power as Dickens. He can give courage to esting matter concerning the last few, fatal
the soul while tears rain from the eyes, and months of Mrs. Maclean's life at Cape Coast
there is not a work brought forth from the Castle. Lady Blessington had commissioned
tossings, and heavings, and unrest of that the editor to erect, at her expense, a marble
mighty heart of his, that does not fall like a slab over the grave of the unhappy poetess,
cascade from heaven upon our stony age. which, up to that time (three years after her
Had we space, we might continue stringing death), had remained without a record. Dr.
epistolary gems, ad infinitum, from the Bles- Madden having an official apppointment at
sington correspondence. There are letters the time on the west coast of Africa, became
from that wonderful compound of poetry and a guest of Mr. Maclean, at Cape Coast Castle,
politics, D'Israeli, in which can be traced for some weeks, and thus had ample means
evidence of both these tendencies, along with of informing himself as to the kind of person
the sarcastic contempt he seems to cherish with whom "L. E.L." had unfortunately unit-
for all political parties; and eulogistic letters ed herself, and also could judge of the deso-
from the great Wellesley, and friendly ones. late existence for which she had exchanged
from the greater Wellington-one of whose the brilliancy of a successful London literary
wise remarks touching visits of ceremony is career. No European lady resided at the
worth quoting. He writes: "There is no settlement. The castle was nothing better
time so uselessly employed as by a visitor, than a lone, dismal fort, near a village of
and him upon whom the visit is inflicted." half-caste population. The scenery, "a wilder-
In fact, the ceremonies of Juggernaut are
ness of seared verdure, a jungle and a swamp,
And
mild to the sacrifices exacted by social cere- realizing the very idol of desolation."
monial. There, the body only is killed the husband of the first lyric poetess of Eng-
crushed, and killed at once-but in the mean- land, the Sappho of the age, is described by
ingless morning visitings of ladies, deliberate Dr. Madden as a person whose only intellec-
murder and patient suicide of souls is perpetual qualification was a study of barometers
trated with remorseless punctuality. "Time,'
and thermometers, and whose only taste was
"He spoke con-
says Goethe, "is a great curse to those who for algebraic calculations.
believe that they are born only to kill it." temptuously of literature, and affected scorn,
When will men and women learn the value even loathing, for poetry and poets. By long
of our most precious heritage-the golden privation of the society of educated women
sands of life.
previous to his marriage, he had become sel-
fish, coarse-minded, cynical, a colonial ba-
rite; who when his bouts of revelry were
over, devoted himself to theodolites, sextants
and quadrants." Openly he expressed to his
wife his contempt for verse-making, and
wished to force her to devote her entire time
to the performance of the lowest household
duties.

Sir William Gell and Jekyll are the two correspondents who pour forth best that clever gossip in the French style of a century ago. The latter tells anecdotes pleasantly; as thus-"We had at the bar a learned person, whose legs and arms were so long as to afford him the title of Frog Morgan. In the course of an argument, he spoke of our natural enemies, the French; and Erskine, in reply, complimented him on an expression so personally appropriate."

A toady of old Lady Cork, whom she half maintains, complained to me of her treatment. I have,' she said, 'a very long chin, and the barbarous Countess often shakes ne by it.' It seemed without remedy, as neither the paroxysm nor the chin could be

shortened."

Jekyll's love for London life was so great, that he said, If he were compelled to live in the country, he would have the approach to bis house paved like the streets of London, and a hackney coach to drive up and down all day long.

An act of kindness towards the memory of "L. E. L." gives Dr. Madden the opportunity to introduce a vast deal of most inter

sy

Every one knows what led her into this fatal marriage. Unlike Lady Blessington, she had no prestige of rank or wealth to enable her to bear up against social opinion, whether slanderous or true; and, to escape the evils of her position, she rashly, in a fit of terrible desperation, resolved to go through with the marriage then ofered to her at all hazards, even of her life. Her feelings at the time may be judged of by some verses, almost the last she wrote, and which conclude with these mournful stanzas :

"Still is the quiet cloister wanted,

For those who look with weary eye
On life, hath long been disenchanted,
Who have one only wish-to die.
"Then were that solemn quiet given,

That life's harsh, feverish dreams deny;

Then might the last prayer rise to heaven,
My God! I prithee let me die !"

