over that dispensation of Providence which has removed from the sphere of our converse on earth one from whose converse we so invariably derived at once instruction and delight-whose piety was so genuine, that, while never ostentatiously displayed, it was as little in any case disguised-whose mental energies communicated such

a

character and effect to both her piety and her active beneficence, that they often served the purpose of an example to others, when such a purpose was not contemplated by her-whose mental energies, great as they were, yet derived their chief value from being stedfastly consecrated to the interests of truth and the cause of virtue-and whose native simplicity and openness of mind imparted to all her endowments a value which no talents can otherwise possess."

Although the novels of Mrs. Brunton cannot be considered as first-rate performances, they are interesting narratives, pleasingly told, and pervaded by a high tone of moral feeling. It may be doubted whether, in exemplifying the maxim that no modest woman should ever marry a dissipated character, Laura Montreville's resolution against so doing has not been made to degenerate into pertinacious obstinacy and a disobedience to her father's wishes. There are too many palpable improbabilities; and as Mrs. Brunton herself observes, "The story is clumsily put together." But though the taste of the public has been raised since she wrote, by the publication of the Waverley novels, the writer of "SelfControl," "Discipline," and "Emmeline," must nevertheless be considered to have procured for herself a very creditable station among the literary females of Great Britain.

Independently of her abilities, Mrs. Brunton appears

to have been a most amiable and respectable character in private life; and in Edinburgh, where literary merit seems ever properly appreciated, she appears to have been held in the esteem she merited.

WORKS.

Self-Control, 1811.

Discipline, 1814.

Emmeline; a posthumous publication.

225

MRS. HEMANS.

FELICIA DOROTHEA BROWNE, so well known in the poetical world as Mrs. Hemans, was born on the 25th of September, 1793, in Duke-street, Liverpool, in the house now occupied by Mr. Molineux, where the first five or six years of her infancy and childhood were passed.

Her father, Mr. Browne, was an eminent wine-merchant in that city, and a native of Ireland, of a branch of the Sligo family. He failed in his business, in common with many others engaged in similar speculations during that revolutionary period, and removed with his family into North Wales, where, for the following nine years, they resided at Gwrych, near Abergele, in Denbighshire, in a large old mansion, the greater part of which has since been taken down.

Some years afterwards, Mr. Browne again engaging in commerce, went out to Canada, where he eventually

died.

Mrs. Browne, who was of mingled Italian and German descent, was a very superior and accomplished

woman, by whom her daughter Felicia was educated, and to whom she was most enthusiastically attached. Felicia Dorothea was the fifth of the seven children

of her parents.

The bright and blooming Felicia was richly endowed with talent, beauty, and sensibility. The extraordinary facility with which she acquired information, was only surpassed by the powerful memory which retained what she had learned. Whole pages from her favourite authors she could repeat, after having once perused them ; and such was the rapidity with which she read, that a bystander would imagine she was only carelessly turn; ing over the leaves of a book, when, as if by intuition, she had taken in the sense as completely as others would do with the closest attention. She had a taste for drawing, though she had neither time nor opportunity to cultivate that charming art, beyond slightly sketching in pencil or Indian ink. On both the harp and piano she played with feeling and expression, and her voice was sweet, though she was soon obliged to discontinue singing, from a frequent recurrence of affections upon her chest.

As a child she was remarkably beautiful. Her complexion was extremely brilliant, her hair long, curling, and golden, which afterwards deepened into an auburn brown, but to the last remained silken, profuse, and wavy. Her sensitive temperament was evinced by her colour varying with every change of feeling; so much so, that a lady observed of her, in early life, that "she was not born to be happy, for her colour came and went too fast."

English grammar, French, and the rudiments of Latin, were the only things she was ever regularly

taught, but such was her progress in the last-mentioned language, that the gentleman who was her instructor used to lament that "she was not a man, to have borne away the highest honours at college." She soon, however, added Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese to her acquirements, and could also read German, though it was not till after years that she fully entered into the beauties of German literature, when it became a favourite study of hers.

The seclusion in which she was brought up, and the somewhat desultory nature of a home education, were probably highly favourable to the early developement of her poetical powers.

Fortunately, Felicia first carolled forth her poetic talents under the animating influence of the smiles of an affectionate and admiring circle. To her mother she confided and addressed her earliest inspirations, and by her the tastes and talents of her highly-gifted daughter were encouraged and appreciated.

Gwrych, an old, large, and solitary mansion, situated close to the sea-shore, and shut in by a picturesque chain of mountains, having the character of being haunted, appears to have had a considerable effect upon the highly imaginative temperament of the youthful poetess, who, in after years, was wont to describe "the strange creeping awe with which the solitude and stillness of the place inspired her, and to tell how she once sallied forth, by moonlight, to encounter a goblin, which, under the shape of a fiery greyhound, kept watch at the end of the avenue."

The sea-shore was a favourite resort with her; she loved its loneliness and freedom; and whilst yet a child, it was with her a favourite freak, clandestinely to arise,