plausibility to the rumor, and some of the testamentary papers in which his name occurs go far towards discrediting the belief that her attachment ever went beyond admiration and friendship, expressed in exaggerated terms.

Conway threw himself overboard and was drowned in a voyage from New York to Charleston in 1828. His effects were sold at New York, and amongst them a copy of the folio edition of Young's "Night Thoughts," in which he had made a note of its having been presented to him by his "dearly attached friend, the celebrated Mrs. Piozzi." In the preface to "Love Letters of Mrs. Piozzi, Written when she was Eighty, to William Augustus Conway," published in London in 1842, it is stated that the originals, seven in number, were purchased by an American "lady," who permitted a "gentleman" to take copies and use them as he might think fit. What this "gentleman " thought fit, was to publish them with a catch penny title and an alleged extract by way of motto to sanction it. The genuineness of the letters is doubtful, and the interpolation of three or four sentences would alter their entire tenor. But taken as they stand, their language is not warmer than an old woman of vivid fancy and sensibility might have deemed warranted by her age. L'age n'a point de sexe; and no one thought the worse of Madame Du Deffand for the impassioned tone in which she addressed Horace Walpole, whose dread of ridicule induced him to make a most ungrateful return to her fondness. Years before the formation of this acquaintance, Mrs. Piozzi had acquired the difficult art of growing old; je sais vieillir: she dwells frequently but naturally on her age; she contemplates the approach of death with firmness and without self-deception; and her elasticity of spirit never for a moment suggests the image of an antiquated coquette. Of the seven letters in question, the one cited as most compro

the sixth, in which Conway is exhorted to bear patient buff he had just received from some younger beauty:

""Tis not a year and quarter since dear Conway, accepting of my portrait sent to Birmingham, said to the bringer, 'O, if your lady but retains her friendship: O, if I can but keep her patronage, I care not for the rest.' And now, when that friendship follows you through sickness and through sorrow; now that

her patronage is daily rising in importance: upon a lock of hair given or refused by une petite Traitresse, hangs all the happiness of my once high-spirited and high-blooded friend. Let it not be SO. EXALT THY LOVE: DEJECTED HEART, and rise superior to such narrow minds. Do not however fancy she will ever be punished in the way you mention: no, no; she'll wither on the thorny stem, dropping the faded and ungathered leaves; - a China rose, of no good scent or flavor, — false in apparent sweetness, deceitful when depended on, unlike the flower produced in colder climates, which is sought for in old age, preserved even after death, a lasting and an elegant perfume, a medicine, too,

for those whose shattered nerves require astringent remedies.

"And now, dear Sir, let me request of you to love yourself, and to reflect on the necessity of not dwelling on any particular subject too long, or too intensely. It is really very dangerous to the health of body and soul. Besides that our time here is but short; a mere preface to the great book of eternity; and 't is scarce worthy of a reasonable being not to keep the end of human existence so far in view that we may tend to it, either directly or obliquely in every step. This is preaching, but remember how the sermon is written at three, four, and five o'clock by an octogenary pen, a heart (as Mrs. Lee says) twenty-six years old and as H. L. P. feels it to be, ALL YOUR OWN. Suffer your dear noble self to be in some measure benefited by the talents which are left me; your health to be restored by soothing consolations while I remain here, and am able to bestow them. All is not lost yet. You have a friend, and that friend is Piozzi."

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Conway's high blood' was as great a recommendation to Mrs. Piozzi as his good looks, and he vindicated his claim to noble descent by his conduct, which was disinterested and gentlemanlike throughout.

Moore sets down in his Diary, April 28, 1819: "Breakfasted with the Fitzgeralds. Took me to call on Mrs. Piozzi; a wonderful old lady; faces of other times seemed to crowd over her as she sat, the Johnsons, Reynoldses, &c., &c.: though turned eighty, she has all the quickness and intelligence of a gay young woman."

One of the most characteristic feats or freaks of this extraordinary woman was the celebration of her eightieth birthday by a concert, ball, and supper, to between six and seven hundred people, at the Kingston Rooms, Bath, on the 27th January, 1820. At the conclusion of the supper, her health was proposed by Admiral Sir James Sausmarez, and drunk with three times. three. The dancing began at two, when she led off with her adopted son, Sir John Salusbury, dancing (according to the author of "Piozziana," an eyewitness) "with astonishing elasticity, and with all the true air of dignity which might have been expected of one of the best-bred females in society."

When fears were expressed that she had done too much, she replied, "No; this sort of thing is greatly in the mind; and I am almost tempted to say the same of growing old at all, especially as it regards those of the usual concomitants of age, viz. laziness, defective sight, and ill-temper."

