CHAPTER VII

COURT DUTIES AND POLITICS. 1831-1847

On the voyage home from the Mediterranean in the steamship _Meteor_,

which is described in the journal I have quoted in the last chapter, my

father received the sad news of the death of Sir Joseph Sydney Yorke,

an event to which he makes no allusion in the journal. Admiral Sir

Henry Hotham, who had just been appointed to the command of the

Mediterranean station, and had sailed in the _St. Vincent_ from

Portsmouth, was the bearer of a last letter written by Sir Joseph to

his son on the 3rd of April 1831. The _St. Vincent_ met the _Meteor_ at

sea, and Sir Henry, in handing the letter to Captain Yorke, had also to

announce Sir Joseph's death, which occurred only two days after he had

finished the letter. This letter was found among my father's papers,

and I set it out at length; it is quite typical of others which display

the affection which existed between father and son, and it shows very

convincingly the success which attended Captain Yorke's career in the

Mediterranean. The circumstances of the accident in which Sir Joseph

lost his life appear, so far as they can be known, in a note to Sir

Joseph's letter written by my brother John, the late Earl of Hardwicke.

[Footnote: He died from influenza, March 1909.] From this it will be

seen that Sir Joseph was returning from a visit to the St. Vincent,

which he had made in order to hand his letter to Sir Henry Hotham, when

he met his death. It appears also from the annotation by my father that

Sir Henry sailed without hearing of the accident, and only learned of

Sir Joseph's death by subsequently reading a notice of it in

Galignani's _Messenger_.

* * * * *

14 NEW BURLINGTON STREET, LONDON:

April 2, 1831.

'MY DEAREST CHARLES,

'Your last note to me enclosing your long recital of occurrences in

Candia, addressed to your brother Henry, was duly received about a

month ago, and has made us all equally happy and highly interested in

your fortunate and successful mission. I proceeded to the Admiralty as

you desired, and looked over the whole of the correspondence there, and

I was much struck with the encomiums passed on you by my friend Sir

Philip Malcolm, and of the coincidence, of the Admiralty minute and all

the observations made by that chief, on your conduct. It runs thus,

"acquaint Sir P. M. that their Lordships entirely concur with him in

the opinion he has formed of the conduct of Capt. Yorke during his

service at Karabusa." I see by the _United Service Journal_, that you

sailed for Smyrna on the 8th of January, two days after your letter to

me, and that you were at that port on the 18th, of course this

acknowledgement of your correspondence will go by the Admiralty bag,

but I doubt whether I shall save the packet. It will however be

conveyed by your new Chief, Sir Henry Hotham, who is very desirous to

render you all attention, for in a note I had from him, about a Middy I

asked him to take with him in the _St. Vincent_, he says, "had I been

able I would have fulfilled your wishes with much pleasure in this

instance, as I shall have the pleasure in doing in regard to the

captain of the _Alligator_, and if you have anything to send to him I

will take the charge of it with pleasure." Thus you see, my dear

Charles, that Sir Henry Hotham will be as much interested about you as

any of his predecessors if you desire it, which I am sure you will.

'You may indeed say, or rather exclaim, What changes! The chances now

are that our order in the State (to make use of Lord Grey's words about

his own order), instead of being Lords of the Admiralty will be hewers

of wood and drawers of water, that is, if the Reform Bill passes in its

present shape. For it cannot be denied that it must give a

preponderating bias to that class, namely the £10 householder, which

are by far the most numerous, active, and republican class, who by

living in towns, can be collected for any political purpose at a

moment's notice; who are shopkeepers, citizens, manufacturers,

possessing great intelligence and spirit, and whose business it will be

to have the chief government, and bring down the interests of the

funds. This will, of course, straiten most severely all those who at

present derive any income therefrom, and as the small sums into which

the said funds are divided, are spread over a widely extended

population of humble but respectable persons, it will totally ruin a

great many. However, there seems to be an opinion that the Bill will be

greatly modified. For the sweeping away of sixty boroughs (amongst

which Reigate goes at once) and taking one member from four more, is a

measure of such violent disruption, as to create a resistance that may

be fatal to the public peace of the country. Persons are much excited

all over the land, particularly the class of householders I have

already mentioned.

'With regard to foreign affairs, it appears still problematical whether

France will take part in defending by force of arms revolutionary

movements and doctrines in other countries than her own. You will of

course know pretty readily, how these matters are to go in the Italian

States, or those of the Church.

'With respect to my family in domestic matters, we continue to remain

without change, or much appearance thereof. Your brother Grantham,

however, is rather an exception to this rule, for he has been so very

ill of a rheumatic fever, that a great change has taken place in his

appearance. He is however considered convalescent, but up to yesterday

remained quite helpless. Eliot went yesterday to see him for the first

time, and comes up to-day to dinner from Hampton Court Palace where

Lady Montgomery, as you have heard, has apartments and where your

brother and Emily his spouse have been residing for the last six or

seven weeks. I have been also very much indisposed for the last three

months, but have according to my own practice abstained from medical

advice, and am now fast convalescing. It was a cough and of asthmatic

tendency which bothered me, off and on, for some time, and which I got

at Xmas attending the grand jury at Winchester on the Special

Commission. But my own opinion is rather that at sixty-three age brings

about such changes in one's bodily organs, as renders these attacks

necessary in order to hasten on the great events of life, namely, Old

Age and Death.

'Lord Hardwicke is wonderfully well, your Uncle Charles but so so, Lady

H. and Mrs. Charles Yorke and all their tribe very well. Lady

Clanricarde better than usual, not very strong, Henry fit for a monk in

point of appearance. Eliot, for him very well, Grantham I have

described, and last and least A. Y. [Footnote: Agneta Yorke, his only

daughter, afterwards Lady Agneta Bevan.] who is very well indeed,

except when hot rooms and late hours come on, and then she is but so so.

'We always look out with very serious desire to hear from you, every

post, as you are an interesting object and rather a lion to be looked

at. But I am thankful to know you are well and busy, business generally

makes you well. I am going down for two or three days to Sydney Lodge

on some business--and I shall send this to Sir H. Hotham to take care

of and forward. The whole of us here and elsewhere unite in every good

wish. For myself I can only say that you may rely on my regard and

affection and believe me always dear Charles, your affectionate Father

and sincere friend,

'J. S. YORKE.'

Finished April 3, 1831.

'This was my dear father's last letter. He lost his life on the 5th,

visiting the _St. Vincent_ at Spithead, which ship had Lord Hotham's

flag bound for the Mediterranean. This letter was given to me at sea by

Sir H. Hotham on my way home, having read in _Galignani_ my Father's

death.

'(Signed) H.'

* * * * *

The following note by my late brother gives all that is known of the

accident:

* * * * *

'I have no record of the accident that caused Sir Joseph Yorke's death,

but I know he was in his small sailing yacht coming over from

Portsmouth with Captain Bradby and Captain Young and one or two men of

the crew, when the boat was struck by a heavy squall in a thunderstorm

somewhere off the Hamble river, and they are all supposed to have been

struck by lightning. Sir Joseph's body was found floating, the boat was

picked up derelict in the West Channel. No one was left to tell the

tale; the tablet in Hamble church, which is the only record I know of

it, merely states he was drowned by the upsetting of a boat. I believe

he had a blue line going down his body, and the fact of his being found

floating gives the impression that he was killed by lightning, as I

suppose all the other occupants shared the same fate.

'HARDWICKE'

SYDNEY LODGE, HAMBLE:

October 14, 1908.

* * * * *

I may perhaps add that on the day Sir Joseph Yorke was drowned, Miss

Manningham, the sister of Mrs. Charles Yorke, was at one of the Ancient

Music concerts in the Hanover Square Rooms, and during the performance

fainted and was carried out. On coming to herself and being questioned

as to the cause, she said she had seen before her the dripping form of

a man whose body was covered with a naval cloak, and although she could

not see his face, she knew it to be the body of Sir Joseph Yorke. There

were of course neither telegraph nor daily posts in those days, and the

news of his death only reached the family some two days later, when it

was found that the day and hour corresponded with the vision Miss

Manningham had seen.

From certain remarks in his letters from Sweden it appears that Captain

Yorke had long the intention of entering politics so soon as there was

any interruption of his active service at sea, and shortly after his

arrival in England in 1831, he carried out this intention by offering

himself as candidate for Reigate, for which borough he duly took his

seat. In October of the same year, however, a vacancy occurred in the

representation of Cambridgeshire upon the resignation of one of the

sitting members, Lord F. G. Osborne. Captain Yorke at once decided to

offer himself as the representative of a county with which his family

had been long and closely associated. His opponent was Mr. R. G.

Townley, who was the Ministerial candidate and had the support of Lord

John Russell on his committee and at the hustings.

