said, that he 'had seen nothing at court till this instant.'

'Miss Hamilton,' he himself tells us, 'was at the happy age when the
charms of the fair sex begin to bloom; she had the finest shape, the
loveliest neck, and most beautiful arms in the world; she was majestic
and graceful in all her movements; and she was the original after which
all the ladies copied in their taste and air of dress. Her forehead was
open, white, and smooth; her hair was well set, and fell with ease into
that natural order which it is so difficult to imitate. Her complexion
was possessed of a certain freshness, not to be equalled by borrowed
colours; her eyes were not large, but they were lively, and capable of
expressing whatever she pleased.'[12] So far for her person; but De
Grammont was, it seems, weary of external charms: it was the
intellectual superiority that riveted his feelings, whilst his
connoisseurship in beauty was satisfied that he had never yet seen any
one so perfect.

[Illustration: DE GRAMMONT'S MEETING WITH LA BELLE HAMILTON.]

'Her mind,' he says, 'was a proper companion for such a form: she did
not endeavour to shine in conversation by those sprightly sallies which
only puzzle, and with still greater care she avoided that affected
solemnity in her discourses which produces stupidity; but without any
eagerness to talk, she just said what she ought, and no more. She had
an admirable discernment in distinguishing between solid and false wit;
and far from making an ostentatious display of her abilities, she was
reserved, though very just in her decisions. Her sentiments were always
noble, and even lofty to the highest extent, when there was occasion;
nevertheless, she was less prepossessed with her own merit than is
usually the case with those who have so much. Formed as we have