The circumstances of her death are also familiar to every one. On the morning of the 15th of October she rose early to write letters to some friends in England, by a ship to sail next day. In about an hour she called for a cup of coffee; and when the attendant brought it to her chamber, "L. E. L." lay stretched a corpse upon the floor-she had drunk poison. That same night she was buried, just four months after her ill-omened marriage.

merited. This notice drew the attention of publishers on her, and, alas! drew also the calumny and hatred of the envious, which ceased not to persecute her through her troubled life; but absolutely drove her from her native land. There was no slander too vile, and no assertion too wicked, to heap on the fame of this injured creature. Mr. a married man, and the father of a large family, many of whom were older than L. E. L., was said to have been her lover, and it was publicly stated that she had become too intimately connected with him. Those who disbelieved the calumny, refrained not from repeating it, until it became a general topic of conversation. Her own sex, fearful of censure, had not courage to defend her, and this highly gifted and sensitive These events are known, but not the secret creature, without having committed a single ermisery she had endured during those four ror, found herself a victim to slander. More than months, and which she revealed but to one one advantageous proposal of marriage was made person. All her other letters, written to to her; but no sooner was this known, than anonfriends and acquaintances, are full of fabled ymous letters were sent to the persons who accounts of her happiness. And if the poi-wished to wed her, filled with charges against her honor. Some of her suitors, wholly discrediting son-cup was lifted to her lips intentionally, these calumnies, but thinking it due to her to rewe cannot wonder, after reading those revefute them, instigated inquiries to trace them to the lations. original source whence they came; not a single Lady Blessington, in a letter full of star-proof could be had of even the semblance of guilt, tling details, gives the true account of "L. E. L.'s" position, as she had it herself from the one only person to whom the unhappy Mrs. Maclean confided the misery endured in her African bondage. We shall quote the letter entire, as every line has interest :

"Gore-House, January 29th, 1839. "MY DEAR MADAM:-Indisposition must plead my excuse for not having sooner given you the sad particulars I promised in my last; when that cause for my silence has subsided, the dangerous illness of Lord Canterbury threw me into such alarm and anxiety, that it is only to-day, when letters from Paris assure me that he is recovering, that I feel equal to the task of writing.

"Poor, dear L. E. L. lost her father, who was a Captain in the army, while she was yet a child. He had married the widow of an army agent, a woman not of refined habits, and totally unsuited to him. On his death, his brother, the late Dean of Exeter, interested himself for his nephew and niece, the sole children left by Captain Landon; and deeming it necessary to remove them from their mother, placed the girl (poor L. E. L.) at school; and the boy, at another. At an unusually early age she manifested the genius for which she afterwards became so deservedly popular. On leaving school, her uncle placed her under the protection of her grandmother, whose exigence rendered the life of her gifted grandchild anything but a happy one. Her first practical effusions were published many years ago, and the whole of the sum they produced was appropriated to her grandmother.

"Soon after, L. E. L. became acquainted with Mr., who, charmed with her talents, encouraged their exertion by inserting her poems in a Literary Journal, with all the encomiums they

though a thousand were furnished of perfect innocence. Wounded and humiliated, poor L. E. L. refused to wed those, who could, however worthy inquiry into her conduct; and from year to year, the motive, seem to doubt her honor, or instigate dragged on a life of mortification and sorrow. Pride led her to conceal what she suffered, but those who best knew her were aware that for many months sleep could only be obtained by the aid of narcotics, and that violent spasms and frequent attacks of the nerves left her seldom free from acute suffering. The effort to force a gaiety she was far from feeling, increased her sufferings, even to the last. The first use she made of the money produced by her writings, was to buy an annuity for her grandmother; that grandmother, whose acerbity of temper and wearying exigence had imbittered her home. She then went to reside in Hans-Place, with some elderly ladies, who kept a school, and here again calumny assailed her. Dr. M., a married man, and father of grown daughters, was now named as her paramour; and though his habits, age, appearance, and attachment to his wife, ought to have precluded the possibility of attaching credence to so absurd a piece of scandal, poor L. E. L. was again attacted in a manner that nearly sent her to the grave. This last falsehood was invented a little more than four years ago, when some of those who disbelieved the other scandal, affected to give credit to this, and stung the sensitive mind of poor L. E. L. almost to madness by their hypocritical conduct. About this time Mr. Maclean became acquainted with her, and after some months proposed for her hand. Wrung to the quick by the slanders heaped on her, she accepted his offer; but he deemed it necessary to return to Cape Coast Castle for a year, before the nuptials could be solemnized. He returned at the expiration of that term, renewed his offer, and she-poor, dear

