1815-1816] Sismondi and the Aliens 83 



have been all that prevented a marriage which apparently 

 would have added even more to his happiness than to hers. 

 There was, however, a remarkably unembarrassed intimacy 

 between them which lasted till his death. He was an 

 intimate friend of the Chevalier de Bunsen. There is a 

 story of his saying: " Bunsen always holds my hand when 

 we meet and puts it next his heart. It is inconvenient 

 when it happens at the soup, as it generally does." 



The following letter gives an account of a great family 

 gathering at Bath. The party consisted of Mrs Drewe and 

 one of her daughters, the John Wedgwoods, Kitty and Sarah 

 Wedgwood (sisters of Josiah of Maer), the Darwins, and 

 Bessy with her daughter Charlotte. The Aliens were now 

 at Geneva, and had made friends with Sismondi. 



Mrs Josiah Wedgwood to her sister Fanny Allen. 



ETRURIA, Jan. 3rd, 1816. 



... I am agreeably surprised to see how quick the 

 communication is between us. Jessie will by this time 

 have received my last from Bath, in which we all disclaimed 

 giving an opinion worth having about your going into 

 Italy with Sismondi. The more I think of it, the less I see 

 any objection to it, always supposing that he is not a 

 lover, which I can hardly suppose. If he is, and Jess is 

 resolved against him, it might embarrass her, and perhaps 

 would not be right to him. . . . 



You will think no more of John and Jane [Wedgwood] 

 coming out, for as John says he cannot know till next 

 summer whether he can be spared from the Bank, it will 

 be impossible for you to frame your plans with any views 

 to theirs. 



Jenny and I have spent a long time together now and not 

 one ungentle word or look has escaped to cloud our affection, 

 so tender if anything ails you in body or mind and so free 

 from selfishness in any way. I think I could make her yet 

 more perfect, and she always receives every suggestion with 

 so much sweet humility that I almost reproach myself for 

 not having the courage to try. I never saw Caroline [Drewe] 



