New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-06-01
COUNTESS GRANVILLE.
PUBLICATION OF HER LETTERS.

which can hardly be UNDERSTOOD Deyonu hdiiV
circle. and much besides which time has obscured
or will obscure. But there is enough left to In
terest readers Of varied tastes. The writer
OF the letters was the youngest daughter or the
fifth Duke Of Devonshire. and her husband was
from 1924 to 1871 with trihing intervals the AM
bassador Of Great Britain TO France She lived
then throughout the period Of her activity the
life Of a great lady. acquainted with the gossip
Of Courts and Cabinets with scandal and politics,
and alert also to the influences of literature ana
literary people. Her letters show that she mad
more than the usual share Of literary skill. IN
studied and hasty they were. they still contain
many passages wherein their author mlrrored
the humorous or picturesque aspects Of the life
she witnessed One Of. her daughters. Lazy
Georgiana Fullerton. became a novelist of dis
tinction, showing how far the taste for literary
activity ran in a family which was exceptionally
brilliant also in other directions. the noVehst
could not surpass her mother in the aptness for
grouping the features Of scene when inter-
ested her In a few sentences: as when the reader
is told Of dinner where five Lady Legges ana
one Mr.. Legge and Mr.. Newdigate. whom one Of
them has married in fun. as he is not above
three feet HIGH" sat in silence down one SIDE
of the table the only thing animated among
them being Lady Fanny Talbot. who by her
great height made Lady Granville feel like pay
ing shilling at the door. One of her frienos'
LADY Hardy married Lord Seaford in 1SiO ana
travelled with him on the Continent she was
short-sighted but refused for the time TO wear
spectacles. as she thought them unbecomlhg 10
q bride The result was amusing. waking
about the Palace al the Luxembourg. 1t suddenly
occurred TO her 10 ask the laquais de pace
do you not think that ! run some danger VI
being insulted?' "Oh, no. Madame" was the
answer. mot at your age" She fastened TO ex-
plain remarked Lady Granville that 1t was
political attack which she dreaded. She pictured
to the life in a line or two the dlpIonaus'
mastered by the necessities OF his calling ana I'M
dec,ded on the simplest affairs. How 1t de-
lights me-" she wrote in 1881, ITO hear that Gran
willie Is so appreciated. 1t Is true he slaves and
slaves alone The place of Secretary of Legation
IS filed. but not occupied Mr.. Hamilton, harm
loss inorfensive man. can neither comprehend nor
renlv 10 even a question about etiquette or the
nous Of the dav What sort Of weather is II To-
dav Mr. H? God bless my soul, 1t never oc-
Cured TO me TO make an observation! 1t seems
10 mel NAV err-I would not pronounce rashly
but I'll step out and make point OF ascertain
ing IT." Here Is another characteristic stor!'
Charlemont wishes to be very much the thing'
tres elegante in her habits, very French; hKe
Nine de NOrtefOntane and her other Irieh'S'
She imagines It is English de sc fare announcer,
and at one Of my little soirees. when TAHeman9
asked her nae. said. "N'importe" He insisted
and she stuck TO her n'importe he threw open
the door and bawed out, Madame Nimporte
Like nearly all letter writers whose correspon-
dence has ever been printed. Lady Granville has
her story Of the supernatural. 1t relates to
bodNess head the exploit Of which even got into
the newspapers in 1923 Lady Georgiana Grey
was the heroine of the narrative. and she sub
Stimulated statement in regard 10 the matter
that had been made by the newspapers. In
the night, after she had gone 10 bed, she saw
a head come into the room. Greatly frightened,
she fled to the room OF Lady Grey, and remained
there throughout the night. When Lady Grey
found 1t impossible to convince her that she had
really seen nothing, she said:
You are convinced Of what you say you have
seen. but you cannot convince anybody else 80
promise me to repeat this 10 no human being not
even to your father You will be thought
fool"
Lord Grey not let into the secret. but
fortnight afterward Lady Georgiana was sitting
UP late with her mother. Lord Grey came into
the ROOM put down a candle. and said: Il have
Just seen most extraordinary thing AS I
came through the dining-room heard something
move. and on turning my head to look, saw a
head coming along the room 10 me" APP
parently the incident never explained
though Lord Granville appears by his wifes
ratve to have credited much of II TO the irnagna-
ton of the persons concerned. This only
venture into the realm Of the supernatural. In
the main the author OF these letters keeps close
to everyday affairs. One Of the most interest
Ing episodes of history 10 which she aludes is
the trial Of Queen Caroline for unwifey conduct
In 1920 and 1921. Most Of the witnesses in the
case were foreigners. particularly Italians. and
o4xo
the scandal. At the outset the King had high
hopes Of strong vote by the Lords against the
Queen. But the affair soon became a party
matter and. worse than all. Of disagree
ment between high and low. The London mob
believed the Queen innocent. the upper classes
generally felt that she guilty. The names
OF certain persons and places were hateful to
the King, but he was not well hedged as 70 es-
cape the sound at all times. For example:
The King is IN outrageous spirits. discussing
as we do Among other subjects they day
talked Of the advantages and disadvantages OF
royalty. whether II was on the whole desirable.
Another day they went upon the water The
King was in ecstases until one Of the subalterns
Eoit blunder. soft malice, said, "One might al
most fancy oneself upon the Lake of Como"
The italian witnesses had the unmitigated con-
tempt Of the English. and though some OF them
were cool enough in the witness-box, they seemed
TO imagine that they were among barbarans
who would be likely to murder them at the first
opportunity. That led Lady Granville to write:
Let me see II in writing make you en-
Joy a story Of Lord Hollands that, spoken and
acted. amused us extremely. II seems that the
man employed in looking after the Italian wit
nesses Is a dandy. He went 10 them after Den
mans speech On behalf of the Queen), and he
entered. settled his crava pulling II up between
his throat and the top of the Northumberland
The Italians aware Of summary proceedings, but
not Of the nicet!es Of dress. understood this as
al ia To hay
their threats were to be cut
Lady Granville admired both Lord and Lady
Holland. but she did not forget some Of their
peculiarites They visited her at Paris in 1893,
and she observed that Lord Holland was rather
low and that Lady Holland was again confined