soul!-informed all her friends, and me amongst
the number, of her acceptance of it, and of her
intention of soon leaving England with him; soon
after this, Mr. Maclean went to Scotland, and re-
mained there many months, without writing a
single line to his betrothed. Her feelings under
this treatment you can well imagine. Beset by
inquiries from all her friends as to where Mr.
Maclean was? when she was to be married?
&c., &c., all indicating a strong suspicion that he
had heard the reports, and would appear no more.
A serious illness assailed her, and reduced her to
the brink of the grave; when her wrote and
demanded an explanation from Mr. Maclean.
"He answered, that fearing the climate of
Africa might prove fatal to her, he had abandoned
the intention of marrying, and felt embarrassed
at writing to say so.

"She, poor soul! mistook his hesitation and silence for generosity, and wrote to him a letter fraught with affection; the ill-starred union was again proposed, but on condition that it should be kept a secret even from the friends she was residing with. From the moment of his return from Scotland to that of their departure, he was moody, mysterious, and ill-humored-continually sneering at literary ladies-speaking slightingly of her works-and, in short, showing every symptom of a desire to disgust her. Sir remonstrated with her on his extraordinary mode of proceeding; so did all her friends; but the die was cast. Her pride shrunk from the notion of again having it said that another marriage was broken off; and she determined not to break with him. Mystery on mystery followed: no friend or relative of his -though an uncle and aunt were in Londonsanctioned the marriage; nay more, it is now known that, two days previous to it, he, on being questioned by his uncle, denied positively the fact

of his intention to be married.

when he comes to dinner; and when that is over, he plays the violin until ten o'clock, when I go to bed. He says he will never cease correcting me until he has broken my spirit, and complains of my temper, which you know was never, even under heavy trials, bad.'

ever re

"This was the last account Mr.
ceived. Judge, then, of his wretchedness.

"It is now known that Mr. Maclean had formed a liaison at Cape Castle with a woman of that country, by whom he has a large family; such liaisons are not considered disreputable there, and the women are treated as wives. This person lived in the Castle as its mistress, until the arrival of Mr. Maclean and poor L. E. L., when she was sent off up the country. This woman was the niece of one of the merchants who sat on the inquest. All the servants, with the exception of the man and his wife, brought out by L. E. L., were the creatures of the former mistress; the whole of the female natives detest English women, because the presence of one then banishes them from the society where they are tolerated in their absence.

"Mr. Maclean admits that indisposition and mental annoyance must have rendered him far from being a kind or agreeable companion to poor Letitia ; but adds, that had she lived a little longer, she would have found him very different, as he was, when not ill and tormented by various circumstances which he does not explain, easy and good-tempered to a fault. He says, that never was there so kind or so faultless a being on earth as that poor, poor girl, as he calls her, and that he never knew her value until he had lost her. In fact, his letter seems an answer to charges preferred against him by the departed, and, what is strange, the packet that brought the fatal news brought no letter of recent date for her though she never missed an opportunity, and they "The marriage was a secret one, and not occur rarely, of writing to him. Her letters, all avowed until a very few days previous to their of which have breathed the fondest affection for sailing for Africa; he refused to permit her own him, admit that she had little hope of happiness maid, who had long served her, to accompany her, from her stern, cold, and morose husband. I have and it was only at the eleventh hour that he could now, my dear madam, given you this sad tale. I be induced to permit a strange servant to be her have perused all her letters to her ~, as well attendant. His conduct on board ship was cold as Mr. Maclean's to him. I ought to add, that and moody; for her broken-hearted whom when they landed in Africa, Mr. Maclean set off, I have seen, told me that the captain of the ship leaving his wife, and proceeded to the Castle, to said, that Mr. Maclean betrayed the utmost in-dislodge his mistress and children. The natives difference towards her. This indifference con- were angry, and offended at seeing their countrytinued at Cape Castle, and, what was worse, diswoman driven from her home. content, ill-humor, and reproaches at her ignorance of housekeeping met her every day, until, as she , her nerves became so agitated, that the sound of his voice made her tremble. She was required to do the work of a menial; her female servant was discharged, and was to sail the day that the hapless L. E. L. died. She has come to England. L. E. L. thus writes to her There are eleven or twelve chambers here empty, I am told, yet Mr. Maclean refuses to let me have one of them for my use, nor will he permit me to enter the bed-room from the hour I leave it, seven in the morning, until he quits it at one in the afternoon. He expects me to cook, wash, and iron; in short, do the work of a servant. I never see him until seven in the evening,

writes to her

9

"Believe me, my dear Madam,

"Your Ladyship's very sincerely,
"M. BLESSINGTON."

