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 XIII.

("Speranza.")

1826-1896.

HERE is no doubt about Lady Wilde being a notable Irishwoman, yet, all the same, it is by no means an easy task to write even a slight sketch of her life. She was a complex and many-sided woman, holding a conspicuous place in Dublin, and afterwards in London society, as well as in the literature of her native country. Like all women of a strong and pronounced individuality, she was most attractive to some people, and equally unattractive to others.

Warm-hearted, enthusiastic, romantic, and generous, she always had an eye to theatrical effect, which was shown by her remarkable dress, by her habit of receiving her guests in partially lighted rooms, and by her style of writing, florid, grandiose, and epigrammatic; yet not without a certain charm of its own. There was nothing small or petty about Lady Wilde. Mentally and physically, she was on a large scale.