perhaps England, it may be humanity at large, owe something to the being by whom the sorrows and fretfulness of Napoleon's captivity were occasionally soothed and alleviated. "Betsy Balcombe" grew up to womanhood a person of great beauty; became a wife-familiar with cares and troubles of various kinds; is now a widow with one daughter, I fear in indifferent circumstances. A few years ago she published, by subscription, a little volume of her "Reminiscences of Napoleon." The present Emperor of the French might probably be made acquainted with the work, and the writer of it, with advantage. LETTER FROM MRS. ABELL TO LADY BLESSINGTON. "Lyne Grove, Chertsey, December 8th, 1843. "MY DEAR MADAM,-I have ventured to trouble you with this note to request that you will permit me the honor of adding your name to my list of friends who have promised to take copies of a book I intend publishing in the spring, entitled 'Recollections of Napoleon during his Captivity at St. Helena,' and which will be illustrated with views of the island, in one volume. "I trust your ladyship will pardon the liberty I take in making this request; but I am induced to do so from feeling of what use the honor of your name would prove to me. Many friends have interested themselves very much in the success of my undertaking, and which I am most anxious will benefit me; as, from some recent reverses, I am just now, in a great degree, thrown on my own resources. Yours, my dear madam, very truly, "LUCIA C. Abell." LETTER FROM MRS. E. M. S. TO DR. RICHARDSON. "Palace Yard, Saturday, 27th June. "MY DEAR SIR,-I return you the first volume of your friend, Dr. M—'s, book, which has afforded me much pleasure the last two days; and I am sure it will be read with interest by all persons disposed to acquire a knowledge of the manners, customs, and habits of the people of the East-a region which so few English feel disposed to visit, from the great difficulties to be encountered in every way from such a journey. "Dr. M―'s book is most interesting to me, because I know well he was known to our poor lost friend, Lord B——; and I have heard Lady B———— name him as a most clever and enterprising traveler. "I have read the first volume with great pleasure, and when I tell you I never could wade through [ J's travels from their vulgarity (anxious as I was to know more of Egypt than I do), you may judge what satisfaction it is to me to read Dr. M's book, written, as it is, with ease and good taste, without details unfit for the eyes or ears of women. "Pray spare me the second volume this evening, if you can, as I am alone, invalided, and confined to my sofa. "[ ] is gone to the fish dinner at Greenwich, and my girls are gone to enjoy this fine day at the horticultural fête. "I had a letter from poor Lady B-to-day, dated the 22d. She has not at all recovered her spirits, or forgotten the severe and unexpected blow that has befallen her in the death of her good husband. She goes to Dieppe next month for change of air and scene. I am better, but not quite myself yet. Yours most truly, E- MS.” MISS EMMA ROBERTS. "Scenes and Characteristics of Hindostan, with Sketches of Anglo-Indian Society," published in three vols. in 1835, is the principal work of Miss Roberts, and the one which made her earliest and best known to the English reading public. Miss Roberts was the first English lady who made a close study, and a well-considered speculation, it may be added, of her countrymen and countrywomen in India, in society, in the governmenthouse circles of Calcutta, Bengal, and Madras, in distant stations, in camp, at courts of native princes, in palanquins, in tiger hunts, in voyages of discovery of adventurous young English damsels in search of old, yellow, wan, bilious, and wealthy nawaubs. Her descriptions of Anglo-Indian life are full of life and spirit; her vivacity never flags for an instant; but sometimes a vein of sarcasm enters into the mine of keen observation and sprightliness of fancy, without adding to the value of her delineations. Her "East Indian Voyager," in one vol. post 8vo, was not very successful. Her work, "Memoirs of the House of York and Lancaster" (in two vols. 8vo), attracted far less attention than her" Scenes and Characteristics of Hindostan." Her "Oriental Scenes, Sketches, and Tales" (in two vols. post 8vo) was hardly less popular than her "Scenes and Characteristics." Miss Emma Roberts died at Poonah, on the 16th of September, 1840, when about to return to England via Egypt. LETTERS FROM MISS ROBERTS TO LADY BLESSINGTON. "MY DEAR LADY BLESSINGTON,-You will be glad, I am sure, to hear that I am spending my Christmas at Government House with Sir James and Lady Carnac, and that, if amusement was my sole object in this country, I should pass my time delightfully, for we have a most agreeable family party, and see the best society that the place affords. My residence at Parell, however, will, I hope, be productive of something more important, in enabling me to gather the information of which I am in pursuit. Unfortunately, I am obliged to restrict myself in my pecuniary arrangements. I entertained an apprehension before I left England that my funds would not be adequate to the carrying out of the plans which I had formed. I entertained an expectation of adding to them by writing for the Indian press, but do not find it in a sufficiently flourishing state to offer a fair remuneration; and even were it otherwise, I could scarcely devote my time to literary labors, which would cause me to neglect the object I have in view. I am most anxiously desirous to seek opportunities of making myself thoroughly acquainted with the state of the country, in order that I may write a book that will be useful at home. I feel persuaded that the failure of many well-intentioned endeavors for the improvement of the people of India is attributable to ignorance concerning the character, manners, wants, and resources of the numerous races who have become British subjects. The attempt, therefore, to afford a clearer view of the actual state of British India, easily attainable by society at large, deserves encouragement. I flatter myself that if I had more ample funds at my disposal, I should be able to render a statistical work entertaining, by illustrating the drier details with characteristic anecdotes. To accomplish this, I must travel through the country; my unwillingness to force myself into notice while in England prevented me from making an attempt to interest rich and influential people in my undertaking. I often wished