Vessel hired for Dr. M.’s departure--Lady Hester’s intention of
writing her Memoirs--Letter from Lady Hester to Sir Francis
Burdett--From Lady Hester to Count Wilsensheim--Events of the Druze
insurrection--Inexpediency of M. Guys’s removal from Beyrout--Letter
from Dr. M. to Count Wilsensheim--Letter from Lady Hester Stanhope to
the Baron de Busech--Lady Hester immured--Principal reason of Dr. M.’s
return to Europe--His adieux--Passage to Cyprus--Reception by Signor
Baldassare Mattei--Provisions in Cyprus--Mademoiselle Longchamps--
Letter from Lady Hester to Dr. M.--Commissions--Second Letter from
Lady Hester to Dr. M.--Third Letter from Lady Hester to Dr.
M.--Advice--Obligations--Violence of temper--Mr. U.--General
Loustaunau--Logmagi and the muleteer--Fourth Letter from Lady Hester
to Dr. M.--Correspondence of the first Lord Chatham--Lady Hester’s
death--Conclusion.
Monday, July 16.--I went to Beyrout to see Monsieur Jorelle, the
chancellor and chief interpreter of the French consulate (whose lady
has inspired the pen of M. Lamartine in some beautiful lines to be
found in his _Souvenirs de l’Orient_), in order to make the necessary
arrangements for Lady Hester’s letters, should any come, and to
acquaint him and others with her extraordinary resolution to immure
herself. I executed her orders and delivered her message punctually;
but, I must say, I did not believe she would put such a determination
into execution. However, I was much deceived; for, on my return to
Jôon, I found she had already employed Logmagi to hire a boat to
convey me and my family to Cyprus, seeing I took no steps to do so
myself. Now, therefore, that her mind was made up, and knowing that,
when that was the case, nothing on earth could shake her resolution, I
employed the short space that remained in setting her house in order,
in writing her letters, and in taking her instructions for such things
as would be useful to her in Europe.
I rode down to Sayda to see the vessel which had been hired. It was a
small schooner of Castel Rosso, with a Greek crew, the most cut-throat
looking dogs I ever beheld. The passage-money had been agreed for by
Logmagi at one thousand piasters, for a run of one hundred miles--a
round sum of money for the distance in that country, where a single
passenger often goes across in a trading-vessel for two piasters, or
about ten-pence English. The captain accompanied me to M. Conti’s, the
French agent, where an agreement was drawn up that he was to remain in
waiting fifteen days, at the expiration of which time, I, (if not
ready to sail,) was to pay him thirty piasters a day for as many days
as he was kept over his time. The sinister looks of the captain made
me almost afraid to close the bargain with him. He had eyes protruding
from their sockets so far, that, when he was arguing about the price
of the passage, they stood out just as if the cavity of the skull had
been puffed up with wind: and Lady Hester had, on some occasion, told
me that was a sign of a murderer. I recollected, too, that it was in
just such a schooner, a few years before, four or five Europeans had
been murdered and thrown overboard in a passage from Syria to
Cyprus;[34] and, coupling these circumstances together, I felt uneasy.
It is true, the man was known to Monsieur Conti, as having once
brought a freight of deals to Sayda; but only once. Logmagi, too,
assured me he had frequented his house at Castel Rosso; and I was
aware that, if I expressed any apprehensions to Lady Hester Stanhope,
she would call them frivolous. I therefore signed the paper, and it
was left to be registered in the chancery, for which the fees charged
to the captain, as he told me afterwards, were some thirty or forty
piasters. I was so far right in my conjectures about the captain’s
murdering propensities, that, when we were on our passage, he related
a story of his having been one of the crew of a vessel which took a
Turkish ship, every one of which was butchered in cold blood.
My family was made acquainted with what I had done, and the business
of packing began on the morrow.
The following days I was by Lady Hester’s bedside from three to five
hours every morning, and after dinner in the saloon with her from
eight or half-past eight until twelve, one, or two o’clock. She
repeated over again many of her stories with a view of impressing
them, as I suppose, on my memory: for, having told her one day that if
she would give herself the trouble of writing her Memoirs, she might
pay her debts from the sale of such a work, she only laughed, and
said, “Ah, well! when I get better, I shall tell you a few more
anecdotes to make a book of, since you think it would be so
profitable:” and, whenever, after dictating a letter, I wrote it out
fairly, and gave the foul copy, together with the fair one, to her,
she would take the latter, and say, “You may keep the other:” or, if
she had reasons for wishing the contents to remain a secret, she would
take them both, and put them by in her portfolio, and then I heard no
more of the foul copy. It was thus she sometimes told me Eastern
stories, after I had made some accidental observations on the charm
that these little stories seemed to possess for European readers, as
was manifested in the praises bestowed on those in M. Lamartine’s
work. Had her health been good, and had the course of events gone on
peaceably, I am inclined to think she would have listened to my
suggestion, and have dictated her memoirs to me. On some occasions, it
was her custom to say--“Now, don’t go and write that down:” on others,
“You have kept no copy of such and such a letter of mine,” and “You
have destroyed such a paper; give me your word:” when I was obliged to
answer categorically.
I was at last worn out with fatigue from long sittings and these
various occupations, not the least of which was to put her affairs in
such order, that, when she shut herself up, she should be in want of
nothing, have nothing to pay, nothing to write, meet with no
interruptions to her seclusion, and be dead to the world. All this I
did, as far as I was able.
July 20.--Lady Hester dictated the following letter to Sir Francis
Burdett, in answer to the one she had received on the 6th ultimo.
_Lady Hester Stanhope to Sir Francis Burdett, Bart._
Jôon, July 20, 1838.
My dear Burdett,
I am no fool, neither are you: but you might pass for one,
if in good earnest you did not understand my letter. You
tell me what is self-evident--that I have no right to
inherit Colonel Needham’s property, &c.: neither had your
daughter any right to inherit Mr. Coutts’s property: but, in
all probability, his wife, being aware that you and your
family stood high in his estimation, paid that compliment to
his memory. Lord Kilmorey, who had no children, being aware
of General Needham’s partiality towards Mr. Pitt, might, by
his will, have allowed the property to return to the
remaining branch of the Pitt family. Do not be afraid that I
am going to give you any fresh trouble about this affair,
notwithstanding I believe that you were some time hatching
this stupid answer; but I do not owe you any grudge, as I
know that it does not come from you:--I know where it comes
from.
A lion of the desert, being caught in the huntsman’s net,
called in vain to the beasts of the field to assist him, and
received from them about as shuffling an answer as I have
received from you, and previously from Lord H********. A
little field mouse gnawed the master-knot, and called to the
lion to make a great effort, which burst the noose, and out
came the lion stronger than ever.
I am now about building up every avenue to my premises, and
there shall wait with patience, immured within the walls,
till it please God to send me a little mouse: and whoever
presumes to force my retirement, by scaling my walls or
anything of the like, will be received by me as Lord
Camelford would have received them.
HESTER LUCY STANHOPE.[35]
* * * * *
Tuesday, July 24.--Her ladyship dictated another letter to Count
Wilsensheim. It was written in French, like all those addressed to
foreigners, but which have all been given translated: for the style of
Lady Hester’s French was composed of Anglicisms, and, in turning them
into her native tongue, the very expressions which she would have used
seemed naturally to present themselves.
_Lady Hester Stanhope to Count Wilsensheim, Chamberlain
to His Imperial Majesty, &c. &c._
Jôon, June 24, 1838.
Sir Count,
I have delayed answering your amiable letter until I thought
your voyage was over. I am happy that his Royal Highness
quitted this country when he did; not because of the
plague--the season was gone by this year for that--but
because of the aspect of affairs, and of the Druze
insurrection, which has grown considerably hotter, and which
would have made it impossible to travel with any comfort.
Ibrahim Pasha began the war in the Horàn with forty-five
thousand men; the Druzes had but seven thousand, assisted by
some tribes of the Arabs of the Desert. Ibrahim Pasha has
lost thirty thousand, between Nizàm troops (as they are
called), Sugmans, and Albanians, without reckoning the
wounded. The Druze army, I believe, does not at present
exceed two thousand five hundred men: but each man of that
two thousand five hundred is singly worth twenty. The last
seat of the war was about fourteen leagues distant in a
strait line from my residence. The Druzes, after having well
beaten Ibrahim Pasha and killed some of his officers,
retreated to the Horàn, pursued by the Pasha.
You no doubt are aware that his Highness the Pasha, in
concert with the Emir Beshýr, disarmed the Druzes some time
ago by a stratagem, which gave the government means to take
their sons as conscripts for the _nizàm_. After that, they,
in like manner, disarmed the Christians: but necessity has
compelled the pasha lately to give them their arms again, in
order to enable the son of the Emir Beshýr to join the
pasha’s forces with a reinforcement of Christians, which he
stood in need of to garrison the skirts of the mountain on
the side of the Bkâa. The Druzes killed a great many of
these Christians, and they could have annihilated them: but
they said to them, “You are not to blame: it goes against us
to exterminate you, for we have always lived with you on
friendly terms; but we will slay without pity every
Christian we find in arms, excepting those of the mountain.”
The French government has done an imprudent thing in
removing Mr. Consul Guys from his post at Beyrout; because
that gentleman had very extensive connexions amongst the
bishops and priests, and all the numerous sects of
Christians found on Mount Lebanon; and, by his information
and experience, had means of giving them good advice. For,
if by chance those Christians gave heed to bad counsel, it
might not be impossible that half the Franks who inhabit
this country would be massacred by the Nabloosians, the
Druzes, the Ansaréas, the Ishmäelites, the Shemsíahs, the
Kelbías, and the Koords in general, who occupy the country
between Mount Lebanon and Aleppo on the side of Gebel el
Segaun, not far from Antioch.
As I know how to speak no language but that of the
Orientals, you will forgive me, Sir Count, if I call you the
Pope’s Grand Vizir. It devolves, therefore, on you to think
of a way to make Monsieur Guys return to the post which he
has just quitted:--a thing, in my opinion, very necessary
both for the safety of the country, and of the Europeans in
it. I have a great esteem for Monsieur Guys, but I see him
so seldom, that, whether he is far or near, it is pretty
much the same to me. As for the Christians here, I do not
interest myself more about them than about other men--
perhaps less; not on account of their religion, but of
their qualities, of which egotism and perfidy are marked
characteristics in most of them. As a religion is with me
neither more nor less than a costume of adoration, it is all
one whether it is green, white, blue, or black. To me it is
all the same whether a man prostrates himself before a piece
of wood, or before a cockle-shell, as the Metoualis do,
provided his heart addresses itself to the Almighty.
