Among the most aristocratical parties are to be numbered the concerts of
one of the most liberal members of the Opposition,--an anomaly often to
be found here; where a certain vague general liberalism goes
hand-in-hand with the narrowest pride and most arrogant conceit of
class; and where the haughtiest man in his own house possesses the
reputation of the most liberal in public life.
Very amusing parties are also given by a Duchess, whose brevet is so new
that she is reckoned a plebeian by the exclusives:--such an one took
place to-day. On the second floor there was an excellent concert, on the
first a ball, and on the ground-floor constant eating.
At the dinner which preceded, the servants waited in white kid gloves,
an imitation of another fashionable Duke. This almost disgusted me, for
I could not get out of my head the lazaretto, and other disagreeable
cutaneous associations.
More rich in intellectual enjoyment was my yesterday's dinner at the
Duke of Somerset's, a man of very various accomplishments. At table, a
celebrated parliamentary orator told some strange things: among others,
he said that he had lately been a member of a Commission for
investigating the connexion between the police and the thieves, about
which so many complaints have been made. It came out, that a Society
existed in London, completely organized with 'bureaux,' 'clerks,' &c.,
which directed thefts and coining on a large scale, supported those who
were taken, and afforded powerful assistance both offensive and
defensive, &c. He asserted, that at the head of this association were
not only several people in respectable stations, and members of
Parliament, but even a well-known Peer of the realm. The proofs were of
a kind that left no room for doubt; but to avoid the dreadful scandal,
the Ministry had determined to let the matter drop. One sees that in
free countries things go forward which we don't so much as dream of.
A lover of natural history afterwards read us a lecture on toads, which,
in their sphere, seemed to me as odd sort of people as the foregoing.
_March 27th._
I am just come back from the Levée, which was very numerously attended.
The King was obliged to sit, on account of his gout, but looked very
well. The Duke of Wellington returned thanks for his elevation to the
Premiership by falling on both knees, whereas it is usual only to kneel
on one. His gratitude was probably double, on account of his double
quality of Prime Minister and former Commander-in-Chief, as the
caricatures represent him,--the left half of his body dressed as a
courtier, the right as field-marshal, but laughing on both sides of his
face. As, with the exception of the 'Grande entrée,' almost everybody is
admitted to these levées if they can but appear in the prescribed dress,
there cannot be better sport for the lovers of caricatures. The
unaccustomed dress, and no less unwonted splendour of royalty, raise the
national awkwardness and embarrassment to their highest pitch. Our
charming well drilled court-ladies would often distrust their own eyes.
As soon as I had changed my dress, I rode in the most delightful spring
weather in the still solitary Regent's Park, where hundred of
almond-trees are in blossom; and visited the ménagérie lately
established there, which presents a model worthy of imitation. There is
nothing over-done, and at the same time a neatness, which assuredly can
be attained nowhere but in England. Here I saw a tiger-cat, a creature
which seemed to me a perfect model of beauty and elegance among
quadrupeds.
I afterwards went to a grand dinner at the Marquis of Thomond's, an
Irish peer, at which I met one of the most conspicuous Tories in
England, the Duke of N----. I must confess he has not much the look of a
genius; and the whole party was so stiffly English, that I heartily
rejoiced at being seated next to Princess P----, whose lively
good-natured ultra prattle appeared to me, to-day, as agreeable as if it
had been the most intellectual conversation in the world.
I concluded the evening with a ball at the Marquis of Beresford's, in
honour of the Marchioness de Louly, sister of Don Miguel, who however
seemed not a little bored. She speaks only Portuguese, and therefore
could converse with scarcely any body but the host.
The Marshal himself is a striking soldierlike-looking man, against whom
party spirit has been very unjustly directed. He is a man of resolute
character, as well as of attractive manners, such as many Governments,
beside the Portuguese, might employ to advantage; strong as a lion, and
prudent as a serpent. He considers Don Miguel's claim to the throne of
Portugal as better founded than that of his brother; and maintains, that
in judging of persons and events in other countries, we must resort to a
totally different standard from that which we employ in our own. He says
that Don Miguel's education was so neglected, that in his
three-and-twentieth year he could not write; that much therefore could
not be expected from such a prince; but that he had some brilliant
natural qualities, and that the newspapers were not to be implicitly
believed. This latter assertion, at least, I am not inclined to doubt.
