riends as she had, she had no reason to look upon
herself as one who was neither understood nor appreciated. Yet her
heart, which instinctively sought the empire of universal love, may have
been grieved at the indifference and dislike which she sometimes
encountered. Those who know how, in some circles, her name became a
watchword for all that was eccentric and pretentious in the womanhood of
her day, will smile or sigh at the contrast between the portraitures of
Margaret given in the volumes of the memoir and the caricature of her
which was current in the mind of the public at large.

These remarks anticipate the pains and distinctions of a later period.
For the present let us confine our attention to the happy days at
Cambridge, which Margaret may not have recognized as such, but which
must have seemed bright to her when contrasted with the years of labor
and anxiety which followed them.

Mr. Clarke tells us that Margaret and he began the study of the German
language in 1832, moved thereunto by Thomas Carlyle's brilliant
exposition of the merits of leading German authors. In three months'
time Margaret had acquired easy command of the language, and within the
year had read the most important works of Goethe and Schiller, with the
writings also of Tieck, Koerner, Richter, and Novalis. Extracts from her
letters at this time show that this extensive reading was neither hasty
nor superficial.

She finds herself happier in the companionship of Schiller than in that
of Goethe, of whom she says, "That perfect wisdom and merciless reason
seem cold after those seducing pictures of forms more beautiful than
truth." The "Elective Affinities" suggests to her various critical
questions, but does not carry her away with the sweep of its interest.
From "the immense superiority of Goethe" she finds it a relief to turn
to the simplicity of Novalis, "a wondrous youth, who has written only
one volume," and whose "one-sidedness, imperfection, and glow seem
refreshingly human" to her. Koerner becomes a fixed star in the heaven of
her thought. Lessing interests her less. She credits him with the
production of "well conceived and sustained characters and interesting
situations," but not with any profound knowledge of human nature. "I
think him easily followed; strong, but not deep."

This was with Margaret, as Dr. Hedge has well observed, the period of
romance. Her superiority to common individuals appeared in the fact that
she was able