Part 5 (1/2)

In 1803, the Crawfords having decided to leave Fort William and live entirely in the country, Sydney, who had a ave up her situation, and returned to her father, as now settled near Strabane Here she occupied her leisure in writing a second novel, _The Novice of St Dominic_, in six volumes When this was completed, Mrs Lefanu advised her to take it to London herself, and arrange for its publication Quite alone, and with very little irl travelled to London, and presented herself before Sir Richard Phillips, a well-known publisher, hom she had already had some correspondence If we may believe her own testimony, Sir Richard fell an easy victim to her fascinations, and there is no doubt that he was very kind to her, introduced her to his wife, and found her a lodging Better still, he bought her book (we are not told the price), and paid her for it at once The first purchases that she s were a small Irish harp, which accompanied her thereafter wherever she went, and a black 'mode cloak' After her return to Ireland, Phillips corresponded with her, and gave her literary advice, which is interesting in so far as it shohat the reading public of that day wanted, or was supposed to want

'The world is not informed about Ireland,' wrote the publisher, 'and I aht to shi+ne I am sorry you have assumed the novel for for your u, would have secured you theAnor the other, and suits no class of readers Certainly, however, _Paul and Virginia_ would suggest a local plan; and it will be possible by writing three or four tiht months to produce ould _command_ attention' Sir Richard concluded his advice with the assurance that his correspondent had it in her to write an immortal work, if she would only labour it sufficiently, and that her _third_ copy was certain to be a enius Miss Owenson was the last person to act upon the above directions; her books read as if they were dashed off in a fine frenzy of composition

Perhaps she feared that her cherished woered by too close an attention to accuracy and style

The _Novice_, which appeared in 1804, was better than _St

Clair_, but such success as it enjoyedscarcity of first-rate, or even second-rate novelists, rather than to its own intrinsic merits The public taste in fiction was not fastidious, and could s long-winded discussions and sentimental rhodomontade with an appetite that now seems almost incredible The _Novice_ is said to have been a favourite with Pitt in his last illness, but if this be true, the fact points rather to the decay of the statesman's intellect than to the literary value of the book Still the author was tasting all the sweets of fame She was much in request as a literary celebrity, and somebody had actually written for peres from her two books for publication in a work called _The Morality of English Novels_

In the sae in six _Familiar Epistles_ was published in Dublin So cruel and venomous were these epistles that one actor, Edwin, is believed to have died of chagrin at the attack upon his reputation An answer to the libel presently appeared, which was signed S O, and has been generally attributed to Sydney Owenson The _Familiar Epistles_ were believed to be the work of John Wilson Croker, then young and unknown, and it nity hich that critic pursued Lady Morgan was due to this early crossing of swords

Sydney herself was fond of hinting that Croker, in his obscure days, had paid her attentions which she, as a successful author, had not cared to encourage, and that wounded vanity was at the bottoaged was, if not her best, the one by which she is best known, nareater part of this ritten while she was staying with Sir Malby Crofton at Longford House, from whose family, as has been seen, she claimed to be descended Miss Crofton sat for the portrait of the heroine, and hbourhood About the sas which were published under the title of _The Lay of the Irish Harp_ She thus anticipated Moore, and other explorers in this field, for which fact Moore at least gives her credit in the preface to his own collection She was not a poet, but she wrote one ballad, 'Kate Kearney,' which becaotten

The story of _The Wild Irish Girl_ is said to have been founded upon an incident in the author's own life A young man named Everard had fallen in love with her, but as he ild, idle, and penniless, his father called upon her to beg her not to encourage him, but to use her influence to make him stick to his work Sydney behaved so well in the matter that the elder Mr Everard desired to h his offer was not accepted, he remained her staunch friend and admirer The 'local colour' in the book is carefully worked up; indeed, in the present day it would probably be thought that the story was overweighted by the account of local manners and customs

