zeal on this occasion have secured him my friendship; admiration for his brilliant talents and respect for his unflinching honesty he had long since. Now lay this man to your heart, for be assured he is worthy of it. He is one of those extraordinary men, too good for the age in which they are born, too clever not to be feared instead of loved, and too sensitive and affectionate not to be grieved that it is so.

“I never fear genius and worth; it is only the egotistical irritability of mediocrity that I fear and shun. It grieves me when I see men like Fonblanque misunderstood or undervalued, and it is only at such moments that I am ambitious; for I should like to have power, wholly and solely, for doing justice to merit, and drawing into the sunshine of Fortune those who ought to be placed at the top of her wheel, with a drag to prevent that wheel revolving. 'Pompeii' has covered its author with glory; every one talks of, every one praises it. What a noble creature your brother is! such sublime genius joined to such deep, such true feeling. He is too superior to be understood in this age of pigmies, where each little animal thinks only of self and its little clique, and is jealous of the giants who stood between them and the sun, intercepting from them all its rays. Without these giants,' say they, 'what brightness would be ours! but they keep all the sun to themselves.' Poor Miss Landor!--for poor I must call the person who has either bad taste enough or bad feeling enough to abuse your book-how severely punished she must be by its success.

"Strange to say, I have just been interrupted by EE, who came to spend the evening with me, and who has only now left me. I told him what you stated, and he has requested me to inform you that he never has said an unkind word, or what he thinks could be tortured into unkindness, of you to any human being. He says that of this he can speak so positively, that he defies any one to assert the contrary, and that if you will name your informant, he will refute him. For the expressions of his constituents at Coventry he says he can not be responsible, and has no control over political differences, always producing hostile expressions, if not feelings.

"M. BLESSINGTON."

"January 18th, 1836.

"I have great pleasure in telling you your book gains ground every day. The influential papers take extracts from it daily, and every one reads it. "I heard from E- E last week; he says the Whigs were never so firmly seated as at present. The new peerages have given great dissatisfaction, particularly that of Lady I saw Mr. E. J. Stanley last evening, and he appeared in very good spirits, which looks well for his party. He is a good person, and well disposed toward you.

"I heard from your brother on Friday from Paris; he sent me an epistle in verse, which is a chef d'œuvre worthy of the first of our poets.

"M. BLESSINGTON."

"Gore House, September 17th, 1840. "I am never surprised at evil reports, however unfounded, still less so at any acts of friendship and manliness on your part. One is more than consoled for the mortification inflicted by calumnies, by having a friend so prompt to remove the injurious impressions they were likely to make. Alfred is at Doncaster, but he charges me to authorize you to contradict, in the most positive terms, the reports about his having participated in, or even known of the intentions of the Prince Louis. Indeed, had he suspected them, he would have used every effort in his power to dissuade him from putting them into execution. Alfred, as well as I, entertain the sincerest regard for the prince, with whom for fourteen years we have been on terms of intimacy; but of his plans we knew no more than you did. Alfred by no means wishes to conceal his attachment to the prince, and still less that any exculpation of himself should in any way reflect on him; but who so well as you, whose tact and delicacy are equal to your good nature, can fulfill the service to Alfred that we require?

"Lady Cwrites to me that I too am mixed up in the reports. But I defy the malice of my greatest enemy to prove that I even dreamed of the prince's intentions or plans.

"Do you remember a friend of the Guiccioli's, a certain Marquis de Fressigny, or some such name, an elderly man, who lived in the Rue Neuve des Capucines? At the request of the Guiccioli, I sent two or three letters from her to him, under cover to Lady C, because he happened to live within two doors of Lady C—, to save the sous for the petite poste. You know how foreigners attend to these little savings; and, lo and behold, no sooner does Lady Chear of the reports at Paris, than she conjures up an idea that this same Marquis de Fressigny (for it is some such name) is no other than the Marquis de C Channell, with whom the Prince Louis has been mixed up, but whose name I never heard of until I saw it in the papers. Tell me if you remember this same Fressigny? Have you heard from the Guiccioli lately, for I have not? Is it true that Dr. Lardner is gone to America? I have not heard from Edward since he went abroad-have you?

"I have been in Cambridgeshire for some weeks, and have only just returned. Alfred will write to you the moment he returns, but, en attendant, you are authorized and requested to contradict the rumors.

"M. BLESSINGTON."

"Gore House, April 13th, 1843. "Of all the kind letters received on the late bereavement, that has left so great a blank in my life, none have so much touched me as yours; for I know how to appreciate the friendship which prompts you to snatch from time so actively and usefully employed as yours always is, a few minutes for absent and sorrowing friends. This last blow, though not unexpected, has nevertheless fallen heavily on me, and the more so that the insidious malady which

destroyed my poor dear niece developed so many endearing qualities in her sweet and gentle nature, that her loss is the more sincerely felt. Two months before this last sad event we lost her little girl, that sweet and interesting child whose beauty and intelligence (though, poor thing! she was deaf and dumb) you used to admire. This has indeed been a melancholy year to me. "Alfred's position, as you may well imagine, would of itself fill me with chagrin, and the protracted illness of two beings so dear to me, closed by their deaths, has added the last blow to my troubles. May you, my dear Henry, be long spared from similar trials, and be left health and long life to enjoy your well-merited reputation, in which no one more cordially rejoices than "Your sincere, affectionate friend, M. BLESSINGTON."

LETTERS FROM SIR H. LYTTON BULWER TO LADY BLESSINGTON.

"December, 1841.

