IIIARTINEAII, HARRIET, an English authoress, was b. at Norwich, June 12, 1802. Her education was conducted for the most part at home; from an early age she was a. lover of books, and was wont to amuse her solitary hours by committing her thoudits to paper. The deafness which she suffered from her youth no doubt strengthened her habits of study, and had much to do with the working out of her career. She appeared in print (in a religious periodical, the Monthly Repository) before she was out of her teens, and when, in 1829, she and her sisters lost their small fortunes by the failure of the house in which their money was placed, she continued to write as she had written before, though now under the new necessity of earning a livelihood. The subjects upon, which her pen was exercised are of the most varied kind, including some--such as poli tics—which have rarely been before attempted by women. Her first volume, entitled Devotions for Young People, appeared in 1823; and was followed in 1824 by C'hristmas Day, a tale, and by The Friend, a sequel, the year after. In 1826 she published Princi– ple and Practi c.e, and The Rioters ; and for two years thereafter she was busily engaged writing stories and a series of tracts on social matters, adapted mainly for the perusal of the working-classes. In 1830 she produced her Traditions of Palestine, During the same year, the association of Unitarian Dissenters awarded her prizes for essays on the following subjects :ate Faith as Unfolded by many Prophets, Providence as Manifested' Through Israel, and _the Essential Faith of the Universal Church. Her next important literary venture was unique, and in one of the softer sex almost audacious, The Illustra tions of Political Economy, a series of tales, which rnet with great and deserved success, and was followed by others illustrative of Taxation, and Poor-Law and Paupers. In
1834 she crossed the Atlantic, and published her Sortety in Ain,erica in 1837. In 1839 she published Deerbrook, and in 1840, The Hour and the Afan. She afterwards produced a series of tales for the young, the best known of which are Feats on the Fiord, and The Crofton Boys. During the period 1839-44, when she was more or less an invalid, she wrote Life in the Sick-room. Her recovery she attributed to mesmerism, an avowal. which was the cause of a fierce discussion in the scientific Nvorld, and exposed herself to much insult and ridicule. On ber recovery she published Forest and Game-Law Tales. In 1846 she visited Palestine, and collected rnaterials for Eastern Life, Present and Past, which she published on her return. Afterwards she completed Mr,Knight's History of England Daring the Thirty Years' Peace. In 1851, in conjunction Nvith Mr. H. G. Atkin son, she published a series of Letters on the Laws of Man's Social Nature and Development, and in 1869, Biographical Sketches (collected from the Daily _Yews). The long catalogue of her literary labors (she wrote more than 100 books) includes her translation of Comte's Positive Philosophy ; Househokl Education ; Health, Husbandry, and Handicraft ; etc.
Martineau was a constant contributor to the larger reviews, and the daily and weekly press. She died June 27,1876; and her Autobiography, written and printed many years before, was published with an additional editorial volume in 1877.