had ever seen. Every body who then
saw her said the same; so that it is not merely the impression
of my partiality or my enthusiasm. Of a slight, delicate
figure, with a shower of dark curls falling on either side of a
most expressive face, large, tender eyes, richly fringed by
dark eyelashes, a smile like a sunbeam, and such a look of
youthfulness that I had some difficulty in persuading a friend,
in whose carriage we went together to Chiswick, that the
translatress of the 'Prometheus' of AEschylus, the authoress of
the 'Essay on Mind,' was old enough to be introduced into
company, in technical language, 'was out.' Through the kindness
of another invaluable friend, to whom I owe many obligations,
but none so great as this, I saw much of her during my stay in
town. We met so constantly and so familiarly that, in spite of
the difference of age, intimacy ripened into friendship, and
after my return into the country, we corresponded freely and
frequently, her letters being just what letters ought to
be--her own talk put upon paper.

"The next year was a painful one to herself and to all who
loved her. She broke a blood-vessel upon the lungs, which did
not heal. If there had been consumption in the family, that
disease would have intervened. There were no seeds of the fatal
English malady in her constitution, and she escaped. Still,
however, the vessel did not heal, and after attending her for
above a twelvemonth at her father's house in Wimpole street,
Dr. Chambers, on the approach of winter, ordered her to a
milder climate. Her eldest brother, a brother in heart and
talent worthy of such a sister, together with other devoted
relatives, accompanied her to Torquay, and there occurred the
fatal event which saddened her bloom of youth, and gave a
deeper hue of thought and feeling, especially of devotional
feeling, to her poetry. I have so often been asked what could
be the shadow that had passed over that young heart, that, now
that time has softened the first agony, it seems to me right
that the world should hear the story of an accident in which
there much sorrow, but no blame.

"Nearly a twelvemonth had passed, and the invalid, still
attended by her affectionate companions, had derived much
benefit from the mild sea-breezes of Devons