Page:Heroines of freethought (IA cu31924031228699).pdf/184

176 pains about a year ago to attend a course of lectures on this subject by Dr. Thompson, of New York, and was astonished to find how little that able man, who is said to have made it the chief study of his life, had to add to the knowledge imparted by Miss Martineau.”

But at the time (1848) when "Eastern Life” was published, it created among Miss Martineau’s friends and admirers an altogether different sort of “sensation” from that to which this writer refers. It was a sensation made up of consternation and regret at its publication.

Her theological opinions had for some years been slowly undergoing a radical change, but until the publication of this work she had never given open expression to that change; and when her former admirers found that in its pages she did not hesitate to avow her heterodox opinions, they were excessively shocked.

“Her work,” says a Christian reviewer, “is exceedingly interesting, but it is marred