ed to the utmost delicacy and nobleness of sentiment,
active benevolence, which knew no limit but the furthest extent of
her ability, and a boundless enthusiasm for the good and fair,
wherever she discovered them. Her lively imagination, and the flow of
eloquence which it inspired, aided by one of the most melodious of
voices, lent an inexpressible charm to her conversation; which was
heightened by an intuitive discernment of character, rare in itself,
and still more so in combination with such fertility of fancy and
ardency of feeling. As a companion, whether for the graver or the
gayer hour, she had, indeed, few equals; and her constant
forgetfullness of self, and unfailing sympathy for others, rendered
her the general friend, favorite, and confidante of persons of both
sexes, all classes, and all ages. Many would have concurred in
judgment with Madame de Stael, when she pronounced Miss Benger the
most interesting woman she had seen during her visit to England. Of
envy and jealousy there was not a trace in her composition; her
probity, veracity, and honor were perfect. Though as free from pride
as from vanity, her sense of independence was such, that no one could
fix upon her the slightest obligation capable of lowering her in any
eyes. She had a generous propensity to seek those most, who needed
her offices of friendship. No one was more scrupulously just to the
characters and performances of others, no one more candid, no one
more deserving of every kind of reliance. It is gratifying to reflect
to how many hearts her unassisted merit found its way. Few persons
have been more widely or deeply deplored in their sphere of
acquaintance; but even those who loved her best could not but confess
that their regrets were purely selfish. To her the pains of
sensibility seemed to be dealt in even fuller measure than its joys:
her childhood and early youth were consumed in a solitude of mind,
and under a sense of contrariety between her genius and her fate,
which had rendered them sad and full of bitterness; her maturer years
were tried by cares, privations, and disappointments, and not seldom
by unfeeling slights or thankless neglect. The irritability of her
constitution, aggravated by inquietude of mind, had rendered her life
one long disease. Old age, which she neither wished nor expected to
attain, might have found her solitary and ill-provided: now she has
taken the wings of the dove to flee away and be at rest."

Miss Aik