MARY RUSSELL MITFORD, author of “Our Village,” was born in Hampshire, England, December 16th, 1786. Her father was a physician, liberally educated and wealthy, but he squandered his fortune and finally came to rely for support on the money earned by his daughter’s pen. In 1797, when only ten years of age, she drew a lottery prize of £20,000, but in 1820 this, too, had been squandered and the family was virtually destitute. To support herself and her father, she wrote a number of tragedies which were received with favor. “Rienzi,” which is described as the best of them, contains passages of great force. In 1819 she began to publish in the Lady’s Magazine sketches and essays describing life in a quiet village and in the woods and fields around it. These when republished under the title of “Our Village” have done most for her reputation, but she wrote poems, fiction, and reminiscences, as well as essays and dramas. She died January 10th, 1855.