_London, June 5th, 1827._
This morning I paid a visit to Mrs. Hope, and saw her husband's
collection of works of art more in detail. A very beautiful Venus by
Canova was peculiarly interesting to me, having seen it some years ago,
unfinished, in the 'atélier' of that delightful artist in Rome; it then
left a more agreeable impression on my mind than any of his works.
Among the pictures, I was particularly struck with the infamous Cesare
Borgia, by Correggio. What a sublime villain! He stands in the most
intrepid manly beauty; vigour and loftiness of mind beam from every
feature; in the eyes alone lurks the ferocious tiger. The collection is
peculiarly rich in pictures of the Flemish school; many of them are of
inimitable truth, which I freely confess has often a greater charm for
me than even the perfect representation of an Ideal, if that does not
happen to hit some kindred conception in my own mind.
Thus a fine stately old Dutch burgher's wife, drinking down a glass of
wine with great 'délice,'--her husband wrapped in his cloak with the
bottle out of which he has just helped her still in his hand, while he
looks at her with good-natured pleasure,--was to me a very attractive
subject.
So, likewise, some officers of the sixteenth century in their handsome
and appropriate dress, carousing after their hard and bloody toils: and
several others, equally true to nature. Among the landscapes I made
acquaintance with a Hobbima, which has the greatest resemblance to the
manner of Ruysdael. Fruit, which almost deceived the sense, by Van
Huysum and Van Os. Houses, in which every tile is given, by Van der
Meer. Several Wouvermans, Paul Potters, &c. &c.--nothing was wanting to
complete the richness of the collection. Only the modern English
pictures were bad.
The rest of the day I staid at home, to hallow the birthday of my good
mother, alone and in quiet.
_June 7th._
As a sample of the necessities of a London dandy, I send you the
following statement by my 'fashionable' washerwoman, who is employed by
some of the most distinguished 'élégans,' and is the only person who can
make cravats of the right stiffness, or fold the breasts of shirts with
plaits of the right size. An 'élégant,' then, requires per week,--Twenty
shirts; twenty-four pocket-handkerchiefs; nine or ten pair of 'summer
trowsers;' thirty neck-handkerchiefs (unless he wears black ones;) a
dozen waistcoats; and stockings 'á discretion.'
I see your housewifely soul aghast. But as a dandy cannot get on without
dressing three or four times a day, the affair is 'tout simple,' for he
must appear,--
1st. In breakfast toilette,--a chintz dressing-gown and Turkish
slippers.
2nd. Morning riding dress,--frock coat, boots and spurs.
3rd. Dinner dress,--dress coat and shoes.
4th. Ball dress, with 'pumps,' a word signifying shoes as thin as paper.
At six o'clock the Park was so full that it was like a rout on
horseback, only much pleasanter; instead of carpets or chalked floors
there was the green turf, a fresh breeze instead of stifling heat and
vapour; and instead of tiring one's own legs, one made the horse's do
all the work.
Before I rode thither I called on Princess E---- and found three young
and handsome 'ambassadrices en conférence, toutes les trois profondement
occupées d'une queue;' namely, whether it was necessary to wear one at
the queen of Würtemberg's, or not.
At a ball this evening, at the forementioned Marchioness of
Londonderry's, I saw the Polonaise and the Mazurka danced here for the
first time,--and very badly. We supped in the Statue Gallery. Many
ladies had hung shawls and other articles of dress on the statues, which
dreadfully shocked one's feeling for art. At six I came home, and am
writing to you while they are closing my shutters to make an artificial
night. The valets here have a sad life of it, and can only sleep out of
hand, if I may say so, or like watchmen, in the day.
