_Mrs. Fitzherbert._
"A very worthy and amiable woman, formerly, they say, married to the
King, but at present wholly without influence in that quarter, but no
less beloved and respected, _d'un excellent ton et sans pretension_."
_Her Majesty._
"The Duchess of Clarence honoured the feast with her presence; and all
pressed forward to see her, for she is one of those rare princesses
whose personal qualities obtain for them much more respect than their
rank, and whose unceasing benevolence and highly amiable character,
have obtained for her a popularity in England, of which we Germans may
well be proud--the more so, since in all probability she is destined
to be one day the Queen of that country."
_The King._
"I had the honour of dining with the Duke of Clarence, where I also
met the Princess Augusta, the Duchess of Kent and her daughter, and
the Duchess of Gloucester. The Duke makes a most friendly host, and is
kind enough to retain a recollection of the different times and places
where he has before seen me. He has much of the English national
character, in the best sense of the word, and also the English love of
domestic arrangement. The daughters of the Duke are _d'un beau sang_,
all extraordinarily handsome, though in different styles of beauty.
Among the sons Colonel Fitzclarence is, in many respects, the most
distinguished. Rarely, indeed, do we meet with a young officer of such
various accomplishments."
_The Duchess Of St. A----._
"According to the earliest recollections or her Grace, she found
herself a forsaken, starving, frozen child, in an outshed of an
English village. She was taken thence by a gipsy-crew, whom she
afterwards left for a company of strolling players. In this
profession, she obtained some reputation by a pleasing exterior, a
constant flow of spirits, and a certain originality--till by degrees
she gained several friends, who magnanimously provided for her wants.
She long lived in undisturbed connexion with the rich banker C----,
who, at length, married her, and, at his death, left her a fortune of
70,000l. a year. By this colossal inheritance, she afterwards became
the wife of the Duke of St. A----, the third English Duke in point of
rank, and, what is a somewhat singular coincident, the descendant
of the well-known actress Nell Gwynn, to whose charms the Duke is
indebted for his title, in much the same way (though a hundred years
earlier) as his wife is now for hers.
"She is a very good sort of woman, who has no hesitation in speaking
of the past--on the contrary, is rather too frequent in her
reminiscences. Thus she entertained us the whole evening, with various
representations of her former dramatic characters. The drollest part
of the affair was, that she had taught her husband, a very young man,
thirty years under her own age--to play the lover's part, which he did
badly enough. Malicious tongues were naturally very busy, and the more
so, as many of the recited passages gave room for the most piquant
applications."
_Fortune-Telling._
"I Dined to-day with Lady F. Her husband was formerly Governor in
the Isle of France, and she had there purchased from a negress, the
pretended prophesying book of the Empress Josephine, who is said to
have read therein her future greatness and fall, before she sailed
for France. Lady F. produced it at tea, and invited the company to
question fate, according to the prescribed forms. Now, listen to the
answers, which are really remarkable enough. Mrs. Rothschild was the
first--and she asked if her wishes would be fulfilled. Answer: 'Weary
not fate with wishes--one who has obtained so much, may well be
satisfied.' Next came Mr. Spring Rice, a celebrated parliamentary
speaker, and one of the most zealous champions of the Catholic
Question. He asked, whether on the following day when the question was
to be brought forward in the upper house, it would pass. I should here
remark, that it is well known here that it will not pass--but that in
all probability in the next session it will. The laconic answer of the
book ran thus:--'You will have no success _this time_.' They then made
a young American lady ask if she should soon be married. 'Not in this
part of the world,' was the answer."
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