LADY LOUISA STUART.* LADY LOUISA STUART had a strong dislike

to appearing in print in her lifetime, but, to quote the introduction to this book, one of her objections, "a fear that her peace of mind might be disturbed by the criticisms of the press, is obviously at an end now." As Sir Walter Scott said with reference to the future chronicling of his sad love-story, "the dead will feel no pain.".1.

If Lady Louisa could know how much pleasure this book will give we feel sure that she would not grudge the publica- tion of it. She must have been a delightful person, and she had the gift of revealing her personality in her essays and letters. The first part of the book is taken up with reminis- cences of society in the time of the Georges, under the title, "John, Duke of Argyll: a Memoir," and then come

• Lady Louisa Stuart: Selections from her Manuscripts. Lilted by Hon. James'A. Home. Edinburgh : David Douglas- [7s- 6d.) t 'Sir Walter Seott's First Lore," Century Magazine, July, 1899.

some prose notes to stories written in verse, and then a number of letters. Those to Sir Walter Scott,

and his answers, are in some ways the best part of the book. Mr. Home says that "she was one of the few to whom he entrusted the secret of the Waverley Novels"; and even after so many years we still have the exciting feeling of being behind the scenes while reading some of her letters on this subject. This is how she writes from Ditton Park after the announcement of his authorship: "And so the murder is out, dear Sir Walter The

Montagus and I have been comparing notes on the subject ; they

had no notion that I knew it, nor I that they knew it, which I think speaks us a trusty, honourable set of people, considering how much and how often the novels used to be canvassed among. us. The poor late Duke [apparently Duke Charles, from the answer] was their informer, to whom, by the by, you must know you gave your word of honour that you were not the author, in so serious and solemn a manner, that it was quite impossible you could be so, unless you had given up all regard to character. This is one of five hundred stories I have heard positively affirmed since you owned the fact to me a dozen years ago, many of them supported by such evidence as there was no refuting. One work had been actually read in Canada, and another certainly heard of in Germany, long before they appeared in print here, and this person knew, and that could swear to procfs, not presumptions, but clear proofs, that you wrote none of them. Then, too, in reasoning on the books themselves ; Old Mortality, for instance, was plainly written by three or four different hands ; people could point out traces of the patchwork, which it was perverseness or want of taste not to distinguish. One had nothing for it but to assent peaceably to whatever they chose to say, and without denying one's own belief, allow that they supported theirs by very strong arguments."

In his answer Sir Walter says that be was glad "to lay aside the mask, which was grown as thin as my Aunt Dinah's." In another letter of hers beginning "I have been feasting upon the Demonology and Witchcraft," she goes on to give an account of a spiritualist séance which had been lately held in Paris, and which she compares to a Cock-lane ghost-story. To a modern reader of the Reports of the Psychical Society there is nothing incredible in it. However, she says that

people "who subscribe to London Universities and frequent Royal Institutions" believe in this "animal magnetism," as

she calls it, and she quotes "Charles IL's exclamation : Oddsfish ! This learned doctor believes everything but the Bible.' "

In the account of the Duke of Argyll referred to above, she

describes his extraordinary infatuation for plain Jenny Warburton. Besides his military reputation he had "per-

sonal beauty, an expressive countenance, a commanding air, and the moat easy, engaging gracefulness of manner" ; while she says of the future Duchess, then Queen Anne's maid of honour, who had come to Court from the wilds of Cheshire, that "she had few personal charms to make amends for the rusticity, ignorance, and want of breeding that soon rendered her the standing jest of her companions in office." In spite, or rather in consequence, of this stupidity, which the Duke

took for virtue, he married her six months after the death of his first wife. Their four daughters were brought up on the principle "that if you had a pack of girls, if you were so unlucky, what upon earth could you do with them but find husbands to take them off your hands F" Lady Louisa's account of these girls and their husbands is very entertaining. Perhaps the adventures of the youngest, Lady Mary Coke (whose appearance was likened by some to a white cat), are the most curious. Whether her husband bore any resemblance to a dog is not stated, but they led the proverbial life of those two animals. However, Lord Coke died when she was twenty. six, and she was left a rich widow. "She no sooner began to

chalk out her own path after regaining her freedom, than it became her chief object to connect herself with the Court."

She was a person who loved "consequence" better than any- thing else, and her attempts to increase it led her into ludicrous situations, which are humorously described by Lady Louisa.

The notes to the two metrical tales (given in an appendix) are delightful essays on things in general. Those on " The Fairies' Frolic" discuss the question of "bluestockings,"

which word, she says, was in her time used as a bitter re- proach. The parties given by intellectual ladies, such as

Mrs. Montagu, are pleasanter to read of than they can have been to attend. On one occasion of this sort the ladies eat in "a vast half-moon" round the fire, and when the men came in from the dining-room, among them the Chancellor and a couple of Bishops, they looked longingly at the fire over the ladies' shoulders, but no one dared to break the barrier, so the men formed into another half-moon behind the ladies. This arrangement did not at all please the hostess, as the lions would be tempted to coo for the amusement of one lady rather than roar for the intellectual benefit of the whole company, and she was apparently helpless to save the situation. Luckily a lady was "called away, whose exit made a gap for the wise men to enter and take possession of the fireplace." Here is "a French anecdote not irrelevant to the subject. A partisan of Madame Geoffrin, the Paris Aspasia, was extolling her dexterity in sorting her guests. She set apart one fixed day of the week for entertaining les beaux arts, the artists and virtuosi; another for les beaux esprits, les philosophes, les gens de lettres.'Male haas ! ' said a lady, who had no pretensions beyond being very pretty and very agreeable, "n'y-a-t-il pas gin jour pour les simples mortels ?' " In the notes to the other metrical tale, "The Diamond Robe," she laughs at the manias people take up for or against some custom quite harmless in itself. After the Peace of Amiens a small private French theatre managed by a committee of ladies was set up in Argyll Street, where "it was hoped that Moliere and Racine might furnish part of the evening's entertain- ment, unknown to the populace." But they reckoned with- out John Bull, to whom "French" and " wicked " were inter- changeable words. Sheridan, then manager of the Drury Lane playhouse, very naturally objected to a rival theatre, and in order to crush it started an outcry against " this monstrous device, this unheard - of dissipation, this disgrace of our age and country." No definite harm was alleged against these devotees of Racine till "a rumour went forth of Picnic Suppers. Picnic, as expounded by the learned, signifies a custom prevalent in Germany when familiar friends have a festive meeting. To avoid ceremony and expense each furnishes his quota of provisions towards the entertainment. " You send in a cold ham, I a couple of cold chickens.' An injudicious plan, possibly, for a large company, because likely to produce a bitter bad supper, but with what offence to God or man it would be difficult to determine, judging in cool blood. However, as the Cardinal de Retz told us long ago, in all party work fixing upon the name is half the battle, and Picnic was a precious one for the purpose.

Queen Bess and Queen Anne encouraged no Picnics. Archbishop Tillotson never heard of a Picnic." This excite- ment over nothing went on till the opening of Ranelagh, and later the renewal of war, diverted men's minds from the subject.

It is curious to turn from Lady Louisa's witty and original prose style to her poetry. In this her lightness of touch and play of fancy have deserted her, with the result that her verses, though flowing smoothly enough, are distinctly prosy. Mr. Home says in the introduction that there are a number of her letters still unpublished, so we may look forward to another book as charming as the present one. The frontis- piece, a photogravure of an oil sketch by G. Hayter, shows the old lady in her ninety-fourth year sitting in an armchair reading at a table.