ce the timid appearance of "A New England Tale," but
she seems to have regarded her books as simply a "by-product": "My
author existence has always seemed something accidental, extraneous,
and independent of my inner self. My books have been a pleasant
occupation and excitement in my life.... But they constitute no
portion of my happiness--that is, of such as I derive from the dearest
relations of life. When I feel that my writings have made any one
happier or better, I feel an emotion of gratitude to Him who has made
me the medium of any blessing to my fellow creatures."

In 1839, Miss Sedgwick went to Europe in company with her brother
Robert, and other relatives. The party was abroad two years and, on
its return, Miss Sedgwick collected her European letters and published
them in two volumes. They give one a view of Europe as seen by an
intelligent observer still in the first half of the last century. She
breakfasted with Rogers, the banker and poet, with whom she met
Macaulay whose conversation was to her "rich and delightful. Some
might think he talks too much; but none, except from their own
impatient vanity, could wish it were less." She had tea at Carlyle's,
found him "simple, natural and kindly, his conversation as picturesque
as his writings." She "had an amusing evening at Mr. Hallam's"; he
made her "quite forget he was the sage of the 'Middle Ages.'" At
Hallam's she met Sydney Smith who was "in the vein, and we saw him, I
believe, to advantage. His wit is not, as I expected, a succession of
brilliant explosions but a sparkling stream of humor."

In Geneva, she visited her friends, the Sismondis, and in Turin
received a call from Silvio Pellico, martyr to Italian liberty. "He is
of low stature and slightly made, a sort of etching of a man with
delicate and symmetrical features, just enough body to gravitate and
keep the spirit from its natural upward flight--a more shadowy Dr.
Channing."

Soon after Miss Sedgwick's return from Europe, she became connected
with the Women's Prison Association of New York City, of which from
1848 to 1863 she was president. An extract from one letter must
suffice to suggest the nature of her activities in connection with
this and kindred philanthropies: "It is now just ten, and I have come
up from the City Hall, in whose dismal St. Giles precincts I have been
to see a colored ragged school.... My Sundays are not days of rest....
My whole soul is sickened; and to-day when I went