LIFE IN HANOVER SQUARE--VISIT TO FRANCE--ARAGO--CUVIER--ROME.
[My father was appointed, in 1816, a member of the Army Medical
Board, and it became necessary for him to reside in London. He and
my mother accordingly wished farewell to Scotland, and proceeded to
take up their residence in Hanover Square. My mother preserved the
following recollections of this journey:--]
* * * * *
On our way we stopped a day at Birmingham, on purpose to see Watt and
Boulton's manufactory of steam engines at Soho. Mr. Boulton showed us
everything. The engines, some in action, although beautifully smooth,
showed a power that was almost fearful. Since these early forms of the
steam engine I have lived to see this all but omnipotent instrument
change the locomotion of the whole civilized world by sea and by land.
Soon after our arrival in London we became acquainted with the
illustrious family of the Herschels, through the kindness of our friend
Professor Wallace, for it was by his arrangement that we spent a day
with Sir William and Lady Herschel, at Slough. Nothing could exceed the
kindness of Sir William. He made us examine his celebrated telescopes,
and explained their mechanism; and he showed us the manuscripts which
recorded the numerous astronomical discoveries he had made. They were
all arranged in the most perfect order, as was also his musical library,
for that great genius was an excellent musician. Unfortunately, his
sister, Miss Caroline Herschel, who shared in the talents of the family,
was abroad, but his son, afterwards Sir John, my dear friend for many
years, was at home, quite a youth. It would be difficult to name a
branch of the physical sciences which he has not enriched by important
discoveries. He has ever been a dear and valued friend to me, whose
advice and criticism I gratefully acknowledge.
* * * * *
I took lessons twice a week from Mr. Glover, who painted landscapes very
prettily, and I liked him on account of his kindness to animals,
especially birds, which he tamed so that they flew before him when he
walked, or else sat on the trees, and returned to him when he whistled.
I regret now that I ever resumed my habit of painting in oil;
water-colours are much better suited to an amateur, but as I had never
seen any that were good, I was not aware of their beauty.
I also took lessons in mineralogy from Mrs. Lowry, a Jewess, the wife of
an eminent line engraver, who had a large collection of minerals, and in
the evening Somerville and I amused ourselves with our own, which were
not numerous.
Our house in Hanover Square was within a walking distance of many of our
friends, and of the Royal Institution in Albemarle Street, where I
attended the lectures, and Somerville frequently went with me. The
discoveries of Sir Humphry Davy made this a memorable epoch in the
annals of chemical science. At this time there was much talk about the
celebrated Count Rumford's steam kitchen, by which food was to be cooked
at a very small expense of fuel. It was adopted by several people, and
among others by Naldi, the opera singer, who invited some friends to
dine the first day it was to be used. Before dinner they all went to see
the new invention, but while Naldi was explaining its structure,
it exploded and killed him on the spot. By this sad accident his
daughter, a pretty girl and a good singer, was left destitute. A
numerously-attended concert was given for her benefit, at which
Somerville and I were present. She was soon after engaged to sing in
Paris, but ultimately married the Comte de Sparre, a French gentleman,
and left the stage.
When MM. Arago and Biot came to England to continue the French arc of
the meridian through Great Britain, they were warmly received by the
scientific men in London, and we were always invited to meet them by
those whom we knew. They had been told of my turn for science, and that
I had read the works of La Place. Biot expressed his surprise at my
youth.
* * * * *
One summer Somerville proposed to make a tour in Switzerland, so we set
off, and on arriving at Chantilly we were told that we might see the
château upon giving our cards to the doorkeeper. On reading our name,
Mademoiselle de Rohan came to meet us, saying that she had been at
school in England with a sister of Lord Somerville's, and was glad to
see any of the family. She presented us to the Prince de Condé, a
fine-looking old man, who received us very courteously, and sent the
lord-in-waiting to show us the grounds, and especially the stables, the
only part of the castle left in its regal magnificence after the
Revolution. The Prince and the gentleman who accompanied us wore a gaudy
uniform like a livery, which we were told was the Chantilly uniform, and
that at each palace belonging to the Prince there was a different
uniform worn by him and his court.
At Paris we were received with the kindest hospitality by M. and Mme.
