured, though he generally 
 pleased by his looks, demeanor, and conversation, he had 
 too little deference for others, and he showed an invinci- 
 ble dislike to control. With me, he was always what I 
 
52 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGBAVOETIT. 
 
 wished ; with others, he was never any thing but what he 
 wished to be himself. He was, by all who saw him, 
 whether of the higher or lower classes, taken notice of ; 
 and by all considered as very clever. I speak of a child 
 between seven and eight years old ; and, to prevent inter- 
 ruption in my narrative, I here represent the effects of 
 his education from three to eight years old, during which 
 period I pursued Rousseau's plan." 
 
 On their journey to France, Mr. Edgeworth took 
 with him the boy, leaving Mrs. Edgeworth and two 
 little girls behind, JMaria and Emmeline. Mr. Edge- 
 worth passed nearly two years in France ; most of 
 the time being spent at Lyons, where he exercised 
 his engineering skill in constructing a bridge for 
 wheelbarrows across a ravine, and a kind of ferry- 
 bridge, — both to be used in the work of diverting 
 the Rhone into a new channel in order to enlarge the 
 city. 
 
 When Mr. Edgeworth found that his work was 
 likely to engage him for some months, he sent for 
 his wife, whom he had left at Black Bourton with 
 her father and sisters. Accompanied by one of her 
 sisters, she accordingly went to Lyons, and spent some 
 months ; but at the beginning of the winter, being 
 tired of French society, and anxious to be in Eng- 
 land, where she had left her children, she returned 
 to Black Bourton under the care of ]Mr. Day, who 
 went home to claim as the reward of his labors the 
 hand of Elizabeth Sneyd. 
 
 On Mr. Day's return to England, he found that 
 Miss Sneyd could not feel for him the attachment 
 which he had hoped, could not give him her heart ; 
 
ME. DAY S WARD. 53 
 
 and so for that time he was again disappointed in 
 his matrimonial views. Miss Sneyd is reported to 
 have said she preferred "Thomas Day blackguard 
 to Thomas Day gentleman.'''' 
 
 In the course of the next few years, he found 
 himself strongly interested in his ward Sabrina Syd- 
 ney, and would undoubtedly have married her but 
 for an unfortunate circumstance. She had become 
 an interesting and attractive woman, and was much 
 attached to her benefactor. He had in every way 
 felt satisfied with her conduct, till a trifling occur- 
 ence annoyed him inexpressibly, and he at once 
 abandoned all idea of making her his wife. He had 
 left her at the house of a friend, under strict injunc- 
 tions as to some peculiar fancies of his own : among 
 these were some requests as to her dress. She was 
 or was not to wear a certain style of sleeves and 
 handkerchief then in vogue ; and he considered her 
 acting negligently in this respect as a mark of 
 her want of attachment to him, and as a proof of 
 her want of strength of mind ; and so he at once 
 and decidedly gave her up. Mr. Day we must leave 
 for a time, but shall find him married at last. 
 
 Mr. Edgeworth, whom we left in Lyons, was still 
 busied about his plans for the alteration of the bed 
 of the Rhone, when news reached him, in March, 
 that Mrs. Edgeworth, who had returned to England 
 in the fall, had an infant daughter. This child 
 (Anna) was but a few days old, when Mrs. Edge- 
 worth died. Mr. Edgeworth immediately set out for 
 England. The company of Lyons conferred upon 
 him a deed of a lot of ground in the new town they 
 
54 A STUDY or MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 had "won from the ancient conflux of the Rhone 
 and the Saone ; " and he was also offered the ribbon 
 of the order of St. Michael, but declined it. This 
 property was lost at the revolution. 
 
 On Mr. Edgeworth's return to England, Mr. Day 
 met him at Woodstock, and told him that Honora 
 Sneyd was more beautiful than ever, and " still her 
 own mistress," though surrounded by lovers. The 
 magnanimity of Mr. Day was shown here, by his 
 coming several hundred miles to assure his friend 
 that a woman who had refused him was still as fair 
 as, more beautiful in fact than, when she declined to 
 leave the world and its pleasures for him. Mr. 
 Edgeworth at once went to Lichfield, and naturally 
 he was sure that Miss Sneyd appeared " even more 
 lovely than when we parted." After some time, he 
 found that Honora did reciprocate his feelings ; and 
 they were married by special license, on July 17, 
 1773, in the cathedral of Lichfield. Miss Seward 
 felt some annoyance about the choice of a brides- 
 maid, but was on the whole glad to see her beloved 
 Honora — whoTa she is never weary of celebrating 
 in her verses — united to one so well suited to her. 
 Though she never forgave Mr. Edgeworth, Miss 
 Seward retained very touching recollections of Ho- 
 nora all her life. There are constant references to 
 her in her poems and letters. Among the poems 
 are several sonnets in which she refers openly to 
 the broken intimacy between herself and her friend. 
 She speaks in one place of "her air, her smile, — 
 spells of the vanished years," — as appearing before 
 her vision, reminding her of "days long fled, in 
 
A SONNET. 55 
 
 Pleasure's golden reign, the youtli of changed Hono- 
 ra." There are others in which she laments the 
 death of Mrs. Edgeworth, and hints at neglect, with- 
 out venturing to name Mr. Edgeworth. In April, 
 1773, she addressed some verses to her, beginning, — 
 
 " HoNORA, should that cruel time arise, 
 When 'gainst my truth you should'st my errors prize." 
 
 In Sonnet XII., written in July, 1773, the month 
 of Honora's marriage, Miss Seward pours forth her 
 unhappiness. Others follow in similar strain. 
 
 SONNET XII. 
 
 Chilled by unkind Honora's altered eye, 
 
 " Why droops my heart with fruitless woes forlorn," 
 
 Thankless for much of good? What thousands, born 
 
 To ceaseless toil beneath this wintry sky, 
 
 Or to brave deathful ocean's surging high, 
 
 Or fell disease's fevered rage to mourn, — 
 
 How blest to them would seem my destiny ! 
 
 How dear the comforts my rash sorrows scorn ! 
 
 Affection is repaid by causeless hate I 
 
 A plighted love is changed to cold disdain I 
 
 Yet suffer not thy wrongs to shroud thy fate, 
 
 But turn, my soul, to blessings which remain ; 
 
 And let this truth the wise resolve create : 
 
 The heart estranged no anguish can regain. 
 
 Jttlt, 1773. 
 
 Mr. Edgeworth's son Richard entered the navy- 
 early under his kinsman Lord Longford. The care 
 of the three girls, Maria, Emmeline, and Anna, was 
 assumed by Mrs. Honora Edgeworth at the time of 
 her marriage. Maria had lived much with her aunts 
 and grandparents at Black Bourton, and passed 
 
56 A STUDY OP MARIA BDGEWOETH. 
 
 months with her great-aunts, the Misses Blake, in 
 London. These old ladies were long remembered by 
 Maria for their statelj-- figures and dignified bearing. 
 She was taken by them to play in the gardens at the 
 rear of the British Museum. They lived in Great 
 Russell Street. Maria dimly recalled her mother's 
 death at this house, and being carried into her room 
 for her last embrace. Whatever may have been the 
 first Mrs. Edgeworth's deficiencies as to " cheerful- 
 ness," she appears to have been a domestic woman, 
 — prudent, kind, and a good mother. 
 
 After Mr. Edgeworth's second marriage, he imme- 
 diately took his wife to Ireland. Maria accompanied 
 them. The house and grounds at Edgeworthstown 
 were found to be much out of order. The house, 
 which was built early in the eighteenth century, was 
 arranged according to the taste of that time, and it 
 needed modernizing and altering. Mr. Edgeworth 
 says, — 
 
 "The grounds and gardens were in a style correspond- 
 ing to the architecture. The people were in a wretched 
 state of idleness and ignorance. We had brought with 
 us some English servants, who soon put our domestic 
 economy upon a comfortable footing. The axe and the 
 plough were presently at work. The yew hedges and 
 screens of clipped elms and horn-beam were cut down, to 
 let in the air and the view of green fields. Carpenters 
 and masons pulled down and built up. ' ' 
 
 " Few gentry " lived near the town, but those who 
 did were friends and relations. Maria, being very 
 young, remembered little of this visit, " except that 
 she was a mischievous child, amusing herself once at 
 
EDGEWORTHSTOWN. 57 
 
 her aunt Fox's when the company were unmindful 
 of her, cutting out the squares in a cliecked sofa- 
 cover, and one day trampling through a number of 
 hot-bed frames that had just been glazed, laid on the 
 grass before the door at Edgeworthstown. She rec- 
 ollected her delight at the crashing of the glass, but, 
 immorally, did not remember either cutting her feet, 
 or how she was punished for this performance." 
 
 After spending three years in Ireland, Mr. and 
 Mrs. Edgeworth returned to England, and visited 
 their friends. They took a house at North Church 
 in Hertfordshire, near Great Berkhampstead. Mean- 
 while Mr. Day was at last on the eve of matrimony. 
 He wrote Mr. Edgeworth a long congratulatory letter 
 on the occasion of his approaching marriage in 1773, 
 and kept up a constant correspondence with him. 
 In this letter, in 1773, he says he thinks he is 
 " marked out by fate to be an old bachelor, and an 
 humorist, destined, perhaps, to become very old, 
 because I am very indifferent about the matter ; and 
 to buy hobby-horses for your grand-children; and 
 perhaps, as an old friend of the family, admitted to 
 mediate for some of the future Miss Edgeworths, 
 when they run away with a tall ensign in the guards, 
 or their dancing-master." A brief account of his 
 occupations during these years may interest the 
 reader. He had purchased chambers in the Temple, 
 and spent there much of his time, varying his severer 
 studies with excursions into the country when the 
 fancy seized him. 
 
 After the rupture with Sabrina Sydney, Dr. Small 
 proposed to his eccentric friend that he should marry 
 
58 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 a Miss Milnes of Yorkshire, a lady whose wealth was 
 only an adjunct to her excellent mental qualities, 
 and whose benevolence and charity were unbounded. 
 Her superiority of understanding was so generally 
 admitted among her acquaintances, that "to dis- 
 tinguish her from another Miss Milnes, a relative of 
 hers, who had been called Venus, she had acquired 
 the name of Minerva." 
 
 All this Dr. Small reported to Mr. Day, the eccen- 
 tric Ccelebs in search of a wife. 
 
 " But has she white and large arms ? " said Mr. 
 Day. 
 
 " She has," replied Dr. Small. 
 
 " Does she wear long petticoats ? " 
 
 " Uncommonly long." 
 
 " I hope she is tall and strong and healthy." 
 
 "Remarkably little, and not robust. My good 
 friend," added Dr. Small, speaking in his leisurely 
 manner, " can you possibly expect that a wom^ of 
 charming temper, benevolent mind, and cuMvated 
 understanding, with a distinguished character, with 
 views of life congenial to your own, with an agreea- 
 ble jDerson, and a large fortune, should be formed 
 exactly according to a picture that exists in your 
 imagination ? " 
 
 Finally tliis good friend persuaded the eccentric 
 gentleman to "despise" her fortune, and take the 
 lady, if he could achieve such a pattern of excel- 
 lence ; and, after a courtship of some months, Mr. 
 Day married Miss Milnes. Shortly after their mar- 
 riage he carried Mrs. Day to see the Edgeworths at 
 Northchurch ; and they found her very pleasing, and 
 
MRS. DAT. 59 
 
 evidently disposed to gratify her husband in all his 
 wishes. Mr. Edgeworth says, " I never saw a woman 
 so entirely intent upon accommodathig herself to the 
 sentiments and wishes and will of a husband ; " and 
 this feeling continued. Mr. Day, in a few months, 
 bought a small estate called Stapleford Abbot, near 
 Abridge in Essex. He built at this place that room 
 without windows, which he was too indolent to rise 
 from his chair to arrange for. He meant to cut win- 
 dows in the walls afterwards, but it was never done. 
 Before he began his work he bought at a stall, " Ware's 
 Architecture," and, after reading it assiduously for 
 three or four weeks, fell to building on his most 
 extraordinary plan. Some years after, he bought 
 another house and estate at Anningsley, near Chert- 
 sey, in Surrey, to which he removed. He thought 
 he did prudently ; because this was one of the most 
 unprofitable estates in England, and he should have 
 a large scope of ground for a small sum of money. 
 Here he tried, upon a large scale, all sorts of doubt- 
 ful and unprofitable experiments in farming, from 
 books which he read on the subject, to the great 
 injury of his fortune. 
 
 Miss Seward stated Miss Milnes's fortune at 
 twenty-three thousand pounds. After his death 
 she wrote the editor of " The General Evening Post," 
 who had made some mistake about Mr. Day's prop- 
 erty, that "it was twelve hundred pounds per 
 annum," adding, — 
 
 "But let him be spoken of as he was, for truth is 
 better than indiscriminate eulogium. Mr. Day, with first- 
 
l>0 A STIPY OF MAKIA KOl! KWOimi. 
 
 nvto alnlitios, was n sjilonotii.', o:\\niounis, yot KMiwtiful 
 imsantluvinst. Ho bostowwl noarlv tho whole of Ins 
 amiilo t'ortuno in ivUo\ ii\s; tl>o uoivssitios of tlio \hhm' ; 
 flXHiuoiitlY, liowovoi', iloolarin^' in ivnvoi-snlioii, lluit ihoiv 
 >Yoro fow in the laruo nuniln'r ho foil who would not out 
 his thiv;it tlio i\o\t hour, if tlu-ir intoivst i\>uUl pixMunt 
 the not, ami thoir livos bo stifo in Us ivi\H>iission. Ho 
 tiH^k prido in jivowiiisi' his ;ihhin'(vmv of tho luxurios, and 
 disdain even of tho dooonoios, of litV; and in his poi'xon 
 ho was siouoi'allv slovonlv, o\ou to snualidnoss. (.'>u l>oinj>' 
 askod by ono of his frionds why ho ohoso tho lonolv and 
 nnploasant sitnatiou in whioh ho livod. ho ivpliod, th:d 
 tho solo ivasoii of that ohoioo was, its boiuj; out of tho 
 stmU of human sooioty." 
 
 IIo ontii-oly sopavatoil ^Ii-s. Pay tVoni hor relations 
 and friends. 
 
 Mr. F-dgeworih, wliile at ^'ortlu'lnireli, ^H'e^l]^ied 
 himsolf w ith nieolianieal pursuits, and Mrs. ImIo-o- 
 worth to please liini ••Ihwhuo an i^xeellont theon-tie 
 meohaiiio." Those pnvs\iits, with the eare of Maria 
 and her sisters and two liltU> ones of Ivor own, with 
 iVequeut \isitors i'nnn Uotulon, kept (liein ijuite 
 busy. 
 
 Mrs. llonova Kdo'ewordt's hoallli be^-an io fail in 
 1778; and the preparations slu> was niakino- (o join 
 Mr. Kdo-eworth in Ireland, whither ho had boon 
 called by a lawsuit and oilier business eonneeled 
 with liis estate, were given up. 8he met liini on his 
 return near Itaventry ; and, as their house at North- 
 oliureh liad been let. for a year, they proeoeded to 
 Mr. Sneyd's al l.iehlield till (liey eould arrange for 
 llieir future n\auner of livino". 
 
BOARDING-SCHOOL. 61 
 
 In 1775, in consequence of Mi-s. Honora Edge- 
 worth's failing healtli, Maria was sent to a boarding- 
 school kept by a Mrs. LatiiEere, at Derby. She 
 always spoke with gratitude and affectionate remem- 
 brance of this lady. In after-life she used to mention, 
 that she felt great admiration at hearing a child 
 younger than herself, on the day of her admission 
 to this school, repeat the nine parts of speech. She 
 was more, impressed by this little child's recitation 
 than she was by any other effort of the mind after- 
 wards. At this school, under the careful instruction 
 of a writing-master, Maria's hand-writing was formed ; 
 and she was noted in after-years for her neat and 
 perfect manuscripts. 
 
 Mrs. Honora Edgeworth made a great impression 
 in Maria's mind. She early showed her sensibility 
 and genius by appreciating that of others. She re- 
 membered always the minutest ad^-ice Mrs. Honora 
 Edgeworth gave her. The surpassing beauty of her 
 presence struck Maria, young as she was, at her first 
 acquaintance with her. She remembered standing 
 by her dressing-table, and looking at her with a 
 sudden thought of " How beautiful ! " 
 
 The beauty of Honora was of that wonderful and 
 spirituelle style not destined long to adorn an earthly 
 being, and consumption had set its fatal mark of 
 precocious mental and physical beauty on her. 
 
 In one of Mr. Edgeworth 's early letters to Mr. 
 Day, the reader may recollect his concluding with, 
 " You know I am no writer : my ideas do not, like 
 yours, flow to my pen readily." 
 
 Maria wrote long after, — 
 
62 A STUDY OP MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 " One little book, however, he and Mrs. Honora Edge- 
 worth wrote, I believe, very early in the year 1778 ; when 
 she, in teaching her first child to read, found the want of 
 something to follow Mrs. Barbauld's Lessons, and felt 
 the difficulty of explaining the language of all the other 
 books for children which were then in use. 
 
 ' Favete linguis — 
 Virginibus puerisque canto,' 
 
 was the motto of this little volume, which was the first 
 part of 'Harry and Lucy,' — or of 'Practical Educa- 
 tion,' as I find it called in the titlepage to the few copies 
 vi^hich were then printed in large type for the use only of 
 his own children. He intended to have carried on the 
 history of Harry and Lucy through every stage of child- 
 hood ; to have diffused, through natural dialogue or inter- 
 esting story, the first principles of morality, with some 
 of the elements of science and literature, so as to show 
 parents how these may be taught, without wearying the 
 pupil's attention. 
 
 "At the time to which I refer, the design was new; 
 and scarcely any English writer of eminence, except Dr. 
 Watts and Airs. Barbauld, had condescended to write for 
 children." 
 
 The summer was spent by Mr. and Mrs. Edge- 
 worth at Lichfield, to be near Dr. Darwin ; and, in 
 the course of a few months, they visited Mr. Day: 
 thence London was of easy access ; and the cele- 
 brated Dr. Heberden was called by the anxious hus- 
 band, but he gave him no hopes whatever of Mrs. 
 Edgeworth's recovery. He took a small house at 
 Beighterton, near Shiffnal, in Shropshire : so that they 
 were near Lichfield, the Sneyds, and Dr. Darwin. 
 
MRS. EDGEWOETH'S ILLNESS. 63 
 
 Though Mrs. Edgeworth suffered much from the 
 consuming progress of her disease, she found time 
 and thought for Maria, and wrote a letter from there 
 to her, October, 1779, in which, after impressing on 
 her " that it is vain to attempt to please a person 
 who will not tell us what they do and what they do 
 not desire," she continues, — 
 
 "It is very agreeable to me to think of conversing 
 with you as my equal in every respect but age, and of 
 my making that iDequality of use to you, by giving you 
 the advantage of the experience I have had, and the 
 observations I have been able to make, — as these are 
 parts of knowledge which nothing but time can bestow." 
 
 In Mrs. Honora Edgeworth's letter, which was 
 written from Beighterton, she shows a most tender 
 and motlierly interest in Maria. In spite of evident 
 suffering, the writer seemed to study the happiness 
 of others. She tells Maria of her brother's being 
 in port for a few days on leave, and speaks of other 
 family affairs. At Mrs. Latiffier's, Maria learned to 
 use her needle, and became very accomplished in 
 artistic embroidery. She always enjoyed surprising 
 her friends with little gifts of her own manufacture, 
 and throughout her life was an adept at all womanly 
 work. In April of 1780 a letter from her father 
 contains thanks for an embroidered bag which she 
 had sent her mother, who was then too ill to ac- 
 knowledge her little step-daughter's remembrance. 
 Mr. Edgeworth, in conclusion, says, — 
 
 " It would be very agreeable to me, my dear Maria, to 
 have a letter from you familiarly. I wish to know what 
 
6i A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWORTH. 
 
 you like and dislilie. I wish to commimieate to you wliat 
 little kuowledge I have acquired, that you may have a 
 tincture of e\ery species of literature, aud form your taste 
 by choice aud not by chance. . . . Your poor mother 
 continues extremely ill." 
 
 Miss Charlotte Sneyd attended her sister with 
 devoted care. The end was very near ; and in less 
 than a month after the previous letter, Mr. Edge- 
 worth wrote, in JNIay, 1780, of tlie death of his wife. 
 He wrote Maria a long letter, wishing to impress 
 her with the desire of emulating the virtues of 
 that estimable woman whose loss he was called to 
 mourn. 
 
 May 2, 1780. 
 My dear Daughter, — At six o'clock on Sunday 
 moruing, your excellent mother expired in my arms. She 
 now lies dead beside me ; and I know I am doing what 
 would give her pleasure, if she were capable of feeling 
 any thing, by writing to you at this time, to fix lier 
 excellent image on your mind. . . . Continue, my dear 
 daughter, the desire which you feel of becoming amiable, 
 prudent, aud of use. The ornamental parts of a charac- 
 ter, with such an understanding as yours, necessarily 
 ensue ; but true judgnieut and sagacity in the choice of 
 friends, and the regulation of your beliavior, can be had 
 only from reflection, and from being thoroughly convinced 
 of what experience teaches in general too late, — that to 
 be happy we must be good. God bless you, and make 
 you ambitious of that valuable praise which the amiable 
 character of your dear mother forces from the virtuous 
 and the wise. My writing to you in my present situation 
 will, my dearest daughter, be remembered by you as the 
 
MARIAS FIRST STORY. 65 
 
 strongest proof of the love of your approving and affec- 
 tionate fatiier. 
 
 The desire for her father's approval, and the 
 endeavor to live up to the standard he required, 
 became thus early the guiding and controlling influ- 
 ence of Maria's life. 
 
 In the same month her father vrrote her from 
 Lichfield. He says, — 
 
 "I also beg that you will send me a little tale, about 
 the length of a ' Spectator,' upon the subject of Gener- 
 osity : it must be taken from history or romance, and 
 must be sent the sennight after you receive this ; and I 
 beg you will take some pains about it." 
 
 The same subject wa,?, given at this time to a 
 young Oxford student, then at Lichfield. When 
 the two stories were done, they were submitted to 
 Mr. William Sneyd, Mr. Edgeworth's brother-in-law, 
 who was to decide on their merits. He pronounced 
 Maria's to be very much the best ; saying of it, " An 
 excellent story, and extremely well written : but 
 where's the generosity?" — a saying which became 
 a sort of proverb with Maria afterwards. This was 
 Maria's first story, and unfortunately it was not pre- 
 served. She used to say there "was in it a sen- 
 tence of inextricable confusion between a saddle, 
 a man, and his horse." 
 
 In 1780 Maria was removed from Mrs. LatifSere's 
 establishment to the then fashionable boarding-school 
 of Mrs. Davis, in Upper Wimpole Street, London. 
 Mrs. Davis treated Maria with kindness and consid- 
 
66 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 eration, though she was " neither beautiful nor fash- 
 ionable." She went through the course of tortures 
 customary at this period, to improve the figure and 
 carriage, — " backboards, iron collars, and dumb- 
 bells, with the unusual additional process of being 
 swung by the neck, to draw out the muscles and in- 
 crease the growth ; " a singular failure in this case, 
 for she continued very small. 
 
 The careful instruction Maria received in the 
 French and Italian languages at Mrs. Latiffiere's 
 placed her ahead of her fellow-pupils in London. 
 When she began to write the exercises required 
 there, she found she could prepare those for the 
 whole quarter in advance ; and she kept them strung 
 together on her desk, and, when the teacher called 
 for the lesson of the day, she had only to take one 
 out, and present it. This offers rather a doubtful 
 compliment to the management of the school, where 
 proper instruction was not arranged for more ad- 
 vanced pupils. Here we have a picture of her, 
 seated " under a high ebony cabinet," during play- 
 time, so absorbed in her book that she was "per- 
 fectly deaf" to all around; and this remarkable 
 power of concentration and abstraction was of great 
 service to her all through life. 
 
 She was remembered by her companions at both 
 schools for her entertaining stories ; and she learned 
 to know -v^at tale was most successful with her 
 hearers, by the wakefulness it caused. These stories 
 were told at bedtime. Many of her narrations were 
 taken from her memory, — she devoured books while 
 her friends played, — but very many were original. 
 
STOEY-TELIilNG. 67 
 
 The spirit of the raconteur was strong, and she had 
 early the fertile brain of the true novelist. One which 
 was much applauded was that of an adventurer who 
 had a mask made of the dried skin of a dead man's 
 face. This he put on when he wished a disguise, 
 and he kept it hidden at the foot of a tree. 
 
 At school Maria learned to study character. She 
 early learned in that little circle to observe pecul- 
 iarities, and penetrate beneath the surface of actions 
 for the underlying motive. 
 
 Mr. Edgeworth was essentially a utilitarian. He 
 was a practical illustration of Bentham's theories. 
 When he wrote the letter to his daughter, by Mrs. 
 Honora Edgeworth's death-bed, the stress he lays 
 upon usefulness will easily be observed. He was a 
 busy man himself, full of projects and plans. He 
 impressed these views on the developing mind of 
 Maria. Mme. de Stael was reported long after to 
 have said Maria was " lost in sad utility ; " and the 
 question naturally comes to the mind, when we see 
 the irrepressible imagination of the young girl, just 
 what her life would have been without her father's 
 peculiar influence. 
 
 He checked that superabundance of sentiment 
 which would have endangered her clearness of mind; 
 he kept her stimulated and encouraged to write, by 
 his advice, criticism, and approbation: but it is to 
 be feared that he clipped the wings of fancy, and 
 harnessed Pegasus once again, as the rustics did in 
 an ancient myth. When she failed in her novels 
 to inspire her characters with romantic interest, it 
 was because the paramount influence of her father 
 
68 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGEWORTH. 
 
 asserted itself. She was certainly gifted with genius 
 of a high order ; but her nature was most affection- 
 ate, and long habits of respect and devotion to her 
 father made it absolutely impossible for her to free 
 herself from his views. She was always the dutiful 
 daughter, — quite as much so to the last as at the 
 time he wrote her of his desire for the tale on 
 " Generosity." 
 
ME. EDaEWOETH'S THIRD MAKEIAGE. 69 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Mr. Edge-worth's Third Marriage. — Maria's School-Life. — Visits 
 Mr. Day in Vacation. — His Influence over her Mind. — Maria 
 accompanies the Family to Ireland. — Edgeworthstown. — Man- 
 ner of Living at that Time in Ireland. — Maria's Occupations. — 
 Translates " Adele at Theodore." — Writes much, without intend- 
 ing Publication. — Their Social Life. — Death of Mr. Day. — His 
 "Writings. — Death of Honora Edgeworth. — Mrs. Euxton. — Her 
 Character. 
 
 Mes. Honoea Edgewoeth, when dying, had 
 urged her husband to marry her sister Elizabeth. 
 This was the young lady for whose sake Mr. Day 
 had gallantly undergone a course of gymnastic train- 
 ing, and taken dancing-lessons in France. She had 
 found, on seeing him, that she liked him less as a man 
 of fashion than she did in his natural unpolished 
 condition, and unceremoniously told him so. Mr. 
 Edgeworth knew less of this sister than he did of 
 the other Miss Sneyds, and was not particularly 
 attracted to her. She, on her part, fancied she had 
 an attachment for a gentleman then abroad. 
 
 About Mrs. Edgeworth's desire he writes, — 
 
 " Nothing is more erroneous than the common belief, 
 that a man who has lived in the greatest happiness with 
 one wife will be the most averse to take another. On 
 the contrary, the loss of happiness which he feels when 
 he loses her necessarily urges him to endeavor to be 
 
70 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 again placed in a situation which had constituted his for- 
 mer felicity. 
 
 "I felt that Honora had judged wisely and from a 
 thorough knowledge of my character, when she had ad- 
 vised me to marry again as soon as I could meet with a 
 woman who would make a good mother to my children, and 
 an agreeable companion to me. She had formed an idea 
 that her sister Elizabeth was better suited to me than any 
 other woman, and thought that I was equally suited to her. 
 Of all Honora's sisters, I had seen the least of Elizabeth." 
 
 When Mrs. Edgeworth on her death-bed proposed 
 this to her sister, she " expressed the strongest sur- 
 prise at the suggestion, not only because I was her 
 her sister's husband, and because she had another 
 attachment, but independently of these circum- 
 stances : as she distinctly said, I was the last man 
 of her acquaintance that she should have thought 
 of for a husband ; and certainly, notwithstanding 
 her beauty, abilities, and polished manners, I believed 
 she was as little suited to me." 
 
 After a few months Miss Sneyd and Mr. Edge- 
 worth began to alter their opinions ; and they were 
 married in December, 1780, less than eight months 
 after Mrs. Honora Edgeworth's dpath. The mar- 
 riage was attended with some disagreeable circum- 
 stances. It was no sooner known that the parties 
 proposed to marry than there was considerable 
 trouble made for them. Prior to the Statutes 5 
 and 6, William IV., chap. 64, marriages within the 
 Levitical degree were voidable, not void, and, if not 
 invalidated in the lifetime of both parties, held good 
 to all intents and purposes. 
 
LADY HOLTE. 71 
 
 But such marriages, though not illegal under these 
 circumstances, had become questionable, and in this 
 case many persons interfered ; and in the newspapers 
 of the neighborhood the proposed marriage was 
 made the subject of unpleasant remarks, and officious 
 friends made the matter worse by replies which kept 
 up the ill-feeling and excitement. Miss Sneyd went 
 to visit Lady Holte in Cheshire. This lady, who 
 was an old friend of the Sneyds, was "a woman of 
 much knowledge of the world, and of great firmness 
 of character." She had been Miss Elizabeth Snej'd's 
 best friend for many years. When the parties met, 
 early in December, in the parish church of Scar- 
 borough to be married, after being " asked three 
 times in the parish," as was then usual, the clergy- 
 man "received a letter," says Mr. EdgcAvorth, " which 
 alarmed him so much as to make me think it cruel 
 to press him to perform the ceremony. Lady Holte 
 took Miss Elizabeth Sneyd to Bath. I went to Lon- 
 don with my children, took lodgings in Gray's-Inn 
 Lane, and had our banns published in St. Andrew's 
 Church, Holborn. Miss Elizabeth Sneyd came from 
 Bath, and on Christmas Day, 1780, was married to 
 me in St. Andrew's Church, in the presence of my 
 first wife's brother, Mr. Elers, his lady, and Mr. 
 Day." 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Edgeworth went immediately to 
 Northchurch, where they resided for a few months, 
 and then went to London. Sir Joseph Banks, who 
 was at this time president of the Royal Society, 
 invited Mr. Edgeworth to join that body, which he 
 did. He was still a member of the club of which 
 
72 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 John Hunter was president. This club had no 
 formal name. The meetings were first held at Jack's 
 Coffee-House, and later, Young Slaughter's Coifee- 
 House. It numbered among its members many 
 distinguished men, — Banks, Blagden, Capt. Cook, 
 Maskelyne, Lord Mulgrave, and many others. 
 
 In 1781, shortly after her father's third marriage, 
 Maria had an alarming and painful inflammation of 
 the eyes. She was taken to one of the first physi- 
 cians in London, who hastily pronounced, " She will 
 lose her eyesight." Happily this opinion of the 
 doctor was not correct. She suffered very much : 
 but after a time the inflammation subsided ; and she 
 was able, for many long years, to use her eyes freely 
 for reading, writing, and all kinds of delicate needle- 
 work and fine embroidery. 
 
 After Mr. and Mrs. Edgeworth left London, they 
 went for the summer to Davenport Hall, which 
 they hired of the owner. In this retired place they 
 spent some months At this time they had the 
 younger children of Mr. Edgeworth with them. 
 The magnificent seat of Sir Charles Holte, Brereton 
 Hall, was near this place : and they passed much 
 time very pleasantly with the Holtes at this fine old 
 Elizabethan mansion. Meantime, Maria was still at 
 the school of Mrs. Davis in London. Some of her 
 holidays were spent at the house of Mr. Day. One 
 can hardly fancy a greater contrast than that be- 
 tween the fashionable establishment in Upper Wim- 
 pole Street and the rigid austerity of Mr. Day's 
 house. He was, however, kind and just ; and Maria 
 received great sympathy and attention from Mr. and 
 
ME. DAT. 73 
 
 Mrs. Day at the time she suffered from the painful 
 inflammation in her eyes. " The lofty nature of 
 Mr. Day's mind, his romantic character, his meta- 
 physical inquiries, and eloquent discussions took 
 Maria into another world. The icy strength of 
 his system came at the right moment for annealing 
 her principles," says one observer. Mr. Day then 
 lived at Anningsly, near Chertsey. 
 
 ' ' His mixture of speculative misanthropy and real 
 benevolence appeared in all his conduct. Bishop Berke- 
 ley's tar-water was still considered as a specific for all 
 complaints. Mr. Day thought it would be of use to 
 Maria's inflamed eyes, and he used to bring a large 
 tumblerful of it to her every morning. She dreaded 
 his, ' Now, Miss Maria, drink this ! ' but there was, in 
 spite of his stern voice, something of pity and sympathy 
 in his countenance whicli always induced her to swallow 
 it. His excellent library was open to her, and he directed 
 her studies. His severe reasoning and uncompromising 
 truth of mind awakened all her powers ; and the questions 
 he put to her, and the working out of the answers, the 
 necessity of perfect accuracy in all her words, suited the 
 natural truth of her mind ; and, though such strictness 
 was not always agreeable, she even then perceived its 
 advantage, and in after-life was grateful for it." 
 
 Years after this, Maria said, in describing Mr. 
 Day's peculiarities, " He always talked like a look, 
 and I do believe he always thought in the same full- 
 dress style." M. Dumont, in writing his friend 
 Romilly, after he had read " Sandford and Merton " 
 for the second time, said he found " a good deal of 
 cleverness, of talent, of the developing ideas, of pre- 
 
74 A STTJDY OF MAKIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 paring tliem, and of introducing them into the minds 
 of children." Undoubtedly this was just what Mr. 
 Day could do and did for Maria Edgeworth at a 
 certain period of mental growth. 
 
 By degrees her eyes recovered their strength, and 
 the painful inflammation subsided ; but it is not cer- 
 tain whether the tar-water, or the country air of 
 Anningsly, effected the cure. Maria's health was 
 alwaj's delicate, and intense headaches often troubled 
 her. She was never equal to protracted bodily ex- 
 ertion, but enjoyed short walks, and in youth rode 
 on horseback, when she had the protection of her 
 father, being rather a timid horsewoman. 
 
 Mr. Edgeworth left traces of his mechanical inge- 
 nuity during his residence at Brereton, in the steeple 
 clock which he amused hunself with making and 
 putting into place. 
 
 In 1782 [Maria was taken from school, and accom- 
 panied her parents and j-ounger brothers and sisters 
 to Edgeworthstown. Her first visit to Ireland -nas 
 made at an exceedingly early a.ge. This was practi- 
 cally her real introduction to the scenes of her future 
 life, the home of her fathers. She was at the age 
 when one is apt to notice new objects and people 
 with keen interest ; and her new mode of life among 
 the Irish quickened all her thoughts, and roxised her 
 eager and animated nature. She was very much 
 struck hy the many and extraordinary sights she 
 saw, — the remarkable difference between the Irish 
 and English character. The wit, the melancholy, 
 and gayety of the Irish were all so new and strange 
 to the young girl, accustomed to the stolid and un- 
 
EETUEJSr TO lEELAND. 75 
 
 varying manners of the English servants, and the 
 reserve and silence of the upper classes, that the 
 penetrating genius and powers of observation of 
 the future novelist and delineator of Irish character 
 were vividly impressed with her new surroundings. 
 Mr. Edgeworth wrote of their return, — 
 
 " In the year 1782 I returned to Ireland with a firm de- 
 termination to dedicate the remainder of my life to the 
 improvement of my estate, and to the education of my 
 children, and, further, with the sincere hope of contribut- 
 ing to the melioration of the inhabitants of the country 
 from which I drew my subsistence." 
 
 Of this event Maria wrote in 1819, — 
 
 " Though such a length of time has elapsed, I have re- 
 tained a clear and strong recollection of our arrival at 
 Edgeworthstown. ' ' 
 
 Then she continues, — 
 
 ' ' Things and persons are so much improved in Ireland 
 of latter days, that only those who can remember how 
 they were some fifty or sixty years ago can conceive the 
 variety of domestic grievances which in those times as- 
 sailed the master of a family, immediately upon his arri- 
 val at his Irish home. Wherever he turned his eyes, in 
 or out of his house, damp, dilapidation, waste, appeared. 
 Painting, glazing, roofing, fencing, finishing, — all were 
 wanting. The back yard, and even the front lawn round 
 the windows of the house, were filled with loungers, fol- 
 lowers, and petitioners : tenants, under-tenants, drivers, 
 sub-agent, and agent were to have audience ; and they 
 all had grievances and secret informations, accusations, 
 reciprocations, and quarrels, each under each, interminable. 
 
76 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGBWOETH. 
 
 Alternately as landlord and magistrate, the proprietor of 
 an estate had to listen to perpetual complaints, petty 
 wranglings and equivocations, in which no human sagacity 
 could discover truth or award justice. Then came widows 
 and orphans with tales of distress, and cases of oppres- 
 sion, such as the ear and heart of unhardened humanity 
 could not withstand ; and, when some of the supplicants 
 were satisfied, fresh expectants ai)peared with claims of 
 promises and hopes, beyond what any patience, time, 
 power, or fortune could satisfy. Such and so great the 
 difficulties appeared to me by which my father was en- 
 compassed on our arrival home, that I could not conceive 
 how he could get through them, nor could I imagine how 
 these people had ever gone on during his absence. I was 
 with him constantly ; and I was amused and interested and 
 instructed by seeing how he made his way through these 
 complaints, petitions, and grievances, with decision and 
 despatch : he, all the time, in good humor with the people, 
 and they delighted with him ; though he often ' rated 
 them roundly,' when they stood before him perverse in 
 litigation, helpless in procrastination, detected of cunning, 
 or convicted of falsehood. They saw into his character 
 almost as soon as he understood theirs. The first remark 
 which I heard whispered aside among the people, with 
 congratulatory looks at each other, was, ' His honor, any 
 way, is good pay.' It was said of the celebrated king of 
 Prussia, that ' he scolded like a trooper, and paid like a 
 prince.' Such a man would be liked in Ireland." 
 
 Modern history has hardly borne out the truth of 
 that saying of Frederick the Great, and we must 
 fancy it of some other royal personage; but here 
 the Italian saying is true, "si non e vero, il e hen 
 trovato." 
 
"HAIRTRIGGER DICK." 77 
 
 This long passage shows some of the difficulties 
 felt by a new-comer at that day in Ireland, but I 
 have quoted it more to show the way in which Mr. 
 Edgeworth began at once to initiate Maria into busi- 
 ness and business ways. Where most men would 
 have felt a young girl should not be, the eccentric 
 father felt he was teaching her some valuable lessons. 
 She early began to keep all his accounts, and contin- 
 ued to act as his agent for many years. Another 
 noticeable feature of this introduction into active life 
 is, that it gave her great insight into the characters 
 and ways of the Irish. 
 
 It is doubtful whether " Castle Rackrent " and her 
 other imitable sketches of Irish life could have been 
 written without this daily observation and study of 
 the peculiarities of the people. They are studies 
 from life, and that makes their merit. 
 
 Many years after this time, v/hen Maria was de- 
 scribing some of her methods of working to a gentle- 
 man who asked her how she planned her novels, she 
 spoke of seeing among other strange characters, the 
 "King of Connemara," — first known by that and 
 another cognomen, " Hairtrigger Dick," — Richard 
 Martin, a noted land-owner of Connemara, who 
 fought more duels than any man of his day there- 
 abouts ; and, when he brought a bill into Parliament 
 for preventing cruelty to animals, his nickname was 
 changed to " Humanity Martin." 
 
 She took some of this man's imperious ways and 
 strange eccentricities to build King Corny on, in the 
 story of " Ormond." She says of this man, that he 
 was a contemporary of her father's ; and " too, besides, 
 
78 A STUDY OP MARIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 I once saw liim, and remember my blood crept slow, 
 and my breath was held, when he first came into the 
 room ; " and, though he was " a pale little insignifi- 
 cant-looking mortal," the strange stories her father 
 had told her of him stirred her fertile imagination. 
 She says in another place, that she saw the original 
 of " Thady," in " Castle Rackrent," when she first 
 came to Ireland ; and later on we shall see how the 
 old man's ways and character struck her, and the 
 story all came into her mind. 
 
 Mr. Edgeworth began his improvements at home, 
 where they were much needed. Maria says of the 
 house at Edgeworthstown when they arrived there, 
 that, on her father's visit with Mrs. Ilonora Edge- 
 worth, it " was a tolerably good, old-faslnoned man- 
 sion ; but when he retui'ned to it now with seven 
 children, and considered it with a view to its beins 
 the residence of a large family, he felt its many in- 
 conveniences. It had been built in my grandfather's 
 time, in a l)ad situation, for the sake of preserving 
 one cliimney that had remained of the former edifice. 
 To this old chimney the new house was sacrificed, 
 — to this, and to the fancy, formerly fashionable, of 
 seeing through a number of doors a suite of apart- 
 ments. To gratify this fancy, it was made a slice 
 of a house, all front, with rooms opening into each 
 other through its whole length, without any inter- 
 vention of passage ; all the rooms small and gloomy, 
 witli dark wainscots, heavy cornices, little windows, 
 corner chimneys, and a staircase taking up half 
 the house, to the destruction of the upper story. 
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EDGEWOETHSTOWN. 79 
 
 and for a master of a large family, could scarcely 
 occur." 
 
 Time and prudence, however, with the mechanical 
 taste of Mr. Edgeworth, made things gradually right ; 
 and in the course of a few years, by doing something 
 each year, Edgeworthstown house was as commo- 
 dious and pleasant a home as the heart could desire. 
 The grounds and gardens also needed attention ; and 
 " the very day of Mr. Edgeworth's arrival he set to 
 work, and continued perseveringly, fencing, draining, 
 levelling, planting ; though he knew that all he was 
 doing could not show for years." 
 
 In this careful way of never going on too fast for 
 his income, Mr. Edgeworth gave himself plenty to 
 do, and yet escaped the errors of many of the Irish 
 gentry, who either built superb mansions which in- 
 volved them in debt and distress, or planned a 
 "palace, built offices to suit, then turned stable and 
 coach-house into their dwelling-house," " leaving the 
 rest to fate and to their sons." Mr. Edgeworth 
 became his own agent, with Maria's belp, and had 
 no dealings with middlemen, always the curse of 
 Ireland. He was a very just landlord, and abolished 
 many oppressive restrictions. He was one of the 
 first Irish landlords to give up the " petty, oppressive 
 claims of duty-work." He always left a year's rent 
 in his tenant's hands ; this being more than the hang- 
 ing gate of six months, which many landlords would 
 not even allow. In his selection of tenants he made 
 no distinction as to religion or nationality, between 
 Catholic or Protestant, or Celt and Saxon. 
 
 Maria wrote of his management, — 
 
80 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 "As soon as my father returned to Edgeworthstown, 
 he began to receive his rents without the intervention of 
 agent or sub-agent. On most Irish estates there is, or 
 there was, a sort of personage commonly called a driver, 
 — a person who drives and impounds cattle for rent and 
 arrears. Such persons, being often ill chosen, and of the 
 lowest habits, as well as of the lowest order, misuse their 
 authority ; and frequently, unfaithful to the landlord, as 
 well as harassing to the tenant, sell the interest of their 
 employer for glasses of whiskey ; and finish by running 
 away with money, which they have received on account, or 
 by extortion from tenants. These drivers are, alas ! from 
 time to time too necessary in collecting Irish rents. My 
 father rendered this petty tyrant's authority as brief as 
 possible. ' Go before Mr. Edgeworth, and you will surely 
 get justice,' was the saying of the neighborhood. Besides 
 relying on his justice, they felt with all the warmth of their 
 warm hearts his eagerness to exert himself in the cause 
 of the injured or oppressed. The Irish are more attached 
 by what touches their hearts than by what concerns their 
 interests ; and those who find their way to their hearts 
 have the best chance — I might say those only have any 
 chance — of so far getting at their heads as to make 
 them understand their true interests, or to cure them of 
 any of their faults or bad habits." 
 
 Miss Edgeworth herself says of the manner m 
 which she must have acquired much business knowl- 
 edge, besides storing materials, as it has been said, 
 for her studies of Irish life and character, — 
 
 " Some men live with their families without letting them 
 know their affairs, and, however great may be their affec- 
 tion and esteem for their wives and children, think that 
 they have nothing to do with business. This was not my 
 
MARIA TEAJ>fSLATES. 81 
 
 father's way of thinking. On the contrary, not only his 
 ■wife, but his children, knew all his affairs. Whatever 
 business he had to do was done in the midst of his family, 
 usually in the common sitting-room : so that we were inti- 
 mately acquainted, not only with his general principles of 
 conduct, but with the minute details of their every-day 
 application. I further enjoyed some peculiar advantages : 
 he kindly wished to give me habits of business ; and for 
 this purpose allowed me, during many years, to assist liim 
 in copying his letters of business, and in receiving his 
 rents." 
 
 This apparently tedious and drudging occupation 
 Maria always declared she enjoyed, as a change from 
 other work, and she showed great acuteness and 
 aptitude for it. Years after, she took upon herself 
 the management of her brother Lovell's affairs during 
 a period of distress for Irish landlords, and under 
 her management brought order out of chaos. 
 
 In the year 1782 Mr. Edgeworth proposed to 
 Maria, after they were domesticated in their home, 
 to prepare a translation of Mme. de Genlis's " Adele 
 et Theodore." He merely proposed it as a useful 
 occupation for her leisure hours of study. But, 
 after she had made some progress in in it, they 
 thought of publishing it; and in December, her 
 father wrote her from Dublin, with the corrections 
 of her manuscripts. She had completed one volume 
 when Holcroft's translation appeared. Neither she 
 nor her father regretted the time spent on this vol- 
 lune, as it gave her ready choice of words, and that 
 excellent practice in writing which translation or 
 abstract from others' work always affords the young. 
 
82 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 Mr. Day, who had a horror of female authors and 
 their writings, was highly disgusted at Maria's having 
 even translated a work on education from the French, 
 and wrote to congratulate Mr. Edgeworth when the 
 publication was prevented. It was from the recol- 
 lection of his arguments against women's writing, 
 and of her father's answer. Miss Edgeworth states, 
 that " Letters for Literary Ladies " were written, 
 nearly ten years after. 
 
 ' ' They were not published, nor was any thing of ours 
 published, till some time after Mr. Day's death (in 1789). 
 Though sensible that there was much prejudice mixed up 
 with his reasons, yet deference for his friend's judgment 
 prevailed with my father, and made him dread for his 
 daughter the name of autlioress." 
 
 Maria wrote much during this time. Essays, 
 plays, and little stories occupied her leisure. 
 
 At this time those who knew Maria best say she 
 " was reserved in manner, and little inclined to con- 
 verse. To those who knew her in after-years, with 
 all her brilliant wit, in the company of the first-rate 
 talkers of French and English society, and her 
 never-failing cheerfulness and flow of conversation 
 at home, this unwillingness to speak seems incredible. 
 She was, however, then in weak health, and felt 
 great powers which were unvalued by the young 
 and gay of ordinary society. She knew that her 
 father appreciated these powers, and she was con- 
 tented with his approbation. She had been taken 
 notice of by his friend Lady Holte, while in England, 
 and thus early learned to admire high-bred manners 
 
SOCIETY IN lEELAND. 83 
 
 and high principles formed with knowledge of the 
 world." 
 
 Maria writes of this period of her life, "As to 
 society, we had at this time but little, except with 
 Lord Granard's family at Castle Forbes, and with 
 the Pakenhams at Pakenham Hall, the residence of 
 Lord Longford. The connection and friendship 
 which had long subsisted between the Pakenham 
 family and ours," was mentioned, she says, by Mr. 
 Edgeworth in his narrative. Had he continued that 
 memoir after his return to Ireland, he would have 
 spoken of the strong " regard he felt for Admiral 
 Lord Longford," whose son (the inheritor of the 
 title) was then living at home with his family, after 
 the termination of the French and American war. 
 Lady Longford, the wife of this earl, was a charm- 
 ing woman. And the Dowager Lady Longford was 
 a woman of unusual vigor of mind, "a woman of 
 great wit, and for her day of extraordinary knowl- 
 edge and literature." She was the lady, who, in 
 early years, inspired Mr. Edgeworth with a love of 
 books, and drew his mind from an inordinate love 
 of field-sports. 
 
 Lord Longford was one of her father's dearest 
 friends, — a man of unusual ability, with a frank- 
 ness and charm of manner which was most attrac- 
 tive. Lady Longford was a woman of romantic, 
 enthusiastic nature ; and among the children of this 
 family was the future Duchess of Wellington, known 
 to all her relatives as "Kitty Pakenham," and "Ad- 
 miral Pakenham, with his inexhaustible wit and 
 generous friendship, who, in his careless dress and 
 
84 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGBWOETH. 
 
 jovial manners, still looked and was every inch a 
 gentleman, — these were all, not merely figures mov- 
 ing before Maria, as in the raree show of London 
 society, but understood in the intimacy of domestic 
 life : so that, though her girlhood was passed with- 
 out ever being in what is called the ' world,' her 
 ideas were gradually expanding, and her insight 
 into character constantly increasing." 
 
 Pakenham Hall was a delightful home to visit at ; 
 and there she met Mrs. Greville, — the mother of 
 Lady Crewe, and author of the ode to "Indiffer- 
 ence," — and many people distinguished in the world 
 of politics and literature. 
 
 Maria writes, — 
 
 "But Pakenham Hall was twelve miles distant from 
 us, in the adjoining county of Westmeath. There was 
 a vast Serbonian bog between us ; with a bad road, an 
 awkward fence, and a country so frightful, and so over- 
 run with yellow-weeds, that it was aptly called by Mrs. 
 Greville ' the Yellow Dwarf's country.' 
 
 " Castle Forbes, the residence of the Earl of Granard, 
 was more within our reach than Pakenham Hall. There 
 the society was various and very agreeable, especially 
 when Lady Granard's mother (the late Lady Moira) 
 was in the country. Lady Moira was a personage 
 of great influence in Ireland : she held somewhat of 
 a court at Moira House, Dublin, which was the resort 
 of the witty and the wise of the day; and this lady, 
 who was the daughter of Lady Huntingdon (the friend 
 of Wesley and Whitefield ) , had seen a strange sort 
 of society, and learned much not usual in people of her 
 rank." 
 
LADY MOIRA. 85 
 
 Maria was so happy as to attract the attention 
 and approval of tliis lady ; and her conversation was 
 very beneficial to her, for she talked with the shy 
 young girl "as one who could understand her." 
 She says of her, — 
 
 " Lady Moira's taste for literature, general knowledge, 
 and great conversational talents, drew round her culti- 
 vated and distinguished persons ; but it was her noble, 
 liigh-spirited character which struck my father still more 
 than her acquirements and abilities. 
 
 " He was gratified by the manner in which she first 
 encouraged and distinguished his daughter, and grateful 
 for the friendship with which Lady Moira honored her 
 ever after." 
 
 Mr. Edgeworth was very fond of an argument; 
 and once, when he and Lady Moira had had a long 
 argument on genius and education. Lord Granard 
 ended it wittily by saying, " A pig may be made to 
 whistle, but he has a bad mouth for it." Maria 
 says, — 
 
 " In our more immediate neighborhood, we at this time 
 commenced an acquaintance with a friendly and cultivated 
 family of the name of Brooke. The father, an old, well- 
 informed clergyman, was nearly related to the Mr. Brooke 
 who wrote the celebrated novel of ' The Fool of Quality,' 
 and the tragedy of ' Gustavus Vasa. ' . . . 
 
 " Considering the state of society in Ireland at the 
 time of which I am now writing, my father may be 
 esteemed fortunate in finding in a remote place such 
 acquaintance. In general, formal, large dinners and long 
 sittings were the order of the day and night. The fash- 
 
86 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWORTH. 
 
 ion for literature had not commenced, and people rather 
 shunned than courted the acquaintance of those who were 
 suspected to have literary taste or talents." 
 
 Mr. Edgeworth was an excellent horseman, and 
 always said "he could think, invent, and compose 
 better on horseback than anywhere else : " and for 
 many years Maria enjoyed her rides with her father; 
 for his perfect control of his own horse gave her 
 ease and confidence, and many pleasant hours were 
 passed in the saddle. 
 
 In the year 1789 Mr. Day's sudden death deprived 
 Mr. Edgeworth and Maria of a warm friend. He 
 was her father's earliest friend ; and, though full of 
 foibles and eccentricities, he had a fine mind and re- 
 markable powers. " There could be no second Mr. 
 Day " for them. His loss was irreparable, and his 
 place in their regard and esteem was never filled. 
 
 Mr. Day had left his library and his mathematical 
 instruments to Mr. Edgeworth by his last will ; but 
 at his death this will could not be found, and an 
 earlier one of 1780, which did not name Mr. Edge- 
 worth, was the only one which appeared extant. 
 Mrs. Day, who valued the friendship of Mr. Edge- 
 worth, and said of him, that she considered him " the 
 most purely disinterested and proudly independent 
 of Mr. Day's friends," offered him the opportunity 
 of naming any legacy her husbaiud might have men- 
 tioned to him. He only asked, and received, some 
 old mathematical instruments endeared to him by 
 associations with his friend. 
 
 Mr. Day, it will perhaps be remembered, lost his 
 life in attempting to train a young colt. As he did 
 
ME. day's death. 87 
 
 not approve of the usual rough method of '■'■'breaking" 
 horses, he undertook to manage this colt in a differ- 
 ent way. The animal, becoming startled, plunged 
 and threw him. " He had a concussion of the brain, 
 never spoke after his fall, and in less than quarter 
 of an hour expired ! " Mrs. Day, who survived her 
 husband only two years, was so inconsolable that 
 she took to her bed ; where she remained much of 
 the time, in spite of a most philosophical letter from 
 Mr. Edgeworth, who argued out a case from his own 
 standpoint, and naturally fancied others of as an 
 elastic a temperament as his own. 
 Maria said of Mr. Day, — 
 
 " It is remarkable that Mr. Day's fame with posterity 
 will probably rest solely upon those works which he con- 
 sidered as most perishable. He valued, in preference to 
 his other writings, certain political tracts ; but these, 
 though finely written, full of manly spirit and classic elo- 
 quence, have passed away, and are heard of no more. 
 While his history of ' Sandford and Merton,' and even 
 the tiny story of 'Little Jack,' are still popular. 'For 
 the same reason, because true to natm-e and to genuine 
 feeling, his poem of " The Dying Negro " will last as long 
 as manly and benevolent hearts exist in England.' " 
 
 Miss Seward says that " The Dying Negro" was 
 the first article in prose or verse on the wrongs of 
 the negro. She notes this, because Cowper claims in 
 a letter to be the first poet who " publicly stigma- 
 tized our slave-trade." Mr. Day's poem appeared in 
 1770, years before Cowper published at all ; and it 
 was generally read and admired. In Miss Seward's 
 
88 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 panegyric of Mr. Dewes, she wrote in 1793 to Miss 
 Powys, "he had the bestowing spirit of Mr. Day, 
 without its acrimony; the politeness of Mr. Edge- 
 worth, without his insincerity." 
 
 In Leigh Hunt's autobiography he says, — 
 
 ' ' The pool of mercenary and time-serving ethics was 
 first blown over by the fresh country breeze of Mr. Day's 
 ' Sandford and Merton,' — a production which I well re- 
 member and shall ever be grateful to." 
 
 A new blow was approaching Mr. Edgeworth. 
 Mrs. Honora Edgeworth left one daughter, at this 
 time a lovely girl of about fifteen. This young girl 
 inherited her mother's rare beauty, intelligence, and 
 delicacy of constitution. Her health began to fail 
 very rapidly. Her father wrote to Mrs. Day after 
 her husband's death, — 
 
 "The loss of my best friend must be followed by the 
 loss of my most excellent daughter Honora. Her ripened 
 beauty, her cheerful, serene temper, uncommon under- 
 standing, all the hopes of her family, — by all of whom she 
 is admired and adored, — the expectations of all who have 
 ever seen her, must now be blasted. The hand of heredi- 
 tary disease is upon her, which must soon be inevitably 
 followed by the hand of death. With the same fortitude 
 which her incomparable mother possessed, she bears the 
 present, and prepares for the future." 
 
 She died in February, 1790. One observer said 
 she was " dazzling " in beauty. Dr. Darwin, in writ- 
 ing Mr. Edgeworth after her death, alludes as fol- 
 lows to Honora : — 
 
MES. EUXTON. 89 
 
 " I MUCH condole with you on your late loss. I know 
 how to feel for your misfortune. The little tale you sent 
 me is a prodigy, written by so young a person, with such 
 elegance of imagination." 
 
 This tale of which he speaks was " Rivuletta," a 
 fairy story written by Honora ; and the reader will 
 find it printed in " Early Lessons," by Maria. Anna 
 Seward thanks Mrs. Powys for this tale, asks if " it 
 be a translation or no, as it says at the end, ' Extract 
 from Lavater.' " 
 
 After the death of Honora, Mr. Edgeworth went 
 to Black Castle to visit his sister, Mrs. Ruxton, who 
 was endeared to him by all the associations of early 
 youth, and her own charms of disposition. Mr. Rux- 
 ton had rather a grave and reserved manner, but a 
 warm heart and a keen enjoyment of humor. He 
 delighted in Maria's company. Several of their 
 children died young : Richard, Sophy, and Margaret 
 were Maria's life-long friends. Black Castle was 
 within a few hours' drive of Edgeworthstown, and a 
 visit to her aunt was one of Maria's great pleasures. 
 Mrs. Ruxton was a woman of wit and vivacity and 
 strong affections. Her grace and charm of manner 
 were such that a gentleman once said of her, " If I 
 were to see Mrs. Ruxton sitting in rags on the door- 
 step, I should say 'Madam' to her." 
 
90 A STUDY OP MAEIA EDGEWOKTH. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Maria's Method ot Work. — She joins her Father and Mother in 
 England. — Life at Clifton. — Dr. Darwin. — Mr. Edgeworth 
 meets old Friends. — Maria visits Friends. — Dr. Beddoes. — 
 Return to Ireland. — Disturbances in Ireland. — The "Freeman 
 Family." — "Letters for Literary Ladies." — "Practical Educa- 
 tion." — Continued Disturbances. — "Parent's Assistant." — At 
 Work on "Practical Education." — "Moral Tales." — Death of 
 Mrs. Elizaheth Edgeworth. — Friendship formed with the Beau- 
 fort Family. — Mr. Edgeworth marries Miss Beaufort. 
 
 In January, 1791, Mr. and Mrs. Edgeworth went 
 to England, leaving Maria in charge of the house 
 and the children. 
 
 The first story Maria wrote after that on " Gener- 
 osity," was " The Bracelets : " some of the tales now 
 in " Parent's Assistant " followed. " Dog Trusty," 
 and " The Honest Boy and the Thief," were written 
 at this time. She was in the habit of writing them 
 out on a slate, and reading them to her sisters : if 
 they approved, she copied them. At the period we 
 are considering, she was twenty-four years old, but 
 rather timid and doubtful of her powers. Her writ- 
 ing for children was the natural outgrowth of a 
 practical study of their wants and fancies ; and her 
 constant care of the younger children gave her ex- 
 actly the opportunity required to observe the devel- 
 opment of mind incident to the age and capacity 
 of several little brothers and sisters. 
 
maeia's writing. 91 
 
 She herself says of her manner of writing her 
 stories, — 
 
 "Whenever I thought of writing any thing, I always 
 told my father my first rough plans ; and always, with the 
 instinct of a good critic, he used to fix immediately upon 
 that which would best answer the purpose. ' Sketch that 
 and show it to me.' These words, from the experience 
 of his sagacity, never failed to inspire me with hope 
 of success. It was then sketched. Sometimes, when I 
 was fond of a particular part, I used to dilate on it in 
 the sketch ; but to this he always objected. ' I don't 
 want any of your painting — none of your drapery : I 
 can imagine all that ; let me see the bare skeleton.' " 
 
 She says, "Though publication was out of our 
 thoughts, as subjects occurred, many essays and tales 
 were written for private amusement." For several 
 years Maria wrote in this way for the amusement 
 and use of the family. Her father "would some- 
 times advise me," she adds, "to lay by what was 
 done for several months, and turn my mind to some- 
 thing else, that we might look back at it afterwards 
 with fresh eyes." 
 
 It would be well if all writers could restrain their 
 pen if they did not blot, — which Pope calls "the 
 last and greatest art," — waiting till time should 
 ripen their powers, and not do as so many modern 
 authors are in the habit of doing, — furnish the pub- 
 lic with a book a year. Want has too often kept 
 an over-worked brain grinding out literary produc- 
 tions which constantly lower the author's reputation. 
 We recognize this fact in modern times by the infe- 
 riority of average novelists' later works. A first 
 
92 A STUDY OP MAMA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 book is by no means the certain harbinger of a new- 
 series. It may be the only story worthy of reading 
 which its writer will produce. The public has ruined 
 many of its story-tellers by urging them to write too 
 much for their own fame and the reader's advantage. 
 Maria made a visit to Black Castle while her 
 father and mother were at Clifton. She left the 
 family in charge of a friend of the Sneyds who 
 was at Edgeworthstown, — Mrs. Mary Powys. This 
 lady was a devoted friend of Mrs. Honora Edge- 
 worth ; and to her she addressed the last note she 
 wrote, in which she says Mr. Edgeworth — 
 
 " Lite a kind angel whispers peace, 
 And smooths the bed of death." 
 
 After Maria's return home, her father sent for her 
 to join him at Clifton, bringing the younger children. 
 She travelled with four girls, two boys, and servants 
 from Edgeworthstown to England. This rather 
 large party of little people arrived in safety at Clif- 
 ton. The landlady at one inn on the way, seeing 
 so many nurses and little people get out of the 
 carriage, and the quantity of baggage, exclaimed, 
 " Haven't you brought the kitchen-grate too ? " When 
 they reached their destination, a package of guineas 
 placed in one of the trunks was found to be light, 
 and the friction had left a little heap of gold-dust. 
 In 1787, when Mrs. Elizabeth Edgeworth was recov- 
 ering from an illness, Mr. Edgeworth used to amuse 
 the assembled family, by telling a story of the Free- 
 man family. The next day Maria wrote down from 
 memory what he had told them the previous night. 
 
CLIFTON SPRINGS. 93 
 
 At Clifton he continued this story. In the course 
 of time she again worked on this; and, with many- 
 alterations and additions, it became what is known 
 as "Patronage." 
 
 The health of one of Mr. Edgeworth's sons kept 
 the family at Clifton for quite a time. They lived 
 there nearly two years. Maria says of her father 
 this time, — 
 
 " This was the first time I had ever been with him 
 away from home. In what is called the world, he was a 
 most entertaining guide and companion. His observations 
 upon characters, as they revealed themselves by slight cir- 
 cumstances, were amusing and just. He was a good 
 judge of manners, and of all that related to appearance, 
 both in men and women. . . . He did not like these 
 two-years' residence at Clifton. The mode of life at a 
 wa,ter-drinking place was not suited to him." 
 
 The eldest son of Mr. Edgeworth, who had left 
 the navy, and settled in North Carolina, where he 
 had married, made his family a visit during their 
 stay at Clifton. Maria was very fond of him, though 
 they had never seen much of each other. After his 
 return to America she wrote regretting it. 
 
 The family renewed their old intimacies, and saw 
 their friends in England easily, as Clifton was access- 
 ible. Maria saw many of her father's old friends 
 during their residence in England. In one letter she 
 writes, with evident pride and pleasure, that Dr. Dar- 
 win " has paid Lovell [her brother] a very handsome 
 compliment in his lines on the Barberini Vase, in the 
 first part of ' The Botanic Garden ' which my father 
 has just got." These are the lines : — 
 
91 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 " The warrior Liberty, with bending sails, 
 Helmed his bold course to fair Hibernia's vales ; 
 Firm as he steps along the shouting lands, 
 Lo I Truth and Virtue range their radiant bands ; 
 Sad Superstition wails her empire torn, 
 Art plies his oar, and Commerce pours her horn." 
 
 In the footnotes to the same work, there is one 
 describing an ingenious little automaton made out 
 of soft fir-wood by Mr. Edgeworth : by means of its 
 contraction and expansion, changes in the weather 
 could be calculated. When " The Botanic Garden " 
 came out, Mr. Edgeworth wrote to Dr. Darwin, — 
 
 " To have my name in a note to your work is, in my 
 opinion, to have it immortal ; and, as Mrs. Edgeworth 
 says, — 
 
 ' If it's allowed to poets to divine, 
 One-half of round eternity is mine.' " 
 
 Mr. Edgeworth did not consider Dr. Darwin's idea 
 of poetry a correct one, — that it should be word- 
 painting; but, when he found that he could not 
 influence him as to his theory of writing, he proposed 
 subjects to him which he thought could be treated 
 by him in the manner he preferred. He uro-ed Dr. 
 Darwin to write a "Cabinet of Gems." Edgeworth 
 wrote him that Maria said, " The manner in which 
 you mention your friends in your poem shows as 
 much generosity as your subjects show genius." 
 Maria admired Dr. Darwin very much. She calls 
 him "the common friend of genius and goodness, 
 which he had the happy talent of discovering, 
 attracting, and attaching." She mentions one of 
 
DB. DAEWnr. 95 
 
 his sayings : " A fool you know, Mr. Edgeworth, is a 
 man who never tried an experiment in his life." 
 
 Dr. Darwin had,- some years earlier (in 1781), 
 "married a young, rich, and lovely widow,^ who 
 allured him to quit Lichfield, and settle at Derby." 
 Mr. Edgeworth visited Dr. Darwin during his stay 
 at Clifton. Maria wrote of one occasion : — 
 
 "My father has just returned from Dr. Darwin's, 
 where he has been for nearly three weeks. They were 
 extremely kind, and pressed him very much to take a 
 house in or near Derby for the summer. He has been, as 
 Dr. Darwin expresses it, ' breathing the breath of life 
 into the brazen lungs of a clock,' which he had made at 
 Edgeworthstown as a present for him. He saw the first 
 part of Dr. Darwin's ' Botanic Garden : ' nine hundred 
 pounds was what his bookseller gave him for the whole ! 
 On his return from Derby, my father spent a day with 
 Mr. Keir, the great chemist, at Birmingham. He was 
 speaking to him of the late discovery of fulminating sil- 
 ver, with which I suppose your ladyship is well acquainted, 
 though it be new to Henry and me. A lady and gentle- 
 man went into a laboratory where a few grains of fulmi- 
 nating silver were lying in a mortar. The gentleman, as 
 he was talking, happened to stir it with the end of his 
 cane, which was tipped with iron. The fulminating silver 
 exploded instantly, and blew the lady, the gentleman, and 
 the whole laboratory to pieces ! Take care how you go 
 into laboratories with gentlemen, unless they are like Sir 
 Plume, skilled in the ' nice conduct ' of their canes." 
 
 " Sir Plume, of amber snufi-box justly vain, 
 And the nice conduct of a clouded cane." 
 
 1 Mrs. Pole of Eedburn. 
 
96 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 In another letter written about this time, Maria 
 f3peaks of the "'Romance of the Forest.' It has 
 been the fashionable novel here, everybody read and 
 talked of it. We were much interested in some 
 parts of it. It is something in the style of the 
 ' Castle of Otranto ; ' and the horrible parts we 
 thought well worked up ; but it is very difficult 
 to keep horror, breathless, with his mouth open, 
 through three volumes." 
 
 Mr. Edge worth renewed his early intimacy with 
 Watts, Keir of Birmingham, the biographer of Mr. 
 Day, and Wedgwood of Etruria. Besides seeing his 
 old friends whom he visited, he went often to Lon- 
 don, and saw his scientific friends there. Dr. Dar- 
 win at this time made him acquainted with " the in- 
 genious, indefatigable, and benevolent Mr. William 
 Strutt of Derby," at whose house the family often 
 enjoyed much hospitality when they visited England. 
 While he was making new friends, his attention was 
 called to the sudden illness of Lord Longford ; but, be- 
 fore he could return to Ireland to see him, news came 
 that he was no more. He was a great loss- to him. 
 
 Maria made a very pleasant visit to a former 
 school friend, Mrs. Charles Hoare (Miss Robinson), 
 in October, 1792. She had been a correspondent of 
 hers, and she enjoyed much seeing her again at her 
 pleasant home in Roehampton. Mrs. Hoare had 
 travelled much, and Maria listened with interest to 
 her description of foreign scenes. She wrote to her 
 cousin. Miss Sophy Ruxton, of this visit, that she 
 had notes half rubbed out in her pocket-book, "So- 
 phy, slave-ship; Sophy, rope-walk; Sophy, marine 
 
DE. BEDDOES. 97 
 
 acid ; Sophy, earthquake ; Sophy, glass house," — 
 all these items of iuformation being intended for her 
 cousin's benefit, when next they met. Mrs. Hoare's 
 descriptions of Lisbon and the sands of the Tagus, 
 etc., had furnished Maria with much food for 
 thought. A visit to London was made from Roe- 
 hampton, and thence she went to visit jMrs. Pow^-s. 
 In Julj-, 1793, Anna Edgeworth was engaged to Dr. 
 Thomas Beddoes. Maria was much interested in 
 this engagement. Anna was her youngest own sis- 
 ter. She says, — 
 
 "While we resided at Clifton we became acquainted 
 with the celebrated Dr. Beddoes,^ and it is remarkable 
 that this acquaintance was in consequence of the doctor's 
 gi-eat admu-ation for the character of Mr. Day. This had 
 induced Dr. Beddoes to seek the acquaintance of Mrs. 
 Day and of her friend Mr. Keir. When Dr. Beddoes 
 came to Clifton, with the view of settling as a physician, 
 Mr. Keir gave him a letter of introduction to my father, 
 who was, I believe, his first acquaintance there. My 
 father admired his abilities, was eager to cultivate his 
 society ; and, this intimacy continuing some months, he 
 had opportunities of assisting in establishing the doctor 
 at Clifton. In the autumn of 1793 we heard that dis- 
 turbances were beginning to break out in Ireland, and my 
 father thought it his duty to return there immediately. 
 Our preparations for leaving Clifton seemed particularly 
 to giieve and alarm Dr. Beddoes. During the summer's 
 acquaintance with our family, he had become strongly 
 attached to one of my sisters, — Anna. He had permis- 
 sion to follow her in the spring ; and they were mar- 
 ried at Edgeworthstown, on the 17th of April, 1794^." 
 
 1 Thomas Beddoes, distinguished physician and chemist, 1760-1808. 
 
98 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGIlWOETH. 
 
 In writing to a friend of her sister Anna's de- 
 parture, Maria tells the following anecdote : — 
 
 " Anna was extremely sorry that she could not see you 
 again before she left Ireland : but you will soon be in the 
 same kingdom again ; and that is one great point gained, 
 as Mr. Weaver, a travelling astronomical lecturer who 
 carried the universe about in a box, told us. 'Sir,' 
 said he to my father, ' when you look at a map, do you 
 know that the east is always on your right hand, and the 
 west on your left?' — 'Yes,' replied my father, with a 
 very modest look, 'I believe I do.' — 'Well,' said the 
 man of learning, ' that's one great point gained.' " 
 
 November, 1793, found the Edgeworths again at 
 their home in Ireland , and JMaria wrote about this 
 time, " I am scratching away very hard at the ' Free- 
 man Family '(' Patronage ')." 
 
 The disturbances in Ireland, which hastened Mr. 
 Edgeworth's return in 1793, "did not at first appear 
 formidable," says Maria: "though we were occasion- 
 ally alarmed by reports of outrages committed by 
 Heart-of-oak Boys and Defenders in distant counties ; 
 and though in our own there were some nightly 
 marauders, yet, upon the whole, our neighborhood 
 continued tolerably quiet." Rumors of a French 
 invasion continued to stir up disaffection and en- 
 courage these people. But after a time affairs 
 became more settled, and the arts of peace flour- 
 ished at Edgeworthstown ; though the services of 
 Mr. Edgeworth as justice were in active requisition 
 for seeking, apprehending, and convicting these vil- 
 lains and the bands of wretches who wandered round 
 marauding and destroying property and life. 
 
LETTERS EOR LITERARY LADIES. 99 
 
 At this time Mr. Eclgeworth offered his system 
 of telegraphing to the government. He spent some 
 five hundred pounds upon it at his own expense. 
 Lovell Edgeworth, by the request of Mr. Pelham, 
 brother of the Dulce of Newcastle, carried the model 
 to London ; but the government declined to avail 
 itself of this ingenious invention. In January of 
 1794, William, the last child of Mrs. Elizabeth Edge- 
 worth, was born. Mrs. Edgeworth was in very fee- 
 ble health for some years before her death. 
 
 Maria was very busy at this period with several 
 literary works. She wrote, about this time, of her 
 " Letters for Literary Ladies," and says she is sorry 
 that " they are not as well as can be expected, nor 
 are they likely to mend at present. They are now 
 disfigured by all manner of crooked marks of papa's 
 critical indignation, besides various abusive marginal 
 notes, which I would not have you see for half a 
 crown sterling." She wrote in the same year to her 
 aunt : " You are very good to wish for ' Toys and 
 Tasks,' but I think it would be most unreasonable 
 to send them to you now." " Toys and Tasks" was 
 the title of one of the chapters in " Practical Edu- 
 cation," which Maria had then begun to work upon. 
 
 "Practical Education" was suggested to Mr. Edge- 
 worth by Dr. Darwin; for he wrote the doctor, in 
 December, 1794, as follows : — 
 
 " Edgbwokthstown, Deo. 18, 179i. 
 . . . " In one of your letters some time ago, you advised 
 us to read Dugald Stewart,^ and to write upon education. 
 
 1 Dugald Stewart, professor of moral philosophy in the University 
 of Edinburgh. 1753-1828. 
 
100 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 Stewart we have read with great profit and pleasure, and 
 we are writing upon education. Maria recurs frequently 
 to your authority in a chapter on ' Attention,' and has, 
 I think (pardon my paternal partia,lity) , managed your 
 gigantic weapons with as much adroitness as could be 
 expected from a dwarf. Your new terms in Zoonomia 
 require to be mouthed frequently to make them famil- 
 iar ; and in conversation we sometimes forget our gram- 
 mar. She would write to ask you some questions if she 
 dared." . . . 
 
 Maria -wrote about this time of the occupations of 
 the family : — 
 
 " There is a balloon hanging up, and another going to 
 be put upon the stocks ; there is soap made and making 
 from a receipt in Nicholson's Chemistry ; there is excel- 
 lent ink made and to be made by the same book ; there is 
 a cake of roses just squeezed in a vise by my father, ac- 
 cording to the advice of Mme. de Lagaraye, the woman in 
 black cloak and ruffles, who weighs with unwearied scales, 
 in the frontispiece of a book, which perhaps my aunt re- 
 members, entitled ' Ch^mie de Gout, et de I'Odorat.' "• 
 
 A truly extraordinary catalogue of employments, 
 and Maria might have well put some of the books in 
 preparation into her list. 
 
 There were rumors of trouble now and then from 
 the Defenders, and a good deal of anxiety was felt 
 about the property in the neighborhood. Lord 
 Granard's carriage was pelted ; ^ people were robbed, 
 
 1 During the recent agitations in Ireland, tlie present Lord Gra- 
 nard, grandson of Maria's friend, Lady Moira, was compelled to seek 
 the aid of dragoons and constabulary. He is the head of the 
 Catholic Union of Ireland, a resident landlord, and a patriotic Irish- 
 man. His iirst wife, a great heiress, was descended from one of the 
 victims of 1798 ; but all this has not shielded him from annoyance. 
 
LETTERS FOR LITERARY LADIES. 101 
 
 roasted, and murdered sometimes. The White-Tooths, 
 Maria explains, were men who stuck '■'■tivo pieces of 
 broken tobacco-pipes at each corner of tlie mouth to 
 disguise the face and voice." These White-Tooths 
 are often mentioned in letters of the time. She 
 speaks of the time as " a whirlwind in our county." 
 One of the events of the year 1795, at Edge- 
 worthstown, was the arrival of Miss Mary and Miss 
 Charlotte Sneyd, who made it their home after this 
 time. Another pleasant occasion was the return of 
 Richard Edgeworth, who made his family and home 
 a visit in this year. He returned to America, where 
 he died in 1796. He left several children. In April, 
 1795, Maria wrote of finishing " Toys and Tasks." 
 
 In the year 1795, "Letters for Literary Ladies" 
 appeared. It was published by Joseph Johnson of 
 St. Paul's Churchyard. This was Maria's first pub- 
 lication. The " Letters " contained " Letter from a 
 Gentleman to his Friend on the Birth of a Daughter," 
 with the answer ; " Letters of Julia to Caroline ; " 
 and an essay on the "Noble Art of Self-Justifica- 
 tion." The book was very popular, and went through 
 several editions before 1814, and then appeared in 
 the collected works. 
 
 These essays are admirably written ; and the style 
 is clear and forcible, though perhaps a little anti- 
 quated. The ideas and opinions are sound and well 
 considered, and they will well repay the thoughtful 
 reader. Their influence was very great, and for many 
 years they were widely read and often quoted. 
 
 In 1796 Maria mentions her father doing her " the 
 honor to let me copy his election letters," when he 
 
102 A STUDY OP MARIA EDGBWOKTH. 
 
 failed of election as member of Parliament for Long- 
 ford. In the same year, encouraged by the pleasant 
 success of the letters, Maria published the collection 
 of tales now known as the "Parent's Assistant." 
 Years before, she had written many of these little 
 stories, which are full of wit, pathos, and life. Her 
 father named it " Parent's Friend," but Mr. Johnson 
 has degraded it into the " Parent's Assistant ; " which 
 I dislike particularly, from associations with an old 
 book of arithmetic, called " The Tutor's Assistant." 
 This small volume contained "The Purple Jar," 
 which was afterwards added to "Rosamond." The 
 other stories were "Little Dog Trusty," "The Orange 
 Man," "Tarlton," "Lazy Lawrence," "The False 
 Key," "The Bracelet," "Mademoiselle Panache," 
 "The Birthday Present," "Old Poz," "The Mimic." 
 " Simple Susan " was not written until after this 
 edition was printed. 
 
 In February, 1799, a little theatre was piit up for 
 the children ; and in it they acted Justice Poz, from 
 this book. Sneyd Edgeworth played the justice, 
 " Old Poz," with great spirit. 
 
 At this time the post town of Edgeworthstown 
 was Mullingar, fourteen miles ; and the mail only 
 went three times a week. That and high postage 
 rates made letters very scarce and a great treat. The 
 franking privilege was then in full vogue. At this 
 time Maria read and was entertained with " Nature 
 and Art " by Mrs. Inchbald, whose acquaintance she 
 made some years after. 
 
 In 1797 Mr. Johnson wished to publish some 
 copies of " Parent's Assistant," and make the edition 
 
"parent's assistant." 103 
 
 suitable for gifts. He used fine paper, and illustrated 
 it. Miss Beaufort, daughter of Dr. Beaufort, rector 
 of Navan, was making a visit at Edgewortlistown ; 
 and she made some designs which were used for the 
 book, and are still to be found in some copies of this 
 delightful little volume. Maria alludes to continu- 
 ing her work on " Practical Education," in 1797, and 
 says her father has written a chapter on " Grammar " 
 and one on "Mechanics." She says she has been 
 " up early for three mornings," under the pressure of 
 work this brought. 
 
 She began at this time to write some of the stories 
 which afterwards appear among her " Moral Tales." 
 She designed them as a sequel to the " Parent's 
 Assistant." She was thinking on the subject of 
 " Irish Bulls ; " though she wrote that she was not 
 nearly ready to write the essay, and was going 
 directly to "Parent's Assistant," meaning, probably, 
 the tales intended as a sequel. She asked one cor- 
 respondent for "any good anecdotes from the age 
 of five to fifteen years, good latitude and longitude 
 will suit me ; and, if you can tell me any pleas- 
 ing misfortunes of emigrants, so much the better. 
 I have a great desire to draw a picture of an anti- 
 Mademoiselle Panache, a well-informed, well-bred 
 French governess, an emigrant." — "I am going 
 to write a story for boys, which will, I believe, 
 make a volume to follow 'The Good French Gov- 
 erness.' " 
 
 In November of 1797, Mrs. Elizabeth Edgeworth 
 died, leaving a number of young children. 
 
 Maria says, — 
 
104 A STUDY OF MAEIA BDGBWOETH. 
 
 "During the fifteen preceding years of which I have 
 been giving an account, the variety of my father's em- 
 ployments never prevented him from attending to his 
 great object, — the education of his children. 
 
 "He explained and described clearly. He knew so 
 exactly the habits, powers, and knowledge of his pupils, 
 that he seldom failed in estimating what each could com- 
 prehend or accomplish. He saw at once where their diffi- 
 culty lay, and knew how far to assist, how far to urge, 
 the mind, and where to leave it entirely to its own exer- 
 tions. His patience in teaching was peculiarly meritori- 
 ous, I may say surprising, in a man of his vivacity. 
 
 "The reward of his praise was delightful, it was so 
 warmly, so fondly given. The cool by-stander might 
 have thought that it would inspire vanity ; but against 
 this danger there was a preservative : there was mixed 
 with the praise so much affectionate sympathy, so much 
 parental triumph in his children's success, that affection 
 for him was excited more than vanity for themselves ; 
 and they insensibly drew the conclusion, that affection is 
 better worth than admiration. 
 
 "In the succeeding year my father's pursuits were all 
 interrupted by domestic calamity. Mrs. Edgeworth's 
 health, which had long been precarious, rapidly declined. 
 She died in the year 1797. 
 
 "I have heard my father say, that during the seven- 
 teen years of his marriage with this lady, he never once 
 saw her out of temper, and never received from her an 
 unkind word or an angry look. Her solicitude and atten- 
 tion in the education of a large family of children were 
 unremitting, greater than her health could bear, and such 
 as even maternal affection would have found difficult, 
 perhaps impossible, to sustain, unless they had been sup- 
 ported by attachment to a husband of superior mind. 
 
MISS BEATTFOKT. 105 
 
 "My father was past fifty when he was left a third 
 time a widower, with a numerous family, four sons and 
 five daughters living with him, some of them grown up, 
 and some very young. Besides his children, two sisters 
 of the late Mrs. Edgeworth resided with us. They had 
 friends and connections in England, for whom they had 
 high esteem and affection ; yet they remained in Ireland 
 after their sister's death, continuing to form part of a 
 family attached to them, not only by the ties of kindred, 
 but by the strongest feelings of love and gratitude. . . . 
 
 " This was an auspicious omen to the common people 
 in our neighborhood, by whom they were universally 
 beloved : it spoke well, they said, for the new lady." 
 
 "Among the acquaintance and friends whose society he 
 cultivated at intervals when he emerged from his domestic 
 circle, was Dr. Beaufort, whose name is well known to 
 the British public as author of one of the best maps of 
 Ireland, with a valuable memoir of its topography. He 
 was stiU better known in his own country as an excellent 
 clergyman, pious and liberal, with most conciliating 
 manners. 
 
 "My father first met him at Mr. Foster's (afterwards 
 Lord Oriel) at Collon, of which place Dr. Beaufort was 
 vicar ; and afterwards saw him frequently at Black Castle, 
 the residence of my father's favorite sister, Mrs. Ruxton. 
 
 "Dr. Beaufort's literary tastes and delightful conver- 
 sation were peculiarly attractive to my father, who soon 
 became intimate with him and with his amiable family. 
 The eldest daughter possessed uncommon talents for 
 drawing; and, at the request of my aunt (Mrs. Ruxton), 
 Miss Beaufort sketched designs for some of my stories. 
 These were shown to my father ; and he criticised them as 
 freely as if they had not been the work of a lady, and 
 made for his daughter. He was charmed by the temper 
 
106 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGEWORTH. 
 
 and good sense with which his criticisms were received, 
 and, in a visit which she and her family paid at Edge- 
 worthstown, had an opportunity of seeing that she pos- 
 sessed exactly the temper, abilities, and disposition which 
 would insure the happiness of his family, as well as his 
 own, if he could hope to win her affections." 
 
 Maria writes of this event : — 
 
 " When I first knew of this attachment, and before I 
 was well acquainted with Miss Beaufort, I own that I did 
 not wish for the marriage. I had not my father's quick 
 penetration into character. I did not at first discover the 
 superior abilities and qualities which he saw : consequently 
 I did not anticipate any of the happy consequences from 
 this union which he foresaw. All that I thought, I told 
 him. With the most kind patience he bore with me, and, 
 instead of withdrawing his affection, honored me the more 
 with his confidence. He took me with him to CoUon, 
 threw open his whole mind to me, let me see all the 
 changes and workings of his heart. I remember his once 
 saying to me, ' I believe that no human creature ever saw 
 the heart of another more completely without disguise 
 than you have seen mine.' I can never, without the 
 strongest emotions of affection and gratitude, recollect 
 tlie infinite kindness he showed me at this time, the solici- 
 tude he felt for my happiness at the moment when all his 
 own was at stake, and while all his feelings were in the 
 agony of suspense : the consequence was, that no daugh- 
 ter ever felt more sympathy with a father than I felt for 
 him ; and assuredly the pains he took to make me fully 
 acquainted with the character of the woman he loved, 
 and to make mine known to her, were not thrown away. 
 Both her inclination and judgment decided in his favor." 
 
LETTER TO MISS BEATJEOET. 107 
 
 In the letter of May 16, 1798, which Maria wrote 
 to Miss Beaufort, on the occasion of her father's 
 announcement of his intended marriage, she says, — 
 
 "Among the many kindnesses my father has shown 
 me, the greatest, I think, has been his permitting me to 
 see his heart d, decouvert; and I have seen, by your kind 
 sincerity and his, that in good and cultivated rninds love 
 is no idle passion, but one that inspires useful and gen- 
 erous energy. I have been convinced by your example 
 of what I was always inclined to believe, that the power 
 of feeling affection is increased by the cultivation of the 
 understanding. The wife of an Indian Yogii (if a Yogii 
 be permitted to have a wife) might be a very affectionate 
 woman, but her sympathy with her husband could not 
 have a very extensive sphere. As his eyes are to be 
 continually fixed upon the point of his nose, hers, in 
 duteous sympathy, must squint in like manner ; and if 
 the perfection of his virtue be to sit so still that the birds 
 {vide Sacontala) may unmolested build nests in his hair, 
 his wife cannot better show her affection than by yielding 
 her tresses to them with similar patient stupidity. Are 
 there not European Yogiis, or men whose ideas do not go 
 much farther than le bout du nez? And how delightful it 
 must be to be chained, for better, for worse, to one of 
 this species ! I should guess — for I know nothing of the 
 matter — that the courtship of an ignorant lover must be 
 almost as insipid as a marriage with him ; for ' My jewel,' 
 continually repeated, without new setting, must surely 
 fatigue a little." 
 
 Both witty and wise. 
 
 In continuing the letter, she makes some very good 
 observations apropos of domestic life : — 
 
108 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 " I flatter myself that you will find me gratefully exact 
 en helle-fille. I think there is a great deal of difference 
 between that species of ceremony which exists with 
 acquaintance, and that which should always exist with the 
 best of friends. The one prevents the growth of affec- 
 tion, the other preserves it in youth and age. Many fool- 
 ish people make fine plantations, and forget to fence 
 them : so that the young trees are destroyed by the young 
 cattle, and the bark of the forest trees is sometimes in- 
 jured. You need not, my dear Miss Beaufort, fence 
 yourself round with stony palings in this family, where all 
 have been early accustomed to mind their boundaries. 
 As for me, you see my intentions, or at least my theories, 
 are good enough. If my practice be but half as good, 
 you will be content, will you not ? But theory was born 
 in Brobdignag, and practice in Lilliput. So much the 
 better for me." 
 
 This allusion was in reference to her own diminu- 
 tive figure. 
 
 Some very harsh comments were made by the 
 reviewer of Mr. Edgeworth's memoirs on Maria's 
 conduct in accepting gracefully successive step- 
 mothers. He characterized her action as "indeli- 
 cate." It is difficult to understand just what the 
 gentleman would have had a young lady do under 
 like circumstances ; and, after reading the extract 
 from the letter she wrote Miss Beaufort, one is more 
 inclined to admire her womanly and judicious feel- 
 ing than to cavil at her cheerful acquiescence in the 
 inevitable. She gracefully took a second place where 
 she had been first. She was somewhat older than 
 Miss Beaufort. 
 
ME. EDGEWOETH'S EOUPvTH maeeiage. 109 
 
 Mr. Edgeworth wrote Dr. Darwin as follows : — 
 
 [To Dr. Darwin. I 
 
 " 1798. 
 
 . . . "And now for my piece of news, wliicli I have 
 kept for tlie last. I am going to be married to a young 
 lady of small fortune and large aceomplisliments, — com- 
 pared with my age, much youth (not quite thirty) , and 
 more prudence, — some beauty, more sense, — uncommon 
 talents, more uncommon temper, — liked in my family, 
 loved by me. If I can say all this three years hence, 
 shall not I have been a fortunate, not to say a wise 
 man ? ' ' 
 
 While travelling to Dublin in the stage-coach, to 
 marry Miss Beaufort, Mr. Edgeworth had a conver- 
 sation with a friend, who made the following remark 
 to him : — 
 
 "'No man, you know,' said he, 'but a fool, would 
 venture to make a first speech in Parliament, or to marry, 
 after he was fifty.' 
 
 "My father laughed, and, surrendering all title to wis- 
 dom, declared that, though he was past fifty, he was 
 actually going, in a few days as he hoped, to be married, 
 and in a few months would probably make his ' first 
 speech in Parliament.' " 
 
 Mr. Edgeworth was married in Dublin, May 31, 
 1798, to Miss Beaufort ; and they returned immedi- 
 ately to Edgeworthstown, through a part of the 
 country which was in actual insurrection, as there 
 were threats of a French invasion. They arrived 
 there in safety. Mrs. Edgeworth long afterwards 
 wrote of her reception : — • 
 
110 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOKTH. 
 
 "All agreed in making me feel at once at home, and 
 part of the family. All received me with the most un- 
 affected cordiality, but with Maria it was something more. 
 She more than fulfilled the promise of her letter : she 
 made me at once her most intimate friend ; and in all the 
 serious concerns of life, and in every trifle of the day, 
 treated me with the most generous confidence." 
 
 Maria, in writing of the disturbances at a distance, 
 after describing the pleasure of the family in wel- 
 coming Mrs. Edgeworth, says, — 
 
 "I am going on in the old way, — writing stories. I 
 cannot be a captain of dragoons, and sitting with my 
 hands before me would not make any of us one degree 
 safer. I know nothing of 'Practical Education.' It is 
 advertised to be published. I have a volume of wee-wee 
 stories, about the size of 'The Purple Jar,' all about 
 Rosamond. ' Simple Susan ' went to Fox Hall a few 
 days ago, for Lady Anne (Fox) to carry to England." 
 
FKBNCH INVASION. Ill 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Internal Dissensions. — French Invasion. —The Edgeworths' Alarm. 
 — Their Flight. — They return to Edgeworthstown. — Defeat o£ 
 the French. — Quiet restored. — " Practical Education " pub- 
 lished.— The Plan of this Worli. 
 
 Maeia writes of this time and its unsettled condi- 
 tion : — 
 
 " The summer of 1798 passed without any interruption 
 of our domestic tranquillity. Though disturbances in dif- 
 ferent parts of Ireland had broken out, yet now, as in 
 former trials, the county of Longford remained quiet, — 
 free at least from open insurrection, and, as far as ap- 
 peared, the people well disposed. 
 
 " Towards the autumn of the year 1798, this country 
 became in such a state, that the necessity for resorting to 
 the sword seemed imminent. Even in the county of 
 Longford, which had so long remained quiet, alarming 
 symptoms appeared ; not immediately in our neighbor- 
 hood, but within six or seven miles of us, near Granard. 
 In the adjacent counties military law had been proclaimed, 
 and our village was within a mile of the bounds of the dis- 
 turbed county of Westmeath. Though his own tenantry, 
 and all in whom he had put trust, were quiet, and, as far 
 as he could judge, well disposed ; yet my father was aware, 
 from information of too good authority to be doubted, 
 that numbers of disaffected persons throughout Ireland 
 were leagued in secret rebellion, and waited only for the 
 arrival of the French to break out. 
 
112 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 "Previous to this time, the principal gentry in the 
 county had raised corps of yeomanry ; but my father, who 
 had held for some months the commission of captain of 
 yeoman cavalry, had delayed doing so, because as long as 
 the civil authority had been sufficient he was unwilling to 
 resort to military interference, or to the ultimate law of 
 force, of the abuse of which he had seen too many recent 
 examples. However, it now became necessary, even for 
 the sake of justice to his own tenantry, that they should 
 be put upon a footing with others, have equal security of 
 protection, and an opportunity of evincing their loyal dis- 
 positions. He therefore determined to raise a corps of 
 infantry, which would accommodate a poorer class of the 
 people, and to admit Catholics as well as Protestants. 
 This was so unusual, and thought to be so hazardous a 
 degree of liberality, that by some of an opposite party it 
 was attributed to the worst motives. Many who wished 
 him well came privately to let him know of the odium to 
 which he exposed himself. The timid hinted fears and 
 suspicions that he was going to put arms into the hands 
 of men who would desert or betray him in the hour of 
 trial, who miglit find themselves easily absolved from 
 holding any faitli with a Protestant, and with one of a 
 family, of whom the head, in former times, had been dis- 
 tinguished by the appellation of Protestant Frank. He 
 thanked his secret advisers, but openly and steadily 
 abided by his purpose. ... On his own part, my father 
 knew the risk he ran ; but he braved it. ' ' 
 
 About this time Maria, in a letter describing tlie 
 distressing uncertainties of the time, says, — 
 
 " My father has made our little rooms so nice for us : 
 they are all fresh painted and papered. O Eebels ! O 
 
FEENCH INVASIOjr. 113 
 
 French ! Spare them ! We have never injured you, and 
 all we wish is to see everybody as happy as ourselves." 
 
 Continuing her description of affairs, she says, — 
 
 "The corps of Edgeworthstown infantry was raised; 
 and my father's nephew Mr. Fox, wlio had been lieuten- 
 ant-colonel of the Longford militia, was appointed one of 
 the lieutenants. But the arms were, by some mistake of 
 the ordnance-office, delayed. The anxiety for their arri- 
 val was extreme, for every day and every hour the French 
 were expected to land. 
 
 " At the first appearance of disturbance in Ireland, he 
 had offered to carry his sisters-in-law, the Misses Sneyd, 
 to their friends in England ; but this offer they refused. 
 Of the domestics, three men were English and Protestant, 
 two Irish and Catholic ; the women were all Irish and 
 Catholic, excepting the housekeeper, an Englishwoman, 
 who had lived with us many years. There were no dis- 
 sensions or suspicions between the Catholics and Protest- 
 ants in the family, and the English servants did not de- 
 sire to quit us at this crisis. 
 
 "At last came the dreaded news. The French, who 
 landed at Killala, were, as we learned, on their march to- 
 wards Longford. The touch of Ithuriel's spear could not 
 have been more sudden or effectual, than the arrival of 
 this intelligence, in showing people in their real forms. 
 In some faces joy struggled for a moment with feigned 
 sorrow, and then, encouraged by sympathy, yielded to the 
 natural expression. Still my father had no reason to dis- 
 trust those in whom he had placed confidence : his tenants 
 were steady ; he saw no change in any of the men of his 
 corps, though they were in the most perilous situation, 
 having rendered themselves obnoxious to the rebels and 
 invaders by becoming yeomen, and yet standing without 
 
114 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 means of resistance or defence, their arms not having 
 arrived. 
 
 ' ' The evening of tlie day when the news of the suc- 
 cess and approach of tlie French came to Edgeworthstown, 
 all seemed quiet ; but early the next morning, Sept. 4, a 
 report reached us, that the rebels were up in arms within 
 a mile of the village, pouring in from the county of West- 
 meath hundreds strong. Such had been the tranquillity 
 of the preceding night, that we could not at first believe 
 their report. An hour afterwards it was contradicted. 
 An English servant, who was sent out to ascertain the 
 truth, brought back word that he had ridden three miles 
 from the village on the road described, and that he had 
 seen only twenty or thirty men with green boughs in their 
 hats and pilses in their hands, who said '■'■ that they ivere 
 standing there to protect themselves against the Orange- 
 men, of tvhom they icere in dread, and who, as they heard, 
 luere coming down to cut them to pieces." This was all 
 nonsense, but no better sense could be obtained. Report 
 upon report, equally foolish, was heard, or at least uttered. 
 But this much being certain, that men armed with pilves 
 were assembled, my father sent off an express to the 
 next garrison-town (Longford), requesting the command- 
 ing officer to send him assistance for the defence of this 
 place. He desired us to be prepared to set out at a 
 moment's warning. We were under this uncertainty, 
 when an escort with an ammunition-cart passed through 
 the -I'illage on its way to Longford. It contained several 
 barrels of j^owder, intended to blow up the bridges, and 
 to stop the progress of the enemy. One of the officers 
 of the party rode up to our house, and offered to let us 
 have the advantage of his escort. But, after a few min- 
 utes deliberation, this friendly proposal was declined. 
 My father determined that he would not stir till he knew 
 
EXPLOSION OF AMMUNITION-CART. 115 
 
 whether he could have assistance ; and, as it did not 
 appear as yet absolutely necessary that we should go, we 
 staid — fortunately for us ! 
 
 "About a quarter of an hour after the officer and the 
 escort had departed, we, who were all assembled in the 
 portico of the house, heard a report like a loud clap of 
 thunder. The doors and windows shook with some vio- 
 lent concussion : a few minutes afterwards the officer gal- 
 loped into the yard, and threw himself into my father's 
 arms almost senseless. The ammunition-cart had blown 
 up : one of the officers had been severely wounded, and 
 the horses and the man leading them killed ; the wounded 
 officer was at a farmhouse on the Longford road, at about 
 two miles distance. The fear of the rebels was now sus- 
 pended in concern for this accident. Mrs. Edgeworth 
 went immediately to give her assistance : she left her 
 carriage for the use of the wounded gentleman, and rode 
 back. At the entrance of the village she was stopped by 
 a gentleman in great terror, who, taking hold of the bridle 
 of her horse, begged her not to attempt to go farther, 
 assuring her that the rebels were coming into the town. 
 But she answered that she must and would return to her 
 family. She rode on, and found us waiting anxiously 
 for her. No assistance could be afforded from Longford ; 
 the rebels were re-assembling, and advancing towards the 
 village ; and there was no alternative but to leave our 
 home as fast as possible. One of our carriages having 
 been left with the wounded officer, we had but one other 
 at this moment for our whole family, eleven in number. 
 No mode of conveyance could be had for some of the 
 female servants : our faithful English housekeeper offered 
 to stay till the return of the carriage which had been left 
 with the officer ; and, as we could not carry her, we were 
 obliged, most reluctantly, to leave her behind, to follow, 
 
116 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWORTH. 
 
 as we hoped, immediately. As we passed through the 
 village, we heard nothing but the entreaties, lamentations, 
 and objurgations of those who could not procure the 
 means of carrying off their goods or theu- families : most 
 painful when we could give no assistance. 
 
 "Next to the safety of his own family, my father's 
 greatest anxiety was for his defenceless corps. No men 
 could behave better than they did at this first moment of 
 trial. Not one absented himself ; though many, living at 
 a distance, might, if they had been so inclined, have 
 found plausible excuses for non-appearance. The bugle 
 was not sounded to call them together ; but they were in 
 their ranks in the street the moment they had their cap- 
 tain's orders, declaring that whatever he commanded they 
 would do. He ordered them to march to Longford. The 
 idea of going to Longford could not be agreeable to many 
 of them, who were Catholics, because that town was full 
 of those who called themselves, — I would avoid using 
 party-names if I could, but I can no otherwise make the 
 facts intelligible, — who called themselves Orangemen, 
 and who were not supposed to have favorable opinions of 
 any of another religious persuasion. There was no re- 
 luctance shown, however, by the Catholics of this corps 
 to go among them. The moment the word ' march ' was 
 uttered by their captain, they marched with alacrity. One 
 of my brothers, a youth of fifteen, was in their ranks : 
 another, twelve years old, marched with them. 
 
 "We expected every instant to hear the shout of the 
 rebels entering Edgeworthstown. "When we had got 
 about half a mile out of the village, my father suddenly 
 recollected that he had left on his table a paper contain- 
 ing a list of his corps, and that, if this should come into 
 the hands of the rebels, it might be of dangerous conse- 
 quence to his men : it would serve to point out their 
 
FLIGHT TO LONGFORD. 117 
 
 houses for pillage, and their families for destruction. He 
 turned his horse instantly, and galloped back. The time 
 of his absence appeared immeasurably long ; but he re- 
 turned safely, after having destroyed the dangerous 
 paper. 
 
 " About two miles from the village was the spot where 
 the ammunition-cart had been blown up. The dead 
 horses, swollen to an unnatural bulk, were Ij'ing across 
 the road. As we approached, we saw two men in an ad- 
 joining field looking at the remains of one of the soldiers, 
 who had been literally blown to pieces. Tliey ran toward 
 us ; and we feared that they were rebels, going to stop us. 
 They jumped over the ditch, and seized our bridles, but 
 with friendly intent. With no small difficulty they dragged 
 us past the dead horses, saying, ' God speed you ! and 
 make haste anyway ! ' We were very ready to take their 
 advice. After this, on the six long miles of the road 
 from Edgeworthstown to Longford, we did not meet a 
 human being. It was all silent and desert, as if every 
 creature had fled from the cabins by the roadside. 
 
 " Longford was crowded with yeomanry of various 
 corps, and with the inhabitants of the neighborhood, who 
 had flocked thither for protection. With great difficulty 
 the poor Edgeworthstown infantry found lodgings. We 
 were cordially received by the landlady of a good inn. 
 Though her house was, as she said, ' fuller than it could 
 hold ; ' yet she, being an old friend of my father's, did 
 contrive to give us two rooms, in which we eleven were 
 thankful to find ourselves. 
 
 " All our concern now was for those we had left behind. 
 We heard nothing of our housekeeper all night, and were 
 exceedingly alarmed ; but early the next morning, to our 
 great joy, she arrived. She told us, that, after we had 
 left her, she waited hour after hour for the carriage. She 
 
118 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 could hear nothing of it, as it had gone to Longford with 
 tlie wounded officer. Towards evening a large body of 
 rebels entered the village. She heard them at the gate, 
 and expected that they would have broken in the next 
 instant. But one, who seemed to be a leader, with a pike 
 in his hand, set his back against the gate, and swore that, 
 if he was to die for it the next minute, he would have 
 the hfe of the first man who should open that gate, or set 
 enemy's foot within side of that place. He said the 
 housekeeper, who was left in it, was a good gentlewoman, 
 and had done him a service, though sJie did not know Mm, 
 7ior he her. He had never seen her face ; but she had, 
 the year before, lent his wife, when in distress, sixteen 
 shillings, the rent of flax-ground, and he would stand her 
 friend now. 
 
 " He kept back the mob: they agreed to send him to 
 the house with a deputation of six, to know the truth, and 
 to ask for arms. The six men went to the back-door, 
 and summoned the housekeeper. One of them pointed 
 his blunderbuss at her, and told her that she must fetch 
 all the arms in the house. She said she had none. Her 
 champion aslred her to say if she remembered him. ' No : 
 to her knowledge, she had never seen his face.' He asked 
 if she remembered having lent a woman money to pay 
 her rent of flax-ground the year before. 'Yes,' she re- 
 membered that ; and named the woman, the time, and 
 the sum. His companions were thus satisfled of the truth 
 of what he had asserted. He bid her not to be frighted, 
 for that no harm should happen to her nor any belonging 
 to her : not a soul should get leave to go into her master's 
 house ; not a twig should be touched, nor a leaf harmed. 
 His companions huzzaed, and went off. Afterwards, as 
 she was told, he mounted guard at the gate during the 
 whole time the rebels were in town. 
 
"ORANGE," OE "YELLOW." 119 
 
 " When the carriage at last returned, it was stopped 
 by the rebels, who filled the street. They held their pikes 
 to the horses, and to the coachman's breast, accusing 
 him of being an Orangeman, because, as tliey said, he 
 wore the Orange colors (our livery being yellow and 
 brown). A painter, a friend of ours, who had been that 
 day at our house copying some old family portraits, hap- 
 pened to be in the street at that instant, and called out to 
 the mob, ' Gentlemen., it is yellow ! Gentlemen, it is not 
 oraiige!' Inconsequence of this happy distinction they 
 let go the coachman ; and the same man, who had mounted 
 guard at the gate, came up with his friends, rescued the 
 carriage, and, surrounding the coachman with their pikes, 
 brought him safely into the yard. The pole of the car- 
 riage having been broken in the first onset, the house- 
 keeper could not leave Edgeworthstown till morning. 
 She passed the night in walking up and down, listening 
 and watching ; but the rebels returned no more, and thus 
 our house was saved by the gratitude of a single indi- 
 vidual. 
 
 " We had scarcely time to rejoice in the escape of our 
 housekeeper, and safety of our house, when we found 
 that new dangers arose even from this escape. Even 
 from the house being spared, jealousy and suspicion arose 
 in the minds of many, who at this time saw every thing 
 through the midst of party prejudice. The dislike to my 
 father's corps appeared every hour more strong. He saw 
 the consequences that might arise from the slightest 
 breaking-out of quarrel. It was not possible for him to 
 send his men, unarmed as they still were, to their homes, 
 lest they should be destroyed by the rebels : yet the 
 officers of the other corps wished to have them ordered 
 out of the town, and to this effect joined in a memorial 
 to government. . . . 
 
120 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGBWOETH. 
 
 "These petty dissensions were, however, at one mo- 
 ment suspended and forgotten in a general sense of 
 danger. An express arrived late one night, with the 
 news that the French, who were rapidly advancing, were 
 within a few miles of the town of Longford. A panic 
 seized the people. There were in the town eighty of the 
 carabineers and two corps of yeomanry, but it was pro- 
 posed to evacuate the garrison. My father strongly op- 
 posed this measure ; and undertook, with fifty men, if 
 arms and ammunition were supplied, to defend the jail 
 of Longford, where there was a strong pass, at which the 
 enemy might be stopped. He urged that a stand might 
 be made there till the king's army should come up. The 
 offer was gladly accepted : men, arms, ammunition, all he 
 could want or desire, were placed at his disposal. He 
 slept that night in the jail, with every thing prepared for 
 its defence. But the next morning fresh news came, that 
 the French had turned off from the Longford road, and 
 were going towards Granard : of this, however, there was 
 no certainty. My father, by the desire of the command- 
 ing officer, rode out to reconnoitre ; and my brother went 
 to the top of the court-house with a telescope, for the 
 same purpose. We (Mrs. Edgeworth, my aunts, my sis- 
 ters, and myself) were waiting to hear the result in one 
 of the upper sitting-rooms of the inn, which fronted the 
 street. We heard a loud shout ; and, going to the win- 
 dow, we saw the people throwing up their hats, and heard 
 huzzas. An express had arrived, with news that the 
 Frencli and the rebels had been beaten ; that Gen. Lake 
 had come up with them, at a place called Ballynamuck, 
 near Granard ; that fifteen hundred rebels and French 
 were killed, and that the French generals and officers were 
 prisoners. 
 
