I travelled these sixty miles yesterday with great rapidity, and in the
most charming state of indolence, without even the exertion of looking
up;--for one must once in a while travel like a fashionable Englishman.
It seems that here is a better atmosphere than in any other part of the
land of fog; the bright sunshine waked me this morning as early as nine
o'clock.
I soon went out;--first on the Marine Parade, which stretches to a
considerable extent along the sea; then made a tour through the large,
clean, and very cheerful town, which with its broad streets is like the
newest parts of London; and concluded with visits to several London
acquaintances. I then rode out, for I had sent my horses here before me.
Vainly did I look around for a tree. The country is perfectly naked:
nothing is to be seen but hilly downs covered with short turf; and sea
and sky are the only picturesque objects:--even this first day of my
visit they greeted me with the most beautiful sunset. The majestic orb
was veiled in a rosy transparent mist, so that it darted forth no rays,
but was like a ball of massive gold, glowing with the most fervid heat:
as it touched the water, it appeared slowly to dissolve, and to spread
itself over the surface of the blue deep. At length Ocean swallowed the
fiery globe; the burning hues faded from red to violet, then gradually
to whitish gray, and at length the waves driven by the evening wind,
dashed murmuring on the shore in the dim twilight, as if in triumph over
the buried sun.
A distinguished old Minister enjoyed this noble spectacle with me, and
was fully alive to its beauty. Lord Harrowby is an amiable man, of mild
refined manners, and of great experience of the world and of business.
_February 8th._
Public rooms, lists of visitors (_Badelisten_), &c., do not exist here.
Brighton has only the name of a bathing-place in our sense of the word,
and is chiefly resorted to by the inhabitants of London for recreation
and pure air. People who have no country-house, or who find London too
expensive, spend the winter, which is the fashionable season, here. The
King was formerly very fond of Brighton, and built a strange Oriental
Palace, which seen from the adjoining heights, with its cupolas and
minarets, looks exactly like the pieces on a chess-board. The interior
is splendidly though fantastically furnished. Although it has cost
enormous sums, its possessor, long sick of it, is said to have shown a
desire to pull it down, which indeed would be no great subject of
lamentation.
The only large trees I have seen in the neighbourhood are in the gardens
of this Palace. But the walks by the sea are so ageeable that one does
very well without; especially the large Chain Pier, which extends a
thousand feet into the sea, and from whose extremity the steam-vessels
sail for Dieppe and Boulogne.
Not far from thence an Indian has established Oriental baths, where
people are shampooed after the Turkish fashion, which is said to be very
healthful and invigorating, and is in great favour with the fashionable
world. I found the interior arrangements very European. The treatment is
like that in the Russian vapour-baths, only I think not so good. I
cannot help thinking the sudden cold after such profuse perspiration
very dangerous.
I thought the method of drying linen more worth imitating. It is laid in
a sort of wardrobe lined with tin, and kept at an equal heat by means of
steam.
_February 9th._
The sun has disappeared again, and the cold has returned with such force
that I am writing to you in gloves--for the better preservation of my
white hands, to which I, like Lord Byron, attach great importance. I
honestly confess I don't see that a man is 'un fat' merely for trying to
preserve the little beauty God has given him; at all events chapped
hands are a horror to me and always were.--Talking of this, I remember
that I was once in the boudoir of a very beautiful woman in Strasburg,
where I met Field-marshal W---- (then only General), who in eulogizing
Napoleon laid a peculiar stress on his temperance, adding in a
contemptuous tone, "A hero could not be a 'gourmand.'" Now the fair
lady, who was otherwise a very kind friend of mine, knew me to be not
quite insensible to 'bonne chére,' to gratify her malicious pleasure in
teasing me, made the General repeat his observation. Though I never set
up for a hero, (except in a little romance or two, here and there,) I
felt that I blushed; one of those stupidities of which I never could
break myself, even on many occasions where there was no ground for it.
