hotel; but on coming to the iron-barred
gate we found it locked. Sir James and Somerville begged some of those
that were passing to call the keeper of the park to let us out; but they
said it was impossible, that we must wait till morning. A crowd
assembled laughing and mocking, till at last we got out through the
house of one of the keepers of the park.

At Bonn we met with Baron Humboldt, and M. Schlegel, celebrated for his
translation of Shakespeare. On going up the Rhine, Sir James knew the
history of every place and of every battle that had been fought. A
professor of his acquaintance in one of the towns invited us to dinner,
and I was astonished to see the lady of the house going about with a
great bunch of keys dangling at her side, assisting in serving up the
dinner, and doing all the duty of carving, her husband taking no part
whatever in it. I was annoyed that we had given so much trouble by
accepting the invitation. In my younger days in Scotland, a lady might
make the pastry and jelly, or direct in the kitchen; but she took no
part in cooking or serving up the dinner, and never rose from the table
till the ladies went to the drawing-room. However, as we could not
afford to keep a regular cook, an ill-dressed dish would occasionally
appear, and then my father would say, "God sends food, but the devil
sends cooks."

In our tour through Holland, Somerville was quite at home, and amused
himself talking to the people, for he had learnt the Dutch language at
the Cape of Good Hope. We admired the pretty quaint costumes of the
women; but I was the only one who took interest in the galleries. Many
of the pictures of the Dutch school are very fine; but I never should
have made a collection exclusively of them as was often done at one time
in England. Lord Granville was British Minister at the Hague, and dining
at the Embassy one day we met with a Mrs.----, who, on hearing one of
the attaches addressed as Mr. Abercromby,[9] said, "Pray, Lord
Granville, is that a son of the great captain whom the Lord slew in the
land of Egypt?'"

I never met with Madame de Stael, but heard a great deal about her
during this journey from Sir James Mackintosh, who was very intimate
with her. At that time the men sat longer at table after dinner than
they do now; and on one occasion, at a dinner party at Sir James's
house, when Lady Mackintosh and the ladies returned to the drawing-room,
Madame de Stael, who was exceedingly impatient o