_April 7th._
I thought it a real blessing to-day to dine in the country, quite 'sans
gêne' at H---- Lodge, the pretty villa of the Duchess of St. A----. In
front of the house, which stands on the slope of a hill, bloomed a
splendid star of crocuses and other early flowers, in the midst of the
bright green turf, surrounding a marble fountain; while over the tops of
the trees the giant city lay dimly seen in the valley, like a 'fata
montana' of the New Jerusalem in a gauze mist. The dinner was, as usual,
excellent; and after dinner we had a concert in a beautiful green-house
filled with flowers and fruits. I sat at table next to a lineal
descendant of Charles the Second, a relation of the Duke's,--for about
half a dozen English Peers spring from mistresses of the merry monarch,
and bear the royal arms quartered with their own, of which they are not
a little proud.
It is still very cold, but yet leaves and flowers break forth
vigorously,--a sight that would enrapture me at home, but here gives me
a heart sickness that is often hardly endurable. Nevertheless I do not
choose to sit down again on the old golden seat of thorns, but will
rather seek out a smooth and comfortable common stool, on which I may
repose in freedom.
_---- Park, April 9th._
I came here yesterday, and am with a large party at the house of a very
'fashionable' lady. The house is as tastefully and richly adorned as
possible, but too stately and too portentous in its beauty to be truly
agreeable, at least to me. Besides, there is a certain L---- here, a
patent witling, whose every word the extremely good-natured company
holds itself bound to admire: people affect great liking for him, from
fear of his evil tongue. Such intellectual bullies are my mortal
abhorrence; especially when, like this, to a repulsive exterior they
unite all the gall and acrimony of satire, without any of its grace.
They appear in human society like venomous insects, whom, from some
pitiable weakness, we assist in feeding on the blood of others, so that
they do not suck our own.
The still life about me speaks more to my heart than the human beings;
especially the sweet flowers which are placed in pretty vases and
receptacles of all sorts in all the apartments. Among the pictures, I
admired a Joseph leading the little Jesus, by Morillo. In the beautiful
child lies the germ of the future greatness and god-like nature of the
Redeemer: as yet it slumbers dimly, but is wonderfully expressed in the
prophetic beaming of the eye. Joseph appears a plain simple man, in the
full vigour of middle age, betraying dignity of character though not of
station:--the landscape is wild and original, and cherubs' heads peep
sweetly forth out of the dark clouds. The picture, the owner told me,
cost him two thousand and five hundred pounds.
I was much pleased with a conservatory for palms, built almost entirely
of glass,--so transparent that it looks like a house of ice.
The country life here is in some respects too social for my taste. If,
for instance, you wish to read, you go into the library, where you are
seldom alone:--if you have letters to write, you sit at a great common
writing table just as much in public; they are then put into a box with
holes, and taken by a servant to the Post. To do all this in your own
room is not usual, and therefore surprises and annoys people. Many a
foreigner would like to breakfast in his own room; but this he cannot
well do, unless he pleads illness. With all the freedom and absence of
useless ceremonies and tedious complimenting, there is yet, for a person
accustomed to our habits, a considerable degree of constraint, which the
continual necessity of speaking in a foreign tongue renders more
oppressive.
_London, April 12th._
I took my leave of ---- Park this morning just as an April storm was
clearing off, breathed the spring air with delight, and looked with
ecstacy at the brilliant green and the bursting buds,--a sight of which
I am never weary. Spring indemnifies our northern climes for all the
discomfort of their winter; for this awakening of young Nature is
accompanied with far less coquetry on her part in the South.
I was invited again to dinner at the Duchess of St. A----'s
country-house, where a very agreeable surprise awaited me. I arrived
late, and was placed between my hostess, and a tall very simple, but
benevolent looking man of middle age, who spoke broad Scotch,--a dialect
anything but agreeable; and would probably have struck me for nothing
else, had I not soon discovered that I was sitting next to--the Great
Unknown. It was not long ere many a sally of dry, poignant wit fell from
his lips, and many an anecdote, told in the most unpretending manner,
which, without seeming brilliant, was yet striking. His eye, too,
glanced, whenever he was animated, with such a clear, good-natured
lustre, and that with such an expression of true-hearted kindness and
natural feeling, that it was impossible not to conceive a sort of love
for him. Towards the end of dinner he and Sir Francis Burdett told
ghost-stories, half-terrible, half-humorous, admirably, one against the
other. This at last encouraged me to tell your famous key story, which I
embelished a little in the 'dénouement.' It had great success; and it
would be droll enough if you were to find it in the next romance of the
prolific Scotchman.
