and blushing. Moral Tales for Young People (5 vols.) and Early Lessons, which included “Harry and Lucy,” “Rosamond” and “Frank,” appeared in 1801.
In 1802 the Edgeworths went abroad, first to Brussels and then to Paris. They had already connexions in Paris through their kinsman, the abbé Henri Allen Edgeworth de Firmont, who was, however, then in exile. They met all the notabilities in Paris, and Maria refused an offer of marriage from a Swedish count named Edelcrantz. Although Leonora, not published until four years later, is said to have been written to meet his taste, she apparently remained then and always heart-whole; but her stepmother thought otherwise, and maintained that she suffered severely for her decision (Memoir, i. 144). Returning to Edgeworthstown, Miss Edgeworth resumed her writing, which was always done in the rooms commonly used by the whole family. Popular Tales was published in 1804, and The Modern Griselda in the same year; Leonora in 1806; and in 1809 the first series of Tales of Fashionable Life, three volumes containing “Ennui,” “Madame de Fleury,” “Almeria,” “The Dun” and “Manœuvring”; the second series (3 vols., 1812) included “The Absentee,” one of her best tales, which was originally designed as a play, “Vivian” and “Émilie de Coulanges.” In 1813 Maria and her parents spent a considerable time in London, and her society was much sought after. When Waverley was published, Miss Edgeworth received a copy from the publishers, and at once recognized the authorship. She wrote a long letter of appreciation (23rd of October 1814) to “the author of Waverley,” which she began with the phrase aut Scotus, aut diabolus, but the letter was merely acknowledged by the publishers. Patronage (4 vols., 1814), the longest of her novels, and Harrington, a tale, and Ormond, a tale (3 vols., 1817) complete the list of the works which received what her father called his imprimatur.
After his death in 1817 Miss Edgeworth occupied herself with completing his Memoirs, which were published in 1820. The book was the excuse for an attack on Mr Edgeworth’s reputation in the July number of the Quarterly Review, which Miss Edgeworth had the courage to leave unread. Her life at Edgeworthstown was varied by visits to London, to Lord Lansdowne at Bowood, Wiltshire, to the Misses Sneyd in Staffordshire, and to many other friends. In 1820 she was again in Paris, and in 1823 she spent a happy fortnight with the Scotts at Abbotsford. In 1825 Scott went to Edgeworthstown, and their relations were always cordial.
Miss Edgeworth’s production was less after her father’s death. Sequels to “Rosamond,” “Frank,” “Harry and Lucy” in the Early Lessons were published in 1822–1825. Comic Dramas appeared in 1817, and Helen in 1834. She worked to the last, and in 1846 laboured strenuously for the relief of the famine-stricken Irish peasants. She died on the 22nd of May 1849.
Miss Edgeworth’s novels are distinguished by good sense, humour and an easy flowing style. As the construction of a plot is not her strong point, she is generally more successful in tales than in lengthy novels. The vivacity of her dialogues is extraordinary; and in them her characters reveal themselves in the most natural way possible. Her books are character-studies rather than intensely interesting narratives. Sobriety of judgment is seen throughout; and passion, romance and poetry rarely, if ever, shed their lustre on her pages. Three of her aims were to paint national manners, to enforce morality, and to teach fashionable society by satirizing the lives of the idle and worldly. She expressly calls some of her stories “Moral Tales”; but they all fall under this category. In her pages the heroic virtues give place to prudence, industry, kindness and sweetness of temper. There are few instances of overwhelming emotions or tumultuous passions in her works; and it is remarkable how little the love of nature appears. She never uses material which does not yield some direct moral lesson. But the freshness of her stories, her insight into character, lively dialogues, originality of invention, and delightfully clear style render it quite possible to read her works in succession without any sense of weariness. Among the many sweet memories her unsullied pages have bequeathed to the world, not the least precious is her own noble character, which ever responded to all that is best and most enduring in human nature.