Perhaps for saying this, you will have me crucified by the
Pope: never mind--if it is my lot, I shall not repine;
since, whatever is decreed must necessarily happen: but it
is not necessary, for all that, by a want of policy, to make
civil wars break out, which would do no good to anybody, and
which would not turn to any account, even for those who
stirred them up: neither is it proper to remove those to a
distance, who have the means of pacifying the disputants,
should the case require it.
If I had had the happiness of seeing you, I would have asked
you if you had ever seen the prophecy of a certain Pope,
whose leaden coffin was found about seventy years ago: that
prophecy has great analogy with some Oriental ones.
HESTER LUCY STANHOPE.
* * * * *
Lady Hester wished me also to write to the count, to let him know how
it happened that Prince Pückler Muskau had been entrusted with the
correspondence between herself, Lord Palmerston, his grace the Duke of
Wellington, &c., &c.,: and also, as much had been said of the prince’s
way of travelling at the expense of Mahomet Ali Pasha, to assure him,
the count, that the prince showed no signs of stinginess when at Jôon.
The next day, being Wednesday, when I could not see Lady Hester, I
executed her wish.
_Dr. M. to Count Wilsensheim._
Jôon, July 25, 1838.
Sir Count,[36]
As you appear to take a lively interest in whatever regards
Lady Hester Stanhope, I hope, on that account, you will
excuse me, if I join to her ladyship’s letter a few words
from myself, to place in their true light some circumstances
which might otherwise appear extraordinary to you.
In consequence of the proceedings instituted against her
ladyship by the English government, Lady Hester has resolved
to shut herself up in her house, to wall up the entrance,
and to bury herself, as one would say, in a tomb, until
those, who have attempted to cast a stain on her integrity
(the rightful inheritance, as she affirms, of the Pitt
family), shall, by a signal reparation, have washed it out.
She is in the act of reducing her establishment to her
strict wants by discharging her servants. I myself am on the
point of my departure for Europe, forced by her ladyship to
go, but deeply regretting that I must leave her without a
single European near her person, and without a single
servant in whom she has confidence. My uneasiness, however,
does not extend so far as to fear for her personal safety,
although the war between the Druzes and the Pasha rages more
fiercely than ever: because I know the firmness and
intrepidity of her character, the resources of her mind, and
the respect and dread in which the two hostile parties hold
her.
It is probable that her ladyship’s grievances will find
their way into the public papers; for Prince Pückler Muskau,
when on his visit here, was so struck with the indignities
of which she continued to be the victim, that he was
resolved to give some true details of it to the public. Her
ladyship had found in him a man at once intelligent and
kind; ready indeed to offer her his assistance to a greater
extent than she was willing to accept in everything relative
to her affairs.
It is very extraordinary that, at that time, Lady Hester
knew nothing of the avarice imputed to him, of which it was
impossible she could have the least suspicion; for his stay
at her house was marked by a degree of liberality in
everything befitting a prince, and absolutely at variance
with the reports spread about him in the places through
which he has passed--reports, which astonished her ladyship
as much as they did me, since nothing of the kind was seen
here.
Thank God! I leave her in better health, and lively as
always, just as if nothing had happened.
I have the honour to be, Sir Count,
Your most obedient humble servant,
----
* * * * *
Sunday, July 29.--The last letter which Lady Hester wrote before I
left her was the following, to Charles Baron de Busech:--
Jôon, July 29, 1838.
Sir Baron,
Mortified as I was that circumstances prevented me from
felicitating you in person on the re-establishment of your
health, I am nevertheless rejoiced that you all hastened to
quit Syria, seeing that the warfare between Ibrahim Pasha
and the Druzes has become exceeding rancorous, and would
have made travelling through the country far from agreeable.
The scene of action has lately been at Rashéyah, where the
Druzes have performed miracles. The Emir Beshýr’s son
marched with a reinforcement to assist Ibrahim Pasha, and of
this the Druzes killed just enough in the twinkling of an
eye to convince the whole body that, if they, the Druzes,
had not chosen to recollect they were fighting with
neighbours, they could have exterminated them. The Emir’s
son had his horse killed under him, and that prince took
refuge very quickly in the mountain.
When the Druzes found out that the Pasha’s artillery in the
valleys cut them up dreadfully, and that personal courage
was of no value, they retreated to the Horàn, where the
inequality of the ground was more favourable to them. At
this moment, Ibrahim Pasha is in pursuit of them, and has
given orders to his Bedouin robbers, whom he brought from
Egypt (a tribe which is called the Hanâdy), to run down the
greatest hero the Druzes have got, and to bring him alive;
being so struck with the courage of the man, that he would
willingly employ him in his own service. Poor Pasha! I fancy
he has made a bad calculation, in thinking that one of the
family of Arriàn, men accustomed like their ancestors to
rule with sovereign authority in their castle at Gendal,
would ever become a vile slave to save his wife. Shibly el
Arriàn is not only a hero in battle but a Demosthenes in
council: he makes even the great tremble by the language he
holds.[37]
An order has just been issued by the Emir Beshýr to search
the dwellings of the Druzes afresh for concealed arms, and
to take from them their horses: this is, at best, a great
piece of imprudence, because, seeing that many of the
cavaliers would sooner fly than give up their horses, he
will thus increase the number of insurgents in the Horàn.
Ibrahim Pasha with the wreck of his army, of which he has
lost full thirty thousand without counting the wounded,
cannot, if he does not soon make peace and come to some
composition, do much more with the Druzes.
This is the state of affairs at this present moment; but it
is difficult to get at the truth. Even your friend L., if he
knows anything, dares not avow it: but what such sort of
people know is so little--their information is so confined--
they are all so ignorant of the true character, of the
projects, and of the resources of the different races that
inhabit Syria--that the reasonings they make are about as
false as a fairy tale.
I have the honour to be, Sir Baron,
With all esteem and consideration,
Yours,
H. L. STANHOPE.
* * * * *
Monday, July 30.--The mason had been sent for from Sayda, and stones
and materials had been collected for walling-up the gateway. Lady
Hester drew out on paper the exact manner in which she wished it to
be done. It was a screen, which completely masked the gateway, and
left a side opening just large enough for a cow or an ass laden with
water to enter. I superintended this work of self-inhumation, the like
of which never entered woman’s mind before. It was an affair of two
days, Monday and Tuesday.
Tuesday, July 31.--To-day, I spoke to Lady Hester medically for the
last time. Her pulse had recovered much of its wonted strength, and
although there were periods when she coughed violently, still the
struggles of a naturally good constitution and powerful lungs had
enabled her to hold out against the most formidable attack of
pulmonary catarrh that I had ever seen a human being withstand.
Thursday, August 2.--As no letters came from Prince Pückler Muskau,
and as it was evident some reason had prevented him from fulfilling
his promise of publishing Lady Hester’s correspondence, she now gave
me her final instructions on that head. I am disposed to believe it
was the strong desire that possessed her to ensure the publication of
her letters in the newspapers, which, amidst much hesitation and
wavering, made her decide on my departure; for she knew she could rely
on me, and the publicity of her grievances now seemed to be the
paramount object in her thoughts. Her anxiety on this point was so
great that, lest any accident might happen to the MS. by shipwreck or
otherwise, she had a second copy made of the whole correspondence,
which was to be left with her, whilst I retained the originals.
Her own conviction was that her constitution was invulnerable--she
thought she should yet live to see her enemies confounded, the Sultan
triumphant, her debts paid, and an ample income at her disposal. She
dwelt with the same apparent confidence as ever on the approaching
advent of the Mehedi, and still looked on her mare, Leila, as destined
to bear him, with herself on Lûlû by his side. “I shall not die in my
bed,” she would say, “and I had rather not; my brother did not, and I
have always had a feeling that my end would be in blood: that does not
frighten me in the least.”
From August the 1st until the 6th, I was too much employed to take
notes. On the fourth, the fifteen days agreed on with the captain were
at an end, and he became importunate for our departure. But, now that
the moment of separation had arrived, Lady Hester had some misgivings,
and seemed to wish to defer it: I accordingly paid a first day’s
forfeit, then a second, then a third. At last, however, on Monday,
August the 6th, 1838, I took an affectionate leave of her, and never
saw her more.
On quitting her I said--“It is better that I should not see you
to-morrow, even though I should not set off early.”--“You do right,”
she replied: “let this be our parting.”--“But you have no money,” I
observed: “how will you do for your current expenses?”--“It’s true,”
she answered; “I must thank you to lend me 2000 piasters before you
go, and I’ll repay you as soon as I can: send them in by Ibrahim--he’s
an honest lad, and, even if he knew it was money, would not touch it.
But, however, you had better put two or three things of no value in a
little basket, and a cup and saucer, or something that weighs, as if
you sent them for my use, and then the gold will lie underneath
unsuspected.” This was done, and I would have sent more (for I had
twice as much more by me), but when I proposed to do so her ladyship
objected--remarking, “You may be blown out of your course, and be
obliged to remain days and days at some port where you may want it for
the necessaries of life. Two thousand will do, and, if I want more,
Logmagi, I am sure, will raise me as much.”
August 7.--It was eleven in the day before we could get everything
ready. As we quitted the terrace, where we had passed nearly fifteen
months, my wife and daughter shed tears. The black girl, Zezefôon, was
seen looking after us from the garden-wall, where she, or the other
maids, had kept watch from the dawn. Our servants walked by our side
to Sayda, and the secretary accompanied us.
When we were about two miles on the road, a servant was descried
running after us. My heart beat--I knew not what might have happened:
but his business was merely to deliver a bag he had on his shoulders,
in which was a small Turkey carpet for spreading on the cabin-floor in
the vessel: this Lady Hester had sent, with a message that perhaps we
might find it serviceable in the passage. Even to the last moment did
her kind consideration for our comforts manifest itself.
We embarked under the escort of Logmagi, amidst a crowd of persons who
had collected on the strand. On board we found the entire hold neatly
partitioned off by mats, which had been done by Logmagi’s care, and
mats spread on the ballast; so that we had spacious and convenient
berths for all the party. The schooner was fir-built, and quite new:
whether this was the reason that she abounded in cockroaches I know
not, or whether it was the extreme heat or her cargo that had
introduced them; but there were thousands and thousands crawling in
every direction, and this annoyance, added to the burning sun, made
the passage far from pleasant. Our captain was named Kyriaco
Candevíti, and the vessel the Thrasybulus. On Friday at sunset we
anchored in Cyprus roads, and on Saturday morning were received on
the seashore by our excellent and generous friend, Signor Baldassare
Mattei, at the door of his marine villa, into which he ushered us,
and, in the true spirit of Eastern hospitality, made himself our
guest, and insisted on it that we were from that moment in our own
mansion. It was the same house we had inhabited in 1832.
