m whom it had descended to its present possessor. On such and
similar occasions my old friend spoke willingly, which is not uncommon;
but she also, which is more rare, spoke remarkably well, and had in her
little narratives concerning foreign parts or former days, which formed
an interesting part of her conversation, the singular art of dismissing
all the usual protracted tautology respecting time, place, and
circumstances which is apt to settle like a mist upon the cold and
languid tales of age, and at the same time of bringing forward, dwelling
upon, and illustrating those incidents and characters which give point
and interest to the story.

She had, as we have hinted, travelled a good deal in foreign countries;
for a brother, to whom she was much attached, had been sent upon various
missions of national importance to the Continent, and she had more than
once embraced the opportunity of accompanying him. This furnished a
great addition to the information which she could supply, especially
during the last war, when the Continent was for so many years
hermetically sealed against the English nation. But, besides, Mrs.
Bethune Baliol visited different countries, not in the modern fashion,
when English travel in caravans together, and see in France and Italy
little besides the same society which they might have enjoyed at home.
On the contrary, she mingled when abroad with the natives of those
countries she visited, and enjoyed at once the advantage of their
society, and the pleasure of comparing it with that of Britain.

In the course of her becoming habituated with foreign manners, Mrs.
Bethune Baliol had, perhaps, acquired some slight tincture of them
herself. Yet I was always persuaded that the peculiar vivacity of
look and manner--the pointed and appropriate action with which she
accompanied what she said--the use of the gold and gemmed TABATIERE, or
rather, I should say, BONBONNIERE (for she took no snuff, and the
little box contained only a few pieces of candled angelica, or some such
ladylike sweetmeat), were of real old-fashioned Scottish growth,
and such as might have graced the tea-table of Susannah, Countess
of Eglinton, the patroness of Allan Ramsay [See Note 4.--Countess of
Eglinton.], or of the Hon. Mrs. Colonel Ogilvy, who was another mirror
by whom the Maidens of Auld Reekie were required to dress themselves.
Although well acquainted with the customs of other countries, her
manners had been chiefly formed