CONFIDENTIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 163 easily be fixed by anybody who has studied the domestic annals of the time. Lady Mary wrote constantly to Murray during the times of his absence from his official duties; and while there is plenty of evidence of those heart - burnings, anxieties, and competition for place and favour, from which no Court ever can be free, she betrays no eagerness on her own account, but only for the young Queen-that she may be protected from the machinations of interested schemers; and for Murray—that he may obtain the advancement which Lady Mary believed not only that he deserved, but that it was to the advantage of the Royal household he should obtain. One amusing feature in these letters is, that all the principal characters about the Court are referred to under pseudonyms. Lady Mary herself signs Judy Iscariot, to "puzzle the postoffice," as she explains; the Queen is called Niké;1 Lord Melbourne wears the transparent disguise of "the Great M."; Murray is addressed as "the Good M." or "M. minor," and so on. Lord Palmerston's visits and his endless stories were always a source of amusement in a circle more replete with worth than with wit. But even 1 The Greek Níkn, equivalent to Latin Victoria. at this distance of time it would strain, if not break, confidence to print letters intended only for one pair of eyes. They are made up of just such easy, careless, loyal gossip as a clever girl might write to a man not much more than her own age, whose heart, as she well knew, had been committed to the keeping of another knowledge which defended their intercourse from the inevitable restraint which would have loaded their pens and lips under different circumstances. a CHAPTER VIII. 1838-1844. JOURNALS, ETC. It is a trite observation that the reign of Queen Victoria synchronises with a period of progress and change such as the world has never before seen. People were scarcely conscious at the time of the magnitude of the operations which were beginning to take place. The first railway connecting London and the provinces was opened in 1838, connecting the Metropolis with Birmingham, and in the four succeeding years the chief existing trunk lines of Great Britain were begun. Had Murray foreseen the extent of the revolution thus initiated in the habits and environment of our people, he would certainly have made some notes at the time, for he had a quick, observant mind and a ready pen. But such observations and speculations as he committed to paper must have been written in letters to friends, hardly one of whom now survives. Here and there among his papers occur fleeting allusions to the new modes of travel, as, for instance, in the following extract : Samuel Rogers to the Countess of Dunmore. "LOWTHER, Sept. 10th [c. 1841]. "I set out the day after you were so kind as to call, and arrived in the evening at Lancaster, the giant that had transported me so far not having crushed me in his impetuosity or scalded me to death. There I found, or rather was found out by, the little Duchess of Buccleuch, who had travelled all day in my tail, and if I can contrive it, I will pass a day or two at Drumlanrig before I return. But my only purpose in coming was once more to visit a brother versifier, Wordsworth, and also these old and kind friends. Alas! I found him sitting for his picture, and here I am waiting for him, day after day." Physical science was in full movement; the venerable diluvial theory in geology was just beginning to yield to systematic research. Here is an early mention of glacial action : Dr Buckland to Hon. Charles Murray. "OXFORD, 17 Nov. 1840. "Allow me to present you with a true statement of the condition of the world which smashed GEOLOGICAL NEWS. 167 my Hyænas and Elephants, and immediately preceded the appearance of existing species upon our Planet. I have recently been going over much of Scotland, and find everywhere the Remains of Moraines and scratches on the hard Rocks which formed the Bottom of the Glaciers-those which Sir T. Hale attributed to Diluvial Action. For Diluvial we must read Glacial, and the facts remain intact. I inclose a copy which I will thank you to present in my Name to H.R.H. Prince Albert." Other letters from Dr Buckland inform Murray of the latest discoveries of fossil remains, notably the Megalornis of New Zealand. During his life at Court, Charles Murray was able to be of some service to his friends. Here is a letter announcing promotion to his brother Henry : Hon. Charles Murray to Lieut. the Hon. "BUCKINGHAM PALACE, June 29, 1838. "With unfeigned hearty pleasure I announce to you that you are made. I saw Lord Melbourne yesterday afternoon at the Coronation, when he said to me, 'Well, Mr Murray, I have made out your brother's commission.' Says I, 'A thousand thanks, my Lord; pray give me your hand to shake.' When that was over I wished to sound him upon a subject which you have once or twice |