We remained in Cyprus three weeks, delighted with the kindness of the
Europeans and natives, and revelling in the abundance for which that
happy island is so famous. We were luxuriously supplied with sweet and
water melons, grapes, figs, pomegranates, and other fruits, of a
flavour and size passing belief. Partridges were at 2½d. each, hares
at 6d., a loaf of bread of the size of a quart basin at 1½d., mutton
at 2d. a pound, a fine hen for 5d., and so in proportion of other
things, with the exception of fish, which was rather dear.
Finding here the same vessel that had carried us to Europe in 1832 and
still commanded by the same master, we took our passage by her for
1000 frs. board included, and on the 30th of August set sail. Our
voyage was prosperous, and, reaching the port of Marseilles on the 7th
of October, we disembarked on the 8th in the afternoon, and entered
the lazaretto, where we performed quarantine for fifteen days. Then,
resting ourselves for a week in a hotel at Marseilles, during which
time I transmitted a copy of the correspondence to England to be
inserted in the newspapers, and, leaving Miss Longchamps with her
friends, we betook ourselves to Nice, where we arrived on the 2nd of
November, having been absent a little more than seventeen months. In
mentioning the name of Mademoiselle Longchamps for the last time, I
must, even at the risk of offending her extreme delicacy, bear
testimony to her amiable cheerfulness of character under all our
difficulties, to her rare conversational powers, her exemplary but
unobtrusive piety, and those numberless good qualities, which a close
acquaintance under trying circumstances gave us such peculiar
opportunities of discovering.
After my arrival at Nice, I received letters from Lady Hester about
once a month, up to the time of her death. The first was dated
September 30, 1838.
Dear Doctor,
I cannot answer to-night the letters I have just received
from you (from Cyprus), but must say two words to clear up
what, to anybody but yourself, would appear but too
extraordinary. The messenger, sent by Monsieur Jorelle,
arrived at the moment my dinner was set before me: I looked
at the direction of the letters, and gave them to Zezefôon
to put by in the same room until I had dined. When I wanted
them, one of yours was not to be found; and she turned the
room upside down, always with her usual impudence asking if
she ate letters, &c.;--you know what beasts they all are. It
cannot be lost; but where she has stuffed it God knows!
Yesterday she lost a piece of fine cloth in the same way,
which is not yet found:--to-morrow something else. You know
them but too well, and also their impudent conduct, when
they find they are in the wrong.
The prince is gone to Europe. I hope soon to hear of your
safe arrival in France, and I shall write to you by the next
Vapour.[38]
Yours sincerely,
H. L. STANHOPE.
* * * * *
_Lady Hester Stanhope to Dr. M._
Jôon, October 22, 1838.
Dear Doctor,
I hope soon to hear of your safe arrival at Marseilles, and
take the first opportunity of repaying you the 2,000
piasters, for the loan of which I am very much obliged to
you. I enclose a bill on Coutts for £50--twenty for you and
thirty for commissions.
What I immediately want (and, supposing you are at Nice, if
procured by your friend, Captain Pardoe, will be better, as
he understands these things), is--
Some dried cherries and Burgundy apricots, simply dried like
raisins, if such are to be had at Marseilles, eight or ten
pounds of each;
Small covered pans for milk;
Three wire blinds for the milk-room, fine, that flies cannot
enter, each three spans square, or about half an ell;
Some wire covers for the milk-pans;
Pots and jugs of different sizes;
A supply of yellow and red earthenware.
I forgot to ask you, when you were here, if there were
kettles in iron like tin ones, and coffee-pots: for they
would be of great use, as tin is destroyed in a day, and a
large boiler would stand better on the fire than a tin
kettle--for always, I mean--and better for my kitchen:
better also for the milkboy, to wash up his pots and pans. I
want too some iron spoons, and some wooden ladles and
skimmers.
I should like to have Miss Pardoe’s book on Constantinople,
if it is come out, for strangers; for, I fear, I never could
get through with it myself, no more than the others you have
sent me; but I must trust to chance. This just puts me in
mind that one of the books I should like to have would be
Graham’s Domestic Medicine--a good Red Book (Peerage, I
mean)--and the book about the Prince of Wales, George the
Fourth.
I have found out a person who can occasionally read French
to me: so, if there was any very pleasing French book, you
might send it--but no Bonapartes, &c., or “present
times”--and a little _brochure_ or two upon baking, pastry,
gardening, &c.:--some haricot seeds, and also dahlias of
different colours.
Are there no iron candlesticks for lamps, for the servants
to work by at night? for my new people shall work like other
servants: besides, in out-of-door rooms, there are no lamps
to see by, and those thick glass globes, with two or three
burners, would be useful. Add, also, some inkstands of thick
glass, with a tray of tin or japan, like a coffee-tray.
I should think it right of you to send a line of certificate
to Lord H., in case he should want it, just saying, “I have
had a letter from Lady Hester Stanhope, in which she
requests me to give your lordship, in writing, my opinion of
her health,” &c.; then the essence of the said certificate
to be (if you think so) “that, having known Lady Hester
nearly thirty years, I can safely say that I never have yet
seen such a constitution; that the most severe illnesses
often have not appeared to attack or impair the stamina of
it; that,” &c. &c.
I have had a very kind letter from the Prince [Pückler
Muskau]; he is gone to Europe, or, at least, is on his way:
his slaves, &c., went by Leghorn. He says, there were
difficulties respecting the Queen’s letter in Germany; but
he has another plan. He desires to be kindly remembered to
you.
If I inquire about your health, or that of your family, it
will be in my own way, with interest, and perhaps giving
some opinion, which, as usual, may be taken ill: so I shall
say nothing, either now or hereafter, on that subject. I
strained my eyes to write a long letter, now before me,
about your complaint on the chest; but I shall burn it.
Everybody is laid up here; Logmagi with a bad fever, as also
Mustafa and the cowboy; Mohammed with a fit of the gout,
unable to walk or stir: Fatôom, half with whims, always
under the coverlet; Zezefôon ill, but keeping to her work.
The early rain has caused illness everywhere.
Arriàn’s troops being so diminished, and his resources
failing, owing to want of assistance from the other Druzes,
who hung back after Ibrahim Pasha’s declaration that he
would burn all Druze property in the mountain, he has
surrendered, they say severely wounded by the Arabs of his
party for being a traitor in their eyes. Affairs are,
therefore, a little quiet in that quarter for the present;
but, towards Aleppo, the Kûrds and Turkmans are very
troublesome, and every one seems alarmed. Corn has risen to
a terrible price, and barley there is none: though some,
they say, has been brought to Beyrout.
Twenty-five thousand purses have been found with the
cheating Yazjees,[39] who are in a sad position. Four or
five hundred families will be implicated in this business,
and ruined by their want of honesty. The mountain is in a
very disturbed state; but my habitation is well walled in,
and the weight of all on poor me; for Logmagi is at Sayda.
No letters from England.
So far till to-day; afterwards I shall not be able to give
you any account of myself, as I suffer so by writing. The
spectacles always cause me such a vast pain, that I cannot
stand it: and, besides, it lasts all day, or next day. I was
going to say, pray save your eyes, and do not read so much
useless trash: but I forgot--I will never give you any more
advice.
Mr. M., whom you did not see at Cyprus, has offered to serve
me as secretary and to arrange my servants, he living at his
own expense at Jôon or some other village; but, as he
refused all salary, I could not do otherwise than refuse his
offer.
This is my last long letter.
Yours sincerely,
H. L. S.
PS.--The steamer is expected in two days--perhaps it may
bring news.
* * * * *
_Lady Hester Stanhope to Dr. M._
Jôon, February 9, 1839.
You need not tremble this time, my dear doctor, for I am not
displeased with you. The “Sir William Knighton”[40] is not
worth looking into, and “Love” is not amongst them. The book
of medicine is clear and well written.
I have to thank you for a vast deal of trouble you have
given yourself: all in the end will turn out well, I hope. I
have written a few lines in answer to the “Morning
Chronicle,” which you will afterwards see in “Galignani,”
without doubt.
* * * * *
What a simpleton you are sometimes! Leave my systems to me,
and adopt those of your own; but don’t blame mine, as you
have done, without knowing the reason of them.
Miss Pardoe’s book I have not yet looked into. The one[41]
you sent me is interesting only to those who were acquainted
with the persons named:--all mock taste, mock feeling, &c.;
but that is the fashion. “I am this--I am that:” who ever
talked such empty stuff formerly? _I_ was never named by a
well-bred person.
There has been a vast deal of rain this year; but not very
cold: the house nearly as usual. My cough continues--my
spirits the same.
A hyena came into the garden the other day, and Ibrahim
Beytàr killed it with only a bludgeon, and brought me the
skin: it is the first wild beast of the kind that has been
so daring this winter. The dogs frightened the animal so
much on the outside that it scaled the wall.
Let me hear when you leave Nice. I should think England
would be a very unpleasant _séjour_ in the present state of
affairs; Switzerland, perhaps, more healthy, cheaper, and
more agreeable, until you see distinctly the turn things
take and my affairs settled. You do not mention your health;
therefore, I hope it is not to be complained of at this
moment.
Shut up, as I am, I can have no news:--advice you take ill,
and call it scolding. I am too much obliged to Captain
Pardoe for having undertaken my commissions. I have safely
received the stockings you had the attention to send
me. * * * *
You must promise to state to me fairly the impression my
affairs make with the English, and what sort, what class of
English.
Arriàn has been bribed, and is now raising a regiment of two
thousand for Ibrahim Pasha. There will be hard work here ere
long. It appears the _kurkuby_ [uproar] about money was
certainly the disgusting examination into the private
affairs of officers in the navy at the Admiralty, and of the
army at the Horse Guards: it has disgusted every one, and
roused a feeling about me.
[Not signed.]
* * * * *
_Lady Hester Stanhope to Dr. M._
Jôon, March 11, 1839.
I send you something to get put into a newspaper: I think
it is not bad. Some day, I shall write a _manifesto_,
which will be superb, and open people’s eyes in all
directions. * * * * *
I would have sent you Sir William Knighton’s work; but I
suppose you can get it where you are, and it would not amuse
you: it speaks of nothing but common-place things. He has
kept only--or, at least, they have published only--formal
letters, and which throw little light on anything.
* * * * *
Miss Pardoe is very excellent upon many subjects; only
there is too much of what the English like--stars, winds,
black shades, soft sounds, &c. The Arabic story you ask me
for, I have already dictated to the prince. I know many
others; but they are too long. Are you going to write a
book?
* * * * *
I believe your eyes and ears will be opened too late. You
will then see, to your cost, that admonitions (called
scoldings) were the highest compliment I could pay a man in
your situation, by endeavouring to raise his mind to the
altitude necessary to exist (one may say) in a wreck of
worlds. If you were so uneasy at Jôon, how will your nerves
bear what you will be doomed to see? but, when this time
comes, no more advice from me to you or any one: let all
pick their way, and abide by the consequences. Words are
nothing: the hearts of men must be cleansed of all the vain
idle stuff they now cherish as a sort of safeguard or
escape-boat to evils of all kind. If the naked savage, who
has the feelings of a man, is not in high favour with the
Almighty, and placed in a higher situation (if he continues
to do his duty) than the educated mylord, the pedant, the
gentleman, as it is called, without either conscience,
talent, or money, I know nothing; and you may reproach me
hereafter in the harshest possible terms.
