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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Letter-Bag of Lady Elizabeth
+Spencer-Stanhope v. I., by A. M. W. Stirling (compiler)
+
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+Title: The Letter-Bag of Lady Elizabeth Spencer-Stanhope v. I.
+
+Author: A. M. W. Stirling (compiler)
+
+Release Date: January, 2005 [EBook #7253]
+[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule]
+[This file was first posted on March 31, 2003]
+
+Edition: 10
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-Latin-1
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LETTERS LADY SPENCER-STANHOPE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Anne Soulard, Charles Franks
+and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: THE VISCOUNTESS ANSON]
+
+THE LETTER-BAG OF LADY ELIZABETH SPENCER-STANHOPE
+
+COMPILED FROM THE CANNON HALL PAPERS, 1806-1873
+BY A. M. W. STIRLING
+
+TWO VOLUMES: VOLUME ONE
+
+
+
+
+"_TON_ IS INDEED A CAMELEON WHOSE HUE CHANGES WITH EVERY RAY OF LIGHT."
+_ALMACK'S_
+
+
+
+
+TO CHARLES G. STIRLING
+THIS BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+The following papers, which extend over a space of nearly seventy years
+during a most interesting period of our National History, may be said to
+form a sequel and a conclusion to two previous publications, _Coke of
+Norfolk and his Friends_, which appeared in 1906, and _Annals of a
+Yorkshire House_, which appeared in 1911. They are, however, more
+essentially a continuation of the latter, in which the Cannon Hall
+muniments and anecdotes were brought down to the years 1805-6, from which
+date the narrative is resumed in the present volume.
+
+In that first series of Papers which was published in the Annals, the bulk
+of the correspondence centred round the personality of Walter Spencer-
+Stanhope, M.P., who lived from 1749 to 1821. In the present series, the
+correspondence is principally addressed to or written by John Spencer-
+Stanhope, his son, who lived from 1787 to 1873. Other letters, doubtless,
+there were in plenty, to and from other members of the family, but only
+those have survived which found their way back to the old Yorkshire house
+whence so many of them had originally set forth with their messages of
+love and home tidings, and which were there preserved, eventually, by the
+grandmother of the present writer, Lady Elizabeth, wife of John Stanhope
+and daughter of the celebrated 'Coke of Norfolk.'
+
+The following book, therefore, is appropriately termed the "Letter-bag" of
+the lady to whom its existence is due, although her personal contribution
+to its contents does not commence before the year 1822, when she first
+became a member of the family circle of its correspondents. In it, in
+brief, is represented the social existence of two generations and the
+current gossip of over half-a-century, as first set forth by their nimble
+pens in all the freshness of novelty. Thus it is an ever-shifting scene to
+which we are introduced. We become one with the daily life of a bygone
+century, with a family party absorbed in a happy, busy existence. We
+mingle with the gay throng at the routs and assemblies which they
+frequented. We meet the "very fine" beaux at whom they mocked, and the
+"raging belles" whom they envied. Then the scene changes, and we are out
+on the ocean with Cuthbert Collingwood, in our ears rings a clash of arms
+long since hushed, a roar of cannon which has been silent throughout the
+passing of a century, while we gauge with a grim realisation the iron that
+entered into the soul of a strong man battling for his country's gain.
+Then the black curtain of death shrouds that scene, and we are back once
+more in the gay world of _ton_, with its petty gossip and its petty
+aims.... Later, other figures move across the boards; Wellington, as the
+ball-giver, the gallant _chevalier des dames_; Napoleon, in his _bonnet de
+nuit_, a mysterious, saturnine figure; his subordinates, who shared his
+greed without the dignity of its magnitude; next, in strange contrast,
+Coke of Norfolk, the peaceful English squire, seen thus for the first
+time--not as a public character, a world-wide benefactor--but in the
+intimacy of his domestic life, as "Majesty," the butt of his daughter's
+playful sallies, as the beloved father, the tender grandfather, a
+gracious, benevolent presence. We read the romance of his daughter, that
+pretty, prim courtship of a bygone day; we see her home life as a young
+wife, the coming of another race of merry children; by and by, we follow
+the fortunes of graceful "little Madam" with her brilliant eyes, and see
+the advent of yet another lover of a later day. So the scenes shift, the
+figures come and go, the great things and the small of life intermingle.
+And as we read, by almost imperceptible stages, the Georgian has merged
+into the Victorian, and the young generation of one age has faded into the
+older generation of the next, till we are left confronted with the
+knowledge, albeit difficult of credence, that both have vanished into the
+mists of the Unknown.
+
+Meanwhile, one aspect of this glimpse into the past requires but little
+insistence. Among these two generations of Stanhopes a high standard of
+education prevailed. This, coupled with the opportunities which they
+possessed of mingling with the best-known people of their day, both in
+England and France, makes it obvious that records written by such writers,
+with all the happy abandon of a complete sympathy between scribe and
+recipient, have a value which transcends any more laboured enumeration of
+historical data. The worth of their correspondence lies in the fact that
+it presents, artlessly and candidly, the outlook of a contemporary family,
+of good position and more than average intelligence, upon events ordinary
+and extraordinary, under four sovereigns. And while many books have been
+edited describing the sayings and doings of Royal personages and political
+leaders during that period, few have yet been published which present them
+in the intimate guise in which they jostle each other throughout the
+following pages, and fewer still which give any adequate picture of the
+social life as lived during these years by the less notable bulk of the
+community.
+
+Yet more, the writers of these letters are no mere puppets of ancient
+history, who move in a world unreal to us and shadowy. Their remarks to us
+are instinct with the freshness--the actuality--of to-day. Whether as
+happy, noisy schoolboys and girls, or as men and women of the fashionable
+world bent on pursuit of pleasure or of learning, to us they are
+emphatically alive. Almost we can hear and echo the laughter of that merry
+home-circle; their jests are our own, differently phrased, their joys and
+sorrows knit our hearts to them across the century. They lived at a date
+so near our own that it has all the charm of similarity--with a
+difference; and it is just this likeness and unlikeness which lend such
+piquancy to their experiences.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+DRAMATIS PERSONAE
+
+CHAPTER
+  I. LETTERS RELATING TO THE WORLD OF _TON_, 1805-1806
+ II. LETTERS OF AN EXILE, 1805-1810
+III. _ON DITS_ FROM LONDON, YORKSHIRE AND RAMSGATE, 1806-1807
+ IV. _ON DITS_ FROM GROSVENOR SQUARE AND CANNON HALL, 1808-1810
+  V. ANECDOTES FROM A PRISONER OF NAPOLEON, 1810-1812
+ VI. LETTERS FROM AN ESCAPED PRISONER, 1812-1813
+VII. LETTERS FROM ENGLAND AND FRANCE, 1811-1821
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+THE VISCOUNTESS ANSON _Frontispiece_
+_From a miniature by Cosway_
+
+SILHOUETTES OF MRS SPENCER-STANHOPE AND HER DAUGHTERS MARIANNE AND ANNE
+
+SILHOUETTES OF ISABELLA, FRANCES, AND MARIA SPENCER-STANHOPE
+
+MRS TRIMMER
+
+"THE YOUNG ROSCIUS"
+
+CARICATURE OF SIR LUMLEY SKEFFINGTON
+
+MADAME CATALANI
+
+SIR FRANCIS BURDETT, BT.
+_From a picture painted while he was a prisoner in the Tower_
+
+PASSPORT GIVEN BY NAPOLEON IST TO JOHN SPENCER-STANHOPE
+
+EDWARD COLLINGWOOD
+
+SIR RICHARD CARR GLYN, BT.
+
+PRINT OF GEORGE III. WHEN MAD
+
+THE MARCHIONESS CONYNGHAM
+
+QUEEN CAROLINE, BY HARLOWE
+
+WALTER SPENCER-STANHOPE, AETAT. 70
+_From an ivory bust_
+
+
+
+
+  "In town what numbers into fame advance,
+  Conscious of merit in the coxcombs' dance,
+  The Op'ra, Almack's, park, assembly, play,
+  Those dear destroyers of the tedious day,
+  That wheel of fops, that saunter of the town,
+  Call it diversion, and the pill goes down."
+                                _Young_
+
+
+
+
+DRAMATIS PERSONAE
+
+
+For the enlightenment of those readers who have not read the previous
+volumes of which the present is the continuation, it may be well to
+recapitulate briefly the material with which these dealt.
+
+In 1565 a branch of the Stanhopes came from Lancashire into Yorkshire, and
+eventually settled at Horsforth, Low Hall, near Calverley Bridge, in the
+latter county. During the period of the Civil Wars, a branch of the family
+of Spencer migrated from the borders of Wales into Yorkshire, and in the
+reign of Charles II. one of them purchased the house and land at that date
+constituting the estate of Cannon Hall. In 1748 Walter Stanhope of
+Horsforth united the two families by his marriage with Ann Spencer of
+Cannon Hall, and their son Walter, eventually inheriting both properties
+from his respective uncles, bore the name of Spencer-Stanhope.
+
+Walter Spencer-Stanhope was for thirty-nine years a member of the House of
+Commons, during which time he represented respectively Haslemere,
+Carlisle, and Hull. In 1787 he married Mary Winifred Pulleine, who
+inherited the estates of Roddam and Dissington in Northumberland, in trust
+for her third and fourth sons. By her he had fifteen children, but his
+eldest son and first-born child, owing to an accident at birth, was
+rendered _non compos_, and his second son, John, was therefore in the
+position of his heir.
+
+Mrs Stanhope, an exemplary and affectionate mother, appears occasionally
+to have become confused with the number of her progeny and to have been
+fearful of forgetting the order of their rapid entrance into the world or
+of certain events which formed a sequel to their arrival. She therefore
+compiled a list of such incidents, which is here subjoined, since the
+reader may find it useful for occasional reference.
+
+
+    _The Family of Walter Spencer-Stanhope of Cannon Hall._
+
+    Walter Spencer Spencer-Stanhope, his first-born, came into the world
+    about eight o'clock in the morning of the 26th of August, 1784, & was
+    christened in Horsforth Chapel the 25th of September following, his
+    Sponsors were Edward Collingwood, John Ashton Shuttleworth, Esqre., &
+    Mrs Lawson of Chirton. He was inoculated by Baron Dimsdale the 13th of
+    February, 1787, and had about 30 small-Pox. He had the measles very
+    favourably in November 1790.
+
+    Marianne, our next-born, came into the world in Grosvenor Square on
+    the 23rd of May, 1786, about 7 o'clock in the morning, was baptised
+    there on the 20th June following. Her Sponsors were Sir Richard Carr
+    Glyn, Mrs Stanhope, and Mrs Greame his mother and aunt. She was
+    inoculated by Baron Dimsdale the 13th of February 1787, and was very
+    full. She had the measles in Grosvenor Square very favourably in March
+    1806. [1]
+
+    John, his third child, came into the world in Grosvenor Square on the
+    27th of May, 1787, between 6 & 8 o'clock in the morning. He had
+    private Baptism in his house that Evening & public Baptism on June
+    25th, 1787, or thereabouts. His Sponsors were the Earl of
+    Chesterfield, Sir Mathew White Ridley and Lady Glyn. He was inoculated
+    the 12th February, 1788, by Baron Dimsdale and had the disorder
+    favourably. He had the Measles and Whooping-cough at Sunbury. [2]
+
+    Anne, his 4th child, was born September 7th, 1788, between 6 & 8 in
+    the Morning at Cannon Hall, was christened at Cawthorne Church,
+    November 2nd, 1788, having received private Baptism about a Fortnight
+    after she was born. She was inoculated by Baron Dimsdale on or about
+    24th of April, 1789, and had the Disorder very favourably. Her
+    Sponsors were the Countess of Burford, Mrs Marriott & Mr Pulleine. [3]
+
+    Catherine, his fifth Child, was born between 6 & 8 o'clock on the
+    morning of September, 1789, at Cannon Hall; was christened at the
+    beginning of November following, having received private Baptism 3
+    weeks before. Her Sponsors were Mrs Bigge, Mrs Anne Shafto & Colonel
+    Glyn, She was inoculated by Baron Dimsdale, the beginning of April,
+    1790, and had the Disorder very favourably. She died 20th of November,
+    1795, of a Complaint in the Throat or Lungs, and was buried at
+    Cawthorne Church.
+
+    Elizabeth, our next Child, was born on the 5th of November 1790, about
+    1 o'clock in the afternoon, had first private Baptism & was afterwards
+    christened at Cawthorne Church on the 11th of December following. The
+    Sponsors were Mrs Ord, of Morpeth, Mrs Pulleine & Mr John Collingwood.
+    She was inoculated by Baron Dimsdale in March 1791 & had the disorder
+    very favourably. Died April 15th, 1801, of obstruction, in Grosvenor
+    Square, and was buried in St James's Chapel, Hampstead Road.
+
+    Edward, our seventh Child, was born on the 30th October, 1791 at 1/2
+    past twelve at noon, was christened at Cannon Hall in December. The
+    Sponsors were Mr Collingwood, Mr Fawkes of Farnley & Mr Glyn. He was
+    inoculated by Baron Dimsdale April 1st, 1792 & had the Disorder very
+    favourably. Had the measles in 1806. [4]
+
+    William, our eighth Child was born at 1/2 past four o'clock on the 4th
+    of January 1793, was christened on the 5th of February following, at
+    Cawthorne Church. His Sponsors were Admiral Roddam, Mr Carr Ibbotson
+    and Mrs Beaumont. He was inoculated by Baron Dimsdale the 24th of
+    March, 1793, & had the Disorder very favourably. He had the Measles at
+    Sunbury School May 1802. Went to Sea in the Ocean to join Lord
+    Collingwood off Cadiz, March, 1806. [5]
+
+    Thomas Henry, our ninth Child, was born at 1/2 past one in the morning
+    the 14th of May 1794, was christened the 9th of June following in
+    Grosvenor Square. His Sponsors were Lady Carr Glyn, Collingwood Roddam
+    Esqre., & Ashton Shuttleworth Esqre. He was inoculated by Baron
+    Dimsdale in April 1795 & had the Disorder very favourably. Had the
+    Measles at Sunbury 1802. Died April the 3rd, 1808, after a long and
+    painful illness. Was buried with Eliza in St James's Chapel in
+    Hampstead Road.
+
+    Charles, our tenth Child, born on the 14th October, 1795, christened
+    at Cawthorne, Sponsors Colonel Beaumont, James Shuttleworth Esqre., &
+    Mrs Elizabeth Roddam. Was inoculated in the spring, 1796, by Baron
+    Dimsdale. [6]
+
+    Isabella, our eleventh Child, was born on the 20th of October 1797, at
+    one in the morning, christened at Cawthorne Church the 8th of December
+    following. Sponsors, Mrs Roddam, Mrs Smith of Dorsetshire & Mr Smyth
+    of Heath. Was inoculated in Autumn 1798 by Mr Greaves of Clayton. [7]
+
+    Philip, our twelfth Child, was born January 25th, 1799, at one in the
+    morning; was christened by Mr Phipps February, 1799. The Sponsors were
+    Mr Edwyn Stanhope, the Rev. John Smith, Westminster & Lady Augusta
+    Lowther. Was inoculated with the Cow-pox May 1800 by Mr Knight. Had
+    the Measles at Putney in the Autumn, 1806. [8]
+
+    Frances Mary, our thirteenth Child was born on the 27th of June, 1800,
+    at 1/2 past twelve at Noon in Grosvenor Square & was christened there
+    by the Rev. Mr Armstrong on the 26th of July following. The Sponsors
+    were Samuel Thornton Esqre, Mrs Greame of Bridlington & Mrs Marriott
+    of Horsmonden, Kent. Inoculated with the Cow-pox by Mr Greaves in the
+    Autumn of 1800. [9]
+
+    Maria Alicia, our fourteenth Child, was born at Cannon Hall the 4th of
+    September 1802, 1/2 before seven in the Morning & was christened at
+    Cannon Hall by the Rev. Goodair on 22nd of October following. The
+    Sponsors were the Rev. D. Marriott, Mrs Henry Pulleine of Carlton &
+    Mrs Morland of Court Lodge, Kent. Inoculated with the Cow-pox by Mr
+    Whittle in Grosvenor Square the Spring following. [10]
+
+    Hugh, our fifteenth Child, [11] was born September 30th, 1804, about
+    five in the Morning & was christened at Cawthorne Church by the Rev.
+    Mr Goodair the 1st of November following. The Sponsors were Edward
+    Collingwood Esqre., Mr Smith of Dorsetshire & Lady Elizabeth Lowther
+    of Swillington. The four youngest had the measles at Ramsgate.
+
+
+As will be seen by this comprehensive list, of the fifteen children of
+Walter Spencer-Stanhope and his wife, three only failed to attain
+maturity. The tale of their brief lives has no part in the following
+correspondence, and might be dismissed without comment, save that the
+mention of them serves to bring yet nearer to us that mother whose
+powerful brain, warm heart and tireless pen bound to her the affections of
+her children with a devotion seldom surpassed.
+
+Of Henry Stanhope, destined to die after much suffering, many letters, not
+inserted here, remain eloquent of the manner in which, throughout his long
+illness, his mother denied herself to all her acquaintance and never left
+his side. Of little Catherine Stanhope, who expired at the age of five,
+two pathetic mementoes exist. One is a large marquise ring which never
+left the mother's finger till she, too, was laid in the grave; the other a
+silken tress like spun sunshine, golden still as on that day in a dead
+century when, viewing it through her tears, Mrs Stanhope labelled it
+tenderly--"_My dear little Catherine's hair, cut off the morning I lost
+her, November 20th, 1795._" Of little Elizabeth a more curious and
+harrowing reminiscence has survived.
+
+
+    _Grosvenor Square, Saturday, April the 28th, the day on which the
+    remains of my dear child were deposited in the vault at Mrs
+    Armstrong's Chapel between six and seven in the morning, attended by
+    her dear, afflicted father._
+
+
+So little Elizabeth, in the spring-time of her life, passed to her grave
+at a strangely early hour on that April morning; and her mother, in the
+hushed house, took up the thread of life once more with pious submission
+and the iron will for which she was remarkable.
+
+At the date at which this book opens, many years had gone by since that
+storm of sorrow had fallen upon her, suddenly, like a bolt from the blue.
+All unsuspected, indeed, another grief, the death of her little son, was
+approaching; but for the present contentment reigned.
+
+[Illustration: MARIANNE]
+
+[Illustration: MRS. SPENCER-STANHOPE AND HER FIVE DAUGHTERS]
+
+[Illustration: ANNE]
+
+[Illustration: ISABELLA]
+
+[Illustration: FRANCES]
+
+[Illustration: MARIA]
+
+After celebrating the Christmas festivities, as usual, in Yorkshire, early
+in January, 1805, she journeyed with her husband and family back to their
+house in London, No. 28 Grosvenor Square, a building since much altered,
+but still standing at the corner of Upper Grosvenor Street. [12] There she
+was occupied introducing into society her clever eldest daughter Marianne,
+aged nineteen, and preparing for the _début_ of her second daughter, Anne;
+and thence with the dawning of that year destined to be momentous in
+English history, she wrote to her son John, his father's heir-
+presumptive, a youth of eighteen, who had just gone to Christ Church:
+
+
+    The New Year smiles upon us, and, thank God, finds us all well, except
+    Henry, and he gains strength. May you see many happy ones and may the
+    commencing year prove as happy to you as I have   every reason to
+    believe the last was.... You are really, my dear John, the most
+    _gallant_ son I ever heard of to make such very flattering
+    speeches.... It is vastly gratifying to a mother to have a son desire
+    to hear from her so frequently, and such a request must always be
+    attended to with pleasure.
+
+
+How assiduously the writer fulfilled her promise is testified by those
+packets of letters, dim with the dust and blight of a vanished century,
+but in which her reward is likewise attested. "I do not believe," she
+affirms proudly, "that there is a man at either of the Universities who
+writes so often to his mother as you do, and let me beg you will continue
+to do so, for the hearing from you is one of the chief pleasures of my
+life." Moreover, that family of eight sons and five daughters, who, at
+this date, shared her attention, in their relations to each other were
+singularly united. Throughout their lives, indeed, the tie of blood
+remained to them of paramount importance, although, as often happens, this
+fact bred in them a somewhat hypercritical view of the world which lay
+without that charmed circle. Graphic and lively as it will be seen are
+their writings, their wit was at times so keen-edged that it is said to
+have caused considerable alarm to the dandies and belles of their
+generation, who suffered from the too vivacious criticism of their young
+contemporaries. This was more particularly so in the case of Marianne, the
+eldest daughter, afterwards the anonymous author of the satirical novel
+_Almack's_. Brilliant and full of humour as is her correspondence, it
+shows her to have been what family tradition reports, rich in talent and
+accomplishments, gifted with imagination and keenly observant of her
+surroundings, but withal cynical of speech and critical of temperament--a
+woman, perhaps, more to be feared than loved.
+
+Her brother John, the recipient of most of the following letters, was, on
+the contrary, a youth of exceptional amiability, and unalterably popular
+with all whom he encountered. Intellectual from his earliest childhood, in
+later life he was a profound classical scholar. A seven months' child,
+however, the constitutional delicacy which was a constant handicap to him
+throughout his existence had been further accentuated by an unlucky
+accident. When at Westminster, a fall resulting from a push given to him
+by Ralph Nevill, Lord Abergavenny's son, had broken his collar-bone, and
+with the Spartan treatment to which children were then subjected, this
+injury received no attention. But what he lacked in physical strength was
+supplied by dauntless grit and mental energy, so that, although in the
+future debarred by his health from taking any active part in political
+life, he early attained, as we shall see, to no mean fame as a traveller
+and an explorer, while he was regarded as one of the savants of his
+generation.
+
+During 1805, when he was yet a freshman at Christ Church, his younger
+brothers and sisters were likewise variously employed with their
+education, the boys at the celebrated schools of Sunbury and Westminster,
+the girls in the seclusion of a large school-room in the rambling house in
+Grosvenor Square. And that the learning for which they all strove was of a
+comprehensive nature, moreover, that those of their party who had already
+entered the gay world never disdained to share such labours, is shown in a
+letter written many years afterwards to John by his brother Charles, in
+which the writer complains sarcastically--
+
+
+    You have no idea how happy, year by year, as of yore, the little ones
+    seem--(for they will always be called so, though now Frances is as big
+    as me and amazingly handsome). Yet still they have not one moment of
+    time to themselves. They cram and stuff with accomplishments
+    incessantly, and they prison me in my room & won't allow me to pry
+    into the haunts of the Muses. Marianne and Anne have been learning to
+    paint for these last two years, and make (_I_ think) but slow
+    progress. Marianne never will have done (I wish I could be so
+    industrious). She is now beginning to learn the harp. They are both
+    learning to sing from some great star, which is only money and time
+    thrown away; & Isabella, Frances and Maria learn to dance of one of
+    the most celebrated Opera dancers. Isabella learns a new instrument
+    something like a guitar, called a harp-lute. Marianne and Anne, having
+    learnt French, German, Latin and Italian, are now at a loss to find
+    something left to know, and talk of learning Russian. They will be
+    dyed blue-stocking up to their very chins.
+
+
+Allowing for the exaggeration of a schoolboy, the letter throws an
+interesting light on the standard of education aimed at by those who,
+despite the imputation to the contrary, had no pretension to belong to the
+recognised blue-stocking coteries of their day. And the father of that
+busy, happy circle, in the seriousness of his own life and aims, presented
+the same contrast to many of his contemporaries which was reflected in his
+family.
+
+Fourteen years senior to his wife, and at this date in his fifty-seventh
+year, Walter Stanhope had been M.P. respectively for his different
+constituencies since 1775. A keen politician, he was punctilious in his
+attendance at the House.
+
+Nevertheless, as shown in a former volume, although a man of ability and
+of intense earnestness of purpose, his devotion to his political labours
+never wholly counteracted a certain lethargy of temperament which,
+throughout his life, limited achievement. Thus, although in his youth
+undoubtedly gifted with a lively fancy, or with what his generation termed
+sensibility, this very trait seems at variance with the sum of his later
+career. True, that under stress of emotion he could rise to heights of
+impassioned oratory which provoked by its very evidence of latent power;
+but the tenor of his existence was scarcely in accordance with these brief
+flashes of genius, and the fulfilment of his prime belied its promise. The
+record of his life remains one which commands respect rather than
+admiration. Level-headed, sober in judgment and conduct, even while
+possessed of a wit which was rare and a discernment at times profound, his
+days flowed on in an undeviating adherence to duty which makes little
+appeal to the imagination. As a churchman, as a parent, as a landowner, as
+a politician he fulfilled each avocation with credit. As a man of the
+world he could toy with but remain unmastered by the foibles of his age.
+While a Fox and a Pitt rose to heights and sank to depths which Stanhope
+never touched; while a Wilberforce was imbued with religious fervour as
+with a permeating flame, Stanhope, to his contemporaries, presented
+something of an anomaly. As in his early years he had been a Macaroni who
+eschewed the exaggerations of his sect, so throughout life he could gamble
+without being a gamester, could drink without being a toper, be a
+politician without party acumen, and a man of profoundly religious
+feelings devoid of fanaticism. But since he who himself is swayed by the
+intensity of his convictions is he who in turn sways his fellows, possibly
+the very restraint which saved Stanhope from folly debarred him from fame.
+[13]
+
+Meantime his generation was one of colossal exaggeration, both in talent
+and in idiocy, in virtue and in vice. Men sinned like giants and as giants
+atoned. Common sense, mediocrity--save upon the throne--were rare. Even
+the fools in their folly were great. The spectacle was recurrent of men
+who would smilingly stake a fortune as a wager, who could for hours drench
+their drink-sodden brains in wine, then rise like gods refreshed, and with
+an iron will throw off the stupor which bound them, to wield a flood of
+eloquence that swayed senates and ruled the fate of nations. Even the fops
+in their foppishness were of a magnitude in harmony with their period.
+They could promote dandyism to a fine art and win immortality by
+perfecting the rôle. Their affectation became an adjunct of their
+greatness, their eccentricity an assumption of supremacy; their very
+insolence was a right divine before which the common herd bowed with a
+limitless tolerance.
+
+In the world of London, as that celebrated gossip, Gronow, points out,
+from generation to generation, certain men of fashion have come to the
+fore amongst the less conspicuous mass of their fellows, and have been
+defined by the general term of "men about town." The earlier
+representatives of that race, the Macaronis of a former date, ere 1805 had
+been replaced by a clique of dandies whose pretensions to recognition were
+based on a less worthy footing. For while those previous votaries of
+fashion, although derided and caricatured according to the humour of their
+day, were, none the less, valuable patrons of art and literature, the
+exquisites of a later date could seldom lay claim to such distinction. To
+dine, to dress, to exhibit sufficient peculiarity in their habits and
+rudeness in their manners whereby to enhance that fictitious value in the
+eyes of those who did not dare to emulate such foibles, was the end and
+aim of their existence. Yet it is doubtful whether posterity remembers
+them less faithfully. Side by side with the great names of their century
+there has come down to us the record of these apparently impudent
+pretenders to fame, and it is questionable whether a Nash, a Brummell, or
+a D'Orsay are less familiar to the present generation than those whose
+claim to the recognition of posterity was not so ephemeral.
+
+Thus, while the circle of acquaintance with which the lives of Stanhope
+and his family at this date mingled serves to throw into sharper relief
+his own divergence of character from that of many of his contemporaries--
+those men who to great abilities, and sometimes to great achievement,
+joined the pettiness of a fop and the follies of a mountebank--still more
+did the typical man-about-town, with his whims and his foibles, his
+shallow aims and his lost opportunities, compare strangely with the larger
+souls of his generation. For the moment was one which called forth the
+greatness or the littleness of those who met it, and which heightened that
+contrast of contemporary lives.
+
+With the coming of the nineteenth century the political outlook for
+England had waxed grave. The air was full of wars and rumours of wars.
+Napoleon, the mighty scourge of the civilised world, was minded to
+accomplish the downfall of the one Power which still defied his strength.
+"The channel is but a ditch," he boasted, "and anyone can cross it who has
+but the courage to try." Boats were in readiness at Boulogne and at most
+of the French ports, fitted up for the attempt, while the Conqueror of
+Europe dallied only for the psychological moment to put his project into
+execution. With bated breath Europe awaited the possible demolition of the
+sole barrier which yet lay between the Tyrant and universal monarchy,
+while upon the other side of the "ditch" the little Island expected his
+arrival in a condition of prolonged tension and stubborn courage. At any
+moment her blue waters and green fields might be dyed with blood. At any
+moment a swarm of foreign invaders might trample her pride in the dust,
+and crush her as other nations had been effectually crushed. But she meant
+to sell her liberty dear. Out of a population averaging 9,000,000 souls
+there were 120,000 regular troops, 347,000 volunteers, and 78,000 militia;
+and still Napoleon paused.
+
+Upon the threatened throne still sat good Farmer George and his prim
+German consort, models of dull domesticity, of narrow convictions, of
+punctilious etiquette--the epitome of respectable and respected
+mediocrity, save when, with a profound irony, the recurring blast of
+insanity transformed the personality of the stolid monarch, and shattered
+the complacency of the smug little Court. Within its shelter hovered the
+bevy of amiable Princesses, whose minutest word and glance yet lives for
+us in the searchlight of Fanny Burney's adoring scrutiny. Afar, the sons
+pursued their wild careers. The Prince of Wales, the mirror of fashion,
+diced and drank, coquetted with politics and kingship, and--a very
+travesty of chivalry--betrayed his friend, broke the heart of the woman
+who loved him, deserted the woman who had wedded him, and tortured with
+petty jealousy the sensitive soul of the child who might rule after him.
+
+In secret silence Mrs Fitzherbert endured the calumny of the world, and
+ate out her heart in faith to the faithless. With flippant and undignified
+frivolity the Princess of Wales strove to support an anomalous position
+and find balm to her wounded pride and weak brain; while the passionate,
+all-human child-princess, Charlotte, awakening with pitiful precocity to
+the realities of an existence which was to deal with her but harshly,
+pitted her stormy soul against a destiny which decreed that before her the
+sweets of life were eternally to be flaunted, to be eternally withheld.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+But with the dawning of 1805 the crisis of England's fate approached
+consummation. Napoleon's plans were known to be completed. Pitt's
+Continental Allies were secretly arming. The sea-dogs who guarded the
+safety of our shores--Nelson, Collingwood, Cornwallis, Calder--were on the
+alert. Yet while England's very existence as a Nation hung in the balance,
+in the gay world of London those who represented the _ton_ danced and
+flirted, attended routs and assemblies, complaining fretfully of the
+unwonted dullness of the town, or in their drawing-rooms discussed the
+topics of the hour--the acting of the wonder-child Roscius; the lamentable
+scandal relating to Lord Melville; or, ever and again--with a tremor--the
+possibilities of invasion.
+
+
+
+
+THE LETTER-BAG OF LADY ELIZABETH SPENCER-STANHOPE
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+1805-1806
+
+LETTERS RELATING TO THE WORLD OF TON
+
+
+    _Mrs Spencer-Stanhope to John Spencer-Stanhope._
+    GROSVENOR SQUARE, _January 18th, 1805._
+
+    Here we are established as of old and beginning our usual
+    avocations.... Our Opera-box we like extremely. I generally take some
+    young woman, which makes us cheerful. Miss Glyn [1] was of my party
+    one night, and was well pleased. Little Roscius [2] appeared again
+    to-night. I almost despair of seeing him, though I will try.
+
+    On Saturday morning, Marianne and I and five or six hundred others
+    went to hear Mr Sydney Smith [3] lecture upon the _Conduct of the
+    Human Understanding_. His voice is fine and he is well satisfied
+    with himself. I cannot say we came away much wiser, but we were well
+    amused. I hear that Mr Smith protests that all women of talent are
+    plain.
+
+    Lady de Clifford [4] is to be Governess to Princess Charlotte, Mrs and
+    Miss Trimmer [5] the acting ones. I doubt the mother accepting the
+    appointment. On the 25th February there is to be a grand ball at
+    Windsor.
+
+
+[Illustration: MRS. TRIMMER]
+
+
+    _Marianne Spencer-Stanhope to John Spencer-Stanhope_.
+    GROSVENOR SQUARE, _February 1st, 1805._
+
+    MY DEAR JOHN,
+
+    I fear you will have thought me long in performing my promise, but as
+    I was to have gone to Court yesterday, I delayed writing to you until
+    the ceremony was over; as it is, instead of my letter being full of
+    royalty, peers and ribbons, you must accept nothing but the remnant of
+    those ideas, which the interesting hairbreadth adventures of _Tom
+    Jones_ have left me; in plain English the Drawing-room was put off
+    on account of the Queen's indisposition, and I am just at the end of
+    the above-mentioned delightful book. Oh! had I the wit of Partridge,
+    the religion of Thwackum, or the learning of Square, I might describe
+    with tolerable accuracy the intolerable stupidity of this great town.
+    The Opera is thin of company, thin of performers, thin of lights, thin
+    of _figurantes_, thin of scene-shifters, thin of everything! One
+    night we were a good deal entertained by having his R.H., & _chère
+    amie_ [6] in the next box to us, really they squabbled so, you
+    would have imagined they were man and wife....
+
+    As for Politicks, of which you ask so much, everyone here seems
+    discontented. All Pitt's friends, angry that he has deserted them for
+    Addington, and Lord Stafford, the head of them all, angry that the
+    ribbon should be given to Lord Abercorn--to one who has protected
+    rather than to one who has insulted Pitt--"Such little things are
+    great to little men."
+
+    The King, everyone agrees, looks charmingly and is more composed than
+    he has been for long. Lady de Clifford is appointed Governess to the
+    Princess (Charlotte)--_the bosom friend of Mrs Fitzherbert,
+    hélas!_--and Mrs and Miss Trimmer under her; some say they will not
+    accept it. Dr Fisher, Bishop of Exeter, is to be Governor. I am for
+    making he and Mrs Trimmer disagree about Religion.
+
+
+    _Mrs Spencer-Stanhope to John Spencer-Stanhope. February 23rd._
+
+    On Thursday Marianne and I attended the Drawingroom, and so
+    disagreeable a crowd I never was in. Miss Drummond [7] looked very
+    well and Miss Glyn quite pretty--the great Hoop suits her figure. I
+    have not heard you mention being acquainted with a young man of the
+    name of Knox-Irish. [8] His father and mother live in this street, and
+    are friends of Mrs Beaumont's. [9]
+
+    I have finished the Life of Sir William Jones. [10] His acquirements
+    appear to have been wonderful--eight languages perfectly, but I think
+    it was twenty-eight of which he had more or less some knowledge. He
+    was withal a very religious man. His attainments were of the right
+    sort, for they fixed his principles and all his writings are in favor
+    of Virtue.
+
+    The speech Mr Windham made in the House of Commons was full of wit,
+    and would I think amuse you.
+
+
+    _Marianne Spencer-Stanhope to John Spencer-Stanhope._
+    (_Undated._)
+
+    The apparent good spirits in which you write, even after a
+    Mathematical Lecture, gives us reason to hope that that favourite
+    exercise has not quite deprived you of your valuable intellect Long
+    may it continue thus! Long may you be the glory of CH. CH.
+    Mathematicians; and when you have left the British Athens, long may
+    your name stand forward among the lists of those Worthies who
+    discovered that two parallel, straight lines might run on to all
+    Eternity without ever meeting!
+
+    As a little incitement to you to continue acquiring learning, I will
+    send you a short account of the manner that two Dukes of Suffolk
+    (_sic_) spent their time at Cambridge in 1550:
+
+    "During dinner, one of them read a Chapter of the Greek Testament, and
+    did afterwards translate it into English; they then said Grace, in
+    turns; & did afterwards propound questions, either in Philosophy or
+    Divinity; & so spent all the time at Meat in Latin disputation.
+
+    "When there was any Public disputation, they were always present;
+    every Morning they did read & afterwards translate some of Plato in
+    Greek, & at Supper present their Labours. They were of St John's
+    College, & every day were devoted to private lectures, & the Residue
+    they did account for."
+
+    I ought almost to apologise for sending you so long an extract, but I
+    thought it would remind you so forcibly of yourself and your
+    distribution of your time, that I was unwilling to deny you the
+    pleasure of the comparison.
+
+
+    _Mrs Spencer-Stanhope to John Spencer-Stanhope._
+    (_Undated._)
+
+    Thanks for the account of the distribution of your time. I flatter
+    myself you are too much attached to home and to the life you have led
+    here ever to get into the idle way of spending Sunday, which I fear
+    you will witness too frequently at Oxford, for from your account of
+    what they are obliged to do on that day, a very small portion only
+    need be given up to the religious duties of the day.
+
+    I was particularly pleased with a passage I met with the other day in
+    which Bishop Newton on the Prophecies, speaking of Lord Bolingbrook,
+    who, you know, was an unbeliever and from his talents and eloquence
+    had too much weight at the time, says, "Raleigh and Clarendon
+    believed, Lock and Newton believed, where then is the discredit to
+    Revelation if Lord Bolingbrook was an Infidel. 'A scorner,' saith
+    Solomon, 'seeketh Wisdom and findeth it not'"
+
+    I know not if your father took any notice of the part of your letter
+    to him where you mention that, in a lecture, it had been proved that
+    the Blacks were a species between men and monkeys--I think, for I have
+    not your letter, that I have stated rightly what was said. It might be
+    asserted, but surely could not be _proved_, and it is doctrine I
+    do not like, as it goes directly to justify using them as beasts of
+    burthen--a very good argument for a slave dealer.
+
+
+    _March 1st._
+
+    Your father is very well. He was sorry for the fate of the Slave Trade
+    Bill last night.
+
+    The Elopement and distress in the House of Petre has been the chief
+    subject of conversation for the last few days. Miss Petre [11] made
+    her escape from her father's house in Norfolk with her Brothers' tutor
+    on Monday last. It is said they are at Worcester and married only by a
+    Catholic Priest. However, Lord and Lady P. are gone there and it is
+    expected she will be brought back to-night. They can do nothing but
+    get her married to the man at Church. She is 18, he 30, and no
+    Gentleman. She was advertised and 20 guineas reward offered to anyone
+    who could give an account of the stray sheep. It is a sad History.
+    What misery this idle girl has caused her parents, and probably
+    ensured her own for life.
+
+
+    _Marianne Stanhope to John Spencer Stanhope._
+    _March 3rd._
+
+    You have doubtless read in the papers the account of Miss Petre's
+    elopement with her brother's tutor, Mr Philips. He is a very low man,
+    quite another class, always dined with the children, never associated
+    the least with the family, a sort of upper servant. Lady Petre thought
+    him rather forward, he was to have left them at Easter. She had seen
+    her daughter at twelve the night before, and only missed her at
+    breakfast. Her clothes were all gone. A friend of his, a brandy
+    merchant, accompanied her in the chaise, the tutor rode first. A
+    clergyman refused to marry them some time ago at Lambeth, but they
+    have since been married at Oxford by a Mr Leslie, a Catholic priest,
+    which is not enough. They are not yet discovered.
+
+
+    _The Same._
+    GROSVENOR SQUARE, _March 4th, 1805._
+
+    MY DEAR JOHN,
+
+    ... London cannot be duller, those who remember it formerly were
+    astonished at the change that time has wrought, and those ho look
+    forward to the future, hope it will not always be so; but without a
+    joke, except the Opera and the house of Glyn, I have scarcely seen
+    anybody or been anywhere. We have three dinner engagements this week,
+    besides one at home, but not one Assembly. You must know that we
+    contrive to go out almost every night, but that it is only one degree
+    better, or if you please, two degrees worse, than dozing at home;
+    then, you know, as the existence of an Assembly is the not having room
+    to stir, when you have plenty of elbow room from the thinness of the
+    company it must be bad; besides another thing, when you have no time
+    for conversation, you fancy everybody is agreeable, and in fashionable
+    life, trust me, imagination is always preferable to reality!
+
+    Not a ball have I heard of excepting one the other night at Mr
+    Johnstone's, Hanover Square. Now you know, balls without dancing are
+    such very enchanting things! Without the Opera it requires a stretch
+    of imagination to know how we should have existed. Our neighbour, Mrs
+    Fitzherbert, in the next box to our own, affords us plenty of
+    amusement. I shall almost become an adept at finding out Royalty by
+    their conversation, from frequently overhearing what passes between
+    the Lady, and not only one but several of their R.H.'s. I will give
+    you an infallible guide to a Royal conversation. Stupidity for its
+    basis, an ignorance of intellectual merit for one prop, and a contempt
+    of moral excellence for the other; witticisms, _double entendres_,
+    mimickry, and every species of oaths that any English gentleman ever
+    made use of for the _fond_; as a whole you may call it double refined
+    folly and vulgarity. This is only doing justice to the conversations I
+    have overheard; far be it from me to wish to diminish the meridian
+    lustre with which these noble gentlemen shine. Let me rather forgive
+    _them_ for understanding who have no conduct and those for conduct who
+    have no understanding. The excellent qualifications of the lady as an
+    associate are evident, she has neither conduct nor understanding.
+
+    The ball at Windsor has been the general subject of conversation this
+    last week. The House of Stanhope put in a good appearance. Mrs
+    Pierrepont was there. The supper was most magnificent. Seats were
+    raised above the rest for the Royal Family; during the entertainment
+    the King rose, and gave the Queen's health, while everybody bowed and
+    curtseyed. Afterwards, the Queen repeated the same compliment to His
+    Majesty.
+
+    Our next-door flirt complained much to Lord Grantham at being obliged
+    to dance a great deal with Lord Petersham, which she thought very
+    tiresome. Mr Kinnaird [12] seems quite off, Lord P. quite out of
+    spirits. Papa thinks he really loves not her purse but _her_. She
+    seems to love nobody, and flirts with everybody. I saw her at Court on
+    Thursday se'nnight looking beautifully cross at not having a man near
+    her. The Drawing-room was a dreadful squash.
+
+    I have seen a good deal of the Kinnairds lately, we dine there to-
+    morrow and stay the evening. Georgiana is very pleased and looks well.
+
+    The Royal Institution is more the _ton_ than anything and Ladies
+    of all ages submit to a squeeze of an hundred people in a morning, to
+    hear lectures on the Human Understanding, Experimental Philosophy,
+    Painting, Music or Geology. We only attend a course of the latter--
+    don't shout at the name, it means the History of the Earth. You see
+    how wise I grow! Mr Eyre thinks all the ladies will be pedants, and
+    when you have been there, you will think so too. To see so large a
+    party, the majority ladies, not very handsome though all listening
+    with profound attention to the opinion of Descartes and Newton, some
+    taking notes and all looking quite scientific, is really ridiculous.
+    Mr Davy, [13] who lectures on Geology or the Chemical History of the
+    Earth, is very clever, his style is good, his matter interesting, and
+    to make use of an expression I heard a gentleman use, he certainly
+    writes on the subject _con amore_.
+
+    I hope you will like Sir Wm. Jones's life. I have not read it but have
+    heard it is very clever. My lectures at present are _Metastasio_,
+    and _St Simon's Memoirs_, the Bp. of London's lectures and Bigland's
+    _Letters on Ancient History_.
+
+    There is a little tale of Miss Edgeworth's which is much admired, "The
+    Modern Griselda," which you must read.
+
+
+Of the names mentioned in this letter, that of Lord Petersham deserves
+more than a passing notice. Among the members of the House of Stanhope, it
+must first be remarked, there were to be found some notable exceptions to
+the prevailing social type of that generation. Philip, Earl of
+Chesterfield, for one, although he failed to keep up the traditions of his
+famous predecessor in art and elegance, was never notorious for the
+weaknesses of his day; and Charles, the 3rd Earl Stanhope, more violently
+eschewed the foppishness of many of his contemporaries, devoting all his
+attention to mechanical contrivances and scientific research. His
+simplicity of life, however, was said to be the expression of his
+Republican tendencies which he had inherited in a pronounced form from his
+father, who had likewise left behind him the reputation of having been a
+magnificent patron of learning. In fact, in order to emphasize his
+democratic principles, so shabby had been the attire of the second Earl
+Stanhope, that on one occasion he had actually been stopped by a new door-
+keeper as he was about to enter the House of Lords. "Now then, honest man,
+go back!" quoth this vigilant guardian of the sacred precincts; "you can
+have no business in such a place, honest man!" And it was only with
+considerable difficulty that the eccentric peer had asserted his right to
+admittance among his fellows, whose honesty was enhanced by a more elegant
+exterior.
+
+In marked contrast, therefore, to these other members of the family, it
+was in the Harrington branch that the foibles of the _beau monde_ were
+cultivated with intention.
+
+Charles, 3rd Earl of Harrington, born the same year as Charles, 3rd Earl
+Stanhope, had married Jane, daughter and heiress of Sir John Fleming, Bt,
+who proved no unworthy successor to her celebrated predecessor
+immortalised by George Selwyn for vivacity and abnormal conversational
+powers. [14] The drawing-room of this later Lady Harrington was recognised
+as a great social centre where her friends could meet, if not actually
+without invitation, at least at a shortness of notice which marked the
+informality of the entertainment and lent to it a subtle charm. The
+hostess, whose energy was unbounded, would go out in the morning and pay
+about thirty calls, leaving at each house an invitation bidding her
+friends to assemble at Harrington House that same evening.
+
+She would then walk up Bond Street at the hour at which the fashionable
+young men of the day were likely to be abroad, and would dart from one
+side of the road to the other as she spied a suitable object for her
+purpose. A circle of friends assembled thus three or four times a week,
+resulted in the formation of a recognised clique, the delightful
+informality of which was much appreciated by her young relations from
+Grosvenor Square, and the _entrée_ into which was much envied by those who
+were admitted only to the larger and more stately parties reserved for the
+less favoured.
+
+Nor were Lady Harrington's impromptu evening assemblies less celebrated
+than her perpetual tea-drinkings at Harrington House. The superior quality
+of this expensive beverage in which the family of Stanhope indulged there,
+and the frequency with which Lady Harrington presented it to her visitors
+at all hours of the day, gave rise to the saying that where you saw a
+Stanhope, there you saw a tea-pot. A story current in town was that when
+her son, General Lincoln Stanhope, returned home after a prolonged absence
+in India, he found the family party precisely as he had left them many
+years before, seated in the long gallery sipping their favourite
+refreshment. On his entry, his father looked up from this absorbing
+occupation, and, with a restraint indicative of the highest breeding, gave
+voice to the characteristic greeting--"Hullo! Linky, my dear boy, you are
+just in time for a cup of tea!"
+
+Such a home was the very atmosphere in which to develop a fashionable man
+of the period; and the eldest son of the House, Charles. Lord Petersham,
+did not discredit his surroundings. Tall, handsome, and faultlessly clad,
+he was one of the most celebrated dandies of his day. Decidedly affected
+in his manners, he spoke with a slight lisp; and since he was said to
+recall the pictures of Henri IV., he endeavoured to accentuate this
+likeness by cultivating a pointed beard. He never went out till six in the
+evening, and one of his hobbies indoors was the strenuous manufacture of a
+particular sort of blacking which, he always maintained, once perfected,
+would surpass every other. His sitting-room emphasized his eccentricity.
+One side of it represented the family _penchant_, being covered with
+shelves upon which were placed canisters containing the most expensive and
+perfect kinds of tea. On the other, in beautiful jars, reposed an equally
+choice and varied assortment of snuffs. Lord Petersham's snuff-boxes and
+his canes were alike celebrated; indeed, his collection of the former was
+said to be the finest in England, and he was reported to have a fresh box
+for every day in the year. Thus Gronow relates that once when a light
+Sevres box which he was using, was admired, Lord Petersham responded with
+a gentle lisp--"Yes, it is a nice summer box--but would certainly be
+inappropriate for winter wear!"
+
+Caricatures of the period represent the heir to the Earldom of Harrington
+clad in light trousers and a brown coat, seated upon a brown prancing
+horse. One of his whims, indeed, was to affect everything brown in hue--
+brown steeds, brown liveries, brown carriages, brown harness and brown
+attire. This was attributed to the fact of his having been in love with a
+fair widow of the name of Brown, whose charms he thus endeavoured to
+immortalise; but whatever the truth of this rumour, it is evident from the
+letter of Marianne Stanhope, that at the age of twenty-five he honoured
+with his devoted attention a lady whose personal attractions and unamiable
+disposition afforded a fund of entertainment to his relations living next
+door to her in Grosvenor Square. And this sidelight on the character of
+the dandy gives pause to criticism. How much, perhaps, of the eccentricity
+for which Lord Petersham was remarkable, like that of the celebrated Lady
+Hester Stanhope, may be attributed to the buffetings of a secret fate?
+Yet, this man who, with exceptional abilities and exceptional opportunity
+for exercising those abilities, could contentedly fill his empty days with
+the manufacture of blacking, or pass an entire night, as Gronow relates
+him to have done, playing battledore and shuttlecock for a wager with Ball
+Hughes, was, in much, a typical product of his generation. His mannerisms
+were accepted by his contemporaries with a forbearance which bordered on
+admiration, and, however childish his peculiarities, he remained
+unalterably popular. Nor were the other members of his family less
+appreciated for their good-nature and amiability.
+
+
+    _Mrs Spencer-Stanhope to John Spencer-Stanhope._
+    GROSVENOR SQUARE, _March 19th, 1805._
+
+    I shall employ my Pen in sending you an account of last night's
+    gaiety--the first really gay night Marianne has had.
+
+    We began our evening at a concert at Mrs Methuen's, from thence we
+    proceeded to a very fine Assembly at the Ladies' Townshends, and about
+    twelve arrived at the Duchess of Bolton's, where we found them
+    tripping on the light fantastick toe with great spirit. Marianne found
+    herself near Lady A. Stanhope, [15] who was extremely attentive to
+    her, & her first partner introduced to her by Lady Harrington was Mr
+    Mercer. After supper she danced a Reel, and afterwards two dances with
+    Mr Dashwood, & then two with Mr Cooke of the Guards. I need not, after
+    this account of the ball say she was well amused. There were a great
+    many men & very young ones, not too fine to dance. Lord Alvanley [16]
+    is not amongst the smartest. Hay Drummond amused me, for _at five in
+    the morning_, he asked me if I had a daughter there!--I was in bed
+    by 1/2 after five.
+
+    Marianne is quite well this morning and very well disposed to go to
+    Almack's if your father does not object. On Thursday we go to another
+    ball at Lady Ledespenser's.
+
+    We have now delightful weather, soft rain yesterday; therefore I
+    expect a pull in the Sociable will be delightful to-day & do us all
+    good after our night's raking.
+
+
+The Duchess of Bolton, [17] who was a cousin of Walter Stanhope, had been
+a widow since 1794, when the dukedom became extinct on the death of her
+husband. The latter, well known during the lifetime of his elder brother
+as the eccentric Lord Henry Paulet, was believed to have supplied Smollet
+with his character of Captain Whiffle in _Roderick Random_. For many years
+he had resided at Bolton--formerly Baltimore--House, a quaintly
+constructed, solitary mansion, standing on the outskirts of London amid
+rural scenery, and encircled by a fine garden. Celebrated for its
+hospitality in those the last days of its splendour, Bolton House had
+opened its portals nightly to the guests who drove down from town to take
+part in the festivities there, amongst the most frequent of whom had been
+Walter Stanhope and his young wife. The duchess, however, subsequent to
+her husband's death, had heard with dismay of a projected transformation
+in her surroundings. The erection of new buildings in the neighbourhood
+was predicted--houses which would blot out the rural scenery and for ever
+destroy the privacy of her country home. And although this dreaded
+innovation did not actually come to pass till 1801, long before the first
+stone of Russell Square had been laid, the duchess had sold her threatened
+mansion to Lord Loughborough, a friend of Walter Stanhope, and had
+established herself in a new home but four doors from the house of the
+latter, No. 32 Grosvenor Square.
+
+Settled thus in the heart of London, her love of entertaining remained
+undiminished, and beneath her hospitable roof the House of Stanhope, in
+its various branches, continued to assemble as of yore. There Lady
+Harrington still figured as one of the most constant guests, ever ready to
+do a kindly action to any of her young relations whom she encountered. Mr
+Mercer, whom she presented to Marianne Stanhope at the party on March
+18th, was, as she was well aware, a man greatly in request in society, and
+to whom an introduction was eagerly coveted on account of his exceptional
+talent for music. Gifted with a remarkably fine voice, he sang duets in
+company with a friend, in Greek, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and English.
+"Mercer's voice and both their tastes are exquisite," relates Lord
+Glenbervie at this date. "They accompany themselves, Mercer on the
+Pianoforte, Gill on a Spanish guitar, which he has had made under his own
+directions in London. Their foreign airs and words they have chiefly
+picked up recently from ballad-singers in the streets."
+
+Marianne Stanhope was therefore fortunate in securing this acquaintance,
+as she was in having for a partner "Mr Cooke of the Guards," better known
+in London society as "Kangaroo Cooke," for many years private aide-de-camp
+and secretary to the Duke of York, and of whom Gronow relates that, "He
+was in the best society and always attracted attention by his dandified
+mode of dress." Still more, besides frequenting all the _Ton_ parties in
+London at night, during the day he was invariably to be seen somewhere
+between the barracks of the Horse Guards and the premises of Weston the
+tailor in Bond Street, an ultra-fashionable promenade, which he paced and
+re-paced, thus satisfactorily exhibiting the beauty of his clothes and
+encountering the most select members of his acquaintance.
+
+The curious nickname which clung to this dandy through life is usually
+ascribed to a quaint resemblance noticeable in him to the Australian
+quadruped after which he was called; but others attributed it rather to
+the leaps and bounds by which he advanced socially, though on account of
+his connections and the exquisite perfection of his dress this could not
+be considered surprising. The fact that he bore such a name was well known
+to him, and only on one occasion did it cause him any annoyance. Once,
+when dining on board the flag-ship off Lisbon with Admiral Galton, he was
+much startled by his host suddenly springing up and shouting out a
+mysterious order, the terms of which seemed like a veiled insult. "Make
+signal," thundered the Admiral, "for the _Kangaroo_ to get under way!" For
+one instant the dismayed beau feared that this was a nautical form of
+dismissal due to some offence of which he had unwittingly been guilty; but
+his neighbour at table relieved his fears by explaining that the Admiral
+was merely directing the immediate departure of one of the vessels of his
+squadron, which, by a strange coincidence, bore the same name as his
+honoured guest.
+
+But a yet more celebrated leader of fashion mentioned by Mrs Stanhope as
+being present at the ball given by the Duchess of Bolton was Lord
+Alvanley. One of the accepted dandies in the same category as Lord
+Petersham, the Duke of Argyle, Lords Foley and Worcester, Beau Brummell
+and his great friend, Henry Pierrepont, Lord Alvanley had served with
+distinction in the army, and further enjoyed the reputation of being one
+of the wittiest men in Europe. Short and somewhat stout, with a small nose
+and florid cheeks usually adorned with a lavish sprinkling of snuff, like
+his rival Lord Petersham, he cultivated a lisp which accentuated the
+humour of his utterances. He also adopted much the same method of
+enhancing his value by indulging in certain peculiarities which, however
+inconvenient to his fellows, appear to have been accepted by them with
+surprising amiability. For instance, being fond of reading in bed, when he
+at length felt sleep overpowering him, he would extinguish his candle by
+the novel method of popping it alight under his bolster, or flinging it
+into the middle of the room and taking a shot at it with his pillow--but
+if the shot was unsuccessful, with a heavy sigh he left it to take its
+chance. So well known, indeed, was this little habit of Lord Alvanley,
+that hostesses who were anxious not to have their houses set on fire at
+midnight would depute a servant to watch in a neighbouring apartment till
+his lordship composed himself to sleep, a precaution which was invariably
+adopted by Mrs Stanhope when he paid his annual visit to Cannon Hall.
+
+However, despite such minor failings, Lord Alvanley enjoyed a popularity
+seldom surpassed. To his other recommendations was added that of being a
+celebrated _gourmet_, and the excellence was proverbial of the little
+dinners which he gave in his house in Park Street, St James's, to which
+never more than eight friends were bidden, and at which there was an
+apricot tart on the sideboard all the year round. Moreover, although like
+Brummell and Sheridan, many a _bon mot_ was fathered upon him to which he
+had never given utterance, yet his reputation as a wit was well deserved,
+and at a date when both the dandies and the fine ladies prided themselves
+upon their undisguised insolence, Lord Alvanley remained a shining example
+of good-nature, so that, save, perhaps, in one instance recorded in this
+book, his wit never offended. Likewise, only once, it is said, did he
+exhibit reluctance in consenting to oblige anyone who requested from him a
+favour, on which occasion he conveyed his refusal in a singularly
+characteristic manner. Some friends were anxious to get up a
+representation of _Ivanhoe_, and begged Lord Alvanley to take the part of
+Isaac. "That I fear is impossible," he replied. "Why so?" urged his
+friends, "since you are so clever at doing different characters." "Ah,
+but--" objected Lord Alvanley, "in all my life I have never been able to
+_do_ a Jew!"
+
+In truth, with the House of Israel his extravagance had made him painfully
+familiar; nevertheless, as mentioned by Lord Broughton, on one occasion he
+made his peccadilloes in this respect the subject of another jest. "Is
+there any chance," he asked with assumed pathos, "of the ten tribes of
+Israel being recovered? For I have exhausted the other two!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It was three months after the ball at Bolton House, which had been
+preceded by a concert at Mrs Methuen's that Mrs Stanhope mentions
+attending another entertainment given by the latter hostess, to which she
+went shortly after an evening of painful excitement.
+
+
+    _Tuesday, June 18th, 1805._
+
+    You would read in the papers of the riot at the Opera House. So
+    complete and mischievous a one I never before saw, or ever wish to see
+    again. I saw part of the stage pulled up and thrown into the Pitt, and
+    when the scene was thrown down, it was only wonderful people were not
+    killed, as the stage was full. Notwithstanding the damage was said to
+    amount from £900 to £1200, we are to have an Opera to-night.
+
+    It was said the House of Peers intended to, object to the Commons
+    prosecuting one of their House, but I have not heard anything more of
+    it--so I suppose it will pass over.
+
+    It formed the great topick of conversation at the Methuen's ball where
+    we were till five this morning--fine, but dull--the best supper I
+    ever saw.
+
+
+The Opera House, at the date of this occurrence, was usually a brilliant
+and attractive scene. The accommodation was divided into seats in the
+gallery, boxes and pit. The latter, where many of the _élite_ were seated,
+was separated from the stage by the orchestra only, which then consisted
+of less than half the number of performers of which it would be composed
+to-day. There were, consequently, no stalls, but a passage led from the
+entrance to the front seats, known as Fop's Alley from the dandies who
+lounged and promenaded there, partly to see and partly to be seen by the
+ladies with whom the house was filled.
+
+The dress of these exquisites was ruled by a punctilious etiquette, and
+their knee-breeches, lace ruffles, diamond buckles, and _chapeaux bras_
+were subject to the strictest regulations and to every fluctuation of the
+prevailing mode. Their gold-handled spy-glasses were impartially directed
+towards the stars upon the stage or to the belles in the neighbouring
+boxes, where, from the grand tier to the roof, was a dazzling display of
+beauty and of fashion. Their excursions to the Green Room were likewise
+interspersed with visits to those amongst the audience to whose boxes they
+had the entree; and as they murmured platitudes to their fair
+acquaintance, they traced languidly the locality of yet other friends whom
+they could visit, whose names were inserted upon the paper fans with which
+each lady was provided, and on which was printed a diagram of the boxes
+and a list of their owners throughout the great building.
+
+But on this momentous night the very atmosphere of the place was
+transformed. At the first token of the coming storm, many of the
+frightened beaux hurriedly vacated their beloved promenade, while certain
+peaceable members of the audience also endeavoured to escape from the
+building. But the majority remained, brazenly instigating or prolonging
+the disgraceful scene which followed. The cause of the sudden riot was
+afterwards related personally by Michael Kelly, the then celebrated actor
+and stage manager.
+
+On account of the length of the arias and ballets, and the impossibility
+of being able to get the lady-singers ready to begin in time, the operas
+seldom finished till after twelve o'clock on Saturdays. The Bishop of
+London had therefore sent to inform Kelly that if the curtain did not drop
+before midnight, the licence should be taken away and the house shut up.
+Against this fiat there was no appeal, and for two or three weeks running,
+Kelly was obliged, on Saturday night, to order the closing of the
+performance in the midst of an interesting scene in the ballet. On these
+two or three occasions this was submitted to with unexpected good-humour
+by the subscribers and the general public, but such a state of affairs
+could not long continue.
+
+"On Saturday, the 15th of June (Oh! fatal night!)," Kelly relates, "the
+demon of discord appeared in all his terrors in this hitherto undisturbed
+region of harmony. The curtain fell before twelve o'clock, just as
+Deshayes and Parisot were dancing a popular _pas de deux_. This was the
+signal for the sports to begin: a universal outcry of `Raise the curtain!
+Finish the ballet!' resounded from all parts of the House; hissing,
+hooting, yelling, (in which most of the ladies of quality joined)
+commenced.
+
+"The ballet master, D'Egville, was called for, and asked 'Why he allowed
+the curtain to drop before the conclusion of the ballet?' He affirmed that
+he had directions from me to do so. I was then called upon the stage, and
+received a volley of hisses, yellings, etc. I stood it all, like brick and
+mortar; but at last, thinking to appease them, I said the truth was that
+an order had been received from the Bishop of London to conclude the
+performance before midnight. Some person from the third tier of the boxes
+who appeared to be a principal spokesman called out--'You know, Kelly,
+that you are telling a lie.' I turned round very coolly and looking up at
+the box from whence the lie came, I said, 'You are at a very convenient
+distance; come down on the stage and use that language again, if you
+dare!'
+
+"This appeal was received by the audience with a loud burst of applause,
+and the universal cry of 'Bravo, Kelly: well replied!--turn him out! Turn
+the fellow out of the boxes!' The gentleman left the box, but did not
+think proper to make his appearance on the stage. This was a lucky turn as
+regarded myself, but did not appease the rioters; for finding their
+mandate for drawing up the curtain and finishing the ballet was not
+obeyed, they threw all the chairs out of the boxes into the Pitt, tore up
+the benches, broke the chandeliers, jumped into the orchestra, smashed the
+pianoforte, and continued their valourous exploits by breaking all the
+instruments of the poor unoffending performers. Having achieved deeds so
+worthy of a polished nation, and imagining no more mischief could be done,
+they quitted the scene of their despoliation with shouts of victory."
+
+There was, however, a finale to the drama which the rioters did not
+expect. Mr Goold, a lawyer and great friend of Kelly, identified some of
+the ringleaders and brought actions against them for damages which cost
+them many hundreds of pounds. The lustres, scenes and musical instruments
+which had been destroyed alone were estimated at £1500. And the
+prosecutions were only withdrawn on the culprits undertaking to apologise
+for their conduct, as well as to recoup all who had suffered through their
+misbehaviour. Meanwhile, many persons were frightened from attending the
+Opera for fear of a repetition of such scenes, and the rival attraction of
+the performances given by the young Roscius prospered in proportion.
+
+This infant prodigy, who was born in 1791, first appeared on the stage at
+the age of eleven, and for over five years personated the most difficult
+characters before enraptured audiences, earning from fifty to seventy-five
+guineas per night, apart from benefits, so that he really made from £4000
+to £5000 a year.
+
+In 1805, the House of Commons adjourned in a body to witness his
+performance of _Hamlet_. Wherever he appeared an excited mob instantly
+gathered; ladies vied with each other in the endeavour to kiss his hand,
+and at the hour when he was expected at the Play House a larger crowd
+assembled than ever collected to see the king. "He and Bonaparte now
+divide the world," wrote Sir William Knightly at this date; "This is, I
+believe, the first instance since the creation, of a child so much under
+age, getting such an income by any ability. I think he is very excellent,
+his gracefulness is unparalleled and the violence of the desire to see him
+either on or off the stage is like a madness in the people."
+
+In the autumn of 1805, Roscius went a tour in the Provinces; in August of
+that year he was in the North, and Mr Smith, the Vicar of Newcastle
+(formerly tutor to the sons of Walter Stanhope) wrote to Mrs Stanhope an
+account of the prodigy's reception there:--
+
+
+    _August 19th_.
+
+    The Young Roscius is engaged here for three nights, and makes his
+    _début_ this evening in the play of "Douglas"; places are as yet
+    allowed to be taken only for the first four nights of his performance,
+    and so great is the expectation of Newcastle, that if the boxes had
+    held double the number of spectators, all the seats would have been
+    taken.
+
+
+But whatever impression the young actor made on the other inhabitants of
+Newcastle, the verdict pronounced by the critical Mr Smith is very
+modified praise:--
+
+
+    For Mrs Stanhope's comfort and the credit and taste of the people of
+    Newcastle, I add that Master Betty has had a very good Benefit,
+    considering the thinness of the Town. I should conjecture the house
+    amounted to about £95; and admitting that he mouths a good deal, is
+    indistinct in his lower tones, and does not pronounce very accurately,
+    I was not displeased with his performance of Warwick in the play "Earl
+    of Warwick."
+
+
+[Illustration: MASTER WILLIAM HENRY WEST BETTY, "THE YOUNG ROSCIUS" _From
+an engraving by J. Ward after J. Northcote._]
+
+Despite this far from enthusiastic verdict, great was the excitement of
+the Stanhope family to hear that the next county to be visited by Roscius
+was Yorkshire, whither they usually returned before Christmas. Ere that
+date, however, their thoughts were much occupied by a double tragedy, the
+death within a month of their friends, Lord and Lady Kinnaird. [18]
+
+
+    _November 2nd, 1805._
+
+    I sent you word of the truly deplorable situation of the two poor
+    Kinnairds; within one month deprived of both parents, and all their
+    brothers in Yeomanry. When the last accounts were received, the
+    present Lord Kinnaird was at Vienna. Lady K. did not, as I sent you
+    word, die in her carriage, tho' in it when she was seized. Lord K. was
+    dining at the Ordinary at Perth races and was seized at dinner, the
+    Uvula descending into the Windpipe. He recovered sufficiently to
+    return into the room, but did not survive many days.
+
+    Lord Primrose [19] from whom the whole detail came, sent us also an
+    account of his gaieties, he and his father had been a tour in Scotland
+    and had not neglected to visit at Drummond Castle with which he was
+    enchanted, which he could not well fail being, as the lady of the
+    Castle [20] is a passionate admirer of it, and takes great pleasure in
+    it and manages much about the Estate.
+
+    We have at last concluded Roscoe's elaborate work, the Life of Leo X,
+    and I do not think I shall ever go through the whole again. The
+    Italian wars are tiresome and to me always most uninteresting. I
+    neither like Leo's principles nor those of his biographer. Parts I
+    shall certainly read again. The style is elegant, and he is an able
+    apologist. I certainly should recommend parts of the work to you; it
+    will be an amusement to you at Christmas.
+
+
+The comment of Mrs Stanhope, as a staunch Tory, upon the famous _Life of
+Leo X._, which was then attracting much attention, affords an amusing
+contrast to the extravagant praise bestowed upon the work by the Whigs of
+the day. Shortly after she had finished its perusal she must have returned
+with her family to Yorkshire, where a fresh excitement awaited her.
+
+"The Gallery at Bretton," she writes, "is to be painted, as well as the
+staircase. The Architect says, he has worked there six months already. We
+are going over to see the result of his labours."
+
+Bretton Park, which was then undergoing such complete renovation, is
+situated about a couple of miles from Cannon Hall, and its owner at this
+date afforded endless food for discussion both in Yorkshire and London.
+
+In a previous volume, [21] reference has been made to the celebrated Mrs
+Beaumont, or, as she was universally called by her generation, Madame
+Beaumont. The natural daughter of Sir Thomas Blackett of Bretton, she had
+been made his heiress, and had married Colonel Beaumont, M.P. for York.
+Although Mrs Stanhope and many others then living could remember her as a
+village girl riding to Penistone every market day to sell butter and eggs,
+Mrs Beaumont successfully ignored any such unpleasant reminiscences on the
+part of those acquainted with her early life, and continued to dominate a
+situation to which, thus heavily handicapped, she might well have
+succumbed.
