and we went to see her. She received us with the
greatest warmth, and devoted herself to us the whole time we were in
Paris. As soon as she came to town, we went to make a morning visit; it
was past five o'clock; we were shown into a beautiful drawing-room, and
the man-servant, without knocking at the door, went into the room which
was adjacent, and we heard her call out, "J'irai la voir! j'irai la
voir!" and when the man-servant came out, he said, "Madame est desolee,
mais elle est en chemise." Madame de La Place was exceedingly agreeable,
the life of every party, with her cheerful gay manner. She was in great
favour with the Royal Family, and was always welcome when she went to
visit them in an evening. She received once a week, and her
grand-daughter, only nineteen, lovely and graceful, was an ornament to
her parties. She was already married to M. de Colbert, whose father fell
at Corunna.

No one was more attentive to me than Dr. Milne-Edwards, the celebrated
natural historian. He was the first Englishman who was elected a member
of the Institute. I was indebted to him for the acquaintance of MM.
Ampere and Becquerel. I believe Dr. Edwards was at that time writing on
Physiology, and, in conversation, I happened to mention that the wild
ducks in the fens, at Lincolnshire, always build their nests on high
tufts of grass, or reeds, to save them from sudden floods; and that Sir
John Sebright had raised wild ducks under a hen, which built their nests
on tufts of grass as if they had been in the fens. Dr. Edwards begged of
me to inquire for how many generations that instinct lasted.

Monsieur and Madame Gay Lussac lived in the Jardin des Plantes. Madame
was only twenty-one, exceedingly pretty, and well-educated; she read
English and German, painted prettily, and was a musician. She told me it
had been computed, that if all the property in France were equally
divided among the population, each person would have 150 francs a-year,
or four sous per day; so that if anyone should spend eight sous a-day,
some other person would starve.

The Duchesse de Broglie, Madame de Stael's daughter, called, and invited
us to her receptions, which were the most brilliant in Paris. Every
person of distinction was there, French or foreign, generally four or
five men to one woman. The Duchess was a charming woman, both handsome
and amiable, and received with much grace. The Duke was, then, Minister
for Foreign Affairs. They were remarkable