"Found her in an excessively dirty cabinet—sofa singularly so; her own dress, a loose spencer with a bare neck,"
(
Journal
, vol. ii. p. 145). A similar experience is mentioned by Crabb Robinson (
Diary
, 1804).
"On the 28th of January," he writes, "I first waited on Madame de Staël. I was shown into her bedroom, for which, not knowing Parisian customs, I was unprepared. She was sitting, most decorously, in her bed, and writing. She had her night-cap on, and her face was not made up for the day. It was by no means a captivating spectacle; but I had a very cordial reception, and two bright black eyes smiled benignantly on me."
Of her political opinions Sir John Bowring (
Autobiographical Recollections
, pp. 375, 376) has left a sketch.