Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 1.djvu/167

 19, '98.]

NOTES AND QUERIES.

159

3ssion. olume

" This duchess is the main support of the

i, and her letters those especially to her son,

] a Washington in 1811 and elsewhere, and his letters her constitute the staple of the book. Other ] stters are from her father, the Earl of Bristol and Jishop of Derry, Lord and Lady Byron, the Earl of Aberdeen, Canova, Gibbon, Napoleon Bonaparte, Vellington, and very many others. The Herveys were great letter-writers. No long 1 ime has elapsed since the ' Diary ' and the ' Letter- Books' of John Heryey, first Earl of Bristol, tnriched the world with some correspondence of j.;reat interest (see 'N. & Q.,' 8 th S. vii. 259). To these volumes the present work is practically sup- plemental. Its author we must assume to be the grandson of the second duchess and third son of Sir Augustus, whose birth in Copenhagen is announced to the duchess by her son on 27 April, 1819. As sidelights on history the correspondence has great value. Comparatively little correspondence takes place during the days of the French Revolution, though the movements of various Herveys and Fosters who were at that time on the Continent were impeded by the difficulties of travel. Of the consternation shown at the successive victories of Napoleon over the Austrians and Prussians a most animated account is given, the official position occupied by Sir Augustus rendering the family very sensitive on the point. On 31 May Sir Augustus receives from the Baron d'Engelstrom, the Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs, a short order to depart from Stockholm, which he dockets, "Ordered out of Sweden by Napoleon's directions." The war in Spain inspires the most active interest, and the action at Corunna and the death of Sir John Moore are mentioned with very mingled sentiments. The death of Pitt produces, naturally, a profound sensation. That, however, of Nelson after the vic- tory of Trafalgar causes the most outcry. The most interesting letter, historically, in the collection is that in which Lady Elizabeth describes to her son the mingled pride and consternation at the news ; the illuminations begin, but discontinue, the people being unable to rejoice. Lady Elizabeth says, " Nelson was the only person I ever saw who excited real enthusiasm in the English." From the domestic standpoint the correspondence is no less interesting. After the Bishop of Derry comes into the earldom of Bristol his character becomes sadly tarnished. His attempt to persuade his grandson to espouse the Comtesse de la Marche, the ille- gitimate daughter of William II. of Prussia, would be comic if it were not despicable. A very animated account of the excitement caused by the appearance of the Infant Roscius is furnished. Lady Elizabeth goes into raptures over his graces and perfections. The portraits which adorn the volume constitute a a great attraction, though the famous stolen por- trait is, of course, missing. Mr. Vere Foster has executed his task admirably, and his volume has abundant value and interest. It is never dull, and our only doubt is whether his accessories are in every case to be commended.
 * ir Augustus John Foster, Minister Plenipotentiary

Alien Immigrants to England. By W. Cunning- ham, D.D. (Swan Sonnenschein & Co.) IN his very scholarly and profoundly interesting work on alien immigrants Dr. Cunningham elects to start from the reign of Edward the Confessor, and to treat the Norman invasion as the first great wave ol " alien immigration into England." Much may be

urged in favour of this starting-point, and some- thing against it. Did space permit of our treating tiis work at the length it demands, we might chal- lenge an arrangement that, while accepting Saxon, Roman, and Dane as forming an integral portion of our nation, regards as aliens the Normans, who came with a pretence of legality, and sought to some extent to maintain existing institutions. Dr. Cunningham's difficulty is, however, kindred with our own want of space. His purpose is not to deal with the establishment of the English race and constitution, but to write a short, pregnant volume for the "Social England Series, and show the effects of successive waves of immigration. This purpose he has accomplished, and we have no right and no disposition to ask more. A curious hybrid growth is your Englishman. " Saxon and Norman and Dane are we," says the great Laureate, and we have the admixture of a score or a hundred races more, without going into the region of myth in search of a remote ancestry. What helps us is that, from our Saxon or Danish invaders to the victims of religious or democratic mania in France, every country has sent us its noblest, bravest, and wisest, until, in our braggart mood, we may claim to be, like Miranda in the description of Ferdinand, "created of every creature's best." Dr. Cunning- ham's aim an aim splendidly carried out is to show the influences, social, political, economic, and other, of the immigration to which our shores have been perpetually subject. Materials are, naturally, abundant, since there are few aspects of our life which have not thus been influenced. Visitors to our shores, except in the case of Norsemen, can scarcely have come in search of sunshine, nor are they likely to have sought us out on account of our general lovableness and affability to strangers. Persecution, as a rule, sent hither the Frenchman and the Fleming. Some came, however, for the sake of the exceptional privileges accorded to traders as in the case of dwellers in Aquitaine or artificers, manufacturers, and artists. In our Walhalla we thus count a Vandyke, a Handel, a Garrick. a Jean Cavalier we know not how many more, if we include descendants, such as Grotes, Romillys, Brunels, and the like. We are giving our readers, on purpose, the reflections suggested by Dr. Cunningham^ book, instead of seeking to explain its method or scheme. For it is a book to be bought, studied, and kept at hand, not one to be obtained from a library, read, and dismissed. But this much will we say, that successive chapters deal with the Norman invasion, the later Middle Ages, the Reformation and religious refugees, inter- course with the Dutch, and later immigrations under which are included the Huguenots, the Palatines, and the Emigre's. The section on the Palatines uncloses an almost forgotten book, and is full of practical suggestions for the times that are. For, indeed, Dr. Cunningham's book has an actual as well as an historical interest, and its study may be as strongly commended to the so-called states- man as to the antiquary. Quite needless is it to dwell upon the antiquarian subjects, such as guilds church briefs, and the scores of others on which light is cast. Very numerous references to Flemish immigrants will be found in the Acts of the Privy Council. These have necessarily been studied by Dr. Cunningham. See, for instance, what is said under date 13 July, 1576, concerning " the straingers dwelling in the towne of Colchester," and granting permission for them to settle "in the towne of