Cornell University Library 
 DA 536.G87A32 1866 
 
 1924 028 036 022 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of tliis book is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924028036022 
 
captain! GRONOW'S 
 
 LAST RECOLLECTIONS; 
 
 BEING THE 
 
 FOURTH AND FINAL SERIES 
 
 REMINISCENCES AND ANECDOTES. 
 
 Oil a Portrait. 
 
 SECOND EDITION. 
 
 LONDON: 
 SMITH, ELDER <Sc CO., 65 CORNHILL. 
 
 1866. 
 
 vv\. 
 
 \Tke right of translation is reserved.^ 
 
Presidoi^i; White 
 , Liljrary 
 
ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 While the proofs of this volume were in the hands 
 of Captain Gronow for final revision, the publishers 
 were surprised and concerned at hearing the unex- 
 pected news of his death. 
 
 Captain Gronow's recollections of his career — as 
 an Eton boy, as an officer in the Guards, with 
 which he served in the Peninsula and at Waterloo, 
 , and as member for Stafford in the first Eeformed 
 ParKament — and his varied experiences of fashion- 
 able life and high society both in Paris and London, 
 have been recorded in successive volumes of anec- 
 dotes, of which this is the fourth and last. 
 
 Nothing further, therefore, need be recorded of 
 
iv Advertisement. 
 
 his long and exciting life, than that he was de- 
 scended from an ancient Welsh family in Glamor- 
 ganshire, and received his commission in the Guards 
 at the age of eighteen, and that he died in Paris 
 on the 20th of November 1865, in his seventy- 
 second year. 
 
 Eeferring to the present volume, Captain Gronow 
 wrote, sadly, a few weeks before his death : — " I 
 have lived long enough to have lost all my dearest 
 and best friends. The great laws of humanity have 
 left me on a high and dry elevation, from which I 
 am doomed to look over a sort of Necropolis, whence 
 it is my delight to call forth certain choice spirits 
 of the past." 
 
 It will be gratifying to his readers to know, that 
 while Captain Gronow's latter years were occupied 
 in recording these reminiscences, they were also 
 cheered by the society of his wife and family. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Camp Life during the Peninsular War, 
 
 A Foraging Party on the Adour, 
 
 General Sir Warren Peacocke, Governor of Lisbon, 
 
 Frank Russell at the Battle of the Pyrenees, . 
 
 Hunting in the Pyrenees, 1813, 1814, 
 
 Dysentery in the Peninsula, 
 
 A Daring Exploit, 
 
 My Soldier-Servant, 
 
 Sir Thomas Styles, 
 
 Sir John EUey of the " Blues," 
 
 Jack Talbot of the Guards, 
 
 "Teapot" Crawfurd, . 
 
 The Guards' Club, 
 
 General Thornton and Theodore Hook, 
 
 The Heroic Lady Waldegrave, . 
 
 Colonel, alias " Jemmy," Cochrane of the Guards, 
 
 Mr Comewall and the Provost-Sergeant, , . 
 
 Arma Virumque Cano, .... 
 
 Sir Jerry Coghlan, .... 
 
 Lord Jersey and an Officer of the Guards, 
 
 Lord Castlereagh and Sir E. Pakenham, 
 
 Louis Philippe at Twickenham, 
 
 PAGB 
 1 
 
 6 
 11 
 
 17 
 
 20 
 
 22 
 
 23 
 
 25 
 
 27 
 
 29 
 
 32 
 
 34 
 
 35 
 
 37 
 
 39 
 
 40 
 
 41 
 
 43 
 
 46 
 
 49 
 
 50 
 
 51 
 
VI 
 
 Contents. 
 
 Eton College in 1810, . 
 
 Flogging at Eton, under Dr Keate, 
 
 George IV. when Prince of Wales, 
 
 Beau Brummel's Aunt, Mrs Searle, 
 
 One Way out of a Dilemma, 
 
 Anecdote of a Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, 
 
 Mr Lawrence, the Celebrated Surgeon, 
 
 Escapade of an Officer of the 3d Foot Guards. 
 
 The Good Fortune of a Pretty Woman, 
 
 Colonel, or " Bull," Townshend, 
 
 The Marquis d'Aligre and the Dentist, 
 
 The French Emigres, 
 
 The Emperor Alexander, 
 
 An Incident at the Battle of Borodino, 
 
 General Jacqueminot, . 
 
 The Emperor's Fur Cloak, 
 
 A Marriage Quickly Arranged, . 
 
 Napoleon the First's Love of Music, . 
 
 Parting of Napoleon and Madame Mere, 
 
 Prince EugSne Beauharnais, 
 
 The Present Emperor of the French when a Boy, 
 
 Jerome Bonaparte and Cardinal Fesch, 
 
 The Czar and the Apple Girl, . 
 
 De Souza, the Portuguese Ambassador, 
 
 Lord Hay and the Prince Eegent, 
 
 The Prince Eegent and Carlton House, 
 
 Lord Barry more, . . . 
 
 Lord Byron and Dan Mackinnon, 
 
 Caricature on the Allied Sovereigns, . 
 
 Breguet, the French Watchmaker, 
 
 Labedoyere and the Number Thirteen, 
 
 Fouch6 and Carnot, 
 
 L'Bnfant de Troupe, 
 
Contents. 
 
 Vll 
 
 Incident at a Ball at the Britisli Embassy in Paris, 1816, 
 Unknown Persons at a Ball at the British Embassy, Paris, 
 A Musician's Eeproof, . 
 Lord Alvanley, . 
 