Provoked at myself, I said with some pique, "It is fortunate for the
lovers of a good table, General, that there are a few brilliant
exceptions to your rule. Remember Alexander:--it is true that a too
luxurious feast led him into the burning of Persepolis;--but I think you
will allow him to have been a hero for all that: and 'gourmandise' did
not prevent Frederick the Great from acquiring immortal renown, both as
a warrior and ruler.--You, General, who have fought with the French with
so much glory, should not attack a good 'cuisine;' for that nation,
however, distinguished be her generals, will obtain a wider and perhaps
more lasting fame from her cooks." This last sentence was doubtless
inspired by a prophetic spirit; and how would the enthusiastic eulogist
of Napoleon have wondered, had I told him that in a little while he
would stand opposed to the great 'non-gourmond' himself, and would
receive one of the last effectual 'coups de griffes' of the sick lion.
You think, I dare say, dear Julia, that this anecdote is as much in
place here as one of our friend H----'s 'a-propos.' But you are
mistaken. I now go to adduce Alcibiades and Poniatowsky, as examples of
men distinguished for attention to dress and to their persons; thus
proving from experience that neither sensibility to good cheer, nor a
little 'fatuité,' are any obstacles to heroism, if other qualities be
not wanting.
A visit from Count F----, one of the most agreeable and respectable
representatives of Napoleon's time, who carried into the Imperial Court
'les souvenirs de l'ancien regime,' and into the present one the
reputation of spotless integrity and fidelity, (a most rare
instance!)--here interrupted me. He came to invite me to dinner
to-morrow. This has detained me:--it is too late to ride; I am not in
the humour to seek Club society: I shall put on a second dressing-gown,
dream about you and M----, read over your letters, and patiently freeze
in my room,--for more than eight degrees of heat I find it impossible to
procure by means of an open fire in my airy and many-windowed room.--'Au
revoir,' then.
_February 10th._
It was fair that I should indemnify myself to-day for my confinement to
my room, so I wandered about in the neighbourhood for many hours. I
enjoyed my freedom the more, as I was to execute myself in the evening
at a great subscription ball.
The country all around is certainly very remarkable; for in a four hours
ride I did not see a single full-grown tree. Yet the numerous hills, the
large town in the distance, several smaller ones scattered about, the
sea and ships--all under rapidly changing lights, sufficiently
diversified the landscape; and even the contrast with the generally
well-wooded character of England was not without its charms. The sun at
length retired to rest incognito, the sky cleared, and the moon rose
cloudless and brilliant over the waters. I now turned my horse's head
from the hills down to the sea, and rode five or six miles, about the
distance to Brighton, hard on the edge of the waves along the sandy
shore. The tide was coming in, and my horse sometimes shyed when a
wave, crowned with snowy foam, rolled under his feet and quickly
retreated as if in sport.
I love nothing better than to ride alone by moonlight on the wide
shore,--alone with the plashing and roaring and murmuring of the
waves;--so near to the mysterious deep, that my horse can only be kept
within reach of its rolling waters by force, and as soon as his rein is
loosened darts away with redoubled speed towards the firm land.
How different from this poetical scene was the prosaic ball!--which
moreover so little answered my expectations that I was perfectly
astonished. A narrow staircase led directly into the ball-room, which
was ill-lighted and miserably furnished, and surrounded with worsted
cords to divide the dancers from the spectators. An orchestra for the
musicians was hung with ill-washed white draperies, which looked like
sheets hung out to dry. Imagine a second room near it, with benches
along the walls, and a large tea-table in the middle; in both rooms the
numerous company raven black from head to foot, gloves inclusive; a
melancholy style of dancing, without the least trace of vivacity or
joyousness; so that the only feeling you have is that of compassion for
the useless fatigue the poor people are enduring;--and now you have a
true idea of the Brighton Almack's, for so these very fashionable balls
are called. The whole establishment is droll enough. Almack's balls in
London are the resort of people of the highest rank during the season,
which lasts from April to June; and five or six of the most intensely
fashionable ladies (Princess L---- among the number), who are called
Patronesses, distribute the tickets. It is an immense favour to obtain
one; and, for people who do not belong to the very highest or most
modish world, very difficult. Intrigues are set on foot months
beforehand, and the Lady-patronesses flattered in the meanest and most
servile manner, to secure so important an advantage; for those who have
never been seen at Almack's are regarded as utterly unfashionable--I
might almost say disreputable; and the would-be-fashionable English
world naturally holds this to be the greatest of all possible
calamities. So true is this, that a novel was lately written on this
subject, which contains a very fair delineation of London society, and
has gone through three editions. On nearer observation, however, one
sees that it betrays more of the ante-chamber than of the 'salon,'--that
the author is one, as the Abbé de Voisenon said, 'qui a écouté aux
portes.'
