cherished guest at Coppet; and Madame de Staël, who respected his vast erudition, had too much good sense and good feeling, whilst availing herself of the learning of the scholar, to sport with the infirmities of the friend. At Coppet we saw Mr. de Bonstetten, famous for his friendships with remarkable men, and valuable on his own account. The associate of Gray, and Müller, and Voltaire, had much to tell, and told it with the vivacity of youth rather than the garrulity of old age. One evening, returning with us from Coppet to Genthod, he gave us a short account of his first introduction to Gray. They met by accident at a London assembly, and after a good deal of conversation the poet said to him, "I see you can do better than be a man of fashion-come to Cambridge;" an invitation which Bonstetten accepted, and accompanied his new friend the next day to the University. In answer to a question from Lord Byron, Bonstetten told us that Gray was not esteemed as a poet so much at that time as afterwards, but was treated with much personal deference. He had the "esprit gai" and the "humeur triste," a lively wit, but a melancholy turn of mind. He used to talk of his intended lectures on history; but when asked why he did not do something more than he had done, he answered only with a sigh. Mr. Bonstetten confirmed to us all the usual accounts of Voltaire. He was unlike any other human being: what he said, on whatever subject, important or trivial, was quite in his own way, and yet without the offensive |