be tempted to believe this letter was a forgery. It is such a strange manner of writing, immediately after her poor daughter's decease; which (not to mention the affection I believe she entertained for the Princess Charlotte as her child,) selfish interest must have made her know was the greatest loss she can have sustained, and one she never can recover. Others, not acquainted with the Princess, on reading the foregoing letter, would judge her as an unfeeling and light-minded person. But I know that often, when she affects the greatest jocularity and indifference to affliction, her heart is not the less sore; and it is only a wish to forget her misery that makes her talk and write in such a strain as the foregoing. It is impossible not to laugh at her encomiums on her present household, and her observations on her former one. Yet at the same time I feel sincere regret for her wilful blindness to her impending ruin, and the infatuation she has taken for such disreputable people as the foreigners she has now in her service. But it would be worse than useless for me to incur her displeasure by attempting to give her any advice. So God keep her and preserve her from coming to any fearful end! is all that her best friends can say.

I received a letter from Lady who is at Como just now, and mentions the Princess. "The locale," my correspondent says, "of this place is exquisitely beautiful; but the walks are confined, and I think one becomes tired of perpetually being on the water, which is the chief amusement. Lady G. Heathcote passed by the other day on her way to England; but only for a short visit. Her beauty is almost at an end. 6 Wo is me! how soon bright things come to confusion!'

"The weather at Como changes every hour; and yesterday we were visited by a most violent thunderstorm, after which it rained in such torrents which served as a specimen of the deluge. I happened to be on the lake at the time, and notwithstanding the boatman's assurance of non c'é pericolo, non abbia paura'I was considerably frightened. I believe myself a heroine, too, and if I had been in a Thames wherry, with

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English boatmen, I should not have been afraid. However, I was quitte pour la peur, and they tell me there are never any accidents on the lake, which I try to believe.

"I went the other day to Pliniani, the house your favourite, Pliny the Younger, lived in-not exactly the house, but the spot, and which you may read the description of in his epistle. It is very beautiful, but I think the lake and its banks la tristesse meme. Lady S, strange to say, likes the life she is leading, playing with flowers in the garden, and schooling and scolding her children. I am not amused, but I am not bored. The Comte and Comtesse, to whom the house we inhabit belong, live in the gardener's house, on the top of a rock. She is a Parisian by birth, and we are rather growing friends. They are great grandees by their own account; but he lost all his fortune by the failure of a bank. The Comte talks without ceasing, and knows every thing. They were great friends of Prince Eugene's and the ancient régime. The Comtesse has travelled all over the world, and is also communicative and amusing. She has a library of novels-literally; so that I wonder she has not, by filling her head with such a mass of trash, committed half a dozen murders, and run away from her husband at least as many times, to make herself a heroine; and, what is more, she cannot be scrupulous in the selection of these novels, from the specimen of some she has lent me. Yet none of this idle reading seems to have injured her mind or manners; she speaks French beautifully, has very good manners, and is, I am told, very amiable.

"I related to you the trouble I had taken in going over the Palazzo Litta, and visiting the Duchessa, out of a sentiment connected with former days. Well, I found the Countess Litta was an intimate friend of this Comtesse, our landlady; so I made many inquiries about my friend, Madame de Litta, whose name was Emilie. But Comtesse -'s friend was called Barbe de Litta: so there we came to an explanation;-my Madame de Litta, who had the most beautiful eyes in the world, and

was in love a hundred years ago very foolishly with all the young Englishmen, was La Marchesa Émilie de Litta, wife to a brother of the present Duke, and has been dead eight years, and her husband likewise. All that is left of her is a son, whom I passed in a room at the palazzo. I wish I had looked at him. He is heir to the present Duke, who has no children. My poor friend, Emilie, was never allowed to live in the palace I went to see, as the Duke did not approve of the act of folly she was constantly committing. She was also belle sœur to the man you saw, who was chamberlain to the Archduke. Here is a distinct account of the family, and must end our anxieties about them.

