clause inserted in the Bill for that purpose. He consented, but when he saw it, he said he did not like it; he thought the enumeration _flashy_, and he would have it expunged. At last they hit on an expedient, and they introduced a clause to the effect that anything which he should appoint by deed within two years should be entailed on the title for ever, and they prevailed on him to sign the deed on the very last day of the two years. The value of the property is said to amount to half a million, and a great number of things were brought to light which he did not know that he possessed. If his two sons die without issue, which is very probable, the disposal of all these valuables reverts to him.[17] [Footnote 16: [The Marquis de St. Aulaire arrived about this time as Ambassador of France at the Court of St. James'. He was the finished type of a French nobleman and diplomatist of the old school, remarkable for the elegance of his manners and the _finesse_ of his conversation. Nor was he devoid of literary accomplishments. His 'History of the Fronde' was regarded as one of the best works of the period.]] [Footnote 17: [The then Marquis of Douro lived to succeed his father, and became the second Duke of Wellington, dying in 1884 without issue. His brother, Lord Charles Wellesley, died before him, and the title descended to his son, the third and present Duke of Wellington.]] _November 27th._--On Thursday I dined with Milman,[18] to meet Macaulay, Sydney Smith, and Babbage. Pretty equal partition of talk between Sydney and Macaulay. The latter has been employing his busy mind in gathering all the ballads he can pick up, buying strings of them in the streets, and he gave us an amusing account of the character of this species of literature, repeating lines and stanzas without end. The ballad writers, who may be supposed to represent the opinions and feelings of the masses for whose delectation they compose, do not, according to Macaulay, exhibit very high moral sentiments, as they evince a great partiality for criminals, and are the strenuous opposers of humanity to animals. We dined at the Prebendal House, once Ashburnham House, very handsome, and with one of the most elegant staircases I ever saw anywhere, the work of Inigo Jones. Yesterday I dined with Bingham Baring, Henry Taylor, John Mill (son of the historian and a very clever man), and Emerson Tennent, agreeable enough. The day's newspapers announced the sudden death of Chantrey, the most eminent of contemporary sculptors, but not, I suspect, for I am no judge, of a high order of genius. His busts were very happy, but I am not aware of any great work of imaginative art which he has produced, and his two children in Lichfield Cathedral have always been quoted as the greatest proof of his power.[19] [Footnote 18: [Dr. Milman was at this time a Prebendary of Westminster Abbey, afterwards Dean of St. Paul's.]]