Chapter VIII: Front Matter (8)

[37] “The duchess received compliments of condolence on the death of the Duke. She was on a bed, and in her hood, which is the dress of princesses of the blood, when they receive in state the compliments on the death of their husbands.”

[38] Mademoiselle Delaunay.

[39] The family of the Duke de Croy is, I believe, one of the oldest in France. The entreaty of one of the duke’s ancestors to _Noah_, of “_Sauvez les papiers des Croys_,” is well known.

[40] “The easy conversations, the circles, the delicate pleasantry, the familiar and playful letters, to which wit and intellect alone gave access—all have disappeared.”

[41] “They talk there without ceasing, but nothing remains in the heart of all they say; and Dangeau is ravished with this gossip.”

[42] Sir W. Betham is so learned in all that concerns Irish antiquities, that there could have been no difficulty whatever on his part, in guessing the contents of the Caah: such reliquaries were destined only to the one pious purpose.

[43] “Great talents require pressing.”

[44] “What would you have? There are scoundrels in all times.”

[45] Monseigneur Luize de Breme, ex-grand almoner of Italy, and son to the minister of the interior (of Sardinia), was one of those European characters whom to name, is to recal to the memory of all the most distinguished strangers who visited Milan. Eminently amiable and accomplished, he was a liberal patron of Italian literature, in all its branches; and he was at the head of the school of romanticism in Milan. He was the dear friend of Madame de Staël and her family, and of Monti, the poet, and he was intimately known to Lord Byron, Ugo Foscolo, and to most of the celebrated persons of Europe, whose opinions and writings favoured his peculiar sect in literature.

[46] The household of the great families and cardinals of Rome are called _la famiglia_, or the family. A cardinal never drives or walks out, or pays a visit, without a train of liveried servants.

[47] “A great politician, and something of a libertine,—for the rest, an amiable man, but perhaps a little dangerous.”

[48] “Because it was but a point of discipline.”

[49] A few lines written by the author, who had supposed the daughter of the Bishop of Derry to have been an Irishwoman.

[50] “She makes verses like an angel.”

[51]

Insigne mœstis præsidium reis,
Et consulenti, Pollio, curiæ.

HORAT. l. 2, Ode 1.

[52] “Nam neque deesse, neque superesse reipublicæ volo.”

[53] Opposed to this frivolous picture, take the picture of a celebrated German authoress, as described by a recent traveller:—

“DESCRIPTION OF A GERMAN LITERARY LADY.—Never shall I forget the first appearance, to me, of Madame de B. She was sitting, or rather reclining, in the most unaffected posture, with her legs crossed, and her hands clasped behind her head, on a large sofa—one old, indeed, and crazy, but doubtless endeared to her by some association, perhaps with the days of her childhood; for, from its colour, and dilapidations, and fashion, it could scarcely be more modern. Behind her, and on each side, extended a floor, or rather ocean of books, rising in volumes, like wave upon wave, tossing and tumbling, and some, as it were, foaming open, and revealing their white margins. In the midst of these, like an island, stood a large old-fashioned mahogany table, covered with various articles, which I might forbear to enumerate, if it were not interesting to the sensible mind to learn even the most trifling attributes of genius. Such persons will readily forgive me that I mention a large black tea-pot, tea-cup of antique China, an ink-stand, with the owner’s cipher, apparently scratched on the metal; a pair of saucers, of divers patterns; a large phial labelled ‘laudanum;’ a tortoise-shell watch-case, a small plate of bread crusts, and a long hair comb, a tall wine-glass half filled with sugar of the brown description, a snuff-box, a pair of snuffers, a small miniature, a few twisted fragments of brown and blue paper, two slender candles, some small pieces of copper coin, and a single stocking, marked D.R.A.B.”

[54] Mons. Bautte, the celebrated bijoutier of Geneva.

[55] The chair of the good King Dagobert is, perhaps, one of the oldest and most curious articles of furniture of the Christian era. In form, it resembles the curule chair of the Romans. The legs are more ancient, and of better workmanship, than the upper part; but tradition assigns its fabrication to the holy hands of St. Eloi. It was preserved for centuries in the treasury of the Abbey of St. Denis, and was regilt in the time of the Abbot Suger. In August, 1804, it was transported to Boulogne, for the distribution of the crosses of the Legion of Honour; and a medal, struck on that occasion, represents the modern Charlemagne, seated in this relic of _le bon Roi Dagobert_. It now takes its place, with other antiquities, in _la Bibliothèque du Roi_, at Paris.

[56] See Somner’s History of Canterbury, Appendix, Scriptura, xvj.

[57]

“My home, my home, though small it be,
Yet still that home is dear to me.”

[58] “The whole weight of his eighteen volumes was in his step.”

[59] The art of being tiresome consists in leaving nothing unsaid.

[60] “Je vous vois ici avec douleur dansant le triolet, et vous divertir lorsque vous devriez être en lieu, où vous vous fissiez casser la tête, ou vous remettre la couronne sur la tête.”

[61] “Je conçus de lui une fort mauvaise opinion d’être roi à son âge, et n’avoir aucune connaissance des affaires: ce n’est pas que je n’eusse par là dû reconnaître mon sang. Les Bourbons sont gens fort appliqués aux bagatelles, et peu solides. Il ne mangea point d’ortolons, il se jeta sur une pièce de bœuf, et sur une épaule de mouton, comme s’il n’y eut que cela.”

[62] See letter to the Reviewers of Italy, prefixed to the third edition of that work.

[63] Although this first letter does not more than allude to the immediate subject before me, the public, I think, will not be sorry to possess, in its integrity, so good a specimen of the grace and playfulness of Mons. Denon’s turn of mind, which, in one of his advanced age, is peculiar to the climate and temperament of France.

[64] The celebrated Comte de Ségur, the ambassador to Catherine of Russia, and one of the most distinguished authors which modern France has produced. His own memoirs, lately published, have added a brilliant gem to the bright galaxy of French autobiography.

[65] “Here, gentlemen, here is the whole royal family of France and the Princess Caroline, all for a penny.”

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