+
+By dint of an unassailable belief in her wealth and importance, she held
+her own with the county families, whose slights she ignored or repaid with
+interest, and whom she alternately flouted and patronised. At once a
+source of irritation and of amusement to her neighbours, this was
+particularly so in the case of the family at Cannon Hall, whose property
+adjoined her own and who were perpetually annoyed by her interference and
+impertinence. There was unfortunately no boundary line between the
+estates, so Mrs Beaumont used unhesitatingly to inform strangers that all
+the land from the walls of Bretton to those of Cannon Hall was hers; while
+on one occasion, when a dispute arose between herself and Mr Stanhope
+respecting a certain tree, she settled the question in a characteristic
+manner by causing this to be cut down in the night.
+
+The letters of the younger Stanhopes were full of anecdotes of, or
+complaints against their aggressive neighbour. "You can have no idea what
+petty differences my father and Mrs Beaumont have about boundaries and
+rights, which Madam Graspall claims in everything," wrote Edward Stanhope
+on one occasion. "She warned us all not to shoot _anywhere_ on her ground
+or Manors, also from Mr Bosville's, and she at once sent Mr Bird to shoot
+on my father's land. However, we warned _him_ off! "But although the
+sportsman with the inappropriate name met with a warm reception from the
+younger branches of the House of Stanhope, Edward adds, "My mother never
+will take part in these differences but chuses to call and dine. However,
+as she was thus civil, this year Madam has chosen only to leave cards
+without inquiring whether we were at home, and has now sent out cards for
+a party and left us out!" None the less, although later in life, as we
+shall see, the family at Bretton were cleverly satirised by Marianne
+Stanhope, a show of friendship was maintained between the two families,
+which, in the case of the younger generation was very genuine, for the
+daughters of Madame Beaumont were the antithesis of their parent and were
+simple and charming.
+
+Yet Mrs Beaumont was undoubtedly one of the most curious characters of her
+generation, in that, as stated, her self-assurance enabled her to tilt
+successfully against the strong social prejudices of her day and to
+sustain an all but impossible position with undoubted success. While
+Yorkshire and London rang with tales of her effrontery, the imperturbable
+lady, instead of perceiving snubs, dealt them, and in the height of her
+triumphant career enjoyed the wrath of the amazed recipients. Meanwhile,
+although many of the stories related of her were genuine, a few were
+undoubtedly apocryphal, among which must be classed the following, very
+generally believed in the West Riding a century ago.
+
+It was said that being much addicted to gambling and proud of the
+immensity of the wagers which she dared to risk, Madame Beaumont on one
+occasion staked the entire Bretton estate on a game of chance. She lost;
+and her opponent, being apparently as sporting as herself, dared her to
+win it back by riding through Bretton Park and village astride on a
+jackass with her face to the tail The idea of the haughty and pompous lady
+undertaking such a penance must have seemed actually incredible, but
+Madame Beaumont was not readily daunted. To the unbounded surprise of her
+fellow-gamester she accomplished the feat and thus reinstated herself in
+all her former wealth and grandeur.
+
+In Yorkshire, she invariably drove about the country in a carriage drawn
+by four beautiful black horses on which were seated postilions in velvet
+jockey-caps. She owned an extraordinary number of carriages, and directly
+news reached her that any visitor of importance was being entertained at
+Cannon Hall, she would order out her finest equipage and drive over in
+full state with the intention of enticing away the guest whose rank
+attracted her. As usual, no rebuffs discouraged her-she failed to perceive
+them. In London, she strove with equal determination to admit no one to
+her parties who was not the possessor of a title--commoners, however well
+born, were received by her with a scarcely concealed insolence. The big
+yellow coach in which she and her daughters drove about town was a
+familiar sight, making its triumphal progress through the most fashionable
+streets, or drawn up by the Park railings that its occupants might
+converse with the _élite_ among the loungers who thronged around it. For
+those who scoffed at Madame Beaumont courted her diligently on account of
+the excellence of her entertainments, while her luxury and the lavish
+nature of her expenditure formed their favourite topic of jest and gossip.
+Apart from her boundless hospitality to those whom she considered
+sufficiently important to be honoured by it, the sums which she spent on
+the house and stables at Bretton were said to have been enormous; and it
+was doubtless with considerable curiosity that the family at Cannon Hall,
+on their return to Yorkshire, hurried over to inspect the alterations
+which their neighbour was effecting.
+
+
+    _Mrs Spencer-Stanhope to John Spencer-Stanhope._
+    CANNON HALL, _December 4th, 1805._
+
+    We drove to Bretton this morning. We walked all over the gardens and
+    the House. The number of people is enough to distract one Architect.
+    Improvers, Agents, etc., etc., without end. Much is done, and still
+    much remains to be done. Madame B. says she shall quite rejoice to
+    leave the place. The plants appear in great order and are very
+    valuable. The Collection is extremely large, but at present the plants
+    are so very small that to the ignorant they appear of little value--
+    which we know is impossible to be the case.
+
+    Thanks for the account of your studies; as for mine, I cannot give a
+    very favourable report of them. Hume's _Henry 8th_, Warton on Pope,
+    _Cowper's Letters_, and _The Idler_, are the books I have at present
+    in hand; but I have not much leisure. We are at present alone, and
+    with my family round me, I do not wish for company. It is not a bustle
+    of company I _like_, for I do not like the Society of the Country--it
+    is morning, noon, and night.
+
+    Roscius is now performing at Sheffield--I should like to see him
+    there!
+
+
+Life in the country at this date was apparently more exhausting than life
+in London. No moment of the day was sacred from the encroachments of
+visitors. Morning calls were the fashion, and it was held to be impolite
+to refuse admission to friends who, after a long drive over bad roads, not
+only expected the offer of some substantial refreshment, but in view of
+the fatigue they had undergone and their desire that they should be
+sufficiently recovered before undertaking the return journey, were apt to
+outstay their welcome. Of a neighbour, however, who resided beyond the
+distance practicable for a morning call, and with whom Marianne Stanhope
+had apparently been staying at this date, she gives a more enthusiastic
+description. Mr Fawkes of Farnley was the son of her father's old friend
+and neighbour at Horsforth, in the days of his youth, Walter Hawkesworth,
+[22] who took the name of Fawkes on inheriting the property of Farnley
+under the will of a cousin. He was succeeded, in 1792, by this son, Walter
+Ramsden Fawkes, who, in 1806, became Member for York, and later, as his
+father had been before him, High Sheriff for the county. This younger Mr
+Fawkes was a man of exceptional talent, who is best remembered by
+posterity as having been one of the earliest and most munificent patrons
+of J. M. W. Turner, but who was better known to his contemporaries for his
+remarkable oratory. Mr Stanhope relates of him that once at a meeting
+which was convened in Yorkshire to discuss the Peace of Amiens, he made a
+speech so brilliant that the reporters declared themselves unable to take
+it down, so completely were they carried away by its extraordinary
+eloquence and beauty of language.
+
+
+    _Marianne Spencer-Stanhope to John Spencer-Stanhope._
+    _December 4th, 1805._
+
+    You cannot think how charmed I was with Mr Fawkes when we were at
+    Farnley, he is so full of information and talent. He told us two
+    stories which pleased me so much that I will endeavour to relate
+    them--both facts.
+
+    About ten years ago a friend of his was riding thro' a long and gloomy
+    wood in one of the inland counties. As he came to the most intricate
+    part, suddenly his horse made a dead pause, pricked up his ears,
+    snorted, and when spurred, refused to proceed, his eyes all the time
+    upon one spot on the ground. On looking towards this place, conceive
+    the gentleman's horror at beholding a woman's body weltering in blood
+    and a dog licking the wounds. The traveller stood for some minutes
+    petrified with horror, his eyes rivetted on the body, when all at once
+    the dog, perceiving him, set off full speed thro' the thickest part of
+    the wood.
+
+    He was resolved to pursue the animal, and instantly spurring his
+    horse, he followed it through most intricate and unfrequented roads
+    for about ten miles, when he saw it enter a miserable house in a
+    little village. The traveller put up his horse, and entering the same
+    house, desired they would bring him something to drink. There were
+    three ill-looking fellows sitting round a table, under which the dog
+    had lain down. The traveller's object was now to find out to whom the
+    dog belonged, he tried every means, in vain, for about an hour, when,
+    seizing hold of the poker he, under some trivial pretext, gave the dog
+    a violent blow on the head, upon which one of the men with an oath
+    asked him why he did this. The gentleman with much presence of mind,
+    turned the poker promptly against the man who asked the question, and
+    having overpowered him in a pretended quarrel, discovered in his
+    pocket a bag of gold. The rest I do not know, but the man was hanged
+    for the murder in Oxfordshire or Warwickshire about ten years ago. Is
+    it not a curious story?
+
+    Mr Fawkes thinks it would be a fine subject for a picture--the awful
+    gloominess of the wood, the dead body, the dog licking the wounds, the
+    horror of the horse, and the man's countenance as he sat contemplating
+    the scene--he thinks might be wonderfully portrayed on canvas.
+
+    His other story is of a different cast. You have doubtless heard of
+    Edwards the great bookseller. He has quitted his shop in Town, and
+    gone to reside at his native place, Halifax. He is a great miser, but
+    being a man of talent, often visits Mr Fawkes. One day he arrived upon
+    such a miserable hired horse that they resolved to play him a trick.
+    Accordingly, after dinner the Steward came in, with a solemn face,
+    stating that instead of killing a horse that was meant for the dogs,
+    they had shot Mr Edwards's; that it was half eat before they found out
+    the mistake. Edwards was in a dreadful pucker; but at last, having
+    condoled with him, they told him that the only difference between his
+    deceased horse & the one of Mr Fawkes's which they had meant to kill,
+    was that Mr Fawkes's horse had not a white spot on its forehead, & his
+    legs were not white, but that by _painting them_ it would look
+    just the same, and that the people at the livery stable would never
+    find out the mistake. Edwards was highly delighted with this plan,
+    and, would you believe it, he was mean enough to hope by this means to
+    cheat the man. You may picture what fun it was to Mr Fawkes and his
+    servants to see him ride home on his _own_ hired horse all bedaubed
+    with paint; after which he wrote word triumphantly, "The man at the
+    Livery Stables has never found out the trick _we_ have put on him!"
+    How they will all quiz him when finally they tell him the truth!!
+
+    When shall you come to Yorkshire? You will find Frances grown quite a
+    beauty and Philip an adept at _l'art militaire_. I am glad you
+    were so pleased with the young Beaumonts. Their sister rode here the
+    other day, she is a very nice girl and nearly pretty.
+
+    Mr and the Miss Abbotts left us yesterday, after a week's visit They
+    are very musical, but rather too Irish for our taste. To give you some
+    idea of them, they talk of people being _beasts and puking whelps,
+    and brutes_. They frequently _blest their souls and bodies_, and
+    "_talked their fill_" which was not a "_few_." Surely this cannot be
+    elegant, even in Ireland. Have you any Hibernian friends who could
+    inform you on this subject? Adieu, breakfast waits. All here send
+    their love.
+
+
+These Hibernian friends were apparently not the only guests whose
+peculiarities occasioned the Stanhope family some mild surprise. The
+handsome Bishop of Carlisle [23] and his wife, Lady Anne Vernon, were at
+this date frequently at Cannon Hall, and both of them and of their ten
+sons various anecdotes are related. Mr Stanhope, indeed, as Member for
+Carlisle, had long been intimate with the popular prelate, and used to
+tell with what unstinted hospitality Dr Vernon was wont to receive his
+countless visitors at the Palace on public days, also what a picturesque
+sight he then invariably presented in his full-bottomed, snow-white wig
+and bright, purple coat. But the good bishop, though extremely stately and
+impressive of demeanour, was gifted with a keen sense of humour and could
+enjoy a spice of frivolity when he could indulge in it without detracting
+from his dignity. In 1807 he was appointed to the Archbishopric of York,
+and was fond of retailing how a groom belonging to his old friend, Sir
+James Graham, [24] got news of the event and rode hard to Netherby to take
+his master the first tidings. Bursting into the dining-room where a large
+party of guests were assembled, the man exultingly shouted out
+the Information which he was desperately afraid someone else might have
+anticipated--"Sir Jams! Sir Jams! The Bushopp has got his situation!" The
+sense of humour cherished by Dr Vernon seems to have been inherited by his
+sons in a different guise. In two undated letters Marianne relates to her
+brother:--
+
+
+    Here is an anecdote of your friend, the sailor, Mr Vernon, [25] who
+    has got some prize money. He was walking, I believe, a few days since
+    with a gentleman in the streets when they met two men who spoke to him
+    civilly and to whom he returned a very short answer. His companion
+    inquired who they were. He said--"Two men who came over in the ship
+    with me." "Then why were you so cold in your manner to them?" asked
+    his friend. "Why, my dear fellow, because they were convicts returned
+    from transportation!" was Vernon's answer.
+
+
+    _Undated._
+
+    Your ball appears to have been very gay, but you never named your
+    opinion of Miss Monckton. [26] I assure you her sisters at Harrogate
+    were quite belles, the gentlemen made Charades on them. I must close
+    my letter with a story of Mr Vernon, [27] told me by a gentleman we
+    met at Sir Francis Wood's.
+
+    At one of the Lichfield balls, he came in so late that everybody
+    inquired the reason. He said he had been waiting for his tailor while
+    he was sewing the buttons on his etceteras. Each of these buttons
+    contained the picture of a French beauty, and he had the tailor in his
+    room while his hair was being dressed in order to tell him which to
+    place _nearest to his heart_.
+
+    In the course of the evening he told a lady a wondrous story, and upon
+    her looking surprised, he said vehemently--"Upon my honour, Madam, it
+    is true!"--adding gently--"When I say 'Upon my honour' Madam, _never
+    believe me_."
+
+    Adieu, and at least believe me, Your affectionate sister, M. A. S. S.
+
+
+Mr George Vernon, indeed, appears to have been of a somewhat
+impressionable temperament, for a few years later his sister-in-law, Lady
+Granville, writing from Trentham to announce her departure for Texel,
+remarks, "I must take Mr Vernon away to flirt with my beauties there. It
+will not be dangerous for Lady Harriet, and Corise bears a charmed life.
+_He will be proud beyond measure and fancy both are in love with him._"
+Yet with the dawning of 1806, the mention made by the Stanhopes of these
+friends comes in sad contrast to the lively tales respecting them in which
+they were wont to indulge.
+
+As January drew to a close Walter Stanhope received an intimation that the
+illness of William Pitt was likely to have a fatal termination. He
+hastened up to town, and was in time to take a last farewell of his
+friend. [28] His family followed more leisurely, and on the 27th, from
+Grosvenor Square, Mrs Stanhope wrote:--
+
+
+    I cannot say how shocked I was with the melancholy intelligence of
+    Edward Vernon's death, and of the dangerous illness of George. I hear
+    it was the scarlet fever.
+
+
+On the 30th she adds:--
+
+
+    This morning I had particular pleasure in reading the favourable
+    report you sent your father of George Vernon. I now trust he will be
+    restored to his afflicted parents, and great as is their loss they
+    will have much cause for thankfulness to Providence when they reflect
+    how near they were losing both their valuable sons. I hear that the
+    Bishop and Lady Anne are wonderfully composed.
+
+
+But the sinister note with which the year had dawned was unexpectedly
+accentuated. In February she writes:--
+
+
+    What a moment is the present! Every hour brings report of death. In
+    addition to our great National losses is now the death of Lord
+    Cornwallis--a man who was a blessing and ornament to his country.
+    Awful and critical is the present period. Woronzow, the Russian
+    Minister, is likewise dead. He is brother to the Woronzow who is
+    Ambassador here. [29]
+
+    In our Peerage there are also great changes, Lord Coventry, Lord
+    Somers, and it is said, Lord Uxbridge, are _all_ dead.
+
+
+    _Friday._
+
+    It is strange there is not a word mentioned of Lord Uxbridge's death
+    in to-day's paper. The Ministry is still unsettled. Lord Moira is
+    expected in Town to-day. You will be glad to hear Addington is
+    certainly better, and that the family entertain hopes of his recovery.
+
+    Pray inform Glyn I saw Lady and Miss Glyn to-day, the latter in great
+    beauty, just returned from hearing Dr Crotch [30] lecture on Musick at
+    the Institution, where they attend as assiduously as ever.
+
+
+    _Saturday._
+
+    Lo! Lord Coventry is come to life again! I wish it were possible the
+    same could happen to Lord Cornwallis, but alas, that cannot be! Who
+    will succeed him must yet remain a secret.
+
+    Mrs Beaumont was with us last night. Col. Beaumont had in the morning
+    inquired whether Gloucester House was to be sold, as provided they
+    could renew the lease, they would like to have it.
+
+    Egremont House is to be sold on the 13th. My opinion is they will have
+    that. Why not both?
+
+    What think you of Sydney Smith lecturing to small audiences? Such is
+    popular favour. He may thank Westminster for the neglect he now meets
+    with.
+
+    I am reading a book I think you would be amused with. Turner's History
+    of the Anglo Saxons. It contains much to amuse an Antiquarian, and I
+    consider you as having a little taste that way. Lady Glyn, who is
+    with us, is studying Juvenal. Marianne has just lifted her eyes from
+    Euclid to desire her love to you. Anne is employed at her Harp.
+
+
+Meanwhile, the family had resumed the placid routine of their usual life,
+of which, in the next letter, Marianne furnishes her brother with a
+graphic account.
+
+
+    _February 14th, 1806._
+
+    Mamma must, I am sure, have informed you of our various proceedings,
+    in her numerous letters to you, and therefore I will not torment you
+    with a repetition. Our life since we came to London has passed in its
+    usual routine of _faisant bien des riens_; arranging the teaching
+    geniuses, making the usual purchases and visiting the usual set;
+    walking in Hyde Park, and watching the people in the Square. This
+    morning, we have Mr Roussin for the third time, have taken a short
+    turn in the Park, and called on Mrs M. Marriott, and at present Anne
+    is rehearsing to Myer on the harp, who is all astonishment at the
+    progress she has made. We dine and stay the evening at the Dowager
+    Lady Glyn's.
+
+    Anne relishes London vastly, and hitherto the little going out she has
+    had agrees with her. The Opera is her delight. Papa took William
+    there, and I never saw a child so happy. He enjoys going out
+    prodigiously.
+
+    Are you not outrageous at the manner in which Mr Singleton, [31] son-
+    in-law to the great man who died for his country, was turned out? I
+    think it is really a disgrace to the Nation. I should have thought
+    every connection of my Lord Cornwallis would have been distinguished
+    with honours, instead of which he is turned out of Office as soon as
+    the account arrived of his Father-in-Law's death.
+
+    The papers have indeed been in a most bloody humour, they have
+    unjustly killed Lord Coventry, Lord Uxbridge, Lord Harrowby, and it
+    was astonishingly reported that Lord Melville had destroyed himself,
+    when he was quite well. It really was curious to hear people inquiring
+    in the most melancholy tone, what was the cause of such a Lord's
+    death, and the next person announcing merrily that he was perfectly
+    well! Lord Kinnaird is expected home daily with the transports.
+
+    We heard the other day that the Princesses had received a letter from
+    the Duchess of Wurtemburg [32] since she had seen the Empress of
+    France. Upon entering, the Duchess said she felt something like
+    _effroi_, which Madame Bonaparte took for _Froid_ and she threw over
+    her shoulders a most beautiful shawl she had been wearing herself. The
+    Emperor was very polite and never named England or the English. He
+    brought a most superb _présent de noces_ for the Princess of
+    Wurtemburg who is going to be married.
+
+    I wish also to tell you a story I heard of Erskine. He was dining one
+    evening with a large party at Carlton House. The conversation turned
+    upon Sir Robert Calder's sentence. [33] Erskine said, to set a pack of
+    yellow Admirals who had never seen active service to judge a brave and
+    distinguished Officer was horrible. "They might as well," said he,
+    "_set a parcel of Attorney's clerks to judge Erskine_!" Is not
+    this _Chancellor Ego_?--This was just before he was Chancellor.
+    His wife died a short time ago, and his daughter wrote word to a
+    friend that had her father known how soon her mother would die, he
+    would not have behaved better to her! They must all be mad, I think.
+
+
+Thomas Erskine, the third son of the 10th Earl of Buchan, was, in 1806,
+appointed Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain and elevated to the
+Peerage the same year by the title of Baron Erskine. Brilliant, eloquent
+and witty, from his habit of invariably talking about himself and his
+concerns, he was given the name of Chancellor Ego. Owing to his being of
+opposite politics, the Stanhopes were disposed to view him somewhat
+disparagingly, and owned, indeed, but slight acquaintance with him till
+years afterwards when they met him at Holkham. It was on the occasion of a
+dinner-party in London, however, that Lord Erskine once told John Stanhope
+the following story, and which the latter used to recount as an instance
+of the Chancellor's genuine kindliness of heart.
+
+"In the days of my youth", Lord Erskine related, "I arrived in Edinburgh
+one morning after a lengthy absence from Scotland, feeling delighted at
+the prospect of re-visiting my old haunts and looking up my old friends. I
+went first to a bookseller's shop which I was fond of visiting, and as I
+was leaving it, to my surprise and pleasure I encountered an old butler
+who had been for many years in my father's service. I noticed, however, to
+my regret, that the old man looked greatly changed. He was pale, worn and
+shadowy as a ghost. Moreover, when I greeted him genially he showed little
+excitement at the unexpected encounter. 'I came to meet your honour,' he
+said, very gravely, 'I want to solicit your interference with my Lord to
+recover a sum of money due to me which the steward at the last settlement
+would not pay.'
+
+"Struck both by his manner and his unaccountable knowledge of my
+movements, I decided to question him further respecting the cause of his
+evident distress. Stepping back into the shop, therefore, I invited him to
+follow me, explaining that there we could discuss the matter privately.
+When, however, I turned round to hear what he had to tell me, I found that
+he was gone, nor, on returning to the door, could I see him anywhere in
+the street.
+
+"Unable to account for his abrupt departure, and anxious to help him if it
+lay in my power, I recalled that his wife had a little shop in the town,
+and I succeeded in tracing my way thither. Judge of my astonishment on
+finding the old woman in widow's mourning, and on learning from her that
+her husband had been dead for some months! Still more was I startled upon
+hearing that on his death-bed he had repeatedly told her that my father's
+steward had wronged him of some money, but that when Master Tom returned
+he would see her righted. Needless to say, as speedily as possible I
+accomplished the old man's dying wish which had been so strangely brought
+to my knowledge."
+
+The next mention of Chancellor Ego which occurs in Mrs Stanhope's
+correspondence is not so complimentary:--
+
+
+    _June 3rd, 1806._
+
+    Your sisters are now well, and propose being very gay. To-morrow, in
+    the morning, we attend the Drawingroom, after which your father dines
+    at what is called Mr Pitt's Dinner, & where the attendance is expected
+    to be very large. In the evening, I am to have a few friends, amongst
+    them Lady C. Wortley and Mr Mercer, who sing together most
+    beautifully; after which I shall go to Mr Hope's, the finest house in
+    London, with respect to taste and _vertu_.
+
+    We have now fine weather. You would delight in Kensington Gardens, or
+    perhaps you would prefer joining the impertinent Loungers who sit on
+    Horseback, too lazy to join the walkers. The political world is at
+    present in a strange situation. Should Lord Melville be acquitted he
+    will probably take an active part in Indian affairs. There is a
+    canvass against him, but I trust British Peers are not to be
+    influenced.
+
+    I hope our _Dancing Chancellor_ will act properly as far as he is
+    concerned, but I believe he is now referred to the House of Peers. If
+    the intelligence has not yet reached you, you will wonder at the
+    expression "Dancing Chancellor." Know then that at Sheridan's ball the
+    Lord High Chancellor of England [34] danced with Miss Drummond after
+    having dined and sat too long with a party where was the Prime
+    Minister, [35] the Chancellor of the Exchequer [36] and a greater
+    Personage than any. They contrived to set Somerset House on fire
+    _twice_, and, after dancing, the head of the Law amused himself
+    with rowing on the Thames.--So much for the Rulers of this Land!
+
+
+Thomas Hope of Deepdene, Surrey, and Duchess Street, Portland Place, who
+is mentioned in the above letter, was a member of an eminent commercial
+family, of Scottish descent, generally known as the Hopes of Amsterdam.
+Having inherited an immense fortune at the age of eighteen, he became an
+early patron of literature and the arts. Flaxman owed much to his support,
+Thorwaldsen and Chantrey to his recognition of their genius early in life.
+Crazy also about architecture, Mr Hope travelled all over the world,
+studying famous buildings and collecting, meanwhile, priceless treasures
+in pictures, statues, and furniture, so that on his return he
+reconstructed his home in London, and replenished it with beautiful
+possessions. In 1805 he published a handsome volume on Household
+Furniture, illustrated by many drawings of the fine specimens in his own
+house. He afterwards wrote other works, but is most celebrated as the
+writer of a romance, _Anastasius_, the authorship of which was at one time
+attributed to Byron, and of a scientific work, _The Origin and Prospects
+of Man_, which may be considered the parent of the well-known _Vestiges of
+Creation_, and which formed the basis of one of Carlyle's most remarkable
+essays.
+
+In 1806, he was, however, still looked upon as a mere superficial
+dilettante, though, on account of the _objets d'art_ which he owned,
+everyone was eager to gain access to his house. This desire was
+accentuated with regard to the party which he gave that year, it being the
+first for which he had issued invitations since his marriage, in the
+previous April, with Louisa, the youngest daughter of the Right Rev. Lord
+Decies, Archbishop of Tuam.
+
+
+    _Mrs Spencer-Stanhope to John Spencer-Stanhope._
+    _June 6th, 1806._
+
+    Had you been here on the Birthday night, you would have pronounced us
+    of the Wronghead Family, for we had nothing but _contretemps_ from the
+    moment we set out for the Drawingroom till the next day rose upon us.
+
+    At three we set out in wind and rain for St James's, & drove down
+    Grosvenor Street; but as there was a string of carriages from Oxford
+    Street, to get in was impossible. We therefore turned about and tried
+    Dover Street, but there we were not permitted to go. At last, after
+    much whipping and much delay, we were admitted into the string in
+    Albemarle Street, and in process of time reached St James's safely and
+    proceeded as far as the Guard Room.--Further, we never arrived! All
+    the people who came out of the Drawingroom looked expiring, and begged
+    we would not attempt to go in, as they were almost dead, and many had
+    fainted. Very soon we found the Queen had taken herself off, not
+    having spoken to above one third of the Company. Notwithstanding that
+    we had only our labour for our trouble, we were there till half past
+    seven before we could get our carriage.
+
+    In the evening I expected Mr Mercer and Lady C. Wortley to sing, and
+    the Eyres. All came but Mr Mercer, the songster,--another
+    disappointment! They stayed with me till half past eleven, when we set
+    out for Mr T. Hope's rout, but after waiting in the street _till
+    near one_, we found to get in was impossible. Therefore very
+    reluctantly we turned about and came home. Did you ever hear of such
+    disappointments? However, we are all quite well, which probably would
+    not have been the case had we done all we intended.
+
+    The Wit at the Drawingroom was to call it the _levée en masse_.
+    London does not abound in wit. The only things of the sort I have
+    heard are what has been said about Mrs Fox's Ball. The first is given
+    to Fox himself who was asked what it was like, and referred the
+    inquirer to the 22nd Chapter of the First Book of Samuel at the second
+    verse, [37] where is to be found a very just description of it, tho'
+    probably you would not have thought to have looked at your Bible for
+    an account of Mrs Fox's Ball. The other was a _bon mot_ of your
+    friend, Lyttleton [38] who said, "There was all the world, but little
+    of his wife!"
+
+    Last night I was at Mrs Law's, a very pleasant Assembly. Osborne
+    Markham [39] was flirting with his intended, Lady Mary Thynne, a
+    pretty-looking woman.
+
+
+Mr Lyttleton, whose _bon mot_ respecting Mrs Fox's ball so pleased Mrs
+Stanhope, was a constant source of amusement to her and her daughters.
+Earlier that same year, on March 4th, she had written:--
+
+
+    I suppose you saw the address which Mr Lyttleton made to the
+    Freeholders of Worcestershire? It was very short & I think
+    comprehended in these words:--"_Be assured that the Hon. William
+    Henry Lyttleton will offer himself at the next county Meeting; if the
+    Freeholders will be true to their interest & to the welfare of the
+    country._"
+
+    This short address was posted in the corner of the newspaper. Now you
+    must know that his father knows nothing about his offering himself;
+    and this was printed in the corner of the newspaper that his sister
+    might cut it out before his father saw it! I understand that he has
+    the majority on the Poll at present & that he made a speech of above
+    two hours in length.
+
+
+In an undated letter she subsequently relates:--
+
+
+    Have you heard the latest story of our friend Lyttleton? It appears
+    that at some large party he was seated at the card table next to Mrs
+    Beaumont who expressed herself very dissatisfied with the smallness of
+    the stakes. "In the great houses which I frequent," she explained
+    grandly to Lyttleton, "we constantly play for _paper_." "Madam,"
+    said Lyttleton in a solemn whisper, "In the little houses which
+    _I_ frequent, we play for note paper."
+
+
+Meanwhile another event had been arranged to take place on that Birthday
+night which for Mrs Stanhope proved so unfortunate, and had been announced
+by her so early as May 30th previously:--
+
+
+    On the Birthday, all the friends of Mr Pitt have agreed to dine
+    together instead of on _his_ birthday, which is just past. The
+    first idea rose from the Opposition wishing to dine together on the
+    4th, but many objected. They then determined to celebrate Mr Pitt's
+    birthday on that day. Your father means to be there.
+
+
+"Pitt dinners," as they were subsequently termed, forthwith became an
+annual institution, and were held in all parts of the United Kingdom. John
+Stanhope, who, in 1806, was staying in Edinburgh, attended one in that
+city, and eight days later was invited to be present at another public
+banquet designed to be commemorative of a very different event.
+
+Throughout the months of May and June, public attention had been absorbed
+by the famous trial of Lord Melville. So early as May 6th, Mrs Stanhope
+had written delightedly:--"You will be glad to hear that the cross-
+examination of Mr Trotter went in fayour of Lord Melville who looked
+perfectly composed the whole time." But not till the 12th did the end
+arrive.
+
+
+    _June 13th, 1806._
+
+    Your sisters both attended the trial and had the gratification of
+    hearing Lord Melville acquitted. The Prince had the good sense not to
+    vote. The Court was as full as possible & when the two youngest Peers
+    voted on the first charge & said Guilty, there was something like a
+    hiss from the House of Commons. I am glad it is over & I hope the
+    country will not be put to the expense of any more trials of the same
+    kind for many years. The Princes went and shook Lord Melville by the
+    hand as soon as it was over.
+
+
+Thus it was that eight days after the Pitt dinner, Edinburgh felt itself
+called upon to give another banquet, designed to celebrate the joyful
+event of Lord Melville's acquittal. It was likewise proposed to illuminate
+the city, but the Solicitor-General (Chief Magistrate in the absence of
+the Lord Advocate) prohibited such a demonstration. He was, in
+consequence, nicknamed, "The Extinguisher General," and the friends of
+Lord Melville, to the number of five hundred, consoled themselves by
+singing a song written by Walter Stanhope for the occasion, and entitled,
+"A Health to Lord Melville." Each of the eight verses of which it is
+composed proposes a toast that was staunchly drunk by all present; but
+perhaps those in honour of the volunteers and of the luckless Princess of
+Wales, afterwards Queen Caroline, are the most significant.
+
+  "Since here we are set in array round the table,
+  Five hundred good fellows well met in a hall,
+  Come listen, brave boys, and I'll sing as I'm able
+  How innocence triumphed, and Pride got a fall;
+    But push round the claret,
+    Come, Stewards, don't spare it;
+  With rapture you'll drink to the toasts that I give.
+    Here, Boys,
+    Off with it merrily,
+  Melville for ever and long may he live!
+
+  What _were_ the Whigs doing, when, boldly pursuing,
+  Pitt banished Rebellion, gave treason a sting?
+  Why, they swore on their honour, for Arthur O'Connor
+  And fought hard for Despard, 'gainst Country & King!
+    Well then, we knew, Boys,
+    Pitt and Melville were true Boys,
+  And tempest was raised by the friends of Reform.
+    Ah, woe!
+    Weep for his memory;
+  Low lies the Pilot that weathered the storm. [40]
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  They would turn us adrift, tho', rely, Sir, upon it,
+  Our own faithful Chronicles warrant us that
+  The free Mountaineer, and his bonny brown bonnet
+  Have oft gone as far as the Regular's hat.
+    We laugh at their taunting,
+    For all we are wanting
+  Is licence our life for our country to give;
+    Off with it merrily,
+    Horse, Foot and Artillery,
+  Each loyal Volunteer--long may he live!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  And then our Revenue, Lord knows how they viewed it,
+  While each petty Statesman talked lofty and big,
+  And the Beer tax was weak as if Windham had brewed it,
+  And the Pig Iron Duty a shame to a pig;
+    In vain is their boasting,
+    Too surely there's wanting
+  What judgment, experience and steadiness give;
+    Come, Boys,
+    Drink about merrily,
+  Health to sage Melville, and long may he live!
+
+  Our King too,--our Princess--I dare not say more, Sir,
+  May Providence watch them with mercy and might;
+  While there's one Scottish arm that can wag a day more, Sir,
+  They shall ne'er want a friend to stand up for their right.
+    Be d--d he that dare not,
+    For my part I'll spare not
+  To beauty afflicted a tribute to give!
+    Fill it up steadily,
+    Drink it off readily,
+  Here's to the Princess and long may she live!
+
+  And since we must not set Auld Reekie [41] in glory,
+  And make her brown visage as light as her heart,
+  Till each man illumine his own upper storey
+  Nor _Law_ trash nor Lawyer shall force us to part.
+    In Grenville and Spencer
+    And some few good men, Sir,
+  High talents and honour slight difference forgive,
+    But the Brewer we'll hoax;
+    Tally ho! to the Fox;
+  And drink Melville for ever as long as we live!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+1805-1810
+
+LETTERS OF AN EXILE
+
+
+To a man far distant from the memorable scene of Lord Melville's trial,
+the news of the verdict, sent by Mrs Stanhope, must have caused peculiar
+satisfaction.
+
+Among her numerous correspondents at this date, probably few had been more
+frequently in her thoughts during the past two years than her kinsman,
+Cuthbert Collingwood. From her earliest days, indeed, he had occupied a
+certain prominence in her horizon. Her mother, Winifred Collingwood, had
+belonged to another branch of the Northumberland family which owned a
+common ancestor with that of the afterwards famous Admiral, [1] and this
+tie had been strengthened rather than diminished throughout the passing of
+generations by the propinquity of the two branches.
+
+In the commencement of his naval career, Cuthbert Collingwood, on board
+the _Lennox_, had attracted the hearty approbation of Mrs Stanhope's other
+relation, Admiral Roddam, [2] the grand old veteran who had been in the
+service about thirty-seven years before his young neighbour from
+Northumberland had become his midshipman. In 1787 he won as warm an
+appreciation from her husband when he stayed at Cannon Hall and first made
+the acquaintance of Walter Stanhope, who then formed for him a lifelong
+friendship. During the all-too-brief period when Collingwood was on shore,
+there occur entries in Stanhope's Journal recording many a quiet rubber of
+whist played with the man whose harsh fate was to render such moments of
+happy social intercourse a precious recollection through long, lonely
+years. Returned to his post, Captain Collingwood's thoughts clung to that
+family circle he had left-to the man who basked in the happiness of a home
+life from which he, personally, was debarred. Year by year Collingwood
+kept his kinsman Stanhope in touch with all his movements. Year by year,
+Stanhope and his wife responded, supplying the absent seaman with news of
+the chief events which were happening in the political world at home. And
+the letters from Collingwood, with their stern grip of a strenuous life,
+with their deep underlying tragedy of a profound loneliness, afford a
+curious contrast to the shallow utterances of other correspondents. Over
+the intervening miles of ocean, from that isolated soul on guard, they
+reached the family in Grosvenor Square, bearing, so it seemed, something
+of the freshness and the force of the wind-rocked brine which they had
+traversed. Into that restless routine of London life, they carried the
+echo of a distant clash of arms, the mutterings of a brooding storm. They
+told how the sea-dogs upon the alert were playing a desperate game of
+tactics with their country's foe, the outcome of which none could foretell
+and the chances of which few dared to contemplate. And in the minds of
+those to whom they were addressed they awoke an answering apprehension,
+which entered into the heart of their home-life, for one of that circle,
+little William Stanhope, was shortly to join his great kinsman at sea and
+to play his small part in the fierce ocean drama which was going forward.
+
+
+    _Captain Collingwood to Walter Spencer-Stanhope_.
+    _"Dreadnought" off_ CADIZ, _July 10th, 1805._
+
+    I shall have great pleasure in taking your young sailor into my care,
+    whenever you chuse he should come--and you may assure yourself that I
+    will be as regardful of everything that relates to him as you yourself
+    could be. Considering how uncertain my situation is or where I may be
+    at any particular period, had I known your intention in March, I
+    should have recommended that he embarked then, and made his first
+    essay in a warm country and far from home....
+
+    When I sailed from England I had under my command a fine fleet, but
+    the change of circumstances since that has both altered my destination
+    and reduced my force. I am now blocking up the ports here. On my
+    arrival I found the Spaniards on the point of sailing, waiting only
+    for the Carthagena Squadron to join them, and _they_ were actually at
+    sea, in their way down, but recalled by a dispatch boat on our
+    appearance off the coast. We never know whether we go too fast or too
+    slow--had I been a few days later, we should probably have met them at
+    sea with their ten sail, and made a good day of it.
+
+
+And he proceeds to append a comment on the news of Lord Melville's
+impeachment which had just reached him from Mrs Stanhope.
+
+
+    Oh! how I lament the fall of Lord Melville! But I never can consent to
+    rank him amongst the herd of peculators who prey upon the publick. He
+    has been negligent in the economy and management of his office--he has
+    paid too little attention to the management of his own money affairs.
+    Had he been avaricious and greedy of wealth how many years has he been
+    in official situations wherein he might have enriched himself--and is
+    yet as poor as poverty, for I have it from good authority that his
+    patent of Nobility was several months in office before he could raise
+    £2000 to pay the fees of it, and Melville Castle must have been sold
+    if his son had not taken it.
+
+    Then the virulence with which he has been pursued from all quarters--
+    not merely submitting his case to the calm deliberations of
+    Parliament, or the lawful decisions of Courts of Justice, but made a
+    subject for Pot house discussion, where the snobby meetings of half-
+    drunk mechanicks have been convened to pass judgment on a man whose
+    whole life has been devoted to his country's service, and whose
+    conduct has been unimpeached till now. It is disgraceful to the
+    justice of the country, for it matters little what may be the decision
+    of a Court hereafter, when a man is already condemned in the publick
+    opinion. Those to whom Lord Melville was before indifferent and those
+    who blame the negligence of his office, have acquired a sort of
+    respect for his misfortunes, in being the object of such a factious
+    hue & cry.
+
+    I was very sorry to hear Mr Collingwood [3] had been so indifferent in
+    his health last spring, but I hope the warm weather will be of service
+    to him--the last I heard from his home he was better, I beg my best
+    and kindest regards to Mrs Stanhope & all your family and wishing you
+    & them health and every possible happiness.
+
+    I am, dear Sir,
+    Your faithful & most humble servant,
+    CUTHBERT COLLINGWOOD.
+
+
+    _The Same._
+    _Sept 23rd._
+
+    It is a long time since I have heard from England.... I have here a
+    very laborious and a very anxious time. You will have heard from my
+    wife, perhaps the narrow escape I have had from being cut off by the
+    combined fleet. At that time I had only three ships with me and a
+    frigate--they had 36 sail, and had they managed their affairs with the
+    least ingenuity, I should have found it a very difficult thing to have
+    fought my way through them, but we made good use of their want of
+    skill and after seeing them safe into Port, we continued on our
+    Station to blockade the town and prevent all commerce.
+
+    I hope the Admiralty will give me credit for maintaining my station in
+    the neighbourhood of so powerfull a fleet, for I never quitted them
+    for a day, though I had but four ships; but now that I am reinforced
+    by the squadron under Sir R. Calder, I have a fine fleet of 26 ships
+    of line and some small frigates; and hope every good--and with God's
+    blessing with me will do a good day's work for my country, whenever
+    they give me an opportunity. That done, I shall be glad to retire to
+    my home & enjoy the comforts of my family, for my strength fails, and
+    the mind being on the full stretch, sinks and needs relief.
+
+    I have a gentleman from Newcastle for my Captain, but he is a man of
+    no talent as a sea-officer and of little assistance to me.
+
+    How glad I shall be to get to my garden again at Morpeth and quitting
+    the foe, see for the rest of my life only friends about me.
+
+
+Ever through the thunder of cannon or the stress of a watch which ceased
+neither day nor night, through the threatenings of death or the
+allurements of fame, one thought was paramount in Collingwood's mind. A
+yearning for a peaceful garden he had left behind--to him a veritable
+garden of Paradise--for the innocent prattle of his children, the sweet
+companionship of his wife. A dream of reunion tormented and sustained him.
+"Whenever I think how I am to be happy again my thoughts carry me back to
+Morpeth," he wrote. Incapable of a dramatic appeal to sympathy, his
+letters to Stanhope, in their strong self-repression, breathe a longing
+the more profound. For that Paradise of his dreams Collingwood would have
+joyfully bartered fame, emolument, all that the world could offer, had not
+duty claimed from him a prolonged sacrifice of all which he held dear.
+Whether, if he could have looked on through the few remaining years of his
+life and have foreseen the end of that longing and those dreams, his weary
+spirit could still have borne the burden laid upon it, none may say. But
+buoyed up by that ever-present hope he faced the strain of his eternal
+watching with an unflinching courage, which may have been occasionally
+strengthened by a recollection which visited him, and the remarkable
+circumstances of which cannot be ignored.
+
+For the week before the war had broken out, Collingwood, in the peace of
+that distant Northumberland home, had been elated by a vision which
+contained for him a strange element of great promise. In his sleep he had
+seen with extraordinary vividness the English Fleet in battle array; the
+details of their position were clear to him, and, later, he beheld an
+engagement in progress the incidents of which were extraordinarily
+realistic. Finally, the glory of a great victory came upon him, to fill
+his waking moments with delight and haunt his recollection. So minute, so
+circumstantial had been the particulars of the dream, that, profoundly
+impressed at the time, he had related them in full detail to his wife. In
+much imaginative, Collingwood was not without the vein of superstition
+which seems inseparable from his profession, and he had the simple faith
+of a child. He believed in the ultimate fulfilment of that vision and the
+thought pursued him.
+
+Meanwhile, his letter to Stanhope of September 23rd, reached its
+destination at a moment of increased national suspense. Napoleon's
+elaborately planned ruse to entice Nelson to the West Indies had succeeded
+only too well. And while Nelson sought his decoy Villeneuve off Barbadoes,
+the French Admiral, as pre-arranged, was hastening back to effect, in the
+absence of his dupe, the release of the French Fleet blockaded by
+Cornwallis. But luck and wit saved England. Nelson chanced upon a ship
+which had seen the returning enemy; he succeeded in warning the Admiralty
+in time; Villeneuve, intercepted by Calder, suffered an ignominious
+defeat, and Napoleon consummated his own disaster by the tactlessness of
+his wrath against his unfortunate admiral who had thus succumbed to a
+force inferior in numbers. Villeneuve, stung by the bitter taunt of
+cowardice, rashly left Cadiz to fight Nelson--a manoeuvre which, at best,
+could little advance the cause of the Emperor, which, as the event proved,
+courted a catastrophe out of all proportion to any possible gain, and
+which was undertaken by the luckless Frenchman for no other end save that
+of disproving the imputation of cowardice under which he smarted.
+
+Whether in the placing of the ships at the Battle of Trafalgar that vision
+of Collingwood played any part, history will never know--whether it must
+be regarded by the curious as in itself prophetic, or merely as a chance
+occurrence, the suggestion of which was by chance adopted. Yet it is
+obvious that the relation between this remarkable dream and its fulfilment
+can scarcely be viewed merely as an interesting coincidence. The inference
+is too strong that in any consultation between Collingwood and Nelson with
+regard to the order of battle the recollection of the scheme of attack
+which had so impressed the former must--even if unconsciously--have
+coloured the advice given by him to Nelson. Moreover such reflections give
+rise to a further curious speculation. To Nelson posterity is wont to
+ascribe the entire merit of the order of battle on that memorable day; he,
+it is held, was the active genius who conceived the plan of action,
+Collingwood was the acquiescer, a passive though able coadjutor. Yet
+Collingwood himself, the most modest of men and the least likely to make
+an erroneous statement with regard to such a question of fact, expressly
+asserts the contrary. "In this affair," he says, "Nelson did nothing
+without my counsel, _we made our line of battle together_ and concerted
+the attack." [4] On this point he also insists, in writing to Stanhope, to
+whom, as to his wife, he incidentally recalled the circumstances of his
+having foreseen the battle in a dream at Morpeth the week before the war
+broke out.
+
+Throughout this period, in England, news was awaited with increasing
+anxiety. On October 31st, Mrs Stanhope wrote to her son John:--
+
+
+    The Papers are now quite alarming. I fear it is up with the Austrians
+    for the Russians cannot now join them. This horrid Bonaparte is a
+    scourge to the whole world. It is wonderful with what enthusiasm he
+    seems to inspire his men. They go where he likes and accomplish all
+    his plans.
+
+    Your father has written again to Admiral Collingwood to inform him
+    that if he does not return home, which, as he has changed his flag
+    from the Dreadnought, is not very probable, that he will send William
+    to him in the spring. Admiral Roddam, tho' he prefers a frigate,
+    approves of his going with Admiral C. as he is both a good man & an
+    excellent sailor, & will scrupulously perform that which he promises
+    to undertake.
+
+
+    _Nov. 2nd, 1805._
+
+    Not only Glyn, but all of us must shake with the horrid German
+    intelligence. I have little faith in the hope the papers hold out that
+    we may yet hear of a victory gained by the united Armies of Russia and
+    Austria--a few days must relieve us from our present state of
+    uncertainty--though I fear not of anxiety. How thankful I am that I
+    have no near connection going on the cruel expedition at this time.
+
+
+A few days, and the great news came, with its conflicting elements of
+glory and of grief.
+
+
+    _Walter Spencer-Stanhope to John Spencer-Stanhope._
+
+    My Dear John,
+
+    It is impossible to begin on this day any letter to any person without
+    most joyfully and most thankfully celebrating the glorious victory of
+    Lord Nelson. I cannot say that my triumph is so much alloyed as that
+    of many others seems to be and yet I trust I have as grateful a mind
+    and as high an admiration for Military renown as another man. No, it
+    is that I think that Nelson's glorious death is more to be envied than
+    lamented, and that to die wept by the land we perished for is what he
+    himself would have wished.
+
+    Would to God my little William had been on board Collingwood's ship on
+    that glorious day, whatever might have been the risque!
+
+
+    _The Same to the Vicar of Newcastle._
+
+    Although the death of Nelson is in my judgment more to be envied than
+    lamented, yet England secured by the loss of his life ought to feel,
+    bewail & reward it as far as posthumous honours and benefits to his
+    family and general Regret can do it. The late Victory affords peculiar
+    satisfaction to me from the brilliant Part that Admiral Collingwood
+    has had in it & the exquisitely good account he has given of it in his
+    Dispatches.
+
+
+    _Mrs Spencer-Stanhope to John Spencer-Stanhope._
+    CANNON HALL, _November 9th, 1805._
+
+    Your father said he should write you a long letter this morning.... No
+    longer have we cause to talk and grieve about the Austrians, we may
+    now talk and rejoice at our glorious, and at the moment, unexpected
+    victory. What a day it was! but in the midst of our rejoicings we must
+    pause to shed a tear over the Hero who fell, though as every Hero must
+    wish to fall. Admiral Collingwood's dispatches do him honour, he at
+    all times writes well and this was a subject to draw out all his
+    powers and show the Feeling and Goodness of his Heart. Your father
+    wishes William had been with him. I am satisfied as it is!
+
+
+    _The Same._
+    _November 14th, 1805._
+
+    Your letter my dear John, arrived on Sunday, after mine was sealed,
+    and as the carriage was at the door to take us to church, I had not
+    time to open it, to add my thanks for your letter of Congratulations
+    on our great and glorious Victory. What has followed since, at any
+    other time would have been considered great, at all times must be
+    thought gallant.
+
+    Yesterday letters from Barnsley, reporting the capture of the
+    Rochefort Squadron, were so firmly believed that the Bells were
+    ringing.
+
+    The tears of the Nation must be shed over the brave Nelson, but his
+    death was that of a Hero, and such he truly was. The Dispatches do
+    Admiral Collingwood great honor, and his bravery is already rewarded
+    with a peerage. I had a letter from his wife to-day, who says he wrote
+    in the greatest grief for his friend. She had not heard since the
+    Dispatches were sent, when the Fleet was in a miserable state, she, of
+    course, under great anxiety. The Euryalus has, I hope, brought further
+    accounts. Probably the funeral of Lord Nelson will be Publick--what a
+    thrilling sight it will be. Surely some mark of honour will be
+    bestowed upon his Widow. At present his Brother's wife has place of
+    her, and she has not been mentioned.
+
+
+    _Marianne Spencer-Stanhope to John Spencer-Stanhope._
+
+    I have made a vow not to name Lord Nelson or the Victory or Victories
+    in any of my letters, but postscripts are excluded. Every letter Mamma
+    has had has been full of nothing else; if care is not taken, it will
+    be like the invasion, a constant topick when you have nothing to say.
+    --I think it is a great proof of genius to have written a letter
+    without naming the event. What say you to Lord Collingwood? I would
+    rather have his patent of nobility than the longest pedigree in the
+    kingdom. I should glory more in his title than in the Duke of
+    Norfolk's.
+
+    Mamma had a letter from Lady Collingwood to-day, still very anxious
+    for his safety, as she had heard nothing since the Victory, and his
+    ship was then much disabled. He had written to her Lord Nelson's death
+    was a most severe blow to him, for he was his greatest friend. I
+    almost wish dear William had been with him.
+
+
+    _November 20th., 1805._
+    FARNELY.
+
+    We begin to be impatient for more news. Think of poor Lady
+    Collingwood--she was in a shop in Newcastle when the Mail arrived
+    covered with ribbands, but the coachman with a black hat-band. He
+    immediately declared the great victory, but that Lord Nelson and all
+    the Admirals were killed. She immediately fainted. When she heard from
+    Lord Collingwood first he wrote in the greatest grief for his friend,
+    and said the fleet was in a miserable state. Perhaps that may bring
+    him home.
+
+    Are you not pleased with his being created a Peer in so handsome a
+    manner. Why has not Lady Nelson some honour conferred upon her? Surely
+    the Widow of our Hero ought not to be so neglected.
+
+    Yesterday we drank to the immortal memory of our Hero. Mr Fawkes has
+    got a very fine print of him.
+
+    The clock strikes ten which announces breakfast, therefore adieu, my
+    dear John.
+
+
+The wish expressed in the last letter that more tidings would arrive
+respecting the great event which had taken place, was speedily gratified.
+A letter written by Collingwood to Sir Peter Parker on November 1st, was
+sent _via_ Stanhope for his perusal, and he preserved a copy of it.
+
+
+    _Lord Collingwood to Sir Peter Parker._
+    _November 1st., 1805._
+
+    You will have seen from the public accounts that we have fought a
+    great battle, and had it not been for the fall of our noble friend who
+    was indeed the glory of England and the admiration of all who saw him
+    in battle, your pleasure would have been perfect.... It was a severe
+    action, no dodging or manoeuvres. They formed their line with nicety
+    and waited our attack with composure. They did not give a gun until we
+    were close to them & we began first. Our ships were fought with a
+    degree of gallantry which would have warmed your heart. Everybody
+    exerted themselves and a glorious day they made of it, people who
+    cannot comprehend how complicated an affair a battle is at sea and
+    judge of an officer's conduct by the number of sufferers in his ship,
+    often do him a wrong, and though there will appear great difference in
+    the loss of men, all did admirably well; and the conclusion was good
+    beyond description, eighteen hulks of the enemy lying amongst the
+    British fleet without a stick standing, and the French Achilles
+    burning.--But we were close to the rocks of Trafalgar [5] & when I
+    made the signal for anchoring, many ships had their cable shot & not
+    an anchor ready.
+
+    Providence did for us what no human effort could have done, the wind
+    shifted a few points and we drifted off the land. The next day bad
+    weather began and with great difficulty we got our captured ships
+    towed off the land. The second, Gravina, who is wounded, made an
+    effort to cut off some of the ships with a squadron of 9 ships with
+    which he retired. In the night the gale increased and two of his
+    ships, the "_Mayo_" of 100 guns and "_Indomitable_" of 80 were
+    dismasted. The "_Mayo_" anchored amongst our hulks and surrendered;
+    the "_Indomitable_" lost on the shore and I am told that every soul
+    perished. Among such numbers it is difficult to ascertain what we have
+    done, but I believe the truth is 23 sail of the line fell into our
+    hands of which three got in again in the gale of wind....
+
+    The storm being violent and many of our own ships in most perilous
+    situations, I found it necessary to order the captures,--all without
+    masts, some without rudders & many half full of water--to be
+    destroyed, except such as were in better plight, for my object was
+    their ruin & not what might be made of them. As this filled our ships
+    with prisoners and the wounded in a miserable condition, I sent a flag
+    to the Marquis of Solana [6] to offer him his wounded men, which was
+    received with every demonstration of joy and gratitude, & two French
+    Frigates & a Brigg were sent out for them. In return, he offered me
+    his Hospitals & the security of Spanish honour that our wounded should
+    have every care & every comfort that Spain could afford, so you see,
+    my dear Sir, though we fight them, we are upon very good terms.
+
+    But what most astonished them was our keeping the sea after such an
+    action, with our injured masts and crippled ships, which I did the
+    longer to let them see that no efforts of theirs could drive a British
+    Squadron from its station.
+
+
+This letter is of exceptional interest since it throws fresh light on a
+matter which has now afforded food for controversy for over a century.
+Nelson's dying injunctions had been that the fleet was to anchor. Owing,
+it was contended, to Collingwood having failed promptly to carry out these
+instructions of the master mind, many prizes were lost. James, who in his
+_Naval History_ is severe in his criticism of Collingwood's error of
+judgment in this particular, has further pointed out that four ships which
+did anchor on the evening of the engagement weathered the gale
+successfully. This letter of Collingwood gives his reasons for his course
+of action. It proves that although when he did give the order to anchor
+its execution was impracticable, yet that he had strong reason for
+destroying a number of the captured ships, which were all but worthless as
+prizes. His assertion, "My object was their ruin and not what might be
+made of them," bears out the verdict of Lord St Vincent, quoted by Lord
+Eldon, that "Collingwood's conduct after the Battle of Trafalgar in
+destroying under difficult circumstances the defeated fleet was above all
+praise"; while the conclusion of Collingwood's letter contains a sentiment
+at which few will cavil.
+
+From Mrs Stanhope's Uncle, Edward Collingwood, in Northumberland, there
+was subsequently forwarded to her a letter written by Collingwood in the
+first glory of victory and the first bitterness of his grief for Nelson's
+death.
+
+
+    My dear friend received his mortal wound about the middle of the
+    fight, and sent an officer to tell me that he should see me no more.
+
+    His loss was the greatest grief to me. There is nothing like him for
+    gallantry and conduct in battle. It was not a foolish passion for
+    fighting, for he was the most gentle of human creatures, and often
+    lamented the cruel necessity of it; but it was a principle of duty,
+    which all men owed their country in defence of their laws and liberty.
+    He valued his life only as it enabled him to do good, and would not
+    preserve it by any act he thought unworthy. He wore four stars upon
+    his breast and could not be prevailed to put on a plain coat, scorning
+    what he thought a shabby precaution: but that perhaps cost him his
+    life, for his dress made him the general mark.
+
+    He is gone, and I shall lament him as long as I live.
+
+
+To Walter Stanhope he wrote:--
+
+
+    _Queen, March 6th., 1806._
+
+    I thank you and Mrs Stanhope most sincerely for your kind
+    congratulations on the success of the Fleet, and the high honour his
+    Majesty has been graciously pleased to confer on me in testimony of
+    his approbation, which I am sure will be very gratifying to all my
+    friends, and that you will enjoy it as much as any of them.
+
+    I have indeed had a severe loss in the death of my excellent friend
+    Lord Nelson. Since the year 73 we have been on terms of the greatest
+    intimacy--chance has thrown us very much together in service and on
+    many occasions we have acted in concert--there is scarce a Naval
+    subject that has not been the subject of our discussion, so that all
+    his opinions were familiar to me; and so firmly founded in principles
+    of honour, of justice, of attachment to his country, at the same time
+    so entirely divested of everything interesting to himself, that it was
+    impossible to consider him but with admiration. He liked fame and was
+    open to flattery so that people sometimes got about him who were
+    unworthy of him. He is a loss to his country that cannot easily be
+    replaced.
+
+
+Thus in a few words, the very reticence of which enhances their
+significance, did Collingwood sum up the greatness and the weakness of
+Nelson. Gifted, brilliant, faulty by reason of his emotional temperament,
+strong by reason of his enthusiasm--his all-enthralling sense of duty,
+Nelson flashed like a meteor across the ken of his generation to vanish
+in a haze of glory. He died at the psychological moment--his life,
+according to this account, the sacrifice to a dazzling folly. And the
+man whom he loved--the man whose sterling worth is swamped by Nelson's
+more vivid personality, was left to battle on alone through the weary
+years. The intoxication of victory did not blind Collingwood to the
+colossal task which yet lay before him. To Stanhope he wrote with
+undiminished anxiety:--
+
+
+    The idea that the Victory we gained has so entirely reduced the
+    enemy's fleet that no danger is now to be apprehended from them, ought
+    not to be encouraged. On the contrary, I believe they will make up for
+    their loss by extraordinary exertion. You see they have immediately
+    sent all their fleet to sea, and clean as they are from Port, they can
+    avoid an encounter when they are not very superior. The ships that I
+    have here are many of them the dullest in the British fleet, so that I
+    have little chance of getting near them until they come with double
+    our number, and when they do, I shall do the best with them I can.
+    Whatever their project is, it must be interrupted--defeated if
+    possible. Bonaparte seems determined to have the whole of the
+    Mediterranean, islands and all. Whenever he is prepared to take
+    possession he knows how to make a quarrel with the Court of Madrid.
+
+
+A few months later he wrote:--
+
+
+    I have a laborious and anxious life and little time to write even to
+    my wife. The only comfort I have here is good health and the
+    consciousness that I am doing the best I can for my country--and a
+    good deal I believe we shall have to do before we can establish a
+    happy and secure peace--for I believe in the heart of the Tyrant
+    enmity is so deeply rooted towards England, that it will only be
+    extinguished with his natural life. I consider the contest with him
+    but in its infancy--our independence as a people is at stake. Wisdom
+    in our councils and fortitude in the field was never so necessary to
+    us, and I trust neither will be found wanting.
+
+    In every quarter the power of France is increasing,--here the
+    Spaniards are but his Puppets, his mandates come to Cadiz as they go
+    to Brest. His birthday is kept as that of their Sovereign, the French
+    flag is worn upon the Governor's house, upon rejoicing days, with that
+    of the Spanish. In Italy they hoist it upon the same staff as that of
+    the Pope--it will not be long before the Pope's is worn out with the
+    contentions of its bad neighbourhood. Sir Sidney Smith is doing what
+    he can to rouse the Calabrians to resistance--he gives them money and
+    the mob follow his officers--but the people of property have
+    universally attached themselves to the French-not from liking them--
+    but in the hope that in the end they may be left with the rag of their
+    fortunes.
+
+    At Cadiz they are making great progress in their equipment of a fleet,
+    they have 12 sail of the line ready for sea, two more well advanced in
+    their fitting,--I have 9, which I consider to be equal to beating
+    them, but whenever we meet I would do more-_not a shadow of one
+    should be left upon the face of the waters_. They will be cautious
+    whenever they come--and my ships sail but ill in general.
+
+    I heard from Lady Collingwood that she had the pleasure of visiting
+    you when in town.
+
+
+And then comes a more personal note:--
+
+
+    I am totally at a loss about the obtaining my patent--from what
+    office does it issue and about what sum is the amount of the fees? I
+    suppose I shall be ruined by them. I will be much obliged to you for
+    any information you can give me on these subjects--that I may not, by
+    delaying to do what is proper, seem negligent of this high honour of
+    which I am (I hope) justly proud. Sir Isaac Heard sent me the form of
+    a letter which it was necessary to write to the Duke of Norfolk or
+    Hereditary Earl Marshal, for his Grace's patent to Garter, to grant me
+    supporters of armorial bearings appropriate. I suppose he will let me
+    know when that is done.
+
+    I hope you will forgive me, my dear Sir, for mentioning this subject
+    to you, but from my total ignorance of everything relating to it, I am
+    afraid of neglecting something which I ought to do.
+
+
+Stanhope furnished his friend with all necessary information, and on the
+following December 4th, Mrs Stanhope wrote to her son--
+
+
+    Lord Collingwood proves himself worthy of the great charge reposed in
+    him. Mr Stanhope says he thinks next to Pitt's his is the greatest
+    trust. His property must be small. He married a Miss Blackett whose
+    father was brother to the late Sir Edward and is Uncle to the present
+    Sir William Blackett, a man of large fortune in Northumberland. He has
+    two daughters, the eldest must be nearly fourteen. I had this morning
+    a long account from my uncle of a ball given by Lady Collingwood at
+    Newcastle, where 450 people sat down to supper. Unfortunately the
+    Mayor instead of giving Lord Collingwood's health, gave _The Memory
+    of Lord Nelson_, with a solemn dirge, which so affected Lady
+    Collingwood that she fainted, and was obliged to leave the room. She
+    had not heard from Lord Collingwood for some time which made it the
+    more affecting.
+
+It was on December 23rd, that Nelson's body preserved in spirits arrived
+at Greenwich, and forthwith the favourite toast in Yorkshire was one
+perhaps peculiarly characteristic of the county, "Here's to the Hero who
+died for his country and came home in spirits!" On January 9th, his
+funeral took place at St Paul's Cathedral, and Stanhope, who attended it,
+must have felt a tightening of the throat as he realised how soon his
+small son was to face dangers such as had occasioned the death of the
+gallant man whom all England mourned. Moreover, Lord Collingwood had
+encouraged few delusions with regard to his own capability of aiding the
+career of the future midshipman. "If Parents were to see how many of their
+chicks go to ruin from being sent too early abroad they would not be so
+anxious about it," he wrote on one occasion, while on another he pointed
+out--"I need not say how glad I shall be to take all the care of William I
+can, and do him all the service in my power, but it is rather late in my
+day to be very useful to him as I shall be seeking to retire about the
+time he is launching into the world." Still more did he emphasise his
+inability to obtain promotion for those for whom he might have most
+desired it. On one occasion when Stanhope enclosed a letter from his
+friend Sir James Graham begging for the advancement of a young lieutenant,
+Collingwood replied, "I would gladly show every attention in my power to
+any friend of yours, but I have _no opportunity of advancing any officer
+beyond a midshipman sometimes_"; and four years after the Battle of
+Trafalgar he explained that he had still "some of the Lieutenants who were
+with me in action a few years since and no prospect of providing for them
+--I have little here but constant labour."
+
+But what he could do in the way of protecting and befriending his little
+kinsman he was eager to accomplish, and his letters show how much anxious
+thought he devoted to the subject.
+
+
+    _Admiral Lord Collingwood to Walter Spencer-Stanhope._
+    _January 20th, 1806._
+
+    I shall be very glad to see your son William, and will take good care
+    of him, and give him the best introduction to this service that I can.
+    I hope he has got on a little in mathematicks, because I have not a
+    school master now in my ship--I had, but he got hurt in the
+    _Sovereign_ and went home. Lord Barham tells me a ship is to be
+    sent out to me soon--William might come out conveniently in her....
+
+    With respect to his equipment, do not burden him with baggage--if he
+    takes care of it, it is but a miserable occupation, and if he does not
+    it will be lost. Therefore, to keep him clean and above want is
+    enough; a comfortable bed, that his health requires; two or three Blue
+    jackets and waistcoats; his Navigation books that he has been taught
+    from--whether it is Robinson's Elements, or Hamilton's Moore; a
+    quadrant and a case of instruments. For his reading, you will give him
+    such books as you think proper and are least voluminous--a history of
+    England--of Rome--and Greece, with voyages or abridgment of them--but
+    his baggage must be _light_--for the moment he enters a ship he
+    must have no personal cares--all that relates to himself must be
+    secondary--or nothing.
+
+    With respect to his supply of money or anything else, when he comes to
+    me, he shall want for nothing. I will take care he is sufficiently
+    provided and whatever expenses he has, I will tell you that you may
+    repay me.
+
+    You would be delighted at the glorious fight we have had. Had but my
+    friends Lord Nelson & Duff lived through it, I should have been happy
+    indeed. Lord Nelson was well known and universally lamented; Duff had
+    all the qualities that adorn a great and good man but was less known.
+    He commanded the Mess, and stuck to me in the day's battle as I hope
+    my son would have done--it was however a great day, yet I feel we have
+    much more to do--the French are venturing out with their squadrons and
+    they must be crushed. The powerful armies that are opposed to them on
+    the continent will, I hope, do their part well, but I cannot say I
+    have a very high opinion of Austrian armies & Austrian generals; their
+    military education is good, but they yet seem to want that good &
+    independent spirit that should animate a soldier--they are all money-
+    making and _will_ trade--and a soldier that makes wealth his
+    object will sell an army whenever he can get a good price for it.
+
+    I have received letters from Mr Collingwood and Admiral Roddam and am
+    exceedingly happy to hear they were then in good health. The Admiral
+    by this time has taken up his quarters at Skillingworth.
+
+    I am rather upon the rack just now. Duckworth went after the French
+    Squadron that I had intelligence of near Teneriffe. I am afraid the
+    Frenchman has duped him, and by throwing false intelligence in his way
+    has sent him to the West Indies--or I ought to have seen him again
+    before this; but Sir John Duckworth who is a well-judging man ought
+    not to have been so deceived as to suppose that a squadron which had
+    been three or four months at sea were on their way to the West Indies
+    --but I do not despair of catching them yet, even without him.
+
+
+Napoleon then believed that he had successfully duped Collingwood in this
+manner; "Mon opinion est que Collingwood est parti et est allé aux Grandes
+Indes," he wrote at this date, only to discover later that his enemy had
+never been deceived.
+
+Meanwhile Stanhope was devoting all his attention to a matter which he had
+much at heart. So far Collingwood's great services to his country had been
+rewarded with the barren honour of a peerage which had made an unwelcome
+claim upon his slender means, and with regard to which his one petition
+had been refused--that since he had no son to succeed him the title should
+descend to one of his daughters. Stanhope was therefore anxious to procure
+for Lord Collingwood a more substantial award in the form of an annuity
+which might benefit his family. On February 11th 1806, Mrs Stanhope wrote
+to her son--
+
+
+    News I have none for you to-day, further than that your Father is
+    delighted with having had it in his power to be of use to Lord
+    Collingwood. His Pension was granted for three generations in the Male
+    line; now, as he has no son nor ever likely to have any, it was really
+    only rewarding him for his own life. At the Duchess of Gordon's, where
+    your Father was last night, he saw Sheridan and Lord Castlereagh [7]
+    and he mentioned that if half was settled upon his widow and the other
+    half on his daughters after his death, it would be a real advantage to
+    him, which both said should be done, if he would attend the House to-
+    day. Most probably he will propose it in the House [8] and the
+    intelligence will be conveyed by William. I think I sent you word we
+    had heard from Lord Collingwood--the date the 20th., of January,
+    therefore I imagine he must have been off Cadiz.
