SPECTATOR'S LIBRARY.

Lidoons,nr.

Memoir and Correspondence of Mrs. Grant of Laggan, Author of Letters from the Mountains," " Memoirs of an American Lady," etc. Edited by her Son. J. P. Grant, Esq. In three volumes Longman cad Co. litsrostv.

The Chinese War: an Account of all the Operations of the British Forces, from the commencement to the Treaty of Nankiug. By Lieutenant John Ouchterlony, F.G.S., of the Madras Engineers, late Acting Engineer at the new Settlement of Hong-kong. With fifty-three Illustrations, from original Drawings by the Author. FICTION, Saunders mid Otioy. The Heretic. Translated from the Russian of Lajetchnikoff. By Thomas B. Shaw, B.A. of Cambridge, Adjunct Professor of English Literature in the Imperial Lyceum of Tearskoe Sold. In three volumes Blackwood.

MRS. GRANT Or LAGGAN.

Mas. GRANT, the authoress of Letters from the Mountains, (a real correspondence, descriptive of Highland life at the end of the last century,) and of some other works, now rather remembered than read, was born in 1755, and died in 1838. Her father, DUNCAN Mecviesa, appears to have been a Scotch agriculturist, who sub- sequently obtained a commission in the Army ; and being ordered in 1757 to our colonies in America, was shortly afterwards followed by Mrs. Nisei/ices and his little daughter, then not three years old. In America the family remained 6111768, when they returned to Scotland ; little ANNE MACVICAR having experienced all the pri- vations and migrations of colonial life, and picked up her education by odds and ends. She was taught reading by her mother ; a soldier in her father's company, a deboshed gentleman who retained no- thing of his original status but a "fine hand," taught her to write ; a Scotch sergeant, during an expedition, made her acquainted with the beauties of broad Scotch and Blind HARRY'S " Wallace "; a Captain CAMPBELL, stationed at a fort on the Mohawk river, gave her a "fine copy of Milton," which she "studied all the way down in the boat," and, child as she was, "never rested till she found out the literal meaning of the words "; and to this volume she attributed the formation of her mind. In 1773, Mr. Msc- vIcsa was appointed Barrackmaster of Fort Augustus, in Inverness- shire ; and in 1779, ANNE MACYICAR was married to Mr. GRANT, the minister of Laggan, a Highland parish. Some charm of man- ner gave her through life a great facility in making friends, which a singular mixture of affection and prudence enabled her to retain. Though so young and living so little in the world, she had a circle of correspondents; and her epistles descriptive of manners, cha- racters, and so forth, written from Fort Augustus and Laggan, formed her Letters from the Mountains. She also scribbled poetry, which she gave to her friends, without a thought of publication, though the time came when literature was to be her means of pre- sent support and the foundation of future comfort.

In 1801, Mr. GRANT died of consumption ; leaving his widow with a large family, and some trifling debts. The prospect was enough to depress the most sanguine ; but Mrs. GRANT felt, she says, "a confidence" in Providence, that "to many might appear romantic and extravagant." Certainly she struggled through her difficulties with a success which, though the cause is clear enough looking at the whole, would be utterly unattainable by common persons. Her friends collected from each other her fugitive poems, and issued proposals for their publication ; and such were their exertions and influence that a subscription-list for three thousand copies was the result. A few years afterwards, her Letters front the Mountains were collected and published, with even a better effect ; for the novelty of the subject, and their intrinsic merit, not only carried them through several editions, but introduced the writer to many persons of influence and distinction in England. Two years afterwards, the Letters were followed by Memoirs of an American Lady—a Mrs. SCHUYLER of Albany, New York, who was one of the writer's earliest friends, and a person of great merit and high colonial reputation. In 1810, Mrs. GRANT removed to Edinburgh, with the view of taking a few young ladies to superin- tend and educate ; in which speculation she was eminently suc- cessful: and at Edinburgh she resided till her death, in 1838, highly respected by people of all parties in politics and religion, with a wide circle of friends both in the United Kingdom and Ame- rica, and with a reputation which was perhaps the result not only of her own intrinsic merit but of some power of manner and management, as well as of the adventitious character that attached to Edinburgh during the days of the Scotch Novels and the early times of Blackwood. Mrs. GRANT, however, was by no means de- ficient in spirit and observation as a writer: but a peculiar tact or prudence—a combination of English sense and Scotch canniness— seems to have been her principal and most useful characteristic.