This is a mournful tale with which to conclude our notice of this most brilliant addition to our literary history. Did space permit, we might cull details of other celebrities, equally interesting, though none so mournful, from the vast accumulation of biographical matter crowded into the work, which may take permanent rank in the world of letters, not merely as the life of one literary individual, but as a miniature biographical encyclopedia of all the modern celebrities of England.

From the Eclectic Review.

SCIENCE FOR THE PEOPLE.*

the effort has been successful. An extensive | ciated with magnetism; hence, the masses union of these associations has been formed, are constantly the dupes of specious preand naturally this insures an increase of tenders and plausible charlatans. Facts of strength. Recently the same society ar- every day occurrence show that the public ranged an Educational Exhibition, during are as open to the schemes of deceivers, and which lectures were delivered, some of which are as readily worked into a mania in 1855 have been published in the volume quoted at as they were in the days of Mississippi the head of this article. When we find the bubble, or of The Great Mine Adventure. Master of Trinity College, the Dean of Hereford, Cardinal Wiseman, and William Ellis lecturing from the same platform, in the same cause, we have certainly a convincing proof of the popularity of the subject of Practical Education. The Royal Institution, too-usually regarded as the aristocratic temple of science-has had its lectures on the same subject given by able and earnest men. Oxford and Cambridge have been roused from their repose, and compelled to give to Physical Science a place beside the classic throne. In addition to these examples we may add the numerous serials devoted to popular science, from which, however, we have chosen the two which are at the head of this article as being peculiarly illustrative. They are different in their characters. One of them is much more "popular" than the other, but its aim is not so high; they are the best and the cheapest of the scientific

Dr. Lardner has some remarks in his "Essay on Weather Prognostics" which are much to the purpose of our position.

serials.

Although such strenuous exertions are now being made to give science its proper place in the schools, we must not fail to remember that the present efforts are but the renewal of equally zealous attempts, dating as far back as the commencement of the present century.

Standing, then, just within the circle of a new year, we can but inquire what are the manifest results of those efforts which have been spread over so large a portion of time and embraced so wide a space.

The reply is not so satisfactory as we could desire. There has been an extensive diffusion of knowledge, but the great mass of the people observe as imperfectly as they ever did, and draw imperfect conclusions from what they do observe. Science has been well said to be trained and organized common sense, yet we find common sense as much at fault now as it ever was. Notwithstanding the diffusion of scientific knowledge, the people remain defenceless against the practices of cheats. Surely the test of a correct education is the power which it gives the possessor of examining for himself. Let facts speak-the public will swallow any pill if it be only gilded with electricity. There is no tale too absurd for belief if it be assoVOL XXXV.-NO. I.

"It is astonishing in this age of the diffusion of knowledge how susceptible the public mind is of excitement on any topic the principles of which do not lie absolutely on the surface of the most ordinary course of elementary education. It was only in the year 1832 that a general alarm spread throughout France lest Biela's comet, in its progress through the solar system, should strike the earth; and the authorities in that country, with a view to tranquillize the public, induced M. Arago, the astronomer royal, to publish an essay on comets, written in a familiar and intelligible style, to show the impossibility of such an event. cal questions, have occurred within our memory. Several panics in England, connected with physiThere prevailed in London a' water panic,' during which the public were persuaded that the water supplied to the metropolis was destructive to health and life. While this lasted, the papers teemed with announcements of patent filtering machines; solar microscope makers displayed to the terrified Londoners troops of thousand-legged animals disporting in their daily beverage; publishers were busy with popular treatises on entomology; and the public was seized with a general hydrophobia. It was in vain that Brande analyzed the water at the London Institution and Faraday attempted to reason London into its senses. Knowledge ceased to be power; philosophy lost cious than science; and the paroxysm of the its authority. Time was, however, more efficadisease having passed through the appointed phases, the people were convalescent."Vol. i.

p. 68.

Still more strongly would similar remarks apply to the lamentable mania for table-turning and table-talking, and to the yet more recent disease connected with the discovery of gold in England. No amount of reasoning could carry conviction in the former case, and absolute ruin was the only argument which brought men to their senses in the latter.

There must be something radically wrong in the systems of education which have been hitherto adopted, otherwise men would, at least, form correct opinions on things which were occurring before their eyes, or, at least, they would be conscious of some fallacy, even if they could not detect it, when an in

4