+
+
+Yet even this suggestion to reward the man to whom England owed so much
+met with considerable opposition. "Lord Collingwood's Annuity Bill came on
+again on Monday," wrote Mrs Stanhope on February 28th. "Your Father still
+hopes it will be settled on Lady Collingwood and her daughters, tho' Lord
+H. Petty does not approve of the change, Lord Castlereagh and Mr Sheridan
+are both of your Father's opinion."
+
+Stanhope, however, carried his point and earned the gratitude of the
+family of the absent Admiral. It is true that when the news first reached
+Collingwood of the discussion relating to his pension which had taken
+place in the House, he was deeply wounded. Some of the speeches seemed to
+him to imply that the representation of the slender state of his finances
+had been made with his concurrence, and he felt, as he told his wife, that
+he had been held up in the House as an object of compassion. "If I had a
+favour to ask," he wrote emphatically, "money would be the last thing I
+should require from an impoverished country. I have motives for my conduct
+which I would not give in exchange for a thousand pensions." But when he
+heard of Stanhope's amendment of the original proposition, and that Lady
+Collingwood and his daughters would now profit by the thoughtfulness of
+his kinsman, he wrote an acknowledgment of such efforts on his behalf with
+a sincere gratitude in which pride still mingled.
+
+
+    I am much obliged to you Sir for your kindness in taking so much
+    trouble about my pension--it is a subject I had not thought of myself
+    --as my family are amply provided for I left the bounty of the King to
+    take its course, but this is so much in addition and I am very much
+    obliged for your consideration of what perhaps I should not have
+    thought of.
+
+
+By a strange coincidence, at the very moment when the question of this
+annuity was before the House, Collingwood and Stanhope may be said to have
+benefited jointly by a legacy from a common kinsman. Edward Collingwood,
+Mrs Stanhope's uncle before referred to, expired in February 1806, leaving
+his estate of Chirton to Lord Collingwood and his estate of Dissington to
+his niece Mrs Stanhope in trust for her third son. The Admiral, however,
+expressed little satisfaction in the acquisition of his new property. "I
+am sorry the possessor of it is gone," he wrote with his usual warmth of
+heart, "for I have lost a friend who I believe sincerely loved me, and
+have got an estate which I could have done very well without. I am told
+poor Admiral Roddam laments him very much and I love him the more for it."
+Much correspondence forthwith ensued between Collingwood and Stanhope with
+respect to the distribution of the portion of the furniture and
+personalties which had been bequeathed to Stanhope and which he was
+anxious to place at the disposal of Lady Collingwood, who, nevertheless,
+declined the offer. "Lady Collingwood informed me of your kind attention
+to her," wrote Collingwood, gratefully, on hearing of it, "but I think she
+judged right, considering the uncertainty at what time I should come to
+live there, ... besides, if I should have a son to succeed me, I should
+probably rebuild the house, and the present furniture would not be
+suitable to the new one. But," he adds again, feelingly, "the subject of
+it must become more indifferent to me than it now is before I can
+determine anything about it: it never engages my attention but in sorrow.
+I lost more real happiness in the death of my friend, whom I esteemed and
+reverenced, than his estate can make me amends for--its greatest value to
+me is that it is _his_ bequest."
+
+Likewise with regard to Stanhope's proposition of leaving "the moiety of
+the books at Chirton which by the will of Mr Collingwood were devised to
+the possessor of Dissington," Collingwood decided--"I think in this, as in
+every other respect, his will should be literally complied with and
+nothing left to future arrangement." He therefore requested his brother-
+in-law, Mr Blackett, to choose "some learned and competent gentleman" who
+was to act for him in conjunction with any person Stanhope saw fit to
+appoint, to make a just division between them "in all the branches of
+learning and science and with respect to value." Referring to the fine
+classical volumes in the library, he pointed out that this would be a
+simple matter, as most of these had duplicates or triplicates, but "God
+knows," he exclaimed, "whether any of my family may want any of them! To
+me the English authors are valuable and whether I shall ever see any of
+them is doubtful."
+
+The amicable discussion with regard to this matter was still in progress
+while little William journeyed out to join his kinsman. A month after
+Nelson's funeral, Stanhope was taking the preliminary steps for his son's
+departure. "I brought William home to be measured," he wrote on February
+9th, "and sent him back yesterday in very good spirits. His mind certainly
+appears to open very much and he is a good little fellow. At times he is
+low and said the other day how odd he should feel to be entirely with
+strangers."
+
+On February 26th, the embryo sailor set forth on his perilous adventures,
+followed by the thoughts of his family, whose tender solicitude brings
+very near that parting of a century ago. "I long to hear how the dear
+little midshipman bears his departure," writes one of his brothers, "How
+very pretty he will look in his uniform!" and the first details of the
+little lad's arrival on board ship, of his quaint sayings and doings, and
+how manfully he bore his separation from the last member of his family
+circle have been faithfully preserved. But he soon pronounced a favourable
+verdict on his new profession--"I like being on bord a ship very much, but
+today it has bean a very ruf see," he wrote on March 10th, with a fine
+discrimination of the advantages and disadvantages of a nautical career;
+while, anxious to prove that he was now become a man of the world, who
+could appreciate the exigencies of a situation which had been occupying
+the attention of the public, he observes with sudden irrelevance--"What a
+sad afair this seems, this deth of Mr Pit!"
+
+Early in April, Collingwood wrote to announce the arrival of his new
+midshipman, whom he describes as "a fine sensible boy with great powers of
+observation," and William wrote, as he continued to write, gratefully and
+enthusiastically of his treatment by Collingwood, whom he explains is "the
+kindest and best man who ever lived." Thenceforward every item of
+information respecting his son was sent by Collingwood to Stanhope, who in
+return retailed to Collingwood everything which he could glean respecting
+Lady Collingwood and her daughters. The latter came to London in May, with
+a view to completing their education, and both they and their mother seem
+to have turned to Stanhope and his family in every perplexity in life. "I
+am greatly obliged to you for your account of my daughters," wrote
+Collingwood, in a letter which shows how minutely he was kept informed of
+every detail relating to them, even to their little tricks of speech and
+manner. "I am not impatient for their going in to the North. I hope they
+have lost much of their provincial dialect."
+
+And still, at any mention of his home or of those dearest to him, there
+breaks involuntarily into his correspondence that longing, which would not
+be repressed, for a sorely needed respite from labour and for the balm of
+reunion with those he loved. There were, perhaps, few people to whom he
+ventured to unburden himself as simply and spontaneously as he did to
+Stanhope, a man linked to him by the tie of kinship, yet not so closely as
+to make any such self-revelation on his part a possible selfishness. Thus
+it is that this hitherto unpublished batch of his correspondence betrays
+ever more and more, with a pathos of which the writer was obviously
+unconscious, how the strain of watching and of loneliness was undermining
+an indomitable brain and soul.
+
+Collingwood's existence, indeed, alternated between an eternal racking
+anxiety and a monotony before which the imagination sinks appalled.
+"Between days and nights I am almost wore out," he wrote briefly to
+Stanhope on April 29th, 1806, "but I do not mean to quit my station while
+I have health"; and on September 26th of that same year, after writing an
+account of the situation in which he finds himself, he exclaims abruptly,
+"It is the dullest life that can be conceived and nothing but the utmost
+patience can endure it!" During long months of blockading, dawn after dawn
+arose to reveal to his weary gaze the same boundless expanse of rocking
+ocean, which he had well-nigh learnt to hate; the same restricted space of
+deck to traverse; the same routine of action to contemplate; the same type
+of food further to nauseate a reluctant appetite; the same complete lack
+of mental and physical relaxation, which is, in itself, almost an
+essential to sanity. Thus, soon, to the tension of that perpetual
+guardianship was added the haunting dread that an existence which was
+undermining his health might also impair his mental faculties, and this at
+a time when he was aware that one false step, one error in strategy, and
+ignominy might be his portion or the liberties of England herself be the
+sacrifice.
+
+In a diary [9] in which, during the last years of his life, he entered
+memoranda, ostensibly from which to compile his dispatches, there is
+conveyed more eloquently than by any laboured insistence the ceaseless
+fret of his guardianship and the impracticability which he experienced of
+sifting the truth or falsehood of the information on which his line of
+conduct was dependent. Incessantly do its pages recall, with elaborate
+care, the details of reported engagements and of reported manoeuvres of
+the enemy, supplied from some apparently unimpeachable source, and
+incessantly are such memoranda revoked emphatically by a later entry.
+Once, after retailing minutely the details of an assault undertaken by the
+Portuguese and Spaniards against the French--which he was informed had
+continued for six days and during which about 8000 of the former and 6000
+of the latter had been killed--and subsequent to which all the inhabitants
+of Elvas had been put to the sword by the French--he appends with
+pardonable irritation--"_Not a word of this true--the whole a fabrication
+for the amusement of country gentlemen and ladies._" Meanwhile he was
+confronted by the knowledge that those who were most ready to criticise
+his decisions, had least comprehension of the difficulties with which he
+had to contend.
+
+On May 15th, 1807, Mrs Stanhope writes:--
+
+
+    I have had letters from Lord Collingwood and William of so late a date
+    as the 29th of April. Lord C. writes out of Spirits, the recent great
+    losses have hurt him and the failure at Constantinople, tho' no blame
+    attached to him. He sent out one third more force than the Government
+    considered necessary and they were at the Dardanelles when they were
+    supposed to be with him; but the defences of Constantinople, both
+    natural and of art, were little known, the Castles as strong as Cannon
+    can make them and of that particular kind the Turks use and from which
+    they fire balls of granite or marble;--those would not go far, but
+    they do very well for a passage which is so narrow their object cannot
+    be far of. One which passed through the _Windsor Castle_ weighed
+    800 pounds. He thinks there will be an active campaign in Italy--
+    Sicily their object.
+
+
+On December 19th, Marianne Stanhope retailed--
+
+
+    Papa has this instant received a most delightful account from Lord
+    Collingwood of William, everything that is satisfactory. He says
+    everything that we could wish both of his health, disposition and
+    capacity, the letter is dated October 13th, off Sicily. He mentions
+    his hopes of being able to catch the French if they come to Sicily,
+    but the difficulty will be, from the extent of the coast they will
+    come from all quarters. He said that the Sicilians finding that we
+    take the part of the Court who are most completely detested will make
+    for relief from any quarter. The Turks, he says, detest the Russians,
+    and lament much the misunderstanding with us, but are completely in
+    the power of the French past all relief. The Buenos Ayres expedition,
+    he says, he always blamed, and that it turned out exactly as he
+    predicted, and that we are most completely detested by the people who
+    formerly respected us.
+
+
+On August 13th, 1808, off Cadiz, Collingwood learnt that the French
+General, Dupont, and some officers who had capitulated, had been brought
+to Port St Mary, for their better security to be embarked on board a
+Spanish Man-o'-war. The mob, however, attacked and wounded Dupont before
+he could be got on board, and on August 26th Collingwood relates to Mrs
+Stanhope:--
+
+
+    The Mob of Port Santa Maria seized on Dupont's baggage, for the
+    Generals and Juntas may make Conventions as they please, but the
+    People is the only _real Power_ at the present moment, and they
+    will observe as much of them as they like. On breaking open the Trunks
+    they were found to be filled with plunder--Church Plate mostly--but
+    everything that was gold or silver was acceptable. I went to see it
+    yesterday at the Custom House, and an immense quantity of it there
+    was--from a silver Toy to the Crown of Thorns which they had torn from
+    the head of Jesus Christ. I heard at first that the mob had been
+    raised against the French by the black servant of a Frenchman having
+    part of the robe of a Bishop for his dress, but this was not the case.
+    The black man had the Bishop's Cross hung with a chain of gold round
+    his neck--it was of large amethysts and diamonds worth about 2000
+    pounds.
+
+    Dupont was so very silly as to write to the Governor complaining of
+    the people who had _robbed_ him, saying that he felt sensibly for
+    the honour of Spain and desired that his "property" might be returned
+    to him. He had nothing but those trunks of plundered silver!
+
+
+Collingwood's own reception by the Spanish people afforded a remarkable
+instance of the estimation in which he was held and the extraordinary
+recognition of his integrity even by a lawless, unreasoning mob. John
+Stanhope, some years afterwards, recorded:--
+
+"When, at an earlier period of the war, our expedition under the command
+of General Spencer appeared off Cadiz, there prevailed so great a jealousy
+against the English Army that the authorities refused to allow them to
+land.
+
+"Such, however, was not the case with Lord Collingwood when he appeared
+with his fleet.
+
+"He was received by high and low with the greatest enthusiasm. A publick
+fête was given to him, and my brother William who accompanied him on shore
+described the scene as one of the most striking sights he ever witnessed.
+One only feeling seemed to pervade the immense crowd of all ranks
+assembled to receive the Admiral, the desire of showing their respect and
+admiration for his character. What a triumph for one who, in the hour of
+victory, had succeeded to the command of a fleet that had annihilated the
+Spanish Navy, and since that time had been constantly blockading their
+coasts! But what must have been Lord Collingwood's feelings _when the only
+pledge required before they permitted an English force to land in a place
+of so much importance, was his word of honour!_ They felt in him a
+confidence which they denied to our Government."
+
+But in the midst of a situation so unique, Collingwood ignored the
+unparalleled homage paid to him, to revert persistently to each item of
+news respecting his distant home. The splendid fetes of which he formed
+the central figure, the adulation of an entire nation, find no mention in
+his letters to Stanhope, and are of less account to him than the most
+trivial circumstance regarding his family or his native county, on which
+his thoughts dwell tenderly, lingeringly. From Cadiz, in August, he
+laments the tidings conveyed to him by Stanhope of the death, at the age
+of eighty-nine, of his former Commander and neighbour, in Northumberland,
+Admiral Roddam.
+
+
+    Poor Admiral Roddam! I have indeed mourned his death, because I lost
+    in him a kind friend who had always taken a sincere interest in my
+    welfare; but he was become too infirm to enjoy comfort, and then to
+    die is a blessing. I am glad he left your son his estate, but it was
+    want of knowing the world if he thought of improving the Property by
+    keeping him out of it so long.
+
+
+For little William, on attaining the age of twenty-five, was to succeed to
+the estate of Collingwood's former Commander, and this must, if possible,
+have strengthened the link between the Admiral and the midshipman in whose
+progress he took a profound interest. Collingwood's own character is
+perhaps never more clearly portrayed than in his criticism of the little
+lad who had been committed to his care. "Of William," he wrote to
+Stanhope, in 1808, "everything I have to say is good--and such as must
+give you and Mrs Stanhope much satisfaction. He is the best-tempered boy
+that can be--has a superior understanding, which makes everything easy to
+him. He is very inquisitive in what relates to his duty, and comprehends
+it with a facility which few boys do, at this time I believe he has more
+knowledge than many twice his standing. He is never engaged in disputes,
+and this not from a milkiness and yielding to others, but he seems
+superior to contention, and leaves a blockhead to enjoy his own nonsense."
+In December of the same year he reiterates, "Your son always gives me
+satisfaction. He behaves well and always like a gentleman and I endeavour
+to instil in him a contempt for what is trifling and unworthy. When I come
+home I will leave him in a frigate and I hope I may soon, for I grow very
+weak and languid."
+
+It was to be regretted that while evincing to the utmost his own contempt
+for what was "trifling and unworthy," it was impracticable for Collingwood
+to follow the example of his small midshipman and contentedly "leave a
+blockhead to his own nonsense." The realisation was torment to him that
+the very conditions of his service were dictated by those who had only a
+partial conception of his requirements, that his representations--his
+advice--were alike incessantly ignored, yet, none the less, that his
+tactics would subsequently be criticised pitilessly by men incapable of
+appreciating the difficulties with which he had been beset at the time of
+action. "I have lately had a most anxious and vexatious life," he wrote on
+May 16th, 1808, "since the Rochefort ships came into the Mediteranean and
+joined the Toulon, I have been in constant pursuit of them, but with bad
+intelligence and never knowing whether I was going right or not." Yet
+though compelled to act thus blindly, in that torturing uncertainty, the
+eyes of the world were upon him, and men, wise in the cognisance of after-
+events, would unhesitatingly judge him in the light of that knowledge.
+
+More than once in his letters to Mrs Stanhope did the pent up bitterness
+of this recognition find vent. On May 16th, 1807, he wrote:--
+
+
+    I am sorry to see Mr Pole's speech about the Rochefort Squadron and
+    Sir R. Strachan, insinuating that he was well provided with
+    everything--and that had he been in the station that it was expected
+    he should have held, they could not have escaped. The fact is they
+    came here destitute of everything, one of his ships had not 20 tons of
+    water, and none of them were in a condition to follow the enemy to a
+    distant point. Those insinuations, though they advance nothing
+    positive, are disgusting--the season of the year and the situation of
+    the fleet on such an errand were sufficient reasons. Let your
+    Politicians beware how they sour the minds of such men--men whose
+    lives are devoted to their country. If ever they accomplish that, your
+    State would not be worth half-a-crown.
+
+
+And again, in December of that same year, on discovering that he,
+personally, had been the subject of brutal slander, his indignation burst
+forth:--
+
+
+    _December 29th, 1808._
+
+    I have just seen in the newspapers what I conceive to be exceedingly
+    mischievous, and to officers who are bearing the brunt and severities
+    of war, is exceedingly disgusting, when the whole nation is clamorous
+    against the convention of Lisbon and the treaty which Sir Chas. Cotton
+    made with the Russian Admiral about the ships, it is stated that _I_
+    had made a proposition of the same kind to the Russian Commander at
+    Trieste which had been rejected. There is not a syllable of truth in
+    it. _I_ have had no correspondence with Russia, nor anything happened
+    that could have given rise to such a conjecture. It must therefore be
+    sheer mischief. There are such diabolical spirits, who, incapable of
+    good, cannot rest inactive but fester the world with their malignant
+    humours.
+
+
+And meanwhile the ardent patriotism of Collingwood was deeply wounded by
+the attitude of the politicians of his native land.
+
+
+    OCEAN, OFF TOULON, _May 16th, 1808._
+
+    The contentions in Parliament are disgraceful to our country and have
+    more to do with its reduction than Bonaparte has. They grieve my
+    heart; when all the energy and wisdom of the Nation is required to
+    defend us against such a Power as never appeared in Europe before--the
+    contest seems to be who shall hold the most lucrative office. I abhor
+    that kind of determined opposition; if the Ministers have not that
+    experience it were to be wished they had, they the more need support
+    and assistance. We have resources to stand our ground firmly, until
+    this storm is over--but it depends on the use we make of our means,
+    whether we shall or not.
+
+    It would appear to me good policy to make and preserve peace with all
+    the nations who have the smallest pretention to independence--we
+    should shut our eyes to many things which during the regular
+    Governments in Europe would deserve to be scrutinised--the laws and
+    rules of former times are not suited to the present--a man cannot
+    build a Palace during the convulsions of an earthquake, and I
+    sincerely hope our differences with America will be accommodated--if
+    favourable terms we can grant them. Are not _we_ constantly in
+    storms obliged to take in our topsail?--and even sometimes limit
+    ourselves to no sail at all? But our ship is saved by it and when the
+    storm is over we out with them again, and so should the State do.
+
+
+The truth was that, in much, Collingwood was a more able diplomatist than
+the men by whose authority he was circumscribed. His letters to Stanhope
+prove that he was a more apt tactician and had a profounder grasp of the
+political situation of his day than he has been credited with by
+posterity. Again and again, does he foretell that a particular line of
+action will be fraught with a particular result, or show how his
+representations had been ignored until, too late, events had proved their
+accuracy. Again and again, in some apparently trivial situation which he
+had the insight to recognise was big with import, did his tactfulness
+avert catastrophe which a lesser man would have hastened. "I have always
+found that kind language and strong ships have a very powerful effect in
+conciliating the people," he says in one letter to Stanhope, with dry
+humour. And meanwhile the incompetency of many of those with whom he had
+to work in alliance was a further source of trial to him. Only too
+shrewdly did he recognise wherein lay the efficiency of Napoleon and the
+incapacity of his opponents.
+
+
+    _October 7th, 1809._
+
+    Should the Austrians make their peace, which I am convinced they must,
+    the next object of Bonaparte will be Turkey, and probably the
+    Austrians be engaged to assist him in the reduction of it. All the
+    south part of Europe seems as if within his grasp the moment peace is
+    signed with Austria; he has long been intriguing with those countries,
+    sometimes with the Government, in other places with the people against
+    their Government; the arts, the dissimulations with which those
+    intrigues are conducted, avail him more than even the rapidity of his
+    armies--all the people he employs are equal to the task assigned them;
+    while in Austria and Spain, the operations are often directed by men
+    who, from Court favour, have got situations they are totally unfit
+    for. Catalonia has suffered much from this cause and everything has
+    gone wrong in Istria and Dalmatia, because there there was wanted a
+    man capable of conducting the war. It is true they have been removed,
+    but not until everything was lost by their want of skill.
+
+
+And yet pitted against "such a Power as never appeared in Europe before,"
+with the need of every faculty upon the alert, Collingwood was haunted
+ever more and more by the dread that his increasing bodily weakness must
+engender mental incapacity. A sinister note crept into his correspondence
+and so early as August 26th, 1808, he wrote:--
+
+
+    _August 26th, 1808._
+
+    I have been lately unwell. I grow weak, and the fatigue and anxiety of
+    mind I suffer has worn me down to a shadow. I do not think I can go on
+    much longer, and intend, whenever I feel my strength less, to request
+    that I may be allowed to come to England. I have mentioned this to
+    Lord Mulgrave, but have not to the Admiralty Board.
+
+
+Yet, determined not to abandon his duty, over a year later he was still at
+his post.
+
+
+    "_Ville de Paris,_" PORT MAHON, _December 18th, 1809._
+
+    The truth is that I am so unremittingly occupied, that my life is
+    rather a drudgery than a service. I have an anxious mind from nature
+    and cannot leave to any what is possible for me to do myself. Now my
+    health is suffering very much, which is attributed to the sedentary
+    life I lead, and it may well be to the vexation my mind suffers when
+    anything goes counter. But when I _do_ come home, I hope I shall
+    not be thought to flinch, for I have worn out all the officers and all
+    the ships, two or three times over, since I left England.
+
+
+Within a fortnight he wrote again:--
+
+
+    _December 29th._
+
+    I have no desire to shrink from a duty which I owe to my country, but
+    my declining health--the constant anxiety of my mind and fatigue of my
+    body--made me desire to have a little respite, and I asked to be
+    relieved from my command--a request which the Ministers seem to have
+    no disposition to grant to me, but if his lordship knew me personally
+    and was sufficiently acquainted with my sentiments he would know that
+    my request was not made without good reason. The service here requires
+    the most energetic mind and robust body--they cannot be hoped for in
+    an invalid, whose infirmities proceed from too long and unremitted
+    exertion of powers, but feeble at first.
+
+
+Meanwhile, in Grosvenor Square, every item of news respecting the
+intentions of Lord Collingwood was eagerly looked for, since on these were
+dependent the movements of little William Stanhope. In the autumn of 1809
+Mrs Stanhope wrote:--
+
+
+    William writes word that his height is 5 ft. 4 in., very fair for a
+    Stanhope of his age. What an affectionate creature he is, and how I
+    should delight in seeing him. I do not like the account he gives of
+    Lord Collingwood's health. If the French fleet would but come out and
+    he beat them, I doubt not he would then return immediately.
+
+
+And on the 6th December she mentions an event which served to accentuate
+the sadness of that protracted absence:--
+
+
+    Lord Collingwood has actually a daughter grown up. She has made her
+    appearance in Newcastle, very shy and distressed.
+
+
+     _February 27th, 1810._
+
+    We came to Town, Sunday Se'nnight. Since then Captain Waldegrave, who
+    was eleven months in the ship with William, and Dr Gray who was his
+    shipmate two years and like a Father to him, have both dined with us
+    and agree in their favourable accounts. He is quite well and
+    breakfasts every day with Lord Collingwood, with whom he also dines
+    three times a week, and he teaches William himself. Your father said--
+    "I fear he is a Pet!" To which Waldegrave answered--"It can never do
+    anyone harm to be Pet to Lord Collingwood!" As soon as the weather is
+    warm I suppose Lord C. will come back, in his last letter he said he
+    should leave William in a Frigate, but Dr Gray is inclined to think he
+    would bring him home. All the reports respecting the Toulon Fleet
+    being out, will, I hear, prove false.
+
+
+On March 20th Mrs Stanhope wrote--"It is said that Sir C. Cotton is going
+out immediately to take Lord Collingwood's command, for that he wrote word
+if they did not supersede him quickly he should supersede himself. I fear
+his health is very bad." Not till April, however, did this intelligence
+receive confirmation--"At last Sir C. Cotton has sailed, so that, by the
+end of June, Lord Collingwood may be back, having given up the command to
+Sir C. Cotton. He was better the last account. Captain Waldegrave dines
+here to-day, you would be exceedingly pleased with him, for his manners
+are agreeable and his intelligence great."
+
+Little did Mrs Stanhope, as she penned the reference to her dinner-party,
+foresee the conditions under which this was destined to take place. Still
+less did the authorities who were sending out that belated relief to the
+wearied Admiral, or the family who now so joyously pictured his return,
+dream how that service had been already superseded or in what guise that
+return would take place. Weeks before, at Cadiz, the last act of a
+prolonged tragedy had been performed. Still firmly refusing to forsake his
+post till a competent successor had been appointed, Collingwood did not
+surrender his command to Rear Admiral Martin till March 3rd, when a
+complete collapse of strength made this imperative. Two days subsequently
+were lost in the vain endeavour to leave port in the teeth of a contrary
+wind, but on March 6th, the _Ville de Paris_ succeeded in setting sail for
+England.
+
+The day of days in Collingwood's life had at last arrived--that day to
+which he had looked forward throughout the weary years, when, his task
+honourably concluded, he could know that every beat of the waves was
+bearing him towards home and his loved ones. Yet as, prostrated with
+weakness, he lay in his cabin, listening to the familiar fret of the
+waters, he understood that the burden had been borne too long, the
+promised relief had come too late.
+
+With the same dauntless courage with which he had faced existence he now
+accepted the knowledge that this day--the thought of which had sustained
+him through loneliness and battle and tempest--was to prove the day of his
+death. History indeed presents few events of an irony more profound. At
+sunset on March 6th, Collingwood set sail for England; at sunset on the
+7th, he lay dead, and that fortitude with which he met a fate, the
+harshness of which must have cruelly enhanced his bodily anguish, presents
+to all time a sublime ending to a sublime career.
+
+Meanwhile in England those whom he had loved continued to count the
+lessening days to his return and to plan with tender solicitude every
+means for cherishing and restoring the enfeebled frame which they fondly
+believed needed but care and happiness to endow it with renewed health.
+Little as they recked of the burden which the waves were, in truth,
+bringing them, the knowledge, when it arrived, came with a blow which
+stunned. In the first announcement of the news, the very terseness of the
+communication seems to recreate more vividly the intense feeling which the
+writer knew required no insistence.
+
+On April 17th, 1810, Stanhope wrote briefly to the Vicar of Newcastle:--
+
+
+    GROSVENOR SQUARE.
+
+    DEAR SMITH,
+
+    You are the fittest person I know at Newcastle to execute with
+    propriety a most painful & most melancholy office. I have only this
+    moment been apprised of the loss both the public and the Collingwood
+    family have sustained, and am so shocked with the intelligence that I
+    can hardly write legibly. I enclose the letter. I am sure you will
+    communicate it with all delicacy & due Preparation to Lady Collingwood
+    & Mr and the Miss Collingwoods. Mrs Stanhope will endeavour to see
+    Miss Collingwood to-morrow. Pray assure them of my readiness to be of
+    every assistance to them in my power.
+
+
+Of the manner in which the news arrived, Mrs Stanhope furnishes more
+details.
+
+
+    GROSVENOR SQUARE, _April 23rd, 1810._
+
+    MY DEAR JOHN,
+
+    "I little thought when I wrote to you on Tuesday last that I should,
+    before that post went out, hear the afflicting intelligence of the
+    death of our great and valuable Friend, Lord Collingwood, whose loss
+    is a publick calamity. But I will enter into particulars.
+
+    "Just after I went out at three, a second post arrived from Captain
+    Thomas, desiring your father to communicate the dreadful tidings to
+    poor Lady Collingwood. It was five when we received the letter; your
+    father immediately enclosed the letter to the Vicar, to desire he
+    would break it to the family, and I wrote to the Mistress of the
+    School to acquaint the second girl. She wished to see no one or I
+    should have called the next day. Mr Reay heard of the event before we
+    did and recollecting that the Papers at Newcastle were delivered an
+    hour before the letters, wisely sent off an Express; therefore I trust
+    there was time for her to be somewhat prepared for the worst.
+
+    "With respect to ourselves, I need not tell you how shocked we were,
+    and unfortunately, we had not only a large party to dinner that night,
+    but some people in the evening. Amongst those who dined with us was
+    Captain Waldegrave, who had not heard of it till he came here, and I
+    never saw anyone so distressed, for Lord Collingwood had been a Father
+    to him as well as to William; and he is one of the most pleasing young
+    men I ever met with. Two days afterwards he brought here Mr Brown, the
+    flag-lieutenant of the _Ville de Paris_, who gave me many interesting
+    particulars, and spoke highly of William.
+
+    Your father has seen Lord Mulgrave twice, and it is settled that a
+    monument at the Publick expence shall be executed for Lord
+    Collingwood. He cannot have a publick funeral, but they wish the
+    family to bury him at St Paul's near Lord Nelson, which your father is
+    this day to write to propose, and I think it impossible Lady
+    Collingwood can have any objection, in which case it will be attended
+    by the Lords of the Admiralty & his own private friends. The Body is
+    now at Greenwich, for it arrived at Portsmouth as soon as the letters
+    announcing his death. He died like a hero, and when that character is
+    added, as it was in him, to the Christian, it is great indeed.
+
+
+On the same date Mr Stanhope wrote to his son--"I saw Lord Mulgrave the
+night before last, who desired I would inform Lady Collingwood and the
+family that it was meant to move in the House for a monument for Lord
+Collingwood in St Paul's, next to Nelson's. Of course the Body, which has
+arrived in the Thames, will be deposited in that Church, and the funeral
+must be splendid without ostentation--at the expense of the executors, or
+rather of the family." It was not, however, till May 8th that Mrs Stanhope
+was enabled to furnish her son with full details of the manner in which
+the intended ceremony was to be performed.
+
+
+    GROSVENOR SQUARE, _May 8th., 1810._
+
+    I can tell you what Lord C.'s funeral is to be. It is to take place on
+    Friday at St Paul's. Mr C. and one of his sisters are in town. He is
+    anxious that it should be proper & your father has been his adviser,
+    but he was determined that it should be as private as possible, as
+    Lord Collingwood's wish on that subject was strongly expressed in his
+    Will.
+
+    The Body is now at Greenwich where the Hearse & ten mourning Coaches
+    will go. The company are to assemble at a room on the other side of
+    Blackfriars Bridge, where betwixt 20 & 30 are to get into the mourning
+    coaches, & their own are to follow, but no others. The company are, as
+    far as I can recollect, besides the ten relations & connections, the
+    first Lords of the Admiralty who have been in power since he had the
+    Command--Gray, Mulgrave, T. Grenville; Ld St Vincent declined on
+    account of health; the Chancellor & Sir Walter Scott; Admirals Ld
+    Radstock & Harvey, Capt Waldegrave, Purvis, Irvyn Brown, Haywood--
+    perhaps others; Doctors Gray & Fullerton, Sir M. Ridley & Mr Reay.
+
+    Government mean to vote him a national monument to be placed near Lord
+    Nelson & the Body will be placed as near his as it can be. You will be
+    glad to hear that there is a picture painted about a year & a half ago
+    which Waldegrave will get for Mr C. I therefore hope there will be a
+    print of him. His loss will be felt every day more & more. They say he
+    saved to the country more than any Admiral did before, in repairs of
+    the fleet; and to that country his life has been sacrificed.
+
+
+A reference to Lord Collingwood written by the recipient of this letter,
+John Stanhope, although it presents no new reflection upon his career, is
+not without a peculiar interest in that it was a contemporary comment and
+one of unstudied pathos.
+
+
+    Lord Collingwood, [he wrote in 1810] has sacrificed his life to his
+    country and to the full as much as has done his friend and commander
+    Lord Nelson. But Nelson's death was glorious; he fell in the hour of
+    victory amidst a nation's tears. Poor Collingwood resigned his life to
+    his country, because she required his services; he yielded himself as
+    a victim to a painful disease, solely occasioned by his incessant and
+    anxious attention to his duties, when he knew from his physician that
+    his existence might be spared if he were allowed to return to the
+    quiet of domestic life. Must not his mind have sometimes recurred to
+    his home; to his two daughters, now grown to the age of womanhood, but
+    whom he remembered only as little children; so long had he been
+    estranged from his country! Must he not have felt how delightfully he
+    could spend his old age in the society of his family, at his own house
+    at Chirton, the ancient possession of his ancestors, which had been
+    left to him by my uncle, and in the enjoyment of a large fortune,
+    which he had gained during his professional career! What a contrast
+    did the reverse of the picture show! A lingering disease, a certain
+    death. He repeatedly represented the state of his health to the
+    Admiralty, but in vain; his country demanded his services; he gave her
+    his life; and without even the consolation of thinking that the
+    sacrifice he was making would be appreciated. "If Lord Mulgrave knew
+    me," said he in one of his letters to my father, "he would know that I
+    did not complain without sufficient cause."
+
+
+It was thus that Collingwood came home--that the long exile ended and the
+tired frame attained to rest. On May 11th, he was laid by the side of
+Nelson in St Paul's, and the comrades of Trafalgar were re-united in a
+last repose. The ceremony on this occasion exhibited none of the pomp and
+circumstance which attended the obsequies of the hero of Trafalgar. In
+harmony with the wishes and the character of the dead man, so simple was
+it that the papers emphasise in surprise that "not even the choir service
+is to be sung on the occasion." And this, possibly, constitutes the sole
+particular in which England endeavoured to fulfil any desire of the man
+who had laid down his life in her service. His earnest request that the
+peerage which had been bestowed upon him might descend to his daughter,
+his pathetic representation that but for the unremitting nature of that
+service he would presumably have had a son to succeed him, were callously
+ignored. There were obvious reasons why Nelson's dying bequest to the
+nation of the woman he had loved remained unregarded, there was none that
+that of Collingwood should not have been granted and his barren honours
+thus made sweet to him. But his generation mourned him with idle tears,
+and succeeding generations have, possibly, done him scanty justice. Yet
+one, a master-mind in English Literature, has raised an eternal testimony
+to his worth--"Another true knight errant of those days," proclaims
+Thackeray, "was Cuthbert Collingwood, and I think, since Heaven made
+gentlemen, there is no record of a better one than that. Of brighter
+deeds, I grant you, we may read performed by others; but where of a
+nobler, kinder, more beautiful life of duty, of a gentler, truer heart?
+Beyond dazzle of success and blaze of genius, I fancy shining a hundred
+and a hundred times higher the sublime purity of Collingwood's gentle
+glory. His heroism stirs British hearts when we recall it. His love and
+goodness and piety make one thrill with happy emotion.... There are no
+words to tell what the heart feels in reading the simple phrases of such a
+hero. Here is victory and courage, but love sublimer and superior."
+
+Nevertheless there is, in truth, little which appeals to the imagination
+of posterity in the story of that drab martyrdom. Moreover Collingwood is
+judged, not individually but by comparison. For ever he is obscured by the
+more dazzling vision of Nelson. It weighs little in his favour that,
+devoid of the vanity and the weakness which made of the latter a lesser
+man even though a greater genius, Collingwood, throughout his life,
+exhibited a nobility of soul which was never marred by one self-seeking
+thought, one mean word, one base action. That very fact militates against
+him. Collingwood had no dramatic instinct, and in the great issues of life
+he never played to the gallery; he has not even attached to his memory, as
+has Nelson, the glamour of a baffling and arresting intrigue. And there
+remains eternally to his disfavour that he did not die at the
+psychological moment. Whether he was, as some recent researches might lead
+us to believe, a greater strategist than Nelson, as he was undoubtedly a
+man of stronger principles and more disinterested motives, of wider
+education and of profounder political insight, it is not our province here
+to inquire. On his column in Trafalgar Square, to all time, Nelson stands
+aloft surveying the generations who do him homage; far away, on the shores
+of Tynemouth, a solitary figure of Collingwood, not erected till 1845,
+gazes out across the ocean of his exile. It is as though the loneliness
+which tortured that great soul in life haunts him beyond the grave, as the
+adulation which was balm to Nelson's soul remains his portion to all
+eternity. There might even be imagined an unconscious irony in the last
+reference to Collingwood which occurs in the Stanhope correspondence,
+wherein Mrs Stanhope, after the first horror which the news of her
+kinsman's death had evoked, sums up thus the immediate effect of that
+event upon her family life:--
+
+
+    _May 10th._
+
+    London is very gay now.... To give you some idea how we go on, I will
+    mention some of our engagements. To-night Opera; tomorrow, concerts at
+    Mrs Boehms and Lady Castlereagh's; Thursday, Dow. Lady Glyn, Lady de
+    Crespygny musick, and Lady Westmorland's; Saturday, Opera; 23rd., 24th
+    and 26th Balls. On Friday, of course, there are cards, but I shall not
+    go out on account of its being the funeral of our justly-lamented
+    friend.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+1806-1807
+
+ON DITS FROM YORKSHIRE, LONDON AND RAMSGATE
+
+
+Three years before his death, in the midst of the stress and labour which
+was undermining his bodily strength, Collingwood had written with regard
+to this same wearing anxiety--"My astonishment is to find that in England
+this does not seem to enter into the minds of the people, or at least not
+to interrupt their gaieties. England on the verge of ruin requires the
+care of all; but when that _all_ is divided and contending for power, then
+it is that the foundation shakes."
+
+To the lonely Admiral tossing on the ocean of his exile, absorbed in that
+mighty problem of England's defence, the attitude of his countrymen at
+home--their callousness and absorption in trivialities--had seemed well-
+nigh incredible. But propinquity affects proportion, and as a small object
+close at hand looms larger to the eye than a vast object upon a distant
+horizon, so the anomaly continued to be witnessed in England which has
+often formed part of the history of nations. Possibly one of the strangest
+phases of the French Revolution was that in which--while heads fell daily
+and the land ran blood--the round of theatres continued without
+interruption and the existence of a certain section of the public remained
+undisturbed. Thus it is not surprising to find, after the storm of feeling
+which was roused by the Battle of Trafalgar, how quickly personal
+interests superseded national, and the social life of the country reverted
+placidly to its normal groove.
+
+True that Nelson's great victory, even while it had dealt a final and
+shattering blow to Napoleon's maritime power, had not been fraught with
+the vast consequences which in the moment of exultation it was fondly
+believed had been achieved. Bonaparte's supremacy in Europe remained
+unshaken, and his victory of Austerlitz, following hard upon Trafalgar,
+minimised the latter, while it crushed with despair the dying heart of
+Pitt. As we have seen, that year dawned darkly which was to witness the
+death of two of England's foremost statesmen, the great Tory in January,
+the great Whig in September; but while, big with import, history traced
+the tale of such giant upheavals in the national life, in strange contrast
+comes the quiet ripple of contemporary gossip.
+
+"The Prince," wrote Mrs Stanhope from Yorkshire in the middle of
+September, "returns to attend Fox's funeral & then has said he will
+immediately come back to make his promised visits to Wentworth, Raby and
+Castle Howard." On the 20th of September Marianne wrote to her brother an
+account of H.R.H. attending Doncaster Races.
+
+
+    Doncaster Races were not near so splendid as they were expected to
+    have been, few south country people, none of distinction.
+
+    The Prince of Wales looked wretchedly; he is thought to be in a bad
+    state of health and was to be cupped last Monday. He arrived at
+    Doncaster about _two_ in the morning, and the yeomanry commanded by Mr
+    Wortley met by order to escort him into the town at _nine the next
+    morning_, so that was _manqué_. The ball was very ill-managed, the
+    Prince arrived at the rooms before they were lighted, neither of the
+    stewards there to receive him--quite scandalous, I think.
+
+
+    _The Same._
+    _Nov. 16th._
+
+    The Royal visitors at Wentworth were magnificently received. Lord
+    Milton [1] exerts himself much in politicks, his only _forte_ perhaps,
+    however, that is better than if it were his only _foible_. Lady Milton
+    charms everybody, I have never met with one exception.
+
+    The Prince, of course you know, inspected the Cavalry at Doncaster and
+    complimented them much. They were out five days on permanent duty, on
+    one of which Mr Foljambe gave the whole regiment a dinner in the
+    Mansion House, a whole pipe of wine was consumed.
+
+    Lord Morpeth, [2] I am rejoiced to hear got his election. Mr Howard,
+    his brother, is a very gentlemanlike, very handsome young man, worthy
+    of his sister Lady Cawdor. [3] Would you believe it he has never been
+    at Stackpole.
+
+    We were much disappointed on Friday by the non-arrival of Mr
+    Wilberforce, [4] as I had promised myself much pleasure, even from so
+    short a visit from such an excellent man. I have been reading some of
+    his _Views of Christianity_, and tho' I believe it is in some
+    parts rather methodistical, I think it quite an angelic book. If he
+    talks as he writes he must be charming.
+
+
+    CANNON HALL _November 28th, 1806._
+
+    A most dreadful and fatal accident happened on Tuesday at Woolley [5]
+    about seven in the Evening. Mrs Fawkes, [6] Mother to Mrs Wentworth,
+    went to an unfinished window, fell out & was killed on the spot. She
+    fell eleven yards perpendicular height.
+
+    Mr Wentworth, and his brother Mr Armytage, were here. Mrs Wentworth
+    was not well, & had not accompanied them, therefore she was at home at
+    the Moment, & poor Mrs Farrer, sister to Mrs Fawkes was actually in
+    the room. They immediately sent for Mr Wentworth, & you may imagine
+    the distress in which he left us. Poor Mrs Wentworth had only just
+    recovered from the shock of her Governess dying after an illness of a
+    few days.
+
+    To turn to a more cheerful subject--as the occupations of this house
+    interest you, I must describe the present drawing-room trio. Hour
+    eight; tea ordered; at the top of the table, in a great chair, Anne,
+    reading the Roman history. At the bottom, Marianne with two folios,
+    making extracts from Palladio on Architecture. My occupation speaks
+    for itself. I greatly doubt whether a busier scene could be found at
+    Oxford at the same hour.
+
+    Miss Baker [7] mentions that Yarborough has been ill at Cambridge &
+    wishes to know whether it arises from their intense studying that the
+    young men at the Universities are so frequently indisposed.
+
+
+    _Mrs Stanhope to John Spencer-Stanhope._
+    GROVE, _January 26th, 1807._
+
+    We are now returning to town, your father arrived there last Thursday.
+    The waggon with our goods was overturned twice in going from Cannon
+    Hall to Wakefield....
+
+    This day se'nnight we left home, & called at Woolley, but Mrs
+    Wentworth was not well enough to see us. Thence we waded through the
+    worst possible road to Hensworth where we found Sir Francis (Wood)
+    with the gout and Lady Wood like a Ghoul....
+
+    More bad roads to Fryston where we found, including ourselves, a party
+    of seventeen, three less than was expected, among others Lord and Lady
+    Galway [8] and two Miss Moncktons.
+
+    The noise, riot and confusion of the house I shall not attempt to
+    describe.
+
+
+On the following day they drove from Fryston to a ball in the
+neighbourhood, of which Mrs Stanhope relates:--
+
+
+    We arrived about nine. The ball-room was beautiful. It was hung with
+    white Calico, with a wreath of evergreens round the top of the room
+    and festoons from it of the same all round; the only fault was _the
+    pure white of the Calico made all the ladies look dirty_. There
+    were 160 or 170 people, many I did not know, many Men, but where the
+    majority came from I cannot pretend to say; Darlingtons, Ramsdens,
+    Cookes, Taylors, etc, and our large party the chief from the
+    neighbourhood.
+
+    The dances were too long and too crowded, which made it not pleasant
+    for the dancers, but it was a fine ball, upon the whole, but much
+    inferior in every respect to Kippax.
+
+    Your sisters danced a good deal, and both of them with a Bond Street
+    lounger whose name was Carey. I believed he was rouged. He desired his
+    hostess to introduce him to a partner, stipulating--"_But let her be
+    charming!_" and as she had promised Anne, _she_ had the good fortune,
+    and I suppose he found her what he wished, for he afterwards honoured
+    Marianne, and they were both vastly amused at his conceit and folly.
+
+    Michael Angelo [9] was _superb_. Since the honour the Prince did
+    him, he has been obliged to part with many of his servants as they
+    would no longer work.
+
+    We arrived at Fryston from the Ball at 1/2 past six, the rest of the
+    party at 1/2 past seven, when they breakfasted before they went to
+    bed.
+
+    The next day was breakfast all the morning long, & very jolly they
+    were. Miles is as eccentric as ever. So odd a man I never saw.
+
+
+Of their Yorkshire neighbours who did not live in the immediate vicinity,
+the family at Cannon Hall saw but little during the winter months;
+therefore, during their journeys to and from town, they invariably took
+the opportunity of staying a few nights with those friends whose houses
+happened to lie conveniently near the line of route. One of the places
+thus constantly visited by them was Fryston, where at this date there
+dwelt, with a numerous family, the widow of Richard Slater Milnes,
+formerly M.P. for York.
+
+The position of the Milnes in Yorkshire was almost unique. In Wakefield,
+during the flight of years, there sprang into prominence certain merchant
+princes whose names became household words throughout the county. The
+Milnes, Heywoods and Naylors, in turn, rose to affluence; but foremost and
+distinct among these remained the Milnes, who from 1670 owned the great
+cloth trade of the North, and who, towards the close of the eighteenth
+century, were represented by four brothers whose firm had secured a
+monopoly of that trade between England and Russia.
+
+These brothers, by reason of their wealth and influence, were received on
+terms of intimacy by the older county families. They built themselves each
+a substantial house in Wakefield, fashioned out of bricks which they
+manufactured and timber which they had imported from Russia, with which
+country they were naturally in constant communication in the course of
+their business. These houses, which stood close together, facing the main
+road through Wakefield, were handsome in construction and luxuriously
+furnished; but, by and by, two branches of the family migrated from the
+town of their birth; James Milnes built Thornes House, and Richard Slater
+Milnes purchased the estate of Fryston, where he took up his residence
+about 1790. His new possession was a larger and more comfortable home than
+the dwelling he had quitted, and although standing in the centre of the
+great West Riding industries, it was beautifully situated on the banks of
+the river Aire. Besides extensive gardens and shrubberies, it was
+surrounded by a fine park, while adjoining it were miles of beautiful
+larch and beech woods. On the death of Richard Slater Milnes it passed
+into the possession of his son, Robert Pemberton, who with his brother,
+Richard Rodes, were the only two sons in a family of nine children.
+
+The brothers, in some particulars, presented a marked contrast to each
+other, though both were fascinating and clever.
+
+Robert Pemberton was extremely eccentric, but brilliant. He was recognised
+to be full of promise, and it was anticipated that he would one day make a
+considerable stir in the political world. Writing of him many years later,
+John Stanhope mentioned the following anecdotes:--
+
+"Mr Milnes of Fryston was one of my earliest friends. After a sharp
+contest with Mr Smyth of Heath he was returned for the Borough of
+Pontefract. His Maiden speech in Parliament produced a very great
+sensation; but a second speech which he made shortly after was considered
+as a failure, though Mr Plummer Ward, himself no bad judge, declared it
+was superior to the former and spoke highly of it. I rather think that
+Milnes terminated it abruptly and was considered to have broken down. He
+seems himself to have thought so for he made no further effort, and, soon
+after, abandoning all political views, turned his mind entirely to
+Agriculture.
+
+"At that date Milnes was a wild, unstable creature, at one time devoting
+his days and nights to reading; at another giving them up to play; at
+another engrossed entirely with shooting; always agreeable, clever and
+sarcastick, he was everything by fits but nothing long, yet always dearly
+loved by his friends and companions, always a straightforward man, full of
+high feeling and honour.
+
+"Perhaps nothing will give a better idea of the wild spirit of his
+character than an occurrence that took place in his youthful days. At a
+time when Battues and a system of the preservation of game as it is now
+carried on in Norfolk were little known in this part of the country, he
+undertook the entire management of the game at Fryston, and succeeded in
+stocking the Plantations there with abundance of Pheasants. Not content
+with giving his orders to the keepers, he used frequently to accompany
+them in their nightly watches.
+
+"On one of these occasions they fell in with a party of poachers, who took
+to their heels.
+
+"Milnes, who was the foremost in the chace, succeeded in grappling one of
+the fugitives. The man struggled on to the brink of a deep quarry and
+finding that Milnes did not slacken his grasp, determined to dare the
+jump, calculating, as he afterwards confessed, that as his limbs were
+strong and well knit, that he should suffer no damage, but that Milnes,
+being slight, would break his leg. Milnes, nothing daunted, kept his hold,
+and went down with the poacher, whose calculations were reversed, for _he_
+broke his legs, and Milnes escaped, comparatively speaking, unscathed."
+
+Rodes Milnes, the younger brother of Pemberton, though gifted with less
+natural genius, at first bid fair to be of a more dependable character;
+and while his mother retained an interest in the firm of Milnes, Heywood &
+Co., he continued to go into Wakefield regularly two or three times a week
+to look after the business, driving himself in a phaeton drawn by a pair
+of beautiful black ponies. But later he became closely connected with the
+turf, and many lively stories are attached to his name. He and Mr Peter of
+Stapleton were racing associates, and their stable won the St Leger no
+fewer than five times in eight years; he was also a turf comrade of Lord
+Glasgow, and after a successful day at York Races, it is said that these
+two friends would station themselves at the window of the inn where they
+were staying and stop every passenger to insist that he or she should
+drink a glass of wine with them.
+
+Rodes Milnes was exceedingly handsome, but later in life became very
+stout, after which he used to enjoy the pleasures of sport in a somewhat
+original fashion. In the middle of the plantations at Fryston was a mound
+on which he used to seat himself in a revolving chair; the keeper would
+then beat the neighbouring woods in order to drive the birds in the
+direction of the mound, and as they appeared, Rodes Milnes used to spin
+round in his chair and take rapid shots at the flying game.
+
+As the Milnes withdrew themselves more and more from their former
+business, the Naylors came to the fore. For long this later firm was
+represented by two brothers, John and Jeremiah. The former was the
+ornamental partner, the latter the useful. John, clad in faultlessly cut
+clothes and a carefully powdered wig, was an impressive figure, and was
+well supported in his picturesque rôle by his wife, a handsome and stately
+dame. Jeremiah, the working bee, was less polished in manner and more
+careless in dress. As Rodes Milnes drove into Wakefield twice a week, so
+did Jeremiah Naylor drive into Leeds Market regularly every Tuesday and
+Saturday morning, in order to buy white and coloured cloth in its
+unfinished state. Thence he would return followed by one or two large
+waggons full of the cloth so purchased, which was subsequently finished,
+partly at the works of his firm and partly by cloth dressers in the town.
+Indeed, Jeremiah, who was noted for his shrewd business capacity and
+frugal tendencies, was said to have bought one-third of all the cloth
+manufactured in the West Riding.
+
+Only on one occasion is it reported that the shrewd Yorkshireman was
+outwitted in a bargain. The story is thus amusingly told by the late Mr
+Clarkson of Alverthorpe Hall:--
+
+"Mr Jeremiah Naylor had a favourite mare which used to take him to Leeds
+twice a week; but at last, from age, she got past her work, and he
+unwillingly consented to sell her. He drove her himself to Doncaster fair,
+and early in the day met with a customer; but at a very low price. After
+this shabby way of disposing of an old favourite he had to look out for a
+successor, and after dinner went again into the fair where, after a
+critical search, he saw for sale an animal likely to suit him, which took
+his fancy from its resemblance to his old favourite of twenty years
+before. The price was a stiff one, but the bargain was concluded at last,
+and the new purchase put into the harness, which seemed exactly to fit.
+
+"Mr Naylor was delighted with the pace at which his fresh steed took him
+home to Wakefield; but on arriving at his house, was met by his old groom,
+who, after scanning the new acquisition, said dryly: 'Well, Sir, you've
+brought the old mare back again!' Mr Naylor rather rebuked the man, who
+replied by loosening the mare from the harness, when she walked straight
+to her own stand in the stable, and doubtless felt there was no place like
+home. The poor thing had been cropped and docked and groomed so as
+completely to deceive her old master."
+
+As the Naylors waxed in wealth they considered themselves to be the
+successful rivals of the former great merchants of Wakefield, the Milnes
+and Heywoods, so that it is said a favourite toast of theirs was--"The
+Milnes _were_, the Heywoods _are_; and the Naylors _will be_"; a toast
+destined never to be realised, for in 1825 the mercantile house of the
+Naylors collapsed.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Another Yorkshire neighbour whom the Stanhopes visited at this date was Mr
+Beaumont of Whitley Beaumont, [10] and although on this occasion the entry
+regarding their visit is scanty, a fuller description of their eccentric
+host, written by Marianne the following autumn, may be here inserted:--
+
+
+    _Nov. 14th, 1808._
+
+    Last Monday we met the Mills' at Grange, she, delightful as usual. We
+    returned the next day, and in our road called on Mr Beaumont of
+    Whitley.
+
+    The master of Whitley is a strange creature, half mad. He leads the
+    life of a hermit, and has not had a brush, painter or carpenter in his
+    house since he came into possession many, many years ago.
+
+    It is more like a haunted house in a romance than anything I ever saw.
+    He is now an old man, and has never bought a morsel of furniture; half
+    the house never was finished; one of the staircases has got no
+    banisters. The stables were burnt down some time ago and have never
+    yet been rebuilt. The rooms he lives in have not been put to rights
+    for many years--a description of the things they contain would not be
+    easy,--hats, wigs, coats, piles of newspapers, magazines and letters,
+    draughts, bottles, wash-hand basins, pictures without frames, apples,
+    tallow candles and broken tea-cups.
+
+    The whole house looks like a place for lumber. There are some fine
+    rooms, but so damp and mouldy it is quite shocking. There is a chapel
+    completely filled with old rubbish and a plaid bed which was put up
+    for the Pretender.
+
+    In the room Mr Beaumont sleeps in I saw his coffin made of cedar wood.
+    He scarcely ever sees a living creature and quite dislikes the sight
+    of a woman. He does everything in the room, which no housemaid ever
+    enters, nor indeed any part of the house.
+
+    We saw there Jack Mills, the Democrat, and his little boy who is
+    christened Alfred Ankerstrom Mirabeau. Ankestrome was the man who
+    killed the King of Sweden; Mirabeau the chief author of the French
+    Revolution. He was godfather to this boy. Before you re-instate the
+    Bourbons, should you not extirpate such a man?
+
+
+Shortly after the return of the Stanhopes to town in 1807 they entertained
+a guest of a very opposite character, but nearly as remarkable for
+eccentricity as was the hermit of Whitley. In Walter Stanhope's journal
+for January 30th of that year is recorded a dinner party of strangely
+incongruous elements. "This night there dined with us Wilberforce,
+Wharton, Smedley, Skeffington, Sir Robert Peel and Ward."
+
+John William Ward, afterwards Lord Dudley, was the son of a former
+Yorkshire neighbour of the Stanhopes, Julia, second daughter of Godfrey
+Bosville of Gunthwaite. As such he was an _habitué_ of their
+entertainments both in London and the country, and was much liked by them
+in spite of his peculiarities, which occasionally led to most awkward
+_contretemps_.
+
+An exceptionally brilliant man, agreeable, a profound scholar, a witty
+_raconteur_ and noted for a remarkable memory, of which several surprising
+instances are still recorded, Mr Ward, in common with so many of his
+contemporaries, was also a celebrated _gourmet_, and experienced the
+popularity of the host who provides dinners of unusual excellence for his
+friends. In view of these recommendations, his eccentricities were treated
+with leniency by those who suffered from them; none the less, they were
+apt to occasion most of his acquaintances, including the Stanhopes,
+considerable alarm. For, a singularly absent-minded man, Mr Ward was not
+only in the habit of unconsciously uttering aloud his most secret
+reflections in a voice which could not fail to reach the ears of those
+most concerned, but his often uncomplimentary criticisms were sometimes,
+in complete mental aberration, actually addressed to the subject of his
+thoughts. At a dinner party this was extremely embarrassing, and when he
+was seen, according to his usual habit, to be engaged in stroking his chin
+contemplatively, preparatory to giving vent unwittingly to severe
+strictures upon his host or his fellow guests, universal uneasiness might
+be observed to prevail amongst all present.
+
+Still more, such remarks on his part were apt to be uttered in a fashion
+calculated further to upset the gravity of those who overheard them. Even
+in ordinary conversation Mr Ward had a curious trick of employing two
+voices of a totally different type--one, Marianne Stanhope described as
+being drawn from the cellar, the other, as having its origin in more
+celestial regions. At one moment he spoke in the deepest bass, and the
+next in the highest tenor, these different tones sometimes succeeding each
+other with a rapidity which was singularly disconcerting, and which
+strangers found so perplexing that it was with difficulty they could
+believe two different persons were not addressing them in such varied
+notes. Yet, with all this eccentricity, his conversation was so well worth
+listening to that the matter and not the manner of it remained in the
+minds of his guests. Therefore, it was with universal regret that, during
+his later years, and after he had been Foreign Secretary under Lord
+Goderich, his friends learnt how his peculiarities had developed into
+mania, and how he had been placed under restraint.
+
+Nor was he the only guest destined afterwards to be the victim of a tragic
+fate, amongst those present at the dinner party with which Mrs Stanhope
+began the season of 1807. Another man, then in the heyday of popularity
+and fame, was doomed to a yet sadder close to his meteoric career.
+
+Sir Lumley Skeffington, of Skeffington Hall, Leicestershire, was a
+celebrated votary of fashion. Descended from "Awly O'Farrell, King of
+Conereene," and from innumerable Kings and Princes of Ireland, his ancient
+lineage, as well as his pronounced dandyism, gave him a claim upon the
+attentions of society, which was further augmented by his literary
+pretensions. Nevertheless, he subsequently experienced a reverse of
+fortune, typical of the days in which he lived; and of his rise and fall
+John Stanhope gives a brief account.
+
+"Poor Skeffington," he relates, "was the Dandy of the day, _par
+excellence_. Remarkable for his ugliness, his dress was so exaggerated as
+to render his lack of beauty the more marked. He was a very good-natured
+man, and had nothing of the impertinence of manner of the fops who
+succeeded him. Moreover, he was a _bel-esprit_, writing epilogues and
+prologues, and was at one time the observed of all observers. I have seen
+him at an assembly literally surrounded by a group of admiring ladies."
+
+Skeffington, in short, in 1805, wrote a play entitled "The Sleeping
+Beauty," which, produced at great expense at Drury Lane, gained for him
+much fame among his contemporaries and caused him for a time to be looked
+upon as a lion in the fashionable world. Enjoying to the full his
+reputation as a literary celebrity, he elected to ape certain mannerisms
+and eccentricities which he considered in keeping with this character.
+"He," Gronow mentions, "used to paint his face like a French toy. He
+dressed _à la Robespierre_ and practised other follies, although the
+consummate old fop was a man of literary attainments, remarkable for his
+politeness and courtly manners, in fact, he was invited everywhere. You
+always knew of his approach by an _avant courier_ (sic) of sweet smells,
+and as he advanced a little nearer, you might suppose yourself in the
+atmosphere of a barber's shop."
+
+Skeffington, after the publication of his play, was known by the nickname
+of "The Sleeping Beauty," and a representation of him in that role John
+Stanhope describes as "the best caricature I ever saw." Tall, thin, and a
+complete slave to his toilet, Sir Lumley not only indulged in an abnormal
+use of perfumes and cosmetics, but was incessantly to be seen combing his
+scented tresses by the aid of a hand mirror, till it was suggested that
+one of his Royal ancestors must have formed a _mésalliance_ with the
+mermaid who most appropriately figured in his armorial bearings, similarly
+employed. The extreme slimness of his figure was accentuated by a coat
+which he made as famous as Lord Petersham did the garment called after his
+name; and Byron added to the fame of the beau by mentioning him in the
+satire "English Bards and Scotch Reviewers":--
+
+  And sure great Skeffington must claim our praise
+  For skirtless coats and skeletons of plays
+  Renowned alike; whose genius ne'er confines
+  Her flight to garnish Greenwood's gay designs,
+  Nor sleeps with 'Sleeping Beauties,' but anon
+  In five facetious Acts comes thundering on,
+  While poor John Bull, bewildered with the scene,
+  Stares, wondering what the devil it can mean.
+
+[Illustration: CARICATURE OF SIR LUMLEY SKEFFINGTON AS "THE SLEEPING
+BEAUTY."]
+
+Unfortunately, however, the harmless foibles of Sir Lumley were combined
+with an unbounded extravagance which finally involved the luckless dandy
+in a ruin as complete as it was pathetic. He disappeared from fashionable
+life to undergo a dreary imprisonment, and when he at last issued thence,
+the world which had showered blandishments upon him in his prosperity,
+would have no more of him. In vain did he dress exquisitely, enunciate
+witticisms and assume a gaiety of manner which he was far from feeling.
+The friends who had courted his society before his downfall now shunned
+his acquaintance, and a _bon-mot_ uttered at his expense elicited the
+applause which his most happily-conceived jests failed to evoke. On some
+stranger pointing out Skeffington to Lord Alvanley, and inquiring who was
+that smart-looking individual, Alvanley responded with a wit more keen
+than kind--"It is a second edition of 'The Sleeping Beauty,' bound in
+calf, richly gilt and illustrated by _many cuts_."
+
+For long did the luckless beau continue, with a pathetic persistence, to
+haunt the scenes of his former triumph. At theatres, at picture auctions,
+in the Park, and in all fashionable thoroughfares, he was a familiar
+sight, still with the passing of years the butt of the contemporaries who
+had once fawned upon him, and, as they gradually diminished, the standard
+jest of a younger generation. With the flight of Time, the blackness of
+his false ringlets never varied, the brilliant rouge of his cheeks, or the
+strange costume which he had worn during the heyday of his existence, and
+to which he clung after it had been obsolete for half a century. And with
+each year his slim figure became yet thinner, his back more bent, and his
+spindle legs more bowed, till at length the man who had been born early in
+the reign of George III. witnessed the dawning of the year 1850; after
+which the quaint figure of the once-famous Sir Lumley Skeffington was seen
+no more.
+
+[Illustration: MADAME CATALANI
+_From an engraving by Carten in the collection of Mr A. M. Broadley._]
+
+But of the fate which the future held for their guest, the Stanhopes can
+little have dreamed when Sir Lumley dined with them a few months after the
+production of his play and at the moment when his society was courted by
+all his acquaintances. The little dinner party composed of so many
+brilliant conversationalists was enjoyed by all present; the reaction
+which it represented to the host and hostess after the comparatively quiet
+week in Yorkshire was much appreciated by them; and two nights after the
+entry respecting it, Mrs Stanhope records further gaieties:--
+
+
+    Marianne went to the Opera last night with the charming Miss Glyn. It
+    was thin & they were in their old box for the first time this season,
+    & that is so high up, no one found them out, but she saw Frank
+    Primrose [11] at a distance. The Opera is new done up and beautiful.
+    Catalani [12] is very good in the Comic Opera, & there is a new dancer
+    who is a scholar of Parisides, and dances delightfully. Kelly's room
+    [13] is no longer open, therefore, the only ways out are the great and
+    chair doors. However, one good has arisen--the large room has become
+    the fashion.
+
+     London is thin, & the only party I have heard of is one at Mrs Knox's
+    on the birthnight.
+
+
+    _Marianne Spencer-Stanhope to John Spencer-Stanhope._
+    _February 8th, 1807._
+
+    Yesterday, we dined at Sir Richard Glyn's.... Poor Dickey! he was more
+    forlorn than ever. I never did see such a little wooden puppet. He
+    speechified just in the way you used to say he did at Christ Church to
+    all the ladies in rotation. His chief business is getting chairs for
+    the company. I think the old description of a husband would very well
+    apply to him.... "_It is a thing that sits at the bottom of the
+    table & likes legs better than wings of Chicken._"
+
+    The Duke of Norfolk, Papa has heard, just after accepting the Lord
+    Lieutenancy of Surrey, at the Whig Club gave his old toasts--"The
+    Sovereignty of the People." We have seen the youngest Prince of
+    Holstein [14] & the tutor, as agreeable as usual. They heard of you at
+    Inverary, the bad news arrived while they were in Ireland, they
+    immediately set off for London, expecting to be ordered back to
+    Holstein; on the contrary, they found a letter recommending them to
+    stay quietly here. Papa means to give them a dinner. He dined the
+    other day at his College Club himself & Lord Moira who has promised to
+    meet the Princes here.
+
+    Papa is highly delighted with Mr Wilberforce's letter on the Slave
+    Trade; Ld. Grenville's speech on that subject, he says, was the finest
+    thing he ever heard.
+
+    Your love, Mrs Cator, [15] came to town for Court last Thursday. Miss
+    Glyn saw her, and informed her how you were smitten. She laughed very
+    hard and was much amused. She gives a curious account of the Cators &
+    of the people she lives with at Beckenham, she says, she never was
+    used to such people, at her uncle Sligo's; [16] but that Mr Cator [17]
+    has known them all his life & likes them. He proposed in a curious
+    manner. One day Miss Mahon said she must go & pack up her jewels. He
+    asked her how many she had. She said, "About twenty pounds' worth." He
+    said, "Well, I have about as many, suppose we club & put them
+    together." Which they forthwith decided to do!
+
+    Our Sunday dish, Frank Primrose, is here.... I suppose we shall have
+    him every Sunday till the family come to town. The Duchess of Gordon
+    has taken a house in this Square, opposite the Law's in Duke St. I saw
+    Kinnoull in the Pitt at the Opera last night. Our visitors were, the
+    Prince Auguste for about two hours, & Jack Smyth. [18] Young Prince
+    Estahazy [19] is one of the greatest beaux in town--he is of the first
+    family in Hungary. The Princess of Wales not going to the Drawing-room
+    was a sad disappointment. Some attribute it to the Prince, others
+    _hope_ it is her health. _Dieu Sait_.
+
+
+    _Mrs Spencer-Stanhope._
+    _February 12th, 1807._
+
+    All the world is going to Court to-day, except  us--& many hope to see
+    the Princess there. I  believe they will be disappointed, as there is
+    some difficulty about her dressing in Carlton House & I suppose it
+    is thought proper she should not go from  any other.
+
+    Lady Chesterfield is to be the new Lady of the  Bedchamber in the room
+    of Lady Cardigan who  declines on account of the age of her Lord, that
+    she  may dedicate more time to him.
+
+
+The story of the unhappy marriage of Caroline of Brunswick with the Prince
+of Wales, afterwards George IV., is too well known to need repetition.
+Since 1796 she had lived apart from the Prince at Shooter's Hill or
+Blackheath, and was the object of much sympathy among a large section of
+the public. In 1806 reports respecting her conduct had led to there being
+instituted against her what was subsequently known as the _delicate
+investigation_, proceedings in which the prosecution relied principally on
+evidence supplied by Sir J. Douglas. The verdict was that her conduct had
+been imprudent but not criminal, and the populace, ever ready to take up
+the cause of one whom they considered unjustly treated, sang about the
+streets and under the windows of Carlton House, a refrain far from
+complimentary to H.R.H:--
+
+  "I married you 'tis true
+  Not knowing what to do,
+  My affairs at the time were
+    So bad, bad, bad;
+  But now my debts are paid
+  And my fortune it is made,
+  You may go home again to
+    Your dad, dad, dad!" */
+
+Great excitement naturally prevailed as to whether the Princess would or
+would not make her re-appearance at Court, but it was not till May 22nd,
+1807, that she succeeded in asserting her right to do so, and on this
+occasion she seems to have enjoyed one of the few triumphs achieved in her
+unfortunate career.
