whom he had known from her childhood, and whose education he had superintended."

LETTERS FROM MANSELL REYNOLDS, ESQ., TO LADY BLESSINGTON. "Hillan House, St. Helen's, Jersey, March, 1847.

"MY DEAR LADY BLESSINGTON,-After having so recently seen you, and being so powerfully and so painfully under the influence of a desire never again to place the sea between me and yourself and circle, I feel almost provoked to find how much this place suits me in every physical respect. But truth is truth, and certainly I feel that this place is made for me; for illness has effected greater inroads on my strength than all the doctors in the land' can ever repair.

"You and Count D'Orsay speak kindly and cheerfully to me; but I am un malade imaginaire, for I do not fear death; on the contrary, I rather look to it as my only hope of secure and lasting tranquillity.

“In the lull which has hitherto accompanied my return to this delicious climate, I have had time and opportunity for ample retrospection, and I find that we have both laid in a stock of regard for Count D'Orsay which is immeasurable: any body so good-natured and so kind-hearted I never before saw; it seems to me that it should be considered an inestimable privilege to live in his society. When you write to me, pray be good enough to acquaint me whether you have been told verbatim what a lady said on the subject; for praise so natural, hearty, and agreeable was never before uttered in a soliloquy, which her speech really was, though I was present at the time.

"At the risk of repeating, I really must tell it to you. After Count D'Orsay's departure from our house, there was a pause, when it was broken by exclaiming, 'What a very nice man!' nice man!' I assented in my own mind, but I was pursuing also a chain of thought of my own, and I made no audible reply. Our ruminations then proceeded, when mine were once more interrupted by her saying, 'In fact, he is the nicest man I ever saw.'

"This is a pleasant avowal to me, I thought, but still I could not refrain from admitting she was right. Then again, for a third time, the mental machinery of both went to work in silence, until that of the lady reached a ne plus ultra stage of admiration, and she ejaculated in an ecstasy, 'Indeed, he is the nicest man that can possibly be !'

"The progress of this unconsciously expressed panegyric from the modest positive to the rhapsodical superlative struck me as extremely amusing, and I only now derive pleasure from repeating it to you because it is literally true, and utterly unembellished by me.

"I have written to Heath on the subject of the 'Royal' Book of Beauty, to endeavor to dissuade him from the use of an epithet so vulgarized, and to induce him to substitute the word 'Regal,' ever entirely putting aside your association with a title in such bad taste.

"With our kindest and most affectionate regards to yourself and Count

D'Orsay, and also to the Misses Power, believe me, my dear Lady Blessington, always most faithfully yours, MANSELL REYNOLDS."

"St. Helen's, Jersey, March 30th, 1849.

"What has been determined with regard to the Annuals? Will they be continued? If they be, and you still think that I am capable of rendering you any assistance, it is scarcely necessary for me to state that I am now, as always, considerably at your service.

“Only the other day I was re-reading one of your last biographies, and I repeat to you, what I previously stated, that the improvement you have made in the art. and tone of composition since I first had the pleasure and honor of becoming acquainted with you is really wonderful.

"MANSELL REYNOLDS."

CHAPTER XVI.

DR. WILLIAM BEATTIE, M.D.

ONE of the most valued friends of Lady Blessington, in whose worth, moral and intellectual, she placed the highest confidence, was the author of "The Heliotrope," Dr. William Beattie. I had the good fortune to be the means of making Lady Blessington acquainted with Dr. Beattie.

In 1833, on the occasion of a morning call at Gore House, while waiting for her ladyship, I found a volume lying on the drawing-room table of newly-published Poems, without the author's name, entitled "The Heliotrope, or the Pilgrim in Search of Health, in Italy." The volume was a presentation copy to Lady Blessington, with these words on the fly-leaf: "I too have been in Arcadia.' I had time, before the appearance of Lady Blessington, to read several poems at the commencement of the volume, and was greatly struck with the harmony of the versification, the elegance of style, the evident kindliness of nature, and amiability of disposition manifested in them. I inquired of Lady Blessington if she knew any thing of the author, and was informed she had no knowledge of him whatever. Some days subsequently, I proceeded to the publishers in the Strand, and expressed a desire to know the author of "The Heliotrope. I was told the author had no intention of making his name known; he had intimated, in the Preface to the volume recent

ly published, his purpose, if the work was favorably received, of completing the poem in another volume; but as the work was not pushed on public attention, and did not sell, the author had given up all idea of continuing it. I obtained a loan of the volume from Lady Blessington, and perused the entire poem with attention. After that perusal, my impression was so strong as to the merits of this poem (over-modestly introduced to the public), that I addressed a letter to the author, to the care of his publisher, encouraging him to proceed with his performance to its completion, and counseling him, so far from being disheartened by the bad reception given to his first volume, to rest assured of ultimate success. In return, I had a gratifying

letter from the author, and subsequently a visit, and was indebted to my communication for a friend, whose friendship from that time to the present has been to me a source of uninterrupted satisfaction.

