brity was determined. Even then, probably, her mind was imbued with those feelings and impressions which combined to mould her genius, and induce it into that channel, along which it afterwards ran with so strong a current. Amid those scenes there was every ingredient to excite and influence the thoughts of the young poet. In that locality were to be found ancient structures, wild and picturesque forms of nature, containing every element of beauty, and animated by all possible alternations of climate. The romantic legend was also heard; for in the vicinity Wallace wandered an outcast amid every privation, was there at last betrayed, and hurried thence to an ignominious death; a tale, doubtless, peculiarly impressive to Joanna, from its own intrinsic interest, and from the connection of the hero with her race. Exciting associations of a later date also existed there; for on that spot was fought the battle by which the civil and religious liberties of Scotland were for a time overthrown. Martyrs for that church, of which her father was a minister, had stained with their blood the waters of the river familiar to her eye. Superstitious tales were, without doubt, likewise in great abundance supplied there to thrill the imaginative child with horror, and fix themselves indelibly on her mind. That these various impressions were strong and pervading, may be concluded from Joanna's works; in which are predominantly marked a love and knowledge of external nature with all its various forms and hues, an attachment to ancient legend, indignation against tyranny and oppression, with a frequent recurrence to the terrific and supernatural.

A custom existed in those days, and one especially connected with the situation of Joanna's father, which gave exercise to the faculty she naturally possessed for the observation of character; and, perhaps, afforded her through life material for many combinations, though the sources from which they were derived might not be traced even by herself. In the kitchens of the Scotch gentry way-worn travellers were hospitably received and entertained, while that of the

manse was laid under peculiar contribution for those purposes; by which custom many strange adventures and strongly marked characters must have been displayed. The early store of incident and the knowledge of human nature thus obtained would be further increased by the duties and habits belonging to the daughters of the minister. They visited the neighbouring cottages, conversed with the inhabitants, and afforded to the sick and needy succour on occasions when concealment disappears and the genuine emotions of the breast are laid bare.

The beauty of the scenery and the various occupations the place afforded, appealing strongly to Joanna's peculiar tendencies, perhaps combined to make learning more than usually irksome to her. Certain it is she was by no means a proficient in acquisition from books, either at Bothwell, or during some time after quitting that locality. A considerably longer period than usual elapsed before she could be taught to read,-a power not perfectly attained by her till she had reached her tenth year, the final consummation of which, in some degree, arose from her companionship with her brother in his lessons, and the fear she felt of school, with which, on account of her backwardness, she was threatened. It appears, however, that her sister was chiefly instrumental in overcoming her reluctance to learning, and stimulating her youthful fancy.

""Twas thou who wooed'st me first to look

Upon the page of printed book,

That thing by me abhorr'd, and with address
Didst win me from my thoughtless idleness,
When all too old become with bootless haste
In fitful sports the precious time to waste.
Thy love of tale and story was the stroke
At which my dormant fancy first awoke,
And ghosts and witches in my busy brain
Arose in sombre show, a motley train."*

There must, nevertheless, have been early proofs of great shrewdness and talent in Joanna, for, notwithstanding her tardiness in study, she was considered among her companions a very clever child,—an opinion also

* Lines to Agnes Baillie on her birthday.

entertained in her own family, which appears from the following anecdotes. Her sister had great facility of acquirement in her childhood and through her whole life. She had a quick apprehension in reading, and an excellent memory, which supplied her with a variety of information ever ready for production. This facility on her part, and the obtuseness of Joanna at her books, made Agnes conceive she was greatly her sister's superior, until she heard her father say, "Agnes is very well, but Joanna is the flower of our flock." Upon another occasion the just opinion of her father was manifested. Whilst her brother was at school, a very appropriate theme for poetry, the seasons, was given him, upon which he was required to compose verses. The boy was in great consternation, and felt that the construction of rhyme was wholly beyond his powers. His father, upon witnessing his despair, said, "Joanna will do it for you;" and he was right, for two couplets were composed immediately. This must have occurred before she could read with ease.

