After Waterloo: Reminiscences of European Travel 1815-1819

Excerpt

The knowledge of Major Frye’s manuscript and the privilege of publishing it
for the first time I owe to the kindness of two French ladies, the Misses
G——.  Their father, a well known artist and critic, used to spend the
summer months at Saint Germain-en-Laye together with his wife, who was an
English woman by birth.  They had been for a long time intimately acquainted
with Major Frye, who lived and ended his life in that quiet town.  The
Major’s hostess, Mme. de W——­, after his death in 1858, brought the
manuscript to Mrs. G——­ and gave it to her in memory of her friend.  It was
duly preserved in the G——­ family, but remained unnoticed.  The Misses
G——­ rediscovered it in 1907, when it had been lying in a cupboard for
upwards of half a century.  On their showing it to me I thought it was
interesting for many reasons, and worthy of introduction to the public.  I
hope the reader will share my opinion, which is also that of several
English scholars and men of letters, to whom I communicated extracts from
the manuscript.