turesque old palace at Gran, and never remember to have been in more agreeable, more learned, or more polished society, and yet it did not surprise us in the least.

'And it seems,' continues Mrs. Carter, as soon as his guests are withdrawn, he always reads prayers by himself."

Doubtless the good prelate availed himself of the opportunity to say his office.

'His highness,' it appears, 'kept open house during his stay at Spa, and invited all the visitors to his table.' They were all apparently of the upper ranks, though of various nationalities, and among them princes of the blood and ambassadors, who thus dined with him in turns, so that Mr. and Mrs. Montagu and their party, including Mrs. Carter, were frequent guests at his princely board.

Mrs. Carter recognises the liberality and hospitality of this proceeding, but she does not seem to have been in any way exempt from the narrow prejudices and limited views of her untravelled generation: she carried abroad, made no attempt to investigate or throw off while away, and brought back with her intact, such popular notions of Continental customs as then prevailed among her country

going to be an elevation of the Hostia.'

Yet she admits, speaking of the interior of another church, that 'it was very fine, and the dim religious light added to the solemnity of the building;' and that the meeting, at several parts of the church, with people singly praying, with every appearance of seriousness and devotion, was inexpressibly striking and affecting. Nothing,' she continues, could have prevented me from falling down on my knees, but the dread of appearing to worship painting and sculpture.'

She remarks rightly on the little inconsiderable town of Jülich, formerly the halting place between Aix and Cologne:

'I believe it is well fortified; but such a poor, dirty, insignificant little place, that nothing but the sagacity of ambition could have discovered it was worth contending for.'

Our own experience of this place, fourscore years later, does not enable us to record much progress in the civilisation of its inhabitants. It was in the year 1839 that, travelling in a private calèche, we halted at Jülich to change horses. The inn at which we alighted was more abject and repulsive than any roadside fonda in the Peninsula, and when the landlady came for orders as to what she should provide for us, we almost shuddered at the question. There was only one article of consumption it was possible to reconcile oneself to in such a place; consequently, being a party of four, we ordered a couple of dozen of eggs à la coque. The old woman disappeared, and was so long that it was evident that there must be some 'terrible news' looming in the distance; and so, indeed, it proved, for when she at last returned, it was to inform us, with a doleful face, that there was not an egg in the

our carriages held out very well, except the chasse-marine, which was overturned; nobody, however, was hurt, though it contained a gun which was deeply loaded, and broke to pieces by the overthrow; this, however, did not go off'! There is a pardonable tendency (indicative of the state of the times) to indulge in the marvels of travellers' tales throughout these letters, as our readers will perceive; hers probably did not. 'At length,' she writes (June 17, 1763), 'I have the pleasure of acquainting you, that after ten days' journeying our travels are finished, and we are arrived, thank God! safe and well at Spa: the roads are very rough, but the prospect on all sides is in the highest style of savage beauty'!

Throughout this correspondence we are forcibly struck by the common-place nature of Mrs. Carter's observations, as well as of her style, and more particularly by the disappointing narrowness of her ideas; we are continually surprised at the disagreeable flippancy she displays, and her apparently unconscious self-confidence in treating of matters of which she is obviously ignorant; this would be amusing in a boarding-school miss, but we do not look for it from a mind matured by study and experience of the world.

Mrs. Carter was unquestionably a learned woman: so apt a scholar was she, that-albeit disdaining the intricacies of the Greek grammar― two years' assiduous labour sufficed to make her a Grecian of note; but, alas! all this time her knowledge of men and things seems to have suffered woefully from her classical preoccupations; and we consequently find her complacently making the most erroneous statements, and forming the most superficial judgments. As we read

ought to have been, she certainly was not in advance of her age.

Few women, probably, could have produced her translation of Epictetus-à tout seigneur tout honneur-at the same time, any man, woman, or child could have written her letters. Interesting they unquestionably are for the pictures they give us of the times, the persons and places they introduce; but not one broad sentiment, not one original or independent observation, not one instructive or thoughtful suggestion, do they contain. In this respect how widely different, how vastly superior, do we find Mrs. Montagu; Johnson's tersely expressed appreciation of her is fairly earned; her letters, like 'her conversation,' are 'always impregnated.'

To return to Mrs. Carter's account of their foreign tour.

'We all dined on Sunday at twelve o'clock,' she says, 'with the Prince-Bishop of Augsburg. The company were Lord Bath, Mr. and Mrs. Montagu and the rest of our party, Lord and Lady Robert Bertie, a Russian ambassador, and some others. His highness,' she approvingly proceeds, is extremely wellbred and obliging, and looks like a very quiet, good kind of man, but had nothing of an episcopal appearance in his dress.'

There would be much to say about Mrs. Carter's style, which is certainly not elegant, or even scholarly, but it is comprehensible; we therefore pass on.

'He was in a blossom-coloured coat, with an embroidered star on his breast, and a diamond cross, but (!) his behaviour is extremely proper.'

We

Mrs. Carter seems to imagine that a foreign Catholic prince-bishop must necessarily be an ogre. recall the valued honour we once enjoyed of dining with the Prince

turesque old palace at Gran, and never remember to have been in more agreeable, more learned, or more polished society, and yet it did not surprise us in the least.

6

And it seems,' continues Mrs. Carter, as soon as his guests are withdrawn, he always reads prayers by himself.'

Doubtless the good prelate availed himself of the opportunity to say his office.

