It has been most beautifully engraved by Bartolozzi, and
ranks as one of his best plates. When the days of sorrow came to
Sheridan,--when his weaknesses of character brought him to a low
estate; when poverty became his portion, and the long lost days of
romantic love became but a memory; when treasure after treasure,
manuscripts, and sumptuous books were disposed of, and presentation
pictures were pawned,--this picture of St. Caecilia, a reminder of the
days that had vanished, was the last valued possession to be parted
with.
[Illustration: MARGUERITE COUNTESS OF BLESSINGTON by LAWRENCE]
LADY BLESSINGTON
The brilliant Blessington,--brilliant in beauty and in intellect!
Throughout her life of romance she was fortunate in her literary
friendships, through whom a knowledge of her abilities has grown to
tradition, but most fortunate in the portrayer of her beauty. Lawrence
has painted a picture which it is a perpetual pleasure to behold,--the
superb arms and shoulders, the serene, steadfast gaze of the eyes, and
the conscious, yet confident, poise of the head forming a record to
justify the tradition of great personal beauty and alertness of mind.
Marguerite Blessington's youth was ill-regulated and penurious. She
was born in 1789, the second daughter of Edmund Power, of Knockbrit,
near Clonmel, in the county of Tipperary.
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