+
+
+    _Mrs Spencer-Stanhope to John Spencer-Stanhope._
+    _May 22nd, 1807._
+
+    The appearance of the Princess of Wales, both at Court and at the
+    Opera you would read with pleasure. At the former place Sir J. Douglas
+    was in   the outer room, and a lady near who knew him by sight said
+    something handsome of the Princess and that she hoped her Calumniators
+    would be brought to justice. All around joined in cordially, and he
+    slunk away.
+
+
+The following year Mrs Stanhope wrote:--
+
+
+    Lady Hertford [20] is very busy trying to bring about a reconciliation
+    between the Prince and Princess, and I hear she has made some
+    progress.
+
+Lady Hertford, who was long known by her nickname of the "Sultana," had
+become celebrated for her liaison with the Prince of Wales, which was
+destined to continue for some years till she was superseded in favour by
+Lady Conyngham. She was described as shy and insipid, her manners were
+stately and formal, and the impression which she conveyed was that of a
+person rigidly correct in comportment and morals. But if, indeed, she ever
+attempted to reunite the husband and wife whom her conduct had assisted to
+alienate, it was scarcely to be expected that such a mediator would meet
+with success in such a task. Of the luckless Princess, however, Mrs
+Stanhope was for long a distinct partisan; and on March 19th of that same
+year she wrote a description of the tactless Caroline which shows that, on
+occasions, the Princess could assume a dignity foreign to the usual tenor
+of her conduct.
+
+
+    Thursday, we attended the Drawingroom; most brilliant. The Princess of
+    Wales looked extremely well & _her manners are the most graceful and
+    Royal of any I ever saw_.
+
+
+Ere that date, however, London had been plunged into confusion by the
+sudden fall of Lord Grenville's Ministry.
+
+
+    _Marianne Spencer-Stanhope to John Spencer-Stanhope._
+    _April 27th, 1807_, GROSVENOR SQUARE.
+
+    As Parliament is to be dissolved to-morrow or Tuesday, conceive the
+    bustle which prevails thro'out this great town. The gentlemen are in
+    agonies for their purses, and the ladies for their parties, which must
+    either be postponed or destitute of beaux.... This last week we have
+    been very gay--that is, we have been almost squeezed to death at
+    sundry grand crowds, and knocked up with balls. Mrs Robinson's was
+    good in everything but dancing, and Lady Scott's [21] was good in
+    everything but company. The latter was nothing but a little dance, a
+    rehearsal to a magnificent ball she means to give in May, in which she
+    has asked us to dance in the French country dances--but hélas! all
+    that will now be at an end.... You would have been charmed with Lady
+    Scott. I know how much you admire her, and to increase your delight, I
+    will tell you what she eats for supper. After having already been at
+    one table, she came to ours when everybody had done eating. _She had
+    first half a breast of mutton, then half a chicken, then a whole
+    lobster, a blanc-manger & a mixed salad._
+
+
+The Election of 1807 was one long celebrated in the history of Yorkshire,
+being unprecedented in the fierceness of the struggle it provoked. As is
+well known, there were in those days but two representatives for the
+entire county, and there was but one polling booth, which was in the
+castle yard at York. The retiring members on this occasion were Mr Walter
+Fawkes and William Wilberforce. The former did not seek re-election, for
+he took the dissolution so much to heart that he declared he should
+withdraw for ever from public life, but the latter speedily made good his
+right to represent the county once more. There remained, therefore, but
+one seat to be contested, and great was the excitement when it was found
+that the candidates were to be chosen from the two great Yorkshire houses
+of rival politics--Lord Milton, the son of Earl Fitzwilliam, in the Whig
+interest, and the Hon. Henry Lascelles, son of the Earl of Harewood, for
+the Tory party. Mr Stanhope, having secured his own election for his old
+seat of Carlisle, hastened back to Yorkshire to take part in the contest
+in favour of the Tory member there, whose chances of success he hoped
+would be enhanced by the youthfulness of Lord Milton, which gave his
+opponents a valuable handle for satire. As already pointed out, precocious
+in every rôle of life, Lord Milton had married at the age of nineteen, and
+having just attained his majority, was now anxious to represent the
+county.
+
+
+    _Walter Spencer-Stanhope to John Spencer-Stanhope._
+    CANNON HALL, _May 18th, 1807._
+
+    I had no time to write to you this Day Se'nnight from Carlisle after
+    my Election. I got to York on Tuesday night, attended the Nomination
+    at York the next day, which was carried almost unanimously in Favour
+    of Wilberforce, and by a great Majority in favour of Lascelles over
+    Lord Milton, but nevertheless, this young Lordling, who was only of
+    age the third of this month, told us he would demand a Poll on
+    Wednesday next. My Canvass against him has been very successful and I
+    mean, having concluded all my arrangements, both here and at
+    Horsforth, to give my Vote on Thursday or Friday.
+
+    There has been a flood at Silkstone more tremendous than ever was
+    known by the bursting of a cloud on the Hill to the West of the
+    Village. An old woman and two children were drowned in one of the
+    cottages near the Vicarage, and much damage was done all along the
+    Course of the Brook. Strange Events seem becoming frequent in this
+    Neighbourhood, for last year, you may have heard, during a violent
+    storm a cottage was struck, an old woman and her two sons knocked out
+    of the chairs in which they were seated at the table, and the soles of
+    one of the Boys' shoes ripped from off his feet, although the entire
+    party suffered no other damage.
+
+
+To York, consequently, Stanhope repaired, where he found Lord Milton
+prepared to hold his own with spirit. On being taunted with his youth, he
+replied in the well-known words of Lord Chatham that it was a fault he
+would remedy every day, while a still more brilliant rejoinder to the
+attacks of his opponent gained him many votes. Mr Lascelles, determined to
+make a _coup_, on the Nomination day stepped across the hustings, and
+referring contemptuously to the age and short stature of his rival,
+offered him a whip and a top. Lord Milton took both with unruffled
+composure, and throwing the top into the crowd, he handed the whip back to
+his adversary with the remark that he thought Mr Lascelles' father might
+find greater use for it to flog his slaves in Jamaica. As the most vexed
+question at the election was the emancipation of the slaves, this sally
+provoked great enthusiasm. None the less, on the first day Mr Lascelles
+headed the poll.
+
+
+    _Walter Spencer-Stanhope to John Spencer-Stanhope._
+    YORK, _May 22nd, 1807._
+
+    MY DEAR JOHN,
+
+    I have but a moment to tell you I am engaged in the severest contest
+    that ever was known. On Wednesday the Poll began, and closed leaving
+    Milton in a Minority, but yesterday we got near three hundred ahead,
+    by getting early possession of the advances to the Polling Booths. To-
+    day, Wilberforce, who was last yesterday, is regaining his lost ground
+    fast, and I fully expect Lascelles will beat the young Lord, but the
+    contest will be dreadful and the cost enormous. I like your eagerness,
+    but you are full as well where you are. Were you here, you would have
+    a fair chance of a Fever. I am a good deal heated, but not ill. We
+    poll 2 or 3,000 a day.
+
+    What a charming account we have of William. We are all in high spirits
+    this day. Wilberforce is the head of the Poll and Lascelles has gained
+    upwards of fifty upon Milton.
+
+
+    _May 27th._--Hoping that Lascelles is above 300 ahead, I left
+    York this morning. I send you an Electioneering song I wrote, but you
+    must not let anyone have a copy of it.
+
+      SONG.
+
+      Wave the flag, hoist the pennant,
+      Hear our great Lord Lieutenant
+      Who would save us the trouble of choice.
+      "Let not Lascelles content you,
+      Milton _shall_ represent you,
+      And I'll in the House guide his voice!"
+
+      Wise in speech, look, and act
+      (I appeal to the fact),
+      At nineteen he determined to marry,
+      And all I could say,
+      Till his twentieth birthday,
+      Would hardly persuade him to tarry.
+
+      Ere at years of discretion,
+      He sat a whole Session,
+      E'en Grantham made way for the boy.
+      Who's the fittest law-maker?
+      He that's first a law-breaker;
+      To catch thieves you a thief should employ.
+
+      What a lordling it is,
+      With his carrotty phiz,
+      So cried up, so flattered, so built on.
+      You may oft take a rule
+      From a nickname at School,
+      And the boys named him _old Lady Milton_.
+
+      Oh patriot revered
+      Go shave for a beard!
+      Hie to Wentworth and finish this strife,
+      York, Malton, the county,
+      Disdained to be bound t'ye,
+      Go and cherish your nice little wife,
+
+      Oh! soon may she bear
+      You a fine son and heir;
+      Then ten oxen whole you may roast;
+      May Fitzwilliam carouse
+      With _two boys_ in the house
+      Nor bewail _Milton's Paradise Lost_!
+
+
+The contest lasted three weeks, while the actual polling occupied fifteen
+days, during which 25,120 votes were tendered. It is thus described in the
+_Annals of Yorkshire_:--
+
+
+    The county was in a state of the most violent agitation, party spirit
+    being wound up to the highest pitch by the friends of the two noble
+    families, and everything being done that money or personal exertion
+    could accomplish; the roads in all directions were covered night and
+    day with coaches, barouches, curricles, gigs, fly-waggons, and
+    military cars with eight horses, conveying voters from the most remote
+    parts of the county.... On the fifth day Lascelles passed his opponent
+    and kept the lead till the 13th day, at the close of which the numbers
+    stood,--_Milton_, 10,313; _Lascelles_, 10,255. Now the efforts were
+    prodigious and the excitement maddening.
+
+
+"All parties," wrote Mrs Stanhope, "consider themselves secure. Lord
+Milton met with more success than Mr Lascelles at Sheffield, Rotherham,
+Doncaster, and, I am sorry to add, Leeds. At Halifax, he had a very cold
+reception.... Mr Osbaldiston and another man were almost killed going in
+to vote, owing to the enormous crowd."
+
+During all this time the state of York was indescribable, and since the
+public-houses were ordered by the candidates to supply gratis whatever
+refreshment the voters called for, the roads in every direction were lined
+with tipsy men who molested travellers, indulged in rioting, or slumbered
+in heaps by the roadside; so that, partly on account of the fatigue of
+travelling, but still more owing to the dangerous condition of the roads
+and of the city of York, the county gentlemen agreed together that the
+ladies who were entitled to vote should not exercise this privilege unless
+it should be found essential. [22]
+
+At length the Poll closed, and amid unparalleled excitement it was found
+that the numbers stood thus:--
+
+    MR WILBERFORCE   11,806.
+    LORD MILTON      11,177.
+    Mr Lascelles     10,990.
+
+When the news of Lord Milton's success became known in London on Sunday,
+all the Whig families caused their horses to be adorned with large orange
+favours, while the ladies at the fashionable promenade in Kensington
+Gardens made a lavish display of his colours. In Yorkshire, the event was
+celebrated by the victorious party with mad rejoicings, not the least
+remarkable being the behaviour of the people of Wakefield who, unable to
+do honour in person to the successful candidate, seized upon an old woman
+who lived on Clayton Hill and "chaired" her all round the town with wild
+enthusiasm. She was ever afterwards known by the nickname of "Lady
+Milton," and the street where she lived bore the name of Milton Street.
+But even the successful candidate must have found his triumph tempered by
+the fabulous cost of the election. The unusual size of the county, and the
+fact that voters had to be brought from and returned to such distant
+localities, while the cost of their transit and their keep was meanwhile
+defrayed by the candidates without stint, brought out the electioneering
+expenses at the enormous sum of £100,000 for each candidate. Lord
+Harewood, to whose outlay was added the mortification of its uselessness,
+is said to have kept a card in his pocket from that day forward with the
+ominous figures £100,000 inscribed on it, and whenever he was asked again
+to contest the county, he would produce this as an unanswerable argument
+against his doing so.
+
+Meanwhile, at Ramsgate, Mrs Stanhope and her party were contenting
+themselves with whatever gaieties the place afforded, and on May 31st,
+1807, Marianne Stanhope sent her brother an interesting account of the
+conditions prevailing there at that date.
+
+
+    NELSON'S CRESCENT.
+
+    Just now I think you would be very miserable here, for the wind is
+    very high and whistles at every corner, the sea is rough and
+    everything looks blowing. The night before last was dreadfully
+    tempestuous, & all yesterday morning was very stormy, but it cleared
+    out, happily for us, in the evening, so that we were able to take a
+    turn on the pier.
+
+    That famous pier! The only thing worth seeing, I think, either in or
+    out of Ramsgate, for you must know I have now seen almost all the
+    lions:--that miserable forlorn Mansion, East Cliff, _ci-devant_
+    Lord Keith's; the elegant little cake house of Mr Warne, who is going
+    to Russia; the soi-disant cottage of Mr Yarrow, in the romantic
+    vicinity of Pegwell Bay, celebrated, I am told for its fisheries; and
+    last, though certainly not least, the splendid and deserted King's
+    Gate. The building is very classic and elegant, but surely Tully's
+    Villa must be a very different thing in the sweet Campagna of Italy,
+    than placed on such a barren cliff. Poor fellow! Could he look out of
+    the Elysian fields (for there, I suppose, we must place him) I think
+    he would not admire the change of situation!
+
+    There is a regiment of Irish Dragoons here. The Colonel has just left
+    them to take possession of a large fortune, & another officer has gone
+    to Ireland to give a vote. Both the Irish and Germans have very good
+    bands which often play before our windows & this is the only gaiety
+    there is.
+
+    I am sure all the pleasure of this place must depend upon the company
+    & when you have society that you like, what spot will not appear
+    pleasant?
+
+    We are not too well off in that respect as you will think when I have
+    described our acquaintance.
+
+    Our greatest intimate is Lady Jane Pery, [23] Lord Limerick's
+    daughter, who has had so many complaints she is unable to move from
+    her chair, though full of life and spirits. Lady Conyngham [24] is the
+    great lady of the place, a nice, civil old woman. We were at a party
+    at her house where we met all the natives. Her daughter, Miss Burton,
+    is 6 ft. 4 in. in height & ugly in proportion, but very agreeable. To-
+    morrow we are going to a party there where we are to meet _everybody_,
+    for you must know that even in this small society there is an improper
+    set. Lady Dunmore [25] & her daughters, Lady Virginia Murray, & the
+    married one, Lady Susan Drew, [26] sisters to the Duchess of Sussex,
+    [27] and Lord and Lady Edward Bentinck [28] & their two daughters are
+    visited by very few _proper_ people, but both these houses are the
+    _rendez-vous_ of the officers. Lady Sarah Drew had a ball the other
+    night.
+
+    At Lady Conyngham's, we are to meet all these.
+
+    Miss Bentinck [29] is a great beauty; there has been a long affair
+    between her and Hay Drummond, which is at last broke off by the lady.
+    She had been sent to the Duke of Rutland's to be out of his way.
+    Drummond contrived to introduce himself to the servants as her maid's
+    beau, by which means he slept in the house and was able to walk with
+    her before breakfast & late at night. At last her brother, who was
+    shooting one morning early, & knew Drummond by sight well, found them
+    out and gave the alarm. The Duke sent Miss Bentinck home directly, &
+    they were to be married in September, but lo! she has changed her
+    mind.
+
+
+    _Mrs Spencer-Stanhope to John Spencer-Stanhope._
+    NELSON'S CRESCENT, RAMSGATE, _June 1st._
+
+    There are parties here, but the majority of women is quite ridiculous.
+    Lord Cranley [30] the other night at Lady Conyngham's for a short time
+    found himself the only man amongst twenty women. He said he looked as
+    if he had broken into a Convent. I do not like his wit, he is too like
+    a thing to be laughed at.
+
+
+    _June 2_.--We were last night at another party at Lady Conyngham's,
+    where there were four card tables, and it was then settled that there
+    should be a ball on the Birthday, to the no small pleasure of your
+    sisters, who expect to have officers in plenty to dance with.
+
+    I do not believe there is any truth in Lady Glyn's report respecting
+    Milnes, though I am convinced he thinks Miss H. Monckton very
+    agreeable. [31] I am certain she asked Lady Galway, for she wrote me
+    word she did not take Joy, [accept congratulations].
+
+    I have been here long enough to admire the sea, but the country will
+    not do for a Yorkshirewoman.
+
+
+    _June 5th._
+
+    Yesterday was the dullest Birthday I ever remember. The Guns were
+    fired and something attempted by the Military on the sands, but it was
+    high water, and they, moreover, fired ill. A Ball Miss Burton
+    determined to have, and though neither Lady Edward Bentinck's party
+    nor the Dunmores chose to attend, they danced nine couple very
+    pleasantly. Some of the Gentlemen of the 13th had too loyally
+    celebrated the King's Birthday, however, they _did_ dance, and
+    thanks to the Germans, we have some new figures, and two of them
+    amused us very much with a Waltz, which we were very curious to see.
+    [32] Your sisters and two men finished with a Reel, but as we were the
+    only ladies remaining at one o'clock, we were obliged to come away,
+    tho' the Dragoons all indignantly exclaimed that it was not keeping
+    the Birthday. As there were more men than women, the dancing went on
+    with spirit.
+
+    Some of the 13th went away early as they ride a race on Barham Downs
+    this morning.
+
+
+From Ramsgate, Mrs Stanhope and her Party appear to have gone a brief
+Tour, with which they were much pleased.
+
+
+    _July 25th, 1807._
+
+    Our tour answered in every respect--the weather continued fine & the
+    country through which we passed very pretty. When we arrived at
+    Woodstock, we found we could not see the House at Blenheim before
+    three, we therefore took fresh horses and drove all round the Park,
+    and visited the House where Lord Rochester died. We then ate cold meat
+    at the Inn, and at three went thro' the House & over the Pleasure
+    Ground--large enough for a tolerable sized place. From thence, drove
+    through the Parks of Ditchley & Hey Thorpe to Warwick.
+
+    The next morning we saw the Castle and grounds, and afterwards went to
+    Mr Greathead's, Guy's Cliff, a pretty, small place, but noted for some
+    beautiful paintings by his only Son who died at the age of 23 abroad.
+    There are two pictures of Bonaparte, one with his Court face, the
+    other when reviewing; both taken from recollection immediately after
+    seeing him & said to be extremely like. He took a third which he
+    presented to Louis Bonaparte.
+
+
+This expedition appears to have terminated in a visit to the Lowthers at
+Swillington, where Mrs Stanhope records an instance of the drastic medical
+treatment in favour with our ancestors.
+
+
+    _November 5th, 1807_, SWILLINGTON.
+
+    Lady Lonsdale [33] is living at Leeds with Lady Elizabeth, who I fear
+    is little, if any, better. And though Lady Lonsdale is willing to
+    flatter herself, I fear she is too ill to be relieved by Grosvenor's
+    plan of friction which is what they are now trying. _She has five
+    people to rub her at once_.
+
+    Do send me some particulars of Miss Drummond's wedding. I hear such
+    various stories--one that she was married in an old riding habit with
+    a red scarf round her neck.
+
+
+The recipient of Mrs Stanhope's correspondence, her son John, was at this
+date completing his education at Edinburgh, under the auspices of the
+famous Dugald Stewart, Professor of Moral Philosophy, who the year
+previously had received from the Whig Government a sinecure worth £600.
+Judging, however, by Mrs Stanhope's reference in the following letter to
+the kindly ministrations of a certain "Miss Anne," Moral Philosophy was
+not the only study which was engrossing the attention of John Stanhope.
+
+
+    CANNON HALL, _November 23rd, 1807._
+
+    After the long quiz you will this morning receive from Marianne,
+    perhaps a matter-of-fact letter from your mother may not be
+    unacceptable, and if your weather in any degree resembles ours, the
+    post will be a person held by you in great estimation, as you sit
+    freezing over your fire.
+
+    I sincerely hope that Miss Anne's pills and grey Dinnark had the
+    desired effect and that you are now quite in Ball trim. I like your
+    account of Dugald Stewart and hope you retain a great deal of the
+    knowledge which flows from his mouth. How I should like to hear him!
+    For Moral Philosophy is my favourite study.
+
+    Your account of your dinners amused us. Sir John Sinclair [34] always
+    collects from all quarters of the Globe; sometimes he mixes them
+    oddly, but I think his dinners are not disagreeable. Knox, with whom
+    you dined, lives in Grosvenor Street, his mother gives balls, and Mrs
+    Beaumont expects she will be with her at Christmas on her road from
+    Ireland.
+
+    It now snows as fast as possible. Thursday was a very bad day, and we
+    have had severe frost ever since. I do not ever remember so determined
+    a snow before Xmas, and all the old people foretell a hard winter.
+
+    Sir John Smith [35] is dead. Mrs Marriott [36] tried to be sorry, but
+    when she recollected it would enable the Smiths to live in town and a
+    hundred other _et ceteras_, for the life of her she could not
+    grieve; and in truth he was not a man to be much regretted, he was of
+    too selfish a character to be either much loved or esteemed.
+
+    We are much amused at the extract which you have sent us from Drummond
+    Castle.
+
+
+The extract in question, which was enclosed in this letter, runs as
+follows:--
+
+
+    PART OF THE JOURNAL OF THE CELEBRATED ELIZABETH WOODVILLE (afterwards
+    Queen of Edward IV.) previous to her first marriage with Sir John
+    Grey. Extracted from an ancient MS. preserved in Drummond Castle.
+
+    _Monday morning._ Rose at four o'clock & helped Catherine to milk
+    the cows, Rachael, the other Dairy Maid having scalded her hands the
+    night before. Made a Poultice for Rachael & gave Robin a penny to get
+    something comfortable from the Apothecary's.
+
+    _6 o'clock._ The Bullock of Beef rather too much boiled & the
+    beer rather stale. Mem: to talk to the Cook about the first fault & to
+    mend the second myself by tapping a fresh barrell.
+
+    _7 o'clock._ Went to walk with the Lady Duchess, my Mother, [37]
+    in the Courtyard. Fed 25 Men & Women. Chid Roger severely for
+    expressing some ill words at attending us with the broken Meat.
+
+    _8 o'clock._ Went into the Paddock behind the house with my maid
+    Dorothy, & caught Thump the black Poney & rode a matter of six miles
+    without either Saddle or Bridle.
+
+    _10 o'clock._ Went to dinner. John Grey [38] a most comely
+    Youth,--but what is that to me? a Virtuous Maiden should be entirely
+    under the guidance of her Parents--John ate but little and stole a
+    great many looks at me; said "Women could never be handsome in his
+    opinion that were not good temper'd." I think my temper is not bad. No
+    one finds fault with it but Roger, & he is the most disorderly serving
+    man in our Family. John Grey likes white Teeth. My Teeth are of a
+    pretty good colour, I think, & my hair is as black as Jet. John Grey,
+    if I mistake not, is of the same opinion.
+
+    _11 o'clock._ Rose from table, the Company all desiring a walk in
+    the Fields. John Grey would help me over every stile & twice he
+    squeezed my hand. I can't say I have any great objections to John
+    Grey. He plays at Prison Bars as well as any Country Gentleman; is
+    remarkably dutiful to his Parents, my Lord and Lady; & never misses
+    Church on a Sunday.
+
+    _3 o'clock._ Poor Robinson's house burnt down by accident. John
+    Grey proposed a subscription among the Company for the relief of the
+    Farmer & gave no less than 4£ himself. Mem: Never saw him look so
+    comely as at that Moment.
+
+    _4 o'clock._ Went to Prayers.
+
+    _6 o'clock._ Fed the Pigs and Poultry.
+
+    _7 o'clock._ Supper on Table, delayed to that hour on account of
+    Robinson's misfortune. Mem: the Goose Pie too much baked & the Pork
+    roasted to rags.
+
+    _9 o'clock._ The Company fast asleep. These late hours very
+    disagreeable. Said my Prayers a second time, John Grey distracting my
+    thoughts too much the first. Fell asleep at ten. Dreamed that John
+    Grey had demanded me of my Father. [39]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+1808-1810
+
+ON DITS FROM GROSVENOR SQUARE AND CANNON HALL
+
+
+    _Marianne Spencer-Stanhope to John Spencer-Stanhope._
+    GROSVENOR SQUARE, _Jan 27th, 1808._
+
+    Poor Philip went to school to-day, to the great regret of all the
+    party, for he is a general favourite. Such a lively little monkey I
+    never saw.
+
+    On Sunday Roast Beef and Plum Pudding [1] dined with us, and were
+    entertaining as usual, also Orator Milnes, who was quite fascinating,
+    the first time I ever saw him so! He is perfectly different with his
+    town face to what he appears in Yorkshire. Yesterday we had a pleasant
+    _dinnette_. In the evening Lady Glyn arrived _bien triste_, and Mrs
+    Beaumont all magnificence for Lady Castlereagh's. We were much
+    surprised to find Count Holmar [2] in town, but we have had the
+    mystery explained. He took the Princes back to their own country, and
+    then came back here on account of his love for Miss Gifford, Lady
+    Lansdowne's daughter by her first husband. [3] She is pretty and
+    clever, without much fortune, but Lord Lansdowne has taken a fancy to
+    her, has settled Southampton Castle upon her, and having no child of
+    his own, intends making her an heiress. The young lady does not like
+    the Count much, but her friends wish it, so there are delicacies and
+    difficulties enough for a novel of the first order. He spent three
+    months there this autumn, and certainly as far as a pale cheek, sunk
+    eyes, and slender form can prove anything, he is either hopelessly
+    consumptive or in love. So much for him!
+
+    Mrs Beaumont is quite on her high horse. 'Tis said _he_ has asked
+    for a peerage on account of his _overwhelming_ influence in the
+    county of York, all of which he employed in favour of Lord Milton!
+    Bravo, say I!
+
+    Another story is that he has had the offer of a Swedish order, fees
+    £150, a sky-blue ribbon, which gives no place, and the honour of being
+    a Sir, not hereditary. I never heard of its being conferred on any but
+    dancing masters and medical geniuses.
+
+    My father has become acquainted with Mrs Knox, and is much charmed
+    with her. He says they seem to live in prodigious style, have a
+    magnificent house, as finely furnished as Bretton. She said her son
+    mentioned you in the highest terms.
+
+    We were at the Opera on Saturday. Fuller of men I never saw it; the
+    boxes thin. The Duchess of A. was there looking _fade_. Kelly's
+    room is at an end; so we had the pleasure of waiting, or rather
+    starving in the great room for near an hour.
+
+
+Marianne Stanhope, later, thus describes this room at the Opera where the
+audience assembled on leaving, and where each lady who was unattended by a
+cavalier of her own family, strove anxiously to escape the crowning
+ignominy of not having a beau to "hand her to her carriage."
+
+
+    Then came the pleasures of the crush-room, that most singular of all
+    places of amusement, where a mob of good company assemble twice a
+    week, in a thorough draft of air, to enjoy the pleasure of inhaling
+    the odours of expiring lamps, amid the ceaseless din of "Lady
+    Townley's carriage stops the way"--"Lord D----'s servants'--"--"the
+    Duchess of N---'s carriage"--"Lord P----'s coming down"--"The Duke of
+    S---- must drive off," and sounds such as these constantly reiterated.
+
+    Young ladies by the dozens were to be seen freezing, with shawls off
+    one shoulder, trying to inveigle some man, by means of sweet words or
+    sweeter looks, to hand them to their carriages; the unfortunate mammas
+    behind them, looking worn out in the service, ready to expire with the
+    cold and bustle, sinking on the sofa opposite to the fireplace to
+    await their turn with what patience they might. [4]
+
+
+And after enlarging upon the various methods by which the representatives
+of the _haut ton_ strove likewise to secure the satisfaction of "hearing
+their names proclaimed by each passer-by," she exclaims--"Say! ye
+frequenters of the Opera round-room, if these are not its chiefest
+pleasures?"
+
+Meanwhile the flirtations which were wont to beguile this tedious hour
+invariably attracted much attention.
+
+
+    _January 29th, 1808._
+
+    I have heard some news respecting the little Viscount which surprises
+    me--that he is to marry the second Miss Bouverie as soon as she is
+    presented. [5] That the eldest was cruel & moreover that he always
+    preferred the second, though he has never given the slightest hint &
+    did not go near her at the Opera, not even in the crush-room. He is
+    gone to Bath, probably to avoid the talk & gossip of London till it is
+    publickly declared.
+
+
+     _February 22nd, 1808._
+
+    On Monday we were charmed at Drury Lane with Mrs Jordan in "_Three
+    weeks after Marriage_." I admire her so much I could forgive the
+    Duke of Clarence anything. On Friday, we had a dinner party at Mrs
+    Glyn's--_hum-drum enough_. The next night we had a dinner here,
+    at which we had George Hampson, who is now one of our great flirts; he
+    has been much in Edinburgh and likes nothing better than Scotch
+    dancing.
+
+    The dear Prims [Primroses] dine here _à l'ordinaire_. I met the
+    Viscount in the Park with his love, and he went again in the evening,
+    but I wonder they don't dine together of a Sunday. She is a nice
+    little girl, very genteel and pleasing, but no beauty like her sister,
+    who is all-conquering this year. At Court the other day she had a
+    trimming and headdress of her own composition, all pheasant's
+    feathers, the plumage of two-and-thirty. As for poor little Frankey
+    [Frank Primrose] as Mary Lowther says, all the Roast Beef and Plum
+    Pudding will produce nothing.
+
+    Miss de Visme [6] has not yet arrived. She has made great havoc among
+    the Staffordshire beaux. Your old Square Flame, Miss Calcraft [7] is
+    in a few months to come out a raging belle. She is amazingly admired
+    by the few who have seen her. London is pronounced dullissimo, so pray
+    continue to amuse yourself in Edinburgh, which by your account must be
+    the gayest and pleasantest place in the world.
+
+    We are much obliged to the Duchess of Gordon for giving you so happy
+    an opportunity of announcing the beautiful, or extraordinary presents
+    we may expect to receive--perhaps Scotch husbands--who knows! Pray
+    don't be dilatory. Miss Glyn is smarter, gayer, and a greater flirt
+    than ever. A last attempt--may it succeed!
+
+
+    _Mrs Spencer-Stanhope to John Spencer-Stanhope._
+    _February 26th, 1808._
+
+    Yesterday I had the pleasure of your gay, wild epistle. You remind me
+    of the French prisoner who was asked how he spent his time. He
+    answered--"We breakfast, then dance; dine, dance again; sup--_encore
+    la danse!_" This I begin to suspect is a Scotch life, and very good
+    for bile, provided the dinners are such as the prisoner partook of.
+    You seem to be the happiest of the happy and the gayest of the gay.
+
+    Peter was quite shocked you had not mentioned Walter Scott. Have you
+    ever met with him? Great expectations are formed of his poem. Campbell
+    and Rogers are both going to publish poems.
+
+
+    _March 11th, 1808._
+
+    I believe I have not written to you since your sisters were at the
+    Argyle Rooms, [8] which they liked extremely, but where they had small
+    opportunity of exhibiting their new steps. There was first an
+    Operetta, then a supper, and afterwards an attempt at a dance; but the
+    stupid English voted it not _ton_, and there were only about fifteen
+    couples who ventured to defy this opinion--Marianne and Mr Macdonald
+    one of them. Anne remained a spectator. As the dancing did not seem to
+    be approved, Mr Greville said, for the future there should be none
+    except upon ball nights.
+
+
+    _March 16th, 1808._
+
+    We were at the Opera on Saturday and at the Argyle Rooms on Monday. At
+    the latter place we had only a concert and supper--thin and I thought
+    dull. The men are always in the house and have little time for
+    anything but politicks.
+
+    The King is, I understand, quite provoked with the Opposition, and
+    says that their present method of proceeding is different to any that
+    has ever been in his reign. They depend upon wearing out the
+    Constitutions of the Ministers. Your father told Lord Castlereagh he
+    was certain it was all owing to his pale face and therefore he ought
+    to put on a little rouge. The Lords sending back the Bill on the
+    orders of Council had given great spirits to the Opposition.
+
+    The dullness of London is beyond anything I have ever known. The only
+    new belle is Miss Hood, daughter to Lord Hood, who is quite beautiful.
+
+    Your friend Mr Macdonald did us the honour to remember us at the
+    Argyle Rooms, but he has made so little impression on your sisters,
+    they both asked who he was.
+
+
+Mr Macdonald, who was unfortunate in having made so little impression upon
+Mrs Stanhope's daughters, was Archibald, third son of Alexander, Baron
+Macdonald of Sleat, called "Lord of the Isles." He was a great friend of
+John Stanhope, who, in 1806, had accompanied him on a canvassing tour
+through the Hebrides when such an expedition was fraught with discomfort
+and even danger, so little had civilization penetrated to that wild region
+since the days of Dr Johnson's famous tour seventy years previously.
+Failing in his canvass, Archibald Macdonald subsequently made another
+attempt to obtain a seat in Parliament, of which he sent the following
+account to the former companion of his efforts:--
+
+
+    _Archibald Macdonald to John Spencer-Stanhope._
+    METHVEN CASTLE, _May 26th, 1808._
+
+    My Dear Stanhope,
+
+    You will have heard by this time that I have been half way to the
+    North Pole (Kirkwall in the Orkneys) in quest of a seat in Par., and
+    perhaps you will also have heard that I did not find it. However, I
+    left no stone unturned in my researches--Philosopher's stone
+    excepted--and only came back from my transportation four days ago, not
+    a little happy to find myself at Methven again, for such a country I
+    never beheld. Starvation reigns there with _pinching sway_, as
+    both my nose and my stomach very soon informed me, for the one was
+    nipped into a sort of beetroot colour by the North Winds, and the
+    other was forced thro' a course of Salt Fish and Whiskey, for the hard
+    season had laid an embargo on animal food, etc., and this you will say
+    was pinching fare for a candidate from the land of plenty! Posts, only
+    once a week, were irregular.
+
+    I must not forget to mention that I went to Orkney in the King's
+    Cutter (The Royal George), and scarcely had we landed at Kirkwall than
+    accounts were brought of a French privateer being within sight. Away
+    went the Royal George, and, in 10 hours after, returned to her
+    moorings with the _Passepartout_ of 16 guns and 63 men from Dunkirk.
+    The French Captain, Vanglieme, was my guest to Leith, and a most
+    extraordinary genius he was, full of life and spirits, not in the
+    least downcast at his misfortunes. He had a most excellent little band
+    of music on board, which amused us all the way home; he is now on his
+    Parole at Peebles. His behaviour to some English Captains that he had
+    taken was so generous that they came forward to sign a certificate in
+    his behalf to be presented by me to the Commander-in-Chief, everything
+    that can be done for him I hope will be done--generosity for
+    generosity.
+
+    I perceive a very beautiful place to be sold in ye papers, Park
+    Place--Lord Malmesbury's. I wonder what they expect for it--it would
+    suit me--but rather too high land.
+
+
+    _Mrs Spencer-Stanhope to John Spencer-Stanhope._
+    GROSVENOR SQUARE, _June 11th, 1808._
+
+    The Princess of Wales danced all night at Burlington House with Lord
+    Ebrington.... Mrs Bankes's rout was as full and as good as even she
+    could wish, so many men scarcely ever seen at any Assembly, & in every
+    respect it was good. The only disappointment was that the night would
+    not permit of the world going into the Garden, tho' it was lighted &
+    the Pandear Band played. Before we came away they were beginning to
+    dance, but to that music I do not think it could be kept up with
+    spirit.
+
+    We left dancing also at Lady Neave's, & had thoughts of returning
+    there, but Mrs Bankes's was too pleasant to allow of our attempting to
+    get away,--no easy thing if we had wished it, for I really believe
+    there must have been near 2,000 people there.
+
+    A most desperate flirtation between Miss Glyn & Mr Archibald Grey. How
+    fine "my Uncle Portland" would sound! Little Sir D----y would be
+    killed with delight.
+
+    To-day and to-morrow we dine fourteen. Your father was at the House
+    till past five yesterday morning. However, he stole an hour for Mrs
+    Bankes's.
+
+
+Mrs Bankes, the wife of the M.P. for Corfe Castle, [9] presumably gave
+this successful party for her two daughters, one of whom Lord Broughton,
+writing a few years later, describes as "lively and entertaining, very
+lovely and very clever, but a little odd." This latter characteristic
+appears to have been shared by her father, for various stories of his
+absent-mindedness have survived, and one mentioned by the same
+correspondent was often subsequently quoted with peculiar zest by his
+large circle of acquaintance. When Chantrey was thinking of a design for
+Satan, Mr Bankes, in the presence of a grave and learned assembly,
+volunteered the following unexpected recommendation: "My dear Chantrey,
+you had better choose some part of Satan's history and so make your task
+more easy--take, for instance, his conflict with _sin and death_!" The
+shout of laughter with which this unsolicited advice was received
+completely mystified Mr Bankes, who, for some time could not be persuaded
+that he had made any inappropriate suggestion. Nevertheless both he and
+his wife enjoyed exceptional popularity, and their parties were
+appreciated far more than the next entertainment referred to by Mrs
+Stanhope:--
+
+
+    _June 20th._
+
+    Lady Dartmouth gives a breakfast at Blackheath this morning, the heat
+    and dust will be dreadful. To-night we expect to be amused at the
+    Argyle Rooms, as those who choose may go in masks. Lady Harrington
+    goes nowhere, and the Marquis almost lives here.
+
+
+Meanwhile the news from the continent was again calculated to arrest the
+attention of the most frivolous amongst the gay world of London. Events
+were assuming a more threatening aspect. The long-protracted Peninsular
+war had begun; but Sir Arthur Wellesley, dispatched to the relief of
+Portugal, three weeks after landing defeated Junot in a decisive victory
+at Roliga, on August 17th, 1808. Had he then pushed on, as it was said he
+wished to do, the whole French army must have surrendered; but his
+superior officers, Sir Harry Burrard and Sir Hugh Dalrymple, who landed on
+the two succeeding days, forbade all pursuit, and, it was asserted,
+obliged Wellesley to sign with them the pitiful Convention of Cintra,
+which allowed the French army to evacuate Portugal unharmed, and to be
+carried on British ships back to France. Junot admitted frankly that his
+men would have capitulated had they been pursued but two miles by the
+English, and so great was the indignation roused in England by the news of
+this fiasco, that the three generals demanded and obtained a court-
+martial. All were acquitted; but Wellesley, who had denounced the
+Convention vehemently before the Court, was instantly employed again, an
+honour which was denied to his superior officers. Hence the refrain, which
+became a favourite at the time.
+
+  Sir Arthur and Sir Harry, Sir Harry and Sir Hew,
+    Doodle, doodle, doodle, cock a doodle doo!
+  Sir Arthur was a gallant knight, but for the other two
+    Doodle, doodle, doodle, cock a doodle doo!
+
+Some years afterwards, with regard to this famous occurrence, John
+Stanhope wrote in his journal--
+
+
+    I regret that I did not at the time dwell at a greater length upon the
+    Convention of Cintra.... That Convention and even the battle of
+    Vimiera, at one time the theme of every tongue, are effaced from the
+    memory of even us their contemporaries by the more brilliant
+    achievements of the British army--by successes which have blotted out
+    all recollections of former errors. I can scarcely recall to my mind
+    the arguments that were used for and against that Convention by those
+    who were present at the battle; but the feeling against it in England
+    was so strong, that, strange as it may appear in these days, at a Race
+    Ball at Carlisle where I accompanied my father, then Member for that
+    City, when the Steward, Sir James Graham, gave the health of Sir
+    Arthur Wellesley, an officer rose and declared that he would not drink
+    the health of a General _who had disgraced England_.
+
+    That Sir Arthur Wellesley was fortunate in throwing the blame from his
+    own shoulders on to his superiors in command, there can be little
+    doubt, as notwithstanding the assertion of his friends, it is not
+    possible to consider the signature of such a man in the situation that
+    he then held, as a mere matter of official duty.
+
+    If a General is superseded in his command in the hour of victory he
+    does not become a mere aide-de-camp or secretary to the officer by
+    whom he has been superseded. In conducting a negociation, he stands
+    rather in the position of an ambassador, who, though he may not have
+    full power himself, is still held to be mainly responsible for the
+    treaty that he signs. If Sir Arthur only signed the Convention
+    _officially_, he ought, for the sake of his own character, at
+    once to have remonstrated openly against all the terms of which he
+    disapproved and which tarnished the splendour of his victory.
+
+    The obvious conclusion to be drawn from his signature of the
+    Convention was that, the opportunity of following up the victory
+    having been lost, the surrender of Lisbon and the evacuation of the
+    whole of Portugal by the French troops were advantages too great to be
+    rejected and left to the uncertain decision of arms.
+
+    But whatever may have been his private opinion, he was fortunate to
+    rise superior to the disgrace which fell upon his commanding officers,
+    probably because the victory of Vimiera must have served  to open the
+    eyes of our Government to the folly of  submitting a man of his
+    abilities to the command of  Generals higher in rank but far inferior
+    in military  experience. It can but appear singular that a  General
+    should be superseded in his command in the  very moment of battle, and
+    that, before his successor  had time to grasp the reins of power, the
+    latter  should in turn be himself succeeded, by yet another
+    commander! It affords an extraordinary instance  either of indecision
+    or of intrigue in the Cabinet!... Suffice it to say that this
+    Triumvirate produced  as a monument to their glory the Convention
+    of Cintra!
+
+
+Following upon this event, Sir John Moore took command of the British
+troops in Portugal, and advanced into Spain to relieve the Spaniards.
+"There was," relates John Stanhope, "at this period no man in the army
+whose character stood higher than that of Sir John Moore. He was a man of
+the finest principles and of the most undaunted courage; by those under
+his command he was adored. In the hour of battle he had the most perfect
+self-possession and confidence both in his troops and in himself, which
+alone was sufficient to ensure success. Though not a fortunate general, he
+was esteemed one of the most able in the British service, and it gives me
+pleasure to add, that I have since heard French officers who served
+against him give the highest testimony in favour of his military conduct.
+But his political opinions, which were hostile to Government, added to the
+difficulty of his situation, and that circumstance undoubtedly weighed
+upon his mind.... It is to this very susceptibility, this want of moral
+courage and readiness to sacrifice his own reputation to the cause in
+which he was engaged, that his misfortunes are principally to be
+attributed."
+
+The story of Moore's advance into Spain, as John Stanhope points out,
+"undoubtedly betrays, both on his part and on that of the Government, a
+most lamentable ignorance of the real state of that country. Because they
+heard of Spanish armies in the field, they idly supposed that these were
+armies in the accepted sense of the word and not a mere collection of
+peasants, undisciplined and chiefly unarmed, officered by men as ignorant
+of their profession as themselves and commanded by a General yet more
+incompetent.--And with armies so composed they actually sent a British
+force to co-operate! ... Sir John Moore had not been long in Spain before
+he discovered the mistake that had been committed and the danger of his
+situation; he saw at once that the course he ought to adopt was to retreat
+upon Portugal, fall back upon his resources and rely entirely upon his own
+judgment."
+
+The story of his dilemma, and of how he was forced to act against his
+convictions, is well known to posterity. After dwelling at length upon the
+aspects of the situation, John Stanhope concludes:
+
+
+    He made a rapid march on Madrid and was on the point of attacking
+    Soult when he learnt, by an  intercepted dispatch, that Bonaparte was
+    marching against him in person and that he was in immediate danger
+    of being surrounded. The consequence  was his famous retreat. As to
+    the manner in which that was conducted, I have heard a French
+    General, who was employed in the actual army by which Moore was
+    pursued, speak of his enemy's tactics with boundless admiration. But
+    perhaps the highest praise which can be accorded to it is that the
+    pursuit, in the first instance, was conducted by Bonaparte in person,
+    and subsequently by Soult and Ney under his express directions, and
+    yet that  Sir John Moore succeeded in effecting his escape without
+    once being _entraîné_, and crowned his efforts by the victory of
+    Corunna--a victory which, sealed as it was with his own blood, ought
+    to wash out the memory of any errors which he may have committed. [10]
+
+
+    _Mrs Spencer-Stanhope to John Spencer-Stanhope._
+    RAMSGATE, _January 27th, 1809._
+
+    You will have experienced the greatest grief for the loss of our
+    gallant defender, Sir John Moore--a great blow to this country. But
+    while deploring his death, we must not forget to glory in what our
+    brave troops performed, tho' 'tis grievous to think how many lives
+    have been lost, and what the remaining army have gone through, without
+    lamenting that this almost unexampled victory will be of so little
+    use.
+
+    Last night this place was thrown into surprise and confusion by the
+    arrival of one or two Transports with part of the 52nd, and of two or
+    three other Regiments. The poor men were obliged to pass the night in
+    the Transports as they could not come on shore till the orders came
+    from Canterbury. Your father went last night to see some of them. He
+    found a Serjeant who said they had no assistance from the Spaniards,
+    but the accounts are so various I do not like to give too ready credit
+    to what I hear, tho' I hear there is not the patriotism amongst them
+    one should suppose.
+
+    Lady Lilford, [11] that beauty _en masse_ (who is here with two
+    daughters ill out of the four she has with her) was made very happy
+    last night by the arrival of her Son who was in the 52nd, & of whom
+    she had not been able to hear anything.
+
+    We have put on a black ribbon for Major Stanhope, son to Lord
+    Stanhope. [12]
+
+    The Knoxs will have been in great anxiety, for they have a son in the
+    52nd. Knox would be just in time to receive him.
+
+
+The excitement occasioned by news of the victory of Corunna and the
+lamentable death of Sir John Moore had scarcely abated when the attention
+of the public was arrested by a _cause célèbre_ which occasioned an
+unprecedented commotion.
+
+The Duke of York, Commander-in-Chief, had for three years had a _liaison_
+with Mrs Mary Anne Clarke, a woman of humble origin, but great powers of
+fascination. It was at length discovered that she had been selling
+commissions in the army for extortionate sums and sinecures in almost
+every department of State, so that men of all classes, by her
+intervention, had procured places and privileges as a matter of
+favouritism or of merchandise. So much was this the case, that a footman
+whom she liked was given a commission in the Army, and a clergyman, for
+substantial payment, had secured the honour of preaching before the King.
+On January 27th, 1809, Colonel Wardle, M.P. for Okehampton, brought
+forward a motion of inquiry in the House, charging the Commander-in-Chief,
+not only with having been a party to such practices, but of actually
+participating in the proceeds. Instead of this inquiry taking place, as he
+had intended, before a secret Committee, so great was the belief in the
+Duke's innocence, that it was decided to give the investigation all the
+publicity possible, and that the witnesses should be examined before the
+whole House. This was singularly unfortunate, as the consequent scandal
+was great.
+
+On February 14th, 1809, Mrs Stanhope wrote:--
+
+
+    The House sat till three this morning examining Mrs Clarke, who your
+    father says is a lively, clever woman. End as it will, it must be
+    disgraceful to the Duke of York. The King is much hurt at it. Except
+    the floods, that is the only subject of conversation.
+
+
+During the progress of the inquiry, Mrs Clarke appeared daily at the bar
+of the House exquisitely dressed, witty, impudent, and answering the
+attacks of the cross-examiners with a cleverness and fund of smart
+repartee which completely foiled them. On March 8th, Mrs Stanhope wrote
+again:--
+
+
+    It is very extraordinary that the day should arrive and Colonel Wardle
+    never have signified what his Motion is to be. Tierney wrote to him
+    the day before yesterday, to which the answer was that he should not
+    be at the House, and referred him to Lord Folkstone who did not appear
+    till the Debate was begun; therefore all is conjecture. This conduct
+    on the part of Mr Wardle will be in favour of the Duke, who I doubt
+    not will be honourably acquitted.
+
+    Mr Burrell says, what a fuss they make about the Duke's having what
+    every man in Office must have--_a clerk_.
+
+    Mr Stephens, brother-in-law to Wilberforce, made a speech of four
+    hours on the Commission business. For three he commanded attention. It
+    will be published.
+
+
+Although the verdict eventually given declared charitably that the Duke
+was exonerated from the charge of personal corruption, it was evident that
+he had been guilty of culpable neglect of his duty, that he had signed
+papers presented to him without troubling to read them, and had agreed to
+every arrangement made by Mrs Clarke, although knowing that she was making
+a traffic of such commissions.
+
+The Duke, in consequence, was forced to resign his Commandership, although
+in 1811, he was, to the indignation of many people, reinstated in it by
+his brother, the Prince Regent.
+
+Ere that date, however, another topic of conversation had been provided
+for the social world.
+
+
+    _February 25th, 1809._
+
+    We are very quiet. To-night, we go to the  Opera, and on Wednesday,
+    another dance at Mrs  Knox's and _voilà tout_. Your father was at
+    the House till four, but I cannot give you any account of the
+    Debate, as our thoughts have been engaged by the fire at Drury Lane.
+    The whole fabrick  burned down in a very short time. Fortunately, as
+    it is Lent, the Theatre was not open. It took fire during the
+    rehearsal, and even some of the stalls are down. Charles has been
+    there this morning and says there was only one life lost. It is the
+    fifth theatre I remember being burnt. Canning was speaking when the
+    account reached the House. The Debate was immediately interrupted,
+    and it was proposed to adjourn, but Sheridan requested they would
+    not postpone it for him, and it went on. Knox, with his good-humour,
+    asked Anne if he was  not to have a ticket in my box, but she told
+    him, as he could not want one at present, he should have one from
+    the beginning of April.
+
+    Your father and Lord James [13] go to the Speaker's to-night. We are
+    grown very good and walk in Hyde Park every day. From Ramsgate, I hear
+    that the place is full of poor Irish soldiers who are dying fast. I
+    fear the mortality has been so great since the return of the Army that
+    it will increase the loss of men largely.
+
+
+The destruction of Drury Lane was rendered yet more tragic by the
+conditions under which the news of such a startling disaster reached those
+who were most affected by it. "On the 24th of February," Michael Kelly
+relates, "Mr Richard Wilson gave a dinner to the principal actors and
+officers of Drury Lane Theatre, at his house in Lincoln's Inn Fields. All
+was mirth and glee; it was about 11 o'clock when Mr Wilson rose and drank
+'Prosperity and Success to Drury Lane Theatre.' We filled a bumper to the
+toast; and at the very moment when we were raising the glasses to our
+lips, repeating '_Success to Drury Lane Theatre_' in rushed the younger
+Miss Wilson and screamed out, '_Drury Lane Theatre is in flames!_' We ran
+into the Square and saw the dreadful sight. The fire raged with such fury
+that it perfectly illuminated Lincoln's Inn Fields with the brightness of
+day. We proceeded to the scene of destruction. Messrs Peake and Dunn, the
+Treasurers, dashed up the stairs, at the hazard of their lives, to the
+iron Chest in which papers of the greatest consequence were deposited.
+With the aid of two intrepid firemen they succeeded in getting the Chest
+into the street--little else was saved.
+
+"I had not only the poignant grief of beholding the magnificent structure
+burning with merciless fury, but of knowing that all the scores of operas
+which I had composed for the Theatre, the labour of years, were then
+consuming. It was an appalling sight! And, with a heavy heart I walked
+home to Pall Mall. At the door I found my servant waiting for me, who told
+me that two gentlemen had just called, and, finding I was not at home had
+said, 'Tell your master when he comes home, that Drury Lane is now in
+flames, and that the Opera House shall go next.' I made every effort to
+trace these obliging personages, but never heard anything more of them.
+
+"Mr Sheridan was in the House of Commons when the dreadful event was made
+known, and the Debate was one in which he was taking a prominent part. In
+compliment to his feelings, it was moved that the House should adjourn.
+
+"Mr Sheridan said that he gratefully appreciated such a mark of attention,
+but he would not allow an adjournment, for 'Public duty ought to precede
+all private interest,' and with Roman fortitude he remained at his post
+while his Play House was burning." [14]
+
+Sheridan, indeed, in the midst of such a misfortune, showed a nobility and
+disinterestedness which did him infinite credit. Forgetful of self, he
+begged the whole Theatrical Company to stand by each other, even at
+personal loss, till the Theatre could be rebuilt, pointing out that while
+the superior actors would have little difficulty in getting other
+engagements, the inferior ones were in far other case. "Let us," he urged,
+"make the general good our sole consideration. Elect yourselves into a
+Committee and keep in remembrance even the poor sweepers of the stage,
+who, with their children, must starve if not protected by your fostering
+care."
+
+Although the cause of the disaster was never ascertained, a general
+impression prevailed that the Theatre had not been set on fire by
+accident, and the mysterious message left at the house of the unhappy
+manager seemed to confirm this suspicion. A report was also current that
+the Prince of Wales had some time previously received an anonymous letter
+telling him that all the principal public buildings should be burnt down
+one after the other. Innumerable fires, indeed, occurred, and many people
+were afraid of attending the Opera, since it was rumoured that a train of
+gunpowder had been found under it. Hence, doubtless, the "good-humoured"
+request of Mr Knox for a seat at the post of danger; and shortly
+afterwards another mention of him occurs. He had attended a Drawing-room
+held by the Queen, which had proved unusually crowded, owing to the
+sympathy that all were anxious to show for the Royal family on the
+acquittal of the Duke of York.
+
+
+    GROSVENOR SQUARE, _March, 1809._
+
+    Knox was presented yesterday, and his Mamma takes him to introduce to
+    all her acquaintances, which he does not like. Her last ball was much
+    too full, she might have opened her whole house, therefore, there was
+    no good dancing till just before supper, when the Musick was sent
+    away, to the sore annoyance of Anne, who was just beginning the dance
+    with Mr Fraser. The Knoxs say that Charlotte Bouverie is a painted
+    thing, but Archy was charmed with her, and her dancing. He has given
+    up talking of home, both he and Lord James dine here again, the 11th,
+    with the Primroses and Mr Knox, Lady Milton, Lord Euston, and some
+    others. The Drawingroom was very full yesterday, and I believe the
+    Queen spoke to everybody; she thinks there are times to be civil.
+
+    I was surprised at Court to hear Knox say he thought it was
+    everybody's duty to go to Court yesterday, as he supposed Queens would
+    feel like other Mothers. I was delighted to hear so loyal a speech
+    from one of that house, for though his father and his uncle are in
+    possession of a place of £10,000 a year, I do not believe they are
+    disposed that way.
+
+    Miss Shuckburgh [15] was presented yesterday, and as she has a
+    borough, Knox thought she might be worth looking at, but the Borough
+    and Twelve Thousand a year must be thought of, by any one disposed to
+    think of her.
+
+    The Beaumonts are to be at Cheltenham on Monday, the Colonel is much
+    better, a _very_ large Blister has roused his senses. [16]
+
+
+    _March 22nd._
+
+    You must put on a black coat for the Duchess of Bolton who died
+    yesterday. [17]
+
+
+    _March 30th, 1809._
+
+    Your brother Philip is by the kindness of the Duke of Montrose, the
+    Master of the Horse, appointed Page to His Majesty. We are ordering
+    him his smart uniform, sword, etc., for him to go to Court in, to kiss
+    the King and Queen's hand, the week after next.
+
+    Marianne is busy learning to make shoes. Archy was so pleased that he
+    has begun. The Shoemaker says he does very well, but he thinks Lord
+    James [Murray] understands better. The Master is a Scotchman. What
+    think you of Princess Charlotte learning the trade? It rather
+    discomposes me, as it is not an amusement for a Queen of England.
+
+
+A novel occupation was absorbing the attention of the fashionable world.
+The craze for making shoes suddenly obsessed Society. Shoemakers
+unexpectedly found themselves the most favoured of mortals. Lessons in
+their art were demanded on all sides and at all costs. They were so busy
+teaching it, they had little time to practise it. Men and women alike
+would forego engagements while they strove to perfect themselves in the
+new hobby; and the lady who, at balls, could boast that her feet had been
+shod by her own fair hands was an object of envy to all the less talented.
+[18]
+
+The Stanhopes threw themselves with avidity into the new pastime, and
+still in existence are the little cards which they had printed in jest
+announcing that this new profession was "Carried on at Cannon Hall and
+Grosvenor Square." Mrs Stanhope apparently viewed the occupation with
+equanimity, save when it became the recreation of Royalty. Nevertheless it
+seems occasionally to have interfered seriously with her arrangements.
+That same month she writes:--
+
+
+    I have not seen Archy of some days, but I think I shall this morning
+    as I have sent an Opera ticket for either him or Lord James yesterday,
+    and they neither of them appeared. They are so busy learning to make
+    shoes that they can think of nothing else, and all engagements are
+    forgotten.
+
+    The new opera last night was excellent. The _Chasse of Henri Quatre_
+    when we had _Viva, Viva, Nostro Re_, there was universal applause, and
+    it was with spirit encored. The dancing excellent. Miss Gaylon does
+    not dance after Saturday, as she is to marry a Mr Murray, a clergyman.
+
+    Knox is gone to Ireland; I believe heartily glad to get from his
+    Mamma's introductions. When he was introduced to the Duke of
+    Gloucester, H.R.H. inquired what profession he was brought up to--and
+    at the reply exclaimed--"What, _no_ profession!" Mrs Knox, who
+    had presented him as an eldest son, coloured.
+
+    I must conclude with an extract from the papers:--
+
+    "A few days ago was married by special license, at St George's Church,
+    Hanover Square, Mr Tho. Kay of Hickleton, near Doncaster, farrier and
+    blacksmith, to Miss Sarah Walker, of Upper Grosvenor Street, London."
+
+    The enclosed paragraph I send you, because the lady is my _laundry-
+    maid_, and is at this moment at the wash-tub. She chose to marry a
+    day or two before I came to Town, to the rare annoyance of my footman,
+    Robert, as there had long been an attachment between them, though she
+    is old enough for his mother. She has now announced her decision to
+    the fashionable world.
+
+
+Meanwhile the visit to Ireland does not seem to have been altogether happy
+for Mr Knox. Various letters speak of his serious illness, and the
+multiplicity of the remedies resorted to in his aid rivalled those
+employed on behalf of Lady Elizabeth Lowther. On June 11th a certain Mr
+Maconochie, a Scotch friend of John Stanhope, wrote from Edinburgh:--
+
+
+    We had fine fun at Pitt's dinner. Lord Melville made a very good
+    speech; we had good singing too. I went to the evening Collation on
+    the King's Birthday where there was about 1,000 people, and the
+    immortal memory of Mr Pitt drunk with three times three. The Whigs, I
+    can assure you, are quite down in Scotland.
+
+    By the way when I speak of Whigs, you have alarmed me very much about
+    poor Knox. What is his complaint? You have never told me, you only say
+    he is in great danger--no wonder, poor fellow, _with six physicians
+    attending him_.
+
+
+Later, Mr Maconochie furnished John Stanhope with news of another common
+friend.
+
+
+    I was in Edinburgh on Wednesday last. Mrs Playfair has got three or
+    four youths from the South, among whom is the _aimable_ Lord John
+    Russell [19] I suppose he intends to honour the speculative with his
+    presence as Mrs Playfair told me she hoped I would not vote against
+    him. I certainly shall not, as I think any _thing_ of the appearance
+    of a gentleman will be of invaluable service.
+
+    You must observe in the newspapers that old Sir William Douglas [20]
+    is dead, and I am very sorry to say that owing to the negligence and
+    delay of Frank Walker's papa, our friend William does not succeed
+    nearly to what his Uncle intended, nor does he indeed get anything
+    till after his father's death.
+
+    The state of the Case is this:--Sir William met his agent, Mr Walker,
+    at Harrogate, this summer, and he then desired him to make out a
+    settlement for him by which he left _everything_ he should die
+    possessed of to William. Mr Walker recommended him to delay it till he
+    should get to Scotland that he might execute it formally. To this Sir
+    William agreed. On his getting to London, however, he found himself so
+    very unwell that he wrote to Mr Walker to say that he had no time to
+    lose. Mr Walker, none the less, still delayed, and did not send the
+    Deeds for above a fortnight, and Sir William had died two days before
+    they reached Town. By the Will which is valid, and which was executed
+    so long ago as the year 1790, his whole fortune is to be divided
+    between three brothers, William's Papa, Mr Douglas (Sir James Shaw's
+    partner), and one in America. The American one is since dead, leaving
+    an only daughter, and there is a great question whether or not she
+    will be entitled to anything.
+
+    But let the worst come to the worst, our friend will have the Castle
+    Douglas estate entire, about £7,000 per annum, besides his father's
+    estate of Orchardton, £5,000 a year more. This he will in a great
+    measure owe to his uncle, Mr Douglas's, kindness, who says that as far
+    as possible, the unexecuted Deed shall be complied with. In the
+    meantime, you see, he would have nothing till his father's death.
+
+    But I have since heard that the old Boy is going to reside at Castle
+    Douglas, and going to give his present place immediately to William.
+
+    Douglas is no doubt disappointed, as he has lost above £150,000
+    exclusive of what he will get, for actually the old Curmudgeon died
+    worth, £4,000,000!
+
+
+From such an event as the disposal of a fortune of four hundred thousand,
+the thoughts of Mrs Stanhope were again distracted by the news in the
+political world. A letter from Archibald Macdonald, dated July 23rd, 1809,
+echoes the current gossip respecting Lord Wellesley, afterwards Viceroy of
+Ireland, of whose movements with regard to the Continental campaign no one
+could speak with certainty. "Is he gone to Spain or not?" questioned Mr
+Macdonald. "I have heard it very confidently asserted that he is not
+going, and that all his _gout_, etc., is merely affected to prevent his
+being sent. In short, that he has changed all his plans and did not
+venture to stir one step. On the other hand, it is said, that he is become
+nearly quite imbecile." Meanwhile, although Sir Arthur Wellesley had
+obtained victories at Oporto and at Talavera, having been unsupported by
+the Spaniards he was obliged to retreat; and following on this, an
+expedition sent out by the British Government to Walcheren under Lord
+Chatham proved a terrible failure. The mutual recriminations of Canning
+and Castlereagh led to their resignation and resulted in a duel which took
+place between them on September 9th, and of which Archibald Macdonald
+writes:--
+
+
+    When we were at Glasgow Circuit the Lord Advocate shewed me Lord
+    Castlereagh's _own_ account of the duel, and really from it I
+    think there is no doubt he behaved most infamously. Canning was
+    certainly not in the least to blame. I hope the King will still take
+    Lord Wellesley and him into the Cabinet.
+
+    Lord Melville intended to have gone to England in the beginning of the
+    month; he has now, however, determined not to stir till everything is
+    fixed, lest it should be said that he has gone a-place hunting.
+
+
+In October Perceval succeeded the Duke of Portland as Prime Minister,
+First Lord of the Treasury and Chancellor of the Exchequer, while Lord
+Wellesley became Minister for Foreign Affairs. A rumour meanwhile reached
+the Stanhopes with regard to their young friend Mr Pemberton Milnes which
+roused their curiosity.
+
+
+    What say you in the South to the Administration? Will it be possible
+    for them to go on? 'Tis strongly reported here that Milnes refused
+    being Chancellor of the Exchequer. True it is that a King's Messenger
+    was sent to him, and I believe that something which he declined was
+    offered to him, but surely not that great office. I live in dread of
+    the United _Talents_ being called in! Lord Wellesley and Lord
+    Melville might enable them to go on, but without them they will never
+    do. I am still willing to hope that Peace is not signed and that
+    Bonaparte may be ill.
+
+
+The true story of the offer which was made to Pemberton Milnes was
+afterwards thus recorded by John Stanhope:--
+
+
+    Soon after he left Cambridge, Milnes made a bet of £300 to £500 with
+    Kit Wilson, then a great character on the Turf--indeed for a long time
+    Father of the Turf--that before seven years were over he should be
+    Chancellor of the Exchequer. I do not mention this from mere rumour,
+    for I heard Mr Wilson himself tell the story at dinner at Wentworth
+    House, adding that the bet was drawn before the seven years were over.
+    As will be seen by his letter to me, he was actually offered the
+    Chancellorship of the Exchequer at five-and-twenty,--not perhaps
+    exactly in the view in which he originally intended, as that place has
+    now for years been considered as attached to the position of the Prime
+    Minister, but still with a place in the Cabinet.
+
+
+    _Robert Pemberton Milnes to Walter Spencer-Stanhope._
+    _October 23rd, 1809._
+
+    My Dear Sir,
+
+    As I feel as strongly as I can the kind expressions of friendship that
+    we have interchanged, and as I flatter myself on this occasion you may
+    find an interest in what perhaps may be thought a leading event in my
+    life, I sit down to send you a line informing you of my having reached
+    London, having received a letter from Perceval which would have made
+    it personally disrespectful to him had I declined coming. On my
+    arrival here, and after he had submitted in great detail the history
+    of the Cabinet discussions, he closed by no less an offer than saying
+    he had the King's orders to propose to me the situation either of
+    Chancellor of the Exchequer or Secretary of War,--the latter without a
+    seat in the Cabinet, if I wished to lessen the responsibility.
+
+    This was on Saturday, and I have employed the interval, not in
+    reviewing the grounds upon which he stands as Prime Minister, which
+    really on the first statement satisfied me there was no alternative,
+    but in duly weighing my own situation and taking my measure (as it
+    were) for my fitness for the Office. The result of my reflections has
+    been to decline both offers. In so doing, you may imagine I had no
+    ordinary feelings of personal vanity to contend with, nor a common
+    self-satisfaction in thinking that the proposal had been made me. At
+    the same time, dazzling as the place of a high Cabinet situation might
+    have been, I do conscientiously assure you that I looked to my country
+    more than to myself, and differing from Perceval in thinking that its
+    interests would well be entrusted in my hands, I have answered
+    decisively that I thought there were others who would conduct them
+    better.
+
+    I believe that he proposes offering the Chancellorship of the
+    Exchequer to Rose, and the Secretaryship of War to Palmerston.
+
+    In all this business, however well or ill determined on my part, you
+    will be glad to hear that I think Perceval's case quite a triumphant
+    one, and such as, when well stated to Parliament, will meet with sure
+    support.
+
+    I write in the greatest hurry.
+
+    I am, dear Sir,
+    Yours most faithfully,
+
+    ROB. P. MILNES.
+
+
+The tradition of this famous bet has long been related and disputed. The
+incident was one of national importance, for it was the refusal of Mr
+Milnes to accept this brilliant offer pressed upon him by Perceval which
+gave Lord Palmerston admission into the Ministry, and started him on a
+career which finally led him to the Premiership. Lord Palmerston's Maiden
+Speech in the House was made in reply to one by Mr Milnes.
+
+In Mrs Milnes's Diary, there is given the following account of the
+reception of the offer by her husband:--
+
+
+    One morning when we were at breakfast a King's Messenger drove up in a
+    post-chaise-and-four with a despatch from Mr Perceval, offering Mr
+    Milnes the choice of a seat in the Cabinet, either as Chancellor of
+    the Exchequer or Secretary of War. Mr Milnes immediately said "Oh no!
+    I will not accept either. With my temperament I should be dead in a
+    year." I knelt and entreated that he should, and represented that it
+    might be an advantage to our little boy, please God he lived, but all
+    was to no purpose, and he went up to London to decline the most
+    flattering and distinguished compliment ever known to have been paid
+    to so young a man. [21]
+
+
+Immediately after Christmas, as was their custom, the Stanhopes returned
+to London, and 1810 found them once more resuming their life in Grosvenor
+Square.
+
+
+    _Mrs Spencer-Stanhope._
+    _February 27th, 1810._
+
+    London is not yet gay. Of Politicks, whether the present Ministers can
+    stand seems doubtful. Lord Chatham in his examination throws blame on
+    the Navy; his having presented a paper to the King without any
+    communication with the other Ministers, has made sad work. The
+    business in the House is every day, and all day, and all night.
+
+    I have not seen any of your friends yet. Miss Acklom is not yet come.
+    The body of Mr Eden [22] is found, & though he had been so long in the
+    water, some Bank Notes were found perfect in his pocket.
+
+    Sir T. Gascoigne [23] and Sir C. Turner [24] both dead, the former has
+    left his fortune to the Olivers, and failing them and their issue to
+    Lord Fitzwilliam--very distant, if any relation.
+
+    Sir C. Turner, his house, stud, and plate at Newmarket to his groom
+    there; everything else, for ever, to Lady Turner.
+
+    Honoria Blake has married Captain Cadogan--amiable and poor. Lord and
+    Lady Barnard to live at the Duchess of Bolton's old house--the two
+    Lords of that name so near will make a confusion.
