my family, my friends, the blue sky, the gentle
and serene life which I had quitted in order to incur the risks of so
dangerous a voyage."

Madame d'Aunet, however, returned to Paris in safety, and satisfied with
her experiences of the Polar world, attempted no second expedition.
According to M. Cortambert, to whom I owe this sketch, she afterwards
resided in Paris, and edited several journals intended for women's
reading. She also produced some works of no inconsiderable merit.

FREDERIKA BREMER.

It seems reasonable enough that a good novelist should make a good
traveller; for to both is essential the possession of a faculty of quick
and accurate observation. Among the novelists of the nineteenth century
Frederika Bremer holds a distinguished position; we hope to show that
she merits a similar place among its travellers.

She was born at Tuorla Manor House, near Abo in Finland, on the 17th of
August, 1801. When she was three years old her father removed his family
to the small estate of Arsta, about twenty miles from Stockholm, which
he had purchased. Here she received a careful education, early attaining
a good knowledge of French, so as to read and speak it with facility.
Her literary powers were almost prematurely developed, like those of
Charlotte Bronte, and she wrote verses to the Moon at eight years old.
At ten she meditated an elaborate poem on no less a subject than "The
Creation of the World." But her attention was soon turned to more
practical themes, and it is noticeable that even in this early
springtime she began to think much upon the dependent and subordinate
position to which woman has been so unjustly condemned by society.

She was about twelve when her father took up his abode at Nynaes. Nynaes
was an old-fashioned mansion situated amidst picturesque scenery, which
appears to have awakened in Frederika her first impressions of the
beauty of Nature. Her education still continued; she studied English and
German, and made considerable progress in history and geography.

In 1813 Nynaes was sold, and the family once more settled at Arsta. There
the young Frederika learned to take a deep interest in the great
political events which were then convulsing Europe--in the great
uprising of the nations against the selfish tyranny of Napoleon. The
patriotic fire burned brightly in her girl's heart. She wept because she
had not been born a man, so that she might have girded on her sword, and
joined