After supper, Mr. Lover sang some Irish
songs, his own in music and words, with rich, humorous effect, to which
the comicality of his face contributed almost as much as his voice and
words. The Lord Mayor looked in for a little while, and though a
hard-featured Jew enough, was the most picturesque person there.
July 10th.--Mrs. Heywood had invited me to dinner last evening. . . . .
Her house is very finely situated, overlooking Hyde Park, and not a great
way from where Tyburn tree used to stand. When I arrived, there were no
guests but Mr. and Mrs. D------; but by and by came Mr. Monckton Milnes
and lady, the Bishop of Lichfield, Mr. Tom Taylor, Mr. Ewart, M. P., Sir
Somebody Somerville, Mr. and Mrs. Musgrave, and others. Mr. Milnes, whom
I had not seen for more than a year, greeted me very cordially, and so
did Mr. Taylor. I took Mrs. Musgrave in to dinner. She is an Irish
lady, and Mrs. Heywood had recommended her to me as being very
conversable; but I had a good deal more talk with Mrs. M------, with whom
I was already acquainted, than with her. Mrs. M------ is of noble blood,
and therefore not snobbish,--quite unaffected, gentle, sweet, and easy to
get on with, reminding me of the best-mannered American women. But how
can anything characteristic be said or done among a dozen people sitting
at table in full dress? Speaking of full dress, the Bishop wore
small-clothes and silk stockings, and entered the drawing-room with a
three-cornered hat, which he kept flattened out under his arm.
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