It is a very mean spirit which fears obligation: we are
under obligations of the most serious nature every day to
the horse, the ass, the cow, &c. All the stuff persons now
call spirit are the vulgar ideas of the lowest and least
philosophical of human beings. What should I think of my
deserted self, were I to constantly talk to Logmagi of
obligation? I am proud to acknowledge all I owe to his zeal
and obedience.
* * * * *
I am contented with the violence of my own character: it
draws a line for me between friends and enemies.
* * * * *
There is at this moment a great _kirkuby_ [uproar or
disturbance,]--seizing recruits for the _nizàm_, and
entering by force into all sorts of houses to seek for arms.
* * * * *
Will you see that I receive a dozen pair of spectacles like
those you wear, six or seven of fine quality, and the others
common black ones but with clear glasses: and a dozen like
what I wear--not expensive.
Always employ me if I can be useful to you here. I expect to
hear from you. When do you think of leaving Nice? My affair
will not finish quickly, I am afraid. Your friend U. will
get on: he is all information, energy, and talent; but the
times are gone by for people to go the beaten track, and all
is too late. In less than a year, it is more than probable
that all the world will be at war.
The Prophet [General Loustaunau] is most comfortable in his
new habitation: I have planted shrubs for him round the
windows, divided the room in two, and made all new with an
excellent sofa.
I must tell you a story about Logmagi. He was reproaching
one of the _mukers_ [muleteers] about some neglect of his
duty--only abusing him, never touching him--when the fellow
ran and fetched his pistol, which he presented at Logmagi to
shoot him. Logmagi, with a wonderful presence of mind,
vulgar perhaps, (but every one in his way--the _muker_ was a
vulgar man), turned into his face not his own face, and
said--“No honest man would meet a blackguard face to
face--that was his _khurge_” [match]. The bystanders roared
with laughter, and the man ran away.
Quickly, by the steamer, the spectacles. Seven pair of white
ones, long; five others, long too, but like those you wear,
black and light.
[No signature.]
_Lady Hester Stanhope to Dr. M._
Jôon, May 6, 1839.
The Vapour is expected in a few days. I am much better, but
not yet well enough to make a little drawing, necessary to
explain something I want you to get done for me. * * * * *
* * * * *
Thank God for my nerves:--would you sleep alone in a room
with this girl [Zezefoon]? And, besides she told me, the
other day, that she had only teeth for those who displeased
her, and therefore you see she is not ashamed of herself:
but I think no more of her than of a little babe, and sleep
on quietly. All in the house have made wry faces after this
affair--even Logmagi, who would not like to be bitten a
second time.
I did not write to you before I had answered the “Morning
Chronicle;” for I feared that perhaps my letter to you
might be read, and so spoil all.
As yet, all things remain as before: what strange people! No
answer from any one. Not one Englishman has set his foot in
Syria since this business.
Some one--I suppose you--sent me the “Life of Lord Edward
Fitzgerald.” It is _I_ who could give a true and most
extraordinary history of all those transactions. The book is
all stuff. The duchess (Lord Edward’s mother) was my
particular friend, as was also his aunt: I was intimate with
all the family, and knew that noted Pamela. All the books I
see make me sick--only catch-penny nonsense.
A thousand thanks for the promise of my grandfather’s
letters; but the book will be all spoilt, by being edited by
young men. First, they are totally ignorant of the politics
of my grandfather’s age; secondly, of the style of the
language used at that period; and absolutely ignorant of his
secret reasons and intentions, and the _real_, or apparent
footing he was upon with many people, friends and foes. I
know all that from my grandmother, who was his secretary,
and, Coutts used to say, the cleverest _man_ of her time, in
politics, business, &c. Even the late Lord Chatham, his son,
had but an imperfect idea of all that took place; for he was
either absent, or, when not so, taken up by dissipation; for
no man was ever more admired or sought after. Pringle’s
father, I suppose, is dead, and this is the son--Harriet
Elliott’s son. At twenty, she married an officer, nearly
fifty, I should think * * but who was, I believe, a very
honourable, respectable man.
Do not keep reproaching yourself about leaving me; it did
not depend on you to stay: also, do not put into your head
that you have the seeds of the malady you named to me.
* * * * I hope to hear that you are better.
H. L. S.
I have written a sad, stupid letter, but I have no
news--shut up.
* * * * *
This was the last letter I ever received from her ladyship. She died
in June following, Ἄταφος, ἄκλαυτος, ἄφιλος, ἀνυμεναιος [Greek:
Hataphos, haklautos, haphilos, anymenaios,][42] everybody being in
ignorance of her approaching end, except the servants immediately
about her. She had no Frank or European near her, and Lunardi, who was
coming out to her from Leghorn, reached Beyrout unfortunately too
late. “The news[43] of her death was conveyed to Beyrout in a few
hours, and the English consul, Mr. Moore, and the Rev. Mr. Thomson, an
American missionary, went to Jôon, to bury her. Her emaciated corpse
was interred in the same grave where the body of Captain Loustaunau
had been placed, some years before, in her own garden: this was
according to her desire, expressed to Logmagi before her death.”
Reports were spread that her furniture, plate, and other valuables,
had been plundered, and much stress was laid on the circumstance that
not even her watch was found: but she had no watch, and only a dozen
and a half of silver spoons and forks. Fatôom, it is said, died two
days before her mistress.
* * * * *
I have now brought this melancholy, but, I hope, not uninteresting,
narrative to a conclusion. Upon a review of the incidents detailed in
these pages--the vicissitudes of an extraordinary life, beginning in
pomp and power, and closing in pecuniary difficulties and neglect--the
reader can scarcely fail to be touched with profound sympathy at the
altered fortunes of a remarkable woman, even if nothing else in the
history of Lady Hester Stanhope should awaken his emotions. No lady of
her age and station ever underwent such afflicting changes.
In early life she enjoyed the entire confidence of her uncle, Mr.
Pitt; and many of the secret functions of government, most of the
important measures of his administration, much of the patronage vested
in the office which he filled, and the complete control of his
domestic establishment, either passed through her hands or was
directly influenced by her counsels. During this eventful period, her
clear insight into human nature enabled her frequently to thwart the
intrigues and expose the designs of interested men, who swarmed about
the avenues of the court and the cabinet. But it was not possible for
one, endued with a courageous spirit and integrity like hers, to
engage in such conspicuous scenes without exciting the bitterest
animosities; and accordingly we find that, while she was openly
hostile to some and maintained a less evident but persevering
resistance to others, dealing out affronts where she thought them
likely to tell with effect, or foiling subtile machinations on the one
hand by counterplots artfully combined on the other, she raised up a
host of enemies for herself, who only waited a fit opportunity to take
their full revenge. In the assertion of that fearless rectitude which
despises personal consequences, she overlooked the dangers which were
growing up around her. Forgetting, as is usual, in the delirium of
power, the uncertainty of all human greatness, the wheel of fortune
went round, and, by the premature death of Mr. Pitt, she was
precipitated, at once and irrecoverably, from the pinnacle of ambition
into comparative obscurity, and was destined to wear out her existence
in solitude and exile.
But her virtues were sterling, and gave a sort of lustre to her fall.
She carried with her into exile and in adversity the same stern
consistency and the same high principles which had all along regulated
her conduct. Incapable of abasing herself by meanness, she was
sustained in her reverses by the fortitude which she derived from a
clear conscience. If in her exaltation she had been bold, proud, and
uncompromising, she had likewise shown herself disinterested and
generous, firm in her convictions, insensible to the allurements of
flattery or wealth, just, self-devoted, an open foe, a grateful
friend, and a kind and most affectionate relative:--qualities which
ennoble even where nobility is not. Caressed by royalty, surrounded by
sycophants, a theme for the illustrations of poetry and painting, she
resisted all those blandishments so alluring and so difficult to
withstand, and has not left behind her one single memorial of any of
the weaknesses incidental to human vanity under circumstances of such
powerful temptation. No prince led her in his train; no mercenary
laureat succeeded in bribing her by his praises; and no portrait of
her person, attractive as it might have been in the bloom of her youth
and beauty, is, as far as I have means of knowing, in existence. The
good old king extolled her, Mr. Pitt confided in her, the aristocratic
party toadied her, republicans admired her, and ladies envied her.
Never was an elevation so dazzling, or a fall so clouded by the gloom
of disappointment and neglect.
But there is yet a moral to be drawn from her life which is pregnant
with serious reflections. That she was more unhappy in her solitude
than, in her unbending nature, she would stoop to avow, this diary of
the last years of her existence but too plainly demonstrates. Although
she derived consolation in retirement from the retrospect of the part
she had played in her prosperity, yet her mind was embittered by some
undefined but acute sense of past errors; and, although her buoyant
spirits usually bore her up against the weight by which she was
oppressed, still there were moments of poignant grief when all efforts
at resistance were vain, and her very soul groaned within her. She was
ambitious, and her ambition had been foiled; she loved irresponsible
command, but the time had come when those over whom she had ruled
defied her; she was dictatorial and exacting, but she had lost the
talisman[44] of that influence which alone makes people tolerate
control, when it interferes with the freedom of thought and action.
She had neglected to secure wealth while she had it in her power; but
the feelings which prompted her princely munificence were as warm as
ever, now that the means were gone which enabled her to gratify them.
Her mind was in a perpetual struggle between delusive schemes and
incompetent resources. She incurred debts, and she was doomed to feel
the degradation consequent on them. She entertained visionary projects
of aggrandizement, and was met by the derision of the world. She
spurned the conventional rules of that society in which she had been
bred, and perhaps violated propriety in the realization of a
singularity in which she gloried. _There_ was the rock on which she
was finally wrecked: for, as Madame de Staël somewhere says, a man may
brave the censures of society, but a woman must accommodate herself to
them. She was thought to defy her own nation, and they hurled the
defiance back upon her. She held in contempt the gentler qualities of
her own sex, who, in return, were not slow to resent the masculine
characteristics on which she presumed to maintain her assumed
position. She carried with her from England the disposition to
conciliate, by kindness and forbearance, the fidelity and obedience of
her domestics: but she was eventually led into undue harshness towards
them, which became more and more exaggerated in her by the idleness,
the ignorance, and irritating vices of her Eastern household.
