gem had to be sent back to Paris, of course at his own expense; or perhaps the article was exchanged; in this case his commissionnaire profited both as buyer and seller.

At length, having bestowed incalculable pains, and many sleepless nights and anxious days, upon this interesting and important subject, he managed, in spite of his extreme fastidiousness and his poverty, to collect a sufficient quantity of buhl and or-molu to furnish his three rooms in the elegant and costly style of Louis Quatorze; and they would have commanded the approbation of the most enragé buhl-furniturefancier of his former clique. He also squandered large sums in bronzes, japanned screens, and whims of every description. On one side of his drawingroom stood a large cabinet, with brass wire doors; these were kept locked with the most jealous care; for they protected, from the familiar and dangerous inspection of his visitors, a service of extremely beautiful Sèvres china. The designs were most exquisite, and on each plate was represented, in colours chaster than the originals, all the celebrated beauties that held such powerful sway over the courts of Louis the Fourteenth and Fifteenth; and, as they were not few in number, the reader may imagine that his inanimate but elegant harem completely filled his buhl seraglio. These portraits were so charmingly done, that the Beau, in the true spirit of a sultan, used to inform his visitors, that it was "almost profanation even to look at these frail fair ones."

The walls of this room were covered with pictures and prints-a few of the former being from the pencil of a young artist of the town," who was patronised by the Beau by way of encouragement. Some favourite books, in handsome suits of morocco or silk, reposed on the card-tables; and, on the circular one in the centre of the apartment, lay little crowd of valuable snuff-boxes, miniatures, card-cases, paperweights, and knives, and portfolios, in every variety of gold, enamel, mother-of-pearl, ivory, and tortoiseshell, embossed leather, and embroidered satin. Amongst this collection of expensive trifles were an or-molu greyhound and a presse-papier of Sienna marble, surmounted by a small bronze eagle; the latter was presented to him, as a souvenir, by Monsieur de Montrond, Talleyrand's foreman, and had at one time pressed the despatches and private papers of Napoleon. It is now in the author's possession, and not the less valued for having once belonged to the greatest and bitterest enemy England ever had.

Many amongst the multitude of little bijoux that ornamented this table were esteemed by him far beyond their intrinsic value; some of them were the cadeaux of royalty, and, could they have spoken, especially those that were the gift of an amiable woman, whose charitable remembrance of him will be hereafter alluded to, they might have wiled away many of his lonely hours. His passion for snuffboxes was extreme: he had one which he only could

1 See Vol. II., chapter XIII.

open, and some friend of his, while he was at Belvoir, tried it with his knife, with the intention, no doubt, of purloining his snuff, which was always excellent. Hearing of the outrage, Brummell said, "Confound the fellow he takes my snuff-box for an oyster: " but notwithstanding the splendid collection he possessed, and having sent his friend Capel, by permission of the First Lord, to Naples, to procure him a perfect tabatière, he actually had one of black shell and gold built at Calais. This he gave to the Duke of B, in exchange for a bank-note of fifty pounds; in other words, that nobleman consented to receive it that he might with more delicacy present him with that sum-for, though a ruined man, Brummell had not yet been subjected to all the dirty degradations that invariably accompany that character, when his ruin is the result of premeditated folly and unrestrained indulgence. This sketch of the drawing-room would be incomplete if I omitted to mention, that the table-cover on which all his useless elegancies were displayed was worked for him by the Duchess of York, and that his easy-chair was the gift of the same kind friend.

Correctness of taste in everything was decidedly the Beau's forte, and, seated in his fauteuil, surrounded by his buhl, paintings, prints, knick-knacks, and the Sèvres portraits of the beautiful La Vallière and her discreet rival, he appeared, amongst the heterogeneous medley of English who subsequently attended his levee, nearly the only living creature in keeping with the room and its details.

CHAPTER XXV.

Donations made to Brummell by his Friends-The Duchess of York's Liberality to Him-Her Christmas Present and Letter-Mr. Chamberlayne—Brummell learns French—Scrope Davies's Description of his Progress-The Beau's Fashionable Visitors-Lord Westmoreland invites him to Dine-Brummell's Reply-The Legal Intruder-The Exile's Daily Avocations-His dog Vick-Her Illness and DeathAnecdote from "Granby"-Brummell's Grief at the Loss of his Pet. CONSIDERING the reduced state of his circumstances, the reader will naturally inquire how it happened that Brummell managed to gratify a taste so little in accordance with them? The answer is, that though a man of fashion, he had an extraordinary number of good friends; and the sums of money that he must have received from various sources, many of them unknown, attest the fact, that he was, at this time, even too generously assisted. A clerk of M. de Vos, a Calais banker, called on him one morning to place a large sum in his hands, that had been paid into their bank the day before; it was stated to me to have been a thousand pounds, but supposing it was only half that amount, it was a large donation. So strict was the incognito preserved, that the fortunate recipient could never trace the gift to the

generous individual who sent it. But in the circle of those who administered not only to his wants but to his luxuries (the evil day had not yet come, when he was to find the utmost difficulty in procuring the necessaries of life), no one appears to have extended relief to the expatriated Beau, with more warmth of feeling or delicacy of manner, than the late Duchess of York. The "votre toute-affectionnée amie et servante" of more prosperous times, was practically illustrated towards him to the day of Her Royal Highness's death. Every year at Christmas some token of regard was conveyed to him; a purse, a card-case, or note-keeper, the work of her own fair hands; Brummell treasured these proofs of the Duchess's taste and skill, and had several of them remaining when he was at Caen. These little marks of her regard, when opened, were never found empty, and a rustling was always heard within their folds, which no doubt fell agreeably upon ears now so little familiar with the sound of bank-notes.

Here is a note she wrote to him when Brummell had only left his native land about a year, and when one of her letters addressed to the Beau had miscarried :

"Londres, ce 26 April 1817.

"Vous n'avez rien perdu à la lettre qui vous était destinée, et que Lord Alvanley a consignée aux flammes; elle contenait seulement mes remercimens pour les charmans cadeaux que vous avez eu la bonté