"The Heliotrope" was cast upon the waters by author and publisher without any apparent anxiety about its fate-to sink or swim on the stream of current literature, as it might please the stars of criticism: no effort was made for its success or safety. Two of the leading periodicals of the time, however, discerned the merits of this poem, and did justice to them.*

Dr. Beattie is a native of Scotland. While he was at school he had the misfortune to lose his father. That loss, the result of an accident, was the beginning of severe family trials; "and from that hour," to use Dr. Beattie's words in reference to his own career, "the battle of life commenced, and has ever since continued."

* The "Metropolitan Magazine" said of it: "Every line in this book is written in the language of poetry; every expression is idiomatic of the Muses. Cadences can not be sweeter, nor verse more polished. The author has dipped his right hand in the waves of the Heliconian fount, and has drawn it forth strengthened with the waters glittering fresh upon it. He has caught the sweetest echo of the spirit of poetry, when she sings her most dulcet song in her secluded shades." The "Athenæum” said of it: "The faults of this poem are few, and the beauties numerous; among the beauties are a manly vigor of sentiment, and an elevation and flow of language. The picture of the fallen condition of Genoa is masterly. The destruction of Pompeii is well described. The eye of the poet and the hand of the painter unite in these fine stanzas.”

But one observation of his, in regard to that career, every one who knows him must dissent from: "All I am entitled to say of myself may be comprised in four words: 'Laboriose vixi nihil agendo."" Dr. Beattie has led a life of labor and anxiety, never wearying of doing good to others; and in that respect he might indeed say,

"I count myself in nothing else so happy."

His life has been an exemplification of the theory of the duty of benevolence, inculcated in the words of Shakspeare: "We are born to do benefits."*

"There are many members of our profession who, although not eminently distinguished in strictly professional circles, nor even in medical science or practice, have nevertheless exhibited talent of no ordinary kind in collateral pursuits, and the gentleman whose name heads this notice is one of such. Dr. Beattie was educated at Clarencefield Academy between the years 1807–13, and from the latter period to 1820 studied at the University of Edinburgh, where he took his degree. He pursued his studies in London in 1822, and subsequently, in the years. 1823, 24, 25, and 26, made the tour of Europe, visiting France, Italy, Germany, &c., and acquainting himself with the various modes of practice and theories taught in the most celebrated Continental schools. We may judge, therefore, that he was eminently qualified for the post he afterward filled for eight years -that of physician to the Duke and Duchess of Clarence, whom he attended during their three visits at foreign courts."

The writer of the preceding passage in an eminent medical periodical has omitted to state the royal remuneration received by Dr. Beattie for his eight years' assiduous attendance on his late majesty, when Duke of Clarence, and on the duchess, the late Queen Adelaide. The amount does not require many figures to specify it—a cipher, in the form of a circle, will express it. He was a wise physician, and had much dealings, no doubt, with royal English dukes and German princesses, who said of his royal clientèle, "Dum dolent solvent.'

Dr. Beattie commenced practice in London in 1830.

Timon of Athens, Act. I., Sc. 2.

He is a

graduate of the University of Edinburgh, and a member of the Royal College of Physicians of London. His practice has been very extensive, and highly advantageous and profitable to the poor and the unfortunate who have seen better days; to indigent clergymen, artists, actors, authors, and literati of all grades. Dr. Beattie belongs to a class of men who, having become renowned for their benevolence, malgré eux, are looked upon by all their friends in all their troubles as having a special mission given them to spend their time, and to be spent in alleviating human sufferings.

"The Heliotrope, or Pilgrim in Pursuit of Health,” in two cantos, comprising Liguria, Campania, and Calabria, was written in Italy in 1823–4, and published in 1833 in 1 vol. 12mo. A second edition, in four cantos (the two last comprising "Sicily" and "The Lipari Islands"), under the title of "The Pilgrim in Italy, with other Poems," appeared in 184. "John Huss," a poem, was published in 1829. "Polynesia," a poem, appeared in 1839. "The Courts of Germany," visited in 1822, 25, and 26, in two vols. 8vo, appeared in 1827.

A series of splendidly-illustrated works-the letter-press by Dr. Beattie, the engravings chiefly from drawings on the spot by the late W. H. Bartlett-historical, topographical, and descriptive of scenery and inhabitants-was commenced in 1836, with the publication of "Switzerland," in 2 vols. 4to. This was followed by "Scotland," in 2 vols. 4to, 1838; and next, “The Waldenses," 1 vol. 4to, 1838; then "The Castles and Abbeys," in 2 vols. 4to, 1839; "The Ports and Harbors," in 2 vols. 4to, 1839; “The Danube," in 1 vol. 4to, 1844. Another illustrated work, entitled "Historical Memoirs of Eminent Conversationists," was subsequently produced by the same publishers, but Dr. Beattie only contributed a portion of the Memoirs.

In 1838, one of those publications made its appearance to which Campbell was induced to give his name as editor, and not his labors: “Campbell's Scenic Annual for 1838, containing thirty-six exquisitely finished Engravings of the most remarkable Scenes in Europe, &c., with a rich fund of Literary Matter corresponding with each Subject, and comprising Original Poetry