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[TO 1876. of her royal signature to the remission she had granted to him for that outrage; but, reckless of the fact that he owed his life, his forfeit 1 nds, yea, the very power of injuring her, thrgenerous clemency, he thus requited the grace she had, in evil hour tor herself. accorded to hum. contest. Her heart was too full to continue the unequal I am not yet five-and-twenty,' she pathetically observeti; somewhat more she would have said but her utterance tailed her and she began to weep with hysterical emotion. Sir Robert nie.viile, affecting an a.r of the deepest concern, whispered in her car an eain st entreaty for her to save her life by signing the papers,' reiterating that whatever sue did would be invand because extorted by force.'

Mary's tears continued to flow, but sign she would not, till Lindsay, infuriated by her resolute resistance, swore that having begun the matter, he would also finish it then and there' forced the pen into her reluctant hand, and, according to the popular version of this scene of lawless violence, grasped her arm in the struggle so rudely, as to leave the prints of his mail-clad fingers visibly impressed. In an access of pain and terror. with streaming eyes and averted head, she affixed her regal signature to the three deeds, without once looking upon them. alludes to Lindsay's barbarous treatment of his hapless queen in these nervous lines: Sir Walter Scott And haggard Lindsay's iron eye, That saw fair Mary weep in vain.

George Douglas the youngest son of the evil lady of Lochleven, being present, indignantly remonstrated with his savage brother-in-law, Lindsay, for his misconduct; and though hitherto employed as one of the persons whose office it was to keep guard over her, he became from that hour the most devoted of her friends and chaimpious, and the contriver of her escape. His elder brother, Sir William Douglas, the castellan, absolutely refused to be present; entered a protest against the wrong that had been perpetrated under his roof; and besought the queen to give him a letter of exoneration certifying that he had nothing to do with it, and that it was against his consent-which letter she gave him.

This oft-repeated story of Moray's deceit and Lindsay's ferocity cannot be accepted as historical truth. Private journals and correspondence have thrown much light on modern English history. Family pride or cupidity has in some instances led to undue disclosures of this description, breaking down the barrier between public and private life; and already most of the secrets of the courts of George III. and IV., with domestic details and scandal, have been published. We have had the Diaries and Correspondence of the Earl of Malmesbury,' four volumes, 1843-44; the Grenville Papers' four volumes, 1-52-53; the Memorials and Correspondence of Charles James Fox,' edited by LORD JOHN RUSSELL, three volumes, 1853-54; the Correspondence of the Marquis of Cornwallis,' three volumes 1859 and Memoirs of the Court of George IV.,' 1820-30, by the Duke of Buckingham, two volumes, 1859; &c. The late eminent statesman, SIR ROBERT PEEL (1788-1850), solicitous concerning his reputation or political integrity, left behind him Memoirs,' explanatory of his views and conduct on the Roman Catholic question, 1-28-29; the government of 1 34-35; and the repeal of the corn-laws, 1845-16. The work was published, in two volomes, 185657, but is only a meagre collection of public papers and stale argu

ments.

The History of the Captivity of Napoleon at St. Helena, from the Letters and Journals of the late Sir Hudson Lowe,' by MR. WILLIAM

FORSYTH, barrister, three volumes, 1853, is a painful and humiliating record. The co duct of the exiled military chief was marked by disingenuous artifice and petty misrepresentation-by weakness and meanness almost incredible. But Sir Hud-on Lowe was not the fit person to act as governor: he was sensitive, quick-tempered, and of a blunt, unpleasing address.

Among other works well deserving of study are the Lectures on Modern History, from the Irruption of the Northern Nations to the Close of the American Revolution,' two volumes, 1848, by WILLIAM SMYTH (1764-1849), some time Professor of Modern History in Cambridge. The successor of Mr. Smyth as historical lecturer in the university of Cambridge, SIR JAMES STEPHEN, published Lectures on the History of France,' two volumes, 1851. Sir James was well known from his long connection with the Colonial Office as undersecretary-which office he resigned in 1848-and for his eloquent critical and historical contributions to the Edinburgh Review.' Some of these he collected and published under the title of Essays on Ecclesiastical Biography,' two volumes, 1853. Sir James died in 1859, aged 70.

The writings of MR. THOMAS WRIGHT, a distinguished archæologist, in illustration of early English history, are valuable. These are Biographia Britannica Literaria, or biography of literary characters of Great Britain and Ireland, during the Anglo-Norman and AngloSaxon periods, two volumes, 1842-46; and The Celt, the Roman, and the Saxon, 1852. Other short contributions connected with the middle ages have been produced by Mr. Wright, and he has edited the Canterbury Tales' of Chaucer, and the Visions of Piers Ploughman.'