'His highness,' it appears, 'kept open house during his stay at Spa, and invited all the visitors to his table.' They were all apparently of the upper ranks, though of various nationalities, and among them princes of the blood and ambassadors, who thus dined with him in turns, so that Mr. and Mrs. Montagu and their party, including Mrs. Carter, were frequent guests at his princely board.

Mrs. Carter recognises the liberality and hospitality of this proceeding, but she does not seem to have been in any way exempt from the narrow prejudices and limited views of her untravelled generation: she carried abroad, made no attempt to investigate or throw off while away, and brought back with her intact, such popular notions of Continental customs as then prevailed among her country

men.

Speaking of the venerable and benevolent entertainer, she says:

'I do not know whether his talents be of the most shining kind, like his diamonds; but there is so much good nature, and such a perfect decorum in his whole behaviour, as renders him a very respectable character in his religion, such as it is, I believe him perfectly sin

cere.'

On one occasion, when she had sauntered into a cathedral, she hustled out again, from an apprehension that, as far as the guide

going to be an elevation of the Hostia.'

Yet she admits, speaking of the interior of another church, that 'it was very fine, and the dim religious light added to the solemnity of the building;' and that the meeting, at several parts of the church, with people singly praying, with every appearance of seriousness and devotion, was inexpressibly striking and affecting. Nothing,' she continues, could have prevented me from falling down on my knees, but the dread of appearing to worship painting and sculpture.'

She remarks rightly on the little inconsiderable town of Jülich, formerly the halting place between Aix and Cologne:

'I believe it is well fortified; but such a poor, dirty, insignificant little place, that nothing but the sagacity of ambition could have discovered it was worth contending for.'

Our own experience of this place, fourscore years later, does not enable us to record much progress in the civilisation of its inhabitants. It was in the year 1839 that, travelling in a private calèche, we halted at Jülich to change horses. The inn at which we alighted was more abject and repulsive than any roadside fonda in the Peninsula, and when the landlady came for orders as to what she should provide for us, we almost shuddered at the question. There was only one article of consumption it was possible to reconcile oneself to in such a place; consequently, being a party of four, we ordered a couple of dozen of eggs à la coque. The old woman disappeared, and was so long that it was evident that there must be some 'terrible news' looming in the distance; and so, indeed, it proved, for when she at last returned, it was to inform us, with a doleful face, that there was not an egg in the

that very morning, but the servant had sat down on the basket and smashed every one! So we went on in a state of starvation. After all, the new methods of travelling have their advantages!

Of the Dutch, Mrs. Carter says: The people are without movement, either in their limbs or features; and Mrs. Montagu declares she never had an complete idea of what was meant by stock still till she came to Holland.'

Both Lord Bath and Mrs. Montagu found their health greatly improved by their visit to Spa, and

the course of waters they had undergone there; and doubtless the entire change of such a trip contributed its share to the benefits derived.

It was not long after, however, that Mrs. Montagu had to endure the grief of losing her old and valued friend, the Marquis of Bath, a loss she felt very deeply; for Mrs. Montagu was warm in her friendships, and had been on intimate terms with this venerable nobleman, who shared many of her tastes. (To be continued.)

TH

CHAPTER XII.

HE soup was tasteless, the claret tart, even the exhilarating native beverage was poison to me, that evening. Irresolute and miserable, I sat down to a cheerless and silent meal, and afterwards in the same dismal mood crept away to an early couch. Through the night it rained, hurricaned; sashes rattled; the chimney smoked; a lobby-door was ajar, and kept banging to and fro. In the morning I felt a return of rheumatism in my susceptible shoulder, and had a downright shivering fit on discovering a letter from Canon Ingomar lying on the breakfast table.

The Canon wrote well and to the point; the case which his letter made was clear and not illogical. Absence from the deputation might be regarded as a wavering in my political faith, and be made use of by political enemies-would perhaps lead to an indignation meeting of the constituents. A forced resignation might be the issue of it; at any rate it would give scandal and bad example. So the simplest plan was to sacrifice every other consideration and go. That was the conclusion as well as substance of the Canon's exhortation-I was to go.

'Exactly as if I were part of his property; I am to go because he has decreed it!' I exclaimed, walking to and fro, to quicken my rising anger to boiling point.

Indignation meeting! Let it flare up if it will. Let them arrange this Education Question as they will. Let those whom it directly concerns look after it; in future I shall attend to my own

concerns.

The old

This question certainly does not regard me, and I am determined that it shall not, as Dudgeon says; I'll not be compromised. rascal was right. Once a man becomes the tool of a party, involves himself in the intrigues of a clique, 'tis all over with his peace of mind, his independence of action, his freedom as a man. I refuse to be ordered about by letter or by telegram. I will not go to London. I shall write to Dudgeon to say that I am definitively on with him and the Duke, and off with my evil genius Canon Ingomar.'

As the iron was hot within me, and as writing materials were opportunely at hand, I turned to compose a note for the attorney; it was necessary that he should be at once informed of my determination.

But the interview of yesterday had somewhat complicated our relations, and I found on trial that a line to Dudgeon was not such a simple affair. Perhaps by some indiscreet sentence I might afford him an opportunity of breaking off with me altogether if he were inclined to do so, and I had an instinctive feeling that he might be; perhaps I was going to provide him with an opportunity of doing so by writing at all, construct the very thing he required-a loop-hole, an easy aperture by which to escape from having anything to do with me. fine, the very difficulty of selecting a proper form of address led me unconsciously to turn the whole question over again from the beginning.

In

Indecision is the failing of my unhappy character; I am easily headed back from a purpose by finding obstacles in front; it is not in my na