The times., 1899-07-02
Lady of the Old school.

icles Lady Louisa Stuart was the young
est daughter of John, third Earl OF Butte,
one of the prime ministers of George The
Third. She was born in 1857, and lived 10
be nearly ninety-four years old. Her
grandmother was Lady Mary Wortley
Montagu. and it may have been that from
this ancestress she inherited her very de-
cided literary talent In her young days
IL was considered far from proper for any
woman of good position to write for
publication and even from her own sis
tiers she carefully kept her writings Sc
cret 1t was not until she was past mid
die age that she consented to write any
thing for publication, and her first effort
in this direction was an introduction 10
the life of her grandmother. which was
edited by Lord Wharncliffe, q relative Of
hers.
This volume of fragments contains a me-
moir of the family of John, Duke of Ar
gyll. relative of Lady Louisa; two poems
In the quaint, old-fashioned style of the
eighteenth century, with notes of exp,ana
tion; and some correspondence between the
author and Lady Montagu Mrs. Lockhart,
that the writer of these fragmentary bits
of literature had none of the training
which comes from constant writing for the
public that she was not known 10 her as
sociates as 4 writer, that her education
was probably more or less rudimentary,
and that she had not even the knowledge
of the world which might have come to
a woman of that time from the expert
ence of husband-for she was never mar
rfa l,a efm of usrff
but feel that peculiar interest attaches
TO them. There is a great deal of court
gossip in the book, Of course, not all of it
- of an important or interesting character;
and there are numerous statements which
are of particular concern only TO those ac-
QIainted with the Stuart family; but it
would have been impossible TO weed out
much OF this matter without spelling the
fascination of the work as IT stands.
The charm of the book is, of course, due
TO the glimpses which one gets of the life
of the eighteenth century, and the naive
and quaint bits of philosophy which are to
be found here and there. There is no af-
fectation in il, and but little of the staid
severity which we are accustomed TO asso-
ciate with that age Of ceremony and pro-
priety. Though there are some anecdotes
and phrases of rather broad meaning, these
are but few, and were inevitable in book
written in the time of Swift and Fielding.
The Memoir of the Duke of Argyll con-
tains some amusing character sketches.
This nobleman. a brilliant and able man.
married d country girl, who was generally
considered beneath him in social position,
and the description of his domestic rela-
tons is not only frank and vivid, but is d
fairly good picture of the domestic life of
some men of today. The Duke, ii seems,
had been extremely skeptical concerning
the character Of women, and was perhaps
4
the theory that, being ignorant, she would
stand some chance OF making him a true
wife. The married life of the couple seems
10 have been happy, not so much through
the tact and good sense of the wife
through the infatuation Of the husband.
Says Lady Louisa:
notwithstanding many instances of complais
y0u must not think he man gov
erned by his wife. No one could be more mas
ter at home where his DEGREES, once issued, were
the nod Of Jupiter, allowing no resistance; nor.
indeed, meeting with any, for a sense OF duty
disposed her 10 obey, and though sEe had the
obstinacy Of a fool in the petty concerns that
she viewed her own province. yet it is but
fair 10 say that she quite free from any taint
Of the cunning which often attends weak under
standings Therefore, she never sought 10 sway
him by cajoling artihce- Plain truth and
downright honesty were the principal features
OF her character; she always tr0d a straight
path. and always meant TO take the riglIs one.
In a word, she was good woman, TO the ut
fnost OF her knowledge and power. On these
valuable Tor. rather invaluable) qualities he used
10 declare that his strong affection for her was
grounded, and who can call such bass insui-
fcient.
lie would however as soon have consulted her
cat as herself upon any point Of importance
When erayer subjects demanded consideration, the
wife, tie woman, was TO keep her due distance,
and not presume 10 iniermeddle. But, then,
grave subjects and important points are so few,
light and unmpOrtant many, and these lat
ter start up 50 continually in the course Of every
common current working day, that the party
10 whom they carelessly (but continuity
yielded croeps on acquiring, crumb by crufnb,
wonderful portion Of something which, if not
actual dominion. does ju7 as well. Nor is this
tile least apt 10 happen where she has been held
at the outset too utterly insignificant TO alarm
the pride q imperial man with suspicion that
ii IN the nature Of things she should ever
prove the cnnqueror. Could wren possibly pos
sesS some glimmering OF human intellect il would
have o far better chance Of influencing Us than
whole reasoning elephant, Of Swft's
IIoliy hnhnIns who coming with the wisdom Of
Solomon would find US all set IN battle array
20 oppose him The Duchess was her husband
darling little bird. whom he loved 10 indulge
dreaded to hurt, and could not have the heart
20 handle roughly. In addition to this tender
feeling, allowances were to be made for the
weakness Of the sex, and its whirnsies and way
wardness; and il idle 20 argue with
women. and must have their own foolish
way. And thus it ended in her having hen
;ngs. which all she cared for.
The daughters were unfortunately class
ed among the triAes left TO her sole superin
tend=nce, their father interfering only with
negative. so curious and Characteristic that il
would be pity to pass it over unnoticed HI
forbade them learning French because ''onc Ian
guage i enough for woman 20 talk in; anS
The Duchess who did not know Z word of IT
had not the least mind 10 dispute the position
As What ihey should be taught was a question
wholly beneath his attention, and as she wa'
convinced by her experience and example
ready at hand to refer 70 that most othe
branches Of education were equally needless viii
foreign tongues, the young ladies learned writ
3ng and aceonpts from the steward and needle
WORK iron a g0vefuess very little superior 20 th'
housekeeper For. after ALL" reasoned the
mother III you had pack OF girls. II you wer,
unlucky, what upon Garth could you do viii
.hem but ind husbands 10 take them on You
handsF Well, then. she knew nothing Of this
and size never taught that; and, pray, hat
not she married? Ay; and married the Duki
OF Argyll No wonder she thought the argu
messt conclusive Her grIdge against them fol
his). together with the natural Indifference o
her temper, prevented her concerning bersel
about them while children, further than 20 as
certain that they were safe and well; and shi
could rez satisfied without constant ocular dem
onstratious oi that. seldom suffering them I,
come and disturb the dogs and cats who 0ccu
pied her draving-roorn, plagued the company a
dinner. and engrossed all the iondness she had Il
beStoW.
A person much more uncommon than the
Duchess OF Argyll was Lady Mary Coke
whose character is described much more al
length, In a chapter which is one of the
most subtly shilful bits OF analysis OF &
woman. by woman, that was ever PEN
ned. He'd Lady Louisa Stuart been borr
hun dr.a1 LAT gl1t