 Sir Astley Cooper and the Troop Horses, 
 Italian Brigandage in 1815, 
 Madame de Stael and Mr Canning, 
 The Duchess of Duras, . 
 Mr and Mrs Graham — their Soirees, 
 Mr Williams Hope and his Mistress, 
 How to get Invited to a Ball, . 
 Melancholy Eesult of a Ball, 
 A Eoland for an Oliver, 
 Sir Charles Shakerley, . 
 " Taking the Bull by the Horns," 
 Eagget, of White's aub, 
 The Cafe Tortoni, 
 ■ An Inveterate Gambler, 
 Colonel Sebright of the Guards, 
 The Princess Charlotte of Wales, 
 The Duke of Clarence, . 
 The Origin of « Shocking Bad Hat," 
 Englishmen in Paris in 1817, . 
 The Bold Wife of a Eash Husband, 
 A Mishap at Almack's, . 
 Sir Astley Cooper, 
 Lady Holland and " the Bridge," 
 The Bishop of Exeter and his Son, 
 Lord Deerhurst, (afterwards Lord Coventry,) 
 Mr Neeld, 
 Mrs Beaumont, . 
 Windsor Castle in 1819, 
 A Shoulder of Mutton k la Soubise, 
 
 PAGE 
 
 108 
 
Vlll 
 
 Contents. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Attempt to Assassinate the Prince Regent, . . . 168 
 
 Coronation of George IV., ..... 169 
 
 George IV. and Bishop Porteous, . . . .171 
 
 Latter Days of George IV., . . . . .172 
 
 Death and Funeral of the Duke of York, . . .173 
 
 Colonel the Honourable H. Stanhope, . . . .174 
 
 Sir Robert Peel's Hat, . . . . . .175 
 
 An Irish Welcome, . . . . . .175 
 
 The Prince de Poix, . . . . . .176 
 
 Lady Normanb/s Ball at the British Embassy, Paris, . 176 
 
 Louis Philippe's Sons at a Masked Ball, . . .178 
 
 Count Talleyrand Perigord's Private Theatricals, . .179 
 
 Prince Talleyrand's Opinion of the Duke of Wellington, . 181 
 Mots of TaUeyrand, ...... 183 
 
 The Emperor Nicholas at the Hague, . . . .184 
 
 The Prince de Ligue, . . . . . .185 
 
 Pride of a Spanish Grandee, . . . . .186 
 
 The Emperor's Extra Equerry, . . . .187 
 
 The Duke of Wellington and Lord Strangford, . . 188 
 
 Marshal Magnan's Opinion of British Soldiers, . .189 
 
 Marshal Canrobert Reviewing the British Army, . . 190 
 
 A Beady Retort, ...... 191 
 
 An Act of Charity, ...... 191 
 
 Madame Alboni, . . . . . . 192 
 
 The Derby of 1865 and French Racing, . . .194 
 
CAPTAIN GEONOW'S 
 LAST RECOLLECTIONS. 
 
 Camp Life during the Peninsular War. — 
 There was a wide difference in the camp life of the 
 "English and French armies. 
 
 An English soldier in camp appeared to be the 
 most uncomfortable of mortals ; there was no plan 
 laid down for his recreation, or the employment of 
 his leisure hours, and you might see him either 
 brushing his clothes or cleaning his accoutrements, 
 or else sitting on his knapsack, smoking his pipe to 
 pass the time. We had no large tent wherein the 
 men could congregate to converse, read, or other- 
 wise amuse themselves, and when the weather was 
 wet, they huddled together in small tents, where the 
 atmosphere was worse than that of the Black Hole 
 of Calcutta. The pipeclay system of tormenting 
 our men, by requiring them to keep their kits clean, 
 
2 Camp Life during the Peniiisular War. 
 
 and punishing tliem by extra drills if the firelock or 
 belts were not as spotless as on parade at the Horse 
 Guards, was (to say the least of it) extremely 
 injudicious. 
 
 The French soldiers, on the other hand, had 
 small tents, amply large enough for five or six men, 
 or, in default of these, they constructed tents with 
 earth, trees, and rushes. Streets were formed, with 
 squares ; places of amusement were planned, and 
 large trenches were dug in every direction, to drain 
 the ground thoroughly. The olficers, if near a town, 
 took possession of the best lodgings, for the con- 
 venience of cofi'ee-houses and kitchens ; but, although 
 they had every luxury they could afford or procure, 
 their motto was, "A la guerre comme la guerre." On 
 entering a French camp you saw as much order as 
 in the best regulated towns. Gendarmes kept strict 
 watch over the soldiers, a fire-brigade was always 
 in readiness, and everything was arranged methodi- 
 cally. The dress of the French soldier was not 
 only loose and comfortable, but easily cleaned, and 
 his knapsack was remarkable for its convenience. 
 A cantiniere was attached to the camp, and supplied 
 the officers and men with wine and spirits according 
 to regulations. 
 
Camp Life during the Peninsular War. 3 
 
 The French soldier marched quicker than the 
 English, both in advance and retreat ; and after a 
 victory by our troops few prisoners were taken. 
 The Duke of Wellington, with all his wonderful fore- 
 sight and genius, could never get at the secret why 
 so few stragglers were met with in following the 
 enemy ; whereas at Burgos, after our raising the 
 siege of that town, indescribable confusion arose, and 
 nearly half the English army were either left behind 
 or taken prisoners by Soult and Clauzel. 
 
 The system of outposts in the French army was 
 on a different footing from ours. Before the enemy, 
 the French sentinel was relieved every hour ; where- 
 as our soldiers remained on duty two hours !- — 
 the extra hour caused great fatigue, and in cold 
 weather induced sleep. A troop of the 11th Light 
 Dragoons on duty in front — that is, at the extreme 
 vedette, in the immediate presence of the enemy — 
 was once caught napping. The French officer in 
 command, observing the bad guard kept, ordered 
 forward a sergeant and five men, who entered our 
 lines and found Captain Wood and his men fast 
 asleep ; when the dragoons awoke, they were com- 
 pelled to surrender themselves prisoners of war. 
 Now, if the vedette had been changed every hour, this 
 
4 Camp Life during the Peninsular War. 
 
 disgraceful catastrophe would not have occurred. 
 Doubtless all these matters are better arranged 
 now : the Crimean war ought to have taught us 
 many valuable lessons, and our experience, so dearly 
 bought, should be made profitable for the future. 
 Were we to take a leaf out of the French book of 
 tactics, instead of following the German school in 
 all its pedantries, our armies would be better pre- 
 pared for active service than they now are. 
 
