22nd.—Wagner's 'Meistersinger' at Drury Lane.
From Sir Henry Taylor [Footnote: A very old friend of Reeve's. See ante, vol. i. p. 91.]
Bournemouth, June 22nd.
Dear Mr. Reeve,—Thanks for telling me what splendours I missed at The Club dinner. You ask what Dr. Johnson would have said if he had stepped in. As it was his own Club, he would have been gracious; but it was not every dinner that could please him. Do you remember his remark as he went away with Boswell from a dinner at one of the colleges at Oxford? 'This merriment amongst parsons is mighty offensive.'
I always remember the singularly representative character of the only
dinner I have had an opportunity of attending since I was elected.
Literature and Learning represented by yourself, Dr. Dictionary Smith,
Lecky and Lord Acton; the Church by the Archbishop of Canterbury and Dean
Stanley; political life by Lord Derby and Spencer Walpole; the Law by Lord
Romilly, and the Dukes by the Duke of Cleveland—and there was no one else.
It was very pleasant, and there were not too many for conversation in
common.
I always feel that, as I have not been in London for more than a day since that dinner, and am not likely to be there again, it is hardly right to occupy a place which might afford so much pleasure to some one else; but I have said this before, and your answer was that no one ever retired from The Club. As I am in my eighty-second year, I suppose it will not be long [Footnote: He lived four years longer, dying in 1886.] before Providence will place my seat at the disposal of some one who will turn it to more account. Believe me, yours sincerely,
Henry Taylor.
From the Comte de Paris
Château d'Eu, 22 juin.
Mon cher Monsieur Reeve,—J'apprends par M. Gavard que vous avez l'intention de venir en France vers le 20 juillet. Je m'empresse de vous dire tout le plaisir que vous nous ferez, à la comtesse de Paris et à moi, en commençant ce voyage par un séjour au Château d'Eu. Je regrette seulement que vous ayez l'intention de l'entreprendre seul. J'ai fait ici, il y a trois semaines, de fort belles pêches à la truite, qui m'ont fait regretter que Mademoiselle Reeve ne fût pas ici. Vous trouverez chez nous le Duc d'Audiffret Pasquier, que vous avez déjà vu ici, je crois, il y a deux ans; et un général américain, qui a servi avec moi sous M'Clellan, M. de Trobriand.