POLITICS AND LAST YEARS. 1850-1873
Having resumed the profession to which he had always been devoted, it
was the ambition of Lord Hardwicke's life to continue his naval career,
and to complete a period of active service afloat which would have
entitled him to promotion to flag rank. He was encouraged in this
desire by all his friends, even by those who, like John Wilson Croker,
had opposed his return to active service. In a letter written by that
gentleman to Lady Hardwicke in 1849, he said: 'I never was very
favourable to his going to sea, but I am now decidedly against his not
going through with it, and I cannot but believe that his services are
appreciated, if not at their full value at least with respect, on the
part of the Whigs. But however that may be, and however glad I shall be
to see you all again at Wimpole, I earnestly advise him to play his
hand out.'
Unhappily, Lord Hardwicke was prevented from carrying out his intention
by the very serious illness of Lady Hardwicke, which caused him the
gravest anxiety, shortly after the termination of his arduous
responsibilities at Genoa. Lady Hardwicke was brought to death's door
by an attack of fever at Naples, and he immediately resigned his
command of the _Vengeance_, and hurried to her bedside. She happily
recovered, and after her convalescence the whole family returned to
England.
Apart, however, from this urgent private trouble, it is doubtful
whether Lord Hardwicke would have continued his service in the
Mediterranean. He felt, indeed, that the approval of his conduct at
Genoa by the Whig Government was less hearty than Mr. Croker believed
was the case, confined as it was to the barest official acknowledgment
of services which to everyone else appeared not only creditable to Lord
Hardwicke as a captain of a British ship of war, but of the highest
value to Italy, to the cause of good order, and, by the havoc and
bloodshed his tact and firmness had certainly prevented, to humanity
itself. As the documents set out in the appendix to the last chapter
fully show, all this was highly appreciated abroad. King Victor
hastened to confer on Lord Hardwicke the order of St. Maurice and St.
Lazarus for what were described by General de Launay, his foreign
secretary, as 'les importans services que vous avez rendus à Son
Gouvernement pendant les graves évènemens qui ont affligé la ville de
Gênes et l'empressement efficace avec lequel vous avez puissamment
secondé M. le Général de La Marmora pour y ramener l'ordre'; Lord
Normanby, the British Ambassador at Paris, reported to his government
that the French Minister at Turin had more than once expressed his
conviction 'that during the late troubles at Genoa that city was in
great part saved from pillage and destruction by the energetic attitude
assumed by the British naval force in that port, and that the French
consuls had stated to him that there were moments when the lives and
properties of the peaceable inhabitants would have been in great
danger, but for the dread inspired by the position taken up by H.M.S.
_Vengeance_, and the effective support given by Lord Hardwicke to the
consular authorities.' There was less value perhaps in the thanks given
by 'the Count and Colonel, Director of the Bagni Maritim,' whose
gratitude was mingled with a sense of favours to come, in the possible
exertion of Lord Hardwicke's good offices with King Victor Emmanuel for
clemency for the convicts under the Count's charge, whose conduct had
added so much to the dangers of the situation. But of the foreign
testimony to Lord Hardwicke's service at Genoa perhaps the most
eloquent was that of Mazzini, who admitted to Lord Malmesbury that his
career in Italy had been spoiled 'by one English sailor at Genoa called
Hardvick.'
This universal approbation of the part played by Lord Hardwicke was of
course perfectly well known to the Government; it was also more or less
known to the public from the letters written by the _Times_
correspondent at Genoa. 'But for the decision and judgment Lord
Hardwicke manifested,' he wrote, 'Genoa would, in all probability, have
been at this moment a ruined and pillaged city. The very worst
vagabonds were hired to mount guard and man the walls, since the
National Guards had retired for the most part to their own dwellings.
It was indeed a reign of terror, and it was most fortunate for Genoa
that the _Vengeance_ was in the port to prevent its being a reign of
blood.'
Under these circumstances Lord John Russell's government could scarcely
withhold official recognition of Lord Hardwicke's success in having
virtually saved a great and historic city from destruction. His
conduct, moreover, was such as would certainly appeal to Lord
Palmerston, the Foreign Secretary, who took the occasion to inform the
Admiralty 'that Lord Hardwicke's conduct seemed to him highly
praiseworthy, and that he was of opinion that the Earl of Hardwicke by
his promptitude, energy and decision saved the city of Genoa from the
calamities of further bombardment, and prevented a great effusion of
blood and much destruction of property and life.'
This official approval, as we have seen, was conveyed to Lord Hardwicke
by his admiral, Sir William Parker, who had already indicated his own
rather tepid approval accompanied, however, by the hope that there had
been 'no actual infraction of the neutral position of Her Majesty's
ship, or undue interference in the political contention of the
opponents.'
But it seems clear that both political and professional influences were
already at work against Lord Hardwicke. On the happy conclusion of the
trouble at Genoa by what he truly described in a letter to Lady
Hardwicke as 'the only English interference that has been successful in
Europe since the affair began,' he had already detected a certain
faintness in the praise he received from Admiral Parker: 'The good
admiral gives me negative praise,' he writes, 'but I leave it all to
him to judge my acts. I have no fear of results; I have a good reason
for all I did.' But from a memorandum written by Lady Hardwicke after
his death, it appears that he felt very acutely the grudging spirit in
which his services had been received by a section, at least, of the
Cabinet. Upon reporting himself at the Admiralty on his arrival in
London he was greeted by Sir Francis Baring, the First Lord, with these
words: 'Well, Lord Hardwicke, you certainly did do well at Genoa, and
it was lucky that you succeeded, for if you had failed you certainly
would have been broke.' He made no complaint, however, but returned to
Wimpole, resumed his life of a country gentleman, and renewed all his
interest in the affairs of his estate and his county.
