George Ticknor, Life, letters and journals of George Ticknor
George Hillard, Ed.

[180] no small distinction to be invited to them. . . . . The Marquis de Marialva is, I suppose, the most considerable Portuguese by his talents, and the most important by his influence, that has remained in Europe since the Court went to the Brazils; certainly he is one of the most elegant and accomplished gentlemen I have met. He is the only man I have seen in Europe who has come up to my ideas of a consummate courtier,—taken in the good sense of the word; for though in all companies he was the first man, from his position, yet the elegance of his manners and the kindness of his disposition prevented embarrassment and ceremony.

The English everywhere, and in all great collections, formed a substantial part of society in Rome during the whole winter. The greatest gayety was among them, and the greatest show, except that made by the diplomatic part of the beau monde. . . . . I went to the Duchess of Devonshire's conversaziones, as to a great exchange, to see who was in Rome, and to meet what is called the world. . . . . The Duchess is a good, respectable woman in her way. She attempts to play the Maecenas a little too much, it is true; but, after all, she does a good deal that should be praised, and will not, I hope, be forgotten. Her excavations in the Forum, if neither so judicious nor so fortunate as Count Funchal's, are satisfactory, and a fair beginning. . . . . ` . Her ‘Horace's Journey to Brundusium’. . . . is a beautiful book, and her ‘Virgil,’ with the best plates she can get of the present condition of Latium, will be a monument of her taste and generosity . . . . . The most important and interesting man who went there [to her receptions] was undoubtedly Cardinal Consalvi, the Pope's Prime Minister, and certainly a thorough gentleman and a man of elegant conversation . . . . He has talent and efficiency in business, and deserves, I am persuaded, the character of a liberal and faithful minister. . . . . Lady Douglass's societies, which I have known only since my return from Naples,—for before she was too ill to receive company,—are small and pleasant. She has been here two years for her health, and is certainly one of the sweetest of women, with two children who are mere little cherubs, to whom she devotes herself with uncommon tenderness and affection. Twice in the week, generally, . . . . she collects a few of her friends, and by the variety of her talents and the sweetness of her manner gives a charm to her societies which none others in Rome have. Besides these, I used to go to Sir Thomas Trowbridge's; sometimes to Mrs. Drew's, sister of Lady Mackintosh; to John Bell's, the famous surgeon; etc., etc.

I have reserved the Bonapartes to the last, because I really do not