_June 13th._
I have already told you that one is invited here to a Royal Prince, just
as in some other places, among intimate friends, to a dainty dish. I was
thus invited yesterday to dine with the Duchess of Gloucester, and
to-day with the Duke of Sussex. This Prince, who is 'brouillé' with the
King, has gained great popularity by his liberal opinions, and quite
deserves it. He has been much on the Continent, and likes the German
mode of life. Our language is perfectly familiar to him, as indeed it is
to most of his brothers. In compliment to him, after the ladies left the
table, cigars were brought, and more than one smoked, which I never
before saw in England. Monsieur de Moutron told a great many droll
stories, with genuine French address. But the most amusing person was
Major Keppel, the Persian traveller, who related some rather
'scabreuses' but amazingly 'piquantes' anecdotes, which he would not
commit to print, and which I reserve till we meet. In the morning I
drive to Ascot with young Captain R----, and shall visit Windsor, to
make some break in this life of uniform dissipation. It is supposed that
the races will be unusually brilliant, as the King is to be present, and
his horses are to run.
_Windsor, June 14th._
After a rapid drive of twenty-five English miles,--partly through
Windsor Park, behind which the Castle, the residence of so many kings,
rears its head,--we reached the wide and barren heath of Ascot, where
the races are held. The place presented a perfect picture of pleasuring
encampment. Endless lines of tents for horse and man; streets of
carriages along the course, chiefly filled with pretty women; high
stands, consisting of three or four stages one above another, with the
King's stand at the goal;--all this enlivened by twenty or thirty
thousand people, of whom many have been encamped here five or six
days:--such are the leading features of the motley picture. One part
forms a sort of fair, where among the other booths and tents,--like a
Liberty or Free Quarter[58] in the middle ages,--are to be found various
games of hazard, elsewhere severely forbidden.
The ladies in the carriages are provided with excellent breakfasts, and
champagne, which they distribute with great hospitality. I found many
old friends, and made some new acquaintances; among others, an extremely
agreeable woman, Lady ----, who invited me to dine at her cottage. As the
races ended for to-day at six o'clock, we drove to T---- Park, through a
most beautiful country, so thickly studded with trees that spite of its
ploughed fields it had the appearance of a cultivated wood. We arrived
before the family, and found the house open, but without a servant or
any living creature in it. It was like the enchanted dwelling of a
fairy, for a more lovely abode cannot be conceived. Could you but have
seen it! On a rising ground, half-concealed by the most magnificent old
trees, stood a house whose various jutting parts, built at different
periods, and here and there hidden by the shrubberies, never permitted
the eye to catch its entire outline. A sort of colonnade of rose-trees,
covered with flowers, led directly into the hall; and passing through
some other apartments and a corridor, we reached the dining-room, where
a table stood richly covered,--but still no human being was visible. The
garden lay before us, a perfect paradise, lighted by the glow of the
evening sun. Along the whole house, now projecting, now receding, were
verandas of various forms, and clothed with creeping plants. These
formed a border to the gayest flower-garden, covering the whole slope of
the hill. Close upon the edge of it was a deep and narrow green valley;
behind which the ground rose again and formed a higher line of hill, the
side of which was clothed with huge beeches. At the end of the valley
the near view was terminated by water. In the distance, above the crown
of trees, was seen the 'Round Tower' of Windsor Castle, with the
majestic royal banner floating in the blue air. This was the only object
to remind us that Nature, or some beneficient fairy, did not reign alone
here; but that man, with his pleasures, his pomps, and his necessities,
was near at hand. Like a beacon-tower of ambition it looked down upon
the peaceful cottages; alluring the gazer to a higher but more deceitful
enjoyment, which he who obtains buys only with his own grievous loss.
Peace and contentment abide in the valley.
My poetical 'extase' was interrupted by my fair hostess, who was greatly
amused at our description of her enchanted palace, and immediately took
care that we should be shown to our rooms, to make our toilet, which the
dust and heat rendered very necessary. An excellent dinner, with iced
champagne and delicious fruits, was very grateful, and we remained at
table till midnight. Coffee and tea, with music, occupied two hours
more, the latter of which, I must in all sincerity confess, we could
willingly have dispensed with.
After our agreeable evening a rather disagreeable incident awaited me.
As I was going to bed B---- began to exclaim that ill-luck followed him
everywhere.
"Why, what has happened?"
"O Lord! if I could help it I would not tell, but it must come out."
"Now, Devil take you, make an end; what is it?"
The confused-headed old fellow had put a purse with five and twenty
pounds I gave him into the pocket of the carriage, instead of into the
seat; and, like Kotzebue's stupid country squire, took it out in the
tumult of the booths to pay for a glass of beer, changed a sovereign,
because as he said he had no small money, and then carefully put the
purse in the same place again. It followed, as a matter of course in
England, that when he returned to the carriage it was gone.
