194 Mary Somerville. 



wished to make a medallion of me ; so he came and 

 sat an hour with me, and pleased me by his in- 

 telligent conversation and his enthusiasm for art. 

 A day was fixed, and he took my profile on slate 

 with pink wax, in a wonderfully short time. He 

 made me a present of a medallion in bronze, nicely 

 framed, and two plaster casts for my daughters. 

 ***** 



I frequently went to hear the debates in the 

 Chambers, and occasionally took my girls, as I 

 thought it was an excellent lesson in French. As 

 party spirit ran very high, the scenes that occurred 

 were very amusing. A member, in the course of 

 his speech, happening to mention the word " liberte*," 

 the President Dupin rang the bell, called out " Stop, 

 a propos de liberte'," . . . jumped down from his 

 seat, sprung into the tribune, pushed out the deputy, 

 and made a long speech himself. 



The weather being fine, we made excursions 

 in the neighbourhood. At Sevres I saw two 

 pieces of china; on one of them was a gnu, on 

 the other a zebra. Somerville had told me that 

 soon after his return from his African expedition, he 

 had given the original drawings to M. Brongniart, 

 then director of the manufactory. 



Baron Louis invited me to spend a day with him 

 and his niece, Mademoiselle de Rigny, at his country 