How admirably well-informed the English are concerning foreigners is
seen in a passage in this novel, in which the wife of a foreign
ambassador, born however in England, is extremely facetious on the
ignorant Londoners who assigned a higher rank to a German Prince than to
her husband the Baron, whose title was far nobler. "But the word
Prince," adds she, "whose nullity is well known to everybody on the
Continent, dazzled my stupid countrymen." 'C'est bien vrai,' says a
Frenchman, 'un Duc cirait mes bottes à Naples, et à Petersbourg un
Prince Russe me rasait tous les matins.' As the English generally
mis-spell and mis-quote foreign words and phrases, I strongly suspect
that a slight mistake has crept in here, and that it ought to be
printed, "un Prince Russe me _rossait_ tous les matins."[44]
You may partly conceive the burlesque effect such a fashionable novel
produces on people in the middling society of London, who are
continually groping in the dark after 'le bel air,' are consequently in
perpetual terror and agony, lest they should betray their acquaintance
with the great world, and thus generally make themselves exquisitely
ludicrous. I had a very amusing example of this a few weeks before the
publication of the book in question.
I was invited, with several other foreigners, to dine with a very rich *
* *
* * * * *
Among them was a German Prince, who had visited at the house before,
and, luckily for the farce, a German Baron also. When dinner was
announced, the Prince advanced, as usual, to the lady of the house to
hand her out, and was not a little amazed when she turned her back upon
him with a slight curtesy, and took the arm of the most
agreeably-surprised Baron. A laugh, which I really found it impossible
to suppress, almost offended the good Prince, who could not explain to
himself the extraordinary behaviour of our hostess; but, as I instantly
guessed the cause, I soon helped him out of his wonderment.
Regardless of rank, he now took the prettiest woman of the party; while
I, for my part, made haste to secure ----, that I might be sure of an
amusing conversation during dinner. The soup was hardly removed, when I
expressed to her as politely as I could, how much her nice tact and
exact knowledge of the usages of even foreign society had surprised me.
"Ah," replied she, "when one has been ---- so long, one becomes
thoroughly acquainted with the world." "Certainly," replied I,
"especially in ----, where you have all that sort of thing in black and
white." "You see," said she, speaking rather low, "we know well enough
that 'a foreign Prince' is nothing very great, but to a Baron we give
the honour due." "Admirably distinguished!" exclaimed I; "but in Italy
you must be on your guard, for there 'barone' means a rascal." "Is it
possible?" said she; "what a strange title!" "Yes, madam, titles on the
Continent are mysterious things; and were you the Sphinx herself, you
would never fathom the enigma." "May I help you to some fish?" said she.
"With great pleasure," answered I, and found the turbot, even without a
title, excellent.
But, to return to Almack's:--The oddest thing is, that one of these
tickets, for which many English men and women struggle and strive, as if
for life and death, are, after all, to be paid for with the sum of ten
shillings; for Almack's are neither more nor less than balls for money.
'Quelle folie que le mode!' We are sometimes forced to conclude that our
planet is the mad-house of the solar system.
In Brighton we find the copy of London in little. The present
Lady-patronesses are * * * When I entered, I saw no one of my
acquaintance, and therefore addressed myself to a gentleman near me to
show me the Marchioness of ----, from whom I had received my ticket,
through the 'entremise' of Countess F----. I was obliged to present
myself to her, to return my thanks; and found her a very kind, amiable,
domestic woman, who had never quitted England. She introduced me to her
daughters, and also to a certain Lady----, who spoke very good German.
That is the fashion now, and the young ladies labour hard to accomplish
it.