 "We were impatient for my father, when we heard 
 
LONGFORD. 121 
 
 this joyful news. He had not yet returned, and we looked 
 out of the windows in hopes of seeing him ; but we 
 could see only a great number of the people of the town, 
 shaking hands with each other. This lasted a few min- 
 utes ; and then the crowd gathered in silence round one 
 man, who spoke with angry vehemence and gesticulation, 
 stamping, and frequently wiping his forehead. We 
 thought he was a mountebank haranguing the populace, 
 till we saw that he wore a uniform. Listening with curi- 
 osity, to make out what he was saying, we observed that 
 he looked up towards us ; and we thought we heard him 
 pronounce the names of my father and brother in tones of 
 insult. We could scarcely believe what we heard him 
 say. Pointing up to the top of the court-house, he ex- 
 claimed, — 
 
 " ' That young Edgeworth ought to be dragged down 
 from the top of that house.' Our housekeeper burst 
 into the room, so much terrified she could hardly speak. 
 
 " ' My master, ma'am ! it is all against my master ! 
 The mob say they will tear him to pieces if they catch 
 hold of him. They say he's a traitor, — that he illumi- 
 nated the jail to deliver it up to the French. ' 
 
 " No words can give an idea of our astonishment. Illu- 
 minated ! What could be meant by the jail being illumi- 
 nated? My father had literally but two farthing candles, 
 by the light of which he had been reading the newspaper 
 late the preceding night. These, however, were said to 
 be signals for the enemy ! The absurdity of the whole 
 was so glaring that we could scarcely conceive the danger 
 to be real : but our pale landlady's fears were urgent ; she 
 dreaded that her house should be pulled down. We found 
 that the danger was not the less because the accusation 
 was false. On the contrary, it was great in proportion to 
 its absurdity ; for the people who could at once be under 
 
122 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGE-WORTH. 
 
 such a perversion of intellects, and such an illusion of 
 their senses, must indeed be in a state of frenzy. 
 
 ' ' The crowd had by this time removed from before the 
 windows, but we heard that they were gone to that end 
 of the town through which they expected Mr. Edgeworth 
 to return. 
 
 " We sent immediately to the commanding officer, in- 
 forming him of what we had heard, and requesting his 
 advice and assistance. He came to us, and recommended 
 that we should despatch a messenger to warn Mr. Edge- 
 worth of his danger, and to request that he would not 
 return to Longford this day. The officer added, that, in 
 consequence of the rejoicings for the victory, his men 
 would probably be all drunk in a few hours, and that he 
 could not answer for them. This officer, a captain of 
 yeomanry, was a good-natured but inefficient man, who 
 spoke under considerable nervous agitation, and seemed 
 desirous to do all he could, but not to be able to do any 
 thing. We wrote instantly, and with difficulty found a 
 man who undertook to convey the note. It was to be 
 carried to meet him on one road, and Mrs. Edgeworth and 
 I determined to drive out to meet him on the other. We 
 made our way down to the inn-yard, where the carriage 
 was ready. .Several gentlemen spoke to us as we got into 
 the carriage, begging us not to be alarmed. Mrs. Edge- 
 worth replied that she was more surprised than alarmed. 
 The commanding officer and the sovereign of Longford 
 walked by the side of the carriage through the town ; and, 
 as the mob believed that we were going away not to 
 return, we got through without molestation. We went a 
 few miles on the road towards Edgeworthstown, till, at 
 a tenant's house, we heard that my father had passed by 
 half an hour ago ; that he was riding in company with an 
 officer, supposed to be of Lord Cornwallis's or Gen. 
 
rKENCH PEISONEES. 123 
 
 Lake's army ; that they had taken a short cut, which led 
 into Longford by another entrance, — most fortunate!}', 
 not that at which an armed mob had assembled, expecting 
 the object of their fury. Seeing him return to the inn 
 with an officer of the king's army, they imagined, as we 
 were afterwards told, that he was brought back a pris- 
 oner ; and they were satisfied. 
 
 " The moment we saw him safe, we laughed at our own 
 fears, and again doubted the reality of the clanger ; more 
 especially, as he treated the idea with the utmost incredu- 
 lity and scorn. 
 
 "Major (now Gen.) Eustace was the officer who re- 
 turned with him. He dined with us. Every thing appeared 
 quiet : the persons who had taken refuge at the inn were 
 now gone to their homes ; and it was supposed, that, what- 
 ever dispositions to riot had existed, the news of the 
 approach of some of Lord Cornwallis's suite, or of troops 
 who were to bring in the French prisoners, would prevent 
 all probability of disturbance. In the evening the pris- 
 oners arrived at the inn. A crowd followed them, but 
 quietly. A sun-burnt, coarse-looking man, in a huge 
 cocked hat, with a quantity of gold lace on his clotlies, 
 seemed to fix all attention. He was pointed out as the 
 French general, Homburg, or Sarrazin. As he dis- 
 mounted from his horse, he threw the bridle over its neck, 
 and looked at the animal as if he felt that he was his only 
 friend. 
 
 "We heard my father in the evening ask Major Eus- 
 tace to walk with him through the town to the barrack- 
 yard to evening parade ; and we saw them go out to- 
 gether, without our feeling the slightest apprehension. 
 "We remained at the inn. By tliis time Col. Handfield, 
 Major Cannon, and some other officers had arrived, and 
 were at dinner in a parlor on the ground floor, under our 
 
124 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGEWORTH. 
 
 room. It being hot weather, the windows were open. 
 Nothing now seemed to be thought of but rejoicings for 
 the victory. Candles were preparing for an illumination : 
 waiters, chambermaids, landlady, all hands were busy 
 scooping turnips and potatoes for candlesticks, to stand 
 in every pane of every loyal window. 
 
 " In the midst of this preparation, about half an hour 
 after my father had left us, we heard a great uproar iu 
 the street. At first we thought the shouts were only re- 
 joicings for victory : but, as they came nearer, we heard 
 screechings and yellings, indescribably horrible. A mob 
 had gathered at the gates of the barrack-yard, and, joined 
 by many soldiers of the yeomanry on leaving parade, had 
 followed Major Eustace and my father from the barracks. 
 The major being this evening in colored clothes, the peo- 
 ple no longer knew him to be an officer, nor conceived, as 
 they had done before, that Mr. Edgeworth was his 
 prisoner. The mob had not contented themselves with 
 the horrid yells that we had heard, but had been pelting 
 them with hard turf, stones, and brickbats. From one of 
 these my father received a blow on the side of his head, 
 coming with such force as to stagger and almost to stun 
 him ; but he kept himself up, knowing that if once he foil 
 he should be trampled under foot. He walked on steadily 
 till he came within a few yards of the inn, when one of 
 the mob seized hold of Major Eustace by the collar. My 
 father, seeing the windows of the inn open, called with a 
 loud voice, ' Major Eustace is in danger ! ' 
 
 "The ofHcers, who were at dinner, and who till that 
 moment had supposed the noise iu the street to be only 
 drunken rejoicings, immediately ran out. At the sight of 
 British officers and drawn swords, the populace gave way, 
 and dispersed in different directions. 
 
 " The preparation for the illuminations then went on, 
 
EETUEN HOME. 125 
 
 as if nothing had intervened. All the panes of onr win- 
 dows in the front room were in a blaze of light by the 
 time the mob returned through the street. The night 
 passed without further disturbance. 
 
 ' ' As early as we could the next morning we left Long- 
 ford, and returned homewards ; all danger from rebels be- 
 ing now over, the rebellion having been terminated by the 
 late battle. 
 
 " "When we came near Edgeworthstown, we saw many 
 well-known faces at the cabin-doors, looking out to wel- 
 come us. One man, who was sitting on the bank of a 
 ditch by the roadside, when he looked up as our horses 
 passed, and saw my father, clasped his hands, and blessed 
 our return ; his face, as the morning sun shone upon it, 
 was the strongest picture of joy I ever saw. The^village 
 was a melancholy spectacle, — windows shattered, and 
 doors broken. But though the- mischief done was gi-eat, 
 there had been little pillage. Within our gates we found 
 all property safe ; literally ' not a twig touched, nor a leaf 
 harmed.' "Within the house every thing was as we had 
 left it : a map that we had been consulting was still open 
 upon the library- table, with pencils, and slips of paper 
 containing the lessons in arithmetic, in which some of the 
 young people had been engaged the morning we had been 
 driven from home ; a pansy, in a glass of water, which 
 one of the children had been drawing, was still on the 
 chimney-piece. These trivial circumstances, marking re- 
 pose and tranquillity, struck us at this moment with an 
 unreasonable sort of surprise, and all that had passed 
 seemed like an incoherent dream. The joy of having my 
 father in safety remained, and gratitude to Heaven for his 
 preservation. These feelings spread inexpressible pleas- 
 ure over what seemed to be a new sense of existence. 
 Even the most common things appeared delightful : the 
 
126 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGBWORTH. 
 
 green lawn, the still groves, the birds singing, the fresh 
 air, all external nature, and all the goods and conveniences 
 of life, seemed to have wonderfully increased in value, 
 from the fear into which we had been put of losing them 
 irrecoverably. 
 
 " The first thing my father did, the day we came home, 
 was to draw up a memorial to the lord-lieutenant, desir- 
 ing to have a court-martial held on the sergeant, who, by 
 haranguing the populace, had raised the mob at Longford ; 
 his next care was to walk through the village, to examine 
 what damage had been done by the rebels, and to order 
 that repairs of all his tenants' houses should be made at 
 his expense. A few days after our return, government 
 ordered that the arms of the Edgeworthstown infantry 
 should be forwarded by the commanding officer at Long- 
 ford. Through the whole of their hard week's trial, the 
 corps had, without any exception, behaved perfectly well. 
 It was perhaps more difficult to honest and brave men 
 passively to bear such a trial than to encounter any to 
 which they could have been exposed in action. 
 
 "When the arms for the corps arrived, my father, in 
 delivering them to the men, thanked them publicly for their 
 conduct, assuring them that he would remember it when- 
 ever he should have opportunities of serving them, collect- 
 ively or individually. In long after years, as occasions 
 arose, each, who continued to deserve it, found in him a 
 friend, and felt that he more than fulfilled his promise." 
 
 Maria, with her father and mother, visited the 
 scene of the battle at Ballynamuck ; and she found 
 some difficulty in managing her saddle-horse "Dap- 
 ple," who did not like all the sights of the camp as 
 well as she did. There was another alarm of a 
 rising of the rebels at Granard, which occasioned 
 
QtriET EESTOEED. 127 
 
 a barricading of the house, and watches being set 
 all day and night in the town and houses at Edge- 
 worthstown and the neighborhood; but the rising 
 was suppressed, and the tide of insurrection and 
 war passed. We hear no more of this, except the 
 trials of the insurgents. In speaking of the after 
 events, Maria writes : — 
 
 " Some few, very few indeed, of his tenantry on a 
 remote estate — alas ! too near Ballynamuck — did join 
 the rebels. These persons were never re-admitted on my 
 father's estate. But it was difficult, in certain cases, to 
 know what ought to be done ; for instance, with regard 
 to the man who had saved our house from pillage, but 
 who had certainly been joined with the rebels. It was 
 the wise policy of government to pardon those who had 
 not been ringleaders in this rebellion, and who, repenting 
 of their folly, were desirous to return to their allegiance 
 and to their peaceable duties. My father sent for this 
 man, and said he would apply to government for a pardon 
 for him. The man smiled, and clapping his pocket said, 
 ' I have my Corny here safe already, I thank your honor, 
 else sure I would not have been such a fool as to be 
 showing myself without I had & purtection,' ■ — a pardon 
 signed by the lord-lieutenant. Lord Cornwallis, in their 
 witty spirit of abbreviation, they called a Corny. 
 
 " When my father said, that, however much we were 
 obliged to him for saving the house, we could not reward 
 him for being a rebel, he answered, ' Oh, I know that I 
 could not expect it, nor look for any thing at all, but what 
 I got, — thanks. ' With these words he went away, satis- 
 fied, that, though my father gave him nothing at this time, 
 his honor would never forget him. 
 
 "A considerable time afterward, my father, finding 
 
128 A STUDY OP MAEIA EDGEWOKTH. 
 
 that the man conducted himself well, took an opportunity 
 of serving him. . . . 
 
 "Before we quit this subject, it may be useful to 
 record, that the French generals who headed this invasion 
 declared they had been completely deceived as to the 
 state of Ireland. They had expected to find the people 
 in open rebellion, or at least, in their own phrase, organ- 
 ized for insurrection ; but, to their dismay, they found 
 only ragamuffins, — canaille, as they called them, — who, 
 in joining their standard, did them infinitely more harm 
 than good." 
 
 The year 1797 found the family quietly enjoying 
 Edgeworthstown. Maria and het father arranged 
 in January for acting a comedy called "Whim for 
 Whim." It was acted twice, with much applause, 
 in the theatre built over the study. It was later 
 offered to Sheridan, but rejected by him, as he did 
 not consider it suited for the general public. 
 
 "Practical Education" was published in 1798. 
 It was well praised and abused by the critics, and 
 made its authors famous. It appeared in a quarto 
 form in two volumes, and went to a third edition 
 in 1815. This work, from the hands of Maria Edge- 
 worth and her father, contains many valuable origi- 
 nal thoughts on education. It shows a wide and 
 exhaustive range of study and experience in the 
 care and development of the moral, mental, and 
 physical nature of childhood and early youth. The 
 titlepage bears the names of both father and daugh- 
 ter ; but hers justly has the first place, for to her the 
 public owed the best part of the conception and 
 execution of this admirable book. It is true, she 
 
" PRACTICAL EDUCATION." 129 
 
 did avail herself of her father's assistance, and per- 
 haps she relied too much on his views and theories 
 for her plan; yet one can easily see where she thinks 
 for herself, and writes from her own ideas. 
 
 In the immense family of Mr. Edgeworth, it was 
 easy to find all the anecdotes, all the details and 
 facts, necessary for a careful study of a practical 
 system of education: but this work shows a vast 
 amount of reading; a patient accumulation of others' 
 views on instruction ; a careful and thorough weigh- 
 ing of methods, systems, and theories, which make 
 it quite an exhaustive history of education up to the 
 time it was written. All this we owe to the clear 
 mind and the methodical arrangement of Maria. 
 She quotes, from a great number of writers, very 
 pertinent and timely observations on the subject. 
 Liberality and breadth mark both the plan and the 
 execution of the treatise. 
 
 Many have had the care of young children ; but 
 few, very few people have drawn from that labor, 
 which involves so much anxiety, fatigue, and daily 
 worry, such a store of useful and judicious impres- 
 sions and hints for future educators. Those who 
 write for and about children, and their wants and 
 amusements, are usually visionary and unpractical, 
 because, as a rule, they have not been in constant, or 
 even infrequent, attendance on them. And those 
 who are with children much ordinarily have neither 
 the time, ability, nor the inclination to do what 
 Maria Edge^Vorth did in preparing this treatise on 
 " Practical Education," all the while being in con- 
 stant practice of its rules. 
 
130 A STUDY OF MARIA BDGBWOETH. 
 
 Rousseau, M-rae. de Genlis, and others have offered 
 to the public flowery and fanciful schemes of edu- 
 cation, beneficial neither to the individual nor the 
 community. The father who put his own offspring 
 into a foundling-asylum was hardly a fit exponent 
 of theories of education ; though unquestionably he 
 had originality of thought, and many hints may 
 be gained from his writings. The views of Mme. 
 de Genlis also lose something when taken in con- 
 nection with the incidents of her life ; and one 
 cannot on this, as some other subjects, quite sepa- 
 rate the author from the book. The reader cannot 
 take, without limitations and painful doubts, the 
 theories, however grand, beautiful, and original, of 
 such writers as these, and some others who have 
 written upon this subject. An immoral life does not 
 add either dignity to the theme or confidence in the 
 writer, when works of moralitj" are to be considered. 
 
 Sound morality, and practical study of the young 
 and their development, must go hand in hand with 
 the clearest perception and the most brilliant theo- 
 ries for their future education. 
 
 This book was severely criticised by some, who 
 found no chapter on religion in it. What the pre- 
 face says should have disarmed these cavillers. 
 There is a sound and pure morality inculated in 
 every part of the book : it breathes only the highest 
 aspiration for human good and elevation. In the 
 opening pages, where the authors explain 'their views, 
 they say, — 
 
 " On religion and politics we have been silent ; because 
 we have no ambition to gain partisans, or to make prose- 
 
MES. barbatjld's eemaeks on education. 131 
 
 Ij'tes, and because we do not address ourselves exclusively 
 to any sect or to any party." 
 
 Mrs. Barbauld^ made some objections to the plan 
 of Mr. Edgeworth, which was designed to exckide 
 children from the society and example of servants. 
 Gentlemen's "gentlemen" and ladies' maids, with 
 the usual large number of house and stable retain- 
 ers of a well-appointed household in Great Britain, 
 are too often the earliest instructors of children of 
 good families. We have only to look at the way 
 in which a large family is regulated even at the 
 present day in England, to see that servants play 
 too important a part in the first years of little chil- 
 dren's lives. 
 
 In his establishment this system was compara- 
 tively easy. He had the Misses Sneyd with him, 
 a wife, and some grown-up daughters. He himself 
 was always at home, with the exception of short 
 journeys or visits. His method of education was 
 so well understood by his family, that an occasional 
 absence made no material difference in the working 
 of the system. His children were all intelligent and 
 clever. Those who lived to grow up certainly exem- 
 plified the advantages of his manner of instruction 
 in his own family. 
 
 Maria says, — 
 
 " With respect to what is commonly called the educa- 
 tion of the heart, we have endeavored to suggest the 
 easiest means of inducing useful and agreeable habits, 
 well-regulated sympathy, and benevolent affections. A 
 
 1 Anne Letitia Barbauld, 1743-1825. 
 
132 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGEWOKTH. 
 
 witty writer says, ' II est permis d'eunuyer en moralit^s 
 d'ici jusqu'a Constantinople.' Unwilling to avail our- 
 selves of this permission, we have sedulously avoided 
 declamation ; and whenever we have been obliged to re- 
 peat ancient maxims and common truths, we have at 
 least thought it becoming to present them in a new 
 dress." 
 
 They think they have reduced education to an 
 " experimental science," having studied it in their 
 own family. The preface says of the preparation 
 and composition of the book, — 
 
 "The first hint of the chapter on 'Toys' was re- 
 ceived from Dr. Beddoes ; the sketch of an introduction 
 to chemistry for children was given to us by Mr. Lovell 
 Edgeworth ; and the rest of the work was resumed from 
 a design formed and begun twenty years ago." 
 
 When a boolc appears under tire name of two 
 authors, it is natural to inquire what share belongs 
 to each of them. All that relates to the art of 
 teaching to read, in the chapter on " Tasks," the 
 chaj)ters on " Grammar and Classical Literature," 
 " Geography," " Chronology," "Arithmetic," " Ge- 
 ometry," and " Mechanics " was written by Mr. 
 Edgeworth : the rest of the work "was written by 
 Maria. The chapter on " Obedience " was written 
 from the notes of Mrs. Elizabeth Edgeworth, who 
 had remarkable success in managing her family. 
 The manuscript was submitted to her, and she re- 
 vised parts of it "in the last stage of a fatal dis- 
 ease." 
 
 The plan of the book is quite extensive and com- 
 
"PEACTICAL EDUCATION." 133 
 
 prehensive. Besides the chapters already mentioned, 
 those by Maria may be briefly named. They are the 
 best part of the work ; being original, witty, clever, 
 and valuable : " Toys," " Tasks," " On Attention," 
 "Servants," "Acquaintance," "On Temper," "On 
 Truth," " On Obedience," " On Rewards and Pun- 
 ishments," " On Sympathy and Sensibility," " On 
 Vanity, Pride, and Ambition." In vol. ii., " On 
 Public and Private Education," " On Female Ac- 
 complishments," "Memory and Invention," "Taste 
 and Imagination," " Wit and Judgment," " Pru- 
 dence and Economy," and a summary of the whole. 
 There are twenty-five chapters in all, and an appen- 
 dix. Mr. Edgeworth's part contains good resumes 
 of the departments of study he names. They are 
 such as any teacher of average ability could have 
 prepared. Maria's work is evidently that of the 
 thinker; and she shows plainly in tliis — her first 
 large work — the master hand which drew the never- 
 to-be-forgotten characters of her novels and tales. 
 One sees here the rules on which she built her social 
 fabric. 
 
 American and modern English systems of educa- 
 tion differ, of course, widely from the style in vogue 
 at the time the Edgeworths wrote. We draw for 
 our methods of instruction all the best of the many 
 plans and theories of education heretofore presented 
 to the world. One may yet learn much from the 
 work of the Edgeworths ; and in an article on " The 
 Pedigree of the Quincy Pedagogy, of Quincy, 
 Mass.," Mr. Horace Bumstead, of Atlanta Univer- 
 sity, Georgia, says in 1880, — 
 
134 A STUDY OP MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 "Its lineage is made briglit with the names of Edge- 
 worth in England, Rousseau and Jaeotot In France, 
 Pestalozzi in Switzerland, Froebel and Diesterweg in 
 Germany, and our own Horace Maun in America." 
 
 He says in the same article, — 
 
 " The word-method has even an earlier history, both in 
 Europe and in this country, than is here indicated. Near 
 the beginning of the present century it was advocated by 
 Maria Edge worth in England, and practised by the cele- 
 brated Jaeotot in France. ' ' 
 
 No one who has studied education in theory, or 
 for the purpose of utilizing his information in teach- 
 ing, should fail to read this book of the Edgeworths. 
 There is a sincerity of purpose, and a direct, clear, 
 and vivacious style, in "Practical Education," which 
 will attract and interest all who are engaged in in- 
 struction. Several of the chapters are admirable 
 and brilliant treatises on the subjects they profess 
 to explain. Among those which are to be especially 
 commended are those on " Memory and Invention," 
 "Taste and Imagination," and "The Summary." 
 Maria says near the end of the book, — 
 
 " The general principle, that we should associate pleas- 
 ure with whatever we wish our pupils should pursue, and 
 pain with whatever we wish that thej' should avoid, forms, 
 our readers will perceive, the basis of our plan of educa- 
 tion." 
 
VISIT TO ENGLAND. 135 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Maria visits England. — "Writes "Forgive and Forget," and "To- 
 morrow." — Mr Edgewortli and Maria meet Old Friends. — 
 Mrs. Barbauld. — Society at Clifton. — Visit to London. — John- 
 son.— Return to Ireland. — "Castle Rackrent." — Maria prints 
 more "Moral Tales." — "Belinda." — " Essay on Irish Bulls." — 
 Professor Pictet's Visit to Edgeworthstown. — A Journey to 
 Paris proposed. — Dr. Darwin's Death. 
 
 In Jan^^ary, 1799, Mr. Edgeworth, who had been 
 elected to the last Parliament held in Ireland, by 
 the borough of St. John's-town, County Longford, 
 visited Dublin with his wife. In the spring they 
 went to England, accompanied by Maria. In this 
 year Maria wrote a little story on a hint from Miss 
 Charlotte Sneyd, "that the early lessons for the 
 poor should speak with detestation of the spirit of 
 revenge." She adds, — 
 
 "I have just finished a little story called 'Forgive 
 and Forget,' upon this idea. I am now writing one on 
 a subject recommended to me by Dr. Beaufort, on the 
 evils of procrastination : the title of it is ' By and By ' 
 (afterwards 'To-morrow'). I am much obliged to tlie 
 whole committee of education and criticism at Edge- 
 worthstown for their corrections, criticism, and copying." 
 
 Maria has something to say of the friends they 
 met in England : — 
 
136 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 " My father visited his old friends Mr. Keir, Mr. Watt, 
 Dr. Darwin, and Mr. William Strutt of Derby. ... He 
 paid his respects to his friend Sir Joseph Banks, attended 
 the meetings of the Royal Society, and met various old 
 acquaintance, whom he had formerly known abroad. 
 
 "Among the friends he formed during this summer in 
 England, and in consequence of the publication of his 
 sentiments on education, was Mrs. Barbauld. Her writ- 
 ings he had long adrtiired for their classical strength and 
 elegance, for their high and true tone of moral and reli- 
 gious feeling, and for their practically useful tendency. 
 She gratified him by accepting an invitation to pass some 
 time with us at Clifton ; and ever afterwards, though at 
 a great distance from each other, her constant friendship 
 for him was a source of great pleasure and just pride." 
 
 Mrs. Edgeworth says, — 
 
 " We met at Clifton Mr. and Mrs. Barbauld. He was 
 an amiable and benevolent man, so eager against the 
 slave-trade that when he drank tea with us he always 
 brought some East-India sugar, that he might not share 
 our wickedness in eating that made by the negro slave. 
 Mrs. Barbauld, whose ' Evenings at Home ' had so much 
 delighted Maria and her father, was very pretty, and con- 
 versed with great ability in admirable language." 
 
 That was a spicy argument, we can fancy, between 
 Mr. Edgeworth and his new friend, Mrs. Barbanld, 
 where she objected to the chapter on " Servants " in 
 " Practical Education." On this chapter Mrs. Bar- 
 bauld very truly remarked, that it was impracticable : 
 in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, morally and 
 physically impossible. She was willing to allow 
 that in his own family he might have been able to 
 
MRS. BAEBAULD. 137 
 
 carry this method into practice, but in an ordinary 
 family it could not be done. Mr. Edgeworth was 
 forced to acknowledge that Mrs. Barbauld was right 
 in her criticism, and he modified his views on this 
 subject. Mrs. Barbauld considered, too, that this 
 manner of separating children entirely from servants 
 tended "to foster pride and perhaps ingratitude." 
 " The one and twenty other good reasons " she said 
 could be given, Mr. Edgeworth spared her. The 
 fact must be admitted, that in the clear and spright- 
 ly wit and strong mind of the essayist, poet, and 
 accomplished school-mistress of Palgrave, — Mrs. 
 Barbauld, — the Irish inventor, author, and man 
 of the world met his match. He had probably 
 never seen a finer mind, joined with a more brilliant 
 wit, than that of Mrs. Barbauld. He had met men 
 of science, and women of letters and fashion ; but 
 in Mrs. Barbauld he met an antagonist of mettle. 
 Early training and classic studies had added keen 
 weapons to a naturally strong mind, and thorough 
 acquaintance with practical methods of educating 
 and developing young intellects made her an author- 
 ity on such matters. Mrs. Barbauld 's reputation rests 
 as much on the names of such pupils as Lord Den- 
 man, William Taylor of Norwich, Sir William Gell, 
 Basil, Lord Daer, and other well-known men, as on her 
 essays, poems, and books for the young. Her books 
 for children are still unrivalled, and will do honor to 
 her name as long as the English language lasts. No 
 better work has been done for the little ones. 
 
 While Mr. and Mrs. Edgeworth were at Clifton, 
 where her first child, Fanny, was born, they were 
 
138 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWORTH. 
 
 visited by lier brotliers, tlie Rev. William Beaufort, 
 and Capt. Francis Beaufort, afterwards admiral and 
 hydrographer to the navy. Maria wrote of him 
 in 1828 to Capt. Basil Hall, " He is so true, and 
 so really friendly and able." M. Arago told her 
 at Chamouni that Capt. Beaufort's " Karamania," 
 then a celebrated and new book, "was, of all the 
 books of travel he had seen, that which he admired 
 the most : it must remain a standard book." He 
 became more nearly connected with the Edgeworths 
 later; for when his first wife, daughter of Capt. 
 Le Stock Wilson, died, he presently married for his 
 second wife a daughter of Mr. Edgeworth by his 
 third wife. Maria says that her father became very 
 much attached to Capt. Beaufort, as much so " as 
 he had ever been to Lord Longford or Mr. Day." 
 
 In a letter of Mrs. Edgeworth, dated May, 1799, 
 from Clifton, she mentions a future philosopher in 
 the assistant of Dr. Beddoes, "a young man, a 
 Mr. Davy," i and his discovery of nitrous-oxide gas, 
 and describes the sensations produced by inhaling it. 
 Dr. and Mrs. Beddoes made the Edgeworths' stay at 
 Clifton very agreeable. Mrs. Edgeworth says, — 
 
 " Her grace, genius, vivacity, and kindness, and his 
 great abihties, knowledge, and benevolence, rendered 
 their house extremely pleasant." 
 
 Sir Humphry Davy said of Dr. Beddoes, — 
 
 "He is one of the most orighial men I ever saw, — 
 uncommonly short and fat, with httle elegance of manners, 
 
 1 Sir Humphry Davy, distinguished chemist and philosopher. 
 Born at Penzance in 1778; died at Geneva, 1829. 
 
THE PNEUMATIC INSTITUTION. 139 
 
 and nothing characteristic externally of genius or science ; 
 extremely silent, and, iu a few words, a bad companion. 
 Mrs. Beddoes is the reverse of Dr. Beddoes, — extremely 
 cheerful, gay, and witty. She is one of the most pleas- 
 ant women I ever met with." 
 
 The Pneumatic Institution must have been an 
 amusing place, with its experiments on gases, and the 
 new hobbies in which Dr. Beddoes indulged himself. 
 One was of carrying cows into invalids' bedrooms, 
 that they might inhale the breath of the animal. 
 One family were turned out of their lodgings be- 
 cause " the people of the house would not admit the 
 cows. They said they had not built and furnished 
 their rooms for the hoofs of cattle ! " "Well might 
 Sir Humphry Davy, in considering the character of 
 Dr. Beddoes, call him " a truly remarkable man, but 
 more admirably fitted to promote inquiry than to 
 conduct it." 
 
 Robert Southey, in alluding to his own intimacy 
 with Davy at Bristol, "then in the flower and fresh- 
 ness of his youth," speaks of his visits to him at the 
 Pneumatic Institution, and his discovery of nitrous- 
 oxide gas. He "was a first-rate man," and "has 
 actually invented a new pleasure " in this gas, " for 
 which language has no name." He said Dr. Beddoes 
 "advertised, at least six weeks ago, certain cases of 
 consumption treated in cow-houses ; and the press 
 has been standing still now in expectation of— what 
 think you ? Only waiting till the patients be cured." 
 
 After leaving Clifton, the Edgeworths went to 
 London for a few weeks. At this time Maria's 
 publisher, Johnson the bookseller, was in prison 
 
140 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWORTH. 
 
 for a publication whicli was considered treasonable. 
 Mr. Edgeworth and Maria went to see him in the 
 King's Bench (prison). She "had a great regard 
 for Johnson, though his procrastination tried her 
 patience in all the business of printing and publish- 
 ing her works. She thought him a generous, able, 
 kind-hearted man, and an excellent critic." 
 
 Joseph Johnson, of St. Paul's Churchyard, was a 
 man of considerable ability. He was the person who 
 first saw the merits of Cowper's poems, and accepted 
 them, after several other publishers had rejected 
 them with something like scorn. " His own taste 
 was excellent, and his own disposition quiet and 
 peaceable : but he became too much connected with 
 Godwin and Holer oft; and it was afterwards a dis- 
 advantage to ' Maria ' that her works were published 
 by the printer of what was considered seditious and 
 sectarian books." 
 
 During this stay in England, Maria met Dr. Dar- 
 win. She thought him " not only a first-rate genius, 
 but one of the most benevolent, as well as the witti- 
 est, of men. He stuttered, but far from lessening the 
 charm of conversation." She used to say that " the 
 hesitation and slowness with which his words came 
 forth added to the effect of his humor, and showed 
 good sense." They returned to Ireland in Septem- 
 ber of 1799, after a successful visit in England. Mr. 
 Edgeworth, in writing to Dr. Darwin, says, " Maria 
 continues writing for children, under the persuasion 
 that she cannot be employed more serviceably." 
 
 In a letter of 1800 from Maria to her aunt, Mrs. 
 Ruxton, she mentions " Castle Rackrent," which was 
 
"BELINDA." 141 
 
 published in this year, and begs her aunt not to 
 "tell any one that it is ours." Maria attempted 
 about this time to make a visit to her father's friend, 
 Mr. Foster, Speaker of the Irish House of Commons, 
 at CoUon. She had visited Castle Saunderson ; and 
 arriving at Allenstown, where Mr. Waller, an uncle 
 of Mrs. Edgeworth's, lived, they found that Mrs. 
 Foster, widow of Bishop Foster, feared infection, as 
 they had left fever in Edgeworthstown : they " per- 
 formed quarantine for a week " in Allenstown, and 
 gave up the visit to Collon. 
 
 An octavo edition of " Practical Education " came 
 out at Christmas of this year. These were busy 
 years for Maria. A new edition of the "Moral 
 Tales " came out shortly after this. Maria says two 
 of the frontispieces were designed by Mrs. Edge- 
 worth for this edition, and two by Charlotte Edge- 
 worth. In this edition there were three new stories, 
 — "The Knapsack," "The Prussian Vase," and 
 "Angelina." 
 
 " Belinda " appeared first in 1801. Maria was at 
 Black Castle when the iirst copy reached her. It is 
 easy to fancy that the wit and humor displayed in 
 her writings were not confined to her books. She 
 dearly enjoyed a joke, and contrived, before her 
 aunt knew it, to tear out the title-pages of the three 
 volumes; and her aunt read it without any suspicion 
 as to the authorship, and, excessively entertained 
 and delighted, she insisted on Maria's listening to 
 passage after passage as she went on. Maria affected 
 to be deeply interested in some book she held in her 
 hand ; and when Mrs. Ruxton exclaimed, " Is not that 
 
142 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 admirably written ? " Maria coldly replied, " Admira- 
 bly read, I think ; " and then her aunt, as if she had 
 said too much, added, " It may not be so very good, 
 but it shows just the sort of knowledge of high life 
 which people have who live in the world." Then, 
 again and again, she called upon Maria for her sym- 
 pathy, till, quite provoked by her faint acquiescence, 
 she at last accused her of being envious. " I am 
 sorry to see my little Maria unable to bear the praise 
 of a rival author." This was too much for poor 
 Maria, who burst into tears, and, showing her aunt 
 the titlepagea, she declared herself the author. But 
 Mrs. Ruxtou was not pleased : she never liked " Be- 
 linda " afterwards ; and Maria, too, had a painful 
 recollection of her aunt's suspecting her of being 
 envious. 
 
 " Castle Rackrent " and " Belinda " made a great 
 impression on the reading public. " Castle Rack- 
 rent" had soon a Continental reputation, and was 
 translated into several foreign languages. Its wit, 
 humor, and pathos, its Irish characters, its evident 
 vralsemblance, the entire novelty of the scenes and the 
 customs, the life in Ireland, — all made it a marked 
 book. It was safe to predict that the hand which 
 drew the character of Thady, and the adventures of 
 " Castle Rackrent," would do the best of work for 
 many years. "Belinda" was a clever book, full of 
 fine pictures of English life of that period, and gen- 
 uine bits of character. The heroine, Belinda, is 
 well contrasted with Lady Delacour, and Clarence 
 Hervey is a bright and sparkling wit. "BeUnda" 
 lacks the humor of "Castle Rackrent," and has not 
 
" BELINDA." 143 
 
 the brilliancy of "Ennui," or some of the shorter 
 tales ; but it has a charm quite its own, and will 
 often be quoted, and may well be read by every 
 young woman for its many admirable hints as to 
 social affairs. 
 
 In the autobiography of Mrs. Fletcher of Edin- 
 burgh, we have a mention of " Belinda : " — 
 
 "I well remember, after the fatigues of sight-seeing, 
 the pleasure and refreshment I had at our lodging in 
 reading Miss Edgeworth's admirable novel, 'Belinda.' 
 Some of the hours so spent were among the pleasantest 
 of our London visit." 
 
 In 1801 a second edition of "Castle Rackrent" 
 was published, and the name of Maria Edgeworth 
 appeared on its titlepage. 
 
 "Its success was so triumphant that some one — I 
 -heard his name at the time, but do not now remember it, 
 and it is better forgotten — not only insisted that he was 
 the author, but actually took the trouble to copy out sev- 
 eral pages with corrections and erasures, as if it was his 
 original manuscript." 
 
 This is not an unusual experience with successful 
 authors. 
 
 Miss Edgeworth, acknowledging some communi- 
 cation from Ann Taylor ^ (afterwards Mrs. Gilbert), 
 who was tlie author of many excellent and valuable 
 poems and pieces in prose for little children, writes 
 her: — 
 
 "Whenever I have an opportunity of adding to ' Par- 
 
 1 Ann and Jane Taylor of Ongar, authors of Original Poems 
 and Nursery EhyiHes, H^mns for Infant Minds, etc. 
 
144 A STtJDY OF MARIA KDGEWORTH. 
 
 ent's Assistant,' or to ' Early Lessons,' 1 will avail my- 
 self of your suggestions, and endeavor, as you judiciously 
 recommend, to ridicule the garrulity, without checking 
 the open-heartedness, of childhood. My ' Little Rosa- 
 mond,' who perhaps has not the honor of being known 
 to you, is sufficiently garrulous ; but she is rather what the 
 French call ' une petite raisonneuse ' than what you call a 
 'chatter-box.' Miss Larolles, in 'Cecilia,' is a perfect 
 picture of a chatter-box arrived at years of discretion. I 
 wish I could draw Miss Larolles in her childhood. 
 
 "In a book called 'Original Poems for Children,' 
 there is a pretty little poem, 'The Chatter-box,' which 
 one of my little sisters, on hearing your letter, recollected. 
 
 It is signed Ann T . Perhaps, madam, it may be 
 
 written by you ; and it will give you pleasure to hear that 
 it is a favorite with four good talkers of nine, six, five, 
 and four years old." 
 
 In 1802 appeared the " Essay on Irish Bulls," 
 which excited much interest: it was the joint pro- 
 duction of Maria and her father. A curious story 
 is told of a gentleman who was much interested in 
 improving the breed of Irish cattle. He sent, on 
 seeing the advertisement, for this work on "Irish 
 Bulls." He was surprised by the appearance of the 
 classical bull at the top of the first page, wliich had 
 been designed by Mrs. Edgeworth from a gem ; and 
 when he began to read the book, he threw it away 
 in utter disgust : he had purchased it in good faith, 
 as secretary of the Irish Agrfcultural Society. 
 
 " Among the foreigners who came to England 
 about this time was Professor Picteti of Geneva" 
 
 1 Marc Augusts Piotet, naturalist and philosopher, president of 
 the Society for the Advancement of the Arts, at Geneva. 1752-1825. 
 
M. PICTET. 145 
 
 says Maria. This gentleman was a " brother of the 
 editor of the ' Journal Britannique,' who translated 
 'Practical Education,' and with whom my father 
 had had some correspondence on the subject. Pro- 
 fessor Pictet visited Ireland, and came to Edgeworths- 
 town." He was accompanied by his friend M. Che- 
 nier, and they visited Mr. Tuite of Sonna. They 
 went from Sonna to the Edgeworths ; and, after their 
 return to Geneva, Professor Pictet wrote a description 
 of his days there. " The Bibliotheque Britannique " 
 contains much the same account of the family, with 
 translated extracts from Maria's works : these ex- 
 tracts were of such a nature as to greatly interest 
 Continental readers. M. Pictet's ^ " Voyage de Trois 
 Mois en Angleterre " was published at Geneva in 
 1802. I have translated the portion concerning the 
 Edgeworths, as it will interest the reader : — 
 
 "At last we arrived. Mr. Edgeworth was found on 
 his doorstep, and received us on alighting, and called us 
 each by name. Farewell, then, to my little ruse ; and I 
 am unaware of my betrayer. "We are instantly on the 
 footing of old friends. I saw, on entering the room, a 
 large party about the table at tea, which, however, was 
 only the family, who made a place for us ; and I tried to 
 make out which of the assemblage was the celebrated 
 Maria. Mr. Edgeworth saw what I was about, and re- 
 marked, ' I see very well that it is not on my account 
 alone that you have come here. Perhaps even Maria has 
 the precedence of her father in your estimation. I will 
 not dispute it. But to punish you, you must learn that 
 she is thirty miles away from here, and that you cannot 
 
 1 A three-montlis' journey in England, Scotland, and Ireland dur- 
 ing the summer of year IX. (1801), by Marc Auguste Pictet. 
 
146 A STUDy OP MAEIA EDGEWORTH. 
 
 see her to-day. But remain with us until to-morrow. I 
 will send a messenger to her immediately. She can take 
 the coach to-night, and arrive here before to-morrow 
 noon.' — 'Impossible. We are engaged to return to 
 Sonna to a large dinner.' — 'Oh, well! promise me to 
 return again to-morrow, and I promise you shall see her 
 then.' We did not hesitate to accept the compromise: 
 the messenger departed, and three too rapid hours for us 
 passed in the company of this interesting family. 
 
 Mr. Edgeworth is, I believe, about sixty years old, and 
 appears to be yet in the prime of life. He is extremely 
 active in body and mind. He has had seventeen children 
 by four wives, the last of which is some years younger 
 than his well-beloved daughter Maria. Ten of his chil- 
 dren are living, and an eleventh is expected in a few 
 months. One sees in the hall the portraits of these four 
 wives ; and an appearance of perfect union, friendship, and 
 intelligence seems to reign among their children : which 
 is pleasing, and is a proof in favor of Mr. Edgeworth's 
 principles of education, and shows his talent for conduct- 
 ing his household. A characteristic of this family made 
 itself Jvnown immediately. This was reasonable curiosity, 
 which allowed one at a time to listen to and examine with 
 interest all that which gave an occasion to acquire new 
 ideas. I had brought that little sextant which 1 have 
 spoken to you about, with the intention of showing it 
 to Mr. Edgeworth. He had no sooner examined it than 
 he explained very fully the structure and use to Mme. 
 Edgeworth. She showed it to the oldest child, this one to 
 a younger brother, who was not the least intelligent of the 
 family, etc. I was not free from uneasiness in seeing so 
 delicate an instrument pass from hand to hand, but it 
 returned without accident. 
 
 ' ' We spoke of Maria, who appeared to me to be ap- 
 
M. pictet's visit. 147 
 
 predated in the family. In this same room was the little 
 table on which she wrote her charming works, in the 
 midst of the conversation and noise of her brothers and 
 sisters. She has already published the pretty romance 
 of 'Belinda.' A little volume will soon be translated, 
 entitled ' The Castle Eackrent, ' in which she made a 
 point principally of painting the manners, habits, and 
 also the idiom of the Irish, by making an old steward of 
 a certain castle relate the history of four families who 
 had successively occupied it. The bright and inimitable 
 naivete of the language which she makes this man use, 
 the mistakes and absurdities which he makes without 
 suspecting it, his species of pleasantries, — all these go 
 to make a whole, which, though hardly capable of being 
 translated, is still full of wit and gayety. ' Do you wish 
 to see the original of this good Thady that has made you 
 laugh?' said Mr. Edgeworth to us. 'I will make him 
 known to you.' He called a head servant, who over- 
 looked the haymakers in the fields, and asked him in our 
 presence several questions upon the objects of his story, 
 to which we had the pleasure of listening. ' Have we 
 not still in the house,' said he to him, 'that workman 
 who has sometimes seen the fairies dance on the bowling- 
 green?' — 'Yes, sir.' — 'Let him come here.' The 
 workman appeared. ' Tell us, John, what you saw the 
 other day. ' — ' Sir, saving your presence, I was upon the 
 roof, mending the tiles, when I saw them come one after 
 the other. — ' Who, the tiles ? ' — ' No, sir, the fairies ; 
 and they danced in a circle upon the turf.' — 'But are 
 you not mistaken ? ' — ' Mistaken ! I saw them as plainly 
 as I now see you, sir, and this honorable company.' — 
 ' And of what height were the fairies ? ' — ' They were a 
 little shorter than my leg, sir.' — 'Ah! very well ; and 
 how were they dressed?' — 'In truth, sir, I did not 
 
148 A STUDY OP MABIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 look much at their dress, but I noticed that they had on 
 boots.' — ' Ah ! boots ? ' — ' Yes, sir ; but they were little 
 boots, inasmuch as I lost sight of them in the whirlwind 
 of dust.' — ' You see, gentlemen,' said Mr. Edgeworth to 
 us, ' that Maria has invented nothing in her " Castle 
 Rackrent." ' 
 
 " One of his sons, between the age of seven and eight, 
 had struck us by his reflective air. ' I give you that for 
 a good head,' said he (Mr. Edgeworth) to us: 'he will 
 be a geometrician ; he is always occupied with calcula- 
 tions.' We then took a walk in the park. We came 
 across a bench, which had but three of the four legs 
 belonging to it. ' There, William,' said the father, 'you 
 see this bench which has only three legs : how would 
 you trace a line on its surface, on one side of which 
 one could sit with safety ? ' 
 
 " The little man stopped in front of the bench, while 
 we continued our walk ; aud, on returning, we found him 
 still there, but with his problem solved. He showed us 
 the diagonal between the two feet wliich were farthest 
 apart, which was the line in question. Two or three 
 robiu red-breasts flew near at our approach, jumping from 
 branch to branch, as if they wished to follow us. ' You 
 see these little birds,' said Mr. Edgeworth to us: 'they 
 prove to you that our children do not torment them.' 
 
 " We returned to the bouse ; and Mr. Edgeworth, who 
 has the taste and intelligence of a mechanic, made it very 
 interesting to us by showing the interior, which is full of 
 ornamental and useful inventions. Here we saw a clock 
 with an escapement of his own invention, and which 
 wound itself by the opening of the door of a neighboring 
 passage, the one which was used most frequently in the 
 house. There were some pullies, of simple and ingenious 
 construction, for the spontaneous shutting of the doors. 
 
M. pictet's visit. 149 
 
 Near by, a door, in opening, doubled itself and formed 
 a screen, by which one passage closed itself while another 
 opened. The posts of the beds shut down on each other, 
 for facility in moving. The drawers of large bureaus 
 ordinarily are, as one knows, difficult to shut properly: 
 these had under the middle of the back a groove, which 
 necessitated perpendicular action in the front, and made 
 the drawer shut quietly and uniformly. One knows also 
 that the English windows, if the sashes are joined too 
 closely, are difficult to open, and that, on the other hand, 
 they allow the air to enter if they are not closed suffi- 
 ciently. Here the uprights of the windows and their 
 grooves are made a little in an angle, which is highest at 
 the back. A wedge in the middle fastens closely when 
 the window is shut, and when it is slightly opened. 
 When the window is wide open, it does not tighten it, 
 and disagreeable friction is prevented. 
 
 " Here is a little social theatre with turning side-scenes, 
 very ingeniously arranged ; there, a rolling-mill for draw- 
 ing the lead proper for setting their glass windows. In 
 all the shutters are military arrangements ready to make 
 cross-fire upon the brigands in case of an attack. I 
 should never finish if I were to tell you all of them. 
 Mme. Edgeworth has also her portion of talents. She 
 draws and paints with great taste and ease. Her father, 
 Mr. Beaufort, is a distinguished man. He has made, 
 among other things, an excellent map of Ireland, the 
 most recent and correct which has been made. Mr. 
 Edgeworth, remarking that I examined it with attention 
 and interest, forced me to accept it. I put great value 
 on this gift, as this map is not to be bought." 
 
 They then returned to Sonna for the next day's 
 dinner, and — 
 
150 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 "The following morning we went to our rendezvous 
 at Edgeworthstown. (I have omitted to tell you that the 
 castle is close to this little city, which sends a member 
 to Parliament, who is, without doubt, always an Edge- 
 worth.) They were breakfasting, as before; but Maria 
 and Mr. Lovell Edgeworth, the oldest son of Mr. Edge- 
 worth, were this time at the table taking tea. I had, on 
 entering, no eyes for any one but her. I had persuaded 
 myself that the author of the work on education, and of 
 other productions, useful as well as ornamental, would 
 betray herself by a remarkable exterior. I was mistaken. 
 A small figure, eyes nearly always lowered, a profoundly 
 modest and reserved air, little expression in the features 
 when not speaking : such was the result of mj' first sur- 
 vey. But when she spoke, which was much too rarely 
 for my taste, nothing could have been better thought, 
 and nothing better said, though always timidly expressed, 
 than that which fell from her mouth. 
 
 "What do you imagine was the first subject of con- 
 versation started by Mr. Edgeworth ? 
 
 " 'To what degree do you presume,' said he to me, 
 ' that a gasometer can determine the pressure exercised 
 on an elastic fluid ? ' I will not trouble you with the 
 answer, nor with the chemical conversation which began 
 and ended happily with the breakfast. We passed into 
 the parlor. In the middle was a large table covered with 
 papers, drawings, and cards. Some one took occasion 
 to show me an apparatus, extremely ingenious and simple, 
 thought of and made by the children of the house, to 
 illustrate perspective, and which is described in the 
 'Treatise on Practical Education.' I admh-ed it. 'It 
 is yours,' said Mr. Edgeworth immediately: 'will you 
 accept it as a remembrance of a family who ai-e sincerely 
 attached to you?' I accepted it with gratitude. We 
 
A CONVERSATION. 151 
 
 spoke of the little quarrel with my brother, who had 
 reproached him with the omission of the subject of reli- 
 gion in a work where it seemed natural to introduce it. 
 He justified himself, first, inasmuch as he had showed in 
 his reply the difficulty of treating this subject in a coun- 
 try where religion is not uniform ; and he made me read 
 the most of a very explicit declaration of his opinion 
 upon the propriety of applying religious ideas to other 
 objects of education, which he had inserted in the pref- 
 ace of the second edition of their work. We passed on 
 to various moral subjects, in which I felt genuine pleas- 
 ure in finding myself in perfect accord with the ideas 
 of Maria, who followed and listened to me. She and 
 her father regarded each other with an air of the most 
 extreme surprise, that a stranger, coming three hundred 
 leagues, seemed to have, so to speak, thoughts in com- 
 mon with them. There were many questions about hap- 
 piness, and particularly that of the lower classes of 
 society. Maria told me that she had written upon this 
 subject, the most interesting that one could treat of prac- 
 tically. I gave them part of one of those little specifics 
 for happiness with which I have sometimes entertained 
 my friends, and which I have reason to believe are good, 
 after my experience. I spoke to them of that serpentine 
 curve with which I have always surrounded my life. Its 
 axis is a horizontal line which represents sleep : above 
 this, is the region of happiness ; below, that of misfor- 
 tune. At the end of each day, in asking myself whether 
 I would have liked better to have slept than watched, the 
 reply that I make myself determines on which side of 
 the curve shall be traced the order of the day ; and this 
 order is made so much the longer as the remembrance 
 of the means of pleasure or pain which remains to me of 
 the day is more or less exalted. If any one will amuse 
 
152 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGBWOETH. 
 
 himself by representing liis life in this way, he will find 
 that happiness will oscillate about the line with sufficient 
 regularity to compensate him ; especially when one takes 
 a rather long limit, — one year, for instance. 
 
 " While the ladies were making their toilets, we tried 
 some chemical experiments with a small portable labora- 
 tory which I had brought with me on my journey. We 
 took a walk in the park, and then sat down to dinner. 
 What a contrast to the dinner in the city! (Sonna.) I 
 invited Maria to take up the pen upon this subject, and 
 to strike with the sword of ridicule — which she wields 
 with so much talent — the absurd so-called social consti- 
 tution of the high classes ; by which, far from employing 
 in these re-unions the faculties of each for the common 
 advantage, and in particular to increase in each one the 
 susceptibility of moral enjoyments, they place a damper 
 on that noble flame of the spirit which distinguishes the 
 intelligent being from the brute, and reduce one to the 
 ignoble pleasure of simply eating and drinking, — to such 
 enjoyment of self-love, almost always balanced by equal 
 mortification, and to a little gossip, for compensation. 
 The result of which is, that one compares that which can 
 be produced by all the human faculties directed towards 
 the highest sum of happiness with that which he pro- 
 cures in return. But it must be, that in order to procure 
 and keep such a maximum, society shall be recon- 
 structed upon its base by education. It would make a 
 sort of revolution to overturn that ancient and Gothic 
 structure that is honored in certain countries by the name 
 of civilization. Perhaps some spirits, wise and coura- 
 geous, will arouse themselves, and, working together, 
 bring about a gradual reform ; but it will not be that gen- 
 eration which will cull the fruit of their own labors." 
 
DK. DARWIN'S DEATH. l53 
 
 M. Pictet concluded his account of Maria and 
 tlie family with some words about Charlotte Edge- 
 worth and the eldest son. He returned to Sonna, 
 and on his arrival in Geneva wrote this description of 
 the Edgeworths. He had urged Mr. Edgeworth to 
 go to the Continent, promising him letters of intro- 
 duction to scientific friends in Paris. His advice de- 
 cided Mr. Edgeworth to make a Continental journey, 
 and they started in the autumn of 1802. They 
 found the account of M. Pictet very useful to them 
 on this journey, for " The Journal Britannique " was 
 taken at every public library and in all the " Scale 
 centrale ; " and they received many attentions in con- 
 sequence of its pleasant reference to them and their 
 literary labors. 
 
 Dr. Darwin's death, which occurred April 17, 1802, 
 came as a severe blow to the Edgeworths. His 
 benevolent disposition, long friendship, and clever 
 mind, all endeared him to them. He wrote Mr. 
 Edgeworth April 17, and dating his letter " Priory, 
 near Derby," describes their removal from Derby to 
 the lovely spot called the Priory. He says, — 
 
 "All of us like our change of situation. We have a 
 pleasant house, a good garden, ponds full of fish, and 
 a pleasing valley somewhat like Shenstone's, — deep, um- 
 brageous, and with a talkative stream runDing down it. 
 Our house is near the top of the valley, well screened by 
 hills from the east and north, and open to the south, 
 . where at four miles distance we see Derby tower. . . • 
 Pray tell the authoress that the water-nymphs of our val- 
 ley will he happy to assist her next novel." . . . 
 
154 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 A few more words about the printing of "The 
 Temple of Nature," by Mr. Johnson follow; and 
 then a sudden faint attack seized Dr. Darwin, who 
 had risen early, and was writing, in apparently per- 
 fect health. He died in about an hour after the at- 
 tack. The letter so playfully written was concluded 
 by the hand of a friend, and sent to Ireland. 
 
A JOTJKNEY 155 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 The Edgewortha' Departure for England. — Places of Interest 
 visited. — Maria visits Miss Watts. — France. — The Low 
 Countries. — Arrival at Paris. — Mr. "Watt. — The Edgeworths 
 make many Pleasant Acquaintances and Friends. — French Sci- 
 entific Men. — Dumont. — Lord Henry Petty. — The Delesserts. 
 — Mme.de Pastoret. — French Society. — Madame d'Ouditot. — 
 Literary Men. — Noted "Women. — Maria's Works translated 
 into French, German, and Spanish. — Police Surveillance. — 
 Maria meets M. Edelcrantz. — An Offer of Marriage. — Her 
 Decision. 
 
 In the autumn of 1802 the Edgeworths' party, 
 consisting of Mr. and Mrs. Edgeworth, Maria, and 
 Charlotte, set out for England, on their way to the 
 Continent. They were accompanied by Emmeline, 
 who left them at Conway, and proceeded to the 
 house of Mrs. Beddoes, at Bristol, where she was 
 married to John King, a surgeon, afterwards quite 
 distinguished. This gentleman, whose name was 
 more properly Konig, was a native of Berne, Switz- 
 erland. He was a very intimate friend of Dr. Bed- 
 does, and associated with him in his experiments at 
 Clifton. Southey, in writing John May in 1827, 
 when Dr. King removed to Bristol, says, — 
 
 "I would have you kno-(v King, the surgeon, also, 
 with whom I have lived in terms of great intimacy, and 
 for whom I have a great and sincere regard. His wife is 
 sister of Miss Edgeworth. A more remarkable man is not 
 
156 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGBWOETH. 
 
 easily to be found, and bis professional skill is very 
 great." 
 
 Southey wrote a Dr. King a letter in French, 
 which is rather a curious production. It is addressed 
 to John King, Esq., Pneumatic Institution, Hot 
 Wells, Bristol. 
 
 " Ce matin-la pour le premiere fois, I'invitation de M. 
 Edgeworth a son chateau m'a trouv6, c'est a dire, verbale- 
 ment, par un jeune Irlandois, homme d'esprit et qu'est 
 meilleur, bon democrat. Je vous prie f aites mes remercie- 
 ments a Mme. Beddoes pour sa pere. Je suis verita- 
 blement oblige et j'espere profiter par sa politesse desor- 
 mais, peut-etre, mon ami, nous voyageons ensemble en 
 Ireland. Des montagnes, des rochers, des sauvages, faut 
 11 plus a faire un Voyage Pittoresque meilleur que celle de 
 votre ami M. Bourret qui a dcrit sur votre terre. 
 
 [Signed] Je suis veritablement au fausse grammaire 
 votre ami, Eobbet Southey." 
 
 Maria says, — 
 
 " Charlotte, who was then, according to the description 
 of a celebrated foreigner, 'jeune personne de seize ans, 
 JoUe, fraiche comme la rose,' accompanied us to Paris. 
 
 " In passing through England, we went to Derby and 
 to the Priory, to which we had been so kindly invited 
 by him who was now no more. The Priory was all still- 
 ness, melancholy, and mourning. It was a painful visit, 
 yet not without satisfaction ; for my father's affectionate 
 manner seemed to soothe the widow and daughters of his 
 friend, who were deeply sensible of the respect and zeal- 
 ous regard he showed for Dr. Darwin's memory." 
 
 They found " the servants in deep mourning, Mrs. 
 Darwin and her three beautiful daughters in deep 
 
ENGLAND. 157 
 
 mourning, and deeply afflicted." The daughters of 
 Dr. Darwin were celebrated for their beauty, which 
 was an inheritance from their lovely mother. Fran- 
 ces Waddington, afterwards Baroness Bunsen, in 
 her recollections of her childhood, remarks on these 
 ladies, "whose appearance is still distinct in my 
 memory ; " and she adds that they " adorned in life 
 the families into which they married, by merit equal 
 to their beauty." 
 
 On their way towards London the party saw Lord 
 Penrthyn's slate-quarries at Bangor, the copper-works 
 at Holywell, and visited the very interesting estab- 
 lishment of Josiah Wedgwood at Etruria. Thomas 
 Wedgwood, the son of Josiah Wedgwood, the founder 
 of the celebrated pottery-works, was a friend of 
 Dr. Beddoes, and assisted him pecuniarily, that the 
 Pneumatic Institution might aid more poor patients. 
 He also passed some time at the institution, in the 
 vain hopes of relief from the inhalation of the various 
 gases used by Dr. Beddoes in pulmonary diseases. 
 
 Mr. Edgeworth called on Lord Moira at Downing- 
 ton Castle, and was very cordially received by the 
 son of his old friend Lady Moira. He gave him a 
 letter to the Princess Joseph de Monaco, who was 
 formerly Mrs. Doyle. 
 
 Maria, in a letter to Miss Mary Sneyd, tells an 
 interesting story of a visit made to a sister authoress. 
 At Leicester, the party having heard of Miss Watts, 
 a poetess who had published a volume of poems 
 and translated parts of "Tasso," went to visit her, 
 ushered in by the enthusiastic bookseller whom they 
 had visited, and who told them of her abode. 
 
158 A STUDY OF MAKIA EDGBWOETH. 
 
 " "When we had dined, we set out with our enthusiastic 
 bookseller. "We were shown by the light of a lantern 
 along a very narrow passage between high walls, to the 
 door of a decent-looking house. A maid-servant, candle 
 in hand, received us. ' Be pleased, ladies, to walk up- 
 stairs.' A neatish room, nothing extraordinary in it ex- 
 cept the inhabitants, — Mrs. "Watts, a tall, black-eyed, 
 prim, dragon-looking woman in the background ; Miss 
 Watts, a tall young lady in white, fresh color, fair, thin 
 oval face, rather pretty. The moment Mrs. Edgeworth 
 entered. Miss Watts, mistaking her for the authoress, 
 darted forward, with arms — long, thin arms — out- 
 stretched to their utmost swing. ' Oh, what an honok 
 THIS IS ! ' each word and syllable rising in tone till the 
 last reached a scream. Instead of embracing my mother, 
 as her first action threatened, she started back to the far- 
 thest end of the room ; which was not light enough to 
 show her attitude distinctly, but it seemed intended to 
 express the receding of awe-struck admiration, stopped 
 by the wall. Charlotte and I passed by unnoticed, and 
 seated ourselves by the old lady's desire ; she, after mak- 
 ing twistings of her wrists, elbows, and neck, all of 
 which appeared to be dislocated, fixed herself in her arm- 
 chair, resting her hands on the black mahogany splayed 
 elbows. Her person was no sooner at rest, than her eyes 
 and all her features began to move in all directions. She 
 looked like a nervous and suspicious person electrified. 
 She seemed to be the acting partner in this house, to 
 watch over her treasure of a daughter, to supply her with 
 worldly wisdom, to look upon her as a phoenix, and — 
 scold her. Miss "Watts was all ecstasy, and lifting up of 
 hands and eyes, speaking always in that loud, shrill, 
 theatrical tone with which a puppet-master supplies his 
 puppets. I, all the time, sat like a mouse. My father 
 
MISS "WATTS. 159 
 
 asked, ' "Whicli of those ladies, madam, do you think is 
 your sister authoress ? ' — 'I am no physiognomist [in a 
 screech] but I do imagine that to be the lady,' bowing 
 as she sat, almost tq the ground, and pointing to Mrs. 
 Edgeworth. ' No : guess again.' — ' Then, that must be 
 she,' bowing to Charlotte. 'No.' — 'Then this lady,' 
 looking forward to see what sort of an animal I was, for 
 she had never seen me till this instant. To make me 
 some amends, she now drew her chair close to me, and 
 began to pour forth praises. ' Lady Delacour, oh ! " Let- 
 ters for Literary Ladies," oh ! ' 
 
 ' ' Now for the pathetic part. This poor girl sold a 
 novel, in four volumes, for ten guineas to Lane." 
 
 On their arrival in London, Mr. Edgeworth bought 
 a large, comfortable travelling-carriage for their Con- 
 tinental journey. They left England for Calais, 
 where they landed the 4th of October, after a very 
 rough and disagreeable passage. 
 
 This is a picture given by Maria of their depar- 
 ture from Gravelines for Brussels. They went from 
 Calais to Gravelines, and there took Flemish horses 
 for their carriage. 
 
 ' ' An equipage at which Sobriety herself could not 
 have forborne to laugh. To our London coach were fas- 
 tened by long rope-traces six Flemish horses of different 
 heights, but each large and clumsy enough to draw an 
 English wagon. The nose of the foremost horse was 
 thirty-five feet from the body of the coach, their hoofs 
 all shaggy, their manes all uncombed, and their tails long 
 enough to please Sir Charles Grandison himself. These 
 beasts were totally disencumbered of every sort of har- 
 ness except one strap, which fastened the saddle on their 
 
160 A STUDT OP MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 backs ; and high, high upon their backs sat perfectly 
 perpendicular long-waisted postilions in jack-boots, with 
 pipes in their mouths." 
 
 To break the monotony of the road between 
 Gravelines and Brussels, Maria had a book called 
 " Un Voyage dans les Pays Bas, par M. Breton," 
 and the story of Mile, de Clermont, in Mme. de 
 Genlis's " Petits Romans," to read. She says she 
 " never read a more pathetic and finely written tale " 
 than the latter. Maria was always an admirer of the 
 romantic and sentimental in literature, though accused 
 by the critics of wanting those qualities in her own 
 writings. In all her remarks about the works of 
 others, this is noticeable, that she had a strong and 
 just appreciation of pathos and imagination. 
 
 At Bruges the Edgeworths met the hbrarian of 
 the Ecole Centrale, while visitijig that institution, 
 and also a Mr. Edwards, an Englishman from Ja- 
 maica. He was a friend of Mr. Brian Edwards, and 
 well acquainted with Johnson the bookseller, and 
 had met Dr. Aikin and ]\lr. and Mrs. Barbauld at 
 his house. M. Lenet found them to be the Edge- 
 worths described by Pictet in the paper in " The Bi- 
 bliothdque Britannique," and was very attentive and 
 courteous. They reached Paris after a pleasant 
 journey, somewhat marred by the annoyance of a 
 courier, who was very necessary at that day in Con- 
 tinental travelling. Maria wrote that he might find 
 something needed by them "if he is not drunk;" 
 which was, apparently, not an unusual condition 
 with him. 
 
AEKIVAL IN PARIS. 161 
 
 On tlieir arrival in Paris, they took lodgings in the 
 Rue cle Lille. Maria says of their Parisian life, — 
 
 "After a delightful tour through the Low Countries, 
 we arrived at Paris, where we were to spend the winter. 
 In the Hotel, Place de Louis Quinze, to which we drove 
 on entering Paris, my father was fortunate in meeting his 
 illustrious friend, Mr. Watt. To him he owed an intro- 
 duction to many foreigners of celebrity. Pictet had, as 
 we found, in the most friendly manner, prepared the way 
 for us at Paris ; and there he more than kept all his prom- 
 ises of assistance, and of introduction to his numerous 
 literary acquaintance and to highly cultivated and agree- 
 able society. He was not in Paris on our arrival ; but we 
 had, among other liind friends, in particular, the venerable 
 Abbe Morellet.i 
 
 . . . "M. de Prony,^ who was then at the head of 
 Les Fonts et Chausies, showed him, in the best manner, 
 all that to a well-informed engineer was most worthy of 
 notice in the repository of that celebrated school, put 
 him in the way of seeing every other invention, object, 
 and person in the mechanical and engineering department ; 
 but, above all, he felt grateful for M. de Prony's giving 
 him so much of his own conversation, and for various 
 indubitable proofs of private esteem and confidence. 
 
 "Berthollet, Montgolfier, and Breguet gratiiied him by 
 bestowing that gift, of which philosophers and men of 
 science, occupied upon great objects, and independent of 
 common society, best know the value, — their time. It 
 
 ■> Morellet, Andre. A celebrated abbe, bora at Lyons in 1727. 
 He wrote some works on political economy and statistics. Died in 
 1819. 
 
 2 Prony, Gaspard-Clair-Fran90is-Marie-Ricbe de. Baron de Pro- 
 ny. A distinguished French mathematician. 1755-1839. 
 
162 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 was at this period that we first became acquainted with 
 our excellent friend, M. Dumont. 
 
 " This gentleraan, so well known by his conversational 
 talents and his exquisite critical acumen, has entitled him- 
 self to the gratitude of the literary and political world in 
 general, and of Englishmen in particular, by the success- 
 ful pains he has bestowed in arranging, elucidating, and 
 making known to the Continent of Europe several valu- 
 able English works,-' — works which, notwithstanding their 
 depth of thought and extent of views, would never have 
 acquired popularity, if they had not been re-written in 
 M. Dumont's clear and forcible style. 
 
 "From the commencement of their friendship in 1802, 
 my father continued to correspond with M. Dumont ; and 
 we owe much to his critical advice and sagacity in aU our 
 literary pursuits and publications." 
 
 M. Dumont, of whom the reader will hear much 
 from Miss Edgeworth, was travelling with his pupil 
 and friend, Lord Henry Petty. Miss Edgeworth 
 met them at the house of Mme. Gautier at Passy. 
 Pictet had described M. Delessert to the Edgeworths 
 as a kind of " French Rumford." They found Mme. 
 Delessert intelligent and agreeable, and their daugh- 
 ter, Mme. Gautier, very charming. Rousseau wrote 
 his "Letters on Botany" for this lady. He was a 
 friend of the family. Frangois Delessert, the second 
 son, was educated chiefly by his sister, Mme. Gautier. 
 Maria describes Passy as a " French Richmond." 
 Mme. Gautier had "fine eyes, was very intelligent, 
 and well dressed." 
 
 1 Bentham'a Traitds sur la Legislation, and Thtoie des Peines 
 et des Keoompenses, etc. 
 
LORD LANSDOWNE. 163 
 
 Lord Henry Petty was to play a prominent part 
 in the life of Miss Edgeworth, as a good friend for 
 many years. The present generation of readers will 
 remember him better as the Marquis of Lansdowne, 
 the amicus eurice of politics, and the very type of 
 a mild and venerable Whig. He lived to be the 
 Nestor of his party. This nobleman was the son of 
 the first Marquis of Lansdowne by his second wife, 
 a daughter of Lord Ossory. He succeeded his elder 
 brother in the title in 1809. 
 
 Lord Henry Petty was educated at the Westmin- 
 ster School ; and, after passing there five years, he 
 was sent to the University of Edinburgh. Lord Ash- 
 burton and he passed much of their leisure at the 
 house of the celebrated Dugald Stewart, then pro- 
 fessor in the University. He also joined what was 
 known as the " Speculative Society," and exercised 
 his powers of debate at these weekly meetings. On 
 leaving Edinburgh, Lord Henry was entered at Trin- 
 ity College, Cambridge ; where he staid till 1801, 
 when he took his degree of Master of Arts. By his 
 father's desire he then started with M. Dumont to 
 make a tour of the Continent ; but the peace of 
 Amiens was too brief to allow time for this journey, 
 and he returned to England that year. He was 
 almost immediately nominated and elected to the 
 family borough of Calne. After a year's silence he 
 first spoke on the subject of Ireland. He showed a 
 remarkable degree of information on political econo- 
 my, and he was welcomed by the opposition as a 
 valuable adherent. In 1803, when Loid Melville 
 was charged with retaining sums of money in his 
 
164 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOKTH. 
 
 hands as treasurer of the navy, and a violent party- 
 struggle ensued, Lord Henry distinguished himself 
 by an exceedingly able speech, which made many 
 consider him a rival of Pitt in oratory. At the 
 death of Pitt, in 1806, Lord Henry was offered, and 
 accepted, office as chancellor of the exchequer ; 
 and he was also elected by a very large majority to 
 the representation of the University of Cambridge, 
 over his opponents Lords Althorpe and Palmerston. 
 
 On the death of Fox " the ministry of all the tal- 
 ents" soon fell ; and Lord Henry lost his office, and 
 also his seat in Parliament, by his consistent advocacy 
 of the Catholic claim. The university elected Sir 
 Vickary Gibbs by only two votes over Lord Palm- 
 erston; and Lord Henry was at the foot of the 
 poll. He was, however, provided with a seat by 
 the influence of the Duke of Bedford, and returned 
 for Camelford, a borough so small that it figured in 
 Schedule A of the Reform Bill. In 1808 he mar- 
 ried his cousin. Lady Louisa Strangeways, daughter 
 of the Earl of Ilchester. In 1809, on the death of 
 the second marquis, his half-brother, he took his 
 seat in the House of Peers. Lord Lansdowne con- 
 tinued in the opposition till 1827, when he joined the 
 administration of Mr. Canning, as secretary for the 
 Home Department. The death of Mr. Canning, and 
 the change which brought in the Liverpool cabinet 
 and the Duke of Wellington, made Lord Lansdowne 
 the leader of the opposition. His name is asso- 
 ciated with many reform measures during the half- 
 century in which he took active part in political 
 affairs. The abolition of slavery, and the Catholio 
 
LOKD LANSDOWNE. 165 
 
 emancipation acts, had his heartfelt support. His 
 urbanity and courtesy to his political opponents won 
 for him a large measure of esteem and regard. 
 
 Under Earl Grey's administration Lord Lansdowne 
 held the ofi&ce of president of the council for nearly 
 ten years, with a brief exception, — the period of 
 the Duke of Wellington's short administration. On 
 the formation of the Russell cabinet, in 1846, Lord 
 Lansdowne returned to office as president of the 
 council, and ably advocated the cause of national 
 education. On the retirement of the ministers from 
 office, in 1852, Lord Lansdowne took a dignified leave 
 of official life, in a heartfelt address to the House 
 announcing the dissolution of the Lord John Russell 
 cabinet. He was often consulted by the queen, who 
 was the fourth sovereign under whom he had held 
 office. One cannot fail to notice the consistency of 
 Lord Lansdowne's official life. Liberal views were 
 his first and last care during a long political career ; 
 reform measures had his earliest attention ; and he 
 lived long enough to see the successful result of his 
 labors. 
 
 Lansdowne House, in Berkeley Square, was one of 
 the houses adorned alike by the domestic virtues and 
 social graces. Its master was early thrown among 
 men of distinction in literature, politics, and art ; and 
 he soon became the liberal friend and patron of art 
 and literature. Of Lady Lansdowne there are many 
 charming mentions in contemporaneous literature, 
 which will be noticed later. 
 
 Dumont, the remarkable tutor of the brilliant 
 young Englishman, was to become the intimate friend 
 
166 A STUDY or MAEIA EDGBWOKTH. 
 
 and valued critic of Miss Edgeworth ; and the Gene- 
 van pasteur himself became so prominent a man in 
 literature that a little sketch of his life must be given 
 here. Pierre Etienne Louis Dumont was born in 
 Geneva in 1759. He studied theology; and, after 
 preaching a while in his native place, he went to 
 St. Petersburg, in 1783, where he took charge of 
 the French Protestant Church. 
 
 In 1785 he left Eussia for England, where he 
 became tutor to the sons of Lord Shelburne. He 
 became very intimate with many of the Whig party, 
 and with Sir Samuel Romilly he formed a close 
 friendship. 
 
 He had known Romilly early in life at Geneva, 
 who spoke of Dumont in his account of his own early 
 life as follows : — 
 
 " His vigorous understanding, his extensive knowledge, 
 and his splendid eloquence fitted him to have acted the 
 noblest part in public life ; while the brilliancy of his wit, 
 the cheerfulness of his liumor, and the charms of his 
 conversation, liave made him the delight of every private 
 society in which he has lived. But his most valuable 
 qualities are, his strict integrity, his zeal to serve those 
 whom he is attached to, and his most affectionate dispo- 
 sition." 
 
 During the early years of the French Revolution, 
 Dumont was in Paris, where he saw much of Mira- 
 beau; and he has given the world much valuable 
 information about that period, in his "Souvenirs 
 sur Mirabeau et sur les deux Premiers Assemblies 
 Legislatives," published in 1832, seven years after 
 
M. DTTMONT. 167 
 
 the writer's deatli. In 1791 Dumont returned to 
 England, and formed an intimacy with Jeremy Ben- 
 tham. 
 
 Bentham gave him his manuscripts, and he labored 
 long and patiently to elucidate and make available 
 the immense material which the pliilosopher had 
 prepared. The results were the various works of 
 Bentham on legislation. Macaulay says of his indus- 
 trious and unselfish work, in an eloquent eulogium 
 of him, in reviewing his " Souvenirs de Mirabeau," 
 " Possessed of talents and acquirements which made 
 him great, he wished only to be useful." 
 
 Hazlitt wittily says of this, Bentham's "works 
 have been translated into French. They ought to 
 be translated first into English." Sydney Smith also 
 commented on Dumont's share in this ; saying to 
 Moore, that Dumont had brought out the obscurity 
 of Bentham, and made it " clear and understandable." 
 In 1814 Dumont returned to Geneva, and became a 
 member of the representative council. He died in 
 1825 at Milan. 
 
 The Delesserts were visited intimately by the 
 Edgeworths, who found them most kind and friend- 
 ly. Madame Delessert was the benefactress of Rous- 
 seau. It was said he was never so good or happy as 
 when in her society. To her generosity he owed his 
 retreat in Switzerland. She was a woman of high 
 character, and her salon was closed to those of whose 
 conduct she could not approve ; though her acts of 
 benevolence were many and wise. It is said that 
 Berquin's " Ami des Enfans " records one of her 
 charitable deeds ; but her own children could not tell 
 
168 A STUDY OP MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 Miss Edgeworth which story contained this episode, 
 as she concealed it. 
 
 Among the many friends they made in Paris may 
 be named Mme. de Pastoret. This lady, who was 
 the original of " Mme. de Fleury," in Maria's story 
 of that name, was preceptress to the princess in the 
 ancient rSgime, being appointed to that post in oppo- 
 sition to the wife of Condorcet ; while M. de Pastoret 
 was chosen preceptor to the dauphin. M. Pastoret 
 was president of the First Assembly, and at the 
 head of the king's council before the revolution. 
 He alone was saved from the guillotine : the other 
 four members perished in the reign of terror; he 
 escaped by his courage and decision. The Marquis 
 de Chastellux's speech best describes Mme. de Pas- 
 toret, says Maria : " Elle na point d'' expression sans 
 ffrdoe, et point de grdce sans expression." Louis 
 XVIII. made Count Pastoret a marquis, and he 
 was afterwards chancellor of France. 
 
 Mr. Ticknor says in 1818, — 
 
 " She has natural talent, and has cultivated herself 
 highly. I have seldom seen a better balanced mind, or 
 feelings more justlv regulated." 
 
 Mr. Ticknor again mentions meeting Mme. de 
 Pastoret in 1837 : — 
 
 "The Mme. de Fleury of Miss Edgeworth. This tale 
 was founded on incidents in Mme. Pastoret's life related 
 by her to Miss Edgeworth, to whom she was much at- 
 tached. . . . De Fleury was not an invented name, but 
 the name of an estate belonging to her, and taken as 
 
MME. DE PASTOEET. 169 
 
 such by Miss Edgeworth, whom she knows personally 
 extremely well." 
 
 In February of 1803, Maria made a sketch for the 
 story of " Mme. de Fleury," but did not finish it till 
 long afterwards. The incident of the locked-up 
 child was told her by Mme. Pastoret, to whom it 
 had happened. The period of the Eevolution was 
 a frightful one for the Pastorets, but they learned 
 much from this time of suffering and distress. 
 
 Mme. Pastoret was a noble character, and she did 
 much for the cause of education. She first estab- 
 lished infant-schools in France. 
 
 The Edgeworths visited much, and made many 
 acquaintances among the various circles which gath- 
 ered again in Paris after the return of the nobles. 
 At the house of M. and Mme. Suard they met 
 many eminent men and charming women. M. Suard 
 was editor of the " Publiciste." Mme. Suard " Mr. 
 Day paid his court to thirty years ago." 
 
 At the house of the venerable Abb^ Morellet, 
 Maria met an old lady of note. This was " Mme. 
 d'Ouditot, an old lady of seventy-two, — the -Julie' 
 of Rousseau." She describes her as "shockingly 
 ugly, and squints," but adds, — 
 
 " I wish I could be such a woman at seventy-two. She 
 told us that Rousseau, whilst he was writing so finely on 
 education, and leaving his own children in the foundling 
 hospital, defended himself with so much eloquence that 
 even those who blamed him in their hearts could not find 
 tongues to answer him. 
 
 " Once at dinner at Mme. d'Ouditot's there was a 
 
170 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGEWORTH. 
 
 fine pyramid of fruit. Rousseau, in helping himself, took 
 the peach which formed the base of the pj'ramid, and the 
 rest fell immediately. ' Rousseau ! ' said she, ' that 
 is what you always do with all our systems : you pull 
 down with a single touch, but who will build up what you 
 pull down ? ' I asked if he was grateful for all the 
 kindness shown him. ' No, he was ungrateful : he had a 
 thousand bad qualities ; but I turned my attention from 
 them to his genius, and the good he had done mankind.' 
 
 "I felt in her company the delightful influence of a 
 cheerful temper, and soft, attractive manners ; enthusiasm 
 which does not extinguish, and which spends, but does not 
 waste, itself on small but not trifling objects." 
 
 The Abb^ Morellet, at whose breakfast this con- 
 versation took place, was a man of marked charac- 
 ter. His high moral courage and consistent conduct 
 throughout the trying period of the revolution gave 
 him a place in the esteem and regard of his friends, 
 which his learning and fine literary taste increased. 
 He had a deservedly high influence in Paris. Mr. 
 Edgeworth had made his acquaintance in 1772-73, 
 when he was in France with Mr. Day. Maria was 
 much interested in the abbd She says that he 
 seemed to enjoy his position among the younger 
 people, whose society he frequented. "I hear peo- 
 ple complaining of growing old," said he ; " but for 
 my part, I enjoy the privileges and comforts, in short, 
 the convenience, of old age (^les commoditSs cte la 
 vieillesse).'" This amiable, respectable, and respected 
 old man, in some playful lines he wrote on his own 
 birthday, declares, that if the gods were to permit 
 him to return again on earth, in whatever form he 
 
FBENCH NOTABILITIES. 171 
 
 might choose, he should make, perhaps, the whim- 
 sical choice of returning to this world as an old man. 
 
 They met Camille Jordan,^ and M. Degerando.^ 
 Jordan had, just before this, published a pamphlet 
 on the choice of Bonaparte as First Consul for life. 
 This was at first condemned ; but, as the time was not 
 ripe for Napoleon to declare himself as a complete 
 despot, he allowed the address to go unpunished. 
 At the home of Mme. Campan they met Mme. Re- 
 camier, "the beautiful lady who had nearly been 
 squeezed to death in Paris." Mme. Campan pro- 
 fessed to follow the principles of " Professional Edu- 
 cation " in her great boarding-school, and later at 
 the institution at Ecouen, where the daughters of the 
 ofBcers of the legion of honor were educated. Mme. 
 Campan paid the Edgeworths " many compliments." 
 Mr. Edgeworth was not greatly impressed with 
 Mme. Recamier. He says, " She certainly is hand- 
 some, but there is nothing noble in her appear- 
 ance. — She was very civil," he adds. They attended 
 one of Mme. Recamier's salons, and found there "a 
 strange mSlange of merchants and poets, philoso- 
 phers, and parvenues, English, French, Portuguese, 
 and Brazilian." Says Maria, "They also went to 
 the opera with her." 
 
 Among other notabilities they met Mme. Lavoi- 
 sier; Gen. Kosciusko,^ "simple in his manners, like 
 all truly great men," says Maria ; the Prince and 
 
 1 Camille Jordan, French orator and statesman. 1771-1821. 
 
 2 Marie Joseph de Gerando, French writer on education and 
 philosophy. 1772-1842. 
 
 2 Kosciusko, Polish patriot and leader. 1756-1817. 
 
172 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWORTH. 
 
 Princess Joseph de Monaco ; and the Abbe Sieard.^ 
 IMaria visited the famous institution of the ahbd for 
 the instruction of the deaf and dumb, with the Pic- 
 tets. At one of Mme. Suard's assemblages of friends, 
 they met the celebrated Lallj^-Tollendal, and the 
 Due de Crillon. The Marquis Lally-Tollendal emi- 
 grated to England with ^Ime. de Stael, and figures 
 much in Miss Burney's account of the life at Juni- 
 per Hall. Mme. de Stael called him " Le plus gras 
 des homines sensibles,'" but he was usually known in 
 France, by his eloquence, as the French Cicero. 
 
 Miss Edgeworth's pretty novel of " Belinda " was 
 translated into the French hj the Comte de S^gur 
 about this time. " Castle Rackrent " was translated 
 into the German. Maria saw an extract from 
 " Castle Rackrent " in a French book. This gave 
 the wake, the confinement of Lady Cathcart to her 
 own house for many years, and the sweeping the stairs 
 by Thady with his wig, as common and usual occur- 
 rences in Ireland. While at a grand review in the 
 Place de Carrousel, a gentleman came in " who had 
 passed many years in Spain." Says Maria, "He 
 began to talk to me about Madrid ; and, when he 
 heard my name, he said a Spanish lady is translating 
 ' Practical Education ' from the French. She under- 
 stands English ; and he gave me her address, that we 
 may send a copy of the book to her." 
 
 In a letter of Maria's dated " Siecle rSparateur," 
 as Monge has christened this century 1803, she men- 
 tions the fact that " Early Lessons " is being trans- 
 
 1 Sioard, Koch-Ambrose Cucurron, an eminent teacher of the 
 deaf and dumb. 1742-1822. 
 
PARISIAN SOCIETY. 173 
 
 lated into French on one side of the page, and 
 English on the other. Of this translation she says, 
 that "Didot has undertaken to publish 'The Na- 
 tional Primer,' which is much approved of here for 
 teaching the true English pronunciation." This last 
 was Mr. Edgeworth's book, written to explain and 
 illustrate his method of teaching children to read. 
 
 Maria, in describing the social life in Paris at this 
 period, says that the soirees begin at nine o'clock ; 
 and cards, with all kinds of conversation, and a light 
 supper, make up the evening's entertainment. 
 
 " I have never heard any person talk of dress or fash- 
 ion since we came to Paris, and very httle scandal. A 
 scandal-monger would be starved here. The conversa- , 
 tiou frequently turns on the new petites pi&ces, and little 
 novels which come out every day, and are talked of for a 
 few days with as much eagerness as a new fashion in 
 other places." 
 
 She did not yet realize, after quite a stay in Paris, 
 why gossip was suppressed, and the whole style of 
 conversation was so carefully guarded. The '■'■patte 
 de velours " of Napoleon was felt by the Parisians ; 
 and, though sheathed temporarily, his talons were 
 too evident to permit of any real freedom of thought 
 or language. Before the close of these very pleasant 
 months in Paris, she could have better explained 
 the absence of any thing like a personal element 
 in the conversation. 
 
 Many of Miss Edgeworth's critics have thought 
 her wanting in tenderness, and in the delineation of 
 the power and influence of love on the human heart, 
 
174 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 and its share in the events of life. It is not iisually 
 known tliat she was a person of the most affection- 
 ate, warm-hearted, and tender nature. Her tears 
 and smiles rose easily at any tale of distress or 
 mirth, but she was not lightly or easily influenced 
 by fictitious suffering. Her clear mind and culti- 
 vated intellect gave her a strong control over her 
 own feelings ; but she was human, and vulnerable, 
 as every true woman should be, to the influence of 
 love. In Paris she met often a Swedish gentleman, 
 M. Edelcrantz ; and it was an offer from him which 
 caused her to write as follows : — 
 
 "Here, my dear aunt [Mrs. Euston], I was inter- 
 rupted in a manner that will surprise you as much as it 
 surprised me, by the coming in of M. Edelcrantz, a Swed- 
 ish gentleman, whom we have mentioned to you, of supe- 
 rior understanding and mUd manners : he came to offer 
 me his hand and heart ! 
 
 " My heart, you may suppose, cannot return his attach- 
 ment ; for I have seen but little of him, and have not 
 had time to have formed any judgment, except that I 
 think nothing could tempt me to leave my own dear 
 friends and my own country to live in Sweden." 
 
 To another relation she wrote, — 
 
 "I take it for granted, my dear friend, that you have 
 by this time seen a letter which I wrote a few days ago 
 to my aunt. To you, as to her, every thought of my 
 mind is open. I persist in refusing to leave my country 
 and my friends to live at the court of Stockholm ; and he 
 tells me (of course) that there is nothing he would not 
 sacrifice for me, except his duty. He has been all his life 
 
M. EDELCEANTZ. 175' 
 
 in the service of the king of Sweden, has places under 
 him, and is actually employed in collecting information 
 for a large political establishment. He thinks himself 
 bound in honor to finish what he has begun. He saj's 
 he should not fear the ridicule or blame that would be 
 thrown upon him by his counti-ymen, for quitting his 
 country at his age, but that he should despise himself if 
 he abandoned his duty for any passion. This is all very 
 reasonable, but reasonable for him only, not for me ; 
 and I have never felt any thing for him but esteem and 
 gratitude." 
 
 Mrs. Edgeworth wrote of this event, — 
 
 "Maria was mistaken as to her own feelings. She 
 refused M. Edelcrantz, but she felt much more for him 
 than esteem and admiration : she was exceedingly in love 
 with him. Mr. Edgeworth left her to decide for herself ; 
 but she saw too plainly what it would be to us to lose 
 her, and what she would feel at parting from us. She 
 decided rightly for her own future happiness and for that 
 of her family ; but she suffered much at the time, and 
 long afterwards. While we were at Paris, I remember 
 that in a shop, where Charlotte and I were making some 
 purchases, Maria sat apart absorbed in thought, and so 
 deep in reveiy that when her father came in and stood 
 opposite to her she did not see him till he spoke to her, 
 when she started, and burst into tears. She was grieved 
 by his look of tender anxiety : and she afterwards exerted 
 herself to join in society, and to take advantage of all 
 that was agreeable during our stay in France, and on our 
 journey home ; but it was often a most painful effort to 
 her. And even after her return to Edgeworthstown, it 
 was long before she recovered the elasticity of her mind. 
 She exerted all her powers of self-command, and turned 
 
176 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGEWORTH. 
 
 her attention to every thing her father suggested for her 
 to write. But ' Leonora,' which slie began immediately 
 after our return home, was written with the hope of 
 pleasing the Chevalier Edelcrantz : it was written in a 
 style he liked ; and the idea of what he would think of 
 it was, I believe, present to her in every page she wrote. 
 She never heard that he had even read it. From the 
 time they parted at Paris, there was no sort of com- 
 munication between them ; and, beyond the chance which 
 brought us sometimes into compauy with travellers who 
 had been in Sweden, or the casual mention of M. Edel- 
 crantz in the newspapers or scientific journals, we never 
 heard more of one who had been of such supreme interest 
 to her, and to us all, at Paris, and of whom Maria contin- 
 ued to have, all her life, the most romantic recollection. 
 I do not think she ever repented of her refusal or regret- 
 ted her decision : she was well aware that she could not 
 have made him happy, that she would not have suited his 
 position at the court of Stockholm, and that her want of 
 beauty might have diminished his attachment. It was 
 better, perhaps, that she should think so, as it calmed 
 her mind ; but, from what I saw of M. Edelcrantz, I 
 think he was a man capable of deeply valuing her. I 
 believe that he was much attached to her, and deeply 
 mortified at her refusal. He continued to reside in 
 Sweden after the abdication of his master, and was 
 always distinguished for his high character and great 
 abilities. He never married. He was, except very fine 
 eyes, remarkably plain. Her father ralHed Maria about 
 her preference of so ugly a man ; but she liked the ex- 
 pression of his countenance, the spirit and strength of 
 his character, and his very able conversation. The unex- 
 pected mention of his name, or even that of Sweden, 
 in a book or newspaper, always moved her so much that 
 
M. EDELCEANTZ. 177 
 
 the words and lines in the page became a mass of con- 
 fusion before her eyes, and her voice lost all power. 
 
 "I think it right to mention these facts, because I 
 know that the lessons of self-command which she incul- 
 cated in her novels were really acted upon in her own 
 life, and that the resolution with which she devoted her- 
 self to her father and her family, and the industry with 
 which she labored at the writings which she thought were 
 for the advantage of her fellow-creatures, were from the 
 exertion of the highest principle. Her precepts were not 
 the maxims of cold-hearted prudence, but the result of 
 her own experience in strong and romantic feeling. By 
 what accident it happened that she had, long before she 
 ever saw the Chevalier Edelcrantz, chosen Sweden for 
 the scene of 'The Knapsack,' I do not know; but I 
 remember his expressing his admiration of that beautiful 
 little piece, and his pleasure in the fine characters of the 
 Swedish gentlemen and peasants." 
 
 This is an exceedingly interesting passage ; because 
 it does show clearly, as Mrs. Edgeworth says, that 
 Maria was capable of the deepest feelings. Many 
 critics have accused her of being cold, prudent, and 
 calculating. Cold, the writer of " Patronage," with 
 the beautiful womanly character of Caroline Percy, 
 could never have been. She was denied the happi- 
 ness of the sweetest relations of domestic life : the 
 tender joys of wife and mother were not to be hers, 
 but it did cost her many struggles to give up bravely 
 the possibility of such happiness. She showed so 
 plainly by her lifelong devotion to a living father, 
 and regard for his memory when gone ; by sympa- 
 thetic interest in her own brothers and sisters, the 
 
178 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOBTH. 
 
 many other children and the wives of her father, — 
 what she was capable of feeling, that one cannot 
 doubt her capacity for loving. She drew too many 
 portraits of lovely women in all the relations of life, 
 as maid, wife, and widow, to leave a shadow of uncer- 
 tainty as to her genuine belief in marriage. It is 
 hard " to look into happiness through another man's 
 eyes," says Shakspeare. Maria did this all her Hfe ; 
 and the wonder is, that she depicted so delicately, 
 yet charmingly, the effect of love on so many char- 
 acters. She does it admirably in " Patronage," where 
 she contrasts the volatile Rosamond, under the influ- 
 ence of the tender passion, with her high-spirited yet 
 tender sister Caroline. Both love, and are wooed and 
 won; but how different the wooing! how character- 
 istic the sentiments of the lively Rosamond, with her 
 vivacity and redoubled life, and the calm, deep hap- 
 piness of the well-balanced mind and the sympa- 
 thetic yet self-contained nature of Caroline ! While 
 Rosamond is steadied and improved by her love 
 for Mr. Henry, the noble nature of Caroline finds its 
 perfect finish in the happiness of loving and being 
 loved by Count Altenburg. 
 
 When Maria painted Caroline Percy struggling to 
 control what she supposed was a hopeless passion for 
 Count Altenburg, she probably drew these pages 
 from her own experience. The fate of her heroine 
 was happier, however, than her own. Her lover did 
 not return to her, and they never met again. 
 
LA HAEPE. 179 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Maria visits La Harpe. — Mr. Edgeworth ordered to leave Paris. — 
 Maria goes witli him to Passy. — He receives Permission to 
 return. — A Visit to Mme. de Genlis- — Rumors of "War. — 
 Departure from Paris. — London. — York. — Edinburgh. — Soci- 
 ety there. — Dugald Stewart. — Dr. Alison. — Dr. Gregory.^ 
 Professor Playf air. — Elizabeth Hamilton — Jlaria's Enjoyment 
 of Edinburgh. — A Visit to Glasgow on their Way to Ireland. 
 
 Among other visits to notable people, Maria went 
 to the house of La Harpe, the poet, with Mme. 
 R^camier and the Russian Princess Dalgourski, to 
 hear him repeat some of his own poetry. 
 
 ' ' He lives in a wretched house ; and we went up dirty 
 stairs, through dirty passages, where I wondered how fine 
 ladies' trains and noses could go, and were received in a 
 dark, small den by the philosopher, or rather divot, for 
 he spurns the philosopher. He was in a dirty reddish 
 night-gown, and very dirty night-cap bound round the 
 forehead by a superlatively dirty chocolate-colored ribbon. 
 Mme. Edcamier, the beautiful, the elegant, robed in white 
 satin trimmed with white fur, seated herself on the elbow 
 of his armchair, and besought him to repeat his verses." 
 
 In another place she speaks of Mme. R^camier 
 as, " a graceful and decent beauty of excellent char- 
 acter." When, long after this time, her brother 
 wrote her that he made Mme. R^camier laugh, by 
 some remark of his, Maria replied, — 
 
180 A STUDY OF MAKIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 "In my observation she never went beyond the smile 
 prescribed by Lord Chesterfield as graceful in beauty." 
 
 When Mr. Edgewortli was arranging in London 
 for his Parisian life, he asked for, and obtained, a 
 letter from Lord Essex, then lord chamberlain, and 
 applied to Lord Whitworth, then English ambassa- 
 dor at Paris, to present him to Napoleon. After a 
 stay in Paris, he was convinced by various signs that 
 Gen. Bonaparte, then First Consul, was carefully 
 preparing his course for the usurpation of supreme 
 power in France. This altered Mr. Edgeworth's 
 feelings : he did not care to go to the court of the 
 usurper. Though he was prudent in conversation, 
 and in the friendships he formed and the houses 
 he frequented, there was a sj^stem of espionnage 
 in Paris which kept Napoleon acquainted with the 
 thoughts and speech of strangers as well as resi- 
 dents. Mr. Edgeworth " could scarcely be brought 
 to believe " in the existence of such a police-system, 
 till he was convinced by "well-attested facts pro- 
 duced to him, and till he perceived the suspicion 
 and excessive caution and constraint which the sys- 
 tem spread over general society." This was the rea- 
 son for the peculiar tone of conversation in the 
 salons. Maria did not fully comprehend the situa- 
 tion of affairs in Paris, until seen in the light of after 
 events. 
 
 Mr. Edgeworth had no apprehensions whatever 
 of attracting the police spies by either action or 
 word ; but " he was one morning surprised by an 
 order to quit Paris in twenty-four hours, and the 
 
MR. edgewoeth's aeeest. 181 
 
 French territories in fifteen days." Accompanied 
 by Maria, he went to Passy. The following extract 
 from a letter to Miss Charlotte Sneyd will tell the 
 story of the mistake which caused his arrest. He 
 described in detail all the particulars of his arrest, 
 and the kindness of his friends, the Delesserts, Mme. 
 Gautier, and others. It was true kindness, for it 
 exposed them to the censure of the police for aiding 
 a suspected person. Refusing all offers of help, 
 fearing to compromise these good friends, Mr. Edge- 
 worth went into lodgings at Passy. 
 
 [To Mrs. Charlotte Sneyd.] 
 
 Paeis, Jan. 27, 1803. 
 
 . . . "We arrived at Passy about ten o'clock at 
 night ; and, though a cUporU^ I slept tolerably well. 
 
 Before I was up, my friend M. de P was with me, 
 
 breakfasted with us in our little oven of a parlor, con- 
 versed two hours most agreeably. Our other friend, F. 
 D., came also before we had breakfasted; and just as I 
 had mounted on a table to paste some paper over certain 
 
 deficiencies in the window, enter M. P , and Le 
 
 B n. 
 
 " Mon ami, ce n'est pas la peine ! " cried they both at 
 once, their faces rayonnant de joie. " You need not give 
 yourself so much trouble, you will not stay here long. 
 "We have seen the grand juge, and your detention 
 arises from a mistake. It was supposed that you are 
 a brother to the Abb6 Edgeworth. "We are to deliver 
 a petition from you, stating what your relationship to 
 the abbe really is. This shall be backed by an address 
 signed by all your friends at Paris, and you will then be 
 at liberty to return." 
 
182 A STUDY OF MAEIA BDGEWOETH. 
 
 I objected to writing any petition ; and at all events, 
 I determined to consult my ambassador, who liad con- 
 ducted himself well towards me. I wrote to Lord Whit- 
 worth, stating the facts, and declaring that nothing could 
 ever make me deny the honor of being related to the 
 Abb6 Edgeworth. Lord Whitworth advised me, however, 
 to state the fact that I was not the abbd's brother. 
 
 Maria sajs, — 
 
 "In the evening of the second day of my father's 
 banishment from Paris, our friends informing Mrs. Edge- 
 worth of the permission granted him to return, she came 
 to Passy for us at seven o'clock in the evening. Late as 
 it was when we got to Paris, he stopped at the English 
 ambassador's hotel to tell him the result of the business. 
 
 " At a public court dinner, at which Regnier, the grand 
 juge, was present, some days after- this affair, one of our 
 friends spoke of it, and questioned him as to his real 
 reasons. He declared he had none, but excused himself 
 by saying that Paris was too full of strangers, and that 
 he had general orders to clear it of la lie clu peuple etran- 
 ger ; to which our friend replied that, ' M. le Grand Juge 
 should, however, distinguish between la lie and Velite dii 
 peu2:ile.' . . . 
 
 " The memorial which our Parisian friends drew up to 
 present to the grand juge, stated ' that my father was a 
 man of letters, that we were authors of a work on edu- 
 cation well known in France, that he had lived, ever since 
 he came to Paris, with literary society, totally uncon- 
 nected with polities.' Some kind and highly gratifying 
 expressions were added : several celebrated names of 
 the highest respectability were subscribed. After the 
 business was over, the memorial was put into my father's 
 hand, and has been, and will be, carefully preserved by 
 
M5IE. DE GENLIS. 183 
 
 his family, as a testimony of the steadiness of our Pari- 
 sian friends." 
 
 The last important events of interest in the stay 
 of the Edgeworths at Paris, after the arrest and 
 release of Mr. Edgeworth, were a visit to the estab- 
 lishment of Mme. Campan, where they saw many 
 distinguished people, among them Hortense Beau- 
 harnais, and Mine. Louis Bonaparte, the unfortunate 
 queen of Holland, who was an Sieve of Mme. Cam- 
 pan's. Racine's " Esther," and Mme. de Genlis's 
 beautiful " RosiSre de Salency," were admirably 
 performed by the pupils. 
 
 " Full of the pleasure " received from seeing her 
 play, Miss Edgeworth, though evidently strongly 
 prejudiced against Mme. de Genlis,i "was impatient" 
 to pay her a visit before leaving. When in England 
 Maria did not visit her, as the feeling against her 
 manner of life was such, that, when Mr. Edgeworth 
 took Maria's translation of " Adele et Theodore " to 
 her at Bath, he meant to present its translator, Maria, 
 also to her, but found " that she is not visited by 
 demoiselles in England," writes Maria, in 1791, from 
 Clifton to Mrs. Ruxton. But Maria was older now 
 than she was then; and, besides, she probably thought 
 that at Paris she could do as the Parisians do ; and 
 they went by special invitation one evening. And 
 here is her own description of the difficulties and the 
 
 i Genlis, Stephanie Felicite, Comtesse de, 130111 in Burgundy, 
 1746; died in 1830. Notorious for her connection with Philippe 
 iSgalite. She educated Louis Philippe. She published numerous 
 hooks on many subjects. 
 
184 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGE"WOETH. 
 
 final result, and her impressions of this notorious 
 woman : — 
 
 " She was living where Sully used to live, at the Arse- 
 nal. Bonaparte has given her apartments there. Now, 
 I do not know what you imagined in reading Sully's 
 Memoirs : but I always imagined that the Arsenal was one 
 large building, with a fa9ade to it like a very large hotel 
 or a palace ; and I fancied it was somewhere in the middle 
 of Paris. On the contrary, it was quite in the suburbs. 
 We drove on and on ; and at last we came to a heavy 
 archway, like what you see at the entrance of a fortified 
 town. We drove under it for the length of three or four 
 yards in total darkness ; and then we found ourselves, as 
 well as we could see by the light of some dim lamps, in a 
 large square court, surrounded by buildings : here we 
 thought we were to alight. No such thing : the coachman 
 drove under another thick archway, lighted at the en- 
 trance by a single lamp. We found ourselves in another 
 court ; and still we went on, archway after archway, court 
 after court, in all which reigned desolate silence. I 
 thought the archways and the courts and the desolate 
 silence would never end. At last the coachman stopped, 
 and asked, for the tenth time, where the lady lived. It is 
 excessively difficult to find people in Paris. We thought 
 the name of Mme. de Genlis and the Arsenal would 
 have been sufficient ; but the whole of this congregation 
 of courts and gateways and houses is called the Arsenal, 
 and hundreds and hundreds of people inhabit it who are 
 probably perfect strangers to Mme. de Genlis. At the 
 doors where our coachman inquired, some answered that 
 they knew nothing of her, some that she lived in the 
 Faubourg St. Germain, others believed that she might be 
 at Passy, others had heard that she had apartments given 
 
MME. DE GENLIS. 185 
 
 her by government somewhere in the Arsenal, but could 
 not tell where. While the coachman thus begged his way, 
 we, anxiously looking out at him from the middle of the 
 great square where we were left, listened for the answers 
 that were given, and which often, from the distance, 
 escaped our ears. At last a door pretty near to us 
 opened, and our coachman's head and hat were illumin- 
 ated by the candle held by the person who opened the 
 door ; and, as the two figures parted with each other, we 
 could distinctly see the expression of their countenances, 
 and their lips move : the result of this parley was success- 
 ful. We were directed to the house where Mme. de Genlis 
 lived, and thought all difficulties ended. No such thing : 
 her apartments were still to be sought for. We saw be- 
 fore us a large, crooked, ruinous stone staircase, lighted 
 by a single bit of candle, hanging in a vile tin lantern, in 
 an angle of the bare wall at the turn of the staircase, — 
 only just light enough to see that the walls were bare and 
 old, and the stairs immoderately dirty. There were no 
 signs of the place being inhabited, except this lamp, 
 which could not have been lighted without hands. I 
 stood still in melancholy astonishment, while my father 
 groped his way into a kind of porter's lodge, or den, at 
 the foot of the stairs, where he found a man who was 
 porter to various people who inhabited this house. You 
 know, the Parisian houses are inhabited by hordes of dif- 
 ferent people ; and the stairs are ui fact streets, and dirty 
 streets, to their dwellings. The porter, who was neither 
 obliging nor intelligent, carelessly said that ' Mme. de 
 Genlis logeait au seconde <X gauche, qu'il foudrait tirer sa 
 sonnette." He believed she was at home, if she was not 
 gone out. Up we went by ourselves ; for this porter, 
 though we were strangers, and pleaded that we were so, 
 never offered to stir a step to guide or to light us. When 
 
186 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 we got to the second stage, we faintly saw, by the light 
 from the one candle at the first landing-place, two large 
 dirty folding-doors, one set on the right and the other on 
 the left, and hanging on each a bell, no larger than what 
 you see in the small parlor of a small English inn. My fa- 
 ther pulled one bell, and waited some minutes ; no answer : 
 pulled the other bell and waited ; no answer : thumped at 
 the left door ; no answer : pushed and pulled at it, — 
 could not open it ; pushed open one of the right-hand 
 folding-doors, — utter darkness; went in, as well as we 
 could feel ; there was no furniture. After we had been 
 there a few seconds, we could discern the bare walls, and 
 some strange lumber in one corner. The room was of a 
 prodigious height, like an old playhouse. We retreated, 
 and, in despair, went down again to the stupid or surly 
 porter. He came up-stairs very unwillingly, and pointed 
 to a deep recess between the stairs and folding-doors. 
 '■ AUez, voila la porte et tirer la sonnette.' He and his 
 candle went down ; and my father had but just time to 
 seize the handle of the bell, when we were again in dark- 
 ness. After ringing this feeble bell, we presently heard 
 doors open, and little footsteps approaching nigh. The 
 door was opened by a girl of about Honora's size, holding 
 an ill-set waning candle in her hand, the light of which 
 fell full upon her face and figure ; her face was remark- 
 ably intelligent, — dark sparkling eyes ; dark hair, curled in 
 the most fashionable long cork-screw ringlets over her 
 eyes and cheeks. She parted the ringlets to take a 
 full view of us, and we were equally impatient to take a full 
 view of her. The dress of her figure by no means suited 
 the head and the elegance of her attitude. "SVhat her 
 ' nether weeds ' might be, we could not distinctly see : but 
 they seemed to be a coarse, short petticoat, like what 
 Molly Bristow's children would wear, not on Sundays ; 
 
MME. DE GENLIS. 187 
 
 a woollen gray spencer above, pinned with a single pin by 
 the lapels tight across the neck under the chin, and open 
 all below. After surveying us, and hearing that our 
 name was Edgeworth, she smiled graciously, and bid us 
 follow her, saying, '■ Mamam est chez elle.' She led the 
 way, with the grace of a young lady who has been taught 
 to dance, across two ante-chambers, miserable looking, 
 but, miserable or no, no house in Paris can be without 
 them. The girl, or young lady, for we were still in doubt 
 which to think her, led us into a small room, in which the 
 candles were so well screened by a green tin screen, that 
 we could scarcely distinguish the tall form of a lady in 
 black, who rose from her armchair by the fireside as the 
 door opened. A great puff of smoke came from the huge 
 fireplace at the same moment. She came forward ; and 
 we made our way towards her as well as we could through 
 a confusion of tables, chairs, and work-baskets, china, 
 writing-desks and ink-stands and bird-cages and a harp. 
 She did not speak ; and, as her back was now turned to 
 both fire and candle, I could not see her face, or any 
 thing but the outline of her form, and her attitude : her 
 form was the remains of a fine form, and her attitude 
 tliat of a woman used to a better drawing-room. I being 
 foremost, and she silent, was compelled to speak to the 
 figure in darkness : ' Mme; de Genlis nous a fait I'hon- 
 neur de nous mander qu'elle voulait bien nous permettre de 
 lui rendre visite, et de lui offrir nos respects,' said I, or 
 words to that effect ; to which she replied by taking my 
 hand, and saying something in which ' charmie ' was the 
 most intelligible word. Whilst she spoke, she looked over 
 my shoulder at my father, whose bow, I presume, told her 
 ^ he was a gentleman ; for she spoke to him immediately, as 
 if she wished to please, and seated us in fauteuils near 
 the fire. 
 
