In this house one sees only 'beau monde.' Indeed there is not much of the very emptiest, the exclusive society here; or they live completely retired, that they may not come into collision with the persons they call 'Nobodies,' whom they shun with greater horror than Brahmins shun Parias. Though my station and connexions allow me to enter the sanctuary, I do not on that account disdain the world without. As a foreigner, and still more as an independent man, I take the liberty to seek enjoyment wherever I can find it, unfettered by such restrictions,--nor do I always find the most in the highest places. Even the vulgar and laughable 'singerie' of the 'parvenus' is sometimes extremely amusing, and has a much more burlesque character in England than in any other country; since wealth, establishment, and luxury,--in a word, all their 'entourage,'--are essentially the same as those of the great and high-bred; only the persons wander among them as if stripped bare. Here occurred a long pause in my correspondence. Pardon,--I was eating my solitary dinner; a snipe stood before me, a 'mouton qui rêve' by my side. You guess who is the latter. Don't be distressed about the place on the left, for on the right is a blazing fire, and I know how much you fear that. I shall spend the evening again at Count F----'s, who is of the Brahmin class. Have I described him to you? He is no insignificant person. Uniting French agreeableness with English solidity, he speaks both languages with nearly equal ease and fluency. Though no longer young, he is still a handsome man, and his external appearance is rendered more striking by a very noble, dignified air. Simple, and thoroughly polite, cheerful without sarcasm or malignity, his conversation amuses and satisfies, even when it is not brilliant at the moment. His wife is neither remarkable for beauty nor the contrary. She has sense, 'l'usage du grand monde, et quelque fois de la politesse;' no inconsiderable talent for music, and ten-thousand a-year. With all these materials, I need not tell you the house is an extremely pleasant one. _February 25th._ There is a delightful custom for the men at English balls. After the conclusion of a dance, each takes his partner on his arm, and walks about with her till the next begins. Many a man has thus time to conquer his timidity, and nothing is wanting but our large and numerous rooms to make it more agreeable. Here there is no wider field to expatiate in than down the stairs to the eating-room, and up again; still many a gentle word may be whispered in the crowd, for nobody heeds what his neighbour does.