I afterwards found a gentleman of my acquaintance who introduced me to
several very pretty young ladies, among whom Miss W----, a niece of Lord
C----, was peculiarly distinguished. She was brought up in Germany, and
is more German than English,--of course an advantage in my eyes. She was
by far the prettiest and most graceful girl in the room, so that I was
almost tempted to dance once more; though from vanity (for I always
danced badly) I renounced that so-called pleasure years ago. I might
safely enough have attempted it here, for God knows, nowhere do people
jump about more awkwardly; and a man who waltzes in time is a real
curiosity. But it seems to me too ludicrous, to join the worshippers of
the tarantula so far on my way towards forty. 'Il est vrai que la
fortune m'a souvent envoyé promener, mais danser--c'est trop fort!'
I was told that the chief of a Highland clan, with a name as long as a
Spaniard's,--a descendant of some island king, and proud as Holofernes
of a thousand years of noble ancestry,--wished to make my acquaintance.
I had reason to congratulate myself on making his; for I found him a
living model of one of Walter Scott's pictures. A genuine Highland Scot,
hanging with body and soul on ancestry and ancient customs, having great
contempt for the English, full of fire, good-natured, loyal-hearted, and
brave; but childishly vain, and, on that side, as easy to wound as to
win. I very gladly took refuge from the tedium of the crowd in
conversation with a man of so original a character. I sat down by him on
a bench in the tea-room, and got him to tell me of all the glories of
his ancient heritage, all the battles of his forefathers, and his own
travels and adventures. The worthy man described to me at great length
his Highland dress, to which he evidently attached immense importance;
and told me a long history of the effect his appearance in it had
produced on the Court of Berlin. There was doubtless enough to excite a
smile in his account of the astonishment of the King and Queen, and of
the signal attentions his striking dress commanded; yet there was a fire
and a simplicity in his manner of relating the triumphs of his national
costume, that touched me extremely.
_February 11th._
This morning I went to church, with a full intention of being pious; but
it did not succeed. Everything was too cold, dry, and unæsthetic. I am
an advocate for a more imaginative worship, though it be addressed
rather more to the senses. If we did but follow Nature, we should find
her the best instructress in religion, as in other things. Is it not by
her most magnificent and sublime spectacles that she awakens our hearts
to emotions of piety? by the painting of her sunsets, by the music of
the rolling deep, by the forms of her mountains and her rocks? Be not
wiser, my brethren, than him who created all these wonders, and formed
the human heart to feel them; but imitate him, according to the measure
of your feeble powers.
But on this matter I should preach to deaf ears, except to yours, dear
Julia; they have long listened, with me, to the heavenly song of the
spheres, which ceaselessly resounds in the eternal, beautiful creation,
if men did not stop their ears with the cotton of positive dogmas and
traditions, through which they cannot hear it.[45]
The sermon too which I heard, though prepared beforehand, and read, was
stony and unprofitable. Preachers would do much more good if they would
lay aside the old mechanical custom of taking texts only out of the
Bible, and take them from local life and circumstances, and from human
society as it now exists; if they would rather seek to foster the
in-dwelling poetical religion, than the mere spirit of dogma; if they
would treat morality not only as the Commanded, but as the Beautiful and
the Useful,--the Necessary, indeed, to the happiness of the individual,
and of society. If more pains were taken to _instruct_ the working-man
from the pulpit,--to form him to _think_ instead of to _believe_,--crime
would soon become less frequent; he would begin to feel a real interest
in what he heard,--a positive want of the church and of the sermon, for
his own guidance and information: whereas he now attends them
mechanically and without reflection, or from some motives equally
unprofitable. The laws of the land, too, and not the Ten Commandments
alone, should be declared and expounded to the people from the
pulpit;--they should be made perfectly conversant with them, and with
the grounds of them; for, to use the words of Christ, how many sin
without knowing what they do![46]
The best practical receipt for a universal morality is, without doubt,
to ask oneself whether an action, or course of action, _if adopted by
every man_, would be useful or injurious to society. In the first case,
it is of course good,--in the second, bad. Had Governments, and those
upon whom devolves the sacred and neglected duty of instructing the
people, habituated them to the constant application of this test or
measure of conduct, and then demonstrated to them, directly, 'ad
oculos,' the inevitable, ultimate reaction of evil conduct _on
themselves_, they would, in the course of a few years, have improved not
only the morality of the country, but its physical condition and
commercial prosperity; whereas the ordinary priestly wisdom, which sets
faith, authority, and dogma above everything, has left mankind in the
same state for centuries,--if indeed it have not made them worse.