Another important lesson may be gleaned from her life. We have a
favourable opportunity of observing, in her example, how far the human
understanding may, by its own natural powers unassisted by books, work
its way to celebrity. Her intellects were so acute that she had
little difficulty in comprehending all the moral and political
questions discussed in her presence, and she consequently gathered
information from very superior sources, as she enjoyed the intimacy of
first-rate men. Still she had but narrow views of general policy, of
the rights of mankind, in fine, of politics and ethics in the
abstract; inasmuch as the discussions, which were carried on before
her, were the debates of parties and sects, having immediate reference
merely to certain men and certain questions, rather than presenting
enlightened and comprehensive considerations grounded on philosophical
principles. But it was here that her profound knowledge of mankind
came into play; and this it was which impressed on her sayings and
counsels the stamp of pre-eminent sagacity. Intercourse with the
world, however, or even with cabinet ministers, although it may render
us accomplished diplomatists, cannot make us statesmen, in the true
acceptation of the word--least of all can it make us teachers and
philosophers. We cannot solve a problem in mathematics, unless we have
previously traced the steps which lead to it one by one; nor can we
ever arrive at precision on any subject until we have mastered its
elements and made ourselves acquainted with the results of antecedent
investigations. In this, therefore, lay the grand defect of Lady
Hester’s education. She was not only wanting, as almost all women are,
in the philosophical power of generalization, but her reading was
literally so circumscribed, that her deficiency in what may be called
book-learning often amounted to absolute ignorance. She said she
despised books; but it was simply because she was never made aware how
much valuable information they contain. She trusted everything to
intuitive perception. Her constant denial of the utility of study,
founded on the conviction that education does not alter men’s
characters or change their innate disposition, is wholly independent
of that other proposition, which recognizes knowledge as an edifice
seated on a height, to which we must climb step by step, taking care
that each fundamental truth, in the ascent, shall be laid down with
certainty, in order to secure the solidity of the superincumbent
materials. She disowned alike the benefits of learning and the
necessity of the progressive acquisition of knowledge. Her ladyship
jumped to conclusions in perfect ignorance of the researches and
discoveries of previous inquirers.
Lady Hester possessed none of the more graceful accomplishments of her
sex:--not from inability to acquire them, for her remarks on music,
painting, and other fine arts, were always striking and apposite; but
because she preferred occupying her mind on matters more congenial to
her peculiar tastes. It cannot be doubted that she had all the
opportunities usually afforded to the children of the nobility for the
culture of the mind in liberal pursuits and attainments; but she took
no delight in such things, and only spoke of them slightly and
incidentally.
Popular opinion has ascribed the eccentricities of Lady Hester
Stanhope to a crazed brain:[45] it is not for me to venture upon a
question of so delicate a nature. Lucius Junius Brutus was supposed to
be insane, and played the part of an idiot until the proper time
arrived for casting away the mask. Hamlet enacts madness for a
purpose: and some writers go so far as to assert that Mahomet was
insane, and that no enthusiast of a high order can achieve his ends
and gain over proselytes to his views without a tincture of insanity.
The dream of Lady Hester’s life was sway and dominion--how to obtain
the one or the other was the difficulty; for she was born a subject,
and excluded by her sex from vice-royalties and governments: with the
genius of a hero, she could neither take the command of fleets or
armies, nor preside in the councils of state. How far then she may
have contemplated the possibility of acquiring power by endeavouring
to establish a superstitious belief amongst those around her, and,
through them, over a wider range, that she possessed supernatural
gifts; how far she may have tried to help out this design by
professing implicit faith in strange and absurd legends and
traditions, visions, and tales; and how far the delusion, originally
taken up for a purpose, may have ultimately re-acted upon her own
mind--these are speculations which I leave to others; but, whilst I
decline, from motives of delicacy, and in deference to the public,
from whose award the decree must finally come, to pronounce any
opinion on Lady Hester Stanhope’s perfect sanity, I do not feel myself
precluded from calling the reader’s attention to one striking point of
evidence in favour of it, which extends, like a vein of pure ore,
through the whole course of her varied career.
I have depicted, somewhat minutely, and without ostentation or
disguise, her ladyship’s habitual deportment and language towards her
visitors, her household, and myself. I have introduced all those, who
have patiently followed me in these pages, into her sanctuary; have
let them join in her conversations; have, as I hope, induced them to
listen to her improbable stories of witchcraft and astrology; and have
shared their incredulity in her supernatural mission: but I would now
invite them to weigh against these seeming hallucinations the
remarkable fact, that, in all her epistolary correspondence, down to
the close of her life, not one aberration of intellect occurs. It is
as if she had said to herself--“Those who come to glean ridicule from
my words, and presume to fathom my purposes, will I make fools of and
confound: they shall go away loaded with a cargo of their own
choosing, and shall retail countless absurdities in their books to
amuse the world for awhile: but, when the time shall be accomplished,
these absurdities shall rebound on themselves; for I will challenge
the most diligent research to gather any from my writings, and then,
who will believe that I uttered them, except to make the unworthy
hearers ridiculous?” The fact is, she may have spoken a great many
strange things, but she has written none. I am in possession of a
letter of hers, drawn up with attention on a very serious subject in
the very plenitude of her mental powers; but I declare that it
presents no superiority, either in style or composition, over the
productions of her later years: neither do her familiar letters, from
first to last, leave an opening for the most critical caviller to say
that, down to the day of her death, she manifested any decline of
reason, or disclosed one jot less of that sound sense or those
discriminating powers which had made her the admiration of some of the
leading characters of her times. Her letter to the Duke Maximilian of
Bavaria breathes as much delicacy of sentiment as if it had issued
from her boudoir in Downing Street: her condolence with the Beyrout
merchant is more profound in reasoning, though less epigrammatic, than
that of Servius Sulpicius to Cicero on the death of his daughter
Tullia; and her appeal to the good feeling of her countrymen against
the uncalled-for interference of the Foreign Office in her private
affairs is inferior to no production of our ablest combatants against
the abuses of authority.
One point more remains to be touched upon. Lady Hester Stanhope, the
advocate of the divine right of sovereigns, the stickler for the
exclusive privileges of the aristocracy, she, who treated with
ineffable ridicule and disdain the presumption of people, who,
belonging to the class of commoners, set up claims of equality with
the noble born, was herself weak enough to betray irritation, and even
resentment, towards that still higher power in the state to which our
allegiance is ever due. Of our beloved Queen, to whose sacred majesty
she did homage in the abstract, she could not forbear speaking
irreverently on many occasions. The letter which she wrote to her
Majesty, in reference to the sequestration of her pension, was as
unpardonable in diction as it was unjustifiable in substance. But
great allowances are to be made for her; and they alone, who know the
trying circumstances in which she was placed, can feel the full force
of the plea that might be alleged in mitigation of her offence.
My task is done:--it has been one of no ordinary difficulty. I have
had to undeceive the world respecting the real life of a distinguished
woman, who, in her day, occupied a large share of its attention, and
whose ill-defined celebrity was based chiefly on the accounts of
travellers, written no doubt in good faith, but in grievous ignorance
of the truth. I have had to remove the veil which shrouded her
existence, to disperse the imaginary attributes with which the fancy
of most readers had invested her, to dissipate the splendour thrown
over her retirement, and to substitute unpleasant facts for Eastern
fables. Let it not be suspected that, in doing this, I have
overstepped the bounds of professional confidence or violated the
sacred intimacies of domestic life.
My object has been to vindicate the fame of a persecuted lady, whose
memory I honour, and most of whose actions have been misrepresented;
and, in pursuing this object with frankness and integrity, I have only
fulfilled a plain duty, imposed upon me by her constant denunciations
of the injustice which the English had done to the purity of her
motives--a duty distinctly enjoined by her frequent appeals to me that
I should make public some circumstances of her life, which might set
them right, and correct their judgment concerning her conduct. Using
as much as possible her own words (indeed I may say _entirely_), I
have unavoidably introduced the names of many individuals yet alive,
and of others but lately removed from the scene of ambition, envy, and
political strife. The utmost delicacy consistent with the utmost
candour has been observed in a task which presented such a dilemma of
difficulties; and, if any persons should feel hurt at any of the
disclosures in this work, I can assure them that, due regard being had
to the state of mental irritation to which wounded feelings had
brought Lady Hester Stanhope, they will do no wrong in considering all
the acrimonious passages they may detect in these pages merely as a
scene out of “Timon of Athens”--a burst of spleen against mankind,
produced by a long series of mortifications, wrongs, and
disappointments.
FOOTNOTES:
[34] See “Robinson’s Three Years in the East,” note xviii.,
page 125, vol. Palestine.
[35] This letter, and the letter to Lord Brougham, were
intended by Lady Hester Stanhope for publication in the
newspapers conjointly with the correspondence about her
debts: but the space, which so much matter would have
occupied, rendered it necessary to leave them out.
[36] The adoption of the words “Sir Baron, Sir Count,” at
the beginning of letters, may appear to the reader
quaint and ridiculous; but these expressions are only
verbal translations of “Monsieur le Baron,” “Monsieur
le Comte,” and less abrupt than plain “Baron,” “Count.”
Abroad, the prefix “Dear” is not so lightly attached to
a name as it is in England. I recollect, some years
ago, an Italian gentleman, Signor Guiseppe Celi,
proprietor of a marine villa on the Island of Palmaria,
in the Gulf of Spezzia, to have shown me a letter he
had received from an English gentleman, who had
tenanted his house for some months, and between whom
and himself, as it appeared, there existed a tolerable
degree of intimacy, and his asking me what I thought of
Mr. B.’s addressing him _Caro_ Signore. The wary
Italian seemed to imagine it was a term of friendship,
to which he was not entitled, and fancied he was about
to be wheedled out of something; he could not imagine
it proceeded from the writer’s good nature.
Chi vi carezza più che non suole,
O vi ha ingannato, o ingannarvi vuole.
[37] Lady Hester Stanhope was deceived in her prediction.
Shibly el Arriàn went over to the Pasha, and, by a
letter received from Lady Hester, dated March, 1839,
she informed me he was employed in raising troops among
his dependants and friends against his former allies.
[38] A Gallicism, meaning by the next steamer.
[39] The _yazjees_, or government secretaries, are men
of the same presumed respectability in Syrian towns as
bankers, solicitors, or professional men are with us;
yet, in cases of malversation of the public money,
often, indeed, on mere suspicion of peculation, they
are punished with the lash, or by bastinado. Woe to an
exchequer defaulter under Ibrahim Pasha!
[40] Memoirs of Sir W. K. by Lady Knighton. Who shall say
what Lady Hester meant by “Love is not amongst them?”
[41] Diary of the Times of George IV.
[42] Soph. Antig., l. 888.
[43] The lines with inverted commas I have copied from
the newspapers, not having been able to obtain more
authentic information; but I much doubt if Lady Hester
ever expressed any desire to be interred in
Loustaunau’s grave.
[44] Quis enim virtutem amplectitur ipsam,
Præmia si tollas?
