. Hemans, was
unhappy in her union. As a poet, she has masculine gifts combined with
feminine grace and tenderness. Her principal poems are _The Sorrows of
Rosalie_, _The Undying One_, (founded on the legend of _The Wandering
Jew_,) and _The Dream_. Besides these her facile pen has produced a
multitude of shorter pieces, which have been at once popular. Her claims
to enduring fame are not great, and she must be content with a present
popularity.

_Letitia Elizabeth Landon_, 1802-1839: more gifted, and yet not as well
trained as either of the preceding, Miss Landon (L. E. L.) has given vent
to impassioned sentiment in poetry and prose. Besides many smaller pieces,
she wrote _The Improvisatrice_, _The Troubadour_, _The Golden Violet_, and
several prose romances, among which the best are _Romance and Reality_,
and _Ethel Churchill_. She wrote too rapidly to finish with elegance; and
her earlier pieces are disfigured by this want of finish, and by a lack of
cool judgment; but her later writings are better matured and more correct.
She married Captain Maclean, the governor of Cape Coast Castle, in Africa,
and died there suddenly, from an overdose of strong medicine which she was
accustomed to take for a nervous affection.

_Maria Edgeworth_, 1767-1849: she was English born, but resided most of
her life in Ireland. Without remarkable genius, she may be said to have
exercised a greater influence over her period than any other woman who
lived in it. There is an aptitude and a practical utility in her stories
which are felt in all circles. Her works for children are delightful and
formative. Every one has read and re-read with pleasure the interesting
and instructive stories contained in _The Parents' Assistant_. And what
these are to the children, her novels are to those of larger growth. They
are eighteen in number, and are illustrative of the society, fashion, and
morals of the day; and always inculcate a good moral. Among them we may
particularize _Forester_, _The Absentee_, and _The Modern Griselda_. All
critics, even those who deny her great genius, agree in their estimate of
the moral value of her stories, every one of which is at once a
portraiture of her age and an instructive lesson to it. The feminine
delicacy with which she offers counsel and administers reproof gives a
great charm to, and will insure the permanent popularity of, her
productions.

_Jane Austen_, 1775-1817: as a novelist she occupied a high place in