The times., 1899-07-02
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ture to which her dead whiteness Of skin, un-
shaded byNeyebrows, and the fercencss of her
eyes, did give her great resemblance. To make
amends, there were fine teeth, agreeable
smile handsome neck, well-shapen hands and
arms, and a majestic figure. She had the repu-
tation OF cleverncss, when young, and. in spite
OF all her absurdity. would not be called silly
woman; but she so iuvincblv wrong headed -
her understanding lay smothered under so much
pride, self-conceit prejudice obstinacy and vio-
lence Of temper, that you knew not where to
look for IT, and seldom indeed did you catch
such a distinct view OF it as certined its exist
once. So also her good qualities were seen only
like the stars that glmmer through shifting clouds
on tempestuous night; yet she really had sew
eral Her principles religious She was
sincere. honorable, good-natured where passions
did not interfere charitable, and (before old age
had sharpened economy into avarice) sometimes
generous. For her friendships, they were only
too warm and too jealous for the peace OF the
mortals whom they were bestowed-l am
afraid ] might say inflicted
In information she greatly surpassed her sis
tiers, having turn for reading, and reading of
a solid kind-history and state papers, in which
She well versed, far, at least, as related
TO England. But she had not n grain OF taste
for any work of genius. She esteemed Milton
and Pope very fine poets, because such was the
creed of her youth; but if their verses had
been printed pell-mell with Blackmore's she
would not have found out which was WHICH. Nor
did she discriminate better in prose; n writer s
s;lle. his reasoning and reflections. she scarcely
attended to; the language of Swift and Rapn
Bumet and Burke went down alike. and the
Parliamentary Journal pleased her above them
/ all most authentic. Thus conversant with the
dryest matter Of fact alone, she contrived 10
apply it TO the increase of her own selfmport-
ance, and heated her brains with history 9TH
ers have done with romances- Don QuiNOtc be
came knight-errant by pouring "Amadis
de Caul;'' Lady Mary an historical parsonage
by studying Rushworth's Collections" and Lord
Strafords trial. / verify believe that if she
could have been committed close prisoner 10
fln TsaFtaT .Han ns als
ined before the Privy Council, tried, and, of
course gloriously acquitted, by the House of
Lords, il would have given her more delight
than any other thing physically possible. But
living in age when all this little less
than morally impossible she had no way of get
ting upon a level with the Queen Marys and
the Lady Jane Creys, who were always running
in her head except by striving to magnify every
common matter that concerned herself, like the
Don when lie turned the windmills into giants
and carriers inns into castles. Nothing hap
/ pened 10 her after the fashion OF ordinary life
] Not to mention the unprecedented behavior of
/ most men, women, and children with whom
I she had anything TO do, she could not be caught
+ in q shower but il was such rain never fell
/ before from the skies.
The married life of Lady Mary was quite
/ as odd as her character and full of ad-
venture as piquant as even she could have
wished. After the death of her husband
she figured In court annals, and presently
which she visited the court of Louis XVI.
The glimpse which We get of her here is
rather amusing:
The young King and Queen of France had but
lately assumed the crown destined to be torn
from their heads in so cruel manner, and
We're now in the zenith OF apparent prosperity
In those days one Of the unfortunate Queen s
chief sins appears 10 have been want Of at
tention to that resentful part of the Creation.
Old Women, and consequent disregard of all the
FORMS etiquettes, decoruins, and nice obseUances
which old women value and recommendation al
ways unwisoly, as her melancholy history may
prove Now, imagine 4 tall, elderly English
noblewoman full fraught with all these offensive
things, wearing a large fiat hoop, long rlfiles,
and sweeping train. holding herself very upright,
speaking very bad French, and, TO crown all,
abusing the Queens mother without mercy. l
say, imagine such wight arriving amidst the
rcrelry then reigning at Versailles, and judge
whether the giddy crew and their leader were
likely to receive her with open arms.
