LADY PALMERSTON
whose sovereign sway over 'the world' of London has long been established on the firmest basis, whose decrees are laws, and from whose judgment there is no appeal."
The Committee was presided over by Lady Jersey, and included, besides Lady Cowper, the Ladies Castlereagh, Sefton, and Willoughby, and the Princesses Esterhazy and Lieven. Almack's was the "seventh heaven" of the fashionable world, and people would almost sell their souls to gain admission. Its exclusiveness will be understood when it is realised that of the three hundred officers of the Foot Guards only six were admitted.[1] Quadrilles were first danced there in 1815. The rules as to punctuality and the costume to be worn, especially by the gentlemen, were extraordinarily strict, and had to be obeyed by all, without respect of person. One of the rules, that seems, however, to have been relaxed later, was that no one was to be admitted after 11 p.m. One night shortly after its enactment that hour had already struck when an attendant announced that the Duke of Wellington was at the door. "What time is it?" asked Lady Jersey. "Seven minutes after eleven, your ladyship." She paused a
- ↑ In 1814.
103