"MY DEAR LADY BLESSINGTON,-I think D'Orsay wrong in these things you refer to to have asked for London especially, and not to have informed me how near the affair was to its maturity when St. Aulaire went to the Duke of B's, because I might then have prepared opinion for it here; whereas I first heard the affair mentioned in a room where I had to contend against every person present, when I stated what I think, that the appointment would have been a very good one. But it does not now signify talking about the matter, and saying that I should have wished our friend to have given the matter rather an air of doing a favor than of asking one. It is right to say that he has acted most honorably, delicately, and in a way which ought to have served him, though perhaps it is not likely to do so. The French embassador did not, I think, wish for the nomination. M. Guizot, I imagine, is at this moment afraid of any thing that might excite discussion and opposition, and it is idle to disguise from you that D'Orsay, both in England and here, has many enemies. The best service I can do him is by continuing to speak of him as I have done among influential persons, viz., as a man whom the government would do well to employ; and my opinion is, that if he continues to wish for and to seek employment, that he will obtain it in the end. But I don't think he will obtain the situation he wished for in London, and I think it may be some little time before he gets such a one as he ought to have, and that would suit him. The secretaryship in Spain would be an excellent thing, and I would aid the marshal in any thing he might do or say respecting it. I shall be rather surprised, however, if the present man is recalled. Well, do not let D'Orsay lose courage. Nobody succeeds in these things just at the moment he desires. With his position here (speaking of a French nobleman), he has been ten years getting made embassador, and at last is so by a fortunate chance. Remember also how long it was, though I was in Parliament, and had some little interest, before I was myself fairly launched in the diplomatic career. Alfred has all the qualities for success in any thing, but he must give the same trouble and pains to the pursuits he now engages in

that he has given to other pursuits previously. At all events, though I speak frankly and merely what I think to him, I am here and always a sincere and affectionate friend, and most desirous to prove myself so. With respect to

for recommending whom you seem to reproach me, my opinion remains unchanged, and I still think him the best person, if not the only one, you could have employed. I know he spoke frequently to Guizot. I believe he also spoke to the king; and, upon the whole, I believe that what he said was partly correct. HENRY BULWER."

to

In reference to this subject, Sir Henry Bulwer observes, in a recent communication, "It was altogether a great pity D'Orsay was not employed, for he was not only fit to be so, but to make a most useful and efficient agent, had he been appointed."

"Hotel Douvres, Rue de la Paix, October 2d. "I have been staying very recently at Versailles, roving about those beautiful gardens and woods which I delight in, and have but just now come to Paris, where, however, I hear there are many English; but, as Landor is going to England, you will probably see him, and hear more than I can tell you. "In literature there is nothing new here, but a new novel, 'Jacques,' from Mde. Dudevant (G. Sand). She is really a curious woman. Mrs. poet, who was said to be on intimate terms with her last year, is now, as it is reported, succeeded by a doctor, the consequence being a new doctrine supported by a new work, demonstrating that the affections of the heart are to be separated from the pleasures of the senses. The poet represents the heart, HENRY BULWER."

the doctor the senses.

-, a

[No date.]

"I shall seem an ungrateful man; but I have a head, alas! as well as a heart, and the former aches at writing what the latter wishes written. A thousand kind things in return for those you say to me. Praise from you is worth having, because it is sincere, and because I have a sincere affection for the person who bestows it. I got here well, and am often thinking of my sojourn under your hospitable roof with the most agreeable recollections, and often wishing that my nest had been built a little nearer to your groves. "Think sometimes of an absent friend, whom you may ever believe yours most affectionately, HENRY BULWER."

"Hampton.

"I just received your note. It is not, as you may suppose, from carelessness and forgetfulness that you have not had my contribution. I have begun twenty tales about that abominable sixteenth century, and none of them have pleased me but one, which I thought would not please you. It was full of horrors, magic, murder, and the East. It is now burned, and I am writing,

as hard as I can, something which you will have to burn, if you like, on Monday evening. But I am a bad contributor, for I can't write at all times nor on all subjects, though you can command me in all things.

"HENRY BULWER."

"May 6th, 1849.

"I was very glad to get your letter. I never had a doubt (I judged by myself) that your friends would remain always your friends, and I was sure that many who were not Alfred's when he was away, would become so when he was present. It would be great ingratitude if Prince Louis forgot former kindnesses and services, and I must say that I do not think him capable of this.

"I think you will take a house in Paris, or near it, and I hope some day there to find you, and to renew some of the many happy hours I have spent in your society. I shall attend the sale, and advise all my friends to do so. From what I hear, things will probably sell well. I am sure that Samson will execute any commission for you when he goes to Paris, and I gave Douro your message, who returns it. The, of whom you speak, made their appearance at the court ball; the lady dressed rather singularlyher hair à la Chinoise, and stuck with diamonds. All the women quizzed her prodigiously until they found out she was the last Parisian fashion. In fact, she looked remarkably well, and people were quite right in saying nothing could be so becoming directly they ceased thinking that nothing could be so ridiculous.

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"My own plans are still very uncertain, but I think of going to Paris. What little I hear about the new Chamber and the president's prospects is good, and I liked a letter by Lucien Bonaparte the other day much. It is a pity, however, a great pity, this quarrel with Napoleon; and I can't quite approve of publishing a private letter in the newspaper, and dismissing a man from his post on account of his leaving it, before hearing the reasons he had to give for doing so. HENRY BULWer."

CHAPTER XI.

ISAAC D'ISRAELI, ESQ.*

THE author of "The Curiosities of Literature," Isaac D'Israeli, of honored memory, the literary historian, was born at Enfield, * The particulars of the career of the elder D'Israeli, given in this sketch, are gathered chiefly from a highly interesting Memoir published in the " Gentleman's Magazine" for July, 1848, which has been ascribed to his distinguished son, and also from numerous references to him in Lady Blessington's papers.