+
+
+    _March 20th, 1810._
+
+    There are more girls of high fashion just come out than has been known
+    for many years.
+
+    London, I never knew so dull.... I hear of no matches, the flirtations
+    have not yet begun.
+
+
+    _March 27th, 1810._
+
+    Ministers have much to do this week. The Walcheren Debate came on
+    yesterday and is to last Tuesday; Wednesday they repose from their
+    labours, and Thursday and some say Friday the Debate is to last.
+
+    We have sent to Mr Knox for the numbers, he came home at one, and he
+    thought there would be no division. I suppose this question will
+    decide the fate of the Ministers.
+
+    There was a very interesting debate the other day on a statute,
+    precluding all men who have written on hire for newspapers from
+    becoming Members of Lincoln's Inn. A lawyer present described a case
+    in which a young man of the highest expectations, most distinguished
+    education, might be driven by necessity to accept of such an offer for
+    existence. After enlarging with great feeling on such a case, he
+    concluded by saying he had not described an imaginary situation, but
+    his own, thirty years before. The applause of the House was excessive.
+    I wish you may meet with the speech for it was very interesting.
+
+    Sir F. Burdett has published a letter to say that the House of Commons
+    have no right to imprison Gale Jones. [25] There is to be a debate
+    upon it. I fear his conduct will do much mischief. His letter is
+    addressed to his Constituents.
+
+    Pole Carew got drunk at Oxford and made such a riot he was sent to the
+    Castle. Think of Wentworth (Beaumont) coming from Cambridge to have a
+    tooth out without leave!
+
+
+[Illustration: SIR FRANCIS BURDETT, BT., M P.
+_From an engraving by Wm. Sharp, after a picture by J. Northcote, R.A.
+Painted while Sir Francis was a prisoner in the Tower._]
+
+
+    _April, 1810._
+
+    Yesterday early I went into the Park to see between 4,000 & 5,000
+    Cavalry pass in Review before the Commander-in-Chief. The sight was
+    highly gratifying, the morning beautiful, & as they entered from the
+    Kensington Barracks & went down the Ride, all the carriages went up
+    the drive, several open carriages and a large concourse of people both
+    on foot & horseback. It was well-timed, as this morning there is to be
+    a Meeting of the Electors of Westminster in Westminster Hall to
+    address, I believe, the Commons for having deprived them of one of
+    their Members, but the sight of the army yesterday will, I doubt not,
+    keep all quiet.
+
+    Sir F. Burdett is going to Law with the Speaker on the illegality of
+    his Warrant. Thursday, the Foot Troops are all to be reviewed in the
+    Park, the number about 17,000. Major Gibbs and his Regiment are on
+    guard in the Square.... Since Sir F. Burdett was safe in the Tower the
+    town has been perfectly quiet & all parties in the House join to
+    condemn his conduct.
+
+
+    _May 10th._
+
+    This year there is quite a new Ball set. Mrs Beaumont's was the best
+    of the year--a child's Ball from 8 to 10, and then a grown-up one, two
+    suppers, magnificently done, never too full, nor too hot. I had a few
+    people before, only 14 or 15 women and plenty of men. They danced to
+    the Pianoforte.
+
+    I invited Lady Eleanora Dundas. [26] Our visiting arose from an odd
+    mistake. She called here and believed herself at Lady Dalkeith's. I,
+    somewhat surprised at her invasion, of course, as in politeness bound,
+    returned her visit--at which _she_ must have been much astonished,
+    being still unaware she had called on _me_. When she came to return my
+    return-visit, she was not a little shocked and surprised to discover
+    where she had actually been when she supposed herself to be calling
+    upon Lady Dalkeith! Archy says La Belle [27] is to marry the son of
+    Picture Davis, at whose house they are, and who has bought Lord
+    Leicester's house.
+
+    London is very gay now. Mrs Knox has contributed more to its gaiety
+    than anybody yet. Last night she had another excellent dance
+    downstairs in two rooms. I was there till five, Esther (Acklom) with
+    me, the little Lord still perseveres, but I am told it will not do.
+
+    Archy has got a capital house, elegantly furnished, in Connaught
+    Place, close to Tyburn, with a fine view of the Park.
+
+
+    _May 22nd, 1810._
+
+    To-day all the world are wishing it may continue fair, as Lady
+    Buckinghamshire gives a Venetian Breakfast. I scarcely expect she will
+    find the world fools enough to mask by daylight.
+
+    The last week has not been gay, we have had nothing but dinners and
+    assemblies.
+
+    Lord James Murray was married on Saturday, [28] and this day at twelve
+    Miss Dashwood gives her hand to Lord Ely, [29] all her first cousins
+    to attend to the amount of forty. I hope he will behave well to her
+    for she is truly amiable.
+
+    To-day Esther goes to the Breakfast, to the Opera to-night with us,
+    and then to sup at Devonshire House with Lady Caroline Wortley. I see
+    no beau likely to succeed at present.
+
+
+Towards the close of 1810 the mental affliction under which George III.
+had so long suffered became more pronounced, and was declared by his
+physicians to be incurable. In the February following, the Bill was passed
+by which the Prince of Wales became King in all but name; and forthwith,
+in the worst possible taste, he determined to celebrate the inauguration
+of his regency by a fête at Carlton House, which should surpass all
+previous entertainments given by him in its unrivalled magnificence. The
+selfishness which prompted such callous indifference to the condition of
+his father was accentuated by the fact that he fixed upon the date of the
+old King's birthday as an appropriate anniversary on which to hold this
+public rejoicing at the incapacity of the unfortunate monarch; while the
+occasion was rendered still more memorable by the fact that from this
+great festivity, not only was the Princess of Wales perforce excluded and
+Mrs Fitzherbert, by a studied slight on his part, prevented from
+attending, but even the unoffending Princess Charlotte, now verging on
+womanhood and panting to taste that gladness of youth of which she had
+known so little, was denied participation in the gaiety for which she
+ardently longed.
+
+None the less, all other members of the world of fashion went to the
+entertainment, which proved one of surpassing brilliancy. The night was
+fine, and the company, which began arriving soon after nine o'clock,
+stayed till the small hours of the following morning. The walks adjacent
+to the Palace were enclosed and converted into temporary rooms, glittering
+with lights and festooned with flowers. The supper took place at two
+o'clock in the morning in an exquisite grotto of rare exotics, and along
+the centre of the table, which was 200 feet long, a river of pure water
+flowed from a beautiful fountain at its head. Gold and silver fish
+disported themselves in its limpid waters, while along its banks were
+ranged cool green moss and aquatic flowers. In contrast with this scene of
+simulated sylvan beauty, the daily papers relate with awe, if with some
+lack of humour, that "the gold and silver plate used at the fête amounted
+to seven tons. _Nearly a wagon load of it belonged to the late Sir W.
+Pulteney and was borrowed for the occasion._" In the midst of this
+astonishing display, surrounded by his most favoured friends and waited on
+by sixty servitors, sat the Regent, resplendent in his finest clothes and
+swelling in the plenitude of his new importance. To him it mattered
+nothing that his daughter was breaking her heart in the dullness of
+Windsor, that his wife was chafing in her seclusion at Blackheath, or that
+the woman who loved him knew herself publicly humiliated by his attitude
+towards her; yet the condemnation meted out freely to his conduct, even by
+those who accepted his hospitality, finds no echo in the correspondence of
+Mrs Stanhope, who with tireless energy attended the royal fête previous to
+starting on the long journey to Cannon Hall.
+
+
+    CANNON HALL, _July 1st, 1811._
+
+    The day before I left Town I attended the most magnificent fête I ever
+    saw, given by the Prince Regent. It was to have been on the King's
+    Birthday, but the preparations could not be ready in time. Three
+    Thousand people were invited and there was room at supper for all, the
+    tables were in the temporary rooms in the garden, and it was more like
+    Vauxhall than anything I know to compare it to. All our princes, the
+    Duke of York & Princess Sophia & the Duke of Gloucester were there.
+
+    We did not get home till 1/2 past 5 & started on our journey to
+    Yorkshire at 3. I hear the public are to be admitted to see the
+    _Hébris_ of our feast.
+
+
+Unfortunately, this well-intentioned decision on the part of the Prince
+Regent was attended with a dire result. "The condescension of the Prince,"
+relate the papers, "in extending the permission to view, for three days
+longer, the arrangements for the late fête at Carlton House, has nearly
+been attended with fatal consequences. Wednesday being the last day of the
+public being admitted, many persons took their station at the gates so
+early as seven o'clock. By twelve the line of carriages reached down St
+James's Street, as far as Piccadilly, and the crowd of pedestrians halfway
+up the Haymarket. At three o'clock the crowd had so much increased, that
+the Guards were forced to give way; several ladies were unfortunately
+thrown down and trampled upon; and we regret to learn that some were
+seriously hurt, among whom were Miss Shum of Bedford Square, and a young
+lady, daughter of a gentleman at the British Museum. Another young lady
+presented a shocking spectacle; she had been trodden on till her face was
+quite black from strangulation, and every part of her body bruised to such
+a degree as to leave little hopes of her recovery."
+
+"I hear," wrote Mrs Stanhope from her safe retreat in Yorkshire, "that no
+one knew what to do nor how to disperse the people. At last, the Dukes of
+Kent and Cumberland ordered ladders to be brought, and, climbing up on to
+the wall of the court-yard, they personally announced loudly that the
+Prince Regent had given orders that the house should be shut up and no
+more people admitted. There were numbers wounded, however, before the
+immense crowd could get away. What a mercy Esther Acklom did not go, as I
+know that she intended doing!"
+
+Esther Acklom, to whom constant reference is made in the correspondence of
+Mrs Stanhope, was the only daughter and heiress of Richard Acklom, Esq.,
+of Wiseton Hall, Nottinghamshire. She was much sought after in society on
+account of her reputed wealth; and although stout and somewhat plain in
+appearance, she was a decided flirt, and extremely fond of amusement.
+
+Partly owing to the fact that her mother was in delicate health, partly to
+the proximity of her father's house in Lower Grosvenor Street to that of
+Mr Stanhope, she was the constant associate of the young Stanhopes, and
+attended many balls and routs chaperoned by their mother. There was,
+indeed, much to recommend her companionship. Clever, well-read, lively in
+manner and witty in conversation, she was invariably agreeable, despite
+the fact that her speech was apt to be too frank and her determination too
+unswerving to render her universally popular. Of her extraordinary
+decision of character, indeed, her life furnishes more than one striking
+instance, and an illustration of this may be given, which occurred when
+she was but fifteen years of age.
+
+She was then journeying abroad with her parents, when, in common with some
+other English travellers, they were detained at Vienna on its capture by
+Napoleon. The danger was imminent. Once plunged into a foreign prison, it
+was impossible to say when or by what means they might escape thence. In
+such a dilemma none knew what to do or to advise; but Esther Acklom was
+equal to the occasion. Hearing that the military commandant was Marshal
+Mortier, who had been known to her family in England, she took her maid,
+and went off to interview him. She found the great man seated in the Hotel
+de Ville, surrounded by a large staff, listening to the complaints of the
+burghers and administering justice. She presented her petition, but he
+scarcely glanced at it, and roughly bade her to stand aside till others
+had been attended to who were of more importance. Her maid, terrified at
+his manner, implored her young mistress to come away, but Esther, nothing
+daunted, stood her ground. She had shrewdly observed that an aide-de-camp
+of the Emperor was by the side of the marshal, and concluding that this
+fact might account for his manner, she patiently awaited the turn of
+events. Nor was she wrong. In course of time the aide-de-camp departed,
+and the commandant then politely inquired in what he could serve her. She
+explained, and, evidently struck by her courage, he further asked in the
+kindest manner how many passes she required. Again she had presence of
+mind to perceive the drift of his question, and to see that he was
+anxious, if she so desired, to aid her friends as well as herself. She
+boldly answered, three, in the hope of serving two English families of her
+father's acquaintance. To her delight, the passes were at once handed to
+her, and within a few hours the three carriages were hastening from
+Vienna.
+
+Even then her adventures were not at an end. An English family, who had
+failed in securing a pass, decided, as a forlorn hope, to follow in the
+wake of the other carriages on the chance that, in the confusion of so
+many vehicles leaving the city, they might effect their departure under
+cover of the passports of their friends. As was to be expected the attempt
+failed. The Official on guard allowed the three carriages with passes to
+drive through the gates, but the fourth was at once arrested and ordered
+to return. Vainly did its frightened occupants entreat and expostulate,
+the man was obdurate, and they had given up all for lost, when the clever
+girl who had secured the safety of the rest of the party came to their
+rescue.
+
+Thrusting her head out of the carriage in which she was seated, Esther
+looked back at them with well assumed anger. "Why on earth don't you go
+back to your hotel and fetch your pass," she cried impatiently, "instead
+of giving all this trouble? It is absurd! We will, of course, wait here
+till your return!" So convincing was her indignation, and so complete her
+assurance, that the Official was deceived. The fourth carriage received
+permission to pass the barrier, and the fugitives hastened to make good
+their escape, showering blessings on the young girl whose coolness and
+presence of mind had saved them.
+
+A character of so much individuality and resource doubtless appealed
+strongly to the young Stanhopes, and Esther, besides being their constant
+companion in London, was often their guest at Cannon Hall. Between the
+years 1810-1811, mention is made of an incident which occurred during one
+of these visits, and which in a striking manner serves to emphasise the
+gulf between a past and a present century.
+
+An advertisement had been issued in Wakefield announcing that, on a given
+day, a man would fly from the Tower of the Parish Church to the Bowling-
+green in Southgate. Much local interest had been roused by this statement
+and wagers had been made upon the practicability or impracticability of
+the attempt. The Stanhopes had no thought of attending this performance,
+but they happened to be driving in the neighbourhood with Esther Acklom on
+the day appointed, and their lively guest, with her usual wilfulness,
+insisted that they should make their coach pause near the Church in order
+that she might witness the occurrence.
+
+At the appointed time, accompanied by some other men, the adventurer
+appeared. He stood for a moment in view of the crowd, outlined darkly
+against the Tower of the Church, then, stepping cautiously off the roof,
+he apparently committed himself to space, and was pushed off on his voyage
+by his companions. With his arms waving to and fro like wings he slid
+slowly towards a tall pole upon the bowling-green, while the vast mob
+below watched his flight with breathless anxiety. The fact was that a fine
+rope was attached from the Tower of the Church to the stake, and a piece
+of board with a deep grove underneath having been securely strapped to the
+"aviator," the groove was then balanced upon the rope, and the action of
+the man's arms sufficed to set it in motion. The venture, however, was
+sufficiently perilous to sustain the interest of a crowd who must
+presumably have been cognisant of the existence of the rope, and when the
+successful adventurer reached the ground in safety, he was greeted with
+heart-whole acclamations from an enchanted crowd, in which lively Esther
+Acklom joined.
+
+A more important incident in the life of Miss Acklom was likewise due to
+her acquaintance with the Stanhopes. But we must first glance at the train
+of events which indirectly gave rise to it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+ANECDOTES FROM A PRISONER OF NAPOLEON
+
+1810-1812
+
+
+John Stanhope had early evinced a desire to travel. His most youthful
+venture had been a tour in Wales, whilst his next excursion, the tour to
+the Hebrides already referred to, had been of a more daring nature;
+indeed, a man, in those days, who had made such a journey, was looked upon
+as a traveller of some experience. Not content, however, with having
+acquired this reputation, young Stanhope, when not yet twenty-three years
+of age, determined to extend his researches further afield.
+
+He was anxious to investigate the antiquities of Greece, about which
+little was then known, and having imbued his friend Tom Knox with his own
+enthusiasm the latter decided to accompany him. On the 29th of January
+1810 the two young men therefore embarked on board the ship _Vestal_,
+which was carrying Mr, afterwards Sir Charles Stuart [1] as Minister, out
+to Lisbon.
+
+It was a singularly exciting time to venture upon the continent. The very
+atmosphere seemed permeated with terror of Napoleon. Each country was on
+the defensive, struggling openly or surreptitiously to preserve its
+threatened liberty; while the one topic of conversation was the defeat or
+the success of armies. Thus the correspondence of the young travellers, so
+eagerly awaited and devoured by the family in Grosvenor Square, serves to
+throw many interesting sidelights upon continental existence during a
+period of history with regard to which interest can never wax cold. [2]
+
+John Stanhope and his friend for some time wrote from Lisbon, where, under
+the auspices of the new Minister, they mixed in the best society, and met
+the most prominent civil and military residents of the day. Among others,
+they saw a great deal of General, afterwards Lord, Beresford [3] and were
+much struck by the discipline of the Portuguese troops under his command.
+
+A field-marshal in the British Army, William Carr Beresford, had, in 1807,
+been appointed Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the island of Madeira.
+Subsequent to the Battle of Corunna, at which he was present, he was sent
+back to Portugal to take command of the troops there, and at the head of
+12,000 men he drove back the French. Of the difficulties, however, with
+which he had to contend in his stupendous task, John Stanhope gives a
+graphic description.
+
+"At the time," he relates, "when Beresford was appointed to the command of
+the Portuguese army, it was conspicuous for a lack of discipline which in
+these days would hardly be credited. To say that it was the worst in
+Europe would hardly give any idea of its degradation. The Portuguese
+soldiers were a weak, worthless rabble, without pluck or organisation, and
+practically useless for the campaign. Nor was the Government of the
+country in a much better state; a long series of misgovernment had
+introduced every species of corruption and deteriorated the character of
+the people."
+
+But the English general at once took a characteristic method of dealing
+with a complex situation, and produced order out of chaos in the following
+drastic manner.
+
+"Lord John Russell," relates John Stanhope, "once told me an anecdote of
+Beresford's first advent in Portugal, which serves so well to illustrate
+his character that I cannot do better than retail it.
+
+"Upon one of the first occasions of his taking the field with the
+Portuguese troops, an officer, after having been despatched to a
+particular post, came galloping back to him.
+
+"'Why are you come here?' asked the marshal, surprised.
+
+"'The fire was so hot,' the man exclaimed, 'that if I had remained there a
+moment longer, I should certainly have been shot.'
+
+"'_Shot_! but, to be sure, it was to be shot that I sent you there! Now, I
+will give you fresh directions. I advise you to give in your resignation,
+otherwise you must go back whence you came and be shot, or else be tried
+by court-martial, which will come to the same thing!'
+
+"The officer, who was of high rank, took the hint; he gave in his
+resignation, and the other Portuguese officers learnt that under the
+English commander it was necessary to make up their minds to be shot."
+
+"Further," John Stanhope adds, "Beresford cashiered the field officers of
+every regiment in the service. The fury that prevailed in the country at
+such a measure may be better imagined than described. It was believed that
+thousands of stilettoes would be raised against the tyrant Beresford. He
+heard both threats and murmurs with perfect apathy, and immediately put at
+the head of each regiment young officers belonging to our service,
+distinguished for their spirit and decision. Raised to a rank above their
+highest expectations, these young men were anxious to justify his choice
+by their conduct, as well as to distinguish themselves; and gloriously did
+they succeed. To content myself with mentioning one instance, I will
+relate the case of Colonel Campbell, an officer whom I know well here in
+Lisbon.
+
+"Campbell was appointed to the command of one of the regiments of cavalry,
+and the first breach of discipline which came under his notice was that of
+a private striking an officer. Campbell determined to make a signal
+example of the culprit. He was promptly warned, however, that when, upon
+some previous occasion, a similar event had taken place, on the officer
+then in command attempting to inflict punishment upon the delinquent, the
+entire Regiment mutinied. Campbell, on hearing this, came to a quick
+decision. He advanced and faced his battalion with a pistol in each hand.
+He made them a brief speech in which he pointed out how glaring a breach
+of discipline it was for a private to strike his superior; and he ended by
+saying that he understood in a similar case the regiment had mutinied.
+'I,' he concluded quietly, 'am determined that this man _shall_ be
+punished; if you intend to mutiny, you must begin with me. I am perfectly
+ready to receive you.' He then cocked his pistols and waited imperturbably
+in expectation of the result. No one moved. Awed by his manner and his
+threat, not a murmur escaped from the soldiers who confronted him, and
+Campbell's influence over his men was permanently established, so that he
+soon had the satisfaction of seeing them one of the best disciplined
+regiments in the service.
+
+"Marshal Beresford, who was capable of selecting his subordinates with
+such perspicuity, did not fail to set them an example which roused their
+emulation, so that the soldiers soon became proud of their own discipline,
+and consequently attached to their officers and devoted to their marshal,
+till the latter, adored by the army, is become completely dictator of
+Portugal, his word is law, and the regency is little better than the
+shadow of Government. Moreover, the marshal acts his part to perfection,
+riding about the town in semi-regal state, surrounded by a brilliant
+staff. The man who has accomplished all this may not be a genius, but he
+has a right to be considered an extraordinary man, a man of the highest
+courage and energy.
+
+"To show the extent of his power and the coolness with which he exercises
+it, I have only to instance the case of the embargo laid upon horses which
+are private property. At the instigation of Beresford, an order was issued
+for all the horses in the kingdom above a certain height to be taken for
+the use of the army, the Government allowing a fixed price for each. One
+of the first persons against whom the order was enforced was the Prince
+Regent; his carriage, under the charge of some officers of his household,
+was actually stopped in the town and the horses taken out of the vehicle,
+which was left standing in the middle of the street. The Portugese at once
+recognized that if the order was executed so strictly against the Regent
+himself, his subjects were not likely to be treated with more
+consideration, and the entire nation submitted with a good grace to the
+inevitable. Portugal, in short, in the manner in which all deferred to the
+dictation of Beresford, affords an extraordinary proof of how much may be
+done towards regenerating a people by the hand of a vigorous ruler."
+
+The Regent, however, if ignominiously bereft of horses, appears to have
+remained the owner of innumerable unique, if useless carriages, which, on
+one occasion, John Stanhope was taken to see.
+
+"I was extremely amused," he writes, "with these curious specimens of
+ancient magnificence. Some of the coaches were literally rooms on wheels.
+They were extraordinarily cumbrous, covered with gilding and lined with
+velvet, embroidered in gold. Many of them were decorated with pictures on
+the panels and large gilt figures in front of the boxes. There were,
+however, some of a more modern construction which had been built in Paris,
+and one of these was pointed out to me as celebrated for having conveyed
+the English generals on their entry into Lisbon after the famous
+Convention of Cintra. Upon this occasion, I understand, it broke down and
+became the cause of much wit among the generals as to whether it was their
+personal weight or the weight of their dignity that caused their fall. Had
+they been superstitious, they might have feared that it was ominous of a
+yet greater fall!"
+
+At length the two young travellers determined to journey on into Spain;
+but in order to accomplish this, it was necessary first to buy horses--no
+easy matter, since all that were available had been seized for the army.
+After considerable delay Stanhope heard of a pretty little black
+Andalusian, which belonged to a Spanish gentleman willing to sell it, and
+lost no time in going to see the animal. He found that it furnished one of
+the most quaint instances which he had yet come across of the intense
+hatred to the French then universally cherished. "I took a great fancy to
+it," he says, "from a curious trick which it had been taught; one,
+however, which would have proved very inconvenient to me. _The moment it
+heard anyone speak French, it put back its ears and flew at him!_ As I
+wished to try this intelligent animal before I made my bargain, I returned
+to give orders that my saddle should be sent to its stables; but in the
+meantime, to my great disappointment, the servant in charge sold it to
+another man, unknown to his master, and for a less price than I should
+have been willing to give for such a remarkable animal."
+
+At last, having procured the necessary steeds, the travellers started on
+their journey, encountering many adventures and seeing many interesting
+sights by the way. On one occasion they were quartered for some days upon
+a poor Captain Major, whose habitation was a humble hut in a singularly
+lonely district. Yet they found that he was a learned man, who had his
+small but treasured library; and in the latter John Stanhope was further
+astonished to find that one of the volumes which its owner considered most
+priceless was a Latin translation of Young's _Night Thoughts_.
+
+"It is a curious thing," he remarks, "that this work, held in general in
+but little estimation in England, is invariably one of those most admired
+throughout the entire Continent, not only by the Portugese, but
+particularly by the lively Spanish."
+
+It was men of the rank of their host, he adds, who had given occasion to
+an amusing mistake on his part upon his first arrival in the country:
+"According to the Portugese pronunciation," he writes, "_Major_ sounds
+like _Moor_ or _More_. The first time I met a Captain Moor, I was much
+surprised at finding a man of that name in Portugal; but when at every
+turn I found another Captain Moor, I could no longer refrain from
+expressing my astonishment at meeting with so many of that family, _and
+all Captains!_ The laugh that was raised at my expense may be imagined!"
+
+The two young travellers at length reached Cadiz, which was then besieged
+by the French army. Almost one of the first things which struck John
+Stanhope with regard to the city, he records as a feat both novel and
+ingenious:--
+
+
+    Situated as Cadiz is, almost in the midst of the sea, the constant
+    breaking of the waves was sufficient to endanger, not only the walls
+    of the city, but even the neighbouring houses. A Spanish engineer, Don
+    Thomas Minoz, undertook to provide a curious security against so
+    alarming a danger. He effected his purpose by placing, at certain
+    intervals, large planks extending some distance into the sea; these
+    intervals he filled up with stones and cemented with a peculiar
+    species of mortar which had the advantage of becoming hardened by the
+    effects of time and exposure to weather; the wall above he built in
+    the shape of a bow; by these means the force of the waves was
+    effectually broken. But he met with those difficulties that so
+    frequently are opposed to the efforts of men of distinguished genius.
+    His labours were, in the first instance, counteracted by the misguided
+    parsimony of his employers, and subsequently, when completed, the work
+    was neglected and not kept in repair, in opposition to his express
+    injunctions, so that a great part of the cliff has since fallen.
+
+
+The morning following his arrival, young Stanhope was taken to be
+introduced to Admiral Purvis, then in command of the fleet off that coast;
+and, having received from him an invitation to dinner, he returned on
+shore to pay his respects, in the interval, to the Minister, Mr Wellesley.
+On again boarding the ship he found the Admiral occupied in studying
+through a telescope a vessel then in sight, which to Stanhope's great
+excitement he explained was the _Ville de Paris_ returning to England with
+Lord Collingwood. Overjoyed at the unexpected prospect of seeing, not only
+his kinsman, but also his brother William, young Stanhope begged to be
+allowed to accompany Admiral Purvis in paying a visit to the approaching
+ship. Accordingly they snatched a hurried meal and set off in a small
+boat. Scarcely, however, had they embarked than they were greeted by the
+tidings that the vessel which they proposed to visit bore, not the brave
+Admiral returning to his native land, but his lifeless corpse, worn out
+with an arduous service sustained too long.
+
+They immediately tacked about and returned to the ship they had just
+quitted, and thence young Stanhope watched the stately _Ville de Paris_ as
+she approached over the shining water, while he thought sadly of the
+gallant life which had thus ended, and of the grief which the news that
+had thus strangely become known to him would be learnt, many weeks later,
+by his family in Grosvenor Square. The following day he saw his brother
+William, now a sturdy youth grown out of all recognition; then the
+brothers parted once more, William eventually to return to England, his
+naval career ended, and John to experience a fate which he then little
+foresaw.
+
+He, with his companion Knox, remained some time in Cadiz, taking great
+interest in the operations of attack and defence, into which they were
+initiated by their friend, the celebrated Lord Macduff, [4] an
+exceptionally keen and gallant soldier, who, however, apparently owed his
+predilection for war to a singularly horrible event in his life.
+
+"A tragic episode," writes John Stanhope, "has rendered the excitement of
+active service an absolute necessity to him. His delight in battle arises
+solely from the loss of a beloved wife, and sadly calculated was the end
+of the beautiful Mrs Macduff to make the most serious impression on a
+husband's mind, all the more so, perhaps, in that so fully did she merit
+that epithet _beautiful_ which was always attached to her name. She had a
+Newfoundland dog, which one day leapt up in apparent affection, and
+catching her nose, gave it a bite, which not only seemed little more than
+a scratch, but as the dog had just sprung out of the water no suspicion
+attached to him. After some lapse of time, however, Mrs Duff was seized
+with symptoms of hydrophobia, and soon fell a victim to that dreadful
+disorder. Such a death for anyone cannot be contemplated without a
+shudder, but in the case of one in the full pride of youth and exceptional
+beauty, it appears, if possible, more inexpressibly horrible; and her
+unhappy husband has subsequently striven to find even a temporary oblivion
+of it in the greatest of earthly excitements--the din of arms."
+
+Mixing with the most interesting society of Spain, enjoying many novel
+experiences and encountering many famous people, the days of the young
+travellers passed pleasantly. The Spaniards at this date cherished the
+most profound admiration for the English. "They," explains John Stanhope,
+"consider an Englishman as something superhuman, and, indeed, are anxious
+that 'George terceo' should come to reign over them." He was also much
+struck by the "devotion of the entire nation to the forms of their
+religion"; and he adds: "There is, perhaps, nothing more striking amongst
+the numerous ceremonies of this superstitious people than the effect
+produced by what is usually known as the Angelus. On a fine evening in
+summer, when the Alameda is crowded with Spaniards of all classes,
+enjoying the delights of a Southern sky and the pure breezes of the sea,
+at one moment all is noise and animation, the eyes, the tongues, the faces
+of the fair Andalusians are all in motion and the Spanish _caballeros_ all
+devoted to the terrestrial object of their adoration: on a sudden, the
+Angelus sounds, the whole babel stops, a profound stillness falls like a
+cloud over the gay scene, and everyone remains totally absorbed in prayer
+so long as the sound of the bell is heard. It is scarcely possible to
+convey any adequate idea of the effect produced by the instantaneous
+silence of so vast a crowd. The moment the bell ceases, each addresses a
+salutation to the person whom chance has thrown near him, and the
+stillness--so striking, so solemn--is as suddenly broken by the
+recommencement of all the former pandemonium and a deafening noise of
+eager tongues.
+
+"Yet in Spain a religion of forms and ceremonies seems to have been
+substituted for a religion of Christian purity and morality. Although the
+large majority of the population are devoted to their Church, they yet
+imagine that if they strictly observe her ceremonies, fast rigidly, and go
+regularly to confession, they have done all that is requisite. The
+consequence of this state of things is the prevalence of the greatest
+profligacy, which is fostered by the innumerable herd of monks who infest
+the country. Common prostitutes sell indulgences which exempt from fasting
+in Lent; and by what means they have obtained possession of these it is
+not difficult to conjecture."
+
+Another great drawback which John Stanhope found to life at Cadiz at that
+date was the prevalence of a condition of society which entailed that each
+Spanish lady should have her cortejo, or devoted attendant. "Behind each
+lady who smiles at you," he explains, "there stands--not a duenna, such a
+one as is represented on our stage--but a grim, black, ugly grandee, ready
+to avenge with the stiletto every glance you may chance to give to the
+lady of his love."
+
+Nevertheless, Stanhope was enveigled into a silent flirtation which he
+describes thus amusingly:
+
+"Immediately opposite to my habitation are two houses belonging to two
+merchants, who are either brothers or brothers-in-law. The one has an only
+daughter, who cannot boast of much beauty, the other has two daughters,
+the one a very pretty girl of a style rather unusual in Spain, for she has
+auburn hair, while her sister is a thorough Spaniard, a lively little
+thing with Andalusian eyes.
+
+"A general flirtation was soon established between us; the heiress made me
+a sign every morning, upon which I descended into the street; she then
+threw out a most beautiful rose, which I picked up, and, pressing to my
+lips, returned to my balcony. This was certainly something like swearing
+allegiance, but I must confess that the fair cousin with the auburn hair,
+who lived next door to her, was the real object of my admiration; she was
+very modest and shy, and would only favour me with an occasional smile,
+but there was a sweetness in that timid, blushing smile which surpassed
+that of all the roses of Andalusia. She used also to serenade me on the
+piano by playing _God save the King_, to which I responded politely by
+playing some of the national airs of Spain. This silent flirtation
+continued for some time, when one day while I was on my balcony, I was not
+a little surprised to find standing beside me the servant from the house
+of the modest little lady with auburn hair. He at once accosted me in
+French, and, _sans cérémonie_, asked me which of the two young ladies I
+admired. "It is not _that_ one, I am sure!" said he, pointing to the lady
+of the roses. "No," said I, somewhat ungratefully, and pointed to her fair
+cousin. The servant instantly disappeared; a conscious smile from the
+beauty rewarded me for my preference, but--no more roses!"
+
+An episode of a very different nature is described in another letter from
+Cadiz. "An extraordinary execution took place the other day," he writes;
+"extraordinary both from the manner in which it was carried out and the
+circumstances under which it took place. The unfortunate man was strangled
+by means of a machine of a new construction. It was an iron case or collar
+that was fitted round his neck and drawn closer by means of a screw till
+it occasioned strangulation. I did not follow the general example and
+attend the execution, as I did not feel sufficient curiosity about this
+new instrument of death to tempt me to witness so distressing a sight.
+
+The sufferer was one of the principal judges in Madrid, and had rendered
+himself peculiarly odious by the severity which he had exercised towards
+the patriots, many of whom he had condemned to death. The guerrillas had,
+in consequence, signalled him out as their victim, and nothing can perhaps
+better illustrate the extraordinary state of Spain at this moment and the
+power of the guerrillas than the daring nature of their attempt and the
+success with which it was attended.
+
+Having received information that the judge was to be present at a ball
+given on the occasion of the marriage of one of his servants at a village
+a short distance from Madrid, a guerrilla chief determined to take
+advantage of the opportunity which this offered. He accordingly made his
+appearance at the ball, and accosting the judge, requested him to come at
+once to the door of the house, as he had something important to
+communicate to him. No sooner had the judge reached the door than he was
+seized, placed upon horseback, and hurried off. From the actual vicinity
+of the capital, in a part of the country thickly occupied by troops, he
+was thus carried away, and finally brought to Cadiz, where he was
+condemned to atone for his treachery by his death. Previous to his
+execution, he acknowledged the justice of his sentence, but declared that
+there are now in Cadiz many men far more deserving of punishment than
+himself, some of whom are actually in the employ of the Government."
+
+At length John Stanhope decided that, in June, he would embark for
+Gibraltar, intending to proceed thence to Carthagena, Valencia and
+Majorca. At this juncture, however, Tom Knox, reluctantly listened to the
+persuasions of his family, who feared his inability to stand a hot
+climate, and decided to return home. How fortunate it was for himself that
+he decided to do so, events were subsequently to prove.
+
+John Stanhope, in company with some other friends, next made an agreement
+with an English merchant to take them to Gibraltar. The man, however,
+played them false, and sailed without them; whereupon they took passage on
+board a wretched boat called the _Liverpool Hero_, on which they endured
+extreme discomfort. One of Stanhope's greatest wishes had been to set foot
+on the coast of Africa, but owing to the unseaworthy nature of the vessel
+on which they found themselves, combined with the extreme roughness of the
+weather, they were driven from the coast, and only after a most dangerous
+passage did they eventually arrive at Gibraltar. As they entered the bay,
+the first object which met their eyes was the ship in which they had
+originally intended taking their passage. She had only just dropped her
+anchor, and as they passed she hailed them. "On going on board," relates
+John Stanhope, "the captain gave us a detailed account of a most
+melancholy occurrence which had marked their voyage. Their few hours'
+advantage in starting had enabled them to effect what we had in vain
+attempted--the weathering Cape Espartel. There were on board the actual
+passengers who had cut us out of our berths. They had felt as anxious as I
+had done to plant their feet upon the coast of Africa. They accordingly
+got into a boat and landed. They were amusing themselves with walking a
+little way into the interior when a party of Moors, who had apparently
+been watching them, stole gently through the brushwood with which the
+coast was covered, and, getting between them and the coast, cut off their
+retreat. The Moors killed two of them, one being a boy, to whose head they
+deliberately put a gun and blew his brains out. The third they carried
+away captive.
+
+"We could not help shuddering at the thoughts of our narrow escape. Had we
+fulfilled our original intention and occupied the berths which we had
+actually taken on board that vessel we should undoubtedly have been in the
+place of these unfortunate men, and should have experienced the horrible
+fate which befell them."
+
+A strange illustration of the fluctuations of fortune peculiar to those
+days next came under the notice of young Stanhope, on his way to
+Carthagena. "We passed," he writes, "the house of a Spaniard whose history
+is singular enough. He was originally a poor peasant, but during the last
+war with England he happened to be upon an island near the coast, in
+company with one of his friends, when they observed two sailors land from
+an English vessel. They promptly concealed themselves so that they might
+observe the proceedings of these men without themselves being seen. The
+sailors whom they watched dug a hole, put something carefully into it, and
+then covered it over; after which they re-embarked.
+
+"No sooner were they out of sight, than the two Spaniards came out from
+their place of hiding, and hastened to the spot, eager to ascertain what
+it could be that had been so mysteriously buried. Great was their delight
+when they dug up what proved to be a treasure of great value, a heavy bag
+of gold. They divided the spoil, and returned home wealthy men.
+Subsequently, however, one of them, either feeling scruples with regard to
+the possession of the booty or else in the due order of confession,
+unburdened himself to his priest, who at once impressed upon him the
+sinfulness of retaining the stolen treasure and the obligation of
+endeavouring to find the rightful owners and restoring it to them. The
+penitent, therefore, went to explain these views to his fellow-thief, who
+appearing fully convinced by such reasoning, at once promised to undertake
+on behalf of both himself and his friend the researches necessary for the
+restoration of the stolen property. Believing this assurance, the
+repentant man at once gave up to his friend his own share of the treasure,
+only to discover, when too late, that his less scrupulous comrade had not
+an intention of carrying out any such obligation, but having thus got
+possession of the whole of the gold, he kept it, and is now one of the
+richest and most influential men in this part of the country, while his
+more honest dupe is still a poverty-stricken peasant."
+
+In short, as John Stanhope was soon to find to his cost, it was not an age
+when a sense of honour dictated the actions of the majority of men. It
+happened soon afterwards that, unable to procure a satisfactory passage to
+Majorca, Stanhope was constrained to embark upon a small vessel, the
+appearance of which was singularly unprepossessing. But untrustworthy as
+was the boat, its captain proved to him a greater source of danger.
+Ignoring the undertaking he had given to the young Englishman, he
+traitorously sailed for Barcelona, where he delivered up his passenger to
+the French authorities, and John Stanhope thus unexpectedly found himself
+doomed to the fate which Esther Acklom had so ingeniously escaped, that of
+being a prisoner of Napoleon.
+
+After various vicissitudes, and having been for eight weeks confined in a
+dungeon in hourly expectation of death, he was at length ordered with
+other prisoners of war to the dépôt at Verdun. Part of the journey thither
+was accomplished on foot, part driving in a diligence. The weather was
+bitterly cold, and the windows of the vehicle, which on this account were
+perforce closed, were chiefly of wood, so that not only was the view
+excluded, but the greater part of the journey was passed in darkness.
+
+During part of the time, his only _compagnon de voyage_ was a French
+soldier, who had just obtained his _congé_ and was returning home after a
+long period of foreign service. "Poor fellow," writes John Stanhope, "his
+happiness was unbounded! He could think and talk of nothing but the moment
+of his first arrival at home, amusing himself with discussing the various
+modes in which he might surprise his family. At length that which he
+seemed inclined to adopt was to apply for a billet upon his own people; to
+enter the house with all the swagger of a soldier quartered on strangers--
+in short, to enact the part which he had often played in Germany and so
+many other countries, and after having well tormented and frightened the
+whole household, to throw himself into his father's arms with--"Mon père,
+embrassez votre fils!" I enjoyed the thought of the _dénouement_--so truly
+French--but with envious feelings; not to draw a contrast between our
+relative situations was impossible, and I kept thinking, When--if ever--
+shall I be able to surprise my family with my unexpected return?"
+
+At another period of his journey one of Stanhope's fellow-travellers was a
+certain Captain Reid, who had been aide-de-camp to General Reding, [5] and
+had been taken prisoner. He told Stanhope the following curious story,
+"which," the latter suggests, "Walter Scott would probably hail as an
+additional proof of the reality of the art of divination. Captain Reid's
+mother, many years ago, having heard of the fame of some fortune-teller,
+resolved, out of pure frolic, to have her fortune told. She therefore
+disguised herself as her own maid and went to see the woman. She was at
+that date a wife and the mother of five children. The fortune-teller
+informed her that she would have, in all, fifteen children; that, out of
+those, two only would survive their infancy, and of those two, she would
+only have comfort from one. The predicted number of children were born.
+Reid and his sister alone lived to grow up, and 'what the future may
+produce, I know not,' Reid concluded, 'but as I am a prisoner in a foreign
+land, she certainly has no comfort in me."
+
+With many anecdotes of General Reding did Captain Reid likewise regale his
+fellow-prisoner: "--that distinguished but unfortunate officer," says John
+Stanhope, "who at length fell victim to anxiety of mind arising from the
+difficulties with which he had to struggle and disappointment at finding
+that he commanded men who were not brave like himself. One day when Reding
+was about to engage the French (I rather think it was to make an attack on
+Barcelona) he sent his aide-de-camp, Reid, to a Spanish general, with
+imperative orders to be at a certain post, at a certain time, with his
+division. Just as Reding was on the point of moving forward to commence
+the projected attack he perceived the Spanish general riding leisurely
+towards him. 'What, _you_ here!' he exclaimed, horror-stricken, 'Why are
+you not at your post?' 'I have received no orders,' was the reply. 'Reid!'
+shouted the Swiss general in an overpowering fury and raising his sabre
+over the head of his aide-de-camp, 'why did you not give my orders to the
+Spaniard?' Reid, knowing his General's irritable temper, thought that
+instant death was before him. 'I did!' he asserted emphatically; 'there
+stands his aide-de-camp who was present at the time--let him deny it if he
+dare!' Fortunately the aide-de-camp was too much a man of honour to deny
+the truth. Reid was acquitted in his General's eyes; but the old Swiss
+turned away heart-broken at the recognition that all his schemes at this
+important juncture had been defeated by this act of treachery or cowardice
+on the part of the Spaniard, and, in unconcealed disgust, he gave the
+order for a retreat.
+
+"Reding while on active service usually drank three bottles of wine a day,
+and never slept for more than three hours; he and his men were always in
+motion, yet Reid, though pursuing the same _regimen_, declared that, in
+common with his General, he was never in better health or happier at any
+time of his life."
+
+Of another famous general, Stanhope also records some interesting
+observations. Arrived at Dijon, which was a dépôt for Spanish prisoners,
+he went to call on an English fellow-prisoner, and found him having
+breakfast in company with two Anglo-Spanish officers, both of whom had
+served at Saragossa. "I therefore," he relates, "felt great interest in
+talking over with them the events of that memorable siege, in which they
+had acted an important part. Of course, to judge from their own account,
+to them and to other Hibernian-Spanish officers was due the honour of
+having conducted the defence of Saragossa; but what was indeed of interest
+was to find that of Palafox [6] they spoke but slightingly, and seemed to
+consider him merely as the nominal commander. All this was so new, so
+incredible to me, that I could not help openly expressing my doubts on the
+subject; these, however, were met by an argument to which it was
+impossible not to attach considerable weight--that Palafox was at that
+moment on parole in a town in France. 'Do you really think,' asked they,
+'that if he were the powerful man he is represented to be he would be left
+in comparative liberty? No; the Emperor is too wise for that! If Palafox
+were what he has been supposed to be, _Napoleon would consider that no
+prison in France is strong enough to hold him!_'"
+
+At length young Stanhope arrived at Verdun and entered upon a period of
+detention there to which he could foresee no prospective conclusion.
+"There was no positive suffering of which to complain," he wrote
+afterwards, "yet there is a weariness, an utter hopelessness in the life
+of an exile which none can understand who have not experienced its
+intensity." The patriotism which had gilded the voluntary exile of
+Collingwood was perforce absent from the imprisonment of John Stanhope. No
+glory of martyrdom dignified his forcible detention; he was merely the
+victim of mischance. And the outlook was singularly hopeless. "The
+negotiation for the exchange of prisoners has totally failed," he writes.
+"The hope of the conclusion of the war appears to be more distant than
+ever. Whilst the Emperor lives, peace seems to be impossible, and he may
+live twenty years without the least diminution of his energy or his
+ambition ... there is but one source from which we can any of us derive
+the slightest consolation, and that is from the character of Napoleon
+himself. His insatiable ambition, after having prompted him to the
+execution of everything that is practicable, may finally urge him to
+attempt impossibilities. Alexander wept because he could find no more
+worlds to conquer; Napoleon may find there are too many worlds for him.
+Universal dominion is not now so easy an acquisition. 'Give him rope
+enough and he will hang himself!' is in all our mouths!"
+
+With this slender consolation the luckless prisoners endeavoured to cheer
+themselves; but meanwhile, as Stanhope points out, they existed "a
+thousand people of different characters, ranks and habits collected
+together in one town, without any occupation to divert the tedium of their
+lives." Nor were there wanting additions to their society of an
+undesirable character, men who had voluntarily fled across the Channel to
+escape the consequence of nefarious dealings in horse-racing and gambling.
+One of these, indeed, was described by the French Minister of War as "the
+worst monster which England in her wrath has yet vomited across the
+Channel"; and the enforced idleness to which the prisoners were subjected,
+rendered them for the most part ready victims to the designs of such
+unscrupulous villains, while it tended to make the life of the town
+peculiarly demoralising. One source of satisfaction alone did Stanhope
+find in his altered conditions. His family, who for many months had
+believed him to be dead, were now overjoyed to hear of his safety, and to
+find themselves once more able to communicate with him; none the less it
+was impossible to ignore the constant danger to which his position still
+exposed him. At any moment he or his fellow _détenus_ might be sacrificed
+to the vindictiveness of Napoleon or to the exigencies of some political
+situation, and he had not been long at Verdun before a recognition of this
+fact was unpleasantly brought home to him.
+
+Lord Blayney, [7] an Irish friend of his, was suddenly arrested one day in
+the streets of Verdun and hurried off to the citadel. There he was
+informed that by order of the French Government he was to answer with his
+life for the safety of a French prisoner in England, who, having been
+detected in some treasonable intrigue, was condemned to close confinement
+and likely to be shot. Thus for a long time subsequently Lord Blayney
+remained a prisoner in hourly peril of instant death.
+
+There were also other evils to be reckoned with. The governors in whose
+charge the prisoners were placed were too often unscrupulous men, who, so
+long as they were secure from detection, did not hesitate to employ
+tyranny or fraud in the endeavour to further their own advancement, either
+by the pretended discovery of imaginary plots, thus giving a fictitious
+impression of their own zeal to the ministers, or by extorting money
+through terrorism from their defenceless victims.
+
+A story in this latter connection is told by John Stanhope. It appears
+that a certain General Wirion, who had at one time been attached to
+Moreau's party, had succeeded in getting into favour with Napoleon, who
+made him Governor of Verdun. Forthwith, the General's principal object was
+to devise some means of extracting money from the prisoners resident
+there, towards whom his conduct, on all occasions, was peculiarly
+atrocious.
+
+Among the _détenus_ he soon observed a young man of more fortune than wit,
+whom he at once recognised as a victim ready to his hand. He accordingly
+sent for this youth one morning, and informed him that he would give him
+leave to reside in a village a little way beyond the limits, for so the
+imaginary boundary was always designated within which the prisoners were
+confined by their parole. Although surprised at a permission for which he
+had not even applied, the young _détenu_ naturally was delighted, and,
+utterly devoid of suspicion, he lost no time in availing himself of his
+increased liberty.
+
+Shortly afterwards, the Governor caused a bogus order to be posted in the
+office in Verdun to which the prisoners went at fixed periods to sign
+their names. It announced that the Minister of War had issued a decree
+commanding that all prisoners found out of the limits should be shot.
+
+This notice the young prisoner in question either did not see, or ignored,
+thinking that in view of his having received special permission for his
+departure from the Governor, it could not apply to his individual case.
+From this false security, however, he was suddenly awakened one morning by
+the appearance of a detachment of _gendarmerie_, who, without any
+circumlocution, presented him with a copy of the order, and informed him
+that, as he had been found out of the limits, he was included in the
+number of those to whom the decrees applied, and that their orders were to
+carry the sentence into immediate execution.
+
+So sudden, so unexpected an announcement of instant death might well have
+shaken a man of stronger nerve. As it was, the condition of the poor youth
+was pitiable. In vain he protested his ignorance of the notice and his
+innocence of any intentional disobedience to the Government; to all such
+representations his captors turned a deaf ear. Still more, no means were
+neglected by them, no note of preparation omitted, that could tend to
+increase the agony of his terror.
+
+At last, at the very moment when not a hope of life remained to him, a
+Gallo-Irishman, the chosen confidant of the Governor, made his appearance,
+as if by accident. At the sight of this man, one last chance of escape
+presented itself to the miserable youth, and he entreated the fellow to
+save him. The Irishman replied decisively that he could hold out no hope;
+the orders of the Minister of War had been imperative, and any chance of
+eluding them was impossible.
+
+"But I have the General's permission to reside beyond the limits!" pleaded
+the youth eagerly.
+
+"True, but the General exceeded his powers in giving you that permission;
+you cannot expect him to sacrifice himself for you. It is unfortunate, but
+you must be the victim!"
+
+"Is there no possibility of your doing anything? You are so intimate with
+him, cannot you save me?"
+
+"I fear not."
+
+"But at least make _one_ effort!"
+
+"It is a hopeless case!" the Irishman assured him. Then, after
+consideration, he said: "Well, I will _try_, but upon one condition, and
+one only."
+
+"Name it!" was the eager reply.
+
+"That you give me _carte-blanche_ to act as I see fit!"
+
+The condemned man did not hesitate. He agreed readily to all the Irishman
+suggested; and the villain having given orders to the _gendarmes_ to await
+his return, departed triumphantly. After an interval which appeared
+sufficiently long for him to have journeyed to Verdun and back, he
+reappeared and informed the poor youth, who meanwhile had been awaiting
+his verdict in a state of indescribable anxiety, that the mission had been
+successful. This had not, however, he explained, been accomplished without
+the greatest difficulty, as General Wirion trembled at the serious
+responsibility which he was about to incur in disobeying the Minister's
+express orders; nevertheless, the Governor would consent to spare the
+Englishman's life on condition of his paying down immediately the sum of
+£5000. The young man was startled by the largeness of the amount, but in
+the position in which he was placed, it required few arguments to convince
+him of the worthlessness of money when his existence was at stake. He
+accordingly consented to the proposal, signed a draft for the specified
+amount, and was set at liberty. When, however, in a calmer frame of mind
+he came to consider the transaction and to discuss it with his friends, he
+felt convinced that some trickery had been employed towards him. He
+thereupon wrote to his banker, cancelling the order for the money. But
+this only made matters worse for him; for the General, furious at such an
+attempt to defeat his machinations, enforced payment, not merely of the
+£5000 originally demanded, but of an additional £200, under pretext of
+having incurred that latter expense in trying to substantiate his lawful
+claim to the larger sum!
+
+Needless to say, robberies of this description were perpetrated without
+the knowledge of the Ministers; but a rumour of some disgraceful
+transaction on the part of Wirion having at last reached them, he was
+summoned to Paris to undergo examination before a court of inquiry. In
+consequence of what then came to light, upon the next public occasion at
+which he was present, the Emperor turned his back upon the General. The
+latter understood the hint. He left the presence of Napoleon, got into a
+hackney coach, drove to the Bois de Boulogne, and there shot himself.
+
+Occasionally, however, Napoleon himself was outwitted by the cunning of
+the villains in his employment. Wirion's successor at Verdun, Colonel
+Courcelles, a less daring but more clever scoundrel, found favour with the
+Emperor by a very simple expedient. He had lost one of his legs in _partie
+de chasse_, a loss which gave him the valuable air of a gallant veteran,
+and of which he knew how to take the best advantage. Passing through
+Verdun to join his army, the Emperor spied the apparently maimed hero, and
+at once honoured him with a special notice. "_Monsieur le Colonel_" he
+inquired with a note of respect, "_où avez-vous perdu la jambe?_"
+Courcelles, sufficiently quick-witted to convey the impression he desired
+without risking the utterance of any lie, replied truthfully: "_Sire,
+j'étais à la bataille de Marengo!_"
+
+Courcelles succeeded in robbing the prisoners who were in his charge in a
+more cautious manner than his predecessor; he, in short, contrived to
+subtract something for himself from any remittances which reached them,
+and paid them francs for livres. But if in many instances the prisoners
+suffered at the hands of the French authorities, on one occasion the
+position was reversed, and a French commandant became the victim of a
+prisoner's cunning.
+
+The hero of this incident was Lord Blayney, the Irishman before referred
+to. A certain General Cox, formerly Governor of Almeida, owned a very nice
+little Andalusian horse, Sancho, which had distinguished itself as one of
+the first racers in Verdun. Lord Blayney offered a challenge for Sancho to
+run against a horse which he promised to produce for the event, and his
+bet was accepted with alacrity. He thereupon sent to an Englishman who was
+in young Talleyrand's service, and who was a recognised connoisseur in
+horseflesh, instructing this man to send him a particular English race-
+horse which had formerly figured at Verdun, and in the capabilities of
+which Lord Blayney still apparently had confidence, although it was now
+pretty well advanced in years.
+
+Nevertheless, when the animal reached Lord Blayney's stables, sundry
+alterations were made in its appearance which would prevent its being
+recognised as an old acquaintance by those who had seen it formerly; and
+thus when the date for the race arrived, an unknown beast entered the
+lists against Sancho.
+
+It was soon patent to all that the age of this competitor made its chance
+of success but small; and, in fact, General Cox's fleet little horse won
+in a canter. Everyone laughed loudly at Lord Blayney's folly in imagining
+that so obviously incompetent an animal could run against the beautiful
+little racer Sancho; only Lord Blayney himself seemed stupidly surprised
+at his own failure. None the less, he bore his loss with amiability, and
+as he had previously invited his antagonists to dine with him that night
+he did not omit to make them welcome.
+
+General Cox and the backers of Sancho were, not unnaturally, in the
+highest spirits that evening; and when wine had loosened their tongues,
+they expressed their triumph rather incautiously in loud praises of their
+favourite horse. Lord Blayney likewise appeared to drink heavily, and at
+last, seemingly elated by this fact, or stung past endurance by the
+taunting remarks of his adversaries, he swore that he would again match
+his horse against Sancho and for a yet larger sum of money. Cox,
+delighted, instantly closed with the offer, and Lord Blayney shortly
+afterwards, as though overcome by the wine he had drunk, fell asleep.
+
+His guests sat on drinking till at length their host awoke, when it became
+evident to them that, sobered by his nap, he was ready to view matters in
+a more cautious light. "Cox" he observed anxiously, "I will give you a
+good sum down to be off the bet I made just now." "Oh, no! no!" cried
+General Cox. "It is too late to withdraw it--you cannot show the white
+feather." "Well, then," shouted Lord Blayney, with apparent angry
+recklessness, "I'll double the first bet!" "Done!" cried the General,
+enchanted at the certainty of extracting a still larger sum from the
+pockets of the foolish peer. So delighted was he, in fact, that he
+generously arranged for several of his most intimate friends to share his
+prospective good fortune, and seeing an unparalleled opportunity for
+currying favour with the Commandant, he invited the latter to participate
+in such exceptional luck.
+
+One man alone saw through the whole transaction. This was a certain friend
+of Lord Blayney's who is mentioned in John Stanhope's letters by his
+nickname of "Paddy Boyle," [8] which had apparently been conferred upon
+him on account of his exhibiting certain characteristics which are more
+usually illustrative of an Irish than a Scottish nationality. Lord Boyle
+went to Lord Blayney with the unwelcome announcement: "By Jove, my Lord,
+I'll tell of you!"
+
+"You'll do nothing of the sort!" rejoined Lord Blayney; "I'll give you a
+hundred pounds to hold your tongue!" The bargain was struck and the secret
+was kept.
+
+The eventful day arrived. So large a bet had attracted universal
+attention. "I will not attempt to describe," writes John Stanhope, "the
+intense interest felt by all present at the commencement of the race, nor
+the confusion and dismay of the Cox party when they saw the previously
+incompetent animal now cantering away from Sancho with all the ease and
+style of a true English racehorse; nor will I attempt to give the
+crimination and recrimination that followed. I will content myself with
+transcribing the observation with which the poor Commandant consoled
+himself for his loss. '_Les Anglais prétendent que Lord Blayney est fou;
+je reconnais à mes dépens qu'il est plus fin que les autres!_'"
+
+With regard to Lord Boyle, who so intelligently fathomed the intended ruse
+in this instance, Stanhope subsequently relates some amusing anecdotes.
+"During the time of our races," he writes, "Lord Blayney had invited a
+large party to dine with him on the race ground. Instead of putting myself
+in the path of the prospective host, as did most of my friends, I
+studiously avoided him, and thus escaped an invitation, as I was anxious
+to do, for I had little doubt that there would be a profusion of wine
+which would lead to its inevitable consequences at Verdun--a good deal of
+quarrelling. I rode to the course with Lord Boyle, who congratulated me on
+my prudence. I never heard a man talk more reasonably or eloquently than
+he did upon the state of the society at Verdun, and particularly upon the
+reprehensible consequences which invariably arose from successive
+drinking. The first thing I heard next morning was that Paddy Boyle had,
+after dinner, _insulted every man at the table but one_, uttering sarcasms
+founded doubtless upon truth, but as biting as they were clever. _From
+every individual except the one who had escaped his attacks he had just
+received a challenge_, which he had been forced to meet by sending round a
+circular apology. He had thus given a pretty practical illustration of the
+truth of the remarks with which he had favoured me on the previous
+evening!"
+
+Subsequently Lord Boyle afforded another illustration of his "strange
+admixture of shrewdness and muddle-headedness." On an occasion when, it
+must be emphasized, he was entirely sober, he was discovered going out
+into the garden at twelve o'clock at night with a hand-candle in order to
+ascertain what was the correct time by the sun-dial!
+
+But in a society which comprised men of so many different types and
+varying calibre, there were not wanting some of the survivals of a France
+which was rapidly becoming extinct An inhabitant of Verdun frequently
+referred to by Stanhope was the Chevalier de la Lance, an aristocrat of
+the _ancien régime_, who piqued himself upon possessing the peculiar grace
+of manner belonging to a bygone day, and which he carried to such a point
+of exaggeration as often to render himself ridiculous. "He is nevertheless
+a kind-hearted, gentlemanlike and amiable old man. Like most others of his
+rank who are still alive, he emigrated at the beginning of the Revolution.
+He retired to Germany, where he lived for some time under the assumed
+character of a humble music-master. He tells me that one of his most
+pleasant experiences was the surprise of his various pupils when, upon
+leaving the place of exile, he sent them back all the tickets for lessons
+which they had given him, and for which he no longer required payment He
+did not, however, return to France alone; in the country-house of some of
+his pupils he had met a lady whose heart was touched by the misfortunes of
+the exile. She was related to one of the leading families of the Austrian
+Empire, but had learnt to feel compassion for the unfortunate emigrant,
+and as compassion is akin to love, it soon grew into a warmer sentiment,
+and she at length agreed to unite her destiny to his."
+
+On an occasion, destined to be momentous in the life of another friend of
+Stanhope, did the Chevalier have an opportunity of displaying his
+exquisite manners to the full. One day young Stanhope was walking through
+the streets of Verdun with a friend of his, Captain Strachey, [9] when
+they met a young Frenchman of their acquaintance, "one, indeed," he
+remarks, "of the few _ancienne noblesse_ of Verdun."
+
+'Ah, Monsieur Stanhope,' said the Frenchman, 'you must go to the
+Cathedral, my cousin is the Quêteuse [10] to-day; you must give her a
+Napoleon at least!' Strachey announced that he would like to go with me,
+and together accordingly we went.
+
+"At the appointed time the Quêteuse made her appearance. She proved to be
+a most lovely girl, dressed in black silk, with a garland of snow-white
+marguerites on her head. As a mark of particular attention from the
+ecclesiastical authorities, she was permitted the escort of the Chevalier
+de la Lance, who, thoroughly enjoying the situation, held the tips of her
+fingers and conducted her with all the airs and graces of the olden time
+through the crowd assembled in the church. At length, preceded by the
+beadle in full costume, she approached the place where we were standing.
+The graceful simplicity of her manners formed an admirable contrast to the
+affectation of the old chevalier. With a low courtsey, and with a smile
+which united the sweetest expression to the most perfect modesty, she
+presented her purse to each of us in our turn. I was no longer at the
+happy age when the heart is carried away by every sweet glance; but I own
+that, for the moment, I was bewildered by the beautiful sight which the
+young girl presented, as, engaged in so holy a cause, and with her
+extraordinary loveliness framed by the picturesque surrounding of Gothic
+arches, she might well have been mistaken for the vision of an angel. All
+the money in my pocket was at once transferred to the little silk purse of
+the fair petitioner; but to Captain Strachey's peace that smile was far
+more fatal. It was decisive of the destiny of his life. A copy of French
+verses which he penned to the beautiful Quêteuse was the first proof of
+the impression produced upon his heart. Many were the obstacles with which
+he had to contend; but at length the lovely Mlle, de la Roche became the
+bride of the English prisoner."
+
+There was, however, but little intercourse between the English and the
+French families at Verdun. "There is one set," Stanhope writes, "who keep
+themselves very select and consider themselves _par excellence_ the
+society of the town. Almost the only English admitted into their circle
+are the Marine officers. It is said that they obtained this preference by
+persuading the French that they are distinguished by the title of _Royal_
+Marines entirely because they rank highest in the British service!"
+
+Only a certain Mr and Mrs S. who belonged to the class of _détenus_ were
+allowed, on sufferance, occasionally to mingle with the French families;
+and in this connection Stanhope relates one more story.
+
+"My fair countrywoman, who is sharing the captivity of her husband,
+formerly an officer in the army, is singularly attractive. If her features
+were not too pronounced and her form much too thin, she would be a very
+pretty woman. As it is, there is something remarkably airy and graceful in
+her figure, and very lively in her countenance. Still more lively is she
+in her manners. She is, indeed, one of the cleverest and most sarcastic
+women I ever knew, very agreeable when you are not yourself the object of
+her satire. In order to preserve her character for wit, she is not very
+scrupulous in her language; and in consequence of this an Englishman once
+ventured to make her an insulting proposal, upon which she very quietly
+caught up the poker and knocked him down, thus establishing her reputation
+in such a forcible manner that, whatever she has subsequently been bold
+enough to say, she is quite certain of being considered a perfect Diana.
+
+"An adventure occurred to her which would be amusing if I could tell it in
+her own language. On one of the coldest nights of a severe winter she left
+her apartments to go to one of our Verdun balls. Her husband pleaded a
+severe headache as an excuse for not accompanying her; and, that her
+amusement might not be disturbed by any disagreeable suspicions, he
+actually retired to bed and enacted the part of a sick man so well that he
+eluded even her penetrating glance. No sooner, however, had the carriage
+driven off which conveyed her to the ball, than up jumped the sick man,
+dressed himself and set off to the club in order to indulge his darling
+passion for play. At an hour rather earlier than he had calculated upon,
+his wife left the ball, doubtless anxious to look after her invalid
+husband. She was driven home by a friend, and in order to inconvenience
+the latter as little as possible, she got out of the carriage without
+waiting for the house-door to be opened, and allowed her friend to drive
+away. It was a piercingly cold night, the ground was covered with snow,
+and she picked her way carefully up the steps and then felt in her pocket
+for her _passe-partout_. To her horror she discovered it was not there,
+she had forgotten to take it out with her! She used all her efforts to
+rouse her sleeping husband or some of the inmates, but in vain. No
+resource remained but for her to walk, quarterdeck, in her satin shoes and
+ball dress, the bodice of which, to make matters worse, was generally very
+décolleté.
+
+"While engaged in this truly miserable occupation, who should come up but
+her husband, returning from his club! Had he had the key in his pocket
+much might have been forgiven him, but he, too, had forgotten it. He was
+obliged, therefore, to join his wife's promenade before the door of their
+lodgings, and submit to a snowy curtain-lecture, till dawn broke, and the
+miserable, shivering couple were at last able to make themselves heard by
+the inmates of the house."
+
+Many years afterwards John Stanhope related a yet more extraordinary
+meeting which occurred to this same couple.
+
+"When the allied troops entered France, the hope of that liberty of which
+he had so long been deprived was again kindled in the breast of Captain
+S., and at length rose to such a pitch as to overpower all other
+considerations, till he made his escape _en garçon_ from the _dépôt_. The
+unpleasant situation of his wife when she found herself thus abandoned in
+the midst of a foreign land may be imagined; but she was not the type of
+woman to give herself up to despair. After some time had elapsed she set
+off with the intention of making her solitary way to England. During her
+journey she encountered a detachment of the Russian army, and on finding
+herself surrounded by troops, nothing daunted, she demanded to be taken to
+the General commanding them. She was conducted to his presence and was
+received by him and his aide-de-camp, who stood beside him. Something in
+the appearance of the latter attracted her attention--she looked again and
+again--did her eyes deceive her, or was that figure in a Russian uniform,
+with an order at his button-hole and his face partly concealed by heavy
+moustachios, indeed her husband? Another look converted her doubts into
+certainty, and she was in her husband's arms. He had directed his course
+towards the Russian army, been of great service to the General--probably
+by giving him information on the state of the country--and had been
+rewarded by the situation he now held.
+
+"He subsequently re-entered the English army, having obtained a commission
+in the Horse Guards. Later, I often saw the fair heroine of this story
+riding in Hyde Park, in a costume which resembled the uniform of her
+husband's regiment, and accompanied by a daughter whose grace as an
+equestrian was set off by her personal beauty, whilst an orderly enacting
+the part of a groom completed the singular appearance of the group."
+
+Meanwhile, amongst the men of all nationalities who were to be found among
+the prisoners, certain of these, like Captain S., from time to time
+succeeded in effecting their escape. One brazenly went as a courier
+carrying despatches to the _grande armeé_; another cleverly passed himself
+off as a Custom House officer and actually accompanied a battalion of
+French soldiers, during the whole time receiving the utmost civility from
+the unsuspecting officers and men. But all studiously avoided Naval
+disguises, for the French believed that there was some peculiar
+predisposition in English blood to the Naval Service; indeed, on this
+account, all English foundlings were sent to Marseilles or Toulon to be
+brought up as sailors!
+
+Once, during John Stanhope's residence at Verdun, did Napoleon pass
+through the town. When this occurred, the young _détenu_ made his way so
+close to the carriage and inspected its occupant with such determined
+scrutiny that, he adds with satisfaction, "I can boast that I made
+Napoleon himself draw back!" His description, entered in his journal, of
+the Man of Destiny, then approaching the reverse of his fortunes, is of
+peculiar interest.
+
+"How shall I describe him? He was in a coloured nightcap, not a very
+Imperial, nor, at any time, a becoming costume; he had travelled all
+night, which, also, is neither calculated to improve a man's beauty, nor
+to shed a ray of good-humour over his countenance. His face looked
+swollen, his complexion sallow and livid; his eyes--but it is impossible
+to describe the expression of those eyes; I need only say that they were
+the true index of his character. There was in them a depth of reflection,
+a power of intention (if I may so call it) of seeing into the souls of
+men; there was a murkiness, a dark scowl, that made me exclaim-' Nothing
+in the world would tempt me to go one hour in that carriage with that
+man!' I could understand the power of that eye, under the glance of which
+the proudest heart in France shrank abashed; but still the whole
+countenance rather brought to my memory the early impressions I had formed
+of a moody schoolmaster, than those of a Caesar or an Alexander." [11]
+
+The days were then long past, however, when Napoleon's assumption of regal
+magnificence had provoked merriment among those as yet unfamiliar with it.