It would, perhaps, do no harm occasionally to choose teachers who have
been converted to virtue by experience of the evil consequences of vice
(as, for instance, the late Werner,) and who are therefore best informed
on the subject. Not only is there more joy in heaven over one sinner
that repenteth than over ninety-and-nine just men, but such a man is
more firm in his convictions and perceptions, and generally more zealous
in reclaiming others, as the examples of many holy men prove.
Above all, in every well-organized society all clergymen, be they of
what persuasion they may, must, in my opinion, be paid by fixed salary,
and not be permitted to take money for every separate consolation of
real, or ceremony of conventional, religion;--a meanness which
necessarily destroys all true reverence for the priest, and which must
degrade him in his own eyes, if he have any delicacy. It is really
dreadful to see the poor man stick his two _groschen_ behind the altar
for the holy elements he has just received; or crowd a fee into the
reverend gentleman's hand when his child is christened, just as if he
were giving him a shilling to drink. But when we hear the parson storm
and scold from the pulpit, because his offerings and tithes decrease;
when we hear him announce such a falling-off in his revenues as a proof
of the decline of religion; then, indeed, we feel distinctly why there
are so many parsons, and what they themselves regard as their true and
proper vocation. Soldiers naturally love war, and in like manner priests
love religion,--for their own advantage. But patriots love war only as a
means of obtaining freedom; and philosophers, religion only for its
beauty and its truth.
That is the difference.--But, as the author of the Zillah so truly says,
"Establishments endure longer than opinions; the church outlasts the
faith which founded it; and if a priesthood has once succeeded in
interweaving itself with the institutions of the country, it may
continue to subsist and to flourish long after its forms of worship is
regarded with aversion and contempt."
The afternoon was more satisfactory.--I climbed the hills around the
town, and at last crept up to the top of a windmill in order to see the
whole panorama of Brighton. The wind turned the sails of the mill with
such force that the whole building rocked like a ship. The miller's lad,
who had shown me the way up, went to a flourbin and took out a
telescope. Spite of its soft bed, it was unhappily broken. I was however
well satisfied with the general view, enlivened as it was by hundreds of
fishing-boats which seemed struggling with the storm, and hastened back
with the sinking sun to my social duties.
The party at Count F----'s was small but interesting; it was rendered
so in the first place by the host himself; then by a lady celebrated for
her beauty; and lastly, by a former well-known leader of 'ton' in Paris.
In his youth he played a considerable part there, and was at the same
time constantly implicated in political affairs. He now passes a great
part of the year in England, probably still not without political views.
He is one of that sort of men, daily becoming more rare, who live in
great style, one knows not how; contrive to acquire a sort of authority
everywhere, one knows not why; and under whom one always expects to find
something mysterious, one knows not wherefore. ---- is very agreeable, at
least when he chooses: he narrates admirably, and has forgotten nothing
of his eventful life which can give zest to his conversation. For
adventurers of this high order, whose consummate knowledge of the world
affords continual matter for admiration, (though generally employed only
to make dupes,) the French character is better suited than any other.
Their agreeableness in society smooths their way; and their not over
warm hearts and oeconomical understandings, (if I may use the
expression,) admirably enable them to keep all the ground they have won,
and to maintain a firm footing on it for ever.
The clever man of whom I am now speaking plays also very agreeably; and
jestingly declares, like Fox, that after the pleasure of winning, he
knows no greater than that of losing.
We talked a great deal about Napoleon, of whom our host, like all who
lived long in immediate intercourse with him, could not speak without
veneration. He mentioned a circumstance which struck me. The Emperor, he
said, was so incredibly exhausted by the violent excitement of the
Hundred Days and the events that succeeded them, that on his retreat
from Waterloo, in the early part of which he was protected by a
batallion of his 'Garde,' he proceeded very slowly, and without any
precipitation (quite contrary to our version of the affair.) Two or
three times he fell asleep on his horse; and would have fallen off, had
not Count F---- himself held him on. But the Count declared that, except
by this complete corporeal exhaustion, he never exhibited the slightest
mark of internal agitation.