 I may here mention an incident which befell 
 Captain George Mansel, E.N., who related it to me. 
 He was deputed by the Duke of Wellington to ac- 
 company the French army, under Marshal Clauzel, 
 to the siege of Constantine. The expedition proved 
 a failure, owing to causes which it is superfluous to 
 mention ; the French army raised the siege, and 
 commenced a most disastrous retreat. It happened 
 that Mansel on one occasion slept in the tent occu- 
 pied by the commanding-officer of the Engineers, 
 who showed our countryman every possible atten- 
 tion. This French officer was rather loquacious, 
 and among other things he said that the defence of 
 Burgos had been intrusted to him by General 
 Clauzel when it was attacked by the army of Wel- 
 lington, and that the British army had been foiled 
 
Camp Life during the Peninsular War. 
 
 on that occasion. Mansel, like a brave and gallant 
 Englishman, defended the honour of the British 
 arms, and at the same time begged to know the 
 causes that led to the disaster. The French officer 
 replied, " I have seen a great deal of English 
 soldiers, and better and finer troops do not exist ; 
 with the exception of your Engineers, whom I consi- 
 der the worst of any troops I have ever met with. It 
 was to them your defeat before Burgos was owing." 
 When Captain Mansel returned home, he was 
 invited by Lord Bute to pass some days with 
 him, and to meet the Duke of Wellington. The 
 Duke naturally asked the gallant Captain several 
 questions respecting the retreat, and said, " Clauzel 
 is the best general, perhaps, that the French have ; 
 I never, during the period he commanded the 
 French army, caught him napping." Captain 
 Mansel then requested permission to relate what 
 had occurred in the tent of the commanding-oflicer 
 of Engineers. " By all means let us hear it," re- 
 plied the Duke. Captain M. then stated what the 
 French ofl&cer had said ; when his Grace observed, 
 "There is some truth in what the Frenchman 
 asserted ; but it was not •entirely the fault of our 
 Engineers. We were almost destitute of siege- 
 
A Foraging Party on the Adour. 
 
 cannon at Burgos ; we liad few tools, and many 
 things requisite for a siege were wanting. It is true 
 that the ofScer who commanded the artillery in the 
 rear was removed from his post, but Captain Dixon, 
 who succeeded him, proved a good officer : a stop- 
 page of communications necessitated our retreat." 
 
 The great Duke was in this, as in most cases, 
 correct. Had he acted on his own responsibility, 
 the siege of Burgos would never have been at- 
 tempted ; or would have been attempted with 
 proper tools, at a later period, and under more 
 favourable circumstances. 
 
 A Foraging Party on the Adour. — Early in 
 the spring of 1814 I was ordered to proceed with 
 Lord James Hay on a foraging expedition. Our 
 party consisted of fifty men, armed with firelocks, 
 and mounted upon mnles. It would be impossible 
 to give any adequate idea of our zigzag march and 
 our wanderings in the dark ; at last, after proceed- 
 ing in tolerably good order for about nine hours, we 
 came in sight of a village called Dax, consisting of 
 a few pretty houses, about a mile distant. At break 
 of day, wanting our accustomed breakfast, we deter- 
 mined to seek quarters there ; but gave directions 
 
A Foraging Party on the Adour. 
 
 to the non-commissioned ofl&cers to prevent tlie 
 slightest disorder or pillage. My batman, Proyd, 
 who spoke nearly every European language, ad- 
 vanced into the market-place with a saucepan, which 
 he had brought with him from camp, and began 
 striking it with a thick stick with all his might. 
 The noise awoke the inhabitants, some of whom 
 approached our party, and, after much persuasion, 
 one of them was prevailed upon by Lord James to 
 show us the Mayor's house ; and presently this per- 
 sonage, " dressed in a little brief authority," made 
 his appearance. We told him that one object of our 
 coming was to procure provisions for ourselves, and 
 forage for our horses and mules, but that everything 
 supplied should be paid for. The Mayor regarded 
 us with suspicion, until Proyd entered with our 
 teacups and boiling water, and asked in good French 
 for some plates for " my lord." The title of " my 
 lord " electrified the Mayor, and in less than a quar- 
 ter of an hour the whole of his family appeared, and 
 offered us and our men everything that we required. 
 With a heart full of thankfulness I sat down to 
 an excellent breakfast of cold meat, eggs, coffee, and 
 bread and butter ; and, to crown all, one of the 
 daughters of the Mayor, an extremely elegant young 
 
A Foraging Party on the Adour. 
 
 lady, entered the room with some delicious comfi- 
 tures, of which she said her mother begged our 
 acceptance. The wife of the Mayor soon after joined 
 us, and, to our astonishment and dehght, began con- 
 versing with us in English. She said that she had 
 been brought up in England, and that her mother 
 was English, but had left her native land for France 
 when she was about sixteen. 
 
 Having refreshed ourselves, and seen that the 
 horses and mules had been properly groomed and 
 baited, we gave orders to return, and our troop put 
 itself again in motion ; the animals being laden with 
 straw, Indian corn, and forage of every description, 
 for which we paid the Mayor in Spanish dollars. 
 After we had marched some hours, finding that, 
 hampered as we were, we could not march well in 
 the dark, we determined to halt at the first village we 
 fell in with, and continue our march the next morn- 
 ing to Bayonne ; whence we were then about eight 
 leagues distant. We soon struck a little bourg 
 about two leagues from Dax, but could see no one 
 stirring in the place : in fact, it seemed deserted. 
 However, Proyd, ever .alert, heard a dog bark in one 
 of the houses, a sign that the inhabitants were hid- 
 ing. We knocked first at one house and then at 
 
A Foraging Party on the Adour. 
 
 another, until onr patience began to be exhausted ; 
 when a sleepy-looking fellow popped his head out of 
 a window and asked us in a most insolent manner 
 what we wanted. While we were parleying with 
 him, one of the sergeants, an active young fellow, 
 scrambled up to the window from whence this 
 Caliban was jeering at us, bolted down the stairs, 
 opened the front door, and admitted us into the 
 house. It turned out to be the cabaret of the vil- 
 lage, and it was the landlord who had just greeted us 
 in this abusive manner. He was evidently an in- 
 veterate enemy of the British, for he would neither 
 give us any information as to how our men were 
 to be billeted, nor show us even common civility. 
 However, finding our host so contumacious, we 
 ordered him to be placed in durance vile, determin- 
 ing to carry him off to head-quarters as a prisoner. 
 The next morning a council of war was held to 
 devise a plan for transporting our prisoner. Proyd, 
 the Figaro of the party, suggested placing him upon 
 a mule; but the question was, how to get him 
 mounted on the back of one at so early an hour in 
 the morning, without creating a disturbance in the 
 village. Hay, however, had no scruples on that 
 score, and gave instructions to have the prisoner 
 
10 A Foraging Party on the Adour 
 
 tied upon one of the animals. Proyd, approaching 
 the fellow from behind, threw one of the regimental 
 bags over his head, and with the aid of his comrades 
 fastened- him securely on a mule. When all was 
 arranged to our satisfaction, the man began to bel- 
 low, and his neighbour, finding we were in earnest, 
 came out and begged for mercy ; but to no purpose, 
 for we were determined to make an example of the 
 disobliging brute : so off we started with our prisoner. 
 