+In 1804 Lady Louisa Stuart had recorded how the unaccustomed deference
+with which the first consul elected to be treated was viewed in the nature
+of a farce by those surrounding him. Everyone of any rank who employed the
+titles by which the parvenu monarch desired to be called, did so as a
+recognised jest. "_Sa Majesté Impériale et puis du rire_!" But if that
+phase had now gone by and the boldest in France had learnt to quail before
+the piercing glance of the usurper, there remained apparently a few stout
+English hearts in whom he still failed to inspire awe. John Stanhope
+relates:--
+
+"An incident occurred during Napoleon's passage through Verdun, which,
+however difficult to describe with full effect, is yet too good to be
+omitted. An old British merchant captain went up to the window and
+presented a petition. This the Emperor refused to receive, observing--'I
+take no petitions from the English.' 'Then--d----n your eyes, you b----y
+son of a ----!' exclaimed the old sailor with engaging frankness, as,
+turning on his heels, he strode disgustedly away. Napoleon did not appear
+to understand this comment, but probably he had some shrewd suspicion of
+its nature."
+
+So profound a sensation, however, did the countenance of the Emperor make
+upon John Stanhope that he could never afterwards recall it without a
+shudder. That sense of an all-dominant will, of a boundless egoism, of a
+villainy which refused to be limited and could not be gauged by any of the
+ordinary restrictions applicable to normal humanity, was never
+subsequently erased from his recollections. It must be emphasised,
+moreover, that John Stanhope was by temperament and training singularly
+cosmopolitan in his outlook, and free from insular prejudice even with
+regard to his country's foe, so much so that, when he again had an
+opportunity of observing Napoleon, he readily acknowledged the strange
+magnetism of the man whose personality yet filled him with such
+instinctive repugnance.
+
+On this latter occasion Bonaparte was already past the meridian of his
+glory, and had met with reverses which enforced a more careful cultivation
+of his popularity with the masses. "He was," relates John Stanhope, "most
+gracious in his manner to the surrounding crowd, greeting them with a
+smile; and that smile was strikingly beautiful; there was a fascination
+about it, which, even in spite of my previous impressions, I could not
+resist."
+
+Still more, he records with obvious pleasure an instance of the Emperor's
+magnanimity:--
+
+"It would not be doing justice to Napoleon to omit the case of Captain
+Fane. That gallant officer had been taken prisoner in an attack that he
+had made upon some town on the coast of Spain. He had landed with the
+greater part of his crew, and carried the place with great bravery; but
+success was fatal to the discipline of his force. Unaccustomed as they
+were to fighting on shore, not all the efforts of Captain Fane could keep
+them together. They dispersed in all directions, plundering, and looking
+for wine. The French who had watched the whole proceedings from the
+heights, sent a force down, which, unobserved, got between them and the
+sea, cut off their retreat and took the whole party prisoners.
+
+"Captain Fane, who was a true English sailor, had some dispute with the
+officer into whose hands he was committed on the French frontier. The
+latter thereupon refused to accept his parole, so that Fane was conducted
+to Verdun by the _gendarmes_, treated with considerable harshness, and
+lodged in prison at the end of each day's march. This treatment was not
+calculated to produce a favourable impression on his already prejudiced
+mind, and not unnaturally there was not in the whole depôt a more violent
+anti-Gallican than was Captain Fane.
+
+"But his residence at Verdun was not long. A circumstance had occurred in
+the earlier part of his career which his friends justly thought likely to
+be of service to him in the unfortunate situation in which he now found
+himself. At the time of the Egyptian campaign, he had been midshipman on
+board a man-o'-war employed on the coast of Egypt. One day some French
+prisoners had been in danger of being drowned, when Fane jumped overboard
+and saved their lives at the risk of his own. The circumstance had at the
+time come to the knowledge of General Bonaparte, and he had expressed his
+high sense of the bravery of the young English officer.
+
+"Now under the changed circumstances in which Captain Fane found himself,
+his friends did but justice to the Emperor in believing that if the
+occurrence were but recalled to the memory of Bonaparte, coupled with the
+knowledge that that once gallant midshipman was now a prisoner in his
+dominions, it would at least militate in favour of the captive. The
+information, of which Captain Fane himself would have scorned to make use,
+was therefore conveyed to Bonaparte, and not a moment did the Emperor
+hesitate. He at once ordered Captain Fane's unconditional liberation.--It
+is with great pleasure that I record this trait of magnanimity in
+Napoleon; similar instances of which more than once came under my notice."
+
+Of Jerome Bonaparte, on the contrary, John Stanhope gives a very different
+description. He was one morning for a considerable time in the same room
+with the King of Westphalia, in fact, for over an hour, while the latter
+was occupied with the consumption of a lengthy breakfast, and his
+impression of the man whom he thus watched closely is summed up briefly:-
+"A more insignificant personage," he says, "I have never yet beheld!"
+After which he dismisses Jerome as undeserving of further comment.
+
+After a long and dreary residence at Verdun, John Stanhope heard by chance
+that a French lady was desirous of having any English prisoners of
+undoubted respectability _en pension_ at her Château de D., near Ligny. He
+therefore applied to the commandant for permission to pass there what was
+termed _la belle saison_; and this was granted on condition that he
+reported himself at Verdun at the end of the month. Much delighted at the
+prospect of such a change in his surroundings, he therefore set out for
+Ligny, with his gig, two horses, and an old field captain, who attended
+him in the capacity of servant. His experiences are not without interest
+while thus resident in a French country family who were singularly typical
+of the period in which they lived.
+
+The family, of whom he purposely suppresses the names, consisted of
+Monsieur V., a kind-hearted man, about fifty years of age. Madame V., whom
+he describes as "one of the most singular specimens of a French woman that
+it ever was my lot to meet with"; and her son-in-law and married daughter,
+Monsieur and Madame M.
+
+"Madame V.," he wrote long after, "was a thorough _intrigante_, never
+quiet for a moment, but always with some project in her head, a constant
+prey to all sorts of sharpers, who flattered her, fed upon her and
+converted her schemes into an abundant source of profit to themselves. The
+great object of her ambition at this moment was to obtain the post of
+governess to the King of Rome. _Madame!_--I have only to represent to
+myself that little round figure, nearly as large as it was long and much
+the shape of a ball, with her Parisian graces grafted on to her pretension
+to the manners of the _vieille Cour_, to enjoy, even now, a hearty laugh
+at her vanity in supposing that it was in her power to supersede and
+triumph over a Montesquieu. "As it may seem extraordinary that people in
+the position of the V.s should have admitted English prisoners _en
+pension_, I ought to mention that it was entirely a _galanterie_ on the
+part of Monsieur. He stipulated it should be no expense to him, excepting
+in the article of wine, which he would freely give; that whatever benefit
+arose from the money paid by us, should belong entirely to Madame V.; and
+a considerable profit she must undoubtedly have made, as little was the
+addition on our account to their domestic expenditure.
+
+"The daughter of this couple was married to a man of talent, who, however,
+had a brusquerie of manner which rendered him rather forbidding. He seemed
+to aim rather at the rough independence of Revolutionary France than at
+the _politesse_ which marked the _vieille Cour_ of which Madame was an
+exponent. He treated me, however, with the utmost kindness and attention.
+Originally he had been but clerk to Monsieur V. and lived in the house. As
+is not unusually the case under such circumstances, an attachment grew up
+between him and Mlle. V.; but when did the course of true love run
+smoothly? Madame V. had other designs for her daughter; she destined her
+to the arms of one of Napoleon's generals, and had already opened
+negotiations with a view of carrying these intentions into effect. The
+father, unable to resist the daughter's tears, joined with her in
+endeavouring to extort from Madame V. a reluctant consent; but the latter
+remained inflexible. After all other arguments had been exhausted in vain,
+Monsieur M., her daughter and even her husband threw themselves on their
+knees before her in tears, and entreated her to yield to their wishes.
+Such a scene was too much for a Frenchwoman. She yielded, and abandoning
+her ambitious project, gave her daughter to Monsieur M.!
+
+"Monsieur V. thereupon built a nice house for the young couple at the
+extremity of the garden, so that his daughter had the advantage of being
+perfectly independent, and yet of living as much as she chose with her
+father and mother. In general they formed but one family, and great was
+their contentment, though this was not, in reality, increased by the
+circumstance of Monsieur M. having recently been raised to the dignity of
+Mayor of D. and Secretary to the Prefect of the Department, a situation
+which gave him considerable power, and made him a person of greater
+consequence than his father-in-law.
+
+"Our life was very uniform. At eight o'clock punctually we met at a little
+building at the end of the garden which Madame had dignified by the title
+of _La Ferme_, though it had not a pretension of any sort to such a
+denomination. It was in fact a small cottage consisting of a kitchen
+fitted up in cottage style, a small pantry, two bedrooms above, furnished
+with all the luxury of modern refinement--so much for the cottage. From
+what books Madame V. had drawn her ideas of rural felicity I know not, but
+she deemed it more sentimental to breakfast in the cottage than to enjoy
+that meal comfortably in her dining-room, so to the _ferme_ we were to go,
+and, whether the weather was hot or cold, to sit near the blazing fire in
+the little kitchen and enjoy the rural felicity of making our own toast.
+At one we dined, took a ride or walk in the afternoon, and at eight sat
+down to supper.
+
+"The house was not an uncomfortable, though somewhat singular one.
+Monsieur V. having been called away from home during the time that he was
+building it, Madame took advantage of his absence to take care of herself,
+and, in so doing, to spoil the house. She had a fancy that she could only
+breathe freely in a large room; she therefore constructed out of the body
+of the house an enormous bedroom for herself. It was square, with a
+dressing-room at each angle. Her husband, upon his return home, found his
+house completely spoilt, as this room occupied the main part of the first
+floor. However, as the mischief was done, he bore it with the greatest
+philosophy, venting his feelings with his usual exclamation on such
+occasions--'_Oh, ma femme! ma femme!_'
+
+"The drawing-room was a pleasant and well-furnished room, it opened by a
+door, partly of glass, on to a flight of steps which served also as a
+bridge over a rivulet which ran close to the walls of the house. These
+steps led to the flower garden which was laid out in the old-fashioned
+style. In the centre was a fountain, round which there were beds of
+flowers. At the extremity of the garden there was a large orangery which
+had no pretentions to architectural beauty, but contained a magnificent
+collection of orange trees. During the warm weather, these ornamented the
+garden, and at a more wintry period, being ranged in rows in the orangery,
+afforded us an agreeable promenade.
+
+"The gardens extended a considerable distance. They included on one side a
+kitchen garden and a vineyard, and on the other, to give the effect of
+what the French call an English garden, a wood had been considered a
+necessary requisite. It was cut out in walks, one of which led to the
+_ferme_ and another to the hermitage, so that the garden may be said to
+have possessed every requisite for a perfect garden. But absurd as this
+reunion of _bois_, hermitage and _ferme_, may sound, the gardens were
+really pretty, and the connecting of the kitchen garden and the vineyard
+with the pleasure ground not only added to its extent, but its variety. I
+have often thought that our English kitchen gardens, by a little more
+variety in their form and by an intermixture of shrubbery, might be
+converted into an ornamental instead of a formal addition to our country
+houses.
+
+"Adjoining the drawing-room was a room, prettily furnished, in which I
+slept, and which also formed a not uncomfortable sitting-room when I
+wished to be alone. Behind the drawing-room was the dining-room, which,
+like all French dining-rooms, had the appearance of an anteroom. It opened
+into the library where there was a good collection of books and also of
+minerals, indeed, there was hardly anything of which there was _not_ a
+collection.
+
+"On one occasion I incurred Madame V.'s serious displeasure. A hornet's
+nest had been discovered, and, as it was voted a great curiosity, was
+placed by Madame's orders among the other specimens of Natural history in
+the library. Warmed into life by the heat of the room, some of the hornets
+began to show signs of activity. The prospect was far from pleasant, and,
+alarmed at the disagreeable interruption about to be offered to my
+studies, I secretly commissioned a servant to throw the hornet's nest into
+the water. Boundless was the indignation of Madame V, on finding that I
+had deprived her museum of so great a treasure; and it was a considerable
+time before an act of such temerity on my part was forgiven.
+
+"We sometimes took advantage of a fine evening to form a party in the
+woods. On an occasion when the Chevalier de la Lance was staying with us
+accompanied by his fifteen-year-old daughter, one of the prettiest of our
+Verdun belles, we had one of these excursions to the forest. After dinner
+some of the most musical of our party were requested by the young belle to
+enliven the evening by music. Madame M., my hostess's daughter, had a most
+beautiful voice, and had, of course, enjoyed all the advantages to be
+derived from Parisian masters. Whilst she was singing, we all observed
+that a nightingale perched upon one of the neighbouring trees continued
+silent; the moment she stopped, he began to warble forth his 'wood-notes
+wild.' This occurred not once, but repeatedly. He was far, however, from
+showing the same attention to the chevalier. Apparently not entertaining
+an equally good opinion of the old man's musical talents, from the moment
+that gentleman began to take up the song, the nightingale began also, and
+evidently did all in his power to drown the chevalier's voice!"
+
+Another diversion at Ligny was _la chasse_. Monsieur M. was a great
+sportsman and very fond of shooting; he kept a small pack of hounds and
+seldom went out with them without inviting young Stanhope to accompany
+him. "One day," relates John Stanhope, "we were out fox-hunting on foot,
+our business being to head the fox and--_horresco referens_--to shoot
+him! The hounds were running, and all of a sudden came to a check and
+ceased giving tongue. At that moment Lord Boyle, who was out with us, and
+who was not far from me, levelled his gun and took, as it proved, a deadly
+aim. I looked at him in some astonishment, at a loss to imagine what game
+he could have seen when the hounds were not running. He fired, and then
+throwing up his arms in horror, cried out, at the same time stamping and
+raving, 'Oh! Monsieur M., I have killed your best dog!' Vexed as I was at
+such a disaster, I could not help laughing at the gesticulations of my
+friend, and at Paddy, with eyes quick enough for anything, having mistaken
+a _dog for a fox_. It was quite a practical Bull. No one could have
+behaved better than Monsieur M. He concealed his regret and said
+everything in his power to reassure and recompose the distracted culprit."
+
+There was, Stanhope remarks, not much game in the neighbourhood of Ligny,
+though there could not be a country better adapted to it, as the house was
+situated between two forests, both of which abounded in wolves. "However,"
+writes Stanhope, "I was only out one day at _la chasse aux loups_. I had
+been so long deprived of the amusements of a sportsman that an invitation
+from Monsieur M., to accompany him on the following morning produced so
+much excitement in my mind that I lay awake half the night ... and I was
+not too late for the appointed hour of six o'clock. Monsieur M., another
+sportsman and myself, proceeded to a distant part of the forest. We were
+all stationed, in advance, at different posts where it was thought likely
+that the wolf might cross the path. The hounds were soon in full cry. My
+heart beat high as I heard them approach me, but, alas! instead of the
+_grand gibier_ I expected, a poor little hare stole quietly by! It was a
+terrible falling off, and no wolf crossed our path that morning.
+
+"Yet at the time of which I am speaking, we had pretty good proof of their
+being in our immediate vicinity, for one morning, when I was out walking,
+I heard, close to the house, a piercing yell. I ran to ascertain what was
+the matter and found that a favourite setter of Monsieur M., itself as big
+as a wolf, had just been carried off by one of these ferocious animals.
+Poor M. could hardly be consoled for the loss of another favourite dog,
+and was some days before he recovered his usual spirits. After I left
+Ligny, Lord Blayney and some other Verdunites killed six or seven wolves
+in one day's sport."
+
+The warfare against both wolves and foxes at Ligny was, however, very
+essential, in view of the fact that Madame V., in order to further her
+favourite project of becoming Governess to the King of Rome, had resorted
+to a singular plan to ensure her popularity at Court.
+
+Napoleon was exceedingly anxious to promote the progress of agriculture in
+France, and as a first step in that direction to introduce the breed of
+Merino sheep into the country. "Madame V. therefore determined to have her
+flock of Merinos. But as the pure breed could only be procured at a
+considerable cost, she resolved to arrive at the completion of her purpose
+in a more economical manner. She succeeded in purchasing some rams of the
+Merino breed, and she calculated that by crossing the sheep of the country
+with them she would in eight years succeed in establishing a flock of
+perfectly pure blood. She did not trouble herself about the evil results
+attributed by agriculturists to breeding in and in. Her speculation was
+the more extraordinary from the circumstance of her having no farm, nor
+any land upon which to keep her sheep; but for this difficulty she found
+an easy remedy. She sent out her flock under the guidance of a shepherd
+boy, to feed wherever food they could find, but principally in the
+Imperial forests.
+
+"In order to give a greater _éclat_ to her favourite hobby, she built a
+magnificent sheep-shed which was finished whilst I was there. But before
+the sheep were introduced to their new abode, the priest was sent for to
+give it his blessing. This he did in due form by sprinkling holy water in
+all directions and consecrating it with as much solemnity as if he had
+been dedicating a church to the service of God. Further, to celebrate the
+event with yet greater pomp, she had likewise promised to give a ball;
+but, to the disappointment of the prisoners resident with her, she finally
+decided that the religious ceremony must suffice, and the Merinos were
+allowed to enter upon their new career with no secular demonstration to
+succeed the ecclesiastical."
+
+Various indeed were the methods employed by the ambitious in order to
+attract the attention and win the coveted favour of Napoleon. "A person of
+great distinction," writes Stanhope, "the Maréchal Oudinot, who resides in
+the town of Bar, has built a large manufactory for the purpose of making
+sugar from beetroot. He does not appear to entertain any sanguine
+expectations of profit, for upon General Cox asking him one day, when he
+was dining at Bar, what had been the success of his manufactory, the
+Maréchal replied with rather more honesty than discretion, 'Ce n'est que
+pour plaire à l'Empereur!' Certainly in this point of view it was a
+magnificent piece of flattery!
+
+"That this Maréchal is a _nouveau riche_ the appearance of his house at
+Bar sufficiently indicates. It stands in the middle of the town, and is
+surrounded by a high wall, upon the top of which a range of shells and
+bombs are represented in stone. At the entrance door stand two sentinels--
+two wooden grenadiers painted in full uniform and as large as life, which
+certainly cannot be considered as any _preuves de noblesse_, or marks of a
+refined taste. One day Madame M. grievously offended this important
+person. Gazing at his mansion and its surrounding tokens of magnificence,
+she enthusiastically gave vent to a compliment which, however clever she
+might think it, was not calculated to flatter the pride of a _parvenu_.
+'Ah! Monsieur le Maréchal!' she exclaimed indiscreetly, 'vous montez, nous
+descendons!'
+
+"Indeed, what the Maréchal's origin may be, I know not; but I am told
+that, till quite recently, he conducted himself with the best possible
+feeling towards his old friends and relations, and was universally praised
+for the kindness and condescension of his manners. A great change,
+however, has lately been observed, perhaps because he has married a young
+and pretty girl belonging to the _ancienne noblesse_. His old friends are
+now treated with the greatest _hauteur_; he even requires the company at
+his parties to remain standing in a circle round him, and he appears to
+feel the regal coronet already budding upon his brows.
+
+"Singular times, in truth, are these, when a man of the very lowest birth
+may indulge in such _rêveries_ without the faintest absurdity!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+1812-1813
+
+LETTERS FROM AN ESCAPED PRISONER
+
+
+At length the prospects of the luckless prisoner brightened. John Stanhope
+obtained leave to change his place of detention for Paris, where existence
+promised to be far more agreeable than at Verdun or Ligny. Having
+journeyed thither with a light heart, and some of the hopefulness of youth
+restored, he was not disappointed. He found himself warmly welcomed by
+many of his fellow-countrymen; while the French savants, having learnt the
+original object of his journey and all the circumstances which had led to
+his imprisonment, received him unhesitatingly as one of their body and
+give him free access to the Institute.
+
+Forthwith life became once more full of interest, and as agreeable as it
+was practicable for that of an exile to be. He rapidly made friends
+amongst both the French and English residents in Paris, while one of his
+fellow-prisoners on parole in the capital at this date was the well-known
+banker, Mr Boyd [1] with whom his family had long been acquainted, and in
+whose vicinity he now took rooms.
+
+"Mr Boyd," relates Stanhope, "was in a singular position. He had
+originally been one of the first, if not _the_ first banker in Paris. He
+stood, as I have heard, in a pre-eminent position, admitted, as an
+Englishman, to those highest circles which were closed to the monied men
+of France, and aspiring to that commanding influence in the commercial
+world which although often maintained in England is seldom countenanced in
+France, unless we may consider Lafitte as an exception. At the breaking
+out of the Revolution, the temptation offered by Mr Boyd's wealth was too
+great to be resisted. The French Government chose to consider him as an
+_émigré_, and seized upon the funds of the bank, which are said to have
+consisted of £600,000. At the Peace of Amiens he returned to Paris to
+reclaim his property, but upon the renewal of the war he was detained as a
+prisoner, being included in the class of _détenus_. In vain he
+remonstrated with the Ministers, and said, 'If I am a Frenchman, give me
+my liberty; if I am an Englishman, restore me my money; you cannot be
+entitled to detain me prisoner as an Englishman and to keep my money as
+that of a Frenchman!'
+
+"All his remonstrances were in vain; but distressed as his circumstances
+were at this date, his heart was warm and his board as hospitable as ever.
+Many an evening have I passed with him talking over the events of former
+times and of his financial schemes. I have never met with a spirit more
+buoyant nor a disposition more sanguine. In that Paris where he had once
+stood at the head of the mercantile interest, and enjoyed, with a zest of
+which few men were capable, every luxury that the luxurious capital could
+supply, he was now the double bankrupt, the prisoner of war. But to the
+credit of the French financiers--then, indeed, the men of most
+distinction in the world of fashion--he was not neglected. He still lived
+in that society of which he had formerly been so distinguished a member,
+nor was he treated with contempt because his wife and daughters now went
+to parties in their fiacre. On one of these occasions he met Talleyrand,
+who could not help exclaiming, 'Ah! _Monsieur Boyd, vous voir comme
+cela!_'
+
+"An application was at one time made to Boyd for his opinion on the
+financial affairs of England. This, although not avowed, he was perfectly
+aware was made by the Emperor's desire and for his Majesty's private
+information. Mr Boyd was not a man, be the consequences what they might,
+to bend before the Imperial footstool or to disguise the truth. He was
+placed upon his hobby-horse--Pitt's financial system and the sinking fund.
+His statement proved anything but satisfactory to the high quarter for
+which it was desired; and never again was Mr Boyd applied to on the
+subject of English finance."
+
+With regard to his acquaintance amongst the French, John Stanhope speaks
+with the greatest interest of a man who became his great friend, Monsieur
+de Baure, a Member of the Institute and President of the Cour Impériale.
+
+"I do not know," he writes, "that I ever remember to have seen a
+countenance expressive of brighter intelligence than his. His was indeed
+the eye of genius, and gave me a perfect conception of the meaning of an
+_eagle eye_. Yet I have seen it alight with a much greater disposition to
+fun than I expected to have found in one occupying so high a judicial
+situation. Indeed, in one instance, I was more amused than I can express
+by the extremely dry manner in which he completely took in an assembly of
+the wisest men in France!"
+
+On this occasion young Stanhope was seated amongst a number of
+distinguished men at the Institute, when M. de Baure rose to his feet, and
+a hush fell on the assembly of savants, who waited with profound attention
+for the words of wisdom about to flow from the lips of their learned
+colleague. As he rose, however, de Baure caught Stanhope's eye with a
+glance which the latter says "spoke as plainly as a glance could speak,
+'Now I am about to have some fun with these wiseacres!'"
+
+Drawing himself up, the speaker announced with the most profound
+solemnity, "Gentlemen, I must preface my remarks by stating how I consider
+that a cook who discovers a new dish deserves a seat in the Institute more
+than a man who discovers a new star...."
+
+Loud were the interruptions of horror which burst from the Members of the
+Institute, who, to the unutterable amusement of Stanhope and certain of
+his friends, took the remark literally.
+
+"_Que me fait une étoile?_" continued de Baure with impassioned eloquence.
+"_Que me fait une étoile_ whilst a chef who discovers a new dish which
+tempts me to begin again after I have satisfied my appetite confers upon
+me the greatest obligation which it lies in the power of one human being
+to confer upon another!" [2]
+
+Urged by his grave and astounded colleagues to elaborate his reasons for
+his extraordinary statement, de Baure declined on the following ground: "A
+king of France," he said, "was passing through a provincial town when a
+pompous mayor, addressing his Majesty, regretted that he had twenty very
+urgent reasons for not having fired the guns in honour of the Royal visit,
+the first of which was that he had not any powder. 'Stop there!' said the
+King, 'I will excuse you the other nineteen.'"
+
+Another Frenchman, of a very different type, who was a friend of John
+Stanhope at this date, was the young Comte de St. Morys, of whose tragic
+fate, so illustrative of the conditions then prevalent in France, Stanhope
+subsequently gave the following account:--
+
+"The Comte de St. Morys had been an _émigré_ at the period of the
+Revolution. His mother, however, had not accompanied her husband during
+that exile, and, in consequence, had succeeded eventually in preventing
+the confiscation of some of his property. When, later, Napoleon adopted
+the course of gathering round his throne as many of the old _noblesse_ as
+he could, he conveyed the hint to Madame de St. Morys that, unless her son
+returned, the remainder of her property should be confiscated. In
+consequence of this notification the young Comte deemed it his duty to
+return to his native land, and he established himself in the _basse-cour_
+of his former home, which was all of the château which now remained.
+
+"Unfortunately for him, the rest of the property had been sold to a man
+whose character may be best described by stating that he had been a
+branded fellow. A good understanding was not likely to exist between men
+of such opposite principles, and St. Morys, although he possessed the
+kindest and the warmest heart, was rather of a hasty disposition, and had
+a little more brusquerie of manner than is generally found among Frenchmen
+of his rank. What may have been the first, or the principal cause of the
+dispute, I know not, but, from what I heard, it appeared to me most
+probable that the object of Colonel Barbier de Fay was to compel Monsieur
+de St. Morys to give him a high price for his land in order to get rid of
+so disagreeable a neighbour.
+
+"However that may be, Colonel Barbier's hatred to St. Morys at length
+carried him so far as to lead him to form a plan of vengeance which I can
+characterise by no other expression than diabolical.
+
+"At the restoration of the Bourbons, Monsieur de St. Morys, like many
+others, was raised to the rank he would have held according to the army
+list. He therefore became a general in the army and a lieutenant in the
+Garde de Corps, which, as the regiment was entirely composed of nobles,
+was a very high situation. Colonel Barbier, with a double motive--first
+that of tormenting Monsieur de St. Morys and next that of throwing
+discredit on a corps which he detested--introduced into the Garde room,
+and circulated wherever he could find access, printed papers blackening
+the Count's character. That gentleman accordingly challenged him. Colonel
+Barbier replied that he would only accept the challenge on one condition--
+that two pistols should be put into a bag, one loaded and another not, and
+that they should draw for the chance.
+
+"This St. Morys rejected, stating that he was prepared to fight, but not
+to commit murder. In order, however, that his character should be free
+from stain he referred the matter to the Marshals of France. They approved
+of his conduct, and there the matter ought to have ended. Unfortunately
+the Garde de Corps, aware of the jealousy with which the old army viewed
+their position, were very touchy on the point of honour. Wherefore the Duc
+de Luxembourg, his Colonel, considered that St. Morys was under a cloud,
+and refused to allow him to perform his military duties till his
+reputation was cleared. This was, in point of fact, the object which his
+adversary had in view. It placed St. Morys in a most awkward position, and
+threw an apple of discord among the Garde de Corps.
+
+"My poor friend unluckily consulted everybody, and followed everybody's
+advice. That which our joint friend, the Comte G. de la Rochefoucauld,
+gave him appeared to me the best; he advised him to make up his mind at
+once to the sacrifice of his commission; that having challenged his
+opponent he had done all that was incumbent upon him as a man of honour, a
+fact which was unquestionable after the decision of the marshals, and that
+he should express himself ready to meet any person who should arraign his
+conduct. But this would probably have involved him with the Duc de
+Luxembourg, and consequently compelled him to resign his commission in the
+Guards, which would have been peculiarly unfortunate as he was daily in
+expectation of being raised to the rank of captain, upon which he intended
+to have retired upon half pay.
+
+"Instead, therefore, of following this advice, he endeavoured by further
+irritation to compel his opponent to meet him; he went into a café and
+struck the Colonel on the face with his fist, believing that so public a
+disgrace would induce Barbier to meet him on his own terms; but the other
+was not to be diverted from his predetermined purpose; he continued to
+persist in his declaration that he would fight only on the terms he had
+originally proposed.
+
+"In this state the matter continued for some time, till Barbier thought he
+had sufficiently achieved his first object of bringing disgrace upon St.
+Morys, and therefore, at last, consented to meet his antagonist. They
+accordingly met, fired two brace of pistols, and then drew their swords.
+The seconds had previously decreed that the duel should terminate as soon
+as blood was drawn. Monsieur de St. Morys having, or thinking he had,
+slightly wounded his enemy, called out, 'Monsieur, vous êtes blessé!' and
+laid himself open in full confidence that the fight was over. 'Non,
+monsieur,' replied Barbier, '_mais vous êtes mort!_' and not only plunged
+his sword into his victim's body, but is said actually to have given a
+turn with his wrist to secure the mortality of the wound.
+
+"Thus terminated the life of poor St. Morys!"
+
+The consummation of this tragedy, however, belonged to a date later than
+that of the residence of John Stanhope in Paris, and during his sojourn
+there St Morys was still, like many of his day, endeavouring to reconcile
+his royalist proclivities to the changed conditions of his surroundings
+and his own altered fortunes. Meanwhile, into the comparatively peaceful
+routine of Parisian life came, ever and anon, news of a series of
+victories achieved by the _grande armée_, which was received in France
+with the customary complacency and elation that such events had long been
+wont to evoke. By the bulk of Frenchmen the triumphant issue of the
+Russian campaign was looked upon as a foregone conclusion, and, therefore,
+when there suddenly broke upon Paris the knowledge of the supreme disaster
+of Moscow the effect was overwhelming. The 10th Bulletin disclosed the
+truth with a shattering finality: "_Dans quatre jours cette belle armée
+n'existait plus._" The effect was as though a thunderbolt had fallen upon
+the smiling, placid country. France was plunged into mourning for her
+sons, Ministers trembled for their posts, and everywhere reigned
+consternation, uncertainty and grief.
+
+Suddenly, into the middle of this general _bouleversement_, a rumour
+gained credence that the Emperor himself was at the Tuileries. Young
+Stanhope hastened to the palace to learn the accuracy of this report, and
+was soon convinced of its truth. Throughout the building were tokens of
+unwonted activity; lights were visible in all the windows, and a small
+crowd was stationed outside. From a French soldier standing near him he
+learnt that the carriage in which Napoleon had travelled had broken down
+at Meaux, "and the Emperor had then got into one of the little cabriolets
+vulgarly called a _pot de chambre_; they are little cars which ply between
+Paris and the neighbouring towns, and carry four inside, and one,
+generally called a _lapin_, on the same seat as the driver." Upon his
+arrival in Paris his Imperial Majesty got out of this vehicle and walked
+to the Tuileries, where he was stopped by the guard at the door, who, in
+the dusk, failed to recognise him. "_Je suis de la maison!_" explained
+Napoleon briefly, and he was permitted to enter.
+
+Thus Bonaparte returned to Paris, not as the triumphant victor, the
+indomitable conqueror of Europe, but as a defeated general, bent on
+retrieving some singularly grievous errors by tact and perseverance. Yet
+something never to be regained was lost to the Man of Destiny. The spell
+which had deified him was broken. Napoleon the Invincible, the Infallible,
+had blundered. "This supernatural man, this god--or devil--had sunk below
+the level of ordinary men. '_Le prestige est passé_' was in everybody's
+mouth."
+
+Paris soon rang with stories of the disastrous campaign--tales, in the
+most trivial of which the Parisians recognised the complex personality of
+that god or devil of their mingled idolatry or detestation. A French
+officer told John Stanhope two anecdotes, which, although in themselves
+slight, are strikingly illustrative both of Napoleon's shrewdness and of
+his brutality. On one occasion the Emperor heard some men murmuring and
+declaring that rather than suffer the torments which they were then
+enduring, they had better give up the struggle and make up their minds to
+go to Siberia. Napoleon turned to them, and, fixing them with his glance,
+merely observed, "En Sibérie ou _en France_!" Well did he understand the
+emotional temperament of the men with whom he had to deal! The tone in
+which he uttered _en France_ recalled vividly to their thoughts their own,
+their beautiful France; and the men, who a moment before were abandoned to
+despair, roused themselves and advanced on their march with all the
+enthusiasm and the renewed vivacity of Frenchmen.
+
+The other story, as indicated, is of a less creditable nature. After the
+terrible crossing of the Beresina, when, through faulty generalship and
+inexcusable want of forethought, thousands upon thousands of lives were
+needlessly sacrificed, the Emperor, during the wretched bivouac west of
+the river, was, like the rest of his regiment, suffering intensely from
+the bitter weather. His officers, therefore, went round calling for dry
+wood for his fire, and soldiers, perishing with cold, came forward to
+offer precious sticks, with the words, uttered ungrudgingly, "Take this
+for the Emperor." Shortly afterwards, Napoleon was seated in a miserable
+_barraque_, with his _surtout_ over his shoulders, enjoying the poor fire
+thus obtained. Folding his coat more closely about him, he remarked
+casually, "Il y aura diablement des fous gelés cette nuit!"
+
+Yet the man before whose colossal egoism imagination waxes impotent,
+could, on other occasions, exhibit an irresponsible _bonhomie_, which
+seemed totally at variance with the more sinister side of his character.
+This John Stanhope illustrates by another anecdote.
+
+"Amongst my fellow-prisoners at Verdun had been a gentleman who promoted
+to the rank of his mistress a woman who was previously his maid-servant.
+He obtained permission to reside in Paris, but was included in the general
+order of the Duc de Rovigo upon his appointment to the Ministry of Police,
+by which nearly all the English were returned to the dépôts.
+
+"Madame Chambers, who found herself, under that fictitious title,
+occupying a very different position at Paris to that which she could fill
+at Verdun, where her real situation and origin were generally known, had
+no inclination to go back to that dépôt, but determined to leave no stone
+unturned to obtain leave for Chambers to remain in Paris. She was not a
+person to be easily daunted or troubled with any unnecessary _mauvaise
+honte_. Accordingly, the first time that the Emperor went to the _chasse_,
+Madame Chambers made her appearance. It was after the shooting was over,
+when a great circle was formed, in which the Emperor paced backwards and
+forwards, generally with his hands behind his back and his eyes fixed upon
+the ground, whilst the game which had been shot was laid out before him.
+Madame Chambers advanced and presented a petition to him. He inquired
+curtly who she was and what she wanted, and took no further notice of her.
+The next time the Emperor went to the _chasse_ Madame Chambers again made
+her appearance, the same scene was re-enacted, with the same result. He
+went again a third time, and there also again appeared Madame Chambers
+with her petition.
+
+"'Comment!' exclaimed the Emperor furiously, 'toujours Madame Chambers!'
+
+"'Oui, Empereur, toujours Madame Chambers,' she replied imperturbably.
+
+"This was too much for Napoleon. The man who was accustomed to see the
+greatest of his generation tremble before his slightest frown gazed in no
+small astonishment at the plump, placid little soubrette who confronted
+him without a tremor. He burst into a merry laugh, and exclaimed. '_Eh
+bien, que votre mari reste à Paris. Berthier, je vous en charge!_' turning
+to Marshal Berthier who was in his suite; and Mr Chambers was never sent
+back to the dépôt."
+
+Few, however, shared the temerity of Madame Chambers. John Stanhope
+writes: "The awe that even the principal ministers felt in the presence of
+Napoleon would not be credited in England. His courtiers literally
+trembled before him. 'In what sort of a humour is the Emperor to-day?'
+was a frequent question in Paris.... How I have blushed for the adulation,
+the degrading, I may almost say the blasphemous flattery that has been
+offered before the throne of Napoleon by men of the highest rank. But
+perhaps I ought to make some allowance for those who had witnessed the
+horrors of the Revolution. Can, however, such men be expected to recover
+the high tone of feeling they once entertained? Can France ever be
+restored to a sound state?"
+
+Yet one man stood alone in heroic opposition to the Conqueror of
+Christendom. Frail, old, and deserted even by those upon whose support he
+had relied, the Pope, Pius VII., had courage to oppose the Conqueror of
+the world. While John Stanhope was in Paris the celebrated interview took
+place between the aged Pontiff and the autocrat to whom the Vicar of
+Christ was but as a temporal Sovereign to be crushed beneath the might of
+an all-but universal monarchy. Pius VII. had indeed had an ample warning
+in the fate of his predecessor, who, bereft of all power, had been
+consigned by Napoleon to an imprisonment in which he had expired. In 1801
+Pius VII. had been forced to conclude a _concordat_ with Napoleon, which
+the latter had afterwards subjected to arbitrary alterations; in 1804 the
+Pontiff had found himself compelled to repair to Paris to assist at the
+coronation of his enemy. Shortly after his return to Rome the French had
+entered the Eternal city, and in May 1809 the Papal States were annexed by
+France. Promptly the brave old Pontiff excommunicated the robbers of the
+Holy See, and the vengeance of Bonaparte upon this act was swift and sure.
+The Pope was removed as a prisoner to Grenoble, then to Fontainebleau; and
+it is curious to learn, by Stanhope's contemporary account, the light in
+which such a stupendous event in the history of the Roman Church was
+regarded at the date of its happening.
+
+"The Holy Father, the representative of St Peter, he who holds the Keys of
+Heaven and Hell, is actually a prisoner in the hands of Napoleon! Poor,
+excellent old man, gallantly and with the resignation of a martyr does he
+bear up against his sufferings and maintain the dignity of the Papal See.
+It is a singular thing that in a _soi-disant_ Catholic country the
+imprisonment of the Father of their Church should make so little
+sensation. I hear, indeed, that many women gathered round the different
+places at which he stopped in the course of his journey through France,
+but even the interest they felt for him soon appears to have subsided. _A
+partie de chasse_ the other day was announced to take place in the Forest
+of Fontainebleau. This afforded the Emperor an opportunity of having a
+conversation with the Pope without any sacrifice of his own dignity,
+without any troublesome arrangement of ceremony, and still more without
+drawing upon himself the public eye, as to go hunting near the Palace of
+Fontainebleau without even paying a visit to the Pope would have been a
+positive breach of politeness.
+
+"The interview took place. On the one side was the venerable churchman
+bending beneath the weight of affliction as well as of years, on the other
+Napoleon Bonaparte; yet if the reports circulated in Paris are to be
+believed, the old Pontiff held his own with unabated courage and dignity,
+and nobly maintained the cause of his religion, though the Emperor is said
+_actually to have thrust his fist in his face and all but struck him_. How
+the interview terminated I cannot learn, but I heard the fresh Concordat
+cried about the streets of Paris that same evening.
+
+"This dispute," he writes later, "has narrowly escaped producing the most
+important results in ecclesiastical history--the separation of the French
+Empire from the See of Rome. The Emperor had assumed the nomination to the
+French Bishoprics, but the Pope refused to give the investiture to the
+persons he appointed. The Church almost universally stood by their Chief;
+the consequence was that there was a considerable difficulty in filling up
+the vacant Sees. The Archbishopric of Paris was one of these. The Emperor
+offered it to his Uncle, Cardinal Fesch, but he, either from sincere
+attachment to his Church, or from the duty he owed to the Roman supremacy
+as a Cardinal, or from a conviction that he was safer in possession of the
+Archbishopric of Lyons, held under the Pope's authority, than he could be
+in one held in defiance of it, resolved to brave the Emperor's anger and
+refuse that offer. Napoleon, contenting himself with calling Fesch a fool,
+offered it to Cardinal Maury, who became titular Archbishop of Paris.
+There are few things in the history of the French Revolution that make one
+blush more for human nature than the falling off of that man whose opening
+career had been so brilliant....
+
+"More and more the Emperor had felt that to be second to the Pope was
+inconsistent with his own dignity, and that if he could not bend the
+pontiff to his will, he must do without him. He had accordingly determined
+to assume the sole presentation of the Bishoprics; but how to get the
+Church to assent to such a proceeding was the question. He came at length
+to the decision of summoning the Gallican and Italian Churches.... When
+the Council met, I was allowed by a friend of mine to copy a letter from
+one of the members. It was a curious document and I preserved it for some
+time with great care, but I became at length alarmed at having such a
+compromising paper in my possession and reluctantly committed it to the
+flames. The tenor, however, of some parts of it I remember....
+
+"The writer stated that the Emperor at first proposed to try the effects
+of corruption and to tamper with the Bishops individually, and that he had
+succeeded in that course, to some extent, more particularly with the
+Italian Bishops; but that when he abandoned that plan and summoned a
+Council, he committed a great error and entirely defeated his own
+intentions. Those men, who could be gained by corruption or intimidated by
+power, when they found themselves surrounded by their Brethren, were
+withheld, by shame, from giving way to such considerations. Numbers give
+power; individually each man might tremble at the thought of resisting
+Napoleon, but united, the _esprit de corps_ which is, as it ought to be,
+the most powerful incentive among all Churchmen, taught them to offer an
+unyielding opposition to all demands inconsistent with the rights of their
+Church. But there was another circumstance which rendered the assembling
+of the Council fatal to the Emperor's project, and which, not to have
+known, was on his part inexcusable ignorance. At the opening of all
+Councils each member takes an oath that he will not alter anything that
+has been fixed by former Councils, so that everyone in this case was
+individually bound by an oath taken in the presence of his Colleagues to
+reject such conditions as were required by the Emperor from the Council!
+The consequence of this was that even those who had given their adhesion
+to his plans were now found united with the brethren in the cause of their
+Church. Napoleon found that he had overreached himself.
+
+"The letter further stated that the Bishop or Archbishop of Tours had
+conducted himself like an angel. _Du sang nous en avons tous dans nos
+veines_, was the opening of his speech, _et que nous en devons répandre
+puisque la dernière goutte_, etc., etc. It stated further that when the
+Bishops took up the address to the throne they commenced in the following
+words--_Sire, nous vous apportons nos têtes!_ Upon which the Emperor
+actually started, surprised at hearing himself addressed in words which
+were suited to a Nero or a Caligula."
+
+Meanwhile Napoleon, having failed to bend the Church of Rome to his will,
+was preparing for another campaign against terrestrial powers. He had
+started a conscription and was raising an army of 400,000 men, with which
+he hoped to regain something of his lost prestige in the eyes of the
+world. Apart from troops, he had to acquire horses for his cavalry and for
+this end some expedient had to be devised. The methods which he adopted
+were in accordance with the rest of his policy.
+
+"Bold, indeed, as well as singular, was his plan. A conscription of horses
+would have been too violent, certainly too straightforward a proceeding,
+but still it was only by some measure of that nature that his object could
+be attained. That which was determined upon was the _voluntary
+presentation_ of horses to the Emperor, a plan which obviated the
+necessity of paying anything, whereas, in a case of conscription, some
+sum, however inadequate, must have been fixed upon as a sort of regulation
+price.
+
+"The example was set by the Senate, then followed by the city of Paris and
+all the authorities. The papers teemed with fulsome statements of the
+"presents" made to the Emperor. Monsieur A. had sent his son, fully
+equipped; Monsieur B. had sent two horses, which the Emperor had
+graciously accepted, etc., etc. If this fashion had been confined to those
+whose situation rendered it incumbent upon them to prove their zeal for
+the Emperor's service, there would have been no great harm; no one would
+have felt much pity for this slight sacrifice on the part of those who
+were basking in the sunshine of Court favour. Far, however, was the
+measure from being limited to courtiers; its operation was universal. The
+stables of every individual were visited, their horses examined and
+practically seized....
+
+"A friend of mine was so indignant at having his stables inspected that he
+boldly refused to allow his horses to be taken out, declaring that if the
+Emperor insisted upon having them, he would give them poison. I heard of
+only one other case of resistance. A man whose horses were to be taken
+away, inquired, with unprecedented temerity, 'Is this compulsory?'
+
+"'No!--Ah, no!' was the emphatic reply.
+
+"'Then if it is voluntary, it rests with me?'
+
+"'_Mais certainement!_ But we _advise_ you to send them!'
+
+"'May I then demand payment?' he next inquired.
+
+"'Mais certainement!' was again the assurance which he received. He might
+have payment at a subsequent date--they could not say exactly when, but
+they _advised_ him not to demand it.
+
+"It may be concluded that such indiscriminate spoliation, only rendered
+the more disgusting by the humbug with which it was accompanied, could not
+but tend to increase the unpopularity of the Emperor. So violent was the
+discontent, that nothing but the dread of the police and the state of
+apathy, into which the whole nation had sunk, prevented an open
+insurrection."
+
+In the midst of the general discontent, however, a ripple of merriment
+passed over Paris. Madame mère, who, of course, could not avoid following
+the new fashion, presented her horses as an offering to her son. They were
+at once, to the delight of the Parisians, returned to her as _good for
+nothing_! "Whether," says Stanhope, "she had selected her gift with a view
+to this verdict, or whether it represented the general state of her stud,
+I know not, but, from what I have seen, I conclude that the latter is not
+an unlikely case." This little incident and the fact that many of the
+untrained horses thus acquired, pirouetted in an undignified manner and
+turned their backs as the Emperor passed, momentarily restored the good
+humour of the Parisians.
+
+But John Stanhope, whose own steed escaped confiscation on account of its
+being blind of one eye, took far less interest in the Emperor's movements
+than in a chance of freedom which at last presented itself to him. "There
+was not a man in France at this date," he states, "certainly not a
+Minister, who would have dared individually to plead the cause of a
+prisoner. With the exception of Talleyrand, few among the French
+dignitaries were superior to that singular influence by which Napoleon was
+able to subdue the proudest spirits; and since the Ministers had positive
+orders not to submit to the Emperor any proposal of that nature, there was
+not one of them bold enough to defy such a mandate." But as with the
+ecclesiastics, so with the Savants of France; what a man dared not attempt
+singly, a body of men, in their collective strength, might venture. It was
+patent to the Savants that the young Englishman had been unjustly
+detained. The object of his journey had been so obviously not only a
+peaceable but a laudable one, that the Institute determined at length, if
+possible, in the interests of Science, to effect his liberation.
+
+And at last they succeeded. At last, after a period of alternate
+tormenting hope and despair, John Stanhope secured the longed-for passport
+which accorded him permission to quit Paris. Even then, when liberty was
+once more within his reach, it was all but snatched from him. Savary,
+Minister of the Interior, taking advantage of the Emperor's absence,
+harshly ordered all prisoners to return to their _dépôts_. But Stanhope,
+with Napoleon's passport in his pocket, decided to disregard these orders,
+and since his parole no longer prohibited an attempt at flight, he
+determined to sell his newborn liberty dearly. After many hairbreadth
+escapes he succeeded in reaching the German frontier, and to his unbounded
+relief knew that he was at last free!
+
+[Illustration: PASSPORT GIVEN BY NAPOLEON I TO JOHN SPENCER STANHOPE,
+MARCH 14TH, 1813]
+
+By the advice of his friends he decided to make his way back to England,
+instead of going direct to Greece as he had at first intended. Passing
+next through Vienna, therefore, he viewed with pardonable curiosity
+Francis I., the father of Marie Louise; and his description of the
+attitude of the Emperor of Austria towards his redoubtable son-in-law at
+this date, when the latter still retained the Imperial power, is of
+interest in the light of the complete change of front exhibited by Francis
+directly the ascendancy of Napoleon appeared to be on the wane. Stanhope
+relates:--
+
+
+    We English view with such horror all despotic Governments that we
+    cannot conceive the possibility of happiness existing under the sway
+    of an absolute Sovereign. Yet such I found to be the case at Vienna.
+    The Government of the Emperor is mild and paternal, the people seem to
+    have as much freedom of speech as they could enjoy even in England,
+    and at this particular moment the measures of the administration are
+    anything but popular. The Emperor is supposed to be devoted to the
+    cause of Napoleon, whilst his subjects are almost universally
+    enthusiastic for the liberty of Germany. Upon some occurrence, I think
+    it was upon the occasion of an insult offered to the Conte de
+    Narbonne, the Emperor was reported to have said--"Monsieur
+    l'Ambassadeur, you and I are the only two _Frenchmen_ in the country!"
+
+    The Empress was described to me as a woman of a proud and violent
+    temper, whilst the Crown Prince was spoken of with great interest, but
+    as a young man kept in the highest subjection. When the Emperor
+    summoned him to accompany himself and the Empress on their way to meet
+    Napoleon and Marie Louise, then on their road to Vilna previous to
+    opening the Moscow Campaign, the Prince was said to have replied that
+    he should have been most happy to have gone to meet his sister, _but
+    not that Man_!--the consequence of this was that he was immediately
+    put under arrest.
+
+    I was much pleased with the simple and unaffected manner in which the
+    Imperial family seemed to mix with the people. The Archduchesses
+    frequently drove about the streets without Guards or more attendants
+    than any lady of fashion would have had, though among the nobility
+    there is occasionally a display of state that is not to be found in
+    any other capital in Europe. I saw a man of rank going to Court who
+    had with him at least twenty servants magnificently dressed; and
+    although it was drawing towards the end of the season, Vienna still
+    appeared to be extremely brilliant and luxurious.... The city,
+    however, still bore marks of her recent misfortunes; the French
+    cannon-balls were still visible, and ruined buildings still testified
+    that she had been forced to yield to the proud will of a Conqueror.
+
+
+At length, on what John Stanhope subsequently described as the happiest
+day of his life, he reached Cannon Hall; and he used to relate that one of
+the first discoveries which he made on entering his old home convinced him
+how confident at one time his family must have been that he was numbered
+with the dead, for a very valuable collection of prints, which he had
+greatly prized, had, in view of his supposed decease, been employed by his
+brothers in papering one of the bachelors' bedrooms!
+
+Naturally, he was strongly urged by his relations not to risk leaving
+England again, and many of his friends added their persuasions to those of
+his family, pointing out the serious risk which he ran in again visiting
+the continent. To all such representations he turned a deaf ear, since he
+held that, as his liberty had been granted him with the ostensible object
+of enabling him to prosecute his proposed researches in Greece, he was in
+honour bound to fulfil that obligation. His brother Edward decided to
+accompany him, and to his brother William he wrote:--
+
+
+    CANNON HALL, _September 1813._
+
+    Edward and I start for Greece next month, & my old friend Bonaparte is
+    at such a low ebb that I think perhaps I may be able to return through
+    France without the agreeable title of Prisoner.
+
+    You seem to think that I am not obliged to go into Greece. The truth
+    is that I do not consider myself as positively obliged, but I consider
+    that the honour of a Stanhope must not only be maintained, it must not
+    even be suspected, so go I will, be the consequences what they may.
+
+
+[Illustration: EDWARD COLLINGWOOD, SON OF WALTER SPENCER STANHOPE, ESQ.,
+M.P.]
+
+Thus it befell that John Stanhope nearly became, for the second time, a
+prisoner of Napoleon, and the tale of his adventures may be concluded
+here.
+
+He had promised that he would _en route_ deliver some despatches to the
+Queen of Wurtemburg; he therefore journeyed to Stuttgart, where he had a
+lively interview with the former Princess Royal of England, who, although
+now forty-seven years of age, and exceedingly massive in figure, still
+retained her girlish sprightliness. On hearing that a young Englishman
+desired to see her, she at once concluded that someone had been sent with
+fresh news of her father, George III., the thought of whose mental
+affliction was a constant source of grief to her. John Stanhope writes:--
+
+
+    STUTTGART, _January 10th, 1814._
+
+    As soon as I had breakfasted, I went to the Palace. I was shown into a
+    sort of ante-room, the servant took in the letters, and returned for
+    answer that the Queen would see me herself. In another moment she
+    hastened into the room where I was, and without giving me time to make
+    my proper salutations, she burst out with--"_How is the King_?" I
+    was astounded at so disagreeable a question, and with difficulty
+    answered--"Much the same?" "What, no better?" continued she in great
+    disappointment. At first she supposed that I was a messenger, but upon
+    hearing my name, she took me herself into another room and remained
+    conversing with me for full half an hour.
+
+    She inquired if I was Captain Stanhope's son, and upon hearing that I
+    was a Spencer-Stanhope, she made a sort of start of surprise, she said
+    she knew my father and well remembered my mother's marriage. She added
+    that she remembered it particularly from one circumstance, the King
+    was desirious of buying for Princess Sophia a diamond pin which my
+    father had previously ordered. There was much _pour parler_ about
+    the matter. My father refused to renounce his purchase to any other
+    intending purchaser, and the King refused as obstinately to give up
+    all hopes of persuading the unknown owner of the pin to relinquish his
+    rightful claim. At last my father learnt who was his rival, and
+    instantly gave up the pin to the King!
+
+    I had for some time found it difficult to keep up the respectful
+    manner necessary to be observed to Sovereigns, but here, at the
+    thought of our respective parents obstinately haggling over the same
+    bit of jewellery, with a jeweller who was in great terror of offending
+    either, we both threw etiquette to the winds and laughed outright.
+
+    She asked me after Lord Chesterfield, and inquired how he bore the
+    death of his wife. She asked after the Arthur Stanhopes. I told her
+    the story of my recent imprisonment. She inquired whether the Queen
+    [Charlotte] appeared much older; and also asked the number of our
+    family, when she laughed yet more heartily at my saying that I could
+    not tell how many girls there were without counting. She said to me,
+    "You see I know more about your family than you do!" She at length
+    told me she was much obliged to me for the trouble of bringing her
+    letters and curtsied me out.
+
+
+After this interview Stanhope saw the Palace which, he says, "is a
+splendid building, and on its summit appears a magnificent new crown that
+does not fail to remind the spectator of the recent acquisition of the
+Royal title."
+
+He was shown the apartments of the King, which he found handsome and well-
+furnished, "but amongst the decorations, parrots, plants and musical
+clocks made a conspicuous figure, as well as no little clamour for the
+attendant setting all the clocks in motion as he passed, a singular
+concert was produced, which was increased by the screaming of parrots,
+paroquets and macaws.
+
+"I afterwards went through the gardens of the ménagerie, where there is,
+amongst other creatures, a large collection of monkeys; then to the farms
+where there are some cattle, but a most singular assemblage of monsters,
+such as _sheep with five legs_, etc., etc.; rather an odd taste in
+farming, to which pursuit the King professes to be much attached! In some
+of the fields I saw Kangaroos, which were originally a present from our
+King, and have bred and become numerous."
+
+He then saw the King's carriages, "one built by Hatchard in England which
+cost a thousand pounds"; also, in contrast, the humble little garden chair
+in which her Majesty usually drove out, "And, I assure you," the attendant
+added confidentially, "_she fills it well_!"
+
+He finally visited Beau Sejour, where he says:--
+
+
+    I was not a little surprised, on entering a salon in a building
+    opposite to the Palace, to find myself in the midst of an assembly of
+    Knights in robes of their respective orders. I involuntarily started
+    back at being thus transported, as it were, into the days of chivalry,
+    but as soon as my first surprise had passed away and allowed time for
+    a little reflection, I observed that my Knights were made of wood and
+    intended to show off the habiliments of the different orders.
+
+    I afterwards went to a little island where there was a chapel built
+    upon some rock-work. I was conducted by my guide into a cell which had
+    been formed underneath it, and I saw the figure of a monk seated near
+    a table on which was a skull and an hour-glass. Upon my entering, he
+    turned his head round suddenly to look at me, but though the deception
+    has been very well contrived. I was not long in discovering that this
+    also was a fictitious monk.
+
+
+Another anecdote relating to Continental Royalties of that day did John
+Stanhope send to regale his family. During his travels he met Sir Francis
+d'Ivernois, who, he explains, was a native of Geneva brought up to the
+French bar. Having made himself of considerable use to the English
+Government by exposing the arts and deception employed by the French
+Government, he became a great authority on finance, and was rewarded by an
+English pension and a knighthood. Stanhope recounts the following
+adventure which once befell d'Ivernois:--
+
+"He was at one time on the Continent as a travelling tutor with two young
+Englishmen. He happened one day to be sauntering with his pupils near one
+of the Royal Palaces of Prussia, when they observed some young and very
+striking-looking girls walking at a little distance. This was enough to
+excite the romance of the young Englishmen, who were in no great awe of
+their tutor. They began to give chase, which excited an evident alarm
+among the ladies. In her embarrassment, one of them dropped her
+handkerchief, which was immediately picked up and presented to her by one
+of the young gentlemen. This, of course, tended to increase the agitation
+of the ladies, who retreated as fast as they could, and disappeared
+through a door in the wall before them.
+
+"Upon the return of the youths to Monsieur d'Ivernois, he addressed them
+with--'Well, gentlemen, unless I am mistaken, you have got into a pretty
+scrape. I suspect that those ladies were the Princesses of Prussia!'
+
+"'Pooh, pooh, nonsense!' answered his pupils, highly amused.
+
+"'Not so much nonsense as you suppose; by their dress and appearance they
+were evidently persons _comme il faut_; they were frightened and
+embarrassed by your conduct, and they retreated through a gate which
+opened into the Palace gardens!'
+
+"The young men laughed at their tutor's conjecture, but shortly after,
+they were at some ball or reunion at Berlin, when the Duchess of Brunswick
+went up to Monsieur d'Ivernois and addressed him with--'Monsieur
+d'Ivernois, come with me, I want to speak to you.' Conducting him into a
+more retired part of the room, she continued--'The other day the young
+Princesses were guilty of an indiscretion. Tired of always walking in the
+Palace Garden at Potsdam, they could not resist the inclination they felt
+to steal out and enjoy a walk in the open country--a pleasure enhanced
+perhaps by the feeling that it was forbidden. They were followed and
+addressed by two young English gentlemen who were in company with a man
+older than themselves, and of a grave and more sedate appearance, who was
+supposed to be their tutor. I have taken it into my head that you were
+this person of more sedate appearance, and that the two indiscreet young
+men were your two pupils. Now if I am right in my conjecture, I suppose
+that you have no _great wish_ to pay a visit to Spandau, and therefore I
+need not impress upon you the absolute necessity of holding your tongue on
+the subject. The Governess, who is fully aware of the indiscretion she
+committed in permitting such an escapade, is in the greatest alarm and as
+anxious as you can be that the strictest secrecy should be observed, so
+that _she_, at all events, will not boast of the adventure.'
+
+"M. d'Ivernois had nothing to say in reply. He took the hint, for the name
+of Spandau effectually sealed both his lips and those of his pupils,
+whilst the Princesses, when their alarm had subsided, were most probably
+flattered to find that their beauty produced no less an effect when not
+enhanced by the splendour of Royalty."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Space forbids following in detail the adventures of John Stanhope _en
+route_ to Greece or the outcome of his researches there; an account of
+which latter, moreover, he published personally. He accomplished his
+journey without misadventure and succeeded in closely investigating the
+historical remains of Olympia, the description of which, brought out in
+two separate volumes, he dedicated to the Institute of France. [3] A
+severe attack of fever, however, unfortunately brought his operations to
+an untimely ending; and on becoming convalescent, he was forced to start
+upon his homeward journey.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Retracing their steps through Italy, he and his brother found the land
+terrorised by the gangs of robbers with which it was infested, but who,
+far from being common banditti, he explains, were to be looked upon as a
+body of men who were at variance with the Government of that day.
+
+"At one part of our journey," he writes, "the driver flatly refused to go
+the route we had chosen, declaring he must go a shorter way for safety;
+thereupon a priest, with whom we had been conversing, exclaimed--'Come
+with me, you will be quite safe; here is _my_ pistol.' He drew back his
+coat and displayed the cross which was attached to his breast. He then
+told me that one day, as he was travelling, a robber with black
+moustachios and a very ferocious appearance came to attack him. He
+instantly drew back his gown, and with an air of authority showed the
+cross. The robber immediately sank upon his knees and implored a blessing.
+What a strange state of society in which men can unite to the greatest
+veneration for their religion, an open violation of its most sacred laws!"
+
+Another day Stanhope had to go through a lonely Pass which was known to be
+occupied by a very celebrated band of robbers. "We entered a dreary dismal
+country and at length came to a wild but extensive plain. We suddenly
+perceived, on our left, a small troop of nine men, well mounted and drawn
+up in a regular line, and evidently exercising themselves in a military
+manner. Our Gendarmes informed us that they belonged to the banditti. This
+was by no means acceptable intelligence, and we were not a little thankful
+to find that we passed quietly on without molestation. This was the spot
+in which they had captured an immense Government treasure a few months
+before. It was escorted by 250 men. These were so confident in their
+strength that, concluding that there was no danger of their being
+attacked, some were at least a mile in advance and others as much in the
+rear. Those who had remained near the treasure were so confounded by the
+unexpected attack that they were soon put to flight, and the contributions
+of all the Province beyond the Pass fell into the hands of the robbers.
+
+"Murat, indignant at so great a loss, disgraced the General, who commanded
+the Province, and sent down another with a thousand men and orders to
+exterminate the robbers.
+
+"I heard an anecdote of the Captain of the band that savours so much of
+the time of Robin Hood that I cannot help relating it. The Duchess of
+Avellino, who was on the point of passing from her chateau to Naples,
+happened in some public place to mention that she was much alarmed at the
+thoughts of going through the celebrated Pass. A gentleman present assured
+her that her fears were groundless, and that there was not the smallest
+danger. Shortly after, the Duchess pursued her journey, and when she
+arrived at the Pass she perceived a stranger riding at no great distance
+from her carriage. She felt considerably alarmed. However, he followed the
+carriage closely till it was out of the Pass. He then rode up to the
+window, pulled off his hat, and told the Duchess that he was the Captain
+of the Band; that he had escorted her out of the limits of his
+territories, and that she was then perfectly safe. She offered him money,
+but he refused it positively, though politely. He then took his leave, but
+not before she had recognised in him the man whom she had met at the
+dinner party, and who had assured her that there was no cause for alarm.
+
+"Not long ago one of the haunts of the banditti was discovered, and an
+enormous amount of booty was found in it."
+
+At Naples Stanhope and his brother arrived in time to be invited to a
+masquerade given by the Princess of Wales. Caroline, weary of her
+anomalous position in England, had in 1814 obtained leave to go to
+Brunswick, and subsequently to make a further tour. She lived for some
+time on the Lake of Como, an Italian, Bergami, who was now her favourite,
+being in her company. Fêted by Murat, King of Sicily, [4] she pursued
+unchecked her career of eccentricity and indiscretion.
+
+"Directly the Princess heard that we were at Naples she invited us to her
+masquerade. My friend Maxwell was going in a Turkish dress which he had
+brought with him from that country, therefore I thought I might as well
+adopt a costume of the same land, and chose that of a black slave. The
+ball began by fireworks which were let off in a little Island immediately
+in front of the Palace in which we were assembled. I had been assured that
+the Commandant had declared that as he had a considerable quantity of
+gunpowder in the Fortress, he could not allow anything of the sort without
+an express order from the King, as the danger would be considerable. None
+the less, out of deference to the wishes of the Princess, the order
+appears to have been given. The ball which followed was brilliant, the
+dances were magnificent, and the King and Queen took part in almost every
+dance. She is an extremely pretty woman. The King, to my amusement,
+changed his dress frequently in the course of the evening. In the middle
+of the proceedings a little cabinet was thrown open, in which was
+disclosed a bust of Murat with the Inscription Joachim 1er Roi de Naples.
+I met the Princess of Wales coming out of the cabinet, and was informed
+that when the door was first opened she was stationed near the bust, and
+in a theatrical manner placed a crown upon its head.
+
+"To all this magnificent entertainment _there was no supper_!
+
+"A few days afterwards, to my dismay, I received an intimation from the
+Duc di Gallo that the King wished me to be presented.... On New Year's
+Day, at the appointed time, I accordingly repaired to the Salon destined
+for the Corps Diplomatique. I there found many people assembled, and a
+table set out with a good breakfast, coffee, tea, all sorts of wine and
+liqueurs. We were at length ushered into the Presence Chamber and formed a
+circle round the King.
+
+"I had been far from pleased with Murat's manners at the Princess of
+Wales's ball, but he now certainly played the part of a Monarch like a
+consummate actor. The former Inn-keeper's son was dressed magnificently in
+a Spanish costume. He walked round the circle, and when he came to me he
+exclaimed, as if aside, '_Ah, un beau nom!_' He asked me whence I came and
+whether I intended to remain long in Naples; upon my answering the latter
+question in the negative he said, 'J'en suis fâché!'
+
+"As soon as our audience was terminated we were ushered into the Chapel
+where all the nobility of the Court, both male and female, were assembled.
+Each seemed to vie with the other in splendour of dress. The music was
+immeasurably fine; but this theatrically magnificent assembly in a Chapel
+seemed much like a mockery of Religion. Murat, however, who was in a very
+conspicuous place, acted his part very well. His little boy stood near him
+and he found out the different parts of the service in the child's prayer-
+book. As soon as the mass was over the Duc di Gallo placed us in a room
+which opened into that in which the King received the ladies of the Court,
+so that, by standing near the door, we could see the whole of the
+ceremony. The Queen was absent as she had caught cold at the Princess of
+Wales's ball. The ladies, in consequence, only passed with a side step and
+solemn demeanour, making _en passant_ a low, deferential bow to the King.
+But I was extremely amused at their manner directly this was over. As soon
+as they arrived within a short distance of our door, their solemn and
+respectful countenances relaxed into a smile of mockery, their side
+swimming steps into a run, and they all appeared as changed as if they had
+been touched by a magician's wand. I could not refrain from laughing at
+them as I read in their altered demeanour the distastefulness of the
+ceremony through which they had just passed."
+
+Later, Stanhope received, through the Princess of Wales, invitations to
+various other balls; and finally he was the recipient of a letter from
+Lord Sligo inviting him to become a subscriber to a ball which it was
+proposed to give in honour, jointly, of the Princess and of the King and
+Queen. Stanhope, in common with several of the English, refused to take
+part in a measure which the latter considered their own Government would
+not approve, as England had not recognised the Sovereignty of Murat. At a
+dance, however, that same evening, the Princess, who had previously taken
+no notice of Lord Granville who was present, came up to him as he stood
+near Stanhope and informed him that she was exceedingly anxious there
+should not appear to be any division among the English on this occasion,
+and that therefore she wished him to subscribe. Lord Granville answered
+that if it was _her_ wish he should certainly consent to do so. She
+thereupon proceeded to attack Stanhope's other friend, Maxwell, but the
+latter stood firm, flatly refusing to consent to a proceeding of which he
+disapproved. On this the Princess, greatly indignant, turned her back on
+him and walked off, exclaiming emphatically, "No more dinners at _my_
+house, Mr Maxwell!"
+
+Before the disputed ball took place, Stanhope and his brother had
+journeyed on to Rome. On the road thither they again ran great danger from
+robbers; indeed, at the first town in the Pope's dominions, where they
+were obliged to submit their baggage to the examination of the custom
+house officials, a soldier informed them that he had orders not to let an
+Englishman pass without an efficient guard, and he begged them, to their
+astonishment, to take an escort of fifty-two men.
+
+"We, however," Stanhope relates, "passed the next stage safely without
+seeing any robbers, but we were informed that our danger was not yet over,
+as we had to pass near a wood which was one of their regular haunts. We
+saw nothing to alarm us in this wood, but, shortly after, we were startled
+by seeing two men lying in the middle of the road, swimming in blood. We
+learnt that these were two robbers whom the gendarmes had been conveying
+to Turin, when a rescue was attempted. The gendarmes immediately shot
+these men and pursued the others. This had happened only a quarter of an
+hour before we passed."
+
+In Rome Stanhope wrote, "I frequently meet Lucien Bonaparte. We have also
+some excellent English society--the Duke of Bedford, Lords Holland and
+Cawdor, Sir H. Davy, Mrs Rawdon, etc., and most of them give parties, so
+that I could sometimes fancy myself in London, I see so many London
+faces."
+
+At Milan he was shown how the French soldiers had playfully made the
+fresco of "The Last Supper," by Leonardo da Vinci, the butt of their
+bullets; and at Turin he was struck by the strange sight in the Museum of
+a black man in _puris naturalibus_. He had been a favourite servant of the
+King of Sardinia, who had left nothing undone to cure him of the disorder
+from which he suffered; but having failed in this endeavour, he had the
+deceased nigger stuffed and affectionately preserved thus!