The politics of those strenuous times of the Reform Bill are well

known, and need no more than a passing reference here. The election

began on October 27, only a little more than a fortnight after the

Ministerial bill had been rejected by the House of Lords. It is

needless to say that Captain Yorke stood in the Tory interest. In his

address and speeches he expressed himself in favour of a moderate

scheme of reform which would abolish such constituencies as were proved

to be saleable and corrupt, and as ready to support a proper extension

of the franchise. But he refused altogether to sacrifice the

agricultural interest to that of the manufacturer, and took his stand

upon the necessity of affording protection to the farmer by the

maintenance of the existing Corn Laws. Lord John Russell declared that

he and his party had no objection to Captain Yorke as a man, but

exhorted his hearers to bear in mind that this was no personal contest,

but one which would decide the question of Reform or no Reform. There

were the usual hearty proceedings which we associate with the elections

of that period at the hustings on Parker's Piece, Cambridge; Captain

Yorke was escorted by a body of freeholders on horseback, and there was

the customary cheerful fighting to celebrate the conclusion of the

poll. This resulted in the captain's defeat.

He was not long excluded from Parliament. Upon the passage of the great

Reform Bill in the following year he was again nominated, and taking

his stand upon his old principles, and declaring himself resolutely

opposed to the poisonous and revolutionary ideas which France was

promulgating in Europe, he was returned by a large majority and took

his seat in the first reformed Parliament, where he represented his

county until called to the House of Lords by the death of his uncle.

Meanwhile, Captain Yorke had been most happily married on October 18,

1833, at Ravensworth Castle, Durham, to the Hon. Susan Liddell,

daughter of the first Lord Ravensworth, and sister to the Countess of

Mulgrave, Viscountess Barrington, Lady Williamson, Mrs. Trotter, and

the Hon. Georgiana Liddell, afterwards Lady Bloomfield.

By the death of the third Earl of Hardwicke on November 18, 1834,

Captain Yorke succeeded to that earldom, to which he had long been

heir-presumptive. As already mentioned, the third earl's elder son,

Viscount Royston, had been lost in a storm in the Baltic in 1808, and

two younger sons had died in infancy. Captain Yorke therefore succeeded

to the estates in Cambridgeshire and to the historic mansion of

Wimpole. These came into the possession of his family by purchase, the

Lord Chancellor having acquired them from Edward Lord Harley,

afterwards Earl of Oxford, for £100,000. I print here a letter

describing Wimpole in 1781, written by the Countess of St. Germans to

her aunt Lady Beauchamp, [Footnote: Wife of Sir William Beauchamp of

Langley Park, Norfolk, sister of Mrs. Charles Yorke.] as illustrating

life at a country house at that period.

* * * * *

'MY DEAR AUNT (writes Lady St. Germans from 'Wimple' October 1781), We

came to this place last Monday about half-past three o'clock; just time

enough for dinner and found all the good family in perfect health. Lady

Bell Polwarth is now here, also my brothers. P. Y. had been here

before, Charles came yesterday on purpose to meet Mama, and goes away

again to-morrow. He is not at all the worse for his journey but looks

remarkably well. Here is likewise an unhappy victim of a clergyman on a

visit. His name is Rouse and he is minister of some place near Wrest.

This is the society here at present, and now I shall tell you of our

journey, and how I like the place. Mama had desired my brother Phil as

he passed through Hertford to order four horses to come to Tytten after

six o'clock and four more to be ready at the Inn to change, but knowing

the forgetfulness of the young gentleman, Mama and I were in a peck of

troubles lest he should forget the horses, and then we could not have

gone. However, they did come, and at eleven o'clock after various

directions and orders given we packed off and got to Hertford safely.

Changed horses without alighting and proceeded to Buntingford, where we

changed again. As we passed by Hammells we saw the new Lodges which are

built at the entrance of the Park, and look very pretty; at present

they are only brick, but are to be painted white. When we entered

Cambridgeshire, I confess I was not struck with the beauties of the

country, but thought it very ugly, disagreeable, and uninteresting.

However, when we approached the environs of Wimple, I was in some

measure repaid by the delightful appearance of the Park and country

round it, for the ugliness of that we had passed through. I assure you

I was very much pleased with the beauty of the grounds and the grandeur

of the house itself. Most part of it is furnished in the old style, as

for example, Mama's and my apartment are brown wainscots, and the

bed-curtains and hangings are crimson damask laced with gold most

dreadfully tarnished. The rooms below stairs are excellent, and very

handsomely furnished. Lady Grey, the Marchioness, has just fitted up

some new apartments, that are beautiful, particularly the new

dining-room which is very elegant indeed. Her Ladyship was so kind as

to take us yesterday morning to see the new park building, which is

very pretty. It commands a very fine and extensive prospect and is seen

at a great distance. I have not yet seen the ruined tower which I can

behold from my window. Everything here is quite new to me, as though I

had never seen it before, for you know it is at least seven years ago

since my brother drove us over at full gallop, all the way from

Hammells. The State Bed, which you may remember stood below stairs, is

now moved upwards into one of the new rooms. The paper with which the

walls are covered is common and white to match the bed, and there are

two dressing-rooms belonging to it. In short, I like the place

exceedingly. Lady Grey is very kind to me, and I am much obliged to her

for permitting me to come. One thing here, however, is disagreeable to

me as I have never been used to it, and that is, the sitting so long

after breakfast and dinner. We breakfast at ten o'clock and sit till

twelve. Then if the weather is fine, which it is not to-day, we take a

walk, if not, retire to our own apartments. From half-past two till

four is spent in dressing. From four till past six at dinner. Then

coffee, afterwards working, looking at prints, talking and preaching

till ten. Then I go to bed, and supper is announced. Everybody is in

bed at eleven; before breakfast Mama and I have some little time, as we

get up at eight. I always take a walk in the garden before breakfast.

Before that time everyone but Lady Grey and my Lord go into the

Library, which is a noble apartment.

'My brother has come home delighted with having found in Ireland a hard

name to puzzle everybody to death with. This was the name of a young

lady at Limerick, not more than 6 foot 4 inches without her shoes. What

do you think of Miss Helena Macgillokilycuddy? This name is always in

his mouth, but I believe he has added four syllables to the real word.

As to Charles, he was charmed and captivated with another young lady at

Limerick, a Miss Fitzgerald, whom he danced with and thought the most

amiable of the company. In short, they are much pleased with their

journey, and are ready to break a lance with anyone in favour of the

Irish. I must not forget to tell you that they ran away from Dublin

with two new coats, without ever paying for them. I have no news to

send you.'

* * * * *

Lady Grey mentioned in this letter married the second Lord Hardwicke,

who had no son.

There is an interesting allusion to Wimpole and its associations in one

of Lord Melbourne's published letters to Queen Victoria. After giving

Her Majesty some particulars of the place, and mentioning incidentally

that he was 'very partial to Lord Hardwicke,' Lord Melbourne says:

'The cultured but indolent Lord Harley, afterwards Earl of Oxford, had

married Lady Henrietta Cavendish Holles, who brought him £500,000, most

of which he dissipated. Their only child Margaret, "the noble, lovely

little Peggy" of Prior, married William Bentinck, second Duke of

Portland. Lady Oxford sold to the nation the Harleian Collection of

Manuscripts, now in the British Museum (to hold which the gallery at

Wimpole was built). There is much history and more poetry connected

with it. Prior mentions it repeatedly, and always calls the first Lady

Harley, daughter of the Duke of Newcastle, "Belphebe." If Hardwicke

should have a daughter he should christen her "Belphebe." The Lady

Belphebe Yorke would not sound ill.'

Thus Lord Melbourne to Queen Victoria. I may perhaps add that my father

had three daughters, but it did not occur to him to give either of them

that name. Prior died at Wimpole in 1721, and his portrait was hung in

the library, and on the table are framed the following lines by the

poet:

'Fame counting thy books, my dear Harley,

shall tell

No man had so many who knew them so well.'

At Wimpole accordingly my father, after an active life at sea which had

continued with scarce an interruption for sixteen years, settled to the

quieter life of a country gentleman; he was a good agriculturist,

identifying himself with all the interests of the land, and resolutely

opposing any changes which he considered detrimental to the prosperity

of the country. I should add that he became a successful breeder of

shorthorns, and that he was President of the Royal Agricultural Society

in 1845, when the show was held at Derby.

In 1834 he was appointed Lord-Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire. Sir Robert

Peel recommended his name to King William, as he explained in a letter

to Lord Hardwicke, as an exception to the rule 'which disinclines the

minister to continue a member of the same family in succession in the

office of Lord-Lieutenant of a county ... a rule by which in ordinary

cases I should wish to abide, but not for the purpose of depriving me

of the real satisfaction of making an exception in the case of the

present vacancy in the county of Cambridgeshire, and naming you to His

Majesty, which I have done this day for the appointment of

Lord-Lieutenant.' Upon the return of Sir Robert Peel to power in 1841,

Lord Hardwicke's great influence and loyal principles were recognised

by his appointment as Lord-in-Waiting to Her Majesty Queen Victoria.