_February 14th._
My original friend, the Scot--who, I am told, has killed two or three
men in duels--visited me this morning, and brought me his genealogy,
printed, with the whole history of his race or 'clan.' He complained
bitterly that another man of his name contested the rank of chieftain
with him; and took great pains to prove to me, from the work he had
brought, that he was the true one: he added, that "the judgment of
Heaven between them would be the best way of deciding their respective
claims." He then called my attention to his arms, of the origin of which
he related a curious history,
* * * * *
* * * * *
It was, like most of these traditions, poetical enough, and a striking
picture of those rude but vigorous ages. I did not fail to relate to him
a 'pendant' to his story, from the Nibelungenlied, concerning my own
ancestors;--probably both were equally true. We parted over the ghosts
of our forefathers, the best friends in the world.
There are now private balls every evening: and in rooms to which a
respectable German citizen would not venture to invite twelve people,
some hundreds are here packed like negro slaves. It is even worse than
in London; and the space allotted to the quadrilles allows only the
mathematical possibility of making something like dancing
demonstrations. A ball without this crowd would be despised; and a
visitor of any fashion who found the staircase empty, would probably
drive away from the door. This strange taste reminded me of one of
Potier's characters, a 'ci-devant jeune homme' who orders a pair of
pantaloons of his tailor which are to be 'extraordinairement collant:'
as the 'artiste' is going away he calls after him, "Entendez
vous?--extraordinairement collant; si j'y entre, je ne le prends pas."
In like manner an English dandy would say of a rout, "Si j'y entre, je
n'y vais pas."
When you are once in, however, I must confess that nowhere do you see a
greater number of pretty girls, against whom you are squeezed 'bongré
malgré,' than here. Some of them have been educated for a year or two in
France, and are distinguished for a better 'tournure' and style of
dress; many of them speak German. A man may have as many invitations to
'soirées' of this sort as he likes; but he may go away as perfect a
stranger as if he had been uninvited; for if he does not stay long, he
does not so much as see the hostess, and certainly she does not know
half the people present. At one o'clock a very 'recherché' cold supper
is served, with 'force champagne.' The supper-room is usually on the
ground-floor, and the table of course cannot contain above twenty
persons at a time, so that the company go down in troops, and meet,
pushing and elbowing, on the narrow staircase. If you succeed in
getting a seat, you may rest a little; and many avail themselves of this
privilege with small regard to their successors: little attention is
paid to giving place to the ladies. On the other hand, the servants are
very active in continually replacing the dishes and bottles, as fast as
they are emptied, on the side of the table to which the guests have no
access.
In order to see the whole of the thing, I stayed till four in the
morning in one of the best houses, and found the end of the fête, after
three-fourths of the company were gone, the most agreeable; the more so
as the daughters of the house were remarkably pretty amiable girls.
There were some famous originals, however, at the ball; among others, a
fat lady of at least fifty-five, dressed in black velvet with white
trimmings, and a turban with floating ostrich feathers, who waltzed like
a Bacchante whenever she could find room. Her very pretty daughters
tried in vain to rival their mamma. My curiosity being excited by such a
display of Herculean vigour and pertinacity, I found the lady's large
fortune had been made by speculations in cattle. The music in most of
these balls was extremely meagre and bad. The musicians, however,
contrive to produce such a noise with such instruments as they have,
that you cannot hear yourself speak near them.
_February 16th._
I read yesterday that "strong passions are increased by distance." Mine
for you must be very strong then--though indeed tender friendship is
ever the surest of any--for I love you better than ever:--but this is
intelligible enough. If we truly love a person, we have, when absent
from him, only his good and agreeable qualities before our eyes; the
unpleasant little defects which exist in every man, and which, however
trifling they may be, annoy us when present, vanish from our
recollection,--and thus love naturally increases in absence. And
you--what do you think on this subject? How many more faults have you to
cover with the mantle of Christian love in me!
