doubt, women in the world who pre- E. R. REMARKS ON THE LATE PUBLISHED THESE letters come in no questionable form from the repositories of the Devonshire family, who share with Some Account of the Life of Rachael Wriothesley Lady Russell, by the Editor of Madame Du Deffand's Letters; follow ed by a Series of Letters from Lady Russell to her Husband, William Lord Russell, from 1672 to 1682, &c. London, that of Bedford the honour of an im- The materials from which the too The amiable and elegant Editor has foreign to our purpose to introduce "The biographers of those who have been distinguished in the active paths of life, who have directed the councils or fought the battles of nations, have, perhaps, an easier task than those who en gage to satisfy the curiosity sometimes excited by persons whose situation, circumstances, or sex, have confined them to private life. To the biographers of public characters, the pages of history, and the archives of the state, furnish many of the documents required; while those of private individuals have to collect every particular from accidental materials, from combining and comparing letters, and otherwise insignificant, papers, never intended to convey any part of the information sought in them. "In this predicament is placed the author of the following pages. The veil which covered the unassuming virtues of Lady Russell in early life, naturally increases a desire, in intelligent minds, to become acquainted with her sentiments and situation before she was called to the exercise of the most difficult virtues, and the display of the most heroic courage. "Few of her sex have been placed in such a distinguished situation. Still fewer, after having so conducted themselves, have, like her, shrunk from all public notice, and returned to the unobtrusive performance of accustomed duties, and the unostentatious consolations of accustomed piety. "The incidents in the life of Lady Russell will be found so few, and her superior merits remain so much confined within the pale of private life and female duties, that, unlike most heroines, her character deserves to be held up yet more to the example than to the admiration of her country-women." This passage is followed by some genealogical details, which would have little interest in a detached form, though their connection with general history, and very interesting biography, entitles them to a place in the narrative. > Lady Rachael was the daughter and co-heiress of that virtuous and loyal Earl of Southampton, whom all parties agree in praising. His death is thus noticed in the introduction. "Lord Southampton died in 1667. His unfeeling master had for some time been desirous to snatch from his feeble hand the treasurer's staff which he still held, that he might place it with those to whom he might, with less shame, and less fear of remonstrance, confide the secrets of his political dishonour. The disgrace of Clarendon, which followed soon after the death of his friend, seems to have formed a melancholy era in the avowed venality and profligacy in the court of Charles." Lady Rachael was born about the year 1636. Her mother, who was of a distinguished Hugonot family in France of the name of Ruvigny, died while she was an infant. The mar riages of the nobility in these days, especially in the case of heiresses, appear to have been managed in a manner that excluded choice. The family compact arranged the matter while the parties were under age, probably mere children. The marriage took place, and the husband was sent to travel, while his young bride was growing up to woman. Of the exact date of Lady Russell's marriage with Lord Vaughan, son to the Earl of Carberry, we have no account, but it seems to have been about 1653. We find her in 1655 living with him in Wales, and a letter, addressed to her that year, gives the impression of her being at that early period distinguished for wisdom and worth, and of her Lord's being rather indolent, the writer of the letter rallying him on habitual procrastination. In the year 1655 she became the mother of a shortlived infant, and very soon after a widow. In 1667 she was living with her only and much beloved sister, Lady Noel, and she was married to the second son of the Earl of Bedford in 1669, who appears to have paid his addresses to her for about three years before. She retained the title of Lady Vaughan for some years. The match was every way considered as very advantageous to Mr Russell, as he was then called, his elder brother, though hypochondriac, and quite retired from the world, still retaining the title; upon his death, Lord William succeeded, and his consort was afterwards known as Lady Russell. The first specimen we have of her writing is in a letter addressed to her husband, not long after their happy union. It is to be observed, that her early education seems to have been much neglected. She was a child at the time of the Usurpation, and her father, involved in the fallen fortunes of his master, was too much engrossedand too frequently under a necessity of changing his residence, to attend much to the progress his chilfren. She, however, having, at a more advanced period, the whole charge of her family devolved upon herself, soon conquered the effects of this deficiency, her style becoming clearer, and her orthography more correct, as she grew older. Our readers will perceive in this first letter the kind of defects now alluded to. "I will not endeavour to tell you what I suffer by being parted from you, but beg of you that we may meet again (God permitting) as soon as may be. Things are here just as they were: no obstruction removed by my sister being able to resolve, but will, I guess, to-morrow: for yesterday Sherwood wrote word the Duke, at farthest, would be at Dover as this morning, then he was to ask for the boat, and the report she then receives, which will be to-morrow, being Friday, will certainly make her determine; but, whatever that is, I desire you will allow me to come to you on Tuesday, unless you intend, as the coachman says you do, to be here on Monday. Your father says you promised him to come again. I cannot acquaint you with my sister's resolves till the Saturday's post; so cannot have your's, whatever we shall do, till the Wednesday after, which, by your pardon, I must not stay for; so that unless I see you on Monday, I am of opinion you will meet me at Stratton on Tuesday or Wednesday. On Saturday you shall have more of my mind; but the coachman says he is appointed to be at Bagshot on Monday. I do