Letters of Walter Savage Lawlor. Edited by Stephen Wheeler. (Duckworth
and Co. 10s. 6d )—Mr. Wheeler has printed in this
volume a number of letters, hitherto unpublished, which Landor addressed to Miss Rose Paynter (afterwards Lady Graves-Sawle) and other members of the Aylmer family (admirers of Landor will remember the Rose Aylmer of his early life,—Miss Paynter
was this lady's niece, and inherited, so to speak, the devotion of Landor's old age). It would be difficult to state exactly the merit
of the letters; certainly they do not lend themselves to extract.
But they add some gracious lines to a portrait which needs such relief. Landor's ferocity had a certain unreality about it; it was literary rather than personal. 'Can I not write,' he seems to be
saying to himself, 'verses as savage as the great Catalina wrote P ' It is well, then, to see how playful and tender he could be to those who were fortunate enough to see only his brighter side. We may quote the second stanza of a little poem addressed
20 Lady Charles Beauclerk on her marriage ("he," we should say, is the poet) :—
" Ho loingirwn lvely. thinks you wise. A*êstUlwWthInk,o, while your eyes Seek not in noisier paths to roam, But rest upon your forest-green. And find that life runs best between
A tender love and tranquil home."
One of the best things in the volume is "An Imaginary Conversa- tion," written by Miss Rose Punter, who seems to have had a pretty gift of humour. The second part of the volume consists of some letters on public affairs. It can hardly be said that there is much light or leading in them. Bic :wiper tyrannis is the motto with which they might be headed.
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