Arago. I liked her much, she was so gentle and ladylike; he was tall and
good-looking, with an animated countenance and black eyes. His character
was noble, generous, and singularly energetic; his manners lively and
even gay. He was a man of very general information, and, from his
excitable temperament, he entered as ardently into the politics and
passing events of the time as into science, in which few had more
extensive knowledge. On this account I thought his conversation more
brilliant than that of any of the French savants with whom I was
acquainted. They were living at the Observatory, and M. Arago showed me
all the instruments of that magnificent establishment in the minutest
detail, which was highly interesting at the time, and proved more useful
to me than I was aware of. M. Arago made us acquainted with the Marquis
de la Place, and the Marquise, who was quite an _élégante_. The Marquis
was not tall, but thin, upright, and rather formal. He was distinguished
in his manners, and I thought there was a little of the courtier in
them, perhaps from having been so much at the court of the Emperor
Napoleon, who had the highest regard for him. Though incomparably
superior to Arago in mathematics and astronomical science, he was
inferior to him in general acquirements, so that his conversation was
less varied and popular. We were invited to go early and spend a day
with them at Arcueil, where they had a country house. M. Arago had told
M. de la Place that I had read the "Mécanique Céleste," so we had a
great deal of conversation about astronomy and the calculus, and he gave
me a copy of his "Système du Monde," with his inscription, which pleased
me exceedingly. I spoke French very badly, but I was less at a loss on
scientific subjects, because almost all my books on science were in
French. The party at dinner consisted of MM. Biot, Arago, Bouvard, and
Poisson. I sat next M. de la Place, who was exceedingly kind and
attentive. In such an assemblage of philosophers I expected a very grave
and learned conversation. But not at all! Everyone talked in a gay,
animated, and loud key, especially M. Poisson, who had all the vivacity
of a Frenchman. Madame Biot, from whom we received the greatest
attention, made a party on purpose, as she said, to show us, "les
personnes distinguées." Madame Biot was a well-educated woman, and had
made a translation from the German of a work, which was published under
the name of her husband. The dinner was very good, and Madame Biot was
at great pains in placing every one. Those present were Monsieur and
Madame Arago, Monsieur and Madame Poisson, who had only been married the
day before, and Baron Humboldt. The conversation was lively and
entertaining.
The consulate and empire of the first Napoleon was the most brilliant
period of physical astronomy in France. La Grange, who proved the
stability of the solar system, Laplace, Biot, Arago, Bouvard, and
afterwards Poinsot, formed a perfect constellation of undying names; yet
the French had been for many years inferior to the English in practical
astronomy. The observations made at Greenwich by Bradley, Maskelyne, and
Pond, have been so admirably continued under the direction of the
present astronomer-royal, Mr. Airy, the first practical astronomer in
Europe, that they have furnished data for calculating the astronomical
tables both in France and England.
The theatre was at this time very brilliant in Paris. We saw Talma, who
was considered to be the first tragedian of the age in the character of
Tancrède. I admired the skill with which he overcame the disagreeable
effect which the rhyme of the French tragedies has always had on me.
Notwithstanding his personal advantages, I thought him a great artist,
though inferior to John Kemble. I am afraid my admiration of
Shakespeare, my want of sympathy with the artificial style of French
tragedy, and perhaps my youthful remembrance of our great tragedian Mrs.
Siddons, made me unjust to Mademoiselle Duchênois, who, although ugly,
was certainly an excellent actress and a favourite of the public. I was
so fond of the theatre that I enjoyed comedy quite as much as tragedy,
and was delighted with Mademoiselle Mars, whom we saw in Tartuffe. Some
years later I saw her again, when, although an old woman, she still
appeared handsome and young upon the stage, and was as graceful and
lively as ever.
Soon after our dinner party at Arcueil, we went to pay a morning visit
to Madame de la Place. It was late in the day; but she received us in
bed elegantly dressed. I think the curtains were of muslin with some
gold ornaments, and the coverlet was of rich silk and gold. It was the
first time that I had ever seen a lady receive in that manner. Madame
Laplace was lively and agreeable; I liked her very much.
We spent a most entertaining day with M. and Madame Cuvier at the Jardin
des Plantes, and saw the Museum, and everything in that celebrated
establishment. On returning to the house, we found several people had
come to spend the evening, and the conversation was carried on with a
good deal of spirit; the Countess Albrizzi, a Venetian lady, of high
acquirements, joined in it with considerable talent and animation.
