carriage, and introduced her to his family, one after the other, as one of themselves. He ever after treated her in the same gracious manner, and on one occasion, upon her return from Paris, made her a present of some jewels, which he said he had some time, but would not send them to her abroad, as he wished to give them to her himself on her return to England. He afterwards entered, as I shall proceed to relate, into conversation on matters relating to her dearest interests, and to sanction the custody of such papers as were thought most available in support of her honour and fair reputation with posterity.

"Mrs. Fitzherbert told me that the first day when, in compliance with the commands of the king, she went to the Pavilion and was presented by him to the queen and royal family, she was herself much surprised at the great composure with which she was able to sustain a trial of fortitude which appeared so alarming at a distance; but she believed the excitement had sustained her. It was not so the next dinner at which she was present in the same family circle; and the many reflections which then oppressed her mind very nearly overpowered her. Afterwards she frequently attended the king's small Sunday parties at Brighton, and then, as upon all other occasions, she was received with uniform kindness and consideration."

There is a letter of hers, dated December 7, 1833, in which she describes to Lord Stourton the kindness she also received from the family of Louis Philippe, and the intimate terms upon which they received her. William IV. concurred in the arrangement made between her and the executors of his predecessor, by which a correspondence was destroyed, including, we presume, that royal love-letter of thirty-seven pages, which must have been such a model of a lover's perjuries. To the Duke of York and the Queen she was indebted for a mortgage of £6,000 a year on the palace of Brighton, until which she had no legal title to a

shilling if she survived the prince. In fact, at one period she had debts upon her own jointures incurred principally on his account; and apparently, instead of his taking care of her interests, he was as ready to sponge upon her fortune as to damage her character and abuse her affections.

For him there is no excuse, when we consider her story as a whole, though it does appear that at times he was desirous to uphold her in the position which he had urgently induced her to assume. In addition to the circumstances mentioned by Mr. Langdale, we must not forget that his rupture with Brummell has been attributed to the impudence of the latter in summoning, with marked emphasis, the carriage of Mistress Fitzherbert. No blame, however, attaches to the King's executors; on the contrary, it is admitted that they acted with good feeling and consideration. Lord Albemarle writes to inform Lord Stourton that

"Yesterday, the Duke of Wellington, Mrs. Fitzherbert, and myself, were busily engaged in burning all the letters on either side, with the exception of those which Mrs. Fitzherbert chose to keep. It would be unjust to the Duke of Wellington if I did not say that his conduct was gentlemanly and friendly to Mrs. Fitzherbert in every respect, and I know that she is per-, fectly satisfied."

Subsequently the duke himself, in 1841, on explaining to Lord Stourton his objections to the reopening of the packet at Coutts's, concludes his letter as follows:

"Under these circumstances, and having acted conscientiously and upon honour throughout the affairs detailed in this letter, I cannot but consider it my duty to protest, and I do protest most solemnly, against the measure proposed by your

lordship, that of breaking the seals affixed to the packet of letters belonging to the late Mrs. Fitzherbert, deposited at Messrs. Coutts', the bankers, under the several seals of the Earl of Albemarle, your lordship, and myself.

"I have the honour to be, my lord,

"Your lordship's most faithful and
"Obedient humble servant,

"The Lord Stourton, Allerton Park."

"WELLINGTON."

Whether or not Mr. Keppel, the executor of Lord Albemarle, has acted with propriety in refusing, so late as 1855, to produce these papers, we have no occasion to inquire, as he has fortified himself with the opinions of the Duke of Bedford and of the executors of Mrs. Fitzherbert herself. As, in fact, they must be inferior in interest to Lord Stourton's narrative, and, their nature being known, are scarcely required to give it authenticity, the public, on the one hand, loses little by this refusal, while any error of judgment to which it is attributable is of more importance to these gentlemen than to the memory of Mrs. Fitzherbert. Her reputation is now sufficiently vindicated by Lord Stourton and Mr. Langdale-her relatives and coreligionists-nor will it be affected henceforth by the repetition of the scandalizing statements which have given them so much umbrage. Her memoirs will now be a fitting corroboration of the fact ingeniously symbolized on her monument by Mrs. Lionel Dawson Damer, originally the Miss Seymour confided to her guardianship.

"The inscription is as follows:- 'In a vault near this spot are deposited the remains of Maria Fitzherbert. She was born

on the 26th of July, 1756, and expired at Brighton on the 29th of March, 1837. One to whom she was more than a parent, has placed this monument to her revered and beloved memory, as a humble tribute of her gratitude and affection.'

"The hand of the figure had the singular addition of three rings on the fingers, thus bearing the evidence of the affectionate lady who erected it to the triple marriage of her departed friend."

A fair fame will be henceforth associated with the fair face which has become dust, and Mrs. Fitzherbert, absolved from the suspicion of frailty, will be remembered for her worth and the wrongs which she suffered.

THE SOUTHERN COUNTIES OF ENGLAND.*

If a foreigner were asked by what special characteristic he would identify an Englishman in foreign parts, he would doubtless commence by some fancied peculiarity which accorded least with his own predilections. John Bull would be described as scornful or eccentric, as giving himself airs or other people trouble, as flushed with roast beef or fuddled with "rhum," or as clad in all kinds of outlandish garments; but the respondent would inevitably conclude his description with, "Il porte dans sa main un petit livre rouge." The Englishman en voyage must himself admit that in this last particular his portrait is accurate, and that Mr. Murray, of Albemarle-street, has really succeeded in

"A Handbook for Travellers in Devon and Cornwall." John Murray. "Handbook for Wilts, Dorset, and Somerset." John Murray. "Handbook for Surrey, Hants, and the Isle of Wight." John Murray. "Handbook for Kent and Sussex." John Murray, "A Guide to the Coast of Kent," by MACKENZIE WALCOTT, M.A. Stanford. "A Guide to the Coast of Sussex," by MACKENZIE WALCOTT, M.A. Stanford. "A Guide to the Coasts of Hants and Dorset," by MACKENZIE WALCOTT, M.A. Stanford. "A Guide to the Coasts of Devon and Cornwall," by MACKENZIE WALCOTT, M.A. Stanford. [From the Times of Sept. 22, 1859.]