Page:A cyclopaedia of female biography.djvu/787

 sciences, such as chemistry, geology, mineralogy, mathematics, political economy, etc. A celebrated French critic, opposed to the course in which she is engaged, acknowledges that "Miss Weber possesses the highest order of intellect, and a thorough knowledge of social and political economy."

It was while she was living in Leipzic that she began to take an interest in the cause of woman's rights; and her earliest papers on the subject were published in a periodical of that city. They excited a great deal of notice at the time. Their success induced her to undertake a series of tracts covering the whole ground of "Woman's Rights and Wrongs." The first of these was published at Leipzic in 1844, and during the next year it was succeeded by nine others, each bearing a second title and confined to one subject. Miss Weber's essays are written with singular vigour, interspersed with wit and humour. They have been widely circulated, and have done more good, perhaps, than the efforts of all the female reformers united. Her reasoning is close and perspicuous, and rarely fails to convince. These books are in pamphlet form of from ninety-six to one hundred and forty-four pages each. They were issued without the writer's name—not even an initial. The name was discovered, however, before the fifth number appeared, and Miss Weber became famous. The learned and the noble sought her acquaintance. This was the period at which she assumed male attire, being then nineteen years old.

In the spring of 1845, Miss Weber came in possession of a handsome legacy, left her by an aunt in Berlin. She then bought the farm on which she now lives, fifteen miles from Brussels, called by her "La Pelouse." It was in wretched condition, but she went energetically to work and soon put it in order; built a new house, repaired the stables and outhouses, laid out gardens and ornamented grounds, and gave the whole place an appearance of thrift and prosperity. Besides an object of occupation and interest, she has made her farm a source of profit. She oversees and directs everything in person, keeps farm-books, and conducts her operations with system. Her family, besides herself, consists of her mother, two young girls, (her cousins,) and three servants. The working people live in cottages on the farm.

Miss Weber has a fine, but rather masculine form. She is tall and well-proportioned, and in male attire, her favourite dress, she appears like an elegant young gentleman. Her face is womanly and beautiful; her manners are ladylike and easy, and no one would suppose that she was conscious of appealing in a dress differing from most of her sex. Her conversation is full of vigour and sincerity, enlivened by a natural turn for wit and humour, but marked by the most refined womanly delicacy, and a true feminine consideration for the feelings of others She numbers among her friends the great and good of both sexes.

Miss Weber is a pious and consistent churchwoman. All her books breathe a true Christian spirit In 1844 she published in Leipzic a small volume of religious poems, descriptive of the finest passages of Scripture. This volume was well received, and gained for her the flavour and personal friendship of the religious community. Besides these, she has written extensively in prose and verse for periodicals, and has delivered lectures in several of the larger German cities, as Berlin, Vienna, etc., before societies orga-