or of
Upper Canada at the time of the outbreak of the
insurrection.]

February 17th, 1839 {p.166}

[Page Head: GORE HOUSE.]

I dined at Lady Blessington's yesterday, to meet Durham and
Brougham; but, after all, the latter did not come, and the excuse
he made was, that it was better not; and as he was taking, or
going to take (we shall see), a moderate course about Canada, it
would impair his efficacy if the press were to trumpet forth, and
comment on, his meeting with Durham. There was that sort of
strange _omnium gatherum_ party which is to be met with nowhere
else, and which for that reason alone is curious. We had Prince
Louis Napoleon and his A.D.C.[19] He is a short, thickish,
vulgar-looking man, without the slightest resemblance to his
Imperial uncle, or any intelligence in his countenance. Then we
had the ex-Governor of Canada, Captain Marriott, the Count Alfred
de Vigny (author of 'Cinq Mars' &c.), Sir Edward Lytton Bulwer,
and a proper sprinkling of ordinary persons to mix up with these
celebrities. In the evening, Forster, sub-editor of the
'Examiner;' Chorley, editor of the 'Athenaeum;' Macready, and
Charles Buller. Lady Blessington's existence is a curiosity, and
her house and society have at least the merit of being singular,
though the latter is not so agreeable as from its composition it
ought to be. There is no end to the men of consequence and
distinction in the world who go there occasionally--Brougham,
Lyndhurst, Abinger, Canterbury, Durham, and many others; all the
_minor_ poets, _literati_, and journalists, without exception,
together with some of the highest pretensions. Moore is a sort of
friend of hers; she _has been_ very intimate with Byron, and _is_
with Walter Savage Landor. Her house is furnished with a luxury
and splendour not to be surpassed; her dinners are frequent and
good; and D'Orsay does the honours with a frankness and
cordiality which are very successful; but all this does not make
society, in the real meaning of the term. There is a vast deal of
coming and going, and eating and drinking, and a corresponding
amount of noise, but little or no conversation, discussion, easy
quiet interchange of ideas and opinions, no regular social
foundation of men of intellectual or literary calibre ensuring a
perennial flow of conversation, and which, if it existed, would
derive strength and assistance from the light superstructure of
occasional visitors, with the much