The Criminal Trials in Scotland,' from 1428 to 1624, by ROBERT PITCAIRN, W.S.—who died in 155-form also a valuable contribution to the history of domestic life and manners. Of a different character, but delightfully minute and descriptive, is a volume by MR. ROBERT WHITE, Newcastle (1802-1874), a History of the Battle of Otterburn,' fought in 1388, with memoirs of the chiefs engaged in the conflict. The same author has written a copious History of the Battle of Bannockburn,' 1871. The ‘Archæology and Prehistoric Annals of Scotland,' by MR. DANIEL WILSON, Professor of English Literature in Toronto Čollege, Canada, published in 1851; and Caledonia Romana,' a descriptive account of the Roman antiquities of Scotland, published in 1-45, embody the results of long and careful study. MR. J. J. A. WORSAAE, a Danish archeologist, has given an 'Account of the Danes and Norwegians in England, Scotland and Ireland,' in 1852. Mr. Worsaae was commissioned by the King of Denmark to investigate the memorials of the ancient Scandinavians which might still be extant in this country. DEAN STANLEY has brought local knowledge and antiquarian studies to bear upon general history in his Memorials of Canterbury,' 1:55; in which we

have details of the landing or Augustine, the murder of Thomas-àBecket, the Black Prince, and Becket's shrine.

Family histories are good helps to the general historian. Sir Walter Scott hung with delight over the quaint pages of old Pits cottie,' or the History of the Houses of Douglas and Angus,' by - David Hume of Godscroft, 1644. The great novelist edited another work of the same kind, the Memorie of the Somerviles,' written by a Lord Somerville of the times of Charles II. One of the most interesting and complete works of domestic annals is one published in 1840, Lives of the Lindsays, or a Memoir of the Houses of Crawford and Balcarres, by Lord Lindsay,' four volumes. The Lindsays were of the race of the Normans that settled in England under the Conqueror, and two brothers of the family established themselves in Scotland in the twelfth century.

A History of Roman Literature' has been written by JOHN DUNLOP, Esq. From the earliest period to the Augustan age is com prised in two volumes, and a third volume is devoted to the Augustan age. Mr. Dunlop is author also of a History of Fiction,' three volumes, 1814. His latest production was Memoirs of Spain during the Reigns of Philip IV. and Charles I. 1621 to 1700, two volumes 1824. Mr. Dunlop was a Scottish advocate, sheriff of Renfrewshire; he died in 1842.

Some Historical Memoirs' by MR. MARK NAPIER, advocate, possess interest if not value. The first is Memoirs of John Napier of Merchiston' (born 1550, died 1617). It is remarkable that so eminent a man as the inventor of logarithms should have been without a special biographer until the year 1 34, the date of Mr. Mark Napier's book. The strange combination it presents of abstruse theological studies, a belief in the art of divination and other superstitions, and great scientific acquirements, all meeting in the character of the old Scottish laird, a solitary student in fierce tumultuous times, gives a picturesqueness and attraction to the story of his life. Mr. Napier's next work, Memoirs of the Marquis of Montrose,' two volumes, 1856, contains original letters of the military hero, and other documents from charter-rooms, essential to the history of Montrose. Mr. Napier in 1859 produced the Life and Times of John Graham of Claverhouse, Viscount Dundee,' three volumes. Mr. Napier writes in the spirit of a keen partisan, with no attempt,' he says, 'to dress by the purists in composition.' Indeed his writing is such as we should expect the Baron of Bradwardine to indite if he took up the historic pen, though the Baron would have had more courtesy to wards opponents. Mr. Napier, however, is eager in pursuit of information, and gives his discoveries unmutilated. This veteran defender of the Jacobite chiefs was in 1820 admitted a member of the Scottish bar, and is sheriff of Dumfriesshire

MR. LOCKHART-DEAN STANLEY.

Several important biographical works have already been noticed in connection with the authors whose lives were related. The number of new works in this department of our literature continues daily to increase, but it is only necessary to notice such as have an original character, or derive special interest from the name and talents of the biographer.

