SOCIETY IN PARIS—JOURNEY TO HOMBURG—THE LANDGRAVE AND THE
LANDGRAVINE—THE DOWAGER QUEEN OF WÜRTEMBERG—CHRISTMAS AT LOUISBURG.
JOURNAL CONTINUED—1822.
JANUARY 12th.—Yesterday the Duchess de Bourbon died suddenly in the
newly consecrated church of Sainte-Geneviève. She was in the
seventy-second year of her age, and was aunt to the Duke of Orleans. She
had been long separated from her husband, having been very gay in her
youth. Latterly she did much good in charities. Her husband was more
afflicted at her death than could have been expected. He said she had
good qualities, and, besides, she was the mother of his son, the
unfortunate Duke d’Enghien.
17th.—Yesterday evening the Duchess of Orleans was brought to bed of a
son, named the Duke d’Aumale by the King. She has since had visits from
all the ladies of the Royal Family.
February 14th.—This morning there were masses of requiem for the Duke de
Berri at Notre-Dame, St. Denis, &c. The Duchess de Berri had one in her
private chapel at five in the morning, the hour at which he died. Madame
de C., one of the ladies of the late Duchess of Orleans, said that on
the night of the murder there was a ball at Talma’s, and that the
company danced all night. A person of her acquaintance, who lived below
him, sent up to beg they would cease, and spare the feelings of those
who were in affliction for the calamity that had happened. Talma
contented himself with replying that he had not killed the Duke, and
that he could not interrupt the amusements of his guests.
May 18th.—The Duke de Richelieu died yesterday, almost suddenly. He was
going to Odessa in a few days. It is remarkable that not many days ago
his writing-desk was broken open, and fifteen thousand livres (six
hundred pounds) stolen from it. He went next day into the country,
returned on the 15th, was taken ill on the 17th, and the physicians,
when called in, said there was no hope. It was called a “transport du
cerveau.”
27th.—Went to St. Cloud. Walked in the grounds, which are very
extensive, with enormous trees and a fine view; also in the
flower-garden, where an old gardener told M. Volney, who accompanied us,
that the day after Bonaparte got in through the window and dissolved the
Convention, he found in the morning many of the scarlet robes of the
deputies in the basin of water in front of the apartments, which they
had thrown in as they ran away in terror.
August 24th.—Left Paris; crossed from Calais to Dover on the 27th, and
arrived at Lord St. Vincent’s, Rochetts, on the 29th.
[On the 13th March, 1823, Miss Knight was deprived by death of her
venerable friend Lord St. Vincent. From the end of August, 1822, to the
31st July, 1823, Miss Knight paid visits to various friends in England,
but on the last-named day she again crossed from Dover to Calais, and
arrived in Paris on the 3rd of August, where she remained until the 29th
of June of the following year. At this date the autobiographical memoir
is resumed.]
In the summer of 1824, I left Paris to visit Princess Elizabeth,[94]
Landgravine of Hesse Homburg, who had been so good as to invite me long
before, and to whom I should have gone in the preceding year had not
business called me to England. Her Royal Highness had also mentioned in
her letters the wish of the Queen-Dowager of Würtemberg[95] that I
should pass some time with her, after having been at Homburg.
Metz was the last town in which I slept in France, and after passing
Forbach, I entered Germany, and was surprised to observe the gaiety of
the inhabitants. They seemed to enjoy their music and waltzing, in which
the children exercise themselves almost as soon as they can walk. On the
5th July I slept at Kaiserlauten. The inn is an immense building, of the
strangest construction imaginable, with wooden galleries running along
both sides of the court-yard. While at dinner, a courier arrived,
followed by two carriages, in one of which was Baron de Rothschild, on
his way to Frankfort, to marry his niece. A great collection of people,
children in particular, crowded round the door, and I afterwards heard
they were most of them Jews, some to present petitions, and others
simply to beg of him. None, however, were suffered to enter. The
sensation occasioned on the road by the passage of M. Rothschild
exceeded that usually produced by a sovereign prince.