_Richmond, June 13th._
This morning we visited the Castle, which is now completing according to
the old plan, and is already the vastest and most magnificent residence
possessed by any sovereign in Europe. The time was too short to see the
interior, which I therefore deferred to another opportunity. I only paid
a visit to the Duchess of C----, who lives in the great tower and enjoys
a delicious view from her lofty balcony. Among her attendants was a
beautiful Greek boy in his national costume, scarlet, blue, and gold,
with naked legs and feet. He was saved from the massacre of Scio by
being hidden in an oven. He is now become a perfect Englishman, but has
retained something inexpressibly noble and foreign in his air. At one
o'clock we returned to the race-ground; and this time I received my
breakfast (luncheon) from the hands of another beauty. At the close of
the races we drove to Richmond, where R----'s regiment is quartered,
and passed a very joyous evening with the officers. The universal
competence of England permits a far more luxurious life than military
men enjoy with us. These gentlemen deny themselves nothing, and their
mess is better served throughout than many a princely table in Germany.
In the morning this regiment of Hussars and a regiment of Lancers are to
be reviewed by an Inspecting General, which I shall stay to see.
_June 16th._
The regiment went through its business very well; with less
affectation,--perhaps with less precision,--than our marvellously
trained three-year horse-soldiers; but with more true military coolness,
and with the steadiness and ease resulting from long habit: all their
evolutions too were more rapid, from the excellence of their horses,
with which those of the Continent are not to be compared. The English
cavalry has gained immensely in command of the rein, and in military
seat, since the last war, which is mainly to be ascribed to the care
and attention of the Duke of Wellington: the men had their horses as
well in hand as the best of ours. The extraordinary thing, according to
our notions, was to see the perfect ease with which fifty or sixty
officers in plain clothes,--several General officers among them, some in
undress jackets and top-boots, some in frock-coats and coloured
cravats,--took part in the review, and thronged around the Inspecting
General, who with his two aids-de-camp were the only men in uniform,
except the regiment. Nay, even some supernumerary officers of the
regiment itself, not on actual service, rode about with him in civil
dress and shoes,--a sight which would have given such shock to the
nerves of a ---- general, as would have endangered his intellects for
ever. In a word, one sees here more of the reality; with us, more of the
form. Here, 'tis true, the clothes do not make the man; and this
simplicity is sometimes very imposing.
R---- told me that this regiment was originally formed by the Tailors'
Company, at the time of the threatened French invasion, and at first
consisted entirely of tailors. They are now transformed into very sturdy
martial hussars, and fought with great distinction at La Belle Alliance.
_June 18th._
Since the day before yesterday I have returned to the old track. I
'débutai' with four balls, and a dinner at Lord Caernarvon's, where I
met Monsieur Eynard, the celebrated Philhellenist, whose pretty wife
manifests an equal enthusiasm for the Greek cause. Yesterday I dined at
Esterhazy's, and met a young Spaniard whom I could not help wishing an
actor, that he might play Don Juan, for he seemed to me the perfect
Ideal of that character. With the tones of the dramatic Pasta, whom one
hears every evening, ringing in my ears, I went to bed.
This evening there was a concert at the tall Duke's, where every body
was in raptures at old Velluti, because he sang well once upon a time.
He lives here upon his ancient fame. From thence I went to one of the
prettiest balls I have seen in London, at the house of a Scotch woman of
rank. The largest room was entirely decorated with paper lamps made in
the forms of various flowers, very tastefully grouped.
As we got into our carriages at six o'clock, by sunshine, the ladies had
a most strange appearance. No 'fraicheur' could stand this test: they
changed colour like chameleons. Some looked perfectly blue, some
mottled, most of them death-like, their locks hanging about, their eyes
glassy. It was frightful to see how the blooming rosebuds of lamplight
were suddenly changed by the sunbeams into faded withered roses.
_June 23rd._
What say you, dear Julia, to a breakfast given to two thousand people?