all I can to put off going to Dover. My Lady Shrewsbury is returned from Dover without more company than she carried with her. Here was an alarm on Tuesday night by guns being heard; the cause was, seven of our ships, intending to go to join the Duke, found themselves just upon the Dutch fleet, upon which they retired; and the Dutch followed so close that the castle There is differshot upon the Dutch. ence in opinions about the fleets engag ing; they say still a few days must now show it. Mrs Laton and her she friend, not your's, at least not your best, (I praise God,) were yesterday in every corner of your house, and without the house; she praised it, and seems to like it as well 6 as you have done her. My Lady Newport goes into Shropshire on Monday next come fortnight, so that she says she must defer her Stratton journey till another year. I am writing in my sister Die's bed-chamber; my Lord is just looking in, and bids me send you his affectionate remembrance, and hopes to see you on Saturday. I shall be thought very long writing, for we are going abroad when I am done; but not for my diversion, I am sure you will believe, when, to do so, I must leave what I am now about, which yet I cannot till I have signed, with great truth, myself your's, R. VAUGHAN." "These letters (says the intelligent Editor) are written with such a neglect of style, and often of grammar, as may disgust the admirers of well-turned periods, and they contain such frequent repetitions of homely tenderness, as may shock the sentimental readers of the present day. But they evince the enjoyment of a happiness, built on such rational foundations, and so truly appreciated by its possessors, as too seldom occurs in the history of the human heart. They are impressed, too, with the marks of a cheerful mind, a social spirit, and every indication of a character prepared, as well to enjoy the sunshine, as to meet the storms of life. "Thus gifted, and thus situated, her tender and prophetic exhortations both to her Lord and herself, to merit the continuance of such happiness, and to secure its perfect enjoyment by being prepared for its loss, are not less striking than his entire and absolute confidence in her character, and attachment to her society. It was thus, surely, that intellectual beings of different sexes were intended by their great Creator to go through the world together; -thus united, not only in hand and heart, but in principles, in intellect, in views, and in dispositions ;-each pursuing one common and noble end, their own improve. ment, and the happiness of those around them, by the different means appropriate to their sex and situation;-mutually correcting, sustaining, and strengthening each other; undegraded by all practices of tyranny on the one part, and of deceit on the other;-each finding a candid but severe judge in the understanding, and a warm and partial advocate in the heart of their companion ;-secure of a refuge from the vexations, the follies, the misunderstandings. and the evils of the world, in the arms of each other, and in the inestimable enjoyments of unlimited confidence, and unrestrained intimacy. "In the death of her beloved sister, Lady Elizabeth Noel, in 1679. Lady Rus sell experienced a severe affliction. Although happy, and consciously happy in an husband and children, who called forth every feeling that either could inspire to VOL. VI. the warmest heart, hers was not one in which such feelings were exclusive. "There seems, indeed, to be as great a variety in the powers of human hearts, as of human intellects. Some are found hardly equal to the modified selfishness which produces attachment to their most immediate connections; some have naturally strong feelings concentrated on a few ob jects, but which diffuse no warrath out of their own narrow focus; while others appear endowed with an almost boundless capacity for every virtuous affection, which contracts undiminished to all the minute duties of social life, and expands unexhausted to all the great interests of humanity. "Such was the heart of Lady Russell, in which her friends, her country, her religion, all found a place. She recurs to the character of her sister, under the name of a delicious Friend,' and uniting a fond remembrance of her feelings for her, in all those of her happiness with an adored husband, gratefully exclaims, Sure, nobody has ever enjoyed more pleasure in the conversations and tender kindness of a husband and a sister than myself."" Her eldest daughter was born in 1674, another daughter in 1676, and her only son in 1680. Again we quote from the fair editor. "The frequent mention made of these children in the following letters of their health, their progress, and their amusements, prove how much every thing that concerned them occupied as well as interested their parents. Such details would be tedious, were it not consoling to trace the minute features of tenderness in characters, capable at the same time of the sternest exertions of human fortitude. "Although Lady Russell felt all the soul-sufficing enjoyments of perfect affection in the society of her husband, she allowed no exclusive sentiment to withdraw either him or herself from the world, in which they were born to live, nor from the society which made that of each other more dear to them. Their summers at Stratton, to which she always adverts with pleasure, were diversified by their winters spent at Southampton House, from whence, if business, or country sports, called her companion, she sought society, and collected for him in her letters, all the little anecdotes, public or private, that could serve to amuse his absence; proving how compatible she deemed cheerfulness to be with de. votion, and the reasonable enjoyment of trifles in this world, with an attentive regard to the great interests of the next. "From devotion, and devoted resignation to the will of Heaven, who ever required or obtained more than Lady Russell? Whose implicit faith in the inscrut 3 z able ways of the Almighty was ever exposed to severer trials? And where, and when, were the consoling doctrines of Christianity ever applied to more poignant distress, or productive of more admirable effects, than on her life, her conduct, and her character? Yet her devotion separated her in no degree either from the affections, the interests, or the amusements of the world. She appeared at a court, in the profligacy of which she did not participate; and amused herself in a society, whose frivolity she avoided." Of the fatal French influence which