All parties criticised the British Administration in Ireland. A lady sitting by me at a party said, "No wonder so many English prefer France to so odious a country as England, where the people are oppressed, and even cabbages are raised in hotbeds." I laughed, and said, "I like England very well, for all that." An old gentleman, who was standing near us, said, "Whatever terms two countries may be on, it behoves us individuals to observe good manners;" and when I went away, this gentleman handed me to the carriage, though I had never seen him before. The Marquise de La Place was commissioned by Dr. Majendie to invite me to meet her and Madame Gay Lussac at dinner. I was very unwilling to go; for I detested the man for his wanton cruelties, but I found I could not refuse on account of these ladies. There was a large party of _savants_, agreeable and gentlemanly; but Majendie himself had the coarsest manners; his conversation was horridly professional; many things were said and subjects discussed not fit for women to hear. What a contrast the refined and amiable Sir Charles Bell formed with Majendie! Majendie and the French school of anatomy made themselves odious by their cruelty, and failed to prove the true anatomy of the brain and nerves, while Sir Charles Bell did succeed, and thus made one of the greatest physiological discoveries of the age without torturing animals, which his gentle and kindly nature abhorred. To Lady Bell I am indebted for a copy of her husband's Life. She is one of my few dear and valued friends who are still alive. * * * * * While in Paris, I lost my dear mother. She died at the age of ninety, attended by my brother Henry. She was still a fine old lady, with few grey hairs. The fear of death was almost hereditary in the Charters family, and my mother possessed it in no small degree; yet when it came, she was perfectly composed and prepared for it. I have never had that fear; may God grant that I may be as calm and prepared as she was. * * * * * I was in better health, but still so delicate that I wrote in bed till one o'clock. The "Connexion of the Physical Sciences" was a tedious work, and the proof sheets had to be sent through the Embassy. M. Arago told me that David, the sculptor, wished to make a medallion of me; so he came and sat an hour with me, and pleased me by his intelligent conversation and his enthusiasm for art. A day was fixed, and he took my profile on slate with pink wax, in a wonderfully short time. He made me a present of a medallion in bronze, nicely framed, and two plaster casts for my daughters. * * * * *