188 A STUDY OP MARIA EDGEWORTH. 
 
 "I then had a good view of her face and figure: she 
 looked like the full-length picture of my great-great- 
 grandmother Edgeworth you may have seen in the garret, 
 very thin and melancholy, but her face not so handsome 
 as my great-grandmother's ; dark eyes, long sallow cheeks, 
 compressed thin lips, two or three black ringlets on a high 
 forehead, a cap that Mrs. Suier might wear, — altogether 
 an appearance of fallen fortunes, worn-out health, and 
 excessive but guarded irritability. To me there was 
 nothing of that engaging, captivating manner which I had 
 been taught to expect by many, even of her enemies : 
 she seemed to me to be alive only to literary quarrels and 
 jealousies ; the muscles of her face as she spoke, or as 
 my father spoke to her, quickly and too easily expressed 
 hatred and anger whenever any not of her own party were 
 mentioned. 
 
 "She is now jonr divoti acharnement. When I men- 
 tioned with some enthusiasm the good Abb6 Morellet, who 
 has written so courageously in favor of the French exiled 
 nobility and their children, she answered in a sharp voice, 
 ' Oui, c'est un homme de beaucoup d'esprit, a ce qu'on 
 dit, k ce qui je crois meme, mais il faut vous apprendre 
 qu'il n'est pas des notres.' 
 
 "My father spoke of Pamela,^ Lady Edward Fitzger- 
 ald, and explained how he had defended her in the Irish 
 House of Commons. Instead of being touched or pleased, 
 her mind instantly diverged into an elaborate and artifi- 
 cial exculpation of Lady Edward and herself ; proving, or 
 attempting to prove, that she never knew any of her hus- 
 band's plans, that she utterly disapproved of them, at 
 least of all she suspected of them. This defence was 
 quite lost upon us, who never thought of attacking ; but^ 
 Mme. de Genlis seems to have been so much used to be 
 ' Her daughter. 
 
MME. DE GENLIS. 189 
 
 attacked that she has defences and apologies, ready pre- 
 pared, suited to all possible occasions. 
 
 " She spoke of Mme. de Stael's ' Delphine ' with de- 
 testation, of another new and fashionable novel ' Amelie ' 
 with abhorrence, and kissed my forehead twice because I 
 had not read it, ' Vous autres anglaises vous etes mo- 
 destes ! ' 
 
 "Where was Mme. de Genlis's sense of delicacy, when 
 she penned and published ' Les Chevaliers du Cigne ' ? 
 Forgive me, my dear aunt Mary, you begged me to see 
 her with favorable eyes ; and I went to see her after see- 
 ing her ' Rosifere de Salency ' with the most favorable 
 disposition, but I could not like her : there was something 
 of malignity in her countenance and conversation that 
 repelled love, and of hypocrisy, which annihilated esteem ; 
 and from time to time I saw, or thought I saw, through 
 the gloom of her countenance, a gleam of coquetry. 
 
 "But my father judges much more favorably of her 
 than I do : she evidently took pains to please him ; and 
 he says he is sure she is a person over whose mind he 
 could gain great ascendency.^ He thinks her a woman of 
 violent passions, unbridled imagination, and ill-tempered, 
 but not malevolent, — one who has been so torn to pieces 
 that she now turns upon her enemies, and longs to tear in 
 her turn. He says she has certainly great powers of 
 pleasing, though I neither saw nor felt them. But you 
 know, dear aunt, that I am not famous for judging sanely 
 of strangers on a first visit ; and I might be prejudiced 
 or mortified by Mme. de Genlis assuring me that she had 
 never read any thing of mine except ' Belinda,' had heard 
 of ' Practical Education,' had heard it much praised, but 
 
 1 This observation of Mr. Edgeworth's shows quite clearly the 
 intense egotism of the man. He evidently scored this fact in favor 
 of Mme. de Genlis. 
 
190 A STUDY OF MARIA BDGEWOETH. 
 
 bad never seen it. She has just published an additional 
 volume of her ' Petits Romans,' in which there are some 
 beautiful stories : but you must not expect another ' Mile, 
 de Clermont ; ' one such story in an age is as much as we 
 can reasonably expect. 
 
 " I had almost forgotten to tell you that the little girl 
 who showed us in is a girl whom she is educating, ' Elle 
 m'ap^xlle mamam, mais elle n' est pas majille.' The man- 
 ner in which this little girl spoke to Mme. de Genlis, and 
 looked at her, appeared more in her favor than any thing 
 else. She certainly spoke to her with freedom and fond- 
 ness, and without any affectation. I went to look at 
 what the child was writing : she was translating Darwin's 
 ' Zoonomia. ' I read some of her translation : it was ex- 
 cellent. She was, I think she said, ten years old. 
 
 "It is certain that Mme. de Genlis made the present 
 Duke of Orleans such an excellent mathematician, that 
 when he was, during his emigration, in distress for bread, 
 he taught mathematics as a professor in one of the Ger- 
 man universities. If we could see or converse with one 
 of her pupils, and hear what they think of her, we should 
 be able to form a better judgment of her than from all 
 that her books and enemies say for or against her. I say 
 her books, not her friends, and enemies ; for I fear she has 
 no friends to plead for her, except her books. I never 
 met with one of any party who was her friend. This 
 strikes me with real melancholy, to see a woman of the 
 first talents in Europe, who has lived and shone in the 
 gay courts of the gayest nation in the world, now deserted 
 and forlorn, living in wretched lodgings, with some of the 
 pictures and finery, the wreck of her fortunes, before her 
 eyes, without society, without a single friend, admired — 
 and despised : she lives literally in spite, not in pity. 
 Her cruelty in drawing a profligate character of the queen 
 
KUMORS OF WAR. 191 
 
 after the execution, in the ' Chevaliers du Cigne ; ' her 
 taking her pupils at the beginning of the Revolution to 
 revolutionary clubs ; her connection with the late Duke of 
 Orleans, and her hypocrisy about it ; her insisting upon 
 being governess to his children, when the duchess did 
 not wish it ; and its being supposed that it was she who 
 instigated the duke in all his horrible conduct ; and, more 
 than all the rest, her own attacks and apologies, — have 
 brought her into all this isolated state of reprobation." 
 
 The extremely unpleasant adventure of Mr. Edge- 
 worth with the secret police of Paris, his arrest, and 
 banishment from Paris for forty-eight hours, were not 
 easily forgotten by him. The spring was advancing, 
 the society was delightful, and his French friends 
 begged him to make a longer stay with them. Be- 
 fore the disagreeable affair of the arrest, he had been 
 in treatj' for a house formerly belonging to Garat, in 
 what was then a most charming part of Paris, near 
 the Jardins du Luxembourg : he had resolved to send 
 for the children he left in Ireland, and live in Paris 
 for two years, partly for the social and literary 
 advantages, and also for the excellent facilities of 
 instruction from masters for his children. He was, 
 however, fortunate in his decision to leave France. 
 The arrest shook his confidence in the apparent 
 peace : he had the foresight and caution to return to 
 England in time to prevent being a detenu, as many 
 foreigners were. His eldest son Lovell had the mis- 
 fortune to be arrested, and he spent eleven years of 
 exile in France : six years of that time were passed 
 at Verdun. At tlie first rumors of war, Mr. Edge- 
 
192 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOKTH. 
 
 ■n-orth wrote to warn liis son of the impending dan- 
 ger, but this letter was never received. 
 
 Their good friend M. Le Breton, one of the 
 officers of tlie ]Mint at the time, of whom Maria 
 always spoke with affectionate remembrance, was 
 the person who warned ^Ir. Edgeworth that war was 
 approaching. In a call he made at their lodgings, 
 he agreed with him, that, if the intentions of Bona- 
 parte were hostile to England, he would that night 
 on meeting them at a friend's salon, give him distinct 
 information by suddenly putting on his hat. They 
 visited their friend, met Le Breton, who suddenly 
 clapped his hat on his head in an absent-minded 
 manner, and Mr. Edgeworth profited by the hint. 
 Thej^ left Paris as quicklj^ as they could arrange 
 after this. Le Breton had agreed, that, if any thing 
 happened to change the determination, Bonaparte 
 had expressed for war, he would write a letter, and 
 conclude it with the following words : " 3Ies hom- 
 mages a la cliai-mante Mile. Charlotte." If the hope of 
 peace was not to be realized, and their return from 
 London would be prevented, he was to omit the 
 word " cJiarmantc.'' He ended the letter, which for 
 safety had not the slightest allusion to politics or 
 affixirs of importance, with ^'' 3Ics hommages a Mile. 
 Charlotte ;" and they left London for Edinburgh 
 without dela}-. 
 
 Maria writes, — 
 
 " Ou our return to England, we heard sucli an account 
 of the decliDing health of my brother Henry, who was 
 then at Edinburgh, as determined my father to go immedi- 
 
A VISIT TO MR. MURRAY. 198 
 
 ately to see him, and to bring him home with us to the 
 milder climate of Ireland. 
 
 "We went to Scotland in the spring of 1803, found 
 Henry's health and spirits better than we had expected." 
 
 The Edgeworths arrived in Edinburgh on March 
 19, and passed several delightful weeks there. On 
 their way from London, they staid at York a day, 
 to visit the minster. Having received from Lindley 
 Murray some new books through Mr. Johnson, the 
 bookseller, they went to see him. Maria writes, — 
 
 " We were told that he lived about a mile from York, 
 and in the evening we drove to see him. A very neat- 
 looking house, — door opened by a pretty Quaker maid- 
 servant, shown into a well-furnished parlor, cheerful 
 fire, every thing bespeaking comfort and happiness. On 
 a sofa, at the farther end of the room, was seated, quite 
 upright, a Quaker-looking man in a pale-brown coat, 
 who never attempted to rise from his seat to receive 
 us, but held out his hand, and with a placid, benevolent 
 smile, said, ' You are most welcome. I am heartily glad 
 to see you. It is my misfortune that I cannot rise 
 from my seat ; but I must be as I am, as I have been 
 these eighteen years.' He had lost the use of one arm 
 and side, and cannot walk, — not paralytic, but from the 
 effects of a fever. Such mild, cheerful resignation, such 
 benevolence of manner and countenance, I never saw in 
 any human being. He writes solely with the idea of 
 doing good to his fellow-creatures. ' He wants nothing in 
 this life,' he says, 'neither fortune or fame;' and he 
 seems to forget that he wants health. He says, ' I have 
 so many blessings ! ' His wife, who seemed to love and ad- 
 mire ' my husband ' as the first and best of human beings, 
 gave us excellent tea and abundance of good cake." 
 
194 A STUDY OF MABIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 They reached Edinburgh without any remarkable 
 adventures ; and Maria, in continuing her narrative, 
 says, — 
 
 "To Mrs. Dugald Stewart's maternal care, and to 
 Mrs. Alison's, we owe it, that Henry got through two 
 severe seasons in Scotland, and that a few years longer of 
 his life were preserved. 
 
 " AVe spent some weeks with him, and among his 
 friends at Edinburgh, in delightful society. The evening 
 parties at Lothian House appeared to us (then fresh from 
 Paris) the most happy mixture of men of letters, of men 
 of science, and of people of the world, that we had ever 
 seen. 
 
 . . . "Imagine the pleasure he felt at being intro- 
 duced to them by his son, and in hearing Gregory, Alison, 
 Playfair, Dugald Stewart, speak of Henry as if he actually 
 belonged to themselves, and with the most affectionate 
 regard. 
 
 " From the time he came to Edinburgh to the hour he 
 left it,^ Henry was received at Lothian House, where Mr. 
 and Mrs. D. Stewart then resided, as if he had been one 
 of their own family." 
 
 A sketch of the society at Edinburgh, at this date, 
 would present a really remarkable combination of 
 scientific, literary, and cultivated people. "Plain 
 living and high thmking "' were the order of the day 
 in the beautiful old city of Edinburgh. The names 
 of Dr. Gregory, Rev. Mr. Alison, and the intelligent 
 professors of the university, among whom may be 
 especially named Professors Stewart and Playfair, 
 
 1 He went to Madeira some time afterwards, but he was never 
 restored to health. He died at Clifton in 1813. 
 
EDINBURGH. 195 
 
 gave lustre to the society they frequented. The 
 university numbered at this time about two thou- 
 sand students, drawn from the best families in the 
 United Kingdom. The French Revolution, and the 
 wars which followed it, had closed the Continent 
 against travellers and students, and swelled the 
 ranks of the students at the Scottish universities ; 
 for the professors were men of note. 
 
 Then, too, many of the northern-border county 
 families, and the lesser nobility of Scotland, who 
 were wont to make York their winter resort, began 
 to be attracted by the charms of the Scotch city. 
 These were palmy days for " Edinboro' town." Al- 
 ways romantically beautiful, Edinburgh became pre- 
 eminently the home of genius and learning at this 
 season of her prime. It will be remembered that 
 " The Edinburgh Review " was not as yet in exist- 
 ence, and Jeffrey was known only as a clever lawyer. 
 
 Sir Walter Scott still held the respectable of&ce 
 of writer to the signet, in common with many of his 
 professional brethren. He was, however, beginning 
 to be known somewhat among literary people by 
 his translations of poetry from the German, and his 
 edition of the "Border Minstrelsy." He had shown 
 his powers of versification in the fine, ballads of " The 
 Eve of St. John," "Glenfinlas," and "The Grey 
 Brother." Among these translations was that of 
 Biirger's "Lenore." Mrs. Barbauld carried the ver- 
 sion of William Taylor of Norwich to Edinburgh on 
 her visit in 1794, and read the lines to Dugald Stew- 
 art. He, in turn, recited what he could recall of 
 these spirited lines to Scott. Sir Walter long after 
 
196 A STUm' OF jrAlUA KIHIICWOUTII. 
 
 assured Mrs. Barbauld that Uiis (ranslaliou first 
 gave him inspiration,' — nunlc liini a \Hwi. It Mas 
 not till 1805, that "The Lay of Iho Last iMinslrrl" 
 appeared. 
 
 Among the northern lights above (ho lunizoii, the 
 names of the dislinguisiu'd men already mentioned 
 shone with brillianey. Fair and elever wonu'n added 
 their eharnis to the soeial atmosphere. Lord t'oek- 
 burn says of the soeiely of Edinburgh, — 
 
 " It was not tliat of a provineial town, and cannot lie 
 jndi;ed of by any such standard. It was nielropolilaii. 
 Ti'ade or manufactures luive, fortunately, never uuirked 
 this city for Mieir own. The closing of the Coutineut 
 sent many cxeelleut English families and youths to us for 
 education and for pleasure. Tlie war brightened us with 
 uniforms and strange, sad shows. 
 
 " Over all this, there was diffused the influence of a 
 greater number of persons attached to literalure and sei- 
 enei' — some as their calling, and some for pleasuR' — 
 than could be found, in proportion to the poi)ulation, iu 
 any other city in the empire. " 
 
 Tlie Edgeworllis felt very deeply tlio kiiulness of 
 the Stewarts and Alisons to Henry. They fcn-mcd 
 friendships at this time with the Stewarts, Alisons, 
 Phiyfairs, Gregorys, and Miss Elizabeth Hamilton, 
 which were life-long. Maria delighted in tin; society 
 of thcs(i (Uiltivated ai\d friendly peojile. ThercMvere 
 many others, whost; 'names cannot bo meid.ioned, 
 who \ied with each other in courtesy and friendly 
 attentions tt) the Edgeworths. 
 
 Mr. Stewart, during a considerable part of his 
 career as professor in the Uiiivt'rsity of Edinburgh, 
 
DtTGALD STEWART. 197 
 
 received into his house young men of rank and for- 
 tune, whom tlie state of Continental affairs prevented 
 from studying abroad. They were drawn to the 
 university by the reputation it had acquired as a 
 philosophical and scientific school. Many of these 
 young men were destined by their rank and talents 
 to widely spread the influence of Dugald Stewart. 
 Among the numerous inmates of Mr. Stewart's house 
 at various times may be named Lord Aucram (after- 
 wards Marquis of Lothian), Basil, Lord Daer, Lord 
 Powerscourt, Lord Ashburton, Lord Brook (Earl 
 of Warwick), Mr. Ward (afterwards Lord Ward 
 and Dudley), Viscount Palmerston, and Lord Tem- 
 ple his brother. Among the students, the name of 
 Lord Lansdowne, the friend of Miss Edgeworth, 
 comes to the memory. Lord Webb Seymour, Sir 
 Thomas Dyke Ackland, and Sir Robert Inglis may 
 be mentioned. Sir James Mackintosh said truly of 
 Dugald Stewart's lectures, that the peculiar glory 
 of his eloquence rested in its having " breathed the 
 love of virtue into whole generations of pupils." 
 
 The character and philosophical reputation of Pro- 
 fessor Stewart rendered his house the resort of the 
 best society of the city. 
 
 "He exercised a remarkable ascendency over minds of 
 the finer kind, but especially cultivated men in the higher 
 grades of society ; of polished, -and courteous, but per- 
 fectly unobtriisivo manners, in an eminent sense the gen- 
 tleman and the scholar, — his higher and less obvious 
 accomplishments obtained a ready recognition in circles 
 where, without adventitious aid, his influence would have 
 been greatly less powerful. Mrs. Stewart, moreover, by 
 
198 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 her accomplishments, and a wonderful power of attaching 
 friends, was fitted to become the centre of a brilliant 
 circle. Their weekly re-unions, which happily blended 
 the aristocracies of rank and letters, bringing together the 
 peer and the unfriended scholar, were for many years 
 the source of an influence that most beneficially affected 
 the society of the capital. These meetings, moreover, 
 embraced, even when political zeal was at its highest, 
 men of varied shades of opinion ; and thus contributed 
 not a little to soothe the bitterness of party feeling in 
 Edinburgh." 
 
 Col. Stewart, in referring to this period, speaks 
 in his memoir of his father's house, " as the resort of 
 all who were most distinguished for genius, acquire- 
 ments, or elegance in Edinburgh, and of all foreign- 
 ers who were led to visit the capital of Scotland." 
 " So happily," he adds, " did he succeed in assorting 
 his guests, that his evening parties possessed a charm 
 which many who frequented them have since con- 
 fessed they sought in vain in more splendid and 
 insipid entertainments." 
 
 Maria was charmed with Dugald Stewart, and 
 wrote, — 
 
 " Mr. Stewart is said to be naturally or habitually grave 
 and reserved, but towards us he has broken through his 
 habits or his nature ; and I never conversed with any one 
 with whom I was more at ease. He has a grave, sensible 
 face, more like the head of Shakspeare than any other 
 head or print that I can remember. I have not heard him 
 lecture : no woman can go to the public lectures here ; and 
 I don't choose to go in men's or boys' clothes, or in the 
 pocket of the Irish giant, though he is here, and well able 
 
SCOTTISH SOCIETY. 199 
 
 lo carry me. Mrs. Stewart has been for years wishing in 
 ■\'ain for the pleasure of hearing one of her husband's 
 lectures." 
 
 Mrs. Dugald Stewart, says one who knew her 
 well, " was a lady of high accomplishments and fas- 
 cinating manners, — uniting to vivacity and humor, 
 depth and tenderness of feeling. She sympathized 
 warmly with the tastes and pursuits of her husband ; 
 and so great was the regard of the latter for her 
 judgment, that he was in the habit of submitting to 
 her criticism whatever he wrote." 
 
 For many years the Stewarts lived at Stewartfield 
 House, in the neighborhood of Edinburgh ; and after- 
 wards they occupied Lothian House and Callendar 
 House. Both these houses were situated in the 
 lower part of the Canongate. 
 
 The name of Dr. Gregory, the kindly professional 
 adviser and friend of Henry Edgeworth, recalls a 
 family famous in the annals of science in Scotland. 
 It is stated in Chalmers's " Biographical Dictionary," 
 that no less than sixteen of this family have held 
 British professorships. The name of Gregory has 
 been distinguished in scientific research since the 
 middle of the seventeenth century. The Dr. Greg- 
 ory who was professor at Edinburgh at this time 
 was James G. Gregory (the third). He was an able 
 practising physician, lecturer, and the author of 
 " Philosophical and Literary Essays." 
 
 Professor John Playfair, who held the joint profess- 
 orship of mathematics with Adam Ferguson from 
 1785, and received the position of professor of natu- 
 
200 A STUDY OP MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 ral philosophy in 1805, was a man of great ability. 
 Socially, also, he was agreeable. Lockhart, in " Pe- 
 ter's Letters to his Kinsfolk," describes " this fine old 
 Archimedes with his reposed demeanor," and tells 
 how genially the great mathematician played games 
 and jumped at Craig Crook with Jeffrey, Leslie, and 
 others. The little owner, Jeffrey himself, was " quite 
 miraculous, considering his-brevity of stride." When 
 Mr. Lockhart compared Professor Playfair to the 
 peripatetic philosopher, he writes, — 
 
 " He took what I said with great suavity ; and, indeed, 
 I have never seen a better specimen of that easy hilarity 
 and good-humor, which sits with so much gracefulness on 
 an honored old age." 
 
 Jeffrey said of Playfair, that he "possessed in the 
 highest degree all the characteristics, both of a fine 
 and a powerful understanding ; at once penetrat- 
 ing and vigilant, but more distinguished by the cau- 
 tion and success of its march, than by the brilliancy 
 or rapidity of its movements." 
 
 In naming the friends made at this time, that of 
 Dr. Alison, the brilliant preacher and amiable divine, 
 must not be forgotten. He was a native of Edin- 
 burgh ; and after a long residence in England, where 
 he held several church preferments, — among others 
 a prebendal stall at Salisbury, and the perpetual cu- 
 racy of Kenley in Shropshire, — he returned to his 
 native city, where he officiated to the great enjoy- 
 ment and benefit of his hearers, in a chapel, for many 
 years. He is now principally known by the memory 
 
MISS HAMILTON. 201 
 
 of his eloquence as an orator, and his "Essays on 
 the Natures and Principles of Taste." 
 
 Maria met in Edinburgh a very agreeable literary 
 woman, — Miss Elizabeth Hamilton. This lady was 
 Irish by birth, but a resident of the sister kingdom, 
 with the exception of visits to Ireland. Miss Ben- 
 ger, her biographer, says of her friendship with 
 Maria, it was " during this season (1803) Miss Ham- 
 ilton became acquainted with Miss Edgeworth, who 
 was introduced to her at Edinburgh, and with whom 
 at the first interview she was pleased, at the second, 
 charmed; proceeding in regular gradation through 
 the progressive sentiments of cordiality, attachment, 
 and affection." Miss Hamilton made a three-months' 
 visit in Ireland in 1813, and then went to Edge- 
 worthstown. Miss Edgeworth, on her part, was 
 pleased with Miss Hamilton, and "justly observed 
 that sound good sense which so eminently character- 
 ized Miss Hamilton's writings." Miss Hamilton en- 
 joyed the gay and cheerful disposition of Maria. 
 She " has truly observed, that she loved the young : 
 she delighted to excite their smiles, and was ready 
 to participate in their gayety." This was a delight- 
 ful friendship. Miss Hamilton wrote several books 
 intended for the young, and on the education of 
 youth, besides " Letters of a Hindoo Rajah," " Me- 
 moirs of Agrippina," and " Memoirs of Modern Phil- 
 osophers." She found, that to live in " cultivated 
 society, whilst it refines taste, inevitably circum- 
 scribes invention." 
 
 After leaving their hospitable friends in Edin- 
 burgh, the Edgeworths visited Glasgow, on their way 
 
202 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGBWOETH. 
 
 to Ireland, and made the acquaintance of Professor 
 Young, who then occupied the chair of Grecian 
 literature at that university. They went to Ire- 
 land by Port Patrick, and visited Collon and Mr. 
 Beaufort on their way. They also roade a stay at 
 Mrs. Ruxton's. After they left Edinburgh, Henry 
 wrote Maria of the disappointment felt by Lord 
 Buchan, who was ill in bed, and made a great effort 
 to go to a party where Maria was expected, only to 
 miss her. She answered, on hearing it, that she 
 hoped " he would never do so any more." 
 
HOME AGAIK. 203 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 "Popular Tales."— " Emilie de Conlanges." — "Ennui." — "Leo- 
 nora." — " Griselda." — Maria visits Black Castle. — Reading for 
 " Profe.ssional Education." — Maria has a Severe Illness. — Beads 
 " The Lay of the Last Minstrel." — "Visits at Pakenham Hall and 
 Castle Forbes. — "Leonora." — Visits to Friends in 1806. — Lady- 
 Morgan. — " Kitty Pakenham." — Visits from Friends. — Death of 
 Charlotte Edgeworth. — Coolure. — Library and Garden at Edge- 
 worthstown. — Disturbances among the Lowor Classes. — A Nat- 
 ural Curiosity. — Work on "Professional Education." — Publi- 
 cation of this Book. 
 
 After their return to Edgeworthstown, Maria im- 
 mediately occupied herself preparing for the press 
 " Popular Tales," which were first published in this 
 year. She also began " Emilie de Coulanges " and 
 "Ennui," and wrote "Leonora," with the romantic 
 purpose " of pleasing M. Edelcrantz." Mr. Francis 
 Beaufort, afterwards Admiral Beaufort, was at Edge- 
 worthstown in 1804; and Maria was pressed into the 
 service, in common with the rest of the family, of 
 copying out the vocabulary used by him in his tele- 
 graph, on which he was experimenting. But she 
 found time to write " Griselda ; " on which she amused 
 herself with working in her own room, without telling 
 any one of her occupation. "When she had completed 
 it, she sent it to Mr. Johnson, asking him to print a 
 titlepage for a single copy, omitting her name, when 
 he published the edition of the book. This he did ; 
 
204 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 and she had the pleasure of mystifying her father, 
 without the unfortunate results of the same little 
 joke which she played on Mrs. Ruxton, in allowing 
 her to read " Belinda " as the work of an unknown 
 author. 
 
 The following letter to Mrs. Barbauld will show 
 the friendly relations which existed between the 
 Edgeworths and that talented woman. There was 
 quite an interchange of letters between them after 
 this time. 
 
 July 22, 1804. 
 
 Mt dear Madam, — I will not trouble you with any 
 commonplaces about time and distance and friendship ; 
 but taking it for granted that you are the same Mrs. Bar- 
 bauld, and that I am the same Maria Edgeworth, who 
 made acquaintance with each other in the year 1799, I 
 proceed to mention a scheme of my father's. He thinks 
 that a periodical paper, to be written entirely by ladies, 
 would succeed ; and we wislr that all the literary ladies of 
 the present day might be invited to take a share in it. No 
 papers to be rejected ; each to be signed by the initial 
 of the author's name ; eacli to be inserted in the order in 
 which it is received. 
 
 If you approve, tell us what would be the best method 
 of proceeding. Would a paper in "The Monthly Maga- 
 zine" put the business in train? "Why cannot you, dear 
 Mrs. Barbauld, prevail upon yourself to come to Ireland, 
 or rather, why cannot we prevail upon you? We do not 
 pretend to diminish the terrors of sea-sickness, but we 
 could hope to balance a few hours of pain by some months 
 of pleasure. AYe are vain enough to feel tolerably cer- 
 tain that you would be happy in the midst of a family 
 united amongst themselves, who have, from their child- 
 
A LETTER TO MES. BAEBATJLD. 205 
 
 hood, heard the name of Mrs. Barbauld with respect ; 
 and who, as they have grown up, have learned better and 
 better to appreciate her merit. 
 
 Mrs. Edgewortli and my fatlier join witli me in every 
 kind wish for your health and happiness, and we hope we 
 have not lost our place in good Mr. Barbauld's esteem 
 and afEection. Believe me to be, my dear madam. 
 Your sincerely affectionate, 
 
 Maeia Edgevtorth. 
 
 Edgewokthstown, Sept. 23, 1804. 
 
 My dear Madam, — On my return home yesterday, 
 I had the pleasure of your letter : my father would not 
 forward it to me, but kept it, as he said, on purpose to 
 increase my agreeable associations with home. It was 
 indeed a great pleasure to receive such a letter from you. 
 From the first moment that you professed a regard for us, 
 I never could doubt of our holding a place in your esteem, 
 so long as we remained unchanged ; but, notwithstanding 
 the steadiness of this belief, it was delightful to me to 
 receive assurances, under your own hand and seal, that I 
 was in the right. The freedom and affectionate warmth 
 of your letter were peculiarly grateful to me ; and though 
 the praise you bestow on some of our works may be far 
 beyond what your cool judgment would allow, yet I am 
 perfectly well satisfied to find that in our cause your judg- 
 ment is not cool. Is not it said of Pascal, that he wore a 
 girdle of spikes, which he pressed into himself whenever 
 he was conscious of any emotioris of vanity ? How deep 
 tliey must have been pressed, if he had been praised by 
 Mrs. Barbauld ! For my part, I do not pretend to any 
 ascetic humility, nor do I inflict upon myself the penance 
 of abstinence from the refined delicacies of praise — 
 especially when they are presented by a friend. 
 
206 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 With respect to "The Lady's Paper," my father de- 
 sires me to tell you, dear madam, that it was his proposal, 
 not mine. I am glad that your objections have appeared 
 to him satisfactory. I agree with you perfectly in think- 
 ing that to provoke a war with the other sex would be 
 neither politic nor becoming in ours. Our literature 
 should never be placed in competition with theirs, to 
 plague them ; it should be added to the common stock of 
 amusement and happiness. To attempt to form a corps 
 of literary women, where all would wish to be officers 
 except those best suited to command, where there would 
 be no discipline, and where, as j'ou observe, the individ- 
 uals might not choose to mess together, would be absurd 
 and ridiculous. 
 
 As I was not at home when my father answered your 
 letter, I am perhaps repeating the very things which he 
 has said : but this you must excuse ; for we are notorious 
 for expressing the same ideas, often in the same words, 
 at different ends of, the same room. 
 
 To one thing in your letter, dear madam, I must 
 object, even if my father has not dared to do so : I must 
 remonstrate against your being only an occasional corre- 
 spondent. I am not surprised that you should not like to 
 bind yourself to feed the press with daily delicacies ; but 
 by proper economy and arrangements amongst the princi- 
 pal purve3'ors, you would never be exposed to this tremen- 
 dous necessity. I hope, therefore, upon second thoughts, 
 which Dr. Aikin will in this case allow to be best, you 
 will consent to give credit to our firm, by placing your 
 name foremost as the acting partner. We should rejoice 
 to have the able and elegant assistance of Miss Aikin, 
 of your brother, and of Mr. Eogers, Miss Baillie, and 
 Mrs. Opie. 
 
 Do not imagine, dear Mrs. Barbauld, when I mention 
 
MISS SE-WAED. 207 
 
 the life of Richardson, that I am going to attempt that 
 return of eulogium with whicli authors sometimes treat 
 each other. You are quite above this traffic of bays ; 
 and, I hope, so am I. The eager interest with whicli I 
 read the life of Richardson, j'ou would have thought the 
 most unequivocal testimony I could give of my liking it. 
 My father, in jest, said that I was wildly anxious to read 
 it, because it was the life of an author ; but I knew that 
 my interest in it arose from its being written by Mrs. 
 Barbauld. I think I should be able to distinguish her 
 style from that of any other female writer, by the ease, 
 frequency, and felicity of its classical allusions, — allu- 
 sions sufficiently intelligible to the unlearned, and which 
 serve as freemason signs to the learned. 
 
 Though you have such an aversion to the sea, we do 
 not yet give up the hopes of having you and Mr. Bar- 
 bauld at Edgeworthstown. We shall expect you along 
 with the blessings of peace. But when — is I fear in 
 the bosom of emperors. In the mean time, dear madam, 
 accept my greatful thanks for your kindness, and believe 
 me with sincere esteem and admiration, 
 
 Affectionately yours, 
 
 Maria Edgeworth. 
 
 Miss Seward, in writing her friend Miss Mary 
 Powys, in 1804, gives a glimpse of Maria's sisters as 
 calling on her when she visited Bristol. She writes 
 " Maria " for Anna. 
 
 "Maria and Emmeline of Edgeworthstown, both settled 
 in that city (Bristol), sought me with much kindness, 
 and spoke with apparent delight of my attentions to them 
 in their infancy, and of the hours they called happily 
 spent beneath my father's roof. They have lieard re- 
 
208 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGEWORTH. 
 
 cently from poor Lovell. Alas ! he is still in the clutch- 
 es of the detestable tyrant, Bonaparte, and complains 
 heavily of the unwholesome climate of Verdun. Mrs. 
 Beddoes is like her mother ; but neither she nor her 
 sister, Mrs. King, has any traces of their father. I 
 thought them agreeable, but a few hours do not enable us 
 to know if people talk from a reservoir or a spring. . . . 
 I inquired after them on arriving at Mrs. Pennington's, 
 but should not have sought them, uncertain of my recep- 
 tion, had they not sought me. The consciousness that 
 they passed several years under the care of my soul's dear 
 Honora gave me an unsuppressive interest in seeing and 
 in listening to them. They drew back the curtains of the 
 past." 
 
 In 1804 Maria made a visit in December and 
 January to Black Castle. In February she wrote 
 from home that she had been reading " a power of 
 good books," and enumerates "Montesquieu sur la 
 Grandeur et Decadence des Romains." In Dallas's 
 " History of the Maroons," which she was studying 
 for "Professional Education," a work in which she 
 was helping her father, she found a hint for the plot 
 of a comedy, which she proposed to prepare secretly 
 for her father's birthday. 
 
 Maria was always busy with a little piece of work 
 with which she occupied herself during hours of 
 leisure from writing, or while she listened .to reading 
 aloud. These busy fingers wrought many a piece of 
 embroidery or fine needlework, while the brain wove 
 the web of fancies bright or serious ; many a scene 
 of lively dialogue, clever character-painting, or pa- 
 thetic description passed into the clear words in 
 
FANCY WORK. 209 
 
 which it later appeared on the pages of tale or novel, 
 while the hand was rapidly moving in some womanly 
 bit of needlework. Faustus says, — 
 
 " Oh ! what is intellect ? — a strange, strange web ; 
 How bright the embroidery, — but how dark the woof ! " 
 
 The mind of Maria was not of this order: her 
 embroidery of fancy was as cheerful as her handi- 
 work. In 1805 she wrote to her brother Henry, 
 who was then at Edinburgh, and in sending some 
 messages says, — 
 
 " The worsted sleeves are for Mrs. Stewart, and you 
 are to offer them to her. Nobody can say I do not know 
 how to choose my ambassadors well ! If Mrs. Stewart 
 should begin to say, it is a pity Miss Edgeworth should 
 spend her time at such work, please tell her that I like 
 work very much, and that I have only done this at odd 
 times ; after breakfast, you know, when my father reads 
 out of Pope's Homer, or when there are long sittings, 
 when it is much more agreeable to move one's fingers, 
 than to have to sit with hands crossed or clasped. I by 
 no means accede to the doctrine that ladies cannot at- 
 tend to any thing else when they are working : besides, 
 it is contrary, is it not, to all the theories of ' Zoonomia ' ? 
 Does not Dr. Darwin show that certain habitual motions 
 go on without interrupting trains of thought ; and do not 
 common-sense and experience, whom I respect even above 
 Dr. Darwin, show the same thing? " 
 
 In the spring of 1805 Maria had a severe illness, 
 followed by a long and slow convalescence. While 
 she was recovering from this illness, she was allowed 
 to hear reading ; and her sister read to her " The 
 
210 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 Lay of the Last Minstrel," then just published, 
 Lady Granard having kindly sent it to her. The 
 appearance of that poem was an event in Maria's 
 life, and from it dated her enthusiastic admiration 
 and affectionate regard for Sir Walter Scott. At 
 one bound Scott found himself famous in the lit- 
 erary arena. Sir James Mackintosh, in writing from 
 Bombay, says, after a glowing expression of admi- 
 ration, — 
 
 "On the whole, I have read nothing but Cowper's 
 third volume, and Miss Edgeworth's 'Tales,' since I have 
 left England, which has pleased me so much as the 
 'Lay.'" 
 
 Mr. Edgeworth visited London during the spring, 
 having been summoned to give evidence as a wit- 
 ness in the case of his friend Judge Foz, before 
 the House of Lords. While he was there, he wrote 
 Maria of his having ^'■assisted" at a dejeuner, given 
 by the lady who was known as " Buff and Blue and 
 Mrs. Crewe." She praised " To-morrow ; " and he 
 claimed in consideration thereof a song from her, 
 " which is not easy to obtain, and got it." 
 
 During this summer Maria made pleasant visits, 
 after her recovery from her illness, at Pakenham 
 Hall and Castle Forbes. After her return Lady 
 Elizabeth Pakenham sent her " a little pony, as 
 quiet and almost as small as a dog, on which I go 
 'trit trot, trit trot;' but I hope it will never take 
 into its head to add when we come to the stile, ' Skip 
 we go over.' " 
 
 In writing about this time, Maria says she has 
 
" LBONOEA." 211 
 
 been very idle, " so idle that," she has " not yet fin- 
 ished 'Mme. de Fleury.' So Lord Henry Petty is 
 chancellor of the exchequer, at twenty-four, on the 
 pinnacle of glory ! " 
 
 About the time her " Leonora " was preparing for 
 publication, i\Ir. Edgeworth wrote to Alaria : — 
 
 "Your critic, partner, father, friend, has finished your 
 ' Leonora.' He has cut out a few pages ; one or two 
 letters are nearly untouched : the rest are cut, scrawled, 
 and interlined without mercy. I make no doubt of the 
 success of the book amongst a certain class of readers; 
 PROVIDE!) it be reduced to one smaU volume, and provided 
 it be polished ad unguem, so that neither flaw nor seam 
 can be perceived by the utmost critical acumen. As it 
 has no story to interest the curiosity, no comic to make 
 the reader laugh, nor tragic to make him cry, it must 
 depend upon the development of sentiment, the veri- 
 simihtude of character, and the elegance of style, which 
 the higher classes of the literai-y world expect in such a 
 performance, and may accept in lieu of fable and of 
 excitement for their feelings. These you well know how 
 to give, and your honest gratitude towards a favoring 
 public will induce your accustomed industry to put the 
 highest finish to the work. For this purpose, I advise 
 you to revise it frequently, and look upon it as a promis- 
 ing infant committed to your care, which you are bound 
 by many ties to educate, and bring out when it is fit to be 
 presented. The design is worthy of that encouragement 
 which you have always received : it rests on nature, truth, 
 sound morality, and religion ; and, if you polish it, it will 
 sparlde in the regions of moral fashion. Ton will be 
 surprised to hear that I have corrected more faults of 
 style in this than in any thing I have ever corrected for 
 
212 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 you. Your uncle Euxton's criticisms have, except one, 
 been adopted by me ; and I hope, when you have cor- 
 rected it again, he will have the goodness to revise it a 
 
 second time." 
 
 Edgewokthstown, Feb. 26, 1806. 
 
 My dear Mrs. Baebadld, — Holcroft wrote the heads 
 of the chapters in " Popular Tales : " he was employed 
 by Johnson to correct the press. We were so much scan- 
 dalised when we saw them that Johnson offered to con- 
 ceal the whole impression. My father says I should not 
 enter into long explanations about trifles, but I cannot 
 help being anxious to assure you that those trite, vulgar 
 sentences were not written by my father and preceptor. 
 You will wonder why I should thus abruptly address my 
 justification to you. My dear madam, we have just been 
 reading a review, or rather an eulogium, of "Popular 
 Tales," which, from the excellence of the writing and its 
 generous warmth, we are persuaded could be written by no 
 other but our friend Mrs. Barbauld. I never felt, and 
 my father declares he never felt, so much pleasure from 
 any praise : indeed, we never before received any of so 
 high value, and from a judge whom we so much respect. 
 We would rather have one grain of such praise than a 
 hundred-weight of compliment from common critics. 
 
 I regret that I inserted in the " Modern Griselda " the 
 offensive line from Chaucer. Let me assure you that 
 this little tale was written in playfulness, not bitterness 
 of heart. My father had often declared that he could 
 not be imposed upon by me, but that he should know my 
 writing wi^thout my name to it. When he was absent for 
 a few weeks, and none but the ladies of the family at 
 home, I wrote this story, sent it to Johnson, had it 
 printed with a titlepage without my name, and on my 
 father's return home showed it to him. Not one of the 
 
LETTEE. 213 
 
 female committee who sat upon it every day whilst it 
 was writing and reading ever imagined that it would be 
 thought a severe libel upon the sex ; perhaps because 
 their attention was fixed upon Mrs. Granby, who is at 
 least as much a panegyric as Mrs. Bolingbroke is a satire 
 upon the sex. It is curious that the Edinburgh review- 
 ers laugh at us for introducing into every story some 
 charming wife, sister, mother, or daughter, who acts the 
 part of the good fairy of the piece. "Leonora" will 
 confirm them in this opinion, and will, I hope, make 
 my peace with you. 
 
 There is some probability that my father and two or 
 three of this family may be in England this year; and 
 we look forward to the hopes of seeing you, my dear 
 madam, as one of the greatest pleasures that a visit to 
 London can afford. My brother Sneyd, who is going to 
 enter the Temple, will certainly accompany my father 
 to England. You may remember, if you do not always 
 forget your own goodness, tl^at you selected and read to 
 us, several years ago, some lines " On Evening " in "The 
 
 Monthly Magazine," by C. S. E , written when he 
 
 was ten years old. He has not indulged since in writing 
 much poetry, as he had far other studies to pursue for 
 the College of Dublin. On quitting that college, he 
 wished to leave some memorial behind ; and he has just 
 finished a poem called " The Transmigrations of Indur," 
 —the plan taken from your tale in " Evenings at Home." 
 If this poem should obtain a premium from the college, 
 we shall think it worthy of the honor of being presented 
 to you, my dear Mrs. Barbauld. . . . 
 
 Believe me, dear Mrs. Barbauld, I am, with sincere 
 esteem and grateful affection. 
 
 Your friend, 
 
 Mabia Edgeworth. 
 
214 A STUDY OP MAEIA EDGEWOKTH. 
 
 Maria, on hearing from a friend in London that 
 " Leonora " was not as much liked as " Popular 
 Tales," wrote, "I must try and do something bet- 
 ter." Her failure may be ascribed to precisely the 
 faults her father had pointed out to her. It was 
 not calculated to please the general public ; and the 
 book had grave defects of plan and execution, though 
 not without many admirable ideas and many excel- 
 lent passages. When her brother and sister were 
 reading " Sir Charles Grandison," she said, in writ- 
 ing to a friend, — 
 
 "I almost envy them the pleasure of reading Clemen- 
 tina's history for the first time. It is one of those pleas- 
 ures which can never be repeated in life." 
 
 In this same season of 1806, she made several 
 visits in the spring to Sonna, Pakenham Hall, Farn- 
 hani, and Castle Forbes. In March she wrote to 
 Mrs. Edgeworth of a " happy week " she had at Col- 
 Ion with Mrs. Beaufort, the mother of Mrs. Edge- 
 worth ; and from there she went to Rosstrevor to 
 visit her aunt, Mrs. Ruxton. 
 
 The following pleasant and kindly letter of Mr. 
 Edgeworth will show how warmly Maria and he 
 welcomed a new-comer in the field of Irish fiction, 
 which one might fancy she considered her peculiar 
 province. She was always ready to enjoy the books 
 of a new writer, and she hailed with enthusiasm the 
 appearance of each new claimant for literary honors. 
 Her very cordial words were supplemented by gen- 
 erous help, and she gave valuable aid to struggling 
 writers more than once. 
 
LADY MORGAN. 215 
 
 Mr. Chorley puts on record what has often been 
 remarked of Lady Morgan, — her ingratitude and 
 self-assumption. He says, — 
 
 " I have often heard her declare in one breath that she 
 created the national Irish novel ; while in another, with 
 sublime inconsistency, she would assert that Miss Edge- 
 worth was a grown woman while she was yet a child." 
 
 Miss Edgeworth was always so interested in a 
 new novel of any merit, that she could not bear to 
 stop to reason on its improbability. Lady Morgan's 
 " O'Donnell " was being read aloud some time after 
 this, at the scene of McRory's appearance in the 
 billiard-room, when her father said, " This is quite 
 improbable." — "Nevermind the improbability: let 
 us go on with the entertainment." 
 
 Sir Walter Scott said of " O'Donnell," that " in it 
 the comic part is very rich and striking ; " and he 
 adds, he thinks " a want of story always fatal to a 
 book the first reading. The big bow-wow strain I 
 can do myself like any now going ; but the exquisite 
 touch, which renders ordinary, commonplace things 
 and character interesting, from the truth of descrip- 
 tion, and the sentiment, is denied me." And in 
 speaking of " Granbj^" a novel of the day, he said, 
 "It is too labored in its descriptions of society. 
 The women do this better. Edgeworth, Ferrier, 
 Austen, have all given portraits of real society far 
 superior to any thing man, vain man, has produced 
 of the like nature." 
 
216 A STT7DY OP MARIA EDGEWORTH. 
 
 [R. L. Edgeworth to Sydney Owenson, afterwards Lady Morgan.] 
 Edgewoeth House, Dec. 23, 1806. 
 
 Madam, — I have just read your " Wild Irish Girl," 
 a title which will attract by its novelty, but which does 
 not suit well the charming character of Glorvina. 
 
 As a sincere and warm friend to Ireland, I return you 
 my thanks for the just character which you have given to 
 the lower Irish, and for the sound and judicious obser- 
 vations which you have attributed to the priest. The 
 notices of Irish history are ingeniously introduced, and 
 are related in such a manner as to induce belief amongst 
 infidels. 
 
 It is with much self-complacency that I recollect our 
 meeting, and my having in a few minutes' conversation 
 at a literary dinner in London discovered that I was 
 talking to a j'oung lady of uncommon genius and talents. 
 
 I believe that some of the harpers you mention were 
 at the harpers' prize ball, at Granard, near this place, in 
 1782 or 1783. One female harper, of the name of 
 Bridget, obtained the second prize. Fallon carried off 
 the first. I think I have heard the double-headed man. 
 My daughter published an essay on the subject of that 
 prize in an obscure newspaper, of which we have no copy. 
 I shall try at the printer's to obtain a copy, that I may 
 publish it in one of the respectable monthly magazines, 
 with a view to speak my sentiments of your work to the 
 English. 
 
 I think it is a duty, and I am sure it is a pleasure, to con- 
 tribute, as far as it is in my power, to the fame of a writer 
 who has done so much, and so well, for her country. 
 
 Maria, who reads (it is said) as well as she writes, has 
 entertained us with several passages from "The "Wild 
 Irish Girl," which I thought superior to any parts of the 
 
SIE AETHUE WELLESLEY. 217 
 
 book which I had read. Upon looking over her shoulder, 
 I found she had omitted some superfluous epithets. Dare 
 she have done this if you had been by? I think she 
 would have dared, because your good taste and sound 
 sense would have been instantly her defenders. I am, 
 
 dear madam, 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 RiCHAED LOVELL EdGEWOETH. 
 
 In April, Maria mentions an exciting event, — 
 the engagement, and then the marriage, of " Kitty_ 
 Pakenham " to Sir Arthur Wellesley, later the Duke of 
 Wellington. He had just returned from his brilliant 
 career in India, after a stay there of eleven years, 
 when he was again ordered to join Lord Cathcart's 
 expedition to Hanover. He was appointed chief 
 secretary for Ireland in 1807. They had long been 
 attached to each other. Maria says of the great man, 
 " the Iron Duke," and his appearance at this date : 
 " He was seen at Dublin Castle on his return to Eng- 
 land after his wedding, handsome, very brown, quite 
 bald, and a hooked nose." She adds, " Lady Eliza- 
 beth Pakenham told us, that when Lady Wellesley 
 was presented to the queen,^ her Majesty said, ' I am 
 happy to see you at my court, so bright an example 
 of constancy. If anybody in this world deserves to 
 be happy, you do.' Then her Majesty inquired, ' But 
 did you really never write one letter to Sir Arthur 
 Wellesley during his long absence ? ' — ' No, never, 
 madam.' — ' And did you never think of him ? ' — 
 'Yes, madam, very often.' I am glad constancy is 
 
 ' Queen CUarlotte. 
 
218 A STUDY OP MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 approved of at courts, and hope the bright example 
 may be followed," she adds. 
 
 In July they had a visit from Humphry Davy 
 and Mr. Greenough, two philosophical travellers. 
 Maria thought Davy wonderfully improved since she 
 met him at Bristol, with an amazing fund of knowl- 
 edge on all subjects, and a great deal of genius. 
 Maria says, — 
 
 " My father's domestic happiness about this time had 
 severe shocks. He was doomed to see the fairest blos- 
 soms of talent blasted by disease, and the most highly 
 cultivated, and the most valuable, fruits of education 
 perish, almost at the moment when they attained to per- 
 fection beyond his fondest hopes. 
 
 " Charlotte, for whom he had never had any apprehen- 
 sions, and who during our visit to Paris had appeared 
 the image of health, and had been described by foreigners 
 ' as fresh as a rose,' suddenly faded. Soon after her re- 
 turn from the Continent, her health declined ; but as she 
 did not resemble either of her sisters, Honora or Eliza- 
 beth, who died of consumption, this difference long gave 
 flattermg hopes of security. 
 
 " In the autumn of 1806, however, symptoms of pulmo- 
 nary consumption appeared. She died the ensuing spring 
 (April, 1807"), in her twenty-fourth year." 
 
 The following anecdote is related of this young 
 lady : — 
 
 "Charlotte was a beautiful girl, with luxuriant golden 
 hair. The rector of the parish and an officer of the 
 British army were dining at Edgeworthstown house. 
 After dinner the ladies repaired to the library, and after 
 
CHARLOTTE EDGEWOETH. 219 
 
 wine the gentlemen followed. As they entered the door 
 of the library, the cflSeer exclaimed, ' How beautiful ! ' 
 Mr. Edgeworth said, haughtily and quickly, ' What do 
 you admire, sir?' He replied, 'Your daughter's magnifi- 
 cent hair.' Charlotte was standing in a becoming atti- 
 tude before the bright grate, with her arms resting upon 
 the mantlepiece. Mr. Edgeworth walked across the room 
 to the book-shelves, opened a drawer, held her head back, 
 and cut her hair close to her head. As the golden ringlets 
 fell into the drawer, this extraordinary father said, ' Char- 
 lotte, what do you say?' She answered, 'Thank you, 
 father.' Turning to his guests, he remarked, 'I will not 
 allow a daughter of mine to be vain.' " 
 
 The death of Charlotte Edgeworth was a sad blow 
 to the family. Henry, also, was a constant invalid 
 and made many fruitless journeys in search of 
 health. While Charlotte continued to be comforta- 
 ble, Maria made a visit to Coolure, and passed a few 
 days there with the family of Admiral Pakenham. 
 There she met the future leader of the English at 
 New Orleans, Sir Edward Pakenham, who was killed 
 in that engagement with the American forces. 
 
 ' ' He had burned his instep by falling asleep before the 
 fire, out of which a turf fell on his foot ; and so he was, 
 luckily for us, detained a few days longer. He is very 
 agreeable, and unaffected and modest, after all the flattery 
 he has met with." 
 
 Mr. Edgeworth enlarged the library this year by 
 breaking through the thick old outside walls of the 
 house, and leaving two square pillars, beyond which 
 a large addition was built. He also laid out for 
 
220 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 Maria a garden at the west end of the house, close 
 to a new greenhouse, built to match the addition to 
 the library, and opening into Mrs. Edgeworth's 
 dressing-room. Maria had before this made a pretty 
 garden of an old unused quarry, but it was at quite 
 a distance from the house. The planning, arranging, 
 and planting this new garden, on which she could 
 look from her own room, was a great pleasure to her. 
 
 Anxiety from the insurgents, who called them- 
 selves " Thrashers," was very great at this time. 
 They wandered about the country in large bands, 
 attacking houses and seizing arms. The last weeks 
 of Charlotte's life were made very painful by the 
 disturbances and distress this occasioned. One night 
 when Lord Longford and ]\Ir. Rennie, the engineer, 
 were at the house, the family were aroused by such 
 an alarm ; and for some time after this the windows 
 were kept barricaded, and a guard of the yeomanry 
 corps stationed in the house. When Mr. Rennie 
 was called up in the niglit, he remarked, very natu- 
 rally, that " this was a strange country, where a man 
 could not sleep one night in peace." The marauders 
 did not appear, after all the preparations for defence. 
 
 Sir James Mackintosh was so much pleased with 
 the " Popular Tales," that he wrote George jMoore 
 in 1807,— 
 
 "I hope you have read Miss Edgeworth's 'Popular 
 Tales,' and that you have directed several copies of an 
 Irish translation, made inider 3'our auspices, to be distrib- 
 uted to every cottager on your estate. Except the four 
 Gospels, I think there is no book of popular morality 
 equal to it." 
 
r"^' 
 
 H 
 
 X 
 
 H 
 O 
 
 z 
 
ABBE EDGEWOETH. 221 
 
 It seemed cruel- that the dying girl could not be 
 spared the uncertainties of rebellion, and that all 
 the efforts of Maria to ameliorate, by precept and 
 instruction, the condition of their tenantry and the 
 neighboring cottagers, had made no greater impres- 
 sion. The Irish owed much to the Edge worths, but 
 gratitude has never been a strong national charac- 
 teristic. Mackintosh, in writing of the condition 
 of affairs there in 1808, says, "Ireland is, I fear, 
 dreadfully Frenchified, and almost ready for general 
 insurrection on the appearance of Bonaparte's troops. 
 
 The Abb^ Edgeworth, or "Firmont" as he was 
 called in France, was always an object of interest 
 to liis relations ; and Maria, in a letter of 1807, sends 
 "copy of the epitaph written by Louis XVIII. on 
 the Abbd Edgeworth," to one of the family. 
 
 " I am sure the intention does credit to his Majesty's 
 heart, and the Latin does honor to his Majesty's head." 
 
 In writing to her brother Sneyd, then in London, 
 in 1808, Maria tells him " of a new wonder, now 
 grown old." 
 
 ' ' We have had the physiognomical or character- telling 
 fishes tliat you described to Honora. Capt. Hercules 
 Pakenham brought them from Denmark, where a French- 
 man was selling them very cheap. Those we saw were 
 pale green and bright purple. They are very curious. My 
 father was struck with them as much as, or more than, 
 any of the children ; for there are some wonders which 
 strike in proportion to the knowledge instead of the igno- 
 rance of the beholders. Is it a leaf? Is it galvanic? 
 
222 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 What is it ? I wish Henry would talk to Davy about it. 
 The fish lay more quietly in my father's hand than could 
 have been expected, only curled up their tails on my aunt 
 Mary's, tolerably quiet on my mother's ; but they could 
 not lie still one second on William's, and went up his 
 sleeve, which, I am told, their German interpreters say is 
 the worst sign they can give. My father suggested that 
 the different degrees of dryness or moisture in the hands 
 cause the emotions of these sensitive fish ; but, after 
 drying our best, no change was perceptible. I thought 
 the pulse was the cause of their motion ; but this does 
 not hold, because my pulse is slow, and my father's pulse 
 is very quick. It was ingenious to make them in the 
 shape of fish, because their motions exactly resemble 
 the breathing and panting and floundering and tail-curling 
 of fish ; and I am sure I have tired you with them, and 
 you are sick of these fish." 
 
 It was afterwards learned that these conjuring fish 
 had been brought from Japan by the Dutch, and 
 were made of very thin horn. 
 
 Maria wrote in Jan. 23, 1808, — 
 
 " EDGBW0ETHSTOW]<r. 
 
 "I cannot, in conscience, let this frank go without a 
 line to you. I will tell you how ' Professional Education ' 
 goes on ; which, as it is the object of my waking and 
 sleeping thoughts, I know, by sympathy, must be inter- 
 esting to you. ' Clergymen ' has been entirely re-writ- 
 ten ; and I hope, as papa and mamma both think so, it 
 has been improved. I have about seventeen pages of the 
 said chapter to copy. 
 
 "'Country Gentlemen' — done. I think tolerable, 
 nothing brilliant ; gone to Lord Selkirk, who begged to 
 
" PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION." 228 
 
 keep it a fortnight, that he might first get a pamphlet of 
 his own out of his head, which, as it is on the state 
 of the country, must be published before the meeting of 
 Parliament. Besides this chapter, Lord Selkirk has that 
 on 'Statesmen, Diplomatists,' etc. This, I think, is ' ce 
 que fai fait de moins mal,' as Mme. de G-enlis said. 
 
 ' ' ' Education of Princes ' has been with Mr. Keir, and 
 has his approbation strongly except in one point, which 
 we shall alter : it will take me three days to make that 
 alteration. 
 
 "'Lawyers' — totally re-written. It has been with 
 Judge Fox, and has received his unqualified approbation. 
 I wish Richard could read it before it goes to press : and 
 this was one reason why I wished to go to Gaybrook ; for 
 I would have taken it with me, and would have got him 
 to sit up half a night to read it. I know he would do 
 that, and more, for his old friend Maria. 
 
 "'Military Education' — corrected since its return 
 from Mr. Keir ; story of ' Capt. Spike ' taken out, in 
 consequence of Mr. Keir's objections to it as too soften- 
 ing, and a better story, from the ' Life of Bertrand du 
 Guesclin,' which I read to you on the sofa, put in its stead. 
 " ' Physician ' — still to be done. This is the only one 
 we have to do except the preliminary chapter, which is 
 a mass of heterogeneous stuff, — must be entirely new- 
 formed ; will be at least seventy pages. I shall have the 
 whole time the rest of the book is printing to do this ; 
 because, though the preliminary chapter must come first, 
 it may be printed last, by the common ingenious contriv- 
 ance of paging it separately in Eoman figures. 
 
 " I never thought this book would come so near to a 
 conclusion. I am well repaid for all the labor this copy- 
 ing and correcting has cost me, by seeing that my father 
 is pleased with it, and thinks it a proof of affection and 
 
224 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 gratitude. I cannot help, however, looking forward to 
 its publication and fate with an anxiety and apprehension 
 I never felt before ; for I consider that my father's credit 
 is at stake." 
 
 " Professional Education " contains eight chapters, 
 namely, " The Choice of a Profession," " Clerical," 
 " Military and Naval," " Medical," " Country Gen- 
 tleman," "Law," "Statesman," "Prince." "The 
 Choice of a Profession " is very useful, and contains 
 many good hints. All are valuable and v^ell writ- 
 ten. The principle on which the essays are founded 
 is quoted at the beginning of the first chapter from 
 Dr. Johnson, who was decidedly of the opinion that 
 chance more often influenced men in the choice of a 
 calling than any thing else. He expressed himself 
 to that effect in his " Life of Pope," saying, — 
 
 ' ' Those who attain any excellence commonly spend 
 life in one pursuit, for excellence is not often obtained 
 on easier terms. But to the particular species of excel- 
 lence, men are directed, not by an ascendant planet or 
 predominating humor, but by the first book which they 
 read, some early conversation which they heard, or some 
 accident which excited ardor and emulation." 
 
 He expressed this thought yet more strongly in 
 the "Life of Cowley," ending thus: "The true 
 genius is a mind of large general powers, acci- 
 dentally determined to some particular direction," 
 — as Cowley was made a poet, he adds, by reading 
 Spenser's " Fairy Queen," which lay in his mother's 
 window-seat. 
 
A DEDICATION. 225 
 
 This book contained only the name of Mr. Edge- 
 worth on its titlepage. ]\Iaria made no secret of the 
 assistance of her father, but probably it was thought 
 that it would not be considered as valuable by the 
 public if the hand of a woman was detected in its 
 composition. INIr. Edgeworth's dedication to Earl 
 Spenser is very admirable for its brevity, concise- 
 ness, and simplicity. 
 
 My Lord, — The good sense of two centui'ies has con- 
 firmed Bacon's opinion of dedications, — '■Hliat books, 
 such as are worthy the name of books, ought to have no 
 patrons but truth and reason." Your lordship's name, 
 therefore, is prefixed to these essays, not as a propitiating 
 offering to the public, but as a tribute due to a great 
 statesman, who is an illustrious example of the effects 
 which may be expected from good education. Sir Wil- 
 liam Jones, thirty years ago, pronounced of his pupil : 
 " This man will serve his country." 
 
 R. L. E. 
 Edgbwobthstown, May, 1808. 
 
 Both " Practical " and " Professional Education " 
 enlarge much on truth-telling. 
 
 " Begin by training the boy [says "Professional Edu- 
 cation"] to tell the truth. Use every motive of shame 
 and praise to inspire him with this courage. Teach him 
 to scorn to tell a lie. Explain to him the value of a 
 promise : explain it to him with some solemnity. Tell 
 him that a gentleman, a man of honor, never, for any 
 consideration, breaks his word. Teach him to be fear- 
 fully cautious of making promises, and to feel a holy 
 horror of breaking them. Teach him this by example, 
 
226 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 as well as by precept, or your words may play upon his 
 ear, but they will never reach his heart. Truth and hon- 
 esty, then, are the fundamental parts of a great character ; 
 and these qualities can be most effectually taught in child- 
 hood." 
 
 In the education of princes, he says princes are 
 usually proficient in horsemanship ; for horses are not 
 flatterers, and there is no royal road to learning to 
 manage horses. 
 
" COKINNB." 227 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 "Corinne." — Sir "Walter Scott. — Maria's Assistance of her Father 
 in writing. — "Ennui." — Maria begins "Vivian." — Social Life. 
 
 — "Cottagers of Glenhurnie."— Maria malces Visits. — A Visit 
 from Primate Stuart. — " Tales of Fashionable Life," published 
 in 1809. — Notices of this Book. — Maria plans for Future Work. 
 
 — Summer Visitors. — Mr. Johnson's Death. — Mrs. Inch bald. — 
 Mrs. Barbauld's Edition of "British Novelists." — " Belinda " 
 placed in it. — Maria writes Mrs. Inchbald. — Sir James Mackin- 
 tosh's Opinion of Maria's "Works. — Maria's Criticism on Books 
 of the Day.— Mrs. Leadbeater. — Maria edits her Book. — Irish 
 Theatricals. 
 
 In the year 1808 Maria notes reading " Corinne " 
 and " Letters from the Mountain." 
 
 " I have read ' Corinne ' with my father, and I like it 
 better than he does. In one word, I am dazzled by the 
 genius, provoked by the absurdities, and, in admiration 
 of the taste and critical judgment of Italian literature 
 displayed throughout the whole work, I almost broke 
 my foolish heart over the end of the third volume ; 
 and my father acknowledged he never read any thing 
 more pathetic. . . . We have just had a charming letter 
 from Mrs. Barbauld, in which she asks if we have read 
 'Marmion.' " 
 
 As Mr. Poole ^ credits Sir Walter Scott "with the 
 revie"w of " Patronage," in " The Edinburgh Revie"w" 
 in 1814, it will be well to state, that during the year 
 
 1 Index. 
 
228 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 1808 Scott wrote to Constable on the appearance 
 of the twenty-sixth number of " The Review," with 
 the celebrated article of Brougham, entitled "Don 
 Cevallos, on the Usurpation of Spain," " ' The Edin 
 burgh Review ' has become such as to render it 
 impossible for me to continue a contributor to it, — 
 now it is such as I can no longer continue to receive 
 or read it ; " and Constable's list of subscribers con- 
 tains Scott's name with an indignant dash of the 
 pen, and '■'■ Stopt" against it. Lockhart cannot say 
 whether it was entirely political feeling which caused 
 this, but thinks he was somewhat swayed by the 
 review of " Marmion," which Jeffrey printed in April, 
 1808. This review was bitter, and unjust to the 
 noble poem of Scott. At all events, he did not write 
 for it after that time. AUibone states Sir James 
 Mackintosh was the author of the article on " Pat- 
 ronage." Scott denied to George Ellis writing one 
 review of Miss Edgeworth's writings : — 
 
 "I did not review Miss Edge worth, nor do I think it 
 at all well done : at least, it falls below my opinion of 
 that lady's merits." 
 
 There are constant allusions in Scott's life and 
 writings to Miss Edgeworth's writings. In 1808, in 
 writing at Ashiestel his sketch of his own life, he 
 mentions the lord of " Castle Rackrent," who was 
 obliged to cut down a tree to boil a tea-kettle, in 
 comparing this to his own miscellaneous but ill- 
 assorted reading. He remembered, also, an inci- 
 dent similar to that in Miss Edgeworth's story of 
 " Frank : " he himself cut a button from the jacket 
 
A LETTER. 229 
 
 of a boy who stood above him in the class. The boy 
 could not recite without holding his button : without 
 it, he was so disconcerted he utterly failed. Scott 
 told this to Rogers the poet, at Lockhart's house in 
 London, on his melancholy journey to Matea. 
 
 Maria's devotion to her father and his interests 
 was always paramount. In a letter describing her 
 occupations at this time, she says, — 
 
 " The moment ' Professional Education ' was gone, the 
 inflammation in poor papa's eyes came on ; and besides 
 reading to him, he wanted in a great hurry to write an 
 addition to an essay on 'Wheel Carriages,' which he 
 gave to Mr. Greenough ; the subject being before a com- 
 mittee of the House of Commons, and Mr. Cummins and 
 all the great engineers and all the great wagoners dis- 
 puting d I'outrance and A gorge deployie, about the com- 
 parative merits of cylindrical and conical wheels. So my 
 father, being appealed to, was desirous to state the merits 
 of the said wheels impartially ; and he dictated to me, as 
 he walked up and down the librarj', for two hours, nine 
 pages ; and tliese nine pages had to be copied, and nine 
 and nine, you are sensible, make eighteen : and it was 
 the day I wrote these eighteen pages, that I continued to 
 scrawl that letter to my aunt about Jack Langan." 
 
 She laments not hearing from Lovell for a long 
 time : their French friends' letters never answer any 
 questions about him. As Sir Joseph Banks says, 
 "Their letters are now written under evident con- 
 straint and fear." 
 
 In the summer of 1808 Maria read aloud " Ennui " 
 in manuscript to the family. They used to assemble 
 in the middle of the day in the library, and every- 
 
230 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 body enjoyed it. One evening, when they were at 
 dinner with a large party, the butler came up to Mr. 
 Etlgeworth, " Mrs. Apreece, sir : she is getting out of 
 her carriage." Mr. Edgeworth went to the hall 
 door, but the family sat still laughing ; for there had 
 been so many jokes about Mrs. Apreece, who was 
 then travelling in Ireland, that they thought it was 
 only nonsense of Sne3'd's, whom they supposed had 
 dressed up some one to personate her : and they were 
 astonished when Mr. Edgeworth presented her as the 
 real Mrs. Apreece. She staid some days, and was 
 very brilliant and agreeable. She continued, as Mrs. 
 Apreece and Lady Davy, to be a kind friend and 
 correspondent of Maria's. 
 
 Maria was delighted with " ' Elizabeth,' by Mme. 
 Cottin. The character of the heroine is noble." De- 
 cember, 1808, she was at work on Vivian. 
 
 " I have re-written the two first chapters of ' Vivian,' 
 and think it improved. I have put both my head and 
 shoulders to the business ; and, if I don't make a good 
 story of it, it shall not be for want of pains." 
 
 Dec. 30, 1808, she writes to C. S. Edgeworth the 
 melancholy news of her brother-in-law's (Dr. Bed- 
 does) death. In January, 1809, she was again in the 
 midst of gayeties such as they indulged in, — went to 
 a dinner of thirty-two at Pakenham Hall, and a great 
 ball after it at Mrs. Pollard's ,-..." saw abundance 
 
 of comedy. There were three Miss s, from the 
 
 county of Tipperary, — three degrees of comparison, 
 the positive, comparative, and the superlative : excel- 
 lent figures, with white feathers as long as my two 
 
MISS ELIZABETH HAMILTON. 231 
 
 arms joined together stuck in the front of what were 
 meant for Spanish hats. How they towered above 
 their sex divinely vulgar, with brogues of the Mile- 
 sian race ! Supper so crowded that Caroline Paken- 
 ham and I agreed to use one arm by turns, and thus 
 with difficulty found means to reach our mouths." 
 
 This was the occasion when returning they were 
 upset into a snowdrift by their postilion, who was 
 drunk : no one was hurt. Maria writes of it : — 
 
 " Admiral Pakenham lifted me up, and carried me in 
 his arms, as if I had been a little doll, and set me down 
 actually on the step of Mrs. Tuite's carriage, so I never 
 wet foot or shoe." 
 
 Miss Elizabeth Hamilton's excellent little book, 
 called " The Cottagers of Glenburnie," appeared in 
 1808 ; and Maria hailed its appearance very cordially. 
 She expressed her opinion, that "it will do a vast 
 deal of good ; and, besides, it is extremely interesting, 
 which all good books are not : it has great powers, 
 both comic and tragic." While Maria was making 
 one of her usual visits at Pakenham Hall, in this year, 
 she read aloud the story of " EmUie de Coulanges : " 
 they all enjoyed it very much, and so expressed 
 themselves to Maria. She wrote that she was hard 
 at work soon after this at " Vivian." 
 
 "My father says 'Vivian' will stand next to Mrs. 
 Beaumont ('Manoeuvring') and 'Ennui.' I have ten 
 days' more work at it, and then huzza ! Ten days more 
 purgatory at other corrections, and then a heaven upon 
 earth of idleness and reading, which is my idleness. 
 Half of ' Professional Education ' is printed." 
 
232 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 About this time Maria sent a picture of herself, 
 which appeared as the frontispiece of a magazine, to 
 her aunt, Mrs. Ruxton. It represents a "buxom 
 young lady, tall and large, and totally unlike Maria," 
 said one of her family; but the print bore the name 
 of Maria Edgeworth at the foot of the page. She 
 wrote beneath a copy of it, — 
 
 " Oh! says the little woman, 
 This is none of I," — 
 
 in February, 1809. 
 
 During this winter of 1809 Maria made a delight- 
 ful visit at Black Castle. She always enjoyed ex- 
 ceedingly these visits ; but she wrote of this particu- 
 lar one, — 
 
 " It is no new thing for me to enjoy Black Castle, but 
 I think I was particularly happy there last time." 
 
 After her return home, the play of " The Grinding 
 Organ " was performed by the family in the theatre of 
 Edgeworthstown house. Maria liked the way in 
 which it was set very much. She afterwards pub- 
 lished it, in 1827, in a small volume called " Little 
 Plays." In April the Primate of Ireland, Mr. Stu- 
 art, made them a visit, pleasing Maria very much. 
 She said of him, — 
 
 " He has two things in his character which I think sel- 
 dom meet, — a strong taste for humor and strong feel- 
 ings of indignation. In his eye you may often see alter- 
 nately the secret laughing expression of humor, and the 
 sudden open flash of indignation. He is a man of the 
 
"PEESOKAL SKETCH." 233 
 
 warmest feelings, with the coldest exterior I ever saw, — 
 a master mind. ' ' 
 
 Maria hailed the arrival of " Tales of Fashionable 
 Life," in June of 1809. They " reached us yesterday 
 in a Foster frank. They looked well enough ; not 
 very good paper, but better than ' Popular Tales.' " 
 The first set contained " Ennui," " Mme. de Fleury," 
 "Almeria," "The Dun," and "Manoeuvring," in 
 three volumes. The paper was very poor. 
 
 In the " Personal Sketch " of Sir Jonah Barring- 
 ton, he says, in describing his experience of life and 
 the condition of Ireland, — 
 
 " Miss Edgeworth's ' Castle Rackrent ' and ' Fashion- 
 able Tales ' are incomparable in depicting truly several 
 traits of the rather modern Irish character. . . . The 
 landlord, the agent, and the attorney of ' Castle Rackrent' 
 (in fact, every person it describes) are neither fictitious nor 
 even uncommon characters ; and the changes of landed 
 property in the county where I was born (where perhaps 
 they have prevailed to the full as widely as in any other of 
 the united empire) owed, in nine cases out of ten, their 
 origin, progress, and catastrophe, to incidents in no wise 
 differing from those so accurately painted in Miss Edge- 
 worth's narrative." 
 
 Barrington's praise sounds faint beside that of 
 " The Edinburgh Review," who honored Maria with 
 a most brilliant and appreciative, yet discriminating, 
 article on her "Fashionable Tales." The writer 
 " envies Miss Edgeworth," not so much for the many 
 brilliant and ingenious stories she has written, "as 
 for the delightful consciousness of having done more 
 
"oi A STFDY OF MARIA EDGEAYORTH. 
 
 good tJuin any other writer, mule or leiiiale, of her 
 generation." 
 
 " The Quarterly Review " also gave her a long, 
 eritieal, and exhaustive notiee of the "Fashionable 
 Tales." 
 
 j\Iaria read several old books this year, among 
 them the eelebrated memoirs of Col. Ilutehinsou, 
 and that of his wife, Mrs. Luey Ilutehiuson. Haw- 
 kins's "Life of Dr. Johnson" also interested her. 
 She commented on it, — 
 
 "He has thi-own a heap of rubbish of his own over 
 poor Johusou, which would smother any loss gigautie 
 genius." 
 
 She also read with interest Powell's sermons. 
 
 "The primate lout them to my father. There is a 
 charge on the eonueetiou between merit aud preferment, 
 and a discourse on the hifluonee of aeademieal stiulies 
 and a reehise life, which I partieularly admire, and wish 
 it had been quoted iu • I'rofcssioual Education." " 
 
 About this time Maria was planning for future 
 writing, and says, — 
 
 "I am going to write a story called 'To-day,' as a 
 match for ' To-morrow ; ' iu wliich I mean to show that 
 impatience is as bad as procrastination, aud the desire to 
 do too much at present is as bad as puttiug off every 
 thing to to-morrow." 
 
 This was never \\-rittcn. Another plan was to 
 write "a story in which young men of all the pro- 
 fessions should act a part; like the 'Contrast' in 
 higher life, or the Frcemau family (' Tatrouage '), 
 
SIU HENRY HOLLAND. 235 
 
 only without any possible allusion to our own family. 
 I have another sub-plan of writing ' Ccslebina in 
 Search of a Husband,' without mj^ father's knowing 
 it, and without reading ' Ccslebs,' that I may neither 
 imitate nor abuse it." 
 
 During this summer they had many visitors, — 
 the Beaufort family, the Ruxtons, and others. Dr. 
 (afterwards Sir. Henry) Holland, " a grand-nephew 
 of Mr. Wedgwood's, and son of a surgeon at Knuts- 
 ford, Cheshire, and intended for a physician, came 
 here in the course of a pedestrian tour : he spent 
 two days." She found him "very well informed." 
 He was able to tell her much of her friends, the 
 Barbaulds and the Aikins. He was very often at 
 Mrs. Barbauld's. He also told her much of Mrs. 
 Marcet, author of the " Conversations on Chemis- 
 try," a charming woman by his account. This visit 
 was the beginning of a life-long, delightful friend- 
 sliip between Dr. Holland and Miss Edgeworth. 
 Dr. Holland's relations, the Darwins and Wedg- 
 woods, were old friends of the Edgeworths. Dr. 
 Holland himself records his impressions of this visit 
 in his " Recollections of Past Life." 
 
 "During this interval, before returning to Edinburgh, 
 I made two excursions to Ireland : the first of which — a 
 pedestrian tour in the Wicklow Mountains — I described 
 in a paper or papers in some periodical of that time, the 
 name of which I now forget ; the second (in 1809) was 
 made interesting to me by a visit to Edgeworthstown, then 
 the residence of a large and happy family, of whom few 
 now survive. Mrs. Edgeworth, the mother of many chil- 
 dren, and the admirable stepmother of many more, died 
 
236 A STUDY OF MARIA EDQEWORTH. 
 
 but four years :ig(i, in her ninoty-tliird year. The friend- 
 ship 1 foniird witli Maria Kdgeworth in this my early 
 youth was continued by frequent nieetinj^s in Loudon, 
 and once again at Edgeworthstown, whither I toolc my 
 two sons with me. It was still further maintained by an 
 unbroken and alTi'ctionate correspondence for more than 
 forty years. Her letters to me would, in themselves, 
 have formed a volume. One of the hist slic e\'er wrote 
 was after reading the first volumes of Macaulay's 'His- 
 tory.' I showed it Lord Macaulay, who was so much 
 struck with its discrimination .and ability that he begi;cd 
 me to let him keep it. A few days afterwards a letter 
 came from her family to tell mo of her death." 
 
 The following letter from Mr. Edgcworth to Mrs. 
 Inchbald, the novelist and actress, explains itself. 
 
 EDGEWOnTIISTOWN, IBELAND, lOtli July, ISOO. 
 
 Dear Madam, — I beg you to accept a copy of my 
 daughter's last work. Johnson has already called for 
 corrections for a second edition : your observations would 
 be a treasure to us. "When you have a waste moment, 
 pray tell me which of the tales you prefer. 
 
 Your friend Lovcll Edgeworth has been removed, and 
 is well at Melun. 
 
 I am, madam, your sincere admirer, 
 
 Richard Lovell Edgeworth. 
 
 The "Tales of Fashionable Life "went to a sec- 
 ond edition in a sliort time, as will be seen by this 
 letter of Mr. Edgeworth. Mr. Johnson behaved 
 with great liberality about the book, and on his 
 death-bed commissioned Mr. Miles to write to Mr. 
 Edgeworth "that he should ill deserve your confi- 
 
MES. INCHBALD. 237 
 
 dence, if he were rigidly to adliere to the contract 
 which he made for the last work ; the sale of which 
 has enabled him to double the original purchase- 
 money, and to place the sum to the credit of your 
 account." 
 
 Mr. Miles behaved very handsomely also to Maria, 
 and treated her in the same fair manner which his 
 uncle had observed. She always felt an affectionate 
 regard for the memory of Mr. Johnson, whose ad- 
 vice was of material assistance to her. He died in 
 December, 1809. 
 
 The family circle at Edgeworthstown was enlarged 
 by the birth of a son to Mrs. Edgeworth, in August, 
 1809. 
 
 About this time M. Dumont wrote from Lord 
 Henry Petty's : — 
 
 " Nous avons lu en socidtd a ' Bounds,' ' Tales of Fash- 
 ionable Lif e, ' Toute socidtd est un petit theatre. ' Ennui ' 
 et ' Manoeuvring ' ont eu un suceSs marquiS : 11 a 6t(5 tres 
 vif. Nous avons trouve un grand nombre de dialogues 
 du meilleur, comique, c'est k dire de ceux oii le person- 
 nages se developpent sans le vouloir, et sans songer k I'etre. 
 II y a des scenes charmantes dans ' Mme. de Fleury.' Ne 
 craignez pas les diflScultds : c'est Ik ou vous brillez." 
 
 Mrs. Inchbald was considered no mean critic. As 
 early as 1801 Mrs. Opie wrote a friend that she was 
 "going to-day to carry Mrs. Inchbald my book^ to 
 read. She has promised me her opinion of it, and I 
 long to receive it. She is a judge of the tale only : 
 
 ^ Father and Daughter, and The Maid o£ Corinth. 
 
238 A STUDY OF MABIA EDOEWOETH. 
 
 poetry is to Jier an undiscovered country. The 
 ballads she already admires higUy." 
 
 The Misses Sneyd, accompanied by Honora Edge- 
 worth (the second child of that name in the family), 
 passed the autumn of 1809, and the winter, at tlieir 
 brother's, Mr. Sneyd's, in Staffordshire. Tlie Edge- 
 worths had a visit from the celebrated Irish lady, so 
 long and so well kuown in London society, Lydia 
 White, in December of 1809. Somebody, in speak- 
 ing of this lady, asked if Miss White "was a blue- 
 stocking." — " Oh, yes, she is ! I can't tell you how 
 blue." — " What is bluer than blue ? " — "Morbleu!" 
 exclaimed Lord Norbury. 
 
 Mrs. Barbauld was to edit a "Collection of the 
 British Novelists." The critical and biographical 
 notices prefixed are valuable and spirited. Sir Wal- 
 ter Scott acknowledged his indebted ncHs to tier for 
 some of his material, used in preparing his edition 
 of " Ballantyne's British Novelists." Mrs. Bar- 
 bauld's " Collection " consisted of fifty volumes, 
 and it apixjared in 1810. She asked Maria for a 
 conected coj^y of "Belinda," which she placed on 
 the li.it. 
 
 In December, 1800, Maria made visits of a few 
 days at Sonna and Pakenham Ilall. After her re- 
 turn home she says, — 
 
 "I have been rc.adWi'j, for the fourth time I Vjclieve, 
 'The Simple Story,' which I intended this time to lea'l 
 as a critic, that I rn i;.dit write to Mrs. Inehbald a>K^ut it; 
 hut I wa.s so can-ied away by it that I was totally inca- 
 pable of thinking of -Mrs. Inehbald or any thing but 
 Miss Milner and Domforth, who apjjeareU to me real 
 
A LETTER TO MES. I^XHBALD. 239 
 
 persons, whom I saw and heard, and who had such power 
 to interest me that I cried my eyes almost out before I 
 came to the end of the story. I thmk it the most pa- 
 thetic and most powerfully interesting tale I ever read. 
 I was obliged to go from it to correct ' Belinda ' for Mrs. 
 Barbauld, who is going to insert it in her collection of 
 novels, with a preface ; and I really was so provoked with 
 the cold tameness of that stick or stone ' Belinda, ' that 
 I could have torn the pages to pieces. And, really, I 
 have not the heart or the patience to correct her. As the 
 hackney coachman said, 'Mend you! better make a new 
 one.' " 
 
 In the same month ]\Iaria made a careful arrange- 
 ment of the library, and an alphabetical catalogue, 
 prepared in her most beautiful handwriting. She 
 saj^s, — 
 
 " I have lived upon the ladder, my father deploring the 
 waste of time, and the fatigue I underwent." 
 
 She wrote some letters to ]\Irs. Inchbald, with 
 whom she became personally acquainted some time 
 afterwards. 
 
 [To Mrs. Inchbald.] 
 
 Edgewokthstowx, Jan. 14, 1810. 
 
 I am going to do a very bold thing. Personally a 
 stranger to Mrs. Inchbald myself, I am going to take 
 the liberty of introducing one of my brothers to her. 
 Your kindness to my brother Lovell will perhaps incline 
 you more in Sneyd's ' favor than any thing I can urge. 
 ... I hope you wiU not suspect me of the common 
 author practice of returning praise for praise, when I 
 teU you that I have just been reading, for the third — ■ 
 
 1 C. Sneyd Edgeworth, author of a Life of the Abbe Edgeworth. 
 
240 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 I believe for the fom-tli — time, "The Simple Story." 
 Its effect upon my feelings was as powerful as at the first 
 reading. I never read any novel, — I except none, — I 
 never read any novel that affected me so strongly, or 
 that so completelj' possessed me with the belief in the real 
 existence of all the people it represents. I never once 
 recollected the author whilst I was reading it ; never said 
 or thought, " That's a fine sentiment," or " That is well 
 expressed," or " That is loell invented." I believed it all 
 to be real, and was affected as I should be by the real 
 scenes, if they had passed before my eyes : it is truly 
 and deeply pathetic. I determined, this time of reading, 
 to read it as a critic, or rather, as an author, to try 
 and find out the secret of its peculiar pathos ; but I 
 quite forgot my intention in the interest Miss Milner and 
 Dorriforth excited. But now it is all over, and that I can 
 coolly exercise my judgment, I am of opinion that it is 
 by leaving more than most otlier writers to the imagi- 
 nation, that you succeed so eminently in affecting it. By 
 the force that is necessary to repress feeling, we judge 
 of the intensity of the feeling ; and you always contrive 
 to give us, by intelligible but simple signs, the measure of 
 this force. Writers of inferior genius waste their words 
 describing feelings, in making those who pretend to be 
 agitated by passion describe that passion, and talk of the 
 rending of their hearts, etc., — a gross blunder ! as gross 
 as any Irish blunder ; for the heart cannot feel, and 
 describe its own feelings, at the same moment. It is 
 " being like a bii-d in two places at once." 
 
 "What a beautiful stroke is that of the child, who 
 exclaims, when Dorriforth lets go his hands, " I had like 
 to have been down." 
 
 I am glad I have never met with a Dorriforth, for I 
 must inevitably have fallen desperately in love with him ; 
 
A LETTER TO MES. INCHBALD. 241 
 
 and, destitute of Miss Milner's powers of charming, I 
 might have died in despair. Indeed, I question whether 
 my being free from some of her faults would not have 
 made my chance worse ; for I have no doubt, that, with 
 all his wisdom and virtue, he loved her the better for 
 keeping him in a continual panic by her coquetry. I am 
 excessively sorry you made her end naughtily, thougli I 
 believe this makes the story more moral. Your power 
 as a pathetic writer is even more conspicuous in the 
 second volume, however, than in the first : for, notwith- 
 standing the prodigious and painful effort you require 
 from the reader to jump over, at the first page, eighteen 
 years, and to behold at once Dorriforth old, and Miss 
 Milner a disgraced and dying mother, with a grown-up 
 daugliter beside her ; notwithstanding the reluctance we 
 feel at seeing Dorriforth as an implacable tyrant, and 
 Sandford degraded to a trembling dependent, — • yet 
 against our will, and absolutely against our resolution to 
 be unmoved, you master our hearts, and kindle a fresh 
 interest, and force again our tears. Nothing can be finer 
 than the scene upon the stairs, where Dorriforth meets 
 his daughter, and cannot unclasp her hand, and when be 
 cannot call her by any name but Miss Milner, — dear 
 Miss Milner. 
 
 I wish Rushbrooke had not been a liar : it degrades 
 him too much for a hero. I think you sacrificed him too 
 much to the principle of the pyramid. The mixture of 
 the father's character in the daughter is beautiful. As to 
 Miss Wordly, who can help loving her, and thinking she 
 is their best friend, whoever that may be ? 
 
 Mrs. Horton is an excellent comic. Her moving all her 
 things about her room to lessen the embarrassment, and 
 her wishing (without being ill-natured) to see a quarrel, 
 that she might have some sensations, is admirable. Did 
 
242 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 you really draw the characters from life ? or did you in- 
 vent them? You excel, I think, peculiarly in avoiding 
 what is commonly called _;?)te ivrititig, — a sort of writing 
 which I detest ; which calls the attention away from the 
 tiling to the manner, from the feeling to the language ; 
 which sacrifices every thing to the sound, to the mere 
 rounding of a period ; which mistakes stage e^ect for 
 nature. All who are at all used to writing know and 
 detect the trick of the trade immediately ; and, speaking 
 for myself, I hnoiv that the writing which has least the 
 appearance of literary manufacture, almost always pleases 
 me the best. It has more originality : in narration of 
 fictitious events, it most surely succeeds in giving the 
 idea of reality, and in making the biographer, for the 
 time, pass for nothing. But there are few who can, in 
 this manner, bear the mortification of staying behind the 
 scenes. They peep out eager for appearance, and destroy 
 all illusion by crying, I said it, I wrote it, I invented it 
 all ! Call me on the stage and crown me directly ! 
 
 I don't know whether you have ever met with a little 
 book called "Circumstances respecting the Life of the 
 late Charles Montford, Esq., by George Harley, Esq." 
 A\"hen you have half an hour's leisure, do me the favor 
 to look at it : for I think it possesses something of the 
 same kind of merit as "The Simple Story;" though it 
 has many faults, and, except now and then, nothing 
 like its pathos. But it resembles it in creating the belief 
 of its being real. I often thought, while I was reading it, 
 this might have been better written ; but I am glad the cir- 
 cumstances did not fall into the hands of a professional 
 novel-writer, who might perhaps \\a\e made more of them 
 for common readers, but who would ha\'e spoiled them 
 for me by the maiufucture. It must be true, I thought, 
 and the biographer a real friend ; because he cares so 
 
LETTER TO MES. BAEBAtTLD. 243 
 
 little about himself and his own writing, so that he does 
 justice to the memory of his friend. 
 
 I have lately been told that it is a mere fiction, and that 
 it was written by a gentleman whose name I forget, — a 
 brother of Mrs. Trench's : perhaps you know the name. 
 
 My father and Mrs. Edgeworth beg to be kindly remem- 
 bered to you, and wish you would come here and see us, 
 as we cannot go to England at present. Can you? 
 Will you? 
 
 Affectionately yours, 
 
 Maria. Edgeworth. 
 Edgewoethstown, Jan. 15. 
 
 ]\'Irs. Barbauld was busily engaged on the " British 
 Novelists," to which. Maria refers. Maria wrote to 
 Mrs. Barbauld as follows : — 
 
 EDGEWORTHSTOWif, Jan. 18, 1810. 
 My dear Madam, — I have great pleasure in making 
 a good beginning of this new year by fulfilling a request 
 of yours. My brother Sneyd will have the honor of 
 waiting upon you with "Belinda." I wish I could be 
 of the party ; but, alas ! this is quite out of my power. 
 My father, thank God ! has perfectly recovered his health 
 and strength : but he is now engaged in an undertaking 
 which will attach him for some time to the bogs of Ireland. 
 Sneyd will give you an account of the commissioners for 
 improving our bogs ; and pray ask him for a history of 
 the moving bog in our neighborhood, of the wonders of 
 which he has been an eye-witness. I would tell j'ou 
 of these, but that he can tell in five minutes what I could 
 not write in five. So to return to my own business : " Be- 
 linda," I have taken some, and my father has taken a 
 great deal of pains, to improve her. In the first volume 
 the alterations are very slight, and merely verbal. In the 
 
244 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 second volume Jackson is substituted for the husband of 
 Lucy, instead of Juba; many people having been scanda- 
 lized at the idea of a black man marrying a white woman. 
 My father says that gentlemen have horrors upon this 
 subject, and would draw conclusions very unfavoralJe to 
 a female writer who appeared to recommend such unions : 
 as I do not understand the subject, I trust to his better 
 judgment, and end with, — for Juba, read Jackson. 
 
 In the third volume, I have taken out every thing that 
 gave encouragement (beyond esteem) to Mr. Vincent; 
 for great complaints were made against Belinda for want 
 of constancy to Clarence Hervey, and for jilting Vincent. 
 By taking out her consent to marry, I hope I shall, in 
 some degree, satisfy all parties. Belinda is but an unin- 
 teresting personage, after all ; but I cannot mend her in 
 this respect, without making her over again, and, indeed, 
 without making the whole book over again. I was not, 
 either in Belinda or Leonora, sufficiently aware that the 
 goodness of a heroine interests only in proportion to the 
 perils and trials to which it is exposed. 
 
 I have been made still more sensible of my own defi- 
 ciencies, by just reading "The Simple Story," which, 
 throughout, has sucli a powerful, irresistible interest. I 
 hope you think of it as I do, that it is one of the most 
 pathetic tales that ever was written. 
 
 I long, my dear madam, to see your pre/aces, ^ and wish 
 for your sake, as well as for that of the public, that they 
 were finished ; for I know how any unfulfilled engagement 
 of that sort presses upon the mind. 
 
 "What a loss, what an irreparable loss, we have had of 
 our excellent friend Johnson ! ^ Ask Sneyd to tell you 
 how generously, how kindly, he behaved to us in the last 
 
 1 To Mrs. Barbaulil's eilition of the British Xovelists. 
 
 2 Mr. Johnson, tlie piiljlislier. 
 
LETTER OF SIK JAJIES MACKINTOSH. 245 
 
 act almost of his life. I think the excellent character of 
 him which appeared in " The Star " could have come from 
 none but such a writer and such a friend as Mrs. Bar- 
 bauld. I am glad to hear that Johnson's habits of lib- 
 erality did not injure his fortune, and that his property 
 descends to a representative so worthy of him as Mr. 
 Miles. Ask Sneyd, also, how Mr. Miles behaved towai-ds 
 us. I know you have pleasure in hearing of instances 
 of vu-tue in whatever class or rank of life. 
 
 Sir James ^lackintosli, in ■n'riting from Bombay to 
 his wife, in 1810, pays a pleasant tribute to Maria. 
 He says of " Tales of Fashionable Life," after com- 
 menting on the utility which he considers a charac- 
 teristic of Hogarth's pictures, — 
 
 "Observations somewhat similar may be applied to 
 Miss Edgeworth's fictions. In my first enthusiasm of 
 admiration, I thought that she had first made fiction use- 
 ful ; but every fiction since Homer has taught friendship, 
 patriotism, generosity, contempt of death. These are 
 the highest virtues ; and the fictions which taught them 
 were, therefore, of the highest, though not of the mised, 
 utility. Miss Edgeworth inculcates prudence, and the 
 virtues of that family. Are these excellent vh-tues higher 
 or more useful than those of fortitude and benevolence ? 
 Certainly not. Where, then, is Miss Edgeworth's merit, 
 her extraordinai-y merit, both as a moralist and a woman 
 of genius ? It consists in her having selected a class of 
 vu-tues far more diflBcult to treat as the subject of fiction 
 than others, and which had, therefore, been left by for- 
 mer writers to her. This is the merit both of originality 
 and utility ; but it never must be stated otherwise, unless 
 we could doubt that superiority of the benevolent vii-tues 
 
246 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 over every other part of morals, which is not a subject of 
 discussion, but an indisputable truth." 
 
 " The Edinburgh Review " made an attack on Mr. 
 Edgeworth's " Professional Education " of the most 
 severe style. Mackintosh says of it, — 
 
 "The twenty-ninth [" Edinburgh Review "] is distin- 
 guished by 's^ attack on Greek and Latin, under the 
 
 title of a review of Edgeworth's book on ' Professional 
 Education.' " 
 
 Mr. Edgeworth's book was made the occasion of 
 the reviewer's strictures on the advantages of the 
 more modern styles of education over the long- 
 approved classical system in vogue at Oxford. The 
 book was widely read, and went soon to a second 
 edition. One may question the premises, or deny 
 the conclusions, of Mr. Edgeworth's argument; but 
 the papers of "Professional Education" contain 
 many valuable hints for parents, and the instruc- 
 tions of boys. 
 
 In this year Maria received a novelty as a gift, " a 
 worked muslin cap, which cost sixpence, in tambour 
 stitch, done by a steam-engine." 
 
 In 1810 Miss Edge worth wrote of the appearance 
 of Lord Byron's poem : — 
 
 " I do not like ' English Bards and Scotch Reviewers ; ' 
 though, as my father says, the lines are very strong, and 
 worthy of Pope and the ' Dunciad.' But I was so preju- 
 diced against the whole, by the iirst lines I opened upon, 
 about the ' Paralytic Muse,' of the man •' who had been his 
 
 1 Sydney Smith. 2 The Earl of Carlisle. 
 
MME. DU DEFrAND. 247 
 
 guardian, and is his relation, and to whom he had dedi- 
 cated his first poems, that I could not relish his wit. He 
 may have great talents, but I am sure he has neither a 
 great nor a good mind ; and I feel dislike and disgust for 
 his lordship." 
 
 In the spring the Misses Sneyd and Honora re- 
 turned home. 
 
 On the appearance of "The Lady of the Lake," 
 Miss Edgeworth wrote : — 
 
 " It is a charming poem, a most interesting story, gen- 
 erous, finely drawn characters, and in most parts the finest 
 poetry ; but for an old prepossession — an unconquerable 
 prepossession — in favor of the 'Old Minstrel,' I think I 
 should prefer this to either the ' Lay ' or ' Marmion.' " 
 
 She had dreaded the appearance of this poem, and 
 wrote, months before it came out : — 
 
 "I do not augur well of the title 'The Lady of the 
 Lake.' I hope this lady will not disgrace him." 
 
 At this time Maria read the letters of Mme. du 
 Deffand, the old blind Frenchwoman, who was a 
 friend and correspondent of Horace Walpole. 
 
 " Some of the letters in her collection are very enter- 
 taining, — those of the Duchesse de Choiseul, the Count de 
 Broglie, Sir James Maedonald, and a few of Mme. du 
 Deffand's : the others are full otfade compliment, and tire- 
 some trifling, but altogether curious as a picture of that 
 profligate, heartless, brilliant, and ennuyed society. There 
 is in these letters, I think, a stronger picture of ennui 
 than in Alfieri's life. Was his passion for the Countess of 
 Albany, or for horses, or for pure Tuscan, the strongest? 
 or did not he love notoriety better than all three ? ' ' 
 
248 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWORTH. 
 
 Ill 1810 a Quaker lady, Mrs. Mary Leadbeater, 
 who lived at Ballitore, and whose grandfather had 
 been tutor to Edmund Burke, sent the MS. of a 
 book she had written to Maria, for her advice. This 
 lady was the grand-daughter of a learned Quaker, 
 Abraham Shackelton, the founder of the school which 
 Burke attended in 1741 at Kildare, near Dublin. 
 When Edmund Burke lay on his death-bed, he wrote, 
 by dictation, a very touching letter to Mrs. Leadbeat- 
 er, recalling old school-days, and signed it with his 
 own hand. She had published a volume of " Poems " 
 in 1808. "The Landlord's Friend" and "Cottage 
 Biographies " appeared in 1822. The MS. was called 
 "Cottage Dialogues;" and, when Mr. Edgeworth 
 heard it read, he was so much pleased with it, that 
 Maria offered, at his suggestion, to add a few notes, 
 and write a preface for the book. This done, they 
 made favorable terms with Mr. Johnson's successors; 
 and the book was well received by the public. 
 
 Among other items of interest. Miss Edgeworth 
 refers to the novel of " Patronage," now on the 
 stocks, after being laid aside for a long time. 
 
 Edgetvorthstown, Aug. 1, 1810. 
 My dear Mrs. Barbauld, — Your kind and delightful 
 letter gave us all peculiar pleasure ; not only from its 
 kindness, and the highly gratifying expressions of a 
 regard which we Jcnow to be sincere, but from its proving 
 to us that your mind has resumed all its energy, and that 
 you have recovered from that cruel' and unavoidable 
 depression of spirits. You can hardly know, unless you 
 
 1 Death ol Mr. Barbauld. 
 
LETTEK TO MRS. BARBATJLD. 249 
 
 were with us, my dear Mrs. Barbauld, how much we 
 rejoiced at this, nor how earnestly we desire to add, if 
 we could, to your happiness. Why cannot you cross this 
 vile sea, and be with us in a week ? Look at the frank 
 of this letter. With pride I bid you look and see that it 
 is franked by your pupil Lord Selkirk, a pupil who does 
 you the greatest honor, a pupil who sets you the best 
 example too ; for this is his second visit to Edgeworths- 
 town. And j'ou ! — 
 
 Lord Selkirk begs me to remember him to you in the 
 most respectful and kind manner, and I am sure you will 
 be glad to hear that he seems in perfect health and happi- 
 ness. His arrival, and that of a succession of visitors, 
 prevented my finishing the errata for " Griselda " as soon 
 as I wished, and must now be my apology for sending 
 them to you in their blotted and blurred state ; for I really 
 have not time this day to copy them, and I fear to delay 
 your printer. 
 
 Your observations on ' ' Professional Education ' ' are 
 as solid as they are elegantly expressed. My father 
 thanks you for them with his whole head and heai't. He 
 is correctmg the book for a second edition, and he will 
 avaU himself of your remarks about the impossibility in 
 some classes of life of the parents earlj" deciding the 
 child's profession. 
 
 I thank you, my kind and able defender, for the essay 
 in '• The Gentleman's Magazine." May it ever be my 
 fate to be so attacked and so defended ! We did not 
 know the essay was written by you : but the moment we 
 read it we were struck, not only with its strength and 
 ability, but with its judicious zeal ; and we settled that 
 it must be written by some friend who was warmly and 
 personally interested for us. 
 
 Can you suppose that any one in this house could see 
 
250 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 an advertisement of a book of Miss Aikin's without 
 immediately sending for it? But, alas! you little know 
 how long it is before our impatience to see new publica- 
 tions can be gratified. In the centre of Ireland, we wait 
 sometimes months before we can get possession of the 
 books we long for. We have not yet " The Lady of the 
 Lake " of our own; though we have begged and borrowed 
 her, and though we wrote for her the moment we heard 
 that she was about to appear in the world. For ' ' Epis- 
 tles on Women" we wrote at the same time, and again 
 and again and again ! And now we have forbid Sneyd, 
 who is coming over, to appear before us, unless he brings 
 it with him, or unless he sends it (as I have desired him 
 till I am hoarse) under cover to Edward Connor, Esq., 
 Dublin Castle. What has prevented his doing this, I 
 cannot imagine, and really wish I could beat him for it. 
 
 We have not yet given up all hopes of seeing you in 
 England. My father talks of going to London in spring, 
 but I dare not feed my fancy on these " pictured tales of 
 bright heroic deeds." I know this, however, for certain, 
 that if we do reach London ever again, nothing can pre- 
 vent our having the pleasure of seeing you and hearing 
 you. My father has quite recovered his health, and is 
 as busy in the vast Hibernian bogs as possible. I don't 
 know whether he will improve them, but I am sure they 
 have improved him; for the air and exercise have quite 
 renovated him. Mrs. Edgeworth sends her real love to 
 you, which, I assure you, she never sends as words, of 
 course, to anybody. She is again in blooming health, 
 and her darling little Francis repays her for all she has 
 suffered for him. He has all his father's liveliness of 
 look, and quickness of motion ; and he is, without excep- 
 tion, the best-humored little mortal of his years (of his 
 months, I mean) that I ever saw. He is now crowing and 
 
LETTER TO MES. BAEBAULD. 251 
 
 dancing at the window, looking out at liis sisters wtio are 
 making hay. I am much inclined to believe that he has a 
 natural genius for happiness, — in other words, as Sydney 
 Smith would say, great hereditary " constitutional joy." 
 
 I am very well, and have been very idle lately, but 
 intend to be industrious. I have, however, begun a story 
 on "Patronage," and wish I could talk with you about 
 it for half an hour, or even five minutes. It is so vast 
 a subject that it flounders about in my hands, and over- 
 powers me. I have also written a preface and notes (for 
 I, too, will be an editor) for a little book which a very 
 worthy countrywoman of mine is going to publish, — Mrs. 
 Leadbeater, granddaughter to Burke's first preceptor. 
 She is poor. She has behaved most handsomely about 
 some letters of Burke's to her grandfather and herself. 
 It would have been advantageous to her to publish them ; 
 but, as Mrs. Burke (Heaven knows why) objected, she 
 desisted. The Bishop of Meath afterwards persuaded 
 Mrs. Burke that the letters would be highly honorable to 
 Burke's memory, and Mrs. Burke retracted, and gave her 
 permission ; but Mrs. Leadbeater, who is a very scrupu- 
 lous Quaker, conceived that, having once promised not to 
 publish them during Mrs. Burke's life, she should not 
 break this promise. This is, perhaps, a foolish delicacy, 
 but it is a fault on the right side. The book she is now 
 going to publish, " Cottage Dialogues," will be, I hope, 
 for Ireland what the "Cottagers of Glenburnie " are for 
 Scotland, — minus the humor of the cottagers. I do not 
 pretend to say that the dialogues are equal in humor or 
 ability to Mrs. Hamilton's book, but I think they will do 
 as much good in this countiy as hers did in Scotland. 
 And they give such an excellent picture of the modes of 
 living of the lower Irish, that I am in hopes they will 
 interest in England. Of this she, poor, modest, simple 
 
252 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 creature, had not the least hope or idea, till we suggested 
 it. We took her MSS. out of the hands of an Irish pub- 
 lisher ; and our excellent friend's worthy successor in St. 
 Paul's Churchyard has, on our recommendation, agreed 
 to publish it for her. She accepts from me a preface and 
 notes for the mere English reader. 
 
 Adieu, my dear Mrs. Barbauld, abruptly, but most 
 sincerely and affectionately, 
 
 Your obliged, 
 
 Maeia Edgeworth. 
 
 Maria mentioned this kind act of hers in the most 
 modest way to Mrs. Barbauld, with " I, too, will be 
 an editor." She was " hard at work on Mrs. Lead- 
 beater. I am afraid my notes are rubbish." 
 
 Mrs. Leadbeater trusted enth'ely to the successors 
 of ]\Ir. Johnson, and was most kindly treated by them. 
 Maria and her father were much gratified by their con- 
 duct. The following letter of Mr. Edgeworth, thank- 
 ing them, shows how much Maria appreciated this. 
 
 My dear Gentlemen, ■ — I have just heard your letter 
 to Mrs. Leadbeater read by one who dropped tears of 
 pleasure, from a sense of your generous and handsome 
 conduct. I take great pleasure in speaking of you to the 
 rest of the world as you deserve, and I cannot refrain 
 from expressing to yourselves the genuine esteem that I 
 feel for you. I know that this direct praise is scarcely 
 allowable ; but my advanced age, and my close connection 
 with you, must be my excuse. 
 
 Yours sincerely, 
 
 R. L. E. 
 Edqkwoethstown, May 31, 1811. 
 (My eSlhbh-thday.) 
 
THEATRICALS. 253 
 
 This autumn the famous theatricals took place 
 at Kilkenny. Maria, with her father and mother, 
 attended them. She enjoyed as much the celebrated 
 people who attended them, as the plays. At the 
 castle of Kilkenny, the head of the Butlers held 
 splendid entertainments in old Irish style. Private 
 theatricals were greatly in vogue in Ireland during 
 the early part of the century. The princely mansion 
 of Carton, the seat of the Duke of Leinster, was one 
 of the places where the beauty and brilliancy of the 
 nobility appeared on the board. Lord Charlemont, 
 Lady Louisa ConoUy (aunt of the Napiers), the Coun- 
 tess of Brandon, Lady Rachel Macdonald, Countess 
 Kildare, Viscount Powerscourt, Henry Grattan, and 
 others took part. " The Beggar's Opera " was there 
 performed with fine effect. At the Latouches, at 
 Lord O'Neill's, at the Marquis of Ely's (where the 
 name of Lord Edward Fitzgerald is on the bills), 
 at Lord Grandison's, at Dromana in Waterford, 
 where the name of Prince William Henry (after 
 William IV.) is found, there were gay and lively 
 theatrical performances. 
 
 Of all the Irish plays, those of Kilkenny Castle 
 were the most noted. 
 
 ' ' In the company were Tom Moore ; Wilson Croker, 
 who wrote some charming ballads for them ; Chief-Justice 
 Bushe ; the Bishop of Meath ; Sir PhiHp Crampton, the 
 celebrated surgeon ; Sir Wrixon Beecher and Miss O'Neill, 
 who afterward became his wife. Kilkenny, during the 
 theatrical season, saw a vast assemblage of rank and 
 talent. The streets of that now deserted city were 
 thronged with chariots and horses, and parties of ladies 
 
254 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOBTH. 
 
 riding on horseback. Assembling from all parts of Ire- 
 land, there was great eagerness among the gentry to 
 become acquainted with one another ; and curiosity was 
 always restrained to learn the names and histories of all 
 the remarkable and interesting characters. . . . Cramp- 
 ton was considered the best Sir Lucius 0' Trigger seen on 
 the stage ; but Mr. Corry, who was grand-uncle of Lord 
 Rowton, Lord Beaconsfield's secretary and friend, was 
 the star of the company, the most familiar with stage 
 manners, and most natural in his by-play. Then, how 
 many associations rise to the mind at the name of Moore ! 
 At the time he took an active part in the Kilkenny theat- 
 ricals, he was at the very height of his social powers, 
 though not of his literary fame ; and probably only those 
 who knew Moore as he appeared in the Kilkenny company 
 are qualified to judge of the full extent of them. The 
 A'ivacity and archness of his manner, the ease and grace 
 of his humor, and the natural sweetness of his voice, 
 charmed every one. He contributed two prologues to the 
 plays of Kilkenny. The last time Miss O'Neill played 
 with the company was in 1819, when she played Desde- 
 mona; her future husband. Sir Wrixon Beeeher, playing 
 lago. Never was there seen such impersonation before 
 or since." 
 
 In Moore's diaries he describes Mrs. Lefanu, 
 Sheridan's sister, and then tells how he took part 
 in some plays where she performed. He was to 
 speak the epilogue to "A Squeeze to St. Paul's;" 
 and, when the time came for " Master Moore's " per- 
 formance, he was found nearly asleep behind the 
 scenes, being but eleven years old at this time. 
 
BUBLIN. 256 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 A Visit to Dublin. — Church-Spire Building. — "Patronage." — 
 "The Absentee." — Raising of the Spire constructed by Mr 
 Edgeworth. — Maria malies Visits in Ireland. — 1813, the Edge- 
 worths make a Visit to London. — Enthusiastic Reception of 
 Maria. — She makes many New Friends. — Misses Mme. de Staijl. 
 — The Party travel through England before they return to Ire- 
 land. — Sir James Mackintosh. 
 
