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[152] character, she hardly attempts to conceal. Coming with persons I knew so well, and to an establishment where everything is arranged as if on purpose for the most open hospitality, I soon felt, as it were, at home.

It is impossible to know General Lafayette in Paris and the world without feeling respect for his enthusiasm of character, his unalterable honesty, and his open simplicity; but it is impossible to see him in the country, in his home and in his family, without loving him. He is now sixty, with the constitution, health, and appearance of forty-five. His wife is dead; and as his three children, a son and two daughters, were married, he gave them a part of his fortune, and begged them to live with him as much as they could.

Lausanne, September 6.—I passed three short and happy days at La Grange. . . . . Everybody rose at the time he pleased, and breakfasted at the hour he chose, in his own room, or at half past 9 with the family. In the morning we drove or walked, and those who did not choose to remain in their chambers went to the salon, where company was always to be found. Dinner at half past 5; somewhat later the household went to their apartments, but all met in the salon at ten and passed two very happy hours together.

Geneva, September 10.—This evening I passed at Mad. Rilliet's, to whom the Duchess de Broglie gave me a letter. She was a particular friend of Mad. de Stael's, and is a lady of large fortune, much talent, and elegant manners. Benjamin Constant said of her, with that kind of wit peculiar to the French, and which he possesses beyond any Frenchman I met in Paris, ‘Mad. Rilliet a toutes les vertus qu'elle affecte’; for there is a certain stateliness and pretension in her manner that reminds you of affectation.

September 11.—I dined to-day with M. de la Rive, to whom I had an introduction from Sir Humphry Davy. He is a specimen, I suppose, of the state of society, manners, and improvement in Geneva which deserves notice. In the first place, his fortune is large, and yet he lives without luxury; for wealth is often expressed here chiefly in simple hospitality. He is the representative of one of the oldest families of the republic, and yet he is devoted to science,—a man of genius and learning, and actually a public lecturer of eminence on chemistry. And finally, with all these strong occupations, and tastes, and high qualities, he is the chief magistrate of the canton, and a most respectable and amiable man, living happily in his home, and loved by his friends.


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