to you, that miserable deathbed letter from their pennyless grandfather, and I was somewhat struck with the shifting scenes of life when I saw these women occupying the most brilliant position of the moat brilliant circle in London. But what are gold and lands to the rich inheritance of Sheridan's genius and Miss Linley's beauty?
It is indeed a royal entertainment to give one's guests such singing as Grisi's, Garcia's, Lablache's, and Rubini's, and can, I suppose, only be given by those who have "royal revenues."[1]
We passed an evening at Miss C's; she is truly what the English call a "nice person," as modest in her demeanour as one of our village girls who has a good organ of veneration (rare enough among our young people), and this is saying something for the richest heiress in England. I was first struck here, and only here, with the subdued tone we hear so much of in English society. "When we first entered Miss C's immense drawing-room, there were a few dowagers scattered up and down, appearing as few and far between as settlers on a
- ↑ I think one of our parties must strike an Englishman like a nursery-ball. Even in this immense assembly at L. house I saw few young people, none extremely young; but I must confess the tout ensemble struck me as very superior in physical condition and beauty to a similar assembly with us. Our girl, with her delicate features and nymph-like figure, is far more lovely in her first freshness than the English; but the English woman, in her ripeness and full development, far surpasses ours. She is superb from twenty to forty-five.
