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LIFE OF MARGARET FUIXER OSSOLI. 17
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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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Ject Abo Out It V Is Of Of E T The Now I...
other circumstances , might have ripened thought , was turned to learn the thoughts of others .
• The impressiveness and impulsiveness of her character was developed at a very early age , and the monotony of her bookish and solitary life was for some months interrupted by the appearance of
an English lady in the neighbourhood , for whom she formed a sudden and most absorbing attachment , which grew as the acquaintance grewand lasted until her friend returned to Europe ,
when the lonel , y and romantic child fell into such a profound depression , that her father , becoming alarmed at her silence and Inactivitydetermined to place her at a large school where she
might enj , oy the society of young persons . At first her companions were captivated with her ways ; she was always new , always surprising-, and , for a time , charming ; but , after a while , they grew
tired of her , for being naturally very loving , even infatuated in her affections , she exacted from those who professed any love for hertlie devotion she "was willing and able to bestow . _Biit her
school , -life was neither happy nor honorable : the wild wayward genius was misunderstood by the common-place people among wliom she lived , and discords , bickerings , and black shadows were
the result . Margaret returned to Cambridge Port in 1825 , at which period she was fifteen years of age . She was then in the habit of
rising a little before _Hve every morning , walking for one hour , and practising- on the piano for another . She breakfasted at seven , after Europ which e she 5 then read two Fr or ench three , Sismondi lectures in _' s Brown ' Literature ' s ' Philosop of the hy . ' South From of
half-past , nine till twelve she studied Greek with Mr . Perkins , reciting and practising again till two , wlien she dined . Two hours were devoted in the afternoon to Italian , and in the evening she wrote in
her journal , or else exercises on what she had been reading . In the following year her studies comprehended Madame de Stael , Epictetus , Milton , Racine , and Castillian ballads , while in 1827
we find her engrossed in reading the elder Italian poets , commencing with ; Berni , and ending with Pulci and Politian . Her physical development was as precocious as her mental
growth , and while still a child of thirteen , Margaret passed for eighteen or twenty , and had her place in society as a full-grown woman . With no pretensions to beauty , then , or indeed at any
time , her face was still one that attracted and awakened a lively interest , and that made one desirous of a near acquaintance , for it was a face that fascinated without satisfying . Yet she escaped we are told
the reproach of positive plainness by her blonde and abundant hair , by her excellent teeth , by her sparkling , dancing , busy eyes , which , though frequently half closed from near-sightedness , shot piercing '
glances at those with whom she conversed ; but , most of all , she attracted attention by the very peculiar and graceful carriage of her head and neck , which all who knew her well remember as the most
VOL . IV . C
Life Of Margaret Fuixer Ossoli. 17
LIFE OF MARGARET _FUIXER OSSOLI . 17
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), Sept. 1, 1859, page 17, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01091859/page/17/
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