She Then Drove Us In Her Beautiful Park Phaton To Mrs. Bruen's, Where There Was An Afternoon Party For My Benefit - Such A Charming Old Lady!

I told her I had a mother of eighty-one, and she said "Oh I am more than _that_, but no one knows my age, and I don't think about it, but am ready when the call comes." I have heard since, she is past ninety!

She is small and thin, full of life and interest in everything, and her brains as active as ever, - seems to have known every one of interest. I went there again to tea-dinner last evening, and we talked about everything and everybody under Heaven nearly! Her clever daughter and very pretty grand-daughter, Miss Perkins, have read widely, and our subjects of discussion were endless. Of course at the afternoon party there were numbers of people, and they told me they were quite delighted at my arrival, for the place was very dull now, and it was quite an excitement! Last evening a Professor Shields was at Mrs. Bruen's, and gave me his book on "Science and Faith." I have had three invitations to dine _to-day_, which, of course I had to decline. To go on with yesterday's journal, we lunched with a Mrs. Bell, and met there Miss Perkins and another nice young lady, and a queer specimen, a Mr. W - -, who travels about the Continent with eight children, and aggravated me by saying he was more at home in France than in England. We had several made up dishes, chiefly fish, but little I could eat! Three children came down afterwards and were made very much of, as usual; then Mrs. Belmont called for us in her barouche, and took us a delightful drive by the sea, but it was very cold, and as I had not brought my only warm wrap to Newport, I borrowed a seal skin jacket from Mrs. Bell; I find I have only brought _one_ gown that I could have well done without, but I should be glad of two or three more things.

This place is something like _Ryde_, with numbers of villas, which in summer weather have beautiful lawns and gardens, and are filled with all the smart people from New York and Boston, &c.; in the season, they say it is wonderfully pretty and gay, and the few people remaining are so sorry I did not see Newport in all its glory, but I can guess what it would be, and I should dislike the kind of life they lead and the intense frivolity and absence of any kind of occupation, excepting dressing and flirtation! I think the _cream_ had been left behind. This morning Professor Shields took us a drive to the two _Beaches_, two little bays with bathing sands, and then we drove to Miss Mason, who lives in a very pretty villa with her sister, and is very rich, and we all walked together to the _Cliff_, where there is a fashionable promenade, with rocks and sea on one side and green turf and the villas with their gardens all open on the other.

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