laughed at the expence of the wild Caledonian beauties. The perfidy of the thing consists in having feigned to find fault with the little feet of the French ladies. Did M. Nodier, or his fellow companions, really see Scotch ladies run about with naked feet? Does the observation come from M. Nodier himself, or while he was admiring the mountains, were his friends collecting for him romances about the towns ?"

"Of his companions, I only know one intimately; Mr. Taylor, our common friend, an artist and man of talent, whose gallantry I cannot call in question."

Lady SCOTT.-"Those who see the Scotch ladies running about with naked feet, must renounce the title of gallantry. We are no longer savages. That was a scandalous attack of M. Nodier."

of

I was a little embarrassed in pleading the cause my poor friend, when thus accused by a lady, who, whether in joke or earnest, had the appearance of being vexed. Sir Walter put an end to this little scene, by a charming trait. Feigning to be still more vexed than Lady Scott, and taking up the conversation, "Yes, yes," he added in French, "it was scandalous; and you must tell M. Nodier for us, that if ever he comes to Scotland

proportion sonte une beauté de boudoir, dont l'avantage ne peut être apprécié que des personnes condamnées à ne voir la terre que par la fenêtre, et à ne la parcourir qu'en carrosse."

I am bound further to add, that C. Nodier is not the only traveller who has made this observation. As for myself, I have seen no Scotch lady above the class of Grisettes going bare-footed, but I have seen few bien chaussées.

again, our ladies will reserve the punishment of the savate for him."*

Lady Scott laughed as heartily as Mr. Crabbe and myself at this bon mot, pronounced with a tolerably pure accent, but more than all with that smile replete with archness, which confers so much grace on the head of the poet of modern Scotland.

I forget by what transition it was, that the conversation turned on the subject of Voltaire; I believe, however, it was in consequence of a question which I put to Sir W. Scott, about a fine portrait of Charles XII. which adorns the breakfast parlour. Mr.Crabbe spoke with moderation of the influence exercised by Voltaire over the public mind of France; and asked me whether religion had not lost much of its lustre and influence since 1789.

Mr. Crabbe also spoke favourably of the character of the catholic priests, and the politics of France engaged us for a few moments.

Sir W. SCOTT.-" French morals are the most powerful auxiliaries of the monarchy in France; besides, you have princes educated in the school of misfortune."

Mr. CRABBE.-" And whose exile must have familiarized them with constitutional ideas."

"This double lesson could not escape being profitable to them. Your Stuarts did not know

• The conversation was in English; the above phrase would prove, if need were, that Sir W. Scott sufficiently understands French.

how to prolong the period of their restoration, because they had passed the time of their exile at the court or in the kingdom of our Louis XIV., a great king, but a great despot."

Sir. W. SCOTT.-"We have had at Edinburgh, His Royal Highness the Count D'Artois, and the princes his sons; they resided in Holyrood House, which from 1745 to 1793 had been uninhabited." I repeated the two verses of Marmion which refer to this circumstance:

"With wonder, grief and awe,

Great Bourbon's relics sad she saw."

Sir. W. SCOTT." One cannot, in fact, avoid contemplating, with sorrow and respect, the noble vestiges of a royal family; those princes became the residents of a palace, where princes had formerly reigned, with whose misfortunes their misfortunes had so many analogies. The imprint of ineffaceable blood† is one of the traces which Queen Mary left there of her residence. The edifice had been partly defaced by the republican soldiers of Cromwell. James II. had resided there when he was only Duke of York, and in 1745, the Pre

* A painting which represents the family of Charles I., after his execution, was the first object which the brother of Lewis XVI. perceived on awaking from sleep, after his arrival.

The spot where Rizzio received his mortal wound is recognized still by a deep stain of blood. I know not whether the emotion be peculiar to myself, says C. Nodier, on the subject of this ineffaceable stain, but I have never seen any thing like this theatre of one of the most sanguinary tragedies in modern history, with all its decorations, even to the blood which still remains ineffaceable, like that of Duncan on the fingers of Lady Macbeth.

tender, Charles Edward, had held there his transitory court."

"From what period does the destruction of the abbey date?"

Sir W. SCOTT.-"The reformation left it almost untouched, if not respected; it was the obstinate bigotry of the Duke of York which was fatal to it. During his vice-royalty, he had ingratiated by his ceremonious attention, himself with the haughty aristocracy of Scotland, who certainly proved their fidelity to him at a later moment; but when he ascended the throne, he alienated the people against himself and the abbey, by causing mass to be performed there, and by establishing in the palace a printing office and a catholic school. When the great crisis of 1688 approached, the cries of "down with popery and the popish king" were heard round the abbey, and the priest of the chapel was insulted. The government caused a man to be executed for seditious discourse, and the guards fired upon the mob, in order to disperse it. On the 10th of December, 1688, the insurrection exhibited a more formidable aspect. Several whig gentlemen took part in the tumult; the soldiers did not resist long; the populace made themselves masters of the castle, and, in their blind fury, devastated the chapel, insulting at the same time, in their tombs, the ashes of kings for ages buried there."*

I have been able to rectify this passage, in comparing it with what Sir W. Scott has since published on Holyrood Abbey, in the Provincial Antiquities.

"Is not Holyrood Abbey the most elegant Gothic ruin of Scotland ?"

Sir W. SCOTT.-"It is only a chapel, and, besides, we have that of Roslyn, which is in better preservation. The magistrates of Edinburgh covered Holyrood Abbey with a new roof, which was found too heavy for the old walls, of six centuries, standing. The roof gave way, and completed the ruin of the abbey as it, now stands. The great window, the elegance of which produces the finest effect, has been tolerably well repaired. It is to be hoped that something more will be done for this noble ruin."

"Is not your chateau situated near another famous ruin ?"*

Sir W. SCOTT.-" Melrose Abbey, the finest Gothic ruin in Scotland."

"I must see it 'by pale moonlight.' I referred to the commencement of a song in the Lay of the Last Minstrel."

Sir W. SCOTT." It is admirable by day as well as night."

Lady SCOTT.-"I hope you will not depart without seeing Melrose, and consequently Abbotsford. We shall go there after the King's visit t;

In his notice on Holyrood House, Sir W. Scott adds, (what he did not observe on the day in question,) that at one time, it was the custom to shew strangers what remained of the bones of several persons of eminence, interred in the Abbey, such as the femora of Henry Darnley, which demonstrated his gigantic height, the skull of Queen Margaret, and a kind of mummy, which is affirmed to be an old Countess of Roxburgh.