Some extraordinary influence she certainly exercised over those who came in any way within the sphere of her attraction. We have seen how her friends came forward with her poems. On an- other occasion, ANGERSTEIN, THOMSON, and Bouast, each sub- scribed a hundred pounds and transmitted it to her through Mr. CHALMERS. Bishop PORTEUS, though unknown to her, sponta- neously offered to revise and prepare a second edition of the Letters, and continued her steady friend during his life. Some ladies of Boston, reading her Letters from the Mountains, printed an American edition, and transmitted two hundred pounds as the profit of the impression—for international copyright in those days (1810) was not thought of. A pupil left a memorandum bequeath- ing her 1,0001.: the testator having been under age, the gift was legally invalid, but the family, who found the paper, confirmed it. A "little West Indian boy," whom she "brought up partly at ( Laggan and partly at Woodend," (a place near Glasgow,) dying

about 1826, also bequeathed her 1,000/. GEORGE the Fourth granted her a pension of 100/. a year, on a memorial of the Edin-

burgh literati, headed by Seorr and JEFFREY. Sir WILLIAM GRANT, the celebrated Master of the Rolls, left her an annuity of similar amount ; and the wonted liberality of the house of LONG- MAN was not suspended in her case.

"If gratitude were payment, you should be as liberally dealt with as I have been by my booksellers. Further I cannot proceed without disburdening my mind of the wonder and admiration which the liberality of these most generous booksellers has excited. Know, then, dear Sir, the last week Longman and Company sent me their account stated, in which they have allowed me a hand- some sum, out of their own half of the profits, as a free gift."

Unlooked-for pecuniary prosperity was attended by domestic misfortune. Of twelve children, Mrs. GRANT survived eleven ; some of whom died in their childhood, but the greater number between fourteen and thirty, of that insidious disorder they probably de- rived from their father. Her piety, rational, fervid, and catholic, enabled her to acquiesce in these blows, which were dealt to her at intervals of years ; but it is easy to see from her letters that she suffered much—more perhaps in the anticipation and apprehension than even from the actual loss.

The three volumes before us consist of a brief sketch of her life, (drawn up by Mrs. GRANT herself to the year 1806, and continued by her son) and of her letters, written to various friends, between 1803, when she left Laggan for Woodend, till within a few months of her death, in 1838 The nature of this correspondence is domestic ; though often interspersed with re- marks on the books she was reading, or sketches of the persons she had met. There are also very many passages of a biogra- phical character : but the great bulk of the book is private and personal—letters of compliment or condolence, the effusions of friendship or piety, accounts of her domestic affairs, or sketches of persons of whom the reader knows little or nothing, and does not much care to know. Notwithstanding this, the book would be readable and attractive but for its length. After getting about half through, the reader begins to flag. Something may be attributed to a falling-off in the interest—the story and the struggles are over. But we incline to charge a good deal upon the mere length ; which is too great for the character of the writer and the nature of the subjects, unless perhaps to personal friends. Neither ani- mation of idea, rather than of style, which is kept subordinate, nor justness of remark, can attract us long when employed upon things that have no attraction in themselves.

Great names in literature and life, both of London and Edin- burgh, meet the eye often in the pages of Mrs. GRANT'S correspond- ence; but the greatest are SCOTT and JEFFREY. Herself a stanch Tory, Mrs. GRANT'S predilections were all in favour of SCOTT; but JEFFREY comes out by far the best in her pages,—less calculating, less self-seeking, more to be loved, as MALCOLM said of NEesort compared with WELLINGTON and NAPOLEON. Nor are we sure but the old lady felt so in her heart of hearts, despite of politics, criticism, and, what was worse than adverse criticism, neglect, that gave rise to this picture of EDINBURGH REVIEWERS, 1806.