When Joanna was at the age of six, her father was appointed to the collegiate church of Hamilton, and the family removed to that town. The circle of society was there much enlarged; and Joanna, who profited in her early youth by all sources of knowledge except books, reaped considerable benefit from the information around her. She has been described by one of her companions at that time as a lively active girl, a great romp, ever happy, and in the full enjoyment of all the liberty which was then usually allowed to children. Her power of invention was beginning to develop itself, and was much remarked. She astonished her young playmates with the multitude of wonderful tales she poured forth, all created at the moment for general amusement, exciting surprise and delight. She was full of merriment and playful trick, was celebrated for the fearlessness with which she ran along the parapets of bridges and the tops of walls, and scampered heedlessly upon any pony she could find. Her fearlessness was the cause of a severe accident which befel her brother. She had

mounted a pony, and invited him to ride behind her; but no sooner was he seated than she started the animal, and her brother falling off suffered a fracture of the arm. She became a proficient in horsemanship, and on one occasion, when riding in advance of her party, a farmer who accompanied them turned round and said, "Look at Miss Jack, she sits her horse as if it was a bit of herself." She possessed, indeed, not only physical but moral courage in the highest degree. This inestimable quality, the parent of truth and guardian of principle, accompanied her through life; enabling her to steer on her noble course, unchecked by opposition, and supporting her in the declaration of any opinion which she considered duty urged her to avow and enforce.

During this time, however, the studies of Joanna at home do not seem to have proceeded with much success, and it was thought that the method and emulation of a school would produce those happy results which domestic instruction had failed to effect. She was accordingly sent about the age of ten with her sister to a boarding-school at Glasgow under the superintendance of Miss Macdonald. She there made much progress in many branches of education. She had a correct ear, learned to play on the guitar, and accompanied it agreeably with her voice. She was taught to draw, and had the talent she possessed for this pursuit been ably cultivated, she would have excelled, as specimens still existing of her early efforts prove. One of the most remarkable characteristics of Joanna during her girlhood, especially when considered in connection with her tardiness of acquirement by reading and her fertility of imagination, was her love for mathematics, and her proficiency in that study. She had always strong powers of reasoning and a clear conception of what she had once mastered, from which qualities of her mind her natural tendency for this science probably in some degree arose, while at the same time these faculties were strengthened through its discipline. By her own unassisted exertions she advanced through a considerable portion of Euclid, and rendered

Lanarkshire, a small estate belonging to Mrs. Baillie's eldest brother, and lived there for nearly six years; but Matthew entered at Baliol College, Oxford, where he remained the usual period, and then proceeded to London to prosecute his medical studies under the auspices of his celebrated uncle, Dr. William Hunter. At Long Calderwood Joanna was again in the midst of beautiful scenery, and renewed her early habit of rambling. She was active and enterprising, loved to wander with her young companions along the rocky banks of the Calder, to watch its rapids, and bathe in its stream. The retirement arising from a scanty neighbourhood and recent affliction threw the family upon their own resources, and reading became an habitual occupation. Joanna soon grew familiar with the best poets, and above all studied Shakespeare with the greatest enthusiasm. Generally there is a strong desire in those endowed with the poetic temperament to invest the pent-up thought and strong emotion in words, to give those inmates an outward existence which within induce oppression; but the works of others seem to have absorbed all the thoughts of Joanna at this period. Before she left Scotland in 1784 she does not appear to have attempted any composition beyond a humorous poem or song, thrown off in mirth and thought of no more.

Mrs. Baillie, with Agnes and Joanna, passed at Glasgow the winter of 1783, in the course of which year Dr. Hunter died. He was to a considerable extent the founder of the fortunes of his family. He was a profound anatomist, an eloquent lecturer, an accomplished gentleman, and was honoured by the favour and admitted to the society of his sovereign. His brother John, whose genius has often been compared to that of Newton, but who was equally backward with his celebrated niece in acquirement during early life, owed to Dr. Hunter his first introduction to those pursuits by which he afterwards attained a widely extended fame. Dr. Hunter expired at a house in Great Windmill Street, which he had himself built, to which he had attached

an anatomical theatre, lecture-room, and museum; which contained not only many results of physiological research, but also a large collection of coins, many fine pictures, and a valuable library. At his death, the use of this museum was bequeathed to his nephew Matthew Baillie for a term of thirty years, and subsequently in perpetuity to the College of Glasgow, whither it was removed previously to the completion of that term. In addition to this, the small family estate of Long Calderwood was left to Matthew instead of his surviving uncle, who was the natural heir. Matthew, however, with that high honour which ever distinguished him, declined to receive the bequest, though at that time his means were small and the future altogether uncertain. The property was then offered to John Hunter, and continued in his family till it reverted by the death of all his lineal descendants to Matthew's successor. Upon the death of Dr. Hunter, Mrs. Baillie with her daughters proceeded to London to reside in the house then occupied by her son, and continued with him in Great Windmill Street until his union in 1791 with the daughter of Dr. Denman, the father of the venerated and beloved Chief Justice of the Queen's Bench. From this marriage the family ever derived the greatest happiness and comfort.⭑*

