Dear Uncle and Aunt:On Thursday [the 25th]we were invited to Sir John Pakington's,whose wife is the Bishop of Rochester's daughter,but were engaged to Mr.Senior,who had asked us to meet the Archbishop of Dublin,the celebrated Dr.Whately.He had come over from Ireland to make a speech in the House of Lords upon the Irish Poor Law.He is full of learning [and]simplicity,and with most genial hearty manners.Rogers was also there and said more fine things than I have heard him say before at dinner,as he is now so deaf that he does not hear general conversation,and cannot tell where to send his shaft,which is always pointed.He retains all his sarcasm and epigrammatic point,but he shines now especially at breakfast,where he has his audience to himself.
We went from Mr.Senior's to Mr.Milman's,but nearly all the guests there were departed or departing,though one or two returned with us to the drawing-room to stay the few minutes we did.Among the lingerers we found Sir William and Lady Duff Gordon,the two Warburtons,"Hochelaga"and "Crescent and Cross,"and "Eothen."Mrs.Milman I really love,and we see much of them.
On Saturday was the dreaded Drawing-Room,on which occasion I was to be presented to the Queen....Mr.Bancroft and I left home at a quarter past one.On our arrival we passed through one or two corridors,lined by attendants with battle-axes and picturesque costumes,looking very much like the supernumeraries on the stage,and were ushered into the ante-room,a large and splendid room,where only the Ministers and Privy Councillors,with their families,are allowed to go with the Diplomatic Corps.Here we found Lady Palmerston,who showed me a list she had got Sir Edward Cust,the master of ceremonies,to make out of the order of precedence of the Diplomatic Corps,and when the turn would come for us who were to be newly presented.The room soon filled up and it was like a pleasant party,only more amusing,as the costumes of both gentlemen and ladies were so splendid.I got a seat in the window with Madam Van de Weyer and saw the Queen's train drive up.At the end of this room are two doors:at the left hand everybody enters the next apartment where the Queen and her suite stand,and after going round the circle,come out at the right-hand door.After those who are privileged to go FIRST into the ANTE-ROOM leave it,the general circle pass in,and they also go in and out the same doors.But to go back.The left-hand door opens and Sir Edward Cust leads in the Countess Dietrichstein,who is the eldest Ambassadress,as the Countess St.Aulair is in Paris.As she enters she drops her train and the gentlemen ushers open it out like a peacock's tail.Then Madam Van de Weyer,who comes next,follows close upon the train of the former,then Baroness Brunnow,the Madam Bunsen,then Madam Lisboa,then Lady Palmerston,who,as the wife of the Minister for Foreign Affairs,is to introduce the Princess Callimachi,Baroness de Beust,and myself.She stations herself by the side of the Queen and names us as we pass.The Queen spoke to none of us,but gave me a very gracious smile,and when Mr.Bancroft came by,she said:"Iam very glad to have had the pleasure of seeing Mrs.Bancroft to-day."I was not [at]all frightened and gathered up my train with as much self-possession as if I were alone.I found it very entertaining afterward to watch the reception of the others.The Diplomatic Corps remain through the whole,the ladies standing on the left of the Queen and the gentlemen in the centre,but all others pass out immediately....On Sunday evening Mr.Bancroft set off for Paris to pass the Easter recess of Parliament....Igot a very interesting letter yesterday from Mr.Bancroft.It seems that the Countess Circourt,whose husband has reviewed his book and Prescott's,is a most charming person,and makes her house one of the most brilliant and attractive in Paris.Since he left,a note came from Mr.Hallam,the contents of which pleased me as they will you.It announced that Mr.Bancroft was chosen an Honorary Member of the Society of Antiquaries,of which Lord Mahon is president,Hallam,vice-president.Hallam says the society is very old and that he is the first citizen of the United States upon whom it has been conferred,but that he will not long possess it exclusively,as his "highly distinguished countryman,Mr.Prescott,has also been proposed."
