6 helpless to him in such a case. I proposed that Dr D. should go instead; but, like most men when they are ill or unhappy, he preferred having womankind about him, -said he would like Mrs Davy better;' so I went. The notices of his carriage talk,' I give exactly as I find them noted down the day after-omitting only the story of Sir H. Davy and the Tyrolese rifle, which I put on record separately for my husband, for insertion in his book.* 66 My little note-book of December 9 says-The day was very beautiful—(like a good English day about the end of May)—and the whole way in going to St Antonio he was cheerful, and inclined to talk on any matter that was suggested. He admired the streets of Valetta much as we passed through them, noticing particularly the rich effect of the carved stone balconies, and the images of saints at every corner, saying several times this town is really quite like a dream.' Something (suggested I believe by the appearances of Romish superstition on all sides of us) brought him to speak of the Irish of whose native character he expressed a high opinion; and spoke most feelingly of the evil fate that seemed constantly to attend them. Some link from this subject—(I do not exactly know what for the rattling progress of our little vehicle over ill-paved ways, and his imperfect utterance together, made it difficult to catch all his words)-brought to his recollection a few fine lines from O'Connor's child,' in the passage which he repeated with his accustomed energy, and then * See Dr Davy's Memoirs of his brother, vol. I. p. 506,—for the account of Speckbacker's rifle now in the Armoury at Abbotsford. went on to speak of Campbell, whom, as a poet, he honours. On my saying something of Campbell's youth at the publication of his first poem, he said, Aye, he was very young-but he came out at once, ye may say, like the Irish rebels, a hundred thousand strong.' "There was no possibility of admiring the face of the country as we drove along after getting clear of the city gates; but I was pleased to see how refreshing the air seemed to Sir Walter-and perhaps this made him go back, as he did, to his days of long walks, over moss and moor, which he told me he had often traversed at the rate of five-and-twenty miles a-day, with a gun on his shoulder. He snuffed with great delight the perfume of the new oranges, which hung thickly on each side as we drove up the long avenue to the court-yard, or stableyard rather, of St Antonio-and was amused at the Maltese untidiness of two or three pigs running at largeunder the trees. That's just like my friend Frere,' he said, quite content to let pigs run about in his orange-groves. We did not find Mr Frere at home, and therefore drove back without waiting. Among some other talk, in returning, he spoke with praise of Miss Ferrier as a novelist, and then with still higher praise of Miss Austen. Of the latter he said, I find myself every now and then with one of her books in my hand. There's a finishing-off in some of her scenes that is really quite above every body else. And there's that Irish lady, too—but I forget every body's name now''Miss Edgeworth,' I said—' Ay, Miss Edgeworth, she's very clever, and best in the little touches, too. sure, in that children's story' (he meant Simple Susan,') where the little girl parts with her lamb, and the little boy brings it back to her again, there's nothing for it but just to put down the book, and cry.'-A little afterwards, he said, 'Do you know Moore ?-he's a 6 I'm charming fellow-a perfect gentleman in society;-to use a sporting phrase, there's no kick in his gallop.' "As we drew near home, I thought him somewhat fatigued he was more confused than at first in his recollection of names—and we drove on without saying any thing. But I shall not forget the kindly good. humour with which he said, in getting out at his hotel door- Thank ye, for your kindness-your charity, I may say—to an old lame man-farewell!' He did not seem the worse of his little exertion this day; but, thenceforward, was prudent in refusing all dinner invitations. "On Friday (December 10th), he went, in company with Mr Frere, to see Citta Vecchia. I drove over with a lady friend to meet them at the church there. Sir Walter seemed pleased with what was shown him, but was not animated.-On Saturday the 11th he drove out twice to see various things in Valetta. On Monday morning the 13th, I saw him for the last time, when I called to take leave of Miss Scott. Dr Davy, accompanied him, in the course of the following morning, to see Strada Stretta the part of the city in which he had been told the young Knights of Malta used to fight their duels, when such affairs occurred. In quitting the street, Sir Walter looked round him earnestly, and said, "It will be hard if I cannot make something of this.' that day, Tuesday morning, December 14th, he and his party went again on board the Barham, and sailed for Naples." On CHAPTER X. RESIDENCE AT NAPLES-EXCURSIONS TO PESTUM, POMPEII, ETC.-LAST ATTEMPTS IN ROMANCE-SIR WILLIAM GELL'S MEMORANDA-december, 1831—april, 1832. ON the 17th of December the Barham reached Naples, and Sir Walter found his son Charles ready to receive him. The quarantine was cut short by the courtesy of the King of Naples, and the travellers established themselves in an apartment of the Palazzo Caramanico. Here again the British Minister, Mr Hill (now Lord Berwick), and the English nobility and gentry then residing in Naples, did whatever kindness and respect could suggest for Sir Walter; nor were the natives, and their visitants from foreign countries, less attentive. The Marquis of Hertford, the Hon. Keppel Craven, the Hon. William Ashley and his lady, Sir George Talbot, the venerable Matthias, (author of "The Pursuits of Literature,") Mr Auldjo (celebrated for his ascent of Mount Blanc), and Dr Hogg, a medical gentleman who has since published an account of his travels in the East -appear to have, in their various ways, contributed whatever they could to his comfort and amusement. But the person of whom he saw most was the late Sir William Gell, who had long been condemned to live in Italy by ailments and infirmities not dissimilar to his own. Sir William, shortly after Sir Walter's death, drew up a memoir of their intercourse, which will, I believe, be considered as sufficient for this period. Before I introduce it, however, I may notice that Sir Walter, whenever he appeared at the Neapolitan Court, which he did several times, wore the uniform of a brigadier-general in the ancient Body Guard of Scotland; a dress of light green, with gold embroidery, assigned to those Archers by George IV. at the termination of his northern progress in 1822. I have observed this circumstance alluded to with a sort of sneer. The truth is, Sir Walter had ordered the dress for the christening of the young Buccleuch; but at any rate, the machinery now attached to his lame limb, would have made it impossible for him to appear in breeches and stockings, as was then imperative on civilians. Further, it was on the 16th of January that Sir Walter received the intelligence of his grandson's death. His Diary of that date has simply these words :— "Poor Johnny Lockhart! This boy is gone whom we have made so much of. I could not have borne it better than I now do, and I might have borne it much worse.—I went to the Opera in the evening to see this amusement in its birth-place, which is now so widely received over Europe." At first Sir Walter busied himself chiefly about forming a collection of Neapolitan and Sicilian ballads and broadsides; and Mr Matthias seems to have been at much pains in helping this. But alas, ere he had been long in Naples, he began, in spite of all remonstrances, to give several hours every morning to the composition of a new novel, "The Siege of Malta ;" and during his stay henearly finished both this and a shorter tale, entitled "BIZARRO.' He also relaxed more and more in his |