month, which greatly increased my husband's illness. trouble to me; but this is so much worse! It was a great December, 1875. Thank you most kindly, dearest Minnie, about the book. I think it much safer to send it by Miss King. I am totally sequestered from society, for my poor husband has been very ill this month. I was half-crazy the last half of November, for the doctors could make nothing of him, he was so bad; he is a little better now. I had two nights last month during which I thought he never would recover, and I was so overturned those two days, that my arm and hand were quite without feeling, and my speech embarrassed. I thought I should have a stroke. The doctor said the blood would not go to my brain. It passed away when he got better. I shall do anything I can for Miss King, for I like her much. I can invite no one, but am delighted to see waifs and strays. The cold here is awful; I never suffered so much in my life from cold. I am miserable. December, 1875. I believe I have thanked you already for the book. I have been so wretched all this month I don't know what I have written or said. The doctor this morning has set my poor head right again by telling me Mr. Mohl will get well with careful management. I was down in the abyss of despair; now I am ready to jump over the table like the cow over the moon. This moment I heard that Max Müller had given his resignation. We are all astounded—such a pet lamb as he was! It seems quite a European event among the savants here. Did they affront him, and was he like the unwise man Dr. Johnson talks of, who always slept out of doors under London Bridge when any one affronted him in joke or earnest? Adieu; I'm interrupted. It will be seen from the preceding letters that Madame Mohl was not blind to her husband's danger, though she tried by every means to hope for the best. He never got over the Franco-German War, or ceased to lament the enmity between his own and his adopted country. After his brother Robert's death he failed more and more rapidly. The doctors could not bear utterly to destroy the hopes of his wife, and she was actually taken by surprise when, in the early morning of January 4, he breathed his last. "He had been struggling for breath for four or five hours, worse and worse. He stroked my face all the time, but could not speak. That stroking has been an ineffable comfort to me; it was an endearment when he could not speak; the only sign he could give me of his affection, and that he knew it was I that was with him.”* * Letter to Mrs. Wynne Finch in 1877, on the anniversary of M. Mohl's death. CHAPTER XIV. WIDOWHOOD. 1876-1883. Madame Mohl's utter prostration and despair-Sensation caused by the death of Julius Mohl-Speeches at his funeral-Letters to Dean Stanley and Lady Derby-The "Shah Nameh "-Development of mind in the East-Visit to Bournemouth-Bulgarian atrocities-Visit to Berlin-Effect of want of air -Return to Paris-Editorial troubles-Thiers in 1870-Last meeting with him-Lady Eastlake's articles-Titian and Correggio-England should support Turkey-Disappointment about article in the Edinburgh—Opening of the Exhibition of 1878-Abhorrence of Russia--Remorse at having left her husband-Absence of mind-Julius Mohl's letters-Sudden visit to EnglandMax Müller's article-Asia more venerated abroad than in England-Lock-jaw in the country-Miss Weston's recollections-Madame Mohl in 1879-Lady Derby's letters-Kinglake's book-Visits Bournemouth again-Reception at home in former times-Julius Mohl's reports-Happiness in marriage-Hard winter-Ice-The Seine frozen-Importance of the rivers-Effect of thawCivilization in India-France before the Revolution-Madame de Rémusat's book-Gladstone and D'Israeli-Good sense better than eloquence-Léon Say ambassador-Visit to Holland House-Senior's "Conversations ❞—Mrs. Bagehot's visit-Memory-Death of Dean Stanley-Visit to Cornwall Gardens-Sad last letter-Madame Mohl's illness-At rest. MADAME VON SCHMIDT, who had been telegraphed for as soon as her uncle's danger was imminent, writes— Klagenfurt, July 19, 1886. When I arrived in Paris on the morning of the 4th, all was over. He lay still and quiet in his bed. My aunt sat upstairs in the spare room, rocking herself to and fro before the fire, not crying, but nearly out of her mind. She would not see me, so I went back to the Tourguénieffs' and waited in the Rue de Lille until my aunt sent for me, which she did on the evening of the same day. Albert Tourguénieff helped me in all the arrangements of the funeral; I do not know what I should have done without these kind friends. At first poor aunty did not show her grief; she was like one stunned by the shock of a blow. Madame Mohl wrote a few days afterwards to her friend Madame Rothan (Translation.) January 19, 1876. DEAR MADAME, I felt the kindness of your letter much more than I should have appreciated a visit from you a fortnight ago. It is a great mistake for people to go in crowds to visit a poor creature who has just lost all that made life worth having, who has been felled to the earth by a heavy blow, and who is almost out of her senses. Not to appear ungrateful (and I am not naturally so), the friends who come with such kind intentions must be kindly received, although one is not fit to see anybody, and is almost driven wild by so great a calamity. Alas! this has been my case. I am now resigned, and can bear, and even be grateful for, the sight of a kind. and pitying face. I tell all this to you, dear madame, who under stand me; but I do not wish that those who endeavoured to show their sympathy with my grief should know how much I suffered from their kindness. I have always had a particular liking and sympathy for you, and my dear husband shared the feeling. You can well understand, therefore, that I was pleased at your not forgetting me as soon as I became reasonable and capable of reflection. Je suis toute à vous, M. MOHL. The death of Julius Mohl caused a profound sensation among all men of science and learning throughout Europe. The speeches at his funeral show how deep the feeling was in France. M. Alfred Maury, president of the branch of the Academy connected with inscriptions, and keeper of the Archives, said— The death of M. Mohl has filled us with consternation. We never thought that the illness which has prevented his attending our meetings for the last two months would have a fatal termination. Neither did he suspect the seriousness of his state; for when I called on him, less than a fortnight ago, I found him full of confidence in a speedy recovery. After enumerating his services, M. Maury continued— In communication with all the Orientalists in Europe and even beyond the ocean, surrounded by their esteem and enjoying a legitimate authority over them, he had become a sort of prism in which was reflected even the faintest ray of the brilliant light shed by the East over the ancient history and geography of Asia. M. Maury was followed by M. Laboulaye (member of the Institut and director of the Collége de France). M. Mohl was the model of savants and professors; his zeal never relaxed. This very year, while suffering cruelly, he insisted on opening his course, and stopped only when overpowered by illness. But it was not alone by books or lectures that our dear colleague served and honoured the Collége de France; he gave us powerful assistance in the most delicate of our functions-the choice of a professor for a vacant chair. He had in the highest degree the sense of the responsibility which weighed on us. For him science was a religion, and he would have liked to exclude all profane persons. And with what warmth he supported those whom he considered faithful servants of truth! M. Régnier, vice-president of the Asiatic Society, and M. Hauréau, director of the Imprimerie Nationale, added their testimony to the great learning and virtues of their illustrious confrère. In conclusion, M. Hauréau said— He was chosen for our counsellor, we accepted him as our model. We shall ever venerate the memory of this learned, devoted, and modest man, whose almost sudden death has caused us such intense pain. Professor Max Müller wrote a short notice of M. Mohl in |