The appearance of Mayence struck me as very melancholy. So long as this
city belonged to the Ecclesiastical Elector it was a capital at which
many rich families resided, and where there was a corps diplomatique.
But now no carriages were to be heard rolling through the streets; few
foot passengers were to be seen; the garrison alone enlivening the
place. This was composed of Austrians and Prussians, and each of those
Courts in turn appointed a Governor for three years. The Austrians were
quartered at one end of the city, and the Prussians at the other. The
former, in their white regimentals, were tall, fine-looking men; the
Prussians, in blue, not so tall, but apparently very active. Both had
good bands of music.
I went to see the Cathedral, which, notwithstanding the eleven years of
peace, still wore the desolate appearance in which it had been left by
the French, to the great annoyance of the good old beadle who showed it
to me, and who had witnessed the horrors of the war. The sacred edifice
had served as an hospital for the wounded, and I recollect hearing the
Count de M., a French general, say that the air was so mephitic, on
account of the great number of sufferers lying there, that in the
evening it extinguished the lights, or at least rendered them scarcely
visible. The destruction of the tombs was wanton barbarism; but a few
statues of Electors were left standing, and amongst them one belonging
to an English family. These were placed at a great height, which, I
suppose, was the reason they were spared.
At Frankfort I called on the Princess of Stolberg Goedern, who was in
her ninety-second year. She told me she could not conceive how the
Countess of Albany, her eldest daughter, could have died so young, for
she had lost her a few months before at the age of seventy. She was the
daughter of a Prince of Horn, by Lady Bruce, daughter of the Earl of
Aylesbury, who, as a Roman Catholic, espoused the cause of the Stuarts,
and died at Brussels. He was father of the first Earl, who settled at
Tottenham Park, and left the estate to his nephew, Thomas Brudenell,
whom he intended for the husband of his only daughter, Lady Mary,[96]
but she married the Duke of Richmond, and his widow afterwards married
General Conway. The Princess of Stolberg was quite the great lady, but
had been reduced to poverty. The late and present Lord Aylesbury allowed
her an annuity, on which she chiefly subsisted; but she has lately
obtained for herself and her unmarried daughter, who lives with her, a
pension of 500_l._ a year from the King of England, for which they
appeared to be very grateful. His portrait was in one of their bedrooms.
The old lady is now able to indulge in the constant use of a carriage,
and in going to the theatre, to balls, and great parties, from which she
is the last to retire. The daughter, whom I had formerly seen at Rome
with the Countess of Albany, with whom I was not then acquainted,
appeared to be a sensible woman, and by no means so young in her ideas
and pursuits as her mother.
After staying a few days at Frankfort I went on to Homburg, a small town
situated on an eminence of one of the little hills on the ascent to the
Feldberg. The castle is a large irregular building, and in the midst of
the inner court is a very high insulated tower, which is said to be of
Roman construction; but the upper part seems to be of the middle ages.
It stands at the highest extremity of the town, with a large garden and
a terrace lined with orange-trees. I found the Landgravine (Princess
Elizabeth) in a comfortable though not splendid apartment, and she
introduced me to the Landgrave and to his sister, Princess Mary Anne,
who is married to Prince William of Prussia, brother to the King. They
have been staying here some time with their three children, the eldest
of whom is a boy of thirteen, already in the service of the King of
Prussia. Two of the Landgrave’s brothers were living in the
castle—Prince Gustavus, married to a Princess of Anhalt Dessau, and
Prince Ferdinand. Besides these, the Landgrave had two other brothers,
Prince Louis and Prince Philip, the former in the Prussian service. The
Landgrave himself, a general officer in the Austrian army, commanded an
Hungarian regiment. Princes Philip, Gustavus, and Ferdinand were
likewise in the service of Austria, and all had distinguished themselves
greatly during the war; and their conduct, as well as that of their late
father, had been highly honourable and disinterested. I was much pleased
with the Landgrave. He had a noble frankness of character, and a
patriarchal kindness for his family, which, added to his generous and
humane care of his subjects, rendered him truly worthy of being beloved
by all who knew him. There was a chapel in the castle in which service
was performed twice a day every Sunday, alternately in the Calvinist and
Lutheran manner. He had chaplains for each, who dined in turns with him;
and we went to both services. There were several Catholics in Homburg,
who had a chapel of their own, to which the Landgrave had contributed.
