he shall take, at least, six weeks' leave, and make a tour upon the Rhine, where he must be quite out of the reach of any business. -Yours very faithfully,

"NORMANBY."

A letter, undated, but belonging to an earlier date in the same month, from Mrs Drummond to her motherin-law, was intended to cheer the old lady, and prevent her taking too gloomy views of the state of her son's health. It shows that the tour to Germany had not, at its date, been authoritatively prescribed by Dr Johnstone.

"MY DEAR MOTHER,-You will be delighted to hear that the horrid Railroad Report is finished. I suppose that the Commissioners will be assailed with all sorts of abuse, as they bear rather hard on the private railroad companies.

My husband has now only the usual routine of the office business, which is quite enough to wear anybody down; but he says that he shall try and take it more quietly. He still goes into Dublin at a quarter before nine in the morning; he gets to town by the railroad. Now and then I hope we may be able to get a walk on the pier together in the evening. By your letter I imagine you take rather too serious a view of my husband's illness. A little excitement does him a great deal of good; and when by some chance he gets a few minutes' romping with that little wild gipsy, Mary, he is always better. When Lord Morpeth comes we talk of taking a fortnight or three weeks' excursion to Killarney, but of course my husband cannot stir till he comes. What seems to tire and harass him most is the constant wearying petty details of office business. It is certainly the most laborious situation under Government. He is decidedly better. His digestion seems stronger, and he sleeps better. Whenever he comes home, I take care to prevent as much as possible any allusion to public matters, and I try to interest him in any other subject. With kind love from all to all, believe me, ever yours affectionately,

"MARIA DRUMMOND."

The letters written by Mrs Drummond give interesting glimpses into the home circle, and vividly represent Mr Drummond's surroundings when free from business cares. It must be enough, however, for the reader to know what is said regarding these by one who, during Drummond's whole residence as Under Secretary in Ireland, associated with him on terms of affectionate intimacy. "His domestic life," says Mr Brady," was pure, loving, unselfish, and happy; devoid of any disturbing incidents, and only broken by his unceasing devotion to public duties."

The session of Parliament having ended, Lord Morpeth came over, and Mr and Mrs Drummond set out for the Continent. Their route is minutely described in a series of letters from Mr Drummond to his mother. On the 3d September they were at Brussels, where Mr Drummond was for some time laid up by an illness. On the 27th September they had reached Baden Baden. He was better, and they proposed to pass through the Tyrol and on to Munich. From Munich he wrote on the 18th October. By this time he had, according to himself, quite recovered from the illness that had detained him at Brussels. They had enjoyed the Tyrol, and had been to Salzburg. They were now homeward-bound, "both well and strong," and expecting to be in London by the 2d November. Their route homewards lay by Augsburg, Nuremberg, Frankfort, and Mayence; thence by the Rhine to Cologne; whence to Liege, Brussels, and by Ostend to London. At Munich he was gratified by a note from Lord Morpeth, informing him that the Railway Report was daily rising in public estimation. He also received at this place a letter from his mother, urging him to give up the Under Secretaryship. As regards this

he wrote saying that he considered it to be his duty to hold to the post, but that, of course, his health must be considered and not sacrificed. "If on my return," he said, "I feel the work oppressive, I shall give the office up. But I do not anticipate anything like the labour I have had. Things are now better organised. They are becoming daily more so, and, thank God, the Railroad Report is done."

November 1838 found him again in Dublin and in harness. His short tour had not done him so much good as he imagined. "He was somewhat restored," says General Larcom; "but those who had known him long, and saw him now, began to mark the ashy cheek and sunken eye. When he undertook the Railway Commission he was in physical strength unequal to the task, and he never recovered that fatal addition to his labours. He returned, however, to business with his usual avidity."

The Railroad Report was indeed completed, but its publication was only the introduction to a new series of exertions in behalf of the railway scheme. He worked hard to establish a public opinion in its favour. He corresponded with, and encouraged, writers even in provincial papers who wrote favourably of it; and with his own or friends' pens defended it in every quarter, in which he could usefully do so, against the attacks of its interested enemies. His official work, again, proved to be heavier than he had expected. The Government railway measure had to be prepared. In a few weeks came the murder of Lord Norbury, followed by a storm of excitement. Next came the exhausting labour of preparation for his examination before the Roden Committee, and the excitement and fatigue of that long examination itself. The year 1839, instead of being a

year of comparative rest, was as heavy a year of work as any of its predecessors.

On 10th February 1839 he wrote to his mother, anticipating the changes likely to follow Lord Normanby's retirement from Ireland and succession to the Colonial Office. "What will be our fate here," he says, “I know not. Lord Morpeth will be in the cabinet, and perhaps a showman will be thought the best for Ireland, if such can be found." On 18th February he wrote again. He was now oppressed with work, and suffering from a bad cold. The nature of the oppressive work is disclosed in a letter dated the 27th February:-" I have had a pressing paper to prepare for Lord Morpeth"-probably materials for the speech with which his lordship introduced the Government Irish Railroad measure in the House of Commons on the 1st of March. That Drummond occasionally did the work of priming the Irish ministers, or their chief supporters in Parliament, over and above his other official work, is shown by a letter to him from Pigot, then in Parliament as SolicitorGeneral for Ireland, dated Friday, 28th April 1839. Pigot tells him of the reception he met in delivering a speech in the preparation of which Drummond had assisted, or which was an expression of views with which Drummond had indoctrinated him.* We have evidence of it also in a letter from Drummond to his mother, dated 10th March 1839, apropos of the debate on Shaw's motion

"The debate on Shaw's motion will show you the cause of my having been so much occupied of late; to say nothing of the railways, a still more important matter. Lord Morpeth made an admirable speech on Shaw's motion, and you will

* A note from Lord Normanby, addressed to Mr Drummond, declared Pigot's speech to have been a complete success.

perceive that he was well supplied with ammunition. It takes no small time, and gives no small trouble, however, to collect it. Lord Roden has just given notice of a similar attack in the Lords, and now a fresh demand comes from Lord Normanby. These men, Roden and Shaw, &c., keep us busy enough; but I am in hopes we shall sail more quietly after these squalls. The Bill founded on the Railway Report has passed its first stage by a large majority; but since then there has been a great cabal formed against it, and we dread a defeat on bringing up the Report."

Lord Roden having succeeded in procuring the appointment of a select committee to inquire into the conduct of the Irish Administration, in regard to crime in Ireland, between 1835 and 1839, Lord John Russell gave notice, in the House of Commons, of his resolutions approving of the Irish Administration. Apropos of this, Drummond, on the 24th March 1839, wrote to his mother :

"The debate in the Lords, and the subsequent notice by Lord John Russell, will show you that the existence of the Irish Government is in peril, and that it is to be fairly and fully tried in the House of Commons immediately after the Easter holidays. I am glad of this. It will either confirm our power, or put an end to an Administration which cannot be conducted usefully, subject to the control of the Lords. This event will excite the deepest interest throughout Ireland; and great would be the excitement if the result should be a Tory Lord Lieutenant instead of Lord Fortescue."

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He wrote to her again on 31st March 1839. A great meeting was being got up in Dublin to support the Government. He expected it to be held on the 8th of April. I think," he says, "we shall be successful; but it will be a hard-fought battle. Lord Ebrington is expected to arrive in a day or two. There will be an amazing sensation caused here if the Tories should suc