after a time, and his departure is rather a relief than otherwise. Dundas, who is very agreeable, and very well informed, said to-day that he was a bore; but _that_ he is not, because what comes from him is always good, and it comes naturally, and without any assumption of superiority. Perhaps the most extraordinary thing is the quantity of trifling matter which he recollects. He gave us verses of James Parke's,[24] and others of Laurence Peel's,[25] ludicrous lines, written on different occasions. His memory treasures up all sorts of trash and nonsense, as well as the most serious and most important matter; but there is never any confusion. [Sidenote: SOCIETY AT BOWOOD.] _December 26th._--Macaulay went away the day before Christmas Day, and it was wonderful how quiet the house seemed after he was gone, and it was not less agreeable. Rogers was all alive again, Austin and Dundas talked much more than they would have done, and Lord Lansdowne too, and on the whole we were as well without him. It does not do for more than two or three days; but I never passed a week with so much good talk, almost all literary and miscellaneous, very little political, no scandal and gossip. And this is the sort of society which I might have kept instead of that which I have. I have had all the facilities I could desire for adopting either description of society, for spending my time among the cultivated and the wise, or among the dissipated, the foolish, and the ignorant; and with shame and sorrow I must admit that by far the largest proportion of my time has been wasted on and with the latter.[26] [Footnote 24: [Baron Parke, afterwards Lord Wensleydale.]] [Footnote 25: [Sir Laurence Peel, formerly Chief Justice of Bengal. He died in 1884.]] [Footnote 26: At Bowood there were people professing six, if not more, different religious opinions: Moore, Catholic; Lady John Russell, Presbyterian; Mrs. Butler, Unitarian; Butler, Independent; Rothschilds, Jews; then Church of England people, and what besides I know not, but the assemblage was uncommon.] _January 2nd, 1842._--On Monday last I left Bowood, Rogers and I together, and went to Badminton, where I found a party and habits as diametrically opposite as possible from that which we left behind. The stable and the kennel formed the principal topic of interest. On Saturday came to town. _January 8th._--Lord Ashburton's appointment to America[27] to settle all our disputes was much praised at first, but now the public mind is changed, and there is a general disposition to find fault with it. People reflect on his vacillation and irresolution, and think age and absence from affairs are not likely to have cured the defects of his character; however, it is creditable to him to make the sacrifice.