knew them. As they are seated, there is not one point to distinguish them from men, the dressing and powdering of the hair, their well-starched neckcloths; the upper part of their habits, which they always wear, even at a dinner party, made precisely like men's coats, and black beaver men's hats. They looked exactly like two respectable, superannuated old clergymen. I was highly flattered, as they were never in the theatre before. I have to-day received an invitation to call, if I have time as I pass, at Llangollen, to receive in due form from the dear old gentlemen, Lady E. Butler and Miss Ponsonby, their thanks for the entertainment I afforded them at the theatre."
Charles Mathews could not accept this invitation, but more than a month later he paid his respects to "the ladies" at Porkington. He thus describes his interview:—
"Well, I have seen them, heard them, touched them! The pets—'the ladies' as they are called—dined here yesterday. I mentioned in a former letter the effect they produced upon me in public, but never shall I forget the first burst yesterday upon entering the drawingroom, to find the dear antediluvian darlings, attired for dinner in the same mummified dress, with the Croix de St. Louis, and other orders, and myriads of large brooches, with stones large enough for