It was in that capacity that my father was appointed to attend King

Frederick William IV of Prussia, the elder brother of the Emperor

William I, upon his visit to England in the early months of 1842. An

interesting letter from Mr. John Wilson Croker to my father shows that

Lord Hardwicke took pains to inform himself as to the character and

tastes of his Prussian Majesty before entering upon his period of

waiting. Mr. Croker was staying with Sir Robert Peel, where the

minister was entertaining the Duke of Cambridge:

'I have as I promised you' he writes, 'turned the conversation on the

subject of the K. of Prussia, and as the Duke of Cambridge happens to

be here, we have heard a good deal on the subject of H.M. The sum is

that H.M. is a good and enlightened man, well read in books and well

versed in current literature and affairs; a Christian in heart and

rather fond of theology, so much so, that he has read twice over, they

said, Gladstone's book on the Church.

'I am not surprised at the "twice over," if H.M. really wished to

understand the author. I found that one reading left me as much in the

dark as I was at the first, and I only doubt whether a second perusal

would have made me any wiser.'

As illustrating the King's religious feeling I may mention that among

His Majesty's experiences with Lord Hardwicke was a visit they made

together to Newgate, where they were present in the chapel at a service

Elizabeth Fry was holding for the prisoners. The King knelt and was

deeply affected, and my father always described the scene as 'deeply

touching' and said that he left the prison with an ideal memory of that

great and holy woman.

The King of Prussia became much attached to Lord Hardwicke during this

visit to England, and made him promise a return visit to Prussia. This

took place in June of the same year, when my father went to Berlin and

accompanied the King on a visit he made to the Czar Nicholas at St.

Petersburg. My father wrote a series of letters to my mother while upon

this journey, describing much that he saw and did, and as these give

many interesting particulars of the Czar and his Court, and describe

some of the old towns in North Germany in a way which may tempt many a

wanderer to visit some of them even to-day, I here print some extracts

from them.

The first of these is dated June 20, 1842, from Hamburg, where my

father was detained by a short illness, during which he had the help of

Mr. Schetky, the marine painter to Queen Victoria, whose acquaintance

he had made years before at the Naval College at Portsmouth. It gives

some interesting particulars of the great fire which raged in that city

on May 4, 1842, and two days following, and destroyed 2000

dwelling-houses as well as many churches and public buildings.

* * * * *

'I send you some little sketches of parts of the dilapidated town

showing the ruins of the great church of Saint Peter. The history of

the fire is told in a few words; no one knows how it began, the want of

order, power, and a commanding head was the cause of the great

devastation ... the mob said "in a free town we can do what we like."

They pumped spirits from the engines instead of water by mistake, and

thus a scene of devastation and plunder was begun which ceased only

from the exhaustion of the people and a shift of the wind.

'Then came in some troops from Prussia and Denmark, and order was

restored. The number of lives lost is not known, but not above two

hundred it is believed.

'As you well know, Hamburg is a free town and a republic of itself,

governed by the Burgomaster and a senate. It is one of the three

remaining Hanse towns.... The loss suffered here is to be now stated,

it is fairly computed at 12,000,000 pounds sterling; of this 8,000,000

falls on individuals and foreign and British insurance offices;

4,000,000 on the city of Hamburg. The foreign insurance offices have

paid very well; the Hamburg, that is the individual who had such an

office, is ruined and can pay nothing; the city of Hamburg will borrow

4,000,000, and raise the interest by a tax on the houses of the city

throughout. The cause of this is that Hamburg allowed no foreign

insurance to be made for a house, but the whole city is an insurance

office against the destruction of a house by fire. What the house

contains as furniture, &c., the city has nothing to do with. So each

individual will receive for his house destroyed by fire its value from

the city, but he will be taxed to pay the interests of the money. This

may not be quite clear, it requires rather more words to make it so. I

hope to find a letter from you in Berlin.--Yours,

'CHARLES.'

* * * * *

The next letter was written from Berlin.

* * * * *

'I arrived here this morning at four o'clock from Hamburg to

Boitzenburg, where we slept.

'I went down to the King (at Sans Souci) by railroad; he was at dinner,

I got some brought to me by his old servant. The King soon came out of

his dining-room to me and gave me a most hearty welcome, and took me

into the garden, where all the court ladies and gentlemen were

gathered; presented me to the Queen, both asked after and about you and

were very kind. I can hardly say how much interest I felt in being for

a few moments at Sans Souci again; it is a most beautiful place. It is

wonderful to think of its creation, but there will be speedy decay and

dissolution, if it is not ere long repaired. The Palace is small, and

not worthy the name of a Palace, but beautiful. I am not expected to

remain long I think, from what I gather.

'As I was staring about the town yesterday evening after my return from

Sans Souci, I was tapped on the shoulder and informed that the King

desired that I would come to sup with him at nine, so as it was half

past eight, off I went to dress. By the by I did not tell you that

after our dinner at Sans Souci the whole Court moved up to Berlin by

railroad, thus I was at the Palace at nine. The supper was served at

six small tables, without any covering, the plate and glasses standing

on the mahogany. At one table sat the King and Queen, the Princess of

Prussia and the Duke of Brunswick; the rest of the party and his

household were at the other tables. A seat of honour was kept for me by

the great lady of the Court, but I had already found myself seated by a

maid of honour whose sweet smiles had attracted me and I did not think

it worth while to move. You need not be alarmed, for the stock of

beauty here is small. The King and Queen both crossed to speak with me

before and after supper, and on taking leave for the night the King

kindly shook me by the hand. The King is gone, he visits some of his

provincial towns on his way, and takes no one with him but one

Aide-de-camp and no escort. I go tomorrow in my own carriage, thank

God; a route is given me, a number painted on the carriage, and all

paid, so I go like the devil without anything to pay. I shall be at

Dantzic before the King.

'The road from Hamburg to Berlin lies through a portion of the Danish

territory and the territory of the grand Duke of Mecklenburg Schwerin

and the Prussian, the whole way the country is cultivated, the Danish

territory of Holstein is sandy and little done with it. That of M.

Schwerin is of a better quality, though what we should call moderate

soil but very fairly cultivated. I never saw better farming in my life,

or a country more cared for, the crops looked well and not a weed to be

seen, the road-side planted, and every tree that was young staked and

tied, the side of the roads mowed and trimmed, and stone gutter on each

side of a fairly macadamized road. I felt humbled after my boasting

thoughts of England, as this pattern they have no doubt followed, but

the Prince of Mecklenburg Schwerin deserves well of his people for his

superior copy. The people are well clothed, and I have not been asked

for a farthing since I came to this country.

'Then in Prussia on crossing the frontier the authorities were most

civil, cast an eye at the carriage, made a bow, and would not look at

an article; the regulations of Prussia are in all departments most

excellent, and a painstaking discipline exists everywhere, which makes

the position of the traveller quite charming. Here only one side of the

road is macadamized, the other half is the soil, but the road is very

wide, so down hill you take the soil, very safe. All through Prussia,

as far as I have been, the farming is very good, the land very clean,

but the soil very, very poor; it is a great desert in fact, made

habitable by the perseverance and industry of the people; round this

town it is wonderful to see what can be done by the hand of man. This

town stands in a desert of driving sand, but the town has created a

soil round it which is now pushing the desert back every year, and it

is now in the centre of a large circle of fine green fields and corn

lands; of course the produce is not great but the labour is small, and

the improvement progressing. The accommodation is very fair even to an

Englishman. The innkeepers are a very respectable class, and though I

have not seen a bed that is larger than a child's crib without

curtains, yet they are clean, soft, and well made with lots of pillows

for the head.

'Up to this time I have seen nothing but what I may call the outside of

Berlin, my impression is that on the whole it is a very fine city. The

public buildings are numerous. The architecture is fine, with more of

the florid ornament than the style permits; much statuary and grouping

of figures in marble and bronze. Streets wide, buildings low and large;

but more of this bye and bye.

'My friend Schetky has been very useful to me in killing much "ennui"

and comforting me when sick. He is an extraordinary fellow,

sixty-three, with the spirits and fun of a boy, and the appetite of a

horse. He is bent on going to Dantzig, so puts himself into the

mail-post or public conveyance. He thinks he can make a picture

[Footnote: Now at Sydney Lodge.] of the King's embarkation; I hope he

may succeed, for he is a worthy soul.