He afterwards recited a curious old inscription which he had recently
discovered in the churchyard of Melrose Abbey. It was as follows:
"The earth goes on the earth, glittering in gold,
The earth goes to the earth sooner than it would;
The earth builds on the earth castles and towers,
The earth says to the earth--All this is ours."
When translated, something like this:
"Erd' geht auf Erde glänzend in Gold,
Erd' geht zur Erde früher denn wollt';
Erd' baut auf Erde Schlösser von Stein,
Erd' sagt zur Erde--Alles ist mein!'
True enough; for earth we were, are, and shall be.
A little concert concluded the evening; in which the very pretty
daughter of the great bard,--a healthy-looking Highland beauty,--took
part; and Miss Stephens sang nothing but Scotch ballads. It was not till
late in the night that I reached London and enriched my book of
memoranda with a sketch of Sir Walter Scott--very like, for which I am
indebted to the kindness of my hostess. As none of the engravings I have
seen resemble him, I shall send you a copy with this letter.
_April 27th._
The 'trouble' of this day was very monotonous; only a dinner at the
Spanish ambassador's furnished me with one agreeable recollection. A
Spanish girl, full of fire and beauty, sang boleros in such a manner
that they awakened a completely new musical sense in me. If I may judge
from them, and from a fandango I once saw danced, Spanish society must
be very different from ours, and far more 'piquante.'
Yesterday I was invited 'to meet the Dukes of Clarence and Sussex,'
declined the honour for the sake of meeting Mademoiselle H---- at our
friend B----'s. I had not seen her, and great and small are now at her
feet.
She is indeed an enchanting creature, and very dangerous to all who are
either new in the world, or who have nothing to think of but their own
pleasure. It is impossible to conceive a more unstudied and yet
effective inborn coquetry, (if I may use the expression,) so child-like,
so engaging, 'et cependent le díable n'y perd rien.'
She seemed to seize my weak side as well as that of every other man,
immediately, and talked to me, though without the slightest apparent
design, only of what was likely to be appropriate and agreeable to me.
The tones of my fatherland, too, fell from her pretty mouth in the
stream of conversation, like pearls and diamonds, and the loveliest blue
eyes lightened upon them like a spring sun behind a thin veil of clouds.
"To-morrow Kean plays Richard the Third," said she carelessly. "The Duke
of D---- has offered me his box;--would you like to accompany me?" That
such an in invitation will supersede all others, follows of course.
_April 28th._
Never did I see or hear less of a play than this evening, and yet I must
confess never did one appear to me shorter. Spite of the presence of a
'gouvernante,' and a visit from Mr. Kemble between the acts, there was
scarcely a pause in our conversation, which so many reminiscences of
home rendered doubly interesting.
This agreeable 'excitement,' too, lasted, on my side, during the ball
which followed at the fashionable Lady Tankerville's; for I felt less
'ennuyé' than usual at these heartless wooden parties. Forgive me if I
write only these few words, for Helios is leaving his bed, and I must go
to mine.
_April 29th._
Everything here is in colossal dimensions, even the workshop of my
tailor, which is like a manufactory. You go to ask about the fate of a
coat you have ordered; you find yourself surrounded by hundreds of bales
of cloth; and as many workmen;--a secretary appears with great
formality; and politely asks the day on which it was ordered. As soon as
you have told him, he makes a sign for two folios to be brought, in
which he pores for a short time. "Sir," is at last the answer,
"to-morrow at twenty minutes past eleven the 'frac' will be so far
advanced that you can try it on in the dressing-room." There are several
of these rooms, decorated with large looking-glasses and 'Psyches,'
continually occupied by fitters, where the wealthy tailor in person
makes a dozen alterations without ever betraying the least impatience or
ill-humour.
As soon as justice was done to the 'frac,' I continued my walk, and came
to a butcher's shop; where not only are the most beautiful garlands,
pyramids, and other fanciful forms constructed of raw meat, and elegant
vessels filled with ice give out the most delightful coolness, but a
play-bill hangs behind every leg of mutton, and the favourite newspapers
lie on the polished tables.
A few houses further on, a dealer in sea-monsters competes with him, and
sits, like King Fish in the fairy tale, between the marble and the
fountain. He would however find it difficult to rival his celebrated
colleague Crockford, who understands how to catch something better than
common fish.
