Her first work, Philosophical Theories and Philosophical Experience, by a Pariah, ap peared in 1842. It was the first of a series entitled Small Books on Great Subjects, which the had formed the idea of writing with the help of a few friends. Of the 20 volumes of this series which appeared between 1842 and 1854, nearly all—all the most important —were written by Miss Cornwallis. The subjects discussed were very various—the con nection of physiology and intellectual science, ragged schools, grammar, criminal law, chemistry and geology, Greek philosophy, and the history and influence of Christian opinions. The works in which the last-mentioned subject was treated—The State of Man before the Coming of Christ (1 vol.), and the State of Man after the Coming of Christ (3 vols.)—were the most important of the series. She had designed to add to them one more volume—a survey of the present condition of England, social, political, and religious; but this was never completed. The series attracted much attention in this country, and still more in America; and the books in which Christianity and its influence were considered were so judiciously written, that, though presenting a system of thought and belief entirely different from our orthodox Christian teaching, they were favorably received by many of every religious party. These are still the best short and popular account we have of subjects of great interest and importance, of which the majority of the clergy even were profoundly ignorant 20 years ago. In illustration of the ignorance which prevailed amongst Anglican clergy at a time still recent, Miss C. used to say that she once met a clergyman who had never heard of the fathers; and that among a multitude to whom she applied for information about their writings, not one knew anything about them. Besides the Small Books on Great Subjects, Miss C. pub
lished, in 1847, Pericles, a, Tale of Athens, which good judges have declared to be an admirable picture of Athenian life; and in 1853, she published a prize essay on juvenile • delinquency.
From an early period of her life, her health had been infirm; in ber later years, it was very precarious, and she was for the most part confined to bed. She lived latterly at Ildwells, near Tunbridge Wells. She died there on Jan. 8, 1858. A voluminous author, her name was at her death unknown to the world, and it remained unknown until the publication of her Letters and Remains, in 1864. She had two reasons for making a secret of her authorship. First, there was a strong prejudice against female authorship in her young days, and even when she began to write; and she feared not the ridicule or scorn, but the neglect which might await her books were it known that they were written by a woman. She, wrote in the hope of doing some good, and she concealed her name, that her purpose might not be frustrated. Secondly, she wished to snow the world what the female intellect was capable of, and the concealment of her name made her secure of impartial criticism. She believed firmly that the intellects of women were not inferior to the intellects of men, and that their apparent inferiority was entirely the result of inferior training. She regarded the praises bestowed upon her books, the acknowledgment of the originality, accuracy, and vigor, as a tribute not to herself but to her sex. If the books originality, not prove the intellectual equality of the sexes, they certainly prove that Miss C. was a very exceptional woman. We know from her letters and from the testimony of her friends, that her masculine brain and a great stock of erudition did not prevent her from affording a beautiful example of the graces and charms of the feminine character.