Cuvier had a very remarkable countenance, not handsome, but agreeable,
and his manner was pleasing and modest, and his conversation very
interesting. Madame de Staël having died lately, was much discussed. She
was much praised for her good-nature, and for the brilliancy of her
conversation. They agreed, that the energy of her character, not old
age, had worn her out. Cuvier said, the force of her imagination misled
her judgment, and made her see things in a light different from all the
world. As a proof of this, he mentioned that she makes Corinne lean on a
marble lion which is on a tomb in St. Peter's, at Rome, more than twenty
feet high. Education was very much discussed. Cuvier said, that when he
was sent to inspect the schools at Bordeaux and Marseilles, he found
very few of the scholars who could perform a simple calculation in
arithmetic; as to science, history, or literature, they were unknown,
and the names of the most celebrated French philosophers, famed in other
countries, were utterly unknown to those who lived in the provinces. M.
Biot had written home, that he had found in Aberdeen not one alone, but
many, who perfectly understood the object of his journey, and were
competent to converse with him on the subject. Cuvier said such a
circumstance constituted one of the striking differences between France
and England; for in France science was highly cultivated, but confined
to the capital. It was at M. Cuvier's that I first met Mr. Pentland, who
made a series of physical and geological observations on the Andes of
Peru. I was residing in Italy when I published my "Physical Geography"
and Mr. Pentland[8] kindly undertook to carry the book through the press
for me. From that time he has been a steady friend, ever ready to get me
information, books, or anything I wanted. We became acquainted also with
M. Gay-Lussac, who lived in the Jardin des Plantes, and with Baron
Larrey, who had been at the head of the medical department of the army
in Egypt under the first Napoleon.
* * * * *
At Paris I equipped myself in proper dresses, and we proceeded by
Fontainebleau to Geneva, where we found Dr. Marcet, with whom my husband
had already been acquainted in London. I, for the first time, met Mrs.
Marcet, with whom I have ever lived on terms of affectionate friendship.
So many books have now been published for young people, that no one at
this time can duly estimate the importance of Mrs. Marcet's scientific
works. To them is partly owing that higher intellectual education now
beginning to prevail among the better classes in Britain. They produced
a great sensation, and went through many editions. Her "Conversations on
Chemistry," first opened out to Faraday's mind that field of science in
which he became so illustrious, and at the height of his fame he always
mentioned Mrs. Marcet with deep reverence.
Through these kind friends we became acquainted with Professors De
Candolle, Prevost, and De la Rive. Other distinguished men were also
presented to us; among these was Mr. Sismondi, author of the "History of
the Italian Republics." Madame Sismondi was a Miss Allen, of a family
with whom we were very intimate.
[Some time after her return to England, my mother, desirous of
continuing the study of botany, in which she had already attained
considerable proficiency, wrote to M. De Candolle, asking his
advice, and he sent her the following reply:--]
LETTER FROM M. DE CANDOLLE TO MRS. SOMERVILLE.
LONDRES, _5 Juin, 1819_.
MADAME,
Vous avez passé les premières difficultés de l'étude des plantes et
vous me faites l'honneur de me consulter sur les moyens d'aller en
avant; connaissant votre goût et votre talent pour les sciences les
plus relevées je ne craindrai point de vous engager à sortir de la
Botanique élémentaire et à vous élever aux considérations et aux
études qui en font une science susceptible d'idées générales,
d'applications aux choses utiles et de liaison avec les autres
branches des connaissances humaines. Pour cela il faut étudier non
plus seulement la nomenclature et l'échafaudage artificiel qui la
soutient, mais les rapports des plantes entre elles et avec les
élémens extérieurs, ou en d'autres termes, la classification
naturelle et la Physiologie.
Pour l'un et l'autre de ces branches de la science il est nécessaire
en premier lieu de se familiariser avec la structure des plantes
considérée dans leur caractère exacte. Vous trouverez un précis
abrégé de ces caractères dans le 1^er vol. de la Flore française;
vous la trouverez plus développé et accompagné de planches dans les
Elémens de Botanique de Michel. Quant à la structure du fruit qui
est un des points les plus difficiles et les plus importans, vous
allez avoir un bon ouvrage traduit et augmenté par un de vos jeunes
et habiles compatriotes, Mr. Lindley--c'est l'analyse du fruit de M.