This person is a man of genius, who has raised himself from the estate
of a poor fishmonger, to that of the scourge, and at the same time the
favourite, of the rich and fashionable world. He is a gambler, who has
won millions,[86] and with them has built a gaming palace on the plan of
the 'salons' at Paris, but with a truly Asiatic splendour almost
surpassing that of royalty. Everything is in the now revived taste of
the time of Louis the Fourteenth; decorated with tasteless excrescences,
excess of gilding, confused mixture of stucco painting, &c.,--a turn of
fashion very consistent in a country where the nobility grows more and
more like that of the time of Louis the Fourteenth.
Crockford's cook is the celebrated Ude, practically and theoretically
the best in Europe. The table and attendance are in the highest
perfection, combined with 'un jeu d'enfer,' at which twenty thousand
pounds and more has often been lost in one evening, by one man. The
company forms a club; admission is very difficult to obtain; and
although games at hazard are illegal in England, most of the Ministers
are members, and the Duke of Wellington, the Premier, one of the
managers of this gaming club.
_May 2nd._
Yesterday, the wedding day of the Duchess of St. A---, was celebrated by
a very pleasant rural fête at her villa. In the middle of the
bowling-green was a Maypole decorated with garlands and ribands, and
gaily-dressed peasants in the old English costume danced around it. The
company wandered about in the house and garden as they liked; many shot
with bows and arrows; others danced under tents, swung, or played all
sorts of games, or wandered in the shade of thick shrubberies; till at
five o'clock a few blasts of a trumpet announced a splendid breakfast,
at which all the delicacies and costly viands that luxury could furnish,
were served in the greatest profusion.
Many servants were dressed in fancy dresses as gardeners; and garlands
of fresh flowers were hung upon all the bushes, which produced an
indescribably rich effect. The day, too, was so singularly fine that I
was able, for the first time, to see London quite clear from fog, and
only slightly obscured by smoke.
As night drew on, the effect of the garlands of flowers was renewed by
many-coloured lamps, tastefully distributed amid the trees, or half
hidden among the thick shrubs. It was past midnight when breakfast
ended.
There was a concert, and then a ball, at which the lovely German waltzer
outshone all her rivals,--and with the most unpretending air, as if she
did not perceive one of her conquests. Perhaps there never was a woman
who had the art of appearing more innocent and childlike; and certainly
this captivating sort of coquetry is the greatest charm, though not,
perhaps, the greatest merit, of women.
_May 8th._
For a week past two or three concerts have resounded in my ears every
evening, or, as they here more properly say, every night. They are all
on a sudden become a perfect rage, from the highest and most exclusive
down to the herd of 'nobodies.' Mesdames Pasta, Caradori, Sontag,
Brambilla, Messrs. Zuchelli, Pellegrini, and Curioni, sing for ever and
ever the same airs and duets; which, however, people seem never tired of
hearing. They often sing--doubtless tired themselves of the eternal
monotony--very negligently, but that makes no difference whatever. The
ears that hear them are seldom very musically organized, and are only
awakened by 'fashion;' and those who are in the centre of the crowd
certainly can often hardly distinguish whether the Bassist or the Prima
Donna is singing, but must fall into extacies like the rest,
notwithstanding. For the performers, this 'furore' is profitable enough.
Sontag, for instance, in every party in which she is heard at all,
receives forty pounds, sometimes a hundred; and occasionally she attends
two or three in an evening. Pasta, whose singing is, to my taste,
sweeter, grander, more tragic, rivals her; the others, though their
merit is considerable, are in a subordinate rank.
Besides these, Moschelles, Pixis, the two Bohrers, 'enfin' a herd of
virtuosi, are here, all flocking to English gold, like moths around a
candle. Not that they burn themselves; on the contrary, the women, at
least, kindle fresh flames, right and left, which are sometimes even
more profitable than their art.
The concerts at Prince Leopold's are generally the most agreeable, and
the insufferable squeezing is somewhat avoided in his large rooms. This
Prince is less popular than he deserves; for the English can't forgive
him for being a foreigner.
_May 9th._
Riding with M----, we accidentally came through a charming country to
Strawberry Hill,--the house built by Horace Walpole, which he mentions
so often in his letters, and which has been wholly unaltered and little
inhabited since his death. It is the first attempt at modern Gothic in
England--quite in the 'clinquant' taste of that time; the stone-work
imitated in wood, and a great deal more that glitters without being
gold. There are, however, many real treasures of art and curiosities.
