_Delphine_ had been irreverently described by Sydney Smith, when it appeared a few years earlier, as "this dismal trash which has nearly dislocated the jaws of every critic with gaping." The Whigs had not then taken up Madame de Stael, as they did afterwards, or it is quite certain that Mr Sydney would not have been allowed to exercise such Britannic frankness.

_Corinne_ met with gentler treatment from his friends, if not from himself.

Sir James Mackintosh, in particular, was full of the wildest enthusiasm about it, though he admitted that it was "full of faults so obvious as not to be worth mentioning." It must be granted to be in more than one, or two important points a very great advance on _Delphine_.

One is that the easy and illegitimate source of interest which is drawn upon in the earlier book is here quite neglected.

_Delphine_ presents the eternal French situation of the "triangle;" the line of _Corinne_ is straight, and the only question is which pair of three points it is to unite in an honourable way.