nd the matter was still under discussion when we
heard of M. Dacier's sudden death.

The rest of my life, though it has been a long one, contains little of
interest. I found myself without any object to live for, and a strange
deadness of feeling came over me, harder to bear than illness or death.
I had a distaste for existence and a horror of the world, and desired
nothing more than to hide myself away. A little pension had been secured
for me; my mistress had fallen dangerously ill; I wished to leave Sceaux
in order to run away from a new attachment which was gaining power over
me; and the thought of entering a Carmelite house became a settled
project. But I was refused even this last refuge; the prioress deciding
that I had no vocation for the religious life.

I spent several years without coming to any harmony either with myself
or with fortune. Several offers of marriage were made to me, but I could
not bring myself to accept any of them, until a sudden fancy for the
sweet simplicities of country life led me to agree to a marriage with M.
de Staal.

A few days after my marriage I heard of the death of the Duchess of
Maine. I never knew a more perfectly reasonable woman. She was all
feeling; even her thoughts were really sentiments; she was lively
without moodiness, impassioned without violence, always animated; sweet
and sensible. There was a vivid warmth about her, that made her a
perfectly gracious friend.

* * * * *

EARL STANHOPE

Life of William Pitt

The biographer of Pitt was a grandson of the Lord Mahon,
afterwards Earl of Stanhope, who married, in 1774, the great
statesman's eldest sister. Philip Henry Stanhope was born at
Walmer on January 30, 1805, and entered the House of Commons
as Lord Mahon in 1831. He took a prominent part in the
foundation of the National Portrait Gallery, and the
Historical Manuscripts Commission, and the promotion of
successful archaeological investigations on the site of Troy.
His literary labours were considerable and important. Chief
among them were the "History of England from the Peace of
Utrecht to the Peace of Versailles," the "History of Queen
Anne's Reign," and the "Life of the Right Honourable William
Pitt." The last named, published in 1861-2, is one of the most
authoritative of political biographies, compiled with a
gravity and care characteristic