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"the Baron to be taken out of town, h Hampstead to day, and I shall be obliged "there every day.”

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HIS GRANDDAUGHTER MARY.

"The Baron Driesen, Colonel Tawchews " and the German Doctor dined here."

Augus "Russian, German, French and English, "at once mingled in strange confusion."

"When I went down to dinner I found a on my right hand and another on my left "de l'amitié de Baron de Driesen."

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"On some pretence they had got into the "placed them on the table."

"Aiken whispered to me that he had £ "pocket for me, but the general would not le "it to me. It would, he said, be more res "send a special messenger to-morrow." "Such is General Frederick Driesen of the "Imperial Guards."

"Note.-Baron Driesen's aide-de-camp had as gre "Charles Bell as the General had. He wept at I "waving his hat sobbed out 'Good bye better Bel Bell's Letters to his Brother.

an

Before leaving England Baron Driesen

offer of marriage to Mary Aiken, w accepted, on the condition that the marriage postponed for two years, during which he Russia; but at the stipulated time he returned father to claim his bride. After ten years happy married life, she having gone from St. I to Revel with her husband and children to be by the breezes of the Baltic during the died immediately after the birth of a daug sixth child, in the prime of life, and was e lamented by her devoted husband.*

* See Appendix, Note 2.

MISS GRACE AIKEN, the only daughter of Robert Aiken, was born 12th January, 1777, and died 22nd October, 1857. Soon after her death a brief memoir appeared in the Ayr Observer from the pen of the editor or some one in the town or county where she was so well known, from which I take the following extracts:—

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"To his very extensive circle of acquaintances and friends Mr. Aiken freely introduced Burns and his works, and Mr. Gilbert Burns attributed very much of the early and rapid appreciation shown by the 'public for his brother's genius to the facilities of being "known which that gentleman afforded." "To his

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daughter, not only the kind and benevolent nature of 'her father, appears to have descended, but also his "esteem for the poet, for whose memory to the close of "her long and useful though unobtrusively virtuous career, she cherished feelings of unaffected regard.— Acquainted as she was with all the most eminent "characters in the West of Scotland for a period extending over fully two generations, it is in connection 'with the memory of our national Poet that her own memory will perhaps longest survive." The writer then refers to her having delighted Burns by singing his own songs with fine, melodious voice in her father's house; to her meeting him, as already mentioned, in Dumfries when she gave him an invitation to dine with her aunt, Mrs. Copland, who with her friends were members "of the best society in Dumfries."

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"And those who remember the charm which 'pervaded her address and manner to the very last, will not wonder that when animated by the recol"lection of the thousand little attentions she had re"ceived in her father's house and from her father's friend, at his hand whose mind entered with all the simplicity of the truly great into the feelings of the young, and could, notwithstanding his manly independence "and conscious strength, be with children a very child "himself, it became quite irresistible.

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Not content,

J

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GRACE AIKEN.

as too many are, with merely giving money, although "her considerable income was fully taxed to bear out "the demands of a liberality that never tired, it was in "her personal offices of kindness to the sick,, the un"fortunate, and the young and aged poor, that the "principal charm of all her generosity lay. Amongst "many other schemes of benevolence with which she charged herself (and indeed there was not a charity in Ayr which did not receive her warm support) within a very few years of her decease, she established, sup"ported, and actively presided over a female school, "whose pupils it was her delight to use her influence "with acquaintances and friends to settle in situations, as domestics or otherwise, where they might virtu'ously practise the instructions they had received. To many a poor girl she was thus an earthly providence ; "and all the merciful acts she did will never be fully "told till that Great Day of Acknowledgment and "Award when to have done it to the very least' will "be the noblest guerdon bestowed by Him, to whom are as dear as Himself Earth's friendless and forlorn. "All her days devotedly attached to the church "established-the church of her baptism and her 'youth-her piety was as free from sectarianism as from show; her life in the truest of all senses, was 'religion, and her end was peace."

