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    16 MARIA EDGEWORTH.

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  • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

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    Amokgst The Changes Which Have Taken Pla...

    object that lies before It , and In regulating the temper and conduct . youngest By her death child he was was but lefb a three widower with old a and numerous two of his famil daug y . hters Hi _&

    years , just at the age when a mother's care is of most importance . " AH who had seen how much the felicity of his life depended upon

    conjugal affection were aware that he could not be happy unless he married again , " but , little did he foresee when he first met the object

    of his latest , perhaps fondest attachment , the happy influence she was in affcer years to diffuse throughout his home .

    The meeting alluded to had taken place , upon his marriage with Miss Honora Sneyd , when he had made a bridal visit to his sister

    Mrs . Ruxton , at Black Castle . Mrs . Ruxton had invited to meet them Dr . Beaufort , afterwards author of the excellent ecclesiastical

    map of Ireland , and valuable statistical memoir of that country . Dr . Beaufort ' s hihlcultivated mindand the polish of manner

    gy , could which he distinguished fail , observant him as , he at always once attracted was , of children Mr . Ed , geworth to notice ; nor his ,

    little daughter Fanny , then a pretty child of six years old , * In a white frock and pink sash , ' of which he thought she was rather toa

    fall of admiration . An interval of some years passed before any Intimacy took place

    between Mr . Edgeworth and Dr . Beaufort , although occasional meetings occurred ; both parties having been resident during that period in

    different parts of England , but they became better acquainted when assisting Lord Charlemont in the establishing and arrangement of

    the Royal Irish Academy . And when the Vicarage of Collon in the countof Louth was given to Dr . Beaufort by Mr . Foster

    ( afterwards y Lord Oriel , ) they frequently met at the house of their * - joint and excellent friend and also at that of his sisterMrs . Ruxton _*

    , Early in 179 7 , at Mrs . Ruxton ' s suggestion , Mr . Edgeworth asked Miss Beaufort , the little Fanny of former years , to design

    vignettes for ' The Parent ' s Assistant ] then ready to be published . She complied with his requestand those who have seen the three first

    editions of these excellent , stories must perceive the superiority of her designs to the illustrations by which they have been succeeded .

    In the summer of the same year , Mrs . Beaufort , her eldest daughter , and a younger one paid a visit for several days at

    Edgeworthstown , Mrs . Elizabeth Edgeworth being then pretty well * her health however soon after declined , and , as we have said , she

    expired in the month of October . In the spring of 1798 , Dr ., Mrs ., and Miss Beaufort paid a

    visit of some length at Edgeworthstown , and Mr . Edgeworth became convinced that she was precisely the person to whom he could

    venture to entrust his own happiness , and that of his children . He was able to study her character satisfactorilyfrom _, her open and

    , unembarrassed manner ; the disparity of their years having prevented her from suspecting his attachment till a few hours before

    it was declared . Pier parents left her entirely to her own judg--

    16 Maria Edgeworth.

    16 MARIA EDGEWORTH .

• Citation
  • English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), Sept. 1, 1858, page 16, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01091858/page/16/