He was called at length from this retirement by the return of his own
party to power. In March of 1851 Lord John Russell had announced the
resignation of the Government owing to their defeat on the franchise
question; Lord Stanley was sent for by Queen Victoria, but found
himself unable to form a ministry, and upon the advice of the Duke of
Wellington the Queen had requested her ministers to resume office. But
this arrangement lasted less than a year. On the 27th of February
following Lord Stanley, by that time Earl of Derby, became prime
minister in the new Government with Mr. Disraeli, Mr. Spencer Walpole,
Lord Malmesbury and Sir John Packington, among his colleagues, and in
this cabinet Lord Hardwicke sat as Postmaster-General. It was a short
term of office, which lasted less than a year, during which time,
however, Lord Hardwicke's energy and powers of organisation were much
appreciated in his department, where he came to be known as 'Lord
Hardwork'; but his official life came to an end with that of the
Government upon the return to power, in December 1852, of the Aberdeen
administration, which included Lord John Russell as Foreign Secretary
and Sir James Graham as First Lord of the Admiralty.
A characteristic souvenir of the immortal Duke of Wellington occurs to
me in connection with this first administration of Lord Derby, well
known as the 'Derby D'Israeli Ministry,' which may find a place here. A
great many new men necessarily composed it, and when they were all
mustered before being 'sworn in' the Duke began chaffing them 'as
somewhat _raw recruits_,' and then taking his stick he put them into
line and said, 'You will require a little drilling' and he flourished
his stick about, imitating a sergeant, and amused them all very much.
Such was the great man's way of putting a _home truth_.
The fall of Lord Derby's government was the occasion for a letter to my
father from Mr. Croker, in which that gentleman appears to admiration
in the characteristic role of candid friend. I print this, not only as
a typical effort of that critical spirit, but because it contains a
very just appreciation of my mother's great qualities, to which her
husband and her children owe so much.
* * * * *
Dec. 31, 1852.
'... As for the party, I cannot but feel with you, that a party without
a spokesman in the House of Commons is as nothing, but with such a
spokesman as Disraeli, it is worse than nothing. In Opposition, his
talents of debate would be most valuable, if there was any security for
his principles or his judgment. I have no faith in either.
'But after all, nobody is so much to blame as Derby; why did he not
take higher and surer ground. Why are you all turned out on--neither
you nor anyone else can say what? You had not even hoisted a flag to
rally round. You have been like some poor people I have read of in the
late storm, buried under the ruins of your own edifice, but whether you
were stifled or crushed, killed by a rafter or a brick, nobody can
tell. You have died a death so ignoble that it has no name, and the
Coroner's verdict is "Found Dead."
'Why did you not die in the Protestant cause; on something that some
party could take an interest in? Why did you spare Cardinal Wiseman?
Why butter Louis Buonaparte thicker than his own French cooks? Why did
you lay the ground of the confiscation of landed property by a
differential income tax and by hinting at taxing property by
inheritance? "You have left undone the things you ought to have done,
and you have done those things which you ought not to have done, and
there is no help for you."
'My own grief is this, that Disraeli's vanity, or as he would say, his
character, was committed by his electioneering speeches and addresses,
and that you all, half generosity and half prudence, resolved to stand
by him rather than break up the Government, which his resignation would
have done. That's my solution of the greatest political riddle I ever
encountered.
'I know not what to say about your going to sea, I fear observations on
your resigning the ship abroad and taking one at home for the mere
purpose of making up a little time. Pray think well of it. I daresay
you would receive a civil answer, perhaps get a ship, but _cui bono_.
What is your flag to you? [Footnote: He was promoted to the rank of
Vice-Admiral in November 1858.] I wish you were on the Admiral's list
for the sake of the country if we are to have a war, but I see no
advantage in it if there is no prospect of distinguished service.
'Give my best love to all the dear people round you and, above all, to
the dearest of all, whose solid good sense and natural sagacity, quite
equal to her more charming qualities, will be your best guide in the
topic last treated. Indeed, if I knew her opinion on any of those
topics, it would have a prime chance of becoming my own.
'Ever most affectionately hers and yours,
'J. W. CROKER'
* * * * *
The Aberdeen Government will always be remembered as that of the period
of the Crimean War, and it was in connection with that great struggle
and his wish to serve his country afloat that Lord Hardwicke found just
reason to complain of more than the mere belittling of his services at
Genoa which had been his sole reward upon his return to England in 1849.
Lord Hardwicke's desire to obtain active employment at sea so soon as
hostilities with Russia appeared probable was well known at the
Admiralty, but political rancour as well as professional jealousy were
both employed in a secret but active agitation to prevent his obtaining
that employment. The entirely honourable distinction he had received
from the King of Sardinia by the bestowal of the order of St. Maurice
and St. Lazarus was made the opportunity of a series of slanderous
suggestions which caused him the greatest pain. It was perfectly well
known that a regulation in force at the English Court forbade the
acceptance of foreign distinctions of that kind without the express
permission of the Crown. Yet it was stated that 'The English Government
had desired that the order should be returned on the ground that Lord
Hardwicke had acted at Genoa without orders.' Further than this, as
Lady Hardwicke records, 'Much jealousy was created by his successful
diplomacy at Genoa, and his enemies disseminated a report that he had
disobeyed Admiral Sir William Parker's orders, and "made the
Mediterranean sea too hot to hold him."'
