It would be too tiresome if I sent you a daily list of the parties I go
to: I shall only mention them when anything strikes me as remarkable;
and perhaps hereafter, if I feel the inclination and the power, I shall
give you a general 'apperçu' of the whole. The technical part of social
life--the arrangements for physical comfort and entertainment--is well
understood here. The most distinguished specimen of this is the house of
the Duke of D----, a king of fashion and elegance.
Very few persons of rank have what we, on the Continent, call a palace,
in London. Their palaces, their luxury and their grandeur, are to be
seen in the country. The Duke of D---- is an exception;--his palace in
town displays great taste and richness, and a numerous collection of
works of art. The company is always the most select; and though here, as
everywhere, too numerous, is rendered less oppressive by the number of
rooms: still it is too much like a crowd at a fair. The concerts at
D---- House, particularly, are very fine entertainments, where only the
very first talent to be found in the metropolis is engaged, and where
perfect order combined with boundless profusion reigns throughout. Among
other things, the arrangement of the suppers and 'buffets,' which are
excellent in such crowded parties, is most recommendable. In a separate
room is a long table, with the most delicate and choice refreshments of
every kind, so placed that it is accessible to the guests only on one
side. Behind it stand maid-servants, in a uniform of white gowns and
black aprons, who give everybody what he asks for, and have room enough
to do their ministering conveniently: behind them is a door
communicating with the 'offices,' through which everything needful is
handed to them without disturbance to the company;--the disagreeable
procession of troops of men-servants balancing great trays and pushing
about the 'salons' with them, always in danger of discharging their
contents, cold or warm, into the laps or pockets of the company, is thus
avoided.
The supper is served at a later hour, by male attendants, in another
room, which communicates with the kitchen. The waiting is far better,
with much fewer people, than on the Continent, and accomplished without
the least confusion.
I must observe, by the by, as to 'bonne chère,' that the very best in
the world is to be found at the first tables in London: they have the
best French cooks and the best Italian confectioners, for the very
simple reason that they pay them best. I am told there are cooks who
receive twelve hundred a year here;--to merit, its crown!
Sometimes, after concert and supper, at two in the morning dancing
begins, and one drives home by sunlight. This suits me admirably, for
you know I always had the taste of Minerva's bird. In such a
night-morning I often enjoy a drive in the Park; for, thank heaven!
Spring is visibly coming, and the tender green of the young leaves and
the pink almond blossoms peep forth over the garden-walls and amid the
dark net-work of the swelling branches.
_March 26th._
I devoted this morning to an excursion to Deptford, to see Captain
Parry's ship, the Hecla, which is to sail in a few days for the North
Pole. Whether she will reach it, is another matter: I wish it may not
fare with Parry as with poor Count Zambeccari, who to this hour is not
returned from his last ærial voyage.
Captain Parry did the honours of his singular vessel with great
politeness; his air and manner perfectly bespeak the frank, determined,
gallant seaman he is known to be. Some curiously formed boats, which
were likewise to serve as sledges, lay on the deck. The ship herself has
double sides, filled with cork, to keep in the heat; she is also warmed
by 'conduits de chaleur.' The provisions consist of the strongest
extracts; so that a whole ox in his quintessence can be put in a man's
coat-pocket, like the stereotype editions of the 'chef d'oeuvres' of
the whole literature of England in one volume. All the officers seemed
picked men. I found Captain Ross, who has accompanied Captain Parry in
all his voyages, a very polished and agreeable man. The ship was
thronged with visiters, climbing in a continual stream up the
rope-ladder. It was impossible to look without intense interest on a
crew who were going to confront such toils and dangers, in the
light-hearted and enterprising spirit of their class, solely for the
advancement of science and the satisfaction of a noble curiosity.