 "We arrived in camp just in time to report the 
 result of our expedition to the commanding-officer, 
 who was much amused at our bringing, in addition 
 to an ample supply of forage, &c., an impertinent 
 fellow, with his head tied up in a bag. The next 
 morning, after a severe lecture, our prisoner received 
 his conge, and was desired to return home and tell 
 his friends that we differed entirely from other sol- 
 diers who had occupied the country, for we paid 
 ready money for everything we required and ex- 
 pected to be treated with civility by the inhabitants. 
 
 A few days afterwards, another foraging party was 
 organised, and on their arrival at the same village 
 every door was opened, and provisions, corn, hay, &c., 
 oflPered in abundance, while the greatest civility 
 was paid to our men. The proprietor of the inn was 
 
General Sir Warren Peacoche. 1 1 
 
 foremost in proffering his services, and expressed his 
 regret for what had occurred before, stating that the 
 cause of it was that, in the dark, the inhabitants 
 mistaking us for a body of men belonging to the 
 Spanish army, had fled ; as a party of soldiers be- 
 longing to that nation had a short time before 
 robbed them of their pigs, poultry, and linen, and 
 ill-treated their wives and daughters. After this, our 
 soldiers, when on foraging expeditions, were ordered 
 to dress in uniform, to show the country-people that 
 they belonged to the British army. 
 
 General Sir Warren Peacocke, Governor of 
 Lisbon. — During the British occupation, the Go- 
 vernor of Lisbon was Sir Warren Peacocke, a soldier 
 who enjoyed the utmost confidence of the Duke of 
 Wellington. This ofiicer was born in 1776, and 
 when at school was given a company in a regiment 
 his uncle had raised. He subsequently entered the 
 Coldstream Guards, and was at the time of his 
 death one of the oldest general officers in the Bri- 
 tish army. While at Lisbon, his duties were arduous 
 in the extreme. He had to reconcile the Portu- 
 guese Government and authorities to a military 
 occupation, which they always looked upon with 
 
12 General Sir Warren Peacocke. 
 
 suspicion ; and he had to control and direct all 
 the transport service of the navy : but his most 
 onerous labours were in connexion with the many- 
 questions arising with regard to the army. Lisbon, 
 at the period to which I refer, was a sorfc of hospital 
 for the army of the Peninsula, whilst it was at the 
 same time the basis of those glorious operations 
 the effect of which was to drive the French out of 
 Spain, and General Peacocke was referred to on all 
 occasions by the Portuguese and English. 
 
 No small part of his duties consisted in dealing 
 with the friends and relations of officers in our army, 
 a crowd of whom came over from England, each 
 with a special object in view. Some wanted a 
 prolongation of leave for a son or brother ; others 
 that their friends or relations might be permitted 
 to return to England on account of urgent domestic 
 afiairs ; while with the rest the excuse was, that ill 
 health, owing to change of climate, ought to influ- 
 ence the Grovernor to permit some stalwart soldier 
 to visit his native land. To all these importuni- 
 ties Sir Warren was wont to reply, that " he could 
 not, on any account, permit domestic affairs to 
 interfere with the duties of the service." Whilst 
 
General Sir Warren Peacoche. 13 
 
 tormented with these petty annoyances, he was 
 constantly engaged in the most important corre- 
 spondence with the British Government, the Duke 
 of Wellington, and the Portuguese officials. Many 
 of the services he rendered his country at that time 
 were such as cannot be transferred to the pages 
 of history, being of the most delicate and confi- 
 dential character. Throughout all, Sir Warren was 
 remarkable for his urbanity of manner, his untiring 
 business habits, and a keen judgment, which made 
 him alike an accomplished statesman and an in- 
 telligent soldier. 
 
 Some of the complaints made to the gallant 
 officer were frivolous in the extreme. On one 
 occasion an assistant-surgeon complained, in no 
 measured terms, of the quarters allotted to him, 
 stating that he was obliged to sleep irf a pigsty ; 
 upon which Sir Warren inquired of one of his 
 subalterns if he knew anything of the said pigsty. 
 The answer was, that the quarters which the sur- 
 geon complained of were very good, in fact, better 
 than the majority of the officers occupied. " Oh, 
 then, sir," said Peacocke, turning to the injured 
 medico, " if you are a prince in disguise, . declare 
 
1 4 General Sir Warren Peacocke. 
 
 yourself ; but if you are only what your diploma 
 states you to be, I consider the quarters you have 
 quite good enough.'' 
 
 Lisbon, owing to the continental war then raging, 
 was the only port open to the English, and thither 
 our countrymen and women flocked ; in fact, Lis- 
 bon was then what Paris and Eome are now, and 
 some of our most celebrated men show there to 
 advantage. It was there that the immortal poet 
 Byron first touched foreign soil, and where some of 
 his daring, powerful poetry was written ; he became 
 the idol of the women, and the lionising he un- 
 derwent there might have made him exceedingly 
 vain, for he was admired wherever he went. His 
 favourite resort was the opera, where most of the 
 young men of fashion in Lisbon congregated in the 
 evening. He was generally accompanied by his 
 friends, Dan Mackinnon, Hervey Aston, Colin 
 Campbell, and William Burrell. The opera at 
 Lisbon was its chief attraction, and it was there 
 that the celebrated singers, Catalini, CoUini, Naldi, 
 and Ambrogetti, with Presle, Angiolini, Deshayes, 
 and the rest of the corps de ballet riveted the at- 
 tention, of hearers and beholders ; and thence those 
 artistes were engaged for the London Operahouse. 
 
General Sir Wan'en Peacocke. 15 
 
 Byron well describes these " amusing vagabonds," as 
 he calls them, and their English admirers : — 
 
 " Well may the nobles of our present race 
 Watch each distortion of a Naldi's face ! 
 Well may they smile on Italy's buffoons, 
 And worship Catalini's pantaloons. 
 