These injurious statements, however, did not reach Lord Hardwicke's
ears until some time after they were first made--'he was of course
ignorant of what was going on to defame his professional character and
stop his career in a service to which he was devoted and in which he
had spent the best years of his life.' They at length, however, came to
his notice under more responsible authority than that of mere rumour at
service clubs, and at a moment when their acceptance by a member of the
Government was allowed to stand in the way of Lord Hardwicke's
selection for an important command.
By a recent regulation of the Admiralty, Lord Hardwicke with many other
senior captains who had failed by a short period to complete the active
service afloat necessary to entitle them to the rank of rear-admiral,
was placed upon the retired list. In his case, the regulation took
effect upon January 28, 1854. Meanwhile, however, the probability in
1853 of a declaration of war between this country and Russia had led to
great naval activity, and Lord Hardwicke had applied for active
employment. 'Sir Charles Napier,' writes Lady Hardwicke, 'who fully
appreciated his courage and ability, applied for him as his
flag-captain.' His offer, however, as well as Admiral Napier's wish for
his assistance, were both disregarded by the Admiralty, and his
appointment as flag-captain refused.
There was, perhaps, no legitimate grievance in this refusal, but at
this moment information reached Lord Hardwicke through Lord Clarendon,
that the refusal had been accompanied by a revival at the Admiralty of
the injurious suggestions, already mentioned, of his having exceeded
his instructions from Sir William Parker at Genoa.
'I believe it to have been at this juncture,' writes Lady Hardwicke,
'that his friend Lord Clarendon, feeling acutely his position, informed
him of the slanders which had been spread abroad. ... This statement
was made use of by Sir James Graham, First Lord of the Admiralty and
successor to Sir F. Baring, and carried by him to the ears of his best
friends, the Queen and the Prince Consort.'
It will be readily understood that the adoption of these injurious
reports by a cabinet minister, and their repetition by him in his
official capacity to the Queen and Prince Albert, placed the whole
matter upon a different footing. Queen Victoria, almost from the
beginning of her reign, had honoured my father with her regard and
confidence, and so recently as his return from Genoa he had received a
letter which shows very plainly the terms upon which he stood with his
Sovereign.
* * * * *
BUCKINGHAM PALACE: March 4, 1850.
'MY DEAR LORD HARDWICKE,
'The Prince is anxious that you should resume your seat at the Council
of the Duchy of Lancaster which you resigned when you went abroad. I
hope that you will be willing to do so as it is important for the
Queen's interest that the persons upon that Council should be well
acquainted with the peculiar details of the Duchy business, as well as
generally accustomed to the management of property, and it would be a
considerable time before any person could acquire the knowledge of the
subject which you have gained. The change in the Chancellor of the
Duchy will not, I hope, make the working of the Council less easy.
'Sincerely yours,
'C. B. PHIPPS'
* * * * *
In such circumstances, and apart altogether from any question of the
refusal of employment by the Admiralty, it is obvious that the matter
could not be allowed to rest where it was, and a letter received by
Lord Hardwicke in September 1853 from Lord Clarendon makes it clear
that he lost no time in seeking an explanation from Sir James Graham.
* * * * *
September 30, 1853.
'MY DEAR HARDWICKE,
'I hope you will excuse me for not having answered your letter by
return of post as I ought to have done, but I assure you that the last
two days, I have been unable to do anything but fight against an
extraordinary pressure of public work. My firm belief is that the
_personal errors_ into which Graham had fallen are now quite removed.
"Hardwicke is a good sailor, and an officer of real ability and
merit"--is an extract from a letter of Graham's in answer to mine about
you; but I see that the bar to your being employed, is your own
position in the Service and your having one year and eleven months to
serve afloat before you can render yourself eligible for the Flag.
There are only three captains above you and if when your turn arrived
you were in command of a ship, and your full period of requisite
service was not accomplished, I suppose that a question, which has not
yet arisen, would then arise, respecting your right to promotion to the
Active Flag. This I take to be the real difficulty, and your
professional knowledge will enable you to judge of its value. I sent a
copy of your note to Graham, and as far as I am concerned I hope you
will now take any course you may think most expedient, only bearing in
mind that Graham has no unfriendly feeling towards you. I have said to
you upon that point, nothing more than what he told me, but I should be
sorry that he thought I had said less. I fear that all endeavours to
keep the peace are exhausted or nearly so, and I don't anticipate much
active hostility at this time of year, if hostilities we are to have.
The Emperor of Russia is quite without excuse, he persists in asking
what the Turks cannot concede, and he wants a power in Turkey which
would be useless to him, except for overturning the Ottoman Empire, the
independence of which he declares must be maintained.
'Ever yours truly,
'CLARENDON.'
* * * * *
From this letter it is clear that Lord Clarendon as a friend of both
parties did all he could to explain the conduct of Sir James, but his
mention of 'personal errors' into which the First Lord had fallen seems
an ample confirmation of that gentleman's indiscretion in giving an
official countenance to the rumours of which Lord Hardwicke complained.
In any case, Lord Clarendon's letter was obviously an explanation
thoroughly unsatisfactory to Lord Hardwicke, who, as Lady Hardwicke
writes, 'immediately wrote to Sir William Parker and obtained from him
the following memorable credential.'
* * * * *
SHENSTONE LODGE, LICHFIELD: 14 Nov., 1853.
