isia-1814] Lord Byron 39 



she hardly said anything at first, and Mack's efforts to 

 restore her to her noble self were excellent, but almost 

 awful from the silence with which they were received. 

 Mme de Stael would not, as before, sit still and converse 

 with Mackintosh, but was pursuing Lord Byron, who was 

 continually escaping from her; and then she had recourse 

 to Mr Ward, but still standing or walking about like one 

 uneasy. The Swedish Ambassador, the Count de Palema, 

 was also there, with whom she talked a little; but nothing 

 passed worth recording except a characteristic speech of 

 Lord Byron's. He said he was going to Athens, and from 

 thence to Persia and India, and asked Mack for letters to 

 Rich 1 at Bagdad. Mme de Stael affected to believe he was 

 not in earnest, that he could not seriously mean to leave 

 England, and proposed to him the misery of ' finding him- 

 self alone, abandoned and dying in a distant land." " One 

 is sufficiently fatigued with one's friends during life, I 

 should find it hard to be bored with them in death also." 

 " Ah ! my Lord, you are happy, you have felt the happiness 

 d'etre entoure, moi je crains d'etre, dbandonnee" The con- 

 versation was in French and her answer sounded more 

 elegant than I can make it. I wish I was a better French 

 woman. Lord Byron is an interesting looking person, pale 

 and strong lines. When he speaks, contrary to other 

 people's, his countenance takes a much severer expression; 

 he does not look ill-natured till he speaks. Mr Rogers was 

 out of humour at meeting Ward, and went off almost imme- 

 diately, and Ward was sneering at everybody and every- 

 thing, amongst others at Campbell's ' Pleasures of Hope." 

 Campbell was to have been there but was prevented by a 

 friend's visit. Mme de Stael brought her daughter to 

 Kitty's, which is reckoned a great mark of distinction. She 

 is rather pretty, very modest, and very silent. I en- 

 deavoured to make her talk, but did not succeed very 

 capitally. The party broke up at half-past twelve, and the 

 general feeling must have been that it was a dull one. 



1 Claudius Rich, a remarkable orientalist, married Mary, Mackin- 

 tosh's second daughter by his first wife. 