Among them is a magnificent prayer-book set with jewels, filled with
drawings by Raphael and his pupils; Cardinal Wolsey's hat; a very
expressive portrait of Madame du Deffant, Walpole's blind and witty
friend; and a picture of the celebrated Lady Mary Wortley Montague, in a
Turkish dress.
As every thing is to be found in England, I met with an Englishman of
rank, to-day, who has endeavoured to introduce German habits, German
domestic arrangements, and a German tone of society into his house. This
is Earl S----, who lived in our fatherland for a long time in rather
narrow circumstances, and suddenly came into a very large fortune. The
only thing in the English taste was the crimson liveries of his people,
with canary-coloured inexpressibles and _stockings_;--all the rest was
German; even the hour of dining was an approach to ours. The length of
the dinner was in the highest degree wearisome to me; I sat upon thorns,
especially as I was expected elsewhere.
In spite of my ill-humour, however, I could not help laughing at the
_Wienerisch_ (Vienna dialect) of my Austrian neighbour.
_May 16th._
I have been spending some days in the country at the Epsom races. The
scene was very lively; all the roads full of swiftly-rolling equipages;
and a large green hill in the middle of the plain, around which the
races are held, so thickly covered with a thousand unharnessed
carriages, and a motley crowd of horsemen and foot-passengers, that I
never saw a more picturesque popular festival.--Now set this picture in
the frame of a pretty cultivated landscape, with a sky full of dark
clouds, much rain, and rare but hot gleams of sunshine.
I returned yesterday, that I might not miss a party at the King's
to-day, to which I was invited--an event here looked upon as an
extraordinary 'bonne fortune.'--You must not associate any idea of Court
with it: but it is certain that the Ideal of a fashionable house cannot
be more completely realized. Every comfort and every elegance of a
private gentleman is united in the most tasteful and substantial manner
with royal magnificence; and the monarch himself is, as is well known,
prouder of nothing than of the title of "the first gentleman in
England."
_May 30th._
Though the everlasting whirl leaves little leisure, (and once drawn into
the vortex it is not easy to extricate one's-self, even though one may
find no pleasure in it,) I yet find a moment, from time to time, for
more quiet and more durable enjoyment.
In one such, I lately visited a most interesting collection of
pictures;--all portraits of persons eminent in English history. It was
remarkable how frequently most of them corresponded in features and
expression with the picture history has left us of them. The celebrated
Lord Burleigh had moreover a striking resemblance to the great State
Chancellor (_Staats Kanzler_) of Prussia, though he is greatly disguised
by his head-dress, which is like an old wife's cap. James the First was
divertingly true to his character; as was also his ambassador, the
eccentric knight who so delightfully declares in his memoirs, that
wherever he went, he charmed both men and women; and that his nature was
like that of no other man, for that both he and all descended from him
sent forth an atmosphere of the most agreeable natural fragrance.
I then went to another collection, consisting of modern paintings in
water-colours, in which branch of art the English have certainly
attained to a singular perfection. One is astonished at the glow and
depth of colouring they produce. The Scotch landscapes were remarkably
fine: there was a Sunset in the Highlands which rivalled Claude in
truth; and a twilight on Loch Lomond, a poem full of romantic beauty. I
had still time for a long ride, in the course of which, committing
myself as usual to the guidance of chance, I came upon a most enchanting
park, such as only the climate of England can produce. The gardens lay,
in all their indescribable glow of beauty, in a narrow and fertile green
valley full of high trees, under which three silver springs gushed
forth, and flowing away in meandering brooks, took their course in all
directions amid impervious thickets of blooming rhododendrons and
azaleas.
My delight in such scenes is ever saddened by the regret that you cannot
behold them with me: your fine and accurate taste would draw from them a
thousand ideas of new and lovelier creations; either by the skilful
grouping of colours, or by graceful forms, or by the distribution of
light, the effect of which may be so greatly enhanced by judicious
thinning or massing of the foliage.
The pleasant remembrance of this morning must diffuse itself over the
rest of the day, which was filled by a dinner at Lady P----'s,
distinguished for her love of good cheer; two balls at residences of
British and foreign diplomacy; and a concert at Lord Grosvenor's. This
was given, it is true, in a gallery of fine pictures; but on such an
occasion they hardly give one more pleasure than any other hangings.
