1861.] THE WALLACE DINNER. 317 800 persons. As chairman of the meeting it fell to me to propose the toast of the evening-"The immortal memory of Sir William Wallace;" and it required no small tact and consideration to do so. It would have been easy to have wound the audience up to the highest pitch of enthusiasm by praise of the Scotch and abuse of the English, for they were to a man intensely national, and highly excited, and would have received any amount of either with applause. But it is a grating thing in one part of a united kingdom to see a victory celebrated which was won over another part; and considering how much the security and influence of the British empire depends on the cordial union of all its members, it was a difficult task to glorify these old and undeniable events which shed lustre on the one without bringing discredit on the other. Influenced by these considerations, I endeavoured to present a view of the achievements of Wallace which, while it should do justice to the memory of that illustrious patriot, should at the same time exhibit clearly the immense advantages which Scotland, in common with every other part of the empire, derived from union with England. I had reason to congratulate myself; for although the meeting attracted great attention, and the speeches were quoted at length in the chief English as well as all the Scotch papers, no unpleasant feelings were expressed, and in many of the southern journals the subject was mentioned in terms of generous enthusiasm. During the month which preceded this interesting pageant, I was actively engaged with my lives of Lord Castlereagh and Sir Charles Stewart. It had been intended to have published them before the season came to an end in London in this year, and I had for some time nearly doubled my daily average of writing to effect this object. I wrote five or six instead of three pages a-day. But the general depression of commerce, in consequence of the American Civil War, which had recently broken out, and the absorption of public interest on that most important event, induced Mr Blackwood to postpone the period of publication, and it did not appear till the 1st December following. In the meantime, however, I was indefatigable in my efforts to drive the work to a conclusion. I felt the same nervous anxiety which I had experienced when approaching the termination of my History and Continuation, lest anything should occur to prevent its completion. Indeed I felt more anxious; for the long period which had elapsed since the first of these works was concluded, on 7th June 1842, and the great amount of intellectual labour since undergone, had of course increased the chances and uncertainty of life. At length my labours were brought to a termination. On the 27th July 1861, sitting in the library at Possil with Lady Alison, the faithful partner of my labours, my joys, and anxieties, I wrote "the last line of the last page," and finally laid aside my historic pen. At the age of sixty-eight it is too 1861.] CONCLUSION OF CASTLEREAGH LIVES. 319 late to begin any new work; and the intervals, always brief, of severe and daily increasing professional duty will be amply occupied in revising my numerous writings for successive editions, and adding such additional documents in the form of notes as have come out since the text was written. I am happy to say I have not been under the necessity of correcting or withdrawing any statement, beyond an error in the press or the rectifying of a figure. The coming of age this summer of our young friend and neighbour, Mr Spiers of Elderslie, a promising young man recently gazetted to the Grenadier Guards, led to a series of brilliant fêtes at Elderslie, presided over by his mother, Mrs Spiers, with her usual taste and elegance, at which a very numerous and brilliant party from far and near was assembled. Like her other neighbours, we threw open our house to her guests on the occasion, and we had F and his friend Lord Loughborough under our roof while it lasted, which was for three days. Both Lady Alison and I were much struck with this highly gifted young man. To brilliant talents and high breeding and manners he adds a vein of romance, very rare in this utilitarian age in any rank, but most of all in the fashionable society and gay circles in London in which he had for several years moved. He possesses considerable powers of public speaking, and has often tried to get into Parliament; but owing to his Conservative politics he has hitherto been unsuc cessful. This is to be regretted, for he is in every way qualified to make a good figure in the House of Commons. If his exclusion, through the prejudices of party, from the public arena continues much longer, it is much to be feared his present desultory habits will become confirmed, and that he will add another to the long list of highly gifted persons, of whom, as of the Duke of Orleans, it may be said, that the fairies, having been invited to his christening, all came, and each endowed him with some admirable quality; but one old fairy, who had been forgotten, came of her own accord, and added this fatal one-that he should never make any use of them. 321 CHAPTER XVIII. COUNTRY VISITS GENERAL REFLECTIONS. AUGUST 1861-JANUARY 1862. THERE being no State balls or Court festivities this year, in consequence of the death of the Duchess of Kent, the Queen's mother, we did not go to town. Lady Alison's health had been so much shattered by the serious illness she had had in the preceding autumn, that we wished to go to a considerable distance in the long vacation for change of scene and air. At first we thought of Homburg or of one of the German watering-places, and had actually made preparations for such an expedition; but the accounts we received of the excessive gaiety of these establishments, and the solitary situation of such as did not incline to join in them, induced us to change our plans, and go instead for a month to Invernessshire, where we had many kind friends and near connections. We set out accordingly on the 13th August, and slept that night in Aberdeen, where I had not been since I delivered my rectorial speech VOL. II. X |