Biographical Sketch.
MRS. M'DONALD * 1.1is a daughter of the late Leonard A. Bleecker, Esq., of New York, where she was born, and a granddaughter of the late Major William Popham, a well-known revolutionary officer. Her father left the city when she was very young, and many of her earlier years were spent in West Chester County; where, amidst its quiet woodland scenery, her poetical tastes first developed themselves. When quite a little child, she was possessed with a desire for literary distinction; and the most earnest wish of her heart was for "a whole quire of white paper." The artless ambition, however, that charmed her childhood, vanished as she grew up, frightened, no doubt, at a glimpse of that fame in the distance it had so innocently wished to attract.
On Miss Bleecker's return to the city, some of her poetical effusions were published by a friend, in the New York Mirror; and gained so much approbation, that she continued to write for that and other periodicals several years, under the signature of M.N.M. She was married in 1834 to Pierre E. F. M'Donald, Esq.; and her married life, which was singularly unclouded and happy, (a sure sign that ambition had left her; because, if a thirst for fame and a yearning for love live together in a woman's heart, they will kindle strife,) continued till April, 1844. After her husband's death, she became by necessity, not choice, an authoress, and published a volume entitled Poems by M.N.M., in 1845. Two small volumes of interesting juvenile stories, called Cousin Bertha's Tales for Children, subsequently appeared. She contributes constantly to the Columbian, The Ladies' Wreath, and other magazines. Her prose writings are remarkable for their ease, refinement, and playful simplicity; while her poems, of which the following are a fair specimen, are musical, graceful, and sweet.