_June 6th._
One of the most interesting houses to me is that of a noble Scot, the
Earl of W----, a lineal descendant of Macduff. In his armoury is a
branch of a tree said to be of Birnam Wood; probably a relic of the same
quality as most others. Blessed is he who can believe in them! The
family is most accomplished, and the Scotch mind is more nearly akin to
the German than the English is. The amiable daughters taught me a new
manner of preserving faithful and lasting portraits of feathered
favourites:--the feathers are pulled off, and pasted on card-board or
varnished wood, together with the legs and beak; this produces a
bas-relief of great truth, and not exposed to destruction.
Charles the Tenth spent some time in Scotland, at Lord W----'s and left
him an old maitre d'hotel, who, drolly enough, is called Bonneau, like
him of the Pucelle; and is one of that nearly extinct domestic race of
'hommes de confiance' who are now never seen but on the stage, and
hardly there. As such, and having been twenty-five years 'en fonction,'
he is allowed occasionally to put in a word,--quite contrary to English
manners, which do not permit servants to make the slightest approach to
their masters, except in the way of their service. I have really found
few things more amusing than this old Frenchman's stories about Court
and society; his world, in fact, terminated with those times of which we
can now scarcely form an idea. That the singular old man is only a 'a
maitre d'hotel' detracts nothing from the interest; for he has seen more
of the great world, and observed it better, than many of higher rank.
When I paid my visit to Lady W---- this morning, she had just received a
great cargo of curiosities from one of her sons, who is travelling in
South America. Among them was a lion-monkey, with a tail and mane like
those of the king of beasts, on a body not larger than that of a rat.
Instead of the disagreeable smell of most of his tribe, this little
fellow exhales musk and cinnamon; and, like the knight I lately
mentioned, perfumed the room like a pastile. A very complete collection
of serpents, and another of butterflies, exhibited colours such as are
only painted by the rising and setting sun.
I dined at Lady F----'s, where a curious incident occurred. Her husband
was formerly Governor of the Isle of France, where a black-woman sold
her a fortune-telling book, which, as she asserted, had belonged to the
Empress Josephine before her departure for France, and in which she had
read her future greatness and subsequent fall. Lady F---- produced it at
tea, and invited the company to interrogate Destiny according to the
prescribed method.--Now listen to the answers it gave, which are really
remarkable. Madame de Rothschild was the first: she asked, whether her
wishes would be fulfilled? She received for answer, "Weary not Fate with
wishes; one who has received so much ought to be satisfied."
Mr. Spring Rice, a distinguished member of Parliament, and one of the
most zealous champions of Catholic emancipation, (a subject in which
everybody here takes a strong interest, either for or against,) next
asked if this Bill would pass the Upper House, in which it was to be
finally debated on the morrow?--I must interrupt my narrative to tell
you that it is well known that it will not pass, but it is as
universally believed that next session the desired object must be
attained. "You will have no success this time," was the laconic reply. A
young American lady was now urged to inquire whether she would soon be
married. The answer was, "Not in this hemisphere." Next came my turn,
and I asked whether what now so strongly agitated my heart were for my
happiness. "Let the inclination drop," replied the magic book, "for you
will find it is neither real nor permanent." The company who of course
had no guess at my real meaning in this question, made themselves very
merry about the answer I had received, and insisted upon my proposing
another. I therefore asked, "Will Fortune be more favourable to me in
more serious projects?" "Seek," was the reply, "and you will find;
persevere, and you will obtain."
Without seeking, I found this evening something very agreeable; for I
was presented by the Duchess of Clarence to her mother, the Duchess of
Meiningen; a most amiable woman, of true German character; whom neither
years nor rank have been able to rob of her 'naïf' natural
manners,--perhaps the surest proof of a pure and lovely mind. This
worthy mother of an honoured daughter must be a welcome guest to the
English, who are much attached to their future Queen, and accordingly
they pay her the greatest attentions. Pity, that high as well as low are
generally too deficient in grace of manners, or felicity of address, to
be able to act the drama of society on such occasions, so as to render
the whole a pleasing or elegant spectacle! a drawing-room and a
presentation at Court here are as ludicrous as the levée of a
Bürgermeister of the ancient Free Imperial cities of our fatherland; and
all the pride and pomp of aristocracy disappears in the childish
'embarras' of these 'ladies,' loaded,--not adorned,--with diamonds and
fine clothes. In 'negligé,' and when they move at ease in their own
houses and their accustomed circle, young Englishwomen often appear to
great advantage: in 'parure' and large parties, scarcely ever; for an
uncontrollable timidity, destructive of all grace, so paralyses even
their intellectual powers, that a rational conversation with them would
certainly be a most difficult matter to obtain.