Such an one took place to-day in the 'Horticultural Gardens,' which are
extensive enough to accommodate that number of persons conveniently. Not
that there was any deficiency of horrible crowding in the tents in which
the provisions were placed,--especially where the prize fruits were
exhibited. As soon as the prizes were distributed, they were devoured in
the twinkling of an eye, in the coarsest and most unseemly manner. There
was one Providence pine which weighed eleven pounds; deep red and green
ones of not much smaller dimensions; strawberries as big as small
apples; and the rarest choice of delicious fruits of all kinds. The
fête, on the whole, was gay, and of an agreeable rural character.
The smooth turf, and the well-dressed company that trod it; the tents
and groups among the shrubs; perfect masses of roses and flowers of
every kind, produced the most cheerful, agreeable scene. I drove there
with our Ambassador, with whom I returned at seven in the evening. We
could not help laughing at the strange industry of an Irishman, who
affected to light us to our carriages, with a lantern in which there
was, of course, no light, as it was broad day. By this piece of manual
wit he earned a shilling from the merry and good-natured. One of his
English comrades called out to him, "You are showing the way to liberal
people." "Oh!" said he, "if I did not know them for such, I should not
go with them." Odd enough too were the Tyrolese singers, who are in
great fashion; they call every body, even the King, who talks German
with them, '_Du_' (thou), and are strangers to all false shame or fear
of man. It is comical enough to see one of them go up to Prince
Esterhazy, to whose patriotic favour they are chiefly indebted for their
great vogue, put out his hand to him and exclaim, "_Nun, was machst Du,
Esterhazy?_" (literally, "Well, what art thou about, Esterhazy?") The
little female in this party of wonderful animals came up to me to-day
and said, "I have been looking at thee a long time, for thou art so like
my dear John, that I must give thee a kiss." The offer was not very
tempting, for the girl is ugly; but as His Majesty himself has kissed
her (of which there is a good caricature in the shops), the proposal is
now esteemed flattering.
_June 26th._
The Duke of Northumberland had the kindness to show me his fine palace
to-day in detail. I here found what I had long vainly desired to see,--a
house in which not only the general effect is that of the highest
splendour and elegance, but every thing, the greatest as well as the
smallest, is executed with equal exactness and perfection,--'ou rien ne
cloche.'
Such an Ideal is in this instance completely realized. You do not find
the smallest trifle neglected, not a line awry, not a speck of dirt,
nothing faded, nothing out of fashion or keeping, nothing worn out,
nothing sham, not an article of furniture, not a window, or a door,
which is not, in its way, a model of workmanship.
This extraordinary perfection has indeed cost several hundred thousand
pounds, and doubtless no little trouble; but it is perhaps unique in its
kind. The richest embellishment from works of art and curiosities is
also not wanting. The arrangement of the latter on terrace-formed
shelves covered with violet velvet, behind which are looking-glasses in
one piece, is very tasteful. One of the most striking things is the
marble staircase, with a railing of gilded bronze. The hand-rail of
polished mahogany at the top is a curious piece of workmanship: by some
contrivance, which remains a secret, the wood is so put together that it
is impossible to discover a single joint from top to bottom. The whole
seems to be made of one piece, or is so really. Another remarkable thing
is the false 'porte cochère' in the outer wall, which is only opened on
occasion of a great press of carriages; and when closed, cannot be
detected in the façade. It is of iron, and so completely masked by a
coating of composition stone and a false window, that it cannot be
distinguished from the rest of the house.--Of the pictures another time.
At the Duke of Clarence's, in the evening, I made the acquaintance of a
very interesting man,--Sir Gore Ouseley, late ambassador to Persia, who
was accompanied by Mr. Morier, the author of Hadji Baba, as his
secretary of legation. I must tell you two or three characteristic
anecdotes of that country, which I heard from him.
The present Shah was held in such a state of dependence by his prime
minister, Ibrahim Khan, who had placed him on the throne while yet a
child, that he had little more than the name of a ruler. It was
impossible for him to make any resistance, since every province or city
throughout the empire was governed, without exception, by relations or
creatures of the minister. At length the Shah determined to withdraw
himself at all risks from such a bondage, and devised the following
energetic means, which bear the genuine stamp of Oriental character.