Phillips, alarmed at the liberal principles displayed in the work, which he thought would be distasteful to English patriots, refused at first to give the author her price To his horror and indignation Miss Owenson, whoarded as his own particular property, instantly sent the manuscript to a rival bookseller, Johnson, who published for Miss Edgeworth Johnson offered 300 for the book, while Phillips had only offered 200 down, and 50 on the publication of the second and third editions respectively The latter, however, was unable to make up his mind to lose the treasure, and after s, he finally wrote to Miss Owenson:--

'DEAR BEWITCHING AND DELUDING SYKEN,--Not being able to part fronaniotiations], the 300 It will be long before I forgive you! At least not till I have got back the 300 and another 100 along with it' Then follows a passage which proves that the literary market, in those days at any rate, was not overstocked: 'If you know any poor bard--a real one, no pretender--I will give hiazine_ I will also give for prose couineas a sheet'

_The Wild Irish Girl_, whose title was suggested by Peter Pindar, made a hit, more especially in Ireland, and the author woke to find herself famous She became known to all her friends as 'Glorvina,' the naolden bodkin, and the Glorvina mantle became fashi+onable in Dublin The book was bitterly attacked, probably by Croker, in the _Freeman's Journal_, but the best bit of criticiseworth to Miss Owenson 'Maria,' he says, 'who reads as well as she writes, has entertained us with several passages froht superior to any parts of the book I had read Upon looking over her shoulder, I found she had omitted some superfluous epithets Dared she have done this if you had been by? I think she would; because your good sense and good taste would have been instantly her defenders' It ained by the like treatment

In an article called 'My First Rout,' which appeared in _The Book of the Boudoir_ (published in 1829), Lady Morgan describes a party at Lady Cork's, where she was lionised by her hostess, the other guests having been invited to ht up and introduced to Miss Owenson with a running corain of salt, is worth transcribing:--

'Lord Erskine, this is the Wild Irish Girl you were so anxious to meet I assure you she talks quite as well as she writes Now, my dear, do tell Lord Erskine some of those Irish stories you told us at Lord Charleville's Mrs Abington says you would make a famous actress, she does indeed This is the duchess of St Albans--she has your _Wild Irish Girl_ by heart Where is Sheridan? Oh, here he is; what, you know each other already? _Tant mieux_ Mr Lewis, do come forward; this is Monk Lewis, of whom you have heard so hty You know Mr Gell; he calls you the Irish Corinne Your friend, Mr Moore, will be here by-and-by Do see, somebody, if Mrs Siddons and Mr

Kemble are come yet Now pray tell us the scene at the Irish baronet's in the Rebellion that you told to the ladies of Llangollen; and then give us your blue-stocking dinner at Sir Richard Phillips'; and describe the Irish priests'

At supper Sydney was placed between Lord Erskine and Lord Carysfort, and was just beginning to feel at her ease when Mr Kemble was announced Mr Ke, and had paid toodown opposite Miss Owenson, he fixed her with an intense and glassy stare Unfortunately, her hair, which she wore in the fashi+onable curly 'crop,' aroused his curiosity Stretching unsteadily across the table, he suddenly, to quote her oords, 'struck his claws intoirl, where did you buy your wig?”' Lord Erskine hastily came to the rescue, but Kemble, rendered peevish by his interference, took a volume of _The Wild Irish Girl_ out of his pocket, and after reading aloud one of the irl, why did you write such nonsense, and where did you get all those hard words?' Sydney delighted the co out the truth: 'Sir, I wrote as well as I could, and I got the hard words out of Johnson's Dictionary'

That Kemble spoke the truth in his cupssentence, which is a fair saeneral style of the book: 'With a character tinctured with the brightest colouring of ro his son, the hero], but marked by indelible traces of innate rectitude, and ennobled by the purest principles of native generosity, the proudest sense of inviolable honour, I beheld hiood, incredulous of its latent evils, till, fatally entangled in the spells of the latter, he fell an early victim to their successful allurements'

