lligence, his general
information and agreeable powers of conversation. His universal
acquaintance with all political and statistical details, and the
whole contemporaneous history of European events, and the readiness
and fulness of his information on all matters of interest connected
with public affairs used to make Mrs. Grote call him her "man of
facts." The other member of our small party was Charles Greville,
whose acquaintance Mrs. Grote had made through his intimacy with my
sister and myself. This gentleman was one of the most agreeable
members of our intimate society. His mother was the sister of the
late Duke of Portland, and during the short administration of his
uncle, Charles Greville, then quite a young man, had a sinecure
office in the island of Jamaica bestowed upon him, and was made
Clerk of the Privy Council; which appointment, by giving him an
assured position and handsome income for life, effectually put a
stop to his real advancement at the very outset, by rendering all
effort of ambition on his part unnecessary, and inducing him,
instead of distinguishing himself by an honorable public career, to
adopt the life and pursuits of a mere man of pleasure, ... and to
waste his talents in the petty intrigues of society, and the
excitements of the turf. He was an influential member of the London
great world of his day; his clear good sense, excellent judgment,
knowledge of the world, and science of expediency, combined with his
good temper and ready friendliness, made him a sort of universal
referee in the society to which he belonged. Men consulted him about
their difficulties with men; and women, about their squabbles with
women; and men and women, about their troubles with the opposite
sex. He was called into the confidence of all manner of people, and
trusted with the adjustment of all sorts of affairs. He knew the
secrets of everybody, which everybody seemed willing that he should
know; and he was one of the principal lawgivers of the turf. The
publication of Charles Greville's Memoirs, which shocked the whole
of London society, surprised, as much as it grieved, his friends,
the character they revealed being painfully at variance with their
impression of him, and not a little, in some respects, at variance
with that of a gentleman.... Our small party at the Beeches w