Of course, no sacred associations were connected with European statuary; and though they have since elicited the admiration of educated Hindoos, yet they appear devoid of interest in the eyes of the people. Even had her first effort received encouragement, and had she continued to produce additional busts, at her advanced age it was impossible that she could have produced many, from the decline of her physical energies; but notwithstanding the failure of such a grand project as to aid in the civilisation of India by sculptures from her own hand, and notwithstanding the singular absence of the Christian idea, so often forgotten in that age, we must accord to Mrs Damer a good intention in this design. Yet she continued to the last to manifest her activity in the prosecution of her favourite study and profession. Here we have an example of a high-born, beautiful, intellectual woman, who held up the dignity of labour by her industrious application to work, under all circumstances, from youth to old age, though she had abundance of means to live a life of indolence. Such a life of labour is not only an example to young women who lament that they have nothing to do, but to other women of advanced years, who lead a grumbling useless life, because it is considered not polite to do any work.

At length her energies gave way under the burden of an honourable old age, and Mrs Anne Damer died an octogenarian on the 28th of May, 1828. Her love for her profession was strong even in death. In her will she left directions that her coffin should contain her modelling tools, drills, mallets, and chisels. These were buried with her, but to the regret of her friends, all her papers were burned also, according to her directions. Thus died a woman of high intellect, possessed of masculine energy, whose products adorn the places in which they are erected.

She was

of an irreproachable character, and yet she lived the most of her life in dissolute times, having to exercise her moral courage to the utmost. In her, our casket has one of the purest Gems of Womanhood that has maintained lustre to such an advanced age

Tarquinia Molza,

MADE A CITIZEN OF ROME FOR HER GREAT LEARNING.

DURING the sixteenth century, Italy produced many women eminent for their learning and accomplishments. In developing their talents they were greatly encouraged by the Dukes of the different states, who emulated each other in gathering within their court circles the geniuses of the day, whether male or female, thereby adding to the brilliancy of their assemblages those who were conversant with science, philosophy, religion, and literature. From time to time some new genius entered upon the arena, whose fame extended from one province to another, until it reached the central circle of Rome, where the learned senate would pronounce their favourable decree upon the successful aspirant to public honours. Amongst the male sex the recognition by the "Eternal City" of their aspirations was a reward for their labours that amply repaid them. To be enrolled as a citizen of Rome, with all its privileges, was considered to be a mark of the highest importance. But to the female aspirants in the provincial cities, this was an honour that they never dreamt of giving. It was only bestowed upon men who had

excelled in classical learning, or persons who displayed a genius for science, philosophy, and theology. Only one such gifted woman attained that intellectual elevation, Tarquinia Molza, the subject of our essay, and that was freely granted to her, without solicitation, by the citizens and Senate of Rome.

This learned and accomplished woman was the daughter of Camillus Molza, who, for his merits and abilities, was made a knight of the Order of St James by the king of Spain, and held an important position in Modena, where his daughter Tarquinia was born. From her earliest to her most mature years, she excelled all the eminent ladies of her age in wit and learning, in the gracefulness of her person, and above all, in her unsullied virtue. Her father, seeing the genius of his daughter, resolved to give her the very best education suited to her talents, and he had the means to employ the most eminent masters. He himself was the son of a famous poet, who had written Latin and Italian poems that were much prized in his day; and seeing the bent of his daughter's genius in that direction, he encouraged her intellectual pursuits to continue the fame of his family. But he found that she overstepped the boundaries of poetry in her acquirements, and entered with vivacity upon the larger fields of science and philosophy. In order to develop these tastes, he placed her under the care of John Politiano, a native of Modena, skilled in all the sciences. Under his directions, the mathematician, Antony Guarini, taught her the knowledge of the celestial and terrestrial spheres, and other branches of astronomy, which were then rising into importance after the discoveries of the immortal Galileo. In the art of poetry, she was initiated by a famous poet and philosopher named Francis Patricio; and in logic, including the philosophy of the ancients and a perfect knowledge

of the Greek language, she was taught by the learned Professor Patroni. Not satisfied with these acquirements in European languages and science, she learned the Hebrew language under the Rabbi Abraham, who had in early years taught her grandfather, the poet.

Few ladies of modern times would attempt such tasks, or escape being overwhelmed under this load of learning. Not so with Tarquinia Molza; she delighted in her studies, and evinced an aptitude for learning that surprised her teachers. By her study and application to her lessons, under these masters, she made so extraordinary a progress that the subtlest questions of divinity, philosophy, and science were no difficulty at all to her. Added to these, John Barbier, a man of great learning and judgment, perfected her in the purity of the Tuscan tongue, the most elegant dialect in the Italian language. She composed not only several fluent and beautiful poems in it, but also produced essays on various subjects that were esteemed by the most learned men in Italy. Among these literary productions of her own genius she mingled many translations from Greek and Latin authors, and expressed their ideas so happily and appropriately, that her readers doubted whether she had not as perfect a knowledge of their languages as of her own.

Notwithstanding this application to abstruse studies, she did not neglect the accomplishments of her sex, especially music, the darling theme of that land of sweet sounds and harmony. Apart from their practice as accomplishments, she considered singing and instrumental music as a relaxation from her severer studies, from which she arose with her mind refreshed. In her efforts here she became equally proficient. Whenever her vocal powers or instrumental performance was brought into play, in the most brilliant and critical assem

blies, she excelled by far all others of her fair competitors, who had sung and performed with the greatest applause, and ravished all her hearers. She acquired her skill by studying the works of the greatest maestros, under tutors who pointed out the most admirable passages in their compositions for her to practise. Under their tuition Tarquinia managed her voice so admirably, and she sang with so much taste and skill, that nothing seemed to be wanting.

At this time Alphonso, the Duke of Ferrara, was attracted to the society of this brilliant woman. He was a judicious prince, and possessed of the most refined taste in art and science. He had read the literary productions of Tarquinia, and admired their poetry and depth of reasoning. But when he heard the fair expounder of abstruse doctrines sing and play with such excellence, he was ravished with admiration, finding more perfections in this accomplished woman of genius than all he had heard. reported of her. She became one of the most brilliant acquisitions at his Court of Ferrara, and instituted a concert of ladies which became permanent in the duchy. Then, in after-times, she was invited to their musical reunions, to perfect the choir of music which she had so happily commenced.

To furnish some idea of the admiration that was entertained for Tarquinia Molza, in the zenith of her popularity among the élite of her time, we transcribe a quotation from one of her admirers, Hilarian de Costa, a canon of St John of Lateran at Rome. "You have not," he writes, "superficially read books as other ladies used to do. You have not only a perfect knowledge of the Tuscan tongue in its greatest purity, but likewise in the Latin and Greek languages. In the last of these you can read and understand not only historians and orators, but also