In that gloomy house, in that dark and narrow street, the genius of Joanna first wakened into life and energy. The daily sight of her native land and its romantic beauty, the companions of her youth, and the fresh impulses derived from the study of our best authors, had hitherto sufficiently occuried her feelings; but amid scenes, the reverse of those in which she had rejoiced, her heart yearned, her imagination kindled, and poetical feeling took its appropriate form. In the year 1790, she published a volume of

• See Joanna's description of her sister-in-law, page 812 of this volume. She survived Dr. Baillie many years, and died in 1845. She always lived in London, in great retirement after the death of her husband, and passed her exemplary life in offices of affection, benevolence, and charity.

miscellaneous poems.* Appearing anonymously, this work did not at first make any impression; but a friendly article in a review, praising these "truly unsophisticated representations of nature," brought the book into some notice, and gave Joanna confidence in her powers. Notwithstanding the knowledge of human feeling, the acquaintance with external nature, the capacity of delineation in the poems of this small volume, and the praise echoed upon their republication, after a half-century unusually rich in poetry, by some of the chief journals of the period, it must be confessed that the streak of light which then dawned but faintly indicated the day that ensued. Considering, too, how prominently in Joanna the dramatic talent was developed, it is singular this peculiar form of poetic composition did not manifest itself at the earliest period of her efforts, and that the first gush of her genius was not in that channel. The idea of this description of writing, in connection with herself, in this year flashed suddenly on her mind. It was whilst imprisoned by the heat of a summer afternoon, and seated by her mother's side engaged in needlework, that the thought of essaying dramatic composition burst upon her. The first play written in pursuance of this resolution, was a tragedy called Arnold, which has been described by a judge certainly not impartial, her sister, as having contained much fine poetry. What was the merit of the work cannot now be known. It must have been of considerable length, for, though probably absorbing all the time and attention Joanna could bestow, it required three months for its completion.

In the year 1798 Joanna published her first volume of Plays on the Passions, containing Basil, a tragedy on Love; the Trial, a comedy on the same subject; and De Monfort, a tragedy on Hatred. This appeared also anonymously, and the author was sought for with avidity among the most gifted personages of the day. It soon became evident, through some peculiarities of expression, that the work proceeded from a native of

• Fugitive Verses, first part.

*

Scotland, and a suspicion arose that the mighty minstrel, whose genius at that time broke forth in Glenfinlas and the Eve of St. John, was the writer. This impression was soon abandoned; and after many great names had been suggested and dismissed, the public was astonished at the acknowledgment of the volume by a lady, still young, unknown to fame, whose life had passed in tranquillity and seclusion. This was the more startling as the speculators had decided that the plays, and especially the preface, must have been written by a man. So convinced were many of this, that after the source of the dramas was placed beyond a doubt, the preface was still declared to manifest a masculine origin, and it was ascribed to the brother of the poetess; an opinion, it is scarcely necessary to remark, groundless. The author of the Pleasures of Memory reviewed this work of Joanna, considering it, along with others, the production of a man, and stated the volume to abound in beautiful passages. This tribute from a gifted mind rendered eminent service to Joanna, whose genius might have been injuriously impressed by the severity of a distinguished periodical, soon after introduced into literary existence. Encouragement, received from the pen of a celebrated poet, did, in the words of Joanna, "enable her to make head against criticism of a very different character;"† and this expression from one of firm mind, tenacious of its convictions, showed how keenly she had felt strictures launched with all the poignancy consummate talent could employ. The friendship which ensued between herself and him, whose praise in time of need had afforded her support and solace, lasted uninterruptedly for more than half a century, and was ranked by her amongst the greatest pleasures and privileges she possessed.

The chief object of Joanna in these plays was to delineate passion in its progress, to trace it from its early beginning, and to show the fearful gulf towards which it

. Monthly Review, Sept. 1798. Preface to Fugitive Verses.