'My DEAR LORD HARDWICKE,
'I fully enter into your feeling of mortification and disappointment in
not obtaining professional appointment in the present threatening
aspect of affairs; I am much grieved that a fallacious impression
should for a moment have obtained that the slightest approach to a
misunderstanding between your Lordship and myself had ever occurred. I
am indeed at a loss to conceive on what pretence such an idle and
mischievous rumour could have originated. Sir Francis Baring intimated
to me the astonishment and annoyance you had expressed to him at such a
fabrication; I assure you my reply quite corresponded with your
sentiments. I can truly say that the _Vengeance_ was very
satisfactorily conducted under your command, while attached to my flag,
and all your proceedings manifested genuine zeal for the Service. I
cannot forget with what anxiety your Lordship withdrew your application
to be relieved in the command of that ship, when on the Squadron being
ordered to the vicinity of the Dardanelles, there appeared a temporary
prospect of more active service. I truly regret it that on our
departure from the East you again felt yourself compelled to resign
your ship, in consequence of the illness of Lady Hardwicke at a time
when I believe you were within a short period of completing the
requisite servitude for your active Flag.
'I remain faithfully and cordially yours,
'W. PARKER, _Admiral_.'
* * * * *
'Armed with this letter,' continues Lady Hardwicke, 'he sought an
audience of the Prince Consort, and stated his case, placing the
refutation of these calumnies in the Prince's hands. Upon reading this
generous and truthful statement, Prince Albert expressed his
satisfaction at having seen it, and his astonishment at the falsehoods
that had been circulated, and requested Lord Hardwicke that he might
place it in the hands of the Queen, which he accordingly did and
returned to express Her Majesty's gratification on its perusal.'
All this took place at the end of 1853: meanwhile Sir Charles Napier
was unwearying in his applications to the Admiralty to obtain Lord
Hardwicke's assistance in the expedition which was shortly to sail for
the Baltic. In January Lord Hardwicke was placed upon the retired list,
but Sir Charles was still anxious to secure him as one of his admirals,
as is very clear from a memorandum of a conversation by Lord Hardwicke
which he left among his papers.
* * * * *
March 6, 1854.
'I met Sir Charles Napier in the United Service Club. He took me aside
and told me that Sir James Graham had consulted him as to whom he would
select as 3rd Divisional Admiral for the Baltic Fleet. He answered Sir
James Graham by saying that he would have asked for Lord Hardwicke as
Captain of the Fleet as he preferred him, but he thought he would have
no chance of having him. But now he was again to select an Admiral, he
should ask for Lord Hardwicke as he should prefer him to anyone. Sir
James Graham said, "Very well, I will appoint him, but in this peculiar
case, I must apply to the Cabinet." The result was the refusal of the
Cabinet to appoint me, in consequence of their fearing to excite
emotion in the officers of the Active List; but that although at the
beginning there was this ground of refusal, yet by and by it might be
done. Sir Charles Napier added, "I shall want one more Admiral and I
shall again apply for you."
'H.'
* * * * *
The controversy with Sir James Graham perhaps affords a sufficient
explanation of the failure of Sir Charles's repeated efforts in behalf
of Lord Hardwicke, though there is no doubt the Government had an
answer in the Admiralty regulation which had placed him upon the
retired list.
'Lord Hardwicke's application for employment was brought before the
Cabinet,' writes Lady Hardwicke, 'but the Admiralty declaring that an
order in Council to make this exception would bring the whole retired
list upon their shoulders, his request was politely declined, with the
feeling that the late enactment had fallen cruelly upon his
professional career.'
'Few but myself,' concludes Lady Hardwicke, 'who have seen the anguish
of disappointment caused by such a termination of the cherished
ambition of a whole life, can at all appreciate the severity of this
blow. This statement of facts engraven on the tablet of my heart I have
drawn up with a view of placing in the hands of my dear children the
means of vindicating their beloved father's memory in case upon any
future occasion they should be called upon to do so. Let them remember
that "the Lord nourisheth with discipline" and accept the trials and
disappointments of life with the same spirit of resignation which their
beloved father always exhibited, to my great and endless consolation.'
To me, his daughter, it has seemed that the occasion of which my mother
speaks, for the vindication of my father's memory, has arrived with the
publication of this memoir of his life, and I have therefore set out
the facts as she wrote them down.
The long period of Whig rule, which had lasted with the single break of
a few months in 1852 since the year 1846, was at length terminated by
the return of Lord Derby's second administration to power in 1858, and
Lord Hardwicke took office as Lord Privy Seal with a seat in the
Cabinet. His energy and professional zeal, however, had been fully
employed since 1856 as the Chairman of a Royal Commission which had
been appointed to inquire into the question of the manning of the Navy.
The negative results of the expedition to the Baltic during the late
war with Russia had brought the question into public notice, and the
great changes which were taking place in the design and construction of
ships of war by the invention of the screw propeller and the evolution
of the ironclad battleship had given a more than ordinary urgency to
the question of national defence.
Lord Hardwicke entered upon his duties with the greatest energy. One of
the instructions to the Commission was to 'determine in case of need
the means necessary to man at short notice thirty or forty sail of the
line.' In a speech at Cambridge in 1858 he pointed out some facts
regarding the Navy of which the public were quite ignorant, and which
pointed to a serious decrease in the naval power of the country which
caused much uneasiness. Lord Hardwicke reminded his hearers that though
during the period of the American, Revolutionary, and Napoleonic wars
we had maintained an establishment of from 105,000 to 140,000 seamen
and marines, and had experienced little difficulty in manning a fleet
of ships of the line which averaged 120 sail, yet during the recent war
with Russia the Admiralty had with difficulty found crews for the
thirty-three vessels which took part in the operations in the Baltic.
'These ships,' he said, 'went to sea in such a condition as to inflict
a positive injustice on the brave officers in command of them, and if
it had not been for the efficiency of the latter and the way their
crews were disciplined, they might as well have stopped at home.'
Queen Victoria and the Prince Consort both took great interest in this
important question, and the Prince in the following letter showed his
practical knowledge of the subject by urging the importance of the
training-ship as a source of an efficient personnel for the Navy.
