The Sterling genealogy

THE STIRLINGS OF LAW 155
England, and, after a short trial of the University of Glasgow,
proceeded to Trinity College, Cambridge, in October, 1824. Here
his tutor was Julius Charles (afterward archbishop) Hare. He
formed the acquaintanceship of Frederick Denison Maurice, Rich-
ard Chenevix French, Coleridge, Wordsworth, and Edward Irving.
He and a number of friends in 1828 purchased the Athenaeum.
Sterling contributed little fanciful tales and sketches ; for Cole-
ridge he composed his novel "Arthur Coningsby." In it appeared
the beautiful ballad " A maiden came gliding over the sea," which
alone would have proven Sterling a poet of unusual ability. An-
other novel, " Fitzgeorge," which was brought out in 1832 by the
publisher of " Coningsby," has been attributed to Sterling, but it
is impossible that he could have written it. Sterling studied German
philosophy in Bonn, Germany, in 1833, but returned to Eng-
land, and on Trinity Sunday, 1834, he became Julius Hare's
curate, then rector at Hurstmonceaux, Sussex, which he later re-
signed, partly from ill health and partly because he found the call-
ing incongenial.
In 1827 he wrote a poem, " The Sexton's Daughter," published
in London in 1839 and in Philadelphia in 1842 ; at the same time
he formed a connection with Blackwood's Magazine, for which
among many others, he contributed " The Palace of Morgana
one of the most beautiful of prose poems, and the " Onyx Ring
(published in Boston in 1856). He also wrote during this period
" Maga," " Crystals from a Cavern," etc. He contributed to the
London and Westminster Review, conducted by his friend, John
Stuart Mill. In 1838 the Sterling Club, a literary organization,
was formed in London and named in his honor. The winter of
1838-1839 was spent at Rome; returning to England, he took a
house at Clifton, where he gained the friendship of Francis (after-
ward Cardinal) Newman, to whom he later bequeathed the guard-
ianship of his son. He married Nov. 2, 1830, Susannah, eldest
daughter of General Barton, formerly of the Life Guards, who
died the same day as his mother, Apr. 18, 1843. He died at Vent-
nor, Isle of Wight, Sept. 18, 1844, where he had lived since June,
1843, after a lifelong struggle against consumption. He
was buried at Bonchurch, in the old churchyard. His works
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