Page:A cyclopaedia of female biography.djvu/433

 Mrs. Jameson next visited America, going directly from New York to Toronto, Upper Canada, where she passed the winter. Her husband had been stationed for many years in Canada; she had not seen him since her marriage; it has been said that they parted at the altar; but the painful circumstance that they only met as acquaintances, not even as friends, was too well known to require an apology for stating it here. "Winter Studies and Summer Rambles," is the title of the work published in 1838, in which Mrs. Jameson records her observations on Canada and the United States, as far as she travelled.

In 1840, she produced a translation of the dramas of the Princess Amelia of Saxony, under the title of "Pictures of the Social Life of Germany;" and in 1842, "A Handbook to the Public Galleries of Art in and near London;" after this, in 1844, came a second work of the same nature, entitled "A Companion to the Private Galleries of Art in London;" and shortly afterwards a series of biographical notices of the early Italian painters from Cimabue to Bassano. In 1846, this indefatigable, accomplished, and versatile author gave to the world a volume of "Memoirs and Essays," being a series of papers chiefly on the fine arts and artists; and in 1848, appeared the first portion of a most important and laborious work illustrative of "Sacred and Legendary Art;" this comprised legends of scriptural characters, and of those who lived, or were supposed to have done so, in the early ages of Christianity. The second portion was entitled "Legends of the Monastic Orders;" and the third "Legends of the Madonna;" the former appeared in 1850, and the latter in 1852. These volumes throw much light upon the religious ideas of the middle ages; they are full of curious and interesting lore, and are richly illustrated by sketches and etchings copied from ancient missals and other scarce books, by the author. "A Common-place Book of Thoughts, Memories, and Fancies, Original and Selected," was Mrs. Jameson's next contribution to literature; it is divided into two parts—one on "Ethics and Characters," and the other on "Literature and Art;" and exhibits to great advantage the fine taste, extensive reading, and indefatigable industry of its compiler, and, to some extent, author.

On the 14th. of February, 1855, Mrs. Jameson delivered a lecture on works of mercy and benevolence to a female audience, which was afterwards published under the title of "Sisters of Charity Abroad and at Home;" it is a small book, but few will deny its importance. Reading this, and the other works of the author, we may well say in the words of a recent biographer of this highly-talented lady:—"A spirit of intense sympathy with her own sex does indeed run, like a golden vein, through the writings of Mrs. Jameson, whatever be their subject or aim; and her reverence for the good and great—her pity for the erring among them—her honest joy at their successes and regret for their failures, characterize her not less admirably as a woman, than do the brilliant qualities of her enlightened and elevated mind as an author."

Mrs. Jameson has an earnest and loving admiration for genius, a discriminating sense of the benefits it confers upon the world, and an unselfish eagerness to point out its merits and services. All this is seen in her very pleasing descriptions of the many celebrated men and women she had encountered. She has a deep sense of the dignity of her own sex; she seeks to elevate woman,