in the room, was really amusing. At last, as they were elbowing their way together towards Lady Theodosia's chaperon, I saw the ridiculous couple stand aside, as if conscious of a superior presence, and doubted not that a member of the royal family had come in. I raised my glass; but, lo! in lieu of a royal highness, saw nothing but a fat old dowager,—a quondam ladylieutenant. Sir William, remembering how low he used to bow to her at the Castle, having resumed his former obsequiousness. Great as he was, he felt an ex-vice-queen to be greater. The minnows shrank in presence of what had been a Triton in their little eyes.

Lister was right in his assertion that travel is indispensable to liberalize the mind. After making the tour of Europe, Sir William O'Blarney will probably return to his country, a polished, open-minded, open-hearted man. But it will require many a rub to teach him the useful art of self-knowledge. One lesson was bestowed on him the other night. Lady Cecilia's sister, the somewhat exclusive marchioness of Clackmannan, sent for her carriage,

and took away her beautiful daughter, Lady Alicia Spottiswode, the moment Sir William asked her to dance. "It is Alicia's first season," whispered Lady Cecilia, observing my suppressed smile; "et il ne faut pas s'encanailler!"

Do not let me seem to scandalize my Irish friends. I see nothing in London-no! not even at Merioneth House-superior to Lord and Lady Rossana, or their sons and daughters. But the Rossanas are people of the world; and have supported the reputation of their country for beauty and wit, at Paris, Rome, Naples, Vienna, and Berlin. It struck me last night, that Mr. Penrhyn was paying attention to the youngest and prettiest of the daughters. But I am satisfied that Lady Sophia has too much dignity of mind to accept a man universally stigmatized as the cavaliere servente of a married woman.

Poor Sir Jenison Delaval has just attained a crisis in his destiny, which makes the matrimonial yoke he has been wearing, till it has grown into his flesh, sit extremely uneasy.

Clarence Delaval, his only son, who has turned out as wild as the slip of such a stock was likely to prove, has just been rusticated at college; and his father and Lady Cecilia are at variance touching his future destination. Lady Cis wants to send him to travel, and, on his return from the Continent, place him in the Blues: Sir Joseph talks of keeping him under his own eye (such an eye as it is!), and putting him into the Foreign Office or the Treasury, to tame him down. The idea of the handsome, clever Clarence, chained to a desk in a Government office, would make Lady Cecilia furious, if it did not make her laugh. But, while papa and mamma are settling their differences of opinion, my little cousin, Clarence, remains en pénitence in Grosvenor Square; smuggled by his mother, night after night, to the Opera, Almack's, and every ball worth mentioning, in order to keep him out of mischief; or, rather, to keep him to mischief of what she considers the right kind.

"A boy of twenty must play the fool," is her argument; "and it is better he should

play the fool in good company. Precisely at Clarence's age, the tone of a man's character is decided. If shy, he flies to indifferent society to be courted and made a fuss with; if a sportsman, he associates with those who look upon ignorance as eminence, and vulgarity as virtue. With us, he will perceive that gallantry and écarté are not incompatible with public distinctions; he will see our great politicians crowned with laurels mingled with roses, and find that a man may command the attention of the House one night, and of Crockford's the next. If my son must be a roué, let him, at least, be a roué de bonne compagnie."

Sir Jenison, on the other hand, does not subscribe to the necessity of his being a roué at all; and talks of the propriety of finishing the young man's education, in case he should be called on by his county to bring him forward at the next election. But Lady Cecilia, who says little, does all; and, as Clarence finds it delightful to waltz every night, and ride every morning, with his pretty cousin Alicia, it is probable he will manage to remain in

town for the rest of the season,-then complete his education on the moors, or at Lucca, or the Taunus baths.

Ever since my arrival in town, I have seen a huge "TO LET, FURNISHED, THIS SPACIOUS MANSION," pasted into the windows of the house adjoining mine; and fully appreciated the advantage of having no greater disturbance to my South-west, than the occasional modest knocks of persons coming to view the premises. Last week, alas! I was roused from my dream of bliss by an awkward rat-tat-tat, and a sort of scuffle in the street, proceeding from a family coach with four posters, and six inside; and a barouche and pair, full of ladies' maids. A marvellous explosion of scolding, squabbling, swearing, and unpacking, ensued; and, within four-and-twenty hours of the great event, a piano was rattling in the back diningroom, a harp twanging in the front drawingroom; the under footman played the fiddle in the pantry, and three children and a teething infant were skirmishing and roaring in the nurseries; to say nothing of a never-ceasing