Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1873-06-03
An EvenInE with mrs. somervilIe

From the Peoples Magazine.
| was fortunate to have an intr0duc-
ton to Mrs. Somerville and her family
when l visited Naples in the winter OF
1870. They were living in the top story
Of a great palazzo on the riviera di Chi
aza; a suit of spacious rooms, facing the
bay and approached by great staircase,
that seemed, as is always the case in
italy, to get cleaner and more sumptu-
GUS the higher you ascended. You
passed through two or three ante-rooms,
gathering as you went a truly Italian
impression of marble and space, and
then found yourself at the door of the
great drawing room. 1t was only in the
evening that Mrs. Somerville received,
and it is an evening impression that the
room has left; great dim distances, few
lights at the farther end, barely distin-
cushing the plates of Raffaelle Msjolica
on the walls, and the antique bronzes on
the marble tables; and in the far cerner
two ladies working and q third lady,
old and small, sitting, vatebtpi and dig
nified in her low armchair.
This was Mrs, Somerville; it was her
ninetieth birthday when | saw her
Grst. She put down the English news
paper as approached, and, after her
kind greeting, settled down for q gossip.
Her ninety years seemed to have yith-
cred her frame, but it was wiFy and firm
still her eyes were keen, her voice clear,
only her hearing was impaired. Still it
was quite possible to talk with her IT you
raised your voice; and it was easy to
make her talk more than listen. OF
course, the war was our first subj bject;
sbe had foreseeu it ffty years before, at
the Restoration. She was military and
commiseratise, critic and woman, by
turns, now shaking her head over the
dead and dying, now speculahng a9out
the fall Of Paris. You had but &c close
your eyes, and to fancy a clever modern
English woman talkingi the words and
thoughts were as fresh and current as
those of clever young wife of clever
young member in a Parliament OF to-
day. 1t was the same in the other sub
jects which We discussed-Italy and the
Italian character, the latest changes at
Oxford, and what not
But of course she was most interest.
ing when she came to talk of herself. F" l
do not apologize for talking of myself,
she said, for it is always good for the
Young to hear that old age is not 80 ter
rible as they fear. My life is a very
placid one. | have my coffee early;
from eight to twelve l read or write in
bed; then rise and paint in my studio
for an bOur-that is all can manage
nowl The sfternoon is now my time
for rest; then comes dinner time, and
after that l sit here. and am glad to see
auy kind friends who may like to visit
me" Then she would explain what was
the reading and writing she was engaged
uBoa. She was correcting and adding
10 the 6rst edition Of Molecular ard
Microscopic Science v only putting u
in order for my daughters TO publish
when a second edition is called for after
nv death. Oh, they are quite compe-
tent to do IT, she would say, with
smile: " ] took care that they should be
much better educated than ] was. am
reading a good deal now-reading He
rodotus. took him dosn from my
tbelves the other day-it was the Erst
fme had tried Greek for City years
Ia see III L hsi forgotten the character.
10 nv delight foand ] could read him
md understand him quite easily. What
I Charming writer Herodoius isl' All
lSis ~ E;thout The slightest pedantry,
H. utterancs q o perfectly natural, sim-
ne mind hat dvelt spou subjects which
interested il When It saw thai hey inter
ssied iis neighbor.
The Impression which Mrs. SomerFiiie