ng the place I saw that the gate was
garlanded with flowery wreaths twined about the pillars. On the
staircase, similarly decorated, stood at intervals little marble
cupids, holding vases filled with roses. In short, it was a springtime
fairy pageant. So soon as I had entered the drawing-room, two little
angels, Mme. Chinnery's son and daughter, sang a delicious piece of
music to me, composed for me by that good-natured Viotti. I was truly
touched by this affectionate greeting; indeed, the fortnight I spent
at Gillwell were days of joy and gladness. Mme. Chinnery was a
beautiful woman, with much mental subtlety and charm. Her daughter,
then fourteen years of age, played the piano astonishingly, so that
every evening this young girl, Viotti, and Mme. Chinnery, herself an
excellent musician, gave us a delightful concert.

I recollect that my hostess's son, though yet a child, had a veritable
passion for study. He could not be made to lay his books aside. When
his hours of recreation came, and I told him to go out and play with
his sister, he would reply, "I am playing." At the age of eighteen the
young man had already earned so much credit that at the Restoration he
was charged with reviewing all the accounts of the expenditure
occasioned by the stay of the English army in France.

I was not tardy in making other excursions to the surroundings of
London, and these excursions absorbed all the time I could spare for
pleasure.

At Windsor, the royal residence, I admired only the park, which is
very fine. The King enjoyed walking on a splendid terrace, whence a
magnificent and extensive view is to be got. Hampton Court is another
royal castle. Here I saw superb stained-glass windows, which are very
old, and which I thought superior to any I had seen hitherto. I also
found some grand pictures and some large cartoons, done by Raphael,
which I could not admire enough. The cartoons were on the floor, so
that I knelt before them such a long time that the custodian was
surprised. In the galleries I was shown armour and weapons dating back
to remote ages; then, in the gardens, gorgeous yellow rose-bushes, and
finally a gigantic vine, enclosed in a hothouse, that in some year or
other yielded 1,500 pounds of grapes.

I went with Prince Bariatinski and a few other Russians to pay a visit
to the famous Doctor Herschel. This renowned astronomer lived in
strict seclusion at some distance from London. His sister, who was
always with