Nothing is more touching, more lovable, than the modesty of this woman, so lauded, honoured and praised by all her generation that she could not remain ignorant of her fame. But simplicity was the very foundation of her character, and the woman always went before the author.
On her return from France Miss Edgeworth resumed the quiet, dearly-loved routine of home life. She was always glad to get home again, even now, and to be with the step-mother, sisters and brothers she loved so tenderly. Here is a pretty picture of the daily course of their existence:—
So you like to hear of all our little doings : so I will tell you that, about eight o'clock, Fanny being by that time up and dressed, and at her little table, Harriet comes and reads to me Madame de Sevigne's letters, of which I never tire : and I almost envy Fanny and Harriet the pleasure of reading them for the first time. After breakfast I take my little table into Lucy's room, and write there for an hour: she likes to have me in her room, though she only hears the scribble, scribble; she is generally reading at that hour, or doing Margaret's delight — algebra. I am doing the sequel to Frank. Walking, reading, and talking fill the rest of the day. I do not read much, it tires my eyes, and I have not yet finished the Life of Wesley. I think it a most curious, entertaining, and instructive book. A life of Pitt by the Bishop of Winchester is coming out; he wrote to Murray about it, who asked his friends, "Who is George Winton, who writes to me about publishing Pitt's life?"
Soon after his return from enforced exile Lovell Edgeworth had established a school at Edgeworthstown, after a plan proposed by his father, in which boys of all classes and creeds should be educated together. It succeeded admirably and was a source of interest and occupation not only to its founder, but to Miss Edgeworth, who always threw herself with ardour into everything that interested those about her.
The lives of women are rarely eventful, and Miss