_The Wild Irish Girl_ was followed by _Patriotic Sketches_ and a volume of poems, for which Sir Richard Phillips offered 100 before he read them A little later, in 1807, an operetta called _The First Attempt_, or the _Whim of the Moment_, the libretto by Miss Owenson and the music by T Cooke, was performed at the Dublin Theatre The Duke of Bedford, then Lord-Lieutenant, attended in state, the duchess wore a Glorvina bodkin, and the entertainarrison and all the liberal members of the Irish bar The little piece, in which Mr Owenson acted an Irish character, was played for several nights, and brought its author the handsome sum of 400 This, however, seems to have been Sydney's first and last attempt at dramatic composition

The family fortunes had ione out as a governess, becaed to Dr, afterwards Sir Arthur Clarke, a plain, elderly little gentleood house and a comfortable income, he was able to offer a home to Mr Owenson and to the faithful Molly For the present, Sydney, though always on excellent terms with her brother-in-law, preferred her independence She established herself in lodgings in Dublin, and made the most of the position that her works had won for her Her flirtations and indiscretions provided the toith plenty of occasion for scandal, and there is a tradition that one strictly proper old lady, on being asked to chaperon Miss Owenson to the Castle, replied that when Miss Owenson wore more petticoats and less paint she would be happy to do so Yet another tradition has been handed down to the effect that Miss Owenson appeared at one of the Viceregal balls in a dress, the bodice of which was trimmed with the portraits of her rejected lovers!

Fore our heroine's admirers at this time was Sir Charles Ormsby, KC, then ood deal older than Sydney, but if there was no actual engage' between the pair

In May, 1808, Miss Owenson was on a visit to the Dowager Lady Stanley of Alderley at Penrhos (one of the new friends her celebrity had gained for her), whence she wrote a sentimental epistle to Sir Charles Ormsby The Sir John Stanley mentioned in the letter was the husband of Maria Josepha Holroyd, to whoure and person of Lady Stanley are inimitable,' writes Sydney

'Vandyck would have estih old, her manners, her mind, and her conversation are all of the best school

Sir John Stanley is a lish reserve; but orn off, I never , more independent in its reflections, more profound or s like you; I am convinced he has loved as you love We sat up till two this”Deep in Love” so often forit' The letter concludes with the words, '_Aimons toujours comme a l'ordinaire_' The pair , and their intian preserved to the end of her days a packet of love-letters indorsed, 'Sir Charles Montague Ormsby, Bart, one of the reeable persons, and ugliest men of his day'

The summer of this year, 1808, Miss Owenson spent in a round of visits to country-houses, and in working, amid many distractions, at her Grecian novel, _Ida of Athens_ After the first voluht at some of the opinions therein expressed, and refused to proceed further with the work It was then accepted by Longmans, who, however, were somewhat alarmed at what they considered the Deistical principles and the taint of French philosophy that ran through the book Ida is a houri and a woenius, who dresses in a tissue of woven air, has a taste for philosophical discussions, and a talent for getting into perilous situations, fro sense of propriety invariably delivers her This book was the subject of adverse criticism in the first nu, it is believed, Miss Owenson's old enemy, Croker As a work of art, the novel was certainly a just object of ridicule, but the personalities by which the review is disfigured were unworthy of a responsible critic

'The language,' observes the reviewer, 'is an inflated jargon, composed of terms picked up in all countries, and wholly irreducible to any ordinary rules of grammar and sense The sentiate in principle, licentious and irreverent in the highest degree' The first part of this accusation was only too well founded, but the licentiousness of which Lady Morgan's works were invariably accused in the _Quarterly Review_, can only have existed in the mind of the reviewer One cannot but shly-spiced fiction an's novels by these notices, and how bitterly they must have been disappointed The review in question concludes with the re-book, a pocket-dictionary, exchange her raptures for coather a few precepts of huht hope to prove, not indeed a good writer of novels, but a useful friend, a faithful wife, a tender mother, and a respectable and happy hly characteristic of the days when the _Quarterly_ was regarded as an a but frivolous, not to say flippant, publication