may fan the spark to flames. Sparks, did I say! they are no sparks; they are the unextinguished embers of that great funeral pile of the monarchy and aristocracy of France, which has been burning and smouldering for fifty years.

"Ah, no! if I write to you, let me rather talk to you of the sunshine, the leisure, the scenery, the peasantry, the fruit, the billows of the South. From Bordeaux to Marseilles we traveled along the valley of the Garonne, the plains of Languedoc, the shores of the Mediterranean. I reveled in the beauty of the country, the exuberant fertility of the land, the enchanting clearness of the sky. In Provence I visited the coast of Hyeres, with its woods of orangetrees and palms, and I made a solitary pilgrimage to Vaucluse.

"Ever most faithfully yours,

H. R."

"13th June, 1842.

"Your directions, many weeks ago, to ask me for a few lines to some fair lady's eyebrow, in the Book of Beauty,' I have left unfulfilled, and, what is worse, the note unanswered, for I did not quite like to confess to myself, much less to another, that I was grown so dull and old (a Benedict!) that rhymes for me have ceased to flow.

66

Prose, my dear Lady Blessington, prose is the true language of happiness; poetry the language of the want of it. Prose pays the rent and the butcher; poetry starves the poet, and, still more, his wife and children. In short, I have only to assure you that I tried hard to write something, found I could not, and then perceived that the beadle must have whipped away all poetical ideas, which I only regret, inasmuch as it makes me very useless and uncivil. H. R."

"2d February, 1843.

'In my position, I have at least more aptitude to share in the griefs of my friends than those who are not stricken from the herd. And I most deeply feel for you in the loss you and your nieces have sustained. That child had in her such gifts of affection, and such a clear, active spirit, that even her natural infirmities seemed to be those of a superior being. But she was of those whose maturity must needs be elsewhere, where alone are the best hearts and truest souls. H. R."

"April 28th, 1849.

"I chanced to be absent from London for some little time previous to your departure, and, indeed, a few days earlier we might have gone to Paris; but I hope you will allow me the privilege of an old and grateful friend in expressing to you my sincere and lasting regret for the loss we all sustain by your removal. London is, I believe, the place in the world in which we are least given to express what we feel; and a thousand circumstances and impediments are forever occurring to make us appear much more dull and miserable than we really are.

"Yet I believe no acts of kindness or recollections of pleasant hours are lost in that deep and turbid water; and, for my own part, as I wander onward on my solitary way, I have a thousand emotions connected with the past, which revolve though they seldom exhale. Among how many of those remembrances, dear Lady Blessington, do your kindness and hospitalities keep their place! Our lives are like those hollow Chinese balls, which they carve one within another, each including all that preceded it, and of these the clearest and most ornamental is marked 'Gore House.'

"In after times that house will have its place in literary and social history, and I am afraid, in our time, we shall not see its fellow until you come back H. R."

to us.

Letter from Richard M. Milnes, Esq., to Lady Blessington:

"September 12th.

"DEAR LADY BLESSINGTON,-I don't know Monsieur Louis Blanc, nor sympathize with his opinions; but having seen him in the Assembly on the 15th of May, and having carefully read the enquete, I am convinced in my own mind that the act of the Assembly was a surprise to him, and that his manner when in the Assembly was deprecatory, and not discouraging. I thought, certainly, he seemed to desire to get them away. I remain yours very truly, "RICHARD M. MILNES."

CHAPTER XIX.

EPISTOLARY CURIOSITIES, ETC.

Letter to Lady Blessington, endorsed by her ladyship, "A curious communication from a Mr. J.

occurrence:"

relative to a mysterious

"Brussels, 26th October, 1835.

"MY LADY,-An utter stranger to you, I find it very difficult to apologize for the liberty I am taking; but your ladyship has seen much of life, and you possess great talent; the latter consideration influences me to address you on a very extraordinary subject, sure you will help me to find out the object of my search.

"Thirteen years ago, I was asked by a very old friend (an apothecary) if I would undertake an accouchement under very extraordinary conditions. I consented. In a few days I was requested to be at the corner of Downing Street, at ten o'clock in the evening, and a pledge of honor was exacted that I should never disclose the affair I had undertaken, or make any effort to find out the parties interested; and that, if accident ever revealed them to my knowledge, I should never disclose the facts or names to any one; to all this I consented, and made no terms of any kind for myself, leaving the remunera

tion to the parties. On the night named I was at my post, and my old friend, Mr. Lee, saw me into a carriage, the blinds of which were up, and not a ray of light entered the space in which I was. How far we traveled I am totally unconscious, as I fell asleep. I was awoke by the door of the carriage being opened at a gate which to all appearance led into a shrubbery; from this my conductor, who was the man that drove the coach, and who had very much the appearance of Mr. Lee, conducted me across a kitchen garden, and thence into a small house; here I was detained about twenty minutes; from thence I was taken a few steps to a large house, and ushered by the coachman or driver into a very large room. A female soon appeared, who told me, as my services would not be required probably for a day or two, I had better take some refreshment and repose: a bed was prepared, and I availed myself of it. How long I slept I know not, but I got up when tired of bed, and in a short time breakfast was announced. The windows of the rooms I occupied were never opened; books were provided me. From the luxurious appearance of every thing about me, I had no doubt that I was in one of the firstrate houses in the country. Three days must have passed in this way. On the 21st of March I was called from my bed, and followed the same female, who attended me into a very splendid apartment, where I found my patient and two other persons, females; there was but one lamp in the room, and that at a considerable distance from the bed. I soon found that the labor would be a natural one, and that the mother was in perfect health, and I should think about from twenty to twenty-eight years of age. She never spoke or uttered a sound of any kind; in a few hours a female child was born. I gave the proper directions as to her treatment, and quitted the room. I remained four days more, seeing my patient twice every day. I never spoke to any but the female who attended me, who certainly was not accustomed to that kind of service.