 While Gayton bounds before the enraptured looks 
 Of hoary marquises and stripling dukes, 
 Let high-born ladies eye the lively Presle 
 Twirl her light limbs and spurn the heedless veil ; 
 Let Angiolini bare her breast of snow, 
 Wave the white arm, and point the pliant toe ; 
 CoUini trill her love-inspiring song, 
 Strain her fair neck, and charm the listening throng." 
 
 • 
 
 During the war. Colonel Gould, the factotum of 
 the English ladies patronesses, and manager of 
 her Majesty's Theatre in London, went once a 
 year to Lisbon to hire his troupe ; as Waters, 
 Ebers, Laporte, and others, subsequently went to 
 Paris and engaged singers and dancers. 
 
 I have been informed that the Duke of Welling- 
 ton, during the Peninsular War, visited Lisbon only 
 once, remaining three days at that town, at the 
 Palace of Necessidades ; and on this occasion he 
 was received in the most enthusiastic manner by 
 the Portuguese and English. Unfortunately, Marshal 
 Beresford and our Minister, Sir Charles Stuart, 
 
1 6 General Sir Warren Peacoche. 
 
 afterwards Lord Stuart de Eothsay, were at this 
 time at variance, and hated each other most cor- 
 dially. The Marshal wanted to lodge onr great 
 commander at his own house, and thereby mono- 
 polise his society ; but to no purpose, as the Duke 
 went to the palace. The Duke did not disguise his 
 displeasure at the inefficiency exhibited by many of 
 the superior officers in the British army then at 
 Lisbon, and sent several of them back to England, 
 saying, " It is not my fault that they are sent 
 home, but the fault of those who sent them out." 
 
 Whilst the Duke was insisting on Sir War- 
 ren Peacocke's acting with severity against the 
 skulkers from the army, these gentlemen were 
 complaining bitterly of the Governor for not al- 
 lowing them to shirk their duties, alleging that, 
 on account of " ill health," (unfortunately a com- 
 mon excuse in the service,) they ought to be 
 allowed to remain at Lisbon to recruit it : this 
 " recruiting of health," be it understood, generally 
 consisting of a minimum of work, combined with a 
 maximum of dissipation. Sir Warren was so dis- 
 gusted with the amount of extra work and anxiety 
 entailed upon him by these useless officers, that he 
 several times requested the Duke to find some one 
 
Frank Russell at the Battle of the Pyrenees. 1 7 
 
 to supply liis place as Governor ; but the answer 
 he generally received "was, "You are too valuable 
 here to be replaced by any one. I cannot possibly 
 spare you." 
 
 Frank Eussell at the Battle op the Pyre- 
 nees. — After the battle of Vittoria our army marched 
 to the Pyrenees, where took place those operations 
 in the passes, and that brilliant succession of vic- 
 tories, which have given historical character to the 
 names of Picton, Lowry Cole, Adam, Colville, and a 
 hundred others. At that time nothing was thought 
 impossible for British soldiers ; after those victories 
 the French soldiers were not to be compared with 
 the English, although our adversaries were com- 
 manded by Soult. From Torres Vedras to the Bid- 
 assoa we carried everything before us, and we were 
 only momentarily checked at the battle of the Pyre- 
 nees, where Lord Wellington found that the French 
 were not disposed to allow us to invade their 
 country without a severe struggle. At that memor- 
 able battle, Soult made a desperate effort to drive 
 us back again into Spain ; but he found to his cost 
 that the fiercer he fought the more desperate was 
 the resistance he had to encounter, till at length he 
 
 B 
 
18 Franlc Russell at the Battle of the Pyrenees. 
 
 saw it was impossible to withstand our invincible 
 phalanx. 
 
 One of the heroes of that bloody day was Frank 
 Eussell, " the Pride of Woburn Abbey," whose char- 
 acter it would be as difficult to overestimate as it 
 would be to give an idea of his chivalrous bearing 
 in presence of the enemy. He possessed all the 
 requisites for a good soldier. Of noble birth, good 
 looking, and with a splendid figure, he was valiant 
 in the extreme. He was gazetted in the 7th 
 Fusiliers at the age of sixteen, and forthwith sent 
 with them to Spain, where he followed the fortunes 
 of his corps up to the time of the battle of the 
 Pyrenees. One of the most furious attacks made 
 by Soult on our position at this celebrated conflict 
 was directed on the left wing of the British army. 
 The Fusiliers were posted on the right, and 
 ordered to maintain themselves against all odds, 
 and not to budge a foot. The French General being 
 determined to turn our right, sent an overwhelming 
 force against Frank's regiment, which was posted 
 against a mountain wall. The Fusiliers defended 
 themselves with obstinate courage, but their Colonel, 
 for some reason which was never explained, declared 
 it prudent to order a retreat, though his line was 
 
Frank Russell at the Battle of the Pyrenees. 1 9 
 
 unbroken. Frank Russell, however, shouted out, 
 " Not yet, Colonel," and with the colours of his regi- 
 ment mounted the wall and cheered our men on ; 
 the French meanwhile renewing their attack with 
 redoubled vigour. During this fierce struggle, how- 
 ever, our hero kept his position, till the fierce energy 
 with which the French had been fighting began to 
 cool : for Wellington had meanwhile broken Soult's 
 centre, and the retreat of the French forces was 
 ordered. Before Eussell quitted his post of honour. 
 Lord Wellington with his staff happened to pass by 
 the wall, and saw Eussell standing on the wall, hold- 
 ing the colours of his regiment, which were riddled 
 with bullet holes. On the following day, when the 
 gallant young officer's conduct was reported to our 
 great commander, he exclaimed, " Ah ! there 's no- 
 thing like blood." 
 
 The chivalrous bearing of Frank Eussell affords 
 a memorable example of the feeling which actuated 
 young officers at the time of which I am now speak- 
 ing. As a man of the world, Frank was a great 
 favourite with the fair sex, and enjoyed in a remark- 
 able degree the confidence of his friends ; for his 
 temper and disposition were eminently sociable, and 
 he was noted for his kindness of heart. He died at 
 
20 Hunting in the Pyrenees, 1813, 1814. 
 
 an early age, holding a company of tlie Guards, and 
 was universally regretted. A pretty compliment 
 was paid to him by the Duchess of York, who pre- 
 sented him with a ring, made by Lawrier, the jeweller 
 in St James's Street, having for a motto, " None but 
 the brave deserve the fair." 
 