'I have passed my morning in the museum of statues and pictures. The

museum was founded in 1830 from designs by Schinkel; it is pure Greek

Doric (I don't like it), a double column façade, up a great flight of

steps; before the entrance stands a basin of polished red granite

twenty-two feet in diameter, one block; it was a boulder that lay

thirty miles from Berlin called the Markgrafenstein, it lay at a place

called Fürstenwald.

'The collection of the museum consists of vases and bronzes, sculpture

and pictures. My view was so very cursory, and without a catalogue,

that I must not say much about it. It is very large and the statues are

mostly antique, and I should say fine. The pictures are numerous and

many very fine, but on the whole the collection I should say was not

first rate, indeed if it were it would be the finest in the world from

its number.

'There is a very curious collection of very old church pictures by very

ancient masters of the art, but the Italian school of its best day is,

I think, small, as well as the Dutch. But I must not be supposed to

give judgment on the gallery, I must have a long day at it on my

return, and another some day with you, my love.

'I find that I am not even to pay for a potato on my journey, my beds,

breakfasts, dinners, horses are everywhere ordered. And apartments were

ready for me at Sans Souci, had I arrived sooner, and this morning I

was ordered to the Palace for to-day and to-night, but I begged off,

the Hof-Marshall not thinking my rooms here good enough; surely this is

enough honour. But it is given to the Queen's servant, to an

Englishman, and not to myself, so I do not take it all. I dine with

Westmorland to-day at five.

'Your devoted,

'CHARLES.'

* * * * *

KONITZ: June 25, 1842.

'I have arrived at the end of my second day's journey towards Dantzig,

where I meet the King, who went by another road for the purpose of

paying a visit to the frontier town of Posen, where he was to be

entertained by the inhabitants. As I told you, I had a route given me

and thus far am I advanced, post horses standing ready at each station,

the authorities waiting on me and showing me every attention that a

Pacha might require. I must say more could not be done to make all most

agreeable to me, I have come 100 miles in twelve hours on the most

excellent road without a jolt, very good accommodation and eating.'

* * * * *

DANTZIG: June 26.

'I am safe and sound at the ancient Port of Dantzig, the corn exporting

place, the terror of English farmers. I found that I was quartered on

arrival at the English Consul's, where I have an excellent apartment

and was most kindly received by him and his family, the lady being a

Prussian, and from what I have seen of her a most excellent and

charming person.

'My journey to-day has been less agreeable than the two previous ones

from heavy rain all day, country passed through of the same general

character, the land improving in quality as we approach Dantzig.

Between Konitz and (?) Pral Rittelm we cross a small stream called the

Pral, full of salmon and fine trout. I thought of my absent fishing

tackle, but it is better I had it not, as I should have got wet to a

certainty, but I mark him for some other day.

'The country is a Catholic country, wooden images of the crucified

Saviour on the road-sides, and the greater part of cottages here built

of timber log, and the people in an inferior condition.

'As soon as I had dined with the Consul I took my way to the shore of

the Vistula. The sight of its banks was to me most interesting, covered

with sheaves of wheat covering acres of ground, while the river is

covered with rafts of timber and large boats built for the voyage down,

but being broken up for fire wood as soon as the cargo of wheat is

landed. Here the grain remains till sold to the merchant, when it is

carried to the granaries in the town, or rather to an island in the

middle of the town called Speicher Insel. On this island there is no

other building but granaries. The corn contained is 500,000 or 600,000

qrs. of wheat. On a fine day on the shore of the river are to be seen

the figures of two hundred men and women, Poles, working the wheat by

turning it over and over with shovels till it is dry, as the voyage

down the river is sometimes five or six weeks, and the corn heats and

grows; thus it requires much turning on its arrival.

'The Poles who come down with it, are the most savage and uncouth

looking people I ever saw, excepting Finns and Esquimaux; indeed, they

are very like them. But their character here is that they are a most

inoffensive race, suffer much fatigue and privation, and gain but

little by their voyage. They are in the hands of Jewish supercargoes,

one of which nation is to be seen in every regiment and in every boat.

These poor people, after the cargo is sold, walk home again 600 or 700

miles. Price of wheat on the shore 55s. per qr. That won't hurt us. The

King is expected tomorrow late in the evening. Good-night.

'Monday night, ten o'clock.--The day is past and I have returned for

the night. The King arrived at six o'clock, I waited on him directly he

was in the room; he had me to dine with him, and seated me next him at

table. The Prince Menschikoff, the head of the Russian Navy, was there;

he has come to take the King to Russia with two steam ships.

'I visited to-day the lions of Dantzig--the Exchange, the Cathedral,

and the Armoury. The Exchange is a most curious building of great

antiquity, and the hall is certainly the most curious and grotesque

room in the world. The walls are covered with large pictures and wooden

statues painted in colour. It is a Gothic edifice built in 1379, and

the roof of the hall is supported by four slender pillars. The most

singular picture on the wall is a representation of the church under

the form of a ship sailing to heaven full of monks, who are throwing

out ropes and hooks to haul on board a few miserable sinners, who but

for this timely assistance would be drowned.

'In front of the building is a fine fountain ornamented with a bronze

figure of Neptune drawn by sea-horses. The whole effect of the hall is

most curious and beautiful. Near this building is the Town Hall, in

which is the room in which the old Senate, now the Corporation, sit.

Its beauty is difficult to describe, the ceiling is richly carved in

wood, in each compartment is a fine and brilliant picture by some old

master.

'The church, of which I send a sketch, is one of the most curious in

Europe; the Lutherans have preserved it exactly as it was; rich to a

degree in painting, sculpture, and brass, though not of the highest

order, yet, to the eye, rich in effect. The two great objects in it are

a picture by Van Eyck, and a crucified Saviour in wood as large as

life. It is called the "Marien Kirche," and was begun in 1343 by the

grand master of the Teutonic Knights. The architect was Ulric Ritter of

Strasburg. The vaulted roof is supported by twenty-six slender brick

pillars, ninety-eight feet from the pavement; around the interior are

fifty chapels, originally founded by the chief citizens for their

families. The great ornament is the picture by John Van Eyck known as

the Dantzig picture. It was painted for the Pope, and while on its way

to Rome was taken by pirates. It was retaken by a Dantzig vessel and

deposited in the cathedral, where it remained till 1807, when the

French took the town and it was carried to Paris. On its return after

the war, the King of Prussia wished to retain it in Berlin, and offered

the town 40,000 dollars as a compensation, but they would not part with

their picture. I think it a wonderful picture, it is as fresh as the

day it was painted, and the colour bestowed on it is amazing; but, like

all this class of pictures, to me it is only wonderful.

'The Crucifix is fine, and the story goes that the artist crucified his

servant that he might make a good article.

'Fahrenheit, who invented the thermometer, was born here. The great

street of the town is the most beautiful I ever saw, the houses with

the gables to the street no two alike, richly ornamented with elaborate

cornices and carving of figures and flowers. Flights of steps from the

door, some projecting more than others into the street, some with stone

rail, some iron, some brass. Most curious, antique, and beautiful. It

is a fine and interesting old town. So much for Dantzig.'

* * * * *

At the Entrance of the Gulf of Finland, on board the Emperor of

Russia's Steam Frigate _Bogatir_:

* * * * *

June 30, 1842.

'Since I despatched my letter from Dantzig I have made progress thus

far towards my ultimate and extreme point, and to-morrow evening I

expect to be safe under the roof of the Emperor of all the Russias. I

closed my letter to you on the 27th, and I shall resume the thread of

my story from that time. At nine o'clock on the 28th the King reviewed

the Garrison of Dantzig, a small army of about 2000 men, consisting of

two regiments of infantry, one of cavalry, and eight guns. I

accompanied him on horseback; the turn-out was very good indeed, the

men small but healthy and active, and moved very well, in all points

extremely well equipped. Afterwards His Majesty drove about the town

and visited everything, not only the public buildings that I have

described to you, but also wherever a bit of old carving, or old

wardrobe, or the façade of a house that was curious was to be found,

there he paid a visit. He gave a great dinner at two o'clock to 100 of

his chief people and officers. During the repast a regiment of infantry

sang national songs in parts most beautifully, the choruses, with 800

or 1000 voices, very fine. We embarked at seven in a small steam boat

which took us down the Vistula and aboard the frigate. Throughout the

day I have been struck with the position of this Monarch and his people.

'No guards, no escorts, not even a guard of honour or police, all

affection and order. He walked about amongst thousands of his people,

like a father among his loving children. He was remarkably well

received everywhere and it made him very happy. He is very familiar

with his officers, and talks to his servants with kindness and good

humour, frequently making them laugh and laughing in return. In short,

I am much struck with the difference of forms in the constitutional and

despotic country, and with the pomp of the former and familiarity and

freedom of the latter. In parting with his officers he pressed many of

them with warmth and affection to his heart.