 In November of 1810 Maria, with her father, Mrs. 
 Edgeworth, and some of the family, went to Dublin 
 to attend the lectures of Humphry Davy. These 
 lectures were very interesting to Maria, and con- 
 firmed her high idea of his talents, which she formed 
 many years before this time, when she first met him 
 at Bristol. On this occasion they made the acquaint- 
 ance of several eminent people. Solicitor-General 
 Bushe, and his brother-in-law. Sir Philip Cratnpton, 
 they had met before, but became quite intimate with 
 them after this visit to Dublin. They also made 
 the acquaintance, which ripened later into an inti- 
 macy, of Mr. Romney Robinson, then a very young 
 man, just beginning his career of astronomer at the 
 observatory, with Dr. Brinkley. 
 
 In 1811 Mr. Edgeworth was busily engaged on 
 the plan and construction of a spire for the church 
 in Edgeworthstown. 
 
 Maria had an odd letter, in 1811, from some young 
 
256 A STUDY OF MAKIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 ladies, who signed themselves " Clarissa Craven, Ra- 
 chel Biddle, and Eliza Finch," — " who, after sundry 
 compliments in very pretty language, and with all 
 the appearance of seriousness, beg that I will do 
 them the favor to satisfy the curiosity that they feel 
 about the wedding-dresses of the Frankland family 
 in ' The Contrast.' I have ansAvered them in a way 
 that will stand for jest or earnest. I have said, that, 
 at a sale of Admiral Tipsey's smuggled goods, Mrs. 
 Hungerford bought French cambric-muslin wedding- 
 gowns for the brides, the collars trimmed in the most 
 becoming manner, as a Monmouthshire milliner as- 
 sured me, with Valenciennes lace from Admiral Tip- 
 sey's spoils. I have given all the particulars of the 
 bridegrooms' accoutrements, and signed myself the 
 young ladies' 'obedient servant, and, perhaps, dupe.' " 
 Maria was constantly at work on " Patronage " 
 during this time ; and, in spite of all sorts of inter- 
 ruptions from the presence of many visitors who 
 were attracted to their pleasant home, she persevered 
 steadily, working several hours each day. During 
 the summer months, Mr. Edgeworth was busily en- 
 gaged on the supervision of the spire ; and Maria 
 was greatly interested in the success of this curious 
 undertaking. In August she wrote a little play, 
 called "The Absentee," for the children of her sis- 
 ter, Mrs. Beddoes, who were with them at Edge- 
 worthstown. After this had been performed by 
 these children, and Maria's half brothers and sisters, 
 she decided to offer it to Sheridan. He said the 
 lord-chamberlain would refuse to sanction its per- 
 formance, in the divided condition of Ireland at that 
 
"THE ABSENTEE." 257 
 
 time. When she thought of sending the play to 
 Sheridan, the family copied it for her, each taking a 
 certain part ; and, by working very late, the perfect 
 copy was finished in one evening. This little play 
 was afterwards made the groundwork of the story 
 known as " The Absentee." The idea of an Irish 
 absentee family living in London had originally 
 formed part of " Patronage." The absentees were 
 patients of Dr. Percy. 
 
 " Patronage " was at first intended to form part 
 of a second series of "Fashionable Tales," with 
 " Vivian," and " Emilie de Coulanges ; " but finding 
 that she could not possibly complete this story in 
 two volumes, and as Mr. Miles was anxious to pub- 
 lish the second set of " Tales " early in the ensuing 
 year, Maria again laid aside "Patronage;" and, using 
 the sub-plot of the Irish absentee family, she made 
 " The Absentee." " The Absentee " formed a vol- 
 ume and a half of the second set of " Tales." Ma- 
 ria liked the story very much, after she really prepared 
 the plan of it. She changed the name of Tipperary 
 to Clonbrony, for certain reasons of her own. The 
 famous letter of Larry, the postilion, which ends 
 " The Absentee," is unrivalled as a specimen of 
 Irish wit. Lord Jeffrey said of the epistle of Larry 
 Brady, the good-natured post-boy, to his brother, 
 giving an account of the return of the family to 
 Clonbrony, — 
 
 "If Miss Eilgeworth had never written any other 
 thing, this one letter must have placed her at the very 
 top of our scale as an observer of character, and a mis- 
 tress of the simple pathetic." 
 
258 A STUDY OP MAKIA EDGEWOKTH. 
 
 We have somewhat anticipated events in speaking 
 of the end of " The Absentee," and must return to 
 the summer of 1811. Mr. Davy made another visit 
 to Edgeworthstown on his way to Connemara this 
 season, "for he was a little mad about fishing." 
 Maria found him "full of entertainment and in- 
 formation, as usual." 
 
 Maria watched with interest the approaching per- 
 fection of the spire. She describes the trial of it in 
 July, when, a signal being given, " the four men at 
 the corner capstans work the windlass ; and, in a few 
 moments, with a slow, majestic motion, the spire 
 begins to ascend. Its gilt ball and arrow glitters 
 higher and higher in the sun, and its iron skeleton 
 rises by beautiful degrees, till, in twelve minutes and 
 a half, its whole transparent form is high in air, and 
 stands composed and sublime in its destined situa- 
 tion." On the 19th of September the final ascent 
 of this spire was made, in the presence of a large 
 assemblage of friends and relatives. The company 
 included, according to their old servant Jack Lan- 
 gan's "triumphant calculations, five lords and baro- 
 nets." This piece of work was considered worthy 
 of a description in " Nicholson's Journal," a scien- 
 tific work of the day. The spire was standing in 
 safety within a decade, unshaken by the storms of 
 many years. 
 
 Maria wrote the following interesting account of 
 the preparation of the ascent, and the day, which 
 follows : — 
 
 "In the year 1811 my father was occupied in con- 
 structing, upon a plan of his own invention, a spire for 
 
THE SPIKE. 259 
 
 the church of Edgeworthstxjwn. This spire was formed 
 of a skeleton of iron, covered with slates, painted and 
 sanded to resemble Portland stone. It was put together 
 on the ground, within the tower of the church ; and, when 
 finished, it was to be drawn up at once, with the assist- 
 ance of counterbalancing weights, to the top of the tower, 
 and there to be fixed in its place. 
 
 " The novelty of the construction of this spire, even 
 in this its first skeleton state, excited attention ; and as 
 it drew towards its completion, and near the moment 
 when, with its covering of slates, altogether amounting 
 to many tons' weight, it was to move, or not to move, 
 fifty feet from the ground to the top of the tower, every- 
 body in the neighborhood, forming different opinions of 
 the probability of its success or failure, became interested 
 in the event. 
 
 " Several friends and acquaintance, in our own and 
 from adjoining counties, came to see it drawn up. For- 
 tunately it happened to be a very fine autumnal day ; and 
 the groups of spectators of different ranks and ages, 
 assembled and waiting in silent expectation, gave a pic- 
 turesque effect to the whole. A bugle sounded, as the 
 signal for ascent. The top of the spu-e, appearing 
 through the tower of the church, began to move upward : 
 its gilt ball and arrow glittered in the sun, while, with 
 motion that was scarcely perceptible, it rose majestically. 
 Not a word nor interjection was uttered by any, even of 
 the men who worked the windlass at the top of the 
 tower. 
 
 " It reached its destined station in eighteen minutes; 
 and then a flag streamed from its summit, and gave notice 
 that all was safe. Not the slightest accident or difHculty 
 occurred. The conduct of the whole had been trusted to 
 my brother William (the civil engineer) ; and the first 
 
260 A STUDY OF MAEIA BDGEWOETH. 
 
 words my father said, when he was congratulated upon 
 the success of the work, were, that his son's steadiness 
 gave him infinitely more satisfaction than he could feel 
 from the success of any invention of his own. 
 
 " The spire was well secured, and provided with a con- 
 ductor before he left the place. This proved a wise pre- 
 caution ; for that very evening, the weather changing 
 suddenly, a storm of wind, thunder, and lightning lasted 
 during the night. In the morning the first thing of which 
 we thought, the first point to which we looked, was the 
 spire ; but my father had not been anxious, and experi- 
 ence has hitherto justified his confidence. In thirty-two 
 years since its erection, no change has been perceptible in 
 the perpendicularity of this spire ; though the slightest 
 alteration would have been detected, as, by a singular 
 3oincidence, the spindle of the weathercock was precisely 
 in the plane of a vertical wire of the transit instrument in 
 the observatory in our house." 
 
 Spires of similar construction were erected at 
 Dork and Enniskillen after this. 
 
 The following little extract from Hall's " Travels 
 n Ireland " will be of interest to the reader as giv- 
 ing a glimpse of home life : — 
 
 "From none to whom I had been introduced, did I 
 neet a more hospitable reception than from Mr. Edge- 
 fvorth of Edgeworthstown, of whom, and his daughter 
 Maria, to whom I had also a letter of introduction, I had 
 leard and read so much. As the covetous man rejoices 
 n the prospect of adding to his stores, and the pious man 
 it the prospect of those meetings where the fire of devo- 
 ;ion will be made to burn more purely, in hopes of the 
 'east of reason and the flow of souls, I approached Edge- 
 ivorthstown, so much of late the abode of the Muses. 
 
TRAVELS IN ICELAND. 261 
 
 " Mr. Edgeworth and his daughter, being about to take 
 an airing in the carriage when I called, which was soon 
 after breakfast, and a very fine day, asked me to accom- 
 pany them ; to which I readily assented, and was much 
 pleased with their remarks on tlie objects which occurred 
 in the course of our ride. 
 
 " When we returned from our ride, I found the rector of 
 the parish, the Roman-Catholic priest, and the Presbyte- 
 rian clergyman had been invited to dine ; and, that there 
 might be no preference shown to one clergyman before 
 another at dinner, Mr. Edgeworth said grace himself. In 
 this hospitable mansion, the favorite abode of the Muses, 
 the rendezvous of the wise and good, Papists and Prot- 
 estants agree. Miss Edgeworth joined in the conversa- 
 tion ; and, as may well be supposed, the author of ' Castle 
 Eackrent,' 'Irish Bulls,' 'The Absentee,' etc., served 
 much to enliven and inform it. I had heard much of Miss 
 Edgeworth, and knew that she and her father had taken 
 an extensive view of the vast edifice of human knowledge, 
 but found that not one-half of her numerous amiable ac- 
 complishments had been told me. Of her it may be said : 
 ' Omne quod tetigit ornavit.' 
 
 "When I mentioned, that having orreries, armillary 
 spheres, globes, and the apparatus necessary for giving 
 some idea of the various branches of experimental philos- 
 ophy, various persons are employed in giving lessons on 
 these subjects at ladies' boarding-schools. Miss Edge- 
 worth seemed not displeased, as she and her father, in 
 their ' Letters on Education,' had recommended something 
 of the kind. 
 
 "As Mr. Edgeworth's children are all instructed at home, 
 the system of education recommended to others is prac- 
 tised in his own family. I observed three of his daughters, 
 fine little girls, busily employed in sewing a covering of 
 
62 A STUDY OP MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 atches of various colors for a poor family in the vicinity, 
 ho had once been servants in the house. As soon as 
 le work should be finished, the girls were themselves to 
 lake the present ; and to this period I found them looking 
 jrward with more than ordinary pleasure. 
 
 "The children are never long confined at one time, their 
 ours being spent alternately in diligence and play. In- 
 eed, children should seldom be idle, but constantly em- 
 loyed in exercising either the mind or body. 
 
 ' ' Whatever be the result of the system of education 
 hicli Mr. Edgeworth and his daughter have recommended, 
 must say I never saw such marks of filial regard, parental 
 ffection, and domestic happiness as at this house. To 
 5side at it, is to see almost realized such scenes of hap- 
 iness as nowhere exist, but are sometimes presented in 
 le descriptions of enchanted castles. Miss Edgeworth is 
 one of those, as some would make us believe, who write 
 lerely for bread ; she having an independent fortune, be- 
 ides what she must now make by the rapid sale of her 
 ■orks. By such books as those of Miss Edgeworth, 
 ooksellers fatten, and men are made wiser and better. 
 t is needless to mention that Mrs. Edgeworth is also a 
 iiccessful author, having published the novel, or what 
 ou choose to call it, ' The Good Wife.' " 
 
 The marriage of Mr. Davy to the celebrated Mrs. 
 Lpreece, in 1812, brought forth many bon mots in 
 3ciety. One of these was quoted by Maria : — 
 
 " To the famed widow vainly bow 
 Church, army, bar, and navy. 
 Says she, ' I dare not take a vow, 
 But I will take my Davy.' " 
 
 Another good one she mentioned : — 
 
ANECDOTES. 263 
 
 " For many men have often seen 
 Their talents underrated ; 
 But Davy owns that his have been 
 Duly Appreeciated." 
 
 " The Absentee " was finished in July of 1812, and 
 Maria at once resumed " Patronage." 
 
 In the autumn of this year Mr. Edgeworth made 
 an addition of a bow-window to the little bedroom 
 always used by Maria ; and she enjoyed this very 
 much, as it gave her a better view of her garden. 
 
 Maria made some visits during this year to her 
 friends at Black Castle and Pakenham Hall. Lord 
 Longford had a good story from Col. Hercules 
 Pakenham, which is worth repeating as he told it to 
 Maria : — 
 
 "At the siege of Badajos, as he was walking with an 
 engineer, a bomb whizzed over their heads, and fell among 
 the soldiers ; and as they were carrying off the wounded, 
 when the colonel expressed some regret, the engineer said, 
 ' I wonder you have not steeled your mind to these 
 things. These men are carried to the hospital, and 
 others come in their place. Let us go to the depot.' 
 
 " Here the engineer had his wheelbarrows all laid out in 
 nice order, and his pickaxes arranged in stars and various 
 shapes ; but, just as they were leaving the depot, a bomb 
 burst in the midst of them. 'Oh, heavenly powers, my 
 picks ! ' cried the engineer in despah." 
 
 [To Mrs. Inchbald.] 
 
 Edgbwoethstown, Sept. 16, 1812. 
 The best thanks to you, my dear Mrs. Inchbald, for 
 your letter would be to have seen how much pleasure 
 that letter gave to this whole family, — father, mother, 
 
264 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGBWOKTH. 
 
 brother, sister, author ! The strength and originality of 
 your thoughts and expressions distinguish your letters 
 from all we receive ; and when we compared it with one 
 from Walter Scott, received nearly at the same time, and 
 read both letters again to determine which we liked best, 
 upon the whole the preference was given, I think, by the 
 whole breakfast-table (a full jury) to Mrs. Inchbald's. 
 Now, I must assure you, that, as to quantity of praise, 
 I believe Scott far exceeded j^ou ; and as to quality, in 
 elegance none can exceed him ; but still, in Mrs. Inch- 
 bald's letter there was an indefinable originality, and a 
 carelessness about her own authorship, and such warm 
 sympathy, both for the fictitious characters of which she 
 had been reading, and for that Maria Edgeworth to 
 whom she was writing, as carried away all suffrages. We 
 particularly like the frankness with which j'ou find fault 
 and say such and such a stale trick was unworthy of us. 
 None but a writer who has herself excelled could, as you 
 did, feel and allow for the difficulties in composition ; nor 
 could any other so well judge where I was wrong or right 
 in dilating or suppressing. I am glad you trembled lest 
 I should have produced old Reynolds again. Most of 
 those who have mentioned him to me have regretted that 
 they did not see more of him, and have longed to have 
 heard of his meeting with his daughter. 
 
 It is of great use as well as delight to us to see any 
 thing we write tried upon such a person as you, who will 
 and can do what so few have either the power or cour- 
 age to attempt, — tell the impression really made upon their 
 feelings, and point out the causes of those impressions. 
 
 I do not know what you mean by saying that every 
 sensible mother is like Lady Mary Vivian : you are re- 
 quested to explain. I wish I could find any excuse for 
 begging another letter from you. 
 
LETTER TO MRS. INCHBALD. 265 
 
 Perhaps we shall, as we at present intend, be in Lon- 
 don next spring. 
 
 Last night my father and I were numbering the people 
 we should wish to see. Our list is not very numerous, 
 but Mrs. Inehbald is one of the first persons we at the 
 same moment eagerly named. Believe me to be, my dear 
 madam, 
 
 Your obliged and grateful 
 
 Maeia Edgewoeth. 
 
 Maria had an excursion in October of this year to 
 Dublin, with some of the family, where they wit- 
 nessed with interest a balloon ascension. 
 
 [To Mrs. luclibald.] 
 
 Mt dear Mes. Inchbald, — Your letters, like your 
 books, are so original, so interesting, and give me so 
 much the idea of truth and reality, that I am the more 
 desirous to be personally acquainted with you ; and in 
 this wish I am most heartily joined by Mrs. Edgeworth, 
 a person whom, though you have not seen in print, you 
 would, I'll answer for it, like better than any one author 
 or authoress of your acquaintance, as I do, my father 
 only excepted : for further particulars, inquire of S. E. 
 We rejoice most exceedingly that you like him, and are 
 sure that the deeper you go into his character, the better 
 it will suit you. I wish you would try what Edgeworths- 
 town could do to excite agreeable emotions in your mind. 
 Upon your own principle, the sea would be as good for 
 you as a free or a high wind. Danger there is none, — 
 except in the imagination, — not even to create a sensa- 
 tion. Sea-sickness is over in a few hours ; and my 
 father, who is more sea-sick than most people, bid me 
 tell you just now, as he got on horseback, that you are a 
 
266 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 goose if you don't come to us. How dare I write such a 
 word ? But I wish you to know my father and all of ns 
 just as we are. If you will oblige us, consult Sneyd, and 
 he will show you how very easily the journey and voyage 
 could be arranged. 
 
 There are some authors whose books make so much the 
 best part of them, that one can think of nothing else in 
 writing to them ; but in writing to Mrs. Inchbald, I can 
 at this moment think of nothing but the wish to see her, 
 and to enjoy her society. 
 
 Yours sincerely, 
 
 Maria Edgewokth. 
 
 I remember once, when I had gone on a wiLD-goose 
 chase to a friend's house, who turned out to be a fine lady 
 instead of a friend, I was just in the solitary, melancholy 
 state you describe ; and I used to feel relieved and glad 
 when the tea-urn came into the silent room, to give me a 
 sensation by the sound of its boiling. 
 
 " Patronage " was all ready for publication early 
 in 1813 ; but, as Mr. Edgeworth had planned a visit 
 to England in the spring, it was decided to delay its 
 appearance till after they had returned to Ireland. 
 
 Maria veas charmed with " Rokeby," and, after 
 reading it with interest, made the following com- 
 ment on it : — 
 
 "'Rokeby' is, in my opinion, — and let every soul 
 speak for themselves, — most beautiful poetry. I like it 
 better, think it more universal style of poetry than he has 
 yet produced, though not altogether perfect of its kind." 
 
 This criticism does more credit to Maria's inde- 
 pendence of judgment than to her poetical taste. 
 
A VISIT TO EKGLAND. 267 
 
 The last of March, 1813, Mr. and Mrs. Edgeworth 
 and Maria left their home for England. They did 
 not hurry to London, but made several little visits 
 on their way thither. They saw Mr. Roscoe at his 
 home near Liverpool, Allerton Hall. 
 
 " He is a benevolent, cheerful, gentlemanlike old man 
 [wrote Maria of the historian of the De Medicis], tall, 
 neither thin nor fat, thick gray hair. He made what 
 seemed to me a new and just observation, that writers of 
 secondary powers, when they are to represent either ob- 
 jects of nature, or feelings of the human mind, always 
 begin by a simile. They tell you what it is like, not what 
 it is." 
 
 They visited the Hollands at Kentsford, and saw 
 Dr. Ferrier and his daughter at Manchester. Maria 
 tells a good story of Dr. Holland when he was a 
 little boy. 
 
 He wrote a letter, when he was six years old, to 
 the king. 
 
 " His father found him going with it to the post. This 
 letter was an offer from Master Holland to raise a regi- 
 ment. He and some of his little comrades had got a 
 drum and flag, and used to go through the manual exer- 
 cises. It was a pity the letter did not reach the king : he 
 would have been delighted with it. 
 
 They made a delightful visit at the Strutts of 
 Derby, the great cotton manufacturers, who enter- 
 tained much. Tom Moore just missed them : he 
 writes, they " were our predecessors at this house." 
 They also went to Byrkeley Lodge, the home of Mr. 
 
i68 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 Sneyd, near Derby, and visited the Priory, and Mrs. 
 Darwin and her daughters. Then they went to Cam- 
 bridge, and saw the college-buildings and some of 
 the professors, enjoying the fine architecture and the 
 scholarly repose of the place. On the way Maria, as 
 was her custom in the course of a long journey, read ; 
 and Miss Austen's " Pride and Prejudice " was her 
 book. She had the capacity of receiving great pleas- 
 ure from the writings of others ; rather an unusual 
 one for one who wrote so much. She names reading 
 as her greatest pleasure always, and has a kindly 
 word for each new aspirant for literary hon- 
 ors. 
 
 They reached London early in the " season," and 
 found themselves most cordially welcomed by the 
 fashion and culture of the London world. London 
 society was then more centred and concentrated. 
 The great metropolis had not swallowed its suburbs ; 
 and as yet there was a unity, a centralization, of the 
 social forces of the best literary and aristocratic 
 elements. Now London is too vast, too full of sets, 
 to afford to any one observer the possibility of enjoy- 
 ing more than a passing view of the panorama of its 
 social life. When the Edgeworths visited it in 1813, 
 the attractions of London were not so diffused, so 
 broken np ; and they found themselves for a few 
 weeks the very centre of attention and interest. 
 
 This love of London people, like that of the 
 Athenians, for a new thing has long been noticed by 
 literary people. Sir Walter Scott said of this pecul- 
 iar passion for novelty in 1806, — 
 
LONDON. 269 
 
 "What a good name was in Jerusalem, a known name 
 seems to be in London. If you are celebrated for writ- 
 ing verses or for slicing cucumbers, for being two feet 
 taller or two feet less than other bipeds, for acting plays 
 when you should be whipped at school,^ or for attending 
 schools and institutions when you should be preparing 
 for your grave, — your name not only becomes a talisman 
 — an ' Open Sesame ' — before which every thing gives 
 way, till you are voted a bore, and discarded for a new 
 plaything." 
 
 Years after this Scott remarked, " Who cares for 
 the whipped cream of London society?" after a 
 dinner at Lady Davy's to meet " Lord and Lady 
 Lansdowne and several other fine folks." 
 
 The position of Miss Edgeworth could not be 
 that of a discarded plaything : she was to take and 
 keep a permanent place in the hearts of many friends 
 made on this visit. She made many visits in Lon- 
 don, and the same good friends were ever ready to 
 welcome her. 
 
 Macaulay had a word for the "lion-hunters" when 
 he says, — 
 
 ' ' There is nothing more pitiable than the ex-lion or 
 ex-lioness. London, I have often thought, is like the 
 sorceress in the ' Arabian Nights,' who, by some mysteri- 
 ous law, can love the same object only forty days. Dur- 
 ing forty days she is all fondness : as soon as they are 
 all over, she not only discards the poor favorite, but turns 
 him into some wretched shape, — a mangy dog or spavined 
 horse. How many hundreds of victims have undergone 
 this fate since I was born ! " 
 
 1 Master Betty. 
 
270 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 There is a great deal of truth in this observation 
 of Macaulay ; forty days being about the extent of 
 time which would be allowed the lion of one London 
 season. 
 
 Maria had the solid attractions which gave her 
 superiority over the transient stars of this firma- 
 ment ; and then, too, she was modest and unexacting. 
 London society has, however, made and kept many 
 favorites. The name of Samuel Rogers is an exam- 
 ple of this. One observer said of his reputation, — 
 
 "This comes of being in the best society in London. 
 What Lady Jane Granville ' called the ' patronage of 
 fashion ' can do as much for a middling poet as for a 
 plain girl like Arabella Falconer." 
 
 Miss Edgeworth has been accused, by some critics, 
 of an undue partiality to the pleasures of fashiona- 
 ble life : why, it is hard to imagine. She naturally 
 saw much of the gay world during her various visits 
 to the cities of Paris and London ; but then, too, 
 her interest was as much excited by scientific and 
 literary people, and she availed herself of every 
 opportunity for study and examination of new scien- 
 tific discoveries. 
 
 Maria found herself famous, but bore all the atten- 
 tions she received with great modesty. Her great- 
 est pleasure appears to have been — amid all the 
 gayety and the brilliancy of London — the sight of 
 her father honored and respected by England's great- 
 est minds. One judges, from all accounts, that the 
 worthy gentleman shone with the reflected brilliancy 
 1 Miss Edge-worth's Patronage. 
 
LONDON. 271 
 
 borrowed from the fame of his daughter's genius. 
 Talents he had of no mean order ; but the trutli is 
 more than ever impressed upon the mind, that Mr. 
 Edgeworth was somewhat of a bore. 
 After they left London she wrote, — 
 
 " The brilliant panorama of London is over ; and I 
 have enjoyed more pleasure, and have had more amuse- 
 ment, infinitely more, than I expected, and received more 
 attention, more kindness, than I could have thought it 
 possible would be shown to me. I have enjoyed the 
 delight of seeing my father esteemed and honored by 
 the best judges in England. I have felt the pleasure of 
 seeing my true friend and mother — for she has been a 
 mother to me — appreciated in the best society ; and now, 
 with the fulness of content, I return home, loving my 
 own friends and my own mode of life preferably to all 
 others, after comparison with all that is fine and gay, and 
 rich and rare." 
 
 Among the many new and pleasant acquaintance 
 made by Maria in the delightful visit may be men- 
 tioned some very distinguished people. She met, for 
 the first time, her correspondent, Mrs. Inchbald, and 
 enjoyed the pleasure of an evening at the great Mrs. 
 Siddons's. She met the Miss Berrys of Horace Wal- 
 pole. Lady Crewe, "who still has the remains of 
 much beauty." Miss Catherine Fanshawe she "par- 
 ticularly " liked, — " she has delightful talents." Of 
 Lord Byron she said, " I can tell you only this, that 
 his appearance is nothing that you would remark." 
 Lady Byron she mentioned as " the charming, well- 
 informed daughter of Lady Milbanke." She always 
 
272 A STUDY OP MAEIA EDGBWOETH. 
 
 was interested in her, and Mr. Harness considered 
 her a good friend of Lady Byron. 
 
 The kindness of Sir Humphry and Lady Davy 
 was very agreeable to Miss Edgeworth. One great 
 woman she desired much to meet, but it was not to 
 be. " I fear Mme. de Stael's arrival may be put off 
 till after we leave town. The Edinburgh review of 
 her book has well prepared all the world for her," 
 she wrote. These very distinguished women were 
 never to meet. Apropos of this, there is a good 
 story Moore tells : — 
 
 ' ' In talking of getting into awkward scrapes at din- 
 ner-tables, Lady Dunmore mentioned a circumstance of 
 the kind, in which Rogers was concerned. It was at the 
 time when Mme^. de Stael was expected in London, and 
 somebody at table (there being a large party) asked 
 when she was likely to arrive. ' Not till Miss Edgeworth 
 is gone,' replied Rogers: 'Mme. de Stael would not like 
 two stars shining at the same time.' The words were 
 hardly out of his mouth, when he saw a gentleman rise 
 at the other end of the table, and say in a solemn tone, 
 ' Mme. la Baronne de Stael est incapable d'une telle bas- 
 sesse.' It was Auguste de Stael, her son, whom Rogers 
 had never before seen." 
 
 Lady Elizabeth Whitbread became a devoted friend 
 of Miss Edgeworth ; and she often visited her in her 
 own home, when she was in London, in after-years. 
 The names of Miss Fox, Mrs. Hope (Lady Beres- 
 ford). Lady Spencer, Lady Charlotte Lindsay, the 
 Countess of Charleville, Mrs. Siddons, may be num- 
 bered as those who paid Maria distinguished courte- 
 sy, and the acquaintance was long continued. 
 
LONDON. 273 
 
 "While in London the Princess of Wales wished 
 Maria to visit her. She did not like to do so ; and Lady 
 Wellington referred the matter to Lady Liverpool, then 
 considered the best authority on such matters. She ruled 
 that she might decline the invitation by the simple form 
 of, ' Sorry she can't — previous engagement.' " 
 
 Of one of tlie new friends made on this occasion, 
 Maria says, — 
 
 "Lady Lansdowne, taking in beauty, character, con- 
 versation, talents, and manners, I think superior to any 
 woman I have seen ; perfectly natural, daring to be her- 
 self, gentle, sprightly, amiable, and engaging." 
 
 She says they saw " Lydia White, who has been 
 very kind to us, and eager to bring together people 
 who would suit and please us ; very agreeable dinner 
 at her house; she conducts these lei esprit parties 
 well: her vivacity breaks through the constraints of 
 those who stand upon great reputations, and are 
 afraid of committing themselves." 
 
 There was a dinner at Mr. Horner's, where the 
 Edgeworths had quite an adventure with Dr. Parr. 
 He was exceedingly angry with the party for delay- 
 ing the dinner, and then interrupting it ; and finally 
 he ended by giving Maria his blessing. They spent 
 a day at Hampstead with the Carrs, old friends of 
 Mrs. Barbauld. They also saw Mrs. Barbauld her- 
 self, in her own quiet home at Stoke Newington. 
 
 In Henry Crabbe Robinson's diary, he tells the fol- 
 lowing anecdote. He went to Mrs. Barbauld's, and 
 " had a pleasant chat with her about Mme. de Stael, 
 the Edgeworths, etc. The latter are staying in Lon- 
 
274 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOKTH. 
 
 don, and the daughter gains the good-will of every 
 one; not so the father. They dined at Sotheby's. 
 After dinner Mr. Edgeworth was sitting next Mrs. 
 Siddons, Sam Rogers being on the other side of her. 
 ' Madam,' said he, ' I think I saw you perform 
 " Millamont " thirty-five years ago.' — ' Pardon me, 
 sir.' — ' Oh ! then it was forty years ago : I dis- 
 tinctly recollect it.' — 'You will excuse me, sir, I 
 never played "Millamont."' — 'Oh, yes! madam, 
 I recollect.' — ' I think,' she said, turning to Mr. 
 Rogers, 'it is time for me to change my place;' 
 and she rose with her own peculiar dignity." 
 
 IMaria was happy in seeing an old friend and rela- 
 tion, and says, — 
 
 "Charming, amiable Lady Wellington ! As she tnily 
 said of herself, she is always ' Kitty Pakenham to her 
 friends.' After comparison with crowds of others, beaux 
 esprits, fine ladies, and fashionable scraviblers for noto- 
 riety, her dignified simplicity rises in one's opinion ; and 
 we feel it with more conviction of its superiority. She 
 showed us her delightful children." 
 
 One of the parties which Miss Edgeworth at- 
 tended was a "rout," in the parlance of the day, 
 given by Mr. and Mrs. Morris. There she met Mrs. 
 Inchbald, who was an intimate friend of the family. 
 Mr. ]\Iorris was a talented man, fellow of Peter 
 House, Cambridge, member of Parliament for New- 
 port, and master in chancery. He wrote two come- 
 dies, which were successfully acted at Drury Lane 
 Theatre, — " False Colors " and " The Secret." Mrs. 
 Inchbald was very anxious to meet Miss Edgeworth, 
 
MES. INCHBALD. 275 
 
 which she did on this occasion. A little later " the 
 same friends gave her a dinner with the future 
 and ex lord chancellors, Lord Erskine and Mr. 
 Brougham; and in the evening the unrivalled 
 painter of Irish manners again." 
 
 In a letter which Mrs. Inchbald wrote to her par- 
 ticular friend Mrs. Phillips, of her introduction to 
 the two great literary visitors in London during this 
 year, she says, — 
 
 " She (Mme. de Stael) talked to me the whole time; 
 so did Miss Edgeworth whenever I met her in company. 
 These authoresses suppose me dead, and seem to pay a 
 tribute to my memory ; but with Mme. de Stael it seemed 
 no passing compliment." 
 
 Boaden thinks Mrs. Inchbald's complacency re- 
 ceived a severe shock by the kind of attention these 
 ladies paid her. He speaks of it thus : " The last 
 sigh of expiring complacency seems to have heaved 
 above the pen," which wrote of her meeting her sis- 
 ter authoresses. 
 
 Miss Edgeworth was very much gratified on her 
 part by making the personal acquaintance of one 
 whom she had long admired and respected. Her 
 pleasure is shown by the long letter she wrote after 
 her return to Ireland. She highly appreciated the 
 opportunity of paying her respects to one of Mrs. 
 Inchbald's talents. 
 
 An observer says of the morning they spent at 
 Westminster Abbey with Sir James Mackintosh, — 
 
 " Only one morning : days might have been spent with- 
 out exhaustmg the information he so easily, and with such 
 
276 A STUDY or maeia edgewoeth. 
 
 enjoyment to himself a^ well as to his hearers, poured 
 forthwith quotations, appropriate anecdotes, and allusions, 
 historical, poetical, and biographical, as we went along." 
 
 Mackintosh himself wrote from London to his 
 daughters in the East, May 11, 1813 : — 
 
 "Mr., Mrs., and Miss Edgeworth are just come over 
 from Ireland, and are the general objects of curiosity and 
 attention. I passed some hours with them yesterday 
 forenoon, under pretence of visiting the new mint ; which 
 was a great object to them, as they are all proficients in 
 mechanics. Miss Edgeworth is a most agreeable person, 
 very natural, clever, and well-informed, without the least 
 pretensions of authorship. She had never been in a large 
 society before ; and she was followed and courted by all 
 the persons of distinction in London, with an avidity 
 almost without example. The court paid to her gave her 
 an opportunity of showing her excellent understanding 
 and character. She took every advantage of her situation, 
 either for enjoyment or observation ; but she remained 
 perfectly unspoiled by the homage of the great. Mr. 
 Edgeworth is like his daughter, with considerable talents 
 and knowledge ; Mrs. Edgeworth, very sensible and agree- 
 able. Upon the whole, the party make a great acquisi- 
 tion to London, where they jiropose to stay a month." 
 
 The party attended a grand ball at Mrs. Hope's, 
 where there were nine hundred guests, " all of 
 beautjr, rank, and fashion that London can assem- 
 ble." Mr. Edgeworth attended a meeting of the 
 Lancastrian schools, at Freemason's Tavern. The 
 Duke of Bedford, after speaking of the fourteenth 
 report of the Irish Board of Education, pronounced 
 a eulogium on the excellent letter which is appended 
 
MMB. d'aeblat. 277 
 
 to that report, full of liberality and good sense, on 
 which, indeed, the best part of the report seems 
 founded; adding, "I mean the letter by Mr. Edge- 
 worth, to whom this country, as well as Ireland, is 
 so much indebted." 
 
 They missed Mme. d'Arblay, as well as Mme. de 
 Stael, by their departure from London ; but Maria 
 tells as " an extraordinary evidence of the ignorance 
 in which Napoleon I. kept the French people, that 
 when Mme. d'Arblay landed at Portsmouth a few 
 months ago, and saw on a plate at Admiral Foley's 
 a head of Lord Nelson, and the word Trafalgar, she 
 asked what Trafalgar meant. She actually, as Lady 
 Spencer told me, who had the anecdote from Dr. 
 Charles Burney, did not know the English had been 
 victorious, or that Lord Nelson was dead ! " 
 
 The following Ion mot of the wits of the day was 
 related by Lord Carrington to her : — 
 
 " Pretty, pretty, pretty fly, 
 If I "were you, and you were I — 
 But out upon it. That cannot be : 
 I must remain Lord Salisbury." 
 
 She was much impressed with the journal of Lord 
 Carrington's little grandchild, and says, — 
 
 " We have just seen a journal, by a little boy of eight 
 years old, of a journey from England to Sicily : the boy 
 is Lord Mahon's son, Lord Carrington's grandson. It is 
 one of the best journals I ever read, full of facts ; ex- 
 actly the writing of a child, but a very clever child." 
 
 This " clever child " became the historian, Lord 
 Stanhope. 
 
278 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 The following extract from a diary of Lord Byron 
 (1821), written at Ravenna, is of interest to the 
 reader as describing Maria during this London visit. 
 
 " In 1813 I recollect to have met them in the fashion- 
 able world of London (of which I then formed an item, 
 a fraction, the segment of a circle, the unit of a million, 
 the nothing of something) , in the assemblies of the hour, 
 and at a breakfast of Sir Humphry and Lady Davy's 
 to which I was invited for the nonce. . . . 
 
 "I thought Edgeworth a fine old fellow, of a clarety, 
 elderly, red complexion, but active, brisk, and endless. 
 He was seventy, but did not look fifty, — no, nor forty- 
 eight even. I had seen poor Fitzpatrick not very long 
 before, — a man of pleasure, wit, eloquence, all things. 
 He tottered, but still talked like a gentleman, though 
 feebly. Edgeworth bounced about, and talked loud and 
 long ; but he seemed neither weakly nor decrepit, and 
 hardly old. 
 
 ' ' He began by telling ' that he had given Dr. Parr a 
 dressing, who had taken him for an Irish bog-trotter,' etc. 
 Now I, who know Dr. Parr, and who know {not by expe- 
 rience, — for I never should have presumed so far to 
 contend with him, — ^ but by hearing him with others, and 
 of others) that it is not so easy a matter to dress him, 
 thought Mr. Edgeworth an asserter of what was not true. 
 He could not have stood before Parr an instant. For the 
 rest, he seemed intelligent, vehement, vivacious, and full 
 of life. He bids fair for a hundred years. 
 
 "He was not much admired in London ; and I remember 
 a ' ryght merrie ' and conceited jest which was rife among 
 the gallants of the day ; viz., a paper had been presented 
 for the recall of Mis. Siddons to the stage (she having 
 lately taken leave, to the loss of ages ; for nothmg ever 
 
byeon's recollection of miss bdgewoeth. 279 
 
 was, or can be, like her) , to which all men had been called 
 to subscribe. Whereupon Thomas Moore, of ' profane 
 and poetical memory, did propose that a similar paper 
 should be SMftscribed and aVcwmscribed for the recall of 
 Mr. Edgeworth to Ireland.' 
 
 " The fact was, everybody cared more about her. She 
 was a nice, little, unassuming ' Jeanie Deans looking 
 body,' as we Scotch say, and, if not handsome, certainly 
 not ill-looking. Her conversation was as quiet as herself. 
 One would never have guessed she could write her name; 
 whereas her father talked, not as if he could write noth- 
 ing else, but as if nothing else was worth writing. 
 
 "As for Mrs. Edgeworth, I forget, except that I 
 think she was the youngest of the party. Altogether, 
 they were an excellent cage of the kind, and succeeded 
 for two months, till the landing of Mme. de Stael. 
 
 "To turn from them to their works, I admire them; 
 but they excite no feeling, and they leave no love, — ex- 
 cept for some Irish steward or postilion. However, the 
 impression of intellect and prudence is profound — and 
 may be useful." 
 
 In " Don Juan," Byron writes of the learned lady- 
 mother of Don Juan as supposed to paint his own 
 wife's character. He says among other things, 
 some of them very disagreeable, — 
 
 " In short, she was a walking calculation, 
 Miss Edgeworth's novels stepping from their covers, 
 Or Mrs. Trimmer's books on education," etc. 
 
 " The Begum of literature," as Tom Moore called 
 Mme. de Stael, made a triumphal journey through 
 
 1 In this I rather think he was misinformed: whatever merit 
 there may he in the jest, I have not, as far as I can recollect, the 
 slightest claim to it. — Moobe's Note. 
 
280 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 England ; where, a few years before, she had lived 
 the life "of an exile at Juniper Hall in Surrey. Her 
 London season was a series of brilliant displays ; and 
 meteor-like she dazzled the eyes of the observer, 
 where her modest sister in literature would only 
 have shone with a gentle, yet steady, serene light. 
 Her nature was well described by herself when she 
 said, in her epigrammatic style, of the scene stretched 
 before her at Richmond, " Calme et anim^e ce qu'U 
 faut 6tre, et ce que je ne suis pas." 
 
 A meeting between Miss Edgeworth and Mme. 
 de Stael would have gratified Maria, who often 
 regretted her failure in this respect in after-years. 
 
 Mr. Edgeworth left London early in June ; and, 
 after visiting the Kings at Clifton, they went to 
 Gloucester, where Maria saw an old friend, Mrs. 
 Chandler, who was very kind to her in early years 
 when she visited Mr. Day, and suffered with the 
 inflammation in her eyes. Thence they went to Mal- 
 vern Links, where Mrs. Beddoes was living. 
 
 They made a visit after that at Mrs. Clifford's, " a 
 beautiful country not far from Ross." Maria was 
 interested in seeing the scenes of " the Man of Ross." 
 
 At Mrs. Clifford's, says an observer, " we had one 
 day of brilliant conversation between Maria, her 
 father, and Sir James Mackintosh, who had just 
 come into that neighborhood. He joined us unex- 
 pectedly one morning as we were walking out, and 
 touching a shawl Mrs. Clifford wore, ' A thousand 
 looms,' he said, ' are at work in Cashmere providing 
 these for you." Mackintosh sacrificed himself to 
 his conversation. Rogers said of him, that he read 
 
SIR JAMES MACKINTOSH. 281 
 
 for it, thought for it, and gave up future fame for it. 
 Some one else said that he would write any thing 
 but his history which he had engaged to do ; and 
 these brilliant days in salons of Paris, dinners in 
 London, and weeks in country-houses, finally frittered 
 away this learned man's talents. 
 
282 A STUDY or maeia edgewoeth. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Eeturn to Ireland. — Maria begins the New Series of " Early Les- 
 sons." — A Visit from Miss Elizabeth Hamilton and Other 
 Friends. — " Patronage " published. — Lord Dudley. — Mrs. Inch- 
 bald. — "'Waverley." — Maria writes Scott. — A Visit to Dublin. 
 — Ill Health of Mr. Edgeworth. — A Visit from Mr. "Ward. — 
 Anecdotes. — Maria at Work on " Harrington " and " Ormond." 
 
 In July Maria had " begun a new series of ' Early 
 Lessons ' (the second parts of ' Frank,' ' Rosamond,' 
 and ' Harry and Lucy '), for which many mothers 
 told " her they wished. She felt the pleasure of re- 
 turning to literary work, after the gayety and variety 
 of the exciting social life of London and the visits 
 in England. She had "a famishing appetite for 
 reading," after her long deprivation of that daily 
 resource. In August they had a visit from Miss 
 Elizabeth Hamilton, who was, as Maria said, very 
 agreeable. 
 
 " I like Miss Elizabeth Hamilton better than ever upon 
 further acquaintance. She is what the French would call 
 ' honne d, rivre : ' so good-humored, so cheerful, so little 
 disposed to exact attention or to take an authoritative 
 tone in conversation, so ready to give ever3'body their 
 merits, so indulgent for the follies and frailties, and so 
 hopeful for the reformation of even the faults and vices, 
 of the world, that it is impossible not to respect and love 
 her. She wins upon us daily, and mixes so well with this 
 family that I always forget she is a stranger." 
 
MISS HAMILTON. 283 
 
 Miss Hamilton in a letter to Joanna Baillie, writ- 
 ten after her return to Scotland, said, — 
 
 ' ' We went from friend to friend zigzag through the 
 heart of the country, till we reached the north ; but I 
 think, of all the visits we paid, that which would be to 
 you the most interesting was our visit to Edgeworthstown. 
 I rejoiced to hear that you and Miss Edgeworth had met 
 in London ; but to see her to advantage, — indeed, to form 
 any idea of her excellence, — she must be seen at home. 
 There the sweetness of her disposition, the greatness 
 and simplicity of her character, is continually exciting 
 one's admiration and respect. And there Mr. Edgeworth 
 appears in more favorable colors than in mixed society : 
 so that he gained every day in our esteem. The rest of 
 the family are amiable and agreeable, and all seem united 
 to eacli other in the bonds of the most perfect sympathy." 
 
 Among the other visitors of this summer v^^ere 
 Lord Carrington, Mr. Smith, Lord Gardner, and 
 Lord and Lady Lansdowne. 
 
 Miss Edgeworth, being asked by Campbell for her 
 impressions of Mrs. Siddons, wrote him as follows: — 
 
 Dear Sir, — I heard Mrs. Siddons read at her town- 
 house a portion of "Henry VIII." I was more struck 
 and delighted than I ever was with any reading in my 
 life. This is feebly expressing what I felt. I felt that I 
 had never before fully understood or sufficiently admired 
 Shakspeare, or known the full powers of the human voice 
 and the English language. Queen Katharine was a char- 
 acter peculiarly suited to her time of life and to reading. 
 There was nothing that required gesture or vehemence 
 incompatible with the sitting attitude. The composure 
 and dignity, and the sort of suppressed feeling, and 
 
284 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 touches, not bursts, of tenderness, — of matronly, not 
 youthful, tenderness, — were all favorable to the general 
 effect. I quite forgot to applaud : I thought she was 
 what she appeared. The illusion was perfect till it was 
 interrupted by a hint from her daughter or niece, I forget 
 which, that Mrs. Siddons would be encouraged by some 
 demonstrations given of our feelings. I then expressed 
 my admiration, but the charm was broken, — 
 
 " To Barry ^ we gave loud applause, 
 To Garrick, only tears." 
 
 M. E. 
 
 Yours, etc., 
 1813 (vindated). 
 
 Edgewokthstown, Dec. 19, 1813. 
 
 Mt deae Mrs. Inchbald, — I have desired our pub- 
 lisher to send you "Patronage" before it is published. I 
 will not tell you of my fears or of my hopes, in sending it 
 to you. You will understand them all ; and I am confident 
 that you will write to me at least as frankly, now you 
 have seen me, as you did before we met. I do not say, 
 before we became acquainted with each other ; for, in the 
 crowds in which we met, it was impossible to become ac- 
 quainted with any degree of rational intimacy. 
 
 We have to thank you, however, and we heartily do 
 thank you, for the effort you made to gratify us, which 
 succeeded completely. My father desires me to say, that 
 he cannot help hoping that "Patronage" will come to a 
 second edition ; and he trusts that you know we are glad 
 to profit by good advice when we can get it : therefore 
 he earnestly expects your corrections for a second edition. 
 
 Mrs. Edgeworth and my father beg then- kind remem- 
 
 1 Spranger Barry was the son of a Dublin silversmith. His 
 Othello was considered unsurpassed. 
 
"PATEONAGE." 285 
 
 brances to you, and request you will assure Mr. and Mrs. 
 Morris that we are not ungrateful travellers ; that we 
 retain a full sense of their kind and polite attentions to 
 us ; and that we thank them sincerely for introducing us 
 to one whom we had long earnestly desired to know. 
 I am, my dear Mrs. Inchbald, 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 Maria Edgewoeth. 
 
 lu January, 1814, Miss Edgeworth liad from Hunt- 
 er the bookseller " a whole cargo of French transla- 
 tions: 'Popular Tales,' with a title under which I 
 should never have known them, — ' Conseils a Mon 
 Fils.' 'Manoeuvring,' — 'La Mere Intrigante.' 'En- 
 nui,' — what can they make of it in French? 
 ' Leonora ' will translate better than a better thing. 
 'Emilie de Coulanges,' I fear, will never stand 
 alone. 'L'Absent,' — 'The Absentee,' — it is im- 
 possible that a Parisian can make any sense of it 
 from beginning to end; but these things teach 
 authors what is merely local and temporary. ' Les 
 deux Griseldas de Chaucer at Edgeworth.' And, to 
 crown all, two works surreptitiously printed in Eng- 
 land, under our names, and which are no better than 
 they should be." 
 
 Sir James Mackintosh, in a letter of Dec. 24, 
 1813, first speaks of Mme. d'Arblay's new novel, 
 and then says, — 
 
 "Miss Edgeworth's new novel (' Patronage '), also in 
 four volumes, is expected in a few days. The doubts re- 
 specting it are chiefly founded on its length, or its being 
 a novel, which is not so much her province as tales. I 
 
286 A STUDY OP MAPvIA EDGEWORTH. 
 
 have, however, little doubt that both (Mme. d'Arblay 
 and this) will be excellent, though perhaps not invulnera- 
 ble to the attacks of this sneering town." 
 
 " Patronage " was published early in 1814, and, 
 with certain exceptions of the critics, well received ; 
 being reviewed at length by " The Edinburgh " and 
 "The Quarterly." 
 
 Lord Dudley, who was an enthusiastic admirer of 
 Miss Edgeworth, wrote the article on " Patronage " 
 in "The Quarterly." He greatly admired her tal- 
 ents, considered her to be endowed with an origi- 
 nal genius of high order, and enlarged on the re- 
 markable qualities of self-restraint which she exhib- 
 its. He is impressed with the sacrifices she has 
 made, which he thinks are peculiarly her own; 
 among them, that of resolutely subduing her color- 
 ing, and painting her characters with the sober tints 
 of real life. He calls her the "anti-sentimental 
 novelist," and considers that she has formed a new 
 style of writing novels. He justly points out, that 
 while humor, pathos, general information, observa- 
 tion of society, extensive study, are all shown in her 
 writings, though the hand of the author is never per- 
 ceived, she is singularly deficient in the capacity for 
 framing a plot. Earl Dudley's criticism is a very 
 clever and thorough piece of work, and pleased 
 Miss Edgeworth. 
 
 In 1814, by the desire of the Edgeworths, Mrs. 
 Inchbald wrote a critique upon " Patronage ; " the 
 characteristics of which will be very easily seen by 
 Maria's letter of acknowledgment : — 
 
LETTEE TO MES. INCHBALD. 287 
 
 Edgewokthstown, Feb. 14, 1814 
 Mr DEAR Mrs. Inchbald, — Nobody living but yourself 
 could or would have written the letter I have just received 
 from you. I wish you could have been present when it 
 was read at our breakfast-table, that you might have seen 
 what hearty entertainment and delight it gave a father, 
 mother, author, aunts, brothers, sisters, all, to the number 
 of twelve. Loud laughter at your utter detestation of poor 
 Erasmus, as nauseous as his medicines, and your impa- 
 tience at all the variety of impertinent characters who 
 distract your attention from Lord Oldborough. Your 
 clinging to him quite satisfied us all. It was on his char- 
 acter my father placed his dependence ; and we all agreed 
 that if you had not liked him, there would have been no 
 hope for us. We are, in the main, of your opinion, that 
 Erasmus and his letters are tiresome ; but then, please to 
 recollect that we had our moral to work out, and to show 
 to the satisfaction or dissatisfaction of the reader how in 
 various professions young men may get on without pat- 
 ronage. To the good of our moral we were obliged to 
 sacrifice : perhaps we have sacrificed in vain. Wherever 
 we are tiresome, we may be pretty sure of this ; and after 
 all, as Mme. de Stael says, "good intentions go for 
 nothing in works of wit" much better in French, "la 
 bonne intention n'est de rien en fait d'esprit." 
 
 You will make me forswear truth altogether ; for I find 
 whenever I meddle with the least bit of truth I can make 
 nothing of it, and it regularly turns out ill for me. Three 
 things to which you object are facts, and that which you 
 most abhoi is most true. 
 
 A nobleman whom I never saw, and whose name I have 
 forgotten (else I should not have used the anecdote), 
 said the word which you thought I could not have writ- 
 ten, and ought not to have known how to spell. But 
 
288 A STUDY OP MARIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 pray observe the fair authoress does not say this odious 
 word in her own proper person. Why impute to me the 
 characteristic improprieties of my characters ? I meant to 
 mark the contrast between the niceness of his Grace's 
 pride and the coarseness of his expression. I have now 
 changed the word " severe " into " coarse," to mark this 
 to the reader ; but I cannot alter, without spoiling, the fact. 
 I tried if saliva would do, but it would not : so you must 
 bear it as well as you can, and hate his Grace of Green- 
 wich as much as you will ; but don't hate me. Did you 
 hate Cervantes for drawing Sancho Panza eating behind 
 the door? 
 
 My next fact is an old story. Maybe so ; and may- 
 be it belonged to your widow originally : but I can assure 
 you it happened very lately to a gentleman in Ireland, 
 and only the parting with the servant was added. I 
 admit the story was ill told, and not worth telling ; and 
 you must admit that it is natural, or it would not have 
 happened twice. 
 
 The sixpence under the seal is my third fact. This 
 happened in our own family. One of my own grand- 
 father's uncles forged a will, and my grandfather recov- 
 ered the estate my father now possesses by the detection 
 of the forgery by a sixpence under the seal. I quite 
 agree with you that it was ill judged and awkward to tell 
 that the old man was perjured, before his perjury was 
 detected. I have sent to have that altered. I wish, if 
 it is not too much trouble, you would take the trouble to 
 alter it for me, and send your corrections to Johnson, St. 
 Paul's Churchyard, to Mr. Miles : for I have not, and 
 cannot get, the fourth volume ; and I have been obliged 
 to write to the corrector of the press, and to trust to his 
 discretion, and he may bungle it. I hope the fourth vol- 
 ume will not be reprinted before this reaches you. 
 
LETTER TO MRS. INCHBALD. 289 
 
 Thank you, thank you, thank you, for liking the two 
 Clays ; but pray don't envelop all the country gentlemen 
 of England in English Clay. 
 
 Thank you, thank you, thank you, says my father, 
 for liking Lady Jane Granville. Her ladyship is his 
 favorite, but nobody has ever mentioned her in their let- 
 ters but yourself. I cannot believe you ever resembled 
 that selfish, hollow Lady Angelica. 
 
 Would you ever have guessed that the character of 
 Rosamond is like me ? All who know me intimately say 
 it is as like as it is possible : those who do not know me 
 intimately would never guess it. 
 
 Sneyd is in Dublin with his bride, — a bride no more, 
 but dearer as a wife than bride. She was a Miss Broad- 
 hurst, and was called an heiress because she had consid- 
 erable independent property. I draw largely on your 
 belief in my veracity, when I assure you, upon my word, 
 that this lady was utterly unknown to me and to this 
 family when I wrote " The Absentee ; " and that I took 
 the name of Broadhurst beca.use it did not belong to any 
 person I knew, and drew the character from pure imagi- 
 nation. Sneyd never thought of her till after "The 
 Absentee" was published. Afterwards, perhaps, it led 
 them a little towards each other. Is not this a curious 
 coincidence? I hardly dare tell it, it has so much the 
 air of falsehood. She is very amiable, — not handsome, 
 but a tall, not a little, plain, girl. He is happy, as you 
 know he is capable of being, from having found a wife 
 exactly suited to him, and of whom he is passionately 
 fond. 
 
 I know enough of Mrs. Morris to be sorry for her, 
 truly sorry, and for that kind-hearted Mr. Morris. She 
 is exceedingly like Mrs. Edgeworth's eldest daughter, 
 Fanny, of whom I am not a little fond. This likeness 
 
290 A STUDY OP MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 struck Mrs. Edge worth and I (me) so much that it added 
 to our inclination to be intimate with Mrs. Morris ; and 
 I think I could not have long resisted jumping from 
 acquaintanceship to familiarity with her, and fondness. 
 Alas ! perhaps I shall never see her again, or see her 
 quite an altered person, with all the difference between 
 happy and unhappy, — what a prodigious difference ! 
 Only those who have felt both can know. But with fine 
 children, and such a disposition as hers, she can never 
 be utterly unhappy ; and, for her comfort, I know a gen- 
 tleman, whom all the faculty gave over in the same com- 
 plaint, who has lived, nevertheless, for years. 
 
 Pray tell us if you hear that Mr. Morris is better ; 
 and, whenever you can, remember us kindly to her. Mrs. 
 Edgeworth says she must write a few lines to you herself, 
 and I will not deprive you of what would be a pleasure 
 to me. 
 
 Your obliged and grateful, 
 
 Makia Edgevoeth. 
 
 " Patronage," as first published, was different from 
 the present book in some minor details. Miss Edge- 
 worth made these changes in the third edition. The 
 critics approved of them. It is a very unusual 
 thing for an author to alter a book when it has made 
 its appearance ; but, in this case, the changes were 
 considered improvements. She makes Caroline go 
 abroad with Count Altenberg after their marriage, 
 and Mr. Percy is not put in prison. In the early 
 editions Caroline staid to console her father and 
 mother, and Mr. Percy was thrown into prison by 
 his creditors. 
 
 Maria visited her brother Sneyd and his wife in 
 
" WAVEELEY." 291 
 
 their home, Baggot Street, Dublin, in March, 1814. 
 Mr. Edgeworth had a very dangerous illness in 
 April, after their return to Edgeworthstown. Lov- 
 ell Edgeworth returned home on the 10th of May, 
 liberated, after the long, weary fourteen years of 
 detention, by the peace of Paris. 
 
 The appearance of " Waverley " was hailed by 
 Miss Edgeworth as the work of a master-hand, and 
 marking a new era in the novel-writing of the world. 
 She wrote, " I am more delighted with it than I can 
 tell you : it is a work of first-rate genius." When 
 "Waverley" was about to appear, Sir Walter Scott 
 desired Ballantyne to send a copy of it to Miss 
 Edgeworth, with an inscription from the author. 
 
 Lockhart says that she "thanked the nameless 
 novelist, under cover to Ballantyne, with the cordial 
 generosity of kindred genius." This is true ; but it 
 is equally true that Maria had not received this gift 
 from the author when she sat down, late at night, 
 in the first fever of enthusiasm, after reading the 
 story. She began to write before she heard the 
 " Postscript ; " and, as her father had exclaimed 
 when the book was closed, " Aut Scotus, aut Dia- 
 bolus,''^ Maria placed these words at the top of her 
 letter. Before she finished it, one of the family 
 opened the book again, and saw the "Postscript." 
 On reading this, Maria rather reluctantly stopped 
 to hear it; not dreaming of the handsome tribute 
 Scott paid her in it. 
 
 Maria was much touched and surprised by these 
 words of Scott. He says, — 
 
292 A STUDY or maeia edgewoeth. 
 
 " It has been my object to describe those persons, not 
 by a caricatured and exaggerated use of the national dia- 
 lect, but by their habits, manners, and feelings ; so as in 
 some distant degree to emulate the admirable Irish por- 
 traits drawn by Miss Edgeworth ; so different from the 
 ' Teagues ' and ' dear joys,' who so long, with the most 
 perfect family resemblance to each other, occupied the 
 drama and the novel." 
 
 He paid her a fine compliment some years later, in 
 his general preface to the series of " Waverley Nov- 
 els." The following is Miss Edgeworth's letter to 
 the unknown author : — 
 
 Edgbwoethstown, Oct. 23, 1814. 
 ^^ Aut Scoius, aut Diabolus." We have this moment 
 finished ' ' Waverley. ' ' It was read aloud to this large 
 family : and I wish the author could have witnessed the 
 impression it made, — the strong hold it seized of the 
 feelings, both of young and old ; the admiration raised 
 by the beautiful descriptions of nature, by the new and 
 bold delineations of character ; the perfect manner in 
 which every character is sustained, in every change of 
 situation from first to last, without effort, without the 
 affectation of making the persons speak in character ; 
 the ingenuity with which each person introduced in the 
 drama is made useful and necessary to the end ; the ad- 
 mirable art with which the story is constructed, and with 
 which the author keeps his own secrets till the precise 
 proper moment when they should be revealed, — whilst, in 
 th^ mean time, with the skill of Shakspeare, the mind is 
 prepared by unseen degrees for all the changes of feeling 
 and fortune, so that nothing, however extraordinary, 
 shocks us as improbable ; and the interest is kept up to 
 
LETTER TO THE AUTHOR OF " WAVEELEY." 293 
 
 the last moment. We were so possessed with the belief 
 that the whole story and every character in it was real, 
 that we could not endure the occasional addresses from 
 the author to the reader. They are like Fielding ; but 
 for that reason we cannot bear them : we cannot bear 
 that an author of such high powers, of such original 
 genius, should for a moment stoop to imitation. This is 
 the only thing we dislike ; these are the only passages we 
 wish omitted in the whole work ; and let the unqualified 
 manner in which I say this, and the very vehemence of 
 my expression of this disapprobation, be a sure pledge to 
 the author of the sincerity of all the admiration I feel for 
 his genius. I have not yet said half we felt in reading 
 the work. The cliaracters are not only finely drawn as 
 separate figures, but they are grouped with great skill, 
 and contrasted so artfully, and yet so naturally, as to pro- 
 duce the happiest dramatic effect, and at the same time 
 to relieve the feelings and attention in the most agreeable 
 manner. The novelty of the Highland world, which is 
 discovered to our view, excites curiosity and interest 
 powerfully ; but, though it is all new to us, it does not 
 embarrass or perplex or strain the attention. We never 
 are harassed by doubts of the probability of any of 
 these modes of life. Though we do not know them, we 
 are quite certain they did exist exactly as they are repre- 
 sented. We are sensible that there is a peculiar merit in 
 the work, which is, in a measure, lost upon us, — the dialects 
 of the Highlanders and the Lowlauders, etc. But there 
 is another and a higher merit, in which we are as much 
 struck and as much delighted as any true-born Scotchman 
 could be : the various gradations of Scotch feudal char- 
 acter, from the highborn chieftain and the military baron, 
 to the noble-minded lieutenant Evan Dhu, the robber 
 Bean Lean, and the savage Galium Beg. The Pre — 
 
294 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 The Chevalier is beautifully drawn. "A prince: ay, 
 every inch a prince." His polished manners, his exqui- 
 site address, politeness, and generosity, interest the reader 
 irresistibly ; and he pleases the more from the contrast 
 between him and those who surround him. I think he is 
 my favorite character : the Baron Bradwardine is my 
 father's. He thinks it required more genius to invent, 
 and more ability uniformly to sustain, this character than 
 any one of the masterly characters with which the book 
 abounds. There is, indeed, uncommon art in the manner 
 in which his dignity is preserved by his courage and mag- 
 nanimity, in spite of all his pedantry and his ridicules, 
 and his bear and bootjack, and all the raillery of Mac- 
 Ivor. Maclvor's unexpected "bear and bootjack" made 
 us laugh heartily. 
 
 But to return to the dear good baron. Though I ac- 
 knowledge that I am not as good a judge as my father 
 and brothers are of his recondite learning and his law 
 Latin, yet I feel the humor, and was touched to the quick 
 by the strokes of generosity, gentleness, and pathos, in 
 this old man ; who is, by the by, all in good time, worked 
 up into a very dignified father-in-law for the hero. His 
 exclamation of " Oh, my son, my son ! " and the yielding 
 of the fictitious character of the baron to the natural 
 feelings of the father, is beautiful. (Evan Dhu's fear 
 that his father-in-law should die quietly in his bed made 
 us laugh almost as much as the bear and the bootjack.) 
 
 Jinker in the battle, pleading the cause of the mare he 
 had sold to Balmanwhapple, and which had thrown him for 
 want of a proper bit, is truly comic. My father says this, 
 and some other passages respecting horsemanship, could 
 not have been written by any one who was not master 
 both of the great and little horse. 
 
 I tell you without order the great and little strokes of 
 
LETTEE TO THE ATJTHOE OF " WAVEELEY." 295 
 
 humor and pathos just as I recollect, or am reminded of 
 them at this moment by my compamons. The fact is, that 
 we have had the volumes only during the time we could 
 read them, and as fast as we could read, lent us as a 
 great favor by one who was happy enough to have secured 
 a copy before the first and second editions were sold in 
 Dublin. When we applied, not a copy could be had : we 
 expect one in the course of next week, but we resolved to 
 write to the author without waiting for a second perusal. 
 Judging by our feelings as authors, we guess that he 
 would rather know our genuine first thoughts, than wait 
 for cool second thoughts, or have a regular eulogium or 
 criticism put in the most lucid manner, and given in the 
 finest sentences that ever were rounded. 
 
 Is it possible that I have got thus far without having 
 named Flora or Vich Ian Vohr, — the last Vich Ian Vohr ! 
 Yet our minds were full of them the moment I began this 
 letter ; and could you have seen the tears forced from us 
 by their fate, you would have been satisfied that the pathos 
 went to our hearts. Ian Vohr, from the first moment he 
 appears till the last, is an admirably drawn and finely sus- 
 tained character, — new, perfectly new, to the English 
 reader, often entertaining, always heroic, sometimes sub- 
 lime. The Gray spirit, the Bodach Glas, thrills us with 
 horror. Us ! What effect must it have upon those under 
 the infiuence of the superstitions of the Highlands ? This 
 circumstance is admirably introduced. This superstition 
 is a weakness quite consistent with the strength of char- 
 acter, perfectly natural after the disappointment of all his 
 hopes, in the dejection of his mind, and the exhaustion 
 of his bodily strength. 
 
 Flora we could wish was never called "Miss Maclvor ; " 
 because in this country there are tribes of vulgar Miss 
 Macs, and this association is unfavorable to the sublime 
 
296 A STUDY OF MAKIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 and beautiful of your Flora. She is a true heroine. Her 
 first appearance seized upon the mind and enchanted us 
 so completely, that we were certain she was to be your 
 heroine, and the wife of your hero. But with what inim- 
 itable art you gradually convinced the reader that she was 
 not, as she said of herself, capable of making Waverley 
 happy. Leaving her in full possession of our admiration, 
 you first made us pity, then love, and at last give our 
 undivided affection to Kose Bradwardine — sweet Scotch 
 Rose. The last scene between Flora and Waverley is 
 highly pathetic. My brother wishes that ' ' bridal gar- 
 ment " were " shroud," because when the heart is touched 
 we seldom use metaphor, or quaint alliteration: "bride 
 favors," " bridal garment." There is one thing more we 
 could wish changed or omitted in Flora's character. I 
 have not the volume, and therefore cannot refer to the 
 page : but I recollect in the first visit to Flora, when she 
 is to sing certain verses, there is a walk in which the 
 description of the place is beautiful, but too long ; and we 
 did not like the preparation for a scene, — the appearance 
 of Flora and her harp was too like a common heroine. 
 She should be far above all stage effect or novelists' tricks. 
 These are, without reserve, the only faults we found or 
 can find in this work of genius. "We should scarcely have 
 thought them worth mentioning, except to give you proof 
 positive that we are not flatterers. Believe me, I have 
 not, nor can I convey to you the full idea of the pleasure, 
 the delight, we have had in reading " Waverley," nor of 
 the feeling of sorrow with which we came to the end 
 of the history of persons whose real presence had so 
 filled our minds. We felt that we must return to the/a« 
 realities of life, that our stimulus was gone ; and we were 
 little disposed to read the "Postscript," — which should 
 have been a preface. 
 
WAVEELEY NOVELS. 297 
 
 " Well, let us hear it," said my father ; and Mrs. Edge- 
 worth read on. 
 
 Oh, my dear sir, how much pleasure would my father, 
 my mother, my whole family, as well as myself, have 
 lost, if we had not read to the last page ! And the pleas- 
 ure came upon us so unexpectedly ! We had been so 
 completely absorbed, that every thought of ourselves, of 
 our own authorship, was far, far away. 
 
 Thank you for the honor you have done us, and for the 
 pleasure you have given us, great in proportion to the opin- 
 ion we had formed of the work we had just perused ; and 
 believe me, every opinion I have in this letter expressed 
 was formed before any individual in the family had peeped 
 to the end of the book, or knew how much we owed you. 
 Your obliged and grateful 
 
 Mama Edgeworth. 
 
 The intense interest of the reading public over 
 each new "Waverley" novel was also felt in the 
 literary world. There was not much doubt as to 
 the authorship among Scott's literary friends. Miss 
 Hamilton said of " Waverley " and " Guy Manner- 
 ing," " though the name of Scott does not grace the 
 titlepage, it is seen on every other page of both per- 
 formances." 
 
 Miss Catherine Sinclair said to Sir Walter before 
 he confessed himself to be the author of the novels, 
 " If you will tell me which of these novels you pre- 
 fer, I shall tell you in return which of them has the 
 preference given to it by a very good authority, — 
 Miss Edgeworth." Sir Walter agreed to the bar- 
 gain : and she told him that her brother had put the 
 question to Miss Edgeworth ; and she replied to Mr. 
 
298 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 Sinclair, " There is a freshness about the first novel, 
 which, in my opinion, gives it an undoubted superi- 
 ority over all the rest." — " Well, Miss Sinclair," said 
 Sir Walter, " I, for my part, enjoyed ' The Antiquary ' 
 more than any other. There are touches of pathos 
 in it which much affected me, and I had many a 
 hearty laugh at the expense of the antiquary him- 
 self." — " Yes," replied Miss Sinclair, " the author of 
 these novels, whoever he may be, is always laugh- 
 ing at somebody ; and, in the case of the antiquary, 
 the person he is laughing at is evidently himself." 
 
 In January of 1815 Mr. and Mrs. Sneyd Edge- 
 worth went to England, and they offered their 
 house in Dublin to Mr. Edgeworth. Maria passed 
 some weeks very pleasantly in Dublin, with her 
 father and mother. Mr. Edgeworth had been invited 
 by the Dublin Society to try some experiments on 
 wheel-carriages, which he successfully did during 
 this visit. During this winter Mr. Edgeworth, 
 whose health had been failing since his illness of the 
 previous year, was under the kind and friendly care 
 of Sir Philip Crampton, the surgeon-general. He 
 did all he could to alleviate the sufferings of his 
 patient, but it was evident that Mr. Edgeworth's 
 health was seriously impaired. Their stay in Dub- 
 lin was also saddened by the death of Sir Edward 
 Pakenham, who led the British forces at the battle 
 of New Orleans, U.S.A. Mr. Edgeworth was much 
 attached to this gallant soldier and relative. In the 
 spirited lines of Mrs. Hemans to the memory of Sir 
 Edward, she says, — 
 
ILLNESS OF MR. EDGEWORTH. 299 
 
 " Yet hast thou still (though victory's flame 
 In that last moment cheered thee not) 
 Left Glory's isle another name, 
 That ne'er may be forgot." 
 
 Maria about this time, in describing Lady Louisa 
 Conolly, daughter of the Duke of Richmond, and 
 sister of the second Mrs. Napier, mother of the Na- 
 piers of Peninsular fame, said Lady Louisa was " all 
 that I could have wished to represent in Mrs. Hun- 
 gerford; and her figure and countenance gave me 
 back the image in my mind." 
 
 Mr. Edgeworth was iU most of the time during 
 this year, and the anxiety overshadowed Maria's 
 happiness more and more. She strove very hard to 
 repress her feelings, and wrote more or less all the 
 time, at his urgent request. 
 
 Miss Edgeworth wrote to Mrs. Barbauld, after 
 reading the attack of " The London Quarterly " on 
 the poem of that venerable lady, called "1811." 
 
 "I cannot describe to you the indignation, or rather 
 the disgust, that we felt at the manner in which you are 
 treated in ' The Quarterly Review : ' so ungentlemanlike, 
 so unjust, so insolent, a review I never read. My father 
 and I, in the moment of provocation, snatched up our 
 pens to answer it ; but a minute's reflection convinced us 
 that silent contempt is the best answer, that we should 
 not suppose it possible that it can hurt anybody with the 
 generous British public but the reviewers themselves. 
 The lines even which they have picked out with most 
 malicious intent are excellent, and speak for themselves. 
 But it is not their criticism on your poem which incenses 
 me : it is the odious tone in which they dare to speak 
 
300 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGEWOKTH. 
 
 of the most respectable and elegant female writer that 
 England can boast. The public, the public, will do you 
 justice ! " 
 
 In the year 1816 Mr. and Miss Edgeworth pub- 
 lished a small volume called " Readings on Poetry." 
 It contains selections from " The Enfield Speaker," 
 with other pieces, and some detached sentences. 
 An essay on parody contained a short and clear de- 
 scription of the world's great parodies, beginning 
 with Homer's "Batracho Myomachia." This book, 
 which its editors and authors say in the preface was 
 prepared in " the hope of being useful," had a wide 
 range of selections; but the original intention of 
 making it suitable for the young was carefully fol- 
 lowed, and the explanations were clear and easily 
 comprehended. The book, however, was not of much 
 importance. 
 
 In 1816 Maria enlarged the plan of the volume of 
 plaj^s which she intended as "Popular Plays," to 
 take the same place for a certain class of readers 
 that the " Popular Tales " did. It was completed in 
 1817, and published in that year, in one volume, 
 containing " Love and Law," " The Two Guardi- 
 ans," and " The Rose, Thistle, and Shamrock." In 
 subsequent editions of her works, " The Two Guard- 
 ians " was omitted. 
 
 Mrs. Barbauld had not heard from Miss Edge- 
 worth for some time, and expressed some doubts as 
 to her interest in herself; to which Maria replied as 
 follows : — 
 
LETTER TO MRS. BAEBATJLD. 301 
 
 My dear Mrs. Barbauld, — Your kind, warm, friendly 
 letter has set my heart at ease upon a subject wliich has 
 long been very painful to me. I feared, and I could not 
 bear to think, that I had lost that place in your esteem 
 and affection with which I knew that you once honored 
 me. I could not bear the ilea that you suspected me 
 of being so weak, so vain, so senseless, as to have my 
 brain turned by a little fashionable flattery, and to have 
 so changed my character as not to feel the difference 
 between your friendship and the commonplace compli- 
 ments of Lady Tliis and Tliat and T'other. Your letter 
 has dissipated all the very painful fancies and real fears 
 that have been growing and preying upon me these two 
 years. Thank you, — '■'■on the knees of ray heart " I thank 
 you. And be assured that your condescension and good- 
 ness in begging my pardon, when I ought to have begged, 
 and did a hundred times in my secret soul beg, yours, is 
 not thrown away upon me. 
 
 So we will now go on where we left off, too long ago. 
 I will write whenever I have any thing to say that I wish 
 to say to you, whether it be worth your hearing or not ; 
 and if you do not answer me, I will only regret : I prom- 
 ise you I will never be angry, nor will I ever more fret 
 myself with the notion that you are angry with me. God 
 bless Mrs. Baillie for breaking the ice between us ! 
 
 You have no idea how long, how terribly long, it is 
 before books of any substantial merit reach this remote, 
 ultimate Edgeworthstown. Such trash as "Glenarvon," 
 and such mischief as "Bertram," come too fast, poison- 
 ing all the wind. "\Ve have book societies in the country, 
 and do order books of merit and reputation ; but it is a 
 tedious time before the Dublin booksellers get them, as 
 they dare not write for them on their own account. I 
 shall immediately bespeak Dr. Aikin's " Annals " for our 
 
302 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 society. We shall anxiously expect Miss Aikin's " Reign 
 of Elizabeth." Have you seen a book of Dr. Millar's on 
 the " Philosophy of History" ? The introductory chap- 
 ter is well done, but I fear there is a vice de construction 
 in the plan of the book. The witty, bitterly witty, 
 Plunket told him, that, with such a plan, he should not 
 have published the book till the day of judgment. His 
 plan, you know, is to show that all history forms a moral 
 drama. Now, till the drama is finished, how can he 
 come to the moral? and without omniscience, how can he 
 see the connection of the parts and the whole ? 
 
 I have lately seen a poem which reminded me of the 
 spirit of your "1811." I do not mean to say in the 
 versification, for that is unharmonious and often defec- 
 tive ; but I admire in it the noble spirit of patriotism 
 and virtue, his classical taste, and anti-Byron principles. 
 The poem I mean is "Greece," by Mr. Haygarth. I 
 know nothing of him ; but I think if he cultivates his 
 interests, he may either become a fine historian or a fine 
 tragedian. This praise implies a great range of mind: 
 but I do not say he is — I say he may become — all this ; 
 and I should very much wish to know whether you think 
 the same. 
 
 On the contrary, I do not think that the author of 
 " Bertram," ' though he has written a successful tragedy, 
 will ever write a good tragedy, — feeling run mad ! 
 
 As to "Glenarvon," it surely can do no mischief: it 
 is such nonsense. I stuck fast in the blood and love 
 in the second volume, and in that condition fell fast 
 asleep, and never would have opened my eyes on the 
 third volume, but that my father begged me to read the 
 death of the Princess of Madagascar, which seems, with 
 all that relates to the princess, to be written by a pen 
 1 The Eev. E. C. Maturin. 
 
LETTER TO MES. BARBAT7LD. 303 
 
 much superior to Lady Caroline Lamb's. Wlio wrote it? 
 Is it known ? 
 
 We have just got a little book called "Display," a 
 tale for young people, which we like much. It is written 
 by the daughter of a physician, a Miss Jane Taylor, who 
 keeps a school near Dublin. I am not acquainted with 
 her. The good people in this book are more to my taste 
 than those in " Coelebs," because they are not so meddling. 
 I only wish they had not objected to young people going 
 to balls. Before I could finish my sentence, in praise of 
 all the good sense and excellent writing of this tale, a 
 circle of young and old ladies were open-mouthed with the 
 question, — But why object to balls? I hope you like 
 ' ' The Antiquary. ' ' And I hope you have no doubt of its 
 having been written by Walter Scott. 
 
 We have just received two numbers of a new " Journal 
 of the Arts and Sciences," edited at the Royal Institu- 
 tion of Great Britain. Like it much. Glad to see Sir 
 Humphry Davy's lamp lighting him back to the paths 
 of science, from the bootless excursion he took into the 
 land of fashion. Better be the first than the last of a 
 class. Better be thft first man of science than the last 
 man of fashion, — especially, as he can be the one, and 
 cannot be the other. 
 
 In the first number of this journal, there is a paper, 
 by Dr. Park, on the laws of sensation, which my father 
 admires very much. 
 
 I think the nerves will give physicians and philosophers 
 enough to do for the next century. The Immorers have 
 had their day. 
 
 Here is a gentleman in our neighborhood, who one 
 year imagines himself to be without bones, and another 
 year without muscles, and one year is a Harryrlong-legs, 
 and another a man ; and all the time eats and drinks 
 
304 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 heartily, and wears a coat like other men, and is not con- 
 sidered as more than nervous. 
 
 I will now finish, lest you should repent having let loose 
 my pen upon you. My father has been better lately, but 
 his health is far from strong. I say as little as I can 
 upon this subject : it is too near my heart. Mrs. Edge- 
 worth is in as blooming, happy, and useful health as when 
 you knew her at Clifton. 
 
 I wish, my dear Mrs. Barbauld, I could transport you 
 into this large, cheerful family, where everybody — from 
 little Pakenham at four years old, to the old housekeeper, 
 "eldest of forms" — would do every thing in their 
 power to make you feel quite at home. You should never 
 see any washing-day ' but one. 
 
 Your friend, Lord Longford, has just written us word 
 that he is going to be married ; and from his own, and the 
 impartial account of his dear sister (commonly called the 
 Duchess of Wellington) , the lady he has chosen will not 
 only permanently please himself, but satisfy the anxious 
 wishes of his host of family friends. She is Lady Geor- 
 gina Lygon, tenth daughter of Lord Beauchamp. He 
 says she will not permit him to be an " absentee : " so we 
 shall now have him again settled at Pakenham Hall, 
 within ten miles of us. Now, my dear Mrs. Barbauld, 
 could not you summon up resolution enough to be sea- 
 sick for six hours, say ten at the utmost, to make us 
 happy, and I hope yourself, for as many months? I 
 have two brothers now at Cheltenham, Lovell and Sneyd, 
 both known to you, both coming over to Ireland, Mrs. 
 Sneyd Edgeworth also : could you not come with them ? 
 Anna (Mrs. Beddoes) also coming in the spring. 
 
 TJiink of what has been said! and do not tremble at 
 the thoughts of my pestering you often with such long 
 1 A playful poem of Mrs. Barbauld's. 
 
A VISIT PEOM ME. WAED. 305 
 
 letters, for I assure you it is not my habit ; but, in the 
 warmth of heart kindled by your warm, affectionate let- 
 ter, all this poured out. 
 
 Your affectionate, obliged, and grateful friend, 
 
 Maria Edgewoeth. 
 
 In 1816 Maria received a letter from an American 
 Jewess, a Miss Rachel Mordecai of Virginia, gently- 
 reproaching her with having made Jews ridiculous 
 and odious in her novels and tales, and begging her 
 to give the world a picture of a good Jew. This 
 was the origin of the story of "Harrington," and 
 the beginning of an interesting correspondence with 
 Miss Mordecai and her family, which lasted many 
 years. 
 
 In August, 1816, Miss Edgeworth, in touching on 
 the subject of Lord Byron's conduct, says, — 
 
 "Everybody is writing and talking about Lord Byron, 
 but I am tired of the subject. The ' all for murder, all 
 for crime ' system of poetry will now go out of fashion : 
 as long he appeared an outrageous villain he might have 
 ridden triumphantly on the storm ; but he has now shown 
 himself too base, too mean, too contemptible, for any 
 thing like a heroic devil." 
 
 In September, though the house was full of com- 
 pany, Maria " was in her own little den," writing 
 hard. The house was full, when a letter from " the 
 great R. Ward," was brought her. He, meantime, 
 was waiting in the carriage to hear if he would be 
 admitted. She hoped it was " the Mr. Ward (Lord 
 Ward and Dudley) who made the speech, and wrote 
 the review of ' Patronage ' in ' The Quarterly,' and 
 
306 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOKTH. 
 
 of whom Mme. de Stael said he was the only man in 
 England who really understood the art of conversa- 
 tion." He proved to be "a very gentlemanlike, 
 agreeable man, full of anecdotes, bon mots, and com- 
 pliments ; " but not Lord Dudley. He " was under- 
 secretary of state during a great part of Pitt's 
 administration, and has been one of the lords of 
 the admiralty, and is now clerk of the ordnance, 
 and has been sent to Ireland to reform abuses in the 
 ordnance. He told me that he had heard in Lon- 
 don that I had a sort of memoria techniea, by which 
 I could remember every thing that was said in con- 
 versation, and by certain motions of my fingers, 
 could, while people were talking to me, note down 
 all the ridiculous points. He happened to have 
 passed some time in his early life at Lichfield, and 
 knew Miss Seward and Dr. Darwin, and many other 
 people my father and aunts knew. He repeated, 
 among other good things, the following lines by Dr. 
 Mansel, the Bishop of Bristol, on Miss Seward and 
 Mr. Hayley's flattering each other : — 
 
 "'Prince of poets, England's glory, Mr. Hayley, thai is youl' 
 ' Ma'am, you carry all before you, Lichfield's own, indeed you 
 
 do!' 
 ' In epic, elegy, or sonnet, Mr. Hayley, you're divine 1 ' 
 'Madam, take my word upon it, you yourself are all the 
 
 Nine.' " 
 
 Maria kept busy all this summer at " Harrington " 
 and " Ormond ; " and in February of 1817, as she 
 drove with her father to visit Lord Longford's bride 
 at Pakenham Hall, she read to him in the carriage 
 the first chapter of " Ormond." It was the last visit 
 
" OEMOND." 307 
 
 Mr. Edgeworth paid anywhere. He had expressed 
 a wish to Maria tlaat she should write a story as 
 a companion to " Harrington ; " and with all the 
 anguish of heart which oppressed her natural spirits, 
 at the sight of seeing her father suffering such pain, 
 and daily growing weaker, she made a strong effort 
 to amuse him. By a wonderful exertion of love and 
 genius, she produced the gay and spirited pages of 
 " Ormond ; " among which may be found some of 
 her most vivacious scenes, her inimitable characters. 
 Wit, humor, and pathos made the story a bright 
 entertainment for the sufferer ; who could not have 
 realized in a line of its pages the aching heart which 
 dictated it. The book was read chapter by chapter 
 in" her father's room. 
 
 In the introduction to " Harold the Dauntless," 
 published in 1817, Scott, in his address to " Ennui," 
 pays Miss Edgeworth the following pretty compli- 
 ment : — 
 
 " Then of the books to call thy drowsy glance 
 Compiled, what bard the catalogue may quote 1 
 Plays, poems, novels, never read but once : 
 
 But not of such the tale fair Edgeworth wrote ; 
 That bears thy name, and is thine antidote." 
 
 The author of that amusing society novel of that 
 time, " Cecil the Coxcomb," says in quite a digres- 
 sion on " Ennui," — 
 
 " The powerful novel of Miss Edgeworth gave a sort 
 of unnatural emphasis to the word in the mouths of my 
 countrymen." 
 
308 A STUDY OP MARIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 In another place the same novelist calls Maria 
 " the wise daughter of a learned father." 
 
 Maria says of her father's share in the composition 
 of " Ormond," — 
 
 "The following parts of ' Ormond ' were, as well as I 
 can recollect, written for me by my dear father in his 
 last illness : the death of King Corny (I am not sure of 
 the pages, and do not like to look for them) ; but I know 
 it is from the time of the return from shooting to the end 
 of that chapter where Ormond ' loses the best friend he 
 had in the world.' 
 
 "The whole of Moriarty's history of his escape from 
 prison was dictated, without the alteration or hesitation of 
 a word, to Honora and to me. 
 
 "Also the meeting between Moriarty and his wife, 
 when he jumps out of the carriage the moment he hears 
 her voice. My father corrected the whole by having it 
 read to him many, many times ; often working at it in his 
 bed for hours together, — once, at the end, for six hours 
 together, — between the intervals of sickness and exquisite 
 pain. . . . 
 
 "The history Mr. Edgeworth heard from the actual 
 hero of it, Michael Dunne, whom he chanced to meet in 
 the town of Navan, where he was living respectably. 
 He kept a shop where Mr. Edgeworth went to purchase 
 some boards ; and, observing something very remarkable 
 in the man's countenance, he questioned him as they were 
 looking at the timber in his yard, and he very readily told 
 his tale, almost in the very words used by Moriarty." 
 
LETTER TO MRS. INCHBALD. 309 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Letter to Mrs. Inohbald, with " Comic Dramas." — Continued Illness 
 of Mr. Edgeworth. — His Death. — Maria's Distress. — No Work 
 done lor Many Months. — Maria rouses herself to work on her 
 Father's "Memoir." — A Visit to Bowood. — Lord and Lady 
 Lausdowne. — Dumont. — Moore's Diary. — Other Visits. — The 
 Grove. — Hampstead. — The Misses Baillie. — Again at Bowood. 
 — Byrkeley Lodge. — Trentham. — Smethwiek. — Lady Elizabeth 
 Whitbread's House. — Kensington Gore. — Loudon Friends. — 
 Duchess of Wellington. —Deep Dene. — Home. — "Memoir." 
 
 [With "Comic Dramas."] 
 
 Edgbwoethstown, May 17, 1817. 
 
 My dear Mrs. Inchbald, — I am really anxious to 
 hear your opinion of my little "Comic Dramas ; " because 
 you are one of the very few persons in the world who can 
 form a decided opinion, and who will have the courage 
 to tell the truth to an author. 
 
 Let me request then, my dear madam, that, as soon as 
 you have read these dramatic attempts, you will write^ to 
 me : one of your truly original and entertaining letters 
 will gratify us, independently of all selfish considera- 
 tions. 
 
 My father's health continues to be very precarious. 
 His pleasures all now depend on his taste for literature 
 and on the affection of his friends. 
 
 He is fortunate in having excellent correspondents 
 among the wisest and best people now living. 
 
 You will not consider it as an idle or a propitiatory com- 
 pliment, if I assure you that he is now more anxious for 
 
810 A STUDY OF MAEIA BDGEWOETH. 
 
 a letter from Mrs. Inchbalcl than from any person in 
 England. 
 
 Your obliged and affectionate, 
 
 Maria Edgeworth. 
 
 My dear Mrs. Inchbald, — Though I can only say 
 '■^ ditto " to my father, yet I must add with my own hand 
 my thanks to you ; lest you should imagine that I am 
 vexed or affronted, and unworthy, after all, to hear the 
 truth. Believe me, / am worthy and fit to hear it. I 
 know the inestimable value to an author of one friend, 
 and one good judge, who has the courage to speak the 
 truth. I ha\-e felt this all my life. My father has always 
 told me the truth as far as parental partiality allowed it 
 to be possible. He has always seen the truth, and fore- 
 told to me what the best judges would think. I have had 
 some experience of the flattery bestowed on authors, and 
 the reluctance that almost all people feel to hazard them- 
 selves by saying any thing but what is immediately 
 agreeable : therefore, I know how fully to appreciate 
 your courage, integrity, and generous regard for me. 
 Show me that you believe me to be sincere, and worthy 
 of your good opinion, by writing with the same frankness 
 about the tales which j'ou shall soon receive. 
 
 Would you ever have guessed from my father's letter, 
 that it is written — that is dictated — by a man who is 
 very ill, who has been suffei-ing daily and nightly under a 
 dispiriting bilious sickness these two years, and who has 
 lost twelve pounds weight in the last three months ? But 
 he has an unconquerable mind, and affection for his friends 
 that no personal sufferings can abate. I wish 3'ou had 
 seen, or rather known, more of him : you are worthy to 
 know him thoroughly. 
 
 I am your obliged and grateful, 
 
 Maria Edgeworth. 
 
"COMIC DRAMAS." 311 
 
 Mr. Edgeworth, in writing to Lady Romilly by dicta- 
 tion the 8th of June, only five days before his death, 
 showed how strongly his feelings were enlisted for 
 Maria. He says, — 
 
 " The little 'Dramas ' ■' which you mention are inferior 
 performances, upon which I assure you we set small value. 
 They, however, sell well ; which we are glad of on our 
 publisher's account. In a few days I hope you will 
 receive Maria's new tales. I do acknowledge that I set a 
 high value upon them. They have cheered the lingering 
 hours of my illness ; and they have — I speak literally — 
 given me more pleasure during confinement than could 
 be imagined from the nature of my illness." 
 
 The preface to " Harrington " and " Ormond " was 
 written but a little while before Mr. Edgeworth's 
 death. It was dated May 31. It was the last he 
 ever wrote for Maria. In a letter about these tales 
 he said, — 
 
 " Maria's tales will soon issue from the press. If they 
 fail of succeeding with the public, you will hear of my 
 hanging myself." 
 
 To the last, in spite of pain and weakness, his 
 mind was clear and active, and his judgment vigor- 
 ous. 
 
 The last critical office Mrs. Inchbald did for 
 Miss Edgeworth was to read the volumes contain- 
 ing " Harrington " and " Ormond " and " Thoughts 
 on Bores." Mrs. Inchbald's biographer says she was 
 "greatly astonished at the amazing fertility of the 
 1 Comic Dramas, 
 
312 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGEWORTH. 
 
 Muse of Erin." The same thought must strike any 
 one who looks on Miss Eclgeworth's works : they 
 are so numerous ; and yet the cliaracter of her Avrit- 
 ing is well sustained, and her spirit does not flag. 
 She owed much to her father's kindly encourage- 
 ment and counsel. It is useless now to question 
 what might have been Maria's position as a writer if 
 she had been left to follow the bent of her genius, 
 unaided by her father's advice. " Helen," written 
 long after his death, would serve to reveal something 
 of the effect which Mr. Edgeworth had on his 
 daughter's writing. It shows a lighter hand, a 
 greater ease in handling dialogue, and a more 
 natural inconsistency in its characters, than she was 
 allowed by her father. Helen and Beauelerc, Lady 
 Davenant and Lady Cecilia, are very real characters. 
 The hand of Miss Edgeworth had not lost its cun- 
 ning, but her natural timidity was so great that she 
 could not work after her life-long support was re- 
 moved. She had accustomed herself to lean upon 
 what she considered her father's superior knowledge 
 of the world and literary judgment, until she was 
 unfitted for independent literary work for a time. 
 
 Mr. Edgeworth died June 13, 1817 ; and the rest 
 of this year was a painful blank in Maria's life, which 
 had heretofore been almost a dual one. This ex- 
 traordinary man, in his seventy-second j^ear, in a 
 fragment on education, said, " Providence has blessed 
 me with six children by my present wife, in addition 
 to twelve that I had before ;"i and he then dilates 
 
 1 He had, in all, twenty-two children born to him. Several died 
 in infancy. 
 
Mn^rjird !••/ /t i.2rjrn 
 
DEATH OP MR. EDGEWORTH. 313 
 
 on his views on the education of children, and his 
 wishes for the future of his grandchildren. He 
 wrote once, jocosely, an epitaph on himself, ending, 
 " There's an edge to his wit, and there's worth in 
 his heart." 
 
 The long strain removed, by the death of her 
 father, Maria was completely unnerved ; and for 
 months she was very wretched. Her great efforts to 
 cheer her dying father, and the excessive applica- 
 tion on " Ormond," had quite injured her eyes ; and 
 she was obliged to give up reading, letter-writing, and 
 all kinds of needlework. She learned at this time to 
 knit, and found it an interesting employment as she 
 began to take up the daily duties of life. 
 
 Sir Walter Scott was always quoting Miss Edge- 
 worth, or alluding to some of her characters. In a 
 letter of 1817, written to Jeffrey, he compares him- 
 self at Abbotsford to "one of Miss Edgeworth's 
 heroines : master of all things in miniature, — a little 
 hill and a little glen, and a little horse-pond of a 
 loch, and — a little river I was going to call it — the 
 Tweed ; but I remember the minister was mobbed 
 by his parishioners for terming it in his statistical re- 
 port an inconsiderable stream." And he then de- 
 scribes himself as being in the "mortar-tub," and 
 busy building. 
 
 In the last weeks of this sad year Maria made a 
 visit at Black Castle, and went thence to Collon to 
 join Mrs. Edgeworth, who had been with her chil- 
 dren at her father's house. The Misses Sneyd left 
 Edgeworthstown for their brother's home, Byrkeley 
 Lodge, Staffordshire, in consequence of an agree- 
 
314 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 ment made to that effect before the death of Mr. 
 Edgeworth. They took with them Honora, who now 
 returned to Ireland after this visit to England, and 
 found Maria and her step-mother at Collon in Janu- 
 ary. Shortly after they all went back to Edgeworths- 
 town. Lovell Edgeworth wished his step-mother to 
 make it her home, as in his father's lifetime. 
 
 This was a very sad return, for the loss of the 
 husband and father was made more evident to them 
 in the home they had enjoyed together. Two wet 
 seasons had brought a famine, typhus-fever, and 
 much-suffering and death among their poor tenantry. 
 A painful duty lay before Maria, and one she found 
 it difficult to perform to her own satisfaction. 
 
 Mr. Edgeworth had enjoined on Maria the task of 
 completing his memoir, written by himself up to the 
 year 1782. In the introduction to his early memoir, 
 he says, — 
 
 "My beloved daughter Maria, at my earnest request, 
 has promised to revise, complete-, and publish her father's 
 life." 
 
 Her sisters copied many letters, and also wrote 
 from dictation, to save Maria's eyes, which were still 
 far from strong ; and she began to work as much as 
 possible at what she considered as a sacred duty. 
 She bitterly realized tlie loss of her father's encour- 
 aging words and sympathetic yet impartial advice in 
 her very difficult undertaking. 
 
 In the spring of 1818 Lord Carrington offered 
 Mrs. Edgeworth an appointment in the East-India 
 Civil Service ; and this was accepted for her son 
 
ENGLAND. 315 
 
 Pakenliam, who left home soon after for India, 
 where he lived many years. The illness of Wil- 
 liam Edgeworth called Mrs. Edgeworth to England 
 during this season. 
 
 Lady Lansdowne wrote Maria at this time, press- 
 ingly inviting her to Bowood, and telling that " M. 
 Dumont is expected in May or June, and oh that 
 you would meet him at Bowood ! few things in this 
 world could give me more pleasure." Maria thought 
 favorably of this kind invitation, and accepted it 
 later in the year. 
 
 Maria had a correspondent in Philadelphia', wh^ 
 wrote her of the intense interest felt in America 
 about the Waverley novels, saying, — 
 
 " ' Waverley,' ' Guy Mannering,' etc., have excited as 
 much enthusiasm in America as in Europe. Boats are 
 now actually on the lookout for ' Eob Roy,' all here are 
 so impatient to get the first sight of it." 
 
 As Maria was very anxious to meet M. Dumont, 
 and have his opinion of her life of her father, she 
 accepted the cordial invitation of Lady Lansdowne, 
 and went, accompanied by her sister Honora, to 
 Bowood, where tliey arrived the 7th of September, 
 1818. On her way there she made visits to her 
 sisters, Mrs. Beddoes and Mrs. King. 
 
 Previous to this journey she was at her brother 
 Sneyd's in Wicklow County, and in speaking of the 
 " Memoir," and her share in it, to Mrs. Stark of 
 Glasgow, said, — 
 
 "I am, and have been ever since I could command 
 my attention, intent upon finishing these memou-s of 
 
316 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 himself which my father left me to finish, and charged 
 me to publish. I am now within two months' work of 
 finishing all I mean to write ; but tlie work of revision and 
 consideration — oh! most anxious consideration." 
 
 M. Dumont was "very much pleased with my 
 father's manuscript," Maria wrote : " he has read a 
 good deal of mine, and likes it. He hates Mr. Day 
 in spite of all his good qualities : he says he knows 
 he could not bear that sort of a man, Avho has such 
 pride and misanthropies about trifles, raising a great 
 theory of morals upon an amour propre blesse." 
 
 She describes the life at Bowood as delightful, 
 saying in one letter, — 
 
 " Now I will tell you how we pass our day. At seven 
 I get up, — this morning half-past six, to have the pleas- 
 ure of writing to you ; breakfast at half after nine, very 
 pleasant ; afterwards we all stiriy into the library for a 
 few minutes, and settle when we shall meet again for 
 walking, etc. ; then Lady Lansdowne goes to her dear 
 dressing-room, and dear children, Dumont to his attic. 
 Lord Lansdowne to his out-of-door work, and we to our 
 elegant dressing-room, and Miss Carnegy to hers. Be- 
 tween one and two, luncheon : happy time ! Lady Lans- 
 downe is so cheerful, polite, and easy, just as she was in 
 her walks at Edgeworthstown ; but very different walks 
 are the walks we take here, most vai'ious and delightful : 
 from dressed knots, shrubbery, and park walks, to fields 
 with inviting paths, wide downs, shady, windii»g lanes, 
 happy cottages, not dressed, but naturally well placed, 
 and with evidence in every part of their being well suited 
 to the inhabitants. After walk, dress and make haste 
 for dinner. Dinner always pleasant, because Lord and 
 
BOWOOD. 317 
 
 Lady Lansclowne converse so agreeably — Dumont also 
 towards the dessert. After dinner we find the children 
 in the drawing-room. I like them better and better the 
 more I see of them. "When there is company, a whist- 
 table for the gentlemen. Dumont read out one evening 
 one of Corneille's plays, ' Le Florentin,' beautiful, and 
 beautifully read. We asked for one of Molifere ; but he 
 said to Lord Lansdowne that it was impossible to read 
 out MoliSre without a quicker eye than he had pour de 
 certains propos. They went to the library, and brought 
 out at last as odd a choice as could well be made, with Mr. 
 Thomas Grenville as auditor, — ' Le Vieux Celibataire,' 
 an excellent play, interesting and lively throughout, and 
 the old bachelor himself a charming character. Dumont 
 read it as well as Tessier could have read it ; but there 
 were things which seemed as if they were written on pur- 
 pose for the celibataire who was listening and the celi- 
 bataire who was reading. 
 
 "Lord Lansdowne, when I asked him to describe 
 Eocca' to me, said he heard him give an answer to Lord 
 Byron which marked the indignant frankness of his 
 mind. Lord Byron at Coppet had been going on abus- 
 ing the stupidity of the good people of Geneva : Rocca 
 at last turned short upon him, ' Eh ! Milord, pourquoi 
 done venez-vous vous fourrer parmi ces honnetes gens ? ' 
 
 " Mme. de Stael, — I fumble anecdotes together as I 
 recollect them, — Mme. de Stael had a great wish to see 
 Mr. Bowles the poet, or, as Lord Byron calls him, ' the 
 sonneteer.' She admired his sonnets, and his spirit of 
 maritime discovery, and ranked him high as an English 
 genius. In riding to Bowood he fell, and sprained his 
 shoulder, but still came on. Lord Lansdowne alluded 
 to this in presenting him to Mme. de Stael before dinner, 
 
 1 Second husband of Mme. de Stael. 
 
318 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 in the midst of tlie listening circle. She began to com- 
 pliment him and herself upon the exertion he had made 
 to come and see her. ' Oh, ma'am ! say no more, for I 
 would have done a great deal more to see so great a curi- 
 osity ! ' 
 
 " Lord Lansdowne says it is impossible to describe the 
 shock in Mme. de Stael's face, — the breathless astonish- 
 ment, and the total change produced in her opinion of the 
 man. She said afterwards to Lord Lansdowne, who had 
 told her he was a simple country clergyman, ' Je vols bien 
 que ce n'est qu'un simple curd qui n'a pas le sens com- 
 mun, quoi que grand pofete.' 
 
 " Lady Lansdowne, just as I was writing this, came to 
 my room and paid me half an hour's visit. She brought 
 back my father's manuscript, which I had lent to her to 
 read. She was exceeding interested in it : she says, ' It 
 is not only entertaining, but interesting, as showing how 
 such a character was formed. When he was settled at 
 Hare Hatch, after his first marriage, he seemed as much 
 out of fortune's way as possible ; and yet he found occu- 
 pations which led to distinction, and he formed that 
 friendship for Mr. Day which was so honorable to both.' 
 She admires and loves Mr. Day as much as Dumont dis- 
 likes him." 
 
 On the occasion of this visit at Bowood, there 
 were, by turns, several sets of people, — Mr. Gren- 
 ville. Lord and Lady Grenville, Lord and Lady 
 Bathurst, and others. In concluding her visit, Maria 
 wrote, — 
 
 ' ' This visit to Bowood has surpassed my expectation 
 in every respect. I much enjoy the sight of Lady Lans- 
 downe's happiness with her husband and her children, — 
 
LORD LANSDOWNB. 819 
 
 beauty, fortune, cultivated society, in short, every thing 
 that the most reasonable or unreasonable could wish. 
 She is so amiable, and so desirous to make others happy, 
 that it is impossible not to love her ; and the most envi- 
 ous of mortals, I think, would have the heart opened to 
 sympathy with her. They are so fond of each other, and 
 show it, and don't show it, in the most agreeable manner. 
 His conversation is very varied and natural, full of infor- 
 mation given for the sake of those to whom he speaks, 
 never for display. "What he says lets us into his feelings 
 and character always,, and therefore interests me." 
 
 Of Lord Lansdowne's conversation, Maria gives 
 some examples : — 
 
 " I observed one day at dinner at Bowood, that chil- 
 dren have very early a desire to produce an effect, a 
 sensation in company. 'Yes,' said Lord Lansdowne, ' I 
 remember distinctly having that feeling, and acting upon 
 it once in a large and august company, when I was a 
 young boy, at the time of the French Revolution, when 
 the Duke and Duchesse de Polignac came to Bowood, and 
 my father was anxious to receive these illustrious guests 
 with all due honor. One Saturday evening, when they 
 were all sitting in state in the drawing-room, my father 
 introduced me ; and I was asked to give the company a 
 sermon. The text I chose was, quite undesignedly, 'Put 
 not your trust in princes.' The moment I had pronounced 
 the words, I saw my father's countenance change ; and I 
 saw changes in the countenances of the duke and duch- 
 ess, and of every face in the circle. I saw I was the 
 cause of this ; and, though I knew my father wanted to 
 stop me, I would go on, to see what would be the effect. 
 I repeated my text, and preached upon it, and as I went 
 on made out what it was that affected the congregation.' 
 
320 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 "Afterwards Lord Shelburne desired him to go round 
 the circle and wish the company good-night ; but, when 
 he came to the Duchesse de Polignac, he could not resolve 
 to kiss her: he so detested the patch of rouge on her 
 cheek, he started back. Lord Shelburne whispered a bribe 
 in his ear : no, he would not ; and they were obliged to 
 laugh it off. But his father was very much vexed. 
 
 "Another day we were talking of ' Glenai-von ; ' and 
 I said we thought the Princess of Madagascar, Lady 
 Holland, so good, that we fancied it had been inserted by 
 a better hand ; but Lord Lansdowne said it was certainly 
 written by Lady Caroline Lamb herself : she was pro- 
 voked to it by a note of good advice from Lady Holland. 
 I said I thought the book so stupid I could hardly get 
 through it ; and Lord Lansdowne said, that but for curi- 
 osity to see what would be said of particular people, he 
 could not have got to the end of it. ' And, besides the 
 natural curiosity about my friends and acquaintances,' he 
 added, ' I expected to find myself abused.' " 
 
 In Moore's diary for 1818, he mentioned this visit 
 at Bowood, near which place he lived, and where 
 he was a constant visitor : — 
 
 "Dined at Bowood: the company, two Miss Edge- 
 worths and Dumont ; Mr. Grenville, to my regret, was 
 gone. I wanted to uncork (to me an old joke) whatever 
 remains of Old Sherry he might have in him. Lady 
 Lansdowne said he had mentioned the subject of Sheri- 
 dan's letters to her, etc. Talked with Dumont before 
 dinner ; told me Miss Edgeworth was preparing her 
 father's memoirs for the press ; said that the details of a 
 life passed usefully in that middling class of society must 
 always be interestmg. In the evening Miss Edgeworth 
 delightful, not from display, but from repose and unaffect- 
 
BOWOOD. 321 
 
 edness, — tlie least pretending person of the company. 
 She asked me if I had seen a poem in ' The Edinburgh 
 Annual Kegister,' called ' Solyman ' (I think) : the hero's 
 fate depends upon getting a happy man to give him the 
 shirt from his back ; his experiments in different countries 
 she represented as very livelily described. At last, in 
 Ireland, he meets with a happy man, and in his impa- 
 tience proceeds to tear the shirt from his back, but finds 
 he has none. In the same pleasant talk Miss Edgeworth 
 praised the eulogy upon Mme. de Stael, in the notes in 
 the fourth canto of 'Childe Harold,' as a beautiful specimen 
 of Lord Byron's prose-writing. I told her it was Hob- 
 house. Lord Lansdowne read it aloud, and they all 
 seemed to like it." 
 
 Byron, in the fourth canto, stanza LIV. of " Childe 
 Harold," has some fine lines beginning, — 
 
 " In Santa Croce's holy precincts lie 
 Ashes which make it holier, dust which is 
 Even in itself an immortality." 
 
 The note is a glowing tribute to the memory of 
 Mme. de Stael. In it he says, — 
 
 " ' Corinne ' is no more; and with her should expire 
 the fear, the flattery, and the envy which threw too daz- 
 zling or too dark a cloud round the march of genius, and 
 forbade the steady gaze of disinterested criticism." 
 
 Lord and Lady Lansdowne made charming hosts. 
 Some years after this time, Sydney Smith said of 
 him, — 
 
 "Why don't they talk on the virtues and excellences 
 of Lansdowne? There is no man who performs the 
 
322 A STUDY or maeia edgewoeth. 
 
 duties of life better, or fills a high station in a more 
 becoming manner. He is full of knowledge, and eager 
 for its acquisition. His remarkable politeness is the 
 result of good-nature, regulated by good sense. He 
 looks for talents and qualities among all ranks of men, 
 and adds them to his stock of society, as a botanist does 
 his plants ; and, while other aristocrats are yawning 
 among Stars and Garters, Lansdowne is refreshing his 
 soul with the fancy and genius which he has found in odd 
 places, and gathered to the marbles and pictures of his 
 palace. Then he is an honest politician, a wise states- 
 man, and has a philosophic mind : he is very agreeable 
 in conversation, and is a man of unblemished life." 
 
 In Mr. Harness's remarks on the society, when he 
 came upon the stage, — "a society which, taken for 
 all in all, has never been surpassed," — hie mentions, 
 among its members. Lord Lansdowne, as "unwear- 
 ied in his kindness and liberality to men of genius." 
 Brougham said of him, that " there never was a more 
 amiable and virtuous man in any party or any politi- 
 cal station than Lord Lansdowne." 
 
 Lady Lansdowne was the fitting wife of such a 
 man. Lord John Russell, in his preface to Moore's 
 "Diaries," says, — 
 
 "I cannot properly expatiate upon the character of 
 one whose virtuts loved to retire even from the praise 
 of loving retirement ; who sought in works of charity and 
 benevolence among her poorer neighbors a compensation 
 for the worldly advantage which excited the envy of oth- 
 ers : but, among the good influences which surroundec 
 Moore, and led him to revere a woman ' unspotted from 
 the world,' I could not omit to allude to his intercourse 
 
BOWOOD. 323 
 
 with her who diffused an air of holiness and peace and 
 purity over the house of Bowood, which neither rich nor 
 poor can ever forget." 
 