 Hunting in the Pyrenees, 1813, 1814. — The 
 Commissary-General, Marsden, who belonged to 
 head-quarters, succeeded in collecting from England 
 a kennel of splendid hounds. On the Marquis of 
 Worcester's (the late Duke of Beaufort) leaving the 
 army, he promised to send some of his father's dogs 
 to Marsden ; other gentlemen followed this noble- 
 man's example, and before we crossed the Bidassoa 
 the pack was complete, and in fine condition. The 
 hunting in the Pyrenees reminded me of my native 
 Wales ; it was all up hiU and doAvn dale, and for that 
 reason, when a fox was found he was seldom if ever 
 killed. The best riders belonging to the hunt were 
 the officers of the 14th and 16th Dragoons, who were, 
 as a rule, well mounted. I have seen at a meet in 
 the Pyrenees about two hundred officers assembled, 
 some (as I have said) well mounted, but the majority 
 on " screws," ponies, or even mules — a strange con- 
 
Hunting in the Pyrenees, 1813, 1814. 21 
 
 trast to the Quorn and Pyichley gatherings. The 
 greatest character of all was Lascelles, on his immense 
 horse, on which he used to delight to race up hill 
 for a lark ; and many were the scrapes he got into 
 with the whipper-in for riding over the bounds. 
 
 One fine morning in October 1313, Eeynard 
 took it into his head to cross the Bidassoa, and 
 the dogs and huntsman, heedless of danger, fol- 
 lowed. The notes of the hounds and the cheering 
 of the huntsman alarmed a French drum-major and 
 some twenty boys whom he was instructing in a 
 secluded spot on the banks of the river. Instead of 
 showing fight, the drum-major with his young pupils 
 scampered ofi"; the dogs meanwhile, accompanied 
 by the huntsman, were in full cry, and shortly after- 
 wards killed a fine dog fox. The field had remained 
 on our side of the river, enjoying the sport without 
 incurring any danger ; when all of a sudden the 
 enemy, wondering what the deuce we were about, 
 came down in force, with a battery of field-pieces, 
 and opened fire, which made us all scamper ofi" as if 
 old Nick had been at our heels. Marsden, however, 
 advanced to the water's edge, and with his white 
 pocket handkerchief as a flag of truce, asked per- 
 mission of the French ofiicer in command to cross 
 
22 Dysentery in the Peninsula. 
 
 and explain what we were doing. This request was 
 acceded to, and when our gallant foe had heard the 
 reasons why we had advanced out of bounds, he 
 very graciously permitted the huntsman and dogs 
 to recross the river and join us. 
 
 Dysentery in the Peninsula. — Early in the 
 year 1812 the Duke of York despatched to the seat 
 of war the 3d Battalion of my old regiment. It was 
 considered by military men to have been the finest 
 in his Majesty's service. All the men, with the 
 exception of the grenadier company, were strong, 
 active young fellows, but had not seen active service. 
 They were conveyed to Cadiz, in men-of-war, and 
 arrived there without any accident ; but owing to 
 change of diet, and the substituting the horrid wine 
 of the country for the porter they had been accus- 
 tomed to at home, before the expiration of a few 
 weeks, five hundred of these fine fellows died in the 
 hospital at Vizu, and were buried in the church-yard 
 there. I mention this to show how careful com- 
 manding-officers ought to be to prevent similar con- 
 sequences from decimating bodies of fresh troops : 
 although warnings of this sort have occurred all 
 over the globe. 
 
A Daring Exploit. 23 
 
 On joining my regiment in the Peninsula, one of 
 the grenadiers, a tall and well-built man, was recom- 
 mended to me as the best person to employ for 
 pitching my tent. This man had been brought up as a 
 ' carpenter, but through some misunderstanding with 
 his relations had enlisted. While cutting the trench 
 he entered into conversation with me, and said he 
 hoped, as I appeared very young and unaccustomed 
 to bivouacking, that I would forgive him for being so 
 bold as to offer a little salutary advice : which was, 
 to drink every morning on rising a small glass of 
 brandy or rum, as by so doing rheumatism, dysentery, 
 and many other camp disorders, would be prevented. 
 He added, with tears in his eyes, that he had lost 
 his brother at Vizu, owing to his not following the 
 advice he was now giving me. I was so struck with 
 the earnest manner of the man that I adopted his 
 panacea, and during the whole time that I was in 
 camp I never had a day's illness. 
 
 A Daring Exploit. — Among the incidents that 
 occurred in the war in Spain, the following will no 
 doubt surprise the reader : — In Picton's division in 
 the Pyrenees, there was an Irishman of extraordinary 
 courage, by name O'Keefe, who was addicted to all sorts 
 
24 A Daring Exploit. 
 
 of irregularities, which brought him more than once 
 to the halberds, but who performed a feat worthy of 
 the heroes of antiquity. Near the pass of Eonces- 
 valles the French occupied a peak or impregnable 
 mountain called the Boar's Head, at the top of which 
 a company of the enemy was posted. To drive them 
 away appeared impossible ; Picton thought so, and 
 determined to invest this natural fort, to prevent 
 useless bloodshed. During a reconnaissance, the Gene- 
 ral said, in a loud voice, which was overheard by the 
 men below, that the French could, if they pleased, 
 pelt us away with stones from the top of the moun- 
 tain. O'Keefe stepped up, touched his cap, and 
 addressed Sir T. Picton thus : " If your honour 
 chooses, I wiU take the hill alone." This speech asto- 
 nished all who heard it ; but not the General, who 
 had frequently witnessed the daring and intrepidity 
 of O'Keefe. "If you do so," replied Sir Thomas, 
 " I will report it to Lord Wellington, and I promise 
 you your discharge, with a shilling a day for life." 
 O'Keefe stole away, having whispered to the com- 
 manding-officer of his company to follow him, and 
 climbed up the goat path, the English sentinels fir- 
 ing at him, thinking he was deserting to the enemy. 
 O'Keefe having entered the stronghold of the French, 
 
My Soldier-Servant. 25 
 
 was received with open arms, as a deserter. He 
 then began to play his part, by showing signs of 
 imbecUity, laughing, dancing, singing, &c. ; so that 
 the enemy thought that they had actually received 
 a madman instead of a deserter, and told him to 
 decamp, as there was not food enough there to feed 
 him. During this farce, our men quickly got up 
 to the summit, where they found O'Keefe occupying 
 the attention of the enemy. They rushed in and 
 took possession of this stronghold without losing 
 a man. O'Keefe (I believe that was his name) 
 received for this act of daring the nomination of 
 one of the warders of the Tower from the Duke of 
 Wellington. 
 
