present Lord Kinnaird was at Vienna. Lady K. did not, as I sent you
word, die in her carriage, tho' in it when she was seized. Lord K. was
dining at the Ordinary at Perth races and was seized at dinner, the
Uvula descending into the Windpipe. He recovered sufficiently to
return into the room, but did not survive many days.

Lord Primrose [19] from whom the whole detail came, sent us also an
account of his gaieties, he and his father had been a tour in Scotland
and had not neglected to visit at Drummond Castle with which he was
enchanted, which he could not well fail being, as the lady of the
Castle [20] is a passionate admirer of it, and takes great pleasure in
it and manages much about the Estate.

We have at last concluded Roscoe's elaborate work, the Life of Leo X,
and I do not think I shall ever go through the whole again. The
Italian wars are tiresome and to me always most uninteresting. I
neither like Leo's principles nor those of his biographer. Parts I
shall certainly read again. The style is elegant, and he is an able
apologist. I certainly should recommend parts of the work to you; it
will be an amusement to you at Christmas.


The comment of Mrs Stanhope, as a staunch Tory, upon the famous _Life of
Leo X._, which was then attracting much attention, affords an amusing
contrast to the extravagant praise bestowed upon the work by the Whigs of
the day. Shortly after she had finished its perusal she must have returned
with her family to Yorkshire, where a fresh excitement awaited her.

"The Gallery at Bretton," she writes, "is to be painted, as well as the
staircase. The Architect says, he has worked there six months already. We