Page:Blanchard on L. E. L.pdf/65

Rh column of praise the favour of a kind word—for the smallest service she always remembered and always overrated. But here her sinnings against "impartial judgment" end. Her failings as a critic leaned to virtue's side; and the young writer, with but a spark of the poetic fire in his lines, was as sure of a gentle sentence of appreciation and sympathy, as the established favourite was of a grateful welcome, and an honouring tribute.

In addition to these continued tasks, should be noticed her contributions to the "Annuals." From their commencement, a few years before, there was scarcely one (although every season produced its new ones) that did not secure the attraction of her initials. From several of these, such as the "Literary Souvenir," the "Forget-me-Not," &c., she derived sums considerable enough to show that it was no immutable decree of fate by which poetry and poverty had been made inseparable companions, and that in the judgment of experienced publishers, her writings retained their charm over the gentle purchaser, in spite of their profusion.

Yet L. E. L. did not, therefore, become rich; though much of her literary labour was productive, she never knew how to hoard; and those she loved and respected always shared in her good fortune—it was in her troubles only that she allowed no one, if she could help it, to be a participator. The death of her father had but served to strengthen those maternal claims which (though even here calumny did not spare her) she ever esteemed sacred; nor could she forget that her brother, younger than herself, was equally destitute of parental aid; and, although he had been sent to Oxford by his uncle, there were still wants, which it was one of the delights of her existence to