Richard. La traduction vaudra mieux que l'original. Outre ces
lectures, ce qui vous apprendra surtout la structure des plantes,
c'est de les analyser et de les décrire vous-même d'après les
termes techniques; ce travail deviendrait pénible et inutile à faire
sur un grand nombre de plantes, et il vaut mieux ne le faire que sur
un très petit nombre d'espèces choisies dans des classes très
distinctes. Quelques descriptions faites aussi complètes qu'il vous
sera possible vous apprendra plus que tous les livres.
Dès que vous connaîtrez bien les organes et concurremment avec cette
étude vous devrez chercher à prendre une idée de la classification
naturelle. Je crains de vous paraître présomptueux en vous engageant
à lire d'abord sous ce point de vue ma Théorie élémentaire. Après
ces études ou à peu près en même temps pour profiter de la saison,
vous ferez bien de rapporter aux ordres naturels toutes les plantes
que vous aurez recueillies. La lecture des caractères des familles
faites la plante à la main et l'acte de ranger vos plantes en
familles vous feront connaître par théorie et par pratique ces
groupes naturels. Je vous engage dans cette étude, surtout en le
commencement, à ne donner que peu d'attention au système général qui
lie les familles, mais beaucoup à la connaissance de la physionomie
qui est propre à chacune d'elles. Sous ce point de vue vous pourrez
trouver quelque intérêt à lire--1° les Tableaux de la Nature de M.
de Humboldt; 2° mon essai sur les propriétés des plantes comparées
avec leurs formes extérieures; 3° les remarques sur la géographie
botanique de la Nouvelle Hollande et de l'Afrique, insérés par M.
Robt. Brown à la fin du voyage de Finders et de l'expédition au
Congo.
Quant à l'étude de la Physiologie ou de la connaissance des
végétaux considérés comme êtres vivans, je vous engage à lire les
ouvrages dans l'ordre suivant: Philibert, Elémens de Bot. et de
Phys., 3 vols.; la 2^de partie des principes élémentaires de la Bot.
de la Flore française. Vous trouverez la partie anatomique dans
l'ouvrage de Mirbel; la partie chimique dans les recherches
chimiques sur la Veget. de T. de Saussure; la partie statique dans
la statique des végétaux de Hales, &c. &c. Mais je vous engage
surtout à voir par vous-même les plantes à tous leurs ages, à suivre
leur végétation, à les décrire en détail, en un mot à vivre avec
elles plus qu'avec les livres.
Je désire, madame, que ces conseils puissent vous engager à suivre
l'étude des plantes sous cette direction qui je crois en relève
beaucoup l'importance et l'intérêt. Je m'estimerai heureux si en
vous l'indiquant je puis concourir à vos succès futures et à vous
initier dans une étude que j'ai toujours regardé comme une de celles
qui peut le plus contribuer au bonheur journalier.
Je vous prie d'agréer mes hommages empressés.
DE CANDOLLE.
* * * * *
We had made the ordinary short tour through Switzerland, and had arrived
at Lausanne on our way home, when I was taken ill with a severe fever
which detained us there for many weeks. I shall never forget the
kindness I received from two Miss Barclays, Quaker ladies, and a Miss
Fotheringham, who, on hearing of my illness, came and sat up alternate
nights with me, as if I had been their sister.
The winter was now fast approaching, and Somerville thought that in my
weak state a warm climate was necessary; so we arranged with our
friends, the Miss Barclays, to pass the Simplon together. We parted
company at Milan, but we renewed our friendship in London.
We went to Monza, and saw the iron crown; and there I found the Magnolia
grandiflora, which hitherto I had only known as a greenhouse plant,
rising almost into a forest tree.
At Venice we renewed our acquaintance with the Countess Albrizzi, who
received every evening. It was at these receptions that we saw Lord
Byron, but he would not make the acquaintance of any English people at
that time. When he came into the room I did not perceive his lameness,
and thought him strikingly like my brother Henry, who was remarkably
handsome. I said to Somerville, "Is Lord Byron like anyone you know?"
"Your brother Henry, decidedly." Lord Broughton, then Sir John Cam
Hobhouse, was also present.
