An American Traveller's Account of Madame, de Stael. 23/ 

 no doubf, tliat lie was beyond the reach 

 of llie revolutionary tcnipesf, wliicl) pos- 

 terity may perhaps think lie contributed 

 largely, though inuoeeiitly, to raise. 

 There are sonic ciieuinstances that 

 mark the enthusiasm whieh prevails ia 

 these countries in minds of the most 

 exalted character ; we re-cmble our 

 English ancestors too much as yet Xo 

 admit of the same indulgence in Ame- 

 rica. Indeed the drdl uniformity of eur 

 manners, and the austere simplicity of 

 our religion, seem to sober and repress 

 tlie imagination, bringing it down ou 

 certain points to one general level esta- 

 blished for all, IMadaine Ncckar was 

 noted for many and singular \irtues; 

 she languished for xonie time mjder the 

 pressure of slow disease, and, bcinj 

 passionately fond of music, some oftlio 

 best performers were frequently intro- 

 duced into an adjoining chamber t» 

 soothe her mind by the powerful iu- 

 flneiice of their art; and siie actually ex- 

 piied while they weie playing a bcauti- 

 tifnl and iilaiiitlve air of an Italian 

 Ojjrra. 



iMadame Neckar is said to have beca 

 one of the finest women of her time, 

 and the attachment of licr busband 

 seems to have been of Jio common cast. 

 In a wood adjoining to the house is an 

 inclosed burial-gionnd, in which he 

 caused a vault to be constructed, and 

 lined with black marble, lu the midst 

 of the vault w.-is jdaeed a large sarco- 

 phagus of a single block of stone, ia 

 which was de]>osiied the body of lila- 

 damc Ncckar, inclosed in a b^adcn colV 

 fill, and reposing U|!on aiomtslio Itcrbs 

 and llowers : to tiiis place Ncckar re- 

 paired e\Try day to imlulge in solitude 

 the luxiny of his grief, and dejilore 

 the loss of her he so i:.uc!i loved. Upon 

 his o«n dealli, in 1801, his boily was 

 placed in the same loiiil) l)y the side of 

 his wile, a large slab of iiiaibh; set over 

 the sarc<jp!iagus, and i!;e vault walled 

 uj) and closed. 



It is understood tlsat Madame do 

 S(ael ruxides at (.'apet in oiiediencc to 

 tJie commands of the French police. 

 She talked of her intended voyage to 

 Am<!riea, and her situation at present is 

 evidently (!scee<iingly irksome. Slie 

 iiKpiired whetlier the (.'inigiations from 

 Holland and (Jeir.iany weie frequent ; 

 and when I mentioned the causes that 

 now lofally iiitt'rrnpted them, "Ah!" 

 she exclaimed, "could they go, onr 

 gn'at lord and master would soon be 

 left to rcigu over the desert he created." 

 i'onx-roLio. 



1«16.] 



and eagerly embraced the opportunity of 

 seeing this celebrated lady. Her re- 

 ception of us was such as I expected 

 from her distinguished hospitality and 

 polished manners. I believe I was ne- 

 ver more alive to the gratilicalion of cu- 

 riosity. She asked nie immediately 

 many qiiestions relating to my voyage, 

 &e. and the conversation soon became 

 iixe<l on one subject — that of England. 

 She has been in England twice, but was 

 very young at the time of the first visit: 

 she is well acquainted with the people 

 and their manners, and has seized the 

 true spirit and character of the nation. 

 She had been too much accustomed to 

 the society of France and Italy to relish 

 their reserved and austere manners, and 

 the picture she draws of them in Corin- 

 iia accords closely with her real senti- 

 ments. It is not surprising, however, 

 that it should be so: her imagination, 

 lively and ai'dent, kindles into ciithn- 

 siasm in the fine climate of Italy ; in 

 England it is even more chilled by the 

 national reserve than by the gloomy 

 sky. She inquired particularly of the 

 jnterestiiig topics of the day — I mention- 

 ed, among others, the subscription for 

 the relief of the distressed sufl'erers in 

 Portugal. "What a superb nation!" 

 she exclaimed, "tiierc are three things 

 that I now admire — the firmness of the 

 Pope, the conduct of the Spaniards, and 

 the I'higlish. It is the character of the 

 men which .she admires in the English 

 — that proud and haughty indepen- 

 dence, so rarely met with on the Conti- 

 nent, has captivated her imagination, 

 and I could not but mark the enthu- 

 siasm with which she repeated — 

 Priile in their port, defiance in their eye, 

 I see tlie lords of hiiiiian-kiiid pass by. 



She told MS lliat she had completed a 

 work on l!ie literature of the Germans, 

 and complained much of tlio police, 

 wliici), it seems, has forbidden its publi- 

 cation. Her conversjition is lively and 

 sparkling, and I found nolhing below 

 tfie peculiar elevation which I had 

 ascribed to the authoress of Corinna. 

 .There is a good portrait of her in the 

 fliaracl»-r of Corinna, with a lyre in 

 fier hand, in the midst of a wild and 

 romantic piece of seeiiery, catching the 

 inonient of inspiration, and chanting the 

 bymnsof an iuiprovi.satore. 



The cli, !c;;ii, which is the present re- 

 sidence oi Madame de Slael. belonged 

 to her faiher, the celebrated Neckar. 

 Here he spent the last years of his life, 

 Iwloved bj a^l around liiin, and liappy. 



