entées. Grafted

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1. 12. Lord Grey. Charles, Earl Grey, was born in 1764, and received his education at Eton and Cambridge. In 1785 he was returned member for Northumberland, and led the Whig party. In 1792 he helped to found the ' Society of the Friends of the People,' whose object was the reform of the representative system. On the death of Fox he became Foreign Secretary. To his honour, he carried through Parliament, in 1807, the bill abolishing the African slave trade, introduced by Wilberforce. In this year he succeeded his father as second Earl Grey, and for eighteen years he led the opposition with great ability. On the fall of the Wellington administration, at the command of William iv., he

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formed a government of whicli he Avas Prime Minister and first Lord of the Treasury. He carried one other great measure, the Act for the abolition of slavery in the Colonies. After 1834 he ceased to take an active part in politics, and died in 1845. Grey was a chivalrous, able, and high-minded man. Though he was the leader of the aristocratic Whigs, his greatest claim to remembrance in history is in the fact that he opened the portals of the Constitution to the people.

1. 13. Lord Lansdowne. Henry Petty Fitzmaurice, third Marquis of Lansdowne, was born in 1780. At the age of 22 he opposed Pitt, and led an attack on Lord Melville on the charge of corruption. In 1826 he entered the Canning Cabinet. In 1832 he took an active part in the passing of the Reform BilL From 1846 to 1852 he held the leadership of the House of Lords. In 1855 he refused the premiership and a dukedom. He was the attached personal friend of Queen Victoria. Fond of literature and of the company of men of letters, he formed a great library at Bowood, his country seat, and one of the best collections of pictures and statuary in the kingdom. He died in 1863. Lord Harrowby. Dudley Ryder, first Earl of Harrowby (1762- 1847), entered public life as member for Tiverton. He was a strong supporter of William Pitt, under whom he held many offices in succession, till 1803. The following year he was appointed Foreign Secretary, and in 1805 was despatched to Berlin with a view to forming an ofiensive alliance with Prussia. The battle of Austerlitz, however, put an end to all hopes of uniting Europe against Napoleon, and Lord Harrowby returned home. Three years later he became President of the Board of Control, and was created an earl. In the days of the Reform Bill he was requested to form a cabinet, but declined to undertake so responsible a duty. On the question of reform he became leader of that section of the peers known by the name of ' Waverers,' who, though disapproving of the new measures, felt that obstinate resistance to so popular a movement would entail disaster.

1. 19. Sir James Mackintosh (1765-1832). His first work was Vindiciae Gallicae (1791), in answer to Burke's Reflections on the French

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Revolution. He had a very distinguished career, and in 1830 became a member of the Board of Control under the Greyministry. His Dissertation on the Progress of Ethical Philosophy (1831), written originally for the Encydo^xedia Britannica, although very incomplete, shows the admirable powers of the author. He had a great admiration for Mme. de Staël. 1. 26. Sir Samuel Romilly, English lawyer and law reformer, was born in 1757. At 21 he entered Gray's Inn, and found his chief employment in Chancery practice. In 1784 he met Mirabeau, who introduced him to Lord Lansdowne. In 1806 he was appointed Solicitor-General and was knighted. He now devoted himself by pamphlet and parliamentary agitation, to mitigate the severity of criminal law, which at that time inflicted capital punishment on over two hundred different offences. In 1818 his wife died, and the shock so preyed on his mind that he committed suicide three days after.

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1. 6. Madame de Sévigné, the queen of letter-writers, and one of the most charming figures in French literature, was born at Paris in 1626. Her maiden name was Marie de Eabutin- Chantai. She received a magnificent education, and all her days was a 'grande dévoreuse de livres.' She married in 1644 the Marquis Henri de Sévigné. He was killed in a duel in 1651, leaving his widow with a son and daughter. From that time her heart was entirely occupied by an intense devotion to her children, and a warmth of friendship almost beyond example. In 1669 her daughter married the Comte de Grignan, and it is mainly to this separation that we owe those wonderful letters, extending over the twenty-seven years till her death in 1696.

1. 8. Madame de Tencin (1681-1749), a clever writer, but a worthless woman. She came from her native town of Grenoble to Paris in 1714, where her wit and beauty soon attracted to her a crowd of admirers. D'Alembert was one of her sons. Her chief works are : — Mémoires du Comte de Comminges (1735), Le Siège de Calais (1739), and Les Malheurs de V Amour (1747). Her Correspondance with her brother and the Lettres au, D^ic de Richelieu were published after her death.

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1.8. Madame du Defifant (1697-1780), one of the most brilliant letterwriters of the eighteenth century. She led a life of gallantry for a number of years, and became a conspicuous figure in the literary society of Paris. She was a correspondent of Voltaire, Montesquieu, D'Alembert, and other great men of letters. In 1753 she became blind, and in 1754 she invited Mademoiselle de I'Espinasse to live with her and share her salon. She died at the age of eighty-three.

Mademoiselle de I'Espinasse (1732-1776), at first a teacher, became the companion of Madame du Deff"ant. After her quarrel with her, she was able by the bounty of her friends to maintain a modest salon of her own. Many of her letters have been published, and these are aglow with fire and passion. The famous d'Alembert admired and loved her, but she was insensible to his affection.

1. 14. Miss Edgeworth (1767-1849), novelist, was born at Blackbourton.

As a child she was famous for her story-telling powers. She was at Bowood (Lord Lansdowne's country seat) in 1818, and visited Sir Walter Scott at Abbotsford in 1823. Her best novels are Castle Hackrent (1800), The Absentee (1812), and Ormond (1817). Though too didactic, and weak in plot, they still deserve to be read for their wit, pathos, and lively dialogue. They are a mirror of the times in which they were written, and of that 'most distressful country,' Ireland, in which their best scenes are laid.

1. 15. Madame d'Arblay, better known as a novelist by her maiden name

of Frances Burney, was born in 1752. She married General d'Arblay, a French refugee, in 1793. Her best known novels are Evelina (1778), Cecilia (1782), and Camilla (1796). As a novelist her greatest merit is that she conceived the idea of representing modern society in a manner realistic, without ceasing to be feminine and artistic. She was the forerunner of Maria Edgeworth and Jane Austen, who were both greater than herself. She died in 1840. Her famous diary was published in 1842-6.

1. 16. Madame Inchbald, actress, dramatist, and novelist, was born in

1753. She made her début as Cordelia in 1772, but gave up the stage for literature in 1779. She wrote or adapted nineteen plays, and edited the well-known Lichbald's British Theatre (25 vols.).

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Her fame rests not upon her dramatic work so much as upon her novels, A Simple Story (1791) and Nature and Art, (1796) which rank among English standard novels. She died in 1821.

1. 16. Madame Opie. Amelia Opie was born in 1769. She showed literary talent at an early age, and was acquainted with Mrs. Inchbald, Mrs. Siddons, and saw much of the literary society of the time. She wrote many novels, amongst which may be mentioned Father and Daughter, Tales of the Heart, and Madeline. She died in 1853.