Life And Letters Of Maria Edgeworth/Volume 2/Letter 101

To MRS. EDGEWORTH.

EDGEWORTHSTOWN, Jan. 27, 1835.

We have been amusing ourselves with Lady Morgan's Princess, exceedingly amusing, both by its merits and its absurdities,&mdash;that harlequin princess in her blouse is wonderfully clever and preposterous,&mdash;a Belgian Corinna. Mr. Butler has detected various errors in her historical remarks and allusions, but that it is excessively entertaining nobody can deny. The hero is like one of the seven sleepers not quite awakened, or how could he avoid finding out who this woman is who pursues him in so many forms? But we must grant a romance writer a few impossibilities.

Mrs. Edgeworth adds:

Maria was always so much interested in a story that she would not stop to reason upon it. I remember when Lady Morgan's O'Donnell was being read out in the year 1815, at the scene of M'Rory's appearance in the billiard room, when Mr. Edgeworth said, "This is quite improbable;" Maria exclaimed, "Never mind the improbability, let us go on with the entertainment."