1804. MT. 51.] COUNT RtTMFOKD. 87 



i 



On March 12, 1804, he again writes from Liverpool : 



The last account I received of your father was dated the 

 19th of January. He was then at Paris, very assiduous in 

 his attentions to the French lady, with whom, indeed, he 

 spent most of his time. But I believe she had not then 

 determined to marry him, and I am still inclined to think 

 she never will. In the meantime he is entirely losing his 

 interest in the country. His residence at Paris this winter, 

 whilst we were threatened with an invasion, is considered 

 by everyone as very improper conduct, and his numerous 

 enemies do not fail to make the most of it. He has 

 quarrelled with Mr. Bernard and others of his old friends 

 at the Royal Institution, and they do all they can to render 

 him unpopular. Probably he has written to you more than 

 once by American ships since his residence at Paris. To 

 me he wrote on the 12th of November, about a fortnight 

 after his arrival there. But I expect no other letter from 

 him, as it would certainly be imprudent in him to keep up 

 a correspondence with this country during his residence in 

 France. 



On January 22, 1804, Rumford wrote to his daughter : 



I shall withhold this information from you no longer. I 

 really do think of marrying, though I am not yet absolutely 

 determined on matrimony. I made the acquaintance of 

 this very amiable woman in Paris, who, I believe, would 

 have no objection in having me for a husband, and who in 

 all respects would be a proper match for me. She is a 

 Avidow, without children, never having had any, is about 

 my own age, enjoys good health, is very pleasant in society, 

 has a handsome fortune at her own disposal, enjoys a most 

 respectable reputation, keeps a good house, which is fre- 

 quented by all the first philosophers and men of eminence 

 in the science and literature of the age, or rather of Paris, 

 and, what is more than all the rest, is goodness itself. . . . 

 She is very clever (according to the English signification of 



