miserable habits she had acquired precluded the possibility of the enjoyment of her amended position. In little more than a century after the death of the spendthrift, imprisoned Lord—in the year 1744, died at the age of eighty, in the capacity of hostler in an inn at Kirkwall in the Orkney Islands, David Lindsay, late of Edzell, unquestionably head of the great House of Lindsay; and Lord Lindsay, as representative of David and Ludovic, Earls of Crawford. It would be tedious to explain how the Earldom had gone to another branch, but such is the fact; and, provided the claim to the Dukedom of Montrose brought forward by the present Earl of Crawford and Balcarres be admitted, the poor hostler will be one in the series of the premier Dukes of Scotland. One day, this David Lindsay, ruined and brokenhearted, departed from Edzell Castle, unobserved and unattended. He said farewell to no one, and turning round to take a last look at the old towers, he drew a long sigh and wept. He was never more seen in the place of his ancestors. With the wreck of his fortune, he bought a small estate on which he resided for some years: but this, too, was spent ere long, and the landless and houseless outcast retired to the Orkney Islands, where he became hostler in the Kirkwall Inn! The Earldom of Crawford is now most worthily possessed by the true head of the great House of Lindsay, the Earl of Balcarres, whose ample fortune enables him to maintain the splendour of its dignity, while his worth and high character add lustre to its name. His learned and accomplished son, Lord Lindsay, has recorded the heroic deeds and varying fortunes of his race in a work, every page of which reflects his pure and chivalrous nature, and which is enlivened by his charming fancy and playful wit, while his historical research has made it a most valuable or rather indispensable acquisition to the library of every Scottish gentleman. In the foregoing narrative, we have confined ourselves to such instances alone as have an historic halo around them. The vicissitudes " of families less eminently distinguished would extend the subject far beyond our limits. Among the Peerage Houses of lesser note, many curious examples occur, and the baronetage supplies several melancholy episodes in the drama of real life. The Lords Roche and Fermoy were a great and illustrious race of peers, eminent for their public spirit and devoted loyalty. Yet a Lady Roche, of the second or third generation from Maurice, Lord Roche and Fermoy-the gallant Cavalier-was seen soliciting alms in the streets of Cork! William M'Clellan, Lord Kirkcudbright, father of John, seventh Lord, whose right was confirmed by a decision of the House of Lords in 1773, followed the occupation of a glover in Edinburgh, and for many years used to stand in the lobby of the Assembly Rooms in the Old Town, selling gloves to gentlemen frequenting that place of amusement, who, according to the fashionable etiquette of the period, required a new pair at every new dance. His lordship never absented himself from his post upon any occasion, except at the ball which followed the election of a representative peer, and then only did he assume the garb of a gentleman, and, doffing his apron, became one of a company, the most of whom he usually served with his merchandise the rest of the year. Sir William Reresby, Bart., of Thrybergh, in Yorkshire, son and heir of the celebrated Sir John Reresby, the author of the well known Memoirs of his own times, was, at one time, a tapster in the King's Bench prison, and was imprisoned for cheating in 1711. He had dissipated his splendid inheritance in the lowest profligacy. Not long after, a Sir Charles Burton was tried at the Old Bailey for stealing a seal, and pleaded poverty as his excuse. Still more recently, at the beginning of the present century, the heir of the eminent and ancient family of Castleton, and the twelfth baronet of the name in succession, was a breechesmaker at Lynn, in Norfolk. The "Universal Magazine," of 1810, thus records his decease : "Died at Lynn, aged fifty-eight, Mr. Edward Castleton. He was the last lineal descendant of Sir William Castleton, of Hingham, Norfolk, who was created a Bart. in 1641: the family and title are therefore now become extinct. He died a bachelor, and never assumed the Baronetcy. He for many years followed the very humble employment of a breeches-maker in Lynn, but latterly lived on a small patrimonial inheritance." But our space restricts us from entering more minutely on this curious subject. One memorable story must close these strange eventful histories : On a marble monument in the Church of St. Anne's, Soho, the following inscription, written by Horace Walpole, appears to the memory of the "King of Corsica," whose vicissitudes form one of the most romantic episodes in the history of the eighteenth century: "Near this place is interred Theodore, King of Corsica Who died in this Parish, Dec. 11, 1756, Immediately after leaving The King's Bench Prison, By the benefit of the Act of Insolvency. He registered his Kingdom of Corsica "The grave, great teacher, to a level brings, "The King of Corsica" was by birth a Prussian, and by name Theodore Anthony Neuhoff. Early in the spring of 1736, an unknown adventurer, he was landed in Corsica, from an English vessel, with a considerable supply of arms and money, and he placed himself immediately at the head of the islanders, then in revolt against the Genoese. A successful campaign ensued, and on the 15th of the April following, Theodore was crowned King of Corsica, with the consent, and amid the acclamations, of the whole people. He held his court at Bastea, and distributed honours and rewards amongst his followers. The calm endured, however, but for a short period: the Genoese gaining ground again, it became necessary to seek for foreign supplies and foreign aid, and Theodore undertook, at once, the mission. Laying aside his kingly character, he assumed the habit of an Abbé, and proceeded to Livonia; but what success attended his efforts, we are unable |