“. . . The great wonder of the time is Mme. de Stael. She is surrounded by all the
curious, and every sentence she utters is caught and repeated with various
commentaries. Her first appearance was at Ly.
Jersey’s, where Lady
Hertford also was, and looked most scornfully at her, pretending
her determination not to receive her as she was an atheist! and immoral woman. This harsh resolve was mitigated by an
observation very agreeable to the observer—that her personal charms have greatly improved within the last 25 years.
She (Mme. de Stael) is violent against the Emperor, who,
she says, is not a man—‘ce n’est point un homme,
mais un système’—an Incarnation of the
Revolution. Women he considers as only useful ‘pour produire
les conscrits;’ otherwise
‘c’est une classe qu’il voudroit
supprimer.’ She is much less ugly than I expected;
her eyes are fine, and her hand and arm very handsome. She was
| 1813-14.] | TALES OF THE TOWN. | 189 |
“During the debate on the Swedish treaty, Mr. Ward* came into the Coffee House, assigning for his reason that he could not bear to hear Ld. Castlereagh abuse his Master; upon which Jekyll said—‘Pray, Ward, did yr. last Master give you a character, or did this one take you without?’ Those present describe Ward as being overwhelmed, for, with all his talent, he is not ready at repartee, tho’ no doubt by this time he has some neat epigrams upon the occasion. Lady Jane has had a return of spitting of blood, and she was blooded twice last week; the pain in her breast is very troublesome, and I much fear she is fast approaching to an untimely close of her innocent and valuable life.† There are reports, but I believe idle ones, of marriages between Lady Mildmay and Ld. Folkestone, and Sir Harry [Mildmay] and Miss Thayer. Ld. H. Beauclerk is certainly to marry Miss Dillon. The Greys . . . are not invited to the fêtes at C[arlton] House, nor any more of the Opposition than usual. . . .”