See A Memoir of Maria Edgeworth, with a Selection from her Letters (1867), by her stepmother, F. A. Edgeworth, privately printed. A selection from this was made by Augustus J. C. Hare, and printed under the title of The Life and Letters of Maria Edgeworth (2 vols., 1894). See also Maria Edgeworth (1883), by Helen Zimmern, in the “Eminent Women” series; Grace A. Oliver, A Study of Maria Edgeworth . . . (3rd ed., Boston, U.S.A., 1882); and Maria Edgeworth (1904), by the Hon. Emily Lawless in the “English Men of Letters” series. Among the numerous shorter articles dealing with Maria Edgeworth and the family circle at Edgeworthstown may be mentioned a friendly appreciation of Miss Edgeworth’s novels by George Saintsbury in Macmillan’s Magazine (July 1895), and a charming description of her family circle and surroundings in the preface supplied by Lady Thackeray Ritchie to Macmillan’s edition of the novels (1895).
EDGEWORTH, RICHARD LOVELL (1744–1817), British writer, was born at Bath on the 31st of May 1744. The greater part of his life, however, was spent at Edgeworthtown, or Edgeworthstown, in the county of Longford, Ireland, where the Edgeworth family had been settled for upwards of 150 years. He was of gentle blood—his father being the son of Colonel Francis Edgeworth, and his mother, Jane Lovell, being the daughter of Samuel Lovell, a Welsh judge. Richard’s mother taught him to read at a very early age; and from childhood he had a strong love for mechanical science. The Rev. Patrick Hughes initiated him in Lilye’s Latin Grammar—an office he also performed for Goldsmith, who was born on the property of the Edgeworths—and his public education began, in August 1752, in a school at Warwick. He subsequently attended Drogheda school, then reputed the best in Ireland; and, after spending two years at a school in Longford, entered Trinity College, Dublin, in April 1761, but was transferred to Corpus Christi College, Oxford, in October of the same year. While still at college, he made a runaway match, marrying at Gretna Green, Anna Maria, one of the daughters of Paul Elers of Black Bourton, Oxfordshire, an old friend of his father. His eldest son was born before Edgeworth reached his twentieth birthday, and his daughter Maria in 1767.
Shortly after the birth of his son, he and his wife went to Edgeworthstown, but in 1765 they took a house at Hare Hatch, near Maidenhead. Edgeworth devoted much time to scientific reading and experiments; and he made an attempt to establish telegraphic communication (Memoirs, 2nd edition, i. 144). He also invented a turnip-cutter, a one-wheeled chaise and other contrivances. In the pursuit of his mechanical inventions he visited Erasmus Darwin at Lichfield, where he met Anna Seward, and her cousin, Honora Sneyd. His home was now at Hare Hatch, in Berkshire, where he endeavoured to educate his son according to the method explained in Rousseau’s Émile. In later life, however, the ill-success of this experiment led him to doubt many of Rousseau’s views (Memoirs, ii. 374). At the same time he kept terms at the Temple, and formed the greatest friendship of his life with Thomas Day, the author of Sandford and Merton, which was written at Edgeworth’s suggestion. In 1769, on the death of his father, he gave up the idea of being a barrister; but, instead of immediately settling on his Irish estate, he spent a considerable time in England and France, mainly in Day’s company. In Lyons, where he resided for about two years, he took an active part in the management of public works intended to turn the course of the Rhone. He was summoned to England by the death of his wife (March 1773), with whom he was far from happy. Edgeworth hurried to Lichfield, to Dr Erasmus Darwin’s, and at once declared his passion for Honora Sneyd, which had been the cause of his flight to France two years before. Miss Sneyd had been the object of attention from Thomas Day, but her views on marriage were not submissive enough to please him. She had other suitors, among them the unfortunate Major André. She married Edgeworth (July 1773), and after residing at Edgeworthstown for three years, they settled at Northchurch, in Hertfordshire. After six years of domestic happiness, Honora Edgeworth died
