28 LORD LILFORD 



great traveller in South America, comes here 

 frequently ; he is full of acquirement, and has a 

 great deal of conversation, which would be very 

 agreeable were it less full of parentheses and 

 digression ; M. Benjamin Constant and the 

 Comte de la Valette have dined here also, not to 

 forget M. Barante, the author of the " History of 

 the Dukes of Burgundy." I have heard many 

 delightful conversations among the remarkable 

 people who dine here, and I much regret that I 

 have not written them down directly, as I am 

 sorry to find my recollection of them is now very 

 imperfect.' 



' January 16, 1826. — Mr. Adair and Baron 

 Louis dined with us. The latter was Minister 

 of Finance in the time of Napoleon, and seems 

 a shrewd, thorough Frenchman. He gave an 

 interesting account of Louis XVIII. ; he said he 

 was very constant in his dislike of people, and 

 very much the reverse in his affections. II avait 

 de V esprit t et beaucoup de grace. The present 

 King (Charles X.), though far from being as 

 clever as Louis, is more to be trusted ; very 

 warm and very constant in his attachments. As 

 an instance of the fickleness of Louis XVIII. , 



