nd to the Continent they went. The old squire
never set his foot on even the coast of Calais: when he has seen it from
Dover, he has only wished that he could have a few hundred tons of
gunpowder, and blow it into the air; but Tom and Lady Barbara have lived
on the Continent for years.

This was a bitter pill for the old squire. When Tom purchased his
commission in the Guards, and when he opened a house like a palace, on
his wedding with Lady Barbara, the old gentleman felt proud of his son's
figure, and proud of his connections. "Ah," said he, "Tom's a lad of
spirit; he'll sow his wild oats, and come to his senses presently." But
when he fairly embarked for France, with a troop of servants, and a
suite of carriages, like a nobleman, then did the old fellow fairly
curse and swear, and call him all the unnatural and petticoat-pinioned
fools in his vocabulary, and prophesy his bringing his ninepence to a
groat. Tom and Lady Barbara, however, upheld the honor of England all
over the Continent. In Paris, at the baths of Germany, at Vienna,
Florence, Venice, Rome, Naples--every where, they were distinguished by
their fine persons, their fine equipage, their exquisite tastes, and
their splendid entertainments. They were courted and caressed by all the
distinguished, both of their own countrymen and of foreigners. Tom's
horses and equipage were the admiration of the natives. He drove, he
rode, he yachted, to universal admiration; and, meantime, his lady
visited all the galleries and works of art, and received in her house
all the learned and the literary of all countries. There, you always
found artists, poets, travelers, critics, _dilettanti_, and
connoisseurs, of all nations and creeds.

They have again honored their country with their presence; and who so
much the fashion as they? They are, of course, _au fait_ in every matter
of taste and fashion; on all questions of foreign life, manners, and
opinions, their judgment is the law. Their town-house is in
Eaton-square; and what a house is that! What a paradise of fairy
splendor! what a mine of wealth, in the most superb furniture, in books
in all languages, paintings, statuary, and precious fragments of the
antique, collected out of every classical city and country. If you see a
most exquisitely tasteful carriage, with a most fascinatingly beautiful
lady in it, in the park, amid all the brilliant concourse of the ring,
you may be sure you see the celebrated Lady Barbara Ches