to procure a commission from the Duke of Devonshire, or other wealthy patron, for the collection of horticultural or zoological specimens, which would have assisted to defray the enormous expenses of traveling. Were I to remain at Bombay, I could limit my expenditure within very reasonable bounds; but in this case I should acquire a very small quantity of information; I have, therefore, determined upon making a journey into the provinces, and should you have an opportunity of recommending me as a useful agent to some liberal person at home, I feel assured you would do your utmost to forward my plans. Amid many other objects of interest for a nobleman's park, the yak or yew of Thibet is the most desirable; it will not live in India on the plains, but might in the cold season be carried up the Red Sea; and I should be most happy to go myself into the Himalaya to procure specimens. The kind interest which you have shown in my welfare has encouraged me to trouble you with these details. I feel that I have some claim upon patronage, since my patriotic feelings have induced me to prefer traveling in the British dependencies for the purpose of making them better known, instead of going to America, notwithstanding the offers made to me by publishers at home, who would have made very liberal advances for the expenses of my journey. I do not expect to be repaid by any book or books which I may write for the £600 that I must inevitably spend before I reach home; but I hope, by the devotion of my time and money to the purpose I have undertaken, to effect some good. I am going out in the governor's carriage like the queen, with an escort of cavalry, and all sorts of salutes, guards turning out, drums beating, &c. "Sir J. Carnac is one of the most delightful persons imaginable, a perfect gentleman of the old school; I am much pleased also with the ladies, who are lively, unaffected, and most kind and friendly to me. Lord Jocelyn is expected to join the party to-morrow, for a few days, which will make us very gay. 'Believe me, dear Lady Blessington, sincerely and faithfully yours, "EMMA ROBERTS." 66 "Portland Cottage, Portland Road. "Will you permit me to introduce to your notice a very learned friend of mine, Dr. Loewè, who is distinguished for his acquaintance with all the dead and living languages, and whose researches have thrown light upon many interesting remains of ancient times, which were previously involved in obscurity? Dr. Loewè is honored with the acquaintance of all the savans of the day, both in Germany, of which he is a native, France, and England, but unfortunately the course of his studies does not lead to emolument. There is little pecuniary encouragement for the pursuit of abstruse branches of learning; and while Dr. Loewè is courted in society, he is left entirely to his own resources. He is anxious, therefore, in order to enable him to prosecute a great design-that of producing a lexicon of all languages-to procure some pupils in German, which, of course, he can teach with the greatest facility. It would be a great advantage to any one desirous to acquire a perfect knowledge of German, to learn of a master who is not only perhaps the most erudite person in the ranks of literature, but who takes pleasure in imparting the knowledge he has gained, and who, in explaining the roots of old languages, would, in the course of his lessons, teach more than any master, however skilled in his native tongue, could possibly do. "Always sincerely and gratefully yours, EMMA ROBERTS."* * Dr. Loewe, LL.D., the gentleman referred to by Miss Roberts, is truly described by her as a very learned man, distinguished for his acquaintance with all the dead and living languages, and his antiquarian researches. In October, 1840, I had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of Dr. Loewe, and becoming his fellow-traveler to the East, when proceeding with Sir Moses Montefiore on his benevolent mission to Syria, to stay the persecution then raging against the Jews of Damascus. Dr. Loewe accompanied the mission in the capacity of secretary and interpreter. So vast an amount of erudition accompanied with so much modesty I have seldom met associated in an individual as are united in this learned and amiable person. He possessed and deserved the highest confidence and esteem of Sir Moses Montefiore and his excellent lady, the companion in that arduous expedition of her truly good and noble-minded husband, the recollection of MRS. ISABELLA ROMER. Mrs. Romer's career was a checkered one of cloud and sunshine, with more of the shadows of the former in it than readers of her lively, entertaining works could easily imagine. Her maiden name was Romer; she was the daughter of a general, and was married to Major, afterward Colonel, Hamerton. The union was not a happy one, nor of long duration. A separation took place about 1825. She died about two years ago, in Paris. In 1843 Mrs. Romer published, in two volumes, a book of Continental travels, entitled "The Rhone, the Darro, and the Guadalquivir." In the summer of 1842 Mrs. Romer set out from Paris on those travels, of which the above-named account was, I believe, her earliest production in a separate form. She was previously known to the public as a contributor to magazines and annuals. A shrewd, lively, mystery-loving, and "a leetle conceited," occasional authoress, prone to expatiate rather extensively on themes merely personal, and regarding her own feelings, but always redeeming slight defects of that nature by vivid delineations, and smart, interesting, and entertaining descriptions. In 1846, Mrs. Romer, having rambled in the East, produced "A Pilgrimage to the Tombs of Egypt, Nubia, and Palestine," in two volumes, abounding more in sprightliness than spirituality, and containing a great deal of entertaining description of bazars, harems, Almeh, Circassian slaves, Turkish wives, Levantine women in wide garments spangled to the feet, Arab divinities with blue chins and kohol-painted eyebrows and eyelids, and khennè-dyed tips of fingers. In noticing the "Pilgrimage," one of the reviews of the time, not in general very complimentary to Mrs. Romer, said: "She appears to have made the most of her opportunities for studying life in Cairo under all its aspects." . . . "The lady has some of the arts and graces of a writer for effect, our consciousness of which in some degree qualifies the value of her testimony, whose world-wide benevolence and perfectly unsectarian charitableness of heart and mind can never be effaced from my memory. |