 Moore himself said of her, — 
 
 "Had a long conversation with her, and came away 
 (as I always do) more and more impressed with the 
 excellent qualities of her mind and heart : even her faults 
 are but the selvage of fine and sound virtues." 
 
 The place of Bowood anciently constituted part 
 of the royal forest of Pevisham, which extended 
 from Chippenham to Devizes : the Avon bounds it 
 on two sides. It was bought by John, Earl of Shel- 
 burne. The present mansion was then standing, but 
 was improved and added to in 1763. The grounds 
 were laid out by the Earl of Shelburne, Lord Lans- 
 downe's father, under the advice of " Capability 
 Brown," and Mr. Hamilton of Pain's Hill. While 
 in retirement, and his enemies were blackening his 
 character. Lord Shelburne was buying his splendid 
 collection of MSS., entertaining his friends, and 
 making a lake at Bowood. 
 
 From the hospitable and elegant seat of Lord 
 Lansdowne, Miss Edgeworth and her sister went to 
 the Grove, Epping, the residence of Capt. Wilson, 
 who was father-in-law to Capt. Francis Beaufort. 
 While at Epping, Maria made a kind of pious pil- 
 grimage to the house her friend IMr. Day had lived 
 in : she found only a wall left of it, but that the 
 memory of the eccentric man was cherished by his 
 poor neighbors, to whom he had shown much kind- 
 ness in his peculiar way. 
 
324 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 From Epping the sisters went over Hampstead 
 Heath to the village, where they were expected by 
 Joanna and Agnes Baillie ; who, "most kind, cordial, 
 and warm-hearted, came running down their little 
 flagged walk to welcome us. Mrs. Hunter, widow 
 of John Hunter, dined here yesterday. She wrote 
 ' The Son of Alnomac shall never complain,' and 
 she entertained me exceedingly ; and both Joanna 
 and her sister have such agreeable and new conver- 
 sation, — not old, trumpery literature over again, 
 and reviews, but new circumstances, with telling 
 apropos to every subject that is touched upon ; frank 
 observations on character, without either ill-nature 
 or the fear of committing themselves : no blue-stock- 
 ing tittle-tattle, or habits of worshipping or being 
 worshipped ; domestic, affectionate, good to live with, 
 and, without fussing continually, doing what is most 
 obliging, and whatever makes us feel most at home. 
 Breakfast is very pleasant in this house, the two 
 good sisters look so neat and cheerful." While on 
 this visit they went to see Mrs. Barbauld, at her 
 home in Stoke Newington. This was a painful visit, 
 for it brought up old memories. 
 
 " We waited some time before she appeared ; and I had 
 the leisure to recollect every thing that could make me 
 melancholy, — the very sofa that you recollect, where you 
 and my father sat. I was quite undone before she came 
 in, but was forced to get through it. She was gratified 
 by our visit, and very kind and agreeable." 
 
 After this pleasant stay at the Misses Baillie, they 
 went to Lady Spencer's at Wimbledon. Among the 
 
BowooD. 325 
 
 distinguished guests there during their visit were 
 Lady Jones, widow of Sir William Jones, the great 
 Orientalist, " a thin, dried old lady, nut-cracker chin, 
 penetrating, benevolent, often-smiling black eyes; 
 and her nephew, young Mr. Hare, author of ' Guesses 
 on Truth,' and Mr. Brunei." i 
 
 After this round of visits, the sisters returned to 
 Bowood in November. While there they were 
 shocked by the news of Romilly's death. There 
 was a delightful company assembled again, Mr. and 
 Mrs. Dugald Stewart being among the number. 
 Moore, in speaking of a day at Bowood, says he had 
 a talk with Lady Lansdowne, " who had read Edge- 
 worth's ' Memoirs,' in manuscript ; was much inter- 
 ested by theni, particularly by his account of Mr. 
 Day, the person of whom there is so much in Miss 
 Seward's 'Memoir of Darwin.'" He was again at 
 Bowood in November. 
 
 "Walked to Bowood a little after five. Company to 
 dinner, — Dugald Stewart, his wife and daughters, the 
 Misses Edgeworths and Bowleses. Very pleasant day. 
 Sat between Lady Lansdowne and Miss Edgeworth at 
 dinner : both in different ways very delightful. Tallied 
 with Miss Edgeworth of the Dublin Mrs. Lefanu,^ whom 
 she seemed to have a higher notion of altogether than I 
 had. I asked her whether the play Mrs. Lefanu liad 
 written was not pretty good. ' Oh, no ! pretty bad,' she 
 answered. She had, however, derived her opinion of 
 
 1 Sir Mark Isambard Brunei, born in France, 1769; died in Eng- 
 land, 1849; distinguished engineer, — Thames Tunnel, Woolwich 
 Arsenal, Chatham dock-yard, among his many undertakings. 
 
 s Wife of Bev. Joseph Lefanu; sister of Sheridan. 
 
326 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 Mrs. Lefanu's talents from a common friend of theirs, 
 wtio loved her very much. 
 
 " This friend told her that Mrs. Lefanu had seen a 
 letter to Sheridan from one of the persons high in the 
 American government, during the latter end of the war, 
 expressing great admiration of his talents and political 
 opinions, and telling him that twenty thousand pounds 
 were deposited with a certain banker, ready for him to 
 draw, as a mark of their value for his services in the 
 cause of liberty. She had also seen Sheridan's answer, 
 in which, with many gratified acknowledgments of their 
 high opinion, he begged leave to decline a gift commu- 
 nicated under such circumstances. Hope this is true. 
 Said she would get the particulars. Reminded me of 
 the night she saw me as ' Mungo ' at a masquerade at 
 Lady Besborough's. Told her this was. the last folly I 
 had been guilty of in the masquerading way. Brought 
 to my mind a pun I had made in her hearing that night. 
 Lady Clare said, 'I am always found out at masquer- 
 ade.' — ' That shows,' answered I, ' you are not the clair 
 obscure.' Did very well from Mungo. 
 
 " Same night I sang in the evening. Stewart, I was 
 happy to see, much delighted. When I met him at Lord 
 Moira's, I watched him while I sang, and saw him, when 
 I had finished, give a sort of decisive blow to the sofa 
 which he was reclining against. This gesticulation puz- 
 zled me, and I could not tell whether it was approbation 
 or condemnation ; but I am satisfied now. I never saw 
 any man that seemed to feel my singing more deeply : 
 the tears frequently stood in his eyes. Miss Edgeworth, 
 too, was much affected. This is a delightful triumph to 
 touch these higher spirits ! " 
 
VISITS. 327 
 
 After delightful days spent at Bowood, they left 
 it for Byrkeley Lodge, and there enjoyed a stay with 
 the Sneyds ; being " happy in the quiet of Byrkeley 
 Lodge," after this succession of -visits. 
 
 In January they went to Trentham, the seat of 
 Lord Stafford ; Fanny joining them at Lichfield. 
 They returned to Byrkeley Lodge after this, and 
 again started from there in March to visit the Moil- 
 liets, at Smethwick, near Birmingham. Mrs. Moil- 
 liet was a daughter of Mr. Edgeworth's old friend 
 Mr. Keir. 
 
 "Mr. Moilliet told us an anecdote of Mme. la Com- 
 tesse de Rumford and her charming comit : he, one day 
 in a fit of ill-humor, went to the porter, and forbade him 
 to let into his house any of the friends of Mme. la Com- 
 tesse or of M. Lavoisier's, — all the society which you 
 and I saw at her house : they had been invited to supper. 
 The old porter, all disconsolate, went to tell the countess 
 the order he had received. ' Well, you must obey your 
 master : you must not let them into the house ; but I will 
 go down to your lodge, and, as each carriage comes, you 
 will let them know what has happened, and that I am 
 there to receive them.' They all came, and, by two and 
 three at a time, went into the porter's lodge and spent 
 the evening with her ; their carriages lining the street all 
 night, to the count's infinite mortification." 
 
 Maria, while at Mrs. Moilliet's, visited " dear, old 
 Mr. Watt, — eighty-four, and in perfect possession of 
 eyes, ears, and all his comprehensive understanding, 
 and warm heart. . . . Watt is at this moment the 
 best encyclopedia extant." 
 
328 A STUDY OP MARIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 The sisters went next to the home of Lady 
 Elizabeth Whitbread, Grove House, at Kensington 
 Gore. Maria found Lady Elizabeth most devoted 
 in her attentions. 
 
 " Her house, her servants, her carriage, her horses, 
 are not onlj^ entirely at my disposal, but she had the good- 
 natured politeness to go down to the door to desire the 
 coachman to have George Bristow always with him on the 
 box, as the shaking would be too much for him behind 
 the cari'iage." 
 
 This old man was the servant Mr. Day had at 
 Epping, who ploughed a sandy field under his orders 
 sixteen times to enrich it ; Mr. Day having decided 
 that was the way to cultivate poor soil. After he left 
 Mr. Day, he went over to Mr. Edgeworth in Ireland. 
 
 While Maria was at Lady Whitbread's, she was 
 engaged in making the business arrangements for 
 publishing her father's memoir. Mr. Johnson was 
 succeeded by his nephews, Messrs. Miles and Hun- 
 ter : Mr. Miles soon withdrew from the firm. They 
 were very polite and honorable in all business mat- 
 ters ; but the whole affair was trying to Miss Edge- 
 worth, who had always been spared any business 
 details by her father, who arranged all the matters 
 relating to publication for her. 
 
 During this visit at Lady Whitbread's, she met 
 many of the friends made in her London visit of 
 1813. She had a breakfast at Miss Catherine Fan- 
 shawe's, and at Mrs. Marcet's. At the latter house 
 she met Mr. Mill, the historian, and father of John 
 Stuart Mill. She said of Mr. Mill, " He was the chief 
 
THE DUCHESS OF WELLINGTON. 329 
 
 figurante ; not the least of a figurante though, excel- 
 lent in sense and benevolence." 
 
 They were entertained by the Wilberforces, Hopes, 
 and Lady Lansdowne ; and on St. Patrick's Day 
 they went, "by appointment, to the Duchess of 
 Wellington." 
 
 " Nothing could be more like Kitty Pakenham : a plate 
 of shamrocks on the table ; and, as she came forward to 
 meet me, she gave a bunch to me, pressing my hand, and 
 saying in a low voice with her sweet smile, ' Vous en etes 
 digne.' She asked individually for all her Irish friends. 
 I showed her what was said in my father's life, and by 
 me, of Lord Longford, and the drawing of his likeness, 
 and asked if his family would be pleased. She spoke 
 very kindly : ' Would do her father's memory honor ; could 
 not but please every Pakenham.' 
 
 " She was obliging in directing her conversation to my 
 sisters as well as myself. She said she had purposely 
 avoided Mme. de Stael in England, not knowing how she 
 might be received by the Bourbons, to whom the duchess 
 was to be ambassadress. She found Mme. de Stael was 
 well received at the Bourbon Court, and consequently she 
 must be received at the Dulce of Wellington's. She ar- 
 rived, and walking up in full assembly to the duchess, 
 with the fire of indignation flashing in her eyes : ' Eh ! 
 Mme. la Duchesse, vous ne me voulez pas done faire ma 
 connaissance en Angleterre ? ' 
 
 " ' Non, madame, je ne le voulais pas.' 
 ' ' ' Eh ! comment, madame ? Pourquoi done ? ' 
 " ' C'est que je vous craignerais, madame.' 
 " ' Vous me craignez, Mme. la Duchesse? ' 
 " ' Non, madame, je ne vous crains plus.' 
 "Mme. de Stael threw her arms round her: 'Ah, je 
 vous adore ! ' " 
 
330 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 At the Hopes, Maria met the " Iron Duke " him- 
 self, but curiously enough did not recognize him. 
 After he left she was told who he was. 
 
 "He was announced in such an unintelligible manner, 
 that I did not know what duke it was ; nor did I know, 
 till we got iuto the carriage, who it was, — he looks so old 
 and wrinkled. I never should have known him from 
 likeness to bust or picture. His manner was very agreea- 
 ble, perfectly simple and dignified. He said only a few 
 words, but listened to some literary conversation that 
 was going on, as if he was amused, laughing once very 
 heartily." 
 
 He was taken by her " for some old family — 
 Uncle Duke." Mme. de Stael said of him, ambig- 
 uously, that " there never was so great a man made 
 out of such small material." 
 
 Ten delightful days were spent by the Misses 
 Edgeworth at the Hopes' country-seat of Deepdene. 
 
 " The valley of Dorking is so beautiful that Rasselas 
 would not have desired to escape from that happy valley. " 
 
 At this time they visited Norbury Park, the home 
 of Mme. d'Arblay's friends Mr. and Mrs. Locke, and 
 also saw Evelyn's country-seat, " Wootton," so well 
 known to the readers of his Diarj-. 
 
 After this country visit they again made a stay at 
 Lady Elizabeth Whitbread's, and also visited the 
 Carrs at Hampstead. There was a good story 
 told Maria "of Lady Breadlebane's having been 
 left in her carriage fast asleep, and rolled into the 
 coach-house of a hotel in Florence, and nobody 
 
HOJIE. 331 
 
 missing her for some time ; and how tliey went to 
 look for her, and ever so many carriages had been 
 rolled in after hers, and how she awakened," — all of 
 which amused her very much. 
 
 Maria and her sisters, after another little visit to 
 the Sneyds', crossed over to Ireland ; arriving at 
 Edgeworthstown early in the summer of 1819. 
 After her return home Miss Edgeworth continued 
 to revise and re-write the memoir of her father, and 
 in this work she was constantly assisted by her sis- 
 ters. Fanny Edgeworth copied it for her; and by 
 September she was able to tell a correspondent that 
 she had two hundred and fifty pages of it in perfect 
 order, and was not certain whether Hunter and they 
 would manage to have it ready for Christmas or the 
 next spring. 
 
 The " Popular Tales " were widely read on the 
 Continent ; and translated by Mme. de Roissey and 
 another person, whose name Miss Edgeworth did not 
 know, into the French, they had a wide circle of 
 readers. An Italian lady, Mme. Bianca Milesi-Mo- 
 jon, translated Mrs. Barbauld's " Hymns," and some 
 of Miss Edgeworth's " Tales," into the Italian. Mr. 
 George Ticknor names this lady, whom he met in 
 Paris in 1837. A sketch of her life was published 
 by Emile Souvestre in 1854. 
 
 In July Miss Edgeworth received the following 
 friendly letter from one whom she greatly admired and 
 loved, — Sir Walter Scott. 
 
 Abbotsford, July 21, 1819. 
 
 Mt dear Miss Edgeworth,- — When this shall happen 
 to reach your hands, it will be accompanied by a second 
 
332 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 edition of Walter Scott ; a tall copy, as collectors say, and 
 bound in Turkey leather, garnished with all sorts of fur 
 and frippery, not quite so well lettered, however, as the old 
 and vamped original edition. In other and more intelli- 
 gible phrase, the tall cornet of Hussars, whom this will 
 introduce to you, is my eldest son, who is now just leaving 
 me to join his regiment in Ireland. I have charged him, 
 and he is himself sufficiently anxious, to avoid no oppor- 
 tunity of making your acquaintance ; as to be known to 
 the good and the wise is by far the best privilege he can 
 derive from my connection with literature. I have alwaj's 
 felt the value of having access to persons of talent and 
 genius to be the best part of a literary man's prerogative ; 
 and you will not wonder, I am sure, that I should be desir- 
 ous this youngster should have a share of the same benefit. 
 
 I have had dreadful bad health for many months past, 
 and have endured more pain than I thought was consistent 
 with life. But the thread, though frail in some respects, 
 is tough in others ; and here am I with renewed health, 
 and a fair prospect of regaining my strength, much ex- 
 hausted by such a train of suffering. 
 
 I do not know when this will reach you, my son's mo- 
 tions being uncertain. But find you where or when it will, 
 it comes, dear Miss Edgeworth, from the sincere admirer 
 of your genius, and of the patriotic and excellent manner 
 in which it has always been exerted. In which character 
 I subscribe myself, 
 
 Ever yours truly, 
 
 Walter Scott. 
 
VISITS FKOM FRIENDS. 333 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 A Visit from the Carrs. — Maria reads New Books. — Memoir com- 
 pleted. — A Continental Journey. — England. — Oxford. ^ — Paris. 
 
 — Old Friends re-visited. — Mme. Be'camier. — Mme. de Pasto- 
 ret. — Cuvier. — Prouy. — Other Celebrities. — French Society. — 
 Many Changes. — Politics. — Mme. de Kumford. — Geneva. — Du- 
 mont.— The Moilliets.— A Visit at Pregny. — Coppet. — Cha/- 
 mouni. — A Town on the Borders of Lake Geneva. — Visit to 
 Mme. de Montolien. — Again at Coppet. — M. de Stael. — Memo- 
 ries of Mme. de Stael. — Maria writes "Kosamond" at Pregny. 
 
 — M. Pictet deRochemont. — Reviews of the "Memoir." — Pain- 
 ful Experience for Maria. — Paris. — Much Visiting. — A Call 
 upon Mme. de Bochejaquelin. 
 
 In September the family had a visit from their 
 friends the Carrs. Maria was very fond of them. 
 Miss Carr was an intimate friend of Lady Byron, 
 and all the Pakenhams were very much attached to 
 her; "though she had the misfortune to refuse Sir 
 Edward " (Pakenham), Maria wrote, when mention- 
 ing this lady. 
 
 The long and complete rest which Miss Edgeworth 
 gave her eyes was attended with excellent results. 
 She found she had " eyes to read again ; " and the 
 pleasure was very great, in proportion to the depri- 
 vation she had suffered in abstaining from all writing, 
 even corresponding with her friends, which all her 
 life was a source of great interest to her. When she 
 first began to use them, she said, — 
 
334 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 "I have a voracious appetite, and a relish for food, 
 — good, bad, and indifferent, I am afraid, — like a half- 
 famished, shipwrecked wretch." 
 
 Miss Edgeworth read "The Life of Mme. de Stael," 
 which was written soon after her death by her cousin, 
 Mme. Necker de Saussure, " of whom Mme. de Stael 
 said, when some one asked, 'What sort of a woman is 
 she ? ' — ' Elle a tons les talents qu'on me suppose, et 
 tous les virtues qui me manquent.' " Miss Edgeworth 
 thought this a "touching and beautiful" description. 
 
 Miss Berry's work, as editor of Lady Russell's 
 " Life and Letters," which appeared at this time, 
 pleased Maria very much; and she thought it well 
 done. 
 
 Early in the spring of 1820, when Maria had fin- 
 ished her father's " Memoir," and the continuation of 
 it, and made all necessary arrangements for its pub- 
 lication, she decided to take a Continental journey, 
 with her sisters Fanny and Harriet, re-visiting Paris, 
 and perhaps going farther south. She visited Black 
 Castle on her way to Dublin, and left Ireland early in 
 April. On this journey Miss Edgeworth first trav- 
 elled in a steamboat; the new line having been started 
 just before this time to ply between Dublin and 
 Holyhead. Her description of the '■^jigging " motion, 
 which she disliked very much, she said "was like 
 the shake felt in a carriage when a pig is scratching 
 himself against the hind-wheel, while waiting at an 
 Irish inn-door." Certainly only a constant traveller 
 in Ireland could have more aptly described the motion 
 of a small steamboat. 
 
ENGLAND. 335 
 
 On their way through England, they visited the 
 Watts. Old Mr. Watt had recently died. Some one 
 told her the following epitaph, which she considered 
 worth copying : — 
 
 " As So lived, so did So die. 
 So, so 1 Did he so ? So let him die." 
 
 This was caused by the premium offered by a citi- 
 zen of London, of the name of So, who desired an 
 epitaph on his odd name. 
 
 The party stopped at Oxford, and saw the colleges 
 and town. There some one told Maria an anecdote 
 of the visit of the prince regent, and the emperor of 
 Russia. When the royal persons entered the theatre 
 at Oxford, it was " filled in every part ; but such was 
 the hush you could have heard a pin drop, till the 
 prince put his foot upon the threshold, when the 
 whole assembly rose with a tremendous shout of 
 applause. The prince was supremely gratified, and 
 said to the emperor of Russia, ' You heard the Lon- 
 don mob hoot me, but you see how I am received by 
 the young gentlemen of England.' " 
 
 The party arrived at Paris the last week in April, 
 and found many old friends delighted to welcome 
 them. Maria found Mme. de Pastoret just the same 
 in her cordial greeting, and "little changed" by the 
 years that had passed since they last met. She met 
 Humboldt, dined at Cuvier's, and went often to the 
 Delesserts. They also renewed their acquaintance 
 with Mme. Rc^camier. They went to her "at her 
 convent, L'Abbaye aux Bois, up seventy-eight steps, 
 — all came in with the asthma ; elegant room, and 
 
336 A STUDY OP MAEIA EDGE-WOETH. 
 
 she as elegant as ever," though "no longer rich 
 and prosperous." — "She is still beautiful," she wrote 
 later, "still dresses herself and her little room 
 with elegant simplicity, and lives in a convent only 
 because it is cheap and respectable. M. Recamier 
 is still living: they have not been separated by 
 any thing but misfortune." This sounds curiously 
 enough to English-speaking people, who think " mis- 
 fortune " should unite a husband and wife more 
 closely; but there was no love between Mme. Reca- 
 mier and her husband. 
 
 At the house of Cuvier, Maria met many old friends, 
 and made many new ones among the scientific men 
 of France. Among the good friends who recalled 
 the days of their earlier visit, she met M. Prony ; " as 
 like an honest water-dog as ever." She describes 
 Cuvier and Prony in a graphic manner, and the good 
 talk they had. 
 
 "Cuvier and Prony talking, — Prony, with his hair 
 nearly in my plate, was telling me most entertaining 
 anecdotes of Bonaparte ; and Cuvier, with his head nearly 
 meeting him, talking as hard as he could, not striving to 
 show learnmg or wit, quite the contrary, — frank, open- 
 hearted genius, delighted to be together at home. 
 
 "Both Cuvier and Prony agreed that Bonaparte never 
 could bear to have any answer but a decided one. ' One 
 day,' said Cuvier, ' I nearly ruined myself by consider- 
 ing before I answered. He asked me, " Faut-il introduire 
 le Sucre de betterave en France?" — " D'abord, sire, il 
 faut songer si vos colonies" — "Faut-il avoir le sucre 
 de betterave en France?" — "Mais, sire, il faut exam- 
 iner " — " Bah ! je le demanderai a BerthoUet. " ' 
 
PAEis. 337 
 
 "This despotic, laconic mode of insisting on learning 
 every thing in two words had its inconvenience. One day 
 he asked the master of the woods at Fontainebleau, ' How 
 many acres of wood here? ' The master, an honest man, 
 stopped to recollect. ' Bah ! ' and the under-master came 
 forward, and said any number that came into his head. 
 Bonaparte immediately took the mastership from the first, 
 and gave it to the second. ' Qu'arrivait-il ? ' continued 
 Prony. ' The rogue who gave the guess-answer was soon 
 found out cutting down and selling quantities of trees ; 
 and Bonaparte had to take the rangership from him, and 
 re-instate the honest hesitater.' 
 
 "Prony is, you know, one of the most absent men 
 alive. ' Once,' he told me, ' I was in a carriage with 
 Bonaparte and Gen. Caffarelli : it was at the time he was 
 going to Egypt. He asked me to go. I said I could 
 not ; that is, I would not. And, when I had said these 
 words, I fell into a reverie, collecting in my own head all 
 the reasons I could for not going to Egypt. All this 
 time Bonaparte was going on with some confidential com- 
 munication to me of his secret intentions and views ; and 
 when it was ended, le seul mot, Arabie, m'avait frappi 
 Voreille. Alors je voudrais m'avoir arracMe les cheveux; 
 making the motion so to do, pour pouvoir me rappeler ce 
 qii'il venait me dire. But I never could recall one single 
 word or idea.' — ' Why did you not ask Caffarelli after- 
 wards ? ' — 'I dared not, because I should have betrayed 
 myself to him.' " 
 
 Prony told Miss Edgewortli, that during Bona- 
 parte's Spanish war he employed him to make 
 logarithms, astronomical, and nautical tables, on a 
 magnificent scale. Prony found that to execute 
 •what was required of him would take him and all 
 
S38 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGBWOETH. 
 
 the philosophers of France a hundred and fifty 
 years. He was very unhappy, having to do with a 
 despot who would have his will executed. When the 
 first volume of Smith's "Wealth of Nations" fell 
 into his hands, he opened on the division of labor, 
 our favorite pin-making : " Ha, ha ! voila mon affaire : 
 je ferai mes calcules comma on fait les ^pingles ! " 
 And he divided the labor among two hundred men, 
 who knew no more than the simple rules of arith- 
 metic, whom he assembled in one large building; 
 and these men-machines worked on, and the tables 
 were made. 
 
 Miss Edgeworth spoke French with as much ease 
 and fluency as English ; and one evening she made 
 herself very entertaining by some remarks on pecul- 
 iarities of the French language, and the use of 
 masculine and feminine words, when a lady rather 
 rudely exclaimed, " Elle fait des calembourgs dans 
 notre langue." 
 
 The following remarks about the conversation at 
 the Duchesse d'Escars's will give one an idea of the 
 small-talk of Parisian fashionable society : — 
 
 "We have seen Mile. Mars twice, or thrice rather, in 
 the ' Mariage de Figaro,' and in the little pieces of ' Le 
 Jaloux sans Amour,' and 'La Jeunesse de Hem-i Cinq,' 
 and admire her exceedingly. In petit comiti the other 
 night at the Duchesse d'Escars's, a discussion took place 
 between the Ducliesse de la Force, Marmout, and Pozzo 
 di Borgo, on the hon et mauvais ton of different expres- 
 sions : bonne sociiti is an expression bourgeoise; you may 
 say bonne compagnie or la haute sociite. ' Voilcl des 
 nuances,' as Mme. d'Escars said. Such a wonderful 
 
PEENCH SOCIETY. 339 
 
 jabbering as these grandees made about these small 
 matters ! It put me in mind of a conversation in ' The 
 World ' ' on good company, which we all used to ad- 
 mire." 
 
 Maria met Mme. Swetchine, the celebrated writer. 
 She says of her, " Mme. Swetchine, a Russian, is one 
 of the cleverest women I ever heard converse." Of 
 another Russian, Rostopchin, she said, he declared 
 "he would represent Russian civilization by a naked 
 man looking at himself in a gilt-framed mirror." 
 
 Maria met Benjamin Constant at a friend's house. 
 She said, — 
 
 "I do not like him at all: his countenance, voice, 
 manner, and conversation are all disagreeable to me. 
 He is a fair, ivhithlcy-looking man {sic), very near- 
 sighted, with spectacles which seem to pinch his nose. 
 . . . He has been well called the Mros des brochures. 
 We sat beside one another, and I think we felt a mutual 
 antipathy. On the other side of me was Royer-CoUard, 
 suffering with toothache and swelled face ; but, notwith- 
 standing the distortion of the swelling, the natural expres- 
 sion of his countenance, and the strength and sincerity of 
 his soul, made their way ; and the frankness of his char- 
 acter, and the plain superiority of his talents, were mani- 
 fest in five minutes' conversation." 
 
 Mme. Le Brun, who was then painting the por- 
 trait of the Princess Potemkin, pleased Maria very 
 much by her vivacity, and animated talk about her 
 varied experiences. "Mme. Le Brun is sixty-six, 
 with great vivacity as well as genius, and better 
 worth seeing than her pictures ; for, though they are 
 speaking, she speaks, and speaks uncommonly well." 
 
340 A STUDY OP MARIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 Miss Edgeworth was very anxious as to the man- 
 ner in which the memoir of her father would be 
 received by her friends and the public. She was 
 much gratified by an appreciative letter from IMrs. 
 Riixton, who told her how much she liked the book. 
 She replied, — 
 
 "You can scarcely conceive the pleasure which the 
 letter I have just received from you has given me, as I 
 was so anxious to know what 3-ou and Sophy thought 
 of the piiblished memoirs : the irremediable words once 
 past the press, I knew the happiness of my life was at 
 stake. Even if all the rest of the world had praised it, 
 and you had been dissatisfied, how miseralile I should 
 have been ! Everybody, of every degree of rank and 
 talent, who has read the 'Memoirs,' speaks of tbem in 
 the most gratifying and delightful manner. Those who 
 have fixed on individual circumstances have always fixed 
 on those which we should have considered as most curi- 
 ous. Mr. Malthus, this morning, spoke most highly of 
 it, and of its useful tendency, both in a public and pri^'ate 
 light. Much as I have dreaded having it spoken of, all I 
 have yet heard has been what best compensated for all 
 the anxiety I have felt." 
 
 While Miss Edgeworth was visiting at the coun- 
 try-house of M. de Vind(^, La Celle, she worked in 
 the early morning hours at " Rosamond ; " and Mr. 
 Hunter began at once to print it in July. 
 
 " All had so changed from what it had been when Mr. 
 Edgeworth was banished from Paris because Bonaparte 
 supposed him to be the Abb6 Edgeworth' s brother, that 
 now being considered connections of the Abb6 de Fir- 
 
PAUis. 341 
 
 mount was a passport for Maria and her sisters to many 
 of the houses of the andenne noblesse; and they were 
 specially invited to see a picture at Mme. de Canmont's 
 of the Duchesse d' Angouleme attending the Abbd Edge- 
 worth's death-bed. 
 
 "They always spoke of the Abb6 Edge worth as the 
 Abb6 de Firmount, which name he had taken because of 
 the difficulty the French found in the w and th; Edge- 
 fate being the usual attempt at the name. At one house 
 a valet, after Maria had several times repeated to him 
 ' Edge worth,' exclaimed, 'Ah! je renonce k 9a,' and 
 throwing open the door of the salon announced Mme. 
 Maria et mademoiselles ses soeurs." 
 
 Many were the changes observed by Maria in the 
 society of Paris. She wrote, — 
 
 "A great change has taken place [in French society]. 
 The men huddle together now in France as tliey used 
 to do in England, talking politics, with their backs to the 
 women, in a corner or even in the middle of the room, 
 without minding them in the least : and the ladies com- 
 plain and look disconsolate, and many ask ' if this be 
 Paris ; ' and others scream Ultra nonsense or Liberal non- 
 sense, to make themselves of consequence, and to attract 
 the attention of the gentlemen." 
 
 When Miss Edgeworth visited Paris, in 1803, 
 with her father, she especially remarked on the 
 absence of scandal, and the freedom from political 
 questions, which distinguished the tone of conversa- 
 tion. This was before she was aware of the entire 
 suppression of thought and the espionage of the 
 government. On her return to Paris, in 1820, she 
 
342 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 was greatly struck with the change in social affairs. 
 Party spirit ran high ; and the verb politiquer, " to talk 
 politics," had been coined to meet the needs of the 
 day. In 1803 all were glad to find themselves 
 safely among their friends and in their old homes. 
 The recent horrors of the Revolution had subdued 
 and softened the natural levity of the people. The 
 aristocratic dwellers in the Faubourg St. Germain 
 had learned that they were human, and could meet 
 on terms of comparative civility the new nobles of 
 Napoleon, raised from the very dregs of the people, 
 — from common soldiers perhaps, who each carried, 
 as Napier said not long after, " a marshal's baton in 
 his knapsack." The autocratic rule of Napoleon 
 subdued the spirits and suppressed the tongues of 
 the opponents of his government. This gave litera- 
 ture and science the greater opportunity to assert 
 their sway and manifest their charms. Now all was 
 different. The Liberal or Constitutional party was 
 divided from the Ultras by a strong line of demarka- 
 tion : the society of the two parties was almost 
 entirely distinct. There were a few favored indi- 
 viduals whom one met at the salons of both the 
 returned Emigres, and in the houses of the Constitu- 
 tionals. These inventors of imaginary constitutions 
 delighted to call themselves by this name, but the 
 Bourbons contemptuously named them the "Lib- 
 erals." 
 
 Maria was often much interested in hearing in the 
 same evening the very opposite opinions expressed 
 by the adherents of these parties ; as she frequently 
 visited a salon of some lady of the ancien rSgime, 
 
PAEis. 343 
 
 and then went among the " Liberals " for a while 
 before returning home. Her sympathies were not 
 enlisted on either side ; but she found much to 
 attract and please her in the variety of thought, the 
 interchange of experience, and the novelty of the 
 views she heard. The old aristocracy were charmed 
 with the culture of Miss Edgeworth, and her knowl- 
 edge of old French classical literature ; and this 
 opened the way for long and agreeable conversa- 
 tions on the earlier days of their lives. Many a 
 strange and romantic adventure, many of the terri- 
 ble events of the early days of the French Revolu- 
 tion, were told her by those who had actually played 
 a part in those dreadful scenes. 
 
 The ready sympathy and genuine interest which 
 Miss Edgeworth always showed in conversation, her 
 excellent powers as a good listener, made one of the 
 special charms of her friendship. Those who were 
 struck at first by her wit, ready humor, and genius, 
 were always impressed with the fact that she was as 
 good a listener as a talker. Among the scientific 
 men who had been employed and patronized by 
 Napoleon I., Maria found many friends ; for she had 
 a strong admiration for the genius of the emperor, 
 and had hardly seen enough of the corruption of his 
 government to realize the state of affairs which his 
 usurpation had entailed on France. She expressed 
 herself si nettement, as one of his adherents said, that 
 the men who still clung to his memory and admired 
 his capacity for rule enjoyed telling her of their 
 affairs, as Prony did in describing his method of 
 making calculations to order. 
 
844 A STUDY OP MARIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 Miss Edgeworth saw all sides of the social life of 
 Paris, and many years after she referred to her own 
 experiences in writing her story of "Helen." She 
 alludes thus to the sad changes then existing in the 
 society of Paris : — 
 
 "'Lady Davenant,' turning to a French gentleman, 
 spoke of the alterations she had observed when she was 
 last at Paris, from the overwhelming violence of party 
 spirit on all sides. ' Dreadfully true,' the French gentle- 
 man replied : ' party spirit, taking every Protean form, 
 calling itself by a hundred names, and with a thousand 
 devices and watchwords, which would be too ridiculous 
 if they were not too terrible ; domestic happiness dis- 
 placed ; all society disordered, disorganized ; literature 
 not able to support herself, scarcely appearing in com- 
 pany, — all precluded, superseded, by the politics of the 
 day. 
 
 "Lady Davenant joined with him in his regrets, and 
 added that she feared society in England would soon be 
 brought to the same condition. 
 
 "'No,' said the French gentleman, ' English ladies 
 will never be so vehement as my countrywomen : they 
 will never become, I hope, like some of our lady politi- 
 cians, "qui hurlent comme les demons." ' 
 
 "Lady Cecilia said, that, from what she had seen at 
 Paris, she was persuaded, that, if the ladies did bawl too 
 loud, it was because tlie gentlemen did not listen to them ; 
 that above half the party-violence which appeared in the 
 Parisian belles was merely dramatic, to produce a sensa- 
 tion, and draw the gentlemen from the black ''pelotons" in 
 which they gathered, back to their proper positions round 
 the fautemls of the fair ladies." 
 
MME. DE EtJMFORD. 345 
 
 The Emigrants spoke of the Liberals with the bit- 
 terest detestation, as revolutionary monsters. The 
 Liberals spoke of Ultras as bigoted idiots ; as one of 
 them said of a lady, celebrated in 1803 as a wit and 
 brilliant converser, " Autrefois elle avait de I'esprit, 
 — mais elle est devenu Ultra, devote et bete." 
 
 Before leaving Paris the sisters paid one visit 
 which amused them. They "received a note from 
 Mme. Lavoisier, — Mme. de Rumford I mean, — tell- 
 ing us that she had just arrived in Paris, and warmly 
 begging to see us. Rejoiced was I that my sisters 
 shovild have this glimpse of her, and off we drove to 
 her ; but I must own that we were disappointed in this 
 visit, for there was a sort of chuffiness, and a sawdust 
 kind of unconnected cut-shortness, in her manner, 
 which we could not like. She was almost in the 
 dark, with one ballooned lamp, and a semi-circle of 
 black men round her sofa, on which she sat cush- 
 ioned up for conversation ; and a very odd course 
 she gave to it, — on some wife's separation from 
 her husband , and she took the wife's part, and 
 went on for a long time in a shrill voice, proving 
 that where a husband and wife detested each other, 
 they should separate, and asserting that it must 
 always be the man's fault when it comes to this 
 pass. She ordered another lamp, that the gentle- 
 men might, as she said, see my sisters' pretty faces ; 
 and the light came in time to see the smiles of the 
 gentlemen at her matrimonial maxims." They went 
 again, and found her " very agreeable " on that 
 occasion. 
 
 Among other friends whom they met in Paris was 
 
346 A STUDY OP MARIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 Tom Moore, who was living in the Champs Elysiens. 
 He received a note from Miss Edgeworth, asking him 
 to call upon her ; and a few days later she invited him 
 to join a party to the Marquis d' Osmonds at Chate- 
 ray. He tells a story of the husband of one of 
 Maria's sisters. He wanted to ask for "pump- 
 water," and looked in the dictionary for "pump," 
 and, finding " escarpin " (which means a light shoe), 
 asked for " escarpin eau." 
 
 Miss Edgeworth had long promised herself and the 
 Moilliets that she would visit them at Geneva, and 
 therefore the sisters left Paris late in July for Switz- 
 erland. 
 
 Maria's first impressions of Mont Blanc, she said, 
 " will remain an era in my life, — a new idea, a new 
 feeling standing alone in my mind." 
 
 They made an excursion to Chamouni, in company 
 with several friends. Dumont was A\ith them con- 
 stantly during their stay in Switzerland; and M. Pic- 
 tet, ]\Iaria found " as kind, as active, and as warm- 
 hearted as ever." At Chamouni they met Arago, the 
 noted astronomer. At a delightful dinner at Mrs. 
 Marcet's, Miss Edgeworth met M. Dumont, M. and 
 Mme. Provost, M. de la Rive, M. Bonstetten, M. de 
 CandoUe, the noted botanist, " a particularly agree- 
 able man." 
 
 ]\Iiss Edgeworth enjoyed much the renewal of her 
 intimacy with M. Dumont. She found him " very 
 kind and cordial : he seems to enjoy universal con- 
 sideration here ; and he loves Mont Blanc, next to 
 Bentham, above all created things." 
 
GENEVA. 347 
 
 "He speaks in the kindest, most tender and affection- 
 ate manner of our ' Memoirs : ' he says he hears from 
 England, and from all who have read them, that they 
 have produced the effect we wished and hoped. The 
 manuscript had interested him, he said, so deeply, that 
 with all his efforts he could not put himself in the place 
 of the indifferent public." 
 
 This period of social life in Geneva has been 
 called the "Augustan age" of that city by those 
 who knew its attractions well. An unusual number 
 of eminent scientific and literary people formed its 
 society, and a generous and unostentatious hospi- 
 tality was characteristic of its inhabitants. There 
 were charming re-unions in the summer evenings, by 
 moonlight, on lawns sloping to the banks of the 
 lake ; and other entertainments in the old city itself 
 gave a constant variety to the days passed there. 
 The drives also were charming ; and after an early 
 morning excursion from Pregny, the home of the 
 Moilliets, they found themselves for the first time at 
 Coppet, made classic ground by the memory of 
 Mme. de Stael, then, alas ! no more. Maria wrote, — 
 
 "All the rooms inhabited by Mme. de Stael, we could 
 not think of as common rooms : they have a classical 
 power over the mind ; and this was heightened by the 
 strong attachment and respect for her memory shown in 
 every word and look, and silence, by her son, and her 
 friend Miss Eandall. He is correcting for the press ' Les 
 Dix Annees d'Exil.' M. de Stael, after breakfast, took 
 us a delightful walk through the grounds, which he is 
 improving with good taste and judgment. He told me 
 
348 A STUDY OP MARIA EDGEWOBTHi 
 
 that his mother never gave any work to the public in the 
 form in which she originally composed it : she changed 
 the arrangement and expression of her thoughts with 
 such facility, and was so little attached to her own first 
 views of the subject, that often a work was completely 
 remodelled by her while passing through the press. Her 
 father disliked to see her make any formal preparations 
 for writing when she was young ; so that she used often 
 to write on the corner of the chimney-piece, or on a 
 pasteboard held in her hand, and always in the room with 
 others, for her father could not bear her to be out 
 of the room : and this habit of writing without prepara- 
 tion she preserved ever afterwards. M. de Stael told me 
 of a curious interview he had with Bonaparte when he 
 was enraged with his mother, who had published remarks 
 on his government, concluding with ' Eh bien ! vous avez 
 raison ainsi je con9ois, qu'un flls doit toujours faire la 
 defense de sa m^re ; mais enfln, si monsieur veut 6crire 
 des libelles, il faut aller en Angleterre. Ou bien, s'il 
 cherche la gloire, c'est en Angleterre qu'il faut aller. 
 C'est Angleterre ou la France — il n'y a que ces deux 
 paj's en Europe — dans le monde ! ' . . . 
 
 " M. de Stael called his little brother, Alphonse Eocca, 
 to introduce him to us : he is a pleasing, gentle-looking, 
 ivory-pale boy, with dark-blue eyes, not the least like 
 Mme. de Stael. M. de Stael speaks English perfectly, 
 and with the air of an English man of fashion." 
 
 After the delightful trip to Chaniouni, a tour 
 round the Lake of Geneva was proposed and made 
 by the sisters, accompanied by M. Dumont. They 
 travelled "in one of the carriages of the country, 
 a mixture of a sociable and an Irish jingle, with 
 some resemblance to a hearse." While at Lausanne 
 
MME. DE MONTOLIEU. 349 
 
 the party made a visit, Sept. 15, to the author of a 
 once famous novel. Maria described tlieir difficul- 
 ties in an amusing letter : — 
 
 " Our first object this morning was to see Mme. de 
 Montolieu, the author of 'Caroline de Lichfeld,' to 
 whom I had a letter of introduction. She was not at 
 Lausanne, we were told, but at her country-house, Bus- 
 signy, about a league and a half from the town. We had 
 a delicious, fine morning ; and through romantic lanes, 
 and up and down hills, till we found ourselves in the 
 midst of a ploughed field, when the coachman's pride of 
 ignorance had to give up, and he had to beg his way to 
 Bussigny, a village of scattered Swiss cottages high 
 upon rocks, with far-spreading prospect below. In the 
 court of the house which we were told was Mme. de 
 Montolieu's, we saw a lady, of a tall, upright, active- 
 looking figure, with much the appearance of a gentle- 
 woman ; but we could not think that this was Mme. de 
 Montolieu, because for the last half-hour Dumont, impa- 
 tient at our losing our way, had been saying slie must be 
 too old to receive us. ' She was very old thirty years 
 ago : she must be quatre-vingt, at least ; ' at last it came 
 to ' quatre-vingt-dix.' Tliis lady did not look above fifty. 
 She came to the carriage as it stopped, and asked whom 
 we wished to see. The moment I saw her ej^es, I knew 
 it was Mme. de Montolieu ; and, stooping down from the 
 open carriage, I put into her hand the letter of introduc- 
 tion and our card. She never opened the note ; but the 
 instant her eye had glanced upon the card, she repeated 
 the name with a voice of joyful welcome. I jumped out 
 of the carriage ; and she embraced me so cordially, and 
 received my sisters so kindly, and M. Dumont so politely, 
 that we were all at ease and acquainted and delighted 
 
350 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 before we were half-way up-stairs. While she went into 
 the ante-chamber for a basket of peaches, I had time to 
 look at the prints hung in the little drawing-room : they 
 had struck me the moment we came in as scenes from 
 ' Caroline de Lichfeld ; ' indifferent, old-fashioned, pro- 
 voking figures, — Caroline and Count Walstein in the 
 fashions of thirty years ago. 
 
 " When Mme. de Montolieu returned, she bade me not 
 to look at them ; ' but I will tell you how they came to be 
 here.' They had been given to her by Gibbon : he was 
 the person who published 'Caroline de Lichfeld.' She 
 had written it for the entertainment of an aunt who was 
 ill : a German story of three or four pages gave her the 
 first idea of it. ' I never could invent : give me a hint, 
 and I can go on and supply the details and the charac- 
 ters.' Just when 'Caroline de Lichfeld' was finished. 
 Gibbon became acquainted with her aunt, who showed it 
 to him : he seized upon the manuscript, and said it must 
 be published. It ran in four months through several 
 editions ; and just when it was in its first vogue. Gibbon 
 happened to be in London, saw those prints, and brought 
 them over to her, telling her that he had brought her a 
 present of prints from Loudon, but that he would only 
 give them to her on condition that she would promise to 
 hang them, and let them always hang, in her drawing- 
 room. After many vain efforts to find out what manner 
 of things they were, Gibbon and curiosity prevailed : she 
 promised, and there they hang. 
 
 " She must have been a beautiful woman. She told 
 me she is seventy ; flue, dark, enthusiastic eyes, a quickly 
 varying countenance, full of life, and with all the warmth 
 of heart and imagination which is thought to belong only 
 to youth. Very sorry to part with her." 
 
COPPET. 351 
 
 This lady had an immense reputation at one time 
 in England : Miss Anna Seward wrote to Miss Powys 
 of the Abbey in 1786 : — 
 
 ' ' The ingenious French lady to whom we are indebted 
 for ' Caroline de Lichfeld ' has found a competency and a 
 husband through its pages. A rich widower of fifty-three, 
 on the confines of Germany, respectable in rank and 
 character, whose children are married, and settled at a 
 distance from him, read that novel and felt its exact sense. 
 Personally unknown to the author, he inquired into her 
 situation, and found her merits acknowledged, and her 
 reputation spotless. He has married her. The instance 
 is rare : Hymen passing by the fane of Cytherea and 
 Plutus' shrine to light his torch at the altar of Genius." 
 
 She also described the book to another friend: 
 " The most charming novel I have read these many 
 years, ' Caroline de Lichfeld,' formed part of our 
 amusement at Calwich. It is unique of its kind, 
 resembling no other novel." 
 
 A pleasant visit was made to the Marcets at Ma- 
 ligny: and then Maria wrote from the Chateau de 
 Coppet, Sept. 28, 8 a.m. 
 
 " We came here yesterday ; and here we are in the very 
 apartments occupied by M. Necker, opening into what is 
 now the library, but what was once that theatre on which 
 Mme. de Stael used to act her own ' Corinne.' Yesterday 
 evening, when Mme. de Broglie had placed me next the 
 oldest friend of the family, M. de Bonstettin, he whis- 
 pered to me ' You are now in the exact spot, in the very 
 chair, where Mme. de Stael used to sit.' Her friends were 
 excessively attached to her. This old man talked of her 
 
352 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 with tears in his eyes, and with all the sudden changes of 
 countenance, and twitchings of the muscles, which mark 
 strong uncontrollable feelings. 
 
 "There is something inexpressibly melancholy, awful, 
 in this house, in these rooms, where the thought continually 
 recurs : here Genius was ; here was Ambition, Love ! 
 all the great struggles of the passions, — here was Mme. 
 de Stael ! The respect paid to her memory by her son 
 and daugliter and by M. de Broglie is touching. The 
 little Rocca, seven years old, is an odd, cold, prudent 
 old-man sort of child, as unlike as possible to the son you 
 would have expected from such parents. M. Rocca, 
 brother to the boy's father, is here — handsome, but I know 
 no more. M. Sismondi and his wife dined here, etc. 
 
 " M. de Stael has promised to show to me Gibbon's 
 letters to his grandmother, ending regularly with, ' Je 
 suis, mademoiselle, avec les sentimens qui font le des- 
 espoir de ma vie.' " 
 
 With M. de Stael and Mme. de Broglie, Maria was 
 particularly happy. It had been reported that Mme. 
 de Stael had said of Maria's writings " Que Miss 
 Edgeworth ^tait digne de I'enthousiasme, mais qu'elle 
 s'est perdue dans la triste utility." — "Mameren'a 
 jamais dit 9a." Mme. de Broglie indignantly de- 
 clared, " elle ^tait incapable ! " She saw the enthu- 
 siastic admiration Maria expressed for her mother's 
 genius, and felt it was not true that Maria wanted 
 enthusiasm. Yet it is likely Mme. de Stael did say 
 this: it sounds like her rhetorical declamation when, 
 excited in conversation, she often generalized in a 
 sweeping manner. 
 
 Maria heard with pleasure "the most gratifying 
 
MNE. DE STAEL. 353 
 
 terms of praise of" her father's life from M. de 
 Stael and Miss Randall. M. Dumont had many- 
 anecdotes of Mme. de Stael's early life to tell Maria. 
 He told her that " one day M. Suard, as he entered 
 the salon of the Hotel Necker, saw Mme. Necker 
 going out of the room, and Mile. Necker standing in 
 a melancholy attitude with tears in her eyes. Guess- 
 ing that Mme. Necker had been lecturing her, Suard 
 went towards her to comfort her, and whispered 
 ' Une caresse du papa d^dommagera bien de tout 9a.' 
 She immediately, wiping the tears from her eyes, 
 answered 'Eh! oui, monsieur, mon pere songe S. 
 mon bonheur present, mamma songe a mon avenir.' 
 There was more than presence of mind, there was 
 heart and soul, and greatness of mind, in this answer," 
 says Miss Edgeworth in conclusion. 
 
 While " Rosamond " was being printed, Mr. Hun- 
 ter found that there was not enough manuscript to 
 complete two volumes : so Maria instantly set to work 
 while at Pregny, in October; and though in the 
 midst of distractions, social and friendly, of her 
 friends the Moilliets' house, she completed the vol- 
 ume by writing, with her usual ease and spirit, " The 
 Bracelet of Memory " and " Blind Kate." 
 
 "Pregny was a beautiful place, commanding su- 
 perb views of the lake and Mont Blanc." It was as 
 interesting in its history as it was beautiful : it had 
 been the property of the Empress Josephine. It 
 was a fine, large house ; and here Maria and her 
 sisters enjoyed all the advantages of a second home. 
 They had three large rooms, besides another joining 
 the drawing-room, where Maria usually wrote in the 
 mornings. 
 
354 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWORTH. 
 
 M. Pictet de Rochemont, brother of the Edge- 
 worths' old friend Marc Auguste Pictet, took much 
 interest in Miss Edgeworth's " Life of her Father," 
 and with great care translated the best passages 
 from it, for the " BiblothSque Universelle." They 
 visited him at his house, and were there introduced to 
 Mme. Necker de Saussure, the author of a work 
 on " Progressive Education." Miss Edgeworth, who 
 thought tliis book dull and tedious, found the author 
 of it much more agreeable than her writings. 
 
 M. Dumont once, in speaking of this lady, who 
 wrote the life of her gifted cousin, Mme. de Stael, 
 said, — 
 
 "She never comprehended her cousin: after the 
 most glorious burst of Mme. de Stael's enthusiasm, 
 Mme. Necker de Saussure would come with her com- 
 passes, and she would go so far, and so far, and no 
 farther," — opening his fingers, suiting the action to 
 the words, and moving his finger and thumb like a 
 pair of compasses as he spoke. 
 
 M. Dumont, who was proud of his country, and 
 loved its beautiful and magnificent scenery, always 
 " cheerful, witty, and wise," made a charming com- 
 panion ; and they enjoyed his society extremely. 
 
 The last of October the sisters left the hospitable 
 house of the Moilliets, and made their way towards 
 Paris. On their journey they stopped at Lyons, 
 associated in their minds with the scenes of their 
 father's early life, and the months he passed there 
 in arranging the work on the river. They arrived 
 at Paris the 27th of October, and took lodgings in 
 the Rue Ste. Honore. 
 
"THE LONDON QXJAETEBLY." 355 
 
 A painful experience awaited Miss Edgeworth. 
 " The Quarterly Review " made a most offensive 
 attack upon the "Memoir" of Mr. Edgeworth. It 
 ridiculed the anecdotes, questioned the facts, and, in 
 fact, showed the acrimonious spirit of personal spite, 
 instead of the dispassionate survey of a literary 
 work, which is usually supposed to be the proper 
 mission of a review. Hazlitt said once, sarcastically, 
 of this " Review," — 
 
 "Mr. Croker is understood to contribute the St. He- 
 lena articles and the liberality ; Mr. Canning, the practical 
 good sense ; Mr. D'Israeli, the good nature ; Mr. Jacob, 
 the modesty ; Mr. Southey, the consistency ; and the 
 editor himself (Gifford), the chivalrous spirit, and the 
 attacks on Lady Morgan." 
 
 Miss Edgeworth herself did not feel this ungene- 
 rous attack as strongly as her friends felt it for her. 
 She wrote to her aunt, " Never lose another night's 
 sleep, or another moment's thought, on ' The Quar- 
 terly Review.' I have never read, and never will 
 read it." Some days after this she wrote again : — 
 
 "You would scarcely believe, my dear friends, the 
 calm of mind, and the sort of satisfied resignation, I feel 
 as to my father's 'Life.' I suppose the two years of 
 doubt and extreme anxiety that I felt exhausted all my 
 power of doubting. I know that I have done my very 
 best ; I know that I have done my duty ; and I firmly 
 believe, that, if my dear father could see the whole, he 
 would be satisfied with what I have dons." 
 
 The article in "The Quarterly" was the most 
 abusive and ill-natured piece of personality imagin- 
 
356 A STUDY OF MAKIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 able. After impugning the most simple motives of 
 ]\Ir. Edgeworth's account of himself; stating that 
 many of his anecdotes are false ; criticising his rela- 
 tions with his family, his four marriages, to which the 
 reviewer tries to add a fifth, — in short, making out 
 of the bonhomie and the harmless egotisms of Mr. 
 Edgeworth the most frightful insinuations against 
 his moral character, — the article lays great stress on 
 the fact, that Mr. Edgeworth was not a Christian, 
 and considers his daughter as sadly wanting in refine- 
 ment, and in appreciation of her father's shortcom- 
 ings as a man and a Christian. It is hard to say 
 what the reviewer considered Christianity ; for Mr. 
 Edgeworth was a regular attendant at the Episcopal 
 Church in Edgeworthstown, took a friendly interest 
 in its clergymen, and made himself agreeable to the 
 ministers of other denominations who might be there 
 for religious purposes ; often entertaining them, as 
 well as the Roman-Catholic parish priest, at his own 
 table. He married, with the full consent and appro- 
 bation of her father, the daughter of one clergyman 
 of the Church of England, and the sister of another 
 as his fourth wife. Miss Beaufort. He counted 
 among his intimate friends several dignitaries of 
 the Church, including the Primate of Ireland and 
 Bishop Foster. In concluding the article, the re- 
 viewer says, — 
 
 "We have now done our painful task; and, on the 
 whole, our greatest objection to the work is, that it must 
 lower Mr. Edgeworth's reputation, and not raise that 
 of his daughter. There is much to blame, and little to 
 
MEMOIR OF ME. EDGBWOETH. 357 
 
 praise, in what they, with a mistaken and self-deceptive 
 partiality, record of him. His own share of the work 
 is silly, trivial, vain, and inaccurate ; hers, by its own 
 pompous claims to approbation, fails of what a more 
 modest exposition would have obtained, and might have 
 been entitled to. Mr. Edgeworth had some ingenuity, 
 great liveliness, great activity, a large share of good sense 
 (particularly when he wrote), of good nature, and of 
 good temper. He was a prudent and just landlord, a 
 kind husband (except to his second wife), an affection- 
 ate parent ; but he was superficial, not well founded in 
 any branch of knowledge, yet dabbling in all. As a 
 mechanic, he showed no originality, but some powers 
 of application ; as a public man, he was hasty, injudi- 
 cious, inconsistent, and only not mischievous ; in society 
 we must, notwithstanding Miss Edgeworth's dutiful par- 
 tiality, venture to say that he was as disagreeable as 
 loquacity, egotism, and a little tinge now and then of 
 indelicacy, could make him ; but, with all these draw- 
 backs, his life was, as far as we have heard or seen, on 
 the whole, more useful, more respectable, than the repre- 
 sentation which is here given of it. For his reputation, 
 these two volumes of biography ought to be forgotten." 
 
 She received the following kindly and sympathetic 
 words from two Geneva friends at this time : — 
 
 Geneve, Nov. 7, 1820. 
 " Je ne sais, mon amiable ami, si je devais vous 6crire 
 au moment ou j'ai le Cfflur bless6 de cette attaque calom- 
 nieuse de 'Quarterly Eeview.* J'ai eu regret de n'etre 
 pas aupr^s de vous lorsqu'il a paru. Je vous aurai aid(5 
 peut-etre a envisager avec plus de fermet6 une agression 
 qui doit faire plus de tort k ses auteurs qu'a vous, et je ne 
 
358 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGEWORTH. 
 
 Grains qu'aprfes la premifere expression de chagrin, d6s que 
 vous aurez le loisir de la reflexion, vous sentirez que tous ce 
 qui respecte I'honneur, la ddcence, le sentiment filial, par- 
 tageront votre indignation. Si par hazard vous n'avez pas 
 lu cette infame article je vous conseillerais de ne pas le 
 lire, et de I'abandonner au mepris public." 
 
 This letter shows the generous sympathy of Du- 
 mont on this occasion. 
 
 Mrs. Marcet, who was just setting out for Italy, 
 wrote to Miss Edgeworth : — 
 
 "I cannot make up my mind, my dear friend, to take 
 my departure for a still more distant country without 
 again bidding you adieu. I have hesitated for some time 
 past : ' Shall I, or shall I not, write to Miss Edgeworth? ' 
 for I felt that I could not write without touching on an 
 article in the ' Quarterly ; ' a subject which makes my 
 blood boil with indignation, and which rouses every feel- 
 ing of contempt and abhorrence. I might, indeed, refrain 
 from the expression of these sentiments ; but how could I 
 restrain all those feelings of the warmest interest, the ten- 
 derest sympathy, and the softest pity, for your wounded 
 feelings? I well remember the wish you one day so 
 piously expressed to me, that your father could look down 
 from heaven, and see the purity and zeal of your inten- 
 tions in writing his memoirs. I am sure your heavenly 
 Father does see them ; and I feel that this unjust, un- 
 christian, inquisitorial attack will not only develop fresh 
 sentiments of the tenderest nature in your friends, but 
 also rally every human being of sound sense around 
 you." 
 
 " The Edinburgh Review," in commenting on the 
 "Memoir" of Mr. Edgeworth, said that the most 
 
PAEis. 359 
 
 remarkable thing about the work was, that the first 
 was, on the whole, better than the second. 
 
 "It is very lively, rapid, and various, enlivened with 
 a great number of anecdotes and characters ; and if not 
 indicating any extraordinary reach of thought, or lofti- 
 ness of feeling, exhibiting, in rather a pleasing and can- 
 did way, the history of" a very active and cultivated mind, 
 and scatteriug about everywhere the indications of a 
 good-humored complacency, and a light-hearted and in- 
 dulgent gayety. The other is too solemn and didactic ; 
 and, though there are many passages full of interest and 
 instruction, it overflows so much with praise and gratitude, 
 and duty and self-denial, as to go near being dull and 
 tedious." 
 
 " The North American Review," in summing up a 
 notice of the book, said Mr. Edgeworth's "Memoir" 
 belonged neither to the style of the Confessions of 
 St. Augustine nor those of Rousseau. 
 
 The sisters visited much during their second stay 
 in Paris, and saw their friends the Delesserts, and 
 others, constantly. They had a " splendid and most 
 agreeable dinner," given them by Mme. de Rumford. 
 This lady, who was the widow of the celebrated 
 chemist, Lavoisier, was again a widow, after years 
 of separation from her second husband, the eccen- 
 tric man of science. Count Rumford, with whom she 
 lived most unhappily. 
 
 They visited the celebrated Mme.^ de la Roche- 
 jaquelin. 
 
 1 "Widow of Henri de la Eoclieiaquelin, famous for his actions in 
 La Vendee. 
 
360 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGEWORTH. 
 
 "She had just arrived from the country; and we 
 found ourselves in a large hotel, in which all the winds of 
 heaven were blowing, and in which, as we went up-stairs 
 and crossed the ante-chambers, all was darkness, except 
 one candle, which the servant carried before us. In a 
 small bedroom, well furnished, with a Are just lighted, 
 we found Mme. de Rochejaquelin lying on a sofa, her two 
 daughters at work, one spinning with a distaff, and the 
 other embroidering muslin. Madame is a large, fat wo- 
 man, with a broad, fair face, with a most open, benevolent 
 expression, — as benevolent as Molly Bristow's or as Mrs. 
 Brinkley's. Her hair cut short, and perfectly gray, as 
 seen under her cap ; the rest of her face much too young 
 for such gray locks, not at all the hard, weather-beaten 
 look that had been described to us ; and though her face 
 and bundled form and dress, all squashed on a sofa, did 
 not at first promise much of gentility, you could not 
 hear her speak or see her for three minutes without per- 
 ceiving that she was well born and well bred. She had 
 hurt her leg, which was the cause of her lying on the 
 sofa. It seemed a grievous penance, as she is of as 
 active a temper as ever. She says her health is perfect, 
 but a nervous disease in her eyes has nearly deprived her 
 of sight : she could hardly see my face, though I sat as 
 close as I could go to the sofa. 
 
 " ' I am always very sorry,' said she, ' when any stranger 
 sees me, parce-que je sais que je detruis toute illusion. Je 
 sais que je devrais avoir I'air d'une heroine, et surtout 
 que je devrais avoir Fair malheureuse, ou 6pms6 au mOins 
 — rein de tout cela, helas ! ' 
 
 "She is much better than a heroine, — she is benevo- 
 lence and truth itself. She begged her daughters to take 
 us into the salon, to show us what she thought would 
 interest us. She apologized for the cold of these rooms, 
 
MME. DB LA EOCHEJAQUBLIN'. 361 
 
 and well she might : when the double-doors were opened, 
 I really thought Eolus himself was puffing in our faces ; 
 we shawled ourselves well before we ventured in. At 
 one end of the salon is a picture of M. de Lescure, and 
 at the other of Henri de la Rochejaquelin, by Gerard and 
 Girodet, presents from the king. Fine military figures. 
 In the boudoir is one of M. de la Rochejaquelin, much 
 the finest of all : she has never yet looked at this picture. 
 Far from being disappointed, I was much gratified with 
 this visit." 
 
 Miss Edgewortli was mucli disappointed in seeing 
 Talleyrand, and heard nothing but the merest com- 
 monplaces from him. He appeared determined to 
 avoid her, though they met fi'equently in large as- 
 semblages. 
 
 During these two visits in Paris, Miss Edgeworth 
 met several persons who desired the privilege of 
 translating her works. Among these was a Mile. 
 Swinton, afterwards Mme. Belloc, an Irishwoman by 
 descent, but Parisian by birth and education. At 
 this time she was a very young lady, and she in- 
 terested Miss Edgeworth very much. They cor- 
 responded for many years after this. She made 
 excellent translations of Miss Edgeworth's books, 
 and was her life-long friend and admirer. 
 
362 A STUDY OF MABIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Eeturn to England. — Bowood. — Ireland. — Improvements in Edge- 
 worthstown. — England in 1821. — Visits to Smethwick Grove.— 
 "Wycombe Abbey. — Mr. "Wilberforce. — Gatcombe Park. — Anec- 
 dotes. — Easton Grey. — Bowood. — Salisbury Cathedral. — Deep- 
 dene. — Sequel to " Frank." — Hampstead. — " The Pirate " read. 
 — Misses Baillie.— Mrs. Somerville. — Many Literary People.— 
 Anecdotes. — Mrs. Fry's Reading at Newgate. — Almacks. — Sir 
 Walter Scott invites Maria to Abbotsford. — She accepted for a 
 Few Months Later. — London Society. — Mrs. Siddons's Acting. — 
 Ireland. — " Harry and Lucy." — A Visit to Scotland. —The Stu- 
 arts. — Edinburgh. — Mrs. Fletcher's Description of Maria.— 
 Scott. 
 
 Aftek several months on the Continent, passed 
 very agreeably among friends and in the gay salons 
 of Paris, the scientific and hospitable homes of 
 Switzerland, and surrounded by its magnificent 
 scenery, the Misses Edgeworth returned to England 
 in December, 1820, by the V7ay of Calais. They 
 made no stay in London , simply waiting long enough 
 to see Mr. Hunter about the printing of " Rosa- 
 mond," then in the press, and to arrange about the 
 second edition of the " Memoirs," which had been 
 corrected, and was also being printed at this 
 time. 
 
 They went for a little visit to Bowood, after a 
 week at Clifton with Mrs. Beddoes. Miss Edge- 
 worth gave a glimpse of the life at the pleasant 
 home of the Lansdownes, saying, — 
 
BOWOOD. S63 
 
 ' ' At Bowood there was a happy mixture of sense and 
 nonsense. Lord Lansdowne was talking to me on the 
 nice little sofa by the fire, seriously, of "Windham's life 
 and death, and of a journal which he wrote to cure him- 
 self of indecision of character. Enter suddenly, with a 
 great burst of noise, from the breakfast-room, a troop of 
 gentlemen, neighing like horses. You never saw a man 
 look more surprised than Lord Lansdowne. 
 
 " Re-enter the same performers on all- fours, grunting 
 like pigs. 
 
 " Then a company of ladies and gentlemen in dumb 
 show, doing a country-visit, ending with asking for a 
 frank, courtesying, bowing and exit, — neighbor. 
 
 " Then enter all the gentlemen, some with their fingers 
 on their eyes, some delighted with themselves, — I. 
 
 " Then re-enter Lord Lansdowne, the two Mr. Smiths, 
 Mr. Hallam, and Fazakerley, each with little dolls made 
 of their pocket-handkerchiefs, nursing and playing with 
 them, — doll. 
 
 "Exit and re-enter, caiTying and surrounding and 
 worshipping Mrs. Ord, — idol. This does not do for 
 sober reading, but it produced much laughter." 
 
 They left Bowood, and proceeded to Ireland. On 
 their arrival in Dublin, Miss Edgeworth had a severe 
 illness, and was detained by it for a while. After 
 her recovery she visited her aunt, Mrs. Ruxton, at 
 Black Castle. 
 
 The Jewish lady, Miss Mordeeai of Richmond, 
 Va., wrote Miss Edgeworth a letter about the 
 memoir , which i\Iaria said was " written in a spirit 
 of Christian charity and kindness which it were to 
 be wished that all Christians possessed," and the 
 letter pleased her very much. 
 
364 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGBWOETH. 
 
 Miss Edgeworth wrote when she heard of the 
 death of Napoleon I. : — 
 
 " So Bonaparte is dead ! And no change will be made 
 in any country by the death of a man who once made 
 such a figure in the world. He who commanded empires 
 and sovereigns, a prisoner in an obscure island, disputing 
 for a bottle of wine, subject to the petty tyranny of Sir 
 Hudson Lowe. I regret that England permitted that 
 trampUng on the fallen. What an excellent dialogue of 
 the dead might be written between Bonaparte and Themis- 
 tocles!" 
 
 She read " The Spy " during the si^mmer, and 
 speaks of the "new scenes and characters, humor 
 and pathos; a picture of America in Washington's 
 time, a surgeon worthy of Smollett or Moore, quite 
 different from any of their various surgeons ; and an 
 Irishwoman, Betty Flanagan, incomparable." 
 
 I\Iiss Edgeworth was always much interested in 
 the poor of Edgeworthstown, and in endeavoring to 
 ameliorate their condition. She asked a friend in 
 writing of her summer's work, — 
 
 "What do you think is my employment out of doors, 
 and what it has been this week past ? My garden ? No 
 such elegant thing : but making a gutter, a sewer, and a 
 pathway, in the street of Edgeworthstown ; and I do de- 
 clare I am as much interested about it as I ever was in 
 writing any thing in my life. We have never here yet 
 found it necessary to have recourse to public contribu- 
 tions for the poor ; but it is necessary to gi\'e some as- 
 sistance to the laboring class, and I find that making the 
 said gutter and pathway will employ twenty men for three 
 
A VISIT TO ENGLAND. 365 
 
 weeks. . . . Did you ever hear these two excellent Tory 
 lines made by a celebrated Whig — 
 
 ' As bees alighting upon flowerets cease to hum, 
 So, settling upon places, Whigs grow dumb ' ? " 
 
 Many of Miss Edgeworth's friends in England had 
 urged her to revisit them during this year, and she 
 determined to pass the winter of 1821-22 there. She 
 started in October, accompanied by her two half-sis- 
 ters, Fanny and Harriet, who had been with her on 
 the Continent. Their first visit was at Smethwick 
 Grove, the home of' the Moilliets. There they 
 "missed by not arriving last night," Maria wrote, 
 " a Frenchman who has been seventeen years learn- 
 ing to play on the flute, and cannot play ; and who 
 has been ten years learning to speak English, and 
 yet told Mrs. Moilliet that he had a letter to Lord 
 Porcelain, to whom his mother is related, meaning 
 the Duke of Portland. He left this, determined to 
 see the residence of ' Lord Malbrouke,' and would 
 not be persuaded that the Duke of Marlborough was 
 not called ' Va-t-en Malbrouke.' " 
 
 After some days with the Moilliets, they went to 
 Wycombe Abbey, the home of Lord Carrington. 
 Among other distinguished and agreeable people 
 Miss Edgeworth met there, she renewed her ac- 
 quaintance with Mr. Wilberforce. She wrote : — 
 
 ' ' We have had Mr. Wilberforce for several days ; and 
 I cannot tell you how glad I am to have seen him again, 
 and to have had an opportunity of hearing his delightful 
 conversation, and of seeing the extent and variety of his 
 
366 A STUDY OF MAKIA EDGEWORTH. 
 
 abilities. He is not at all anxious to show himself off : 
 he converses, he does not merely talk. His thoughts flow 
 in such abundance, and from so many sources, that they 
 often cross one another ; and sometimes a reporter would 
 be quite at a loss. As he literally seems to speak all his 
 thoughts as they occur, he produces what strikes him on 
 both sides of any question. This often puzzles his hear- 
 ers, but to me it is a proof of candor and sincerity ; and 
 it is both amusing and instructive to see him thus bal- 
 ancing accounts aloud. He is very lively and full of odd 
 contortions : jjo matter. His indulgent, benevolent tem- 
 per strikes me particularly : he makes no pretension to 
 superior sanctity or strictness. He spoke with much re- 
 spect and tenderness for my feelings, of my father, and 
 of the 'Life.'" 
 
 "We are reading Mme. de Stael's ' Dix Annies 
 d'Exil ' with delight. With its faults there are so many 
 brilliant passages, and things which no one but her- 
 self could have thought or said ; and it will last as long 
 as the memory of Bonaparte lasts on earth." 
 
 She was told in connection with some conversation 
 in this book, that the Swedish ambassador said Mme. 
 de Stael's letters were intercepted, and it was found 
 she was intriguing to set Bernadotte on the throne 
 of France. This, alleged as the cause of Napoleon's 
 enmity to her, Miss Edgeworth was not willing to 
 believe. 
 
 Their stay at Lord Carrington's was delightful. 
 He gave them a lovely suite of rooms, including a 
 private sitting-room for Miss Edgeworth's own use. 
 After their very agreeable stay at Wycombe Abbey, 
 they went to Gatcombe Park, the residence of Mr. 
 
MR. EICAEDO. 367 
 
 David Ricardo, the eminent writer on political econ- 
 omy and kindred subjects. In this charming family 
 they enjoyed some days, which were pleasantly varied 
 by the beautiful drives, and interesting talks with 
 Mr. Ricardo of whom Maria wrote : — 
 
 "Mr. Ricardo, with a very composed manner, has a 
 continual life of mind, and starts perpetually new game 
 in conversation. I never argued or discussed a question 
 with any person who argues more fairly, or less for victory, 
 and more for truth. He gives full weight to every argu- 
 ment brought against him, and seems not to be on any 
 side of the question for one instant longer than the con- 
 viction of his mind on that side. It seems quite indif- 
 ferent to him whether you find the truth, or whether he 
 finds it, provided it be found." 
 
 They met a Miss Strackey here at dinner. She 
 told Maria she was at school with the young ladies 
 who wrote to her about the wedding-dresses in the 
 " Contrast," and well remembered their delight at 
 her entertaining answer. 
 
 At this same dinner an English bull was men- 
 tioned. Lord Camden put the following advertise- 
 ment in the papers: — 
 
 ' ' Owing to the distress of the times Lord Camden will 
 not shoot himself or any of his tenants before the 4th of 
 October next." 
 
 Writing from Easton Grey, where they went after 
 leaving Gatcombe Park, Miss Edgeworth said. Lady 
 Catherine Bisset, " when no one was seeing or hear- 
 ing, laid her hand on my arm most affectionately, 
 
868 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGEWORTH. 
 
 and looking up in my face said, 'Do you know, I 
 have been half my life trying to be your good French 
 governess. I love her." 
 
 They went next to Bowood, where they had the 
 pleasure of hearing Lord and Lady Lansdowne's 
 account of their foreign tour, from which they had 
 just returned. After a visit to the Kings at Clifton, 
 they went to Cirencester, the seat of Lord Bathurst, 
 of whom Pope wrote, "Who plants like Bathurst?" 
 Maria admired the beautiful and celebrated woods, 
 and noticed "the meeting of the pine avenues in a 
 star " as " superb." At Cirencester, Lord Apsley 
 lent her "Valoe," a book published in 1817, by a 
 French governess dismissed by the Duchess of Beau- 
 fort. This book "threw all high-bred London into 
 confusion " when it appeared. There was " no wit, 
 but tittle-tattle truths " in it. " You can't buy the 
 book if you were to give your eyes for it : all bought 
 up " by the Duchess of Beaufort. 
 
 Among other places of interest visited as they 
 passed from one hospitable mansion to another, they 
 saw Salisbury and its lovely cathedral, Stonehenge ; 
 Wilton House, witli its magnificent collections of 
 antiquities, and its priceless Vandykes ; and " Long- 
 lord Castle, the strongest castle in the world." 
 
 They went to Deepdene, to their friends tlie Hopes. 
 Among the party gathered there, they met one of 
 the authors of " Rejected Addresses," Mr. Smith ; 
 wno told Fanny Edgeworth that he intended to 
 put her sister " into the ' Rejected Addresses' in the 
 character of an Irish laborer, but it was so flat he 
 threw it aside." While at Deepdene Miss Edge- 
 
"THE pieate" bead. 369 
 
 worth wrote the preface to the sequel of " Frank," 
 which was soon to be published. 
 
 While at the Carrs' house at Hampstead, they 
 " read ' The Pirate,' or rather heard it read by Mr. 
 Carr, who read admirably." 
 
 " "Wonderful genius ! who can raise an interest even on 
 the barren rocks of Zetland. Aladdin could only raise 
 palaces at will ; but the mighty master, Scott, can trans- 
 port us to the remote desert corner of the earth, ay, and 
 keep us there, and make us wish to stay, among beings 
 of his own creation." 
 
 Maria enjoyed meeting Dr. Lushington there. Of 
 " The Pirate," on finishing it, she writes : — 
 
 " The characters of the two sisters are beautiful. The 
 idea of Brenda not believing in supernatural agency, and 
 yet being afraid, and Minna not being afraid, though she 
 believes in Norma's power, is new and natural and ingen- 
 ious. This was Joanna Baillie's idea. The picture of 
 the sisters sleeping, and the lacing scene, is excellent ; and 
 there are not only passages of beautiful, picturesque de- 
 scription, but many more deep, philosophical reflections 
 upon the human mind, and the causes of human happi- 
 ness, than in any of his other works. The satire upon 
 agriculturists, imported from one country to another, who 
 set to work to improve the land and habits of the people 
 without being acquainted with the circumstances of either, 
 is excellent." 
 
 They visited the Miss Baillies again. Maria en- 
 joyed them very much, saying, — 
 
 "Most affectionate hospitality has been shown to us 
 by these two excellent sisters. I part with Agnes and 
 
370 A STUDY OP MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 Joanna Baillie confirmed in my opinion, that the one is the 
 most amiable literary woman I ever beheld, and the other, 
 one of the best informed and most useful." 
 
 She " rejoiced at Mr. Bushe's promotion," saying, 
 "Mrs. Bushe sent to me, through Anne Nangle, a 
 most kind message, alluding to our 'Patronage' 
 chief justice by second-sight." 
 
 She was supposed to have drawn Mr. Bushe as 
 the chief justice in " Patronage," and the character 
 seemed so like him that it was recognized by those 
 who knew him best. This was the meaning of Mrs. 
 Bushe's message about his appointment by ^'■second- 
 sight : " for " Patronage " was published years before 
 Mr. Bushe was made chief justice. During this win- 
 ter, Miss Edgeworth met at Sir John Sebright's, 
 Beechwood Park, — 
 
 "Mrs. Somerville, — little, slightly made; fair hair; 
 pink color ; small, gray, round, intelligent, smiling eyes ; 
 very pleasing countenance ; remarkably soft voice ; strong, 
 but well-bred Scotch accent ; timid, — not disqualifying 
 timid, but naturally modest, — yet with a degree of self- 
 possession throughout which prevents her being in the 
 least awkward, and gives her all the advantage of her 
 understanding, at the same time that it adds a prepos- 
 sessing charm to her manner, and takes ofE all dread of 
 her superior scientific learning. 
 
 " Mrs. Somerville is the lady who La Place says is the 
 only woman in England who understands his works. She 
 draws beautifully ; and while her head is among the stars, 
 her feet are firm upon the earth. I have this moment 
 heard an anecdote which proves beyond a doubt — if any 
 doubt remained — that Walter Scott is the author of the 
 
SIR JAMES MACKINTOSH. 371 
 
 novels. He edited ' The Memoir of the Somervilles,' 
 and in the manuscript copy are his marks of what was to 
 be omitted ; and among these are what suggested to him 
 the idea of Lady Margaret, and the dis jeune which his 
 Majesty did her the honor to take with her, — continually 
 referred to by an ancestor of Dr. Somerville." 
 
 The Misses Edgeworth went thence to Mardoaks, 
 on a visit to Sir James and Lady Mackintosh. Of 
 Sir James she writes, — 
 
 "He is improved in the art of conversation since we 
 knew him ; being engaged in great affairs with great men 
 and great women has perfected him in the use and 
 management of his wonderful natural powers, and vast, 
 accumulated treasures of knowledge. His memory now 
 appears to work less, his eloquence is more easy, his wit 
 more brilliant, his anecdotes more happily introduced. 
 Altogether, his conversation is even more delightful than 
 formerly ; superior to Dumont in imagination, and almost 
 equal in wit. In Dumont's mien and conversation, wit 
 and reason are kept separate ; but in Mackintosh they are 
 mixed, and he uses both in argument, knowing the full 
 value and force of each. Never attempting to pass wit for 
 logic, he forges each link of the chain of demonstration, 
 and then sends the electric spark of wit through it. The 
 French may well exclaim, in speaking of him, ' Quelle 
 abondance ! ' 
 
 "He told us that at Berlin, just before a dinner at 
 which were all the princes and ambassadors of Europe, 
 Mme. de Stael, who had been invited to meet them, turn- 
 ing to a picture of Bonaparte, then at the height of his 
 power, addressed it with Voltaire's lines to Cupid : — 
 
 ' Qui que ce soit, voici ton maltre 1 
 II est, le f ut, ou le doit 6tre I ' " 
 
372 A STUDY OF MARIA BDGEWORTH. 
 
 Her sisters thought Sir James far surpassed their 
 expectations. The two persons Fanny Edgeworth 
 most wished to see in England were Ricardo and 
 Mackintosh, and they saw both in their own houses 
 to great advantage. 
 
 They met Lord Anglesey at Sir Thomas Law- 
 rence's, where they went while with Lady Elizabeth 
 Whitbread, at Grove House, Kensington, to whom 
 they went from Sir James Mackintosh's. She says 
 of Lord Anglesey, — 
 
 " He is no longer handsome, but a model for the ' nice 
 conduct of a wooden leg.' It was within an inch of run- 
 ning through Walter Scott's picture, which was on the 
 floor leaning on the wall ; but, by a skilful, sidelong ma- 
 noeuvre, he bowed out of its way. His gray hair looks 
 better than his Majesty's flaxen wig — bad taste. 
 
 " Saw at Sir Thomas Lawrence's studio his picture of 
 the king in his coronation robes, the Pope, AValter Scott's 
 too, etc." 
 
 Miss Edgeworth met Mr. Ralston of Philadelphia. 
 
 " His father and mother are grand, and, what is rather 
 better, most benevolent people in Philadelphia. Intro- 
 duced him to Dr. Holland, Mackintosh, and others. . . . 
 I have had the greatest pleasure in Francis Beaufort's 
 going with us to our delightful breakfasts at Mr. Eicar- 
 do's : they enjoy each other's conversation so much. It 
 has now become high fashion, with blue ladies, to talk 
 political economy, and to make a great jabbering on the 
 subject ; while others who ha\'e more sense, like Mrs. 
 Marcet, hold their tongues, and listen. A gentleman an- 
 swered A-ery \\ell the other day, when asked if he would 
 
A VISIT TO NEWGATE. 373 
 
 be of the famous Political-Economy Club, that he would 
 whenever he could find two members of it that agree in 
 any one point. Meantime fine ladies require that their 
 daughters' governesses should teach political economy. 
 ' Do you teach political economy ? ' — ' No ; but I can 
 learn it.' — 'Oh, dear, no! If you don't teach it, you 
 wont do for me.' " 
 
 " Another style of governess is now the fashion, — the 
 JJltra French. A lady governess of this party and one 
 of the Orleans or Liberaux met, and came to high words ; 
 till all was calmed by the timely display of a ball-dress 
 trimmed with roses, alternately red and white, — ' garni- 
 ture aux prdjug^s vaincus.' This should have been worn 
 by those who formerly invented in the Eevolution ' Bals 
 aux victimes.' " 
 
 During the months of March and February they 
 were constantly in society: they had a charming 
 breakfast at Mrs. Somerville's, and were often at 
 Lansdowne House. They visited the House of 
 Commons ; and, as a change, Maria noted that she 
 went to Newgate to hear Mrs. Fry, by appointment. 
 
 " The private door opened at the sight of our tickets ; 
 and the great doors, and the little doors, and the church 
 doors, and doors of all sorts, were unbolted and unlocked, 
 and on we went through dreary but clean passages, till 
 we came to a room where rows of empty benches fronted 
 us. A table on which lay a large Bible. Several ladies 
 and gentlemen entered, and took their seats on benches at 
 either side of the table, in silence. 
 
 "Enter Mrs. Fry in a drab-colored silk cloak, and 
 plain, borderless Quaker cap ; a most benevolent coun- 
 tenance, a Guido-Madonna face, calm, benign. ' I must 
 
874 A STtlDY OF MARIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 make an inquiry, Is Maria Edgeworth here ? and where ? ' 
 I went forward. She made us come and sit by her. 
 Her first smile as she looked upon me, I can never 
 forget. After the prisoners came in, — about thirty 
 women, some under sentence of transportation for life, 
 others for imprisonment, — she opened the Bible, and read 
 in the most sweetly solemn, sedate voice I ever heard, 
 slowly and distinctly, without any thing in the manner 
 that would detract attention from the matter. Some- 
 times she paused to explain, which she did with great 
 judgment, addressing the convicts, ' we have felt, we are 
 convinced.' They were very attentive, unaffectedly inter- 
 ested, I thought, in all she said, and touched by her 
 manner. Far from being disappointed with the sight 
 of what Mrs. Fry has effected, I was delighted. We 
 emerged again from the thick, dark, silent walls of New- 
 gate to the bustling city." 
 
 They visited Almack's. 
 
 "Kind Mrs. Hope got tickets for us from Lady 
 Gwydir and Lady Cowper. Observe that the present 
 Duchess of Rutland, who had been a few months absent 
 from town, and had offended the lady patronesses by 
 not visiting them, could not, at her utmost need, get 
 a ticket from any one of them, and was kept out, 
 to her amazing mortification. This may give you some 
 idea of the importance attached to a ticket to Almack's. 
 The lady patronesses can only give tickets to those 
 whom they personally Jcnmv. On that plea they avoided 
 the Duchess of Rutland's application, — she had not 
 visited them : they really did not know her Grace,' etc. 
 [Maria met] there many celebrated people, — the Mar- 
 quis of Londonderry, who, by his own account, has been 
 dying some time with impatience to be introduced to us ; 
 
A BALL. 375 
 
 talked much of ' 0astle Eackrent,' etc., and Ireland. Of 
 course I thought his manner and voice very agreeable. 
 He is much fatter, and much less solemn, than when 
 I saw him in the Irish House of Commons. He intro- 
 duced us to jolly, fat Lady Londonderry, who was vastly 
 gracious, and invited us to one of the four grand parties 
 which she gives every season ; and it surprised me very 
 much to perceive the rapidity with which a minister's 
 family talks to a person spread through the room. 
 Everybody I met afterward that night and the next day 
 observed to me that they had seen Lord Londonderry talk- 
 ing to me for a great while ! "We had a crowded party 
 at Lady Londonderry's, but they had no elbows." 
 
 She met at other parties the celebrities of the 
 day, — her old friend Sir Humphry Davy (whom 
 she calls the martyr of matrimony), Mrs. Siddons, 
 Lydia White, all the scientific set of the Somer- 
 villes. One amusing mention is made : — 
 
 " Yesterday we breakfasted at Mrs. Somerville's ; and 
 I put on for her a blue crape turban, to show her how 
 Fanny's was put on, with which she had fallen in love." 
 
 Sir Walter Scott anticipated a visit from Miss 
 Edgeworth with great delight. He wrote to Miss 
 Joanna Baillie, in February : — 
 
 . . . " I am dehghted with the prospect of seeing Miss 
 Edgeworth, and making her personal acquaintance. I 
 expect her to be just what you describe, — a being totally 
 void of affectation, and who, like one other of my ac- 
 quaintance, carries her literary reputation as freely and 
 easily as the milkmaid in my country does the leglen, 
 
376 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWORTH. 
 
 which she carries on her head, and wallis as gracefully 
 with it as a duchess. Some of tlie fair sex, and some of 
 the foul sex too, carry their renown in London fashion, 
 — on a yolie and a pair of pitchers. The consequence is, 
 that, besides poking frightfully, they are hitting every one 
 on the shins with their buckets. Now this is all non- 
 sense, too fantastic to be written to anybody but a person 
 of good sense." 
 
 Miss Edgeworth met old Sir William Pepys, who 
 was a contemporary of Johnson, Reynolds, and 
 Burke. He was then eighty-two years old, and 
 had many things to tell her of that interesting set 
 of men and women who formed the fashionable and 
 literary society of London many years before. Mrs. 
 Montague, who was an intimate friend of his, once 
 whispered to him on seeing a very awkward man 
 coming into the room, " There is a man who would 
 give one of his hands to know what to do with the 
 other." 
 
 Miss Edgeworth said of the brilliancy, repartee, 
 and social badinage of London, in her "Helen," 
 "London wit is like gas, which lights at a touch, 
 and at a touch can be extinguished ; " and she en- 
 joyed the good talk, the easy manners, and the high- 
 bred culture of the friends she found among the 
 many sets which made up the great world of May- 
 fair of her day. She remarked on this in a letter 
 written during this visit : — 
 
 " The great variety of society in London, and the 
 solidity of the sense and information to be gathered from 
 conversation, strike me as far superior to Parisian- society. 
 
LONDON SOCIETY. 877 
 
 We know, I think, six different and totally independent 
 sets, of scientific, literary, political, travelled, artist, and 
 the fine fashionable of various shades ; and the different 
 styles of conversation are very entertaining. Through 
 Lydia White we have become more acquainted with Mrs. 
 Siddons than I ever expected to be. She gave us the 
 history of her first acting of Lady Macbeth, and of her re- 
 solving in the sleep-scene to lay down the candlestick, 
 contrary to the precedent of Mrs. Pritchard and all the 
 traditions, before she began to wash her hands and say, 
 ' Out, vile spot ! ' 
 
 " Sheridan knocked violently at her door during the five 
 minutes she had desired to have entirely to herself, to 
 compose her spirits before the play began. He burst in, 
 and prophesied that she would ruin herself forever if she 
 persevered in this resolution to lay doion the candlestick. 
 She persisted, however, in her determination, succeeded, 
 was applauded, and Sheridan begged her pardon. She 
 described well the awe she felt, and the power of excite- 
 ment given to her by the sight of Burke, Fox, Sheridan, 
 and Sir Joshua Reynolds in the pit. 
 
 "She invited us to a private reading-party at her own 
 house ; present, only her daughter (a very pretty young 
 lady), a Mrs. Wilkinson, Mr. Burney, Dr. Holland, Lydia 
 White, Mr. Harness, and ourselves. She read one of her 
 finest parts, and that best suited to a private room, — 
 Queen Katherine. She was dressed so as to do well for 
 the two parts she was to pei'form this night, of gentle- 
 woman and queen, — black velvet, with black velvet cap 
 and feathers. She sat the whole time, and with a large 
 Shakspeare before her ; as she knew the part of Kather- 
 ine by heart, she seldom required the help of glasses, and 
 she recited it incomparably well. The changes of her 
 countenance were striking. From her first burst of -indig- 
 
378 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGEWORTH. 
 
 nation, when she objects to the cardinal as her judge, to 
 her last expiring scene, was all so perfectly natural and 
 so touching, we could give no applause but tears. Mrs. 
 Siddons is beautiful even at this moment. Some who had 
 seen her on the stage in this part assured me that it had a 
 much greater effect upon them in a private room ; because 
 they were near enough to see the change in her counte- 
 nance, and to hear the pathos of her half-suppressed 
 voice. Some one said, that, in the dying-scene, her very 
 pillow seemed sicli. 
 
 ' ' She spoke afterwards of the different parts which she 
 had liked and disliked to act ; and, when she mentioned 
 the characters and scenes she had found easy or difficult, 
 it was curious to observe that the feelings of the actress 
 and the sentiments and reasons of the best critics meet. 
 Whatever was not natural, or inconsistent with the main 
 part of the character, she found she never could act well." 
 
 After spending a very pleasant Easter at Deepdene 
 with a delightful party at the Hopes, the sisters hear- 
 ing of the death of their old friend. Miss Charlotte 
 Sneyd, at Edgeworthstown, left Deepdene, feeling 
 the gayety oppressive under these circumstances. 
 They went for more quiet to their friend Lady Eliza- 
 beth Whitbread's, at Kensington Gore. They then 
 returned to their pleasant London lodgings in Hollis 
 Street. On their return- they found London very 
 gay, and met many distinguished people. 
 
 "Among the great variety of illustrious and foolish 
 people we have seen pass in rapid panoramas before us, 
 some remain forever fixed in the memory, and some few 
 touch the heart. 
 
ME. EANDOLPH. 379 
 
 " Mr. Randolph, the American, very tall and thin, as if 
 a stick, instead of shoulders, stretched out his coat ; his 
 hair tied behind with a black ribbon, but not pig-tailed, — it 
 flows from the ribbon like' old Steele's, with a curl at the 
 end, mixed brown and gray ; his face wrinkled like a 
 peach-stone, but all pliable, muscles moving with every 
 sensation of a feeling soul and lively imagination ; quick 
 dark eyes, with an indeiinable expression of acquired 
 habitual sedateness, in despite of nature ; his tone of 
 voice mild and repressed, yet in this voice he speaks 
 thoughts that breathe and words that burn. He is one of 
 the most eloquent men I ever heard speak ; and there is a 
 novelty in his view of things, and in his world of illusions 
 in art and nature, which is highly interesting." 
 
 Visits at Frognel, Hampstead, Slough, Portsmouth, 
 and Windsor followed. 
 
 The following letter from Sir Walter Scott will 
 explain itself. Miss Edgeworth was obliged to dc: 
 cline a pressing invitation from Scott to visit Scot- 
 land and his family this year, but the next year we 
 shall see her there. 
 
 [To Miss Edgeworth, Edgeworthstown.] 
 
 Abbotsfokd, 24tli April, 1822. 
 Mr DEAE Miss Edgeworth, — I am extremely sorry 
 indeed that you cannot fulfil your kind intentions to be 
 at Abbotsford this year. It is a great disappointment, 
 and I am grieved to think it should have arisen from the 
 loss of a valued relation. That is the worst part of life, 
 when its earlier path is trod. If my limbs get stiff, my 
 walks are made shorter, and my rides slower ; if my eyes 
 fail me, I can use glasses and a large print ; if I get 
 a little deaf, I comfort myself, that, except in a few in- 
 
380 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 stances, I shall be no great loser by missing one full half 
 of what is spoken : but I feel the loneliness of age when 
 my companions and friends are taken from me. The sud- 
 den death of both the Bos wells, and the bloody end of the 
 last, have given me great pain. You have never got half 
 the praise "Vivian" ought to have procured you. The 
 reason is, that the class from which the excellent portrait 
 was drawn feel the resemblance too painfully to thank the 
 author for it ; and I do not believe the common readers 
 understand it in the least. I who, thank God ! am neither 
 great man nor politician, have lived enough among them 
 to recognize the truth and nature of the painting, and am 
 no way implicated in the satire. ... I had arranged to 
 stay at least a month after the 12th of May, in hopes of 
 detaining you at Abbotsford ; and I will not let you off 
 under a month or two the next year. I shall have my 
 house completed, my library replaced, my armory new fur- 
 nished, my piper new clothed, and the time shall be July. 
 ... I know nothing I should wish you to see which has 
 any particular chance of becoming invisible in the course 
 of fourteen months, excepting my old bloodhound, poor 
 fellow, on whom age now sits so heavily that he cannot 
 follow me far from the house. I wished you to see him 
 very much. He is of that noble breed which Ireland, as 
 weU as Scotland, once possessed, and which is now almost 
 extinct in both countries. I have sometimes thought of 
 the final cause of dogs having such short lives, and I am 
 quite satisfied it is in compassion to the human race ; for 
 if we suffer so much in losing a dog after an acquaintance 
 of ten or twelve years, what would it be if they were to 
 live double that time ? 
 
 I don't propose being in London this year. ... I do 
 not like it. There is such a riding and driving, so much 
 to see, so much to say, — not to mention plover's eggs and 
 
lEHLAND. 381 
 
 champagne, — that I always feel too much excited in 
 London ; though it is good to rub off the rust too, some- 
 times, and brings you up abreast with the world as it 
 goes. 
 
 The Misses Edgeworth returned to Ireland the last 
 of June, and Maria at once went to work on the 
 sequel to " Harry and Lucy." She read the play of 
 Sir Walter Scott, and found it very stupid. This 
 little play was written for a charitable purpose ; and 
 Miss Edgeworth quotes, in remarking upon it, Mine, 
 de Stael's saying, " Les bons intentions ne sont pour 
 rien, dans les ouvrages d'esprit." 
 
 In writing of the progress of " Harry and Lucy," 
 she expressed her anxiety about its success ; saying 
 to a friend, who urged her to do some larger work 
 of the imagination, — 
 
 ' ' I assure you it is all I can do to satisfy myself tol- 
 erably as I go on with this sequel to ' Harry and Lucy,' 
 which engages all my attention. I am particularly anx- 
 ious to finish that well, as it was my dear father's own 
 and first book. As it must be more scientific than the 
 other ' Early Lessons,' it is more difficult to me, who have 
 so little knowledge of those subjects, and am obliged 
 to go so warily, lest I should teach error, or pretend to 
 teach what I do not know. ... I never could be easy 
 writing any thing else for my own amusement till I have 
 done this, which I know my father wished to have fin- 
 ished." 
 
 Miss Edgeworth did think, about this time, of 
 writing a tale called " The Travellers," which would 
 probably have embodied some of her own experi- 
 
382 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 ences of travel; but she never made a sketch of it: 
 other things proved more engrossing. During the 
 winter of 1822-23 she made a visit at Black Cas- 
 tle. Mrs. Ruxton was always an inspiration to her 
 niece, encouraging and animating her in any chosen 
 work. She it was, Maria said long after, who first 
 suggested to her the plot of " Castle Rackrent," and 
 then urged her to go on with it, when the fear of 
 failure, and her natural timidity, discouraged her. 
 
 Miss Edgeworth was delighted with "Peveril," 
 though "there is too much of the dwarfs and the 
 elfic." 
 
 "Scott cannot deny himself one of these spirits in 
 some shape or other. I hope that we shall find this elfin 
 page, who has the power of shrinking or expanding, as it 
 seems, to suit the occasion, is made really necessary to 
 the story. I think the dwarf more allowable, and better 
 drawn than the page, true to history, and consistent ; but 
 Finella is sometimes handsome 'enough to make duke and 
 and king ready to be in love with her, and sometimes an 
 odious little fury, clenching her hands, and to be lifted up 
 or down stairs out of the hero's way. The indistinctness 
 about her is not that indistinctness which belongs to the 
 sublime, but that which arises from unsteadiness in the 
 painter's hand when he sketched the figure. He touched 
 and retouched at different times, without having, as it 
 seems, a determined idea himself of what he would make 
 her ; nor had he settled whether she should bring with 
 her ' airs from heaven,' or blasts from that place which 
 is never named to ears polite." 
 
 In May, 1828, after long anticipation of such a 
 visit, Maria, taking with her her sisters Harriet and 
 
SCOTLAND. 383 
 
 Sophy, went to Scotland. Passing through Glasgow, 
 they saw the Bannatynes, and were cordially re- 
 ceived by them, after the lapse of twenty years which 
 had gone since Maria was there with Mr. and Mrs. 
 Edgeworth. They then went to Kinneil Castle, 
 where Mr. and Mrs. Dugald Stewart then lived. 
 After a few days pleasantly spent with their old 
 friends, marred somewhat by the very poor health 
 of Mr. Stewart, they left for Edinburgh, seeing on 
 their way Linlithgow Palace. They arrived in Ed- 
 inburgh, and found lodgings taken for them by the 
 Alisons in Abercromby Place. 
 
 Mr. Lockhart wrote in his life of Scott : — 
 
 " Among the visitants at Abbotsford in 1823 were Miss 
 Edgeworth and her sisters, Harriet and Sophia. After 
 spending a few weeks in 'Edinburgh, and making a tour 
 into the Highlands, they gave a fortnight to Abbotsford." 
 
 Scott wrote his first impressions of Maria, — 
 
 [To D. Terry.] 
 
 " Castle Street, June 18, 1823. 
 " My marbles ! my marbles ! Oh ! what must now be done ? 
 My drawing-room is finished off, but marbles there are none. 
 My marbles ! my marbles ! I fancied them so fine, 
 The marbles of Lord Elgin were but a joke to mine. 
 
 " In fact, we are all on tiptoe now for the marbles and 
 the chimney-grates, which being had and obtained, we 
 will be less clamorous about other matters. I have very 
 little news to send you : Miss Edgeworth is at present the 
 great lioness of Edinburgh, and a very nice lioness. 
 She is full of fun and spirit ; a little, slight figure, very 
 
384 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 active in her motions, very good-humored, and full of 
 enthusiasm." 
 
 This Edinburgh visit was very agreeable to all 
 the party. Maria had thought that city delightful 
 twenty years before. Of course she found many 
 changes. Her experience was not that of the ruler 
 who found the city of wood, and left it stone ; but 
 she saw a larger circle of society and more cosmopol- 
 itan manners and customs. Some observers consider 
 that the distinctive charm of the old city was lost 
 at this time. Mrs. Fletcher, in her autobiography, 
 speaks of tbe delightful society of Edinburgh : — 
 
 " The men then most distinguished in social intercourse, 
 alike by literary reputation and amiable manners in socie- 
 ty, WaLer Scott, Mr. Jeffrey, Dr. Thomas Brown, Mr. 
 Mackenzie, Mr. Thomas Thomson, Professor Playfair, 
 Mr. Pillans, the Rev. Dr. Alison. A little before this 
 time the forms of social meetings had somewhat changed 
 from what they were when I knew Edinburgh first. Large 
 dinner-parties were less frequent ; and supper-parties — 
 I mean hot suppers — were generally discarded. In their 
 place came large evening parties (sometimes larger than 
 the rooms could conveniently hold), where card-playing 
 generally gave place to music or conversation. The com- 
 pany met at nine and parted at twelve o'clock; tea and 
 coffee were handed about at nine, aud the guests sat down 
 to some light refreshments later on in the evening. Peo- 
 ple did not, in those parties, meet to eat, but to talk or 
 listen. There you would see a group (chiefly of ladies) 
 listening to the brilliant talk of Mr. Jeffrey ; in t differ- 
 ent part of the room, perhaps, another circle, amongst 
 whom were the pale-faced, reverential students, lending 
 
EDINBTJEGH. 385 
 
 their ears to the playful, imaginative discussions of Dr. 
 Brown, while Professor Playfair would sometimes throw 
 in an ingenious or quiet remark that gave fresh animation 
 to the discourse. On other occasions old Mr. Mackenzie 
 would enliven the conversation with anecdotes of men 
 and manners gone by." 
 
 Lord Brougham says of Mrs. Fletcher herself, 
 that, " with the utmost purity of life that can dignify 
 and enhance female charms, she combined the inflexi- 
 ble principles and deep political feeling of a Hutch- 
 inson and a Roland." 
 
 The changes noted by Mrs. Fletcher were of course 
 inevitable : the fame of the city had caused the loss 
 of just what she laments, by drawing to itself more 
 and more people desirous of moving among the lit- 
 erary and scientific society which it boasted as its 
 peculiar charm. 
 
 Mrs. Fletcher says of Miss Edgeworth, — 
 
 "In the spring of 1823 Maria Edgeworth and her two 
 younger sisters spent some time in Edinburgh. We met 
 first at my dear friend and pastor's house, the Rev. Mr. 
 Alison. It was the first time I had been introduced to 
 the author c ' Simple Susan ; ' though we were not un- 
 known to each other, as she told me her brothers had 
 often mentioned the agreeable society they met at our 
 house when they were students at Edinburgh. Miss Edge- 
 worth's personal appearance was not attractive ; but her 
 vivacity, good-humor, and cleverness in conversation, 
 quite equalled my expectations. I should say she was 
 more sprightly and brilliant than refined. She excelled 
 in the raciness of Irish humor ; but the great defect of 
 her manner, as it seemed to me, was an excess of compli- 
 
386 A STUDY OP MARIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 ment, or what in Ireland is called ' blarney ; ' and in one 
 who had moved in the best circles, both as to manners 
 and mind, it surprised me not a little. She repelled all 
 approach to intimacy on my part, by the excess of her 
 complimentary reception of me when we were first intro- 
 duced to each other at Mr. Alison's. I never felt confi- 
 dence in the reality of what she said afterwards. I do 
 not know whether it was the absence of good taste in her, 
 or that she supposed I was silly and vain enough to be 
 flattered by such verbiage. It was the first time in my 
 life I had met with such over-acted civility ; but I was 
 glad of an opportunity of meeting a person whose genius 
 and powers of mind had been exercised in benefiting the 
 world as hers have been. I feel sure from the feelings of 
 those friends who love her, because they knew her well, 
 that had this been the case with me, I might also have 
 been one of her friends : so that I only give my impres- 
 sion as arising from that of society intercourse of a 
 very superficial kind. Miss Edgeworth and her two very 
 agreeable sisters were pleased to meet at our house Sir 
 Robert and Lady Listen, They accompanied us some 
 days after this to dine at Milburn Tower, the Listons' 
 country-house, near Edinburgh. Miss Edgeworth's va- 
 ried information and quick repartee appeared to great 
 advantage in conversation with the polished ex-ambassador 
 of Constantinople, who always reminded me of the coup- 
 let,— 
 
 ' Polite, as all his life in courts had been, 
 Yet good as he the world had never seen.'" 
 
 Mrs. Fletcher judged Maria to be insincere ; for- 
 getting that the warmth of her manner was perfectly 
 natural, and her heart was warm and overflowing 
 with benevolence. 
 
sift WALTER SCOTT. 887 
 
 Years after this, Miss Edgeworth put into the 
 mouth of Lady Davenant in " Helen," a description 
 of the appearance of Sir Walter Scott. 
 
 " ' If you have seen Eaeburn's admirable pictures, or 
 Chantrey's speaking bust,' replied Lady Davenant, 'you 
 have as complete an idea of Sir "Walter Scott as painting 
 or sculpture can give. The first impression of his appear- 
 ance and manner was surprising to me, I recollect, from 
 its quiet, unpretending good-nature ; but scarcely had 
 that impression been made, before I was struck with 
 something of the chivalrous courtesy of other times. In 
 his conversation you would have found all that is most 
 delightful in all his works, — the combined talents and 
 knowledge of the historian, novelist, antiquary, and poet. 
 He recited poetry admirably, his whole face and figure 
 kindling as he spoke ; but whether talking, reading, or 
 reciting, he never tired me, even with admiring. And 
 it is curious, that, in conversing with him, I frequently 
 found myself forgetting that I was speaking to Sir AYalter 
 Scott ; and, what is even more extraordinary, forgetting 
 that Sir Walter Scott was speaking to me, till I was 
 awakened to the conviction by his saying something 
 which no one else could have said. Altogether, he was 
 certainly the most perfectly agreeable and perfectly amia- 
 ble great man I ever knew,' " 
 
388 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Account of the Meeting between Maria and Sir Walter Scott. — An 
 Evening with him. — Edinburgh seen with Sir Walter. — The 
 Lakes and the Highlands. — Abbotsford. — Happy Visit. — Return 
 to Ireland. — Home Affairs. — Visitors. — The Mental Thermome- 
 ter. — "Take for Granted." — Mr. Constable. — The Visit of Sir 
 Walter Scott to Ireland. — His Stay at Edgeworthstown. —Their 
 Trip to Killarny. 
 
 Miss Edgbworth's first memorable meeting with 
 Sir Walter Scott was immediately after her arrival 
 in Edinburgh. They had corresponded for 3^ears, 
 but had no previous personal acquaintance. She had 
 a note from him the evening they arrived. 
 
 Dear Miss Edgeworth, — I have just received j'our 
 kind note, just wlien I had persuaded myself it was most 
 likely I should see you in person, or hear of your arrival. 
 Mr. Alison writes to me that you are engaged to dine 
 with him to-morrow ; which puts Eoslin out of the ques- 
 tion for that day, as it might keep j'ou late. On Sunday 
 I hope you will join our family party at five, and on Slon- 
 day I have asked one or two of the Northern lights on 
 purpose to meet you. I should be engrossing at any 
 time, but we shall be more disposed to do so just now 
 because on the 12th I am under the necessity of going 
 to a different kingdom (only the kingdom of Fife) for a 
 day or two. To-morrow, if it is quite agreeable, I will 
 
A CALL. 389 
 
 wait upon you about twelve, and hope you will permit me 
 
 to show you some of our improvements. I am always 
 
 Most respectfully yours, 
 
 Walter Scott. 
 Edinbubgh, Friday. 
 
 Postscript. — Our old family coach is licensed to carry 
 six, so take no care on that score. I enclose Mr. Ali- 
 son's note ; truly sorry I could not accept the invitation it 
 contains. 
 
 Postscript. — My wife insists I shall add that the 
 Laird of Staffa promised to look in on us this evening at 
 eight or nine, for the purpose of letting us hear one of 
 his clansmen sing some Highland boat-songs, and the 
 like ; and that if you will come, as the Irish should to 
 the Scotch, without any ceremony, you will hear what is 
 more curious than mellifluous. The man returns to the 
 Isles to-morrow. There are no strangers with us, no 
 party ; none but all our own family, and two old friends. 
 Moreover, all our womankind have been calling at Gibbs's 
 Hotel : so if you are not really tired and late, you have 
 not even pride — the ladies' last defence — to oppose to 
 this request. But, above all, do not fatigue yourself and 
 the young ladies. No dressing to be thought of ! 
 
