Page:Memoirs of the Lady Hester Stanhope.djvu/271

 country, and preventing the execution of your father's intention of presenting you to me) will not, I hope, take it ill that I should apply to his superior talents for advice.

There is a horrible jealousy respecting the friendship that exists between me and Mr. Henry Guys, the French Consul at Beyrout. His grandfather, a learned old gentleman, was in constant correspondence with the great Lord Chesterfield. It is natural, therefore, that his son, the present Mr. Guys' father, should feel interested about me when I first came into the country, and Mr. Henry Guys has always put into execution his father's friendly intentions towards me. He is a very respectable man, and stands very high in the estimation of all classes of persons: and, as at one time there was no English consul or agent at Sayda, the French agent sent a certificate of my life four times a-year to England. At the death of this man, Mr. Guys sent it himself. If you honour me with a reply, I request you to address your letter to him (aux soins de M. le Chevalier Henri Guys, Consul de France à Beyrout), notwithstanding he has been named for Aleppo; as it is the only way I am likely to receive my letters unopened, or perhaps at all.

Believe me, with esteem and regard, yours, 2em