Memoirs of the Life of Sir Walter Scott, Bart., by J. G. LOCKHART, Esq., his Literary Executor,' seven volumes, 1837, makes the nearest approach, in fullness of detail, literary importance, and general interest, to Boswell's 'Life of Johnson.' The near relationship of the author to his subject might have blinded his judgment, yet the Life is written in a fair and manly spirit, without either suppressions or misstatements that could alter its essential features. Into the controversial points of the memoir we shall not enter: the author has certainly paid too little deference and regard to the feelings of individuals; and in most of his conclusions with regard to the Messrs. Ballantyne, we believe him to have been wrong; yet far more than enough remains to enable us to overlook these blemishes. The fearless confidence with which all that he knew and believed is laid before the public, and Scott presented to the world exactly as he was in life-in his schemes of worldly ambition as in his vast literary undertakings-is greatly to be admired, and well deserves its meed of praise. The book, in the main, exhibits a sound and healthy spirit, calculated to exercise a great influence on contemporary literature. As an example and guide in real life, in doing and in suffering, it is equally valuable. The more,' says Mr. Lockhart, the details of Scott's personal history are revealed and studied, the more powerfully will that be found to inculcate the same great lessons with his works. Where else shall we be better taught how prosperity may be extended by beneficence, and adversity confronted by exertion? Where can we see the " follies of the wise" more strikingly rebuked, and a character more beautifully purified and exalted than in the passage through affliction to death? His character seems to belong to some elder and stronger period than ours; and, indeed, I cannot help likening it to the architectural fabrics of other ages which he most delighted in, where there is such a congregation of imagery and tracery, such endless indulgence of whim and fancy, the sublime blending here with the beautiful, and there contrasted with the grotesque-half perhaps seen in the clear daylight, and half by rays tinged with the blazoned forms of the past-that one may be apt to get bewildered among the variety of particular impressions, and not feel either the unity of the grand design, or the height and solidness of the structure, until the door has been closed on the labyrinth of aisles and shrines, and you survey it from a distance, but still within its shadow.'

In 1843 Mr. Lockhart published an abridgment of his Life of Scott, embracing only what may be called more strictly narrative, to which he made some slight additions. One of these we subjoin:

The Sons of Great Men.

The children of illustrious men begin the world with great advantages, if they know how to use them; but this is hard and rare. There is risk that in the flush of 700th, favourable to all illusions, the filial pride may be twisted to personal vanity. When experience checks this misgrowth, it is apt to do so with a severity that shail each the best sources of moral and intellectual development. The great sous of great fathers have been few It is usual to see their progeny smiled at through life for stilted pretension, or despised, at best pitied for an inactive inglorious humi ity. The shadow of the oak is broad, but noble plants seldom rise within that circle. It was fortunate for the sons of Scott that his day darkened in the morning of theirs. The sudden calamity auticipated the natural effect of observation and the collisions of society and business. All weak, unmanly folly was nipped in the bad, and soon withered to the root. They were both remarkably modest men, but in neither had the better stimulus of the blood been arrested.

Much light is thrown on the Scott and Ballantyne dispute, and on the Scotch literature of the period, by Archibald Constable, and his Literary Correspondence; à Memorial by his Son, Thomas Constable,' three volumes, 1873.

Mr. Lockhart's Life of Burns,' originally published in 1828, made a valuable addition to the biographical facts in Dr. Currie's memoir of the poet. It is finely written, in a candid and generous spirit, and contains passages-that describing Burns's appearance among the sarans of Edinburgh, his life at Ellisland, &c., which mark the hand of the master.

Burns on his Farm at Ellisland.

It is difficult to imagine anything more beautiful, more noble, than what such a person as Mrs. Dunlop might at this period be supposed to contemplate as the probable tenor of his [Burns's] life. What fame can bring of happiness he had already tasted; he had overleaped, by the force of his genius, all the painful barriers of society; and there was probably not a man in Scotland who would not have thought himself honoured by seeing Burns under his roof He had it in his own power to place his poetical reputation on a level with the very highest names, by proceeding in the same course of study and exertion which had originally raised him into pub lic notice and admiration. Surrounded by an affectionate family, occupied but not engrossed by the agricultural labours in which his youth and early manhood had delighted, communing with nature in one of the loveliest districts of his native land, and, from time to time, producing to the world some immortal addition to his verse -thus advancing in years and in fame, with what respect would not Burns have been thought of; how venerable in the eyes of his contemporaries-now hallowed in those of after-generations, would have been the roof of Ellisland, the field on which he bound every day after his reapers,' the solemn river by which he delighted to wander! The plain of Bannockburn would hardly have been holier ground.

As a reviewer, Mr. Lockhart's critiques were principally biographical; and his notices of Campbell, Southey, Theodore Hook, Jeffrey, and others will be recollected by most readers of the Quarterly Review.' The sharp, clear, incisive style, and the mixture of scholastic taste with the tact of the man of the world, distinguish them al. The biography of Burns afterwards received minute examination and additional facts from Dr. Robert Chambers and Dr. P.j Hately Waddell.