with profound attention to the opinion of Descartes and Newton, some
taking notes and all looking quite scientific, is really ridiculous.
Mr Davy, [13] who lectures on Geology or the Chemical History of the
Earth, is very clever, his style is good, his matter interesting, and
to make use of an expression I heard a gentleman use, he certainly
writes on the subject _con amore_.

I hope you will like Sir Wm. Jones's life. I have not read it but have
heard it is very clever. My lectures at present are _Metastasio_,
and _St Simon's Memoirs_, the Bp. of London's lectures and Bigland's
_Letters on Ancient History_.

There is a little tale of Miss Edgeworth's which is much admired, "The
Modern Griselda," which you must read.


Of the names mentioned in this letter, that of Lord Petersham deserves
more than a passing notice. Among the members of the House of Stanhope, it
must first be remarked, there were to be found some notable exceptions to
the prevailing social type of that generation. Philip, Earl of
Chesterfield, for one, although he failed to keep up the traditions of his
famous predecessor in art and elegance, was never notorious for the
weaknesses of his day; and Charles, the 3rd Earl Stanhope, more violently
eschewed the foppishness of many of his contemporaries, devoting all his
attention to mechanical contrivances and scientific research. His
simplicity of life, however, was said to be the expression of his
Republican tendencies which he had inherited in a pronounced form from his
father, who had likewise left behind him the reputation of having been a
magnificent patron of learning. In fact, in order to emphasize his
democratic principles, so shabby had been the attire of the second Earl