* * * * *
'My DEAR LORD HARDWICKE,
'In your position as chairman of the Manning Committee I wish to draw
your attention to a point, which I consider of the utmost importance.
'We have two brigs, the _Rollo_ and the _Nautilus_, at Portsmouth and
Plymouth for apprenticing boys for the Navy. You are perfectly
acquainted with their excellent system, and the fact that, after having
completed their time of instruction, these boys form the best sailors
in the Queen's service, having acquired a taste for the Man-of-War
service early in life, and are free from any connection with the
Merchandise. But these two ships give the Navy only about 200 seamen a
year. What are 200 annually to a fleet of 50,000? Why should not each
of the Coast Guard Ships have a brig attached to them on their
respective stations for receiving boys? The brigs are worth nothing to
the service, and I am told that the applications for the entry of boys
is always far beyond the present means of receiving, whilst men are
frequently not to be had. If 2000 boys so trained were added every year
to the Navy for ten years' service, it would be none too many. It would
only give us 20,000 men at the end of ten years; but these would be
permanently added to the stock of seamen of the country, which I am
sorry to say appears to be gradually falling below our wants.
'Ever,
'Yours Truly,
'ALBERT.'
OSBORNE: July 24, 1856
* * * * *
The labours of Lord Hardwicke and his colleagues were received with
general approbation on all sides, although his own declared opinion of
the advisability of reviving the Press-gang in certain circumstances
was not generally accepted.
I must here mention that although Lord Hardwicke was debarred by the
regulation in force from accepting the decoration from King Victor
Emmanuel of St. Maurice and St. Lazarus, his Majesty was still
determined to mark his sense of my father's services to Italy at Genoa.
Six years after the revolution of Genoa he caused a medal to be struck
bearing the national arms and inscribed with the words:
'Al Valore Militare. Lord Conte di Hardwicke, commandante il vascello
_Vengeance_. Distinti servizii pel Ristabilmento del Ordine. Genova,
1849.'
Queen Victoria's permission to wear this medal was accorded to Lord
Hardwicke by the following letter from Lord Clarendon.
* * * * *
GROSVENOR CRESCENT: July 24, 1855.
'MY DEAR HARDWICKE,
'The Queen's permission has been duly received for you to wear the
medal conferred upon you by the King of Sardinia and I have
communicated the same officially to the Admiralty.
'Very truly yours,
'CLARENDON.'
* * * * *
The end of every life is the hardest to describe. The time of rest must
come, and with it retirement from public work. The parent begins life
again in his children, and in making place for them in the world. We
have followed the career of an active and energetic man, who thoroughly
lived his life, and enjoyed it. We have seen his first great
disappointment in the profession that he loved, when an opportunity
offered itself for service under Sir Charles Napier in the Baltic Fleet
during the Crimean War. To die in action, fighting for England, was his
ambition, and the failure of an opportunity for its fulfilment brought
with it much depression.
Meanwhile, however, he lost no time in vain regrets, or ceased from
active and useful work on his estate and in his county. We have read a
letter describing old 'Wimple' in 1781; I shall now try to carry on the
description in few words from 1855. It was a beloved home; we 'were
seven,' and in the adjoining rectory lived my uncle the Hon. and Rev.
Archdeacon Yorke, Canon of Ely, with six cousins, a merry party in
holiday time. The house was big and the furniture, books and pictures
fine, but my father's life would have satisfied the severest of
socialist critics by its simplicity. Our own dress was scrupulously
simple. Our boots I well remember, they were all made by a little
hump-back cobbler who lived at New Wimpole, and used to come by the
avenue to the 'Big House,' as it was always called, to measure us.
These substantial thick boots and leather gaiters from the village
shop, with short linsey skirts, formed our walking attire. And in the
Christmas holiday we all tore about the muddy fields in 'paper-chases.'
Later on I remember writing a paper for my friends on how to dress on
eighty pounds a year, which was my allowance at eighteen.
The cottages were beautifully clean and the furniture solid, all the
men wore smock-frocks and very thick boots with large nails that lasted
a year: no such thing as a blue suit and yellow boots would have been
tolerated then. The best dressed wife wore a red cloak and neat black
bonnet. The family Bible was found in every cottage, and my uncle gave
two cottage Bible-readings every week of his life. There was no attempt
at Cathedral services in country churches. The Communion service was
reverently given once a month, and on the great feast-days my uncle
preached in a black gown. And such a fuss was made when the black
waistcoat now commonly worn by the clergy was introduced: it was called
the _M. B. Waistcoat_ (mark of the beast).
My uncle ultimately adopted it, when promoted to a canonry at Ely. What
changes since those days, what luxury has crept in everywhere, and how
often one sighs over the simplicity of the past, which certainly
produced a stronger, if not a better race.
My father was very courteous, especially to ladies, cheery, full of
life and spirits; liberal in heart though a strong Conservative in
politics. If anything pleasant or amusing was on hand, such as a dance
or our 'private theatricals,' he would wave his hands and say, 'Clear
the decks! Clear the decks!' We often used to 'clear the decks' for
games of _Post_ and Magical Music!... Evenings at Wimpole were never
dull. We attempted to keep up old traditions, and intellect and
vitality were not wanting. There was always a sprinkling of rising men
in all the practical departments of life among the guests at Wimpole,
statesmen, agriculturists, shipbuilders and owners, besides intimates
and relations; dear old 'Schetky' with his guitar among the most
popular, and the delight of the children after dinner when he would
sing his favourite ballad 'When on his Baccy Box he viewed.' Amateur
music was greatly encouraged, not that it came up to the requisitions
of the present day, but it was very pleasant. My mother's ballad
singing was exceptional, and without accompaniment very interesting.