Yon, my dear Sir, are not singular in the surprise you express at the silence of the Edinburgh Review with regard to the Letters. You will be more sur- prised when I tell you I am in some measure personally acquainted with Mr. Jeffrey, the conductor of that publication ; and that what further he knows of me is through the most favourable medium—some friends of mine, who are also his intimates, and who are partial to my writings in consequence of long endeared attachment to the author. My daughter, too, was the favoured friend of his late beloved and very deserving wife; so that I am convinced it is no personal that makes this arch-critic so silent. But there are among the Edinburgh literati two parties,—the philosophers, who are also wits; and the enthusiasts, who are also Loyalists, not in the lukewarm form of the late converts, but with such a sentiment as that to which your virtuous Falkland and our great Montrose fell victims. To this latter party my friends more particularly belong. The philosophers, whom we consider as disguised Repub- licans, value themselves on their prejudice against prejudices, and on general incredulity. We, again, believe all that our fathers believed ; nay more, we believe in the existence of the fair-haired Fingal and the sweet voice of Cons. Now this enrages the Sophe beyond measure : their literary pride is all in arms at the very idea that gentle manners or generous sentiments should precede the existence of the sciences, and cannot conceive how a man should have either valour or compassion without learning it at school. On the same prin- ciple, they treat female genius and female productions with unqualified scorn, never mentioning any thing of the kind but with a sneer. Of late they have clubbed their whole stock of talent to prove that no such person as Fingal ever existed; that our Celtic ancestors were little better than so many Northern ourang-outangs; that we should never think of or mention our ancestors unless to triumph in our superiority over them; that the Highlands should be instantly turned into a great sheep-walk, and that the sooner its inhabitants leave it the better for themselves and the community. Judge what favour I, an illiterate female, Loyalist and Highlander, am to find at such a tribunal. I admire Jeffrey's abilities - and with his criticism on Marmontel's Memoirs, and the other on Anacreon abilities; Poems, I am unspeakably delighted. But then, he has so committed himself by his severity towards Mrs. Hunter, Miss Baillie, and my friend James Grahame, the amiable writer of "The Sabbath," and been so reproached by their friends, that he has lately declared he will never mere criticize his particular acquaintance.

JEFFREY AND SCOTT, 1810.

Walter Scott and the formidable Jeffrey have both called on me, not by any

means as a scribbling female, but on account of links formed by mutual friends. Ton would think by their appearance that the body of each was formed to lodge the soul of the other. Having met them both formerly, their appear- ance was not any thing new to roe: but Jeffrey looks the poet all over; the ardent eye, the nervous agitation, the visibly-quick perceptions, keep one's attention constantly awake in expectation of flashes of the peculiar intelligence of genius : nor is that expectation entirely disappointed, for his conversation is in a high degree fluent and animated. Walter Scott, again, has not a gleam of poetic fire visible in his countenance, which merely suggests the idea of plain good sense : his conceptions do not strike you as by any means so rapid or so brilliant as those of his critic ; yet there is much amusement and variety in his good-humoured, easy, and unaffected conversation.

CHARACTERISTICS OF JEFFREY.

Miss C. M. Fanshawe, Cavendish Square, London. Edinburgh. 6th October 1810.

My dear Madam—I was charmed with your remarks on the Lady of the Lake, which, in small compass, comprehend more characteristic touches than all the many I have seen. I told Mr. Jeffrey of your critique; and he begged me to read it to him, that he might "steal some hints," as he expressed it. I rallied him on his humility, and thought no more of it: he came, however, afterwards' and renewed his request. While I was reading it, I saw by the sparkle of his eyes how much he was pleased and surprised. He expressed much wonder, not only at the criticism, but at not having met with you ; and solicited an introduction when he should go to London. I thought you might have some curiosity to gratify in seeing this formidable scourge of literature; and I was the readier to grant his request as I rather wondered at his making it. He is in many respects very unlike what you would imagine him ; not the least ambitious of new or distinguished acquaintances, nor by any means fond of large parties or the show and bustle of life. I know no one of more domes- tic habits, nor any one to whom all the charities of home and kindred seem more endeared. If the world were not full of inconsistency, I would say it was almost impossible to reconcile the asperity of his criticisms with the general kindness of his disposition. I do not promise that you will, on meeting, find him greatly calculated to please in conversation : the fertility of his mind, the rapidity of his expression, and the fire of his countenance, altogether give an air of ungraceful Impetuosity to his conversation. This, while It overpowers the feeble by its strength, and, as it were, tires the eye by the quick succession of its coruscations, is nevertheless brilliant, vigorous, and profound. He is lavish of thought, and gives a guinea where a sixpence might do as well: but then, he has no change, and pays all in gold.

