Part 6 (1/2)

Over the price to be paid for _France_, to which Sir Charles contributed some rather heavy chapters on medical science, political economy, and jurisprudence, there was the usual battle between the keen little wo done ith _O'Donnel_, felt justified in offering 750 for the neork, but Lady Morgan deot it The sum must have been a substantial compensation for the wounds that her vanity received at the hands of the reviewers _France_, which erly read and loudly abused

Croker, in the _Quarterly Review_, attacked the book, or rather the author, in an article which has becoan was accused of bad taste, boe and norance, Jacobinism, falsehood, licentiousness, and iht have been proved with little difficulty, if it orth while to break a butterfly on a wheel, but it was necessary to distort the ive any colour to the graver accusations

Croker had discovered, ht, that the translator of the work (which was also published in Paris) had subjoined a note to soan's scraps of French, in which he confessed that though the words were printed to look like French, he could not understand them The critic observes, _a propos_ of this fact, 'It is, we believe, peculiar to Lady Morgan's works, that her English readers require an English translation of her English, and her French readers a French translation of her French' This was a fair hit, as also was the ridicule thrown upon such sentences as 'Cider is not held in any estimation by the _veritables Amphitryons_ of rural _savoir faire_' Croker professes to be shocked at Lady Morgan'shitherto cherished the hope that 'no British female had ever seen this detestable book'; while his outburst of virtuous indignation at her mention of the 'superior effusions' of Parny, which some Frenchman had recommended to her, is really superb 'Parny,' he exclaims, 'is the most beastly, the most detestably wicked and blaspheraced literature _Les Guerres des Dieux_ is the most dreadful tissue of obscenity and depravity that the devil ever inspired to the depraved heart ofread unwittingly even so much of the work as enables us to pronounce this character of it'

Croker concludes with the hope that he has given such an idea of this book as ree, the circulation of trash which, under the naht otherwise have found its way into the hands of young persons of both sexes, for whose perusal it was, on the score both of morals and politics, utterly unfit Such a notice naturally defeated its own object, and _France_ went triuh several editions The review attracted almost as ainst it 'What cruel work you an,' wrote Byron to Murray 'You should recollect that she is a wo, still as authoresses they can do no great harood invective should have been laid out upon her, when there is such a fine field of us Jacobin gentle to Lady Charleville's report, had said of Croker: 'D----d blackguard to abuse a woman; couldn't he let her _France_ alone, if it be all lies, and read her novels, and thank her, by Jasus, for being a good Irishwoan, as presently appeared, was not only quite able to defend herself, but to give as good as she got Peel, in a letter to Croker, says: 'Lady Morgan vows vengeance against you as the supposed author of the article in the _Quarterly_, in which her atheisnorance are exposed You are to be the hero of some novel of which she is about to be delivered I hope she has not heard of your predilection for angling, and that she will not describe you as she describes one of her heroes, as ”seated in his _piscatory_ corner, intent on the destruction of the finny tribe”' 'Lady Morgan,' it seems, replies Croker, 'is resolved to make me read one of her novels I hope I shall feel interested enough to learn the language I wrote the first part of the article in question, but was called away to Ireland when it was in the press; and I am sorry to say that some blunders crept in accidentally, and one or tere prean knows enough of either English, French, or Latin to find out If she goes on, we shall have sport'

Early in 1818 Colburn wrote to suggest that the Morgans should proceed to Italy with a view to collaborating in a book on that country, and offered theht By this ti to his publication of a scientific work, _The Outlines of the Physiology of Life_, which was considered objectionably heterodox by the Dublin public

There was no obstacle, therefore, to his leaving ho his wife in her literary labours In May, the pair journeyed to London _en route_ for the South, Lady Morgan taking with her the nearly finished manuscript of a new novel, _Florence Macarthy_ With his first reading of this book Colburn was so charmed, that he presented the author with a fine parure of a to the testian made as decided a social success in Italy as she had done a couple of years earlier in France Moore, who met the couple in Florence, notes in his diary for October 1819: 'Went to see Sir Charles and Lady Morgan; her success everywhere astonishi+ng Caht at the Countess of Albany's (the Pretender's wife and Alfieri's), and saw Lady Morgan there in the seat of honour, quite the queen of the room' In Rome the same appreciation awaited her 'The duchess of Devonshi+re,' writes her ladyshi+p, 'is unceasing in her attentions Cardinal Fesche (Bonaparte's uncle) is quite my beau Madalad to see me; ere received quite in an imperial style I never saw so fine an old lady--still quite handso round the roorandchildren, and at the head of the, and spirit, and not the least what I expected--vulgar'