"So far from feeling fatigued or exhausted on the following day by her exertions," remarks Sir James Fellowes, in a note on this event, "she amused us by her sallies of wit and her jokes on Tully's Offices,' of which her guests had so eagerly availed themselves." Tully was the cook and confectioner, the Bath Gunter, who provided the supper.

Mrs. Piozzi died in May, 1821. Her death is circumstantially communicated in the following letter;

It is my painful task to com

"DEAR MISS WILLOUGHBY, municate to you, who have so lately been the kind associate of dearest Mrs. Piozzi, the irreparable loss we have all sustained in that incomparable woman and beloved friend.

"She closed her various life about nine o'clock on Wednesday, after an illness of ten days, with as little suffering as could be imagined under these awful circumstances. Her bedside was surrounded by her weeping daughters: Lady Keith and Mrs. Hoare arrived in time to be fully recognized; Miss Thrale, who was absent from town, only just before she expired, but with the satisfaction of seeing her breathe her last in peace.

"Nothing could behave with more tenderness and propriety

than these ladies, whose conduct, I am convinced, has been much misrepresented and calumniated by those who have only attended to one side of the history; but may all that is past be now buried in oblivion! Retrospection seldom improves our view of any subject. Sir John Salusbury was too distant, the close of her illness being so rapid, for us to entertain any expectation of his arriving in time to see the dear deceased.

"He only reached Clifton late last night. I have not yet seen him; my whole time has been devoted to the afflicted ladies. To you, who so well know my devoted attachment to Mrs. Piozzi, it is quite superfluous to speak of my own feelings, which I well know will become more acute, as the present hurry of business, in which we are all engaged, and the extreme bodily fatigue I have undergone, producing a sort of stupor in my mind, subsides. A scheme of rational happiness founded on dear Mrs. Piozzi's intentions of residing at Clifton, which I had too fondly, and perhaps foolishly, indulged, her great age being considered, is all overthrown, and a sad and aching void will usurp the place; but God's will be done! A few years more, from the apparently extraordinary vigor of her constitution, I had hoped to enjoy in her enchanting society; these will now be passed in regret; but they will also soon pass away, and all regrets will cease with me, as with the beloved being I must ever lament. You will probably see in the papers the last tribute I could render her of my true regard. It is highly appreciated, and warmly approved by her daughters, the most acceptable praise that can reach the heart of "Dear Miss Willoughby's obedient humble servant,

"P. S. PENNINGTON.

"I am fatigued to death with writing, but feel a solace in addressing you. Probably you will suppose the accident to the leg was the cause of this sudden catastrophe? Not at all; it was perfectly cured, and the manner in which it healed, contrary to all expectation, was considered a proof— a fallacious one it turned out of the purity and strength of her constitution. Inflammation in the intestines, over which medicine had no power, was the cause of her death. The accident to the leg, which in produced great alarm, excited

a younger subject might have none."

Mrs. Pennington* told a friend that Mrs. Piozzi's last words were: "I die in the trust and the fear of God." When she was attended by Sir George Gibbes, being unable to articulate, she traced a coffin in the air with her hands and lay calm. Her will and testamentary papers may help to clear up some disputed points in her biography.

The Will of Hester Lynch Piozzi, dated the 29th day of March, 1816, makes Sir John Salusbury Piozzi Salusbury heir to all her real and personal property with the exception of the following bequests :

"To Sir James Fellowes, Two Hundred Pounds; to Mr. Alexander Leak, One Hundred Pounds; to his Son, Alexander Piozzi Leak, One Hundred Pounds; and to my maid-servant, Elizabeth Jones, One Hundred Pounds.

Moreover, I do hereby make it my Request to the aforementioned Sir James Fellowes, that he will permit me to join his name with that of the aforesaid John Salusbury Piozzi Salusbury in the execution of these my settled purposes, and that they will cause to be duly paid my few debts and legacies, and that they will be careful to commit my body (wheresoever I may die) to the vault constructed for our remains by my second husband, Gabriel Piozzi, in Dymerchion Church, Flintshire.

"And I do hereby nominate, constitute, and appoint the aforesaid Sir James Fellowes, and the aforesaid John Salusbury Piozzi Salusbury, Joint Executors of this my last Will and Testament, hereby revoking all former Wills by me made at any time. "(Signed) HESTER LYNCH PIOZZI.

"In the presence of," &c.

"The last Will and Testament of Hester Lynch Piozzi was this day opened by us at No. 36 Crescent, Clifton, in the presence of Viscountess Keith, Mr. and Mrs. Merrick Hoare, and Miss Thrale.

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"JOHN SALUSBURY PIOZZI SALUSBURY, "JAMES FELLOWES."

Sunday, 6th May, 1821."

*Frequently mentioned in Miss Seward's Correspondence as the beautiful and agreeable Sophia Weston.