Page:Devonshire Characters and Strange Events.djvu/957

 MEMOIRS, BIOGRAPHIES, ETC. 7 COKE OF NORFOLK AND HIS FRIENDS: The Life of Thomas William Coke, First Earl of Leicester of the second creation, containing an account of his Ancestry, Surroundings, Public Services, and Private Friendships, and including many Unpublished Letters from Noted Men of his day, English and American. By A. M. W. STIRLING. With 20 Photogravure and upwards of 40 other Illustrations reproduced from Contemporary Portraits, Prints, etc. Demy 8vo. 2 vols. 32J. net. it is familiar to very few. Coke occupied a unique position in his generation: as a landlord-owner he -was credited with having transformed the agriculture of both hemispheres; as a politician he remained for over half a century the "Father" of the House of Commons, exercising by the force of his example a peculiar influence upon the political world of his day. He was offered a peerage seven times for his services by seven different Prime Ministers. Coke was especially fortunate in his friendships, and he preserved his correspondence. The letters of the noted -men of his day recreate Coke's generation for us, and we see many famous men in a guise with which we are but little acquainted. We see Lafayette as the humble farmer, absorbed in rearing his pigs and his cattle; Lord H astings as a youth climbing a volcano during an eruption; George IV as the fickle friend, pocketing humiliation in 'order to condone deceit, or, at a period of exciting national danger, filling his letters to Coke with characteristically trivial speculations whether the Sergeant whom he was sending to recruit the Holkham Yeomanry would, or would not, get drunk. Again, we see Fox as a slovenly schoolboy playing pitch- and-toss at Eton; Nelson, but as the delicate son of an obscure Norfolk clergyman. Incongruous in their endless variety, the characters move across the pages Pope Clement XIV, Louise of Stolberg, Dr. Parr, Amelia Opie, Honest King William, the Duke of Sussex, Chantrey, Lord Erskine, Gainsborough, Roscoe, Sir James Smith, Sir Humphry Davy statesmen, scientists, artists, literati, a great international train, amongst whom, and perhaps more remarkable than all at that especial date, are celebrities from, the United States at a date when, be it remembered, all who came thence Wre looked at askance as the recent foes of England, and were, as Raitres remarks " Foreigners, and of a nation hitherto but little known in our circles." And for all this we have had to wait sixty-five years, because, of the many biographies commenced, the one that swallowed up all the rest was eventually lost. A feature of this book is the wealth of illustrating material, including many hitherto unpublished pictures by famous hands. DEVONSHIRE CHARACTERS AND STRANGE EVENTS. By S. BARING-GOULD, M.A., Author of Yorkshire Oddities," etc. With 58 Illustrations. Demy 8vo. 2is. net. County of Devon a county that has been exceptionally prolific of such. The personages named, and whose lives are given, belong to a lower plane than the great men of the county who have made their mark in history. But the range of characters is really wonderful. The volume is profusely ilfastrated with reproductions from old and rare prints. THE HEART OF GAMBETTA. Translated from the French of FRANCIS LAUR by VIOLETTE MONTAGU. With an Introduction by JOHN MACDONALD, Portraits and other Illustrations. Demy 8vo. js. 6d. net.
 * The name of Coke of Norfolk was once known throughout the civilized world, now
 * .* Notices of some of the most singular characters and events connected with the