Page:Poetical works of Mathilde Blind.djvu/29

 Rh mother, attentive to her intellectual development, kept ordinary cares and incidents aloof from her, the general atmosphere of revolt which must inevitably pervade a society of political refugees. In such a society admiration must necessarily be reserved for audacity in enterprise, fortitude in adversity, the enthusiasm of self-sacrificing patriotism, or what was so esteemed, anything breathing unconquerable defiance of the powers that were. The conversation of the exiles of many nationalities who frequented the house, some men of high capacity and distinguished achievement, and none without their fragment of romance and tale of sufferings deserved or undeserved, must have powerfully stimulated her imagination, and endowed her with a premature knowledge of the world, and ideas and ideals unknown to most maidens of such tender years.

Late in life, Mathilde Blind began an autobiography, of which, unfortunately, little remains. It would seem to have been intended to commence with her earliest recollections; but, if these were ever committed to paper, the manuscript is lost or has perished. It is not easy to determine its contemplated extent or its precise purpose. To judge by what remains, it was not intended as a complete history of her life. Family circumstances are never alluded to, and the object would rather seem to have been to touch upon such incidents only as she felt to be significant for her moral and intellectual development. It is not, like some famous autobiographies, a blending of Dichtung imd Wahrheit; every circumstance related appears to be strictly matter-of-fact. The persons introduced are undoubtedly real, but their names are, with few exceptions, fictitious. Mathilde herself figures as "Alma." The portions preserved, relating solely to her early life as a schoolgirl in England and as a traveller