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She had a life-long, intimate friendship with a widow lady, Mrs. Mair, (née Hunter) whose two sons died early or abroad. After Mr. Aiken's death the two ladies built houses next door to each other, and after her mother's death they parted with them and lived under the same roof, and as in other things, they were also associated in good works. Mrs. Mair did not long survive her beloved friend, and when I went to Ayr to attend my aunt's funeral she gave to me, as had been agreed between them, a handsome service of plate for the breakfast table having this inscription: Presented to

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'Mrs. Mair and Miss Aiken by the first female friendly "society of Ayr, instituted by them in 1800, in testimony

"of the society's gratitude for their faithful management "of its funds and affairs during the period of twenty "years, May, 1826."

Her benevolence had its pure and abiding source in a well-balanced, well-cultivated and devout mind, of strong affections, good sense, deep and generous sympathy, superior ability and active administrative power. It began at home in loving, dutiful obedience to her parents, and as they advanced in years, the management of household and other affairs devolved upon her; and in every particular she acted with superior skill, courtesy and kindness. She had more than one offer of marriage, but none that induced her to resign the duties of her happy home. Her second brother John commanded his own ship in the East India trade, and he and one of his cousins, who had a similar occupation, were captured with their ships in time of war by the enemy's cruisers and carried into the Isle of France. He began life again as an Indigo planter but never returned to his native land, and although his sister always corresponded with him, letters from India were then few and far between. An answer to a letter might be looked for in nine or ten months from its date. Her sisterly love, therefore, chiefly but not entirely, found its object in my father and his family. His three sons were under her care while at Ayr academy, and in their mother's absence, her affection, her beautiful and wise direction and example were to us invaluable, and through life we enjoyed her constant love and friendship. In illness her presence was cheering as a sunbeam. Her sympathy, tact, tenderness, ability and benevolence made her the confidant, adviser, friend and helper of many beyond the home circle, among relations and friends, high and low, rich and poor. Thus she was often to be found a "ministering angel" in the house of mourning, supporting and soothing the dying, and the afflicted mourners in their agony of grief. Two such cases among others occurred in my youth. Mrs. Campbell, wife of Major Campbell,

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who having quarrelled with a brother officer in Ireland, fought a fatal duel with him in a room without seconds. The jury found a verdict of wilful murder against Campbell, who was executed. The other instance was a young widow whose husband committed suicide, leaving her to take care of several children and provide for the management of a fine estate. To both these ladies my aunt was a steadfast and most valuable friend, adviser and comforter in their difficulties and sorrow. An early and constant friend of hers, of warm affections, but also of hot temper, who married a nobleman, was for a time at variance with her own family, to whom she was happily reconciled chiefly by the judicious mediation of Grace Aiken as a peacemaker; and I have reason to believe that there were other such occasions in which her friendly offices were attended with the same happy result.

Mr. John Ballantine, banker, in Ayr, was Provost or Chief-Magistrate at the time the new bridge was built, and Burns dedicated the poem of "The Twa Brigs" to his kind patron, who was a highly honorable and muchrespected gentleman. His estate at Castle Hill was near Ayr, and the house was visible for miles around. He was a friend of my grandfather and his family, whom I often met when a boy, both in Ayr and at his own fine mansion. Having no child, the house and estate, after the death of his widow, were inherited by his nephew James Ballantine, an advocate, a contemporary and a friend of mine, who lived with his mother and sisters before he succeeded to Castle Hill. One summer they had a charming residence near Hawthornden and Roslin Castle, and I had the great enjoyment of spending two or three weeks with them in that classic and beautiful valley, when the woods began to show the tints of autumn. John Ballantine's unmarried sister had a good house in Wellington Square, Ayr. One fine Sunday morning when unavoidably detained at home, as she sat reading at her open window, after the church bells had ceased and there were no sounds of labour, but only the murmur of the waves as they rippled to