The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1891-10-20

that Jane Welch's marriage proceeded.
Far otherwise must it have been with
Emily Sellwood, although on that June
morning in 1850, when she Joined her
lot with that of Arthur Tennyson, sho
need not have been prophecies, or the
daughter of one, to have foretold her
husbands greatness, seeing that it was
only n few months thereafter that he
received from the queen the
'.laurel greens from the brows
OF him that uttered nothing. bnsc."
No wife could have carried the doctrine
of covcture further, no wife have con-
tented herself with complete self ciface-
as regards the world in which Lord
Tennyson fills SO important place.
Pilgrims, like Emerson and Hawthorne,
to the poets residence in the fair Isle
and sunny Sussex have had scarcely
anything to say concerning her; nearly
all their attention, during the too brief
period Of their visit, has naturally been
given to the host. Lady Tennyson has
been content to remain in the back
ground, nm ndmiring auditor of her
husbands animated conversation.
When some few years back Lord Ten.
nyson now and again paid short visits
to London and became for the time be-
ing the great star in the social firma-
ment. Lady Tcnnyson rarely accom-
panied him.
Never sharing the robust health of
the poet. Lady Tennyson has of late
suffered much from intermittent ILL
ness, and for loHg period she never
went further than to the village of Tar
ringfortl, where the kindlincss of her
heart has ministered to the wants of the
poor. Between the village folk, both
of Farringford and Aldworth, there has
indeed been always much more friend
Illness than the poet, with his quaint
garb and forbidding beard, has inspired.
English people in the rural districts
have very summary way of cstimat-
ing n mans worth A stranger to Aid
worth inquired of farmer the position
of the poets house, and venturcd to re-
marll-it was before he had accepted a
peerage-"Mr. Tennyson is great man,
is he not?" 81 don't know about that"
the farmer replied, "he only keeps one
man servant, and he doesn't sleep in the
house" BY her simple acts of charity,
by her quiet way of scattering seeds of
hihN'iiSSo' hoES'Sif iIdtiy ISuiy SOu HIS
disarmed, long since. the distrust which
the poets cccentricity might create in
the Sussex mind, and no lady of the
shires is better beloved by the cottagers
and laborers whose acquaintance she
has made.
Unlike the wives of many great men,
Lady Tennyson has modestly merged
her individuality in that of her husband;
but it is not because she. lacks intel
lectual capacity and scholarly acquire
mcnts. Her father-a solicitor of
Hardcastle, in Lincolnshire-educa
her as few girls of that time, and when
Arthur Tennyson met her she was in
full sympathy with his high ideal and
lyfty aspirations. She is On excellent
musician and has written scores for
several of her husbands ballads, al
though only one has been published. In
fact, it may be said that had Lady
Tennyson been but poorly endowed in
the intellectual qualities, she would not
have succeeded so we'll in her life's lot;
she would not have realized the charac-
ter of ''revered Isabel
"Thc stately flower OF fomalc fortitude,
or perfect wifehood. and pure iovelihood."