1849-1851 j MJ SS Martineau and Mr Atkinson 129 



[Smith] gives a good deal of political chat, from her sisters 1 

 in town this morning " Dizzy," as he is called, seems to 

 be the butt of his aristocratic friends. Lord Stanley says, 

 " I can't feel I have wasted this week. I have made Dizzy 

 cut his hair." The old Duke says, " At all events we have 

 put a Jew's harp out of tune." I hope this has not been 

 told you before, for it is not worth a repetition. It is said 

 the Queen gave such a look at Dizzy, that some one who 

 observed it, said it would make him a republican for the 

 remainder of his life. . . . 



Miss Martineau's publication 2 in partnership with Mr 

 Atkinson has shocked all her friends. I saw in a letter 

 of Julia Smith's to her sister that she had not read it, 

 though it was in the house. Some people said that all that 

 was clever in it was the man's and not the woman's. I can- 

 not understand the motive that guided these two criminals 

 in the publishing their miserable theory. ... I am just 

 finishing Neander's Life of Christ, and I believe I have 

 derived good from it. I did not clearly understand his 

 reasoning on miracles, but this part did not stand in my 

 way, and I passed on, but every now and then I felt a note 

 struck which seemed to waken a spiritual sense within me. 

 Oh what a crime it is to attempt to stifle such in others ! 

 It is reported that Miss Harriet Martineau lectured to the 

 poor mountain peasants with closed doors. It might have 

 been Political Economy, but from this publication I sup- 

 pose it is thought that the subject was her desolating theory. 

 Adieu, it is 10 o'clock and the house begins to feel awfully 

 still, my love to you all. 



1 Her sisters were Mrs Nightingale, Mrs Bonham-Carter and Julia 

 Smith. 



2 " Letters on the Laws of Man's Social Nature and Development ' 

 were published in Jan., 1851. They were chiefly written by Atkinson, 

 and were severely reviewed by James Martineau, who expressed his 

 pain at finding his sister, Miss Martineau, the disciple of an avowed 

 atheist. 