I am going to London to-morrow, expressly to deliver this letter to our
ambassador with my own hands, since the last was delayed so long.
Probably it fell into the hands of the curious, for we shall not soon
get rid of the 'infamie' of opening letters. In two days I shall return,
and shall be happy enough to miss three or four balls in the
interval.--I took a long walk this morning, and this time not entirely
alone, but with one of the many agreeable girls I have met with here.
When young unmarried women are once 'lancées' in the world, they enjoy
more rational freedom in England than in any other country in Europe.
The young lady 'quæstionis' was just seventeen, and polished in Paris.
On my return home I found, to my no small astonishment, a letter from
the luckless R----, who has been again driven back to Harwich, and
despairingly implores money and help. Contrary to my desire, as I now
learn for the first time, he did not go by Calais. These wanderings of
the Garden-Odysseus are as ludicrous as they are disagreeable, and you
will doubtless think the adventurer 'malgré lui' is eaten by the fishes,
till you have ocular proof of the contrary. I recollect that twelve
years ago, about this same season, I was going to embark for Hamburg,
from which I was fortunately dissuaded by my old French valet. He said,
with rather an odd turn of expression; "Dans ces tems ci, il y a
toujours _quelques équinoxes_ dangéreuses, qui peuvent devenir
funestes." He was right; the vessel was wrecked, and several lives lost.
_London, Feb. 18th._
Honour to Mr. Temple!--Your letter, which he forwarded, reached me in
ten days, while those which come through our diplomacy are three weeks
on the road. Give him my best thanks. I laughed heartily at the news
H---- sends me so humourously. The little _Criminal-rath_ ('conseiller
criminel') whom the jester calls 'le Rat criminel'; the 'Renvoyé
extraordinaire,' and the 'Diplomate à la fourchette,' are admirably
painted; so is The Fortunate house-court-state-and body-servant. Don't
wonder at his success: it is indisputable that there is a sort of
narrowness which almost always succeeds in the world; and a character of
mind which never succeeds. Mine is of this latter sort--a fantastic
picture-making mind, that fashions its own dream-world anew every day,
and thence remains for ever a stranger in the actual world. You tell me
that if Fortune had offered herself to me, I should have slighted her,
or at most, playfully taken her by the finger, instead of clutching her
earnestly;--that I never valued the present till it stood as a picture
in the far distance;--that then indeed it was often a picture of
repentance and regret; the future, a picture of longing and aspiration;
the present, never anything but a misty spot. 'A merveille.' You say all
this most charmingly; and I must acknowledge that nobody understands
better how to moralize impressively than you.--If it were but of any use
to me! But tell me,--if you could convince the lame man that it were far
better for him not to be lame;--as soon as the poor wretch tries to set
one foot before the other, does he limp the less? 'Naturam expellas
furca,' &c. Vainly do you desire your stomach to digest better, your wit
to be sharper, your reason to be more efficient:--things go on in their
old train, with a few modifications.
The decisions of the Ministers on the S---- affair, which you
communicate to me, also remain after the old sort, in spite of the
extreme politeness of those gentlemen. Is it not strange, however, that
our inferior functionaries distinguish themselves as much by their
'tracasseries,' and by their ill-bred, and I might say contemptuous
style, as the higher do (with a single exception) by their care in using
none but the most refined and polished forms? Do not these on this very
account wear the appearance of the bitterest irony? You may give this as
a subject for a prize-essay to our G---- dilettante academy.
'A propos,'--who is that very wise Minister of whom H---- speaks? Ah ha!
I guess--but all Ministers are now-a-days so wise 'ex officio,' that it
is difficult to know which he means. The other, however, I guessed
instantly--as well as the pure horizontal individual, whose illness
grieves me heartily; for when he is well, he stands, in my opinion, most
singularly perpendicular, towering above disfavour or envy, by the
dignity of his character, and by his experience and talents for
business. There are, to be sure, some official persons in our country
whom one might fairly ask, with Bürger's Lenore, every time one sees
them, "Bist lebend, Liebster, oder todt?"[47]
Heaven preserve us both in better health of body and mind! And, above
all, may it preserve to me your tender friendship, the most essential
element of my well-being!
Your faithful L----.