ore, and never was more
filled with admiration. His prodigious memory and the variety and
extent of his information remind me of all I have heard and read
of Burke and Johnson; but his amiable, modest, and unassuming
character makes him far more agreeable than they could either of
them (particularly Johnson) have been, while he is probably
equally instructive and amusing. Not a subject could be mentioned
of which he did not treat with equal facility and abundance, from
the Council of Trent to Voltaire's epistles; every subject, every
character, every work, all were familiar to him, and I do not
know a greater treat than to hear him talk.

[11] [Hon. Frederick Byng, formerly of the Foreign Office,
universally known at this time as 'The Poodle,'
probably because he once kept a fine animal of that
breed.]

Mackintosh said he was a great reader of novels; had read 'Old
Mortality' four times in English and once in French. Ellis said
he preferred Miss Austen's novels to Scott's. Talked of the old
novelists--Fielding, little read now, Smollett less; Mackintosh
is a great admirer of Swift, and does not think his infamous
conduct to Vanessa quite made out. Talked of the articles of our
religion, and said that they were in almost exact conformity with
certain doctrines laid down in the Council of Trent. The
Jansenists differ very little from our Church, except as to the
doctrine of the Real Presence. Speaking of India, Mackintosh said
that it was very remarkable that we had lost one great empire and
gained another in the same generation, and that it was still a
moot point whether the one really was a gain or the other a loss.
Called America the second Maritime Power. Franklin wept when he
quitted England. When he signed the treaty at Paris, he retired
for a moment and changed his coat. It was remarked, and he said
he had been to put on the coat in which he had been insulted by
Lord Loughborough at the English Council Board. Madame de Stael,
he said, was more agreeable in _tete-a-tete_ than in society; she
despised her children, and said, 'Ils ne me ressemblent pas.' He
told her she did not do them justice, particularly her daughter.
She said, 'C'est une lune bien pale.' She took an aversion to
Rogers, but when she met him at Bowood, and he told her
anecdotes, she liked him. She had vanquished Brougham, and was
very proud of those conquests.

Moore told several stories which I don't recolle