Of all the women of Europe, I therefore hold them to be the most
agreeable and 'comfortable' wives; and at the same time the most
incapable of presenting themselves with grace, address, or presence of
mind; and the least fitted to embellish society. In this judgment the
praise manifestly far outweighs the censure.
_June 16th._
To-day I was present at an interesting breakfast, given by the Pigeon
Club. This title by no means implies that the members are gentle and
harmless as doves:[87]--on the contrary, they are the wildest young
fellows in England, and the poor pigeons have nothing to do with the
matter but to be shot at. The arena was a large grass-plat surrounded by
a wall. On one side was a row of tents; in the largest of which a table
was spread with viands, from one o'clock till six, and furnished with a
constant supply of iced moselle and champagne. About a hundred members
and some guests were present; and they shot, ate and drank, by turns.
The pigeons were placed in a row, eight at a time. Cords are fastened to
the doors of their houses, which meet at the shooting-stand; when one is
pulled it opens the door, and the pigeon flies out. The man who shot
last pulls for his successor,--but standing behind him, so that the
latter cannot see which cord he pulls, and is therefore uncertain which
of the eight pigeons will fly out: if the pigeon falls within the wall
after his fire, it is reckoned his; if not, it does not count. Every man
has a double-barrelled gun, and may use both barrels.
The two most famous shots in England, are Captain de Roos and Mr
Osbaldistone. They shot for a wager of a thousand pounds which is not
yet decided. Neither missed once; and Captain de Roos's birds never fell
twelve paces from the spot, and scarcely fluttered, but dropped like
stones almost the moment he fired. Never did I see such admirable
shooting. A pretty little spaniel belonging to the Club fetched every
pigeon, and performed his duty like a machine, without either delay,
neglect or hurry. At last the whole party shot for a golden vase of two
hundred pounds value, (the annual prize of the Club,) which was won by
Captain de Roos.
I did not get away from this jolly breakfast till seven o'clock, when I
went to a little theatre, as yet unknown to me, called Sadler's Wells,
which is a good three-quarters of a mile (German) from my dwelling. I
went in a hackney coach. When I wanted to go home, towards one o'clock,
I could find no coach in this out-of-the-way place, and all the houses
were shut. This was the more disagreeable, as I had really not the least
idea in what part of the town I was.
After wandering about the streets in vain for half an hour in search of
a coach, I resigned myself to the idea of finding my way home on foot,
with the aid of a watchman, when a stage coach came by which was going
my way, and with which I happily regained my Penates about two
o'clock.--The peculiarity of this theatre is that it contains real
water, in which element the actors splash and dabble about by the hour
together, like ducks or water rats: 'au reste,' nothing can surpass the
nonsense of the melodrame, nor the horror of the singing by which it was
accompanied.
_June 20th._
I have been to another fancy ball, which has left only a melancholy
impression on my mind. I remarked a pale man wrapped in a plain black
domino, on whose countenance indescribable traces of the bitterest
mental suffering were imprinted. It was not long before I asked L----
about him, and he told me as follows:
"This truly pitiable man might serve as the hero of a fearful romance.
If it can be said of any one that he was born to misfortune, that is the
man. Early in life he lost his large property by the fraudulent
bankruptcy of a friend. A hundred times since has Fortune approached
him, but only to mock him with hopes which were invariably dashed from
him at the decisive moment: in almost every case it was some
insignificant trifle--the delay of a letter--some easy mistake--some
indisposition, slight in itself but disastrous in its consequences, that
wrecked everything; apparently, always by his own fault, and yet, in
fact, a tissue woven by mocking, malignant spirits.