+
+The travellers next crossed the Mont Cenis by walking up the mountain and
+sledging down the other side. And now, at length, they again approached
+Paris. With strangely mingled feelings, not unmixed with a sense of
+premonition, did John Stanhope once more draw near the scene of his former
+captivity. A transformation had taken place in the surroundings which he
+knew so well; Napoleon was now himself a prisoner in the hands of his
+enemies, and Louis XVIII. was seated upon the throne of his ancestors. But
+Stanhope was not long in discovering that the metamorphosis was far more
+apparent than actual. The eleven months' Sovereignty of Louis had not
+served to render the monarchy secure, and the spirit of Napoleon brooded
+like an unseen presence over the land which it still dominated.
+
+"During the period of my rapid journey," writes Stanhope, "I lost no time
+in ascertaining the feelings of the people with respect to the Bourbons
+and to all the extraordinary changes which had taken place since I left.
+We had an officer in the coach who told us that if Bonaparte were to
+appear, almost all the privates would join him, and I found that
+disaffection prevailed universally through that part of France. Even boys,
+who were running along the side of the coach begging, and who cried _Vive
+le Roi!_ after having begged in vain for some time, ran off crying _Vive
+l'Empereur!_ This was a degree of licence very different to what I had
+been accustomed to see in France in the days of Napoleon's iron rule and
+tyrannical system of espionage. The impression produced in my mind by what
+I heard and saw was that, if I had formed a just estimate of Bonaparte's
+character, _he would soon be in France and at Paris!_"
+
+The latter was not a comforting conviction, and, ere long, Stanhope learnt
+that plots were undoubtedly on foot to bring such an event to pass, "A
+regiment of the old Guards marched into some town, and, addressing the
+young Guards quartered there, said, 'Our cry is _Vive l'Empereur!_ What is
+yours?' '_Vive le Roi!_' was the answer. 'Well, then, we must fight it
+out; but as we are of the Vieille Guarde we will give you choice of
+weapons.' 'No,' replied the others, 'we will neither cry _Vive l'Empereur_
+nor accept your challenge.' Such a reception was not what the conspirators
+expected; in consequence, the plot failed, the old Guards returned to
+their quarters, and the Generals concerned in the business attempted to
+escape. Some succeeded, but others were taken. Louis XVIII., however, did
+not dare to put them to death.
+
+"But that a conspiracy preceded and signalised Napoleon's return there can
+be little doubt, and the violet was the emblem of the conspirators.
+Frederick Douglas [5] told me that before Napoleon's return he was at the
+Duchesse de Bassano's when the subject of flowers became the topic of
+conversation. The Duchesse exclaimed, 'Pour moi, j'aime la violette!' A
+general smile appeared on the countenances of all present, and Douglas saw
+that there was some joke or secret that he did not understand. That secret
+became sufficiently clear afterwards." [6]
+
+Meanwhile, upon Stanhope's arrival in Paris, he called upon several of his
+former friends; but the following morning, to his dismay, he was seized
+with a return of the fever which had attacked him in Greece. His brother
+had left him to return home by another route, and he thus found himself
+alone, stricken with a severe illness which "was no longer ague, but a
+violent fever, scarcely, if at all, intermittent." He at once sent for the
+doctor, who provided him with a good nurse; but he explains, "My situation
+may be better imagined than described when I say that the first
+intelligence which greeted me in my helpless and suffering condition was
+_that Bonaparte had landed in France_. At the very time that we were
+passing through the south of France, he was but a short distance from us!
+
+"I never for one moment doubted the result of his return. My old nurse,
+who took the greatest care of me, amused me with her abject terror, while,
+in order to reassure me, 'Il ne viendra pas!' was the burden of her song.
+
+"Even from my bed of sickness I became aware that an extraordinary change
+had taken place in the feelings of the Parisians. The impression produced
+on my mind on my return to France had been that by far the greater
+majority of the people were decided Bonapartists. But the moment that
+Napoleon's return became a probable event, there was a complete
+transformation in the opinions of the people. They became enthusiastic in
+the cause of the Bourbons. Hitherto they had laughed at and despised them;
+but Napoleon they hated and feared. Although at a distance they might pity
+and almost love him, when near present he was only an object of terror.
+The remembrance of the past came back vividly to their minds. They
+recognised, too, that in his adversity they had betrayed and forsaken him;
+now the day of his triumph or retribution was possibly approaching.
+
+"Numerous battalions were formed in Paris, and the greatest zeal shown by
+the great mass of the inhabitants in the Royal cause. The army, however,
+which had marched to Lyons to oppose the Emperor, joined his standard, and
+the only hope of the King lay in the new army which had been hastily
+collected. Would the troops fight, or would they desert to the Emperor,
+was now the question on everybody's lips. Upon this the issue rested.
+
+"My impression was that though, of course, all the old troops were devoted
+to Napoleon, the feeling of the army in his favour was very far from
+universal. Many felt that they could not in honour, or indeed without the
+guilt of perjury, forsake the White Standard which they were sworn to
+defend, in order to join the ranks of their adversaries. They recognised
+that, by whatever species of pretext it was glossed over, still desertion
+remained the foulest blot upon a soldier's honour. But, on the other hand,
+they felt no interest in the Royal cause, and a natural repugnance to shed
+the blood of their fellow-countrymen. They were, in fact, entirely
+indisposed to spill French blood for either of the rival Sovereigns, and
+were prepared to remain quiet spectators of the scene. Could the King but
+once have succeeded in making them fire on the Imperialists he might have
+had a chance, and doubtless a skilful General might have succeeded _se
+faire maître d'occasion_.
+
+"But Bonaparte had hazarded his all upon this venture--he had counted upon
+the feeling of the armies of France. And the dramatic instinct by which he
+had made himself master of so many situations in the past was now again
+called to his aid. He took care to have it circulated that his troops
+would not fire upon Frenchmen. He even gave out that his soldiers had no
+cartridges. This put the Royalists in an unexpected dilemma.... 'How can
+we fire in cold blood upon men who will not fire upon us?' was the
+universal problem in the Royal army. And while they debated this question,
+Napoleon eventually passed through their lines as if he had been an
+unconcerned spectator.
+
+"Meanwhile, my situation was a singular one. Returning from my pilgrimage
+where I had been to earn my liberty, here was I again in Paris, hopelessly
+confined to my bed, with the prospect of being again taken prisoner as an
+Englishman. My earnest entreaty to the doctor was to patch me up in any
+way so as to enable me to effect my retreat from Paris, for I foresaw that
+there would be such a stampede as Napoleon approached the city that it
+would be impossible to procure post-horses.... After having been confined
+to my bed for a week I was at last enabled to put on my clothes. Fortified
+with some strong _bouillon_, which my nurse gave me instead of beef-tea,
+and getting into a hackney coach, I went off to procure myself some
+necessaries for the journey. The scene I saw was an extraordinary one;
+everyone seemed in a hurry, hastening somewhere. Crowds of English were
+leaving the city, some frightened out of their wits, others in perfect
+unconcern. One dandy I even heard say, 'Well, I would rather be a prisoner
+in Paris than at liberty in England,' and I longed to give him a letter of
+recommendation to my old quarters at Verdun."
+
+Nor was Stanhope a moment too soon. With the greatest difficulty and only
+at an exorbitant price was he able to get horses and the promise of a
+voiturier who eventually sent his wife as driver in his place, being
+probably himself a suspected person who could not leave the city. At the
+last moment a message arrived from Mr Boyd, the banker, begging that he
+and his family might share Stanhope's flight. Such an offer to an
+enfeebled invalid was most acceptable, and accordingly Stanhope eventually
+left Paris in company with the banker, his wife and their two daughters.
+The scene as they went defied description; troops were marching, drums
+sounding, flags flying, crowds were collected in the streets with no
+particular object, and fugitives were vainly endeavouring to make way over
+the bridge where carriages were locked in a block which threatened
+disaster to their occupants. Nevertheless, Madame la voiturière, who,
+Stanhope explains, was not only dressed up to enact the part she had
+undertaken, but was "not of the mildest or most peaceable temper," forced
+a way through the mêlée with such success that, in due course, she
+deposited her travellers in safety at Brussels whither they were bound;
+when, to their extreme amusement, her task accomplished, she speedily
+"transformed herself into a Parisian _élégante_!"
+
+And even as they reached safety, into the city which they had left,
+Napoleon entered. By then the stampede of fugitives was ended, "and,"
+writes John Stanhope, "I was informed that upon Bonaparte's arrival, a
+melancholy stillness seemed to pervade the streets. A few feeble cries of
+_Vive l'Empereur_ were raised, but only by his immediate partisans; for
+the most part the Parisians, as though uncertain of their feelings,
+maintained a morose and depressed silence."
+
+And in the midst of that brooding stillness, Napoleon entered upon the
+last phase of his greatness, his brief Reign of a Hundred Days.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+LETTERS FROM ENGLAND AND FRANCE
+
+1811-1821
+
+
+Throughout the period when John Stanhope was experiencing so many and
+varied adventures abroad, life in the home which he had left flowed on
+with less of note to mark the flight of time. But at the very date when he
+had been enduring the miseries of a prolonged detention in France, the
+former companion of his travels, Tom Knox, had been undergoing a
+misadventure of a different type, in which the family in Grosvenor Square
+took a peculiar interest. His first action on arriving in London had been
+to hasten to see Mrs Stanhope in order to take her the latest news of her
+son. Dining with her on this occasion he made the acquaintance of Miss
+Acklom. The young lady exhibited a great interest in the traveller, of
+whose adventures she had heard repeatedly from her friends, the Stanhopes,
+and he finding her a sympathetic listener, the mutual attraction rapidly
+increased, with the result that, at a concert at Lady Jersey's in June,
+1811, he proposed to her, and was accepted. The engagement, however, was
+not a happy one. Mr Acklom demanded far larger settlements than Mr Knox
+was in a position to agree to; and in December of the same year all idea
+of the marriage was abandoned. Tom Knox returned to Miss Acklom her
+picture which she had bestowed upon him, and she sent back to him the
+portrait and presents which he had given her; while neither of them appear
+to have regretted regaining their freedom.
+
+Full particulars of this episode in his friend's life were dispatched to
+John Stanhope at Verdun; indeed, no sooner had Mrs Stanhope at last
+ascertained the fate of her absent son than she and her family strove
+diligently to lighten his exile by any available relays of news from his
+native land. And in strange contrast to the adventures of the young
+_détenu_ must have seemed those letters which reached him, descriptive of
+that far-away family life in England, and conjuring up pictures of the
+home and the faces which he might never see again.
+
+
+    _Mrs Spencer Stanhope to John Spencer Stanhope._
+    1812.
+
+    Your sisters are all well. They are, as usual, very busy acquiring
+    knowledge. They are learning Spanish, Italian, French & German, also
+    the harp and the flute. At this moment Marianne is studying Euclid,
+    Anne & Frances are at the Pianoforte, Isabella is drawing & Maria is
+    occupied with her French.
+
+    Hugh grows very stout & bold; Isabella, I never saw better, Frances is
+    a prodigiously tall girl & very clever. Maria is always the same good-
+    natured little Fairy.
+
+
+From Cannon Hall Marianne wrote later:--
+
+
+    The Drawing-room and the Brown Room look beautiful in their new state,
+    and you cannot think how elegant all our company appear at this
+    important moment. Anne and the gay Cupid [Philip Stanhope] are
+    enjoying all the agonies of a game of chess. The Glyns [1] are staying
+    with us, and Tom [2] is fitting himself for Prime Minister by
+    assiduously studying the papers. Lady Glyn and Mamma are enjoying a
+    light supper; Sir Dicky puts in notes of interrogation and comments
+    upon the passing scene with great effect. Papa is grunting, groaning
+    and snoring in the library--the result of twenty brace of moor-grouse.
+    The younger members of the family are, I suppose, enjoying delicious
+    slumbers at Westminster, for the clock has just struck eleven, and I
+    must to bed!
+
+
+From Southampton, then a fashionable and gay resort, where he was staying
+with a private tutor, Charles Stanhope likewise wrote to his distant
+brother.
+
+
+    SOUTHAMPTON, _November 5th, 1812._
+
+    I dined the other day with the Fitzhughs who live near here, and was
+    much disappointed at not meeting Mrs Siddons who is always with them.
+    She is not liked by the people about here, she is so very
+    _graciosissima pomposissima_. If she goes to any party she
+    immediately usurps the sofa, monopolising it most infamously with her
+    most corpulent latitude; and to those people who conceive themselves
+    most her intimates, she bows like a Queen, with a slight inclination
+    from her shoulders, never deigning to move from her seat, nor even in
+    the slightest degree to bend her formal body. This, of course, cannot
+    but disgust, tho' Mrs Fitzhugh doats on her. [3] When she acted here
+    Mrs F. waited on her as a maid, and when she came off the stage, after
+    having died most naturally, Mrs F. begged her to go to bed, and was
+    worked up to hystericks wanting repeated assurances that she was not
+    in _reality_ dead. Was there ever anything so absurd or foolish?
+
+    I was at Gaunts, Sir Dicky Carr Glyn's. It is a pretty place and a
+    well-arranged house in the inside, but the exterior is completely _à
+    la Citoyen_. A square, formal house with an inclined, slated roof.
+
+    I was amused at Sir D.'s upholding his prerogative. Lady Glyn was for
+    folding doors from the drawing-room to the library. Sir D. was against
+    them. The argument ran high. Sir D. then said, "Well, _my dear_,
+    you may have your folding doors and your new fashions, but let me have
+    the old. None of your new, flimsy introductions for me, I _will_
+    still be the old, worthy Alderman & English Gentleman!" Thought I--
+    _Bravo Sir Dicky!_
+
+    Encouraged by his own eloquence, he further insisted on his point,
+    _and now, lo! there are big folding doors with a single small door
+    close to them!_
+
+    It strikes a person unacquainted with the circumstances as though
+    Dicky, with true Aldermanic foresight, intending to enlarge his paunch
+    with Turtle, etc., etc., etc., and conceiving that he would soon be
+    incapable of passing thro' the narrow door, had thus provided for his
+    increase of latitude.
+
+    It puts me in mind of an epigram by Jekyll. [4] A canal was cut here
+    at great expense (at the time when everybody was embarking their
+    fortunes in that kind of speculation); it ran parallel with the great
+    river. Everybody contributed to it, and bought shares in it. They did
+    not perceive the folly of the undertaking till the Canal was finished.
+    In short, it was never used, and everybody was bitten. The epigram ran
+    thus:--
+
+      Southampton's wise sons thought their river so large
+      Tho' 'twould carry a ship, 'twould not carry a barge;
+      So they wisely determined to cut by its side
+      A stinking canal where small vessels might glide;
+      Like the man who contriving a hole in his wall,
+      To admit his two cats, one great and one small,
+      When a great hole was cut for the first to go through
+      Would a little hole have for the little cat too! */
+
+    I have learnt to take snuff among other fashionable acquirements, a
+    custom which, of course, you have learnt and will be able to keep me
+    in countenance....
+
+    I must tell you an anecdote of Philip which I think will amuse you. At
+    one of the Levées being left alone--(that is a bull tho')--with the
+    Prince, the Duke of York and Lord Yarmouth, they wished to have some
+    fun with him, and among other things asked him how he liked being at
+    Court. But he, not being yet used to address Royalty, was at a loss in
+    the selection of his words, till at last two very applicable terms
+    presented themselves to him. But then he was again at a loss which was
+    the most _genteelerest_. Finally he decided in favour of both--
+    _Toll-Loll_ and _Pretty Bobbish_, and so replied to the Royal
+    inquiry--of course it set them in a roar!
+
+
+[Illustration: SIR RICHARD CARR GLYN, BT.]
+
+Southampton, whence this letter was written, owed its fame, as Charles
+Stanhope explains subsequently, to the fact of its being then a resort for
+all persons who had been bitten by mad dogs. The salt water was supposed
+to assist in warding off an attack of hydrophobia, and doubtless many
+suffering from terror of this complaint were saved by such a belief. But
+the very circumstances which rendered the town popular, contributed to
+make it expensive, and Charles gives an illustration of this. Once, when
+his sister Frances was staying there, she required some slight medical
+attendance for a cold. "She sent," he mentions, "for Dr Middleton, who is
+a very gentle, insinuating old gentleman. He has been here three times
+since Tuesday, _three guineas a time_, so it is rather dear being ill in
+this place."
+
+Curiously enough, this extravagant medical attendance was not infrequently
+called into requisition by the marvellous acting of Mrs Siddons, the wife
+of a former theatrical wig-maker. Her superb impersonation of the
+characters she represented stirred her audience to an extent which appears
+incredible, and the hysterical condition of Mrs Fitzhugh, described by
+Charles Stanhope, was a more common result of her genius than he seems to
+have been aware of. It is on record that she constantly made men weep and
+women faint by the realism of her performance; while in 1783, when the
+Royal Family went in state to see her play Isabella in the _Fatal
+Marriage_, so extraordinary was her genius that the actors who took part
+with her were completely over-mastered by their emotion, and even the
+stolid King, in his richly-decorated box, sobbed unrestrainedly in sight
+of all present, till Queen Charlotte, annoyed at such weakness, turned her
+back upon the stage and loudly declared that such a lifelike exhibition
+was "too disagreeable to look at." Off the stage, however, the personality
+of Mrs Siddons was transformed. A handsome woman, though of ponderous
+build, her conversation was singularly dull, and she spoke in a slow,
+sententious manner as though declaiming a set speech, which peculiarity
+gave rise to many ludicrous stories respecting her.
+
+
+    _Charles Spencer-Stanhope to John Spencer-Stanhope._
+    CHRIST CHURCH, _November 1812._
+
+    I have bought a beautiful little wax medallion of Lord Chesterfield in
+    a frame which I wish I could show you.
+
+    I went out sky-larking with Elcho yesterday who asked much after you.
+    Mr Belli went up for his degree yesterday, and was excessively annoyed
+    at the examining masters calling him Mr Belly of Christ Church, till
+    Lloyd set them right. We had a terrible row on Monday. It was a
+    general illumination here with a bonfire, etc. The Gownsmen gave the
+    first provocation and we had a most desperate battle-royal. Several
+    men were hurt and about to have been rusticated, among which is Lord
+    Kintore, an ex-college nobleman.
+
+
+    CANTLEY, _Undated._
+
+    Col. Anson [5] was here on Saturday and I was surprised to see so
+    unsmart a person turning out a-shooting from such a host of Dandies,
+    so late in the day as two o'clock. He killed, however, more than had
+    been killed by any individual hitherto, thirty-eight brace; but the
+    keeper says he never saw a good shot shoot so abominably; he had two
+    guns, and if he fired one off, he fired away one and a half lb. of
+    powder. The keeper was knocked up in loading his gun and trotting
+    after him.
+
+    I presented Lord Chesterfield with the medallion of his father that I
+    bought at Cosway's sale, which was most thankfully received.
+
+
+    LONDON, _Thursday, February 4th, 1813._
+
+    Marianne and my Mother went to attend the Drawing Room, being the
+    Queen's nominal Birthday. I then took a long walk, first to Tottenham
+    Court Road to see the preparations for the Regent's Park, then to Bond
+    St. and St James's St. to see the Equipages, etc. It seemed a very
+    full Drawing Room and some magnificent Equipages, among which the
+    Duchess of Montrose's was the finest. It consisted of 12 servants in
+    most superb liveries, and three sedans, in one of which was the
+    Duchess, and, in the two others, two of her daughters, Lady Charlotte
+    and Lady Lucy, both very pretty. I returned home at a quarter to six,
+    and my mother was not then come home. At last she arrived, complaining
+    much of the intolerable squeeze which had never been surpassed but by
+    the first Drawing Room after the King's recovery. Mrs Beaumont came to
+    us in the evening.
+
+
+    _Mrs Spencer-Stanhope to John Spencer-Stanhope._
+    _February 20th, 1813._
+
+    Mrs Beaumont has just presented Diana, who is, as you may believe,
+    very happy. The sons have taken their Degrees.
+
+    Lord Kinnaird has contrived to get into such difficulties that his
+    House, Pictures, and everything are to be sold. I went over the House
+    yesterday and felt every step as if the ghost of his father could not
+    fail to appear. There never was a fortune tumbled down in such a
+    moment. The Pictures and Bronzes very fine. There is one of the best
+    of Titian's Pictures; but though fine, I do not think it is a pleasing
+    collection.
+
+    I heard an amusing story the other day against Douglas Kinnaird. [6]
+    As you know, he is a wonderful linguist, but Werry, who is now
+    secretary to Lord Cathcart, is yet finer. The latter boasts that he
+    met Douglas at a dinner-party in London once, and, for a wager,
+    entered the lists against him, and beat him in every language in
+    Europe. But Werry admits that, in order to accomplish this, he never
+    ceased talking from the moment he sat down till eleven o'clock at
+    night! He says he felt--"_Si je crache, je perds!_"
+
+    I sent you a letter from Knox, he has dined here once, but he is now a
+    very bad neighbour. The Ackloms are in Lower Grosvenor Street. Esther
+    looks well, but is grown thin, the death of her father in a moment was
+    a great shock to her. Everything was settled for her marriage, which
+    is delayed till she is out of black gloves. I see a great deal of Mr
+    Maddocks who has shown them great attention. It is said that she has
+    £10,000 a year.
+
+
+Esther Acklom had not been long in filling the place vacated by Mr Knox.
+In 1813 she again became engaged, this time to Mr J. Maddocks, who was
+said to possess an income of £4,000 per annum. The same year, however, her
+father died suddenly, leaving her £10,000 a year and all his goods, while
+to his wife he left an annual income of £16,000. Miss Acklom, therefore,
+not only found herself a substantial heiress, but with the prospect of
+inheriting a yet larger fortune from her mother. A friend, Mrs Calvert,
+writing at this date, shrewdly remarks--"It is now supposed that Esther
+will jilt Mr Maddocks," but Mrs Stanhope does not seem to have anticipated
+this result, when, on March 3rd, she wrote various items of news to her
+son:--
+
+
+    Walter Scott has published a new book called "Rokeby," dedicated to Mr
+    Morritt. It is not so much admired as his others, though more than it
+    was at first. His works are always the more admired the more they are
+    read. Your old acquaintance, Mr Inglis, has balls frequently, ending
+    at Twelve. All Lord Kinnaird's pictures, wines, and house, are
+    selling. His youngest brother has been at the point of death at
+    Edinburgh, but is recovering.
+
+    I went in Mr Maddocks Tilbury [7] yesterday; (you see my love for a
+    gig still continues). Esther says she would not have trusted herself
+    with him. They are not to be married till she is out of black gloves.
+
+
+But alas! for Mr Maddocks; ere the "black gloves" were discarded, Esther
+had fulfilled the prophecy of Mrs Calvert. She broke off her engagement;
+scrupulously, however, refunding to Mr Maddocks every penny which he had
+spent upon her. This second instance on her part of jilting a _fiancé_
+confirmed many people in the belief of her heartlessness; but the reason
+which probably determined her action on this latter occasion was that she
+had already met the one man, who, she recognised, could enchain her fickle
+affections for all time.
+
+Meanwhile, on March 13th, Mrs Stanhope wrote to her son:--
+
+
+    We are all now in sable for the Duchess of Brunswick who was sister to
+    the King and Mother to the Princess of Wales.
+
+
+    _April 19th._
+
+    Bonaparte seems to be making a great effort & I should hope the last,
+    for the spirit of the Germans seems at length to be roused. I trust in
+    God they will not be too eager to show their teeth before they can
+    bite--to use an old proverb.
+
+    The Russians are a glorious people. Two Cossacks are now here, & they
+    invite great curiosity. Yesterday being Sunday, thousands & thousands
+    were in the Park to see one of them ride, and in Kensington Gardens
+    they cheered him.
+
+
+The winter of 1813 was one long to be remembered in England. Christmas day
+was exceptionally beautiful, fine and clear, but the day following a frost
+set in and continued without interruption till the month of April. All
+inland navigation ceased, and nearly all the song-birds perished. The
+Thames was frozen, and a great Fair was held upon it, when oxen were
+roasted, while on the Tweed there was an ice-fête at which fifty gentlemen
+sat down to dinner. When at last the frost broke, the country presented a
+curious and a wonderful sight; enormous masses of ice accumulated and were
+carried down the river, while vessels which had been moored to the banks
+were lifted up bodily by the overwhelming force of the torrent and, later,
+left stranded far away in the neighbouring fields.
+
+
+    _Mrs Spencer-Stanhope to Charles Spencer-Stanhope._
+    _February 28th, 1814._
+
+    We have had the most severe winter I ever remember--the whole Kingdom
+    was rendered impassible from the deepness of the snow & the streets in
+    London were in a state I never heard of their being in before.
+
+    I heard from your brothers from Ulm, etc. The country they had
+    travelled through was beautiful, but the roads horrible; they were
+    upset once. At Munich they saw the Crown Prince at a ball & at
+    Stuttgart John waited upon the Queen of Wurtemburg who received him
+    most graciously and inquired after us all. It is said that she is in a
+    bad state of health & is coming to England.
+
+    At the Hague they dined with the Prince of Orange, the report is that
+    in June he is to be married to the Princess Charlotte of Wales.
+
+    The Allies have met with some checks, notwithstanding it is said they
+    are going on well.
+
+
+The attention of the whole civilised world was centred on the events
+happening in France. In March came intelligence of the victory of the
+Allies which enabled them to occupy Paris. "I shall never forget," writes
+Charles Stanhope, "the sensation it made in London. For a week past we
+hardly understood the operations of the armies, when at last despatches
+were received from the height of Montmartre. Everyone seemed drunk with
+the news." This was followed by that of the abdication of Napoleon on
+April 5th, 1814. All Europe went mad with joy, and, within a month, Louis
+XVIII. had entered his capital as King. In the June following it was
+arranged that the Allies should visit England, but while preparations for
+the consequent rejoicings were in progress, Mrs Stanhope and her family
+attended a festivity which they regarded with almost greater interest.
+
+At the date at which Esther Acklom had jilted Mr Maddocks, she had been
+introduced to Lord Althorp [8] the eldest son of Earl Spencer, who had at
+once attracted her. Known for so long to his friends and fellow
+politicians as "Honest Jack" he was possessed of as marked an
+individuality as her own. Although unable to lay claim either to good
+looks, depth of knowledge, or polish of manners, yet the charm of his
+personality, his unalterable amiability, and the curious fascination of
+the smile which readily suffused his countenance, exercised an
+irresistible attraction upon all who came within his influence. In his
+public life, indeed, what genius might have failed to accomplish in his
+favour, the profound sincerity of his character amply achieved. Other men
+might be noted for tricks of State-craft--for impassioned oratory, for
+shrewd Diplomacy, for powers of organisation; to Jack Althorp alone was it
+given to owe his fame primarily to unswerving uprightness and the moral
+rectitude which was reverenced alike by friends and foes.
+
+Not only accuracy to a penny in accounts committed to his charge, but
+absolute sincerity in the small things of life, as in the great, amounted
+to a mania with him. Occasionally, for instance, someone might remark
+casually to him that the day was fine, and the result of this unconsidered
+platitude was calculated to provoke a smile. For before risking a possibly
+untruthful assent, Honest Jack would turn to the window and reflectively
+scan the heavens, then, after consideration, would deliver himself of a
+cautious verdict. "Well," he would pronounce guardedly, "I don't know that
+you can actually say that it is a fine day, because you see that it is
+early yet, and there are clouds about; but it is a pleasant morning and I
+hope will prove a fine day." And the supreme simplicity of the rejoinder,
+coupled with the complete unconsciousness of the speaker that there was
+anything unusual in his attitude, at once erased any savour of
+sententiousness.
+
+It was to such a man that fickle, wayward Esther gave her heart, only to
+find that, slow of perception and indifferent to her charm, Honest Jack
+did not return her love. But the girl who had remained undaunted by the
+stern Marshal of Napoleon was not to be thwarted in this, the dearest wish
+of her life. Her habitual determination came to her aid. Since Jack
+Althorp would not propose to her, she proposed to him; and such an unusual
+proceeding was fraught with happy consequences, for, on April 14th, 1814,
+she became his wife, and entered upon a union of unmixed happiness for
+both.
+
+"She was the one woman with whom I never felt shy," explained Lord
+Althorp, with some reason; and it may be added, that his devotion after
+marriage amply compensated for his lack of ardour before. For her sake he
+settled down in the old home of her ancestors, Wiseton Hall, and expended;
+£10,000 in making the unprepossessing house habitable; every wish and whim
+of hers he lived but to gratify, and so complete was his confidence in
+her, that during his absence she was deputed to read all his letters, at
+her judgment destroying what was unimportant or reserving what required
+attention. "It would not do for ladies to write him love letters!" she
+used to remark laughingly.
+
+Her former friends, the Stanhopes, often stayed with her at Wiseton
+subsequent to her marriage, and rejoiced to see her happiness; but its
+untimely ending, which greatly distressed them, may be related here.
+
+On June 11th, 1818, Lady Althorp, after much suffering, gave birth to a
+still-born son, and two days later, after a period of delirium, she
+expired. It was supposed that the fate of Princess Charlotte, who had died
+under similar circumstances in the previous November, had weighed upon her
+mind, and claimed her as yet another of the many victims whose fate was
+influenced by that of the unfortunate Princess. However that may be, her
+husband, who had attended her devotedly to the last, was inconsolable at
+her loss. "When he had deposited her remains in their last resting-place,"
+relates his biographer, "he seemed as if left without an object on earth.
+Shrinking even from the affectionate attentions of his family, he went at
+once to Wiseton, where he passed several months in complete retirement ...
+his grief was too deeply seated to be otherwise than lasting; and for many
+years its poignancy remained unabated."
+
+To one person only did he turn in his bitter grief--to the mother of his
+dead wife; an unprepossessing woman, who had never shown him any kindness,
+but who now became to him the first object of his care, out of the love
+which he had borne her daughter. He wrote to Mrs Acklom every day, showed
+her the utmost attention, and exhibited for her the most devoted
+affection, which she, ere long, returned. Meanwhile, the rooms that had
+been occupied by the wife he had so loved were never altered from the day
+when she left him; upon his finger he always wore her ring, and wherever
+he went he took with him the pillow upon which her head had last rested.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Long, however, ere this sad ending to a happy romance, during the summer
+which followed the marriage of Lady Althorp, the Allies visited London
+amid frantic demonstrations of rejoicing from the people who, too
+prematurely, concluded that the final downfall of Bonaparte was at last
+accomplished.
+
+
+    _Mrs Spencer-Stanhope to Charles Spencer-Stanhope._
+    GROSVENOR SQUARE, _May 25th, 1814._
+
+    Next month is Philip's month of waiting, when he will probably have
+    much gaiety, and from having to attend the Regent will see the Allied
+    Sovereigns to advantage--they have been expected some time, but it is
+    now said will not arrive till the middle of next month, when Fêtes and
+    various gaieties are expected. The Prince of Orange and Prince Paul of
+    Wurtemburg are here.
+
+    Lady Collingwood has let her house in Town and stays at Newcastle with
+    her father, who is very aged. I noticed that it was William's old ship
+    which conveyed Bonaparte to his new Government, where I should think
+    he must feel very odd. I cannot help wishing he had been removed to a
+    greater distance, as I doubt not he will still try to do mischief, for
+    he has an able, active, and wicked mind. What changes have taken place
+    within the last three months! They appear to me like a dream.
+
+    Tom Knox is come home. He says had not John been in such haste to get
+    on he would have gone on with him.
+
+
+So full was London that it was impossible to find accommodation for all
+the distinguished visitors, and the Stanhopes' friend, Lord James Murray,
+put his house in Great Cumberland Place at the disposal of Count Platoff,
+and twelve attendant Cossacks. The latter now became a familiar sight and
+ceased to create a sensation when they rode abroad; indeed, shortly, their
+departure was eagerly looked forward to, so uncivilised was their
+behaviour.
+
+In Lord James's house they refused to use the sumptuous bedrooms prepared
+for them, but preferred to sleep herded together in the hall or on the
+staircase, while the damage which they did was incalculable.
+
+
+    _June 8th, 1814._
+
+    Philip is now at home, as this is his month of waiting, which is
+    fortunate for him, as he will have an opportunity of seeing well all
+    the great people now here. London was yesterday like a fair, for the
+    Emperor of Russia and King of Prussia arrived and every house from
+    Hyde Park Corner to Westminster Bridge was as full as possible, the
+    windows crowded, the streets stopped with carriages, the Park and
+    streets full of foot people, and all the Kent Road the same, who were
+    every one disappointed--as the great people came incog., and no one
+    knew when they arrived. The Emperor, however, showed himself at the
+    Balcony and was much cheered.
+
+    When Blucher went to Carlton House the Mob broke in, and the Prime
+    Minister invested him with the Garter in the midst of them all, which
+    pleased John Bull much, for I believe they think more of the General
+    than of the Emperor.
+
+    Philip rides every day in St James's Park; at nine, he goes to the
+    stables at Carlton House and there he finds a riding-master--a very
+    pleasant part of his duty riding is. Great Fêtes are talked of, but
+    there seems a doubt whether the Emperor will stay for them, as he
+    means to travel and see the country.
+
+
+From Oxford, Charles Stanhope wrote:--
+
+
+    The Emperor of Russia, the King of Prussia and his sons, Blucher,
+    Platoff, the Prince of Wurtemburg and an infinitude of great men who
+    have flocked to this country, about the middle of the summer term
+    accompanied the Prince Regent to Oxford where they were received and
+    fêted in the most magnificent style.
+
+    The scene in the theatre was particularly fine, the Prince Regent
+    enthroned with the Emperor of Russia on his right and the King of
+    Prussia on his left. The Heroes of the War receiving the encomiums of
+    the peaceful Sons of Science! Blucher seemed particularly happy. A
+    most magnificent entertainment was provided for them at the Radcliffe
+    Library, where old Blucher got hopelessly tipsy, and was found
+    afterwards strolling about the College by himself, totally incapable
+    of finding his way back to his lodgings!
+
+    I must explain that he was lodged at the Sub-Dean's in Ch. Ch., and
+    tho' a Royal carriage was sent to convey him to the Radcliffe, he
+    preferred walking, escorted by the Gown, for one of which bodyguard I
+    volunteered myself.
+
+    The third day the Emperor and King of Prussia quitted the University,
+    but the Prince Regent and Blucher remained and dined in Ch. Ch. Hall.
+    I must recount an anecdote of the Prince whose peculiar grace and
+    elegance of manner shone in its best lustre during the whole visit.
+    Blucher's health being drunk, he returned thanks in German, but
+    addressed himself rather to the Prince than to the University or Ch.
+    Ch. in particular. The Prince, perceiving the indecorum of this, at
+    once rose and announced that so excellent a speech should not be lost
+    upon the greater part of the company, who could not be expected to
+    understand German, and that, therefore, in the absence of a better
+    interpreter, he would volunteer for that office himself, however
+    incompetent he might be. He then delivered an extremely neat and
+    tactful address of thanks to the University and especially to that
+    College where Blucher and himself had been so hospitably entertained.
+
+
+    _Mrs Spencer-Stanhope._
+    GROSVENOR SQUARE, _June 20th, 1814._
+
+     This is a day of bustle and confusion in London, as it is the last
+    day the Emperor remains here.
+
+    Philip, at eight, set off for Carlton House in his uniform, as he is
+    to attend the Regent to a Review in Hyde Park at ten, at which hour we
+    go to Mr Macdonald's to see it. Afterwards he will attend the Prince
+    to the House of Lords, and at Night to a great Ball which the Members
+    of White's Club give to the Royals. To-morrow they all go to
+    Portsmouth where a Naval Review is expected, tho' it has been said
+    that it cannot take place owing to many of the Ships having been sent
+    for the Russian troops which are to pass thro' this country on their
+    way home. From Portsmouth the Emperor and the Duchess of Oldenburg go
+    away. The King of Prussia I understand remains some time longer.
+
+    Ever since the Crowned Heads arrived, London has been mad, & as full
+    again as ever I knew it. Where all the people are lodged I cannot
+    imagine. The streets are full day and night watching the Royals, who
+    see everything and therefore are always upon the move.
+
+    The King of Prussia walked quietly into St George's Church yesterday
+    and asked for the Duke of Devonshire's pew. They have all been at
+    Oxford where the Prince was with them and was received with great
+    applause.
+
+    Since I began my letter I have been some hours at Mrs Macdonald's to
+    see a Review in the Park where the Regent and the Crowned Heads
+    attended. The day is beautiful and the scene was very fine, for there
+    were thousands of spectators on foot, as horses and carriages were not
+    admitted into the Park. I was not near enough to distinguish Philip &
+    he has not yet returned....
+
+    I have been interrupted again. Philip is to go with the Prince to-
+    morrow to Portsmouth which he likes the idea of extremely. He has been
+    much entertained with the duty of to-day....
+
+    After all, the Regent did not go to the House of Lords and the Emperor
+    does not leave London to-day, therefore Philip will have a little rest
+    after the fatigues of yesterday, for he did not get home from the ball
+    till between five and six, and is now asleep.
+
+
+To console London for the termination of such a round of dissipation, on
+July 1st White's Club gave a magnificent masquerade at Burlington House in
+honour of the Duke of Wellington, to which the Stanhopes went with their
+friends, the Kinnairds. Nearly two thousand persons were accommodated in
+the temporary room which was erected for supper, and the costumes were
+remarkable for their magnificence, save possibly that of Byron, who was
+clad, sombrely but effectively, in the dark flowing robes of a monk. A
+guest of gayer, if less dignified appearance, was Sir Lumley Skeffington,
+who, as usual, encountered the ill-fortune which seemed to dog his
+footsteps, for his red Guard's coat was mischievously torn from his
+shoulders by crazy Lady Caroline Lamb. [9] who hid it and left the
+discomforted beau in his waistcoat in the centre of the ballroom.
+
+Eight months after these festivities, news arrived in London that on March
+1st, 1815, Napoleon had once more landed in France, followed by the
+intelligence that on March 20th he had entered Paris. In June the Campaign
+of Waterloo began by the defeat of Blucher at Ligny, where John Stanhope
+had so long resided. But on the 18th of the same month, "The fops of
+Piccadilly became the heroes of Waterloo," and that famous victory decided
+for all time the fate of the Conqueror of Europe. Four days later he again
+abdicated, and on July 15th he surrendered himself to the English.
+
+
+    _Mrs Spencer-Stanhope to John Spencer-Stanhope._
+    _July 28th._
+
+    What great and surprising events have happened in little more than a
+    month. The Battle of Waterloo was one of the bravest & greatest ever
+    fought, & has decided the fate of Europe, therefore though we must
+    lament the many gallant men who fell on that dreadful day, yet not a
+    life was lost in vain, & when we consider what the blood would have
+    been had the Campaign continued, we must look upon the loss as small.
+
+    The surrender of Bonaparte is such an unexpected event, that I can
+    scarcely yet credit it, for I never supposed he would have lived to
+    have become a Prisoner. What will be done with him? Thank Heaven we
+    can now confidently look forward to Peace.
+
+
+Private events, however, distracted the attention and gave employment to
+the pen of Mrs Stanhope during the year which followed. The health of her
+husband was gradually declining. He was under the necessity of renouncing
+his seat in Parliament, where he had respectively represented Haslemere,
+Carlisle and Hull during a space of nearly forty years. Deprived of the
+work which for so long a period had completely absorbed his thoughts and
+energies, his spirits flagged. The vivacity, the wit for which he had been
+noted deserted him and he sank gradually into a mental lethargy which, as
+his malady increased, at times almost amounted to torpor, but alternated
+with a restlessness and irritation of the nerves very distressing to
+witness. In order to divert his attention from the life with which he
+could no longer mingle, it was decided that novelty of scene might have a
+beneficial result. His family therefore proceeded to travel, but that the
+liveliness of his daughters was undiminished and their taste for society
+as keen, appears by a letter written by Marianne from Tunbridge Wells to
+her brother John in Yorkshire.
+
+
+    TUNBRIDGE WELLS, _October 2nd, 1816._
+
+    We do not think that your Doncaster Belles sounded very captivating. I
+    think I could have shown you at one glance a better show on the
+    Pantiles yesterday--the beauties who turned out with a bright gleam
+    after a horrid morning. To begin with the greatest, Miss Eden looked
+    magnificent, and is pronounced very agreeable. With her was Lord
+    Auckland's sister, extremely pretty and elegant, quite a _Lucile_,
+    then Miss Bruce, smart, with well made boots, and Miss Anstruther who,
+    perhaps, would be least thought of and attract the most. After leaving
+    there I met the Douglases--Miss D. looking as if her blood did not
+    circulate and Caroline as if she wished to be civil but found it
+    inconvenient....
+
+    Should you have to write to Murray, tell him to send to Grosvenor
+    Square the second part of "Childe Harold," and also the new novel by
+    the "Author of Waverley."
+
+
+In the ensuing year Frances Stanhope was taken to Court by her mother.
+Tall, graceful, and with a dazzling complexion, her beauty was singularly
+striking, and she used to relate that when she was presented to the
+Regent, H.R.H., who always distinguished between the pretty débutantes and
+the plain, graciously honoured her by bestowing upon her two resounding
+kisses on each cheek. Not long after this auspicious entry into society,
+however, her mother decided that a couple of years spent on the Continent
+might be equally advantageous to the health of Walter Stanhope and to the
+education of his children. The family therefore migrated to Paris, where
+everything at this date was in a curious state of transition. With
+Napoleon far away at St Helena, Louis XVIII. was firmly established on the
+Throne of his ancestors, and France was endeavouring to recover something
+of her pristine gaiety. Sir Charles Stuart was now Ambassador at the
+French Court; many English were in Paris, and like a fresh act of a Play
+wherein the various _dramatis personae_, moved by a common impulse,
+translate themselves _en masse_ to a fresh locality, so the Stanhopes
+appear, in the midst of their new surroundings, to have found themselves
+encircled by their former friends.
+
+
+    _Marianne Spencer-Stanhope to John Spencer-Stanhope._
+    35 RUE DE LA MADELEINE, _February 7th, 1818._
+
+    I will not lose the opportunity of sending you a letter by Lady
+    Crompton, who goes to England in two days.
+
+    Mrs Beaumont, her two daughters and Wentworth are here, very grand and
+    gay, talking of giving two grand balls; she is of course the _first_
+    everywhere.
+
+    Mamma, Frances, Isabella and Edward were at Sir C. Stuart's Costume
+    Ball, which was a most beautiful sight, and the whole thing went off
+    with great éclat. Frances went as a _Paysanne de Mola_, near Naples;
+    her dress was a short petticoat, trimmed with green and gold, a green
+    apron, and black, green and gold bodice, and a roll of the same
+    colours round her head. It was very becoming to her and she looked
+    very grand. In Paris she is known everywhere as _la belle Anglaise_.
+    Isabella was a most airy Coquette, in blue and silver, with a cap of
+    little bells on one side, and long tresses of hair plaited with blue--
+    she really looked beautiful. It is the dress of _Belle et Bonne_ in
+    some Play. Mamma and Edward were both in blue dominoes.
+
+    Last night we were at an enormous ball at M. Clarmont's, one of
+    Lafitte's houses; the heat exceeded anything I ever felt. It was said
+    1200 people were asked, of all kinds and degrees. It was very
+    disagreeable.
+
+    Mamma is thinking of giving a dance and is at the moment writing the
+    invitations, but the day is not yet fixed.
+
+    The Duke of Wellington gives a Concert to-night, and it is said two
+    costume balls. Yesterday we had some of the fooleries of the Carnival
+    which the weather prevented on Sunday and Monday. Masks paraded the
+    streets, the windows were full of heads, and all the people from one
+    end of Paris to the other drawn in procession along the Boulevards and
+    the Rue St Honoré.
+
+
+    PARIS, _March 31st, 1818._
+
+    I hear nothing of the man taken up for shooting at the Duke, if it is
+    true that one has been secured. Poor Bacon was taken up by 5 Gens
+    d'Arms at nine in the morning and after a secret examination sent to
+    the Conciergerie. It was conjectured he was concerned with a Banker
+    who went off--but instead of that being true, the Banker absconded
+    with all _his_ money! Sir C. Stuart means to make a fuss about
+    it, for no one is safe if taken up and confined only on suspicion.
+
+    The King on one of the most stormy days we have had took three people
+    out to prevent their voting for the Recruiting Bill. However, they
+    contrived to get back in time, by which means it was carried by four.
+    He was angry--they said they did it as a point of duty to him.
+
+    Lady Mansfield's Ball was fine--but too many women in proportion to
+    the men, and many of the latter old. A great many French. I only saw
+    one Lady out of each family. Many, many young ladies sat out. All the
+    _ton_ French ladies danced the whole night. Lady M. hoped she should
+    see you, tho' she forgot to invite you.
+
+    Lord Alvanley came to Paris a few days ago with his mistress. They
+    refused him admittance at the _Hôtel de Londres_, saying they had
+    English families there, among others "the great Mrs Beaumont." He
+    coolly replied that they need not mind _her_, for her fortune had
+    been made by keeping a house of bad character; and so he got in! Did
+    you ever hear of such _scandalous impudence_!
+
+
+On behalf of Lord Alvanley, however, it may be added that about this date
+another story got abroad respecting him which redounds more to his credit.
+He and Lord Kinnaird were playing whist one evening, when, owing to some
+mistaken move in the game on the part of Lord Alvanley, Lord Kinnaird
+completely lost his self-control and abused his friend in the most violent
+manner. Lord Alvanley listened in silence to the torrent of denunciation,
+then, rising from the card table, observed very quietly, "Not being
+blessed with your Lordship's angelic temper, I shall retire for fear of
+losing mine!"
+
+Moreover, Marianne Stanhope, about the same time, makes mention of an
+instance of Lord Alvanley's good-nature which came under her notice. It
+appears that one of his greatest friends was an Irish dandy who, for long,
+went by the nickname of "King Allen" on account of his having achieved a
+unique position in the world of fashion. This monarch of the _beau monde_
+spent his days, as did others of his class, exhibiting his faultless
+clothes in fashionable resorts; and so wedded was he to this existence
+that he could seldom be persuaded to quit London even for the benefit of
+his health.
+
+Once, however, Lord Alvanley found his friend moping at the sea-side, a
+prey to profound depression, and spending sleepless nights tossing on his
+couch, unable to account to his own satisfaction either for his insomnia
+or his melancholia. With the intuition of a kindred soul Lord Alvanley at
+once probed the root of the dandy's complaint. He recognised that it was
+impossible for such a man to exist apart from the bustle and noise of the
+great city to which he was accustomed, and _faute de mieux_, Lord Alvanley
+invented a remedy. At his own expense, he engaged a hackney coachman who
+undertook to rattle his vehicle up and down past King Allen's lodgings
+till the early dawn, and another man who agreed to shout the hours
+throughout the night in the strident tones of a London watchman. The ruse
+was successful. Whether other persons living in the neighbourhood were
+equally pleased, history does not relate, but the melancholy dandy,
+deluded into a belief that he was back once more in his favourite haunts,
+slumbered peacefully, and was in time restored in perfect health to the
+scenes of his former triumph.
+
+Indeed, "Lord Alvanley," wrote Lady Granville at a later date, "was quite
+charming. _Le meilleur enfant_, which does not mean _homme_, but I cannot
+persuade myself that he is much altered and that he will end by being a
+very good, as he is a most captivating, person. Such cleverness, _si fin,
+si simple_, without one grain of effort. What a receipt for being, as he
+is, quite charming!"
+
+Moreover, if the tale be true of the affront which he is said to have
+offered to Mrs Beaumont, the great lady had manifold compensations. Mrs
+Stanhope relates:--
+
+
+    The Prince de Bauffremont [10] proposed _à la française_ to Mrs
+    Beaumont for one of her daughters, but she, not understanding the
+    style, took it to herself, and answered with great dignity that she
+    was extremely sorry she was not in a situation to be able to accept
+    it!
+
+
+While in Paris, the Stanhopes had a sad encounter with a former friend,
+which was curiously typical of existence in the gay city at that date.
+When Charles Stanhope was at Southampton he had there made the
+acquaintance of a charming old bachelor, Mr Hibbert. The latter showed him
+many kindnesses, and, in return, was invited to Cannon Hall for some
+shooting. John Stanhope records his subsequent history thus:--
+
+"Poor Mr Hibbert! his was indeed a melancholy history. He lived near
+Southampton, an old bachelor, and then as happy a specimen of that race as
+I ever saw. He had been a very handsome man, but had unfortunately been
+bent almost double by a rheumatic fever; however, his face was still
+striking. He was full of taste and accomplishments, and apparently very
+well informed, clever and agreeable in society. He was not rich, but
+evidently possessed fortune enough to supply him with all the luxuries
+that in his single state he could require. When he visited Cannon Hall he
+was travelling in a very agreeable manner in his curricle with his own
+horses, the whole _bien monté_.
+
+"Unfortunately he went to Paris when the Peace was signed, and he, who had
+never touched a card when in England, was persuaded to go to the Salon. He
+could not refrain from trying his luck, and from that moment he was never
+absent from the Salon when its dangerous doors were open. He was driven
+away from Paris by Napoleon's return; he went back there after the _cent
+jours_ and lost every farthing that he possessed, ending his life as a
+miserable pensioner in the establishment--I believe within its walls."
+
+Mr Hibbert's fate was indeed all too common at that date amongst those who
+once entered the dangerous doors of the _Salon des Étrangers_. This was an
+institution established for confirmed gamblers, and was kept by the
+celebrated Marquis de Livry, whose resemblance to the Regent was so
+remarkable that the latter sent Lord Fife over to Paris to ascertain if it
+could be so striking as report asserted. The Marquis did the honours of
+his club with a grace and courtesy for which he became renowned in Europe.
+He provided his clients with the most perfect cuisine and every possible
+luxury, while, on Sunday, those who had been most regular in their
+attendance, were rewarded by an invitation to his Villa near Paris, where
+ladies from the opera were welcomed to meet them, and the society was of
+the most doubtful description.
+
+None, indeed, who found their way to the Salon issued thence unscathed,
+and its existence coloured the whole of Parisian society of that day.
+Fortunes were there staked and lost, many of the victims disappearing
+mysteriously, some having committed suicide, others, like Mr Hibbert,
+having become so deeply involved in debt that they could not leave the
+premises. Lord Thanet, for one, lost there a fortune of £50,000 a year, of
+which £120,000 was expended in a single night. When remonstrated with on
+his folly, and the probability pointed out to him that he had been
+cheated, he only exclaimed with the recklessness born of the fatal
+atmosphere of the place, "Well, I consider myself fortunate in not having
+lost twice that sum!"
+
+Meanwhile Marianne and her sisters were observing the difference between
+the dandies of Almack's, whom they had deserted, and the beaux of French
+society with whom they were now to mingle. Later their conclusions were
+given to the world:--
+
+
+    Striking indeed is the difference between a true John Bull and a
+    Continentalist in a ball-room. The first generally looks as if he
+    could not help himself; he has adjourned to Almack's from the House of
+    Lords, the House of Commons, or the Inns of Court; and business, with
+    sad recollection, still pursues him at every step.... What excitation
+    then will move his apathy? Why, that of vanity alone; a pretty woman
+    must make love to him. And this is the best explanation that can be
+    given why, in England, the women always make the first advances to the
+    men; and if they did not, there would, I believe, be no love at all in
+    the fashionable world.
+
+    But mark the Continentalist! how is he armed for conquest when he
+    enters the ball-room?....
+
+    So accomplished a creature, so bewitching and bewitched must of course
+    consider himself quite irresistible. Yet have all these
+    Continentalists, and particularly the sons of France, the air of
+    annihilating themselves before the fair; their obsequiousness and
+    humility are unbounded: hence their rapid execution among the female
+    sex. To be herself admired by an all-conquering Adonis, is so much
+    more pleasing to a gay young woman than the having only to admire him.
+
+    Such is the difference between a French and an English dandy: the
+    first is an impertinent, affected coxcomb, who makes love to every
+    woman as a matter of course--it is his vocation. The second is a cold,
+    contemptuous, conceited creature, intrenched in a double armour of
+    selfishness, blasé upon everything. [11]
+
+
+Despite this scathing criticism, the Stanhopes do not appear to have
+lacked amusement in their new surroundings.
+
+
+    _Mrs Spencer-Stanhope to John Spencer-Stanhope_.
+    35 RUE DE LA MADELEINE., _Sunday, April 5th, 1818._
+
+    Little has occurred since I wrote to you last week except the Duke of
+    Wellington's delightful and superb ball. We may consider ourselves
+    fortunate in being invited, as the list was his own and he would not
+    allow the _aide-de-camps_ to interfere. Isabella, Frances, and
+    myself arrived about eleven. The rooms were then full, and soon after
+    arrived the Royal Family. The Duchess de Berri danced, but they all
+    went away about twelve, as did numbers of the French. Everybody
+    _sat_ at supper, several rooms were open--round tables in all. The
+    Duke retired soon after supper, and left Col. Fremantle to do the
+    honours, which he did, first by doubling the champagne, then by making
+    the ball go with spirit. We stayed till the last and did not get home
+    till five. He sent permission to as many of the Officers as liked to
+    come from Cambrai, and they readily obeyed the Command. I believe
+    there were 300 of the Guards, almost everybody in uniform. Markham
+    looked very antique in a full dressed brown coat.
+
+    We were at a ball at Lady Mansfield's on Tuesday, a very fine ball,
+    all the _ton_ French, but that did not make it gay. She had a fine
+    sitting supper. I am sorry the English suppers are coming into fashion
+    here.
+
+    Madame de Chabaunes had a French dance on Friday, plenty of dancing
+    men, tho' we were at home before twelve.
+
+    Last night we heard Catalani, finer than ever; she goes soon, never to
+    sing at the Opera again. [12] She was more superb in diamonds at the
+    Duke's than anybody.
+
+    Mrs Beaumont goes on Saturday. She will astonish the weak minds of the
+    English by an account of her triumphs in Paris. She desires we will
+    contradict the report of her daughters' marriages; she takes them
+    back, instead of leaving them Duchesses and Princesses!
+
+
+    _Marianne Spencer-Stanhope._
+    35 RUE DE LA MADELEINE, _Sunday, April 5th._
+
+    I will not lose the opportunity, my dear John, of sending you a few
+    lines by Mr Hunter, who called this morning to tell us of his
+    departure.
+
+    For the last ten days we have had complete March weather, a hot sun
+    and very cold wind. We are just returned from a dusting in the _Bois
+    de Boulogne_, where all the _beau monde_ were assembled. Lord
+    Burghersh escorting Lady Aldborough, who is going to England, Lady B.
+    in _the Duke's_ carriage. Mrs Beaumont and family, marvellous to
+    relate, in a very shabby carriage. The girls are heart-broken at
+    leaving Paris; "Madame" informed us she had had various offers, both
+    for them and Wentworth, but so far neither Prince T. de B., nor E. de
+    Beauvais. The former was engaged "to a fine French young lady," but as
+    he was coming to London, and would of course be much with them, "the
+    report would probably gain ground." She therefore hoped we would
+    contradict it. She is _greater_ than ever; I think London will not
+    hold her; she has been laying out mints of money.
+
+    Isabella and Frances enjoyed the Duke of Wellington's ball much. I
+    finished their gowns with the red roses for the occasion, and they
+    looked particularly well. They stayed till five in the morning. Many
+    of the Guards came from Cambray, and they found many friends of
+    Philip's.
+
+    Yesterday we went to take leave of Catalani in the _Nozze di Figaro_.
+    She sang delightfully. I think we missed you all more and more, and
+    shall feel most happy when we have again a beau without walls. I think
+    you will like the house at Versailles, but you have no idea how
+    difficult we found it to meet with anything that would hold us.
+
+    My father's extreme anxiety to go to England has now a little abated;
+    his general health and spirits are good, but he has a wonderful degree
+    of irritation and restlessness about him. The alteration in his mind
+    strikes me every day, his memory is so much altered, and his deafness
+    is increased.
+
+
+Towards the end of April Mrs Stanhope and her family moved to Versailles,
+and their account is not without interest of the appearance presented by
+that town after the strange transformations which it had witnessed.
+
+
+    VERSAILLES, _April 30th, 1818._
+
+    We are now beginning to feel settled, our House is comfortable and the
+    situation pretty, and, though in the town, we see only trees from our
+    windows. It is certainly the dullest looking large town I ever saw,
+    for the grass grows in some of the streets; but a place which formerly
+    was so splendid & contained 80,000 inhabitants, & has not now above
+    20,000, must look neglected.
+
+    We have delivered our letters and seen some of the People, but they
+    are very shy of the English, or rather Irish, for there are nothing
+    else here; friendly, good sort of People, but not very genteel. The
+    Caldwells are here only for a week, and Lady Hoste is at a
+    considerable distance. The other people you do not know.
+
+    There is _Mrs Beauman_ here, who is the "Beaumont" of the Place.
+    She gave a Ball, took off her doors, hung her rooms with red and gold,
+    and had her supper from Paris, at which there was nothing so vulgar as
+    a roast chicken. Her husband lives at Paris and is in the Navy. She
+    was a Miss Webber & rich. I have not seen her, nor am I anxious to
+    cultivate the English here.
+
+
+     VERSAILLES, _June 31st, 1818._
+
+    We have plenty of French society.... Philip wants Edward to take a
+    _Grande Chasse_ near Dresden, which he may have for thirty pounds
+    a year, full of Boars, Staggs, Does, Black Cock, Capercailzie,
+    Pheasants and Partridges innumerable. He writes an anecdote which I
+    must give you:--An English merchant was hunting one day with the King
+    of Saxony and, observing that the hounds were inferior, asked the
+    Intendant if he thought the King would accept any English Dogs. "To be
+    sure," replied the Intendant, and thought no more of it. About eight
+    months after, the King received notice from a Merchant at Frankfort
+    that a pack of hounds waited his orders there from England. The King
+    was delighted and wrote to the Regent to pass a Service of Dresden
+    China, duty free, to his generous friend; therefore the English
+    Merchant was well rewarded for his attention.
+
+    We were last night at a ball at Lady Hales's [13] where we found them
+    dancing at nine and left them dancing at two; such numbers of men I
+    never saw anywhere, and yet one may walk about for hours and scarcely
+    ever see one.
+
+    There is a very pretty Mrs FitzGerald here, her husband is related to
+    Lord Ilchester, but our acquaintance among the English is very small
+    and we have no wish to enlarge it.
+
+
+    VERSAILLES, _February 9th, 1819._
+
+    The Evelyns who live in Lord Mansfield's house gave an excellent ball.
+    Lady Allone invited, & the story is that Mrs Evelyn says this was on
+    condition that she--Mrs Evelyn--left out all her own friends.
+
+    Mrs Poplim is the gayest of the gay with Balls and Proverbs, but the
+    English society does not improve.
+
+
+    _Undated._
+
+    Robert Glyn writes word that Mrs Beaumont sent to him at Genoa to
+    complain of the extortion of some of the foreign Bankers; they had
+    amongst them cheated her of _thirty shillings_, and she seemed to
+    think the Glyns were answerable for this, which made the Sieur Robert
+    rather indignant, particularly as it turned out that she had left the
+    set of Bankers recommended by the Glyns and gone to those of whom they
+    knew nothing. She has laid out about £500 on curiosities at Genoa.
+
+    Sophy [14] has certainly had a very good offer in Italy, some very
+    rich Neopolitan Prince, _un grand parti_, but Madame refused him
+    in grand style.
+
+
+In the next letter Marianne describes an event which electrified all
+France. The Duc D'Avaray was an intimate friend of Louis XVIII. His
+granddaughter Rosalba, aged seventeen, was extraordinarily handsome and
+much sought after by many aspirants for her hand. Among these latter was a
+young Englishman, twenty-six years of age, Charles Shakerley, [15] who was
+a great friend of the Stanhopes. Indeed, it appears extremely probable
+that Mrs Stanhope was responsible for his introduction to the Due D'Avaray
+as she was indirectly responsible for what followed, since it was owing to
+her invitation that Madame Contibonne, whose presence might have averted
+what happened, was absent from her home on the eventful evening when
+Charles Shakerley took his fate into his hands.
+
+
+    _February 25th, 1819._
+
+    I have secured the pen out of my mother's hand to announce the great
+    event which at this moment occupies all at Versailles and all Paris,
+    and probably will shortly occupy all the _beau monde_ of France.
+
+    This great event is Shakerley's elopement with Mlle. D'Avaray, on
+    Sunday the 21st.
+
+    William saw him either Saturday or Sunday at Paris, very disconsolate
+    at having just been refused. He told him he was packing up, was just
+    going to England for a week and then intended to depart for
+    Petersburg, we supposed to take unto himself some Russian Belle.
+    William came down in the Célérifère with Madame & Mlle. de Contibonne,
+    who told him Mlle. D'Avaray was their particular friend, and they
+    related all the history of the refusal. Mdlle. de Contibonne came here
+    to dine with her mother, who was obliged to return, having company at
+    Paris in the evening, one of her daughters remained at home, and with
+    her Mdlle. D'Avaray dined. The latter was to walk home with her maid
+    to dress for the party. Instead of going home she got into a
+    _Cabriolet_ with her maid, and drove to the barrier where Shakerley,
+    with two carriages, was waiting. They went off to Ostend, the lady and
+    her maid in one carriage, the gentleman and his valet in the other. At
+    Ostend they set the telegraph to send word to the Duchesse D'Avaray
+    where they were, and in return the Duc sent a _permission de mariage_.
+
+    On Sunday William gave them your's and Philip's direction, so perhaps
+    you may see them.
+
+    Had he murdered three women, there could not be such an outcry; old
+    and young, male and female, married and single, all unite in abuse of
+    the poor lady. The French Dandies are in a rage that the prettiest
+    girl in Paris should have run off with _un Anglais_. The English
+    all are delighted, even the Mammas, which astonishes all the French,
+    _Mais cette nation d'Insulaires barbares a toujours insulté toutes
+    les bien-connues._
+
+    I have sent you the general details, very likely not all true, but
+    that he has run off is most certain. To me, he has married her, or
+    means to do so; the very height and front of his offending hath this
+    extent, no more.
+
+
+To this information Mrs Stanhope added:--
+
+
+    What a scandal! In addition to what Anne has said, I must add what we
+    have heard since. Before Mlle. D'Avaray went away, she went into Mile,
+    de Contibonne's room, from which she made her way down the back
+    stairs. They wondered she did not return, and when they looked for
+    her, the bird was flown. I believe he was in the street waiting for
+    her. It was certainly a bold step for a French girl, as the eloping,
+    or as they call it being _enlevée_, is considered as everything
+    that is shocking! I say you will give him away when they are married
+    in England.
+
+
+    VERSAILLES, _March 3rd, 1819._
+
+    Shakerley returned Thursday, was married at the Ambassador's Friday.
+    The Duke of Gloucester [16] gave the Lady away & has taken Shakerley
+    with him to England, & she is gone to her friends, as she cannot be
+    married by the rights of the Church till the dispensation arrives,
+    which it cannot do for 21 days. Therefore he is lost and she is not--
+    what would you say to that? Report says her friends had fixed on
+    another person whose name I forget, and that the Hotel was ready. You
+    will probably see him and hear the truth.
+
+
+Two days before the date of this letter, John Stanhope had encountered the
+delinquent in London. On March 1st, 1819, his diary records:--
+
+
+    It rained very hard. Met Shakerley in Bond Street. He had just arrived
+    from Paris. After having in vain attempted to get the Duc D'Avaray's
+    consent to marrying his granddaughter, he eloped with her. He had
+    previously got a passport under Lord B.'s name and sent his carriage
+    off on the road to Brussels. He got another under his own name, and on
+    the road to Calais he took up Mlle. D'Avaray.
+
+    His cabriolet drove most furiously to the place where Lord B's
+    carriage and four horses were waiting, thence going off at full speed.
+
+    The whole of Paris went after them, but by taking the only road where
+    there was no telegraph, they completely outwitted the police. At last
+    one of his pursuers found him on the other side of the frontiers and
+    conveyed to them the intelligence that the Due would forgive them and
+    consent to their marriage at the Ambassador's chapel.
+
+    Immediately after, Shakerley started for England in order to procure
+    his father's consent, as that was necessary for their marriage
+    according to the rites of the Catholic Church.
+
+
+On March 30th, 1819, Mrs Stanhope adds the final word with regard to this
+episode:--
+
+
+     When Shakerley was married, rooms were prepared for them at the Duke
+    D'Avaray's, which had not been opened for three years, but no
+    "_Faire parts_" or "_Visites de noces_," and her friends say she will
+    have a difficult part to act, as her being received will depend upon
+    her future conduct. They are gone to Arras, where the Duke has the
+    command, and will I suppose be in London in May.
+
+    Lady Hunloke and various other people are inquiring for houses here.
+
+    Mrs Evelyn carried off her daughter in a hurry, as all the men were
+    after her.
+
+
+It appears, however, that later the delinquents were honoured by some
+"_faire parts_" being sent out to their friends by their nearer relatives.
+Folded up with these old letters are two announcements, each printed on a
+large sheet of paper, one surmounted by a Cupid holding a blazing torch
+and supporting a large M.:--
+
+
+    Mr and Mme. SHAKERLEY out l'honneur de vous faire part du mariage de
+    M. SHAKERLEY, leur fils, avec Mlle. D'AVARAY.
+
+
+The other (on which a Cupid has just lit two hearts flaming on one altar)
+runs thus:--
+
+
+    Mr le Duc et Mme. la DUCHESSE D'AVARAY, M. le MARQUIS et Mme. la
+    MARQUISE D'AVARAY ont l'honneur de vous faire part du Mariage de Mlle.
+    D'AVARAY, leur petite fille et fille, avec M. SHAKERLEY.
+
+
+Sad to relate, this romance had an untimely ending. Gronow states:--
+
+"It was the only case I remember of a young French lady running away from
+her father's house, and the sensation created by such an extraordinary
+occurrence was very great. The marriage, as runaway marriages usually are,
+was a very unhappy one; and the quarrels of the ill-matched couple were so
+violent that the police had to interfere. Unfortunately, the fair lady
+having once eloped, thought she might try the same experiment a second
+time, and one cold winter's night she decamped from a ball at the Austrian
+Ambassador's with a black-haired Spanish Don, the Marquis d'Errara."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+After this unprecedented Parisian excitement, the news from England which
+filtered through the post to the family in exile must have appeared
+lacking in interest. On March 25th, 1819, John Stanhope mentioned a little
+incident which has since become history. "Yesterday, I went to Almack's,"
+he relates, "a tolerably full ball. Many people were shut out, as at
+twelve Lady Castlereagh ordered the doors to be closed. In the number were
+her Lord and Master, and the Duke of Wellington." From Brighton came news
+of another old friend, Mr Macdonald, who was under a course of treatment
+from "Mr Mahomet, the Oriental Vaporist, "during which he sent them a
+description of his surroundings, which might be written to-day.
+
+
+    16 NEW STEINE, BRIGHTON, _August 7th, 1819._
+
+    What a multitude of people we have here, Jews, Haberdashers, and
+    money-lenders without number, a sort of Marine Cheapside, Mr Solomons,
+    Mrs Levis, and all the Miss Abrahams; in short, Hook Noses, Mosaical
+    Whiskers and the whole tribe of Benjamin occupy every shop, every
+    donkey-cart, and every seat in Box, Pit, and Gallery. I am very tired
+    of them, and shall probably take flight at the end of the week to
+    Worthing.
+
+    The Beaumonts no doubt are still travelling _en suite_ in Scotland. I
+    wonder how many darts and hearts have been fired and wounded amongst
+    my too susceptible Countrymen! We shall see when they return. I
+    suppose half the Country will follow them back into Yorkshire.
+
+
+Later in the year, from the same town, another friend, Sir James Graham,
+[17] wrote:--
+
+
+    BRIGHTON, _December 28th, 1819._
+
+    The Regent is in the best possible state of health and spirits, and
+    moves to London and back frequently. He leaves to-day for a few days.
