MERCER mentioned that, on the death of the Danish ambassador here, (in
Paris,) some commissaire of police, having come to the house for the
purpose of making a _proces verbal_ of his death, it was resisted by the
suite, as an infringement of the ambassador's privilege, to which the
answer of the police was, that _Un ambassadeur des qu'il est mort,
rentre dans la vie privee._--"An ambassador, when dead, returns to
private life." Lord Bristol and his daughters came in the evening; the
Rancliffes, too. Mr. Rich said, at dinner, that a cure (I forget in what
part of France) asked him once, whether it was true that the English
women wore rings in their noses? to which Mr. R. answered, that "in the
north of England, near China, it was possible they might, but certainly
not about London."
WE talked of Wordsworth's exceedingly high opinion of himself; and she
mentioned, that one day, in a large party, Wordsworth, without anything
having been previously said that could lead to the subject, called out
suddenly, from the top of the table to the bottom, in his most epic
tone, "Davy!" and, on Davy's putting forth his head, in an awful
expectation of what was coming, said, "Do you know the reason why I
published the 'White Doe' in quarto?" "No, what was it?" "To show the
world my own opinion of it."
BUSHE told of an Irish country squire, who used, with hardly any means,
to give entertainments to the militia, &c., in his neighborhood; and
when a friend expostulated with him, on the extravagance of giving
claret to these fellows, when whiskey punch would do just as well, he
answered, "You are very right, my dear friend; but I have the claret on
tick, and where the devil would I get credit for the _lemons_?" Douglas
mentioned the story of some rich grazier, in Ireland, whose son went on
a tour to Italy, with express injunctions from the father, to write to
him whatever was worthy of notice. Accordingly, on his arrival in Italy,
he wrote a letter, beginning as follows: "Dear Father, the Alps is a
very high mountain, and bullocks bear no price." Lady Susan and her
daughters, and the Kingstons, came in the evening, and all supped. A
French writer mentions, as a proof of Shakspeare's attention to
particulars, his allusion to the climate of Scotland, in the words,
"Hail, hail, all hail!"--_Grele, grele, toute grele._
MET Luttrell on the Boulevards, and walked with him. In remarking rather
a pretty woman who passed, he said, "The French women are often in the
suburbs of beauty, but never enter the town." Company at Lord Holland's,
Allen, Henry Fox, the _black_ Fox, (attached to the embassy,) Denon,
and, to my great delight, Lord John Russell, who arrived this morning.
Lord Holland told, before dinner, (_a propos_ of something,) of a man
who professed to have studied "Euclid," all through, and upon some one
saying to him, "Well, solve me that problem," answered, "Oh, I never
looked at the cuts."
AFTER Williams and I had sung one of the "Irish melodies," somebody
said, "Everything that's national, is delightful." "Except the National
Debt, ma'am," says Poole. Took tea at Vilamil's, and danced to the
piano-forte. Wrote thirteen or fourteen lines before I went out. In
talking of the organs in Gall's craniological system, Poole said he
supposed a drunkard had a _barrel_ organ.
DINED at Lattin's: company, Lords Holland, John Russell, Thanet, and
Trimelstown; Messrs. Maine de Biron and Denon, Luttrel and Concannon.
Abundance of noise and Irish stories from Lattin; some of them very
good. A man asked another to come and dine off boiled beef and potatoes,
with him. "That I will," says the other; "and it's rather odd it should
be exactly the same dinner I had at home for myself, _barring the
beef_." Some one, using the old expression about some light wine he was
giving, "There's not a head-ache in a hogshead of it," was answered;
"No, but there's a belly-ache in every glass of it." Denon told an
anecdote of a man, who, having been asked repeatedly to dinner, by a
person whom he knew to be but a shabby Amphitryon, went at last, and
found the dinner so meagre and bad, that he did not get a bit to eat.
When the dishes were removing, the host said, "Well, now the ice is
broken, I suppose you will ask me to dine with you, some day."--"Most
willingly." "Name your day, then."--"_Aujourd'hui par example_,"
answered the dinnerless guest. Luttrel told of a good phrase of an
attorney's, in speaking of a reconciliation that had taken place between
two persons whom he wished to set by the ears, "I am sorry to tell you,
sir, that a compromise has _broken out_ between the parties."