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I have not heard a word from Milan, or from the idle M―s, since I left them. He and his love, Lady E-th, wait the return of W- There are things much talked of here-I mean by my foreign alliesmuch more than they could be any where else, because the person who excites all this indignation is a native of this place, and has always lived in situations on this lake, &c. The change of his circumstances is much remarked. I am totally ignorant and disbelieving; but can you conceive any thing so foolish as for the Princess to settle here? I cannot write all I hear; people tell me letters are not safe, and are opened at the police offices; but I cannot believe it.

"Since writing the preceding part of this letter, I have seen the Princess of Wales. To my infinite surprise, her Royal Highness wrote, and desired me to wait upon her yesterday, which I did accordingly, and found her looking very well, but dressed in the oddest mourning I ever saw; a white gown, with bright lilac ribbons in a black crape cap! She was gracious in her manner to me, and spoke friendly of Lady, which I was glad to hear, as by all accounts she was much displeased with her for leaving her service. But if she was angry, her wrath is at an end. I have often observed with admiration that the Princess never retains any revenge or unkind feelings long, even towards those who most deeply wrong her. She soon forgives what she

considers slights or treachery towards her; which is a noble trait, and a rare one, and which ought always to be mentioned to her honour. She invited me to dinner to-day; and when I have been, I will tell you all I have seen, feeling certain you will not betray me.

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"I dined accordingly last evening with Her Royal Highness. The Comtesse Oldi sat at table, but her brother did not. The Princess talked sensibly, and cautiously I should say, and appeared in very calm spirits. I watched the attendants closely, and could not discover any want of proper respect in their manners, &c., towards her. Perhaps they were on their guard before a stranger; but certainly, as far as I could see, they were as well-behaved as possible. The Comtesse Oldi seems a stupid silent woman. Her appearance is not particular in any way. The Princess's apartments are comfortable, and altogether I was agreeably disappointed; for I own, from all I had heard, I expected to find things very different from what I did. The Princess avoided speaking of England or the English people, and only once alluded to the Princess Charlotte's death, by pointing to the lilac bows of her gown, and saying, What an ugly thing mourning is!' I could scarcely help laughing, and asking whether that colour was considered as such. But I thought it best not to make any impertinent remarks: and my visit passed off pleasantly and quietly, but certainly not so amusingly as I have generally found the time to do in her Royal Highness's society. I hope the respectable appearance of her house and mode of life is uniformly such as I witnessed; and I am tempted to believe shameful and ill-natured lies are invented against her. Yet, I will own, I can scarcely think she is always satisfied to lead so monotonous a life as it would appear she does. She showed me her villa, and appeared proud of its beauty and comfort, which is certainly very great. The only circumstance which took from my pleasure in this dinner, was the fear that all the decorum I witnessed might not be habitual, but only put on for the occasion. However, I have no right to suppose so, and would fain not; so I

beg of you to give me up as authority; and having been an eye-witness, I am ready to testify that I saw nothing that was not strictly proper in the Princess's household when I visited her Royal Highness. Adieu for to-day. Believe me," &c.

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I took this letter to Lady and read her the part concerning the Princess; but she is not favourably inclined to her, and she only said, "Ah, she is sly enough. She was capable of sending for your friend, and showing off propriety before her, in order that she might talk of it to others."

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I did not attempt to defend the Princess to Lady for she is a bigoted person, and partial to the Prince, so I knew it was useless to do so.

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told me some

In talking of Lord Lady curious circumstances about his wife, Lady A. C—. In the first instance, Lord would not even marry her until she was ennobled; and he went to the King, and obtained for her a title, after which he made her his wife. For a time, they lived well together; but she soon fell in love with Sir J. C—y, and made known her resolution to Lord her husband, to run off with her lover. The former behaved most nobly to her, and said if she would promise never to see Sir J. C— again, he would forgive her what she had done, and save her from public disgrace. But this offer she refused. She told Lord that she had wronged him to the utmostthat she loved Sir passionately, and that she would elope with him. Lord then replied, "So be it ;" and he promised to arrange matters for her departure. But this also she rejected, and sent to the neighbouring village to order post-horses; and so, in a common hack chaise, she left her great and splendid home, for the love of a man who did not repay her sufficiently for the sacrifice. Lord was much distressed; but he was not a person to make himself long miserable about any thing; and, after obtaining a divorce, he married again. "Some years ago," said Lady "I was at a ball at .; I had been dancing, and sat down beside a lady whom I