'Annie Laurie' and all Lady John Scott's ballads, besides 'Caller
Herrin''--the Scotch cry for fresh herring--were her favourites and
brought tears to one's eyes. Nothing was spared where education was
concerned, and music and languages were among the great advantages
afforded to myself and my sisters. To the latter I attribute one of the
greatest enjoyments of my life, especially when in later years I often
lived in Paris. Histrionic art also was cultivated in the holidays
under the able management of uncle Eliot Yorke, M.P. The 'Wimpole
Theatre' opened in 1796 with 'The Secret,' with Lady Anne, Lady
Catherine and Lady Elizabeth Yorke and Viscount Royston as the caste.
It was reopened in 1851 with the 'Court of Oberon: or The Three
Wishes,' by the Dowager Countess of Hardwicke, with Viscount Royston,
the Hon. Eliot Yorke, Mr. Sydney Yorke, Lady Elizabeth Yorke, the Hon.
John Manners Yorke, Lady Agneta Yorke, the Hon. Victor Yorke, and the
Hon. Alexander Yorke in the caste, and the Hon. Eliot Yorke, M.P., as
stage manager. This company in 1853 repeated the 'Court of Oberon' with
'The Day after the Wedding.' In 1854 'The Day after the Wedding' was
again given with a comic interlude 'Personation' by Charles Kemble and
a popular farce 'Turning the Tables.'
In 1855 'Personation' and 'Popping the Question' were given before
their Royal Highnesses the Duchess of Cambridge and Princess Mary. A
very smart party was invited to meet their Royal Highnesses, and a
great deal of merriment was our reward.
The excellent training of 'Uncle Eliot' during the dull winter evenings
made the winter holidays a real joy; we rehearsed and acted in the
Gallery, originally built to hold the Harleian Manuscripts, and divided
by columns into three parts, making an admirable theatre and a handsome
proscenium. On one great occasion we had Frank Matthews as prompter,
and we none of us forget seeing him initiate Lady Agneta in the art of
making a stage kiss. Oh! how we laughed. He cried so much during the
performance that he prompted badly; but perhaps the dear man was
touched by the family talent! A letter from Tom Taylor recommending
plays suitable for our company will be read with interest.
* * * * *
'There is a play called "Hearts are Trumps" which I think would suit
your friends, from what you tell me of their troupe and requirements.
We played a piece at Canterbury called "Palace and Prison" adapted by
Simpson from "La Main gauche et la main droite" which, as far as I
remember, is unobjectionable. I think Palgrave Simpson had it printed,
though I do not think it has been acted in London. My little comedietta
"Nine Points of the Law" is free from all critical situations and
language, but perhaps Mr. Sterling's part may be too old for your
_jeune premier_.
'There is a piece called the "Secret Agent" well suited to drawing-room
theatricals; you might look at it. "You can't marry your Grandmother"
is a good one-act piece, free from objectionable situation and
dialogue. See also "Time tries all," "A Match in the Dark," and "Kill
or Cure."
'Ever yours truly,
'TOM TAYLOR.'
* * * * *
In 1857 the Wimpole Theatre reopened with the same company and gave
'Sunshine through the Clouds' and 'Only a Halfpenny'; and in 1860 for
the last time with 'The Jacobite' by Planche; a scene from 'King John';
and 'Helping Hands' by Tom Taylor. The last was a beautiful play, but
too refined for the ordinary theatre, and consequently did not have the
run it deserved.
All these performances were strictly confined to the family, including
the painting of the scenery and the composition of Prologues,
Epilogues, &c. As we said in one of those compositions, 'We are no
London stars; we're all of Yorke.'
While we were play-acting, my father would continue persistently the
work of his estate and county. It was his habit to hire his own
labourers for the estate and home farm, and these, well and carefully
chosen, were secure in their posts from year to year, and loved him. He
also made a rule every Saturday of passing elaborate accounts at the
estate office with his steward. He dined at Cambridge once a year with
all his tenants; never was a landlord more beloved. The old-fashioned
harvest home was celebrated in the spacious coachhouse cleared for the
occasion; my mother and 'all of us' went down to welcome the labourers
and hear my father address them. He settled things in his own way,
sometimes differing considerably from ordinary routine, but he was
scrupulously just, liberal and kind, with a most attractive sense of
humour.
My father had seen and felt acutely the harm raw spirits had done in
the Navy. This made him very careful when at Wimpole. According to old
custom, beer was brewed twice a year, and he kept the key of the cellar
and punctually opened it every morning before breakfast to give out the
'measure' for daily consumption. I remember so well a new butler
arriving with a pompous manner and _very red nose_. Shortly after
arrival he was taken ill and retired to his bed for several days, the
family doctor from Royston attending him. On his recovery, going into
luncheon with us all, my father with his usual courtesy said, 'I hope
you are better.' Answer: 'Oh yes, thank you, my Lord, it was only _the
Change of Beer!'_
I remember the average doctor's bill for domestic servants at Wimpole
was £100 a year. May I be allowed for once to speak of self? Mine, with
a more or less teetotal home, comes on an average to £1; I give extra
wages and no strong drink, and this system works admirably, except for
the _poor Doctors_, whom I fear sometimes find their incomes sadly
diminished by the Temperance movement!
My father made great additions and improvements at Wimpole House. He
found it needing repair, and after releading the extensive roof, he
built offices on the left side, and later restored the large
conservatory on the right, besides entirely rebuilding the stables, and
placing the handsome iron gates at the Arrington entrance. A group of
sculpture by Foley in the pediment of the stone porch over the front
door greatly improved the centre of the house, which was very flat. In
round numbers he spent £100,000 in these improvements. There were
twelve reception rooms _en suite_, including the beautiful chapel
painted by Sir James Thornhill, and no sooner had No. 12 been done up
than No. 1 began to call out! It was always beginning, never ending.
