For seven years De Quincey lived alone in his pretty cottage and then married a lovely young girl named Margaret Simpson.
The habit of opium taking had almost mastered him, so that he lost ambition and capacity for work. Three years after his marriage he determined to break off this terrible habit. His family were in need, and he must support them.
He was offered the position of editor of a Westmoreland newspaper. He aroused from his life of indulgence and opium dreams and became connected with the magazines.
His connection with Blackwood drew him to Edinburgh, where he was often a guest at the home of his old friend “Christopher North.” He became acquainted here with Carlyle.
At length, in 1830, he took his family to Edinburgh, which was his home until his death in December of 1859.
Joanna, as we in England should call her, but, according to her own statement, Jeanne D’Arc, was born at Domremy, a village on the marches of Lorraine and Champagne. Here lay two roads, not so much for travelers that were few, as for armies that were too many by half.