 My Soldier-Seevant. — When in Spain with my 
 regiment, it fell to my lot to receive from the ranks 
 a soldier born in SicUy, of Sicilian parentage, by 
 name Proyd. When the Guards occupied Catania, 
 this individual, having lost his father and mother, 
 was adopted by the regiment, and through the in- 
 strumentality of Lord Proby, became a soldier, and 
 was inscribed on the muster-roll of the 1st Foot 
 Guards. He was an excellent servant, and perhaps 
 the best caterer in the army ; for when we were in- 
 
26 My Soldier-Servant. 
 
 vading the Pyrenees, lie supplied me with every deli- 
 cacy, while the army generally was living on salt beef 
 and biscuits : in fact, poultry, mutton, and fresh 
 bread at my table were the rule, rather than the 
 exception. With all these accomplishments, he pos- 
 sessed one fault — a too great admiration, unqualified 
 with respect, for the charms of the fair sex, and he 
 seldom lost an opportunity of stealing a kiss from 
 any pretty girl that came in his way. 
 
 On our return from the Peninsula, I took this 
 Figaro with me to White Knights, the seat of the 
 Duke of Marlborough, where I was invited to spend 
 some days. At this charming house I found a great 
 number of visitors, among whom were Lord and 
 Lady Grenville, Lord and Lady Macclesfield, Mr 
 Mathias, the author of the " Pursuits of Literature," 
 Lord WiUiam Fitzroy, Mr Garlick, and others. It 
 happened on the day of my arrival that my servant 
 met the maid of Lady Macclesfield on the staircase, 
 and without the slightest ceremony he attempted to 
 kiss her. The maid, unaccustomed to such behaviour, 
 screamed, ran down stairs, and then up again, with 
 Proyd close at her heels ; he even followed her into 
 her lady's room, where she flew to take refuge. Her 
 ladyship, alarmed at seeing a strange man in her room, 
 
Sir Thomas Styles. 27 
 
 shrieked loudly ; many persons ran to her assistance ; 
 and her noble husband, more dead than alive, thinking 
 some ^ad disaster had befallen the Countess, inquired 
 with caution, " What is the matter ?" Her ladyship 
 replied in a faint voice, " The man is under the bed." 
 Pokers and tongs were seized, and the noble Lord 
 made use of his weapons to such purpose that the 
 delinquent quietly surrendered. This incident, which 
 created great confusion, rendered it necessary that 
 the Sicilian should be sent to rejoin his regiment. 
 Poor Proyd soon after appHed for his discharge, and 
 returned to his native land to make love to his own 
 countrywomen. 
 
 Sir Thomas Styles. — Poor Sir Thomas Styles, 
 who fought with the poet Shelley at Eton, received 
 a commission in the 1st Foot Guards. Had it been 
 in the time of peace, poor Styles would have shone 
 to advantage on parade and at the mess-table ; but 
 the active life of a soldier proved too fatiguing for 
 him, as will be seen by the following anecdote. 
 In course of time he was sent with a detach- 
 ment of his regiment to Portugal ; but on his 
 arrival at Lisbon, the Guards had left to join the 
 army in the neighbourhood of the Pyrenees ; ac- 
 
28 Sii' Thomas Styles. 
 
 cordingly, our young Guardsman received orders to 
 march through Portugal and Spain until he came 
 up with his regiment. The heat was exc^sive ; 
 and on his falling in with the brigade, poor Styles 
 was more dead than alive. All his brother officers 
 hastened to congratulate him on his safe arrival 
 after so long a march ; but he spoke little, saying, 
 that, ever since he had left Lisbon, he had not 
 closed his eyes for half-an-hour, and that his health 
 was in such a state that he feared he could not long 
 survive. Observing that something extraordinary 
 had happened, he was pressed to be more explicit, 
 and to tell what had occurred to make him so 
 miserable. He replied, with a very grave counte- 
 nance, that the fleas and vermin on the march had 
 nearly driven him mad ; and that when the peasant 
 girls observed him scratching himself, they would 
 laugh, and shaking their petticoats over pails full 
 of water, tell him how much more they were to be 
 pitied than he. Our doctor, Mr Bacot, a very kind 
 fellow, anticipating brain fever, placed Styles in his 
 camp bed, covered his head with wet towels, and 
 desired his batman to watch over his master, and 
 not to leave him for an instant. However, the 
 servant fell asleep, and during the night poor Styles 
 
Sir John Elley of the " Blues." 29 
 
 got out of bed, unlocked Ms trunk where his razors 
 were kept, and with one of them deliberately cut 
 his throat from ear to ear. 
 
 Sir John Elley op the "Blues." — In my 
 former volumes I have had the pleasure of relating 
 several anecdotes of this gallant officer ; and in the 
 third volume, I mentioned his having commenced 
 his military career as a private in the Blues. I 
 have received a letter from a gentleman, who knew 
 him personally, giving me the following information 
 respecting this dashing hero : — " I spent some time 
 at Harrowgate with this gallant soldier, whom I 
 admired not only for his bravery, but for his 
 talents ; he was replete with wit and fun, and full of 
 the most interesting anecdotes. On my leaving him, 
 he said that he had an old acquaintance residing 
 not far from my father's place, whither I was going, 
 and he would feel obliged if I would ride over some 
 day to a certain toU-bar in the west of Cumberland, 
 and deliver a message to his old friend, the sergeant 
 who had enlisted him in the Blues. I did not for- 
 get a promise which might lead to some anecdotes 
 respecting Sir John's early life ; and shortly after 
 arriving at home, I mounted my nag, rode to the 
 
