_26th May._--Mackintosh[293] is the man who wrote a vindication of the French Revolution in the beginning of it. He was then exclaimed against as a furious Jacobin. Nay, two years ago he wished to come here, and I refused seeing him on account of his principles, as I have always dreaded this house becoming a _foyer_ of Jacobinism, and have invariably set my face against receiving all who are suspected of being revolutionists, etc., etc. However, since M. has regained his character, and is become a friend of Canning’s, etc., I admit him; and he yesterday dined here with a numerous party--Ly. B. and Ly. Lucy, ye young Lords, Sturges,[294] Newbolt, Adderley, etc. The conversation was entertaining without great brilliancy. Mackintosh is delivering public lectures at Lincoln’s Inn, upon the law of nature and the law of nations. The objects are, first, to get money, and, nextly, to usher himself into public notice as a man convinced of the fallacy of those doctrines he lately laboured to establish. He manœuvres with dexterity and _tacte_ not too suddenly renouncing them. The lectures are rather Scotch professorships; in his first he attacked with wit and sarcasm Godwin’s metaphysics and all the new system of benevolence and universal philanthropy. [Sidenote: HUSBAND AND WIFE] Jealous people always defeat their object; this was oddly exemplified at the masquerade. The jealousy of a person’s wife suggested a sort of half love, half confidence, that I am almost sure could never have arisen but from that stimulus. I hope the fancy will subside, as I shall lose, if it continues, a cheerful and frequent associate. Another adventure, for which I warmly condemn myself for having allowed to go on, has occupied me lately; half curiosity and half shame have impelled me to continue what I ought to have checked. However, absence will chill more than prudery, and _that_ will take place in a few days. Even that _goût_, I suspect, originated from the remark of a third person--Ld. G. L. Gratified and blessed as I am in the full possession of my dear husband’s love, these idle affairs afford little or no gratification, and the very little they do proceeds from a sort of vanity to find that his liking is not merely the effect of blind partiality. The mystery I abhor, and my conscience frequently smites me for having a thought, much more an action, unknown to Ld. H. But, every circumstance well considered, I am satisfied by reason that I ought not to disclose _goûts passagers_ that are in themselves of no importance, but become so as soon as communicated; and I have reason to believe that many a woman has smarted from the mistaken _point d’honneur_ of revealing every occurrence without discrimination. The principle is excellent, but ought to be modified with discretion, else the effects may be pernicious to both parties.