The wit was his. He is a mixture of gloom and sarcasm, chastened, however, by good breeding, and with a vein of original genius that makes some atonement for the unheroic and uncongenial cast of his whole mind. It is a mind that never conveys the idea of sunshine. It is a dark night upon which the lightning flashes. The conversation between these two and Sir Humphry Davy,[25] at whose house they met, was so animated that Lady Davy[26] proposed coffee being served in the eating-room; so we did not separate till eleven. Of course we had assembled rather late. I should not say "assembled," for the party included no guests except Lord Byron and myself in addition to the "Staël" quartette.... As foreigners have no idea that any opposition to Government is compatible with general obedience and loyalty, their astonishment was unbounded. I, perhaps I only, completely relished all her reasonings, and I thought her perfectly justified in replying to the pathetic mournings over departed liberty, "Et vous comptez pour rien la liberté de dire tout cela, et même devant les domestiques!" She concluded by heartily wishing us a little taste of real adversity to cure us of our plethora of political health. * * * * * In consequence of the difficulties and dangers anticipated in the above letters Edward Stanley finally decided to take as his only travelling companion his young brother-in-law, Edward Leycester, who was just leaving Cambridge for the Long Vacation. Mrs. Stanley accompanied her husband and brother as far as London, in order to see the festivities held in honour of the State visit of the Allied Sovereigns to England in June, on their way from the Restoration ceremonies in France. Her letters to her sister-in-law during this visit describe some of the actors in the great events of the last few months and the excitement which pervaded London during their stay. _Mrs. Edward Stanley to Lady Maria Stanley._ LONDON, _Friday, June 13, 1814_. Edward went for his passport the other day, and was told he must go to the Alien Office, being taken for a Frenchman.... I forgot yesterday to beg Sir John would write Edward an introduction to Lord Clancarty,[27] and anybody else he can think of at Paris or the Hague, and send them to him as soon as possible. We have been Emperor[28] hunting all morning. No, first we went to Mass with Miss Cholmondeley, and heard such music! Then with her to the Panorama of Vittoria, and since then we have been parading St. James's Street and Piccadilly. Oh! London for ever! Edward saw a whiskered man go into a shop, followed him, and accosted him, and it was a man just arrived with despatches for the Crown Prince, who was thankful to be shewn his way. There was a gentleman came up to talk to Miss Cholmondeley, and he had been living in the house with Lucien Bonaparte.[29] [Illustration: _H. Edridge A.R.A. Welt 1811_ _Emory Walker Ph. Sc._ _Kitty Leycester--married Edward Stanley 1810._]