"I was on the fifth night taken to Downing Street, where I arrived at about five o'clock in the morning. I went home, where I found Mr. Lee awaiting my arrival. He said I had conducted myself entirely to the satisfaction of the parties, and was charged to present me with £100, for which he gave me his check. Of course, I asked no questions; he had no occasion to ask me any, I am sure. A few weeks after, he asked me if I would take charge of the child I had introduced into the world; he would undertake to make the charge advantageous. I consented, provided I was secured against loss, and to have the entire control as a father. The infant was delivered into my hands, and the sum of £100 per annum settled to be paid six-monthly until it was ten years of age; then she was to be allowed £200 per annum. Things went on very regularly for four years, when I was requested to take the child to Richmond to be christened; this I could not comply with, so it was agreed that she should be taken to St. George's, Hanover Square, where she was baptized Frances D'E, daughter of Colonel and Lady D'E—. The persons who undertook this office I had never seen before, and we parted at the

doors of the church, and I have never seen them since. What their motives for baptizing the child were, I know not; but as I had engaged not to ask any questions, I let the whole pass in silence. Two years after that, Mr. Lee died suddenly. I tried in vain to find among his papers any trace of the affair; I waited in expectation of hearing from some other quarter; from the day of his death up to this hour I have not heard one word. I brought the child to Paris, placed her under the care of my wife, who is one of the daughters of Mrs. K, widow of Admiral G- K: she has been with me up to this moment as my daughter. I have given her my name, and I love her as my own child, having lost my own.

"She has received a first-rate education, and is highly talented and beautiful. Misfortune has overtaken me. I am now suffering extreme privation. Fanny is at a school where I pay £100 per annum. She is my only care, as Mrs. Jis at Prague with her mother, who is insane.

"What I would ask of your ladyship is to consider if, about the period I name, 21st March, 1822, any lady of rank or fortune was absent, under extraordinary circumstances; if there is any family who might take the name of D'E—; if there is any Colonel or Lady D’E———. I think the register at St. George's Church was about September or October, 1826. Frances has been with me at Paris about eight years; I have never been in England since, as I am attending to chemistry and scientific objects, but I would cheerfully lay aside every thing to secure the child a provision.

"I have never made till this hour any kind of communication or research into this matter; bound by my word, I have kept it. Frances knows and loves me, yet she has some vague idea that my wife is not her mother. I think I am, under these circumstances, absolved from secresy, as it is the fault of the parties to leave the dear child to chance. If I were able to support her, as I have done since the death of Mr. Lee, I would never trouble any one on this head. Mr. Lee died poor, and he never was rich; he was one of the most honorable men I ever knew. I am almost wild about this dear child; her future fate preys upon my heart and spirits. She must be the child of some person of consequence; she shows blood in every thought and action. "I have thought Lady W- D'E, or some of that family, may know something of the matter, but I have never made any inquiry into the case; now I am forced to do so by circumstances. I never saw the features of her mother or any of the parties, nor do I know what part of the country I was taken to. It could not be far from London, from the time, and I should think, from the stars which I saw as I got out of the carriage, the house I was taken to must bear S. W. of London, but I may be deceived in this point; being under a promise of secresy, I determined not to notice any thing, so that I might be better able to keep my promise. I am sure no deceit has been practiced on me by Mr. Lee, as he was ever beforehand with the payments he undertook, and often has borrowed money of me soon after he had made the payments; he never asked me for a receipt for any moneys. It was an affair

upon honor, and he also was bound to secresy, as we never spoke on the subject. I have dined with him, and have been introduced to several persons, who have often asked to see my daughter; but whether they had any particular motive for so doing I know not; she must have some one to whom she is dear. Will your ladyship find out, if possible, if Lord G knows any thing of this child? I have no grounds for the supposition beyond the name, which is very uncommon in England. The great caution used in the affair, and the profound mystery connected with it, with the obvious riches of the proprietor of the house where the lady was confined, convinces me that they can not be common persons.

"Begging your pardon for this trouble, I am, my lady, your most obedient, humble servant, H. C. J."

From Lola Montes à Monsieur Th. Guerin :

"106 Bond Street. "MONSIEUR MONSIEUR GUERIN,-Pourquoi ne finessez vous pas le portrait ici? Quoique un peu indisposée hier, je compte sur vous de venir demainsoir, ou le matin, pour achever votre joli ouvrage, qui est fort admiré par tout le monde. En attendant je vous la renvoie.

"MARIE, Comtesse de Landfeldt."

To Lady Blessington, transmitting two letters, endorsed "Curious Correspondence indicative of the Triumphs of Popery."

MRS. MARTYR'S LETTER THE MORNING AFTER MISS YOUNG'S MARRIAGE TO MR. POPE.

"DEAR MADAM,-Permit me to be one of the first in offering congratulations. I have no doubt of your happiness, for I will confess that if his holiness had attacked me, I should not have had the resolution, as good a Protestant as I am, to die A. MARTYR."

ANSWER.

"DEAR MADAM,-Accept my best thanks for your congratulations. This is not an hour for criticism; but I will whisper softly to my friend that Pope's 'Essays' are in perfect harmony with Young's 'Night Thoughts.'

The Pilgrim, alias Octogenarius, of Mount Radford, Exeter: Among the anonymous correspondents of Lady Blessington there was one who usually styled himself “The Pilgrim,” evidently a person far advanced in years, of eccentric habits and modes of thinking, with a dash of gallantry, and a strong tincture of southern travel and literary tastes in his quaint and laconic compositions. Who the Pilgrim was I have not been