pervaded the councils and depraved the court of Charles the Second, too much is known to make it necessary to dwell at length on what makes so painful a part of the history of this country during that turbulent period, which called forth the virtuous resistance of Lord Russell and his com patriots. That fatal influence derived aid from a religion, which, giving the power of absolution to a fellow-sinner, deadens the horror at meditated crime, and lulls the conscience of the criminal to false peace when wickedness is become habitual. Conscious that among the secret votaries of such a religion, a lurking enemy to peace and freedom was ever ready to start up for their annoyance ;-remembering, too, the horrors of what was then no distant period, the massacre of St Bartholomew, and, nearer home, the Gunpowder Plot and the Irish Massacre, which many then living had witnessed,-we cannot wonder though the apprehension of a Popish successor should create a lively terror in the minds of Protestants less pious and public-spirited than the band of patriots who struggled to exclude from the throne a prince whom they knew to be a bigot to that intolerant religion. Nor was it to be wondered at that they should regard with antipathy and terror any intimate connection with France, the manners and the politics of that country having always had a fatal influence on this, even when unconnected with the mean and treacherous compact which disgraced the private history of Charles the Second. Nothing could be objected to the antigallican and anticatholic zeal of these patriots, which were amply justified by succeeding events; yet the eagerness with which they pursued the Papists implicated in the famous plot, and the credulity with which they listened to infamous persons, whose evidence was often in the highest degree inconsistent, greatly injured the good cause they had at heart. There is a principle of rectitude and compassion always alive in the British mind, which makes it dangerous, in a political view, to follow violent measures too far, even towards offending individuals. There are no people in whom indignation so soon melts into pity, as appears in many signal instances, particularly in that of James the Second's forced abdication. Driven as he was from the throne by the resentment of his injured and oppressed subjects,-forsaken by his friends and his children,-deserted by his army, and insulted by the populace,-when he attempted to escape in disguise, and was driven back, and forced to return to London, the very mob showed feelings of remorse and humanity to their unfortunate sovereign, and forgot for the moment his faults, while they witnessed his fallen fortunes, and saw him, as it were, in their power. There seems to have been a similar revulsion of feeling with regard to the Catholics at the period of time immediately preceding that in which the piety and fortitude of Lady Russell were called to support her under the severest calamity that could assail a virtuous and devoted heart like hers. And the cruelty and injustice with which the court pursued the victims of their smothered vengeance could never have taken effect, had they not seized upon the crisis in which this dubious and self-accusing feeling had produced a general timidity and want of adhesion and energy among the friends of civil liberty. But, in order to have a just sympathy with the sufferings of the admirable person whose sad story we are considering, we must have some idea of the height of felicity from which she was precipitated, of the depth and strength of her affections, and of the worth and excellence of the object on which they were placed. Thomson, in an apostrophe to Liberty, says, The generous Russell, too, whose tempered blood, With calmest cheerfulness for thee resigned, Stained the sad annals of a giddy reign; and every memorial of these unhappy more properly speaking, looking for ward beyond this transient scene to an union indissoluble, and a felicity interminable. "If I were more fortunate in my expression, I could do myself more right when I would own to my dearest Mr Russell what real and perfect happiness I enjoy, from that kindness he allows me every day to receive new marks of, such as, in spite of the knowledge I have of my own wants, will not suffer me to mistrust I want his love, though I do merit, to so desirable a blessing; but, my best life, you that know so well how to love and to oblige, make my felicity entire, by believing my heart possessed with all the gratitude, honour, and passionate affection to your person, any creature is capable of, or can be obliged to; and this granted, what have I to ask but a continuance (if God see fit) of these present enjoyments? if not, a submission, without murmur, to his most wise dispensations and unerring providence; having a thankful heart for the years I have been so perfectly contented in: He knows best when we have had enough here; what I most earnestly beg from his mercy is, that we both live so as, which ever goes first, the other may not sorrow as for one of whom they have no hope. Then let us cheerfully expect to be together to a good old age; if not, let us not doubt but he will support us under what trial he will inflict upon them. These are necessary meditations sometimes, that we may not be surprised above our strength by a sudden accident, being unprepared. Excuse me, if I dwell too long upon it; it is from my opinion, that if we can be prepared for all conditions, we can with the greater tranquillity enjoy the present, which I hope will be long; though when we change, it will be for the better, I trust, through the merits of Christ. Let us daily pray it may be so, and then admit of no fears; death is the extremest evil against nature, it is true; let us overcome the immoderate fear of it, either to our friend or self, and then what light hearts may we live with? But I am immoderate in my length of this discourse, and consider this to be a letter. To take myself off, and alter the subject, I will tell you the news came on Sunday night to the Duke of York, that he was a married man; he was talking in the drawing-room, when the French ambassador brought the letters in, and told the news; the Duke turned aThen 1 am a married bout and said, man.' It proved to be to the Princess of Modena; for it was rather expected to be Canaples' niece; she is to have 100,000 francs paid here; and now we may say she has more wit than ever woman had before; as much beauty, and greater youth than is necessary; he sent his daughter, |