shed in England, an allusion to this
Prince, who visited London in the train of the allied sovereigns in
1814. A lady writes, "All the ladies are desperately in love with
him,--his eyes are so fine, his moustaches so black, and his teeth so
white." Madame Lenormant describes him as extremely handsome, brave,
chivalric, and loyal. He was twenty-four when he fell passionately in
love with Madame de Stael's beautiful guest, to whom he at once proposed
a divorce and marriage. We give Madame Lenormant's account of his
attachment.

"Three months passed in the enchantments of a passion by which Madame
Recamier was profoundly touched, if she did not share it. Everything
conspired to favor Prince Augustus. The imagination of Madame de Stael,
easily seduced by anything poetical and singular, made her an eloquent
auxiliary of the Prince. The place itself, those beautiful shores of
Lake Geneva, peopled by romantic phantoms, had a tendency to bewilder
the judgment. Madame Recamier was moved. For a moment she welcomed an
offer of marriage which was not only a proof of the passion, but of the
esteem of a prince of a royal house, deeply impressed by the weight of
its own prerogatives and the greatness of its rank. Vows were exchanged.
The tie which united the beautiful Juliette to Monsieur Recamier was one
which the Catholic Church itself proclaimed null. Yielding to the
sentiment with which she inspired the Prince, Juliette wrote to Monsieur
Recamier, requesting the rupture of their union. He replied that he
would consent to a divorce, if it was her wish, but he made an appeal to
her feelings. He recalled the affection he had shown her from childhood.
He even expressed regret at having respected her susceptibilities and
repugnances, thus preventing a closer bond of union, which would have
made all thoughts of a separation impossible. Finally he requested,
that, if Madame Recamier persisted in her project, the divorce should
not take place in Paris, but out of France, where he would join her to
arrange matters."

This letter had the desired effect. Madame Recamier concluded not to
abandon her husband, and returned to Paris, but without undeceiving the
Prince, who started for Berlin. According to her biographer, Madame
Recamier trusted that absence would soften the disappointment she had in
store for him; but, if this was the case, the means she took to
accomplish it were very inadequate. She sent him her portrait soon after
her retur