^ET. 27.] WILLIAM PITT. 319 



Lady Hester Stanhope was there : he found her 

 very attractive; and so rapid and decided was her 

 conversation, so full of humour and keen observation, 

 and withal so friendly and instructive, that it was 

 quite impossible not to succumb to her, and to become 

 her slave, whether laughing or serious. 



She was certainly not beautiful ; but her tall com- 

 manding figure, her large dark eyes, and varying 

 expression, changing as rapidly as her conversation, 

 and equally vehement, kept him, as he expressed it, 

 in a state of continual admiration. 



She had little respect for the political coadjutors 

 of Mr Pitt, and delighted to laugh at them. Lord 

 Castlereagh she always called " his monstrous lord- 

 ship:" but Lord Liverpool was a constant theme for 

 ridicule and contempt. Thus, speaking of a design 

 which had been approved of by Pitt, of conferring 

 military decorations, she said it had been stopped by 

 the meddling folly of Lord Liverpool, who insisted 

 upon being consulted on the texture and colours 

 of the ribbons : whereas, she said, she thought, as a 

 young woman, she was more capable of settling such 

 a question than an old woman like Lord Liverpool. 

 But he would not give way, and ended by sending 

 her four thousand yards of different ribbons, all, as 

 she said, to be paid for by the public; and this collec- 

 tion he proposed to examine in concert with her, for 

 the purpose of selecting the most suitable. Lady 

 Hester declined the partnership, and so there was an 

 end of the plan for military decorations. 