 "Ten o'clock struck as I read the note. We were 
 tired, we were not fit to be seen ; but I thought it right to 
 accept Walter Scott's cordial invitation, sent for a hack- 
 ney coach, and, just as we were, without dressing, went. 
 As the coach stopped, we saw the hall lighted, and the 
 moment the door opened, heard the joyous sounds of 
 loud singing. Three servants ' the Miss Edgeworths ' 
 sounded from hall to landing-place ; and, as I paused for 
 a moment in the ante-room, I heard the first sound of 
 Walter Scott's voice, — ' The Miss Edgeworths come ! ' 
 
390 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 "The room was lighted by only one globe lamp. A 
 circle were singing loud and beating time : all stopped in 
 an instant ; and Sir Walter Scott, in the most cordial and 
 courteous manner, stepped forward to welcome us : ' Miss 
 Edge worth, this is so kind of you ! ' 
 
 " My first impression was, that he was neither so large 
 nor so heavy in appearance as I had been led to expect by 
 description, prints, bust, and picture. He is more lame 
 than I expected, but not unwieldy. His countenance, 
 even by the uncertain light in which I first saw it, pleased 
 me much : benevolent and full of genius, without the 
 slightest effort at expression, delightfully natural, as if 
 he did not know he was Walter Scott, or the great un- 
 known of the North, as if he only thought of making 
 others happy. After naming to us ' Lady Scott, Staffa, 
 my daughter Lockhart, Sophia, another daughter Anne, 
 my son, my son-in-law Lockhart,' just in the broken cir- 
 cle as they then stood, and showing me that only his 
 family and two friends, Mr. Clarke and Mr. Sharpe, were 
 present, he sat down for a moment on a low sofa ; and, 
 on my saying, ' Do not let us interrupt what was gomg 
 on,' he immediately rose and begged Staffa to bid his 
 boatmen strike up again. ' Will you then join in the 
 circle with us ? ' — he put the end of a silk handkerchief 
 into my hand, and others into my sisters. They held by 
 these handkerchiefs all in their circle again ; and the boat- 
 man began to roar out a Gaelic song, to which they all 
 stamped in time, and repeated a chorus, which, as far as I 
 could hear, sounded like 'At am Vaun! at am Vaun!' 
 frequently repeated with prodigious enthusiasm. In an- 
 other I could make out no intelligible sound but ' Bar ! 
 bar ! bar ! ' But the boatman's dark eyes were ready to 
 start out of his head with rapture as he sang and stamped, 
 and shook the handkerchief on each side, and the circle 
 imitated. 
 
LADY SCOTT. 891 
 
 " Lady Scott is so exactly what I have seen her de- 
 scribed, that it seemed as if we had seen her before. 
 She must have been very handsome, — French, dark, 
 large eyes, civil and good-natnred. 
 
 " Supper at a round table, a family supper, with atten- 
 tion to us just sufficient, and no more. The impression 
 left on my mind this night was, that Walter Scott is one 
 of the best-bred men I ever saw, with all the exquisite 
 politeness which he knows so well how to describe, which 
 is of no particular school or country, but which is of all 
 countries, — the politeness which arises from good and 
 quick sense and feeling, which seems to know by instinct 
 the character of others, to see what will please, and put 
 all his guests at their ease. As I sat beside him at sup- 
 per I could not believe he was- a stranger, and forgot he 
 was a great man. Mr. Lockhart is very handsome, quite 
 unlike his picture in 'Peter's Letters.' " 
 
 When Sir Walter Scott made his visit to the 
 Hebrides in 1810, he became acquainted with this 
 gentleman, Sir Reginald Macdonald Stewart Seton 
 of Staffa, Allantown, and Touch, and he described 
 his sending his piper, a constant attendant, to wake 
 a neighboring family for them. He wrote an enthu- 
 siastic and interesting description of Staffa and 
 lona, and tells how his way was beguiled by the 
 boat-songs of the clan, in a letter to Joanna Baillie. 
 In " The Lord of the Isles," he embalmed his memory 
 of this time in verse : — 
 
 " That wondrous dome, 
 Where, as to shame the temples decked 
 By skill of earthly architect, 
 Natiire herself it seemed would raise 
 A minster to her Maker's praise." 
 
892 A STUDY OP MARIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 Miss Edgeworth saw historic Edinburgh under the 
 auspices of Scott. 
 
 "His conversation all the time better than anything 
 we could see, full of apropos anecdote, historic, serious 
 or comic, just as occasion called for it ; and all with a 
 bonhomie and an ease that made us forget it was any 
 trouble, even to his lameness, to mount flights of eternal 
 stairs." 
 
 Slie found in Sir Walter peculiar charms. 
 
 "His strong affection for his early friends and his 
 country gives a power and a charm to his conversation 
 which cannot be given by the polish of the London world, 
 and by the habit of literary conversation." 
 
 After these delightful days in seeing Edinburgh, 
 which she described as "the most magnificent as 
 well as the most romantic of cities," they saw Roslin 
 Castle and its exquisite chapel with Scott ; and then, 
 being joined by their brother William, the party left 
 for an excursion to the North, as William wished to 
 see the great engineering works in the Highlands. 
 
 They saw all the romantic beauties of Loch Ka- 
 trine and the mountains. One lovely day's drive 
 Miss Edgeworth remarked on : — 
 
 " Mountains behind mountains, as far as the eye could 
 reach, in every shade, from darkest to palest Indian ink, 
 cloud-color ; an ocean of mountains, with perpetually 
 changing foreground of rocks, sometimes bare as they 
 were born, sometimes wooded better than even the hand 
 of mortal taste clothed a mountain in reality or pictm'e, 
 with oak, aspen, and the beautiful pendent birch." 
 
scott's impressions of makia. 393 
 
 Miss Edgeworth was taken ill at Forres on this 
 journey, but soon recovered, and was able to con- 
 tinue this pleasant trip. 
 
 The following letter from Sir Walter Scott to 
 Miss Joanna Baillie will show his impressions of 
 Miss Edgeworth : — 
 
 "Edinburgh, July 11, 1823. 
 
 "We saw, you will readily suppose, a great deal of 
 Miss Edgeworth, and two very nice girls, her younger 
 sisters. It is scarcely possible to say more of this very 
 remarkable person than that she not only completely 
 answered, but exceeded, the expectations which I had 
 formed. I am particularly pleased with the na'ivete and 
 good-humored ardor of mind which she unites with such 
 formidable powers of acute observation. In external 
 appearance she is quite the fairy of our nursery-tale, — 
 the Whippity Stourie, if you remember such a sprite, who 
 came flying through the window to work all sorts of mar- 
 vels. I will never believe but what she has a wand in her 
 pocket, and pulls it out to conjure a little before she begins 
 to draw those very striking pictures of manners. I am 
 grieved to say, that, since they left Edinburgh on a tour to 
 the Highlands, they have been detained at Forres, by an 
 erysipelas breaking out on Miss Edgeworth's face. They 
 have been twelve days there, and are now returning south- 
 wards, as a letter from Harriet informs me. I hope soon 
 to have them at Abbotsford, where we will take good care 
 of them, and the invalid in particular. What would I 
 give to have you and Mrs. Agues to meet them, and what 
 canty cracks we would set up about the days of lang- 
 syne ! The increasing powers of steam, which, like you, 
 I look on half-proud, half-sad, half-angry, and half- 
 pleased, in doing so much for the commercial world, 
 
394 A STUDY OF MAKIA EDGEWOBTH. 
 
 promise something also for the sociable, and, like Prince 
 Houssein's tapestry, will, I think, one day waft friends 
 together in the course of a few hours, and, for aught we 
 may be able to tell, bring Hampstead and Abbotsford 
 within the distance of, — ' Will you dine with us quietly 
 to-morrow ? ' I wish I could advance this happy abridg- 
 ment of time and space, so as to make it serve my 
 present wishes." 
 
 On their return to Edinburgh, ttiey passed a de- 
 lightful day with the family of Lord Jeffrey, at 
 Craigcrook. 
 
 On the 27th of July the Misses Edgeworth ar- 
 rived at Abbotsford. Sir Walter was then at the 
 height of his fame, and surrounded by a happy 
 family circle. The gay walks, the evening conver- 
 sation, the daily drives, made a bright and never-to- 
 be-forgotten visit. In these drives, Sir Walter was 
 full of never-ceasing talk ; and wit and wisdom 
 flowed from his boundless store. " He used to drive 
 with his dog Spicer in his lap, and Lady Scott with 
 her dog Ourisk in hers." Maria liked Lady Scott, 
 while Lady Scott appreciated the kindly attention 
 which Miss Edgeworth paid her. Too many of Sir 
 Walter's visitors treated her with neglect or ridicule. 
 Maria noted and admired the manner in which Lady 
 Scott presided over a large establishment with judi- 
 cious care and well-regulated hospitality. They saw, 
 with Scott, Melrose Abbey, Ettrick Forest, and the 
 ruins of Newark Hall, " where the ladies bent their 
 necks of snow to hear the 'Lay of the last Minstrel.'" 
 
 Maria, on seeing Sir Walter in his own home at 
 
ABBOTSrOED. 395 
 
 Abbotsford, was more than ever charmed with him. 
 There the strength and simplicity of his character 
 showed itself. 
 
 " I never saw an author less of an author in his habits. 
 This I early observed, but have been the more struck 
 with it the longer I have been with him. He has, indeed, 
 such variety of occupations, that he has not time to think 
 of his own works : how he has time to write them, is the 
 wonder. You would like htm for his love of trees : a 
 great part of his time out of doors is taken up in pruning 
 his trees. I have, within this hour, heard a gentleman 
 say to him, ' You have had a good deal of experience in 
 planting, Sir Walter : do you advise much thinning, or 
 not?'^ — -'I should advise much thinning, but little at a 
 time. If you thin much at a time, you let in the wind, 
 and hurt your trees.' " 
 
 Long afterwards Miss Edgeworth told Mrs. S. C. 
 Hall, that she proposed to Scott that they should 
 visit Melrose Abbey by moonlight, as she recalled 
 with pleasure his famous lines, — 
 
 "If thou wouldst view fair Melrose aright, 
 Go visit it by the pale moonlight." 
 
 Scott at once assented, adding, "By all means, 
 let us go, for I myself have never seen Melrose by 
 moonlight." 
 
 Lockhart says, — 
 
 "The next month — August, 1823 — was one of the 
 happiest in Scott's life. Never did I see a brighter day 
 at Abbotsford than that on which Miss Edgeworth first 
 arrived there : never can I forget her look and accent 
 
396 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 when she was received by him at his archway, and ex- 
 claimed, ' Every thing about you is exactly what one 
 ought to have had wit enough to dream ! ' The weather 
 was beautiful, and the edifice and its appurtenances were 
 all but complete ; and day after day, so long as she could 
 remain, her host had always some new plan of gayety. 
 One day there was fishing on the Cauldshiels Loch, and 
 a dinner on the heathy bank. Another, the whole party 
 feasted by Thomas the Rymer's waterfall in the glen ; 
 and the stone on which Maria that day sat was ever 
 afterwards called ' Edgeworth's stone.' A third day we 
 had to go farther a-field. He must needs show her, not 
 Newark only, but all the upper scenery of the Yarrow, 
 where ' fair hangs the apple frae the rock ; ' and the 
 baskets were unpacked about sunset, beside the ruined 
 chapel overhanging St. Mary's Loch. And he bad scram- 
 bled to gather bluebells and heath-flowers, with which all 
 the young ladies must twine their hair ; and they sang, 
 and he recited, until it was time to go home, beneath the 
 softest of harvest moons. Thus a fortnight was passed, 
 and the vision closed. ' ' 
 
 During the visit to Abbotsford in 1823, commemo- 
 rated in a pictorial group ^ in which he is included, 
 Mr. Constable had the honor of meeting Miss Edge- 
 worth ; and the impression he made on her must 
 have been favorable, for she begged him to commu- 
 nicate with her London publisher regarding plans he 
 had suggested for promoting the sale of her works. 
 Miss Edgeworth writes as follows, while on her 
 homeward route : — 
 
 ' By Mr. William Stewart Watson. 
 
LETTEK TO ME. CONSTABLE. 89T 
 
 [Miss Edgeworth to Mr. Constable.] 
 
 Glasgow, Aug. 13, 1823. 
 
 Dear Sie, — You have gratified me mueli by your 
 polite attention to my sisters. The present of the proof - 
 engraving you have sent me is invaluable : the very thing 
 for which I had wished, and had despaired of obtain- 
 ing. 
 
 You talked of sending me a prospectus of your new 
 encyclopaedia. I wish you could send it to me while 
 I am in Grasgow. I shall be here till Monday or Tuesday 
 next. If you have not been able to procure the review of 
 books for young people, do not trouble yourself more 
 about it ; because I can get it from Hunter, to whom I am 
 going to write. I wish you would write to him the note 
 of advice you proposed. Send it to me, and I will enclose 
 it in my own letter. 
 
 I rejoice that we had the pleasure of meeting you at 
 Abbotsford, and I am glad to owe this among the num- 
 berless other obligations I have to the Great Knoimi. 
 
 Many may be, or may seem, great while unknown ; but 
 few like him, appear greater the more they are known. 
 
 I am, dear sir, your obliged, 
 
 Maria Edgevtoeth. 
 
 After leaving the pleasant home of Scott, they 
 went to Glasgow to their friends the Bannatynes, and 
 by easy stages returned to Ireland by Port Patrick. 
 They made some visits on their homeward way, and 
 arrived at Edgeworthstown the 3d of September. 
 Sir Walter wrote Miss Edgeworth after this visit, 
 which made them very intimate friends for life. The 
 following was his first letter : — 
 
398 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOBTH. 
 
 Abbotsfoed, Sept. 22, 1S23. 
 
 My dear Miss Edgeworth, — Miss Harriet had the 
 goodness to give me an account of your safe arrival in the 
 Green Isle, of which I was, sooth to say, extremely glad ; 
 for I had my owu private apprehensions that your very 
 disagreeable disorder might return while you were among 
 strangers, and in our rugged climate. I now conclude 
 you are settled quietly at home, and looking back on rec- 
 ollections of mountains and vallej's, and pipes and clans 
 and cousins, and masons and carpenters and puppy-dogs, 
 and all the confusion of Abbotsford, as one does on the 
 recollections of a dream. We shall not easily forget 
 the vision of having seen you and our two J'oung friends, 
 and your kind indulgence for all our humors, sober and 
 fantastic, rough or smooth. Mamma writes to make her 
 own acknowledgments for your very kind attention about 
 the cobweb stockings, which reached us under the omnipo- 
 tent frank of Crocker, who, like a true Irish heart, never 
 scruples stretching his powers a little to serve a friend. 
 
 AVe are all here much as you left us, only in possession 
 of our drawing-room, and glorious with our gas-lights, 
 which as yet have only involved us once in total dark- 
 ness, once in a temporary eclipse. In both cases the 
 remedy was easy, and the cause obvious ; and if the gas 
 has no greater objections than I have yet seen or can antici- 
 pate, it is soon like to put wax and mutton-suet entirely 
 out of fashion. I have recovered, by great accident, 
 another verse or two of Miss Sophia's beautiful Irish air: 
 it is only curious as hinting at the cause of the poor 
 damsel-of-the-red-petticoat's deep dolour : — 
 
 " I went to the mill, but the miller was gone : 
 I sat me down and cried ochone. 
 To think on the days that are past and gone, 
 Of Dickie Macphalion that's slain. 
 Shool, shool, etc. 
 
scott's letter. 399 
 
 I sold my rock, I sold my reel, 
 And sae hae I my spinning-wheel, — 
 And all to buy a cap of steel 
 For Dickie Macphalion that's slain. 
 Shool, shool, etc." 
 
 But who was Dickie Macphalion for whom this lament 
 was composed? Who was the Pharaoh for whom the 
 pyramid was raised? The questions are equally du- 
 bious and equally important ; but as the one, we may 
 reasonably suppose, was a king of Egypt, so I think we 
 may guess the other to have been a captain of Rapparees, 
 since the ladies, God bless them, honor with the deepest 
 of their lamentation, gallants who live wildly, die bravely, 
 and scorn to survive until they become old and not worth 
 weeping for. So much for Dickie Macphalion, who, I 
 dare say, was in his day, "a proper young man." We 
 have had Sir Humphry Davy here for a day or two — 
 very pleasant and instructive. 
 
 I wish Miss Harriet would dream no more ominous 
 visions about Spicer. The poor thing has been very ill of 
 that fatal disorder proper to the canine race, called, par 
 excellence, the distemper. I have prescribed for her, as 
 who should say thus you would doctor a dog ; and I hope 
 to brmg her through, as she is a very affectionate little 
 creature, and of a fine race. She has still an odd wheez- 
 ing, however, which makes me rather doubtful of success. 
 The Lockharts are both well, and at present our lodg- 
 ers, together with John Hugh, or, as he calls himself, 
 Donichue, which sounds like one of your old Irish kings. 
 They all join in every thing kind and affectionate to you 
 and the young ladies, and best compliments to your 
 brother. Believe me ever, dear Miss Edgeworth, yours, 
 with the greatest truth and respect, 
 
 Walter Scott. 
 
400 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOBTH. 
 
 One can well imagine what an enjoyment this 
 journey to Scotland was to Miss Edgeworth. A 
 delightful episode in a life not uneventful or unin- 
 teresting. After her return, she described herself 
 as doing " nothing but idling and reading, and pav- 
 ing a gutter and yard to Honora's pig-sty and school- 
 house : " this seems a truly Irish combination of the 
 " pig-sty and schoolhouse." 
 
 While Miss Edgeworth was at Abbotsford, she 
 related the story of Carabou, and the imposture 
 practised by her ; and Sir Walter used this incident 
 in his " St. Ronan's Well." 
 
 In January of the year 1824 Miss Edgeworth 
 made a visit to her friends at Pakenham Hall. In 
 March of this year her sister Sophy married their 
 cousin, Capt. Barry Fox. 
 
 Scott wrote a letter which contained the following 
 allusion to this event, Maria having announced the 
 marriage of her sister : — 
 
 " I do not delay a moment to send my warmest and 
 best congratulations upon the very happy event which is 
 about to take place in your family, and to assure you that 
 you do me but common justice in supposing that I take 
 the warmest interest in whatever concerns my young 
 friends. All Abbotsford to an acre of Poyais, that she 
 will make an excellent wife ; and most truly happy am I 
 to think that she has such an admirable prospect of mat- 
 rimonial happiness, although at the expense of thwarting 
 the maxim, and showing that ' the course of true love 
 sometimes may run smooth. ' It will make a pretty vista, 
 as I hope and trust, for j'ou, my good friend, to look 
 forwards with an increase of interest to futurity. Lady 
 
scott's lettek. 401 
 
 Scott, Anne, and Sophia, send their sincere and hearty 
 congratulations upon this joyful occasion. I hope to hear 
 her sing ' The Petticoat of Red ' some day in her own 
 house. I should be apt to pity you a little amid all your 
 happiness, if j'ou had not my friend Miss Harriet, besides 
 other young companions, whose merits are only known to 
 me by report, to prevent your feeling, so much as you 
 would otherwise, the blank which this event must occasion 
 in yonr domestic society. . . . There was great propriety 
 in Miss Harriet's dream, after all ; for if ever a dog 
 needed six legs, poor Spicer certainly requires a pair of 
 additional supporters. She is now following me a little, 
 though the duty of body-guard has devolved for the pres- 
 ent on a cousin of hers, — a fierce game devil that goes 
 at every thing, and has cowed Ourisque's courage in a 
 most extraordinary degree, to Lady Scott's great vexa- 
 tion. Here is a tale of dogs ' and dreams and former days ! 
 But the only pleasure in writing is to write whatever comes 
 readiest to the pen. My wife and Anne send kindest 
 compliments of congratulation, as also Charles, who has 
 come down to spend four or five months with us : he is 
 just entered at Brazen Nose — on fire to be a scholar of 
 classical renown, and studying (I hope the humor will last) 
 like a very dragon. 
 
 " Always, my dear Miss Edgeworth, with best love to 
 the bride and to dear Harriet, 
 
 " Very much yours, 
 
 "Walter Scott." 
 
 While Miss Edgeworth was making a visit at 
 Black Castle in July of this year, the news arrived 
 
 1 Sir Walter Scott raised one dog of his famous Dandie Dinmont 
 breed for Miss Edgeworth ; but it died, and then came his trouble 
 and ill-health, and he did not attempt to give her a dog. 
 
402 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 of Mrs. Beddoes's death in Florence. Miss Edge- 
 worth was very much attached to her ; and once, 
 when some one remarked that they looked much 
 like each other, she expressed pleasure at the thought. 
 There were many visitors during the summer ; and 
 among them may be named Mr. Hunter the pub- 
 lisher, Mr. Butler, and a Mr. Hamilton, whom Maria 
 called "an Admirable Crichton of eighteen." It 
 was in December of this year that Maria received a 
 superb portfolio from a Jewish lady, a Miss Yates 
 of Liverpool, with the name "Harrington" on it, — 
 a remembrance of her regard for the Jews, in writing 
 that tale which had for its hero a good Jew. 
 
 In January of 1825 Miss Edgeworth had a request 
 from a foreigner settled in London, a publisher by 
 the name of Lupton Relfe, that she would look over 
 her portfolio for something for an Annual he was 
 preparing. She recollected " The Mental Thermom- 
 eter," 1 which had never been printed, except in an 
 Irish farmers' journal not known in England. 
 
 "So [she adds] I rooted in the garret under pyra- 
 mids of old newspapers, with ray mother's prognostica- 
 tions that I never should find it, and loud prophecies that 
 I should catch my death ; which I did not : but, dirty 
 and dusty and cobwebby, I came forth, after two hours' 
 grovelling, with my object in my hand ! Cut it out, added 
 a few lines of new end to, and packed it off to Lupton 
 Eelfe ; telling him it was an old thing written when I was 
 sixteen. Weeks elapsed, and I heard no more ; when 
 there came a letter, exuberant in gratitude, and sending 
 
 ' See Appeudix. 
 
"TAKE FOE GRANTED." 403 
 
 a parcel containing six copies of the new Memorandum 
 Book, and' a most beautiful twelfth edition of ' Scott's 
 Poetical Works,' bound in the most elegant manner, 
 and with most beautifully engraved frontispieces and 
 vignettes, and a five-pound note. I was quite ashamed ; 
 but I have done all I could for him by giving the 
 ' Friendship's Offering ' to all the fine people I could 
 think of. The set of 'Scott's Works' made a nice 
 New- Year's gift for Harriet. She had seen this edition 
 in Edinburgh, and particularly wished for it. Made a 
 present of the five pounds to some one else. I might 
 have looked over my portfolio till doomsday, as I have not 
 an unpublished scrap, except ' Take for Granted.' " 
 
 This " Take for Granted " Miss Edgeworth made 
 many notes for, but never finished it. This remark 
 of hers vv^ould seem to clearly disprove the statement 
 sometimes made, that she left many manuscripts, as 
 she vs^as certainly at the height of her powers at this 
 time; and if she had no unpublished writings in 
 1825, it is not probable that she left any manuscripts 
 of importance. " Take for Granted " never quite 
 pleased her, and she worked many years at it ; but 
 it reached no more definite shape than notes. In 
 writing late at night at this time, she playfully adds, 
 as she felt guilty on hearing the carriage, with Mrs. 
 Edgeworth, rolling up to the door, — 
 
 ' ' Yours affectionately, in all the haste of guilt con- 
 science-stricken, that is, found out. No ! All safe, all 
 innocent, because not found out. Finis. 
 
 " By the author of ' Moral Tales ' and ' Practical Edu- 
 cation.' " 
 
404 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 [Miss Edgewortli to Mr. Constable.] 
 
 Edgbworthstown, ISTov. 18, 1824. 
 
 Dear Sir, — I have received from some unknown 
 friend a perfect copy of " Eeginald Dalton," for which 
 I suspect that I am obliged to you. If so, accept my 
 thanks. I assure you that when I asked for a few pages, 
 I did not mean to beg a book. The copy which I first 
 possessed I shall keep as a curiosity, on which future 
 commentators in future ages may write ingeniously on the 
 inexhaustible subject of the Scotch novels. 
 
 "Matthew Wald " has great power. I am sorry his 
 story came to such a horrid, and unnecessarily and uncon- 
 scionably horrid, a conclusion. 
 
 I am delighted with " Redgauntlet." The author has 
 made more of rebellion, and more of the Pre — Che — 
 than any man alive or dead ever did. 
 
 I, in common with thousands and tens of thousands, 
 am impatient for the next production of that exhaustless 
 genius. Christmas, I hope, will find us all happily at 
 "The Crusades." 
 
 I am, dear sir, with many thanks for your obliging 
 attentions. 
 
 Yours sincerely, 
 
 Maria Edgeworth. 
 
 Mr. Constable wrote, begging Miss Edgeworth's 
 co-operation in the scheme for his encyclopsedia. 
 She replied as follows : — 
 
 Edgbworthstown, Jan. 19, 1825. 
 Dear Sir, — I have delayed answering your obliging 
 letter, that I might get an opinion from a friend in Eng- 
 land upon your plan ; which, as lie is a man of science 
 and high reputation in the scientific world, must be worth 
 
LETTER TO CONSTABLE. 405 
 
 much more to you than mine can be, ignorant as I am of 
 science or of the requisites, for such an encycIopEedia as 
 you propose to form. As far as I can judge, I agree 
 completely with my friend's opinion, which I enclose to 
 you. I think for youth you should not give treatises on 
 each subject ; indeed, for all people there is an encyclo- 
 paedia too much or too little. Those who want to study 
 deeply must go through the regular means of study, in 
 the complete treatises published in different works on the 
 subjects ; but m referring to an encyclopsedic dictionary, 
 young people especially want immediate, precise informa- 
 tion of the meaning of certain terms, or of the means of 
 accomplishing certain purposes. It should be, therefore, 
 more practical than theoretic. If I were you, in the first 
 place I would weed out all the heads in your present pro- 
 spectus which would be general treatises, and class the 
 others into what are essential, necessary in the next 
 degree, and so on. When you have thus got rid of what 
 is obviously superfluous for your purpose, compress again 
 and again, till you get your design into the smallest com- 
 pass that will hold the needful : portion this out to the 
 most skilful hands, make it worth their while ; and then 
 you secure the solid reputation of your book by their 
 work, and its celebrity by their names. When this is 
 done, you may, if you want bulk, add what other articles 
 you please. If you make, as my friend advises, your 
 arrangement alphabetical, you will have no trouble. 
 
 For mercy's sake, make your writers say all they have 
 to say under one good head, and not refer the wretched 
 readers from one letter to another, till their patience and 
 desire for information be absolutely worn out, — Arch, 
 see Building ; Building, see Masonry ; Masonry, see Ar- 
 chitecture, Civil, Gothic, etc. ; and then a whole treatise 
 on each before yoii can get the simple meaning of an 
 arch, or how to construct one. 
 
406 A STUDY OP MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 You told me in your letter that you enclosed some list 
 of articles which you particularly wished from me. No 
 such list came in your letter. No matter, for I have as 
 much on my hands at present as I can possibly do till 
 Easter : therefore I would not undertake any thing for 
 you till after that time.^ 
 
 I am highly flattered by the compliment you intended 
 me in putting an engraving of my portrait in this work. 
 But, independently of the reason which could induce me 
 to decline it for your sake as quite unsuited to your work, 
 it is impossible I should give it you, as I have refused my 
 portrait to my nearest relations. I truly think that both 
 the public and I shall be better off in conseqiience of this 
 my determination. 
 
 I see my father's name in your prospectus. I certainly 
 do not wish that to be struck out. I think I see your 
 kind intentions to have justice done to his memory, and 
 to his professional education. I thank you : you could 
 not gratify me more. Command me in any assistance I 
 am able to give as soon as my having accomplished my 
 present engagements gives me time at my own disposal. 
 
 My friend Mr. Butler was grateful for your attentions 
 to him, and for the fine engraving of Sir Walter Scott 
 which you gave him. If you can, pray send me "The 
 Crusaders ' ' before they are published. . . . 
 
 If a pretty, elegant, lady's memorandum-book, whose 
 title is, I think, " Friendship's Offering, or Lady's Re- 
 membrancer," sliould come from London to P^dinburgh, 
 pray give it a good puff, and a good push forward. The 
 publisher, a man of a strange name, Luptou Eelfe, is 
 unknown to me ; but he besouglit me to give him a help- 
 
 1 The suhjecis which Mr. Constable desired that Miss Edgeworth 
 should contribute were, Female Education; Etiquette, Recreations, 
 Rational and Useful, for the Female Ses. 
 
MES. BAKBAULD. 407 
 
 ing hand, and told me he had expended fifteen hundred 
 pounds in getting up this pretty trifle. I sent him a 
 few pages containing an old thermometer, a Mental Ther- 
 mometer, constructed when I was sixteen. He sent me 
 in return a hundred thousand times more than it was 
 worth, ■ — a beautiful copy of Scott's poetical works, your 
 duodecimo edition, with the frontispiece portrait of Sir 
 Walter, and beautiful little vignettes. 
 
 I feel as if I had taken bounty-money, and enlisted to 
 serve him ; and I really have no power to do so : pray 
 help me, for you can. I sent his pocket-book to Lady 
 Scott, I think by Mr. Butler, but have never heard of 
 her receiving it. I am, dear sir, yours sincerely, 
 
 Makia Edgeworth. 
 
 This was a very favorite project of Constable's ; 
 and Mr. Jeffrej'" alluded to a plan of one proposed 
 by him as early as 1804, in a letter he was writing 
 to Francis Horner. The business crisis in Mr. Con- 
 stable's affair brought the plan to an end. 
 
 Miss Edgeworth heard of her old friend Mrs. 
 Barbauld's death in March, 1825, while she was at 
 Black Castle, and wrote as follows: — 
 
 "You have probably seen in the papers the death of 
 our admirable friend, Mrs. Barbauld. I have copied for 
 you her last letter to me, and some beautiful lines written 
 in her eightieth year. There is a melancholy elegance 
 and force of thought in both. Elegance and strength — ■ 
 qualities rarely uniting without injury to each other — 
 combined most perfectly in her style ; and this rare com- 
 bination, added to their classical purity, forms perhaps 
 the distinguishing characteristics of her writings. Eng- 
 land has lost a great writer, and we a most sincere friend." 
 
408 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWORTH. 
 
 There is a nice discrimination and analysis of char- 
 acter shown in these words about Mrs. Barbauld. 
 
 " In reading one of the most paltry quartos I ever 
 opened," said Miss Edgeworth at this time, " ' The 
 Life of Murphy,' a perfect sample of the art of 
 book-making, I found two excellent things in proof 
 of my system that there is no book so worthless but 
 we may find some good in it." 
 
 She was surprised to see herself mentioned at 
 length, and a discussion of her writings, in the re- 
 view of the novel "Tremaine," in the new "Monthly 
 Magazine " for May, 1825. She said she was in this 
 review "like Mahomet's coffin, between heaven and 
 earth." 
 
 During Moore's visit to Ireland in this year, he 
 mentions driving with Sir Philip Crampton, in his 
 gig, in the Phoenix Park, Dublin, and adds, — 
 
 "He gave me some pretty verses of his own to Miss 
 Edgeworth, with Sir Walter Scott's pen ; showed me 
 some verses of hers to himself, strongly laudatory, but 
 very bad." 
 
 Miss Edgeworth wrote the following letter to Con- 
 stable in behalf of a protSgSe : — 
 
 [Miss Edgeworth to Mr. Constable. | 
 
 Edgewokthstown, March 12, 1825. 
 Sm, — Some very interesting letters, from a lady who 
 has been for tliese last four years resident in Upper 
 Canada, have been lately put into my hands : I have 
 advised their publication, and have obtained permission 
 that they should be published. I know the lady by whom 
 
LETTER TO CONSTABLE. 409 
 
 they are written. I saw each letter as it came from 
 Canada to her friends here, and can vouch for their 
 authenticity, and for the letters not having been written 
 with any view to publication. On this their merit in a 
 great measure depends. They contain a view never yet 
 laid before the public, of the details and progress of an 
 Irish settler's life in Canada. They have interested every- 
 body who has seen them, by their perfect truth and sim- 
 plicity, and from their letting us behind the scenes, and 
 telling what no one writing a book for the public would 
 think of telling. The lady was bred up in the first cir- 
 cle of society, is highly accomplished, and was, when she 
 married, apparently successor to a very considerable for- 
 tune. The roguery of some of her relatives, and the 
 misfortunes of others, suddenly reduced her husband 
 from opulence to the necessity of emigrating to America 
 to settle on a grant of crown-land in Canada. From the 
 moment she followed her husband's fallen fortunes thither, 
 she made herself to her changed state ; and such has been 
 her fortitude, and such her exertions, as have interested 
 every creature that knows them, in her favor. These let- 
 ters have made them known to many who were strangers 
 to her ; and, judging by the impression they have made 
 on persons of diiferent tastes, I cannot hesitate about 
 their publication. Her name must not be told. But I 
 will willingly put my name to a preface vouching their 
 authenticity. My object, I plainly tell you, is to assist 
 in making up for her and for her husband and children 
 a sum which may enable them to visit, once again in their 
 lives, their native country for a few weeks. 
 
 I do not think the letters have body or solidity enough 
 to stand as a separate publication ; but I think, and am 
 confident, that they have spirit and soul enough to inter- 
 est much in a periodical publication. I have a periodical 
 
410 A STUDY OF MARIA BDGEWOETH. 
 
 publication in London open to me, which I know will 
 gladly accept them on my recommendation ; but I prefer 
 offering them to you. With as much frankness as I write 
 to you, answer me, whether from this account you are 
 disposed to publish them in your " Edinburgh Journal. " 
 I have not yet all the letters before me, therefore I cannot 
 tell you how much they will altogether make in print. 
 Tell me the number of letters in your sheet of journal, 
 and I will count them off. Let me also know what you 
 can afford to give per sheet. The fairest way would be, 
 I think, to try one sheet. 
 
 Send your answer to Dr. Brewster's, directed to me ; 
 and he will enclose it in a packet, which will come free 
 to me through Lord Rosse's frank. 
 
 I am, yours sincerely, 
 
 Maria Edgevtorth. 
 
 In answer to him, after a letter containing a liberal 
 offer for the letters, she replied, expressing herself 
 very honestly as to the merits of the letters on fur- 
 ther examination, — 
 
 [To Mr. Constable.] 
 
 Edgewokthstown, April 14, 1825. 
 Dear Sir, — I am much obliged by your letter and lib- 
 eral conduct. I feel obliged to you (independently of all 
 that may be gratifying to myself in this transaction) for 
 giving me the pleasure of seeing such frank and generous 
 dealing. In fact, I am more obliged than if I profited by 
 your offer for my friend or for myself. But the fact is, 
 that upon looking over these letters again, I find so much 
 of the interest depends upon personal narratiue and details 
 which cannot be laid before the public, that after all the 
 garbling and suppression of names and so forth, I appre- 
 
LETTEB TO CONSTABLE. 411 
 
 hend I could not honestly insure to you their success ; 
 and, without feeling internally convinced at least of their 
 deserving literary success, I could not recommend them 
 to you, trusting, as I see you so handsomely do, to my 
 pure and sole recommendation. 
 
 Besides this, another qualm of conscience has seized 
 me : an inconsistency stares me in the face ! A literary 
 friend has just applied to me for some of the letters of 
 a lately deceased celebrated person, which were addressed 
 to me. I have (since I wrote to you) refused them ; de- 
 claring it to be my principle never to give up private letters 
 to publication, expressing my belief that this publishing 
 of letters tends to weaken and destroy private confidence. 
 
 While I was writing this letter, suddenly it flashed 
 across my mind, that I could not afterwards, with any 
 consistency, put my name to a preface to the Canada let- 
 ters I was recommending to you ; for, though the lady 
 and her friends consent to the publication, yet still what 
 becomes of my principle about the tendency to destroy 
 private confidence, which I believe would be the result of 
 this practice ? 
 
 Let me repeat my thanks to you for your frank and 
 gentlemanlike conduct, and wish you all the success and 
 happiness such conduct deserves. 
 
 I am, with due esteem, your obliged, 
 
 Maria Edgewoeth. 
 
 In August of 1825 Edgeworthstown received the 
 great " known," as he was often called in later years. 
 Sir Walter Scott arrived at the home of Miss Edare- 
 worth, accompanied by his daughter and the surgeon- 
 general, Sir Philip Crampton, the friend of whom 
 Moore so often writes. Capt. and Mrs. Scott and 
 
412 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 ]\Ir. Lockhart were detained in Dublin, and did not 
 reach Edgeworthstown till some hours after the rest 
 of the party. 
 
 This was a very happy event in Miss Edgewortb's 
 life, and a proud moment for Ireland, when the great- 
 est writer of the sister isle visited her shores ; full 
 of eagerness to study the habits of the people, see 
 the picturesque spots and the places of note in the 
 country, made famous by the pen of one whom he 
 loved and respected. 
 
 Lockhart wrote of this journey : — 
 
 " On the 1st of August we proceeded from Dubhn to 
 Edgeworthstown, tlie party being now re-enforced by Capt. 
 and Mrs. Scott, and also by the dehghtful addition of the 
 surgeon-general,-' who had long been an intimate friend of 
 the Edgeworth family, and equally gratified both the nov- 
 elists by breaking the toils of his great practice to witness 
 their meeting on his native soil. A happy meeting it was. 
 We remained there for several daj^s, making excursions 
 to Loch Oel and other scenes of interest in Longford and 
 the adjoining counties ; the gentry everywhere exerting 
 themselves with true Irish zeal to signalize their affec- 
 tionate pride in their illustrious countrywoman, and their 
 appreciation of her guest : while her brother, Mr. Lovell 
 Edgeworth, had his classical mansion filled every even- 
 ing with a succession of distinguished friends, the 4lite 
 of Ireland. Here, above all, we had the opportunity of 
 seeing in what universal respect and comfort a gentle- 
 man's family may live in that country, and in far from 
 its most favored district, provided only they live there 
 habitually, and do their duty as the friends and guard- 
 
 1 Crampton. 
 
scott's visit to ieeland. 413 
 
 dians of those among whom Providence has appointed 
 their proper place. Here we found neither mud hovels 
 nor naked peasantry, hut snug cottages and smiling faces 
 all about. Here there was a very large school in the vil- 
 lage, of which masters and pupils were, in nearly equal 
 proportion, Protestants and Roman Catholics ; the Protest- 
 ant squire himself making it a regular part of his daily 
 business to visit the scene of their operations, and 
 strengthen authority and enforce discipline by his per- 
 sonal superintendence. Here, too, we pleased ourselves 
 with recognizing some of the sweetest features in Gold- 
 smith's picture of 
 
 ' Sweet Auburn 1 loveliest village of the plain.' 
 
 . . ." It may well be imagined with what lively interest 
 Sir "Walter surveyed the scenery with which so many of 
 the proudest recollections of Ireland must ever be asso- 
 ciated, and how curiously he studied the rural manners it 
 presented to him, in the hope (not disappointed) of being 
 able to trace some of his friend's bright creations to their 
 first hints and germs. On the delight with which he con- 
 templated her position in the midst of her own large and 
 happy domestic circle, I need say still less. The reader 
 is aware by this time how deeply he condemned and pitied 
 the conduct and fate of those, who, gifted with pre-emi- 
 nent talents for the instruction and entertainment of their 
 species at large, fancy themselves entitled to neglect those 
 every-day duties and charities of life, from the mere shad- 
 owing of which in imaginary pictures the genius of poetry 
 and romance has always reaped its highest and purest, 
 perhaps its only true and immortal honors. In Maria he 
 hailed a sister-spirit ; one who, at the summit of literary 
 fame, took the same modest, just, and, let me add. Chris- 
 tian view of the relative importance of the feelings, the 
 
414 A STUDY OP MARIA EDGBWORTH. 
 
 obligations, and the hopes, in which we are all equally par- 
 takers, and those talents and accomplishments which may 
 seem, to vain and short-sighted eyes, sufficient to consti- 
 tute their possessors into an order and species apart from 
 the rest of their kind. Such fantastic conceits found no 
 shelter with either of these powerful minds. I was then a 
 young man ; and I cannot forget how much I was struck at 
 the time by some words that fell from one of them, when, 
 in the course of a walk in the park at Edgeworthstown, I 
 happened to use some phrase which eonve5'ed (though not 
 perhaps meant to do so) the impression that I suspected 
 poets and novelists of being a good deal accustomed to 
 look at life and the world only as materials for art. A 
 soft and pensive shade came over Scott's face as he said, 
 ' I fear you have some very young ideas in your head. 
 Are you not too apt to measure things by some reference 
 to literature, to disbelieve that anybody can be worth 
 much care, who has no knowledge of that sort of thing, 
 or taste for it? God help us! what a poor world this 
 would be if that were the true doctrine ! I have read 
 books enough, and observed and conversed with enough 
 of eminent and splendidlj' cultivated minds, too, in my 
 time ; but I assure you I have heard higher sentiments 
 from the lips of poor, uneducated men and women, when 
 exerting the spirit of severe, yet gentle heroism under 
 difficulties and affiictions, or speaking then- simple thoughts 
 as to circumstances in the lot of friends and neighbors, 
 than I ever yet met with out of tlie pages of the Bible. 
 We shall never learn to feel and respect our real calling 
 and destiny, unless we have taught ourselves to consider 
 every thing as moonshine, compared with tlie education 
 of the heart. ' Maria did not listen to this without some 
 water in lier eyes, — her tears are always ready when any 
 generous string is touched (for, as Pope says, ' The finest 
 
SCOTT's visit to IRELAND. 415 
 
 minds, like the finest metals, dissolve the easiest'), — • 
 but she brushed them gayly aside, and said, ' You see how 
 it is. Dean Swift said he had written his books in order 
 that people might learn to treat him like a great lord. 
 Sir Walter writes his in order that he may be able to 
 treat his people as a great lord ought to do.' 
 
 "Miss Edgeworth, her sister Harriet, and her brother 
 William, were easily persuaded to join our party for the 
 rest of our Irish travels. We had lingered a week at 
 Edgeworthstown, and were now anxious to make the best 
 of our way towards the Lakes of Killarney. But posting 
 was not to be very rapidly accomplished in those regions 
 by so large a company as had now collected ; and we were 
 more agreably delayed by the hospitalities of Miss Edge- 
 worth's old friends, and several of Sir Walter's new ones, 
 at various mansions on our line of route : of which I must 
 note especially Judge Moore's at Lamberton, near Mary- 
 borough, because Sir Walter pronounced its beneficence 
 to be even beyond the usual Irish scale ; for on reaching 
 our next halting-place, which was an indifferent country 
 inn, we discovered that we need be in no alarm as to our 
 dinner, at all events, — the judge's people having privately 
 packed up in one of the carriages, ere we started in the 
 morning, a pickled salmon, a most lordly venison pasty, 
 and half a dozen bottles of champagne. But most of 
 these houses seemed, like the judge's, to have been con- 
 structed on the principle of the Peri Banou's tent. They 
 seemed all to have room not only for the lion and lion- 
 esses, and their respective tails, but for all in the neigh- 
 borhood who could be held worthy to inspect them at 
 feeding-time. 
 
 "It was a succession of festive gayety wherever we 
 halted ; and in the course of our movements we saw many 
 castles, churches, and ruins of all sorts, with more than 
 
416 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 enough of mountain, wood, lake, and river, to have made 
 any similar progress, in any other part of Europe, truly 
 delightful in all respects. But those of the party to whom 
 the south of Ireland was new had almost continually be- 
 fore them spectacles of abject misery, which robbed these 
 things of more than half their charm. . . . There was, 
 however, abundance of ludicrous incidents to break this 
 gloom ; and no traveller ever tasted either the humors or 
 the blunders of Paddy more heartily than did Sir Wal- 
 ter. I find recorded in one letter a very merry morning 
 at Limerick, where, amidst the ringing of all the bells, in 
 honor of the advent, there was ushered in a brother-poet, 
 who must needs pay his personal respects to the author of 
 'Marmion.' He was a scarecrow figure, attired much in 
 the fashion of the strugglers, by name O'Kelly ; and he 
 had produced, on the spur of the occasion, this modest 
 parody of Dryden's famous epigram : — 
 
 ' Three poets, of three different nations born, 
 The United Kingdom in this age adorn, — 
 Byron of England ; Scott, of Scotia's blood ; 
 And Erin's pride, O'Kelly, great and good.' 
 
 " Sir "Walter's five shillings were at once forthcoming; 
 and the bard, in order that Miss Edgeworth might display 
 equal generosity, pointed out, in a little volume of his 
 works (for which, moreover, we had all to subscribe), this 
 pregnant couplet : — 
 
 'Scott, Morgan, Edgeworth, Byron, prop of Greece, 
 Are characters whose fame not soon will cease.' 
 
 " We were still more amused (though there was real 
 misery in the case) with what befell on our approach to a 
 certain pretty seat, in a different county, where there was 
 a collection of pictures and curiosities, not usually shown 
 to travellers. A gentleman, whom we had met in Dublin, 
 
SCOTT's visit to IRELAND. 417 
 
 had been accompanying us part of the day's journey, and 
 volunteered, being acquainted with the owner, to procure 
 us easy admission. At the entrance of the domain, to 
 which we proceeded under his wing, we were startled by 
 the dolorous apparition of two undertaker's men, in volu- 
 minous black scarfs, — though there was little or nothing 
 of black about the rest of their habiliments, — who sat 
 upon the highway before the gate, with a whiskey-bottle 
 on a deal table between them. They informed us that the 
 master of the house had died the day before, and that 
 they were to keep watch and ward in this style until the 
 funeral, inviting all Christian passengers to drink a glass 
 to his repose. Our cicerone left his card for the widow, 
 having previously, no doubt, written on it the names of 
 his two lions. Shortly after we regained our post-house, 
 he received a polite answer from the lady. To the best 
 of my memory, it was in these terms : — 
 
 "'Mrs. presents her kind compliments to Mr. 
 
 , and much regrets that she cannot show the pictures 
 
 to-day, as Major died yesterday evening by apo- 
 plexy ; which Mrs. the more regrets, as it will prevent 
 
 her having the honor to see Sir Walter Scott and Miss 
 Edgeworth.' " 
 
 " Sir "Walter said it reminded him of a woman of Fife, 
 who, summing up the misfortunes of a black year in her 
 history, said, ' Let me see, sirs : first we lost our wee 
 callant, and then Jenny ; and then the gudeman himsel' 
 died, and then the coo died too, poor hizzey ! — but, to be 
 sure, her hide brought me fifteen shillings.' 
 
 "At one country-gentleman's table where we dined, 
 though two grand full-length daubs of William and Mary 
 adorned the walls of the room, there was a mixed com- 
 pany, about as many Catholics as Protestants, all appar- 
 ently on cordial terms, and pledging each other lustily in 
 
418 A STUDY OP MARIA BDGEWORTH. 
 
 bumpers of capital claret. About an hour after dinner, 
 however, punch was called for : tumblers and jugs of hot 
 water appeared, and with them two magnums of whiskey, 
 the one bearing on its label King's, the other Queen's. 
 "We did not at first understand these inscriptions, but it 
 was explained, sotto voce, that the King's had paid the 
 duty, the Queen's was of contraband origin : and, in the 
 choice of the liquors, we detected a new shibboleth of 
 party. The jolly Protestants to a man stuck to the 
 King's bottle : the equally radiant Papists paid their duty 
 10 the Queen's. 
 
 " Since I have not alluded at all to the then grand dis- 
 pute, I may mention, that, after our tour was concluded, we 
 considered with some wonder, that, having partaken liber- 
 ally of Catholic hospitality, and encountered almost every 
 other class of society, we had not sat at meat with one 
 specimen of the Romish priesthood ; whereas, even at 
 Popish tables, we had met dignitaries of the Established 
 Church. This circumstance we set down at the time as 
 amounting pretty nearly to a proof that there were few 
 gentlemen in that order, but we afterwards were willing 
 to suspect that a prejudice of their own had been the 
 source of it. The only incivility which Sir Walter Scott 
 ultimately discovered himself to have encountered (for 
 his friends did not allow him to hear of it at the time), 
 in the course of his Irish peregrination, was the refusal 
 of a Roman-Catholic gentleman named O'Connell, who 
 kept stag-hounds near Killarney, to allow of a hunt on the 
 Upper Lake the day he visited that beautiful scenery. 
 This he did, as we were told, because he considered it as 
 a notorious fact, that Sir Walter Scott was an enemy to 
 the Roman-Catholic claims for admission to seats in 
 Parliament. He was entirely mistaken however." 
 
THE VISIT TO KILLAENBY. 419 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Maria and Sir Walter Seott travel to the Lakes. —Delightful Days. 
 — Return to Dublin. — Parting of the Novelists. — Irish Commer- 
 cial Difficulties. — Maria meets the Crisis in Money Affairs suc- 
 cessfully. — Sir Humphry Davy. — Captain Hall. — Maria forms 
 Habit of Morning Exercise. — "Take for Granted " announced 
 without Permission. — Miss Anna Edgeworth's Bequest. — 
 Maria's Disposition of It. — Fire. — Captain Hall's Journals. — 
 Scott's Introduction to the Waverley Novels. — Many Deaths 
 among Maria's Friends. — Maria at Work on " Helen." — Dis- 
 tress and Famine in Ireland. — Visit to England. — Sees many 
 Friends. — Lansdowne. — Duchess of Wellington. — Baillies. — 
 Carrs. — Mrs. Wilson. — Mackintoshes. — Herschels. — Ireland. — 
 Enjoyment of London. — Notes for "Helen." — Death of Scott. 
 
 This large party travelled in an open caliche of Sir 
 Walter's, and Captain Scott's chariot, and changed 
 their position as fancy dictated or the weather made 
 it necessary. Sir Walter said, when some difficulty 
 occurred at one post-house about getting fresh 
 horses, — 
 
 "Swift in one of his letters, when no horses were to 
 be had, says, ' If we had but had a captain of horse to 
 swear for us, we should have had the horses at once ; ' 
 now here we have the captain of horse, but the landlord is 
 not moved even by him." 
 
 Sir Walter and Maria were both excellent travel- 
 lers, not easily put out by trifles, and always ready 
 to make the best of every thing. He was diverted 
 by Miss Edgeworth's eagerness for every one's com- 
 
420 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWORTH. 
 
 fort, and her enthusiasm. He amnsed hunself "with 
 her admiration of a green baize covered door at the 
 inn at Killaniej'' : " Miss Edgeworth, you are so 
 mightily pleased with that door, I think you will 
 carry it away with you to Edgeworthstown." Long 
 years after this excursion to the Lakes, Lord Macau- 
 lay in visiting Killarney had a boatman who "gloried 
 in having rowed Sir Walter Scott and Miss Edge- 
 worth twenty-four years ago. It was, he said, a 
 compensation to him for having missed a hanging 
 which took place that day." 
 
 The reason of the failure of the stag-hunt at the 
 Lakes alluded to by Mr. Lockhart was because the 
 proprietor of the hounds had lost his brother-in-law 
 the night before the party arrived at Killarney. The 
 letter of Miss Edgeworth to Miss Hall fully explains 
 the circumstances. She pointed this fact out to Mr. 
 Lockhart, who insisted on retaining his statement of 
 the affair, and attempted to attribute the failure of 
 the hunt to other causes, in what seems an ill-natured 
 manner, naming Sir Walter Scott's opposition to 
 Catholic emancipation as one cause. This letter 
 follows : — 
 
 [Miss Edgeworth's Last Letter to Mrs. S. C. Hall about Sir 
 Walter Scott's Visit to Ireland. ] 
 
 Edgeworthstown, June 18, 1843. 
 My sister, Harriet Butler, and I were in the boat with 
 Sir Walter Scott the day, and the only day, when he was 
 on the Killarney Lakes. We heard him declare that he 
 thought the Upper Lake the most beautiful he had ever 
 seen excepting Loch Lomond : more could not by mortal 
 tongue be expressed by a Scotsman. I did not hear him 
 
THE VISIT TO KILLABNEY. 421 
 
 find fault, or say that he was disappointed, during the 
 whole row. He appeared pleased and pleasing ; and 
 why any people should have imagined he was not, I 
 cannot imagine. "Rude," I am sure he was not: he 
 could not be. We were sorry that we could not stay 
 another day ; but all experienced travellers know full 
 well that they must give up their wishes to previous 
 arrangements and engagements, and that they must cut 
 their plans and pleasures according to their time and 
 promises. As to the affair of the stag-hunt, I can only 
 say that I received no invitation to see one ; that we did 
 not receive any ; that I heard at the time that a stag-hunt 
 would not be offered to us, because the stag-hounds 
 belonged to some near relation of a gentleman much 
 respected in the country, who had just died suddenly, 
 and was not buried. I recollect passing by the gates 
 of his place, and seeing two men in deep mourning, 
 with weepers, sitting on each side of the gate. As I 
 had never before seen this custom, I made inquiry, and 
 was told why they mourned, and who for ; and this 
 confirmed and fixed in memory what I have above men- 
 tioned. 
 
 Mrs. Hall adds the following note from Mrs. But- 
 ler : — 
 
 Deak Mrs. Hall, — My recollection of the circum- 
 stances mentioned by my sister at Killarney, in 1825, 
 exactly coincides with hers : I remember our being told, 
 as we drove into Killarney, that we should have no stag- 
 hunt, as the master of the hounds had died that morning. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 Harriet Butler. 
 Teim, 19th June, 1843. 
 
422 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGEWORTH. 
 
 The party was joined by William Edgeworth, who 
 was then laying out the road to Glengariff: he met 
 them at Tralee, and told them that this hunt was 
 put off, and the reason for its delaj^ 
 
 The trip to Killarney was un marred by any thing 
 that could detract from the pleasure of Miss Edge- 
 worth's distinguished friend Sir Walter, for he was 
 too large-hearted, too generous, to consider himself 
 likely to be slighted ; and the fact of seeing the 
 mourners sitting at the gate of the dead man's house 
 was conclusive evidence to all but Mr. Lockhart. 
 They returned direct from Killarney to Dublin, and 
 went to the house of Capt. Scott in St. Stephen's 
 Green. The 15th of August was Scott's birthday ; 
 and his health was drunk with much feeling, — more 
 tenderness than gayety, perhaps, for the approaching 
 separation of the friends cast a shadow on this occa- 
 sion. Maria and he took an affectionate farewell, 
 which was, as it proved, a final one. 
 
 Miss Edgeworth was soon at home again, and was 
 settling down to her usual manner of life. She 
 wrote to a friend, — 
 
 " Your observations about the difficulties of 'Take for 
 Granted ' are excellent. I ' take for granted ' I shall be 
 able to conquer them. If only one instance were taken, 
 the whole story must turn upon that, and be constructed 
 to bear on one point ; and that 2'>ointing to the moral 
 would not ajipear natural. As Sir Walter said to me, in 
 reply to my observing it is difficult to introduce the 
 moral without displeasing the reader, ' The rats won't 
 go into the trap if they smell the hand of the rat- 
 catcher.' " 
 
LETTER FROM SCOTT TO JOANNA BAILLIE. 423 
 
 Sir Walter Scott wrote the following letter after 
 his return to Scotland : — 
 
 [To Miss Joanna Baillie, Hampstead.! 
 
 Abbotsford, Oct. 12, 1825. 
 ... I well intended to have written from Ireland ; 
 but, alas ! hell, as some stern old divine says, is paved 
 with good intentions. There was such a whirl of visiting 
 and laking and boating and wondering and shouting and 
 laughing and carousing ; so much to be seen, and so 
 'ittle time to see it ; so much to be heard, and only two 
 ears to listen to twenty voices, — that, upon the whole, I 
 grew desperate, and gave up all thoughts of doing what 
 was right and proper upon post-days. And so all my 
 epistolary good intentions are gone to macadamize, I 
 suppose, "the burning marl" of the infernal regions. 
 I have not the pen of our friend Maria Edgeworth, who 
 writes all the while she laughs, talks, eats, and drinks ; 
 and I believe, though I do not pretend to be so far in the 
 secret, all the time she sleeps too. She has good luck in 
 having a pen which walks at once so unweariedly and so 
 well. I do not, however, quite like her last book on 
 " Education," considered as a general work. She should 
 have limited the title to ' ' Education in Natural Philoso- 
 phy," or some such term; for there is no great use in 
 teaching children in general to roof houses, or build 
 bridges, which, after all, a carpenter or a mason does a 
 great deal better at two shillings sixpence per day. In a 
 waste country, like some parts of America, it may do very 
 well, or perhaps for a sailor or a traveller, certainly for a 
 civil engineer. But in the ordinary professions of the 
 better-informed orders, I have always observed that a 
 small taste for mechanics tends to encouraging a sort of 
 trifling self-conceit, founded on knowing that which is 
 
424 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGEWORTH. 
 
 not worth being known by one who has other matters to 
 employ his mind on, and, in short, forms a trumpery 
 gim crack kind of a character, who is a mechanic among 
 gentlemen, and most probably a gentleman among me- 
 chanics. You must understand I mean only to challenge 
 the system as making mechanics too much and too gen- 
 eral a subject of education, and converting scholars into 
 makers of toys. Men like Watt, or whose genius tends 
 strongly to invent and execute those wonderful combina- 
 tions which extend in such an incalculable degree the 
 human force and command over the physical world, do 
 not come within ordinary rules ; but your ordinary Harry 
 should be kept to his grammar, and your Lucy of most 
 common occurrence will be best employed on her sampler, 
 instead of wasting wood, and cutting their fingers, which 
 I am convinced they did, though their historian says 
 nothing of it. 
 
 Well, but I did not mean to say any thing about 
 Harry and Lucy, whose dialogues are very interesting 
 after all ; but about Ireland, which I could prophesy for 
 as well as if I were Thomas the Rhymer. Her natural 
 gifts are so great, that, despite all the disadvantages 
 which have hitherto retarded her progress, she will, I be- 
 lieve, be queen of the trefoil of kingdoms. I never saw 
 a richer country, or to speak my mind, a finer people : the 
 worst of them is the bitter and envenomed dislike which 
 they have to each other. . . . Then we had beautiful lakes, 
 " those vast inland seas " as Spenser terms them ; and hills 
 which they call mountains ; and dargles and dingles ; and 
 most superb ruins of castles and abbeys ; and live nuns in 
 strict retreat, not permitted to speak, but who read their 
 breviaries with one eye, and looked at their visitors with 
 the other. Then we had Miss Edgeworth, and the kind- 
 natured, clever Harriet, who moved and thought and 
 
SCOTT'S letter to JOANNA BAILLIE. 425 
 
 acted for everybody's comfort rather than her own ; we 
 had Lockhart to say clever things, and Walter, with his 
 whiskers, to overawe obstinate postilions and impudent 
 beggars ; and Jane to bless herself that the folks had 
 neither houses, clothes, nor furniture ; and Anne to make 
 fun from morning to night, — 
 
 " And merry folks were we 1 " 
 
 ... I beg kind respects to dear Mrs. Agnes and to 
 Mrs. Baillie. Lady Scott and Anne send best respects. I 
 have but room to say that I am always yours, 
 
 Walter Scott. 
 
 The names of Scott and Miss Edgeworth will 
 long be connected by those who read of their friend- 
 ship and mutual regard. Judge Story, in a Phi 
 Beta Kappa address at Cambridge, Mass., in 1822, 
 said of this warm friendship and pleasant literary 
 fellowship, — 
 
 "Who does not contemplate with enthusiasm the 
 matchless wit, the inexhaustible conversations, the fine 
 character painting, the practical instruction of Miss Edge- 
 worth, The Great Known, standing in her own depart- 
 ment, by the side of The Great Unknown ? ' ' 
 
 The year 1826 was marked by commercial difficul- 
 ties, and the state of the money-market distressed 
 many of the Irish landlords. Miss Edgeworth gave 
 up the charge of the estate, and the management of 
 the rents, at her father's death ; and Lovell Edge- 
 worth, the heir, took the affairs into his own hands. 
 Miss Edgeworth again undertook the care of the 
 business of the estate, and enabled her brother by 
 
426 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWORTH. 
 
 her tact, skill, and long acquaintance with such mat- 
 ters to weather the storm. She wrote in the follow- 
 ing year, April, 1827 : — 
 
 " I am quite well, and in liigb good humor and spirits, 
 in consequence of having received the whole of Lovell's 
 half-year's rents in full, with pleasure to the tenants, and 
 without the least fatigue or anxiety to myself." 
 
 She received in the year 1826 an admirable trans- 
 lation of "Harry and Lucy," by her Parisian friend, 
 Mme. Belloc. In the same year her witty essay on 
 "Bores" appeared in a very stupid annual, named 
 " Janus," and was quite lost in its dull pages. 
 
 The death of Lady Scott recalled to Miss Edge- 
 worth the kindly welcome given her by that lady in 
 Edinburgh and at Abbotsford. She said of her, — 
 
 " She was a most kind-hearted, hospitable person, and 
 had much more sense, and more knowledge of character, 
 and discrimmation, than many of those who ridiculed 
 her." 
 
 In July Sir Humphry Davy visited Edgeworths- 
 town. He was then president of the Royal Society, 
 and at the height of his fame and prosperity. Maria 
 said, — 
 
 "Travelling, and his increased acquaintance with the 
 world, has enlarged the range, without lowering the pitch, 
 of Sir Humphry's mind." 
 
 She borrowed this allusion from Sir John Se- 
 bright's very entertaining essay on taming hawks, 
 which he sent her. She added, — 
 
SIR HUMPHKY DAVY. 427 
 
 "There is at this moment a gentleman in Ireland, 
 near Belfast, who trains hawks and goes a-hawking, — a 
 Mr. Sinclair." 
 
 Some time after this, when Miss Edgeworth was 
 preparing to write her " Helen," this essay must have 
 recurred to her memory, for she made a hawking 
 scene a very pretty chapter in that novel ; and the 
 hawk is quite an important actor in the sketch of 
 Beauclerc's character. 
 
 Sir Humphry repeated to Miss Edgeworth a re- 
 markable criticism of Bonaparte's on Talma's acting: 
 " You don't play Nero well : you gesticulate too 
 much; you speak with too much vehemence. A 
 despot does not need all that: he need only fro- 
 nounce. II salt qu'il se suffit;" and, added Talma, 
 who told this to Sir Humphry, "Bonaparte, as he 
 said this, folded his arms, in his well-known manner, 
 and stood as if his attitude expressed the sentiment." 
 
 In August, Harriet Edgeworth married the Rev. 
 Mr. Butler, rector of Trim. In September of this 
 year Miss Edgeworth made a visit of four months 
 to Black Castle. She enjoyed the following joke 
 by Lord Longford, who was something of a wag. 
 When a friend was going from Edgeworthstown to 
 Pakenham Hall, Lord Longford, as was customary, 
 was to send for her to the float or ferry where they 
 crossed the river to Longford. Instead of sending 
 horses, his lordship sent a pair of bullocks ; the ser- 
 vant remarking, " ' My lord had not another beast to 
 spare for you' — my lord being behind the hedge to 
 enjoy her look of astonishment and dismay." 
 
428 A STUDY OP MABIA EDGEWOKTH. 
 
 When Capt. Basil Hall was publishing his account 
 of the Loochoo Islands, in 1818, he sent a copy of 
 it to Miss Edgeworth by Mrs. Marcet, to whom he 
 wrote : — 
 
 "I have put 'To Miss Edgeworth' in the titlepage, 
 as my offering ; which is like a common sailor scratching 
 his name on Nelson's pillar." 
 
 In 1823 he became personally acquainted with 
 Miss Edgeworth, being introduced to her at Sir 
 Walter Scott's, in Scotland. This was the beginning 
 of a most agreeable friendship, and a long correspond- 
 ence, broken only by Capt. Hall's death. 
 
 When he was going to America, Miss Edgeworth 
 gave him letters to friends there , among them, Mrs. 
 Lazarus of Wilmington, formerly Miss Mordecai of 
 Richmond, who had^urged Miss Edgeworth to write 
 a story containing a good Jew, and reproached her 
 with reviling the race. 
 
 In 1827 Miss Edgeworth began a practice of tak- 
 ing early walks. For many years she followed this 
 custom of rising at seven o'clock in the morning, to 
 walk for three-quarters of an hour. A lady who 
 lived in the village said her maid used to wake her 
 in the morning, saying, "Miss Edgeworth's walking, 
 ma'am : it's eight o'clock." In September Mr. Her- 
 schel made a flying visit to Miss Edgeworth. Miss 
 Edgeworth received a visit from an American l&dj, 
 who brought her a note from Sir Philip Crampton. 
 She was accompanied by her brothers and the son 
 of Mrs. Grant of Laggan, celebrated by her Scotch 
 sketches. She found JNIiss Douglas a very pleasing 
 
MARIA BUILDS A MAIIKET-HO0SE. 429 
 
 person, something of a "mixture of American and 
 Scotch in her whole appearance ; an interesting, sin- 
 cere, generous, and uncommon person."' 
 
 " The Literary Gazette " of this year made an 
 announcement that Miss Edgeworth "was far ad- 
 vanced in a novel called ' Take for Granted.' " Miss 
 Edgeworth could not guess by whom this statement 
 was circulated. It was not designed for any thing 
 but a short tale, and she never completed it. Dur- 
 ing the spring of 1828, she wrote a story called 
 " Garry Owen," of about fifty printed pages, for Mr. 
 Lockhart's " young friend Mr. Croker's ' Christmas 
 Box,' " a little annual published in 1829. 
 
 Miss Anna Edgeworth, a distant relation, died in 
 London in 1828, and bequeathed to Miss Edge- 
 worth a pair of diamond earrings and pearl bracelets. 
 With the proceeds of the sale of these jewels. Miss 
 Edgeworth built a market-house in the village, and 
 a room over it for the magistrate's petty sessions. 
 
 The house at Edgeworthstown caught fire ; and, 
 by the exertions of the tenants and villagers, it was 
 speedily put out after moderate damage, but causing 
 much alarm and confusion. Maria was touched by 
 the devotion shown there in this danger. " The zeal, 
 the sense, the generosity, the courage, of the people," 
 she wrote, "is beyond any thing- 1 can describe: I 
 can only feel it." 
 
 The Ruxtons made a foreign tour ; and, on their 
 return to Ireland, the son who took the name of 
 Fitzherbert at his father's death, in 1825, lived at 
 Black Castle, and Mrs. Ruxton and her daughters 
 went to reside at Bloomfield, near Dublin. There 
 
430 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 Maria visited them in the spring of 1828. Fanny 
 Edgeworth married Mr. Le Stock Wilson in this year, 
 and went to live in London. 
 
 Capt. Hall, who had sent Miss Edgeworth his 
 journal of his social experiences in Great Britain, 
 now sent her his journals kept during his American 
 journeys, and some of Mrs. Hall's letters to her 
 family. She enjoyed them. Her letters of criti- 
 cism, advice, and praise were excellent, and valued 
 by Capt. Hall. At the end of one of them, she says 
 she hopes Mrs. Hall will not be exhausted by' it ; 
 and she ends it by "My dear Basil, keep on your 
 own way up the hill, and never turn to listen to the 
 black stones, even though one of them calls to you 
 with the voice of that Maria Edgeworth." 
 
 The introduction to the new edition of Scott's 
 works was seen by Capt. Hall while it was passing 
 through the press : as she was named in it, he sent 
 her the sheets where the mention was made of her. 
 She wrote, — - 
 
 " It was very good of Capt. Hall to think of sending 
 me these sheets. Sir "Walter Scott has, in the most de- 
 lightful and kind manner, said every thing that could 
 gratify me as an author, friend, and human creature." 
 
 Mrs. Ruxton said of this tribute paid her niece by 
 Scott, she would forgive Sir Walter " whatever fault 
 he may commit in his next novel, and for the rest of 
 his life, for this charming passage." In writing her 
 thanks to Capt. Hall, Maria said, — 
 
 "If I could, as you say, flatter mj'self that Sir Walter 
 Scott was in any degree influenced to write and publish 
 
TRIBUTE PROM SCOTT. 431 
 
 his novels from seeing my sketches of Irish characters, I 
 should, indeed, triumph in the ' thought of having been 
 the proximate cause of such happiness to millions.' " 
 
 In Sir Walter Scott's general introduction to the 
 Waverley novels, dated Abbotsford, Jan. 1, 1829, he 
 says, in alluding to the missing manuscript which 
 became " Waverley," — 
 
 "Two circumstances, in particular, recalled my recol- 
 lection of the mislaid manuscript. The first was the 
 extended and well-merited fame of Miss Edgeworth, 
 whose Irish characters have gone so far to make the 
 English familiar with the character of their gay and kind- 
 hearted neighbors of Ireland, that she may be truly said 
 to have done more towards completing the union than 
 perhaps all the legislative enactments by which it has 
 been followed up. 
 
 " Without being so presumptuous as to hope to emu- 
 late the rich humor, pathetic tenderness, and admirable 
 tact, which pervade the works of my accomplished friend, 
 I felt that something might be attempted for my own 
 country, of the same kind with that which Miss Edge- 
 worth so fortunately achieved for Ireland ; something 
 which might introduce her natives to those of the sister 
 kingdom in a more favorable light than they had been 
 placed hitherto, and tend to produce sympathy for their 
 virtues, and indulgence for their foibles." 
 
 The saying of Mme. de Stael, " On depose fleur a 
 fleur la couronne de la vie," came vividly home to 
 Miss Edgeworth, as year by year some chosen friend 
 or dear relation was called from earth. The penalty 
 of long life was hers. Her brother, William Edge- 
 worth, the talented engineer, succumbed to the 
 
432 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 malady of the Sneyds, his mother's family. He died, 
 after a short illness, in 1829. 
 
 During this year Miss Edgeworth had the pleasure 
 of meeting the poet Wordsworth. She enjoyed his 
 conversation ; but, as she was not feeling at all well, 
 had to content herself with seeing less of him than 
 pleased, though perhaps " as much as good for her " 
 under the existing circumstances. 
 
 The year 1830 was one of distress for Ireland ; 
 and in May, Maria was busy "with ditches, drains, 
 and sewers," to give employment to the poor, and 
 letting houses, and farming; combining with these 
 practical and necessary occupations " thinking three 
 hours a day of ' Helen : ' to what purpose I dare not 
 say," she added. July found her writing of the 
 condition of affairs. 
 
 " The people about us are now in great distress, having 
 neither work nor food ; and we are going to buy meat to 
 distribute at half-price." 
 
 In November Mrs. Ruxton died ; another very 
 grievous blow to her niece, who loved her with devo- 
 tion. After her father's death, she turned with still 
 stronger feeling to her as one who had always had a 
 large share of her thoughts and regard. 
 
 When Mrs. S. C. Hall published her first book in 
 1829, "Sketches of Irish Character," she received 
 the following words of kindly encouragement and 
 appreciation from Miss Edgeworth : — 
 
 "It has been sometimes my fate to have gratitude and 
 sincerity struggling within me when I have begun a letter 
 of thanks to authors : I have no such struggle now ; but 
 
A VISIT TO ENGLAND. 433 
 
 with pleasure unmixed, and perfect freedom of miud and 
 ease of conscience, I write to you. ' Tlie Sketches of 
 Irish Character ' are, in my opinion, admirable for truth, 
 pathos, and humor : all the sketches show complete knowl- 
 edge of the persons and things represented ; and some of 
 the portraits are drawn with uncommon strength, and 
 with more decided and fine touches, which mark a mas- 
 terly hand." 
 
 In the year 1830 Miss Edgeworth revisited her 
 friends in England. She spent some time with her 
 brother Sneyd at Brandford, near Goudhurst in 
 Kent, and saw the Lansdownes often when she was 
 in London. In December she was at Lansdowne 
 House ; and in conversation Lord Lansdowne told 
 her an instance of Louis Philippe's '■'■prSsence d^ esprit : 
 a mob surrounded him, ' Que desirez-vous, mes- 
 sieurs ? ' — • Nous desirous Napoleon.' — ' Eh bien ! 
 allez done le trouver.' " The mob laughed, cheered, 
 and dispersed. 
 
 She " saw Talleyrand at Lansdowne House, like a 
 corpse, with his hair dressed ailes de pigeon bien pou- 
 drS. As Lord Lansdowne drolly said, ' How much 
 these ailes de pigeon have gone through unchanged ! 
 How many revolutions have they seen ! How many 
 changes of their master's mind ! ' Talleyrand has 
 less countenance than any man of talents I ever saw : 
 he seems to think, not only that ' la parole ^tait 
 donnd 5, I'homme pour d^guiser sa pens^e,' but that 
 expression of countenance was given him as a curse 
 to betray his emotions : therefore he has exerted all 
 his abilities to conquer all expression, and to throw 
 
434 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 into his face that ' no meaning ' which puzzles more 
 than wit, but I heard none." 
 
 Mrs. Somerville, in her " Recollections," says, — 
 
 " Maria Edgeworth came frequently to see us when she 
 was in England. She was one of my most intimate 
 friends, warm-hearted and kind, a charming companion, 
 with all the liveliness and originality of an Irishwoman. 
 For seventeen years I was in constant correspondence 
 with her. The cleverness and animation, as well as affec- 
 tion, of her letters, I cannot express : certainly women 
 are superior to men in letter- writing. " 
 
 Moore wrote in his diary of April, 1831, — 
 
 "While at breakfast, received a note from Eogers to 
 remind me that I had promised to breakfast with him. 
 AVent, and found Miss Edgeworth, Luttrell, Lord Nor- 
 manby (now Mulgrave), and Sharpe. Miss Edgeworth, 
 with all her cleverness, any thing but agreeable. The 
 moment any one begins to speak, off she starts too, sel- 
 dom more than a sentence behind them, and in general 
 continues to distance every speaker. Neither does what- 
 she says, though of course very sensible, at all make up 
 for this over-activity of tongue." 
 
 This rather comical complaint of IMoore reminds 
 one of the saying Smollett put into the mouth of 
 Bramble in " Humphrey Clinker," " One wit in a 
 company, like a knuckle of ham in soup, gives flavor: 
 but two are too many." Vanity and self-love were 
 probably at the bottom of Moore's annoyance. The 
 lady was the greater star. 
 
 The Carrs and Joanna Baillie cordially welcomed 
 her to Hampstead. She wrote of this ineeting : — 
 
ANECDOTES. 435 
 
 " It is always gratifying to find old friends tbe same 
 after long absence ; but it lias been particularly so to me 
 now, when not only the leaves of the pleasures of life 
 fall naturally into its winter, but when great branches on 
 whom happiness depended are gone." 
 
 Joanna Baillie had a pleasant anecdote to tell 
 Maria of Lord Dudley and Ward, who wrote to Sir 
 Walter Scott offering to take on himself the amount 
 of Scott's debts, and be paid by instalments as 
 might suit him. 
 
 Miss Edgeworth visited her sister, Mrs. Wilson, 
 who was living in London. While she was seeing 
 her literary friends, and renewing her old friendships, 
 a message was sent her by the Duchess of Welling- 
 ton ; who asked her to come td see her, if she would 
 please an old friend, Kitty Pakenham, who remem- 
 bered the many happy days spent at Edgeworths- 
 town. She found her very ill in a magnificent room 
 at Apsley House ; not magnificent from its size, 
 height, length, or breadth, but from its contents, — 
 the presents of cities, kingdoms, and sovereigns. 
 
 ' ' Opposite her couch hung the gold shield in imitation 
 of the shield of Achilles, — with all the duke's victories 
 embossed on the margin, the duke and his staff in the 
 centre, surrounded with blazing rays, — given by the city 
 of London. On either side, the great candelabras belong- 
 ing to the massive plateau given by Portugal, which can- 
 not be lifted without machinery. At either end, in deep 
 and tall glass cases, from top to bottom ranged the ser- 
 vices of Dresden and German china, presented by the 
 Emperor of Austria and the King of Prussia. While I 
 looked at these, the duchess, raising herself quite up, 
 
436 A STUDY OP MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 exclaimed with weak-voiced, strong-souled enthusiasm, 
 'All tributes to merit! there's the value, all pure, no 
 corruption suspected even. Even of the Duke of Marl- 
 borough, that could not be said so truly.* The fresh, 
 uutired enthusiasm she feels for his character, for her 
 own still youthful imagination of her hero, after all she 
 has gone through, is most touching. There she is fading 
 away, still feeding, when she can feed on nothing else, 
 on his glories, on the perfume of his incense." 
 
 After a delightful breakfast in February with the 
 Mackintoshes, at which Sir James was most brilliant. 
 Miss Edgeworth said she felt as she supposed " dram- 
 drinkers do after their ' morning.' Oh ! what it is to 
 come within the radiance of genius," she adds, quot- 
 ing from a remark of her sister, Anna Beddoes, on 
 Dr. Beddoes's death. 
 
 At the Herschells', at Slough, Miss Edgeworth 
 met a lady who interested her very much by remi- 
 niscences of Sir Joshua Rej'nolds. Mrs. Gwatkin 
 v\'as the niece of Sir Joshua, and exceedingly at- 
 tached to him, and " indignant at the idea of his not 
 having written the ' Discourses.' Burke or Johnson, 
 indeed ! No such thing. He wrote them himself. 
 I am evidence. He used to employ me as his secre- 
 tary." 
 
 She saw at Mrs. Gwatkin's house, the next day, 
 the original of Sir Joshua's " Simplicity," who has 
 now flowers in her lap, in consequence of the observa- 
 tion of a foolish woman, who, looking at the picture 
 as it was originally painted, with the child's hands 
 interlaced, with the backs of tlie hands turned up, 
 exclaimed " How beautiful ! How natural the dish of 
 
ANECDOTES. 437 
 
 prawns the dear little thing has in her lap ! " Sir 
 Joshua threw the flowers over the prawns. He 
 painted Mrs. Gwatkin seven times : " But don't be 
 vain, my dear. I only use your head as I would that 
 of any beggar, — as a good practice." Mrs. Gwatkin, 
 though very deaf, like her uncle, was still a pretty 
 woman. 
 
 Miss Edgeworth saw Knowle before she returned to 
 London. She enjoyed the lovely old place, saying, " I 
 never saw a house and place that pleased me more." 
 
 After her return from this country excursion, she 
 went to see the Duchess of Wellington, but learned 
 that her cousin was dead, — had been dead two days. 
 The duke was " beside Txer^ she learned, at her death ; 
 and " a lock of hair was brought her by the devoted 
 maid of the duchess, — all left of the beautiful Kitty 
 Pakenham. So ended that sweet, innocent — shall 
 we say happy, or unhappy? — life." She adds, 
 "Happy, I should think, through all: happy in her 
 good feelings and good conscience and warm affec- 
 tions, still loving on ; happy in her faith, her hope, 
 and her charity." This death made a deep impres- 
 sion on Miss Edgeworth. 
 
 After another visit at Hampstead, where she heard 
 Miss Ferrier's novel of " Destiny " read by Isabella 
 Carr, she went home in August from " universal Lon- 
 don," after a successful and agreeable visit. Miss 
 Edgeworth thoroughly enjoyed London. 
 
 The freshness with which Miss Edgeworth enjoyed 
 the pleasures of life cannot fail to charm the ob- 
 server. She took life very philosophically, — the 
 mingled good and evil which must come to all alike. 
 
438 A STUDY OP MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 Undoubtedly she had a peculiarly happy tempera- 
 ment ; for great gifts, worldly prosperity, and happi- 
 ness do not always bring such contentment as hers. 
 She had nothing of that morbid striving after effect 
 too often seen among literary people. A flower, a 
 happy quotation, a beautiful scene, all contributed 
 to her enjoyment. She drew pleasure from the sim- 
 ple incidents of a life well and usefully spent. 
 
 An old Scotchman, Sir Harry Moncrief, used to 
 say, that no man, long accustomed to cit}^ life, could 
 retire and live in the country and muse "for six 
 months, without becoming an idiot." Country life, 
 spent as Miss Edgeworth passed her time, with the 
 occasional breaks of visits to friends, London society. 
 Continental tours, was what gave her the needed 
 time for perfection of thought and study. It gave 
 her, also, the keen enjoyment of life's pleasures 
 which enabled her to say in her sixty-fourth year, 
 in 1831, though losing every year some valued friend, 
 and naturally sensible herself of the approach of 
 age,— 
 
 " Old as I am, and unimaginative as I am thought to 
 be, I have really always found, that the pleasures I have 
 expected would be great have actually been greater in my 
 enjoyment than in anticipation." 
 
 The rest of the year 1831 was quietly spent at 
 home, with the exception of a visit made in October 
 to the Misses Ruxton, at Rosstrevor. Francis Edge- 
 worth was married in December to Miss Eroles, who 
 was cordially welcomed by Maria as a new sister. 
 
 In April, 1832, Miss Edgeworth was again at work 
 
" HELEN." 439 
 
 on " Helen." Cliurchill in the book was originally 
 called " Townsend." To show how widely she drew 
 her plan, she read Mirabeau for this character, as she 
 wished to exemplify in his peculiarities " the stealing 
 wit and ideas in conversation." 
 
 In Darwin's first interlude to the " Botanic Gar- 
 den," he said, " You may pluck the wild-flowers in 
 the field of literature, but you must not gather the 
 cultivated fruit in your neighbor's gardens ; " and 
 this striking thought, which was apropos of plagia- 
 rism, and the instances of resemblances in thought 
 and expression, caused her to write in her notes for 
 "Helen:" — 
 
 "Some, indeed, add murder to robbery, hke Voltaire 
 with Shakspeare. Some, standing upon the mines, call 
 out, ' No mines here ! ' and depreciate that they may 
 appropriate. Some claim possession by right of improve- 
 ment, and others take without even the form of claiming, 
 like Mirabeau, 'II y a longtemps que j'ai dit.' Some 
 drag the barbarian gold from the savage's ears. End with 
 examining whether time does, or does not, do justice at 
 last, in fairly apportioning moral or literary fame." 
 
 These notes took definite shape and form in the 
 description of Churchill, in "Helen," where she 
 wrote of him : — 
 
 " Persons without a name, Horace treated as barbarians 
 who did not know the value of their gold ; and he seemed 
 to think, that, if they chanced to possess rings and jewels, 
 they might be plucked from them without remorse, and 
 converted to better use by some lucky civilized adventurer. 
 Yet in his most successful piracies he was always haunted 
 
440 A STUDY OP MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 by the fear of discovery, and he especially dreaded the 
 acute perception of Lady Davenant." 
 
 The following letter from Miss Edgeworth to Mrs. 
 Somerville, thanking her for her gift of a copy of her 
 last work, " The Preliminary Dissertation," or " The 
 Physical Sciences," will interest from its modest ad- 
 miration of the great talents of her friend. 
 
 Edgewobthstown, May 31, 1832. 
 
 My deak Mrs. Someeville, — There is one satisfaction 
 at least in giving knowledge to the ignorant, to those who 
 know their ignorance at least, — that they are grateful and 
 humble. You should have mj- grateful and humble thanks 
 long ago for the favor, the honor, you did me by sending 
 me that "Prehminary Dissertation," in which there is so 
 much knowledge, but that I really wished to read it over 
 and over again at some intervals 'of time, and to have the 
 pleasure of seeing my sister Harriet read it, before I should 
 write to you. She has come to us, and has just been en- 
 joying it, as I knew she would. For my part, I was long 
 in the state of the boa-constrictor after a full meal ; and I 
 am but just recovering the powers of motion. My mind 
 was so distended by the magnitude, the immensity, of 
 what you put into it. I am afraid, that, if you had been 
 aware how ignorant I was, you would not have sent me 
 this dissertation ; because you would have felt that you 
 were throwing away much that I could not understand, 
 and that could be better bestowed on scientific friends, 
 capable of judging of what they admire. I can only 
 assure you that you have given me a great deal of pleas- 
 ure ; that you have enlarged my conception of the sub- 
 Hmity of the universe, beyond any ideas I had ever before 
 been enabled to form. 
 
LETTER TO MRS. SOMEEVILLE. 441 
 
 The great simplicity of your manner of writing, I may 
 say of your mind, which appears in your writing, particu- 
 larly suits the scientific sublime, which would be destroyed 
 by what is commonly called fine writing. You trust suffi- 
 ciently to the natural interest of your subject, to the im- 
 portance of the facts, the beauty of the whole, and the 
 adaptation of the means to the ends, in every part of the 
 immense whole. This reliance upon your reader's feeling 
 along with you was to me very gratifying. The orna- 
 ments of eloquence dressing out a sublime subject are just 
 so many proofs either of bad taste in the orator, or of dis- 
 trust and contempt of the taste of those whom he is try- 
 ing thus to captivate. 
 
 I suppose nobody yet has completely mastered the 
 tides, therefore I may well content myself with my inabil- 
 ity to comprehend what relates to them. But, instead of 
 plaguing you with an endless enumeration of my difficul- 
 ties, I had better tell you some of the passages which gave 
 me, ignoramus as I am, peculiar pleasure. ... I am afraid 
 I shall transcribe your whole book if I go on to tell you all 
 that has struck me ; and you would not thank me for that, 
 — you who have so little vanity, and so much to do bet- 
 ter with your time than to read my ignorant admiration. 
 But pray let me mention to you a few of the passages that 
 amused my imagination particularly; viz., 1st, the inhab- 
 itant of Pallas going round his world — or who might 
 go — in five or six hours in one of our steam-carriages ; 
 2d, the moderate-sized man who would weigh two tons at 
 the surface of the sun, and who would weigh only a few 
 pounds at the surface of the four new planets, and would 
 be so light as to find it impossible to stand from the ex- 
 cess of muscular force. I think a very entertaining dream 
 might be made of a man's visit to the sun and planets. 
 These ideas are all like dreamy feelings when one is a lit- 
 
442 A STUDY OP MAKIA EDGEWORTH. 
 
 tie feverish. I forgot to mention (page 58) a passage on 
 the propagation of sound. It is a beautiful sentence, as 
 well as a sublime idea: "so that at a very small height 
 above the surface of the earth, the noise of the tempest 
 ceases ; and the thunder is heard no more in those bound- 
 less regions, where the heavenly bodies accomplish their 
 periods in eternal and sublime silence." 
 
 Excuse me in my trade of sentence-monger, and believe 
 me, dear Mrs. Somerville, truly your obliged and truly 
 your affectionate friend, 
 
 Maria Edgeworth. 
 
 I have persuaded your dear curly-headed friend Harriet 
 to add her own observations. She sends her love to you ; 
 and I know you love her, otherwise I would not press her 
 to write her own say. 
 
 In September of 1832 Miss Edgeworth made an 
 excursion to Pakenhara Hall, a place she always en- 
 joyed visiting very much. 
 
 In November Miss Edgeworth wrote Mr. Banna- 
 tyne of the death of Sir Walter Scott : — 
 
 " The death of Sir Walter Scott has filled us all, as his 
 private friends and admirers, with sorrow. I do not 
 mean that we would have wished the prolongation of his 
 life sucli as it had been for the last months : quite the 
 contrary. But we feel poignant anguish from the thought 
 that such a life as his was prematurely shortened ; that 
 such faculties, such a genius — such as is granted but once 
 in an age, once in many ages — should have been extin- 
 guished of its light, of its power to enlighten and vivify 
 the world, long before its natural term for setting ! 
 Whate\-er the errors may have been, oh, what have been 
 the unremitted, generous, alas ! overstrained exertions of 
 that noble nature ! " 
 
SIR WALTER SCOTT. 443 
 
 Sir Walter to the very last paid the most gener- 
 ous tributes of praise and affectionate admiration 
 to Maria. At Malta he told Mrs. John Davy, — the 
 daughter of Mrs. Fletcher of Edinburgh, who mar- 
 ried the brother of Sir Humphry Davy, — as they 
 drove together, something of his fancies about books, 
 adding, — 
 
 " ' And there's that Irish lady too, — but I forget every- 
 body's name now.' — 'Miss Edgeworth,' I said. — 'Ay, 
 Miss Edgeworth : she's very clever, and best in the little 
 touches too. I'm sure, in that children's story [he 
 meant ' Simple Susan '], where the little girl parts with her 
 lamb, and the little boy brings it back to her again, 
 there's nothing for it but just to put down the book, and 
 cry." 
 
 When Mr. Lockhart was preparing his "Life of 
 Scott," he asked Miss Edgeworth for Sir Walter's 
 letters to herself. She had a great dislike to the 
 publication of a private and friendly correspondence 
 in any case ; but with these letters she felt, as she 
 expressed herself to a correspondent, that they had 
 too much of what was merely personal to allow her 
 to print them. She said she had " refused to give 
 him Scott's letters for publication, and very painful 
 it was to me to refuse him, at present, any thing he 
 asked ; but principle and consistency, painful or not, 
 required it, besides my own feelings. I could not 
 bear to publish Sir Walter's praises of myself, and 
 affectionate expressions and private sentiments. I 
 did send one letter to Mr. Lockhart, exemplifying 
 what I mean, — the beautiful letter on his changing 
 fortunes." 
 
444 A STUDY OF MABIA EDGBWOBTH. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 "Helen." — Maria still at Work on this Book. — Encouragement 
 from Friends. — "Helen" finislied. — Eeceived with great In- 
 terest by the Public. — Bemarks on "Helen." — Sir Culling 
 Smith. — Maria's visit to Connemara. — Letter from Col. Stewart. 
 — Answers Mrs. Stark. — "Dublin University Magazine." 
 
 In 1832 Miss Edgeworth was hard at work at 
 "Helen," which was approaching completion. Her 
 only '■'■complaint'" was that she could never do in 
 any day as much as she intended, she said at this 
 time. She sorely needed encouragement and urging 
 when she first undertook this work, and as early as 
 1830 wrote to one of her sisters that she had given 
 her " new life and spirit to go on with her " (Helen). 
 
 Miss Edgeworth had so long accustomed herself 
 to depending upon her father's judgment and criti- 
 cism, that she dreaded the attempt she was urged 
 by her friends to make alone and unaided. She 
 finished the plan her father had laid out for " Rosa- 
 mond," " Frank," and " Harry and Lucy , " but for 
 many years the thought of writing a novel which 
 should challenge comparison with " Belinda " or 
 " Patronage " seemed an impossibility. But the 
 success with which her sequel to the "Early Les- 
 sons " was received gave her the desire to begin a 
 larger work. As she sat at her fancy-work or sew- 
 ing, took her walks, or drove, she began to think of 
 
" HELEN." 445 
 
 a story, and made notes for it. Unfortunately, that 
 very lack of capacity for framing a plot, whicli Lord 
 Dudley considered her weak point, hampered her 
 very much in preparing " Helen." She began to 
 write this novel without making the complete sketch 
 of the story, and went on altering the plot as she 
 wrote, which somewhat injured the completeness 
 of the tale. Then, too, this method of writing was 
 rather disheartening ; for she wasted time in altering 
 where she should have been actively proceeding with 
 her story. In 1832 she compared herself to an old 
 lamp at the point of extinction from exhaustion, 
 when some friendly hand pours fresh oil upon it, 
 on receiving a letter urging her to continue her 
 story. Mr. and Mrs. Butler were deeply interested 
 in " Helen ; " and, finally, their confidence in her 
 powers so inspired her that she bent all her efforts 
 to make " Helen " a perfect piece of work. This 
 book was started in 1830 ; but the constant interrup- 
 tions to which she was always liable, and which she 
 permitted to break up her time too much, made her 
 delay it. Then the very doubts with which she 
 wrote gave her less desire to concentrate her energy; 
 but finally, in spite of family affairs, the agency of 
 her brother's business, visits from fiiends, and to 
 England and among Irish friends, she became inter- 
 ested in her heroine's fate, and resolutely carried 
 " Helen " to a successful end of her difficulties. In 
 February, 1833, she wrote a friend : — 
 
 " I am afraid you will be tired of ' Helen ' before you 
 become acquainted with her." 
 
446 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 She was then eagerly at work on it. In May she 
 wrote of it again : — 
 
 ' ' I must tell you a curious instance of my wondrous 
 good luck, or rather of tbe wonderful kindness and good- 
 nature of people to a spoiled authoress. The very morn- 
 ing that I heard from you about the hawking-scene, I 
 received a huge letter in an old hand I had never seen 
 before, a folio sheet and a half, giving me an account of 
 the hawking-scenes the writer had witnessed at Lord 
 Berners's, signed Elizabeth Wilson (sister to the present 
 Lord Berners), Kirby Cave, Norfolk." 
 
 The agency business often referred to may seem 
 to have been a waste of time and energy ; but it 
 gave Miss Edgeworth an interest in the poor peo- 
 ple of the village, induced her to take more active 
 walking exercise than she would otherwise have 
 done, and unbent her mind, by giving her complete 
 change of thought, and a practical object to relieve 
 her imagination. She went with renewed energy 
 and life from her accounts and practical affairs to 
 the manuscript of " Helen." She never wrote with 
 more spirit than when she had been engaged with 
 the realities of life. 
 
 In speaking of low spirits and their cause, about 
 the time she was writing " Helen," Miss Edgeworth 
 gave as her opinion that the best cure for depression 
 of mind was to struggle against it by work , quoting 
 Bacon, who said, " To keep the mind in health, you 
 must every day do something to which the mind is 
 best, and something to which it is least disposed, so 
 as to work out the knots and stones of the mind." 
 
" HELEN." 447 
 
 When " Helen " was done, it was read to the 
 family, who felt a deep interest in it. Miss Mary 
 Sneyd, the critic and corrector of proofs to many of 
 Miss Edgeworth's works, was deeply touched by 
 this story ; and the noble and very impressive end 
 brought tears to the eyes of the listeners. The book 
 was finished in the summer of 1833 ; and the manu- 
 script was sent to Mr. Lockhart, who kindly under- 
 took to negotiate with Bentley about its publication. 
 Miss Edgeworth left the business arrangements for 
 it entirely to the judgment of Mr. Lockhart. 
 
 Mnie. Belloc, who had translated " Harry and 
 Lucy" and " Early Lessons " most acceptably, gladly 
 received the offer of advance sheets of " Helen," and 
 made an excellent translation of this book. Miss 
 Edgeworth wrote of " Helen: " — 
 
 "I should tell you beforehand, that there is no humor 
 in it, and no Irish character. It is impossible to draw 
 Ireland as she now is, in a book of fiction. Realities are 
 too strong, party passions too violent, to bear to see, or 
 care to look at, their faces in the looking-glass. The peo- 
 ple would only break the glass, and curse the fool who 
 -held the mirror up to nature, — distorted nature in a fever. 
 We are in too perilous a case to laugh. Humor would 
 be out of season, worse than bad taste. Whenever the 
 danger is past, as the man in the sonnet says, — 
 
 ' We may look back on the hardest part, and laugh.' 
 
 " Then I shall be ready to join in the laugh. Sir Wal- 
 ter Scott once said to me, ' Do explain to the public why 
 Pat, who gets forward so well in other countries, is so 
 miserable in his own.' A very difficult question, I fear 
 
448 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGEWOKTH. 
 
 above my power. But I shall think continually, and 
 listen and look and read." 
 
 The humor of Miss Edgeworth, a very remarkable 
 attribute in a woman, was repressed in "Helen." 
 She dared not laugh at Ireland. Cervantes " laughed 
 Spain's chivalry away," said a writer, of " Don Qui- 
 xote ; " and if laughing at the Irish could have cured 
 them of their follies, errors, and improvidence, Miss 
 Edgeworth had certainly done her best in her pre- 
 vious works. "Helen" shows some defects in the 
 construction of its plot, but none in the execution of 
 the details. There is an ease, lightness of touch, a 
 certain air about it, which makes it as interesting as 
 any of her novels, and far more agreeable than those 
 which are weighted with so much effort to work out 
 a moral. " Helen " is not wanting in a high tone ; 
 and the manner in which the untruthfulness of a 
 societjf life is depicted, and the distress and suffering 
 caused by one who evades or denies a fact, and makes 
 an innocent friend the victim of a mistake of her 
 own, is very interesting, and a valuable study. The 
 character of Lady Davenant is one of great power^ 
 and shows the versatility, the grasp, of Miss Edge- 
 worth's pen. The conversation of Lady Davenant 
 in the pony-carriage with her young friend Helen 
 is full of life and natural spirit. There is a reality 
 and depth in this picture which will impress it 
 strongly on the mind of the reader. There are 
 among IVIiss Edgeworth's writings many fine pic- 
 tures of women. She drew an Englishwoman of 
 culture and high birth as finely as written words 
 
" HELEN." 449 
 
 could describe the niceties of character. Who can 
 forget a Mrs. Hungerford, Lady Delacoiir, Lady 
 Davenant, Belinda, Caroline Percy, Helen, or Lady 
 Cecilia Clarendon ? Her Mme. de Fleury, Emilie de 
 Coulanges, and a host of minor characters, have 
 made women of other nations as famous as her own. 
 None exceed in delicacy of touch, depth of character, 
 and a genuineness of nature the women of " Helen." 
 The high-toned character of Lady Davenant, un- 
 touched by the great world in which she has been 
 long a moving power ; the charms, yet grave faults, 
 of Lady Cecilia Clarendon ; the honest, sincere, yet 
 yielding, nature of Helen ; the rugged and brusque 
 bluntness of Miss Clarendon, — all move before us 
 in the mimic world of Clarendon Park ; and one feels 
 as if, in laying down the book, a new set of friends 
 had been added to his circle. The English reviews 
 and magazines had good reviews of this novel. Li 
 America, among many, there was a very excellent one 
 by the Rev. W. B. O. Peabody, well known as a fine 
 critic and scholar. 
 
 Maria was much interested in reading the " Life 
 of Mirabeau," and said : — 
 
 " I have been excruciatingly interested in the 'Memoirs 
 of the Mirabeaus : ' that ouragan son and that iron father 
 and that good ^ pdte d'homme le bailU.' " 
 
 She was especially interested in the history of 
 Mirabeau because of M. Dumont's connection with 
 him, which was always a mystery to her : they were 
 men so very different in mind and morals. Mirabeau, 
 a selfish voluptuary, with great mental powers, which 
 
450 A STUDY OF MAKIA EDGBWOKTH. 
 
 occasionally gleam through a mist of sensuality, a 
 master-mind, but degraded by low vices. Dumont, 
 so pure-minded and single-hearted in his devotion to 
 good, and spending his life in translating the code 
 and essays of Jeremy Bentham, leaving only that as 
 a monument to the future ; unselfishly ignoring his 
 own wit and originalitj^ to perpetuate the fame of 
 another. 
 
 She embodies these views in " Helen," making one 
 character say of Dumont's "M^moires de Mira- 
 beau," — 
 
 " This book, which I am reading, gives me infinitely 
 increased pleasure from my certain knowledge, my perfect 
 conviction, of the truth of the author. The self-evident 
 nature of some of the facts would support themselves, 
 you may say, in some instances ; but my perceiving the 
 scrupulous care he takes to say no more than what he 
 knows to be true, my perfect reliance on the relater's 
 private character for integrity, give a zest to every anec- 
 dote he tells, a specific weight to every word of conver- 
 sation which lie repeats, appropriate value to every trait 
 of wit or humor characteristic of the person he describes." 
 
 Another book which she read for a study of char- 
 acter was the " Life of Savage ; " and, in speaking of 
 style and its effects, Maria once said she thought 
 " Johnson's ' Life of Savage ' the finest piece of biog- 
 raphy I ever read, but the most dangerous ; attribut- 
 ing his faults to his warmth of affection, telling of 
 his ardent desire to catch his mother's shadow as she 
 passed, when forbidden her presence, and certainly 
 excusing his profligacy." 
 
A VISIT TO CONNEMAPvA. 451 
 
 In answer to an inquiry about one of the cliarac- 
 
 ters in " Helen," she wrote, — 
 
 " Lady Davenant is not a portrait. I hope it may be 
 called an invention of many ideas of individual characters 
 in one new whole." 
 
 In 1833 Sir Culling and Lady Smith visited Ire- 
 land. Sir Culling, Maria described " as of old family, 
 large fortune, and great philanthropy, extending to 
 poor little Ireland, and her bogs, and her Connemara, 
 and her penultimate barony of Ennis, and her ulti- 
 mate Giant's Causeway, and her beautiful Lakes of 
 Killarney." Lady Smith was Isabella Carr, daughter 
 of the Edge worths' old friends at Hampstead, a very 
 charming woman. She had with her a nurse and 
 infant. Maria was very anxious to see Connemara, 
 and they were delighted to have her offer to go with 
 them. An account of their journey would fill many 
 pages. They went to Ballinasloe and Connemara 
 early in October, leaving the child at Edgeworths- 
 town. The adventures and difficulties they encoun- 
 tered were many, and culminated in the detention of 
 the party for three weeks, for a severe illness of Lady 
 Smith, at the house of Mr. Martin, Ballinahinch Cas- 
 tle. They saw cattle-fairs, bogs with treacherous, 
 quaking holes, no roads worthy of the name, and 
 finally, after their detention, got " safe out " of Con- 
 nemara, seeing Ballymahon, Athlone, and Galway. 
 Miss Edgeworth made the best of the disagreeables 
 of the journey, and found a warm friend in Mrs. 
 Martin ; saying what " an extraordinary thing it was 
 to have made a new friend at sixty-six years of age." 
 
452 A STUDY OP MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 In speaking of Irish words and English expres- 
 sions, she once said how much she always disliked 
 the word " satiety ; " because her father " laughed her 
 to scorn, when she was thirteen, for pronouncing it 
 'sashaty ' " in imitation of Mr. Day, with whom she 
 had been visiting. 
 
 Sir Walter Scott, in passing Edgeworthstown this 
 year, did not forget his friends there ; for he saluted 
 them with his regimental band before breakfast. 
 And, speaking of the incident, Miss Edgeworth re- 
 called the saying of the man to Bonaparte, " Sire, il 
 n'y a de circonstance oii on ne prend pas de de- 
 jeuner." 
 
 In writing in 1834, Miss Edgeworth alluded to a 
 tale called " ' Bob, the Chimney-Sweeper,' which was 
 written several years before, but laid by for the pres- 
 ent, unfinished ; " and she probably never felt suffi- 
 cient interest in it to take it up again. 
 
 Miss Edgeworth was much pleased with the advent 
 of a new writer. Miss Murphy (Mrs. Jameson), now 
 married to a very clever lawyer. She says " all the 
 woes and heart-breakings are mere fables in the 
 Diary." At this time Mrs. Jameson had not sepa- 
 rated from her husband ; and she was known by her 
 "Female Characters of Shakspeare," and the "Diary 
 of an Ennuy^e." 
 
 Miss Edgeworth was much interested in meeting 
 with a character of Chillingworth, which was so 
 much like her " own first idea of Beauclerc's charac- 
 ter (in ' Helen '), made incapable of decision or action 
 by seeing too many arguments too nicely balanced 
 on both sides of every question, that," she adds 
 
" HELEN." 453 
 
 she "could 'hardly help fancjdng" she "had stolen 
 it." 
 
 After the publication of " Helen," which was re- 
 ceived with much pleasure by the public, and kindly 
 noticed by the critics, Miss Edgeworth had many 
 letters of admiration, criticism, and comment from 
 her friends. 
 
 Mrs. Stark, the friend of Miss Edgeworth, received 
 a long letter of twenty-eight pages from her cousin, 
 Col. Mathew Stewart, son of Dugald Stewart, who 
 had been reading " Helen." Mrs. Stark wrote Miss 
 Edgeworth about Col. Stewart's letter; and she 
 asked her to let her read it, which she did. Miss 
 Edgeworth said, — 
 
 " I am sure I have great reason to he proud, as I am, 
 that such a person as Col. Stewart should have thought 
 it worth his while to write all this." 
 
 And, after reading this letter carefully, she replied 
 to Mrs. Stark in another long letter ; which contains 
 so much that is interesting to the reader in reference 
 to her methods of work, and her modes of thought 
 and study, that most of it is given here. 
 
 She says, after some preliminary remarks, — 
 
 " Such a writer, and such a noble mind as Col. Stew- 
 art's, having bestowed so much thought and time upon 
 me and my fictions, raises them and myself in my own 
 opinion far more than could the largest ' draught of un- 
 qualified praise ' from any common critic. From feeling 
 that he does justice in many points to the jDast, I rely 
 upon his prophecies as to the future ; and I feel my 
 ambition strongly excited by his belief that I can^ and his 
 
454 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 prognostic that I shall, do better hereafter. Boileau says, 
 ' Trust a critic who puts his finger at once upon what you 
 know to be your infirm part.' I had often thought and 
 said to myself some of those things which Col. Stewart 
 has written, but never so strongly expressed, so fully 
 brought home : my own rod of feathers did not do my 
 business. I had often and often a suspicion that my 
 manner was too Dutch, too minute, and verjr, very often, 
 and warmly, admired the bold, graced style of the master 
 hand and master genius. I lc7iow I feel hovr much more 
 is to he doiie^ ought to he done, by suggestion than by 
 delineation, hy creative fancy than hy facsimile copying; 
 how much more by skilful selection and fresh, consistent 
 combination, than can be effected by the most acute 
 observation of individuals, or diligent accumulation of 
 particulars. 
 
 ' ' But where I have erred or fallen short of what is 
 thought I might have done, it has not been from ' draw- 
 ing from the life or from individuals, or from putting 
 actions or sayings noted in commonplace books, from 
 observation or hearsay in society.' I have seldom or 
 ever drawn anyone character — certainly not anj' ridicu- 
 lous or faulty character — from any individual. Wher- 
 ever, in writing, a real character rose to my view, from 
 memory or resemblance, it has always been hurtful to me ; 
 because, to avoid that resemblance, I was tempted by cow- 
 ardice or compelled by conscience to throw in differences, 
 which often ended in making my character inconsistent, 
 unreal." 
 
 "At the hazard of talking too much of myself, which 
 people usually do when once they begin, I must tell my 
 penetrating critic exactly the facts, as far as I know 
 them, about my liahits of composition. He will at least 
 see, by my throwing open my mmd thus, that he has not 
 
LETTER TO MRS. STAKE. 455 
 
 made me afraid of him, but lias won my confidence, and 
 made me look for his future sympathj' and assistance. I 
 have no ' vast magazine of a commonplace book.' In my 
 whole life, since I began to write, — which is now, I am 
 concerned to state, upwards of forty years, — I have had 
 only about half a dozen little note-books, strangely and 
 irregularly kept, sometimes with only words of reference 
 to some book or fact I could not bring accurately to 
 mind. At first I was much urged by my father to note 
 down remarkable traits of character, or incidents, which 
 he thought might be introduced in stories ; and he often 
 blamed that idleness or laziness, as he thought it in me, 
 which resisted his urgency. But I was averse to noting 
 down, because I was conscious that it did better for me 
 to keep the things in my head if they suited my purpose ; 
 and if they did not, they would only encumber me. I 
 knew that when I wrote down I put the thing out of my 
 care, out of my head ; and that, though it might be put 
 by very safe, I should not know where to look for it ; that 
 the labor of looking over a note-book would never do 
 when I was in the warmth and pleasure of inventing ; 
 that I should never recollect the facts or ideas at the right 
 time if I did not put them up in my own way, in my 
 own head : that is, if I felt with hope or pleasure, ' that 
 thought or that fact will be useful to me in such a charac- 
 ter or story, of which I have now a first idea, the same 
 fact or thought would recur, I knew, when I wanted it, 
 in right order for invention.' In short, ' as Col. Stewart 
 guessed,' the process of combination, generalization, in- 
 vention, was carried on always in my head best. Wher- 
 ever I brought in bodily, unaltered, as I have sometimes 
 done, facts from real life, or sayings or recorded obser- 
 vations of my own, I have almost always found them 
 objected to by good critics as unsuited to the character. 
 
