A Memoir of Lady Anna Mackenzie, Countess of Bakarres, and
after- wards of Argyll, 1621-1706. By Alexander Lord Lindsay. (Edmonston and Douglas.)—The interest of this book is scarcely biographical, but it is real. Lady Anna Mackenzie's letters give us an insight into her charac- ter which we should not gain from the mere external account of the cir- cumstances of her life, and Lord Lindsay fills up any gaps that may be left in the letters themselves with much skill and taste. Some of his political reflections will jar on the feelings of the nineteenth century, and few will be disposed to admit that Charles I., though he may have been a martyr for liberty in one sense, died "in defence of principles and liberties which are now the common heritage and boast of every Briton." But these views give an exact local colour to the memoir of a Royalist Scottish lady, and show that Lord Lindsay has an intense sympathy with his subject.
Previous page
