SO firmly has Lady Astor established herself as one of our national institutions that it is hard to remember that she was an American until 1906. As the first woman M.P. to take her seat in the House of Commons, and one of the few to become a figure of any importance there, she is a leading personality on the public stage, and her own wit and mental energy have kept her continuously in the public eye. Mr. Gardiner will find her a congenial subject for the exercise of his character-sketching powers.