+    The Pavilion Palace is not in a state to receive Company and therefore
+    he sees very few. The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester have been here
+    some time, and remain until the 5th or 6th of January, and this place
+    is quite full of company-not a good house to be got. Lady Elizabeth
+    Lowther has been here and is much better than usual.
+
+
+Perhaps stirred by the letters received from their friends in England, the
+thoughts of the exiled family turned more and more towards their home, and
+Marianne wrote to her brother--
+
+
+    I shall be delighted to nationalise in old England. I think as much as
+    mind is superior to body, so much is English society better than
+    French-I mean that in which we live.... This is a dancing generation,
+    I think people's wits live in their heels and they cultivate nothing
+    else, though Mrs Poplim, who is now at the bottom of the precipice,
+    _tout à fait_, gives Proverbs and Concerts.
+
+    Lady Morgan [18] is quite the light of Paris, people flock to her
+    house as they would to a wild beast show. She has Talma, Mile.
+    Georges, and all the other Lions, foreign and home-bred. She and the
+    Rochefoucaulds are very thick--a great proof of their want of tact,
+    for she is the most impudent pretender to literature I ever met with.
+
+
+    _Mrs Spencer-Stanhope to Charles Spencer-Stanhope._
+    _December 12th, 1819._
+
+    Although I have written this morning till my hand is tired and my head
+    confused, I cannot allow the remainder of this sheet to depart merely
+    blank paper.... The French dance as if they feared they might not live
+    to begin again after Lent. Lady Hales's ball was so full and hot that
+    the dancing was not agreeable. There is a very pretty French girl
+    there, a Paris Belle, and the first _partie_ in France, Mlle. de
+    Proneville; she is the only Peeress in her own right in France, and
+    has a large fortune. I say, as our fortunes come here, she should
+    marry into England. I see that Lord Mountmorris claims the title of
+    Annesley; should he succeed, the little Belle here will lose her
+    title, if not her fortune also, probably not all, as I believe her
+    mother had a large one.
+
+    I hope by this time you have John in London. I wish you could persuade
+    him to marry, though not to sacrifice family to fortune.
+
+    Almack's and the French Plays are to be the _ton_, and will it be
+    advisable to apply soon? How is the Opera?
+
+
+[Illustration: GEORGE III
+
+_Engraved by S. W.  Reynolds, and Pubd. by His Majesty's Most Gracious
+Permission, February 24th, 1820._
+
+When the ear heard him, then it blessed him, and when the eye saw him it
+gave witness of him.
+
+He delivered the poor that cried, the fatherless, and him that had none to
+help him. Kindness, meekness, and comfort, were in his tongue; if there
+was any  virtue, and if there was any praise, he thought of those things.
+His body is buried in peace, but his name liveth evermore.
+
+_To the British Nation this print of the FATHER OF HIS PEOPLE is most
+respectfully dedicated by Samuel M Reynolds._
+
+PROOF
+
+_A print taken of George III when mad. The possession of Rowland
+Pickering, Esq._]
+
+As shown by the last sentence, Mrs Stanhope was already thinking of
+securing her Opera box betimes in view of her approaching return to her
+native land. Ere she did so, however, an event occurred which terminated
+all thoughts of gaiety. On Sunday, January 30th, the Journal of John
+Stanhope records:--
+
+
+    Went to Portland St. Chapel. Observed that the Clergyman prayed--not
+    for the Prince and Princess of Wales--but for the Royal Family in
+    general. Called on Mrs Arthur Stanhope and learned that the King had
+    died at half past eight the night before. Singular that the very day
+    we had put on mourning for the Duke of Kent should be that on which
+    the death of his father was announced. The _Observer_ states that
+    the King died without any appearance of pain and without a lucid
+    interval. He had reigned fifty-nine years, three months and nine days.
+    He was 81 years, 7 months, and 126 days old.
+
+
+    _31st._
+
+    After breakfast, went down to Carlton House to see the Proclamation of
+    King George IV. The King-at-Arms cut a ridiculous figure. The guns
+    fired, the Proclamation was read, the Bands saluted, and some say the
+    new King appeared at the window and was greeted with cheers, but it is
+    since said that he did not appear and the cheers were in consequence
+    of the Proclamation only. Many of the Princes were present.
+
+
+    _February 24th, 1820._
+
+    Greeted with the intelligence of a fight that had taken place between
+    the Radicals and the Bow St. Officers and a detachment of the Guards.
+    It appeared that twenty-five of them, headed by Thistlewood, had
+    formed a plot to attack the Ministers when dining at Lord Harrowby's.
+    Two of them were to go there with red Boxes in lieu of dispatch Boxes.
+    Whilst the porter was taking these pretended dispatches, one of them
+    was to open the door to the remainder of the gang. They were to throw
+    fire-balls into the Mall, and, in the midst of the confusion thus
+    occasioned, to rush into the Dining-room and kill the Ministers.
+
+    Lord Harrowby had been warned by a person he met in the Park, and the
+    dinner was accordingly postponed. The Conspirators, however, met in a
+    small street (Cato Street) near Edgware Road. Mr Birnie, the
+    Magistrate, directed the police officers to enter the house & secure
+    them. The Guards, who were to second, entered unfortunately by the
+    wing end of the street. The Police Officers ascended into the Hay
+    Loft, where the Conspirators were assembled, by a ladder. They found
+    about 25 in a room with candles & arms of various descriptions upon
+    the table, and called them to surrender. Thistlewood made a thrust at
+    Smithers with a long sword & the Officer immediately fell, crying out
+    "Oh God!" The Conspirators then put the candles out with their swords
+    and in the confusion many of them escaped. Fitzclarence in the
+    meantime advanced at the head of the detachment of Guards. One of the
+    Conspirators presented a pistol at him, but fortunately the Serjeant
+    knocked it aside and received part of the contents in his coat sleeve.
+    Another made a thrust at him, and that was also knocked aside. He then
+    advanced at the head of the Guards into the room. He secured a man who
+    again presented a pistol at him, but it missed fire, so that he had
+    three narrow escapes. Nine of the Conspirators were taken, and
+    Thistlewood, for whom a reward of a Thousand Pounds was offered, was
+    taken during the course of the day in his bed. Saunders, in company
+    with another Bow St. Officer, entered the room and threw himself on
+    the bed. He said, "I have made no resistance. You could not have taken
+    me otherwise!"
+
+
+Thistlewood and four of his companions were hanged and then beheaded, but
+the horrid spectacle of their execution roused the public to demand the
+abolition of the punishment of decapitation, and they were the last
+persons who thus suffered in England.
+
+But the country did not readily resume the more peaceful conditions which
+had been thus rudely disturbed, and it was to a land distracted by rioting
+as well as to a land of mourning that Mrs Stanhope and her family returned
+early in 1820, in order to prepare for the wedding of her son, Edward
+Collingwood. [19]
+
+Manifold, indeed, were the changes which had occurred within the last few
+years. Not only had the long and chequered reign of George III. ended and
+the Regent at length grasped the power which he had so long coveted, but
+the subject of the succession was creating universal interest. Since 1817,
+the luckless Princess Charlotte had lain in her untimely grave with the
+still form of the babe which had cost her existence-mother and child in
+one dark tragedy bereft of the great destiny which was their heritage. And
+now in the nursery of Kensington Palace was a little fatherless girl of a
+year old on whom the hopes of England centred. But of the absent Queen of
+George IV. disparaging rumours were circulated, and while in the
+affections of her fickle husband it was said Lady Conyngham had supplanted
+Mrs Fitzherbert, Lady Hertford and Lady Jersey, whispers of a Royal
+divorce were in the air, and the threatened coming of Caroline was awaited
+with increasing anxiety.
+
+The spirit of unrest which pervaded the country had even penetrated to
+Yorkshire. The weavers there were rioting, and so threatening was their
+behaviour that about this date Mr Frederick Wentworth actually sent to
+offer them a bribe of £20 not to burn down Wentworth Castle. The North was
+deemed unsafe, and, abandoning all thoughts of visiting it, Mrs Stanhope,
+whose former home in Grosvenor Square had been sold, decided to settle in
+Langham Place. She therefore took a large house in that locality, which
+was entered by great gates and stood in the midst of a fine garden, and
+there her family swiftly resumed the old routine of their London life.
+Despite the mourning for the late King, Mrs Stanhope wrote: "Mrs Malcolm
+who called yesterday tells me there is a great deal of quiet society &
+that if you get into a set, you may be engaged every night." While
+Marianne regaled her brother with her usual "quiz."
+
+
+    I am not in love with the dinnerings in the neighbourhood, we met 14
+    people yesterday at Lord Ashtown's, none of whom I trust I shall ever
+    see again.
+
+    I must tell you the derivation of the word _dinnering_. The lady
+    of a new-made baronet in Dorsetshire informed us that her husband was
+    put under a regiment & ordered the _tippet_ bath to cure him of
+    the effect of London "dinnerings."
+
+    I am afraid you did not hear of our meeting with a lady who had once
+    nearly taken a house in Yorkshire "_in a remote part, near West
+    Riding_"--which she certainly took for a town.
+
+
+[Illustration: THE MARCHIONESS CONYNGHAM
+_From a miniature by P. Singry (about 1825-30) in the Wallace
+Collection._]
+
+In June that year the arrival of the Queen brought public excitement to a
+climax. On the day when she was to land, greatly to the relief of the
+authorities who dreaded a riot, there was an unusually heavy storm. The
+Heavens themselves seemed in league against the unhappy woman. It poured
+on her first arrival in England, it poured on her return from her long
+exile, it was destined to pour during her last sad exit from the scene of
+so many humiliations. John Stanhope, who had last seen Caroline as she
+wrathfully turned her back upon his friend, Mr Maxwell, at Naples, was
+anxious to witness her reception in England as Queen. On June 6th his
+diary records:--
+
+
+    It rained heavily, and between the wet and the unexpected arrival of
+    the Queen, London was in a state of indescribable confusion.
+
+    Lord ---- had been sent down to negociate with her. He was
+    commissioned to offer her £50,000 a year on condition of her remaining
+    abroad and not bearing the title of Queen. These conditions she
+    rejected, and abandoning herself entirely to the advice of Alderman
+    Wood, did not attempt to keep the negociation open, but embarked on
+    board the Leopold packet with Lady Anne Hamilton, Alderman Wood and
+    her suite. Sir Neil Campbell drove me a little way on the Kent Road,
+    the whole was lined with people, but we soon got tired of waiting--to
+    receive the Queen in the midst of the violent storm and returned home.
+
+    The Queen arrived between six and seven. A mob was immediately
+    assembled round Alderman Wood's house, in which she has taken up her
+    abode, and forced people to pull off their hats as they passed the
+    house. The Queen made her appearance on the Balcony.
+
+    The Ministers brought a green bag down to the House containing the
+    charges against the Queen.
+
+
+    _Mrs Spencer-Stanhope._
+    _August 8th, 1820._
+
+    The Review on Saturday went off most brilliantly--The Duke of
+    Wellington told the King to show himself, which he did, and was
+    received with the greatest applause.
+
+    The first day the Troops wanted to have cheered him, but were not
+    allowed. He and the Queen did not meet, tho' she hovered about. She
+    has now a smart coach and Royal liveries.
+
+
+The public trial of Caroline, which lasted from August 19th to November
+10th, entirely absorbed the public attention. The early partisanship of
+the Stanhopes for the unfortunate lady had waned since the conviction had
+become unavoidable that her manners were less "royal" than they had at
+first imagined. On October 13th Mrs Stanhope writes:--
+
+
+    Philip is much engaged with the House of Stanhope. He has been two
+    evenings at Harrington House, last night with Lady Stanhope to the
+    Playgoers, again to-night with the Carringtons with whom he dines. He
+    has just been here and says it is possible the Queen's business may be
+    over to-day, as Brougham called for one of the Government witnesses,
+    and was told he was gone, which may give him an opportunity of
+    concluding the affair--rather stopping it entirely. I do not think
+    that her own witnesses have proved much in her favour, tho' they
+    admitted facts which made against her with great reluctance.
+
+
+[Illustration: QUEEN CAROLINE
+_From a picture in the possession of Mr. Sterling._]
+
+John Stanhope attended the trial assiduously and thus describes its
+close:--
+
+
+    _October 26th._
+
+    Went to Macdonald's and accompanied him to the House of Lords, heard
+    the Attorney General's reply; thought the first part but feeble, but
+    latterly he became very good. His delivery and his voice are bad and
+    he is not pleasant.
+
+
+    _October 27th._
+
+    Went to the House of Lord's, heard the conclusion of the Attorney
+    General's speech, and the commencement of that of the Solicitor
+    General, which was very good.
+
+
+    _November 10th._
+
+    The Bill was read a third time, by a majority of 9. The Ministers
+    declared that they could not think of proceeding with it with so small
+    a majority. The joy of the people was tremendous. They forced an
+    illumination at night.
+
+
+    _November 11th._
+
+    A second Illumination.
+
+
+    _November 13th._
+
+    It rained hard, towards night it cleared. I walked about the streets
+    to see the illuminations. There were detachments of horse-guards at
+    every street corner.
+
+
+    _November 14th._
+
+    Some partial Illuminations.
+
+
+Meanwhile, throughout the Kingdom rejoicings were taking place, and
+Yorkshire was not behind-hand. In Wakefield, indeed, the demonstrations
+were unusually effective. An ox with gilded horns was led round the town,
+all gaily bedecked with flowers, while on its back was conspicuously
+painted a device surrounded by the words _Caroline Rex_ (sic), this being
+the work of a loyal and enthusiastic Irishman who lived in the town. The
+animal was finally roasted whole in the bull-ring, bonfires and public
+illuminations concluding the feast. On the Bank was exhibited a
+magnificent transparency, an original design, showing the Queen in a
+crimson glory which rose from the smoke produced by the explosion of a
+Green Bag, underneath which was represented Majocci in a fright, saying,
+"_Non mi ricordo_" his invariable answer at trial. In the Corn Market was
+displayed another huge Green Bag fixed upon a pole and bearing the
+inscription: "Green Bags manufactured wholesale for witnesses on oath."
+After hanging for some time, to the great delight of the assembled crowd,
+this was set on fire and exploded with much noise and brilliance.
+
+On the 20th of November the Queen went to St Paul's to return thanks for
+her escape from the snares of her enemies, and the diary of John Stanhope
+relates:--
+
+
+    Went to Hyde Park at nine to see Sir Robert Wilson [20] muster his
+    ragged Regiment of Cavalry to escort the Queen to St Paul's. Whilst he
+    was marshalling his forces, a troop of Horse Guards passed down the
+    line on the way to the Barracks; the contrast was admirable! At ten he
+    marched them to Piccadilly where he waited till the Queen arrived.
+
+    She came preceded by some horsemen, driving in a barouche-and-six with
+    a handsome equipage. She was followed by another carriage and by the
+    great Alderman Wood.
+
+    I followed them as far as Temple Bar where I took my stand within a
+    fishmonger's shop and waited in patient expectation till she returned,
+    which was not till near three. The Gates then opened, the City Marshal
+    took his stand within and bowed out the procession. There was a large
+    detachment of shop-keepers on horseback, then came the Queen in her
+    open carriage. She was all in white and covered with a white veil.
+    There were loud cheers. She continued bowing. The procession was
+    brought up by the different trades with a great variety of flags. The
+    whole was closed by a Green Bag!
+
+    I returned home having had my pocket picked. I know not whether I was
+    most struck at the extraordinary nature of this triumphant procession,
+    partaking of a strong rebellious feeling and made in the teeth of the
+    Government, or at the tranquillity with which it passed off.
+
+
+Hard upon the rejoicings at the acquittal of the Queen came news of the
+festivities in connection with the approaching coronation, and accounts of
+the conduct of the new King which point to his having occupied himself
+more assiduously with the graver duties of his new condition than has been
+credited by posterity. Mrs Stanhope writes:--
+
+
+    _January 27th, 1821._
+
+    Marianne and Frances were much gratified by hearing the King's speech,
+    which he read with great grace. He was well received. His servant who
+    waited on Philip the day he was on duty told him that the King rises
+    at eight. He has seldom above one or two people to dinner--when
+    anybody. He dines at six or half-after, and _occupies himself almost
+    the whole day in writing_. He looks remarkably well.
+
+
+    _Marianne Spencer-Stanhope to John Spencer-Stanhope._
+    _May 12th, 1821._
+
+    The Carlton House ball was very superb; only one Quadrille danced at a
+    time, & great attention paid to the dancers. His Majesty sat between
+    Lady Conyngham and Countess Lieven, [21] great attention paid to the
+    former, who was most superbly dressed, and violent attention paid to
+    the Opposition. Much civility also to Lord Lauderdale and Lord Cowper,
+    at which notice of the Opposition the Ministers were furious.
+
+    One story is that Lord & Lady Grey went up followed by two sons &
+    three daughters, and that the King said, laughing heartily, "Did you
+    all come in the Slap-Bang?" The Duchess of Bedford was much scolded
+    for not bringing Miss Russell, Frank Russell's [22] sister. She was
+    sent for out of bed. When she arrived, the King met her at the door,
+    and presented her with a partner, & stood by her while she danced.
+
+    The King is going to the theatres to _feel_ the public mind with
+    regard to a coronation. The Queen stays to annoy him. She had written
+    in her own hand to say, "As I am not to partake in _our_ coronation, I
+    expect to have a Gallery for myself and Ladies."
+
+    Lady Worcester [23] was not expected to live thro' last night. She was
+    at the Birthday & at the ball, danced a great deal, felt unwell, and
+    was fool enough to take a shower bath before she went to bed. She was
+    seized with inflammation in her bowels & in great danger immediately.
+
+    Lord Conyngham is nicknamed the "Small toothcomb"--all back and teeth.
+
+    I hear there is a new version of an old story of the Duke of
+    Gloucester. He went to see Bedlam; a man called out--"Ha! Silly Billy!
+    Are you come here?" The Duke exclaimed--"God bless me! How odd he
+    should know my name!" Upon which the keeper remarked innocently--"He
+    _has sometimes_ glimmerings of sense, please your Royal Highness."
+
+    They are in a great fright lest Lord Worcester [24] should marry Miss
+    Belle Calcraft. [25] It is supposed there has been an intrigue between
+    them for some time.
+
+    Lady Worcester's sufferings were most extreme, her complaint a
+    twisting of the guts. She died sensible but screaming. On one side of
+    the bed sat Lady E. Vernon, on the other, Lady Jersey, also screaming
+    with grief. The Duke of Wellington had to drag them by force out of
+    the room. There were eighty people standing round when she died.
+
+    The Ministers are said to be very angry with the King. Lord Liverpool
+    sent to announce Dr Dodsworth's [26] death, and the Canonry of Windsor
+    vacant in consequence, to ask who his Majesty would choose it to be
+    given to. He said very short--"Oh, I have given it away already."
+
+
+    _May 25th, 1821._
+
+    The French Play is going down fast, the Patronesses never attending,
+    so poor Sequin wrote a memorial to the ladies to say he should be
+    ruined, and, in consequence, last Tuesday was very well attended. I
+    hear of no marriage excepting Miss Lockhart, who used to go about with
+    Lady C. Durham, to an Italian Count who had followed her from Italy.
+
+    A melancholy accident happened the other day to Sir J. Smith's second
+    son, Marriott. He was riding through the town of Bridgwater with a
+    young man of the name of Morris who is at the same Tutor's. The horse
+    became unmanageable, the two young men were thrown, Morris pitched on
+    his head and was killed on the spot, young Smith was very little hurt,
+    but his state of distress is such that they hardly know what to do
+    with him.
+
+    Your sisters who are looking over the catalogue of books at the
+    library have just met with _Countess Moreau's Works_--alias _Contes
+    Moraux_.
+
+
+    _July 21st, 1821._
+
+    We have just finished reading the newspaper account of the Coronation
+    which must have been a magnificent spectacle. We were horrified at the
+    Queen debasing herself so much as to ask admission at the door--a
+    request she was certain of being denied. We long to hear how you and
+    Philip saw the ceremony, and whether the latter is not half killed by
+    the fatigue of it.
+
+
+But John Stanhope seems to have been more interested in the various events
+attendant upon the Coronation than in the ceremony itself. His diary
+records:--
+
+
+    _July 19th, 1821._
+
+    The morning was beautiful. I had not attempted to get a ticket for the
+    Abbey or the Hall, so I determined after breakfast to sally forth and
+    see the Balloon ascend, and then to walk down Palace Yard and try
+    whether there was not a place to be got. Nothing could be more
+    animating than the scene, the St James's Park and the Green Park were
+    entirely covered with Spectators. The Balloon ascended to a
+    considerable height before it was at all carried away by the wind, it
+    rose, indeed, out of our sight.
+
+    As soon as this spectacle was over, I went to see the guns fired, and
+    from thence to George St., where for five shillings I got a place in a
+    Booth for which the previous night they asked as many guineas, and
+    after waiting for some time I saw the procession go from the Abbey to
+    the Hall,--a superb sight. I afterwards returned home much fatigued,
+    but issued forth again to see the illuminations.
+
+    But a long time elapsed before I could get into the Park owing to the
+    string of carriages through the large gates and the pressure of the
+    mob through the smaller ones. At last I was obliged to go round by
+    Grosvenor Gate.
+
+    I first directed my steps to the fireworks, which were let off under
+    the direction of the Military from the middle of the Park. I
+    afterwards saw the Serpentine where there was a very brilliant
+    display. There was a splendid illumination at the lower end on the
+    water, a car drawn by elephants with lanterns, and boats with
+    variegated lamps, water rockets, and, at intervals, lights on the
+    terrace at Kensington Gardens which lighted up the whole park.
+
+    From the Park I proceeded to Piccadilly, down St James's St., along
+    Pall Mall, up the Haymarket and Bond St., and went as far as Portland
+    Place where some of the houses were illuminated most splendidly. The
+    French and Spanish Ambassadors' houses also produced a magnificent
+    effect. I returned home about two o'clock, much exhausted.
+
+
+    _July 20th._
+
+    I went to the Opera, it was very full, and after the Opera and Ballet
+    we had a grand _God Save The King_. Nothing could exceed the
+    enthusiasm of the audience. Tumults of applause at the end of every
+    stanza, and the whole encored. A solitary hiss was heard, but it was
+    soon silenced by cries of "Turn him out! Throw him over!"
+
+
+[Illustration: WALTER SPENCER STANHOPE, AETAT 70
+_From an ivory bust in the possession of Mrs Stirling._]
+
+But save for the descriptions in the newspapers and the accounts sent to
+her by her sons, Mrs Stanhope saw nothing of the splendid spectacle which
+had been taking place. That year of general rejoicing had proved for her a
+year of seclusion and of mourning. After her return home the health of her
+husband had rapidly declined, and with the coming of April, 1821, while
+all England was awakening to a summer of festivity and gladness, Walter
+Stanhope, overborne with the burden of his seventy-one years, had
+peacefully breathed his last.
+
+He left behind him the record of a blameless and honourable life, and on
+April 21st, while his funeral was in progress in Yorkshire, his wife wrote
+to her son John:--
+
+
+    Upon this mournful day my first wish is to converse with my children-
+    the only remaining tie I now have in this world. I hope in God you
+    will all bear up during the awful and heart-rending Ceremony. The
+    prayers of the poor and the afflicted will follow your beloved parent
+    to the Grave, and may they fall upon his children.
+
+
+
+
+FOOTNOTES
+
+
+DRAMATIS PERSONAE
+
+[1] She married, March 1828, Robert Hudson, Esq. of Tadworth Court, near
+Reigate. Died September 1862, aged 76.
+
+[2] He succeeded to the estates of Cannon Hall and Horsforth, etc.;
+married, in 1822, Elizabeth Wilhelmina, youngest daughter of Thomas
+William Coke, Esq., afterwards 1st Earl of Leicester. Died 1873, aged 86.
+
+[3] She died, unmarried, 17th March, 1860, in her 72nd year.
+
+[4] Assumed by Royal Licence, in 1816, the name and arms of Collingwood,
+pursuant to the will of his great-uncle, Edward Collingwood, Esq., whose
+estates he inherited. He married, September 9th, 1820, Arabella, daughter
+of General John Calcraft, of Cholderton, Hants. Died August 4th, 1866, in
+his 75th year.
+
+[5] He assumed the name of Roddam on succeeding to the estates of his
+kinsman and godfather, Admiral Roddam of Roddam, Northumberland. He
+married, first, Charlotte, daughter of Henry Percy Pulleine, Esq. of
+Crakehall; and secondly, Selina Henrietta, daughter of John Cotes, Esq. of
+Woodcote. Died 1864, aged 71.
+
+[6] He was subsequently Vicar of Weaverham in Cheshire, and for fifty-two
+years non-resident Vicar of Cawthorne, Yorkshire. Married Frederica Mary,
+daughter of the late Robert Philip Goodenough, Prebendary of Carlisle and
+Southwell. Died October 29th, 1874, aged 79.
+
+[7] Died, unmarried, 1857, aged 60.
+
+[8] Captain in the Grenadier Guards and Page of Honour to George III. and
+George IV. General in the Army and Colonel of the 13th Light Infantry.
+Married, May 2nd, 1865, Mary Catherine, relict of Edward Strickland, Esq.
+She died in July of the same year. General Stanhope died in 1880, aged 81.
+
+[9] Died, unmarried, February 5th, 1885, in her 85th year.
+
+[10] Died, unmarried, December 30th, 1884, aged 82.
+
+[11] Barrister-at-Law of the Middle Temple; lived at Glen Alien in
+Northumberland, near Alnwick. Married, 1848, Amy Anne, 5th daughter of
+Henry Percy Pulleine, Esqre. of Crakehall. D.S.P. 1871, aged 67.
+
+[12] It is now No. 32 Upper Grosvenor Street, the door being in the latter
+street.  In the directories prior to 1800 it is described as being in
+Upper Grosvenor Street, but subsequently it was No. 28 Grosvenor Square.
+
+[13] The culminating achievement of his public life was his strenuous
+promotion of the grand scheme of volunteer service at a time of great
+national danger: yet in his old age he used to state that the most
+interesting act of his existence on which he could look back was his
+having persuaded the Prime Minister, Pitt, to colonize Australia.
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+[1] Mary Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Richard Carr Glyn, 2nd Bt. of Ewell,
+eminent banker of London (of the firm of Glyn, Mills, Currie & Co.), and
+his wife Mary, daughter of John Plumptre, Esq. Of Fredville, M.P. for
+Nottingham. Miss Glyn married, 14th August 1811, Edward Greated, Esq. Of
+Uddings, Co. Dorset, and died his widow, 17th January 1864.
+
+[2] William Hanry West Betty, better known as "The young Roscius." See
+page 27.
+
+[3] Sydney Smith, 1771-1845; Canon of St Paul's. He started the _Edinburgh
+Review_ in 1802; and was celebrated for his wit and keen sense of humour.
+
+[4] Wife of Edward, Lord de Clifford; she was for many years governess to
+Princess Charlotte.
+
+[5] Sarah Trimmer (1741-1810); born at Ipswich, dau. of Joseph Kirby, and
+a great favourite of Dr Johnson. She wrote many books for the young. In
+1762 she married Mr Trimmer and had a family of twelve children.
+
+[6] Mrs Fitzherbert, who had been secretly married to the Prince of Wales,
+afterwards George IV., in 1785.
+
+[7] Daughter of Henry Drummond, Esq., by his wife Anne, daughter of
+Viscount Melville.
+
+ [8] Thomas, eldest son of 1st Earl of Ranfurly and Viscount Northland.
+Born 1786, married 1815 Mary Juliana, daughter of the Hon. and Most Rev.
+William Stuart, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of all Ireland; succeeded
+his father as 2nd Earl of Ranfurly, 1840. Mrs Stanhope's house in
+Grosvenor Square being at the corner of Upper Grosvenor Street, she refers
+to Mr and Mrs Knox as living "in this Street."
+
+[9] Mrs Beaumont was the natural daughter of Sir Thomas Blackett, Bt. of
+Bretton, who made her his heiress. She married Col. Beaumont, M.P.
+
+[10] _Memoirs of Sir William Jones_, the orientalist, appended to his
+Works, by Lord Teignmouth, 9 vols., 1799-1804.
+
+[11] Maria Juliana, daughter of Robert Edward, both Baron Petre. Married
+30th April 1805, to Stephen Philips, Esq., and died 27th January 1824.
+
+[12] Charles, second son of George, 7th Baron Kinnaird, afterwards
+succeeded his father as 8th Baron owing to the death of his elder brother,
+who was killed by a tiger on the coast of Coromandel.
+
+[13] Afterwards Sir Humphry Davy, the celebrated chemist, 1778-1829.
+
+[14] See _Annals of a Yorkshire House_ vol. i., page 320.
+
+[15] Lady Anna Maria Stanhope, eldest daughter of Charles, 3rd Earl of
+Harrington, married Francis, 7th Duke of Bedford.
+
+[16] Lord Alvanley, 1789-1849, entered the Coldstream Guards at an early
+age; but being possessed of a large fortune, he subsequently left the
+army, and gave himself up entirely to the pursuit of pleasure. He
+eventually dissipated his fortune, but throughout his life remained noted
+for his wit, his good humour, and his prominence in the world of fashion.
+
+[17] Katharine, daughter of Robert Lowther, Esq., and sister of Sir James
+Lowther, married Henry Paulet, 6th Duke of Bolton, Admiral of the White;
+M.P. for Winchester, 1762-1765; Lord-Lieutenant of Hampshire and Governor
+of the Isle of Wight in 1782.
+
+[18] George, 7th Baron Kinnaird, married Elizabeth, daughter of Griffin
+Ransom, Esq., of New Palace Yard, Westminster, Banker. Died 11th October,
+1805.
+
+[19] Archibald John, eldest son of Neil, 3rd Earl of Rosebery.
+
+[20] Clementina, Lady Perth, a daughter of the 10th Lord Elphinstone. Her
+husband had died in 1800, and her daughter at this date was a child.
+
+[21] _Annals of a Yorkshire House_, vol. ii. page 328.
+
+[22] See _Annals of a Yorkshire House_, vol. ii. pages 52, 122, 294.
+Walter Ramsden Beaumont Hawkesworth, High Sheriff of Yorkshire whose
+father, Walter Ramsden, had assumed the surname and arms of Hawkesworth,
+pursuant to the will of his grandfather, Sir Walter Hawkesworth, and who
+himself, in 1786, assumed the surname and arms of Fawkes, pursuant to the
+will of his relation, Francis Fawkes of Farnley, who left him his estate.
+
+[23] Edward, second son of the 1st Lord Vernon, Baron of Kinderton, and
+his second wife, Martha, third daughter of the Hon. S. Harcourt, and
+sister of Simon, 1st Earl Harcourt. Married, 1784, Anne, third daughter of
+Granville, 1st Marquis of Stafford, and upon inheriting the Harcourt
+estates assumed the surname of Harcourt.
+
+[24] Sir James Graham, Bt. of Kirkstall, Co. York, born 1753, created a
+Baronet, 1808, M.P. for Carlisle and Recorder of Appleby. Died, 1825.
+
+[25] Frederick Edward Vernon, afterwards Vernon-Harcourt, fourth son of
+the above; Admiral R.N.; married Marcis, daughter of Admiral J. R. Delap
+Tollemache.
+
+[26] The Hon. Henrietta Maria Monckton, second daughter of Viscount
+Galway.
+
+[27] George Granville Vernon, afterwards Vernon-Harcourt, eldest son of
+the Bishop of Carlisle, afterwards Archbishop of York. Married first
+Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Richard, 2nd Earl of Lucan; secondly,
+Frances Elizabeth, Countess-Dowager of Waldegrave.
+
+[28] See _Annals of a Yorkshire House_, vol. ii. page 291.
+
+[29] General Count Woronzow, Ambassador to England. A celebrated Russian
+General who played a prominent part in the overthrow of Bonaparte in 1814.
+
+[30] See _Annals of a Yorkshire House_, Vol. II., pages 151-152.
+
+[31] Mark Singleton, Esq., married in 1785 to Lady Mary Cornwallis, only
+daughter of the 1st Marquess Cornwallis, Governor-General of India, who
+had died in India, 5th October 1805.
+
+[32] Charlotte Augusta Matilda, Princess Royal of England (1766-1828). In
+1797 she married the future Elector and King of Wurtemburg. She behaved
+with exceptional tact under the trying ordeal of receiving her country's
+foe, and Napoleon treated her with a courtesy and consideration which he
+seldom exhibited.
+
+[33] Sir Robert Calder, Bt., 1745-1818, son of Sir James Calder of Muirton
+in Morayshire. He entered the Navy at the age of fourteen, and in 1796
+officiated as Captain of the Fleet, when he contributed to gain the famous
+victory off Cape St Vincent. In 1798 he was created a baronet, and in 1799
+attained to the rank of rear-admiral. In 1805 he was sent to cruise off
+Finisterre in order to intercept the combined French and Spanish Fleet
+under Villeneuve, and an engagement took place on June 22nd, as a result
+of which Admiral Calder was severely censured, both for his mode of attack
+and his failure to complete the engagement on the following day. On his
+return to England he was tried by Court-martial, and was found guilty of
+not having done his utmost to take and destroy the enemy's ships, owing to
+an error of judgment; and was severely reprimanded. Later, the opinion
+gained ground that he had been harshly treated. In 1810 he was appointed
+port-admiral at Plymouth.
+
+[34] Lord Erskine.
+
+[35] Lord Grenville.
+
+[36] Lord Henry Petty.
+
+[37] "And everyone that was in distress and everyone that was in debt and
+everyone that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him, and he
+became a Captain over them."
+
+[38] William Henry, afterwards 3rd Baron Lyttleton. Born 1782, married
+1813, Lady Sarah Spencer, eldest daughter of 2nd Earl Spencer, succeeded
+his half-brother in 1837.
+
+[39] Osborne Markham, Esq., M.P., of Cufforth Hall, Co. York, born 1769,
+married first, June 10th, 1806, the Lady Mary Thynne, daughter of Thomas,
+1st Marquis of Bath.
+
+[40] "The Pilot that weathered the Storm" was a song composed by Canning
+to be sung on the birthday of William Pitt, May 28th, 1802.
+
+[41] Edinburgh.
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+[1] Ralph Collingwood of East Ditchburn, _tempo_ Charles First, had two
+sons: first, Cuthbert Collingwood, from whom the family of Lord
+Collingwood is said to be descended; secondly, Edward Collingwood, from
+whom the family of Winifred Collingwood was descended, and who were known
+as the Collingwoods of Byker, Dissington, and Chirton.
+
+[2] Robert Roddam, Senior Admiral of the Red, Commander-in-Chief at
+Portsmouth, etc.; see _Annals of a Yorkshire House_, vol. ii. pages 223,
+248.
+
+[3] Edward Collingwood, usually known as the Younger, of Chirton, Byker,
+and Dissington, uncle to Mrs Spencer-Stanhope. See _Annals of a Yorkshire
+House_, vol. ii. page 164.
+
+[4] A letter to J. E. Blackett, Esq., written November 2nd, 1805.
+
+[5] The soundings gave but thirteen fathoms of water with the Trafalgar
+rocks to leeward.
+
+[6] Governor-General of Andalusia.
+
+[7] Viscount Castlereagh (1769-1822), who became, in 1821, 2nd Marquis of
+Londonderry, was War Minister from July 1805 to January 1806, and again
+from April 1807 to September 1809.
+
+[8] _Hansard's Parliamentary Debates._
+
+"_Feb. 11th. Lord Collingwood's Annuity Bill._
+
+"Mr Spencer Stanhope, who stated that he had long had the honour of being
+acquainted with Lord Collingwood and his family, recommended that instead
+of the limitations at present in the Bill, it should be arranged that in
+the case of the death of the meritorious officer, £1000 a year of the
+proposed annuity should descend to his widow and £500 per year to each of
+his daughters, to be held by them during their lives. This plan would be
+infinitely more suitable than that which the Bill contained as Lord
+Collingwood was not likely to have any more children and sure he was that
+it would be much more agreeable to the family of that noble Lord and of
+course to the feelings of that noble Lord himself. It would serve to
+relieve much of that anxiety which must naturally arise in the breast of a
+parent who is daily exposed to death in his country's cause, and who must
+be sorely afflicted by the idea that his death would leave his family with
+a very limited provision. Parliament, the Hon. Member had no doubt, would
+be happy and prompt to release the feelings of that noble Lord from such
+an afflicting prospect."
+
+[9] Kindly lent to the author by Alfred Brewis, Esq., of Newcastle-on-
+Tyne.
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+
+[1] Charles William, Viscount Milton, afterwards 5th Earl Fitzwilliam;
+born May 4th, 1786, and at the age of twenty, in July 1806, married Mary,
+fourth daughter of Thomas, 1st Lord Dundas.
+
+[2] George, afterwards 6th Earl of Carlisle, K.G., Lord-Lieutenant of the
+East Riding of Yorkshire; born, 1776; married, 1801, Georgiana, eldest
+daughter and co-heir of William, 5th Duke of Devonshire, K.G.; died 1848.
+
+[3] Caroline Isabella, eldest daughter of Frederick, 5th Earl of Carlisle;
+married John, 1st Lord Cawdor, and died in 1848.
+
+[4] William Wilberforce, 1759-1833. Returned as M.P. for Hull 1780, for
+Yorkshire 1784. Although a great friend of Pitt, he was independent of
+party. For nineteen years he fought for the abolition of the Slave Trade,
+and was successful in 1807. He then fought for the total abolition of
+slavery until compelled to retire from public life in 1825.
+
+[5] Woolley Park, near Wakefield, then the seat of Godfrey Wentworth,
+formerly Armytage, Esq., J.P. and D.L., who had assumed the surname and
+arms of Wentworth on succeeding to the property of Woolley on the death of
+his grandfather Godfrey Wentworth, Esq. of Woolley and Hickleton, M.P. for
+York. The eldest daughter of the latter, Anna Maria, married Sir George
+Armytage, Bart, of Kirkless, Co. York, and her third son thus succeeded
+his grandfather in 1789.
+
+[6] Godfrey Wentworth Armytage, Esq., afterwards Wentworth, married, in
+1794, Amelia, daughter of Walter Ramsden Beaumont Hawksworth, Esq., who
+afterwards took the name of Fawkes under the will of his cousin, Francis
+Fawkes, Esq., of Farnley, Co. York.
+
+[7] The governess.
+
+[8] Robert Monckton Arundell, 4th Viscount Galway, K.B.; a Privy
+Councillor and representative of York and Pontefract in different
+Parliaments; married, in 1803, as his second wife, Mary Bridget, relict of
+Peter Auriol Hay-Drummond, Esq., and only child of Pemberton Milnes, Esq.
+of Bawtry Hall, Co. York.
+
+[9] Michael Angelo Taylor, son of Sir R. Taylor, architect, whose fortune
+endowed the Taylorian buildings at Oxford.
+
+Michael Angelo was Recorder of Poole in 1784, and became member for that
+borough the same year. He lived to be Father of the House. He was a
+constant source of amusement to his fellow Parliamentarians on account of
+his vanity and ostentation, and was a celebrated subject for Gilray's
+caricatures. The summit of his ambition was reached when the Prince Regent
+became his guest. See _Annals of a Yorkshire House_, vol. ii. pages 40-43.
+
+[10] John Beaumont, Esquire of Whitley Beaumont, Yorkshire, born 1752,
+died 1831; married Sarah, daughter of Humphrey Butler, Esquire of
+Hereford.
+
+[11] Francis Ward, second son of Neil, 3rd Earl of Rosebery.
+
+[12] Angelica Catalani (1779-1849), who at this date was twenty-seven
+years of age, was famous throughout Europe for her exquisite voice. She
+had displayed extraordinary vocal powers from the age of six. In the
+previous year, 1806, she had made £10,000 during an engagement of six
+months in London.
+
+[13] So called from the actor and manager, Michael Kelly.
+
+[14] The two Princes of Holstein then visiting England were Auguste of
+Schleswig-Holstein-Oldenburg (b. 1783) and his brother Peter Frederick
+George (b. 1784). Denmark had secured Holstein in the previous September.
+
+[15] Mrs Cator, Elizabeth Louisa, daughter of Sir Ross Mahon, Bart. of
+Castlegar, Co. Galway, and Anne, daughter of the 1st Earl of Altamont.
+
+[16] John Dennis, 3rd Earl of Altamont, created Marquis of Sligo in
+Ireland 1800, and a Peer of the United Kingdom as Baron Monteagle of
+Westport, Co. Mayo, 1806.
+
+[17] John Cator, Esq. of Beckenham Place, Kent, and of Woodbastwick Hall,
+Norfolk, mar., September 1806, Elizabeth Louisa, daughter of Sir Ross
+Mahon, Bart. of Castlegar, Co. Galway.
+
+[18] The Right Hon. John Smyth of Heath Hall, M.P. for Pontefract, and
+successively a Lord of the Admiralty and Treasury, Master of the Mint and
+Privy Councillor in 1772. Married Lady Georgiana Fitzroy, eldest daughter
+of Augustus Henry, 3rd Duke of Grafton. See _Annals of a Yorkshire House_,
+vol. ii., pages 108-113.
+
+[19] Prince Paul Esterhazy, Austrian Minister at the Court of St James's.
+
+[20] Isabella, eldest daughter and co-heir of Charles Ingram, 9th Viscount
+Irvine, wife of the 2nd Marquis of Hertford, K.G., Lord Chamberlain.
+
+[21] Wife of Sir William Scott, afterwards Baron Stowel.
+
+[22] See _Annals of a Yorkshire House_, vol. ii., page 319.
+
+[23] Cecil-Jane, sixth daughter of the 2nd Baron Glentworth, who was
+created Viscount and Earl of Limerick in 1803. She married, in 1828, Count
+John Leopold Ferdinand Casimir de la Feld, a Count of the Holy Roman
+Empire.
+
+[24] Francis Pierrepont-Burton, 2nd Baron Conyngham, who, on inheriting
+the titles and estates of his uncle, assumed the surname and arms of
+Conyngham, married, in 1759, the eldest daughter of the Right Hon.
+Nathaniel Clements, and sister of Robert, Earl of Leitrim. She died in
+1814.
+
+[25] Lady Charlotte Stewart, daughter of Alexander, 6th Earl of Galloway,
+married, in 1759, John, 4th Earl of Dunmore.
+
+[26] Susan, third daughter of the 4th Earl of Dunmore, married, first, in
+1788, Joseph Tharpe, Esq. of Chippenham, Cambridge; secondly, John Drew,
+Esq.; and thirdly, in 1809, the Rev. A. E. Douglas.
+
+[27] Augusta, second daughter of 4th Earl of Dunmore, married, at Rome,
+the 4th of April 1793, Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex, and was
+re-married to H.R.H. the following December at St George's Church, Hanover
+Square.
+
+[28] Edward Charles, second son of William, 2nd Duke of Portland, and Lady
+Margaret Cavendish Harley, only daughter and heir of Edward, 2nd Earl of
+Oxford. Lord Edward Bentinck married Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Richard
+Cumberland, Esq., and had one son and three daughters. He died in 1819.
+
+[29] The three Miss Bentincks were: Harriet, married, 1809, Sir William
+Mordaunt Sturt Milner, Bart.; Elizabeth, married, 1812, Captain Henry
+Wyndham; and Charlotte married Major Robert Garrett.
+
+[30] Thomas, Viscount Cranley, who succeeded his father in 1814 as 2nd
+Earl of Onslow.
+
+[31] Robert Pemberton Milnes, Esq. of Fryston Hall and Bawtry Hall, Co.
+York., M.P. for Pontefract, married, in 1808, the Hon. Henrietta Maria
+Monckton, daughter of Robert Monckton Arundell, 6th Viscount Galway.
+
+[32] This was probably one of the first occasions on which a waltz was
+danced in England. See vol. ii. pages 182-183.
+
+[33] Augusta, daughter of John, 9th Earl of Westmoreland, married, July
+1781, Sir William Lowther, Bart., afterwards Baron and Viscount Lowther,
+and who on April 7th, 1807, became Earl of Lonsdale. Elizabeth was their
+eldest daughter.
+
+[34] Sir John Sinclair, Bart. (1754-1835), was admitted to both the Scotch
+and English Bars, and sat in Parliament 1780-1811. He established the
+Board of Agriculture in 1793. He was an extensive and valuable author.
+
+[35] Sir John Smith of Sydling, St Nicholas, Co. Dorset, born 1744, died
+November 13th, 1807. Created a Baronet, 1774.
+
+[36] The mother-in-law of John Wyldbore, son of Sir John Smith, afterwards
+2nd Baronet, who married, in 1897, Elizabeth Ann, second daughter and co-
+heiress of the Rev. James Marriott, D.C.L., of Horsemonden, Co. Kent.
+
+[37] Jacquetta of Luxemburg, widow of the Duke of Bedford, married,
+secondly, the brave and handsome knight, Sir Richard Woodville, when she
+came to England in 1435 to claim her dower. The birth of her eldest child
+Elizabeth probably occurred in 1436. The marriage caused great scandal and
+Sir Richard was imprisoned; but was subsequently released and they settled
+at Grafton Castle. The Duchess kept the rank of aunt to the King; and on
+occasions of ceremony was the first lady in the land till the marriage of
+the King. Her daughter Elizabeth subsequently took high rank among the
+maids of honour of Margaret of Anjou and was the belle of her Court.
+
+[38] John Grey, heir of Lord Ferrars of Groby.
+
+[39] In the above extract, the spelling, as transcribed by Mrs Stanhope,
+has been adhered to.
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+[1] Archibald John, Viscount Primrose and his brother Francis, sons of
+Neil, 3rd Earl of Rosebery. They were given the nicknames of "Roast Beef"
+and "Plum Pudding" owing to their invariable habit of dining with Mr and
+Mrs Spencer-Stanhope every Sunday.
+
+[2] Count Charles Holmar, a subject of the King of Denmark, but Master of
+the Horse to the Duke of Holstein Oldenburg, and Tutor to the Princes of
+Holstein Oldenburg.
+
+[3] John, second Marquis of Lansdowne, married, 27th May 1805, Maria
+Arabella, daughter of the Rev. Hinton Maddock of "Darland," Wales, and
+relict of Sir Duke Gifford, Bart, of Castle Jordan in Ireland, who died in
+1801. In her Will, dated December 31st, 1821, Lady Lansdowne mentions five
+daughters by her first husband.
+
+[4] _Almach's_, vol. iii., pages 201-2.
+
+[5] Archibald John, Viscount Primrose, afterwards 4th Earl of Rosebery,
+married, first, on May 20th, 1808, Henrietta, second daughter of the Hon.
+Bartholomew Bouverie, and grandson of William, 1st Earl of Radnor. He
+divorced her in 1815.
+
+[6] Emily, daughter and heiress of Gerard de Visme, Esq. Lady Shelley, her
+schoolfellow, describes her as "the most beautiful being I have ever
+beheld. Her classic-shaped head and Spanish air--her mother was a
+Portuguese--added to a slight and not too tall figure, attracted much
+attention, and she was universally admired. Her accomplishments were as
+remarkable as her beauty. She played the harp exquisitely, and excelled
+also on the piano and in singing. She spoke French and Italian fluently
+and with a perfect accent." _Diary of Frances, Lady Shelley_, pub. John
+Murray, 1812, page 15. Miss De Visme married, June 28th, 1810, Henry (Sir)
+Murray, K.C.B., a distinguished officer, born 1784, died 1860, fourth son
+of David, 7th Viscount Stormont and 2nd Earl of Mansfield, by his second
+wife Louisa, third daughter of Charles, 9th Lord Catheart, of the 14th
+Dragoons.
+
+[7] Probably Miss Calcraft, who married, in 1812, Sir John Burke of Marble
+Hill, Bt., sister to Miss Belle Calcraft. _See_ p. 356.
+
+[8] The Argyle Rooms in Regent's Street were looked upon as a rival to the
+still more fashionable Almack's. Balls and masquerades were given there,
+presided over by Colonel Greville, a man of the _haut ton_, who ruled,
+however, with a less arbitrary sway than the famous Patronesses of
+Almack's. The facade of the building to-day remains much as it was a
+century ago.
+
+[9] Henry Bankes, Esq. of Kingston Hall, M.P. for Corfe Castle from 1780
+to 1826, and for Co. Dorset from that time to 1831, married Frances,
+daughter of William Woodey, Esq., Governor of the Leeward Islands, and,
+besides four sons, had two daughters, Anne Frances, married Edward 4th
+Viscount and 1st Earl of Falmouth, died 1864, and Maria Wynne, married the
+Hon. Thomas Stapleton.
+
+[10] John Stanhope adds some years later: "I have associated with many
+persons engaged in that memorable retreat, and I gather from their remarks
+that as far as Astorga, it was admirably conducted, and that to the
+rapidity of their march, the army was entirely indebted for its safety.
+But from that period, at which there appeared to be no further occasion
+for so rapid a movement, _its celerity was increased_. The Troops were
+passing through a mountainous district, which at every step offered them
+an admirable position for attack, and they were pursued by an army which
+they might have defeated at any time with as much ease as they
+subsequently defeated it at Corunna. It appears also that they suffered
+more from the rapidity of the march than they could have done in any
+general engagement; but it is not easy to form a correct opinion on the
+subject without knowing the situation of the army with respect to
+provisions and money; and also without being able to judge whether there
+was danger of their retreat being cut off.
+
+"I have been informed that Moore ought on no account to have evacuated
+Corunna, that he had ample facilities for defending it against all the
+efforts of the French....
+
+"Undoubtedly, as a diversion, Sir John Moore's advance into Spain fully
+succeeded and probably saved the Peninsula; but as that was not a result
+upon which he calculated, I doubt whether it can be adduced as a
+justification for a measure undertaken against his own judgment;
+subsequent events have shewn how much higher his reputation would have
+stood had he persevered in his original intentions. What the Duke of
+Wellington now is, Sir John Moore would almost inevitably have been."
+
+[11] Henrietta Maria, eldest daughter and co-heir of Robert Vernon
+Atherton, Esq., of Atherton Hall, Co. Lancaster, married, 1797, Thomas,
+Baron Lilford, and had six sons and six daughters.
+
+[12] Charles Bankes, Major in the Army, second son of Philip, 2nd Earl
+Stanhope, born 1785, killed at the Battle of Corunna, January 16th, 1809.
+
+[13] Lord James Murray, son of the 4th Duke of Athol, a Major-General in
+the Army, who in 1821 became Lord Glenlyon. He then resided in Cumberland
+Place. He died in 1837, and his son succeeded as 6th Duke of Athol in
+1846.
+
+[14] _Reminiscences of Michael Kelly_, vol. ii., pages 281-284.
+
+[15] Julia, only child and heiress of Sir George Augustus William
+Shuckburgh, Bart., and Julia Annabella, d. and sole heiress of James
+Evelyn of Felbridge, Co. Surrey. Married 1810, the Hon. Charles Cope
+Jenkinson and died in 1814.
+
+[16] The Colonel was addicted to drink.
+
+[17] Katherine, Duchess of Bolton (see _ante_, page 18), died March 21st,
+1809, at 32 Grosvenor Square.
+
+[18] Not only shoes were often home-made, but at a later date Mrs Stanhope
+had a maid who could make her gloves. The latter articles of attire,
+moveover, were more elaborate than those of to-day. The long gloves of the
+days of the Empire had a piece inserted at the elbow which made them sit
+without creasing to the shape of the arm, so that they had none of the
+untidy appearance which modern long gloves are apt to present, and the
+term "to fit like a glove" was then singularly appropriate.
+
+[19] John Russell, Earl Russell, K.G., 1792-1878, the third son of the 6th
+Duke of Bedford, studied at the University of Edinburgh, and in 1813 was
+returned for Tavistock. He became a prominent politician. In 1830 he was
+Paymaster of the Forces; he was one of the four Members of the Government
+entrusted with the task of framing the first Reform Bill, and on him
+devolved the honour of proposing it. In 1846 he became Prime Minister till
+1852, and again in 1865 on the death of Lord Palmerston, but was defeated
+in the following June on his new Reform Bill, and resigned.
+
+[20] Sir William Henry Douglas, Bart, Vice-Admiral of the Blue, died
+unmarried, May 1809. The title devolved upon his brother, Sir Howard who
+had married, in July 1799, Anne, eldest daughter of James Dundas, Esq.
+
+[21] The story which Lord Houghton used to tell on the subject was that
+after his father had refused the place in the Ministry pressed upon him by
+Mr Perceval, he sent to the friend with whom he had made the bet (whose
+name had never transpired) a copy of Mr Perceval's letter, and a cheque
+for £100. See _The Life, Letters and Friendships of Monckton Milnes, Lord
+Houghton_, by T. Wemyss Reid (1890), vol. i., page 2.
+
+[22] The Hon. Mr Eden, eldest son of Lord Auckland, a fine sensible youth
+of five-and-twenty. He left his parents' house about 9.30 in the evening,
+saying he would be home in half an hour. A month later his body was found
+in the Thames, and was identified by his watch and seals.
+
+[23] On February 11th, 1910, Sir Thomas Gascoigne Bt. of Parlington Hall,
+Co. York, died of grief for the loss of his son who had been killed by a
+fall from his horse a short time previously.
+
+[24] Of Kirkleatham, Yorkshire.
+
+[25] Sir Francis Burdett, M.P., for Westminster supported Gale Jones, a
+Radical Orator in the seditious speech. He was accused of breach of
+privilege and a warrant issued for his arrest. The Westminster mob rose on
+his behalf, and he barricaded his house in Piccadilly in order to defy the
+warrant, but was ultimately arrested and confined in the Tower. Riots
+ensued, and the town was guarded by thousands of soldiers.
+
+[26] Thomas Dundas, Esq., of Fingask Hall, Co. Stirling, M.P., married,
+1784, Lady Elizabeth Eleanora Home, daughter of Alexander, 9th Earl of
+Home.
+
+[27] Their daughter Charlotte, called by Mrs Stanhope La Belle, was
+extremely handsome, and at one time considered the belle of Edinburgh.
+
+[28] Lord James Murray, second son of the 4th Duke of Athol, married, May
+19th, 1810, Emily Frances, second daughter of Hugh, 2nd Duke of
+Northumberland.
+
+[29] Anne Maria, daughter of Sir H. W. Dashwood, Bt., married, 1810, John,
+2nd Marquis of Ely, K.P.P.C., died 1857.
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+[1] Charles (Sir) Stuart, G.C.B., born 1779, afterwards Ambassador at the
+Court of France; grandson of John, 3rd Earl of Bute. He was created Baron
+Stuart de Rothesay in Jan. 1828. He married, 1816, Elizabeth Margaret, 3rd
+daughter of Philip, third Earl of Hardwick, and died in 1845.
+
+[2] A portion of the Journals of John Spencer-Stanhope, relating to this
+period, has been edited (see Memoirs of A. M. W. Pickering, 1903), but all
+the following anecdotes collected from his letters and notes at that date
+are here published for the first time.
+
+[3] William Carr Beresford (1768-1854). After a brilliant military service
+he was, in 1814, elevated to the Peerage as Lord Beresford and advanced to
+the Viscounty in 1823. In 1832 he married his cousin, the widow of Thomas
+Hope, Esq., of Deepdene, Surrey. See ante, page 49.
+
+[4] James, Viscount Macduff, afterwards 4th Earl of Fife, K.T., G.C.B.,
+Knight of the Order of St Ferdinand of Spain and of the Sword of Sweden,
+obtained a Barony of the United Kingdom as Baron Fife in 1827. Born 1776,
+married, 1799, Mary Caroline, second daughter of the late John Manners,
+Esq., and Louisa, Countess of Dysart; she died Dec. 20th, 1805, without
+issue. The Earl greatly distinguished himself during the Peninsular War,
+having volunteered his services, and obtained the rank of major-general in
+the Spanish patriotic army. He was wounded at the battle of Talavera, and
+again at the storming of Fort Matagorda, near Cadiz, of which he was one
+of the most celebrated defenders. He died in 1857, and was succeeded by
+his nephew.
+
+[5] Aloys von Reding (1765-1818), as Captain General of his own canton,
+repulsed the French at Morgarten in 1808.
+
+[6] José de Palafox y Melzi, Duke of Saragossa, born in 1780, made the
+heroic defence of Saragossa, from July 1808 to February 1809; was carried
+prisoner to France and not released till 1813. He was made Duke of
+Saragossa in 1836 and grandee of Spain 1837 and died in 1847.
+
+[7] Andrew Thomas, Lord Blayney, born, 30th Nov. 1770, died, April 1838.
+In 1794 he became major of the 89th foot, having raised part of that
+regiment. He served in Holland, Malta, Minorca, and the Cape, and after
+the expedition to Buenos Ayres was sent to Cadiz in July 1810, as major-
+general. He was, however, taken prisoner on making an attack with a small
+mixed force on Malaga, and was not released until 1814.
+
+[8] John, Viscount Kelburne and Lord Boyle, eldest son of George, 4th Earl
+of Glasgow, by his first wife Augusta, daughter of James, 14th Earl of
+Erroll, born 12th August 1779, served in R.N.; taken prisoner by the
+French and sent to Verdun, where he was detained till July 1814; died at
+Tunbridge Wells, 1818.
+
+[9] Christopher, eldest son of the Ven. John Strachey, Archdeacon of
+Suffolk, and Chaplain in Ordinary to George III., by his wife Anne, only
+daughter of George Wombwell, Esqre., consul at Alicant and head of the
+eldest branch of the family of Wombwell, of Yorkshire. Born 1778,
+Christopher became rear-Admiral in the Royal Navy, and Knight of the
+Russian order of St Vladimir. He married Mlle. Marguerite, only daughter
+of Col. de la Roche of Verdun-sur-Meuse, France, Knight of St Louis, etc.,
+and died in 1855, having had a family of nine children, six of whom
+survived him.
+
+[10] A lady who collects for some charitable purpose.
+
+[11] _Extracts from the Journals of John Spencer Stanhope_, 1810-1813.
+Published, 1903. Page 452.
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+[1] Walter Boyd, born in 1745; of the firm of Boyd, Benfield, & Co; an
+intimate friend of Pitt and Melville. He is supposed to have been saved
+from bankruptcy by a loan which Lord Melville advanced to him out of the
+public funds, and on account of which the latter was afterwards impeached.
+See _Annals of a Yorkshire House_, vol. ii., pages 287-291.
+
+[2] With reference to this episode at the Institute Stanhope adds: "I find
+that the learned Editor of the _Quarterly Review_ has been as much taken
+in as were the savants of whom he speaks. One of his articles states that
+the late President of the Cour of Cassation--the Magistrate, according to
+M. Roger Collard, of whom regenerated France has most reason to be proud--
+expressed himself as follows to three of the most distinguished men of
+science of the day: 'I regard the discovery of a dish as a more
+interesting event than the discovery of a star, for we have always stars
+enough, but we never have too many dishes; and I shall not regard the
+Sciences as sufficiently honoured or adequately represented among us,
+until I see a cook in the first class of the Institute.'
+
+"It is quite evident from this that the Editor supposes that M. de Baure
+was quite serious in making that observation, and no less so that the
+distinguished literary men, from some of whom he must have derived his
+information, must have been equally convinced of the fact. I was present,
+however, on the occasion, and can assert that nothing could be more
+contrary to the real state of the case."
+
+[3] _Olympia or Topography illustrative of the actual state of the Plain
+of Olympia and of the Ruins of the City of Elis_, published by John Murray
+in 1817. It was re-published in 1824 and 1835, and again, with the
+addition of many engravings, in 1865, under the title of _Plataea,
+Olympia, Elis_.
+
+[4] Joachim Murat, an inn-keeper's son, born in 1771, at the Revolution
+entered the army and soon rose to be Colonel. He served under Bonaparte in
+Italy and Egypt, became General of Division, and in command of the Cavalry
+at Marengo he covered himself with glory. Bonaparte gave him his sister,
+Caroline, in marriage. In 1806 the grandduchy of Berg was bestowed upon
+him; in 1808 he was proclaimed King of the Two Sicilies, as Joachim 1st,
+and took possession of Naples. After Napoleon's final overthrow he
+proceeded with a few followers to the coast of Calabria, and proclaimed
+himself King; but being taken, he was tried by Court-martial, and shot on
+October 15th, 1815. His widow subsequently assumed the title of Countess
+of Lipona and lived near Trieste. He left two sons, the elder of whom
+married a niece of Washington.
+
+[5] Frederick Douglas, 1791-1819, M.P. for Banbury, a son of Lord
+Glenbervie.
+
+[6] John Stanhope subsequently wrote: "I know the existence of the
+conspiracy is denied, but how account for the conduct of Napoleon after
+his return save from the supposition that he was fettered by the
+engagements he had made in his exile?... He threw himself entirely into
+the arms of that party to which he had hitherto evinced the greatest
+hostility, and which, upon principle, were opposed to his system of
+Government. He appointed Fouché, whom he had offended and disgraced, and
+Carnot, the most unbending republican in France, to be Ministers instead
+of resuming the Empire just as he had left it. He did not establish
+himself in the Palace of the Tuileries, by which he showed his weakness
+without gaining a single partisan.... He should either at once have
+entered upon the Imperial Government, prorogued the Chamber till the fate
+of France was decided by arms, or he should have adopted the Constitution
+which he found actually existing, pledging himself to make, subsequently,
+such modifications as the country might desire; but, in fact, _till he
+found himself at the head of his army he was not his own master, he was
+bound by the chains he himself had forged_, and which he, no doubt, would
+have immediately broken had he been successful at Waterloo.... The
+legislative body were undoubtedly prepared to adopt any expedient for
+limiting the Imperial or Royal Prerogatives, and it was a great oversight
+on his part to leave them sitting. He should not have remained in Paris at
+all, but to have put himself immediately at the head of the army and to
+have given the Government of Paris to a General in whom he could
+implicitly confide. His only chance was to have been able to say,
+'L'Empire--c'est moi!'"
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+[1] Alderman Richard Carr-Glyn, an eminent banker of London, born 1755,
+eldest son of Sir Richard Glyn, 1st Bart, of Ewell, by his wife Elizabeth,
+daughter and co-heir of Robert Carr, Esq., served as Lord Mayor in 1798
+and was created a baronet in 1800. He married Mary, daughter of John
+Plumtre, Esq., M.P. for Nottingham. Died in 1838.
+
+[2] Thomas Christopher, 1789-1827, 3rd son of the above, afterwards a
+barrister-at-law. Married Grace Julia, daughter of Thomas Charles Bigge,
+Esq.
+
+[3] William Fitzhugh, Esq., lived at Bannister Lodge, near Southampton,
+and represented Tiverton in five Parliaments. His wife was celebrated for
+her infatuation for Mrs Siddons, whom she entertained constantly at
+Bannister Lodge, and whom she followed to London, for years attending on
+the celebrated actress all day and spending the evening in her dressing-
+room at the theatre. In 1803 Mrs Siddons wrote, "My dear Mrs Fitzhugh
+grudges every moment that I am not by her side."
+
+[4] Joseph Jekyll, 1754-1837. Celebrated wit, raconteur, and diner-out.
+Jerder speaks of him as having a somewhat Voltaire-like countenance, a
+flexible person and agreeable voice.
+
+[5] He was second son of George Adams, afterwards Anson, who inherited the
+fortune of his uncle, Admiral Lord Anson; and he was brother to Thomas,
+afterwards Viscount Anson of Shugborough, who married Anne Margaret,
+second daughter of Thomas William Coke, Esq., afterwards 1st Earl of
+Leicester.
+
+[6] Douglas, fifth son of 7th Baron Kinnaird, a banker in Westminster;
+born, 1788; died, unmarried, 1830.
+
+[7] A Tilbury, so-called after the maker, was a very tall gig on two large
+wheels, for driving in which ladies usually wore what was termed a
+"riding-dress."
+
+[8] John Charles, eldest son of 2nd Earl Spencer, (1782-1845). A
+distinguished member of the House of Commons, and Chancellor of the
+Exchequer from 1830 to 1834. Succeeded his father as 3rd Earl Spencer in
+1834.
+
+[9] Lady Caroline Lamb, 1785-1828, known by the nickname of the Bat,
+daughter of the 3rd Earl of Bessborough, by his wife, Lady Henrietta
+Spencer, sister of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. She married, June
+3rd, 1805, William Lamb, afterwards Lord Melbourne. Her infatuation for
+Byron caused much scandal during 1812-13.
+
+[10] Prince Theodore Demetrius de Bauffremont-Courtenay, born 22nd Dec.
+1793, married, in 1819, Mlle. de Montmorency.
+
+[11] _Almack's_, a novel, vol. iii., pp. 227-9.
+
+[12] This rumour must have been false, as Madame Catalani did not retire
+from the stage till 1827, when she settled near Florence. She had
+accumulated a large fortune by her successful career, and had continued to
+charge a price for her services which at that date was unprecedented. It
+is said that on one occasion, when she had been invited to Stowe as a
+guest, she was asked to sing, and in consequence charged the Duke £1700
+for the pleasure she had afforded his guests. But doubt has been cast on
+this story. Her Susannah, in _Le Nozze di Figaro_, was one of her most
+famous impersonations. She died of Cholera in 1849.
+
+[13] Sir Philip Hales, Bart. of Brymore, Somerset, died 12th February
+1824, having married in 1795 Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Smith of
+Keyworth, Notts. She died 1834.
+
+[14] Sophia, third daughter of Colonel and Mrs Beaumont.
+
+[15] Charles Peter Shakerley, Esq., of Somerford Park, born 27th December,
+1792, created a baronet, 1838. Married first in 1819 Rosalba D'Avaray,
+daughter of the Due D'Avaray, and secondly, in 1831, Jessy, daughter of
+James Scott, Esq. He was the son of Charles Watkin John Buckworth, Esq.,
+of Somerford Park, Cheshire, who had assumed by Act of Parliament in 1790
+the Surname and Arms of Shakerley only, and was High Sheriff of the Co. of
+Chester in the following year.
+
+[16] William Frederick, 2nd Duke of Gloucester, 1776-1834, served as
+Colonel of First Foot Guards in Flanders in 1794. Married, in 1816, his
+cousin Mary, 4th daughter of George III.
+
+[17] See _ante_.
+
+[18] An Irish lady whose maiden name was Owenson. She married Sir Charles
+Morgan, and wrote various novels, being often called by the name of one of
+them--_The Wild Irish Girl_. Two of her works, _France_ and _Italy_, made
+some stir at the time of their publication. Their sale was forbidden in
+Sardinia, Rome and Austria, and their author prohibited from visiting the
+latter kingdom.
+
+[19] Edward, third son of Walter Spencer-Stanhope and Mary Winifred, his
+wife, who, in 1820, married Arabella, daughter of General Calcraft. See
+_ante_, _Dramatis Personae_. page ix.
+
+[20] General Sir Robert Thomas Wilson, 1777-1849. He fought at Lützen and
+Brantzen in 1813; he was M.P. for Southwark in 1818-1830. He was dismissed
+from the Army for his conduct at Queen Caroline's funeral, but reinstated
+in 1830. He published military and autobiographical works.
+
+[21] The wife of a Russian Ambassador. She was an admirable musician.
+
+[22] Probably Francis, eldest son of Lord William Russell; born 1793,
+died, unmarried, 1832.
+
+[23] Georgina Frederica, daughter of the Hon. Henry Fitzroy; married, July
+25th, 1814, Henry, Marquis of Worcester, died May 11th, 1821, and left two
+daughters. She died at the house of her uncle, the Duke of Wellington. She
+was very pretty, and one of the leaders of fashion.
+
+[24] He married again in June, 1822, Emily Frances, daughter of Charles
+Culling Smith, Esq., and his wife, _née_ Lady Anne Wellesley.
+
+[25] See _ante_, p. 157.
+
+[26] Frederick Dodsworth, D.D., Senior Canon of Windsor, who died in his
+eighty-third year, 31st March 1821.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Letter-Bag of Lady Elizabeth
+Spencer-Stanhope v. I., by A. M. W. Stirling (compiler)
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LETTERS LADY SPENCER-STANHOPE ***
+
+This file should be named 7253-8.txt or 7253-8.zip
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