He not only found physicians for the sick, but paid for all their
medicines, and usually visited them during their illness. He often, too,
attended funerals, and was, indeed, the father of his people. He spoke
and wrote French with great correctness, and without any unpleasant
accent. He was well versed in history and geography, and had a good
library of books of that description, and a great number of engravings,
all of which he was most willing to lend me. He was remarkably neat in
his person, and never came into company without changing his dress if he
had been smoking. He was then about fifty-four.
Princess William of Prussia was very handsome, and had a fine figure,
with great dignity of manners. I believe she was well informed, and
patronised literature at Berlin. Her sons, Prince Adalbert[97] and
Prince Waldemar, were then very young, and her daughter, Princess
Elizabeth, still younger. Princess Louisa, the wife of Prince Gustavus,
had at that time only two daughters. She appeared to be gentle and
pleasing, but unfortunately was very deaf. She mixed little in general
society, being unwilling, as she said, to give trouble.
The Germans are very fond of gardens, and pass much of their time in
them. Each of the Princes had his own garden, and the Landgravine had
two, to one or other of which she used to take me in the morning. We
dined at two, except on Sunday, when the hour was three, on account of
the two services at the chapel. On that day there were usually at least
thirty at dinner. We supped at nine, and went to our rooms at ten. All
these meals were announced by beat of drum.
The Landgravine had two maids of honour, and the Landgrave a master of
the household, an aide-de-camp, and an officer who served as secretary,
always in waiting, and who dined with us every day. There was also a
widow lady, who had belonged to the Landgrave’s mother, who dined daily
at the castle, but only the maids of honour slept there. There were
other gentlemen who belonged to the Landgrave, and often dined at his
table, as did their ladies on the Sunday. A Princess of Solms also dined
there frequently, and she lived in a house in the town belonging to the
Landgrave. There was a maître d’hôtel, eighty years of age, who, with
his white wand, used to preside over the dinner and supper tables. The
servants were very numerous.
The private apartments of the Landgravine consisted of several large
rooms, well furnished, and a small boudoir, in which she usually sat.
There was a very handsome suite of rooms, finely furnished, for princely
visitors. The Landgrave’s private rooms, however, were more simple, but
he had in them some good pictures.
Prince and Princess William of Prussia did not remain many days after my
arrival. When they were gone, the Landgrave and Landgravine took me to
dine with the Landgrave of Hesse, at Rumpenheim, near Frankfort. He was
the brother of the late elector, and son of the Princess Royal of
England, daughter of George II. He had not long before lost his wife, a
Princess of Nassau, by whom he had had several children, one of whom is
the Duchess of Cambridge. Her two eldest, Prince George[98] and Princess
Augusta, were then staying with him and his unmarried daughter, Princess
Louisa, as was also his sister-in-law, a Princess of Nassau, who had a
house in Frankfort. Rumpenheim had been built by the Landgrave
Frederick’s mother, quite in the style of an old-fashioned English
country-house, with a print-room, and furniture such as was in vogue
ninety years ago. The garden was laid out after the same model.
Everything was remarkably neat, and the dinner very good. The Landgrave
had not forgotten his English, and talked much of his visit to London,
and of “Aunt Emily.” I believe he was at that time called “the handsome
Prince of Hesse,” and he had certainly great remains of beauty.
A violent thunderstorm accompanied us during the greater part of our
journey back to Homburg. The Landgrave, with his aide-de-camp, M.
Herman, led the way, according to his usual custom, in a drosky, and
very prudently made us go as slowly as possible, in order not to attract
the lightning. I have seen few countries in which the thunderstorms are
so violent as in Germany.