[45] “A group of Bedouins were disputing respecting the
sanity of Lady Hester Stanhope; one party strenuously
maintaining that it was impossible a lady so
charitable, so munificent, could be otherwise than in
full possession of her faculties; their opponents
alleging that her assimilating herself to the Virgin
Mary, her anticipated entry with our Saviour into
Jerusalem, and other vagaries attributed to her, were
proofs to the contrary. An old man with a white beard
called for silence (a call from the aged amidst the
Arabs seldom made in vain.) ‘She is mad,’ said he; and,
lowering his voice to a whisper, as if fearing lest
such an outrage against established custom should
spread beyond his circle, he added, ‘for she puts sugar
in her coffee.’”--_Travels in Arabia, by Lieutenant
Welsted, F.A.S._ v. ii. p. 69.
THE END.
F. Shoberl, Jun., Printer to H.R.H. Prince Albert, 51, Rupert Street,
Haymarket
_Preparing for Publication_,
BY THE SAME AUTHOR,
In three volumes, with numerous illustrations,
NARRATIVE OF THE TRAVELS
OF
LADY HESTER STANHOPE,
IN COMPANY WITH HER PHYSICIAN.
INDEX
TO THE
MEMOIRS OF LADY HESTER L. STANHOPE.
Abbott, Mr., i., 34, 53, 55, 225
Abella, Signor, ii., 121; iii., 282
Abercorn, Marquis of, ii., 219
Abortion, procuring of, i., 298
Abrah, convent, i., 84, 90, 262
Abyssinian Women, iii., 97
Abu Ghosh, i., 263
Acre, siege of, iii., 179
Adam, book penned by, ii., 360
Adams, Mr. Dacres, i., 18, 32; ii., 65
Addington, Mr., ii., 219
Advice, iii., 271
Agents, English, iii., 283
Agreement made, ii., 38, sexies
Ahmed Bey, i., 164
Albanians, ii., 366
Alchemy
Alexander, the Emperor, iii., 183
Ali, the messenger, iii., 288
Amber cane, ii., 108
Amelia, the Princess, ii., 18
Anastatius at Shemäuny, iii., 258
Anecdotes, sundry, i., 208
Anson, Mr., ii., 369
Antonio, servant, ii., 172
Arborescence of milk, ii., 48, ter
Argyll, Duke of, i., 174
Arrian, Castle of, iii., 317
Artois, Comte d’, ii., 95
Asaph, Lord St., i., 225, 285
Ash, Captain, i., 280
Astrology, i., 275
Aubin, M., French Surgeon, i., 114
Austin, the boy, i., 308
Awly, the river, iii., 22, 28
Bailey, Dr., iii., 165, 235
Bakhshysh, ii., 368; iii., 248
Baklaawy, ii., 333
Bankes, Peggy, ii., 16
Barrington, Jonah, ii., 337, 377
Bartlett, Mr., iii., 32, 82
Bavaria, Duke Maximilian of, iii., 38, 219, 244
Baz, Widow, i., 110
Beating a Mahometan, ii., 147; iii., 217
Beck, Dr., ii., 271
Belmore, Lord, ii., 375
Belvidere, the ship, i., 235
Bentinck, Lord Frederick, i., 53
Berri, Duc de, ii., 97; iii., 183
Berthou, Comte de, iii., 282
Besborough, iii., 158
Beshyr, the Emir, i., 55, 59, 104, 219; iii., 67, 100, 146, 274
Beyrout, iii., 205
Black Doses, iii., 243
Blair, Captain, i., 224
Blues, the, ii., 78
Blushing, ii., 18
Boghoz Bey, iii., 65, 76
Bourbons, the, ii., 74; iii., 168
Bowring, Dr., iii., 95
Bradford, Captain, ii., 76
Bridport, Lord, iii., 138
Brothers, fortune teller, i., 204
Brougham, Lord, iii., 237
Brummel, Beau, i., 284
Bruce, Michael, i., 20; iii., 133
Buckingham, Duke of, i., 31, 318, 361; iii., 58
Buckinghamshire, Lady, i., 179
Builth, ii., 7; iii, 193
Bull’s pizzle, ii., 38
Buonaparte, iii., 186
Buonaventura, Padre, i., 49
Burdett, Sir Francis, i., 2, 248, 374; ii., 314; iii., 170, 290, 254,
307
Burkhardt, iii., 205, 271
Burrell, ii., 59
Burton Pynsent, iii., 178
Bury, Lady Charlotte, i., 30, 80; iii., 79, 185
Busech, Baron de, iii., 220, 316
Bute, Lady, i., 215
Bute, Lord, i., 213
Byron, Lord, iii., 219
Cabûr, servant, i., 252
Caher, Lady, iii., 80
Camden, Lord, ii., 2, 219, 381; iii., 293
Camelford, Lord, i., 273, 321, 394; ii., 137
Campbell, Char., Lady, iii., 162, 170, 185
Campbell, Col., ii., 245, 265
Canning, Mr., i., 313, 319, 393
Canning, Mrs., i., 317
Canova, Dr., ii., 70
Caroline, Queen, i., 305
Carrington, Lord, ii., 61, 70; iii., 163, 290
Câsem, shepherd, ii., 332
Cass, Commodore, i., 225; ii., 224, 311, 339; iii., 282
Castel Rosso, schooner, iii., 303
Castlereagh, Lord, i., 315
Catafago, Signor, iii., 313, 352
Cats, iii., 146
Catsiflitz, iii., 44
Chaboceau, Dr., iii., 153
Charms, i., 275
Chasseaud, Mr., i., 80, 94, 170, 186, 222, 249
Chastity, i., 296
Chatham, Lord, First, ii., 255, 286; iii., 79, 178, 184, 187
Chatham, Lord, Second, ii., 76; iii., 293
Cheshire Gentleman, iii., 166
Chevening, i., 384; ii., 208, 384
Christians, Syrian, i., 60; iii., 312
Clark, Dr., i., 92, 246
Clean and Unclean, i., 148
Cline, Mr. Henry, ii., 5, 254
Clysters, i., 328
Cobham, Lady, iii., 178
Cockchafers and Maybugs, iii., 253
Cœle-Syria iii., 57, 244 note
Colburn or Cockburn, ii., 371
Compton, Mr., i., 224; ii., 373
Congleton, Lord, i., 75
Conscription, the, ii., 113
Conti, Mr., iii., 27, 304
Conversations, ii., 107
Cooper, Mr., Brewer, iii., 157
Corn Cellars
Courtezans, born so, ii., 262
Coutts, Mr., i., 173; iii., 62, 290, 308
Cronin, Mrs., i., 75
Crutches for the lame, iii., 34
Cumberland, Duke of, i., 308; ii., 18, 52
Cumberland, Mr., i., 378
Cure of sore throat, ii., 338
Cyprus, i., 232
D----, Lord, ii., 103
Damûr, river, iii., 209
Dar Jûn, i., 85
Darnley, Lord, ii., 14
Davenport, Miss, ii., 104
Davidson, Col., iii., 215
Debts, Lady H. S.’s, i., 339
Derby, Lord, i., 175
Dervises, iii., 174
Devonshire, Duchess of, iii., 158, 216
Deyr el Benàt, iii., 112
Deyr el Mkallas, ii., 329
Deyr Seyda, iii., 112
Dillon, Harry, i., 182
Dobree, the hatter, iii., 295
Doctors, ii., 36, 110
Dorgan, Colonel, ii., 288
Dorset, Duke of, i., 175
Down, Lord, iii., 185
Dragomans, i., 10, 346
Drummond, Sir W.
Druzes, iii., 25, 67, 70, 73, 265, 269, 310, 316
Duchesses, ii., 52, 96
Dundas, Capt., i., 235, 288
Dundas, Mr., Scotch gentleman, i., 93; iii., 52
Dundas, secretary, ii., 71
Du Thé, Madlle, ii., 262
Dyk, the cook, ii., 334; iii., 155
Dyke, Sir John, iii., 179
Ear Suckers
Ebrington, Lord, i., 194; iii., 54
Education, iii., 137
Elliott, Mr., ii., 376
Emir Beshyr, i., 55, 59, 104, 219; iii., 67, 100, 146, 274
Eugenia Meryon, i., 380; ii., 247
European taste for beauty, i., 192
Ewelly, the river, iii., 22
Eyes, ii., 69
Fable, the, Lion and Mouse, iii., 308
Fair Ellen, the, i., 184
Family, Dr. M.’s, ii., 37
Farkûah Hanah, i., 233
Farquhar, Sir Walter, iii., 165, 235
Farren, Mr., i., 224
Fatoom, negress, i., 168; ii., 335
Faults like bad money, iii., 119
Faur, Julie de Saint
Fazacherly, Mr., i., 205
Fiott, Mr.
