young man to whom Sir Thomas Mostyn’s title will go, if he does not marry, but whose property, being much encumbered, made him no match for Cecy and her forty thousand pounds; and we were censured for not taking better care, and suffering her to wed a Welsh gentleman,—­object of ineffable contempt to the daughters of Mr. Thrale, with whom she always held correspondence while living with us, who indulged her in every expense and every folly,—­although allowed only one hundred and forty pounds per ann. on her account.”

After two or three years spent in London, the Piozzis resided for some time at Streatham,—­how changed in mistress and in guests from the Streatham of which Mrs. Thrale had been the presiding genius!  But after a while they removed to Wales, where, on an old family estate belonging to Mrs. Piozzi, they built a house, and christened the place with the queer Welsh-Italian compound name of Brynbella.  “Mr. Piozzi built the house for me, he said; my own old chateau, Bachygraig by name, tho’ very curious, was wholly uninhabitable; and we called the Italian villa he set up as mine in the Vale of Cluid, North Wales, Brynbella, or the beautiful brow, making the name half Welsh and half Italian, as we were.”  Here they lived, with occasional visits to other places, during the remainder of Piozzi’s life.  “Our head quarters were in Wales, where dear Piozzi repaired my church, built a new vault for my old ancestors, chose the place in it where he and I are to repose together.....  He lived some twenty-five years with me, however, but so punished with Gout that we found Bath the best wintering-place for many, many seasons.—­Mrs. Siddons’ last appearance there he witnessed, when she played Calista to Dimond’s Lothario, in which he looked so like Garrick it shocked us all three, I believe; for Garrick adored Mr. Piozzi, and Siddons hated the little great man to her heart.  Poor Dimond! he was a well-bred, pleasing, worthy creature, and did the honours of his own house and table with peculiar grace indeed.  No likeness in private life or manner,—­none at all; no wit, no fun, no frolic humour had Mr. Dimond:—­no grace, no dignity, no real unaffected elegance of mien or behaviour had his predecessor, David,—­whose partiality to my fastidious husband was for that reason never returned.  Merriment, difficult for him to comprehend, made no amends for the want of that which no one understood better;—­so he hated all the wits but Murphy.”

And now that we are on anecdotes of the Theatre, here is another good story, which belongs to a somewhat earlier time, but of which Mrs. Piozzi does not mention the exact date.  “The Richmond Theatre at that time attracted all literary people’s attention, while a Coterie of Gentlemen and Noblemen and Ladies entertained themselves with getting up Plays, and acting them at the Duke of Richmond’s house, Whitehall.  Lee’s ‘Theodosius’ was the favorite.  Lord Henry Fitzgerald played