456 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 or in some way de trop. Two instances I remember at 
 this instant, — two witticisms wliicli were put into the 
 mouth of Grace Nugent, in ' The Absentee,' first edition, 
 and taken out in the second, from the conviction of their 
 being inconsistent with her character. Sometimes, when 
 the first idea of a character was taken from life, from 
 some ORiGiNAi,, and the characteristic facts noted down, 
 or even noted only in my head, I have found it neces- 
 sary entirely to alter these ; not only from propriety, to 
 avoid individual resemblances, but from the sense that 
 the character would be only an exception to general 
 feeling and experience, not a rule. (In short, exactly 
 what Col. Stewart says about ' the conical hills ' being the 
 worst subjects for painters.) As an instance, I may 
 mention King Corny, who is, I believe, considered more 
 of a fairy piece, more as a roTnantic character, than my 
 usual common-life Dutch figures : the first idea of him 
 was taken from the facts I heard of an oddity, a man, I 
 believe, like no other, who lived in a remote part of 
 Ireland ; an ingenious despot in his own family, who 
 blasted out of the rock on which his house was built half 
 a kitchen, while he and family and guests were living in 
 the house ; who was so passionate, that children, grown- 
 up sons, servants, and all, ran out of the house at once 
 when he fell into a passion with his own tangled hair ; a 
 man who used, in his impatience and rages, to call at the 
 head of the kitchen stairs to his servants, ' Drop what- 
 ever you have in your hand, and come here and be 
 d — d ! ' He was generous and kind-hearted, but des- 
 potic and conceited to the ludicrous degree ; for instance, 
 he thought he could work Gobelin tapestry, and play on 
 the harp or mandolin, better than any one living. 
 
 " One after another, in working out King Corny, from 
 the first wrong hint, I was obliged to give up every fact, 
 
LETTEK TO MRS. STAEK. 457 
 
 except that he propped up the roof of his house, and built 
 downwards ; and to generalize all, to make him a man of 
 expedients, of ingenious substitutes, such as any clever 
 Irishman in middle life is used to, I was obliged to re- 
 tain, but soften, the despotism, and exalt the generosity, 
 to make it a character that would interest. Not one word 
 I ever heard said by the living man, or had ever heard 
 repeated of his saying, except 'Drop what you have,' 
 etc., went into my King Corny 's mouth, — would not 
 have suited him. I was obliged to make him according 
 to the general standard of wit and acuteness, shrewd 
 humor and sarcasm, of that class of unread natural 
 geniuses ; an over-match for Sir Ulick, who is of a more 
 cultivated class of acute and roguish Irish gentlemen. 
 
 "Has Col. Stewart ever read 'Castle Rackrent'? I 
 should like to know whether he would guess that any of 
 the characters in that book were drawn from life, with 
 what he calls colors from the life, or not. The only char- 
 acter drawn from the life in ' Castle Eackrent ' is Thady 
 himself, the teller of the story. He was an old steward 
 (not very old, though, at that time : I added to his age, 
 to allow him time for the generations of the family) . I 
 heard him when I first came to Ireland, and his dialect 
 struck me, and his character ; and I became so acquainted 
 with it, that I could think and speak in it without effort : 
 so that when, for mere amusement, without any idea of 
 publishing, I began to write a family history as Thady 
 would tell it, he seemed to stand beside me and dictate ; 
 and I wrote as fast as my pen could go, the characters all 
 imaginary. Of course they must have been compounded 
 of persons I had seen, or incidents I had heard ; but how 
 compounded I do not know. Not by ' long forethought,' 
 for I had never thought of them till I began to write, and 
 had made no sort of plan, sketch, or framework. There 
 
458 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGEWORTH. 
 
 is a fact meutioned in a note of Lady Cathcart having 
 been shut up by her husband, Mr. McGuire, in a house in 
 this neighborhood. So much I knew, but the characters 
 are totally different from what I had heard. Indeed, the 
 real people had been so long dead that little was known 
 of them. Mr. McGuire had no resemblance, at all events, 
 to my Sir Kit ; and I knew nothing of Lady Cathcart, but 
 that she was fond of money, and would not give up her 
 diamonds. Sir Condy's history was added two years 
 afterwards : it was not drawn from life, but the good- 
 natured and indolent extravagance was suggested by a 
 relative of mine, long since dead. All the incidents, pure 
 invention ; the duty work and duty fowls were facts. 
 
 "A curious fact, that where I least aimed at drawing 
 characters, 1 succeeded best. As far as I have heard, the 
 characters in ' Castle Rackrent ' were in their day consid- 
 ered as better classes of Irish characters than any I ever 
 drew ; they cost me no trouble, and were made by no re- 
 ceipt, or thought of ' philosophical classification : ' there 
 was literally not a correction, not an alteration, made in 
 the first writing, no copy, and, as I recollect, no interline- 
 ation ; it went to the press just as it was written. Other 
 stories I have corrected with the greatest care, and re- 
 modelled and re-written. 
 
 "Sir Terence O'Fay in 'The Absentee,' who was a 
 favorite with Sir Walter Scott, and who is, I think, a rep- 
 resentative of a class then existing in Ireland, was like- 
 wise written off, not philosophically constructed. While I 
 was writing him, I always saw him and heard him speak: 
 he was an individual to me. If I had been thinking of 
 ' classification,' I don't think I should have believed in his 
 real existence. As far as I have heard, he has impressed 
 readers with the idea of his being a reality : yet certainly 
 I had no living model, though introducing several com- 
 
LETTEE TO MRS. STAEK. 459 
 
 pounded ' incidents ; ' for instance, hiding the family plate, 
 and cheating about the horse Nabochlish. . . . 
 
 "I never could use notes in writing dialogues. It would 
 have been as impossible to me to get in the prepared good 
 things at the right moment, in the warmth of writing con- 
 versation, as it would be to lug them in in real conversa- 
 tion : perhaps more so, for I could not write dialogues at 
 all without being at the time fully impressed with the 
 characters, imagining myself each speaker ; and that too 
 fully engrossed the imagination to leave time for consult- 
 ing note-books : the whole fairy vision would melt away, 
 and the pleasure of invention be gone. I might often, 
 while writing, recollect from books or life what would 
 suit, and often from note-books ; but then I could not 
 stop to look, and often quoted therefore inaccurately. I 
 have a quick recoUective memory, and retentive for the 
 sort of things I particularly want, — they will recur to me at 
 the moment I want them, years and years after they have 
 lain dormant, — but, alas! my memory is inaccurate, has 
 hold of the object only by one side, the side or face that 
 struck my imagination ; and if I want more afterwards I 
 do not know even where to look for it. I mention this be- 
 cause Dugald Stewart once was curious to know what sort 
 of memory I had, whether recoUective or retentive. . . . 
 
 ' ' In every story (except ' Rackrent ' ) which I ever 
 wrote, I have always drawn out a sketch, a framework. 
 All these are in existence ; and I have lately compared 
 many of the printed stories with them, some strangely 
 altered, by the way. In the sketch of ' Helen ' I had not 
 the judgment I formerly had to see if the anatomy was 
 correct. I have the sketch now before me. . . . Here are 
 the very words of my first sketch. . . . ' The general, not 
 a man of genius or of literary distinction, but of great de- 
 cision, strength of mind, resolution, some think obstinacy ; 
 
460 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 high honor, high breeding, all the qualities that win and 
 keep woman's love.' 
 
 ' ' In the sketch of Beauclerc, I find these words, — ' Ar- 
 istocratic, ambitious, tinged with the faults of his class : ' 
 and afterwards a sketch of faults which I supposed to 
 arise from his college education, and ' too metaphj'sical 
 reading, and too much speculative refinement, irresolu- 
 tion, thence ennui.' All this, you see, aimed at a class 
 of characters : but unluckily I had not time or room in 
 this story to develop him ; he sank into a mere lover. 
 Unfortunately I have not at this moment in my possession 
 the third volume of Stewart's ' Philosophy of the Human 
 Mind on Intellectual Character,' to which Col. Stewart 
 refers me : I have sent for it, but it is not to be had in 
 Dublin, and I have waited too long for it from London ; 
 and now I am sorry I must finish this letter without see- 
 ing it. What Col. Stewart has said already impressed 
 upon my mind the necessity of more strongly marking 
 the great lines of character by which readers are to under- 
 stand and recognize the class, the meaning, of characters : 
 but I must acknowledge that I do not feel sure that strict 
 attention to classification would do me good ; I am not 
 sure that this would add to the life, the interest. There 
 are little touches of inconsistency, which mark reality ; for 
 human nature is really inconsistent. And there are excep- 
 tions, as in grammar rules ; and these exceptions, which 
 in characters we call oddities, form, as it were, new rudi- 
 ments for fresh future classes. It would not be accordiug 
 to Bacon's rules of philosophizing, to limit the number of 
 classes ; there being arbitrary distinctions formed from 
 observation of particulars : then fresh particulars, if true, 
 must be admitted. ... I acknowledge tliat even a per- 
 fectly true character, absolutely taken as a facsimile from 
 real life, would not be interesting in a fiction, might not 
 
LETTER TO MES. STAEK. 461 
 
 be believed, and could not be useful. The value of these 
 odd characters depends, I acknowledge, upon their being 
 actually known to be true. In history, extraordinary 
 characters always interest us with all their inconsistencies, 
 feeling we thus add to our actual knowledge of human 
 nature. In fiction, we have not this conviction, and there- 
 fore not this sort or source of pleasure, even if ever so 
 well done : if it be quite a new inconsistency we feel 
 doubtful and averse, but we submit when we know it is 
 true. We say, ' Don't therefore tell me it is not in 
 human nature.' 
 
 . . . "I feel and understand how many poets and 
 novelists have raised in the mind that sort of enthusiasm 
 which exalts and purifies the soul. Happy, and gifted 
 with Heaven's best gift, must be the poet, the inventor of 
 any sort of fiction, that can raise this enthusiasm. I rec- 
 ollect Mrs. Barbauld's lines describing, — 
 
 ' Generous youth that feeds 
 On pictured tales of vast heroic deeds.' 
 
 " How I wish I could furnish, as Scott has, some of 
 those pictured tales colored to the life ! But I fear I have 
 not that power : therefore it is perhaps that I strive to 
 console myself for my deficiencies, by flattering myself 
 that there is much, though not such glorious, use in 
 my own lesser manner and department. The great vir- 
 tues, the great vices, excite strong enthusiasm, vehement 
 honor ; but, after all, it is not so necessary to warn the 
 generality against these, either by precept or example, as 
 against the lesser faults. We are all suflflciently aware 
 that we must not break the Commandments ; and the 
 reasons against all vices, all feel, even to the force of 
 demonstration : but demonstration does not need, and 
 
462 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGBWOBTH. 
 
 cannot receive, additional force from fiction. The old 
 Bailey trials, Les Causes GMibres, come with more force, 
 as with the force of actual truth, than can any of the 
 finest fictions. 
 
 . . . "Few readers do, or can, put themselves in the 
 places of great criminals, or fear to yield to such and 
 such temptations. They know that they cannot fall to the 
 depth of evil at once, and they have no sympathy, no 
 fear : their spirits are not ' put in the act of falling.' 
 But show them the steep path, the little declivity at first, 
 the step by step downwards ; and they tremble. Show 
 them the postern-gates, or little breaches in their citadel 
 of virtue ; and they fly to guard these. In short, show to 
 them their own little faults which may lead on to the 
 greatest, and they shudder ; that is, if this be done with 
 truth, and brought home to their consciousness. This is 
 all which, by reflection on my own mind, and comparison 
 with others and with records in books, full as much as ob- 
 servations on living subjects, I feel or fancy I have some- 
 times done or can do. But wliile I am thus ladling out 
 praise to myself in this way, I do not flatter myself that 
 I deserve the quantity of praise which Col. Stewart gives 
 me, for laborious observation, or for steadiness and nicety 
 of dissection. My father, to whose judgment I habitually 
 refer to help out my own judgment of myself, and who 
 certainly must from long acquaintance, to say no more, 
 have known my character better than any other person 
 can, always reproached me for trusting too much to my 
 hasty glances — aper(}us, as he called them — of character 
 or truths. And often have I had, and have still (past 
 my grand climacteric) , to repent every day my mistaken 
 conclusions and hasty jumps to conclusions. Perhaps 
 you wish I should jump to conclusion now, and so I 
 will." 
 
" HELEN." 463 
 
 The remarks made by Col. Stewart about the 
 inconsistency of the characters of Miss Edgeworth's 
 " Helen " were not considered just by Capt. Hall 
 and many of her other friends, who entirely differed 
 from him in his opinion. They expressed themselves 
 as being much impressed with the reality of the 
 book, and its fidelity to life. 
 
 " Helen " was widely read by the most intelligent 
 and cultivated people, and made the subject of much 
 comment. H. F. Chorley, in his "Autobiography," 
 says, " The delight and culture to be gained by 
 standing as a background figure in such circles 
 [meaning among highly gifted people] cannot be 
 overrated. Well has Miss Edgeworth remarked, in 
 her ' Helen,' that there is a time in every man's life 
 when such experiences are of priceless value ; " and 
 he adds that Barry Cornwall and Basil Montague 
 are among the characters of "Helen." 
 
 " The Dublin University Magazine " says, — 
 
 " Our eyes were gladdened by the appearance of a new 
 novel from the pen of Miss Edgeworth. Dear, precious 
 Maria Edgeworth ! We felt the sound of her name like 
 the return of spring, and liave looked upon her pages 
 with the eager delight with which we should greet the 
 approach of a long-lost acquaintance." 
 
 Such words, such greetings, from all were most 
 cheering to the author, who again appeared before 
 the public, which was no slight ordeal, after so many 
 years of silence. Years that had changed much, 
 new generations of readers, and modern novels, had 
 not supplanted the well-earned fame of Miss Edge- 
 
464 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGBWOKTH. 
 
 worth. She was favored with a genuine ovation 
 from the best and brightest minds of Great Britain 
 and America. 
 
 In 1835 Miss Mary Sneyd, who was a very old 
 lady, had a dangerous illness; but she recovered, 
 and survived a few years longer, to brighten the 
 home at Edgeworthstown, where she had lived for 
 so long. 
 
A VISIT TO MAEIA. 465 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Visit of the Ticknors to Bdgeworthstown. — Kemarks of Maria. — 
 Letter to W. B. O. Peabody. — Mrs. Farrar's Visit to Maria. — 
 Condition of Ireland at tliis Time. — Mr- Sprague's Sketcti of his 
 Day with Maria. —Leigh Hunt's "Blue-Stocking Kevels." — 
 Southey. — A Visit to England. — Mrs. Sigourney's Meeting with 
 Miss Edgeworth. — Maria made Honorary Member of the Koyal 
 Irish Society. — Hall's Account of Edgeworthstown and the 
 Family. — A Visit to Maria. — Impressions of Maria's Home Life. 
 
 Mk. George Ticknoe,^ accompanied by his 
 family, visited Edgeworthstown in 1835 ; and some 
 extracts from his journal will interest the American 
 readers : — 
 
 ^^ Aug. 21. — "We set out pretty early this morning to 
 make a visit, by invitation, to the Edgeworths, at Edge- 
 worthstown, sixty-five English miles from Dublin. . . . 
 
 "At last we approached the house. There was no 
 mistaking it. We had seen none such for a long time. 
 It is spacious, with an ample veranda and conservatory 
 covering part of its front quite beautifully, and situated 
 in a fine lawn of the richest green, interspersed with 
 clumps of venerable oaks and beeches. As we drove to 
 the door. Miss Edgeworth came out to meet us, — a small, 
 short, spare lady of about sixty-seven, with extremely 
 frank and kind manners, and who always looks straight 
 
 1 Professor of Modern Literature, Harvard University, author of 
 History of Spanish Literature, and other works: born in Boston 
 1791; died 1871. 
 
466 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGEWOKTH. 
 
 into your face with a pair of mild, deep gray eyes, when- 
 ever she speaks to you. With her characteristic direct- 
 ness, she did not take us into the library until she had 
 told us that we should find there Mrs. Alison of Edin- 
 burgh, and her aunt, Miss Sneyd, a person very old and 
 infirm ; and that the only other persons constituting the 
 family were Mrs. Edgeworth, Miss Honora Edgeworth, 
 and Dr. Alison, a physician, and son of the author on 
 'Taste.' Having thus put us en pays de connaissance, 
 she carried us into the library. It is quite a large room, 
 full of books, and every way comfortable as a sitting- 
 room. We had not been there five minutes, before we 
 were, by her kindness and vivacity, put completely at our 
 ease ; a sensation which we do not seem likely to lose 
 during our visit. Soon after we were seated, and had 
 become a little acquainted with Mrs. Alison, — who is a 
 daughter of the famous Dr. Gregory,- — the rest of the 
 party came in from a drive. 
 
 " Mrs. Edgeworth, who is of the Beaufort family, seems 
 about the age of her more distinguished step-daughter, 
 and is somewhat stout, but very active, intelligent, and 
 accomplished ; having apparently the whole care of the 
 household, and adding materially, by her resources in the 
 arts and in literature, to its agreeableness. . . . 
 
 "It is plain they make a harmonious whole; and, by 
 those who visited here when the family was much larger, 
 and composed of the children of all the wives of Mr. 
 Edgeworth, with their connections produced by marriage, 
 so as to form the most heterogeneous relationships, I am 
 told there was always the same very striking union and 
 agreeable intercourse among them all, to the number 
 sometimes of fifteen or twenty. . . . 
 
 "After sitting about an hour in the library ... we 
 went to dress, and punctually at half-past six were sum- 
 
ME. TICKNOK'S IMPEESSIONS or MAEIA. 467 
 
 moned by the bell to dinner. ... At half-past eight we 
 rejoined the ladies in the library, which seems to be the 
 only sitting-room ; at nine we had tea and coffee, and at 
 half-past ten went to bed. . . . What has struck me 
 most to-day in Miss Edgeworth herself is, her uncommon 
 quickness of perception, her fertility of allusion, and the 
 great resources of fact which a remarkable memory sup- 
 plies to her, combined into a whole which I can call noth- 
 ing else but extraordinary vivacity. She certainly talks 
 quite as well as Lady Delacour or Lady Davenant, and 
 much in the style of both of them, though more in that 
 of Lady Davenant. . . . 
 
 ^^Aug. 22. — It has been a rainy day to-day. We 
 did not really separate during the whole day, from break- 
 fast, at nine, until bedtime, half after eleven. The whole 
 time was passed in the library ; except the breakfast, 
 which was protracted to an hour's length by sitting round 
 the table ; lunch, which is really the dinner of most peo- 
 ple ; . . . and dinner itself, from half-past six to half- 
 past eight. 
 
 "Miss Edgeworth's conversation was always ready, 
 and as full of vivacity and variety as I can imagine. It 
 was, too, no less full of good-nature. She was disposed 
 to defend everybody, even Lady Morgan, as far as she 
 could, though never so far as to be unreasonable. And in 
 her intercourse with her family she was quite delightful ; 
 referring constantly to Mrs. Edgeworth, who seems to be 
 the authority in all matters of fact, and most kindly 
 repeating jokes to her infirm aunt. Miss Sneyd, who can- 
 not hear them, and who seems to have for her the most 
 unbounded affection and admu'ation. 
 
 "About herself, as an author, she seems to have no 
 reserve or secrets. She spoke with great kindness and 
 pleasure of a letter I brought to her from Mr. Pea- 
 
468 A STUDY OP MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 body,^ explaining some passage in his review of ' Helen,* 
 which had troubled her from its allusion to her father ; 
 ' but,' she added, 'nobody can know what I owe to my 
 father : he advised and directed me in every thing ; I 
 never could have done any thing without him. These 
 are things I cannot be mistaken about, though other 
 people can, — I know them. ' As she said this the tears 
 stood in her eyes, and her whole person was moved. 
 
 " Of ' Helen,' she said that it was a recent conception 
 altogether, first imagined about two years before it was 
 printed. The CoUingwoods, she said, were a clumsy 
 part of it : she put them in, thinking to make something 
 of them, but was disappointed, and there they stuck ; she 
 could not get them out again. Many parts of it were 
 much altered : two only were printed just as they were 
 first put on paper, with hardly the correction of a word, 
 — Lady Davenant's conversation with Helen in the pony 
 phaeton, and Lady Cecilia's conversation with Helen 
 towards the end, telling her all that had happened during 
 their separation. These two portions she said she dic- 
 tated to her sister Lucy, whom she represented to be a 
 person of sure taste. She dictated these particular pas- 
 sages because, as they were to represent narrative conver- 
 sation, she thought this mode of composing them would 
 give them a more natural air ; and whenever her sister's 
 pen hesitated, she altered the word at once. ' So,' said 
 she, ' all that turned out right ; and I was very glad of it, 
 for Lucy's sake as well as my own.' 
 
 "'Taking for Granted,' she told me, was sketched 
 very roughly about fifteen years ago ; and she is now 
 employed in working it entirely over again, and bringing 
 it out. She was curious to know what instances I had 
 
 1 "W. B. O. PeaboJy, clergyman, accomplished scholar, and poet. 
 Born 1799, died 1847. 
 
ME. TICKNOE's IMPKESSIONS OF MAEIA. 469 
 
 ever witnessed of persons suffering from ' taking for 
 granted ' what proved false, and desired me quite ear- 
 nestly, and many times, to write to her about it; 'for,' 
 She added, 'you would be surprised if you knew how 
 much I pick up in this way.' — -'The story,' she said, 
 ' must begin lightly, and the early instances of mistake 
 might be comic; but it must end tragically.' I told her 
 I was sorry for it. ' Well,' said she, ' I can't help it : it 
 must be so. The best I can do for you, is to leave it 
 quite uncertain whether it is possible the man who is to 
 be my victim can ever be happy again or not.' 
 
 "But neither 'Helen' nor 'Taking for Granted,' she 
 said, is the subject she should be glad to write about, 
 and write about with the most interest. It is something 
 connected with the religious and political parties that are 
 ruining Ireland, 'my poor Ireland.' — 'But,' she went 
 on, ' it won't do. Few would listen, and those that would 
 listen would do it to serve their own purposes. It won't 
 do ; and I am sorry for it, very sorry. ' 
 
 "But, though she talked thus freely about herself and 
 her works, she never introduced the subject, and never 
 seemed glad to continue it. She talked quite as well, 
 and with quite as much interest, on every thing else. 
 Indeed, though I watched carefully for it, I could not 
 detect, on the one side, any of the mystification of au- 
 thorship, nor, on the other, any of its vanity. . . . The 
 sustained tone of conversation, however, with her un- 
 quenchable vivacity, was, I think, — continued as it was 
 through so long a day, — a little fatiguing to her. She 
 was just the same to the last moment, just as quick in 
 repartee, and just as gay in her allusions and remarks ; 
 but her countenance showed that her physical strength 
 was hardly equal to it. Indeed, she is of a feeble con- 
 stitution naturally, though for the last two years she has 
 
470 A STUDY OP MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 gained strength. It was, therefore, something of a trial 
 to talk so brilliantly and variously as she did, from nine 
 in the morning till past eleven at night. 
 
 '■^Sunday, Aug. 23. — To-day was more quiet; not 
 less interesting or agreeable than yesterday, but less 
 exciting. We went to church with the family, who all 
 seemed Episcopalians in principle and practice. Miss 
 Edgeworth carried her favorite prayer-book in a nice 
 case, and knelt and made all the responses very devoutly. 
 The church is small, but neat ; and their pew is the place 
 of honor in it, with a canopy and recess as large as any 
 two other pews. . . . On one side of the altar was a 
 small, plain, oval tablet, to the memory of their grand- 
 father, bearing no inscription but his name, and the time 
 of his birth and death ; and on the other side was one 
 exactly like it, . . . to their father, who died in 1817. 
 The whole had the air of decency and reverence that 
 ought always to be found in a village church ; but the 
 sermon was Calvinistic, from a young man, and the con- 
 gregation very small, making a striking contrast to the 
 congregation which poured out from the Catholic chapel 
 in the neighborhood, so as to fill and throng the high- 
 way. 
 
 ' ' The Edgeworths have always been on the most 
 kindly terms with their Catholic neighbors and tenantry. 
 But, like many other Protestants whom I have met, they 
 feel rather uncomfortably at the encroaching spirit which 
 the Emancipation Bill has awakened in the whole Catho- 
 lic population of the island, and the exclusive character 
 and tone assumed by the priests, who have every day, as 
 they assure me, more and more the air of claiming supe- 
 riority ; especially where, as in the case of Edgeworths- 
 town, the old priests have been removed, and Jesuits 
 placed in their stead. 
 
ME. ticknoe's visit. 471 
 
 ' ' After lunch — there is only one service in the 
 church — Miss Edgeworth showed me a good many 
 curious letters from Dumont, — ■ one in particular, giving 
 an account of Mme. de Stael's visit, in 1813, to Lord 
 Lansdowne at Bowood, for a week, when Mackintosh, 
 Romilly, Schlegel, Rogers, and a quantity more of dis- 
 tinguished people, were there ; but Miss Edgeworth de- 
 clined, not feeling apparently willing to live in a state of 
 continual exhibition for so long a time. It was, how- 
 ever, very brilliant, and was most brilliantly described by 
 Dumont. One thing amused me very much. Mme. de 
 Stael, who had just been reading the ' Tales of Fash- 
 ionable Life,' — then recently published, — with great 
 admiration, said to Dumont of Miss Edgeworth, ' Vrai- 
 ment elle ^tait digne de I'enthousiasme, mais elle se perd 
 dans votre triste utility.' It seemed to delight Miss 
 Edgeworth excessively, and it was to show me this that 
 she looked up the letters. 
 
 ' ' In the evening she showed me her long correspond- 
 ence with Sir Walter Scott, — at least his part of it. 
 When she was in Edinburgh, in 1823, Lady Scott ex- 
 pressed her surprise that Scott and Miss Edgeworth had 
 not met when Miss Edgeworth was in Edinburgh in 1803. 
 ' Why,* said Sir Walter, with one of his queer looks, ' you 
 forget, my dear, Miss Edgeworth was not a lion then ; 
 and my mane, you know, was not grown at all.' She 
 told many stories of him ; all showing an admiration for 
 him, and a personal interest in him and his fame, which 
 it was delightful to witness in the only person that could 
 have been fancied his rival. During the evening she 
 was very agreeable, and in the latter part of it very 
 brilliant with repartee ; so that we sat late together, not 
 separating untU midnight. Every thing shows that her 
 mind is as active, and as capable of producing 'Ennui,' 
 
472 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWORTH. 
 
 or ' The Absentee,' now, as at any previous period. In 
 fact, ' Helen ' proves it. 
 
 '■'■Aug. 24. — The house and many of its arrange- 
 ments — the bells, the doors, etc. — bear witness to that 
 love of mechanical trifling of which Mr. Edgeworth was 
 so often accused. It was only this morning that I fully 
 learnt how to open, shut, and lock our chamber-door; 
 and the dressing-glass, at which I have shaved for three 
 mornings, is somewhat of a mystery to me still. Things 
 are in general very convenient and comfortable through 
 the house ; though, as elsewhere in Ireland, there is a 
 want of English exactness and finish. However, all such 
 matters, even if carried much farther than they are, 
 would be mere trifles in the midst of so much kindness, 
 hospitality, and intellectual pleasures of the highest or- 
 der, as we enjoyed under their roof ; where hospitality is 
 so abundant that they have often had twenty or thirty 
 friends come upon them unexpectedly, when the family 
 was much larger than it is now." 
 
 The pleasure of this visit was evidently mutual; 
 for Miss Edgeworth wrote of how much she was 
 gratified by the visit, and interested in Mr. Ticknor's 
 fine mind and conversation. After Mr. Ticknor's 
 visit to Ireland in 1835, Miss Edgeworth wrote a 
 friend : — 
 
 " I have been acquainted, and I may say intimately, 
 with some of the most distinguished literary persons in 
 Great Britain, France, and Switzerland, and have seen 
 and heard all those distinguished for conversational talents, 
 — Talleyrand, Dumont, Mackintosh, Eomilly, Dugald 
 Stewart, Erskine, Sir Walter Scott, Sydney Smith, and 
 Mr. Sharpe, the fashionable dinner-lions of London. I 
 have passed days in the country-houses and in the do- 
 
MAEIA WRITES OF ME. TICKNOE. 473 
 
 mestic intimacy of some of them : and after all I can, with 
 strict truth, assure you that Mr. Ticknor's conversation ap- 
 peared to me fully on an equality with the most admired, 
 in happy, apposite readiness of recollection and apprecia- 
 tion of knowledge, in stores of anecdotes, and in ease in 
 producing them ; and in depths of reflection not inferior 
 to those we have been accustomed to consider our deepest 
 thinkers. But what interested and attracted us was the 
 character of Mr. Ticknor, the moral worth and truth which 
 we saw in him. "We feel that we have made a friend in 
 him." 
 
 Miss Edgewortli was always pleased to make 
 friends ; but she had not that disagreeable character- 
 istic of modern literary people, — a desire to meet new 
 people, and make new conquests, and an inordinate 
 capacity for being bored by old friends, who were 
 not literary, or sufficiently useful in helping one on 
 in a career. Her affectionate heart was as strong an 
 element of character as her clear, active brain. In 
 1836 she wrote : — 
 
 "In this world in which I have lived nearly three-quar- 
 ters of a century, I have found nothing one quarter so 
 well worth living for as old friends." 
 
 The following letter to Mr. Peabody will serve to 
 show the amiable and sincere nature of Maria. She 
 felt pained by something he had written; but on 
 receiving, through Professor Ticknor, an assurance 
 that his allusion in the review of " Helen " had been 
 misunderstood by her, she hastened to reply to his 
 kind letter in these words : — 
 
474 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 Edgbworthstown, Sept. 4, 1835. 
 
 Dear Sir, — I have received the very kind and candid 
 letter which you sent me by Mr. Ticknor ; and, believe 
 me, whatever pain I felt has been effaced ; and a sense of 
 gratitude and of esteem for your candor and your human- 
 ity and politeness will remain, as long as I live, in my mind. 
 
 Last February I wrote to you, expressing the satisfac- 
 tion I had felt, both for your sake and my own, in reading 
 a very candid and noble-minded letter of yours addressed 
 to the ex-governor Winthrop, which he forwarded to me. 
 Candor is not always united with the highest literary tal- 
 ents. Unfortunately, the habit of literary warfare, and 
 the necessity, as some narrow minds feel it, of supporting 
 an opinion once expressed, make this virtue of candor 
 very rare. We the more esteem it whenever it coura- 
 geously appears. I beg you to believe, sir, that, inde- 
 pendently of the grateful feelings which you have raised 
 in my mind on my father's account and my own, I have 
 a just sense of your conduct as a public character, as a 
 judge of moral as well as literary worth ; and I appreciate 
 your feelings as those of a true gentleman. It will give 
 me great pleasure to see a review by you of ' ' Professional 
 Education." 
 
 When I wrote to you last February, I at the same time 
 wrote orders to a bookseller in London to forward to you, 
 by means of my friend Mr. Gerald Ralstone, a copy of 
 my father's "Professional Education," his "Essay on 
 Roads and Wheel-Carriages," and his "Essay on the 
 {sic) Tellograph." I hope these reached you from me, 
 as tokens of my respect and regard. I presume you have 
 my father's (sic) mem", or would have sent them. If 
 there are any other books of ours, or of any other English 
 author, which you wish to have, I should have pleasure 
 in sending them to you ; and I can easily find ways and 
 
LETTEK TO MR. PEABODY. 475 
 
 means : good-will is very expert and efficient at that 
 work. I wish you to know, sir (and I hope it is from 
 proper, not improper, pride the wish arises) , that I never, 
 in the whole com'se of my life, remonstrated against 
 criticism, or took any notice of attacks made in reviews 
 upon my father or myself ; but I was persuaded that you, 
 from the whole tone of your publication, and of the arti- 
 cle in which you mentioned my father, were only under 
 error, and not willing to wound. Therefore I expressed 
 my sentiments in a private letter to a friend, and was 
 desirous that you should be thoroughly informed and set 
 right, believing that you would act as you have done. 
 
 You mentioned, with becoming indignation, a certain 
 review, published fourteen years ago, on my father's 
 memoirs. The honest warmth of your expression, a 
 " brutal revieiv," roused my curiosity. I had never read 
 it. At the time it came out my friends advised me not to 
 look at it ; assuring me that it was not worth my while 
 to read, or theirs to answer it. I had determined never 
 to answer any literary attacks ; and I was assured by 
 those on whom I could best depend, that this, from its 
 malignancy, and from its total want of merit of any kind, 
 would do no injury to my father's memory. I never read 
 the review till a few weeks ago, and then it was in conse- 
 quence of your mention of it. 
 
 I rejoice now that I did not read it at the time. It came 
 out so soon after my father's death, I might have been 
 hurt by it, and might have been urged by the feelings of 
 the moment to reply, and thus have prevented it from 
 falling into that public contempt in which it has sunk. 
 
 "Were it at all worth while, I could give you, sir, for 
 your private satisfaction, irrefragable proof of the false- 
 hood of many of the assertions made by that anonymous 
 writer. But I trust that it is unnecessary. 
 
476 A STUDY OP MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 We have had great pleasure in seeing here your accom- 
 plished and amiable countryman, Mr. Tieknor, — and 
 Mrs. Tieknor, worthy of him ; and we feel both pride 
 and pleasure in his promise that he will make us another 
 visit after he has finished his intended three-years' tour on 
 the continent of Europe, and before he returns to Amer- 
 ica. When he knew me only by the books we have pub- 
 lished, I was highly gratified by his thinking it worth while 
 to come to Edgeworthstown to make our acquaintance ; 
 but having made it, and having spent some days in this 
 family, his kind determination to return to us we feel 
 infinitely more gratifying. 
 
 May we hope, sir, that, if you should ever visit these 
 countries, you will let us have the satisfaction of seeing 
 you? And in the mean time, will you believe me to be, 
 not in mere common phrase, but in earnest truth, 
 Your obliged and grateful, 
 
 Maeia Edgewokth. 
 
 To the Eev. "W. B. O. Peabodt, 
 
 Springfield, Mass., United States America. 
 
 Mrs. Farrar made a visit this year to Miss Edge- 
 worth. She also was impressed with the gracious 
 hospitality, and her observations are worth quoting. 
 Maria wrote at once on hearing of their wish to 
 visit her : — 
 
 Edgbwoethstown, Sept. 3, 1836. 
 
 Dear Madam, — I hasten to assure you and Professor 
 Farrar that we feel highly honored and gratified by your 
 kind intention of paying us a visit. Mrs. Edge worth 
 desires me to say that we shall be at home all next week ; 
 and we shall be most happy to receive you, and your 
 
LETTER TO JIES. PAERAE. 477 
 
 young friend, Mr. W , any day after the 5th which 
 
 may be most convenient to you. We say after the 5th, 
 because on the 5th my sister (Harriet) Mrs. Butler, and 
 her husband, the Rev. Mr. Butler, will come to us ; and 
 independently of the pleasure they will have, I am sure, in 
 your society, I own I wish that you should become ac- 
 quainted with them, especially as we are unlucky at this 
 moment in not having any of my brothers at home. My 
 brother-in-law, Mr. Butler, is, as you will find, a man of 
 literature and learning ; besides being all that you will 
 like in other respects, from the truth and rectitude and 
 simplicity of his character. 
 
 I am much obliged to you for the letters you were so 
 good as to enclose to me. Of all our friends in Boston 
 and Cambridge, we shall, I hope, have tune to inquire 
 further and to converse. 
 
 There was only one thing in your letter which did not 
 give us pleasure ; and we trust that after your arrival, 
 and after you have had some hours to reflect, and a night 
 quietly to sleep upon it, you will repent and recant, and 
 give up your cruel purpose of giving us only one day. 
 Mrs. Edgeworth will remonstrate with you, I think, more 
 effectually than I can ; and in the mean time I promise to 
 allow you till the morning after your arrival to become 
 sufficiently acquainted with the ways of the house and 
 family, before I turn to you, as I shall (I warn you) at 
 breakfast, for your ultimatum. 
 
 I am, dear madam (for the present), 
 
 Your much obliged and grateful 
 
 Maeia Edgeworth. 
 
 P. S. — It must increase my interest in making your 
 acquaintance, my dear Mrs. Farrar, to know that you are 
 sister to Mr. Benjamin R , whose talents I with great 
 
478 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGEWORTH. 
 
 reason admire, and for whose kindness and agreeable 
 letters I have equally great reason to be grateful. 
 
 ' ' The cordiality and frankness of this letter made us 
 all desirous of visiting the writer. We were much struck 
 with the manner in which Mrs. Edgeworth was mentioned 
 and made of importance as the lady of the house, when the 
 whole place was the property of Miss Edgeworth, and she 
 was at least thirty years older '[sic] than her step-mother." 
 
 Her brother had become so embarrassed in his 
 affairs as to be obliged to sell his patrimonial estate ; 
 and, to prevent its passing into the hands of stran- 
 gers, Miss Edgeworth had bought it, and made her 
 step-mother mistress of the establishment, whilst she 
 lived with her as a daughter. 
 
 ' ' It was a great pleasure to me to see the sister of two 
 of Mr. Edgeworth's wives, — one belonging to the same 
 period, and dressed in the same style, as the lovely Honora. 
 She did not appear till lunch-time, when we found her 
 seated at the table in a wheel-chair, on account of her 
 lameness. She reminded me of the pictures of the court- 
 beauties of the time of Louis XIV. Her dress was truly 
 elegant, and very elaborate. Her white hair had the 
 effect of powder, and the structure on it defies description. 
 A very white throat was set off to advantage by a narrow 
 black velvet ribbon, fastened by a jewel. The finest 
 lace ruffles about her neck and elbows, with a long-waisted 
 silk dress of rich texture and color, produced an effect 
 that was quite bewitching. She was wonderfully well 
 preserved for a lady of over eightj' years of age, and it 
 was pleasant to see the great attention paid to her by all 
 the family. She was rather deaf : so I was seated by her 
 side, and requested to address my conversation to her. 
 
MKs. paekak's visit. 479 
 
 When lunch was over, she was wheeled into the library, 
 and occupied herself making a cotton net to put over the 
 wall-fruit, to keep it from the birds. It was worth a 
 journey to Edgeworthstown only to see this elegant speci- 
 men of old age. 
 
 "When shown to our bedroom, we found such an 
 extraordinary lock on the door that we dared not shut it 
 for fear of not being able to open it again. That room, 
 too, was unlike any other I ever saw. It was very large, 
 with three huge windows, two of them heavily curtained ; 
 and the third converted into a small wardrobe, with doors 
 of pink cotton on a wooden frame. It had two very large 
 four-posted bedsteads, with full suits of curtains, and an 
 immense folding-screen that divided the room in two, 
 making each occupant as private as if in a separate 
 room, with a dressing-table and ample washing conven- 
 iences on each side. A large grate filled with turf, and 
 all ready for lighting, with a great basket lined with tin, 
 and also fiUed with the same fuel, reminded us strongly 
 that we were in Ireland. Large wax candles were on the 
 mantelpiece, and every convenience necessary to our com- 
 fort." 
 
 Miss Edgeworth was very short, ' ' and carried her- 
 self very upright, with a dapper figure and quick 
 movements. She was the remains of a blonde, with 
 light eyes and hair : she was now gray, but wore a 
 dark frisette, whilst the gray hair showed through her 
 cap behind. . . . 
 
 " In conversation we found her delightful. She was 
 full of anecdotes about remarkable people, and often 
 spoke from her personal knowledge of them. Her memo- 
 ry, too, was stored with valuable information ; and her 
 manner of narrating was so animated that it was difficult 
 to realize her age. In telling an anecdote of Mirabeau, 
 
480 A STUDY OP MABIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 she stepped out before us, and, extending her arms, 
 spoke a sentence of his in the impassioned manner of a 
 French orator, and did it so admirably that it was quite 
 thrilling." 
 
 They made a visit to the village, to see the schools 
 and improvements in the buildings made by the 
 family. 
 
 "It was market-day: so the main street was full of 
 the lower order of Irish, with their horses and carts, asses 
 and panniers, tables and stands full of eatables and arti- 
 cles of clothing. Sometimes the cart or car served as 
 a counter on which to display their goods. The women 
 in bright- colored cotton gowns, and white caps with full 
 double borders, made a very gay appearance. As we all 
 passed through the crowd to the scboolhouse, the enmity 
 of the Papists to Protestant landholders was but too 
 evident. 
 
 " Though Mrs. Edgeworth had been the Lady Bounti- 
 ful of the village for many years, there were no bows or 
 smirks for her and her friends, no making way before 
 her, no touching of hats, or pleasant looks. A sullen 
 expression and a dogged immovability were on every 
 side of us." 
 
 The sullenness on whicli Mrs. Farrar comments 
 was not because the Edgevrorths had not done their 
 very best for the tenants and villagers around them. 
 It must be attributed to causes which underlie all the 
 Irish difficulties, — difficulties which are too deep- 
 seated for discussion here. Certain it is that the 
 sympathies and interest of Miss Edgeworth were all 
 enlisted in behalf of Ireland. She was a genuine 
 
A VISIT FEOM MR. SPEAGUE. 481 
 
 lover of Ireland, and to her latest day felt the deepest 
 affection for the country and the people. Though 
 English on her mother's side, and born in England, 
 she was Irish in all her sjrmpathies and interests ; and 
 her life-long study was to best promote the happiness 
 of those around her. She had a visit during this 
 same year (1836) from the Rev. William B. Sprague, 
 an American, who left a record of his visit in a book 
 called "European Celebrities," published in 1855. 
 He says, — 
 
 "As the coach passed Miss Edgeworth's gate, a ser- 
 vant came out to take my luggage ; but, as the hotel was 
 within a few rods, I preferred to keep my seat until we 
 reached it, and the servant followed me to accompany me 
 back to the house. The village is as miserable looking a 
 place as one often sees ; and, as it was market-day, I had 
 an opportunity of witnessing the degradation of the whole 
 surrounding population to the greatest advantage. But the 
 Edgeworth house was a fine, spacious old mansion, with a 
 splendid lawn stretching before it, and every thing to in- 
 dicate opulence and hereditary distinction. I do not re- 
 member to have seen what I thought a more beautiful 
 place in all Ireland. 
 
 " As I entered the house. Miss Edgeworth was the first 
 person to meet me ; and she immediately introduced me 
 to her mother, Mrs. Edgeworth, her father's fourth wife, 
 and her sister, Miss Honora Edgeworth. Miss Edge- 
 worth, in her personal appearance, was any thing but 
 what I expected. She was below the middle size ; her 
 face was exceedingly plain, though strongly indicative of 
 intellect ; and though she seemed to possess great vigor of 
 body as well as of mind, it was, after all, the vigor of old 
 age. I supposed her to be about sixty-five, but I believe 
 
482 A STUDY OP MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 she was actually on the wrong side of seventy. Her step- 
 mother, Mrs. Edgeworth, who, for aught I know, is still 
 living, must have been, I think, rather younger than 
 Maria, and was not only a lady of high intelligence, but 
 of great personal attractions, and withal, as I afterwards 
 ascertained, of a very serious turn of mind. As Miss 
 Edgeworth knew that my visit was to be limited to a single 
 day, she told me almost immediately that she wished to 
 know in what way she could contribute most to my grati- 
 fication, — whether by remaining in the house, or walk- 
 ing over the grounds ; kindly suggesting at the same time 
 that I had better first take a little lunch, and then a little 
 rest. She t.alked upon a great variety of subjects, and I 
 set her down as decidedly one of the best talkers I ever 
 met with. There was nothing about her that had even 
 any affinity to showing off, or trying to talk well ; but she 
 evidently did not know how to talk otherwise. She 
 seemed to have the most mature thoughts on every sub- 
 ject ; and, without the semblance of effort, they took on 
 the most attractive dress. I was not unwilling to hear 
 what she had to say about slavery. She reprobated the 
 course of the ultra anti-slavery men, as eminently adapted 
 to defeat its own end, and remarked, that to give the 
 slaves liberty before they were qualified to use it, would 
 be only giving them liberty to starve, and perhaps to cut 
 each other's throats and the throats of their masters. I 
 happened to relate an anecdote which I had heard, of a 
 young man in Edinburgh having read as an exercise be- 
 fore the Presbytery a sermon, the substance of which he 
 had heard a celebrated clergyman preach ; and it turned 
 out afterwards that the clergyman himself had stolen it 
 from some book. ' Dear me,' said Miss Edgeworth, ' that 
 was like taking the impression of a forged guinea.' 
 " She spoke of Sir Walter Scott with boundless respect, 
 
ME. speague's visit. 483 
 
 and represented him as being simple as a child, and im- 
 mediately added, that she regarded him, Sir James Mack- 
 intosh, and Dr. Channing, as the three finest writers the 
 age had produced. She spoke respectfully of many 
 Americans who had visited her, but she thought the most 
 thoroughly accomplished gentleman whom she had seen 
 from the United States was Professor Ticknor. She re- 
 gretted that she had never heard Robert Hall preach ; but 
 she thought his published sermons were incomparably elo- 
 quent, and his character, as it came out in his life, was 
 one of the highest interest. She talked a good deal about 
 Mme. de Stael ; and though she had never seen her, she 
 had seen and admired her two children, — the Baron de 
 Stael, and the Duchesse de Broglie. She said that there 
 could be no doubt that she was chargeable with some very 
 gross errors in her life, but some allowance must be made 
 for the customs of the country ; that it was greatly in her 
 favor that she condemned her own course, and inculcated 
 rigid virtue upon her children and others ; and that some 
 of the Frenchwomen seemed to her to think that Mme. 
 de Stael's principal sin consisted in her repentance. She 
 expressed great veneration for the character of Mrs. Han- 
 nah More, though she thought that in her old age she 
 was a little too puritanical in thinking it a loss of time to 
 read Sir Walter Scott's works. She alluded with regret 
 to the attacks that had been made upon our country by 
 British travellers, but she thought they were generally so 
 palpably unjust as to carry their own antidote along with 
 them. She said that Mrs. Trollope, with all her bad be- 
 havior, was certainly very clever, that some of her descrip- 
 tions showed a high order of talent ; and as for Capt. 
 Hall, he was at once an ill-tempered and good-natured 
 creature ; that he had his object to answer in making his 
 book, and he had accomplished it as well as he could. 
 
484 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 "She opened her closet, and asked me to notice the 
 American part of her library ; and I observed it consisted 
 almost entirely of books which had been presented by her 
 Unitarian friends at Boston. Some of her own works 
 happened to be there also, and she was led to speak of 
 her experience with some of her publishers. She men- 
 tioned that one of them had repeatedly requested her to 
 abate from the amount which he had engaged to pay her, 
 and that she had done so ; but at length, after she had 
 told him explicitly to make proposals he would abide by, 
 he wrote her a letter, saying, that he wished another abate- 
 ment, and that he found that on the whole he had lost by 
 her works ; and she then wrote him in reply, that in con- 
 sequence of the loss he had sustained, she would transfer 
 her publications to other hands. He afterwards earnestly 
 requested that she would excuse him for having thus writ- 
 ten, and desired to retam the works ; but she was inflexi- 
 ble, and he very angry. Her former publisher, she said, 
 when he found himself dying, called for a letter to her 
 which was then unfinished, and requested that there 
 should be inserted a promise of ten or twelve hundred 
 pounds more than he had engaged to give her for one 
 of her works ; for it had been so much more profitable 
 to him than he had expected, that he could not die in 
 peace till he had done justly by her. And his heirs exe- 
 cuted his will in accordance with this dying suggestion." 
 
 After vpalking about the grounds, and visiting the 
 little church with Mrs. Edgeworth, they went to the 
 family vault of Edgeworths, where many of them 
 were laid. They " walked also to the house of the 
 old rector of the church, who, I understood, was a 
 worthy man, but I judged not a very stirring 
 preacher. We called at two or three of the neigh- 
 
"BLUE-STOCKING EETBLS." 485 
 
 boring cottages, which looked forlorn enough, but 
 still much better than what I had seen the day be- 
 fore. I said to one of the women, who seemed to 
 have things around her a little more comfortable 
 than her neighbors, ' You seem, madam, to be quite 
 well off here.' — ' Yes, may it please your honor,' re- 
 plied she, ' and long life to the family that have made 
 us so.' When we returned from the walk. Miss 
 Edgeworth had got several letters of introduction in 
 readiness for me ; and I had only time to take them, 
 before the coach was at the door. I had many testi- 
 monies of Maria Edgeworth's kindness afterwards, 
 as I corresponded with her as long as she lived." 
 
 The death of Sophy (Edgeworth), the wife of 
 Col. Barry Fox, whose marriage had been so joy- 
 fully announced some years previously to Sir Walter 
 Scott, by Maria, was a great blow to Miss Edge- 
 worth. Her cousin. Miss Sophy Ruxton, also died 
 in this year. 
 
 Miss Edgeworth kept up her spirits as bravely as 
 possible, and in the midst of affliction turned her 
 mind as well as she could to her remaining bless- 
 ings. In 1837 she learned Spanish from her sister- 
 in-law, Mrs. Francis Edgeworth, and was laughed at 
 by her brother, she wrote, for "learning a new lan- 
 guage at seventy." 
 
 In Leigh Hunt's " Blue-Stocking Revels, or The 
 Feast of the Violets," which appeared first in " The 
 Monthly Repository," 1837, there are two mentions 
 made of Miss Edgeworth, who figures among her 
 sister authoresses who appear at Apollo's ball. Of 
 this poem, Rogers said it would have been sufficient 
 
486 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 " to set up half a dozen young men about town in a 
 reputation for wit and fancy." Leigh Hunt himself 
 says of it, " It was thought by somebody that objec- 
 tion was intended to Mrs. Somerville, because it was 
 said of her, — 
 
 " Instead of the little Loves, laughing at colleges, 
 Round her, in doctor's caps, flew little knowledges." 
 
 He says he meant neither want of amiability nor 
 any disrespect to this learned lady. The whole 
 poem is meant as a description, half jest, half ear- 
 nest, of " what sort of rebuke Apollo gave his 
 nymphs," and 
 
 " This is 
 Of Phoebus and woman and blue-stocking blisses." 
 
 The supper being laid, — 
 
 " The genius that stood behind each lady's chair, 
 From her dish took the cover ; when forth in glad air 
 Leaped a couple of small merry Loves, who displayed — 
 What d'ye think ? — a new girdle ? a busk ? a new braid ? 
 No : the sweetest blue stockings that ever were made. 
 The blue was a violet, fresh as first love." 
 
 The poet then tells all the ladies, that, as long as 
 they unite the feminine charms with their knowl- 
 edge, — 
 
 " Even though they may speak, 
 Not with Sappho's eyes only, but even her Greek," — 
 
 their stocking will be violet , but that, — 
 
 " If you grow formal or fierce or untrue, 
 
 Alas, gentle color 1 sweet ankle, adieu I 
 
 Thou art changed ; and Love's self at the changing looks blue. 
 
"BLUE-STOCKING EEVELS." 487 
 
 Seize the golden occasion, then. You who already 
 
 Are gentle, remain so ; and you who would steady 
 
 Your natures, and mend them, and make out your call 
 
 To be men's best companions, be such, once for all. 
 
 And remember that nobody, woman or man, 
 
 Ever charmed the next ages, since writing began, 
 
 Who thought by shrewd dealing sound fame to arrive at, — 
 
 Had one face in print, and another in private.'' 
 
 After naming several of the now almost unknown 
 novelists and celebrated poetesses, — 
 
 " At the sight of Miss Edgeworth, he said, ' Here comes one, 
 As sincere ^d as kind as lives under the sun ; 
 Not poetical, eh ? nor much given to insist 
 On utilities not in utility's list 
 
 (Things, nevertheless, without which the large heart 
 Of my world would but play a poor husk of a part) : 
 But most truly, within her own sphere sympathetic, — 
 And that's no mean help towards the practic-poetic' 
 Then, smiling, he said a most singular thing, -^ 
 He thanked her for making him ' saving of string I ' 
 But for fear she should fancy he didn't approve her in 
 Matters more weighty, praised much her ' Manoeuvring ; ' 
 A book which, if aught could pierce craniums so dense. 
 Might supply cunning folks with a little good sense. 
 And her Irish (he added) poor souls ! so impressed him, 
 He knew not if most they amused or distressed him. 
 
 No fault had Miss Ferrier to find with her lot. 
 
 She was hailed by the god as the ' lauded of Scott.' " 
 
 In Apollo's deacription of Lady Morgan, Hunt is 
 very clever, — 
 
 " Mrs. Hall may say ' oh ! ' and Miss Edgeworth ' fie I ' 
 But my lady will know all the what and the why." 
 
488 A STUDY OF MAitIA BDGB"WOETH. 
 
 At the supper, he adds, — 
 
 " I'm told that Miss Edgeworth became so vivacious, 
 
 The damsels from boarding-school whispered, ' My gracious ! ' " 
 
 describing the merry talk. 
 
 Miss Edgeworth urged the return of the Ticknors, 
 
 saying, — 
 
 ' ' We are very eager, very anxious, to see you again at 
 our home, retired and homely as it is. You flattered us 
 you were happy here during the two short days you gave 
 us. Oh, pray, pray come to us again before you go 
 from our world forever, — at least, from me forever. 
 Consider my age ! and Mrs. Mary Sneyd begs you to 
 consider her. I trust you will. Be pleased, my dear 
 friends, to like or to love us all as much as ever you can ; 
 and pray prove to us that you will take as much trouble 
 to come to Edgeworthstown, after having become ac- 
 quainted with us, as you took when you only knew the 
 authorship part of 
 
 ' ' Yom* affectionate friend, 
 
 "Maeia Edgeworth." 
 
 This letter, written in 1838, showed how much 
 she was interested in these American friends. A 
 constant correspondence was maintained for years, 
 but the Ticknors were not able to revisit their Irish 
 friends. 
 
 She lost one friend in America during this year. 
 Mrs. Lazarus, the Jewish lady with whom Miss 
 Edgeworth had been for many years on most friendly 
 terms, died in 1838. This year Miss Edgeworth 
 made a visit to the Butlers at Trim, which she felt 
 was a second home to her, as the kindness of her 
 
LETTER TO DE. MACKENZIE. 489 
 
 sister Harriet and Mr. Butler -was peculiarly cor- 
 dial. Mr. Butler was a cultivated man, and she had 
 great confidence in his judgment and taste. 
 
 Dr. Mackenzie about this time had mentioned to 
 Miss Edgeworth that Southey was employed in work- 
 ing up materials for his own life ; and her reply was 
 as follows : — 
 
 "I thank you for telling me that Southey is engaged 
 in literary biography. His ' Life of Nelson ' is one of 
 the finest pieces of biography I know. I have seen its 
 effects on many young minds. I had the honor of meet- 
 ing Mr. Southey some years since at a mutual friend's, 
 Dr. Holland's, in London. But such is the nature of 
 that sort of town intercourse, that I had not opportunity 
 of hearing much of his conversation, and he none of mine : 
 therefore I can hardly presume that he remembers me. 
 But I would wish to convey to him, through you, the true 
 expression of my respect for his character, and the admira- 
 tion of his talents and of the use he has made of them." 
 
 Southey, in replying to Dr. Mackenzie, says, — 
 
 ' ' I recollect hearing of Miss Edgeworth at Dr. Hol- 
 land's, but have no recollection of seeing her there ; but 
 I very well remember seeing her more than once at Clifton 
 in 1800, at which time her father said to me, ' Take my 
 word for it, sir, your genius is for comedy.' He formed 
 this opinion, I believe, from some of the Nondescripts, 
 and one or two Ballads which had just then appeared in 
 'The Annual Anthology.' This, I think, will be worth 
 mentioning in the preface to the Ballads. When you 
 write to Miss Edgeworth, present my thanks for her obli- 
 ging message, and say that I am pleased at being remem- 
 bered by her. ' ' 
 
490 A STUDY OP MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 In 1839 Honora Edgeworth married Sir Francis 
 Beaufort, often mentioned by Miss Edgeworth in 
 earlier years. He was the brotlier of Mrs. Edge- 
 wortli, her step-mother, and distinguished as hj'drog- 
 rapher of the navy ; and lie held the rank of admiral 
 at his death. He was a most amiable, high-princi- 
 pled, and accomplished officer. 
 
 In 1839 Miss Edgeworth, in writing to Mrs. Tick- 
 nor, who had described to her their home and library, 
 answered in her animated and sympathetic manner. 
 
 ' ' Who talks of Boston in a voice so sweet ? Who 
 wishes to see me there? to show their home, their library, 
 ' their country ? I have been there, have sat in the library 
 too, and thought , and thought it all charming ! Looking 
 into the country, as you know the windows all do, I 
 saw down through the vista of trees to the quiet bay and 
 the beautiful hills beyond ; and I watched the glories of 
 the setting sun lighting up country and town. 
 
 " I met Sir Walter Scott in Mr. Ticknor's library, with 
 all his bcuign, calm expression of countenance, his eye 
 of genius, and his mouth of humor ; such as he was before 
 the life of life was gone, such as genius loved to see him, 
 such as American genius has given him to American 
 friendship, immortalized in person as in mind. His very 
 self I see, feeling, thinking, and about to speak, and to a 
 friend to whom he loved to speak ; and well-placed and to 
 his liking, he seems, in this congenial library, presiding 
 and sympathizing. 
 
 " But, my dear madam, ten thousand books, about ten 
 thousand books, do you say, this library contains ? My 
 dear Mrs. Ticknor ! Then I am afraid you must have 
 double rows, and that is a plague. Your library is thirty- 
 five by twenty-two, you say. But, to be sure, you have 
 
A VISIT TO LONDOK. 491 
 
 not given me the height ; and height may make out room 
 enough. Pray have it measured for me, that I may drive 
 this odious notion of double rows out of my head." 
 
 This portrait of Scott was painted by Leslie 
 from life, at Abbotsford, by Mr. Ticknor's order, 
 in 1824. 
 
 In 1840 the adoption of the penny-post system 
 rather disturbed Miss Edgeworth, she had so accus- 
 tomed herself to writing and receiving long letters 
 from her friends and relatives. She also enjoyed the 
 franking privilege from her official friends : so that 
 all her ideas about letter-writing had to be adjusted 
 to meet the new condition of the mails. She made 
 one of her long annual visits at the Butlers' at Trim 
 in this year. In writing Mr. Ticknor at this time, 
 she asked him to give her an account of the state of 
 metaphysics in America. 
 
 In the winter of 1840-41 Miss Edgeworth made a 
 pleasant visit in London. She passed some days at 
 Hampstead Hall, then the home of her friends the 
 Moilliets. On her way she visited several friends, 
 among them the Darwins, Marcets, Romillys, and 
 others. She heard the following good story, among 
 others, at this time, and, in writing a friend, asks, — 
 
 "Do you recollect the history of the Irishman who 
 declared he had seen anchovies growing on the walls at 
 Gibraltar ? Challenged a gentleman for doubting him ; 
 met, and fired, and hit his man ; and when the man who 
 was hit sprang up as he received the shot, and the second 
 observed, ' How he capers ! ' — 'By the powers ! It was 
 capers I meant, 'stead of anchovies.' " 
 
492 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 In Mrs. L. H. Sigourney'si "Pleasant Memories 
 of Pleasant Lands," published in 1842, she addressed 
 the following sonnet to Miss Edgeworth, and made 
 a very affectionate mention of her acquaintance with 
 her. She met her during this winter in London. 
 She says, — 
 
 " To have repeatedly met and listened to Miss Edge- 
 worth, seated familiarly with her by the fireside, may 
 seem to her admirers in America a sufficient payment for 
 the hazards of crossing the Atlantic. Her conversation, 
 like her writings, is varied, vivacious, and delightful. 
 Her kind feelings towards our country are well known ; 
 and her forgetfulness of self, and happiness in making 
 others happy, are marked traits in her character. Her 
 person is small and delicately proportioned, and her move- 
 ments full of animation. She has an aversion to having 
 her likeness taken, which no entreaties of her friends have 
 been able to overcome. In one of her notes she says, ' I 
 have always refused even my own family to sit for my 
 portrait, and, with my own good-will, shall never have it 
 painted ; as I do not think it would give either my friends 
 or the public any representation or expression of my mind, 
 such as I trust may be more truly found in my writings.' 
 The ill health of a lovely sister, much 3'ounger than her- 
 self, at whose house in London she was passing the winter, 
 called forth such deep anxiety, untiring attention, and 
 fervent gratitude for every favorable symptom, as seemed 
 to blend features of maternal tenderness with sisterly af- 
 fection. It is always gratifying to find that those whose 
 superior intellect charms and enlightens us have their 
 hearts in the right place." 
 
 1 Mrs. L. H. Sigourney, American writer, 1791-1865. 
 
A POEM. 493 
 
 [To Miss Edgeworth.] 
 
 Truthful and tender as thy pictured page, 
 Flows on thy life ; and it was joy to me 
 
 To hear thy welcome 'mid my pilgrimage, 
 And seat me by thy side, unchecked and free. 
 
 For in my own sweet land both youth and sire, 
 The willing captives of thy love refined, 
 
 Will of thy features and thy form inquire. 
 And lock the transcript in their loving mind 
 
 And merry children, who, with glowing cheek, 
 Have loved thy " Simple Susan " many a day. 
 
 Will lift their earnest eyes to hear me speak 
 Of her who held them ofttimes from their play, 
 
 And closer press, as if to share a part 
 
 Of the pure joy thy love enkindled in my heart. 
 
 London, Monday, Jan. 25, 1841. 
 
 Miss Mary Sneyd died, at the age of ninety, in 
 February of 1841, while Miss Edgeworth was in 
 London. She sincerely mourned her death, and said 
 of the loss she was to the family, "That poor, un- 
 centred, desolate home at Edgeworthstown ! " 
 
 Miss Edgeworth visited her friend Gerard Ralston 
 at Croydon, and on her way home made a stay in 
 Hatch Street, Dublin, and took Trim, too, on her way. 
 She arrived at Edgeworthstown early in the summer. 
 After her return she remarked, " The more I live, I 
 see more and more the misery of uncultivated minds, 
 and the happiness of the cultivated, when they can 
 keep themselves free from the literary and scientific 
 jealousies and party spirit." 
 
 Miss Edgeworth was interested in looking over 
 
494 A STUDY OP MAEIA EDGETVORTH. 
 
 the " Essais " of Mile. M61un on " Castle Rackrent," 
 and other subjects. She remarked on Thady's wip- 
 ing the stairs with his wig. This was supposed by 
 the French to be a customary thing in Ireland, and 
 noticed as such many years before. 
 
 The following paragraph is from the " Life of W. 
 H. Prescott," the historian. 
 
 ''March 22, 1842. —My good friends the Ticknors 
 received this last week a letter from Miss Edgeworth, 
 containing a full critique on 'Ferdinand and Isabella,' 
 which she had just been reading. She condemns my 
 parallel of the English and Castilian queens, and also my 
 closing chapter : the former as not satisfactory and full 
 enough, and rather feeble ; the latter as superfluous. I 
 will quote two remarks of another kind : ' It is of great 
 consequence, both to the public and private class of read- 
 ers ; and he will surely have readers of all classes, from 
 the cottage and the manufactory to the archbishopric and 
 the throne in England, and from Papal jurisdiction to the 
 Russian Czar and the Patriarch of the Greek Church. 
 The work will last,' etc. If Jupiter grants me half the 
 prediction, I shall be pretty well off for readers. The 
 other sentence is towards the end of the critique : ' Oth- 
 erwise an individual ought not to expect that a single 
 voice should be heard amidst the acclaim of universal 
 praise with which his work has been greeted in Europe. ' 
 This from Miss Edgeworth. 
 
 "I never worked for the dirty lucre. Am I not right 
 in treasuring up such golden opinions from such a source?" 
 
 Pabenham Edgeworth, who had been eleven years 
 in India, returned home on leave this year ; and the 
 family assembled at Edgeworthstown to meet him. 
 
THE halls' visit TO EDGEWORTHSTOWN. 495 
 
 In the spring of 1842 Miss Edgeworth was made an 
 honorary member of the Royal Irish Academy. 
 
 In June of 1842 her friends, Mr. and Mrs. S. C. 
 Hall, made a visit at Edgeworthstown. They were 
 collecting materials for a work on Ireland. Their 
 description of the home of Miss Edgeworth and its 
 surroundings is so good that I insert it here : — 
 
 "The county of Longford possesses few features of 
 a distinctive character. It is generally flat, contains 
 large districts of bog, and its northern boundaries are 
 overlooked by remarkably sterile mountains. Its princi- 
 pal town — of the same name — is neat, clean, and well- 
 ordered. It may be distinguished — and was so described 
 by the estimable companion with whom we visited it — as 
 ' the best-painted town in Ireland ; ' for the shops and 
 houses are clean and trim, and partake very little of the 
 negligence and indifference to appearances encountered 
 too generally elsewhere. . . . 
 
 "Our principal object, in Longford Countj', was to 
 visit Edgeworthstown, and to avail ourselves of the privi- 
 lege and advantage of spending some time in the society 
 of Miss Edgeworth. We entered the neat, nice, and 
 pretty town at evening: all around us bore — as we had 
 anticipated — the aspect of comfort, cheerfulness, good 
 order, prosperity, and their concomitant, contentment. 
 There was no mistaking the fact, that we were in the 
 neighborhood of a resident Irish family, with minds to 
 devise, and hands to effect, improvement everywhere 
 within reach of their controL 
 
 "Edgeworthstown may almost be regarded as public 
 property. From this mansion has issued so much prac- 
 tical good to Ireland, and not alone to Ireland, but the 
 civilized world ; it has been so long the residence of 
 
496 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 high intellect, industry, well-directed genius, and virtue, 
 — that we violate no duty by requesting our readers to 
 accompany us thither, a place that, perhaps, possesses 
 larger moral interest than any other in the kingdom. 
 
 "The demesne of Edgeworthstown is judiciously and 
 abundantly planted, and the dwelling-house is large and 
 commodious. We drove up the avenue at evening. It 
 was cheering to see the lights sparkle through the win- 
 dows, and to feel the cold nose of the house-dog thrust 
 into our hands as an earnest of welcome ; it was pleas- 
 ant to receive the warm greeting of Mrs. Edgeworth ; 
 and it was a high privilege to meet Miss Edgeworth in 
 the library, the very room in which had been written 
 the immortal works that redeemed a character for Ireland, 
 and have so largely promoted the truest welfare of human- 
 kind. We had not seen her for some years, — except 
 for a few brief moments, — and rejoiced to find her in 
 nothing changed ; her voice as light and happy, her 
 laughter as full of gentle mirth, her eyes as bright and 
 truthful, and her countenance as expressive of goodness 
 and loving-kindness, as they had ever been. 
 
 "Edgeworthstown was, and is, a large country man- 
 sion, to which additions have been from time to time 
 made, but made judiciously. An avenue of venerable 
 trees leads to it from the public road. It is distant about 
 seven miles from the town of Longford. The only room 
 I need specially refer to is the library : it belonged more 
 peculiarly to Maria, although the general sitting-room of 
 the family. It was the room in which she did nearly all 
 her work ; not only that which was to gratify and instruct 
 the world, but that which, in a measure, regulated the 
 household, — the domestic duties that were subjects of 
 her continual thought : for the desk at which she usually 
 sat was never without memoranda of matters from which 
 
THE halls' visit. 497 
 
 she might have pleaded a right to be held exempt. It is 
 by DO means a stately, solitary room, but large, spacious, 
 and lofty, well stored with books, and ' furnished ' with 
 suggestive engravings. Seen through the window is the 
 lawn, embellished by groups of trees. If you look at the 
 oblong table in the centre, you will see the rallying-point 
 of the family, who are usually around it, reading, writ- 
 ing, or working ; while Miss Edgeworth, only anxious 
 that the inmates of the house shall each do exactly as he 
 or she pleases, sits in her own peculiar corner on the 
 sofa : a pen, given her by Sir Walter Scott while a guest 
 at Edgeworthstown (in 1825), is placed before heron a 
 little, quaint, unassuming table, constructed, and added 
 to, for convenience. She had a singular power of ab- 
 straction ; apparently hearing all that was said, and occa- 
 sionally taking part in the conversation, while pursuing 
 her own occupation, and seemingly attending only to it. 
 In that corner, and on that table, she had written nearly 
 all the works which have delighted and enlightened the 
 world. Now and then she would rise and leave the room, 
 perhaps to procure a toy for one of the children, to 
 mount the ladder and bring down a book that could 
 explain or illustrate some topic on which some one was 
 conversing : immediately she would resume her pen, and 
 continue to write as if the thought had been unbroken 
 for an instant. I expressed to Mrs. Edgeworth surprise 
 at this faculty, so opposed to my own habit. 'Maria,' 
 she said, ' was always the same : her mind was so rightly 
 balanced, every thing so honestly weighed, that she suf- 
 fered no inconvenience from what would disturb and 
 distract an ordinary writer.' 
 
 "She was an early riser, and had much work done 
 before breakfast. Every morning during our stay at 
 Edgeworthstown she had gathered a bouquet of roses, 
 
498 A SiUDY OF MARIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 which she placed beside my plate at the table, while she 
 was always careful to refresh the vase that stood in our 
 chamber ; and she invariably examined my feet after a 
 walk, to see that damp had not induced danger ; ' pop- 
 ping ' in and out of our room with some kind inquiry, 
 some thoughtful suggestion, or to show some object that 
 she knew would give pleasure. It is to such small cour- 
 tesies as these that we owe much of the happiness of life. 
 Maria Edgeworth seemed never weary of thought that 
 could make those about her happy ; the impression thus 
 produced upon us is as vivid to-day as it was twenty-five 
 years ago. 
 
 "A wet day was a 'god-send' to us. She would 
 enter our sitting-room, and converse freely of persons 
 whose names are histories ; and once she brought us a 
 large box full of letters, — her correspondence with many 
 great men and women, extending over more than fifty 
 years, authors, artists, men of science, social reformers, 
 statesmen, of all the countries of Europe, and especially 
 of America, a country of which she spoke and wrote in 
 terms of the highest respect and affection. 
 
 " Although we had Icuown Miss Edgeworth in London, 
 and, indeed, had often the honor of receiving her as a 
 guest at our house, it will be readily understood how 
 much more to advantage she was seen in her own home ; 
 she was the very gentlest of lions, the most unexacting, 
 apparently the least conscious of her right to prominence. 
 In London she did not reject, yet she seemed averse, to 
 the homage accorded her. At home she was emphatically 
 at home ! 
 
 "Her contemporaries have not said much concerning 
 her ; indeed, of late years, she was but little seen out of 
 Edgeworthstown : her visits to London being rare and 
 brief. In person she was very small — she was ' lost in 
 
THE halls' visit. 499 
 
 a crowd.' Her face was pale and thin, her features 
 irregular : they may have been considered plain, even in 
 youth ; but her expression was so benevolent, her man- 
 ners were so perfectly well-bred, partaking of Englisli 
 dignity and Irish frankness, that one never thought of her 
 with reference either to beauty or plainness. She ever oc- 
 cupied, without claiming, attention, charming continually 
 by her singularly pleasant voice ; while the earnestness 
 and truth that beamed from her bright blue — very blue 
 
 — eyes increased the value of every word she uttered. 
 She knew how to listen as well as to tcdli, and gathered 
 information in a manner highly complimentary to those 
 from whom she sought it : her attention seemed far more 
 the effect of respect than of curiosity. Her sentences 
 were frequently epigrammatic : she more than once sug- 
 gested to me the story of the good fairy, from whose 
 lips dropped diamonds and pearls whenever they were 
 opened. She was ever neat and particular in her dress, 
 
 — a duty to society which literary women sometimes cul- 
 pably neglect ; her feet and hands were so delicate and 
 small as to be almost childlike.' In a word, Maria Edge- 
 worth was one of those women who do not seem to 
 require beauty. 
 
 ' ' Miss Edgeworth has been called ' cold ; ' but those 
 who have so deemed her have never seen, as I have, the 
 tears gather in her eyes at a tale of suffering or sorrow, 
 nor heard the genuine, hearty laugh that followed the 
 relation of a pleasant story. Never, so long as I live, 
 can I forget the evenings spent in her library in the midst 
 of a family, highly educated and self-thinking, in con- 
 
 1 She once commissioned me to procure for her a pair of shoes 
 from Melnotte's, in Paris; and when I handed the model to the 
 shoemaker, I had difftcnlty in persuading him that it was not 
 the shoe of a little girl. 
 
500 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 versation unrestrained, yet pregnant with instructive 
 thought." . . . 
 
 Miss Edgeworth wrote the Halls of their sketch 
 of Edgeworthstown and her father : — 
 
 Edgewobthstown, Nov. 7, 1842. 
 "I should be hard to please indeed" — "hard to 
 please," impossible to please, if I were not satisfied now. 
 Believe me, very and only dear Mrs. Hall, 
 
 Your much obliged and grateful 
 
 Maria Edgewtorth. 
 
 The description of Edgeworthstown pleased the 
 Edgeworths very much. The remainder of the 
 sketch was not published till after Miss Edgeworth's 
 death. The account of Edgeworthstown so pleased 
 her that she wrote as follows, in December : — 
 
 " Mrs. Hall has sent me her last number, in which she 
 gives Edgeworthstown. All the world here are pleased 
 with it, and so am I. I like the way in which she has 
 mentioned my father particularly. There is an evident 
 kindness of heart, and care to avoid any thing that could 
 hurt any of our feelings, and at the same time a warmth 
 of affectionate feeling unaffectedly expressed, that we all 
 like it, in spite of our dislike ' to that sort of thing. ' ' ' 
 
 I have placed part of Mrs. Hall's sketch of Miss 
 Edgeworth in its proper place, as it was written in 
 1842, after this visit of June. But the reader will 
 bear in mind that it was never seen by Miss Edge- 
 worth ; and her reference was simply to the brief 
 description of the County Longford, and the place 
 at Edgeworthstown. 
 

 ^ 
 
 ^ 
 
ILLNESS OF MABIA. ,501 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 Severe Illness of Miss Edgeworth. — A Visit to Trim. — Frederika 
 Bremer. — Lady Lansdowne's Character. — Last Visit to Eng- 
 land. — Sydney Smith. — Observations of his on Maria's Con- 
 versation. — Pleasant Stay in London. — Trim. — Illness there. 
 
 — Lady Georgiana Fullerton. — Armagh. — Lever's Tribute to 
 Miss Edgeworth. — Maria's Interest in the Poor on the Estate. 
 
 — Writes "Orlandino." — Remarks on Temperance. — Simpkins 
 & Marshall ask for Prefaces to Maria's Collected Works. — Her 
 Eeply . — Mr. Prescott. 
 
 In January of 1843 Miss Edgeworth had a severe 
 illness, a bilious fever, which prostrated her, and left 
 her weak ; and when she was able to travel, she 
 went, in the spring, to Trim for a change of air and 
 scene. While there she received a serenade from 
 the temperance band and society. Father Mathew 
 had set on foot the temperance movement, and sign- 
 ing pledge of total abstinence was the order of the 
 day among the Irish peasantry. "Orlandino" was 
 written by Miss Edgeworth with a desire to aid the 
 good cause. 
 
 Miss Edgeworth hailed the advent of a new novel- 
 ist in Frederika Bremer. She wrote in March from 
 Trim, — 
 
 "Miss Bremer of Stockholm has published a novel, 
 translated by Mary Howitt, which is one of the most 
 interesting, new, •and truly original books I have seen this 
 quarter century." ("Our Neighbors.") 
 
502 A STUDY OP MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 In writing Mrs. S. C. Hall, she said, — 
 "A book has much interested me: it is unlike any 
 other book I ever read in my life, and yet true to nature 
 in new circumstances. To be sure, I cannot judge of the 
 circumstances or the narrative, never having been in the 
 country ; but the descriptions are full of life, and marked 
 by that seal of genius which we recognize the instant we 
 see it, obtains perfect credence from the reader, and hurries 
 us on through the most romantic adventures, still domes- 
 tic, and confined to a few persons not in number beyond 
 the power of sympathy. One or two the most powerfully 
 drawn may, perhaps, touch the bounds of impossibility. 
 The boolj I mean has a title which does not do it justice, 
 and which would rather lead one to expect a gossiping 
 chronicle. It is called 'The Neighbors.' Its author, I 
 understand, is a Miss Bremer of Stocliholm ; translated 
 by Mary Howitt. And the best and most just praise I 
 can give to her translation is, that one never from begin- 
 ing to end recollects her existence : never does it occur 
 to our mind that it is a translation. Pray tell me if you 
 know any thing of this author, and how I should address 
 her at Stockholm. 
 
 "How very much one is obliged to the genius which 
 can snatch one from one's self away, in times of great de- 
 pression of spirits ! — at those times when we are not wise 
 enough to be able to give a reason for particularly Hieing ; 
 but the involuntary feeling is perhaps the most gratifying 
 to a writer of benevolent heart, as well as superior genius. 
 
 " I am afraid you are soaring above us. I read of such 
 fine doings at the Eosery, such a grand breakfast on 
 
 the marriage of Miss M . But as she is good Irish, 
 
 you are true to your national affections '\ and there may 
 be room in j'our heart for all of us." 
 
TEIM. 603 
 
 In another letter written about this time, she 
 speaks of Dickens's " American Notes " as follows : — 
 
 " Dickens's ' America ' is a failure : never trouble your- 
 self to read it. Nevertheless, though the book is good for 
 little, it gives me the conviction that the man is good for 
 much more than I gave him credit for, — a real desire 
 for the improvement of the lower classes ; and this reality 
 of feeling is, I take it, the secret, joined to his great 
 power of human of his ascendant popularity." 
 
 Miss Edgeworth was pleased to think that she 
 admired Lady Lansdowne, and " appreciated both 
 her talents and her character," she said at this 
 time, " before all the world found out that she was a 
 superior person." She had excellent opportunities 
 for studying the fine character of Lady Lansdowne 
 early in that lady's life, in their first visit at Bowood, 
 where she saw her domestic virtues and her mental 
 abilities. She was a noble specimen of the high- 
 born and well-bred Englishwoman of her day. 
 
 While at Trim, Miss Edgeworth received the 
 announcement of Lucy Edgeworth's engagement 
 to Dr. Robinson, the celebrated astronomer. At 
 this time she took much pleasure in building a 
 greenhouse for Mr. Butler, who was very fond of 
 flowers. 
 
 In November of 1843 Miss Edgeworth went again 
 to England, to visit her sister, Mrs. Wilson. She saw 
 many old friends, — Lady Charleville, Lady Elizabeth 
 Whitbread, the Lansdownes, — made the acquaint- 
 ance of Sydney Smith, whose daughter was the sec- 
 ond wife of her old friend Sir Henry Holland. She 
 
504 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGEWORTH. 
 
 met Sydney Smith at the Hollands, and spoke of out- 
 Boswelling him. Lady Holland speaks of this as 
 follows : — 
 
 "During her visit she saw much of my father; and 
 her talents, as well as her love and thorough knowledge of 
 Ireland, made her conversation peculiarly agreeable to him. 
 I wish I had kept some notes of these conversations, which 
 were very remarkable ; but I have only a characteristic 
 and amusing letter she wrote to me after her return home, 
 from which the following is an extract : — 
 
 "'I have not the absurd presumption to think your 
 father would leave London or Combe Florey for Ireland, 
 voluntarily ; but I wish some Irish bishopric were forced 
 upon him, and that his own sense of national charity 
 and humanity would forbid him to refuse. Then, obliged 
 to reside among us, he would see, in the twinkling of an 
 eye (such an eye as his), all our manifold grievances up 
 and down the country. One word, one ion-mot of his, 
 would do more for us, I guess, than Mr. 's four hun- 
 dred pages, and all the like, with which we have been 
 bored. One letter from Sydney Smith on the affairs of 
 Ireland, with his name to it, and after having been there, 
 would do more for us than his letters did for America 
 and England : a bold assertion, you will say, and so it 
 is. But I calculate that Pat is a far better subject for 
 wit than Jonathan ; it only plays round Jonathan's head : 
 but it goes to Pat's heart, to the very bottom of his 
 heart, where he loves it. And he don't care whether it 
 is for or against him, so that it is real wit and fun. 
 Now, Pat would dote upon your father, and kiss the rod 
 with all his soul, he would; the lash just lifted, — when 
 he'd see the laugh on the face, the kind smile, that would 
 tell him it was all for his good. 
 
LETTER TO LADY HOLLAND. 505 
 
 " ' Your father would lead Pat (for he'd never drive 
 him) to the world's end, and maybe to common-sense at 
 the end ; might open his eyes to the true state of things 
 and persons, and cause him to ax himself how it comes 
 that, if he be so distressed by the Sassenach landlords that 
 he can't keep soul and body together, nor one farthing for 
 the wife and children, after paying the rint for the land, 
 still and nevertheless he can pay King Dan's rint, aisy? — 
 thousands of pounds, not for lands or potatoes, but just 
 for castles in the air. Methinks I hear Pat saying the 
 words, and see him jump to the conclusion that maybe 
 the gintleman, his reverence, that ^^Jias the way with 
 him," * might be the man after all to do them all the good 
 in life, and asking nothing at all from them. " Better, 
 sure, than Dan, after all ! and we will follow him through 
 thick and thin. Why no? What he is, his reverence, 
 the church — that is, our deargy — won't object to him; 
 for he never was an inimy any way, but always for paying 
 them off handsome, and fools if they don't take it now. 
 So down with King Dan, for he is no good ! and up with 
 Sydney, he's the 7nan, king of glory ! " 
 
 " ' But, visions of glory, and of good better than glory, 
 spare my longing sight ! else I shall never come to an 
 end of this note. Note, indeed ! I beg your pardon. 
 ' ' ' Yours affectionately, 
 
 "'Maeia Edgeworth.' 
 
 ' ' Miss Edgeworth says in one of her letters to her 
 sister, after one of the evenings spent in my father's 
 society, — 
 
 " ' Delightful I need not say ; but to attempt to Boswell 
 
 1 This in reference to a reply of Dr. Doyle's to Mr. Smith, about 
 a proposition of his to offer the Catholic priests an income: "Ah, 
 Mr. Smith 1 you've such a way of putting things." 
 
506 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 Sydney Smith's conversation would be out-Boswelling 
 Boswell indeed.' " 
 
 Sydney Smith, in describing the impression made 
 on him by his new friend, remarked, — 
 
 "Miss Edgeworth was deliglitful, so clever and sen- 
 sible ! She does not say witty things, but there is such 
 a perfume of wit runs through all her conversation as 
 makes it very brilliant." 
 
 This observation from Sydney Smith on the con- 
 versation of Miss Edgeworth shows that she was 
 still, in spite of her advanced years, in full posses- 
 sion of all her remarkable powers of mind, and as 
 agreeable as ever. Praise from Sydney Smith was 
 " praise indeed." 
 
 Miss Edgeworth had tickets from Lady Byron, 
 and two other friends among the peers, to visit the 
 House on the occasion of Queen Victoria's opening 
 Parliament in February, 1844 ; and she enjoyed the 
 brilliant pageant and display very much. 
 
 Samuel Rogers, her old friend, she had many atten- 
 tions from, and, in speaking of it, said of him, " dear, 
 good-natured old man," in her affectionate manner. 
 She always saw him much during her London visits. 
 She dined with the Archbishop of Canterbury, at 
 Lambeth Palace, and met there the Bishop of Lich- 
 field, and Dean Milman of St. Paul's. She enjoyed 
 the conversation of these eminent church dignita- 
 ries, and the "dear, simple, dignified, yet playful 
 archbishop, who talked well of all things, from 
 nursery rhymes to deep metaphysics and physics." 
 
EETtJKN TO lEELAND. 507 
 
 This was Miss Edgeworth's last visit to London. 
 She returned to Ireland, and made a visit at Trim, 
 where she was unfortunate in having an attack of 
 her old enemy, erysipelas: she recovered from it in a 
 short time, and was able, during her convalescence, 
 to enjoy reading some new books. She found W. 
 H. Prescott's " Mexico " " extremely interesting ; " 
 and among other books, of a lighter style, she 
 names, — 
 
 "'Ellen Middleton,' by Lady Georgiana Fullerton, 
 grand-daughter of the famous duchess-beauty of Devon- 
 shire ; and whatever faults that duchess liad, she cer- 
 tainly had genius. Do you recollect her lines on ' William 
 Tell"? or do you know Coleridge's lines to her, begin- 
 ning with, — 
 
 ' O lady ! nursed in pomp and pleasure, 
 Where learned you that heroic measure ? ' 
 
 " Look for them, and get ' Ellen Middleton : ' it is well 
 worth your reading. Lady Georgiana certainly inherits 
 her grandmother's genius ; and there is a high-toned 
 morality and religious principle throughout the book 
 (where got she ' that heroic measure ' ?) , without any 
 cant or ostentation. It is the same moral I intended in 
 'Helen,' but exemplified in much deeper and stronger 
 colors." 
 
 These remarks on " Ellen Middleton," and con- 
 trasting and comparing it with her own " Helen," 
 rather in disparagement of herself and her work, 
 show the generosity and impartiality of her mind, 
 and her perfect freedom from literary envy and petty 
 jealousy. 
 
508 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWORTH. 
 
 She made a visit in 1844 to her new brother-in- 
 law and sister at the Observatory at Armagh, and 
 was charmed with Dr. Robinson, saying, — 
 
 -" Robinson at home is not less wonderful, and more 
 agreeable even, than Robinson abroad : his abondance in 
 literature equal to Mackintosh ; in science, you know, out 
 of sight, superior to everybody." 
 
 Surgeon-General Sir Philip Crampton showed 
 Lever the remarks of Miss Edgeworth in praise of 
 his former works ; and when he published " Tom 
 Burke," in 1845, he dedicated that book to her. He 
 says he would not venture to dedicate an Irish novel 
 to her, and he is "too sensible of" his "own inferi- 
 ority " in that department. This dedication is a 
 pleasant tribute to Ireland's gifted daughter. He 
 writes : — 
 
 "I cannot resist the temptation of being, even thus, 
 associated with a name, the first in my country's litera- 
 ture. 
 
 " Another motive I will not conceal : the ardent desire 
 I have to asure you, that, amid the thousands you have 
 made better and wiser and happier by your writings, you 
 cannot count one who feels more proudly the common tie 
 of country with you, nor more sincerely admires your 
 goodness and your genius, than 
 
 " Your devoted and obedient servant, 
 
 "Charles J. Levee." 
 
 Miss Edgeworth was much gratified by Mr. Lever's 
 attention. She wrote him on the appearance of the 
 " O'Donohue," and he expressed himself as encour- 
 aged by her kindly words of interest. 
 
"OELANDIKO." 509 
 
 The year 1846 was one of much anxiety to Miss 
 Edgeworth. Her brother Francis died in this year. 
 Private grief and public distress made this time a 
 busy one for Miss Edgeworth. This season saw the 
 beginning of tlie disastrous famine of 1846^7. 
 
 Miss Edgeworth was always interested in the poor ; 
 and the villagers of Edgeworthstown owed much to 
 her thoughtful, generous acts of kindness. For 
 many years she took the care, in addition to her 
 many other duties, of making up their letters, and 
 sending them to their friends in America and else- 
 where, that they might be properly delivered. When 
 the famine came, she exerted herself to the utmost 
 to secure the necessaries of life for the suffering peo- 
 ple, and provided work, begged relief of others, and 
 gave herself: she wrote a story for " Chambers's Mis- 
 cellany " in order to add to the Poor Relief Fund. 
 She had laid aside her pen for some time ; but her 
 strong desire to push on the good work of temper- 
 ance, and the hope of adding a good contribution to 
 her subscription for the suffering, were her incentives. 
 
 This little story formed the first of a series edited 
 by William Chambers. Miss Edgeworth sympa- 
 thized with Mr. Chambers in his desire to serve 
 juvenile literature. This tale has Miss Edge worth's 
 usual peculiarities and excellences. She makes her 
 children almost too self-denying and ready to give 
 up. Few children are able to exercise the self-con- 
 trol and cheerful generosity of her little people. 
 Orlandino, the hero, is rescued from debt, drunken- 
 ness, and ruin, by the children, M'ho first see him at 
 the beck and call of an unscrupulous circus-man- 
 
510 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 ager. As Orlandino was a Protestant, the pledge 
 of Father Mathew would not protect him. Miss 
 Edgeworth takes occasion to expatiate eloquently 
 on the beneficial influence of the good man's work : 
 saying the reformation has lasted nine years; and, 
 though lapses have occurred, "intemperance is no 
 longer tolerated in good society." 
 
 " Since the time of the Crusades, never has one single 
 voice awakened such moral energies ; never was the call 
 of one man so universally, so promptly, so long, obeyed. 
 Never, since the world began, were countless multitudes 
 so influenced and so successfully directed by one mind 
 to one peaceful purpose. Never were nobler ends by 
 nobler means attained." 
 
 She speaks of his simplicity, absence of all ora- 
 torical attempts, the forbearance from all that could 
 touch the imagination, or rouse the passions, excite 
 enthusiasm, or even produce what is called a sensa- 
 tion. 
 
 She strikes no uncertain note in favor of temper- 
 ance, showing how necessary for some is total absti- 
 nence. 
 
 " Nothing less would break the habit. Tell him noth- 
 ing else will do. Tell him that Father Mathew tried, and 
 found that nothing less will do. Tell him that Dr. John- 
 son tried it, and said to one who was hesitating about 
 giving up wine, ' Drink water, sir, and you are sure of 
 yourself. If you drink wine, you never know how far 
 it may carry you. I drink water. I now no more think 
 of drinking wine than a horse does. The wine upon the 
 table is no more for me than the dog that is under it.' " 
 
" PREFACES." 511 
 
 Miss Edgeworth wrote Mr. Chambers that " Orlan- 
 dino " must have no other title, and " it does not 
 require or admit of any preface." Mme. Belloc had 
 a copy of this little story for translation. Miss 
 Edgeworth wrote the following, concerning its pub- 
 lication, in 1848, to her friend Mrs. S. C. Hall : — 
 
 " Chambers, as you always told me, acts very liberally. 
 As this was to earn a little money for our parish poor, in 
 the last year's distress, he most considerately gave prompt 
 payment. Even before publication, when the proof-sheets 
 were under correction, came the ready order on the Bank 
 of Ireland. Blessings on him ! and I hope he will not 
 be the worse for me. I am surely the better for him, and 
 so are numbers now working and eating ; for Mrs. Edge- 
 worth's principle and mine is to excite the people to work 
 for good wages, and not, by gratis feeding, to make beg- 
 gars of them, and ungrateful beggars, as the case might be. 
 
 "I do not deserve the very kind, warm-hearted letter 
 I have just received from you, dear Mrs. Hall ; but I 
 prize and like it all the better. So little standing upon 
 ceremony, and so cordially off-hand and from the heart ! 
 Thank you for it with all my heart, and be assured it gave 
 me heartfelt pleasure ; and this I know will please you." 
 
 When Messrs. Simpkin & Marshall were prepar- 
 ing to publish Miss Edgeworth's collected works in 
 1847, they asked her to write prefaces for them in 
 the way Sir Walter Scott had done for his novels. 
 She answered them at length, and told them that 
 her books were not of national interest, and her 
 writings could not be thought of in comparison with 
 those of Scott. 
 
512 A STUDY OF MAEIA BDGEWOETH. 
 
 [To Messrs. Simpkin & Marshall.] 
 
 Gentlemen, — Accept my best thanks for your kind- 
 ness in letting me know in time of your design of publish- 
 ing a new edition of my novels and tales. I am further 
 and highly obliged and gratified by your liberal intention 
 of illustrating and "embellishing those works upon the 
 plan of the present edition of the Waverley novels." I 
 am fully sensible that even such writers as Walter Scott 
 owe much of their popularity to the talents of the painter 
 and engraver, especially in these modern days of literary 
 luxury. How much more necessary must be the elegances 
 of printing and external decoration to writers of inferior 
 pretension ! "Without any affectation of humility, — which 
 I despise and dislike more than frank vanity, — I cannot 
 believe that any thing I could write as prefaces or notes to 
 my stories could add to their value or interest with the 
 public in any proportion to those of the Waverley novels ; 
 and I have too much honest pride to degrade myself by 
 servile imitations, when I could not hope, by any effort, 
 to catch the spirit or attain the value of the original. 
 
 Sir Walter Scott, skilful beyond all other writers in art 
 of gracefully speaking of himself, possesses in those pref- 
 aces and notes peculiar advantages, which protect him 
 from the offensive appearance of egotism. It is not of 
 himself as an individual that he speaks, but of his coun- 
 try, of its historical traditions, and romantic legends. 
 His novels are truly national : his elucidations are neces- 
 sary to make national manners and language, and local 
 or transitory customs, intelligible to the English reader 
 even of the present day, and still more to those who will 
 be delighted with his works in distant lands in future ages. 
 The history of each of his fictitious narratives, traced 
 from the first idea through all its variations and transfor- 
 mations to its final completiou, is not only interesting and 
 
LETTEE TO PUBLISHERS. 513 
 
 useful as literary criticism to all readers and writers, but 
 further, and in a higlier sphere, is important to the phi- 
 losopher and the metaphysician curious to learn the secret 
 workings and processes of that mind which has raised Sir 
 "Walter Scott to a pre-eminence never before attained by 
 any writer in his lifetime, and which has gained for him 
 personally the sympathy of his country, from the cottage 
 to the throne. 
 
 After this view, how can I return to speak of myself 
 and of my works ? 
 
 Of her father's prefaces she says, — 
 
 " In truth, I have nothing to say of them but what my 
 dear father has said for me m his prefaces to each of 
 them as they came out. They suffleiently explain the 
 moral design : they require no national explanations, and 
 I have nothing personal to add. As a woman, my life, 
 wholly domestic, cannot afford any thing interesting to 
 the public. I am like the needy knife-grinder, — I have 
 no story to tell. There is, indeed, one thing I should 
 have wished to tell, but that Sir Walter has so much bet- 
 ter told it for me. I honestly glory in the thought, that 
 my name will go down to posterity as his friend." 
 
 She thought it needless to show her own processes 
 of thought, and the "secret workings " of her mind. 
 But a description of the development of her intel- 
 lectual powers, and something of a sketch of her 
 original studies, and the gradual growth of a story 
 as it formed itself in her mind, would have been most 
 interesting to the reader ; and it is to be regretted 
 that she was not willing to give these prefaces to the 
 publishers. 
 
514 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWORTH. 
 
 [To W. H. Prescott, Boston, U.S.A.] 
 
 EDGEWOETHSTOwa", Aug. 28, 1847. 
 
 Dear Sir, — Your preface to j'our ' ' History of the 
 Conquest of Peru " is most interesting, especially that 
 part which concerns the author indi\-iclually. That deli- 
 cate integrity which made him apprehend that he had 
 received praise or sympathy from the world on false pre- 
 tences converts what might have been pity into admira- 
 tion ; without diminishing the feeling for his suffering and 
 his privations, against which he has so nobly, so persever- 
 ingly, so successfully, struggled. Our admiration and 
 highest esteem now are commanded by his moral courage 
 and truth. 
 
 What pleasure and pride — honest, proper pride — 
 you must feel, my dear Mr. Prescott, in the sense of diffi- 
 culty conquered, — of difficulties innumerable vanquished, 
 — by the perseverance and fortitude of genius ! It is a 
 fine example to human nature, and will form genius to 
 great works in the rising generation and in ages yet 
 unborn. 
 
 What a new and ennobling moral view of posthumous 
 fame ! — a view which short-sighted, narrow-minded medi- 
 ocrity cannot reach, and probably would call romantic, 
 but which the noble-minded realize to themselves, and 
 ask not either the sympathy or the comprehension of the 
 commonplace ones. You need not apologize for speaking 
 of yourself to the world. No one in the world, whose 
 opinion is worth looking to, will ever think or call this 
 " egotism," any more than they did in the case of Sir 
 Walter Scott. Whenever he spoke of himself, it was with 
 the same noble and engaging simplicity, the same endear- 
 ing confidence in the sympathy of the good and true- 
 minded, and the same real freedom from all vanity, which 
 we see in your addresses to the public. 
 
LETTER TO ME. PRESCOTT. 515 
 
 As to your judgments of the advantages peculiar to 
 each of your histories, "The Conquest of Mexico," and 
 "The Conquest of Peru," of course you, who have con- 
 sidered and compared them in all lights, must be accurate 
 in your estimate of the facility or difficulty each subject 
 presented ; and you have well pointed out, in your preface 
 to " Peru," the difficulty of making out a unity of sub- 
 ject, — where, in fact, the first unity ends, as we may 
 dramatically ^onsider it, at the third act, when the eon- 
 quest of the Incas is effected ; but not the conquest of 
 Peru for Spain, which is the thing to be done. You have 
 admirably kept the mind's eye upon this, the real end, 
 and have thus carried on, and prolonged, and raised, as 
 you carried forward, the interest sustained to the last 
 moment, happily, by the noble character of Gasca, with 
 which terminates the history of the mission to Peru. 
 
 You sustain with the dignity of a just historian j^our 
 mottoes from Claudian and from Lope de Vega ; and in 
 doing this con amore you carry with you the sympathy 
 of your reader. The cruelties of the Spaniards to the 
 inoffensive, amiable, hospitable, trusting Peruvians and 
 their Incas are so revolting, that, unless you had given 
 vent to indignation, the reader's natural, irrepressible 
 feelings would have turned against the narrator, in whom 
 even impartiality would have been suspected of want of 
 moral sense. 
 
 I wish that you could have gone further into that com- 
 parison or inquiry which you have touched upon, and so 
 ably pointed out for further inquiry, — how far the want 
 of political freedom is compatible or incompatible with 
 happiness or virtue. You well observe that under the' 
 Incas this experiment was tried, or was trying, upon the 
 Peruvians ; and that the contrary experiment is now try- 
 ing in America. Much may be said, but much more is to 
 
516 A STUDY OP MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 be seen, on both sides of this question. There is a good 
 essay by a friend of mine, perhaps of yours, the late 
 Abb6 itorellet, upon the subject of personal and political 
 freedom. I wonder what your negroes would say touch- 
 ing the comforts of slavery. They seem to feel freedom 
 a curse, when suddenly given ; and, when unprepared for 
 the consequences of independence, lie down with the cap 
 of liberty pulled over their ears, and go to sleep or to 
 death in some of our freed, lazy colonies, and the empire 
 of Hayti. But I suppose time and motives will settle 
 all this, and waken souls in black bodies as well as in 
 white. Meanwhile, I cannot but wish you had discussed 
 a little more this question, even if you had come upon the 
 yet more difficult question of races, and their unconquera- 
 ble or their conquerable or exhaustible differences. "Who 
 could do this so well? 
 
 I admire your adherence to your principle of giving 
 evidence in your notes and appendices for your own accu- 
 racy, and allowing your own opinions to be re-judged 
 by your readers in furnishing them with the means of 
 judging which they could not otherwise procure, and 
 which you, having obtained with so much labor and so 
 much favor from high and closed sources, bring before 
 us gratis with such unostentatious candor and humility. 
 
 I admire and favor, too, your practice of mixing biog- 
 raphy with history ; genuine sayings and letters by which 
 the individuals give their own character and their own 
 portraits. And I thank you for the quantity of informa- 
 tion you give in the notices of the principal authorities to 
 whom you refer. These biographical notices add weight 
 »and value to the authorities, in the most agreeable man- 
 ner ; though I own that I was often mortified by my own 
 ignorance of the names you mention of great men, your 
 familiars. You have made me long to have known your 
 
LETTEE TO MR. PEESCOTT. 517 
 
 admirable friend, Don Feruandes de Nayarreto, of whom 
 you make such honorable and touching mention in your 
 preface. . . . 
 
 I yesterday sent ... a parcel ... to Mr. Ticknor. 
 In it I have put, addressed to the care of Mr. Ticknor, a 
 very trifling offering for you, my dear sir, which, trifling 
 as it is, I hope and trust your good-nature will not dis- 
 dain, — half a dozen worked marlvs to put in books ; and 
 I intended those to be used in your books of reference 
 when j'ou are working, as I hope j'ou are, or will be, at 
 your magnum opus, — the " History of Spain." One of 
 these marks, that which is marked in green silk, "Maria 
 
 E , for Prescott's works"! is my own handiwork, 
 
 every stitch ; in mj' eighty-first year, — eighty-two almost : 
 I shall be eightj'-two the 1st of Januarj'. I am proud of 
 being able, even in this trifling matter, to join my young 
 friends in this family in working soitvenirs for the great 
 historian. 
 
 Believe me, my dear Mr. Prescott, your much obliged 
 and highly gratified friend, and admiring reader and 
 marker, 
 
 Maria Edgeworth. 
 
618 A STUDY OP MARIA EDGEWOKTH. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 Miss Edgeworth's continued Interest in Literature. — Lady Cecilia 
 Clarendon. — Mrs. Wilson's Death. — Note in Macaulay's History 
 on Maria. — Maria's Letter about a Severe Illness. — Lines to 
 Ireland. — Maria's Gift to the Irish Porters. — Maria's Sudden 
 Illness. — Death. — Her Wishes. —Her Habits. — Her Disposi- 
 tion.- Her Mental Training. — Intellect. — Notes. — Methods of 
 Work. — Summary. — Character and Influence. 
 
 Miss Edgeworth continued to interest herself in 
 literature and the books of the day. Of " Granby 
 Manor" she wrote, that she enjoyed it very much: 
 " It is beautifully written, pathetic, without the least 
 exaggeration of feeling or affectation." 
 
 When Lamartine was writing his " Histoire des 
 Girondins," he wanted some information about the 
 Abbd Edgeworth, of whom Sneyd Edgeworth had 
 written a Life some years before. Miss Edgeworth 
 gave Mr. Lamartine what he needed ; and she was 
 not at all pleased with "a note from that most 
 conceited and not over-well-bred M. de Lamartine," 
 adding, " What an egotist and what a puppy it is ! 
 But the ovation has turned his head." 
 
 Some inquiries were made as to the color of "Lady 
 Cecilia Clarendon's^ eyes," and she wrote that when 
 she last saw Lady Cecilia " her eyea were blue ; " 
 and she adds, that she is " highly gratified by finding 
 
 I Helen. 
 
DEATH OF MRS. "WILSON. 519 
 
 that my dear Lady Cecilia's eyes still continue to 
 interest sufficiently to have a question as to their 
 color." 
 
 The last of Miss Edge worth's life was saddened 
 by the death of her favorite half-sister, Mrs. Le 
 Stock Wilson ("Fanny"). She was deeply attached 
 to all her half brothers and sisters, but Fanny was 
 particularly beloved by her. She died after a short 
 illness, and the shock was much felt by Maria. 
 
 Mr. Hall, in speaking of the last time he ever met 
 Miss Edgeworth, says, — 
 
 " The last time we saw her was at the house of her 
 sister, Mrs. Wilson (now also departed), in North Aud- 
 ley Street. She was, of course, a centre of attraction : 
 the heated room and niany ' presentations ' seemed to 
 weary her. We, of course, were seldom near her in the 
 crowd ; and, as we were bidding her good-by, she made 
 us amends by whispering, ' We will make up for this at 
 Edgeworthstown.' Alas! that was not to be: not long 
 afterwards she returned to Edgeworthstown, and was 
 suddenly called from earth. 
 
 " In one of her letters to Mrs. HaU (who wrote to her 
 on her birthday every year during several years), she 
 says, ' Your cordial, warm-hearted note was the very 
 pleasantest I received on my birthday, except those from 
 my own family. You must not delay long iu finding 
 your way to Edgeworthstown if you mean to see me 
 again. Remember, you have just congratulated me on 
 my eighty-second birthday.' " 
 
 Lord Macaulay's biographer says, — 
 
 "Among all the incidents connected with the publica- 
 tion of his history, nothing pleased Macaulay so much as 
 
520 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGEWORTH. 
 
 the gratification that he cootiived to give Maria Edge- 
 worth as a small return for the enjoyment which, during 
 more than forty years, he had derived from her charming 
 writings.' That lady, who was then in her eighty-third 
 winter, and within a few months of her death, says in the 
 course of a letter to Dr. Holland, ' And now, my good 
 friend, I require you to believe that all the admiration I 
 have expressed of Macaulay's work is quite uninfluenced 
 by the self-satisfrction, vanity, pride, surprise, I had in 
 finding my own name in a note ! I had formed my opin- 
 ion, and expressed it to my friends who were reading the 
 book to me, before I came to that note.^ Moreover, there 
 was a mixture of shame, and a twinge of pain, with the 
 pleasure and pride I felt in having a line in this immortal 
 history given to me, when there is no mention of Sir 
 Walter Scott throughout the work, even in places where 
 it seems impossible that the historian could resist paying 
 the becoming tribute which genius owes, and loves to pay, 
 to genius. Perhaps he reserves himself for the '45, and 
 I hope in heaven it is so. Meanwhile be so good as to 
 make my grateful and deeply felt thanks to the great 
 author for the honor which he has done me.' " 
 
 After Maria's dangerous illness a few years before 
 her death, she said to a friend, — 
 
 "And, now it is all over, I thank God not only for 
 my recovery, but for my illness. In very truth, and with- 
 
 1 " Macaulay on one occasion pronounces that the scene in The 
 Absentee, where Lord Colambre discovers himself to his tenantry 
 and to tlieir oppressor, is tlie best thing of the sort since tlie opening 
 of the twenty-second book of the Odyssey." 
 
 ^ '• This note is in the sixth chapter, at the bottom of the page 
 describing the habits of the old native Irish proprietors in the 
 seventeenth centnry : 'Miss Edgeworth's King Corny belongs to 
 a later and much more civilized generation; bnt whoever has stnd- 
 ied that admirable portrait can forna some notion of what King 
 Corny's great-grandfather must have been.' " 
 
AN ILLNESS. 521 
 
 out the least exaggeration or affectation or sentiment, I 
 declare, that, on the whole, my illness was a som'ce of 
 more pleasure than pain to me ; and I would willingly go 
 through all the fever and weakness to have the delight of 
 the feelings of warm affection, and the consequent un- 
 speakable sensations of gratitude. When I felt that it 
 was more than probable that I should not recover, with 
 a pulse above a hundred and twenty, and at the entrance 
 of my seventy-sixth year, I was not alarmed : I felt ready 
 to rise tranquil from the banquet of life, where I had 
 been a happy guest ; I confidently relied on the goodness 
 of my Creator." 
 
 And again, a few weeks only before her death, she 
 wrote : — 
 
 ' ' Our pleasures in literature do not, I think, decline 
 with age : last 1st of January was my eighty-second, 
 birthday, and I think that I had as much enjoyment from 
 books as ever I had in my life." 
 
 Only a few weeks before her death, Miss Edge- 
 worth addressed the following lines to her beloved 
 country. They were written early in May. 
 
 "Ireland, with all thy faults, thy follies too, 
 I love thee still : still with a candid eye must view 
 Thy wit, too quick, still blundering into sense, 
 Thy reckless humor, sad improvidence, 
 And even what sober judges follies call, 
 I, looking at the heart, forget them all." 
 
 Miss Edgeworth was much touched by the gener- 
 osity of the porters who carried the supplies to the 
 Yessels loaded by American liberality for Ireland 
 during the famine ; and, hearing that these poor men 
 
522 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 refused to accept any payment for their services in 
 the good work, she knit with her own hands a 
 woollen comforter of bright colors for every man. 
 They were proud and grateful for the remembrance, 
 but before these gifts reached their destination the 
 generous giver was no more. 
 
 The latter part of Miss Edgeworth's life was 
 passed mostly at Edgeworthstown, alternating with 
 long visits at the rectory of Trim. The society of 
 Mr. Butler, himself a well-known scholar and anti- 
 quarian, was very attractive and congenial to Maria. 
 
 Trim is in the neighborhood of Laracor, famed 
 for its associations with Dean Swift and Stella , and 
 near by is the birthplace of the Duke of Wellington, 
 Dangan Castle. 
 
 Miss Edgeworth was expected at Trim when the 
 news of her death arrived, so sudden and unexpected 
 was her last illness. She drove out, in her usual 
 health, a few hours before her death. She was sud- 
 denly seized with a pain in the region of the heart, 
 and felt languid and oppressed. With her consent, a 
 letter was written to her friend, the skilful physician, 
 Sir Henry Marsh, summoning him for advice ; but, 
 shortly after, she expired. May 22, 1849, without a 
 struggle, in the arms of her stepmother. 
 