_Florence Macarthy_ was published during its author's absence abroad The heroine, Lady Clancare, a novelist and politician, a beauty and a wit, is obviously intended for Lady Morgan herself, while Lady Abercorn figures again under the title of Lady Dunore But theof all the character-portraits is Counsellor Con Crawley, as sketched fro to Moore, Croker winced more under this caricature than under any of the direct attacks which were made upon him Con Crawley, we are told, was of a bilious, saturnine constitution, even his talent being but the result of disease These physical disadvantages, combined with an education 'whose object was pretension, and whose principle was arrogance,fearful and pitiable, at ith its species and itself, ready to crush inambition to pursue its object by ways dark and hidden--safe from the penalty of crihed to scorn If ever there was a man forave him birth, and to act openly as the pander of political corruption, or secretly as the agent of defa the fall of a frail wo the character of an honest one; who could crush aspiring merit behind the ambuscade of anonymous security, while he came forward openly in defence of the vileness which rank sanctified and influence protected--that man was Conway Crawley'

The truth of the portraiture of the whole Crawley faerated as it an's countryton, an undisputed authority on Irish manners and character, writes: 'The Crawleys are superlative, and suffice to bring before , and almost without a variation, persons and incidents whoain, Owen Maddyn, as by no an's favour, admits that her attack on Croker had much effect in its day, and ritten on the model of the Irish school of invective furnished by Flood and Grattan As a novelist, he held that she pointed the way to Lever, and adds: 'The rattling vivacity of the Irish character, its ebullient spirit, and its wrathful eloquence of sentie, she well portrayed; one can smell the potheen and turf smoke even in her pictures of a boudoir' In this sentence are su characteristics, not only of _Florence Macarthy_, but of all Lady Morgan's national romances

_Italy_ was published simultaneously in London and Paris in June, 1821, and produced an even greater sensation than the work on France, though Croker declared that it fell dead froreater part of his 'review' in the _Quarterly_ to an analysis of Colburn's methods of advertisement Criticism of a penal kind, he explained, was not called for, because, 'in the first place, we are convinced that this woible_; secondly, we hope that her indelicacy, vanity, and nity are inierous; and thirdly, though every page tee to the most ludicrous, they are smothered in such Boeotian dulness that they can do no harm' In curious contrast to this professional criticise in one of Byron's letters to Moore 'Lady Morgan,' writes the poet, 'in a _really excellent_ book, I assure you, on Italy, calls Venice an ocean Rome; I have the very same expression in _Foscari_, and yet you know that the play ritten land; the _Italy_ I received only on the 16th When you write to Lady Morgan, will you thank her for her handsome speeches in her book about _my_ books?

Her work is fearless and excellent on the subject of Italy--pray tell her so--and I know the country I wish she had fallen in with _ or two that would have confirmed her positions'

Almost simultaneously with the appearance of _Italy_, Colburn printed in his _New Monthly Magazine_ a long, vehean upon her critics The editor, Thonant letter to the _Times_, that the article had been inserted by the proprietor without being first submitted to the editorial eye, and that he was in no way responsible for its contents Colburn also wrote to the _Ti the sales of _Italy_, and publicly to declare his entire satisfaction at the result of the undertaking, and his willingness to receive from the author another work of equal interest on the same terms In short, never was a book worse reviewed or better advertised

The next venture of the indefatigable Lady Morgan, who felt herself capable of dealing with any subject, no ht know of it, was a _Life of Salvator Rosa_ This, which was her own favourite ainative work, which hardly coraphical standards The author seems to have been influenced in her choice of a subject rather by the patriotic character of Salvator Rosa than by his artistic attainan was once asked by a felloriter where she got her facts, to which she replied, 'We all iet them; it is to be hoped our readers do the saood deal of trouble to 'get up' the raphy; it was in her treatination to run aith her About this tian should contribute to his ain as his other writers, ere paid at the rate of sixteen guineas a sheet For this periodical Lady Morgan wrote a long essay on _Absenteeism_ and other articles, so of 1824 the Morgans came to London for the season, and went much into the literary society that was dear to both their hearts Lady Caroline Laan, to whom she confided her Byronic love-troubles, while Lady Cork, who still ee_ The rough notes kept by Lady Morgan of her social adventures are not usually of much interest or importance, as she had little faculty or inclination for Boswellising, but the following entry is worth quoting:--