I was invited to dine in barracks by a Major of the Horse Guards. There
is a most advantageous custom prevalent throughout the English army,--I
mean the so-called 'Mess.' Each regiment has its common table, to which
every officer is bound to contribute a certain sum, whether he choose to
avail himself of it or not. By this he is entitled to the privilege of
dining at it daily, and of bringing an occasional guest according to
some established regulations. A committee superintends the economical
part. Each officer presides at table in turn, from the colonel down to
the youngest lieutenant, and is invested, so long as he is 'en
fonction,' with the requisite authority. The 'ton' of the officers is
excellent; far more 'gentleman-like' than that commonly to be found on
the Continent; at least so I am bound to conclude from this sample.
Although the strictest subordination prevails in service, yet when that
is over, they meet as gentlemen, so entirely on an equality, that it
were impossible for a stranger to discover from their deportment the
superior from the subordinate officers. The table was admirably served.
There was not wanting either an elegant service of plate, or champagne,
claret, or any of the requisites of luxury. The dinner was followed by
no excess; and the conversation, though perfectly unconstrained and
cheerful, was confined within the bounds of decorum and good breeding.
To crown all, the whole did not last too long; so that I had still time
to pay some visits at the opera, which is convenient enough for that
purpose.
_March 28th._
In most companies pretty high play is the order of the day, and the
ladies are the most eager players. The crowding to the 'écarté' table,
which is almost out of fashion at Paris, is incessant; and the white
arms of the English beauties appear to great advantage on the
table-covers of black velvet embroidered with gold. But if their arms
are dangerous, their hands are still more so, 'car les vieilles surtout
trichent impitoyablement.' There are some old maids whom one meets in
the first society who make a regular trade of play, so that they carry
off fifty pounds at a stroke without changing a feature. They have small
parties at their own houses, which are as 'like tripots' as possible.
In no country can the admirer of 'le moyen age,' 'fair, fat and forty,'
meet more women in high preservation than in England. Even still more
mature years do not obliterate all pretensions.
* * * * *
I closed my day with reading and whist at the Club. My party was most
curiously composed;--the Portuguese Ambassador, who is strikingly like
Napoleon; a Neapolitan ex-minister, brought hither by the failure of the
revolution; the Frenchman whom I described to you at Brighton; and my
German insignificance, who however this time gained the victory; for I
won eight rubbers and two 'Monkeys.' What is a 'Monkey?' you ask.
Fashion has given strange names to the markers. One for twenty-five
pounds is called a Poney; and one for fifty, a 'Monkey.'
_April 3rd._
You are accustomed to follow me from the palace to the cottage, and from
the decorated room to more beautiful nature. To-day I must introduce you
to my dentist, the celebrated Mr. Cartwright. This gentleman is said to
make ten thousand a year by his profession, and exercises it in the most
'grandiose' style. In the first place he goes to no one, excepting the
King: every subject, male or female, must wait on him. But this is not
all;--you must announce yourself a week or fortnight beforehand, and
solicit an audience: you then receive a card containing the following
answer:--
"Mr. Cartwright will have the pleasure of receiving N---- N---- on such
a day and such an hour."
You appear at the appointed time, and are ushered into an elegant room,
where a piano-forte, prints, books and other helps to pass time are
placed; a very necessary attention, as you often have to wait an hour or
more.
When I entered, I found the Duchess of Montrose and Lady Melville and
her daughters, who were called away 'gradatim,' so that at length my
turn came.
When you have once reached this point, you find indeed infinite reason
to be satisfied; for Mr. Cartwright is the most skilful and scientific
man of his profession I ever met with,--perfectly devoid of all trace of
'charlatanerie,' which the difficulty of access might lead you to
anticipate. He has also a settled price, and not an exorbitant
one,--'mais c'est un Grand Seigneur dentiste.'
In the evening, after wandering to four or five places in search of
something interesting, I at last fixed myself at Lady ----'s where I was
riveted by the conversation of a Captain ----, a half German who is just
returned from the East, and gave a very interesting account of his
travels. Among other things he told me the following strange anecdotes
of Lady Hester Stanhope, a niece of Pitt's, who left England many years
ago, turned Arab, and has established herself in Syria.
