LA BELLE ASSEMBLÉE; FOR MARCH, 1810. A NEW SERIES, BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF ILLUSTRIOUS LADIES. The Third Pumber. THE HONOURABLE MRS. DAMER. her,-than MRS. DAMER. This lady is the niece of the celebrated Horace Walpole, the last Earl of Orford, from whom she derived a very considerable fortune, and is now the owner of his beautiful villa, Strawberry-hill. Mrs. Damer was chiefly educated under the superintendance of her uncle, and much of the elegant taste, and refined knowledge, which she is known to possess, was of course obtained under his tuition. Mrs. Damer, we believe, has frequently appeared amongst her friends in the character of an authoress, but she has not hitherto made any of her writings public. If we take the most comprehensive || the talents with which Heaven has endowed survey of elegant and fashionable life, whether we look amongst that order which is not less eminent for rauk than conspicuous for the brilliant example which it af fords to society, or whether we select amongst those who, whilst they move in the splendid walks of fashion, consider it their prime distinction to cultivate the purest taste in morals, and to direct their talents to the most refined and elegant pursuits of the human understanding, in a word, whether we select from the glittering throng of nobility, of from the peaceful and sober assemblies of middle life, we should find it difficult, perhaps impossible, to discover a female who has conferred more distinction upon her rank in society, and who has employed to better purposes This lady has long been in the widowed state, and, if we mistake not, has no family living. ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. HYMENÆA IN SEARCH OF A HUSBAND. My aunt thus continued her narrative: "The illness of Sir William was of a covering to him her preference of Edward. Being gifted, moreover, with that acute sagacity which is usually said to charac much more serious kind than was first ima-terize women, she had discerned the un gined; a physician of some eminence was called in, who pronounced him in the most extreme danger. The agitation of his spirits brought on a fever of the most alarming kind, and it was generally be lieved, that even his youth could not be proof against the severity of the attack. What do those philosophers mean, my dear Hymenæa, who deny the existence of what is called love in strong minds? The young Baronet was now on the verge between death and life; like the flame which hangs over the socket of a taper just before its extinction, the last breath of the young lover was momentarily expected to issue forth, and so absolute was the certainty that all farther care was laid aside, and every preparation made for the expected funeral. "In the mean time, where was Clarissa || and her uncle? It will be now necessary to go back to a part of the story which I have left behind me in the course of my narrative. happy violence which made a part of the character of Sir William. Under these impulses, therefore, and this persuasion, the young lady had resolved to indulge her sentiments in secret, concealing even from Edward the preference which her heart acknowledged for him, and, as much as possible, holding an equal balance between the two. "Women, however, are wiser in their resolutions than in their execution of them. It is one thing to determine and another to act. Edward no sooner received the commands of his patron to prepare for his prearranged departure for Petersburgh, than he hastened in search of Clarissa? As fortune, who too often favours the young lover would have it, he met her in the shrubbery which bounded the extreme part of the Doctor's garden. With that earnestness, and that natural eloquence which true passion and natural sensibility always give, he took her hand :-'My dear Clarissa, my dearest girl, but pardon me, for I am miserable.' "For Heaven's sake speak, Edward.What mean you? exclaimed Clarissa, alarmed at his evident paleness and agitation, and thereby thrown off her guard. "Clarissa,' continued he, 'it is no longer time for disguise or concealment.-I love "You may remember, my dear Hymenæa, that previously to the departure of Edward for Petersburgh, Clarissa had asked permission to visit her aunt, and that the permission had been given, and the young lady departed accordingly. You may remember, moreover, the embarrassment of the worthy Doctor at the seeming indiffer-you, my dearest girl, beyond my life,-be ence of Edward and Clarissa. It is now time to account for this apparent inconsistency. "Clarissa, however apparently indifferent to her two suitors, was, in fact, most affectionately though secretly attached to Edward; but having been educated from her childhood with the young Baronet, she loved the latter as a brother, and was unwilling to give him the uneasiness of dis yond every prospect of fortune and fame. I have no happiness, no end in life or in living, but the hope of possessing you. It is now necessary to leave you.' 'Leave me,' said Clarissa - What mean you, Edward?" "I leave you for years, my dearest girl, for years,' replied he. -For Heaven's sake, if you have any feeling, if you have any regard, give me now some assurance, some 1 |