JET. 39.] VISIT TO FRANCE. 323 



leather and iron ; and that a key tied to a thong was 

 found at the bottom when they came to empty the 

 barrel. I must add as to Baillie, that Sir Henry Hal- 

 ford is most unfortunate in his quotation from Tacitus, 

 as he is most unfair in the opinion he pronounces, that 

 Baillie is a good, but not a great, man. " Bonum 

 virum facile crederes, magnum, libenter," applies to 

 Agricola's countenance merely/' 5 " 



Having, as I said, resolved to give myself a holiday, 

 I determined to spend the autumn abroad. After pro- 

 ceeding to Switzerland, I went on to Florence. When 

 at Geneva I wrote as follows to Lord Grey : 



TO EARL GREY. 



"GENEVA, August 27, 1817. 



" MY DEAR LORD GREY, I wrote some weeks ago 

 to Lord Eosslyn, and begged him to communicate my 

 letter to you ; not that it contained anything worth 

 reading, but because I had no further or better re- 

 marks to offer you. Since that nothing else has occurred. 

 The multitudes of English who continue to flock here 

 exceed belief. I have had quite enough of this odious 

 country, and am going on to Milan to-morrow. Before 

 setting out there is a matter I wished to canvass with 

 you (as I did with Lord Eosslyn) before I left town, 

 and I missed you once or twice when I called for this 

 purpose. It relates to Scarlett, in whom I cannot help 

 feeling a peculiar interest, from a long and intimate 

 knowledge of his many valuable and excellent quali- 

 ties, and especially of his great and signal attachment 

 to the party through all fortunes, and in a situation 

 where such zeal and honesty and courage are seldom 



* Tac. Ag. 44. 



