re, a consecration unto Thee,
I bless Thee, O my God!

* * * * *

Not for the brightness of a mortal wreath,
Not for a place 'midst kingly minstrels dead,
But that, perchance, a faint gale of Thy breath,
A still small whisper, in my song hath led
One struggling spirit upwards to Thy throne,
Or but one hope, one prayer--for this alone
I bless Thee, O my God!"

Many a straggler in life's perplexities found sympathy and help in the
sweet verses of this poetess. They felt that there was one struggling by
their side, one who could rest on God's promises, and could almost
insensibly "weave links for intercourse with God."

I.

EARLY DAYS.

Felicia Dorothea Browne was born in Duke Street, Liverpool, on the 25th
of September, 1793. She was the second daughter and the fourth child of
a family of three sons and three daughters. Her father, who was a native
of Ireland, was a merchant of good position. Her mother, whose maiden
name was Wagner, was the daughter of the Venetian consul in Liverpool.
The original name was Veniero, but as the result of German alliances it
had assumed this German form. Three members of the family had risen to
the dignity of Doge. The first six years of Felicia's life were spent in
Liverpool. Then commercial losses compelled her father to break up his
establishment in that city and remove to Wales. The next nine years of
her life were spent at Gwyrch, near Abergele, in North Wales. The house
was a spacious old mansion, close to the seashore, and shut in on the
land side by lofty hills. Surely a fit place for the early residence of
a poetess of Nature. Besides this advantage of situation, she had the
privilege of access to the treasures of a large library. The records of
her early days show her to have been a child of extreme beauty, with a
brilliant complexion and long, curling, golden hair. But her personal
beauty was not the only thing that arrested attention. Her talents and
sweetness of disposition retained the notice which her attractiveness
had obtained. The old gardener used to say that "Miss Felicia could
'tice him to do whatever she pleased." And he was not the only one who
fell under her gentle constraint. She was a general favourite.

This girl of many hopes had no regular education. She was never at
school. Her mother's teaching and her own avidity for information were
almost her on