Fish, drawings of
Fitzirnham, iii., 163, 165
Flies on horses’ tails, ii., 35
Flogging, i., 294, 298; ii., 135; iii., 51, 242, 248
Footmen, ladies borrow of, iii., 164
Footmen’s Nosegays, iii., 128
Forster, Lady Elizabeth
Forster, Sir Augustus, ii., 359
Fox, Mrs. Charles, iii., 172, 188
François, cook, ii., 255
Freeky, the dog, iii., 259
Fright at Mt. Lebanon paths, i., 210
Fry, Mrs., i., 224
Feriat, Madame de, i., 362
Gallantry, definition of, i., 192
Gally, Knight, i., 204
Gambling Debt how paid, ii., 106
Gantés, Dr., iii., 231
Gardner, John, iii., 123
Gendal, castle of, iii., 317
Georgio, iii., 188
George the Third, ii., 230
Gifford’s Life of Pitt, iii., 166
Gifts, Lady H.’s, ii., 244
Giovanni, servant, iii., 51
Girius Gemal, i., 226
Girolamo, Signor, i., 49
Giuseppe, servant, ii., 271
Glastonbury, Lord, ii., 149
Gloves, iii., 143
Goats, why killed, i., 273
Going, A., ii., 367
Gondolfi, Abbate, i., 112
Gontaut, La Duchesse de, ii., 97, 370
Gordon, Duchess of, ii., 52
Gore, Mrs. C., iii., 80
Go to bed, ii., 148
Granby, Marquis of, iii., 178
Granville, Lord, ii., 259
Greek Pirates, i., 39
Greeks and Greek Catholics, iii., 72
Green, Mr. Joseph, ii., 257; iii., 33
Grenville, General, ii., 89
Grenville, Lord, ii., 259
Grenville, Thomas, ii., 28
Grey, Lord, ii., 19
Griselda, Lady, ii., 8
Grote, Mr., i., 178
Gubbins, Misses, i., 174
Gully Tom and Boa Constrictor, iii., 292
Guys, Mons., i., 148; ii., 30, 205, 327; iii., 169, 204, 311
Hadjy Salah, iii., 218, bis
Haeberly, Mr., i., 12, 30, 224
Hairy Women, i., 192
Halford, Sir Henry, i., 313
Hamadi, the executioner, iii., 130
Hamàms
Hamilton, Duke of, ii., 59
Hamilton, Sir Wm., i., 187
Hanàdy, tribe, iii., 317
Hardwicke, Earl, i., 362
Harewood, Lady, ii., 167
Harrington, Lord and Lady, ii., 97
Hasbeyah, iii., 274
Hassan, El Logmagy, i., 227, 268; ii., 222, 245; iii., 145
Hawkesbury, Lord, i., 217, 315
Hazetà, Colonel, iii., 277, 287
Heads, shape of, iii., 295
Heat in Syria, iii., 253
Heathcote, Lady, ii., 52
Heathcote, Sir Gilbert, ii., 164
Heber, Mr., i., 31
Hertford, Marquis of, i., 310
Hesitation in Speech, ii., 108
Hesse Darmstadt, Princess of
Heyne, iii., 102
High Descent, iii., 181, 216
Hill, Mr., i., 281
Hollow Back Mare, i., 17, 203; iii., 9
Holwood, i., 190
Horse Dealers in Syria, iii., 115
Horse Marines, iii., 216
Horses’ Tails, i., 203
House at Sayda, i., 251, 256
Howard, Mr., i., 284; ii., 252
Hume, Sir Abraham, ii., 26
Huskisson, Mr., ii., 64, 95
Ibrahim Pasha, iii., 67, 310, 317
Incontinence, when pardonable, i., 298
Inn at Cyprus, i., 233
Insults, definition of, ii., 212
Insurrection of the Druzes, iii., 268, 274, 310, 316
Ismäel Pasha, i., 188
Italian Tumblers, iii., 245
Jars on women’s heads
Jersey, Earl and Countess, i., 312
Jew, stories of a, i., 184
Jigger, ii., 133
Jordan, Mrs., i., 208
Jorelle, Madame, iii., 303
Jorelle, Mons., iii., 289
Josephine, the Empress, iii., 186
Joyce, Mr., ii., 21
Jûn Dar, description of, i., 85
Kaldy, ruins of, iii., 211
Karỳby, sweetmeat, ii., 333
Kaye, Dr., i., 213
Kent, Duke of, ii., 229, 232, bis
Khabỳl Mansûr, i., 172
Kilbee, iii., 201, 234
Kilmorey, Lord, iii., 254, 289
Kinglake, Eothen, i., 240
Knight, Gally, i., 205
Knox, Mr., ii., 349; iii., 21, 26
Laila, the mare, i., 201
Lamartine, M., i., 300, 394; ii., 351
Lambert, M., i., 325
Lancaster, Mr., iii., 211
Lapi, Signor and Signora, iii., 241, 271, 318
Lascaris, M., i., 301, 369
Las Cases, Artist, iii., 216
Lauderdale
Laurence, Sir Tho., i., 228
Lebanon, paths in Mt., i., 210
Lemàn, the, iii., 207
Letters, instructions to write, ii., 313
Letters, Lady H. S. to Dr. M., i., 6, 13, 21, 28, 30, 38, 54, 64, 67,
380;
to Mr. Webb, i., 50, 59, 69;
to Mr. Coutts, i., 62; iii., 62;
to Eugenia Meryon, i., 380;
to Sir E. Sugden, ii., 281;
to the Duke of Wellington, ii., 294;
to Lord Brougham, iii., 238;
to the Duke of Bavaria, iii., 245, 298;
to Baron de Busech, iii., 316;
to Sir F. Burdett, iii., 307;
to Mr. Speaker Abercrombie, ii., 223, 239, 272;
to Lord Palmerston, iii., 278;
to the Queen, ii., 267
Liverpool, Lord, i., 217, 315
Liverpool, Lady, ii., 76, 95, 96
Locusts, iii., 259
Lœve, Dr., iii., 262, 267
Logmagi, i., 263, ter; iii., 51, 144, 303, 322, bis
Longchamp, Madlle, i., 263, ter; ii., 92; iii., 52, 84, 98, 325
Loofloofy Mâlem, ii., 269
Louis XVIII., iii., 168
Loustaunau Capt., iii., 306
Loustaunau, Gen., ii., 184, 198, 244; iii., 341
Lowe, Sir Hudson, iii., 187
Lowther, Lord, i., 96, 187
Lunardi, i., 228
Macintosh, Sir James, i., 141
McLean, Col., i., 47
Madden, Dr., i., 59
Maddox, Mr., i., 249; ii., 373
Magic, i., 275, 279
Mahadi, el, the coming of, i., 200
Mahannah Emir
Mahbûby, Prince Puckler Muskau’s slave, iii., 109
Mahmûd, Sultàn, iii., 69
Mahhmûd, servant, iii., 92
Mahomet Ali Pasha, i., 188; iii., 65, 76, 146
Mahometan, beaten, ii., 145
Mahon, Lord, ii., 87; iii., 163
Makhtarra, iii., 318
Malagamba, Signor, iii., 312
Malmesbury, Lord, i., FN[43], FN[65], FN[66], FN[67], FN[68], 162,
270; ii., 26, FN[3], FN[32]; iii., FN[20]
Mammûl, sweetmeat, ii., 333
Marchesson, Mr., iii., 273, 276
Mare, hollow backed, iii., 93
Mar Elias, i., 259; ii., 279, 315
Marks, good and bad, i., 27
Maronites, iii., 70
Mattei, Signor Baldassare, i., 234; iii., 324
Maubourg, M. de la Tour, ii., 290
Melbourne, Lord, ii., 232
Melek El Seyf, ii., 366
Meryon, Dr., leaves England, i., 3, 37;
promises made to him, i., 5; ii., 4;
his salary, ii., 2;
returns to England, i., 64, 74;
refuses to go to Damascus, i., 167;
his uncomfortable situation, i., 220; ii., 328; iii., 270;
makes love, ii., 16, 166;
his integrity, ii., 208;
reluctance to leave Lady Stanhope, iii., 154;
character of, iii., 133;
long sittings, iii., 162;
writes letters, iii., 313
Meryon, Mrs., i., 84, 162; iii., 123, 286;
her hostility to Lady H. S., i., 252, 338;
not fit company for Lady H. S, ii., 246;
her fright on the terrace, i., 258;
her visit to Lady H. S., i., 162;
mischief attributed, i., 172, 221;
is invited to Lady H. S.’s, ii., 236, 245;
is to be loved by Lady H. S., i., 33, 68;
what she is doing by clairvoyance, iii., 286;
her lamentations against Logmagi
Messaad Hannah, ii., 322
Messiah, Mrs., a Jewess, i., 58
Metta, a village doctor, i., 206; ii., 105
Mill, Doctor, iii., 277, 287
Montague Square, ii., 5, 7; iii., 193
Moore, General, ii., 36
Moore, Mr. B., Consul, ii., 311
Moore, Mrs., ii., 273; iii., 216
Motteux, Mr., ii., 94
Murray, Lady Augusta, i., 208; ii., 262
Mustaby, its meaning, iii., 246
Mustafa Pasha’s cruelty, ii., 136
Mustafa, the barber, ii., 121
Musters, Mrs., ii., 262
Myrice
Napier, Lady Sarah, ii., 362
Napier, Sir Wm., his letter, ii., 298
Napoleon I., iii., 186
Narbonne, Comte de, i., 300
Nash, Mrs., iii., 192
Natural children, i., 94
Needham, Col., iii., 289, 307
Neglected by the world, iii., 194
Negresses, iii., 364
Newbery, Doctor, i., 137; iii. 347
Newspaper, (April 12, 1838) iii., 234
North, the Hon. Fred., i., 205
Nuckly Ibrahim, iii., 38
Nugent, Mrs., i., 208
Ogles, the, iii., 139
Omar Sheykh, i., 349; ii., 120
Osman, Chäûsh, iii., 79
Ouseley, Sir Gore, ii., 93
Paget, Sir Arthur, ii., 182, bis
Paine, Tom, ii., 22
Palmerston, Lord, ii., 266
Paper Patterns, ii., 166
Paraschivà, Giuseppe, iii., 202
Parnell, Henry, (Baron Congleton) i., 75
Parry, Mrs., ii., 247
Passage to Cyprus, iii., 305
Passports, iii., 43
Payne, Capt., iii., 138
People of inferior station, iii., 128, 180
People’s Stars, ii., 251
Pepys, Sir Lucas, ii., 218
Perceval, Lady, ii., 97
Perceval, Mr., i., 306
Pether, artist, iii., 154
Pewits, birds, iii., 176
Phipps, General, ii., 218
Physicians, ii., 34, 331, bis
Pichetti, or Piccetti, i., 366, ter
Pierre, Old, ii., 343; iii., 55, 142
Pigot, Captain, i., 323; ii., 137, bis
Pirates, i., 39
Pitt, Wm.,
in love, i., 180;
dreams of Comus, i., 182;
drinks a health in a lady’s shoe, i., 181;
dislikes Mr. Canning, i., 317;
his attention to ladies’ dress, i., 181;
property bequeathed to him, iii., 289;
regrets making a peer, ii., 247; iii., 162;
his eyes, ii., 69;
his bust, ii., 79;
picture of Diogenes, ii., 80;
rabble under him, ii., 71;
his appearance, iii., 187;
not equal to his father, iii., 171;
his angelic worth, iii., 167, 235;
subscription to pay his debts, iii., 291;
his death, iii., 165, 235
Plummer, Mr., i., 209
Plague, the, iii., 203
Polani, Dr., i., 352
Poujolat et Boutés, MM., ii., 150; iii., 132
Pretyman, Dr., iii., 166
Prickly Heat, ii., 285
Prince of Wales, (George IV.) ii., 99, 382
Princess Elizabeth, ii., 102, ter.
Princes, the, iii., 268
Prudoe, Lord, iii., 38, 203, 215
Puckler Muskau, Prince, i., 139; iii., 4, 37, 89, 127, 142, 170, 255,
313
Queen Victoria, ii., 228, 232, 259, 277; iii., 239
Rashéyah, iii., 274, 316
Reading aloud, iii., 128
Reasons for statesmen’s actions, ii., 29
Reichstadt, Duke of, i., 206
Religion, iii., 312
Revolutions, i., 280; ii., 168; iii., 299
Revolution in Mount Lebanon, i., 347
Rewisky, Count, iii., 183
Reynaud, Mr., ii., 356
Rice, ii., 52
Richmond, Duke of, ii., 28, 64, 94, 95
Rich, Mr.