In 1867 came the first home bereavement, the first heart-breaking loss,
from which my father never recovered; he kept to his daily work, but
gaiety forsook him, and the trouble no doubt told upon his
constitution, which was threatened with a serious form of rheumatic
gout, and with gradual heart failure. His beloved third son, Victor
Alexander, Queen Victoria's godson, died suddenly whilst assisting at a
penny reading at Aston Clinton, the residence of Sir Anthony and Lady
de Rothschild, to whom he was devoted. Victor was a lad of great
promise; he was in the Horse Artillery, and a bad accident in Canada is
supposed to have left some injury to the back of the head and spine. He
had been suffering from pains in the head, but was in the highest of
spirits the day before he died. An accomplished fellow, fond of music
and poetry, he was reading 'The Grandmother' by Tennyson, and at verse
three--
Willy my beauty, my eldest born, the flower of the flock,
Never a man could fling him, for Willy stood like a rock'--
he fell forward on his face and never spoke again.
The tenderness and sympathy shown by Sir Anthony and Lady de Rothschild
on this occasion made a deep impression on our bereaved hearts. It was
quite beyond words, and from it sprang that happy marriage between my
brother Eliot Yorke, Equerry to H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh, and Annie
de Rothschild, their daughter. It was founded on the truest love, and
admiration of great qualities which have stood the test of many years.
The marriage took place in Wimpole Church in February 1873.
It was about June in the same year that my father left Wimpole for the
last time in an invalid carriage. The fatigue of the journey brought on
a severe attack of heart failure, and as he reached his house in
Portman Square, we feared it was his last. But not so. A few weeks
later he reached his beloved Sydney Lodge, where his room was arranged
on the ground floor and a young doctor always in attendance. His
patience and fortitude were heroic. Unable to lie down, he sat for
weeks in an armchair, supported at night by his two attendants. Nothing
could be more sad than to witness his lingering end. Sometimes he
rallied sufficiently to be wheeled into the drawing-room and be
refreshed by our singing hymns to him in parts. He was a firm believer
in Christ, and constantly asked for St. Paul's Epistles to be read to
him: 'Read me my St. Paul,' he would say. The conclusions of the great
Apostle to the Gentiles as to the divinity of Christ supported him
through all his troubles.
His last letter, dated September 7, 1873, was written to his friend Tom
Cocks.
* * * * *
'I send my Banker's Book and beg you will return it made up with a
balance. I am a dying man, and shall be glad when it pleases God to
call me home.
'Yours truly, my dear Cocks,
'HARDWICKE.'
* * * * *
On September 17 he expired at Sydney Lodge, Hamble, conscious to the
last, and was laid to rest in the family vault at Wimpole. These lines,
'to his beloved memory,' were written by his widow and engraved on a
stone cross erected in the grounds of Sydney Lodge overlooking the
Southampton Water:
'To thee, the fondly loved one I deplore,
I dedicate this spot for evermore.
Here, 'neath the shade of spreading beech, we sought
Some brief distraction to overburdened thought,
Some balm for pain, immunity from care,
To lift thy soul and for its flight prepare.
Here forest glade and wat'ry flood combine,
To stamp on nature the impress divine;
The sluggish murmur of retiring tide
Whispers "Much longer thou can'st not abide";
The trembling light of sun's retreating ray
Suggests th' effulgence of more perfect day,
And soothing warblers of the feathered tribe
Hymning their orisons at eventide,
Point to the "Sun of righteousness which springs,"
Saviour of souls, "with healing in its wings."
Hallowed by sacred musings be this ground
Where last we sat, and consolation found.
Brief be the space which binds me here below,
Thy spirit fled, all life has lost its glow.'
INDEX
Abercromby, Sir W.
Addington, Rt. Hon. Henry
Algiers, Dey of; expedition against;
Bombardment of; slaves released
Anaguasti
Ancestry
Anson, Mr.
Asarta, General
Avezzana
Barbary pirates
Baring, Sir Francis
Berlin
Bermuda
Bernadotte
Bevan, Lady Agneta
Brisbane, Captain
Bute, Lord
Byron, Lord; 'Maid of Athens'
Cambridge, Duchess of, and
Princess Mary
Camden, Lord
Campbell, Lord
Canea
Capellan, Admiral von der
Capo d'lstria
Carlo Felice
Cavour
Charles Albert
Chrisaphopulo
Clanricarde, Marchioness of
Clarendon, Earl of
Cochrane, Lord
Cocks, Margaret (Lady Hardwicke)
Coleotronis
Corfu
Corn Laws, repeal of
Croker, J. W.
Dantzig
D'Azeglio
De Launay, General
Derby, Earl of
Devonshire, Duke of
Disraeli, Mr.
Dover, Lord
Druses, the
Dundas, Capt.
Exmouth, Admiral Viscount
Fox, Henry
Garibaldi
Garrick
Genoa
George III
Gladstone, Mr.