At Florence, I was presented to the Countess of Albany, widow of Prince
Charles Edward Stuart the Pretender. She was then supposed to be married
to Alfieri the poet, and had a kind of state reception every evening. I
did not like her, and never went again. Her manner was proud and
insolent. "So you don't speak Italian; you must have had a very bad
education, for Miss Clephane Maclane there [who was close by] speaks
both French and Italian perfectly." So saying, she turned away, and
never addressed another word to me. That evening I recognised in
Countess Moretti my old friend Agnes Bonar. Moretti was of good family;
but, having been banished from home for political opinions, he taught
the guitar in London for bread, and an attachment was formed between him
and his pupil. After the murder of her parents, they were both
persecuted with the most unrelenting cruelty by her brother. They
escaped to Milan where they were married.
I was still a young woman; but I thought myself too old to learn to
speak a foreign language, consequently I did not try. I spoke French
badly; and now, after several years' residence in Italy, although I can
carry on a conversation fluently in Italian, I do not speak it well.
[When my mother first went abroad, she had no fluency in talking
French, although she was well acquainted with the literature. To
show how, at every period of her life, she missed no opportunity of
acquiring information or improvement, I may mention that many years
after, when we were spending a summer in Siena, where the language
is spoken with great purity and elegance, she engaged a lady to
converse in Italian with her for a couple of hours daily. By this
means she very soon became perfectly familiar with the language,
and could keep up conversation in Italian without difficulty. She
never cared to write in any language but English. Her style has been
reckoned particularly clear and good, and she was complimented on it
by various competent judges, although she herself was always
diffident about her writings, saying she was only a self-taught,
uneducated Scotchwoman, and feared to use Scotch idioms
inadvertently. In speaking she had a very decided but pleasant
Scotch accent, and when aroused and excited, would often
unconsciously use not only native idioms, but quaint old Scotch
words. Her voice was soft and low, and her manner earnest.]
* * * * *
On our way to Rome, where we spent the winter of 1817, it was startling
to see the fine church of Santa Maria degli Angeli, below Assisi, cut in
two; half of the church and half of the dome above it were still entire;
the rest had been thrown down by the earthquake which had destroyed the
neighbouring town of Foligno, and committed such ravages in this part of
Umbria.
At that time I might have been pardoned if I had described St Peter's,
the Vatican, and the innumerable treasures of art and antiquity at Rome;
but now that they are so well known it would be ridiculous and
superfluous. Here I gained a little more knowledge about pictures; but I
preferred sculpture, partly from the noble specimens of Greek art I saw
in Paris and Rome, and partly because I was such an enthusiast about the
language and everything belonging to ancient Greece. During this journey
I was highly gratified, for we made the acquaintance of Thorwaldsen and
Canova. Canova was gentle and amiable, with a beautiful countenance, and
was an artist of great reputation. Thorwaldsen had a noble and striking
appearance, and had more power and originality than Canova. His
bas-reliefs were greatly admired. I saw the one he made of Night in the
house of an English lady, who had a talent for modelling, and was said
to be attached to him. We were presented to Pope Pius the Seventh; a
handsome, gentlemanly, and amiable old man. He received us in a
summer-house in the garden of the Vatican. He was sitting on a sofa, and
made me sit beside him. His manners were simple and very gracious; he
spoke freely of what he had suffered in France. He said, "God forbid
that he should bear ill-will to any one; but the journey and the cold
were trying to an old man, and he was glad to return to a warm climate
and to his own country." When we took leave, he said to me, "Though a
Protestant, you will be none the worse for an old man's blessing." Pius
the Seventh was loved and respected; the people knelt to him as he
passed. Many years afterwards we were presented to Gregory the
Sixteenth, a very common-looking man, forming a great contrast to Pius
the Seventh.
I heard more good music during this first visit to Rome than I ever did
after; for besides that usual in St. Peter's, there was an Academia
every week, where Marcello's Psalms were sung in concert by a number of
male voices, besides other concerts, private and public. We did not make
the acquaintance of any of the Roman families at this time; but we saw
Pauline Borghese, sister of the Emperor Napoleon, so celebrated for her
beauty, walking on the Pincio every afternoon. Our great geologist, Sir
Roderick Murchison, with his wife, were among the English residents at
Rome. At that time he hardly knew one stone from another. He had been an
officer in the Dragoons, an excellent horseman, and a keen fox-hunter.
Lady Murchison,--an amiable and accomplished woman, with solid
acquirements which few ladies at that time possessed--had taken to the
study of geology; and soon after her husband began that career which has
rendered him the first geologist of our country. It was then that a
friendship began between them and us, which will only end with life.
Mrs. Fairfax, of Gilling Castle, and her two handsome daughters were
also at Rome. She was my namesake--Mary Fairfax--and my valued friend
till her death. Now, alas! many of these friends are gone.
