270 THE CAUSATION OF DISEASE. 



may extend far on into life. Of these notes I append the 

 following : — 



Madame de Stael, b. 1766; cl. 181 7. — Intellect very early devel- 

 oped, and remained unimpaired up to the last moment : great con- 

 versational powers, delighting intellectual men as early as 11 or 12. 

 Wrote nothing, however, of any importance till of middle age — partly 

 because of her father's objection, partly because her ideas found vent 

 in her brilliant conversations. Her chief works were : 



"Corinne" aged 39-40 



" L'Allemagne " aged 42-44 



" Dix Annees d'Exil " aged 46-47 (about) 



Eminent Women Series. 



Madame de Sevigne, b. 1626 ; d. 1696. — Bright and spirituelle 

 from a very early age. Left no works from which to judge of the 

 development of her intellect ; but from her letters, which have been 

 preserved, it is evident that her mind retained its vividness and 

 brilliancy till the end. Some of her most striking and original 

 passages are to be found in her later letters. She enjoyed excellent 

 health all her life, having had only one illness (rheumatic fever, at 

 the age of 50), besides small-pox, which killed her at the age of 70. 



Miss Thackeray, Foreign Classics. 



Maria Edgeworth, b. 1767 ; d. 1849. — Showed cleverness at an 

 early age, and retained a remarkable degree of mental activity up to 

 her death, at the age of 82. Wrote chiefly at her father's instiga- 

 tion (first attempt, " Letters to Literary Ladies," when 27), and at 

 his death gave it up almost entirely, but continued to live an active 

 busy life to the last. At the age of 70 set herself to learn a new 

 language. Her best efforts are, perhaps : 



" Castle Eackrent " aged 33 



"Ormond" aged 50 



Helen Zimmern, Eminent Women Series. 



Harriet Martineau, b. 1802 ; d. 1876. — Began to write at the age 

 of 20 (1822, chiefly essays), and continued to write voluminously 

 (articles, political, philosophic, &c, and stories for reviews and 

 magazines) till 64 years of age, when the pressure of ill-health closed 

 her literary life. Her first success was not attained till the age of 

 29 ("Illustrations of Political Economy," 1831-2). She may be 

 said to have reached the maturity of her powers about the age of 46. 