'The two Russian steam ships that convey us to St. Petersburg are very

fine vessels, the one we are on board of is the smallest of the two,

being about 1000 tons and 200 horse power, the other 1800 tons with 600

horse power. This vessel, the _Bogatir_, is superbly fitted and quite

equal in all points to any I have seen in England.

'July 1 (Friday, 5 P.M.).--I was obliged to leave this scrawl of mine

yesterday, for really what with the engine, the eating and the talking,

I could do little in the way of writing; moreover, I have had no bed,

though a very good cabin, but have slept three nights in my clothes on

the sofa. Well here I am well lodged with a suite of apartments in the

Palace of Peterhoff with the Emperor and the Court. It has been a day

of great interest, and ought to have been one of excitement, but I find

that nothing of this sort excites me; so much the better, I can profit

more, though I do not enjoy so much.

'This morning at four o'clock I was on deck and we passed a division of

the Russian Fleet under sail, one three-decker and eight two-deckers of

80 and 74 guns, four frigates, two corvettes, and three or four brigs;

the line-of-battle ships formed the line of battle on the larboard tack

and bore up with us, but the wind being light they did not keep long in

company. At equal distance were placed, for the purpose of

communication by signal, vessels of war, frigates, and brigs, who gave

the Emperor early information of our approach. Of course we were

everywhere received with a cannonade from every vessel.

'On approaching Cronstadt the Emperor, Empress, and all the Court came

out to meet us in a steam yacht; there was also on board the Prince of

the Netherlands and his Princess. At Cronstadt another division of the

Fleet was at anchor, nine sail of the line and six or seven frigates.

Of the Fleet I shall speak another time.

'After passing the batteries at Cronstadt we anchored, and the Emperor

pushed off in a boat from his yacht and fetched the King, his suite

went on board in another boat. The meeting between the King and the

Imperial family was most affectionate, and after the hurry and

excitement of this event had subsided, I was presented by the King to

the Emperor.

'You cannot conceive anything more frank, noble, open, and kind, than

the bearing of this great man, he put me at once at my ease, and talked

to me both in French and English, on such commonplace matters as best

suited the occasion.

'He then presented me to the Empress, her manner was most kind and

gentle, but her beauty is gone, and she looks very thin. Luncheon was

served on deck, the Imperial family and the King at one table, as they

sat down the Emperor called out "Lord Hardwicke these are my daughters,

they speak English." I of course went off to the two most lovely women,

Olga and Alexandrina, most charming in every way, their beauty is

surpassed by their sweetness of manner and address. An old lady of the

court took me under her protection during luncheon, but I have not yet

found out who she is. After luncheon the yacht which had anchored got

under way and stood over from the roads of Cronstadt to Peterhoff,

accompanied by six sail of small ships. The Emperor came up to me and

pointing to them he said, "These are my boys," explaining that they

were the pupils for the navy under his own eye. They live on board

these six vessels during summer and are always at work. Two little boys

were on deck in uniform, and I said, "And these are yours, are they

not?" The Empress was standing by and the Emperor replied in English,

"Yes, they are our own fabrique, are they not, Madame Nicolas?" placing

his large hand all over her face, she rejoined in Russian, "How you do

talk." This made me laugh, and the Emperor and Empress did so in a

manner that showed the joke was a good one. On landing, I, in company

with the Prussians, paid visits to the hereditary Grand Duke, to the

Prince of Prussia, to the Grand Duke Michael and his Duchess, a most

charming person, and two or three officers of state. I should tell you

that on the reception of the King there is a Guard of Honour before the

Palace of about 200 men, not more on the ground. I was struck with the

manner of the Emperor; he ordered what words of command should be

given, and as they broke into sections to march before the King, the

Emperor placed himself on the left of one of the companies, and

marching with them, saluted the King, and then fell out. The whole

manner of this man is most remarkable, and quite unlike anybody I ever

saw.

'He is one of the finest and best-looking men in the world, and his

bearing corresponds. At four o'clock we went to dine, the Imperial

family dine at the Palace of the Grand Duchess Helena close by, and the

Court dined here in the Palace. I sat between Count Menschikoff, whom I

like very much (he is, as I told you, the head of the Navy) and a

little Court lady from Moscow, who might fascinate easily a heart that

was free. Dinner is over and I sit down to write this to you. As to

myself I am quite well, and shall profit all I can by this trip, but I

shall be heartily tired of it, I assure you; it is no joke. I would not

be tied to one of these Courts for all the world could give, it is such

a continued business of eating and dressing.

'I shall say nothing of Peterhoff or St. Petersburg, which I have not

seen. I see before me in all directions from the windows frames of wood

of enormous dimensions and various shapes for lighting up the gardens

of the Palace on the night of the Fête, although there is no night, so

it must be going through the forms of illumination only. However, we

shall see when it takes place, no doubt it will be most magnificent.

'All about me is most strange, a mixture of East and West, such as can

be nowhere else seen: savage and civilised life is here blended

together, blackies and turbans and laced footmen all wait at table

together.'

* * * * *

PETERHOFF: July 2, 1842.

'I find myself most completely provided for here. I have a

sitting-room, bedroom, and servant's room with all comforts....

'I must now give you some description of this place, but shall wait

till to-morrow that I may profit by my ride with the young ladies, who

will show me all the gardens.

'The Palace of Peterhoff with a front to the main building of 510 feet,

is situated on the top of a terrace which runs to a certain distance

along the left or north bank of the mouth of the Neva opposite

Cronstadt. The terrace overlooks the wide expanse of the Neva to

Cronstadt and St. Petersburg and far towards the sea; the distance from

the terrace to the sea is about half a mile. This part is planted with

trees of various kinds, fir, elm, ash, common kinds, and having

attained no great size, about the size of thirty years' growth in a

tolerable soil in England--these are cut into avenues or vistas at

right angles to one another, in which are statues, fountains, and

canals, and this at once gives you the character of the place. I

neither rode nor wrote yesterday evening, but fell asleep till I was

called to dress at half-past eight. By the bye, I have dressed six

times to-day. I must leave my description of Peterhoff to be continued

till another time, as I wish to relate to you what has passed here

since nine o'clock P.M. till this time. Your letter was delivered to me

yesterday evening by one of the Emperor's aide-de-camps in the middle

of a game of romps such as I've not enjoyed since I was a boy. At nine

o'clock I was in the receptions room of the Palace according to orders,

all the Court were assembled, but no strangers; the company might

amount to about sixty, the Emperor, Empress, the three Grand Duchesses,

their daughters, the Czarewitch, the Prince of the Netherlands, and

many others, with the King of Prussia. After some little formality the

doors of a large apartment were thrown open, in which was no furniture

but a few chairs. In the room adjoining was a full band. The Empress

said to me, "You must come with us and not play cards, we are going to

play some innocent games." All formality was now at an end, the

Imperial family joined with the Court and the game began. It was the

game with a rope, which I daresay you have seen. All take hold of it

and one is in the middle, the one in the middle must strike the hand of

anyone holding the rope, who then takes his place in the middle. I

think you must have seen this game, a very innocent one, and makes fun.

After this had gone on for some time, the Emperor takes hold of the

cord, pushed it and the company into a corner of the room, and the game

became more vivacious, and a general romp ensued, some fell, some

rushed into the Emperor's arms, who stood like a colossus at the end of

the room with open arms to receive those who sought shelter there. This

could be seen nowhere else. We then supped at round tables, the ladies

sending for the gentlemen they chose to make the party. After supper

the Imperial family retired. It was a most delightful evening.

'Words cannot convey an idea of the affability and kindness, the

sweetness and amiability of this great family. I shall put by my pen

just now and write the details of the day to-night, if not too sleepy.

But it is not a Sunday passed as it ought to be, though we have been to

church.

'Monday, 10.30 A.M.--I am waiting for a message from the Emperor, who

yesterday told me that I was to go to Cronstadt with him this morning,

and warning me at the same time that he would do all he could to tire

me completely. We yesterday had a very hard day. At eleven o'clock we

went to the Greek chapel in the Palace, the whole Court attending

divine service. Of the ceremonial of the Greek Church I shall only say

that its forms are in appearance more absurd than the Romish. The music

and chanting was most sublime and beautiful, nothing could exceed the

excellence of this performance. The chapel is small but highly

decorated in the interior with paintings of rather a high finish and

gold, in the style of Louis XIV, though the form of the chapel does not

much vary from the same date, yet its proportions do, for it is three

times as lofty as its area is broad, with a domed ceiling. After church

a parade, here the Emperor and the King of Prussia played soldiers for

an hour and a half. Suffice it to say, without relating all the

marching and counter-marching of the troops, that the King of Prussia's

regiment (for he is a colonel in the Russian Army) was drawn up, the

King inspected the men and then put himself on the right of the line,

the Emperor then went up to him and, taking him in his arms, kissed

both his cheeks, then the King marched past the Emperor at the head of

his regiment. The Empress was on the ground.