According to the ancient institutions of the country, there exists a
class of soldiers, thinly scattered through all the principal towns,
called the King's guard. These obey no order that does not proceed
immediately from the King himself, and bear his own private signet: this
guard has thus remained the only body independent of the minister, and
the sole sure support of the throne. The King now secretly despatched
orders, written by his own hand, to the chief of this faithful band,
requiring them on a particular day and hour to put to death all
Ibrahim's relations throughout the kingdom. On the appointed day the
Shah held a Divan, sought to bring on a dispute with Ibrahim, and when
the latter assumed his usual lofty tone, commanded him immediately to
retire to the state prison. The minister smiled, and replied, "that he
would go, but that the King would be pleased to consider that the
governor of every one of his provinces would call him to account for
this act." "Not now, friend Ibrahim," exclaimed the King gaily,--"Not
now." Then drawing out his English watch, and casting a withering glance
at the perplexed minister, he coolly added, "At this minute the last of
your blood has ceased to breathe, and you will soon follow." And so it
happened.
The second anecdote shows that the Shah acts on the principle of the
French song, which says, "quand on a dépeuplé la terre, il faut la
répeupler aprés."
At Sir Gore's audience of leave, he begged the Shah graciously to tell
him what was the number of his children, that he might give his own
monarch correct information on so interesting a subject, provided, as
was probable, he should make any inquiry. "A hundred and fifty-four
sons," replied the Shah. "May I venture to ask your Majesty how many
children?" The word daughters, according to the rules of Oriental
etiquette, he dared not to pronounce, and indeed the general question
was, according to Persian notions, almost an offence. The King, however,
who liked Sir Gore very much, did not take it ill. "Ha ha! I understand
you," said he laughing; and called to the chief of his eunuchs, "Musa,
how many daughters have I?" "King of kings," answered Musa, prostrating
himself on his face, "five hundred and sixty." When Sir Gore Ouseley
repeated this conversation to the Empress-mother in Petersburg, she only
exclaimed, "Ah, le monstre!"
_June 29th._
As the season, thank Heaven, now draws near its close, I project a tour
to the north of England, and Scotland, whither I have received several
invitations, but had rather preserve my liberty in order to scour the
country 'à ma guise,' if time and circumstances permit.
To-day we had the finest weather I have seen in England; and as I
returned from the country in the evening, after an early dinner at Count
Münster's, I saw, for the first time, an Italian light on the
distance,--shades of blue and lilac as rich and as soft as a picture of
Claude's.
'A propos,' among the notabilia for imitation I must mention a
flower-table of the Countess's. The top is a crystal-clear glass, under
which is a deep box or tray filled with wet sand, with a fine wire net
over it, in the interstices of which fresh flowers are closely stuck.
The tray is pushed in, and you have the most beautiful flower-picture to
write or work over. If you wish to regale yourself with the fragrance,
you may open the glass cover, or remove it entirely.
Children's balls are now the order of the day, and I went to one of the
prettiest this evening at Lady Jersey's. These highborn northern
children had every possible advantage of dress, and many were not
without grace; but it really afflicted me to observe how early they had
ceased to be children;--the poor things were, for the most part, as
unnatural, as unjoyous, and as much occupied with themselves, as we
great figures around them. Italian peasant-children would have been a
hundred times more graceful and more engaging. It was only at supper
that the animal instinct displayed itself more openly and unreservedly,
and, breaking through all forms and all disguises, reinstated Nature in
her rights. The pure and lovely natural feeling, however, was the
tenderness of the mothers, which betrayed itself without affectation in
their beaming eyes, made many an ugly woman tolerable, and gave to the
beautiful a higher beauty.
A second ball at Lady R----'s presented the hundredth repetition of the
usual stupid throng, in which poor Prince B----, for whose corpulence
these squeezes are little adapted, fainted, and leaning on the banister,
gasped for air like a dying carp. Pleasure and happiness are certainly
pursued in very odd ways in this world.