On the 14th of August I took leave of the Landgravine. The Landgrave
gave me four of his horses to take me to Frankfort, and put me into the
carriage himself. On the 18th, I left Frankfort, and passed through
Darmstadt, Heidelberg, and Heilbrunn, to Louisburg, the residence of the
Queen-Dowager of Würtemberg. It was just noon when I arrived, and I was
conducted to the Queen-Dowager, who received me most graciously. Her
countenance was delightful; her manners equally courteous and dignified.
I felt as if I had long known her. We entered the drawing-room at one
o’clock, when she introduced me to the ladies of her Court, and
presented the gentlemen, after which we sat down to dinner in the
adjoining room. Princess Pauline, her grand-daughter, and daughter of
Prince Paul of Würtemberg, was living in the castle with her governess,
and dined always with the Queen. Prince Frederick and Prince Augustus
came occasionally. Her eldest sister was already married to the
Grand-Duke Michael, brother of the Emperor of Russia. The kindness of
the Queen-Dowager to these young people is not to be described. Indeed,
she was continually occupied in doing good. I know not which was most to
be praised, her devoted attachment to her own family, to the memory of
her beloved father, and to the honour of her own country, or her
kindness to the family and country of which she had become a member and
an inhabitant.
[Miss Knight remained with the Queen-Dowager, at her Majesty’s pressing
invitation, until the 11th of September, when she proceeded to
Baden-Baden for a fortnight. While there she received a letter from the
Queen-Dowager, requesting her to return in the first week in November,
and spend the winter with her. At Baden, Miss Knight was presented to
the Queen of Sweden, of whom she speaks as being “still handsome, and
dignified in her manners.” The month of October Miss Knight spent in
Switzerland, chiefly at Berne, and on the 5th of November again became
the guest of the Queen-Dowager, then residing at Louisburg. The
following extracts are selected from her rough diary.]
The Queen-Dowager tells me that the late King of England used often to
mention a story which was traditional in his family. This was, that
George I., not long before his last voyage to Hanover, where he died,
dreamed that his divorced wife, the unfortunate Princess of Zell,[99]
came to meet him dressed in green. He was alarmed at this dream, but
fell asleep, and dreamed it a second time. He then made a knot in his
handkerchief, and prayed that if it were meant as a warning he might
find the knot untied in the morning; which, as the story goes, he did.
He therefore told the Duchess of Kendall, his favourite, that if she had
anything to ask of him she had better make haste, for he did not think
he should live long.
With respect to the mysterious death of the first wife of the late King
of Würtemberg, a Princess of Brunswick,[100] the Queen-Dowager tells me
her husband said that she was always imprudent; but that when she was in
Russia with him the Empress Catherine gave her very bad advice, and had
great power over her. One evening, instead of retiring with him and the
Grand-Duke and Duchess, as usual, she went out of the other door with
Catherine. He never saw her again, but went off, and took away his
children with him. The Queen-Dowager says she died in a Russian
fortress; but whether poisoned by order of the Empress, or in child-bed,
cannot be known.
Christmas-eve; snow and frost. We dined in the library at five o’clock.
The doors of the Queen’s apartment were opened, and tables covered with
presents appeared. The Princess Pauline and her two brothers were the
first whom the Queen introduced to their respective tables. She then
took me to mine, on which were placed a travelling-case in small
compass, containing a silver goblet, knife, fork, tablespoon, and
teaspoon, with a little box for pepper and salt—all in silver, in a
morocco case; a gold bracelet, with a mosaic of the Coliseum at Rome;
amethyst cross and earrings, with small diamonds; two small silver
candlesticks; two pieces of silk for gowns, one a dove-colour Turkish
satin, the other a violet figured silk with pansies; a bracelet of
cherries perfectly imitated; several bonbonneries; a little box with
small bottles of perfumes; figures in sugar of Swiss peasants; bonbons
of different descriptions in great quantity; and a very pretty work-bag
and basket of velvet and silk. All the Queen’s ladies had their separate
tables, filled with everything that could be agreeable to them. In the
other rooms were tables set out with presents for her women and pages.
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