neous act like his marriage.' This remark, and the manner
of it, gave me the notion that he was a dull fellow, for it came
out in a way which bordered on the ridiculous, so as to excite
something like a sneer. I was a little surprised to hear him
continue the thread of conversation (from Scaliger's wound) and
talk of Loyola having been wounded at Pampeluna. I wondered how he
happened to know anything about Loyola's wound. Having thus
settled my opinion, I went on eating my dinner, when Auckland, who
was sitting opposite to me, addressed my neighbour, 'Mr. Macaulay,
will you drink a glass of wine?' I thought I should have dropped
off my chair. It was MACAULAY, the man I had been so long most
curious to see and to hear, whose genius, eloquence, astonishing
knowledge, and diversified talents have excited my wonder and
admiration for such a length of time, and here I had been sitting
next to him, hearing him talk, and setting him down for a dull
fellow. I felt as if he could have read my thoughts, and the
perspiration burst from every pore of my face, and yet it was
impossible not to be amused at the idea. It was not till Macaulay
stood up that I was aware of all the vulgarity and ungainliness of
his appearance; not a ray of intellect beams from his countenance;
a lump of more ordinary clay never enclosed a powerful mind and
lively imagination. He had a cold and sore throat, the latter of
which occasioned a constant contraction of the muscles of the
thorax, making him appear as if in momentary danger of a fit. His
manner struck me as not pleasing, but it was not assuming,
unembarrassed, yet not easy, unpolished, yet not coarse; there was
no kind of usurpation of the conversation, no tenacity as to
opinion or facts, no assumption of superiority, but the variety
and extent of his information were soon apparent, for whatever
subject was touched upon he evinced the utmost familiarity with
it; quotation, illustration, anecdote, seemed ready in his hands
for every topic. Primogeniture in this country, in others, and
particularly in ancient Rome, was the principal topic, I think,
but Macaulay was not certain what was the law of Rome, except that
when a man died intestate his estate was divided between his
children. After dinner Talleyrand, and Madame de Dino came in. He
was introduced to Talleyrand, who told him that he meant to go to
the House of Commons on Tuesday, and that he hoped he would speak,
'qu'il avait entendu tous les