'Lady Cork said towhen I called Miss ---- a nice person, ”Don't say nice, child, 'tis a bad word” Once I said to Dr

Johnson, ”Sir, that is a very nice person” ”A _nice_ person,” he replied; ”what does that o out, and I see this stupid _nice_ is to succeed to it What does nice mean? Look in my Dictionary; you will see it means correct, precise”'

At Lydia White's faton Irving, Hallam, Miss Jane Porter, Anacreon Moore, and ed with a band of young Italian revolutionaries, whose country had grown too hot to hold the Irishwoman when Italy should be free Dublin naturally seehts of a London season, but Lady Morgan, though she loved to gru absentee herself Her popularity with her country) had suffered no diminution, and her national celebrity was proved by the following verse fro in the Dublin streets:--

'Och, Dublin's city, there's no doubtin', Bates every city on the say; 'Tis there you'll hear O'Connell spoutin', And Lady Morgantay; For 'tis the capital of the finest nation, Wid charhtin' like divils for conciliation, An' hatin' each other for the love of God'

Our heroine was hard at work at this time upon the last of her Irish novels, _The O'Briens and the O'Flaherties_, which was published early in 1827, and for the copyright of which Colburn paid her 1350

It was the most popular of all her works, especially with her own country-folk, and is distinguished by her favourite blend of politics,classes The reviews as usual accused her of blasphemy and indecency, and so severe was the criticism in the _Literary Gazette_, then edited by Jerdan, that Colburn was stirred up to found a new literary weekly of his own, and, in conjunction with Jaham, started the _Athenaeum_ Jerdan had asserted in the course of his review that 'In all our reading we never hly to lower the feht be auze veil cannot hide the deforan's taste has not been of efficient power to filter into cleanliness the original pollution of her infected fountain' Lady Morgan observes in her diary that she has a right to be judged by her peers, and threatens to summon a jury of es that would tend to make any honest es attendant upon celebrity than those caused by iniht a visit to Dublin coures in several conteht That curious personage, Prince Puckler Muskau, was travelling through England and Ireland in 1828, and has left a little vignette of Lady Morgan in the published record of his journey 'I was very eager,' he explains, 'to hly as an authoress I found her, however, very different from what I had pictured to myself She is a little, frivolous, lively woman, apparently between thirty and forty, neither pretty nor ugly, but by no n all claims to the former, and with really fine expressive eyes She has no idea of _mauvaise honte_ or embarrassment; her manners are not the most refined, and affect the _aisance_ and levity of the fashi+onable world, which, however, do not sit callish weakness of talking incessantly of fashi+onable acquaintances, and trying to pose for very _recherche_, to a degree quite unworthy of a wouished talents; she is not at all aware how she thus underrates herself' The _Quarterly Review_ seized upon this passage with ht The prince, as the reviewer points out, had dropped one luan's age at between thirty and forty' Miss Owenson,'

comments the writer, as probably Croker, 'was an established authoress six-and-twenty years ago; and if any lady, player's daughter or not, knehat _she_ knehen she published her first work at eight or nine years of age (which Miss Owensonto the prince's calculation), she was undoubtedly such a juvenile prodigy as would be quite worthy to azine_'

Another observer, as present at so pictured Lady Morgan in iination as a sylphlike and romantic person, has left on record his amazement when the celebrated lady stood before hiure in thescene of beauty and splendour

Every fean scorned both appendages Hardly ht, slightly uneven shoulders and eyes, Lady Morgan glided about in a close-cropped wig, bound with a fillet of gold, her large face all animation, and with a witty word for everybody I afterwards saw her at the theatre, where she was cheered enthusiastically Her dress was different froinal A red Celtic cloak, fastened by a rich gold fibula, or Irish Tara brooch, ieous and withal a picturesque appearance, which antecedent associations considerably strengthened'