Memories of Old Friends Author:Caroline Fox Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER V. 1839. "I was all ear, And took in strains that might create a soul Under the ribs of death."—Milton. Falmouth, January 22.—T. Sheepshanks p... more »aid his respects to us. He told us that some years ago a Miss James, an eccentric lady, was walking from Falmouth to Truro, and fell in with a very intelligent man in a miner's dress. She entered into conversation, and concluded by giving him a shilling. In the evening she dined out to meet Professor Sedgwick, and was not a little astonished to recognise in the Professor her morning's friend of the pickaxe. February u.—Rode with Lady Elizabeth Wathen to Flushing. She described Washington Irving, whom she met at Newstead Abbey, as a quiet, retiring, matter-of-fact, agreeable person. He is unmarried; but time was when he was engaged toan American damsel, who caught a bad cold at a ball of which she at last died, but every night during her illness he would take his mattress outside her door and watch there. j4pril 3.—Found Mr. Sopwith at home, writing a letter and waiting for Papa and Sir Charles Lemon. He is the great isometrical perspective man, and by degrees developed himself as a very agreeable and amusing one. He is come to help Sir Charles in organising his School of Mines. Sir Charles soon joined him here and paid a very nice visit. When Edhem Bey dined with him the other day, he had Sydney Smith to meet him. Sir Charles told his Excellency that he was " un ecclesiastique tres distingue;" so he was looked upon with the utmost reverence and devotion, until his stories and funnyisms of all descriptions entirely displaced the Bey from his assumed centre of gravity. We were pleased to hear of the exile of the Chartists from Devizes by the public spirit of its inhabitants. Talked about their principles and the inf...« less