_July 3rd._
This afternoon I rode by a long circuitous way to eat a solitary fish
dinner at Greenwich. The view from the Observatory is remarkable for
this,--that almost the whole surface of ground you overlook is occupied
by the city of London, which continually stretches out its polypus arms
wider and wider, and swallows up the villages in its neighbourhood, one
after another. Indeed, for a population equal to that of half the
kingdom of Saxony some space is wanted.
I went into the Ship tavern, gave my horse to the hostler, and was shown
into a very neat little room with a balcony projecting over the Thames,
under which the fish were swimming which I, merciless human beast of
prey, was about to devour. The river was enlivened by a hundred barks;
music and song resounded cheerfully from the steam-boats passing by; and
behind the gay scene, the sun, blood-red, and enveloped in a light veil
of mist, declined towards the horizon. As I sat at the window, I gave
audience to my thoughts, till the entrance of various sorts of fish as
variously prepared, called me to more material pleasures. Iced
champagne, and Lord Chesterfield's Letters, which I had put into my
pocket, gave zest to my repast; and after a short siesta, during which
night had come on, I remounted my horse and rode the German mile and a
half to my home through an unbroken avenue of brilliant gas lamps, and
over well-watered roads. It was just striking midnight when I reached
the house, and a coffin hung with black passed me on the left like an
apparition.
_July 5th._
B---- gave me your letter at Almack's, and I immediately hastened 'home'
with it. How greatly have your descriptions rejoiced me! I was near
weeping over the venerable trees that called to me, through you,--"Oh,
our master and lord, hearest thou not the rustling of our leafy tops,
the home of so many birds?" Ah, yes, I hear it in spirit, and shall have
no true enjoyment till I am once more therewith my truest friend, and
the plants that are to me as loving children. I thank you cordially for
the leaf of cinq foil; and as the horse of the accompanying Vienna
postillion, the bearer of a thousand blessings, has lost his tail on the
road, I have replaced it by this leaf, which gives him a genuine Holy
Alliance look.
Here my old B---- interrupted me with the question whether he might stay
out for the night, promising to be back by eight in the morning. I gave
him leave, and asked, laughing, what adventure he had in hand? "Ach!"
said he, "I only want for once to see how they hang people here, and at
six o'clock in the morning five men are to be hanged at once."
What a discord rang through my whole being, just filled with joyous
tumult! What a contrast between the thousands, wearied with the dance,
and sated with multiplied amusements, returning home at that hour to
their luxurious couches, and those wretched beings who are condemned to
pass through anguish and pain into eternity! I exclaimed again with
Napoleon, "Oh, monde, monde!" and for a long time, after a day wasted in
frivolity, could not go to sleep; I was pursued by the thought that at
that very moment perhaps these unhappy ones were called to take so
fearful a leave of the world and its joys; not excited and elevated by
the feeling of being martyrs to some good or great cause, but the
victims of vulgar, debasing crime. Men pity those who suffer innocently:
how much more pitiable do the guilty appear to me!
My imagination when once excited always outstrips wisdom and expediency;
and thus did all vain pleasures, all those refinements of luxury which
mock at misery and privation, now appear to me in the light of real
sins: indeed I very often feel in the same temper with regard to them. A
luxurious dinner has often been spoiled to me when I have looked at the
poor servants, who are present indeed, but only as assistant slaves; or
thought of the needy, who at the close of a long day's ceaseless toil
can hardly obtain their scanty miserable meal; while we, like the
epicure in the English caricature, envy the beggar _his hunger_. Yet
spite of all these good and just feelings, (I judge of others by
myself,) we should be greatly incensed if our servant played the
Tantalus and removed the dishes from our tempting table, or if the poor
man invited himself to share our feast without the wedding garment.
Heaven has ordained that some should enjoy, while others want; and so
it must remain in _this_ world. Every shout of joy is echoed, in some
other place, by a cry of grief and despair; and while one man here
breaks the cord of existence in phrensy, another is lost elsewhere in an
ecstasy of delight.
Let no one therefore fret himself vainly concerning it, if he neither
deserve nor understands that it should fare better or worse with him
than with others. Fate delights in this bitter irony--therefore pluck, O
man! the flowers with child-like joy so long as they bloom; share their
fragrance and beauty when you can with others, and manfully present a
breast of steel to your own misfortunes.
_July 7th._