There were such troops of brigands in the Papal States, that it was
considered unsafe to go outside the gates of Rome. They carried off
people to the mountains, and kept them till ransomed; sometimes even
mutilated them, as they do at the present day in the kingdom of Naples.
Lucien Bonaparte made a narrow escape from being carried off from his
villa, Villa Ruffinella, near Frascati. When it could be proved that
brigands had committed murder, they were confined in prisons in the
Maremma, at Campo Morto, where fever prevails, and where they were
supposed to die of malaria. I saw Gasperone, the chief of a famous band,
in a prison at Civita Vecchia; he was said to be a relative of Cardinal
Antonelli, both coming from the brigand village of Sonnino, in the
Volscian mountains. In going to Naples our friends advised us to take a
guard of soldiers; but these were suspected of being as bad, and in
league with the brigands. So we travelled post without them; and though
I foolishly insisted on going round by the ruins of ancient Capua, which
was considered very unsafe, we arrived at Naples without any encounter.
Here we met with the son and daughter of Mr. Smith, of Norwich, a
celebrated leader in the anti-slavery question. This was a bond of
interest between his family and me; for when I was a girl I took the
anti-slavery cause so warmly to heart that I would not take sugar in my
tea, or indeed taste anything with sugar in it. I was not singular in
this, for my cousins and many of my acquaintances came to the same
resolution. How long we kept it I do not remember. Patty Smith and I
became great friends, and I knew her sisters; but only remember her
niece Florence Nightingale as a very little child. My friend Patty was
liberal in her opinions, witty, original, an excellent horsewoman, and
drew cleverly; but from bad health she was peculiar in all her habits.
She was a good judge of art. Her father had a valuable collection of
pictures of the ancient masters; and I learnt much from her with regard
to paintings and style in drawing. We went to see everything in Naples
and its environs together, and she accompanied Somerville and me in an
expedition to Pæstum, where we made sketches of the temples. At Naples
we bought a beautiful cork model of the Temple of Neptune, which was
placed on our mineral cabinet on our return to London. A lady who came
to pay me a morning visit asked Somerville what it was; and when he told
her, she said, "How dreadful it is to think that all the people who
worshipped in that temple are in eternal misery, because they did not
believe in our Saviour." Somerville asked, "How could they believe in
Christ when He was not born till many centuries after?" I am sure she
thought it was all the same.
* * * * *
There had been an eruption of Vesuvius just before our arrival at
Naples, and it was still smoking very much; however, we ascended it, and
walked round the crater, running and holding a handkerchief to our nose
an we passed through the smoke, when the wind blew it to our side. The
crater was just like an empty funnel, wide at the mouth, and narrowing
to a throat. The lava was hard enough to bear us; but there were
numerous _fumeroles_ or red-hot chasms, in it, which we could look into.
Somerville bought a number of crystals from the guides, and went
repeatedly to Portici afterwards to complete our collection of volcanic
minerals.
They were excavating busily at Pompeii; at that time, and in one of our
many excursions there Somerville bought from one of the workmen a bronze
statuette of Minerva, and a very fine rosso antico Terminus, which we
contrived to smuggle into Naples; and it now forms part of a small but
excellent collection of antiques which I still possess. The excavations
at that period were conducted with little regularity or direction, and
the guides were able to carry on a contraband trade as mentioned. Since
the annexation of the Neapolitan provinces to the kingdom of Italy, the
Cavaliere Fiorelli has organized the system of excavations in the most
masterly manner, and has made many interesting discoveries. About
one-third of the town has been excavated since it was discovered till
the present day.
In passing through Bologna, we became acquainted with the celebrated
Mezzofanti, afterwards Cardinal. He was a quiet-looking priest; we could
not see anything in his countenance that indicated talent, nor was his
conversation remarkable; yet he told us that he understood fifty-two
languages. He left no memoir at his death; nor did he ever trace any
connection between these languages; it was merely an astonishing power,
which led to nothing, like that of a young American I lately heard of,
who could play eleven games at chess at the same time, without looking
at any chess-board.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 8: Joseph Barclay Pentland, Consul-General in Bolivia
(1836-39), died in London, July, 1873. He first discovered that Illimani
and Sorata (not Chimborazo) were the highest mountains in America. (See
Humboldt's "Kosmos.")]