ringlets hang about a round, broad face of a very pronounced Irish type, with large dark eyes and a short nose. The brightness of her eyes was celebrated in a couplet —
Mrs. Hall, so fair and fine,
Makes her brilliant eyes to shine.
The expression of her face is charming, full of fun, humour, and sweetness. Three days after the marriage, came an unexpected windfall in the shape of a cheque for £40, which was sent to Mr. Hall in payment of a book on Brazil, which he had compiled for a series called "The Modern Traveller." This pleasant surprise not only paid for the church fees, but also for the honeymoon trip, which was spent at Petersham, near Richmond. In 1825, the year after her marriage, Mrs Hall had written nothing, and did not even know that she could write. How she first began is related by her husband. She was telling him some anecdotes of her old Irish schoolmaster, and he said, "I wish you would write about that just as you tell it." She did so, and Mr. Hall printed the story, "Master Ben," in a monthly periodical he was then editing, "The Spirit and Manners of the Age." From this time all was plain sailing. Mrs. Hall never had any harrowing tales to tell of the cruelty of publishers, or of the mortification of rejected manuscripts. Other tales followed in quick succession, and these
