or one of the
most intellectual men of his day! And yet this total dissimilarity
produced no discord between them; for she was proud of his
acquirements, and he was indulgent to her less _spirituelle_ tastes.

Lady Drummond does much good at Naples; for, while the _beau monde_ of
that gay capital are entertained in a style of profuse hospitality at
her house, the poor find her charity dispensed with a liberal hand in
all their exigencies; so that her vast wealth is a source of comfort to
others as well as to herself.

I have been reading _Vivian Grey_--a very wild, but very clever
book, full of genius in its unpruned luxuriance; the writer revels
in all the riches of a brilliant imagination, and expends them
prodigally--dazzling, at one moment, by his passionate eloquence, and,
at another, by his touching pathos.

A pleasant dinner-party, yesterday. The Duc de Mouchy, the Marquis de
Mornay, Count Flahault, the Count Maussion, Mons. de Montrond, and Mr.
Standish, were the guests. Count Flahault is so very agreeable and
gentlemanly a man, that no one can call in question the taste of the
Baroness Keith in selecting him for her husband.

Mr. Standish has married a French lady, accomplished, clever, and
pretty. Intermarriages between French and English are now not
unfrequent; and it is pleasant to observe the French politeness and
_bon ton_ ingrafted on English sincerity and good sense. Of this, Mr.
Standish offers a very good example; for, while he has acquired all the
Parisian ruse of manner, he has retained all the English good qualities
for which he has always been esteemed.

CHAPTER VIII.

Charles Kemble dined here yesterday, and in the evening read to us his
daughter Fanny's Tragedy of _Francis the First_--a very wonderful
production for so young a girl. There is considerable vigour in many
parts of this work, and several passages in it reminded me of the old
dramatists. The character of "Louisa of Savoy" is forcibly
drawn--wonderfully so, indeed, when considered as the production of so
youthful a person. The constant association with minds deeply imbued
with a love of the old writers, must have greatly influenced the taste
of Miss Kemble.

_Francis the First_ bears irrefragable evidence that her reading has
lain much among the old poets, and that Shakspeare is one of her most
favourite ones. "Triboulet," the king's jester, may be instanced as an
example of this; and "Margaret of Valois" furnishes ano