'Monday.--I dined with the Royal Family, 150 sat down; we did not go to

Cronstadt to-day, I am not sorry, for it rained. The dinner was good

for a Russian and not long. The service on the table all china from

Berlin, given by Frederick the Great to Katharine.

'After dinner to the St. Peterburg Gate, about three miles off, where I

found a horse ready for me to attend a review of the military cadets.

It was a very interesting sight, 3000 boys in heavy marching order with

eight guns, a small body of light horse, and a small body of Circassian

Horse, forming a complete little army. Their marching and evolutions

were most excellent, no troops can move better than these boys. The

Emperor and his staff rode so as to cut the column off three times,

then they passed in review three times before him, and were dismissed.

As soon as they had time to disarm, the youths came rushing out in all

directions. The Emperor dismounted and was at once surrounded by them.

He lifted one, took another in his arms, passed two or three under his

legs, and spoke with frankness and affection to all. The love and

enthusiasm of these children for him is such as is found only in the

breast of youth, but must grow in time; and what a power this one

institution must give him. These boys are all of good family, and go

from this training to the army as officers. After this, at nine, a ball

at the Emperor's cottage.'

* * * * *

Lord Hardwicke remained in St. Petersburg for a fortnight, leaving that

city on the 13th of July for Memel, in attendance on the King of

Prussia, who was returning to Berlin by way of Silesia.

As long as he was in Russia at the Court of the Emperor Nicholas, he

experienced (as the foregoing letters show) the most generous, nay

lavish, hospitality. In this connection the following anecdote may be

recorded. An allowance, consisting of one bottle of brandy and one of

champagne, was placed on a tray in his room each morning. He rarely

touched it, but when at the end of his visit the servant in waiting

brought him a bill for the champagne, he sharply turned and said, 'Very

well, I shall show this bill to the Emperor myself,' at which the

servant turned deadly pale and replied, 'I beg you will do no such

thing, or I shall certainly be sent to Siberia!'

* * * * *

MEMEL: July 18, 1842.

'This will be a short letter as the time passed since I wrote is small.

We arrived here about noon to-day, having had a good passage and are

all well. You will by this time feel that I am returning, and that my

face is towards home. The King has pressed me to stay and go to the

Rhine with him, but I have decided the point, and have declined his

great kindness, thus I shall keep my word and hope to be at home again,

at the time I stated.

'I believe I told you that the _fête_ passed off well, our promenade

amongst the lamps in the garden was stupid enough. I tried to stir the

Maids of Honour up a little, but it was hard work even to make them

laugh, and the people looked glum, being as it were a sort of

contradiction to the illuminated garden. The last day was a day of

repose. The next day being Saturday, the Imperial Family received us to

take leave, and nothing could be more truly kind and affectionate in

manner than they all were to me. I say to me, for I know not what was

said to others, but I have no doubt they were so to all the Prussians.

The Emperor and Empress both gave me special messages to the Queen. I

then, when the audience was over, drove to visit the Grand Duke Michael

at Orienbaum, about six miles from Peterhoff, an ancient palace, and a

very fine one, I think. The Grand Duchess Helena, his wife, is a most

charming lady and very lovely; she took me all over the house, and

showed me how little by little she was making it comfortable.

'The Grand Duchess Marie did not see me, and I was very sorry for it.

At twelve o'clock the King and Emperor came on board the _Bogatir_ and

we got under way immediately. At about one we passed Cronstadt; at

half-past one we had passed the last ship of the fleet. I was standing

on the paddle-box near the Emperor and King, when on a rocket being

thrown up from the _Bogatir_, all the fleet, mounting 3500 pieces of

cannon, discharged all the guns at once, and the Emperor at the same

moment took the King in his arms and embraced him. This bit of stage

effect took me by surprise and affected me exceedingly; there was

something very imposing and touching in this _coup de théâtre_ and the

King was much affected. After this the boat was manned for the Emperor

to depart, and he stood some time on deck without speaking, the King

and all of us standing near him. I saw he was much moved. At last he

pressed the King in his arms and kissed him; after he embraced the

Prussians. When he came to me, he held out his hand; I gave him mine

and bowed, but he said, "No, no; you must do so," and taking me round

the neck kissed me most affectionately.

'I assure you it was a very striking scene and I shall never forget it;

he was no more the Emperor, but a warm-hearted man. He was most

affected at parting with the King, and this had softened him towards

all, and his heart was uppermost. I was glad to see him thus. I did not

think before he was a man of feeling, but he has a warm and

affectionate heart. I shall not easily forget this evening.

'Our voyage was too good a one to produce any anecdote worth relating.

As I passed the bar I remembered that I was indebted to its broken

waves for my present station. The King spoke to me of Royston's death;

he was at Memel when it happened and remembered all the circumstances

of it. He knew Mrs. Potter very well. We start to-morrow on our way to

Silesia, our first day's journey is to Tilsit....

'CHARLES.'

* * * * *

ERDSMANSDORFF: July 27.

'I arrived here last night about six o'clock after a prosperous journey

of four days and one night from Königsberg, from which place my last

letter is dated. The Queen is just arrived, the King is expected about

four in the afternoon. From Memel to this place the whole country is

flat and tame. Erdsmansdorff is situated at the foot of a large

mountain that separates Silesia from Bohemia, called Riesengeberg,

which means "Great Mountain"; the chief of the chain is opposite my

windows, the highest in Germany, being 4983 feet above the level of the

sea. The outline of this chain is undulating but not bold. The valley

is lovely, and the King is building a house here; the grounds are

partially laid out, we are living in a building which will form a part

of the offices of the new house. My apartment is on the ground floor,

and the King and Queen are above me. The people are an industrious

race. Here is a colony of Tyrolese the King received and gave lands to;

they were persecuted by the Catholics on the other side of the

mountains, and he said, "Come here, and I will give you rest." So here

they are 300, and have built themselves houses after the fashion of

their country, which has much added to the beauty and picturesqueness

of this land.

'I cannot say how well I am treated everywhere, you cannot conceive the

civility and attention that I have received from all and everyone, poor

and rich, a proof how much the King is loved; for the poor know me as

the King's friend.

'I must now go back a little to Königsberg and say something of the

Palace of that place. It is a most ancient structure of enormous size,

being built round a quadrangle with round towers at the corners. It is

not beautiful, but ancient and large, towers above all other buildings,

and stands on the edge of a hill that overlooks a great part of the

town.

'The town of Königsberg was once the capital of Prussia proper, and a

long time the residence of the electors of Brandenburg. It is the third

city in the Prussian dominions and contains 70,000 inhabitants. It is

not fortified, but is going to be.

'After the battle of Jena, the Royal Family of Prussia took shelter in

this town, the present King being then twelve years old. The Palace is

now chiefly used for provincial offices, and a suite of apartments is

kept furnished for the King. There are some very ancient archives kept

here which must contain a fund of interest; I looked at several letters

from our Sovereigns both of the Plantagenet and Tudor line to the

Teutonic Grand Masters, thanking them for falcons sent from Prussia.

'As I told you, I was to go in search of an elk and kill one if I

could. Accordingly I started at 3 P.M., accompanied by the master of

the forest, to a forest about seven English miles from the town, and

without making the story long, I had the good fortune to see, but not

to kill, six of the enormous animals; only one passed within shot, and

this was a female with her calf. I was desired to fire at the calf, and

I missed. I will not make the excuse that I might for so doing; my only

bag will distract Eliot when he hears it, a fox, on the death of which

all present raised their hats. It made me laugh and think of the old

proverb, "What's one man's meat...." I returned to Königsberg at 9.30

and at 10 started for this place.

'I arrived at Marienberg at nine next morning, and stayed there an hour

to see the Palace, and breakfast. The Palace is the most interesting

building in Prussia, and is very fine of its kind. The King, with his

love of architecture, has restored a great part of it, and will, by

degrees, restore the whole to its original state. This was the seat of

the Knights of the Teutonic order, they, in fact, were the founders of

the Prussian kingdom, after fifty-three years' struggle. The oldest

part of this Castle was built in 1276, the middle Castle in 1309. The

rooms in the interior and the great hall are built in a singular way:

the rooms are square, the hall is in three cubes. The ceiling of each

room, which is arched, is supported by a single slender column of

granite, in the centre hall by three columns in the same way.

'The King and Queen have arrived and dinner is over, they are both very

happy and are gone to drive together quietly, and we shall not see them

again this evening. He has been through part of Poland, where his

reception has been most enthusiastic.'

