ling much in the scenes
of busy life; for the voices of the sages of old with whom, beneath his
own vines, Landor loves to commune, would have been inaudible in the
turmoil of a populous town, and their secrets would not have been
revealed to him. The friction of society may animate the man of talent
into its exercise, but I am persuaded that solitude is essential to the
perfect developement of genius.

A letter from Sir William Gell, and, like all his letters, very
amusing. Yet how different from Landor's! Both written beneath the
sunny sky of Italy, both scholars, and nearly of the same age,
nevertheless, how widely different are their letters!

Gell's filled with lively and comic details of persons, seldom fail to
make me laugh; Landor's, wholly devoted to literary subjects, set me
thinking. Cell would die of _ennui_ in the solitude Landor has
selected; Landor would be chafed into irritation in the constant
routine of visiting and dining-out in which Gell finds amusement. But
here am I attempting to draw a parallel where none can be established,
for Landor is a man of genius, Gell a man of talent.

Was at the Opera last night, and saw the Duc d'Orleans there with his
family. They are a fine-looking flock, male and female, and looked as
happy as they are said to be.

I know no position more enviable than that of the Duc d'Orleans.
Blessed with health, a princely revenue, an admirable wife, fine
children, and many friends, he can have nothing to desire but a
continuance of these blessings. Having experienced adversity, and nobly
endured the ordeal, he must feel with an increased zest the happiness
now accorded to him,--a happiness that seems so full and complete, that
I can fancy no addition possible to it.

His vast wealth may enable him to exercise a generosity that even
sovereigns can rarely practise; his exalted rank, while it places him
near a throne, precludes him from the eating cares that never fail to
attend even the most solidly established one, and leaves him free to
enjoy the happiness of domestic life in a family circle said to contain
every ingredient for creating it.

The fondest husband, father, and brother, he is fortunate beyond most
men in his domestic relations, and furnishes to France a bright example
of irreproachable conduct and well-merited felicity in them all. In the
possession of so many blessings, I should, were I in his position (and
he probably does, or he is not the sensible man I