1859.] BUCHANAN HOUSE. 187 when the family are at home in September and October, they resemble at that period, when seen from that elevated position, a splendid Turkish carpet, laid out in perfect taste, and emblazoned with the finest colours of nature. We found that the Duke and Duchess still upheld the same character for splendid and courteous hospitality, which we had witnessed seventeen years before at Bowhill. Their manner to their numerous guests was perfection, and their popularity in the many counties in which the family estates lie, is unbounded. Entirely different was the character of another of the show-places in Scotland at which we passed some days this autumn. Buchanan House, the seat of the Duke of Montrose, is situated within two miles of Loch Lomond on its eastern side, and at the foot of Ben Lomond, which rears its majestic head above a barrier of heathery hills immediately behind the park. Situated on the edge of the Highlands, it possesses the advantages of both Highland and Lowland scenery; but its great attraction and unequalled charm consist in the wooded islands of the lake, most of which form part of the Duke's park, and one of which is his deer-forest. Nothing can be conceived more charming than rowing in fine weather round those lovely isles, lying like baskets of flowers on the bosom of the waves, and combining what is lovely in lowland with what is sublime in mountain scenery. The new Castle of Buchanan, which we now saw for the first time, and which was not yet entirely finished, is situated on a high eminence, surrounded by old natural trees, and commanding beautiful views cut out of them over the lake and adjoining mountains. It is built in the old Scotch manor style, of great extent, and is the most perfect specimen of that kind of house that I have seen. There was a large party at Buchanan, and the Duke and Duchess did the honours with the highest politeness and courtesy. Her Grace is a very superior woman, well-informed, and fond of conversation, and is always surrounded by a large and brilliant circle. During the same autumn we were for some days at Ardgowan, the splendid seat of my kind and hospitable friend Sir Michael Shaw-Stewart. He was the son of my old friend and contemporary Sir Michael Stewart. I already felt we were dropping into a new generation. Ardgowan, situated on a promontory projecting into the Firth of Clyde, and commanding extensive views of Arran on the one side and the mountains of Argyleshire on the other, and surrounded by fine woods, clothing the steep banks which on either side descend to the sea-is one of the finest places in the west of Scotland. The present hostess-Lady Octavia, sixth daughter of the Marquis of Westminster-threw over the whole the charm of beauty combined with courtesy of manner. We met here Lord St Germans-who afterwards was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland-and Lady St Germans. He was a man of pleasing manners; and she was 1859.] PROGRESS OF HISTORY. 189 evidently a woman of a very cultivated and superior mind. We met also this autumn Lady Jersey and Lady Clementina Villiers at Mr Baillie-Cochrane's at Lamington, near Biggar. Lord Bathurst was there also. It was a strange thing, in 1857, to meet a statesman who had been a contemporary of Castlereagh and Wellington, and whose conversation was of the campaign of Leipzig and the Congress of Vienna. As might be expected of a man who had been a Cabinet Minister in those times, he was in very advanced years, but he had much that was interesting to recount in anecdotes of the illustrious men with whom he had passed his prime. Lady Jersey and Lady Clementina were as charming as ever. I had several walks in the romantic scenery of Lamington with the latter, which I shall never forget. They were the last I ever had. She was as beautiful as ever, and as delightful; but the marble-like paleness of her countenance, and the attenuation of her figure, suggested a painful doubt whether she was destined long for this world. They came to Possil afterwards, on their way to Drummond Castle, and I had the pleasure of showing them the lions of Glasgow ; and that was the last time we ever were together, except in the crowded drawing-room of Berkeley Square next season. During all this time I worked assiduously at my History every day, and the only difference made when from home was, that I worked harder than when in my own library. Having nothing else to do when absent from Glasgow, I taxed myself at a larger amount of writing than when at home. Seven quarto pages was the former allowance, and only five the latter. I took with me, wherever I went, five or six volumes, being the authorities immediately required in the pages I intended to write when absent, which was seldom more than a few days. It is a curious circumstance-to which I have already alluded more than once in the course of these memoirs-that when from home, and having nothing to do but write my History, I could not manage more than two, or at the utmost three pages, in addition to my regular five pages, although when at home, I had five hours of legal work to go through every day, requiring the closest attention, and often rendering necessary five or six pages of notes of evidence or legal argument. Change of occupation and thought is even a greater rest to the mind than absolute inactivity; and this is the true explanation of the amount of business got through by those who have been fortunate enough to discover this invaluable secret, or have had it, as it was with me, forced upon them. In one respect during the winter of 1857-58 I had great advantages. I was engaged then in writing the account of the monetary crisis of 1847, the suspension of cash payments by Lord John Russell, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer's famous letter of the 25th October in that year. At the very 1859.] COMMERCIAL PANIC. 191 time when this was doing, another monetary crisis of parallel features and still greater intensity was going forward, followed by a similar supension of cash payments by Government in the middle of November. The features of the two crises were so identical, that in describing what took place in October 1847, I had only to paint what I saw going on around me in November 1857. The great export of gold to the Crimea, for the use of the French and English armies during the war, led to such a drain upon the Bank of England, as obliged its directors to put on the screw violently in 1857 course which was immediately followed by every bank in the country. Disastrous and ruinous everywhere, this sudden contraction of the currency was in an especial manner felt as destructive in Glasgow, in consequence of the great extension of commerce and undertakings which had taken place there since the rise of prices, beginning in 1852 with the increased supplies of the precious metals from the mines of California and Australia. The consequence was, such a run upon the banks for specie, and such a cessation of their advances on any even the best security, as led to a suspension of cash payments by two-the Western Bank and the City of Glasgow Bank-and such a pressure upon the others, that even the most affluent narrowly escaped bankruptcy. I was at Hamilton trying cases when this alarming intelligence was brought to me as I sat in |