* * * * *

ERDSMANSDORFF: 31st July.

'Here I have abode quietly with the King and Queen since I last wrote

to you, and should have been quite content if I had only your company

in addition, but although all ought to be charming to me, yet the want

of employment or excitement after the first view of environs was over

leads me to wish my stay shortened. I have, however, walked hard though

not far and looked about the country for fear I could not go, as the

dinner-hour at three cuts the day in twain. Life has been quite devoid

of form or uniform for all, even the King has been what is called here

_en bourgeois._ After dinner we usually drive to some hill or dale,

some favourite haunt to take tea, returning late to supper and to bed.

The Queen is a sweet woman, the very best of her sex, most plain,

modest, and unaffected, but doing the Queen perfectly when necessary.

Yesterday we had a full dress day at Fubach, the residence of the

King's uncle, Prince William. His daughter, about to be married to the

Prince Royal of Bavaria, was confirmed in the parish Church. A great

exhibition. The church was crammed and the Princess at the altar

underwent a two hours' catechising and examination, which she bore with

great talent and conduct. To-day she receives the sacrament. She is a

lovely girl of seventeen, and her future husband is the future King of

Bavaria, a roué of 30. He was there, arrived the night before. There

was a great gathering of the Prussian Royal Family, who live in this

valley and neighbourhood....

'11 P.M.--I have just seen the King, and he has allowed me to go

to-morrow morning, and meet him at Sans Souci on Saturday.'

* * * * *

BERLIN: 5 August.

'I arrived here yesterday at 6 P.M. by railroad from Dresden, having

quitted that town at 6 A.M.; a very good railroad and well conducted.

On my arrival I was greeted by your letter of the 27th; a very good

cure for blue devils. The news you give me of all things at Wimpole is

very satisfactory. The offices in size and appearance of the east wing

corresponding with the library I was aware of, and I am of opinion that

it will not be noticeable to any degree, and if it is, can be easily

remedied when I build the conservatory. On the subject of chimneys we

shall agree.

'To-morrow I go to Sans Souci, the King arrives for dinner, and

apartments are prepared there for me. Now my object will be to get away

from my kind and excellent friend, for I cannot find another word so

proper, but I must at the same time consult his wishes.

'My journey from Erdsmansdorff to Dresden was very prosperous, though

it rained all day. I found my horses ready and paid to the frontier of

Saxony, and no one would take money from me. I stopped at the residence

of General Bon-Natzmer for breakfast, he lives about sixteen miles from

Erdsmansdorff, a very nice residence with pretty scenery, and his wife

a perfect lady; they gave me an excellent English breakfast. I arrived

in Dresden, having been twenty hours performing the journey.

'I saw all that was worth seeing in Dresden, and well worth the journey

it was, if it had only been to look at the face of the Madonna di San

Sisto, which I think surpasses anything I have seen in nature. It has

left a deep remembrance on my mind, the copy here conveys only an idea

of the original. It lives and breathes, the eyes look as if moving, and

it is perfectly true that I was riveted to the spot with wonder at the

performance of the beyond all famous master. If he had never painted

any picture but this, he must have died the greatest painter that ever

lived. After looking through this fine gallery I again returned to the

Madonna, and feel now that I had not exaggerated to my own mind the

wonder and power of this picture. The face of the child, too, carries

all that the strongest imagination can picture of wisdom and childish

innocence. I grieve to say this _chef d'oeuvre_ is going to ruin. Your

Father's copy is of great value, for it is excellent, nay wonderful,

and will in fifty years be what the great picture now is, for much of

the expression of the countenance is caused by the softness which time

has given to the tone of the picture. The Gallery wants weeding and

repairing, the pictures are going faster than they ought, and the

effect of the Gallery is injured by a quantity of inferior pictures and

copies. It now contains 2000 pictures, if it was reduced to 1500 it

would be more valuable. The museum of History is well worth a visit,

the quantity of beautiful and valuable things here collected are most

interesting, a suit of gold and silver armour by Benvenuto Cellini

would hold a high place in your estimation, a collection of various

costumes within 150 years would amuse you.

'The great fair annually held here in August has just begun. I spent my

two evenings in the booths, very idly, but very much to my amusement. I

dined with our minister, Mr. Forbes and his sisters, Lady Adelaide and

Lady Caroline, two ancient maids, old friends of mine twenty-four years

ago.

'The King and Royal Family are at the fair taking part in the games of

the people, shooting with the cross-bow at the bird on the top of a

pole; large tents are pitched for their reception, and they spend the

evening; the court ladies came the second evening. You would have

enjoyed it much. The Germans are a more rational people in these

matters than we are, the best society enjoy this fair, and sit out

under tents taking their coffee and meals and enjoying the sight with

their families and wives. All the musicians from Bohemia, Tyrol and

various other districts of Germany were here playing on various

instruments and singing the national ballads. Two or three women take

harps like our Welsh harps, with the voices in parts, and sing together

Tyrolese and Bohemian songs. Perfect order, and I did not see one

person drunk. Whatever may be the secret faults of the Germans they are

a decent and orderly people. The weather is very warm, the thermometer

eighty-four in the shade. I dined with Westmorland and drove out with

him in the evening, to-day I go to Sans Souci. I must be two days in

London before I go to Wimpole.

'CHARLES.'

* * * * *

SANS SOUCI: 6th August.

'My hope of being with you as soon as the 15th is at an end. It is with

feeling of the greatest sorrow that I feel I am compelled to make a

sacrifice of a few days and arrive later. This evening we all went,

that is the King and Queen, and Prince Charles of Prussia with his

wife, to drink tea in one of the beautiful spots of this most lovely

place. The King called me to his table. When we sat down he said,

"Pray, when do you mean to leave me?" I said, "I intend to do the only

painful thing I have done since I've been in Prussia, and that is to

ask His Majesty's permission to take my leave on Monday." He said, "I

will not ask you to do what is contrary to your duty, but I must beg

you to stay with me a little longer. I must ask you to remain with me

at least till after the 15th." This was said in so kind a manner, with

the Queen looking me full in the face, that I at once said, "So much

honour was done me by the desire expressed that I could not refuse."

'They both at once expressed most unfeigned pleasure, but it is a

sacrifice. I now leave Berlin on the 16th, and shall be in London on

the 21st, please God, without fail. You cannot conceive how

affectionately I am treated by this great family. I never have received

so much real attention from out of my own family in my life. I feel

sure you will approve of what I have done, and think after all this

kindness I was bound to make a sacrifice, if asked. The King said to me

at supper this evening, "I cannot think what became of you one morning

on board the steamer. I went three times to your cabin to look for you,

and could not find you. I asked for you, and no one had seen you; and

then the horrid idea came over me that you had fallen overboard or were

ill." I mention this to show the sort of feeling he must have for me. I

believe I was asleep on the sofa with a table before it, and he did not

see me, being very nearsighted. I am most charmingly lodged here, the

walls of my room are all marqueterie and they have put sofa and bed,

&c., as the Chamberlain told me "like it is done at Windsor."'

It is clear from these letters that Lord Hardwicke's character and

personality were much appreciated both by the King of Prussia and by

the Emperor Nicholas. He was indeed so great a favourite with the

latter that when the Emperor paid a visit to Queen Victoria in 1844 he

was appointed to attend His Majesty, and took command of the _Black

Eagle_ steam yacht which carried the Czar from Woolwich to Rotterdam on

his leaving this country. As a memento of this service and of his

esteem, the Emperor presented Lord Hardwicke with a snuff-box of great

value, bearing his Majesty's miniature mounted in brilliants.

In 1843 Lord Hardwicke had the honour of receiving Queen Victoria and

the Prince Consort at Wimpole, upon the occasion of the Prince's visit

to Cambridge to receive the degree of LL.D., and the following mention

of the event occurs in one of the Queen's letters to the Queen of the

Belgians:

'We returned on Saturday highly interested with our tour, though a

little done up. The Royal party went by road from Paddington to

Cambridge, and stayed at the Lodge at Trinity. On the following day

Prince Albert was made LL.D. The party then went to Wimpole. At the

ball which was given at Wimpole, there was a sofa covered with a piece

of drapery given by Louis XIV. to the poet Prior and by him to Lord

Oxford, the owner of Wimpole before its purchase by Lord Chancellor

Hardwicke.'

* * * * *

Lord Hardwicke rode out to meet her Majesty at Royston at the head of a

large cavalcade which included the gentry and yeomanry of the county.

