the place of her subsequent residence had not been learned; and that she was not even supposed to be living. Thus the subject was dropped; for to Miss Baillie herself Mrs. Radcliffe could address nothing but protestations, which could not prove a negative, and which might be held intrusive; as there was no reason to suppose that that lady had ever credited the report. It was utterly untrue. The whole conduct of Mrs. Radcliffe must have shown that she was incapable, not only of seeking, but of desiring any illegitimate fame, of any indirect means of increasing the praise which she could not fail to know was given to her writings. She had within her reach abundance of such means. It is within the knowledge of persons yet alive, that care was taken, and solicitations used, to prevent the issuing of any factitious commendation. O grant me honest fame, or grant me none!' was never more sincerely wished than by her. The delusion which persuades some to be gratified by praises prompted by themselves, or on their behalf, was matter of astonishment to her at all times; and as to pecuniary profit, a silence of more than twenty years has shown how little she was inclined to make even a fair demand for that. Is it credible, that a person, favoured as she was with genuine esteem, should resort to a desperate and abandoned adventure, which, after a few weeks or days of stolen fame, must expose her to a life of disgrace? For she could not expect that the author of the Dramas, however little inclined to make an unprovoked appropriation of them, would suffer them to be claimed by another. There was not the slightest pretence for the impu tation. No person ever asked Mrs. Radcliffe if she was the author of the Dramas; it was never hinted to her that they were conjectured to be hers; she never knew the report, except from Miss S.'s letters: she therefore could not give it even the indirect encouragement of designedly omitting to contradict it.

"I have been tedious upon this subject, but it was a great one with the deceased; and if it be possible that her spirit,

here, may this asseveration of her innocence, solemnly made on her behalf, be one of its feeblest gratifications!

"The other uneasiness alluded to was very slight, in comparison with this. A note added to one of the letters of the late Mrs. Carter was the occasion of it. The letter, as far as I recollect, (the book is not now near me,) had mentioned Mrs. Radcliffe's writings with praise. The note says, that 'Mrs. Carter had no personal acquaintance with Mrs. Radcliffe.' This is strictly true; but as the remark may be misunderstood to imply that Mrs. Carter had rejected, or avoided, or would have rejected, or avoided, that acquaintance, it cannot be improper to show that she had in some measure sought it. The following short correspondence is sufficient upon the subject:

"If Mrs. Radcliffe is not engaged, Mrs. Carter will have the pleasure of calling upon her about twelve o'clock tomorrow morning.'

"Mrs. Radcliffe is extremely sorry that an engagement to go into the country to-morrow, for some time, on account of Mr. R's state of health, which is very critical, will deprive her of the honour intended her by Mrs. Carter; for which she requests Mrs. C. to believe that she has a full and proper respect.'

"There is no date to either of these notes; but that of Mrs. Carter enclosed the following letter:

"Dear Madam,

"Bath, April 18th, 1799.

"I venture to give you this trouble, at the request of Mrs. Carter, whose admirable talents, and far more admirable virtues, are too well known to need any introduction from me. She very much wishes to have the pleasure of knowing you; and will deliver this letter, if she has the good fortune of finding you at home. As I am persuaded the acquaintance

must afford mutual satisfaction, I could not refuse the request with which Mrs. Carter honoured me; though it is made on the supposition of my having some degree of interest with you, to which I have no claim, except from the very sincere admiration I have ever felt for your talents, and the regard and esteem with which I am, dear Madam,

""Your obliged and affectionate humble servant, "H. M. BOWDLER.'

"P. S. If Mrs. Carter does not deliver this letter herself, she will, I believe, take an early opportunity of waiting on you, with a very amiable friend of mine, Miss Shipley, who has promised to carry her in her carriage.'

my

"I intreat you to excuse the length of communication on these subjects, in consideration of the feelings with which it is unavoidably made. In other respects, the reception which Mrs. Radcliffe experienced far exceeded her hopes. Praise, unsolicited praise, reached her ear, directly or indirectly, from professed critics, from some of the first scholars of the age, and even from statesmen, whose attention she had little expected to excite. Of censure she had as small a share as could be, considering her distinction; and that, too, chiefly from the writers of other novels or romances, whose candour upon the subject may be suspected; since it is certain that no writer of fictitious narrative is required, otherwise than by his or her own motives, to deliver an opinion upon contemporaries. She never spoke of their writings, except when she could have the delight, which she often had, of expressing admiration; or when, indeed, she had the other entertainment, of observing that those who betrayed a wish to expel her violently from the field of literature, or at least to close it roughly against her as she retired, seldom failed to imitate her in one part of their works, after having endeavoured to proscribe her by another. If these had been only the feeble, they might be pitied, or unnoticed: but there were others;

degree of temptation determines in some measure the degree of an offence, so the poverty of their hearts must be nearly in proportion to the greatness of their talents. Had there been any unworthy intention, or tendency, in her writings, there can be few classes of composition in which it would not be meritorious to reprobate them: but it is beyond dispute that her works were never injurious to morality; and that their tendency, however feeble in this respect, was often to promote benevolent moderation in prosperity, and pious confidence under affliction.

The following is a list of Mrs. Radcliffe's works, nearly, we believe, in the order in which they were published:

The Castles of Athlin and Dumblaine.

The Sicilian Romance.

The Romance of the Forest.

A Journey through Holland, in the Year 1793.

The Mysteries of Udolpho.

The Italians.

We understand that Mrs. Radcliffe left several manuscripts, some of them in a fit state for the press; but we do not know whether or not the public may expect the gratification of their perusal.

No. V.

MR. ROBERT BLOOMFIELD.

If ever there was an instance of poetical genius triumphing over every possible disadvantage and difficulty, it was in the case of the amiable, but eventually unfortunate subject of the present memoir. We are not aware that our annals afford any precedent of a writer doing so much, with so little assistance from art or accident. Dodsley, though once in a menial capacity, had subsequently an opportunity of cultivating his talents by an association with the wits of his age; Bruce, the son of a poor weaver, and Burns, himself a ploughman, were born and lived in a country, in which poverty is little or no bar to the acquisition of learning; the education of Chatterton was not wholly neglected; and Falconer, who, as it is believed, was bred a common sailor, must evidently have had friends who attended to his earlier years. But of Robert Bloomfield, whose name posterity will rank with some of those we have mentioned, the following is the simple and concise history:

He was born the third of December, 1766, and was the youngest child of George Bloomfield, a taylor, at Honington, a village between Euston and Troston, about eight miles N.E. of Bury St. Edmund's, in Suffolk. Robert lost his father when he was about six months old. His mother, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Manby, was a pious and exemplary woman. She was the village schoolmistress, and instructed her own children with the others. Little Robert thus learned to read as soon as he learned to speak. As his mother, though left a widow with six small children, was desirous,