SATIRE IN DISGUISE.

There came a young couple here this winter, who have been three or four years married, but have no family. The gentleman is Mr. R. H. Inglis, [the present Sir R. II. Inglis, Bart., M.P.,] the son of Sir Hugh Inglis, the India Director. He is pious, learned, and elegant, with all that is pleasing and en- gaging in a young man, and all that is respectable and estimable in an old one. His young wife is lively, sensible, and accomplished, without display or osten- tation, which so utterly spoils the enjoyment of all these good things. We met them at Bishop Sandford's, and our acquaintance has since gone on with much satisfaction on both sides. People say Mr. Inglis is the living representative of Sir Charles Grandison :I think he is indeed very much the character of male excellence which Richardson wished to draw.

There are several indications in the volumes of Mrs. GRANT'S attention to the advancement of her interests; but perhaps the neatest is the following, to the wife of the Reverend Dr. HOOK, on the appointment of her brother to the Governorship of the Mauri- tius, where young GRANT was then stationed.

"This brings me to congratulate you and myself on your brother's appoint- ment as Governor of Mauritius; which is certainly the best thing that could happen for my son, and which delights me beyond what you are aware of. I am reasonably and naturally pleased with the degree of protection and even preferment which may be thus hoped for; but my supreme delight is to think that you, dear soul, who absolutely languish for an opportunity to do me good, should have the fervour of your friendly seal thus speedily and amply gratified when you least thought of it. I can scarcely think the circumstances that: threw my son under the auspices of your brother altogether fortuitous: there is a tide surely in the affairs of men, and at present it sets prosperously for my young soldier.

After quoting this, it would be unfair to pass the following ad- mirable advice and exhortations to her son, on INDIAN CONNEXIONS AND MARRIAGE.

I must now tell you of an additional and very strong motive that I have for keeping your sisters independent of you. I regard with very great compassion

ost men who are destined to spend their lives in India. Far from home and all its sweet and social comforts, and burdened perhaps with relations who keep them back in the paths of independence, they seek a resource in forming tem- porary connexions with the natives. These, I am told, are often innocent and even amiable creatures, who are not aware of doing any thing reprehensible in thus attaching themselves. In the mean time, the poor woman who has de- voted herself to him secures his affection by being the mother of hie children : time runs on ; the unfortunate mother, whom he must tear from his heart and throw back to misery and oblivion, is daily forming new ties to him. The children' born heirs to shame and sorrow, are for a time fondly cherished; till the wish of their father's heart is fulfilled, and he is enabled to return to his native country and make the appearance in it to which his ambition has been long directed. Then begin his secret but deep vexatious; and the more ho- nourable his mind, and the more affectionate his heart, the deeper are those sorrows which he &ire not own and cannot conquer. This poor rejected one, perhaps faithful and fondly attached, must be thrown off; the whole habits of his life must be broken ; he must pay the debt he owes to his progenitors, and seek to renew the social comforts of the domestic circle by soliciting, with little previous acquaintance and no great attachment, some lady glad to give youth and beauty for wealth and consequence. The forsaken children, once the ob- jects of his paternal fondness, must be banished, and have the sins of their fathers sorely visited upon them.

I will spare myself and you the pain of finishing this picture; which you must know to be a likeness, not of an individual only, but of a whole tribe of expatriated Scotchmen who return home exactly in this manner. This, my dear son, is what I dread in your case, and would fain avoid, that is, prevent it if I could. All that remains for me is, in the first place, not to burden you with incumbrances that may check the freedom of your will ; and in the next, to assure you, that if any person whom it would be decent or proper for you to connect yourself with by honourable ties should gain your affections, your mother and your sisters will be ready to adopt her to theirs. Difference of nation, or even of religion, would not alienate us from any wife that you would choose. Doubtless we should much prefer that you were married to one that we knew and esteemed ; but we should far rather make room in our hearts for a stranger, who was modest and well-principled, than see you in the predica- ment I have described.