"For a long time past he has made no more attempts to alter his
condition; he seeks no improvement of his lot, persuaded beforehand, by
long and cruel experience, that nothing _can_ ever succeed _with him_. I
have known him from youth up. Though guileless and unoffending as a
child, the world in general deems him malignant; though one of the most
upright of men, false and intriguing; he is shunned and dreaded, though
never did a heart beat more warmly for the weal of others. The girl he
adored committed suicide in consequence of his suspected infidelity. He
found himself, by a series of unheard-of circumstances, accused of the
murder of his brother, near whom he was found bleeding, having risked
his life in his defence:--he was saved from an ignominious death only by
the King's pardon; and it was not till some time afterwards that the
proofs of his innocence came to light. Lastly, a woman with whom he was
betrayed into marriage by an infamous and long protracted system of
deceit, ran away with another man, and artfully contrived that, in the
eyes of the world, the greater portion of the blame should rest with
him.--All confidence in himself thus utterly crushed and blighted, every
hope in destiny or in men annihilated, he lives among them like an
unsympathizing, unconnected ghost,--a heart-rending example that there
are beings who (as far as this life is concerned) seem to be sold to the
Devil before their birth; for when the curse of destiny has once scathed
a man, it not only raises up to him enemies at every step, but robs him
of the confidence and, in time, of the hearts of his friends; till at
length the unhappy one, crushed, rejected, and trodden under foot on
every side, lays down his weary, wounded head, and dies; while his last
sigh appears to the pitiless crowd an assumption and an intolerable
discord. Wo to the unlucky! Threefold wo to them. For to them there is
neither virtue, nor wisdom, nor skill, nor joy! There is but one good
for them; and that is--death."
_June 25th._
There is certainly something pleasant in having so many invitations at
your disposal every day; and, if you are not pleased in one place, in
being able immediately to seek out company that suits you better. Here
and there, too, one finds something new, piquant, and interesting.
Yesterday, at Prince L----'s, for instance, I met with a second Ninon
de l'Enclos. Certainly nobody would take Lady A----, to be more than
forty, and yet I was assured she is near eighty. Nothing in her appears
forced or unnatural, but every thing youthful; figure, dress, air,
vivacity of manners, grace and elasticity of limb, as far as this is
discernible at a party,--all about her is perfectly young, and scarcely
a wrinkle in her face. She has never made herself anxious, and has lived
a very gay life from her youth up: she ran away from her husband twice,
on which account she quitted England for a long time, and spent her
large fortune in Paris. Altogether she is a very 'amiable' person, more
French than English in her deportment, and quite 'du grand monde.' The
science of the toilet she has studied profoundly, and has made some
important discoveries in it. From all I could see of the results, I
should be very glad to impart them to you and my other fair friends.
Next day the Duke of S---- gave a 'déjeuné champêtre' at his villa, at
which invention was racked for something new in an entertainment of the
kind. His whole house was hung with beautiful 'hautelisse' and gay
Chinese hangings;--a multitude of sofas, easy chairs, 'chaises longues,'
mirrors, &c., in all parts of the garden as well as of the rooms;
besides a little encampment of tents of white and rose-coloured muslin,
which had a beautiful effect, set in the emerald-green of the grounds.
In the evening, followed, as usual, an illumination, consisting chiefly
of single lamps, half-hidden in tree and bush, like so many ruddy fruits
or bright-glow worms, enticing the loving or the lonely. Those who
preferred noisy to quiet pleasures also found their heart's desire.
Here, a large part of the company was dancing in a wide tent, the way to
which lay under a bowery archway of roses, brilliantly
illuminated;--there, resounded a delightful concert, executed by the
best performers from the Italian Opera. Italian weather, too, happily
shone on this fête from beginning to end; any little mischievous spirit
of air might have totally ruined it.
I have now so disposed my affairs that I shall be able to quit England
in a month at furthest, to make a longer tour in Wales, and more
especially in Ireland; which latter country, according to all I hear of
it, excites my interest much more than even Scotland. Yet I am sorry
that illness first, and the distractions of the metropolis afterwards,
have robbed me of the sight of that country. It is an omission I must
enter in my book of sins, which, alas! contains so many under the same
head--Indolence--that terrible foe of man! Certainly that French Marshal
in Louis the fourteenth's time,--a time so unfavourable to 'parvenus,'
answered rightly, when he was asked, how it was possible that he could
have raised himself to the highest dignities of his profession from the
condition of a common soldier, "Only by this means," said he; "I never
deferred till to-morrow what I could do to-day."
Almost under the same head may be classed Indecision, that other
hereditary foe of the species, which another celebrated Marshal,
Suvaroff, hated so much, that, with the usual exaggerations of his
character, he instantly withdrew all favour from a man who replied to
any question he asked him, "I don't know."
'Non mi ricordo' does better; and according to my principles I apply
this to all the above-named sins, when once they are committed. We ought
daily to repeat to ourselves, The past is dead, the future only lives.
May it smile upon us, dearest Julia!
Your faithful L----.