Grafton, Duke of
Graham, Sir James
Greek Committee, the
Grey, Marchioness
Hamburg
Hardwicke, first Earl of
Lord Chancellor
character as a judge
political influence
marriage and children
------second Earl of
------third Earl of
Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland
------Charles Philip, fourth
Earl of,
birth, education, enters navy
first ships
letters from Mediterranean
visits Genoa
joins _Queen Charlotte_, Lord Exmouth's flagship
letter
commands gunboat at bombardment of Algiers
sails for Halifax
_Crazy Jane_ sloop
letters from Halifax
lieutenant
commander
anecdotes of
commands _Alacrity_ in Mediterranean,
mission to suppress Greek piracy
at Malta
Corfu
Gibraltar
visits Lord Byron
the 'Green Bag,'
at Smyrna
massacre at Psara
visit to Pasha
opinion of the Greek Committee
Odysseus
visit to Ali Bey at Magnesia
Ephesus
Malta again
Beirut
Sidon
visits Lady Hester Stanhope
account of Tyre
goes to Alexandria and Cairo
holiday in Sweden and Norway: Kiel
Copenhagen
Gottenborg, incident at
Christiania
the Storthing
dinner with Bernadotte
the Doverfeld
Trondhjem
Diet at Stockholm
conversation with Bernadotte
desire for active service
returns to Mediterranean in _Alligator_
diplomatic duties in connection with Greek settlement
chases pirate Macri Georgio
proceeds to Crete
grief at leaving _Alligator_
voyage home; Reform question
Sir Joseph Yorke's death
his last letter
elected M.P. for Reigate
for Cambridgeshire
marriage
succeeds to Earldom
country gentleman
President of the Agricultural Society
Lord-Lieutenant
Lord-in-Waiting
attends on King of Prussia
visit to
fire at Hamburg
Berlin and Sans Souci
goes with King to Court of St. Petersburg, Dantzig
Cronstadt
impressions of Emperor of Russia
and Russian Royal Family
Peterhof and Court life at St. Petersburg
review of military cadets
takes leave of Emperor
at Erdmansdorf with King of Prussia
and Konigsberg
Marienberg
Dresden pictures
Dresden fair
Sans Souci
attends Emperor of Russia in England
the Queen and Prince Consort visit Wimpole
Her Majesty's opinion of him
Wimpole cheese for King Louis Philippe
correspondence with Sir R. Peel
attitude on repeal of Corn Laws
resigns Court appointment
relations with Mr. Disraeli
wish for naval employment
Mr. Croker's opinion
appointed to command the _Vengeance_ under Sir W. Parker;
ordered to Leghorn
his instructions
at Genoa
letters to Lady Hardwicke describing his action during the
Genoese crisis
letters commending his conduct in having saved Genoa from
pillage and ruin from La Marmora, Syndic of Genoa, Sir
W. Parker, Lord Palmerston, &c.
but official approval somewhat grudging
joins Lord Derby's Cabinet as Postmaster-General
applies for command in the Baltic under Sir C. Napier
refusal
controversy with Sir James Graham
Lord Privy Seal in Lord Derby's second Cabinet
Chairman of Royal Commission on manning of the Navy
King of Italy's medal
life at Wimpole
evening amusements and society
music and theatricals
estate work
improvements at Wimpole
death of Hon. Victor Yorke
marriage of Hon. Eliot Yorke
his own illness and death at Sydney Lodge
Hardwicke, seventh Earl of
------Countess of, Margaret. See Cocks.
------Countess of, Susan. See Liddell.
Hotham, Sir H.
Hurd
Hydra
Hypsilantes, Prince Alexander
Independence, War of
Ismail Pacha
Italian unity, movement for
Karabusa in Crete
Keppel, Admiral
Königsberg
La Marmora, General
Liddell, Hon. Susan (Countess of Hardwicke)
Liverpool, Earl of
Magnesia
Maitland, Sir T.
Mansfield, Lord
Marienberg
Masséna
Matthews
Mavrocordato
Mazzini
Mecklenburg Schwerin, Duke of
Mehemet Ali
Melbourne, Viscount
Miaoulis, Admiral
Milne, Sir D.
Missolonghi
Montesquieu
Morden, Barony
Napier, Sir C.
Nauplia
Navarino
Nelson, Lord
Newcastle, Duke of
Nore, mutiny at the
Normanby, Marquis of
Novara, battle of
Odysseus, the Chief
Otho, King
Oxford, Harley, Earls of
Palmerston, Viscount
Parker, Sir W.
Peel, Sir R.
Perceval, Rt. Hon. Spencer
Pitt, William (Lord Chatham)
Pitt, William
Plumptre
Prince Consort
Prior
Prussia, King of
Psara
Rattray, Elizabeth Weake (Lady Yorke)
Reform Bill
Rockingham, Lord
Rodney, Lord
Rothschild, Sir A. and Lady de
Royston, Lord
Russell, Lord John
Russia, Emperor of (Nicholas I)
Sadowa, battle of
St. Germans, Countess of
Schetky, John Christian
Smyrna
Somers, Lord Chancellor
Stanhope, Lady Hester
Stanhope, Col. Leicester
Stanislas, King of Poland
Stanley, Lord. See Earl of Derby
Sydney Lodge
Taylor, Tom
Trevelyan, Sir George's 'Life of Fox'
Tyre
Victor, Emmanuel I
Victor, Emmanuel II
Victoria, Queen
Warburton, Bishop of Gloucester
Watson, Dr.
Wellington, Duke of
Wilkes, John
Wilmot, Lord Justice
Wimpole
Yorke, Lady Agneta
------Agneta (Hon. Mrs. Charles)
------Hon. Alexander G.
------Archdeacon
------Hon. Charles (second Chancellor)
------Rt. Hon. Charles Philip, M.P.
------Hon. Eliot
------Lady Elizabeth
------Hon. Grantham (Dean of Worcester)
------James, Bishop of Ely
------Hon. John
------Hon. Sir Joseph (Lord Dover)
------Admiral Sir Joseph Sydney, K.C.B.
------Hon. Victor A.
Yorkes of Forthampton
------of Hannington