The final bit of analysis of this re-
markabIe woman is as follows:
! Her character was thoroughly singular. il not
unique; but never contradictory You always
knew in what direction 10 look Tor her, although
sometimes your Imagination might not stretch
I far enough, soar high enough, 10 overtake her.
II may be worth while 10 bestow moment S
consideration on the manner in which that char
actcr affected her relations and familiar society.
People who plod straight along the beaten road
l footsteps Of those uncommon travellers who go
4 tramping over strange ground are IN general
/ tTaceabe- You can distinguish the effects OF
3 their influence, whichever way it operates. If
directly. rs with some. it founds Il sort Of
school; their example and spirit continue to bear
/ sway even after their existence is at end.
With Others, on the contrary, II works, and
! strongly. too. in an inverse ratio TO what they
( would have wished. This the case with
/ Lady Mary, who preached US out Of good-breed-
/ ing, regular economy, respect for authority, and
many other commendable things, by dint cf IN
cessaHtly preaching Us into them; ana as her no
-tions were ordinarily exaggerated than er-
roreCus, one was at times half tempted TO regret
/ tie certainty Of their summary condemnation
without appeal Every act or opinion
] bordering on the great, the noble the dignifcd,
common ''worky-day world had chilling shad-
/ ow Of ridicule cast over II, as Just suited 10
I LADY Mary Coke" If you were caught
/ supposing Lord Chatham and Lord Clarendon 70
/ have fourished together, concluding that James
/ the First was Queen Elizabeth's eldest son, you
I had but to shrug your shoulders and CRY, We'll,
I for my part, l don't pretend TO Lady Mary Coke
I amazing knowledge OF history, and you came OF
: with tying colors. There might some.
times be malice in the matter / own; mis-
chievous contention TO who should scaEdalze
I moor LADY Mary most. Her sill N genealOgy
and etiquette made one fppant girl think it
I pretty air not 10 know how she was related tC
her first cousin; and another assert she could rot
See the use Of bowling and curtsyinG TO the
q
| triae more bearish after one of Lady M5ry's lee
| tures. resuming tolerahle good manners as the
taste Of ii wore of To wind up all with some
thing like a moral, be il remembered that VIC
do the worst office possible TO whatever IS Sc
rious or pTaiseworthy by carrying II to an eNtremC
which must inevitably excite Laughter; hut at
the same time be it confessed that we cannot
habituaie ourselves TO look constantly and eN
clusively at the ridiculous side of almost any
objec; without in some degree iniuring, II no
debasing, OWN minds.
Still another passage, which occurs in
letter TO Mrs. Lockhart, is rather 6
shrewd comment on phase of human ma
ture which is quite as much in evidence
now as in Lady Louisas time.
Why do very young people who do not ye
know the existing world, so far partake of th
spirit Of their age as to judge according 10 i
10 their parents and foretathers when they frs
out2 What suggested 1t TO me this In m!
own day all mothers strictly forbade their daugh
tiers TO read Rousseau's "Nouyelle Heioise' an'
all daughters, Of course, longed 10 read nothinI
50 much. ] knew one young lady who owned ti
me that she stole reading OF II standing OF
the top steps Of her fathers library ladder; ant
another who procured Il and carried it into tn
( country with her her wedding day, tn
first fruits OF being her own mistress. To say tn
truth, ] believe no book ever did SO much mis-
4 chief Yet within these few years | happened
10 hear q girl OF very warm feeling enthusiastic
romantic, just the person whose head II woul'
have turned Of old declare she had tried to reai
it, but been 50 disguised that she threw 1t ava,
before she got through half the frst volume.
Many parents Of today have pondered
over this problem. Why should the chill
dren of those who delighted in 'The Wide
Wide World" and the "Rollo Books"-as
thousands of children did in the last gen
eration-refuse these works as prosy and
silly? Why should Thackeray and Dick
ems lie on the upper shelves OF many {