Rings, nose, ii., 200
Risk Allah
Roberts, Mr., iii., 82
Robinson, three years’ residence, iii., 204
Romney, Lord, ii., 24, 381
Rugged Paths, i., 210
Rûm, village
Russell, Lady Wm., i., 27
Russian spy, iii., 266
Rutland, Duchess of, ii., 52, 108
Saady, maid servant, ii., 327, 344; iii., 160
Salàmy Effendi
Salisbury, Lady, ii., 105
Saunders, Admiral, iii., 178
Scenes at Mar Elias, ii., 315
Scott, Capt., i., 235
Scott, Dr. John, dedication &c., i., 59
Scott, Walter, ii., 173; iii., 172
Selim Koblàn, character of, iii., 59
Serpent, iii., 292
Serpent at Tarsûs, ii., 360
Servants, English, ii., 70; iii., 161
Servants, men, i., 24; ii., 30
Servants, Syrian, i., 290; ii., 148, 309
Servants’ Wages, ii., 122
Servants, women, i., 26; ii., 136; iii., 161, 364
Sentimentality, i., 294
Sevenoaks Common, i., 384; ii., 23
Sevigné, Madame, iii., 116
Shadwell, Col., ii., 23
Shakspeare, i., 300
Shemmaûny, iii., 219
Sheridan, ii., 58
Sherỳf Pasha, iii., 67, 75
Sheykh Beshỳr, ii., 357
Sheykh Ibrahim, iii., 242
Sheykh Mohammed Nasýb, iii., 173
Shibly el Arriàn, iii., 318
Shifts, what made of, ii., 269
Ship plundered by Greeks, i., 40
Sidmouth, Viscount, i., 216
Silver spoon stolen, ii., 272
Singers in Syria, iii., 206
Slaves, i., 226, 288, 364
Sligo, Lord
Smith, Newman, i., 63
Smith, Sir Sydney, ii., 292
Spetchingly, Mem. of a Peeress, iii., 171
Spies, iii., 78, 297
Spit in the face, iii., 52
Stammering, ii., 108
Stanhope, Charles, ii., 85; iii., 165
Stanhope, Countess, ii., 14
Stanhope, Earl, i., 296; ii., 15; iii., 165
Stanhope, James Hamilton, i., 10; ii., 85; iii., 165
Stanhope, Lady H., takes to her bed, ii., 43, 48;
her complexion, ii., 16, 166;
her opinion of women, i., 376; iii., 262;
gives away money, ii., 240, 244;
has boys in her service, iii., 195;
her estimate of herself, iii., 121;
foretells revolutions, ii., 168; iii., 265;
her personal cleanliness, i., 148;
her hatred of women, i., 166;
takes no man’s arm, i., 81;
never shakes hands, iii., 143;
is able to command an army, ii., 32;
her pension, iii., 48, 99;
furious with her maids, ii., 276;
flogging, i., 294; ii., 136; iii., 46, 51, 242;
her veracity, ii., 324;
her freedom of speech, i., 135; ii., 37; iii., 262;
the sublimity of her language, i., 135;
her fearlessness, i., 106; ii., 366; iii., 270;
refuses Mrs. M’s. company, ii., 246;
men of her time, ii., 105; iii., 128;
is neglected, ii., 211; iii., 194;
Dr. M.’s trembling legs, iii., 144;
like a Delphic priestess, ii., 175;
like Gray’s Agrippina, iii., 217;
drinks brandy, ii., 270, 276;
her severity, i., 299;
seated in an alcove, iii., 4;
has a tooth drawn, ii., 44;
her jealousy of the queen, ii., 221;
her house in Montague Square, iii., 192;
what she gave to her brother James, ii., 88;
shape of her skull, iii., 294;
will live by rules of grandeur, ii., 275;
appearance of her tongue, ii., 237;
her dislike to Swiss governesses, i., 321;
frequent in eating, ii., 48;
ever just to others, iii., 121;
her advice excellent, ii., 167, 208; iii., 120;
open to flattery, iii., 217;
“qui faisoit la pluie et le beautemps,” ii., 371;
praised by an Imàm, iii., 30;
her property, ii., 88;
is taken for a man, ii., 145;
the divine right of kings, ii., 365;
her conversational powers, i., 135;
the Emir Beshỳr annoys her, i., 55,;
her feet free from smell
her deliberate affronts, ii., 217;
her establishment, i., 272;
resolved never to return to England;
her end in blood, ii., 340; iii., 321;
her munificence, ii., 238, 244;
wishes to be buried like a dog, ii., 339;
would destroy books, iii., 52;
wields the mace, iii., 56;
persons she wrote to, iii., 62;
her school for girls, iii., 64;
signs papers for Mr. Pitt, iii., 171;
smokes, iii., 188;
rejects eulogistic verses on herself, iii., 216;
physicks everybody, iii., 242;
refuses Duke Maximilian’s portrait, iii., 254;
insists on Dr. Meryon’s leaving her, iii., 255, 298;
advises him where to settle, iii., 256;
Duc de Bordeaux to kiss her stirrups, iii., 287;
walls up her gateway, iii., 298, 319;
disliked Mr. Canning, i., 315;
her influence over people, i., 92;
her debts, i., 339
Stanhope, Lady Lucy, ii., preface
Stars, peoples, ii., 251, 262, 364
Stewart, Lord, i., 187
Stowe, ii., 57
Strangers sent away, ii., 160
Strangways, Mr., ii., 369
Stratford de Redcliffe, Lord, ii., 290
Stuart, the Misses
Sugden, Sir Edw., ii., 281
Suicide, uncommon, ii., 129
Sulyman, son of Skender, iii., 35
Sunflower Family, i., 384, Mr. M. L.
Sussex, Duke of, i., 187; ii., 104; iii., 268
Syria, climate of, i., 187; iii., 253
Sturt, Bridget
Taat-el-Dyn, i., 163
Tamarisk Pavilion, ii., 43
Tattenbach, Count, iii., 102, 110
Taylor, Colonel Thomas, iii., 277
Taylor, Thomas, i., 18, 31
Temple, Earl, i., 277
Thanet, Lord, ii., 22
Thé, Madlle. du, ii., 262
Thief lurking, iii., 292
Things clean and unclean, i., 148
Thurlow, Lord
Tickell, Mr., ii., 10, 75
Tobacco, smoking, iii., 188
Tongue, unclean, i., 28
Tooke, Horne, i., 374; ii., 31
Townsend, Mr., ii. FN[8]
Traveller, unknown, iii., 82
Travellers, why sent away, ii., 160
Tread on a toe, ii., 212
Tristram, the hermit, iii., 130
Tumblers, iii., 245
Turk, a real, i., 60
Turk, striking a, iii., 217
Turner, Mr. Wm., ii., 37
Tutors marry ladies of quality, iii., 81
Tutungi, Michael, ii., 320, 325; iii., 79
Twiss, Lady Stanhope’s maid, iii., 160
Tyr el Hakem, iii., 111
Urquhart, David, i., 245
Valentia, Viscount
Vansittart, Mr.
Verity, Dr., ii., 32
Verses on Mrs. Moore, iii., 216
Vincent, Lord St., iii., 138
Vices of the aristocracy, iii., 181
Volney, Mons., ii., 153
Voyage from Leghorn, i., 39
Wales, Prince of, (George IV.), i., 313; ii., 99, 101, 104
Wales, Princess of, i., 308
Wallace, Mr.
Walling up the gateway, iii., 319
Walmer Castle, ii., 66, 75, 214
Ward, Mr., iii., 189
Warren, Dr., ii., 34
Way, Mr., i., 137, 147
Wellesly, Lord, ii., 297
Wellington, Duke of, ii., 82, 293, 364
Wellington, the negro, iii., 254, 257, 277
Wiberforce, Mr., ii., 22
Wilbraham, clerk of the kitchen, ii., 247
Williams, Lady H. S.’s maid, i., 20, 70, 154, 158, 212; ii., 255
Wilsenheim, Count, letter to, iii., 309, 314
Wilson, Mr., Lord Chatham’s tutor, ii., 247
Witchcraft, i., 141
Woman spy, iii., 78
Women, Lady H. S.’s opinion of, i., 166, 376
World, the, heartless, iii., 194
Wraxhall, Sir Nathaniel, iii., 290, 293
Wynnes, the
Yanta, village, iii., 293, 297
York, Duke of, i., 23; ii., 105
Yorke, Captain, 4th Earl Hardwicke, i., 362; ii., 135, 373; iii., 181
Young men of Lady H. S.’s time, iii., 128
Zahly, village, iii., 286
Zeyneb, her shape, i., 288; iii., 51
Zezefûn, iii., 242
Zoave, Capt., Robert, i., 247
LONDON: F. Shoberl, Printer, 37, Dean Street, Soho.
Transcriber’s Note:
This book was written in a period when many words had not become
standardized in their spelling. Words may have multiple spelling
variations or inconsistent hyphenation in the text. These have been
left unchanged unless indicated below. Obsolete and alternative
spellings were left unchanged.
Words and phrases in italics are surrounded by underscores, _like
this_. Footnotes were renumbered sequentially and were moved to
the end of the chapter. Obvious printing errors, such as backwards,
reversed, upside down, or partially printed letters and punctuation
were corrected. Final stops missing at the end of sentences and
abbreviations were added. Duplicate words and letters at line endings
or page breaks were removed. Quote marks, accents and parentheses were
adjusted to standard usage.
In the index, there are numerous entries without corresponding volume
or page numbers. There are additional entries with volume and page
numbers that do not match the book.
The following were changed:
Hamâdy to Hamâady, Contents, Chapter V
Damacus to Damascus
entaining to entertaining
unconcious to unconscious
Feeky to Freeky, in index, and page number from 288 to 259
added dropped comma: at 6d., a loaf
replaced hyphen with space: hind legs, corn market
Added missing volume and page numbers to index entries:
Abu Ghosh, i., 263
Advice, iii., 271
Cheshire Gentleman, iii., 166
Cœle-Syria iii., 57, FN[32]
Flies on horses’ tails, ii., 35
Footmen’s Nosegays, iii., 128
Letters to Mr. Speaker Abercrombie, ii., 223, 239, 272;
Liverpool, Lady, ii., 76, 95, 96
Loustaunau Capt., iii., 306
Malmesbury, Lord, i., FN[43], FN[65], FN[66], FN[67], FN[68], 162,
270; ii., 26, FN[3], FN[32]; iii., FN[20]
Meryon, his salary, ii., 2;
Prickly Heat, ii., 285
Richmond, Duke of, ii., 28, 64, 94, 95
Servants’ Wages, ii., 122
Sevigné, Madame, iii., 116
Sheykh Ibrahim, iii., 242
Temple, Earl, i., 277
Townsend, Mr., ii. FN[8]
The only mention of Signor Catafago is in the Index so references are
not found on the page numbers listed. Also, page number 324 for Signor
Baldassare Matteir does not exist in any of the three volumes.