After an inspection of that little town, the party started for Wimpole,

and on arriving at the House in the Fields the Queen's escort of Scots

Greys filed off at Lord Hardwicke's request, their places being taken

by a troop of the Whittlesea Yeomanry Cavalry, the Lord-Lieutenant

roundly declaring that 'the county cavalry was well able to guard her

Majesty so long as she might stay in Cambridgeshire.' On the following

day Lord Hardwicke gave a dinner in honour of her Majesty, followed by

a ball, of which the Queen makes mention in her letter, to which three

hundred guests were invited.

I may perhaps print here another reference by Queen Victoria to my

father. Writing to Lord Melbourne in 1842 her Majesty said:

'Lord Hardwicke the Queen likes very much; he seems so straightforward.

He took the greatest care of the Queen when on board ship. Was not his

father drowned at Spithead or Portsmouth?'

Lord Hardwicke, as commander of the _Black Eagle_ yacht, had taken her

Majesty to Scotland.

He was in waiting during a visit of the King and Queen of the Belgians

to Windsor, and wrote on that occasion to my mother:

'Our Court news is not filled with much interest; to-morrow the King

and Queen of the Belgians go back to their own country, and yesterday

at dinner the Queen of the Belgians told me her father (King Louis

Philippe) was so fond of English cheese that he had sent to her to

procure for him a "Single Gloster," I could not refrain from offering a

Wimpole cheese that she graciously accepted and which I must now beg

you to give.'

I find a reference to this little incident in the Queen's Letters, vol.

ii, p. 28. In a letter to her Majesty during King Louis Philippe's

visit in 1844, the Queen of the Belgians wrote:

'If by chance Lord Hardwicke was in waiting during my father's stay,

you must kindly put my father in mind to thank him for the _famous

cheese_, which arrived safely, and was found very good.'

Queen Victoria's conversation with my father upon this occasion I find

related at length in a copy in my mother's handwriting of a letter he

wrote to Sir Robert Peel. This letter is of so private a character as

to preclude its publication, but I may say that it is clear that the

Queen (though, as Lord Hardwicke says, 'in very good humour; I never

saw her so gracious to all as she was during her stay at Wimpole') was

still quite ready to state in very plain terms her objection to certain

points of the policy of the Tory party, which, as she said, she could

'forgive but not forget.' All this Lord Hardwicke reported at length to

the Prime Minister for his information and instruction.

Several letters from Sir Robert to my father at this period show him

very anxious to learn from Lord Hardwicke the details of the proper

arrangements for receiving the Queen at Drayton Manor. 'I have the

prospect,' he wrote, 'not only of one but two royal visits, for I must

arrange that Queen Adelaide should meet the Queen each with her several

suites. If you have any device for making stone walls elastic,' he adds

humorously, 'pray give it to me. Did Lord H. new furnish the rooms

allotted to H.M.? How many apartments did H.M. require? Did he observe

anything especially agreeable to the Queen's wishes, and did Lord H.

attempt to keep any order among his mounted farmers, and if so how?'

Lord Hardwicke and his brother, Mr. Eliot Yorke, though both pledged to

the maintenance of the Corn Laws, refused to oppose the government of

Sir Robert Peel upon the rumours of the minister's intentions which

became rife in the course of the year 1845, when the Irish Famine

forced the question to the front. By that time the Anti-Corn Law League

had done its work of educating the country, and under its great

leaders, Cobden and Bright, had organised a strenuous campaign

throughout the kingdom, collected large funds, and united the great

body of employers and operatives in favour of Free Trade. There were

counter organisations of farmers' societies, of which those in the

eastern counties were, perhaps, the most active, and at a meeting of

one of these, the Cambridge Agricultural Society, Lord Hardwicke and

Mr. Yorke met with some criticism. A letter from Lord Hardwicke to the

chairman, however, made his position perfectly clear:

'I believe the meeting is intended to follow others that have taken

place in the agricultural districts of England, owing to certain

reports of contemplated changes on the opening of Parliament affecting

agriculture.

'I have endeavoured to learn what these are, and have failed; I have

heard various opinions, but no facts, and I have no knowledge of the

intentions of the Government. I therefore feel, were I to attend your

meeting, that I could give no advice, neither could I combat or support

any plans. I think it best to hear and know what is intended.'

Acting upon this determination, Lord Hardwicke waited for the

announcement of the Government policy. At the opening of the session of

1846 Sir Robert Peel then made it clear, that as Lord John Russell had

been unable to form a ministry, he himself intended to propose the

abandonment of the Corn Laws, and to follow this up by the gradual

removal of protective duties, not only upon agriculture, but also upon

manufactures, and thus to place himself in opposition to the sentiment

and principles of the party of which he was the leader. Lord Hardwicke,

as might have been expected, was among those 'men of metal and large

acred squires,' as Disraeli called them, 'the flower of that great

party which had been so proud to follow one who had been so proud to

lead them, whose loyalty was too severely tried by the conversion of

their chief to the doctrines of Manchester,' and early in February he

wrote to Sir Robert to resign his post as Lord-in-Waiting, on the

ground that as he could not support the measures of the Government and

act up to his own opinion, he thought it not respectful to her Majesty

to oppose her minister and hold an office in her household. Some

correspondence followed, which shows the regret of Sir Robert Peel at

the loss of a friend and colleague, and testifies to the cordial

personal relations between the minister and Lord Hardwicke. Here is one

of the letters, two or three of which were earnest attempts to persuade

Lord Hardwicke to reconsider his decision:

* * * * *

'MY DEAR HARDWICKE,

'If anything could tend to diminish the pain with which I contemplate

separation from you in public life, it would be the kind terms with

which you accompany your tender of resignation.

'I should indeed deeply regret it, if the termination of official

relations were to cause any interruption of private friendship and

regard.

'Most faithfully yours,

'My dear Hardwicke,

'ROBERT PEEL.'

* * * * *

So ended Lord Hardwicke's political connection with the great minister,

and it is pleasant to me to know that the aspirations of Sir Robert's

letter were fulfilled, and that their personal friendship continued

unbroken until it was brought to a close by the tragic death of the

statesman on Constitution Hill in 1850. At a time when that same great

question of Free Trade or Protection is again dissolving many political

alliances, it is, perhaps, worthy of mention that my father came to

change his view of the policy which had led to his political severance

with Sir Robert Peel. In a speech delivered at a meeting of the Western

Cambridgeshire Agricultural Association in 1858, twelve years after his

resignation, he said:

'The last agricultural meeting I had the pleasure of attending was in

the golden days of protection, when we all thought we could not do

without it. I am happy to find however, now that the legislature has

thought fit to abolish those fiscal duties, that I formed a wrong

opinion on the subject.'

Meanwhile, however, Lord Hardwicke's political severance from his old

leader was complete and final, as appears very fully from letters from

such uncompromising opponents of the minister as Lord George Bentinck,

Mr. Disraeli, and Mr. John Wilson Croker, which I find among his

papers. 'Pray come up and fire a double shotted broadside into these

fellows,' wrote Lord George in 1848, in soliciting Lord Hardwicke's

assistance for Lord Desart in the House of Lords on the debate on the

Copper Duties, who as that ardent spirit complained was 'grossly

insulted by Grey, Clanricarde and Granville.' A few months later,

again, upon his resignation of the leadership of the irreconcilables in

the House of Commons, Lord George wrote: 'I come to you, therefore, as

a private and independent member of the House of Commons, with none but

such as you who admire consistency "so poor to do me reverence."'

All of Mr. Disraeli's letters to my father are written in very cordial

terms, and express much gratitude for the support which was so valuable

at that period of his career. Lord Hardwicke is 'his dear and faithful

friend'; 'I am shaken,' he says in October of 1848, 'to the core, and

can neither offer nor receive consolation. But in coming to you I know

that I come to a roof of sympathy, and to one who at all times and

under all circumstances has extended to me the feelings of regard by

which I have ever been deeply honoured and greatly touched.' Two years

later he wrote: 'I am pained that you should have been so long in

England without my having seen or heard from you, my first, my best,

and most regarded supporter and friend.--DISRAELI.'

I may perhaps look forward a few years in order to quote another letter

of Mr. Disraeli of December 30, 1851, which contains an interesting

reference to Lord Palmerston, who had just been dismissed by Lord John

Russell for having given a semi-official recognition to Louis Napoleon

and the _coup d'état_.

'If he had not committed himself in some degree by approbation of the

"massacre of the boulevards" as it is styled, I hardly think Lord John

would have dared to dismiss him. He said to a person the other day, "I

was not dismissed, I was kicked out."'

Five days later, on January 4, 1852, Mr. Disraeli wrote:

'That my last letter should not mislead you, I just write this to say

that I have authentic information that Palmerston's case is a good one;

that the Government cannot face it; that Johnny has quite blundered the

business, and that P., whatever they may say at Brooks's, is _acharné_.'

Mr. Disraeli was a true prophet. On February 27 following, the Whig

Government fell, mainly owing to Lord Palmerston.