ed her with professed admiration
joining in the clamour raised against her by the slave-holders and their
partisans.

Her literary activity, meanwhile, knew no stint. In 1839 she published
"Deerbrook," her best novel, which the critic will always value as a
vigorous picture of some aspects of English life. The tone is high and
sustained. As for the characters, they are not very strongly
individualized; but, on the other hand, the descriptions are clear and
forcible, while the interest of the plot is deep and wholesome. John
Sterling's criticism of it says:--"It is really very striking, and parts
of it are very true and very beautiful. It is not so true or so
thoroughly clear and harmonious among delineations of English
middle-class gentility as Miss Austen's books, especially as 'Pride and
Prejudice,' which I think exquisite."

While travelling on the Continent, in the spring of 1838, Miss Martineau
was seized with a very serious illness. By slow stages she returned to
England, where she settled down near Newcastle-upon-Tyne, to be under
the care of her brother-in-law. She resided there for a period of nearly
six years. Neither suffering of mind or body, however, was allowed to
interfere with her literary work. She gave to the world in 1840 her
second novel, "The Hour and the Man," founded on the romantic career of
Toussaint L'Ouverture; and composed the admirable series of children's
tales, known by the general title of "The Playfellow." These four
volumes, "Settlers at Home," "The Picnic," "Feats on the Fiord," and
"The Crofton Boys," show her at her very best. They are full of bold and
picturesque descriptions, and the story is told with unflagging energy.
Her peculiar position suggested a book that has won a well-deserved
popularity--"Life in the Sick-room" (1844). Its delicate and judicious
reflections, and its pleasing sketches, cannot be read without a touch
of sympathy.

Restored to health in 1845, she removed to Ambleside, among the lakes
and mountains, settling in the immediate neighbourhood of the poet
Wordsworth. In the autumn she published her "Forest and Game Laws"; and
in the following year she made a journey to the East, and ascended the
river Nile, recording her experiences in the book which has led us to
introduce her among our female travellers--"Eastern Life, Past and
Present," a remarkable book, giving a fresh interest to the beaten track
of Eastern travel and research, and breathing vitality int