Page:Blanchard on L. E. L.pdf/226

226 more flattering testimonies of the esteem in which she was held by those whose good opinion conferred honour." And among the aristocracy were several persons, dignified alike by virtue and talent, who delighted to call her friend, and in whose esteem she was equally happy.

The reception her talents won for her in various distinguished circles, she insured to herself, to the very last, by her winningness of disposition and rectitude of conduct, and at no period of her life were such marks of kindness and appreciation conferred upon her as during the last two years of it. The election of her brother, which called forth many of these, has already been noticed, with the flattering expressions of Sir Robert Peel and Mr. Hope upon that occasion. The list might be extended to considerable length; in it would be found many illustrious names. And it should be mentioned that for no little of the interest and favour thus conferred on L. E. L., she was indebted to the generous sympathy of a lady whom she never even saw—to that kindly regard, admiration, and assistance, which talent is sure to experience from the Countess of Blessington. From a multitude of letters, by persons who could only be influenced by a high and disinterested sense of her deserts, passages of encomium might here be adduced, and woven, were it necessary, into an eulogy of which the most distinguished might be proud—that eulogy which renders the truest homage to genius, by estimating at a still higher value the moral excellence that dignifies and refines it.

It is much, to be admired and esteemed by many; it is more, to have been truly beloved by a few; and both these fortunes met in the destiny of L. E. L. It was her desert, and no more.

The qualities which claim our admiration, so far