Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 10.djvu/600

 498

NOTES AND QUERIES. [io s. x. DEC. 19, IQOS.

JHisttltatwous.

NOTES ON BOOKS, &c.

The Journal of Elizabeth, Lady Holland (1791-1811). Edited by the Earl of Ilchester. With Portraits.

2 vols. (Longmans & Co.) " LADY HOLLAND'S claim to renown," as the Intro- duction to these volumes justly says, " rests upon the later years of her life." This Journal deals with the period of her unhappy marriage to Sir Godfrey Webster, and her earlier years with Lord Holland up to 1811, and is of especial interest as affording us material for gauging the qualities which made her salon so influential and her own will a law to people who might have been thought strong enough to do as they pleased in any company, or to neglect a circle where they were bullied into obeisance. We cannot find in the somewhat shadowy claims of Lord Holland, his good nature, and his flow of anecdote, a satisfactory reason for extraordinary social success. It is clear that the triumph was Lady Holland's.

A perusal of her Journal suggests some reasons for her power. Fashion, of course, that most way- ward of goddesses, had much to do with the rule that hers was the house to go to. Her exceptional insight into politics, and her beauty, with her skilful management of admirers, did much to establish her position. She had a certain hardness, too, of character, due to her early troubles, which also stood her in good stead.

The Journal reveals a great keenness to know and enjoy, and considerable independence of spirit. Lady Holland had 110 particular education, but what she taught herself was considerable, and we are much mistaken if the fine ladies of to-day have anything like her zeal for history, art, and letters, feel moved, for instance, to study the sources of Gibbon, or go out of their way to see fine old houses. The first volume is a little dull in its abundance of travel notes, though these have been reduced, but, as it proceeds, we find innumerable striking touches notes concerning the eminent and the manners of the day.

At Florence in 1793 Lady Holland found a bust of Livia said to be like her. At Schaffhausen she was very severe about the nasal noises of Protestant worshippers. She liked Pope's translation of the ' Iliad, but could not, oddly enough, listen to the ' Odyssey.' The ' Laocoon ' was her ideal of the best Greek sculpture, but she had a respectable taste for Italian pictures. She includes some interesting speculations on history. We may doubt, even if Carthage and Hannibal had triumphed, whether civilization would have spread into the heart of Africa, and satisfied the wants of society in that region ! This reflection occurs at a time when the author of it could not keep warm, and fancied the torrid zone delightful.

There is a freedom of speech about subjects now considered impossible which is characteristic of the time. Lady Holland, no doubt, admired her own taste, but she was scarcely, perhaps, qualified to abuse poor Lady Hamilton as she does. Her reflections become very "improving" at times in the Journal, and she does not spare her first hus- band. There is a great deal about politics, of course, including several neat hits at various characters. Sheridan and Canning were not loved ; but Fox was a* wonderful man, Sir Gilbert Elliot

the best writer since Addison, "Bobus" Smith a little overrated, Madame de Coigny very witty, and the future Lord Melbourne pleasant.

Here is a view of Gibbon in 1791. By the in- habitants of the Pays de Vaud he was treated " more as a prince than an equal. Whenever he honoured their goutees with his presence, every

person rose upon his entrance His whim arranged

and deranged all parties. All, in short, were sub- servient to his wishes ; these once known, every- thing was adapted to them." This makes up for the somewhat cold reception of the great man in, Johnson's circle.

Wordsworth in 1807 was asked to dine, and appears to have been a smart talker : " He came. He is much superior to his writings. I should) almost fear he is disposed to apply his talents more towards making himself a vigorous conversationist in the style of our friend Sharp, than to improve his style' of composition."

Lady Holland's interest in matters of learning is displayed in her note on the savant who showed up the fraudulent claims of Claude Etienne Savary r who translated the history of a Caliphate from a bad Latin version : " In Savary's history a certain town in Egypt is described as having its market filled weekly with oil. Now as no olives grow, and consequently no oil can be produced in such abun- dance as to furnish a regular supply, in that district, recourse was had to other translations,, and the identical one copied by Savary was found, and the error in the text that led him into the mistake, for there olium was used for olus (oleris), cabbages ! "

Altogether the reading of the Journal has given- us considerable pleasure. There are six portraits of interest reproduced, but the Index is, we regret to say, defective. We fail to find the first two points we wish to look at again, concerning Margam and Xenophon.

The Edinburgh Review. (Longmans & Co.) THE PASTON LETTERS were little cared for in the first half of the nineteenth century, except among the few who had genuine antiquarian or historic taste, though even by others they were commonly regarded as genuine relics of the time of the Wars of the Roses. A change, however, took place, and in the early sixties, or it may be a little before, persons who for the most part had little knowledge of Middle English had persuaded themselves that these documents were manufactured articles of the reign of George III., which ought to take rank with the Shakespeare forgeries of Ireland. This notion spread rapidly, but those who were able to estimate evidence retained their faith unshaken until Mr. Berman Merivale, in an article that appeared in The Fortnightly Revieiv of September, 1865, stated
 * he case against them in so strong and careful a

manner that the Society of Antiquaries felt the time lad come when a searching investigation was called
 * or. A strong committee of investigation wa#

'ormed, under the direction of the late John Bruce., which put the genuineness of the letters beyond doubt. Even Mr. Herman Merivale himself was- convinced. Soon after this Mr. James Gairdner. whose knowledge of the time is unrivalled, entered the field with an enlarged text and commentary. Three editions have already been published, each an improvement on what went before. The period embraced by the Paston correspondence was one of war and, when armies were not in the field, of great