On Saturday We Dined At Sir
Roderick Murchison's, The President Of The Geological Society, Very
Great In The Scientific Way.
We have struck up a great friendship with Miss Murray, the Queen's
Maid of Honor, who paid me a visit of three hours to-day, in the
midst of which came in Colonel Estcourt, whom I was delighted to
see, as you may suppose.
Miss Murray is to me a very interesting
person, though a great talker; a convenient fault to a stranger.
She is connected with half the noble families in England, is the
grand-daughter of the Duchess of Athol, who governed the Isle of Man
as a queen, and the descendant of Scott's Countess of Derby. Though
sprung of such Tory blood, and a maid of honor, she thinks freely
upon all subjects. Religion, politics, and persons, she decides
upon for herself, and has as many benevolent schemes as old Madam
Jackson.
I returned the visit of Mr. and Mrs. Leslie, the painter, this week,
and saw the picture he is now painting for the Vice-Chancellor. It
is a sketch of children, a boy driving his two little sisters as
horses. One of the little girls is very like Susie, her size, hair,
and complexion. How I longed to be rich enough to order a copy, but
his pictures cost a fortune. I paid also a visit this week to the
Duchess of Inverness, whom I found in the prettiest, cosiest morning
boudoir looking onto the gardens of the Palace. In short, I do, or
see, every hour, something that if I were a traveller only, I could
make quite a story of.
LETTER: To W.D.B. and A.B.
LONDON, January 1, 1847
My dear Sons: . . . I wrote my last sheet on the 19th and your
father went on that day to Cambridge to be present at the tri-
centennial celebration of Trinity College . . . He went also the day
after the anniversary, which was on our 22nd December, to Ely, with
Peacock, the great mathematician, who is Dean of Ely, to see the
great cathedral there . . . While he was at Cambridge I passed the
evening of the 22nd at Lady Morgan's, who happened to have a most
agreeable set . . . Lady Morgan's reunions are entertaining to me
because they are collections of lions, but they are not strictly and
exclusively fashionable. They remind me in their composition from
various circles of Mrs. Otis's parties in Boston. We have in this
respect an advantage over the English themselves, as in our position
we see a great variety of cliques.
For instance, last evening, the 31st, I took Louisa, at half-past
seven, to the house of Mr. Hawes, an under Secretary of State, to
see a beautiful children's masque. It was an impersonation of the
"Old Year" dressed a little like LEAR with snowy hair and draperies.
OLD YEAR played his part inimitably, at times with great pathos, and
then introducing witty hits at all the doings of his reign, such as
exploding cotton, the new planet, a subject which he put at rest as
"FAR BEYOND OUR REACH," etc., etc.
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