 Miss Edgeworth had often in her latter years 
 expressed a desire that she might die at home, be 
 spared a long illness out of consideration to the 
 family, and that Mrs. Edgeworth might be by her side 
 at the last : all these wishes were fulfilled, and her 
 death was as painless as possible. To the very latest 
 hour of her life, she was fortunate in being in full 
 
DEATH OF MISS EDGEWOETH. 523 
 
 possession of her faculties. Her brilliant mind was 
 clear and vigorous to the last. She was never very 
 strong, never equal to much exercise : but she was 
 favored to the end with average health ; her spirits 
 were unfailing ; and her pleasure in life and the daily 
 occupations with which she busied herself was some- 
 thing wonderful. 
 
 During the years, after the publication of " Helen," 
 which preceded her death, she made some notes for 
 a story, " Take for Granted," and wrote " Orlandi- 
 no; " but she was wise enough to feel that she had 
 passed the time for producing original work. She 
 rested her fame on work well done, and did not trifle 
 with the public estimation by offering inferior com- 
 positions to her readers. There are few authors who 
 can resist the temptation of publishing. She was 
 early trained to wait : during the years previous to 
 her first appearance as a writer, with her little ven- 
 ture called " Letters for Literary Ladies," she wrote 
 much, as we have seen, but was content to reserve 
 her powers for the instruction and amusement of her 
 own family and friends. 
 
 Miss Edgeworth, in writing to Mrs. Inchbald, said 
 she was her own Rosamond in " Patronage : " witty, 
 vivacious, impetuous, generous-hearted Rosamond 
 was said by her family and friends to be her own 
 counterpart. Undoubtedly she had all the impetu- 
 osity, frankness, animation, and warmth of feeling, 
 of this character. Her tears were easily excited by a 
 tale of woe : some amusing anecdote brought smiles, 
 or a pleasant event made her happy. She had, how- 
 ever, the noble qualities of Caroline Percy as well. 
 
524 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 She was far-sighted, prudent, and high-spirited. She 
 had great self-control, and could, as occasion re- 
 quired, exercise this power. She forced herself to 
 write " Ormond " by the bedside of her dying father, 
 and refused M. Edelcrantz because she felt it was 
 the wisest thing she could do, though her heart and 
 fancy were deeply engaged. She was ever careful 
 to attend to the practical details and petty affairs 
 of every-day life, and could turn from the imaginary 
 scenes of a novel, or the bright and profound con- 
 versation of wits and philosophers, to arrange her 
 sisters' costumes, as they visited in Continental or 
 English society , at home was the business manager 
 of her father's estate, the overseer of village affairs, 
 almoner to the poor, and, as we have seen, their 
 best friend and adviser in their affairs. 
 
 She did not disdain the smallest occupation, and 
 found in little pleasures much to relieve and invigo- 
 rate her mind. Home was ever to her the dearest 
 place, the haven to wliich she turned. We have 
 seen her admired, sought, and courted by wits, phi- 
 losophers, women of fashion and culture. The great- 
 est minds and people of rank alike vied with their 
 homage and respect ; but these attentions never 
 turned her head, or for a moment allured her from 
 the simple pleasures of a domestic life. She returned 
 as readily from the " brilliant panorama of London," 
 and the salons of Paris, to the "plain living and 
 high thinking" of the home in Ireland, and the 
 little cares incident to the life at Edgeworthstown, 
 as she went. If the contrast between the well- 
 ordered mansions of England, the elegance of Paris, 
 
LOVE OF HOME. 525 
 
 and Edgeworthstown, struck her, her affection for 
 home and its surroundings was strong enough to 
 compensate for all deficiencies she saw in Ireland. 
 As she always said, she " loved ' Ireland ; and, much 
 as she deplored the poverty and squalor which she 
 made it her life-long object to ameliorate, she found 
 the charms of home and family sufficient, nay more, 
 — a large reward for the loss of the polish of Eng- 
 lish life, or the brilliancy of Paris. 
 
 In her own home, Miss Edgeworth was cheerful, 
 sympathetic, and gay. When her sisters were with 
 her in Paris, one of them wrote of Maria : "We 
 often wonder what her admirers would say, after all 
 the profound remarks and brilliant witticisms they 
 have listened to, if they heard all her delightful 
 nonsense with us , " and she turned with readiness 
 from the company of savants and philosophers to 
 arrange a party of pleasure for her young sisters, or 
 perhaps advise about the style of a new dress. 
 
 Miss Edgeworth was extremely small of stature, 
 and her figiire continued slight and erect to the last. 
 She was active and alert in her movements, and 
 always ready to take steps for others. Her counte- 
 nance was exceedingly plain, and she was unpre- 
 tending in her whole appearance. No one could 
 meet and converse with her, without forgetting the 
 plainness of face, in the spirit, benevolence, and 
 genius which irradiated and played over her features, 
 as she listened sympathetically to some story of suf- 
 fering, laughed at a good anecdote, or told in her 
 witty and animated style some Irish tale, or imitated 
 the peculiarities of some brilliant orator like Mira- 
 
626 A STUDY OP MAKIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 beau, or the great Mrs. Siddons, In 1831 Miss 
 Edgeworth said, " Nobody is ugly now but myself , " 
 and all through life she was conscious of her plain- 
 ness, but could hardly have realized that her friends 
 and admirers would gladly look upon the genius in 
 the face without regard to the lack of beauty of 
 feature, when she so resolutely persisted in refusing 
 to sit for a picture.^ 
 
 She was fastidiously neat in her dress, and method- 
 ical in her habits , and the love of order, early im- 
 pressed upon her by Mrs. Honora Edgeworth, was 
 of immense value to her all through life. For order 
 and method judiciously managed gave her time to 
 do many and very various kinds of work. She 
 could turn from her well-arranged writing, to give 
 some order about her repairs or village charity work, 
 superintend her garden, and settle accounts, with- 
 out destroying the continuity of thought or mar- 
 ring the dialogue of her stories. Undoubtedly she 
 had rare powers of concentration and a very un- 
 common memory, aided also by a fine power of 
 discrimination in the use of material ; but when one 
 considers that she wrote in the large family sitting- 
 room, which was also a library and the general 
 meeting-place of guests and business visitors, the 
 admiration for her talents is increased. For a long 
 time Miss Edgeworth used a little desk in this room, 
 on which, two years before her father's death, he 
 inscribed the following words : — 
 
 1 The picture I use is supposed to have been taken from a sketch 
 by an artist who caught the likeness at some public place during 
 her first Lonilon season. 
 
MISS edgewoeth's mode of life. 527 
 
 "On this humble desk were written all the numerous 
 works of my daughter, Maria Edgeworth, in the common 
 sitting-room of my family. In those works, which were 
 chiefly written to please me, she has never attacked the 
 personal character of any human being, or interfered 
 with the opinious of any sect or party, religious or politi- 
 cal : while endeavoring to inform and instruct others, 
 she improved and amused ber own mind, and gratified 
 her heart, which I do believe is better than her head. 
 
 "R. L. E." 
 
 After Mr. Edgeworth's death she used a writing- 
 desk which had belonged to him ; and it was placed 
 on a table of his construction, to which she added a 
 bracket for 'her candlestick, and other little conven- 
 iences. It was easily rolled near the fire in winter, 
 and in summer could be placed behind the pillars of 
 the library by a window, where she enjoyed the air. 
 
 Miss Edgeworth was an early riser ; and in the 
 morning, after a cup of coffee, usually walked, as 
 before stated, for some time. She came into the 
 breakfast-room in summer with her hands full of 
 flowers ; and sat with the family at the table, though 
 she ate very little. She had some work always to 
 busy herself with, and, on the arrival of the mail- 
 bag, took much interest in reading her letters, and 
 listened to the news of the day ; but she never was a 
 politician, though she took pleasure in the general 
 progress of affairs. 
 
 After breakfast she sat down to write, and worked 
 till luncheon-time ; and after that meal occupied 
 herself with some needlework, as experience taught 
 her that writing immediately after eating was bad 
 
528 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWORTH. 
 
 for her. At times her anxiety about a certain piece 
 of work, an interesting dialogue, or some half- 
 finished character or scene, made her very unwilling 
 to defer her writing ; but this was her rule. A drive 
 in the afternoon, in later years, was a pleasant re- 
 laxation : in early life she rode with her father, 
 but natural timidity about horses made her a poor 
 horsewoman. The rest of the day was passed much 
 as other ladies pass their time. She dined, took tea 
 with the family, and passed the evening in conversa- 
 tion, or listening to reading. In this way she passed 
 her time, when it was unbroken by visits. She 
 worked so systematically and regularly many hours 
 of the day when at home, that she could easily 
 spare the necessary time for visits, and the com- 
 plete change they made. 
 
 Miss Edgeworth, while at Trim, in her eighty- 
 third year, not long before her death, wrote by 
 dictation some reminiscences. She said, — 
 
 " I recollect a number of literary projects, if I may so 
 call them, or apergus of things which I might have writ- 
 ten if I had had time or capacity so to do. The word 
 apergu my father used to object to. ' Let us have none 
 of your apergus, Maria : either follow a thing out clearly 
 to a conclusion, or do not begin it ; begin nothing without 
 finishing it." 
 
 She followed this advice, she says, but notes down 
 some of the many temptations she had to neglect it ; 
 among them Sir Thomas Browne's " Vulgar Errors." 
 
 "It might be useful [she says] and entertaining to 
 look over this book, and mark what errors yet remain 
 
NOTES. 629 
 
 that deserve to be called vulgar, and what have been 
 established as truths ; also to examine whence the errors, 
 supposed to be such, arose ; and to ' bring forward ' to 
 posterity ' arrears outstanding.' 
 
 " To take a larger scope in the same range, it might be 
 well to look at Bacon's 'Pyramid of Knowledge,' and 
 note what progress has been made under each division, 
 and what new divisions, or headings, have been made in 
 consequence of new openings and new discoveries." 
 
 Also take 
 
 " The history of the imagination as well as science. 
 
 "In looking at Bacon's ' Pyramid of Knowledge,' the 
 task of examining and reporting on each division appears 
 too vast for any mind but the mind of him who first 
 sketched that ' Pyramid ; ' but even the commencing such 
 an undertaking may be useful as encouraging other minds 
 to assist. The slightest light thrown, making the dark- 
 ness visible, points out at least where we may attempt to 
 penetrate to dispel that obscurity." 
 
 Does not know of any advance to note in meta- 
 physics, except 
 
 " The doctrine of association, originally noticed by 
 Aristotle, may be termed new in the more extended sig- 
 nification in which it has been used by Hartley, Priestly, 
 Hume ; but how far it has been usefully applied to educa- 
 tion remains to be shown. Upon its revival, this prin- 
 ciple seems to have been much over-valued, and, as Sir 
 Walter Scott humorously observed, to have been used as 
 ' a sort of metaphysical pick-lock. ' It seems to have 
 been forgotten, in the zeal for the power of association, 
 that there must be something to associate with, soma 
 
530 A STUDY OF MARIA EDGE-WORTH. 
 
 original capacity of feeling or pleasure, probably different 
 in different minds. 
 
 " Look over Bentham to consider whether any advance 
 has been made by him since Hume, respecting the princi- 
 ple of utility, as applied either to morals or legislation. 
 There is a slight ' Review ' on this subject, written by 
 myself, which may be worth looking at; as Sir Samuel 
 Romilly approved of it as being, at the time it was writ- 
 ten, the most concise statement he had seen of the prin- 
 ciple of utility, as applied to crimes and punishments. 
 Of Dumont's Bentham ' Sur les Recompenses,' many new 
 ideas have been stolen unacknowledged from it by mem- 
 bers of Parliament and others, and plated out for their 
 own purposes. 
 
 "With regard to the whole system, founded on the 
 principle of utility, it should be observed that it is more 
 a question of words than has hitherto in the discussion 
 been observed, eveu by philosophers. If each party 
 were to define intelligibly and exactly what they mean 
 by the word 'utility,' the dispute must come to an end. 
 Ilitlierto the enemies, as they call themselves, of the 
 principle, disregarding derivation, assume that the word 
 ' utility ' can be used only in a restricted sense ; as we say 
 a cliair is useful to sit upon, not considering what may be 
 useful to human happiness in general, or in giving pleas- 
 ure, independently of doing service. In this view of the 
 subject, the beautiful, and all that relates to taste, they 
 distinguish from the useful ; and they have fail' play foi 
 ridicule well exemplified in Mme. de Stael's raillery 
 against Dumont, and the system of utility in her ' Con- 
 siderations,' where she asks the philosopher whether 
 beautiful landsc.ipes, etc., are useful. The defenders of 
 the principle of utility have not yet sufficiently pointed out 
 
NOTES. 531 
 
 its exact definition. Dumont employs the word ' utility ' 
 as every thing which is conducive to human happiness or 
 human pleasure ; referring to his list enumerating such 
 pleasures, temporal pleasures, both of the senses and the 
 intellect, it seems he would also include religious happi- 
 ness, or the hope of happiness in a future state, as being 
 conducive to our happiness at present. This he does not 
 distinctly state, but infers it ; as in his system there is, 
 he declares, nothing contrary to religion, only contrary 
 to persecution, which, producing evU, comes under the 
 head of pains." 
 
 Miss Edgeworth was interested in political econo- 
 my, and in this same paper of notes she said she 
 questioned how the present state of Ireland was 
 afPected by the potato. 
 
 " I recollect that in Berkeley's 'Querist' there is this 
 inquu-y : ' Whether potatoes have been a blessing or an 
 evil to Ireland?' and, as well as I can recollect, another 
 of his queries is, ' What would be the consequence to 
 Ireland if potatoes ceased to be the national food ? ' 
 
 "I have some excellent letters of my dear deceased 
 friend Mr. Eicardo, which bear upon this subject, and 
 which state what ought to be the desideratum for the 
 food of a nation : such as, storability ; not to be the low- 
 est price, that sometliing may be had to fall back upon 
 in case of crops failing ; food that requires industry, not 
 'to be scratched out of the earth like pignuts." 
 
 She compares Scott's and Johnson's Lives, one of 
 the novelists, the second of the poets, "curious to 
 mark the difference between criticism by one himself 
 an artist in one particular line of fiction, and one 
 only eminent in general literature, but not possess- 
 
532 A STUDY OP MARIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 ing the imaginative or inventive faculty. Johnson's 
 superior learning, in the common acceptation of the 
 term, hardly compensates for his want of imagina- 
 tion as to descriptive poetry, and the beauties of 
 nature, or as to the graphic power of representing 
 human character, and of combining incidents." She 
 considered the asperity of Johnson, and false indul- 
 gence or flattery of Scott, alike to be condemned. 
 Scott was singularly free from envy and jealousy: 
 he said, "I would as soon cherish a toad in my 
 bosom." 
 
 Her sketches were written in small, narrow books, 
 like check-books, and, indeed, often sewed into the 
 empty cover of a check-book, or stamped receipt- 
 book. 
 
 As the reader will have observed, she made many 
 changes. As in " Patronage," before its publica- 
 tion she took out the Irish absentee family, and 
 made a separate story of it ; and again, after " Pat- 
 ronage " was published, she changed some parts of 
 it. Sometimes her stories were worked over, and 
 the plot completely altered, as in "Helen," where 
 she made no original plan or groundwork. Some 
 of the tales were little altered from their first con- 
 ception. In " Ennui " and " Vivian " the stories 
 followed almost exactly the original sketches. 
 
 Besides these sketches, she had note-books, small, 
 and of the usual note-book shape, in which she 
 entered any thing which struck her as affording 
 material for thought or composition. So early in 
 life did she begin these notes, that the first, dated 
 1780, is written in her childish round-hand. 
 
NOTES. 533 
 
 [Note-book, 1780.] 
 
 ^' McCulloch, Western Isles. — On the mountains — de- 
 grees of cold — whiskey in cup mixed with hailstones — 
 quicksilver sank into the bulb. 
 
 '■^ For Harry and Lucy. — Boy going under archway, 
 saw horse could go but not self ; caught hold of bar 
 above, and clung. 
 
 '■'■Star., December, 1801. — Trial of Tailor and Sim- 
 cox. Coachman would sleep on box ; gentleman snatched 
 plate from coach ; at trial coachy turning the tables on 
 him for stealing plate ; taken to Giltspur-street Compter ; 
 damages one shilling." 
 
 Entries were made just as she found things to 
 interest her in a miscellaneous way ; and " by some 
 process of memory," as she says, she knew long after 
 where to find them. 
 
 It is difficult, in leaving the subject of Miss Edge- 
 worth's method of work, and her deference to her 
 father's advice and counsel in the construction of 
 her novels and tales, to let the opportunity pass for 
 a consideration of his influence over her mind. 
 There is no more extraordinary case on record, of 
 the subjection of one mind to another, than this. 
 An original genius of the highest order is seen 
 pressed into the service of a clever, ingenious, but 
 self-satisfied and restless intellect ; and it is further 
 burdened with sentiments of filial devotion and 
 respect. 
 
 The whole influence of Mr. Edgeworth in behalf 
 of method, industry, and constant application, was 
 good , but what would have been the career of his 
 gifted daughter, unhampered by the treadmill in 
 
534 A STUDY OF MAEIA EDGEWOETH. 
 
 which the self-assertion and domineering criticism of 
 her father condemned her to work ? Pity and con- 
 jecture are alike wasted in regret at the manner in 
 which Mr. Edgeworth made her write, or in fancying 
 what her life would have been untrammelled by the 
 mental foot-rule which he applied to her soaring 
 genius and gay imagination. 
 
 The natural modesty and timid disposition of 
 Maria made her place implicit confidence in her 
 father's judgment. Concentration and humor, mi- 
 usual in a woman's work, which is too often diffusive 
 and sentimental, she owed largely to his early super- 
 vision of her studies. Humor he could not give, 
 but he had enough himself to foster the bias of his 
 daughter's mind. She was indebted to him for the 
 remarkable ability to concentrate and conserve her 
 mental forces. Masculine and feminine qualities of 
 mind were thus hers in an unusual degree. 
 
 Mr. Edgeworth had a love of petty detail: he car- 
 ried into literature the same views which made him 
 say that a child should not read any thing it could 
 not perfectly comprehend. He had not considered 
 sufficiently the saying of the French writer, " Le se- 
 cret d'ennuyer est celui de tout dire." 
 
 Miss Edgeworth was a devout and consistent 
 member of the Church of England, and a constant 
 attendant at her parish church. She was constantly 
 attacked, during her lifetime, by critics who asserted 
 that she made morality her highest object. Robert 
 Hall, after greatly praising her writings, laments that 
 they contain no allusions to religion; saying, "She 
 does not attack religion, or inveigh against it, but 
 
RELIGIOUS VIEWS. 535 
 
 makes it appear unnecessary by exhibiting perfect 
 virtue without it." 
 
 To those who made such strictures, the question 
 might have well been put : What is perfect virtue 
 without the essence of religion ? how can a person 
 be perfectly virtuous without any religious belief? I 
 think Miss Edgeworth meant to inculcate the highest 
 sentiments of religion, which were not dependent 
 upon creed or dogma, the pure essence of faith in 
 " things unseen and spiritual ; " and that, as she 
 abstained from profaning the highest human love by 
 passionate descriptions of lovers' vows, she felt that 
 to indicate the virtues was to convey, to the reader 
 of fine intelligence, pi'kctical views of religion. 
 
 She was intimate with many Churchmen, and the 
 bright and shining lights of the Church paid homage 
 to her genius and her good influence. Archbishop 
 Whately, in his "Annotations of Bacon's Essays," 
 has an allusion to Miss Edgeworth, in which he 
 makes the same criticism as Robert Hall, and enters 
 at length into the want of artistic excellence this 
 causes. All minds have their limitations, and that 
 of Miss Edgeworth was no exception to this rule. 
 For what she gave the literature of her country we 
 must be grateful, and accept the books she gave us — 
 she gave us of her best. 
 
 If ever a life could be called "a prayer," that 
 of Miss Edgeworth was such in its aspiration and in- 
 spiration. Her earnest desire was to do good, to be 
 to many the means of uplifting and cheering suffer- 
 ing humanity. 
 
 Miss Edgeworth was emphatically a representative 
 
536 A STUDY OP MAEIA EDGBWOETH. 
 
 of the utilitarian ideas whicli Bentliam recognized as 
 the great movement of the last century. The re- 
 action from the old mediaeval ideas and formulas was 
 a violent one, and the natural outgrowth of modern 
 civilization and development. As the incoming tide 
 washes away the dSbris left by the former waves, the 
 century of the French Revolution saw vast changes 
 in action and thought. Miss Edgeworth was a pro- 
 gressive and modern thinker. She embodied in 
 her novels the spirit of the modern movement, 
 among whose leaders she may be named. She had 
 a positive influence on society, manners, and litera- 
 ture. 
 
 Macaulay called her "the Second woman of her 
 age," counting Mme. de Stael as the first ; and an- 
 other writer said of her influence, " Miss Edgeworth 
 has done more good, both to the higher and lower 
 world, than any writer since the days of Addison." 
 Sir James Mackintosh said he should require "for 
 Botany Bay a code from Bentham, and 'Popular 
 Tales ' from Miss Edgeworth." In " Fors Clavigera " 
 for May, 1876, John Ruskin, after some excellent 
 hints on dress for young girls, tells his readers, if 
 they have never seen "Parent's Assistant," to ask 
 their parents to buy it for them ; and advises all to 
 read " the little scene between Miss Somers and 
 Simple Susan, in the draper's shop." In American 
 and English literature, there are constant allusions 
 to the characters of Miss Edgeworth's tales and 
 novels. She has left the indelible impress of genius 
 on our literature. She had also a Continental 
 reputation. 
 
NOTICES OF MISS EDGEWOETH. 637 
 
 Her respect for the simple and daily virtues has 
 often been remarked. It has been truly said, that 
 great virtues are easy to write of, but to make the 
 minor qualities interesting, and yet show marked 
 power in handling larger themes, is unusual. She 
 said in "Helen," "Whoever makes truth disagree- 
 able commits high treason against virtue ; " and her 
 writings are full of just such homely truths, at- 
 tractively presented. Sir Walter Scott said once of 
 her, " Some one has described the novels of Miss 
 Edgeworth as a sort of essence of common-sense ; and 
 the definition is not inappropriate." 
 
 W. S. Landor, in the "Imaginary Conversations" 
 of the dead and living, pays a pleasant compliment 
 to Miss Edgeworth's writings. 
 
 Among the latest sketches of Miss Edgeworth's life 
 and writings (nothing larger has yet been attempted) 
 is one very amusing and blundering description in 
 "Illustrious Irishwomen," by E. Owens Blackburn. 
 Miss Kavanagh has a brie:P account of her ; and the 
 latest mentions of her are in " The Literary History 
 of England," by Mrs. Oliphant (a critical sketch of 
 " Castle Rackrent "), and, by " The Cornhill Maga- 
 zine " for this month, which has a pleasant and 
 sketchy account, from the pen of a well-known writer. 
 
 The reviews, magazines, and papers of the day con- 
 tained most tender and affectionate notices of Miss 
 Edgeworth; and her death was mourned on both 
 sides of the Atlantic as a public loss. One writer 
 said of her, "No man or woman in this generation 
 needs to be told of the surpassing excellence of her 
 various writings; and then entered into a glowing 
 
538 A STUDY OP MARIA EDGEWOBTH. 
 
 eulogium of her public aud private virtues. Sweet 
 and well-merited words of praise echoed from Amer- 
 ica. One notice said, — 
 
 "This admirable writer has long enjoyed a reputation 
 like the calm unbiased judgment of posterity. She lived 
 to see her works pass from the regions of transient popu- 
 larity to that of permanent fame." 
 
 An Irish poetess, in announcing to a friend the 
 death of Miss Edgeworth, said, — 
 
 "I feel it difficult to express my deep regret for Miss 
 Edgeworth's sudden and totally unexpected death, you 
 cannot well imagine the charm of her society, or the 
 attraction of her manners and superior sense. She was 
 never occupied by self. One was sure of pleasing her, in 
 whatever way they essayed the trial : she would laugh 
 like an Irishwoman in exuberant enjoyment of any pleas- 
 ant subject. Her warm-hearted benevolence, aided by 
 her warm-hearted love of country, was delightful." 
 
 Old age is rarely seen in a more beautiful aspect 
 than in Miss Edgeworth's life. She was neither 
 narrowed nor depressed by the chilling influences of 
 the years which brought with them the loss of friends 
 and many changes. She retained to the last her 
 generous heart, her clear mental vision ; and her 
 serene hope in humanity, and her faith for the 
 future, cheered her spirits and elevated her imagina- 
 tion. 
 
 The life of this gifted woman is a pleasant study 
 
 of all that is best and brightest in human experience. 
 
 • She was amiable, affectionate, genuine, and brilliant. 
 
HBB WOMANLY CHAEACTEK. 539 
 
 Her character presents a rare combination of excel- 
 lent qualities; and it is easy to gather from the 
 various testimony of friends and contemporaries, that 
 the woman was as true as her writings. In all the 
 relations of life she was respected and beloved. 
 
APPEl^DIX I. 
 
 THE MENTAL THEEMOMETEE. 
 
 BY MISS MAKIA EDGEWORTH. 
 
 The Eastern style of allegory and narrative, of which 
 there are so many examples in the "Spectator" and 
 " Adventurer," was once a favorite with the public. 
 There was too much of it : it went out of fashion, and 
 has of late been considered as suited only to juvenile 
 taste. Perhaps, for the sake of variety, it may now and 
 then be again permitted in periodical publications. There 
 appears something of Oriental style and invention in the 
 following fiction, which was intended to turn popular 
 attention to a curious problem in the history of the human 
 mind, — a problem which has long been discussed, but 
 which has hitherto been unsolved, by metaphysicians, — 
 whether different people feel the same positive degrees of 
 pain or pleasure with equal intensity ; whether all men 
 have the same capacity for happiness or misery. It 
 seems further to suggest a moral idea, — that many were 
 led to pursue what others falsely call Pleasure, merely 
 from their want of power of comparing and reflecting on 
 their own feelings, and thus of deciding for themseh'es in 
 what their real happiness consists. 
 
 1 Friendship's Offering ; or. The Annual Remembrance, 1833. 
 Lupton KeUe, 13 CornliiU, London, 
 
 611 
 
542 THE MENTAL THEEMOMETEE. 
 
 "My father was a merchant of considerable opulence, 
 and of established credit, in the city of London. The hab- 
 its of circumspection and frugality, which are insensibly 
 acquired in the pursuit of wealth, had neither soured his 
 temper, nor contracted his natural benevolence ; but on 
 the contrary he found himself, as. he advanced in years, 
 not only in the possession of an ample fortune, but blessed 
 with a mind capable of enjoying and sharing it with his 
 fellow-creatures. The fame of his liberality drew around 
 him numbers who were in want of his assistance ; and 
 his discernment in distinguishing those who were proper 
 objects of his bounty obtained for him the notice and 
 friendship of many who were disinterested admirers of 
 his virtues. Among those of the latter description, I can 
 remember from my childhood an elderly gentleman who 
 had the air and accent of a foreigner ; who, after having 
 casually met and conversed with my father in several 
 places of public resort, seemed particularly to solicit his 
 acquaintance. My father was equally anxious of culti- 
 vating his society ; and by degrees a friendship arose 
 between them, which continued without interruption dur- 
 ing the remainder of my father's life, and which, after 
 his death, seemed to devolve upon me, his only son. 
 Indeed, I had ever been ambitious of ingratiating myself 
 with this person, and of deserving his esteem ; for I 
 thought that he possessed a singular sagacity in judging 
 and deciding upon the secret motives of human actions. 
 I was but a very young boy when I first saw him, but 
 even then I was struck with his appearance. He had a 
 remarkable serenity of aspect, and a general expression 
 of benevolence in his countenance, but an eye which 
 guilt could not withstand, which seemed to penetrate with 
 a glance into the inmost recesses of the human heart. 
 Whenever he fixed it upon me, I well remember the awe 
 
THE MENTAL THEEMOMETEE. 543 
 
 which it diffused over my wliole frame, — an awe which 
 even the consciousness of innocence could not dispel. 
 What his thoughts of me were in those moments, I Icnow 
 not ; but the reserve of his manner towards me was grad- 
 ually dissipated, and he began to admit and to encourage 
 my childish conversation and familiarity. He had been a 
 great traveller, and had acquired an amazmg fund of 
 knowledge, which he perfectly well knew how to dispense 
 in conversation so as to entertain and instruct. When I 
 was a child he would often take me between his knees, 
 and tell me marvellous stories, such as were fit to rouse 
 my curiosity, and fix my attention ; blending at the same 
 time useful knowledge and moral truths with his narra- 
 tives, and infusing, as it were, wholesome nourishment 
 with delicacies the most grateful to my palate. 
 
 "As I grew older, he instructed me in the sciences in 
 which he was most profoundly versed. Indeed, at times 
 I could not avoid suspecting that his knowledge in the 
 mysteries of nature was even greater than he thought it 
 prudent to avow. I had a confused idea of secrets 
 equally valuable and dangerous. This idea increased my 
 reverence ; but I never ventured to hint it to him, lest I 
 might by an idle curiosity offend him, or lose his company 
 and friendship. He continued, this subject excepted, to 
 treat me with the most unreserved confidence, till the time 
 of my father's death, when I looked up to him as the 
 only friend who could console me for my loss. 
 
 "At this time, when my heart was softened with grief 
 and disposed to solitude, he took me with him to a retire- 
 ment at some distance from the metropolis. It was a 
 charming spot, rich in all the beauties of nature, and 
 highly cultivated by art. 
 
 "After any irreparable misfortune has been severely 
 felt, a species of mental calm succeeds. I now expen- 
 
544 THE MENTAL THEEMOMETEE. 
 
 enced a kind of philosophic melancholy, which, though 
 somewhat painful, I was fouil of cherishing. It was one 
 of those' thoughtful moments, towards the close of even- 
 ing, as I was sitting alone with the good old man, my 
 second father, he addressed me with uncommon serious- 
 ness, urging me to tell him the plans which I had formed 
 for my future life. Struck with the suddenness of a 
 question upon which I had scarcely deliberated, I hesi- 
 tated to reply. 'I have not,' said I after some recollec- 
 tion, ' as yet formed any determined resolution ; probably 
 from not being impelled to it by necessity. You know 
 the success of my father's industry. The fruits of it he 
 has left to me ; and finding myself possessed of a more 
 than affluent fortune, a fair hereditary name, youth, health, 
 an active mind, and one of the best of friends, I seem to 
 have little care in life but to enjoy its blessings.' — ' But 
 how securely to enjoy those blessings," said my instructor, 
 ' is the question. You doubtless wish to be happy, and 
 believe the means to be in your power ; but recall the 
 scenes which we have observed together in the metropolis. 
 How many are there in possession of the very blessings 
 which you boast of, and who are yet discontented and 
 miserable ! That happiness which is in the power of so 
 many, why is it not enjoyed ? or, rather, in what does it 
 consist ? Recollect, and tell me who you do believe to be 
 the happiest man you know ? ' I readily replied, ' Of all 
 men I have ever seen, you appear to be the happiest, and 
 yet I cannot precisely tell the reason why I think so : you 
 are not young ; you do not possess any visible means of 
 wealth ; your way of life precludes you from all the grati- 
 fications of public admiration : and yet the unalterable 
 serenity of your countenance, and the cheerfulness of 
 your manner, eonviuce me that you are happy. Perhaps 
 it is to youi 3iii)erior knowledge and philosophy that you 
 owe your felicity. The confidence which you are now 
 
THE MENTAL THERMOMETER. 545 
 
 showing me, however, encourages me to speak my whole 
 mind. From several circumstances which have occurred 
 since we were first acquainted, and from some accidental 
 expressions which have dropped from you at different 
 times, I conceived the notion that you were master of 
 some extraordinary secret ; but I have hitherto repressed 
 my curiosity on this subject, as I did not think it became 
 me to penetrate further into your confidence than you 
 condescended to admit me.' — 'You have,' said he, cast- 
 ing upon me a look of approbation, ' fully invited my con- 
 fidence, and it shall be no longer withheld. It is true, I 
 am in possession of an extraordinary secret, — a secret 
 1 deem invaluable. It has been the purchase of many 
 years' toil and experience, the reward of the reflection 
 and the studies of a long life. I am a native of Italy, 
 and my life has been spent chiefly in travelling through 
 different countries. There is no part of the globe which 
 I have not visited ; having uniformly kept one object in 
 view, to which, thank Heaven ! I have at last attained. 
 You know,' continued he, 'my friendship to your father, 
 and my particular attachment to you. I wish to give you 
 some proof of my regard, before Nature calls me from 
 you ; and I think I have it in my power to leave you a 
 gift truly worthy of your acceptance.' There he paused. 
 " He drew carefully from beneath his vestment a small 
 tube, of a substance which I had never before seen : it 
 enclosed something which I concluded was a talisman. 
 The old man put it into my hands : upon a nearer view, 
 it appeared to me nothing more than a small instrument, 
 constructed like one of our common thermometers, and 
 marked into a great number of divisions. After I had 
 examined it in silence for some time, my friend took it 
 from me, and placed it near the region of my heart, — 
 when instantly a fresh phenomenon appeared : a multi- 
 tude of new divisions became visible. ' There are many 
 
54G TTIE MENTAL TIIRRMOiVIETKB. 
 
 more,' said my friond, ol>s('i'vin!;- my ftstonislimant : ' thero 
 are many more too nice to be discenu'd l)y the unassisted 
 eye of man ; but, the lonf^-er and more atti'n1,ively you 
 reirard tiicm, tiie more yon will be enabled to diseovei-.' — 
 ' But what is this liquor? ' said 1 ; 'or is it a liquor whieh 
 seems to move up and down in the tube? and what are 
 those small (characters wlii(Oi I perceive at the top and 
 bottom of the inatnunent? ' — 'The brifjht (characters 
 which you see at the top of the crystal are Araliic,' said 
 he, 'and they signify perfect. JHir.ilii ; tluc de^rrecs whi(cli 
 you perceive luarked upon the ci'ystal form a scale of 
 happiness deseendin<j; from perfect felicity to indifference, 
 which is the boundary bcl-ween pleasure and pain ; and 
 from that point commccncxc the dark divisions of niisery, 
 which continue deep(Miing in their shade as they descend, 
 and increasing in distance from each other, till they touch 
 the characters at the bottom, which sif^nify the final 
 bounds of human misci'y and despair. The liquor whieh 
 yon se(c contained in the tube,' continued he, 'is endued 
 with the power of rising and falling in {\w crystal, in 
 (exact proiiortion to the pleasure felt by the person who 
 wears it at any given period of his existence.' I cast my 
 eye down the tube as he held it in his hand. ' Perfect 
 felicity and d(csi)aii-,' I repeated, and sighed : ' how many 
 of my fellow-creatures are doomed to feel the one, how 
 few attain the other!' — 'These extreme points,' said 
 the good ohl man, recalling my eyes to the tube, ' though 
 apparently so far distant from each other, are equally 
 dangerous. It will seldom, however, be found actually 
 at these extrciiKcs, and i\w. intei'mcdiate degrees it defines 
 with un(crring pi-ccision.' — 'lint,' said I, 'is it not 
 cnongh for me to feel pleasure, to be (convinced I feel it? 
 and will not a little refl(cetion ascci'tain the degree with 
 sufheient accuracy?' — ' Terhaps not,' said he, smiling 
 at my presumption : ' perhaps not so readily as you ima- 
 
THE MENTAL THEEMOMETEK. 547 
 
 ginci The want of precision in this circumstance is one 
 of the first causes of the mistakes which manltind fall 
 into in their pursuits, especially the young and enthusias- 
 tic : reflecting little on the past, and forming great expec- 
 tations for the future, they seldom rightly vahie their 
 present sensations ; guided by the opinion or the example 
 of others, they mistake the real objects of happiness ; 
 and the experiments necessary to be tried, to set them 
 right, must be so often repeated to make useful impres- 
 sions, that life itself passes away before they are con- 
 vinced of their error, or before the conviction has been 
 of material advantage to them. Now, such is the nature 
 of this little instrument, that, if you wear it next your 
 heart, it will invariably preserve its efficacy in all the 
 situations of life, — in the most tumultuous assembly, as 
 well as in the most tranquil solitude ; at the moment when 
 your soul is the most agitated, when your emotions are 
 the most complicated, when you would not or could not 
 enter into any strict scrutiny of your own heart, this little 
 crystal will be your monitor. Press it to your bosom, and 
 ask yourself this question : " What degree of pleasure 
 or of pain do I now feel ? ' ' The answer you will find 
 distinct and decided. The liquor m the tube will instan- 
 taneously point it out upon the scale of happiness or mis- 
 ery : it will remain stationary until you unlock the cham 
 from around your neck, in your hours of retii-ement.' 
 
 " Now I began to comprehend the true use and value 
 of this present ; and, retracting my hasty judgment, I 
 expressed, in the warmest terms, my acknowledgment. 
 'Take it, my son,' said he, putting it into my hands. 
 ' May you, in the course of your life, experience its 
 utility as much as I have done ; may it facilitate your 
 improvement in virtue and wisdom, the only genuine 
 sources of happiness. My life must now be near its 
 close ; my habits are fixed, and I have no further occa- 
 
548 TJJB MENTAL TIIEllMOMETEB. 
 
 sion for this monitor : yet it has been so long my constant 
 companion, that I can scarcely part witli it, even to you, 
 without reluctance. Promise mc, however,' added he, 
 ' to send me frequent and accurate accounts of tlie ex- 
 periments you try witli it : they will be an amusement to 
 me in my retiiement.' 
 
 "I readily made my friend the promise which lie 
 required ; and, having again thanked him for his present, 
 I eagerly clasped the golden chain around my neck, and 
 resolved to begin, as soon as possible,, a series of obser- 
 vations. It happened, however, that, the evening on 
 which I had intended to commence these, I was visited 
 by one of the most celebrated metaphysicians of that 
 day, a friend of my father : to him I communicated the 
 secret I had in my possession, and showed him my treas- 
 ures. Envy flashed in his eyes : he pre.sscMl ray thermom- 
 eter to his heart. Instantly the liquor rose almost to the 
 point of perfect felicity ; then, fluttering, alternated be- 
 tween that and despair. ' Could I but possess this instru- 
 ment for one month,' cried he, 'I could solve problems 
 the most interesting to metaphysicians, and I could per- 
 fect my theory of the human mind.' 
 
 " Friendship, philanthropy, and, to own the truth, some 
 degree of curiosity to see how the liquor would rise in the 
 tube if I should comply with his desire, decided my answer. 
 'Your wish is granted,' said I; and at that instant the 
 liquor rose to the point of perfect felicity, with such violence 
 that the tube broke with a sudden explosion ; and I, and 
 the world, and the metaphysicians were deprived forever 
 of our intended experiments on the Mental Thermometer."' 
 
APPE]^DIX II. 
 
 [Copy of a, letter from Miss Eilgeworth, to Gerard Ralston, Esq., 
 London.] 
 
 Edgbwoktiistown, Jan. 26, 1835. 
 
 My dear Sik, — Your letter is most kind and most 
 satisfactory to me in itself, and by its enclosures. First 
 I thanlf you for having so affectionately entered into my 
 feelings respecting my father's memory ; and next I 
 thank you for having so immediately and so judiciously 
 exerted yourself to have the evil repaired for me as far 
 as possible, and meanwhile to have the pain so soothed, 
 as it has been, by the assurance and the conviction that it 
 was unintentionally inflicted. Your directing your appli- 
 cation to a person of Gov. Winthrop's age, character, 
 and weighty respectability, was as judicious as it has 
 proved fortunate to me in the result ; and most happy 
 for me in not only obtaining for me the mterference in 
 my cause of such a man, but also in giving me the high 
 satisfaction of learning under his own hand, that I pos- 
 sess a place in the esteem of one so much esteemed and 
 so worthy of esteem public and private. I enclose a 
 note, which if you think can, without impropriety, be for- 
 warded to Mr. Winthrop, I beg you will enclose to him 
 in your next letter. I am perfectly satisfied by Mr. Pea- 
 body's letter, which is, I think, that of a good and true 
 man, with a candid, amiable character, feeling for others. 
 But in truth he may be told that he is even now quite 
 
 649 
 
[)[){.) AIM'ENDIX II. 
 
 iiiistiikiMi ill i\w iKil.ioMM lie oxprcHscH ill liiM IctU'i', that 
 " Ml'. lMlfj,('\v(irlIi wiVM loo I'liiul of Hocicly, iiiul (.00 iiiiicli 
 ('n<;ii;j:iMl ill Mclix'c iiui'siiilM, lo Ih> mIiIc to iiHsiHt his 
 (hiiiniilci' in hi'i- iilcrin'V |uii'MiiilH." 'The piiiiii t'lU'l., im 
 iiwiv l)i> Hccii ill (iio xiroiitl vdiuiiu' (iT his iiUMiioii'H, in, (Jmt 
 ho livi'il iii'iiriv lliirt.v-llvi' yc.'irH in I'l'lii'ciiiciit iit Hdji'o- 
 worliislowii, ill Uic cciilrc (n,s you know) of iil/iiiiali' Irc- 
 huiii, wlu'i'i' lie iiiul no Hociciy cxccpli in his own I'liiiiily, 
 tuitl ii vory lew, ""' lilcrari/, coiinlry ncinlilioi'M. Isxccjit 
 two HOiiHoiiH m(. C'lil'loii, one ni I'liris, luul one or Iwo in 
 IjoiiiIoii, Iu' never went into society lini-in;;' Unit loHfj; pe- 
 riod ol' tliirly-llve yeiu'H. And idl his lil'e, iiteriUiu'e wiim 
 his deli.u'lit; mid every day mid every nijj,lit his oeeii|i!ilinu 
 w.'iM literal lire mid seienee. MeeiiiinieM wmh iiis ('iivoi'ito 
 stndy, not his plinjtliiinj. I iini snro if he eoiiid but kiiim 
 the trill h, — il' he could but know thiit it is not 11 diui{j;li- 
 ter's imrliidity thiit speiikH, but wli.'it imy <ine oC Ml'. 
 I'^d^ewortii's luiiiarliiil iiciiuaintmiee would certify to liini, 
 — he would lie e;i.i;'er to rectify his reprcHcntiitions, iiide- 
 )ieiidenlly of all coiiHidcrMtioiis for nie. J am exeeed- 
 inf;ly olilif^cd, however, by tlint very kindly cxpreHHcd 
 coiiHideratioii for 11 dmijiliter'H feclinf^'M. And I lilce him 
 all the licMcr, mid wish ho iiniy liii\-e a son or a (lmiij;liter 
 of liin own, who may repay him in filial allection for the 
 Hort of rcHpeclful allowance he makes for it 111 a sti'angci' 
 and a forei^'iier, who i^mi never show liiiii any f^'ratitude, 
 however iiincli she may feel. ]\Ir. I'enlioily tj;i\'es me tl 
 great ld(wi of lim exiraordimiry modcHly of iiiind, mid of 
 his not lieiiiu,' aware of tlie spread of American literiiinre 
 in tlicse countries, when he says Unit it never occurred to 
 liini thai this rc\iew of "Helen" would ever meet my 
 i'yr». Thesis American reviews are ij;ciierally read, as 
 •iloii must hy this time pcrfe<'l,ly well know, in liondon, 
 and in all literiiry sociely vaUicd liotli in Ireland, Eng- 
 
APPENDIX II. 551 
 
 land, and Scotland. And that review of " Helen "is so 
 beautifully written, and so much better than any other 
 that has appeared of the book, that all who have read it 
 have been struek with it, and all my friends have been 
 delighted with all that concerned " Helen " and myself. I 
 cannot, with truth say that I have even begun any new 
 work ; but I intend to write another tale or novel, though 
 when it will be published I cannot and indeed should not 
 like to bind myself to say. Perhaps Mr. I'eabody might 
 look at "Professional liducation," which has never been 
 noticed in reviews; or perhaps "Early Lessons," and 
 "Harry and Lucy," which have been lately admirably 
 translated into P'rench by Mme. Belise under the title of 
 " Les Industriels " (for " Harry and Lucy") or "Edu- 
 cation Famili^re ; " or the whole series might give an op- 
 portunity of mentioning our name in some future article, 
 and of doing justice to my father, and the favors he 
 wishes to me. Some of the addresses to parents, in the 
 English edition of those "Early Lessons," are by my 
 f atlier ; and all of ' ' Harry and Lucy ' ' except the sequel 
 in four volumes written by me after his death, and chiefly 
 from his ideas. I am much obliged by your constant 
 attention about the North-American and American quar- 
 terly reviews : I have received them regularly. I used to 
 enjoy much and profit by your pencil-notes in the table of 
 contents to tliose reviews ; but I know you are so much 
 engaged by liusincss now that you cannot find leisure for 
 these literary remarks ; and permit me to remark (etc.). 
 
Il^TDEX. 
 
 xIbBOTSFOED, 313, 379, 383, 
 
 394-396, 400. 
 Ackland, Sir Thomas Dyke, 197. 
 Aikin, Dr., 160, 301. 
 Aikin, Miss, 302. 
 Alison, Mrs., 466. 
 Alison, Rev. Mr., 194, 196, 200, 
 
 383, 386. 
 Alison, Dr., 466. 
 Allenstown, 141. 
 AUibone, 228. 
 Almack's, 374. 
 Althorpe, Lord, 164. 
 America, 101, 315. 
 Andre, Major, 43, 45. 
 Anglesey, Lord, 372. 
 Apreece, Mrs. (Lady Davy), 230, 
 
 262, 272, 278. 
 Apsley House, 435. 
 Apsley, Lord, 368. 
 Arago, M., 138, 346. 
 Armagh, 508. 
 Aristotle, 529. 
 Ashburton, Lord, 163. 
 Aucram, Lord, 197. 
 
 Bacon, 529. 
 
 Badajos, 263. 
 
 Baillie, Mrs., 301. 
 
 Baillie, the Misses Joanna and 
 
 Agnes, 324, 369, 370, 375, 393, 
 
 434. 
 Ballantyne, James, 291. 
 
 Balllnahinoh Castle, 451. 
 
 Ballinasloe, 451. 
 
 Bannatynes, 383, 397, 442. 
 
 Banks, Sir Joseph, 71, 136, 
 229. 
 
 Barbauld, Mrs., 62, 131, 135, 137, 
 160, 195, 204, 207, 212, 238, 245, 
 248, 252, 273, 299, 301, 324, 331, 
 407. 
 
 Barrington, Sir Jonah, 233. 
 
 Barry, Col., 44. 
 
 Bath, 13, 14, 25, 50, 71. 
 
 Bathurst, Lord, 318, 368. 
 
 Bathurst, Lady, 318. 
 
 Beaconsfield, Lord, 254. 
 
 Beauchamp, Lord, 304. 
 
 Beaufort, Dr., 103, 105, 202. 
 
 Beaufort, Miss, 103, 105, 109. 
 
 Beaufort, Sir Francis (admiral), 
 138, 203, 323, ."72. 
 
 Beaufort, Rev. William, 138. 
 
 Beaufort, Duchess of, 368. 
 
 Beauharnais, Hortense, 183. 
 
 Beddoes, Dr. Thomas, 97, 132, 138, 
 155, 157, 230. 
 
 Beddoes, Mrs. Anna (Edge- 
 worth), 97, 98, 139, 155, 208, 256, 
 280, 304, 315, 362, 402, 436. 
 
 Bedford, Duke of, 164, 276. 
 
 Beecher, Sir Wrixon, 253. 
 
 Beechwood Park, 370. 
 
 "Belinda," 141, 143, 172, 238, 243, 
 444. 
 
 553 
 
554 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Belloc, Mme. (Mile. Swinton), 
 
 361, 426, 447, 511. 
 Benger, Miss, 201. 
 Bentley, Mr., 447. 
 Bentham, Jeremy, 167, 346, 450, 
 
 530, 536. 
 Berkeley, Bishop, 531. 
 Bernadotte, 3GC. 
 Berners, Lord, 446. 
 Berry, Miss, 334. 
 Berry, Misses, 271. 
 BerthoUet, 161. 
 Besborough, 326. 
 Betty, Master, 269. 
 Bibliotlieque Britannique, 160. 
 Biddle, Kachel, 256, 
 Bisset, Lady Catherine, 367. 
 Blackburn, B. Owens, 537. 
 Black Bourton, 20, 21, 50, 52, 
 
 55. 
 Black Castle, 40, 89, 92, 105, 208, 
 
 232, 263, 313, 334, 363, 382, 401, 
 
 407, 427, 429. 
 Blagden, 72. 
 Blake, Misses, SO, 56. 
 "Blind Kate," 353. 
 Boaden, Mr., 275. 
 Bolton, Mr., 38. 
 Bonaparte, Gen., 171, 173, 180, 184, 
 
 192, 277, 336, 340, 342, 343, 364, 
 
 427, 452. 
 Bonstetten, M., 346, 351. 
 Bowles, Mr., 317. 
 Bowood, 315, 323, 325, 327, 362, 363, 
 
 368, 471, 503. 
 Bradstone, Miss, 8. 
 Brandon, Countess ol, 253. 
 Brandford, 433. 
 Breadlebane, Lady, 330. 
 Ereguet, 101. 
 
 Bremer, Frederika, 501, 502. 
 Breton, M., 100. 
 Brewster, Dr., 410. 
 Bridgman, Mrs., 5, 
 Brinkley, Dr., 255. 
 
 Bristol, 156, 207, 218. 
 
 Bristol, Bishop of (Dr. Mansel), 
 
 306. 
 Bristow, George, 328. 
 Broadhurst, Miss, 289. 
 Brooke, Mr., 85. 
 Broglie, Mme. de, 351, 352. 
 Brougham, Lord, 275, 385. 
 "Brown, Capability," 323. 
 Brown, Dr. Thomas, 384. 
 Browne, Sir Thomas, 528. 
 Bruges, 160. 
 Brunei, Mr., 325. 
 Buchan, Lord, 202. 
 Bumstead, Mr. Horace, 133. 
 Bunsen, Baroness, 157. 
 Burney, Dr. Charles, 277. 
 Burney, Miss, 172. (See D'Ar- 
 
 blay.) 
 Burney, Mr., 377. 
 Burke, Edmund, 248, 376, 377. 
 Bushe, Chief Justice, 253. 
 Bussigny, 349. 
 Butler, Mrs. Harriet (Edgeworth), 
 
 334, 382, 393, 401, 415, 420, 421, 
 
 424, 427, 445, 491. 
 Butler, Rev. Mr., 402, 406, 427, 
 
 503, 522. 
 Byrkeley Lodge, 313, 327. 
 Byron, Lord, 246, 271, 278, 279, 
 
 305. 
 Byron, Lady, 272, 333, 506. 
 
 CaFFAEELLI, Gen., 337. 
 Calwich, 351. 
 Campan, Mme., 171, 183. 
 CameHord, 164. 
 CandoUe, M. de, 346. 
 Canmont, Mme. de, 341. 
 Canning, Mr., 164, 355. 
 Canterbury, Archbishop of, 506. 
 Carnegy, Miss, 316. 
 Carr, Miss, 333, 437, 451. 
 Carr, Mr. and Mrs., 273, 330, 333, 
 369, 434. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 555 
 
 Carrington, Lord, 277, 283, 314, 
 
 365, 366. 
 Carton, 253. 
 
 Castle Forbes, 83, 84, 210, 214. 
 "Castle Eackrent," 77, 78, 140, 
 
 142, 143, 172, 228, 261, 375, 382, 
 
 457-459, 494, 537. 
 Cathcart, Lord, 217. 
 Chambers, William, 509, 511. 
 Chamouni, 348. 
 Chandler, 280. 
 Charlemont, Lord, 253. 
 Charleville, Countess of, 272, 
 
 503. 
 Chastellux, Marquis de, 168. 
 Cheltenham, 304. 
 Cheneir, M., 145. 
 Chester, 5, 28. 
 Chesterfield, Lord, 26, 180. 
 Chorley, H. F., 215, 463. 
 Cirencester, 368. 
 Clarendon, Lady Cecilia, 518, 
 
 519. 
 Clifford, Mrs., 280. 
 Clifton, 92, 93, 97, 155, 304, 362, 
 
 368. 
 Coekburn, Lord, 196. 
 Collon, 15, 105, 106, 141, 202, 214, 
 
 313, 314. 
 " Comic Dramas," 309. 
 Coleridge, S.T.,507. 
 Condorcet, 168. 
 Connemara, 258, 451. 
 ConoUy, Lady Louisa, 253, 299. 
 Constable, Mv., 39fi, 404. 
 Constant, Benjamin, 339. 
 Cook, Capt., 72. 
 Coppet, 347, 351. 
 " Corinne," 227. 
 Cork, 260. 
 
 " Cornwall, Barry," 463. 
 Corpus Christi College, 20. 
 Corry, Mr., 254. 
 Cowper, 87. 
 Craigcrook, 394. 
 
 Crampton, Sir Philip, 253, 254, 
 
 298, 408, 411, 428, 508. 
 Cranallagh, Castle of, 3. 
 Craven, Clarissa, 256. 
 Crewe, Lady, 84, 271. 
 Crillon, Due de, 172. 
 Croker, "Wilson, 253, 355. 
 Croydon, 493. 
 Cullum, Sir Hugh, 3, 4. 
 Cuvier, 335. 
 
 DaER, Lord Basil, 137. 
 Dalgouski, Princess, 179. 
 Dangan Castle, 522. 
 D'Angouleme, Duchesse, 341. 
 D'Arblay, Mme., 277, 285, 330. 
 Darwin, Dr. Erasmus, 28, 31, 32, 
 
 46, 62, 88, 93, 96, 99, 109, 153, 
 
 164, 306, 439, 491. 
 Darwin, Mrs., 32, 34, 156. 
 Davis, Mrs., 05, 72. 
 Davy, Sir Humphry, 138, 139, 218, 
 
 255, 258, 262, 272, 278, 303, 375, 
 
 399, 426. 
 Day, Thomas, 38, 41, 45, 54, 57, 
 
 62, 71, 74, 82, 86-88, 96, 97, 138, 
 
 280, 316, 323, 325, 328. 
 Deane, Mr., 19. 
 Degerando, M., 171. 
 Deepdene, 330, 368, 378. 
 Deffand, Mme. du, 247. 
 Delany, Mrs., 13, 14. 
 Delessert, M., 162, 181, 335, 359. 
 Delessert, Mme., 162, 167, 181, 
 
 359. 
 Delessert, Fran9ois, 162. 
 Denman, Lord, 137. 
 Derby, 268. 
 
 D'Escars, Duchesse, 338. 
 Devonshire, Duke of, 25. 
 Dewes, Mrs., 13, 14. 
 Dickens, 503. 
 Diesterweg, 134. 
 D'Israeli, Mr., 355. 
 " Dog Trusty," 90. 
 
556 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 D'Osmonds, Marquis, 346. 
 
 D'Ouditot, Mme., 169. 
 
 Douglas, Miss, 428. 
 
 Doyle, Dr., 505. 
 
 Drogheda school, 15. 
 
 Dromana, 253. 
 
 Dublin, 3, 4,. 6, 41, 135, 255, 265, 
 
 291, 298, 303, 334, 493. 
 Dublin, University of, 15, 19, 20, 
 
 213. 
 Dublin University Magazine, 403. 
 Dudley, Lord. (See Ward and 
 
 Dudley.) 
 Dumont, M., 73, 162, 163, 165, 
 
 167, 237, 315, 316, 320, 346, 348, 
 
 353, 354, 358, 371, 449, 450, 471, 
 
 530. 
 Dunmore, Lady, 272. 
 Dunne, Michael, 308. 
 
 "Early Lessons," 144, 172, 
 
 282, 381, 444. 
 Edelcrantz, M., 174, 177, 203. 
 Edgewortb, Edward, 2. 
 Edgeworth, Francis, 2. 
 Edgeworth, Francis, 5, 7, 9. 
 Edgeworth, Capt. John, 3, 5. 
 Edgeworth, John, 5. 
 Edgeworth, Lady, 6, 7. 
 Edgeworth, Mr. Richard, 41. 
 Edgeworth, Mrs., 28. 
 Edgeworth, Miss Margaret, 40. 
 
 (See Ruxton.) 
 Edgeworth, Richard Lovell, — 
 
 Extract from his own memoirs, 
 2. 
 
 Born at Bath, 11. 
 
 Sent to Dr. Lydiat's school at 
 Warwiclc, in England, 12. 
 
 Spends Christmas holidays at 
 Welsbourne, 13. 
 
 Returns to Ireland ; Drogheda 
 school, 15. 
 
 Mock marriage, 18. 
 
 Enters Dublin University, 20. 
 
 Edgeworth, Richard Lovell, con- 
 tinued. 
 
 Removed to Corpus Christl 
 College, Oxford, 20. 
 
 Visits his parents at Bath, 25. 
 
 Marries Miss Elers, 26. 
 
 Takes his wife to Ireland, 27. 
 
 Returns to England, 28. 
 
 Visits Lichfield, 31, et seq. 
 
 First introduction to Dr. Dar- 
 win, 32. 
 
 Description of Mr. Edgeworth 
 by Anna Seward, 37. 
 
 Makes acquaintance with Mr. 
 Thomas Day and others, 38, 
 39. 
 
 Takes Mr. Day to Ireland, 40. 
 
 Inherits the paternal estates, 
 41. 
 
 Becomes interested in Miss 
 Honora Sneyd, 42. 
 
 Visits Lichfield, and is the 
 bearer of a proposal of mar- 
 riage to Miss Honora Sneyd 
 from Mr. Day, 46. 
 
 Visits France with Mr. Day and 
 young Richard, 50. 
 
 Reasons for deciding to edu- 
 cate his son according to the 
 system of Rousseau, 50, 52. 
 
 His wife joins him for a short 
 time, 52. 
 
 Hears of the death of Mrs. 
 Edgeworth, and returns to 
 England, 53. 
 
 Marries Miss Honora Sney^, 
 54. 
 
 Takes his family to Ireland, 56. 
 
 Returns to England, 57. 
 
 Visits Ireland, and returns to 
 Lichfield, 60. 
 
 Writes the lirst part of " Harry 
 
 and Luoy," 62. 
 Writes to Maria of the death of 
 Mrs. Honora Edgeworth, 64. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 557 
 
 Edgeworth, Richard Lovell, con- 
 tinued. 
 His influence over Maria's 
 
 mind, 67. 
 Married to Miss Elizabeth 
 
 Sneyd, 70, 71. 
 Makes steeple-clock at Brere- 
 
 ton, 74. 
 Goes to Ireland to live, 75. 
 Begins improvements at Edge- 
 
 worthstown, 78. 
 Death of his friend Mr. Day, 86. 
 Writes Mrs. Day of the fatal 
 
 illness of his daughter Hono- 
 
 ra, 88. 
 Goes to England with Mrs. 
 
 Edgeworth, 90. 
 Sends for Maria to join him at 
 
 Clifton with the children, 92. 
 Meets old friends, 93, 96. 
 Visits Dr. Darwin, 95. 
 Eeturns to Ireland on account 
 
 of disturbances there, 98. 
 Offers his system of telegraph- 
 ing to the government, 99. 
 Mrs. Elizabeth Edgeworth dies, 
 
 103, 104. 
 Attachment for Miss Beaufort, 
 
 106. 
 Marries Miss Beaufort, 109. 
 Raises a corps of infantry, 112. 
 Moves his family to Longford, 
 
 116. 
 They return in safety to Edge- 
 
 worthstown, 125. 
 Is elected to Parliament, and 
 
 visits Dublin with his wife. 
 
 They go to England, accom- 
 panied by Maria, 135. 
 M. Pictet, description of a visit 
 
 to Edgeworthstown, 145, 153. 
 Sets out for England with Mrs. 
 
 Edgeworth, Maria, etc., on 
 
 their way to the Continent, 
 
 155. 
 
 Edgeworth, Richard Lovell, corir 
 tinued. 
 
 Visits Mrs. Darwin and others, 
 156, 157. 
 
 Buys in London a large com- 
 fortable travelling carriage 
 for their Continental journey, 
 159. 
 
 Takes lodgings in Rue de Lille, 
 Paris, 161. 
 
 Ordered to quit Paris in twenty- 
 four hours, 180. 
 
 Returns to Paris, 182. 
 
 Visit to Madame de Genlis, 183, 
 190. 
 
 Leaves Paris, and goes to Edin- 
 burgh, where they spend some 
 weeks in the society of liters^ 
 ry, cultivated, and scientiiic 
 people, 192, 201. 
 
 Returns to Edgeworthstown, 
 203. 
 
 Visits London, 210. 
 
 Letter to Lady Morgan, 216. 
 
 Death of his daughter Char- 
 lotte, 219.- 
 
 Dedication of " Professional 
 Education" to Earl Spencer, 
 225. 
 
 Has an inflammation of the 
 eyes, 229. 
 
 Letter to Mrs. Inchbald, 239. 
 
 Attack of " The Edinburgh Re- 
 view " on " Professional Edu- 
 cation," 246. 
 
 Suggests Maria's writing a pre- 
 face for Mrs. Leadbeater, 248. 
 
 Letter to publishers, 252. 
 
 A visit to Kilkenny, 253, 254. 
 
 He visits Dublin, 255. 
 
 Builds spire to Edgeworths- 
 town church, 266, 260. 
 
 Visited by Mr. Hall, 260, 262. 
 
 He visits England, 267, et seq. 
 
 Receives much attention, 271. 
 
"553 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Edgeworth, Richard Lovell, con- 
 tinued. 
 
 Mackintosh's account of him, 
 276. 
 
 Byron's description of him, 278, 
 279. 
 
 Leaves London, 280. 
 
 Miss Hamilton's mention of 
 him, 283. 
 
 Illness, 291. 
 
 A visit to Dublin, 298. 
 
 Continued ill health, 298, 299. 
 
 Publishes " Readings on Poet- 
 ry," 300. 
 
 A drive to Pakenham Hall, 306. 
 
 His share in " Ormond," 308. 
 
 Remarks to Lady Romilly, 311. 
 
 Prefaces to "Harrington" and 
 "Ormond," 311. 
 
 His death, 311. 
 
 His epitaph by himself, 313. 
 
 His memoir, 314, 316, 329, 328, 
 331. 
 
 Remarks by " The Quarterly 
 Review," 355-357. 
 
 Remarks by " The Edinburgh 
 Review," 359. 
 
 His inscription on Maria's desk, 
 526, 527. 
 
 His influence on Maria, 533, 534. 
 Edgeworth, Maria, — 
 
 No life of her has yet appeared, 
 1. 
 
 Irish only in her sympathies, 2. 
 
 Her father's influence, 2. 
 
 Her memoir of her father, 2. 
 
 Her ancestors, 2, et seq. 
 
 Her father's scientific tastes in- 
 fluence her, 12. 
 
 " The Quarterly Review " no- 
 tice affects her, 18. 
 
 Birth of Maria, 30. 
 
 Early years, 30. 
 
 Life at Black Bourton, 52. 
 
 Her mother's death, 56. 
 
 Edgeworth, Maria, continued. 
 Her father's second marriage, 
 
 56. 
 Goes to Ireland for the first 
 
 time, 56. 
 Three years there, 57. 
 Sent to boarding - school at 
 
 Derby, 61. 
 Recollection of Mrs. Honora 
 
 Edgeworth, 61. 
 Writes her first little story, 65. 
 Removed to London school, 65. 
 Proficiency in Italian and 
 
 French, 66. 
 Entertains her school-fellows 
 
 by stories, 66. 
 Learns to study character, 67. 
 Third marriage of Mr. Edge- 
 worth, 72. 
 Maria has trouble with her eyes, 
 
 72. 
 Spends holidays at Mr. Day's 
 
 house, 72. 
 His care of her, 73. 
 Gradual recovery of her eyes, 
 
 74. 
 Goes to Ireland to live, 74. 
 Writes of this event, 75, 76, et 
 
 seq. 
 Her father's management ol his 
 
 estates, 77. 
 Studies the people, 77, 78. 
 Home-life, 78-80. 
 Keeps her father's accounts, 80, 
 
 81. 
 Begins to translate "Adele et 
 
 Theodore," 81, 82. 
 Writes much, 82. 
 Very quiet in early Ufe, and re- 
 served, 82. 
 Family friends, 83, 84. 
 Meets Lady Moira, 84, 85. 
 Maria speaks of Mr. Day, 87. 
 Left in charge of the family and 
 
 place, 90. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 559 
 
 Edgeworth, Maria, continued. 
 
 Manner of writing, 90, 91. 
 
 A visit to England, 92-98. 
 
 At work on the " Freeman Fam- 
 ily," 98. 
 
 " Letters for Literary Ladies " 
 in process, 99. 
 
 "Practical Education" on the 
 stocks, 99, et seq. 
 
 "Letters for Literary Ladies " 
 appear, 101. 
 
 "Parent's Assistant" pub- 
 lished, 102. 
 
 " Moral Tales " in hand, 103. 
 
 Death of Mrs. Elizabeth Edge- 
 worth, 103. 
 
 Mr. Edgeworth's fourth mar- 
 riage, 105-109. 
 
 Maria at work, 110. 
 
 Internal dissensions and alarm, 
 HI, et seq., 127. 
 
 "Whim for Whim" acted, 
 128. 
 
 " Practical Education " pub- 
 lished, 128. 
 
 Account of " Practical Educa^ 
 tion," 128, et seq., 134. 
 
 A visit to England, 135. 
 
 " Forgive and Forget," 135. 
 
 Friends in England, 135-140. 
 
 Loudon, 139. 
 
 " Castle Eackrent " published, 
 140. 
 
 " Belinda " published, 141. 
 
 Anecdote, 141, 142. 
 
 Second edition of ' ' Castle Back- 
 rent," 143. 
 
 " Essay on Irish Bulls," 144. 
 
 Visit of Pictet, 144, et seq., 
 152. 
 
 The visit to France, 153, et seq., 
 192. 
 
 A visit to Miss Watts, 157-159. 
 
 Belgium, 159, 160. 
 
 Paris, 161-192. 
 
 Edgeworth, Maria, continued. 
 
 Many friends made, 161-192. 
 
 An offer, 174-177. 
 
 Keturn to England, 192. 
 
 Edinburgh, 193-202. 
 
 Maria makes many friends, 196, 
 197, 201. 
 
 Beturn to Ireland, 202. 
 
 Maria at work on " Popular 
 Tales," 203. 
 
 " Griselda " written, 203. 
 
 Letters to Mrs. Barbauld, 204- 
 207. 
 
 A visit to Black Castle, 208. 
 
 Sleeves sent to Mrs. Stewart, 
 209. 
 
 Visits to friends, 210. 
 
 A letter to Mrs. Barbauld, 212, 
 213. 
 
 " Leonora," 214. 
 
 Visits to various Irish friends, 
 214. 
 
 Anecdote of the Duke of Wel- 
 lington, 217. 
 
 A visit to Coolure, 219. 
 
 Maria's garden enlarged, 220. 
 
 Letter about " Professional Ed- 
 ucation," 222, 223. 
 
 Maria reads " Corinne," 227. 
 
 " Professional Education," 229. 
 
 Maria finishes "Ennui," 229, 
 230. 
 
 At work on " Vivian," 230, 231. 
 
 A dinner at Pakenham Hall, 
 230, 231. 
 
 A visit to Black Castle, 232. 
 
 " Fashionable Tales " pub- 
 lished, 233. 
 
 Maria's reading, 234. 
 
 Visitors, 235. 
 
 "Belinda" asked for by Mrs. 
 Barbauld for her collection, 
 238. 
 
 Maria makes visits to Sonna, 
 etc., 238. 
 
560 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Edgeworth, Maria, continued. 
 Letter to Mrs. Inchbald, 239- 
 
 243. 
 Letter to Mrs. Barbauld, 243- 
 
 245. 
 Criticism of new books, 246, 
 
 247. 
 Maria edits "Cottage Diar 
 
 logues," 248. 
 Letter to Mrs. Barbauld, 248- 
 
 252. 
 Attends theatricals at Kilken- 
 ny, 253, 254. 
 A visit to Dublin, 255. 
 Meets several eminent people, 
 
 255. , 
 " Patronage " in hand, 256. 
 " The Absentee," 256, 257. 
 Maria's account o£ the spire, 
 
 258-260. 
 Maria described by Mr. Hall, 
 
 260-262. 
 " Absentee " finished, 263. 
 Visits at Black Castle and Pak- 
 
 enham Hall, 263. 
 Letter to Mrs. Inchbald, 263- 
 
 265. 
 Another letter to the same, 265, 
 
 266. 
 Visit to Dublin, 265. 
 "Patronage" finished, 266. 
 A visit to England, 267. 
 ■Welcome in London, 268. 
 Maria finds herself famous, 270, 
 
 271. 
 Friends made, 271-277. 
 Byron's account of Maria, 278, 
 
 279. 
 They leave London, 280. 
 Visits to friends, 280, 281. 
 Return to Ireland, 282. 
 Maria begins new series of 
 
 "Early Lessons," 282. 
 She has a visit from Miss Ham- 
 ilton, 282, 283. 
 
 Edgeworth, Maria, continued. 
 Maria's description of Mrs. 
 
 Siddons's reading, 283, 284. 
 Letter to Mrs. Inchbald, 284, 
 
 285. 
 Maria receives French transla- 
 tions of her books, 285. 
 "Patronage" published, 286. 
 Letter to Mrs. Inchbald, 287- 
 
 290. 
 A visit to Dublin, 291. 
 Maria's pleasure at Scott's 
 
 Postscript to " Waverley," 
 
 291. 
 Her letter to the author of 
 
 "Waverley," 292-297. 
 Writes Mrs. Barbauld, 299, 301- 
 
 305. 
 Letter from Miss Mordecai, 305. 
 A visit from Mr. Ward, 305, 306. 
 A compliment from Scott in 
 
 "Harold the Dauntless," 
 
 307. 
 " Ennui," 307. 
 Letter to Mrs. Inchbald, 309, 
 
 310. 
 " Dramas " published, 311. 
 " Harrington " and " Ormond," 
 
 311. 
 " Thoughts on Bores," 311. 
 Grief at her father's death, 312, 
 
 313. 
 A visit to Black Castle, 313. 
 Return to Edgeworthstown, 
 
 314. 
 Begins memoir of her father, 
 
 314. 
 A visit to Bowood, 315. 
 Letter from Bowood, 316-319. 
 Visits to the Grove, 323. 
 At Joanna Baillie's, 324. 
 Lady Spencer's, 324. 
 Bowood again, 325. 
 Byrkeley Lodge, 327. 
 Trentham, 327. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 561 
 
 Edgeworth, Maria, continued. 
 Smethwick, 327. 
 Grove House, 328. 
 London invitations, 328. 
 At the Duchess of 'Welling- 
 ton's, 329. 
 Meets the Duke of Wellington, 
 
 330. 
 Visits at Deepdene, 330. 
 Norbury Park, 330. 
 Hampstead, 330. 
 Ireland again, 331. 
 " Popular Tales " translated, 
 
 331. 
 A letter from Scott, 331, 332. 
 A visit from the Carrs, 333. 
 Completion of her father's 
 
 memoir, 334. 
 A visit to the Continent, 334, et 
 
 seq. 
 Changes observed in French 
 
 society, 341-343. 
 Geneva, 346. 
 Chamounl, 346. 
 Renews intimacy with Dumont, 
 
 346. 
 Coppet, 347. 
 A visit to Mme. de Montolieu, 
 
 349, 350. 
 Maligny and Coppet, 351, 352. 
 Rosamond, 353. 
 Pregny, 353. 
 The attack by " The Quarterly" 
 
 on Maria's life of her father, 
 
 355-357. 
 Return to Paris, 359. 
 Sees Mme. de la Rochejaque- 
 
 lin, 359-361. 
 England, 362. 
 Bowood, 363. 
 Home again, 363. 
 At work in Edgeworthstown 
 
 streets, 364. 
 A visit to England, 365. 
 Visits at Smethwick, 365. 
 
 Edgeworth, Maria, continued. 
 Wycombe Abbey, 365. 
 Meets William Wilberforoe, 365, 
 
 366. 
 Gatcombe Park, 367. 
 Mr. Ricardo, 367. 
 Bowood, 368. 
 Other visits, 368. 
 Hampstead, 369. 
 Meets Mrs. Somerville, 370, 
 
 371. 
 Sir James Mackintosh, 371. 
 Lord Anglesey, 372. 
 Newgate, to hear Mrs. Fry, 373, 
 
 374. 
 Almack's, 374, 375. 
 Remarks on London society, 
 
 376, 377. 
 Hears of Miss C. Sneyd's death, 
 
 378. 
 More visits, 379. 
 After return home at work on 
 
 " Harry and Lucy," 381. 
 Remarks on " Peveril," 382. 
 Visit to Scotland, 383, et 
 
 seq. 
 Description of Scott, 387. 
 Meeting with Sir Walter, 388, 
 
 389, et seq. 
 Sees Edinburgh under his au- 
 spices, 392. 
 Arrival at Abbotsford, 394. 
 The fortnight there, 395, 396. 
 Letter to Constable, 397. 
 Home again, 397. 
 Home-life, 400. 
 Visitors, 402. 
 " The Mental Thermometer," 
 
 402. 
 Other letters to him, 404-^07. 
 Comment on Mrs. Barbauld's 
 
 character, 407. 
 Letter to Constable, 408^10. 
 Another letter to him, 410, 
 
 411. 
 
562 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Edgeworth, Maria, continued. 
 
 Visit of Sir Walter Scott to 
 Edgeworthstown, 411, et seq., 
 422. 
 
 Miss Edgewortli's enjoyraent of 
 this event, 412. 
 
 Their trip to Killarney, 419- 
 421. 
 
 Business difficulties met by 
 Maria, and successfully over- 
 come, 425. 
 
 Remarks on Lady Scott and Sir 
 Humphry Davy, 426. 
 
 Black Castle, 427. 
 
 Acquaintance with Capt. Hall, 
 428. 
 
 Early walks of Miss Edgeworth, 
 428. 
 
 " Garry Owen," printed in 1829, 
 429. 
 
 A legacy, 429. 
 
 Fire in the house, 429. 
 
 Capt. Hall's journals sent to 
 Maria, 430. 
 
 Tribute of Scott in his intro- 
 duction to the Waverley Nov- 
 els, 430, 431. 
 
 Distress in Ireland, 432. 
 
 A visit to England, 433. 
 
 Meets Talleyrand at Lansdo wne 
 House, 433. 
 
 Meets many friends, 434-437. 
 
 Eeturns home, 437. 
 
 Again at work on "Helen," 
 439, 440. 
 
 Letter to Mrs. Somerville, 440- 
 442. 
 
 Death of Sir Walter Scott 
 grieves Maria, 442. 
 
 Bemarks, 443. 
 
 At work on " Helen," 444-447. 
 
 Publication of " Helen," 448, 
 449. 
 
 A visit to Connemara, 451. 
 
 Letter about "Helen," 451. 
 
 Edgeworth, Maria, continued. 
 A letter to Mrs. Stark, 453-462. 
 Kind words from the public 
 
 about "Helen," 463. 
 A visit from the Ticknors, 465- 
 
 472. 
 Comments on Mr. Ticknor, 472, 
 
 473. 
 Letter to Mr. Peabody, 474- 
 
 476. 
 Letter to Mrs. Farrar, 476, 477. 
 Visit of Mrs. Farrar at the 
 
 Bdgeworths', 476-480. 
 Visited by Mr. Sprague, 481- 
 
 486. 
 Leigh Hunt's mention of Miss 
 
 Edgeworth in a poem, 486- 
 
 488. 
 Letters to Dr. Mackenzie, 488, 
 
 489. 
 A visit at Trim, 488. 
 Letter to Mrs. Ticknor, 490. 
 A visit in London, 491. 
 A meeting with Mrs. Sigourney, 
 
 492,493. 
 Grief of Maria at Mrs. Mary 
 
 Sneyd's death, 493. 
 Eeturns to Ireland, and visits 
 
 Dublin and Trim, 493. 
 The Halls' visit to Maria, 495- 
 
 500. 
 A severe illness, 501. 
 A visit to Trim, 501. 
 The temperance movement, 501. 
 Letter to Mrs. S. 0. Hall, 502. 
 A visit to London, 503. 
 Meets Sydney Smith, 504. 
 Letter to Lady Holland, 5M. 
 Meets many old friends, 506. 
 Eeturns to Ireland, and visits 
 
 Trim, where she has a severe 
 
 illness, 507. 
 Visits the Observatory at Ar- 
 magh, 508. 
 Dedication from Lever, 508. 
 
INDBX. 
 
 663 
 
 Edgeworth, Maria, continued. 
 
 The distress and famine in Ire- 
 land, 509. 
 
 Writes " Orlandino," 509, 611. 
 
 Asked for prefaces to her col- 
 lected works, 511. 
 
 Beply to same, 512, 513. 
 
 Letter to "W. H. Prescott, 514^ 
 517. 
 
 Her continued pleasure in read- 
 ing, 518. 
 
 Grief at death of Mrs. Wilson, 
 619. 
 
 Pleasure on reading Macaulay 's 
 note, 620. 
 
 Letter to friend after a danger- 
 ous illness, 521. 
 
 Address to Ireland, 521. 
 
 Death, 522. 
 
 Latter years, 523. 
 
 Love of home, 524, 525. 
 
 Personal appearance, 525, 526. 
 
 Methodical manner of work, 
 526-528. 
 
 Kotes, 528, 532. 
 
 Sketches, 532. 
 
 Her subjection to her father, 
 633, 534. 
 
 Religious views, 535. 
 
 Utilitarian ideas, 536. 
 
 Her literary position, 536. 
 
 Kotices of her, 537, 538. 
 
 Estimate of character, 538, 
 539. 
 Edgeworth, Mrs., 26, 28, 31, 40, 
 
 52, 53. 
 Edgeworth, Mrs. Honora, 55, 57, 
 
 60, 64, 70, 78. 
 Edgeworth, Mrs. Elizabeth, 99, 
 
 103, 104, 132. 
 Edgeworth, Mrs. Frances Ann, 
 
 115, 138, 155, 237, 262, 279, 290, 
 
 496, 522, 526. 
 Edgeworth, Anna. (See Bed- 
 does.) 
 
 Edgeworth, Charlotte, 141, 153, 
 
 155, 156, 219. 
 Edgeworth, C. Sneyd, 102, 213, 
 
 230, 243, 289, 290, 298, 304, 433, 
 
 518. 
 Edgeworth, Emmeline, 155. (See 
 
 King.) 
 Edgeworth, Fanny, 137, 289, 331, 
 
 334, 365, 368, 372, 430. 
 Edgeworth, Francis, 438, 509. 
 Edgeworth, Harriet. (See But- 
 ler.) 
 Edgeworth, Henry, 192, 194, 196, 
 
 199, 209. 
 Edgeworth, Honora, 88, 89. 
 Edgeworth, Honora (2d), 238, 247, 
 
 314, 466. 
 
 Edgeworth, William, 99, 222, 392, 
 
 415, 422, 431. 
 Edgeworth, Lovell, 93, 99, 132, 
 
 150, 191, 208, 229, 236, 304, 314, 
 
 412, 425. 
 Edgeworth, Michael Pakenham, 
 
 315, 494. 
 Edgeworth, Lucy, 503. 
 Edgeworth, Richard, 50, 93, 101. 
 Edgeworth, Sophia, 383, 400, 
 
 485. 
 Edgeworth, Abb^, 181, 182, 221, 
 
 340, 341, 518. 
 Edgeworth, Miss Anna, 429. 
 Edgeworthstown, 2, 27, 74, 78, 
 
 80, 98, 102, 103, 106, 113, 116, 
 
 125, 128, 141, 203, 255, 258, 397, 
 
 426, 429, 465, 493, 500, 509, 519, 
 
 524. 
 Edinburgh, 163, 192, 201, 383. 
 "Edinburgh Review," 227, 228, 
 
 233, 246, 286, 358. 
 Edinburgh, University of, 196. 
 Edwards, Mr., 160. 
 Edwards, Mr. Brian, 160. 
 Egypt, 337. 
 Elers, Paul, 20, 29. 
 Elera, Capt., 30. 
 
564 
 
 rSTDBX. 
 
 Elers, Miss Anna Maria. (See 
 
 Mrs. Edgeworth.) 
 Ely, Marquis of, 253. 
 " Emilie de Coulanges," 203, 231. 
 England, 335, 362, 365, 433. 
 " Ennui," 203, 229, 231, 307. 
 Eroles, Miss, 438. 
 Essex, Lord, 180. 
 Eustace, Major, 123, 124. 
 
 FanSHAWE, Lady Catherine, 
 
 271, 328. 
 Fairy-mount, 6. 
 Farnliam, 214. 
 Farrar, Mrs., 476, 480. 
 "Fashionable Tales," 233, 234, 
 
 236, 245, 257. 
 Fazakerley, 363. 
 Ferguson, Adam, 199. 
 Finch, Eliza, 256. 
 Firmont, Abbe de. (See Abbe 
 
 Edgeworth.) 
 Fitzgerald, Lady Edward, 188. 
 Fitzgerald, Lord Edward, 253. 
 Fitzpatrick, 278. 
 Fletcher, Mrs., 143, 384-386. 
 Foley, Admiral, 277. 
 Fontainebleau, 337. 
 Force, Duchesse de la, 338. 
 " Forgive and Forget," 135. 
 Forres, 393. 
 
 Foster, Chief Baron, 15, 105. 
 Foster, John, Speaker of Irish 
 
 House of Commons, 15, 141. 
 Foster, William, Bishop of 
 
 Clogher, 15, 356. 
 Fox, Lady Anne, 110. 
 Fox, Capt. Barry, 400. 
 Fox, C. J., 164, 377. 
 Fox, Francis, 18. 
 Fox Hall, 110. 
 Fox, Judge, 210. 
 Fox, Mr., 113. 
 France, 50, 52. 
 " Frank," 282, 369, 444. 
 
 " Freeman Family " (" Patron- 
 age "), 98. 
 Frcebel, 134. 
 Frognel, 379. 
 Fry, Mrs., 373, 374. 
 Fullerton, Lady Georgiana, 507. 
 
 G ALTON'S "Hereditary 
 
 Genius," 11, 33, 39. 
 Gardner, Lord, 283. 
 "Garry Owen," 429. 
 Gatcombe Park, 367. 
 Gautier, Mme., 162, 181. 
 Gell, Sir William, 137. 
 "Generosity," 90. 
 Geneva, 144, 145, 153, 166, 167, 
 
 346, 347. 
 Genlis, Mme. de, 81, 130, 160, 183, 
 
 190. 
 Gibbon, 350. 
 Gibbs, Sir Vickary, 164. 
 Gilford, Mr., 355. 
 Glasgow, 201, 383, 397. 
 Goldsmith, Oliver, 12. 
 Grana'-d, Lady, 210. 
 Granard, Lord, 83, 85, 100. 
 Granard, 111, 120. 
 Grandison, Lord, 253. 
 Grant, Mrs., 428. 
 Grattan, Henry, 253. 
 Greenough, Mr., 218. 
 Gregory, Dr., 194, 196, 466. 
 Grenville, Lady, 318. 
 Grenville, Lord, 318. 
 Grenville, Mr., 318, 320. 
 Greville, Mrs., 84. 
 "Griselda," 203. 
 Gwatkin, Mrs., 436, 437. 
 
 Hall, Capt. Basil, 138, 428, 
 
 430. 
 Hall, Rev. Robert, 483, 534. 
 Hall, S. C, 495, 519. 
 Hall, Mrs. S. C, 395, 420, 421, 432, 
 
 495, 600, 602, 611, 519. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 565 
 
 Hall's " Travels in Ireland," 260- 
 
 262. 
 Hallam, Mr., 363. 
 Hamilton, Miss Elizabeth, 196, 
 
 231, 282, 283, 297. 
 Hamilton, Mr., 402. 
 Hampstead, 273, 330, 369, 379, 
 
 434. 
 Hampstead Hall, 491. 
 Hampstead Heath, 324. 
 Hare Hatch, 29, 30, 38, 41. 
 Harness, Mr., 272, 322, 377. 
 "Harrington," story of , 306, 307, 
 
 311, 402. 
 " Harry and Lucy," 282, 381, 426, 
 
 444. 
 Hartley, 529. 
 Haygarth, Mr., 302. 
 Hay ley, Mr., 306. 
 Hazlitt, 167, 355. 
 Heberden, Dr., 62. 
 "Helen," 312, 344, 376, 432, 439, 
 
 444, 446, 451, 453, 463, 468. 
 Hemans, Mrs., 298. 
 Herschel, Mr., 428. 
 Hoare, Mrs. Charles (Miss Bobiu- 
 
 son), 96, 97. 
 Holland, Sir Henry, 235, 267, 372, 
 
 377, 503, 520. 
 Holland, Lady, 504. 
 Holte, Lady, 71, 82. 
 Holte, Sir Charles, 72. 
 Hope, Mrs. (Lady Beresford), 272, 
 
 276, 329, 374, 378. 
 Homer, Francis, Mr., 273, 407. 
 Hewitt, Mary, 501, 502. 
 Hughes, Kev. Patrick, 12. 
 Humboldt, 335. 
 Hume, 529, 530. 
 Hungerford, Mr., 20. 
 Hungerford, Mrs., 21, 22, 299. 
 Hunt, Leigh, 88, 485-487. 
 Hunter, Mrs., 324. 
 Hunter, Mr., 285, 353, 362, 402. 
 Huntingdon, Lady, 84. 
 
 IlCHESTEE, Earl of, 164. 
 Inchbald, Mrs., 102, 236, 237, 239, 
 
 263, 266, 271, 274, 275, 286, 309, 
 
 311, 523. 
 Inglis, Sir Robert, 197. 
 Ireland, 2, 27, 31, 41, 56, 75, 97, 
 
 98, 140, 256, 331, 381, 397, 
 
 432. 
 " Irish Bulls," 103, 261. 
 
 Jacob, Mr., 355. 
 
 Jacotot, 134. 
 
 Jameson, Mrs., 452. 
 
 Jeffrey, Lord, 200, 313, 384, 394, 
 
 407. 
 Johnson, Dr., 224, 234, 376, 450, 
 
 510, 531, 532. 
 Johnson, Joseph, 101, 102, 139, 
 
 140, 154, 160, 203, 236, 244, 
 
 328. 
 Jones, Sir 'William, 325. 
 Jones, Lady, 325. 
 Jordan, Camille, 171. 
 
 KaVANAGH, Miss, 537. 
 Keir, Mr., 38, 95, 97, 136. 
 Kennedy, Sir Alexander, 22. 
 Kildare, 248. 
 
 Kildare, Countess of, 253. 
 Killala, 113. 
 Killarney, 420, 422, 451. 
 Kilkenny, 253, 254. 
 King, Mrs. (Emmeline Edge- 
 worth), 208, 315, 367. 
 King, John, 155, 156, 280, 368. 
 Kinneil Castle, 383. 
 Knowle, 437. 
 Knutsford, 267. 
 Kosciusko, Gen., 171. 
 
 L'ABBAYB aux Bois, 335. 
 La Celle, 340. 
 La Harpe, 179. 
 
 Lally-Tollendal, Marquis, 172. 
 Lamartlne, 518. 
 
566 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Lamb, Lady Caroline, 303, 320. 
 Lambeth Palace, 606. 
 Landor, W. S., 537. 
 Lansdotvne, 3d Marquis of (Lord 
 
 Henry Petty), 165, 269, 283, 316- 
 
 318, 323, 368, 433, i71, 503. 
 Lansdowne, Lady, 165, 269, 273, 
 
 283, 315, 316, 321, 322, 325, 329, 
 
 368, 603. 
 Lansdowne House, 165, 373, 
 
 433. 
 La Place, 370. 
 Laracor, 622. 
 
 Latiffiere, Mrs., 61, 63, 65, 66. 
 Latouches, 253. 
 Lausanne, 348. 
 Lavoisier, M., 327, 359. 
 Lavoisier, Mme. (See Eumford.) 
 Lawrence, Sir Thomas, 372. 
 Lazarus, Mrs. (See Mordecai.) 
 " Lazy Lawrence," 102. 
 Leadbeater, Mrs. Mary, 248, 251, 
 
 252. 
 Le Breton, M., 192. 
 Le Brun, Mme., 339. 
 Lefanu, Mrs., 264, 325, 326. 
 Leinster, Duke of, 253. 
 Leicester, 157. 
 Lenet, M., 160. 
 "Leonora," 211. 
 Leslie, 491. 
 " Letters for Literary Ladies," 82, 
 
 99, 101. 
 Lever, Charles J., 508. 
 Lichfield, 31, 32, 36, 37, 42, 46, 54, 
 
 327. 
 Lichfield, Bishop of, 506. 
 Lindsay, Lady Charlotte, 272. 
 Linnsean Society, 39. 
 Lisbon, 97. 
 Lissard (Castle), 6, 7. 
 " Little Dog Trusty," 102. 
 Locke, Mr. and Mrs., 330. 
 Lockhart, J. G., 200, 291, 383, 390, 
 
 395, 412, 443, 447. 
 
 London, 30, 50, 56, 268, 281, 435, 
 
 437, 493, 498, 504, 506, 507. 
 Londonderry, Marquis of, 374, 
 
 375. 
 London " Quarterly Review," 18, 
 
 234, 286, 299, 305, 365, 358. 
 Longford, HI, 113, 114, 126, 495, 
 
 496, 500. 
 Longford Castle, 368. 
 Longford, Lady, 11), 83. 
 Longford, Lord, 19, 55, 83, 96, 138, 
 
 220, 263, 304, 306, 329, 427. 
 Louis XVIIL, 221. 
 
 Louis Philippe, 433. 
 Lovell, Jane, 10. 
 Lovell, Sir Salathiel, 10. 
 Lovell, Samuel, 10, 11. 
 Lushington, Dr., 369. 
 Luttrell, 434. 
 Lydiats, Dr., 12. 
 Lygon, Lady Georgina, 304. 
 Lyons, 52, 53, 354. 
 
 MaCAULAT, Lord, 167, 236, 
 
 269, 519, 536. 
 Macdonald, Lady Rachel, 253. 
 Mackenzie, Dr., 489. 
 Mackenzie, Mr., 384. 
 Mackintosh, Sir James, 210, 220, 
 
 221, 228, 245, 246, 275, 276, 371, 
 372, 436, 471, 536. 
 
 " Mademoiselle Panache," 102. 
 
 Mahon, Lord, 277. 
 
 Maligny, 351. 
 
 Malthus, 340. 
 
 Malvern Links, 280. 
 
 Mansel, Dr. (Bishop of Bristol), 
 
 306. 
 Manchester, 267. 
 Mann, Horace, 134. 
 " Manoeuvring," 231. 
 Marcet, Mrs., 328, 346, 351, 358,491. 
 Marmont, 338. 
 Mars, Mile., 338. 
 Marsh, Sir Henry, 522. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 567 
 
 Martin, Mrs. , 4S1. 
 
 Maskelyne, 72. 
 
 Maturin, E. C, 302. 
 
 Mathew, Father, 601. 
 
 Meath, Bishop of, 253. 
 
 Melrose Abbey, 395. 
 
 Mflun, Mile., 494. 
 
 " Memoir " of E. L. Edgeworth, 
 
 334, 347, 356, 359, 362, 363. 
 Milbanke, Lady, 271. 
 Miles, Mr., 236, 237, 245, 257, 288, 
 
 328. 
 Milesi-Mojon, Mme., 331 
 Mill, John Stuart, 328. 
 Millar, Dr., 302. 
 Milman, Dean, 606. 
 Milnes, Miss, 58, 59. 
 Mirabeau, 166, 439, 449, 525. 
 Moira, Lady, 84, 85. 
 Moira, Lord, 167. 
 Moilliets, 327, 346, 363, 354, 365, 
 
 491. 
 Monaco, Prince of, 171. 
 Monaco, Princess Joseph of, 
 
 167, 172. 
 Montague, Basil, 463. 
 Mont Blanc, 346. 
 Montgolfier, M., 161. 
 Montolieu, Mme. de, 349, 360. 
 Moore, Tom, 263, 264, 267, 272, 
 
 279, 320, 322, 323, 325, 346, 408, 
 
 434. 
 Moore, Judge, 415. 
 " Moral Tales," 103,141. 
 Mordecai, Miss Eachel, 305, 363, 
 
 428. 
 Morellet, Abbe, 161, 169, 170, 188, 
 
 516. 
 Morgan, Lady, 215, 216, 355. 
 Morris, Mr. and Mrs., 274, 285, 
 
 289, 290. 
 Mulgrave, Lord. (See Norman- 
 dy.) 
 Murray, Lindley, 193. 
 
 N ANGLE, Ann, 370. 
 
 Napier, Mrs., 299. 
 
 Napoleon I. (See Bonaparte.) 
 
 Nash, Beau, 25. 
 
 Navan, 103, 308. 
 
 Necker, M., 361, 353. 
 
 Necker, Mme., 353. 
 
 Necker de Saussure, 334, 364. 
 
 Nelson, Lord, 277. 
 
 Newcastle, Duke of, 99. 
 
 Newgate, 373, 374. 
 
 New Orleans, 298. 
 
 " Nicholson's Journal," 258. 
 
 Norbury, Lord, 238. 
 
 Norbury Park, 330. 
 
 Normanby, Lord, 434. 
 
 Norris, Dr., 15. 
 
 " North American Eeview," 359. 
 
 North Carolina, 93. 
 
 OlIPHANT, Mrs., 537. 
 
 O'Neill, Lord, 253. 
 
 O'Neill, Miss, 253, 254. 
 
 Opie, Mrs., 237. 
 
 Oriel, Lord, 105. 
 
 "Ormond," 77, 306-308, 311, 
 
 313. 
 Ossory, Lord, 163. 
 Oxford, 20, 335. 
 
 PaKENHAM, Admiral (Lord 
 
 Longford), 83, 219, 231. 
 Pakenham, Sir Edward, 219, 298, 
 
 333. 
 Pakenham, Lady Elizabeth, 210, 
 
 217. 
 Pakenham, Capt. Hercules, 221, 
 
 263. 
 Pakenham, Kitty. (See Welling- 
 ton.) 
 Pakenham Hall, 83, 84, 210, 214, 
 
 230, 231, 238, 263, 304, 306, 400, 
 
 442. 
 Pakenham, Thomas, 8, 9. 
 Palgrave, 137. 
 
668 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Palmerston, Lord, 164, 197. 
 
 " Parent's Assistant," 90, 102, 103, 
 
 143. 
 Paris, 160, 192, 335, 346, 354, 361, 
 
 489, 525. 
 Park, Dr., 303. 
 Parr, Dr., 273, 278. 
 Passy, 162, 181, 182. 
 Pastoret, M. de, 168. 
 Pastoret, Mme. de, 168, 169, 335. 
 "Patronage," 10, 177, 178, 227, 
 
 234, 248, 256, 257, 263, 266, 284, 
 
 290,444. 
 Peabody, Eev. W. B. O., 449, 
 
 468. 
 Pelham, Mr.,99. 
 Pepys, Sir "William, 376. 
 Pestalozzi, 134. 
 Petty, Lord Henry. (See Lans- 
 
 downe.) 
 "Peveril," 382. 
 Pevisham, 323. 
 Phillips, Mrs., 275. 
 Pictet, Marc Auguste, 144, 153, 
 
 160, 346. 
 Pictet, M., de Eochemont, 354. 
 Pitt, 164, 306. 
 Playfair, Professor, 194, 196, 199, 
 
 200, 384. 
 Pneumatic institution, 156, 157. 
 Polignac, Duke and Ducliesse de, 
 
 319. 
 Pollard, Mrs., 230. 
 Poole, Mr., 227. 
 Pope, 91. 
 
 " Popular Plays," 300. 
 "Popular Tales," 203, 212, 220, 
 
 233, 285, 300, 331. 
 Portsmouth, 379. 
 Potemkin, Princess, 339. 
 Powerscourt, Lord, 197, 253. 
 Powys, Mr. and Mrs. Henry, 
 
 48. 
 Powys, Mrs., 89, 92, 97. 
 Powys, Miss, 351. 
 
 Pozzo di Borgo, 338. 
 
 "Practical Education," 99, 128, 
 
 129, 134, 136, 141, 172, 225. 
 Pregny, 347, 353. 
 Prescott, W. H., 494, 514. 
 Prevost, M. and Mme., 346. 
 Priestley, Dr., 529. 
 Primate of Ireland. (See Stuart.) 
 Princess of Wales, 273. 
 Pritchard, Mrs., 377. 
 "Professional Education," 208, 
 
 224, 225, 229, 234, 246, 249. 
 Prony, M., 161, 336, 337, 343. 
 
 QuARTEELY Review." 
 (See " London Quarterly.") 
 
 Queen Charlotte, 217. 
 
 Queen Elizabeth, 2. 
 
 Queen Henrietta Maria, 3. 
 
 Queen Victoria, 506. 
 
 Ralston, Gerald, 372, 493. 
 
 Randall, Miss, 347, 353. 
 Eandolph, Mr., 379. 
 " Eeadings on Poetry," 300. 
 Ee'camier, Mme;, 171, 179, 335, 
 
 336. 
 Rdcamier, M., 336. 
 Eelfe, Lupton, 402, 406. 
 Eennie, Mr., 220. 
 Reynolds, Sir Joshua, 376, 436. 
 Rhone, 52-54. 
 Ricardo, Mr. David, 367, 372, 
 
 531. 
 Richmond, Duke of, 299. 
 " Rivuletta," 89. 
 Rive, M. de la, 346. 
 Robinson, Romuey, 255, 503, 508. 
 Robinson, Henry Crahbe, 273. 
 Rocca, M., 317. 
 Rocca, Alphonse, 348, 352. 
 Rochejaquelin, Mme. de la, 359. 
 Roehampton, 97. 
 Rogers, Samuel, 270, 272, 274, 280, 
 
 506. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 569 
 
 Eoissey, Mme. de, 331. 
 
 " Kokeby," 266. 
 
 " Romance of the Forest," 96. 
 
 Eomilly, Lady, 311, 491. 
 
 Eomilly, Sir Samuel, 73, 166, 323, 
 
 491. 
 "Rosamond," 102, 353, 362, 444. 
 Roscoe, Mr., 267. 
 Roslin Castle, 392. 
 Rosse, Lord, 410. 
 Eosstrevor, 438. 
 Rousseau, 50, 52, 134, 162, 167, 169, 
 
 170. 
 Eowton, Lord, 254. 
 Royal Irish Academy, 495. 
 Royal Society, 136. 
 Royer-Collard, 339. 
 Eumford, Countess de, 327, 345, 
 
 359. 
 Euskin, John, 536. 
 Eussell, Lord John, 165, 322. 
 Russia, Emperor of, 335. 
 Rutland, Duchess of, 374. 
 Ruxton, Mrs., 89, 105, 141, 174, 
 
 202, 204, 214, 232, 340, 363, 382, 
 
 429, 430, 432. 
 Ruxton, Mr. John, 40. 
 
 OALA, George Augustus, 43. 
 
 Salisbury, 368. 
 
 " Sandlord and Merton," 73, 87, 
 
 88. 
 Scott, Lady, 390, 394, 401, 426, 
 
 471. 
 Scott, Sir "Walter, 193, 210, 215, 
 
 264, 268, 269, 291, 297, 298, 303, 
 
 313, 331, 369, 370, 375, 379, 384, 
 
 387, 401, 411, 418, 420, 431, 435, 
 
 442, 443, 452, 471. 
 Scott, Sir Walter (Capt.), 411, 412, 
 
 462. 
 Schlegel, 471. 
 
 Sebright, Sir John, 370, 426. 
 Se'gur, Comte de, 172. 
 Selkirk, Lord, 222, 249. 
 
 Seward, Anna, 31, 33-36, 43, 45, 
 54, 35, 59, 87, 89, 207, 306, 325, 
 351. 
 
 Seward, Rev. Mr., 36. 
 
 Seymour, Lord "Webb, 197. 
 
 Shakspeare, 178. 
 
 Sharpe, 390, 434. 
 
 Shelburne, Earl of, 166, 320, 323. 
 
 Sheridan, 128, 254, 256, 257, 326, 
 377. 
 
 Sicard, Abb^, 172. 
 
 Siddons, Mrs., 271, 272, 274, 278, 
 283, 284, 373, 377. 
 
 Sigourney, Mrs. L. H., 492. 
 
 " Simple Susan," 102, 443. 
 
 Simpkin & Marshall, 511, 512. 
 
 Sinclair, Mr., 298. 
 
 Sinclair, Miss Catherine, 297, 298. 
 
 Sismondi, M., 352. 
 
 Slough, 379. 
 
 Small, Dr., 38, 57, 38. 
 
 Smith, Lady, 451. 
 
 Smith, Sir Culling, 451. 
 
 Smith, Mr., 283. 
 
 Smith, Mr. ("Rejected Address- 
 es "), 368. 
 
 Smith, Sydney, 167, 321, 503, 504, 
 506. 
 
 Sneyd, Misses Mary and Char- 
 lotte, 101, 113, 131, 136, 313, 378, 
 447, 466, 467, 488, 493. 
 
 Sneyd, Miss Elizabeth, 46, 48, 60, 
 52, 63, 70, 71, 238, 247. 
 
 Sneyd, Miss Honora, 31, 36, 42, 
 47, 49, 60, 34. 
 
 Sneyd, Mr. Edward, 36, 48. 
 
 Sneyd, Mr. "William, 63. 
 
 Somerville, Mrs., 370, 375, 434, 440, 
 441. 
 
 Sonna, 145, 149, 214. 
 
 Sotheby, 274. 
 
 Southey, Robert, 139, 166, 335. 
 
 Souvestre, :^mile, 331. 
 
 Spencer, Earl, 225. 
 
 Spencer, Lady, 272, 277, 324. 
 
570 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Spire at Edgeworthsto-wn, 255, 
 260. 
 
 Sprague, Kev. "William B., 481. 
 
 Stael, Auguste de, 272, 347, 348, 
 352. 
 
 Stael, Mme. de, 67, 172, 272, 275, 
 279, 287, 306, 317, 318, 321, 329, 
 330, 334, 347, 348, 351-353, 366, 
 371, 431, 471, 530, 536. 
 
 Staffa, Laird of, 389, 390, 391. 
 
 Staffordshire, 313. 
 
 Stanhope, Lord, 277. 
 
 Stark, Mrs., 315, 453. 
 
 Stevens, Eev. W. B., 35. 
 
 Stewart, Dugald, 99, 163, 194, 197, 
 325, 326, 383. 
 
 Stewart, Mrs. Dugald, 194, 197, 
 199, 383. 
 
 Stewart, Col., 453, 463. 
 
 Stoke Newington, 273. 
 
 Stonehenge, 368. 
 
 Story, Chief Justice, 425. 
 
 Strackey, Miss, 367. 
 
 Strutt, Mr. "William, 96, 136, 
 267. 
 
 Stuart, Eev. Mr. (Primate of Ire- 
 land), 232. 
 
 Suard, M., 169. 
 
 Suard, Mme., 172. 
 
 Swetchine, Mme., 339. 
 
 Sydney, Sabrina, 41, 46, 53, 57. 
 
 TaGUS, 97 
 
 Talleyrand, 361, 433. 
 
 Talma, 427. 
 
 " Tarlton," 102. 
 
 "Take for Granted," 403, 422, 
 
 429, 468, 469. 
 " Tales of Fashionable Life," 233, 
 
 471. 
 Taylor, Ann, 143, 144. 
 Taylor, Jane, 303. 
 Taylor, "William, 137, 195. 
 Temple, Lord, 197. 
 "Thady," 78,147,172,457. 
 
 " The Absentee," 256-258, 263, 289, 
 
 458. 
 " The Bracelet," 90, 102. 
 " The Bracelet of Memory," 353. 
 " The Contrast," 256, 367. 
 " The False Key," 102. 
 " The Honest Boy and the Thief," 
 
 90. 
 " The Mental Thermometer," 
 
 402. 
 " The Mimic," 102. 
 "The Orange Man," 102. 
 " The Purple Jar," 102. 
 Thomson, Mr Thomas, 384. 
 Ticknor, Mr. George, 168, 331, 
 
 465, 472, 473, 488, 494, 517. 
 Ticknor, Mrs. George, 465, 490. 
 ToUendal, Lally, 172. 
 " Toys and Tasks," 99, 101. 
 Trentham, 327. 
 Trimblestone, Lord, 16, 16. 
 Trim, 427, 501, 503, 507, 522, 528. 
 Tuite, Jane, 2. 
 Tuite, Sir Edmond, 2. 
 Tuite, Mr., 145. 
 
 ' Vivian," 230, 257. 
 
 Vinde', M. de, 340. 
 
 Waller, Mr., i4i. 
 
 "Walpole, Horace, 271. 
 
 "Ward, K., 305. 
 
 "Ward and Dudley, Lord, 197, 286, 
 
 306, 435. 
 "Warwick, 12. 
 "Watt, Mr., 38, 96, 136, 161, 327, 
 
 335. 
 "Watts, Miss, 157-169. 
 " "Waverley," 291, 297, 315. 
 "Wedgwood, Mr. Josiah, 38, 96, 
 
 157. 
 "Wellington, Duke of, 217, 330. 
 "Wellington, Duchess of (Kitty 
 
 Pakenham), 83, 217, 274, 435, 
 
 437. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 571 
 
 "Westmeath, 111, 114. 
 ■Westminster Abbey, 275. 
 "Whitbread, Lady Elizabeth, 272, 
 
 328, 372, 378, 503. 
 White, Lydia, 238, 273, 375, 377. 
 "Whitworth, Lord, 180. 
 Wilberforce, William, 329, 365. 
 William IV., 253. 
 Wilson, Mrs. Fanny, 435, 603, 
 
 519. 
 Wilson, Mrs. Elizabeth, 446. 
 
 Wilson, Capt. Le Stock, 138. 
 Wilton House, 368. 
 Wilkinson, Mrs., 377. 
 Windsor, 379. 
 Wooton, 330. 
 Wordsworth, 432. 
 Wycombe Abbey, 365, 386. 
 
 Yates, Miss, 402. 
 
 York, 193. 
 
 Young, Professor, 202. 
 
BY GRACE A. OLIVER. 
 
 A Memoir of Mrs. Anna Laetitia Barbauld, with 
 many of her Letters, together with a selection 
 from her Poems and Prose Writings. 
 
 With portrait. 2 vols. 12ino, cloth bevelled, gilt top. Price $3.00. 
 
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 LONDON EXAMINER. 
 
 " The result is an interesting Memoir, a performance the more creditable 
 from the uneven tfulness of Mrs. Barbauld's outer life, and the paucity and 
 dryness of the records relating to it." 
 
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 work. It will not place Mrs. Barbauld in the high literary position desired 
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 ful life. . . . Her Prose Hymns, despite the multiplicity of books for chfl- 
 dren, have still a place, and are likely long to keep it, in the nursery 
 library." 
 
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 *' This is a book of really considerable merit. Nothing is omitted that 
 the author could gather from any available source of information, and 
 scarcely a mention of Mrs. Barbauld can have appeared in print that has 
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 so that, taken altogether, this is the best edition that has yet appeared." 
 
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 ern biographies. . . . Mrs. Ellis retouches the faded lines and tints of the 
 political, social, and personal history of Mrs. Barbauld most effectively." 
 
 NATION. Edmund Qtjinct. 
 
 '* Mrs. Ellis has industriously gleaned from the writings of the contem- 
 poraries of Mrs. Barbauld the various anecdotes they contain of her and 
 their tributes to her many excellences, and has interwoven them with the 
 interesting narrative of her life. Her letters, which are used as part of 
 the story, make a very picturesque and animated addition to it. They are 
 extremely good reading, and very illustrative of her character." 
 
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