She is now honoured by the Arabs as a prophet, lives with all the state
of a native princess, and seldom allows Europeans to see her.
After a great deal of trouble Captain ---- gained access to her. The
first thing she required was his promise that he would not write
anything about her. This vow being made, (luckily I am bound by none
such,) she was cheerful and conversable, and talked with equal ease and
cleverness. She made it no secret that she had renounced the Christian
faith, and at the same time that she still looked for the appearing of
the true Son of God, before whom she was appointed to prepare the way.
Hereupon she showed the Captain a noble Arab mare, which had a curious
bony excrescence on the back exactly in the form of a saddle. "This
horse," said she,--with a look of which Captain ---- declared he was
still in doubt whether to ascribe to madness or to a desire to hoax
him,--"This horse God has saddled for his own Son, and wo to the man who
shall dare to mount it! Under my protection it awaits its true master."
She afterwards assured him, 'en passant,' that Adam was still living,
and that she knew perfectly the place of his concealment, but would not
reveal it.
The lady of the house listened to his narration, and assured him that
Lady Hester had been only 'quizzing' him; for that she had known her
well, and that never had woman a clearer, more determined, and at the
same time more astute mind. For a person of such a character, she has
made a good exchange in renouncing Western for Eastern life. She rules;
she is free as bird in air; while in the centre of civilization she
would never have been able to subtract herself from the slavery which
must ever remain, more or less, the dark side of civilized life.
_April 4th._
Sir Alexander Johnston, a great Orientalist, but in another sense of
the word, invited me to dinner, and seasoned the repast by his
intelligent and learned conversation. He has effected many important
things in his department; but we, dear Julia, are both of us too
ignorant on the subject for me to attempt to give you an account of
them. One thing however will interest you. He told me of a cachemir
shawl of Tippo Saib's, embroidered in gold, and silks of all colours,
ten ells long and worth a thousand pounds--a thing well calculated to
set a female imagination on fire.
_April 6th._
Can you tell me why all objects reflected by art give us only pleasure,
whereas all realities have at least one defective side? We see the
torments of Laocoon in marble with undisturbed delight,[51] while the
actual scene would excite simply horror. A Dutch fish-market,
represented with perfect fidelity by a humorous painter, charms us, and
our pleasure increases as we follow out the details; in the real market,
we should pass along rapidly with averted eyes and nose. The joys and
sorrows of the hero of a poem or work of imagination affect us in like
manner with deep pleasure, while we feel only pain at actual sufferings,
and actual joys ever appear incomplete and imperfect. Even happiness,
supposing it to be attained, always brings with it the bitter thought,
How long will it last? Well, therefore does Schiller say, "Ernst ist das
Leben, heiter ist die Kunst." (Serious, or stern, is life, cheerful is
art.) Art alone,--the creation of fancy,--procures unmingled pleasure;
and therefore let us, dear Julia, never cease to rejoice that an active
creative fancy is stirring within us, and sometimes procures us
enjoyments which reality cannot bestow. Shall I then prepare for myself
such an innocent festival, and fly across the sea to you? we have been
but too long asunder.
How beautiful does everything appear to me! It is spring;--the violets
send forth enchanting fragrance after the heavy shower; swallows are
twittering in the air, and pretty little water-wagtails are running
merrily round the lake. And now the sun breaks from behind the last
lingering dark cloud, in all his majesty, and draws strange characters
on the distant mountains. The old limetrees around us gleam like
emeralds; gay butterflys try their light wings, and frolic, as if drunk
with joy, over the grassy carpet. Bees hum busily around the thousand
fresh flowers, and green beetles glitter in the sunlight. But now a
splendid bow arises out of the west, spans the blue sky above the
castle, and sinks on the black pine-forest. Now is the cheerful
white-covered table set, and decked with polished utensils. The juicy
fruits of the hot-house, hyacinthine Xeres in crystal cups, and
champagne covered with thick mist, from the ice, await the guests:--and
see who advances slowly and gravely among the shrubs, with that
dignified air?