30 Sir John EUeij of the " Blues." 
 
 toll-bar, and saw the old sergeant, who kept the 
 turnpike and appeared to be seventy-five years of 
 age. When he came to take the toll, he appeared 
 much astonished at receiving the message from Sir 
 John, and asking after his health said, that it was 
 true that he had enlisted him into the Blues, and 
 he related the circumstance : — ' The sergeant having 
 charge of a recruiting party at Barnet, one fine day 
 a tall and respectable-looking young fellow ad- 
 dressed him, stating he wanted to enlist ; the 
 shilHng was therefore given, and on the following 
 day the recruit was sent to head-quarters, where he 
 was passed and duly enlisted in the Royal Guards.' 
 The old man being asked what he knew of Sir 
 John's antecedents said, that the appearance and man- 
 ner of the recruit proved him to have been a gentle- 
 man. He declined afl&rming as to the truth of what 
 he had heard ; but added that the report current in 
 the regiment after his entering it, was that the 
 new recruit had held a cornet's commission in the 
 Scots Greys, then quartered at Doncaster ; but 
 owing to a misunderstanding with an ofiicer about 
 a lady, he had thrown up his commission in dis- 
 gust, and having spent all his money, enlisted as a 
 private in the manner described. In the barrack- 
 
Sir John Elley of the " Blues." 31 
 
 room lie was hail fellow well met with all his com- 
 rades, who nevertheless treated him as their superior. 
 As a swordsman and rider, he was considered the 
 best in the regiment ; and in consequence of his 
 gentlemanly deportment, and being a good pen- 
 man, he was taken into the adjutant's ofl&ce, whence 
 he was promoted to a commission in the regiment. 
 Perhaps the most distinguished service ever per- 
 formed by Sir John EUey was in the cavalry en- 
 gagement at the battle of Vittoria, when he was 
 assistant adjutant-general to the cavalry under the 
 immediate command of Sir W. Cotton. Sir William 
 had given directions to the 3d Light Dragoons to 
 charge a superior force of the enemy, which proved 
 disastrous ; for the regiment was almost entirely 
 cut to pieces. Sir John Elley observing this disas- 
 ter, got together as many of the 14th and 16th 
 Dragoons as he could, and charged at the head of 
 them through the enemy ; thereby saving many of 
 the fine fellows who were dispersed and unable to 
 act. In the charge he was knocked down, together 
 with his horse, the fall breaking his leg ; and al- 
 though continually ridden over by friend and foe 
 in the mMee, EUey, nothing daunted, cheered on 
 his men to fight for the honour of old England, and 
 
32 Jack Talbot of the Guards. 
 
 at last, catching hold of Sergeant Cooper's stirrup, 
 was dragged to the rear. 
 
 Jack Talbot of the Guards. — Poor Jack 
 Talbot, after leaving Eton, entered the Coldstream 
 Guards, and accompanied his regiment to Spain, 
 where he evinced great courage, and was foremost in 
 every fight. Though he possessed many imperfections, 
 he was the manliest and kindest of human beings, 
 and was the idol of the women ; and their champion, 
 also, for he was one of the few men who would 
 never hear improper epithets applied to them un- 
 der any circumstances, or allow their failings to be 
 criticised by those who were in aU probabUity the 
 cause of them. There was a charm in Talbot's con- 
 versation that I never found in that of any other 
 man ; his brave good heart, and love of punch, 
 made him an agreeable companion, and many 
 friends. When in his cups, or rather bowls, he 
 would talk facetiously about his rich father in 
 Ireland, Lord Malahide, spending that nobleman's 
 money all the time. He was foolishly generous. I 
 have often seen him, at a club or in a coffee-house, 
 pay for the whole of his friends present ; and his 
 liberality to women of all classes was profuse. He 
 
Jack Talbot of the Guards. 33 
 
 used to say, " I would rather disoblige my father 
 or my best friend than a pretty woman." 
 
 Whether in the Guards' club or at private 
 assemblies, you were always sure to find Jack sur- 
 rounded by a circle of friends, amused with his 
 witty conversation and charmed with his good 
 humour. He had always a smile on his face ; in 
 fact, everybody acknowledged him as their friend, 
 from Beau Brummel to Theodore Hook. 
 
 During his last illness, Alvanley asked the doctor 
 of the regiment what he thought of it. The doctor 
 replied, " My Lord, he is in a bad way, for I was 
 obliged to make use of the lancet this morning." 
 " You should have tapped him, doctor," said Lord 
 Alvanley ; " for I am sure he has more claret than 
 blood in his veins." The late Duke of Beaufort 
 one day called upon him at his lodgings in Mount 
 Street, and found him drinking sherry at breakfast : 
 the duke remonstrated with him, saying, " It will be 
 the death of you." Talbot replied, " I get drunk 
 every night, and find myself the better for it next 
 morning." Talbot was a great favourite of the late 
 Duke of Cambridge, who frequently called to in- 
 quire after his health. Upon one occasion, the cap- 
 tain's servant, in answer to the Duke's interroga- 
 
34 " Teapof^ Crawfurd. 
 
 tions, told His Royal Highness that his master did 
 not want to see either doctor or parson, but only 
 wished to be left to die in peace. The Duke, with 
 sad forebodings, sent Dr Keate to see him ; the 
 doctor, on his arrival, found Talbot seated in his 
 arm-chair dead, with a bottle of sherry half-empty 
 on the table beside him. He was only twenty-seven. 
 
 "Teapot" Crawfurd. — Crawfurd was brought 
 up at Eton, and subsequently entered the lOtli 
 Hussars. He possessed immense strength, was a 
 handsome fellow, and his bravery was proverbial. 
 His riding to hounds particularly, when a boy at 
 Melton Mowbray and Belvoir Castle, was plucky 
 in the extreme. He was called " Teapot," because 
 of his predilection when at Eton for brewing tea 
 in a black pot, which he kept and cherished when 
 a soldier ; though some would have it that his 
 handsome head looked like those on old-fashioned 
 teapots. He was noble-looking to the last day of 
 his life, though worn down by disease. As a com- 
 panion, he was charming ; his bewitching manner 
 found him friends everywhere, and he was courted 
 by the dandies and men of fashion. He married 
 Lady Barbara Coventry, a very beautiful woman, 
 
The Guards' Club. 35 
 
 with whom he lived happily many years. The 
 Prince Regent was very partial to him ; and on the 
 occasion of the 10th Hussars being paraded before 
 their departure for Spain, the Prince said to him, 
 " Go, my boy, and show the world what stuff you 
 are made of. You possess strength, youth, and 
 courage ; go, and conquer." Crawfurd arrived in 
 Spain, and his first rencontre with the enemy was 
 at Orthes, where he was foremost in the charge, 
 and behaved splendidly. A brother of his, equally 
 brave, was killed at Waterloo, whilst defending the 
 chateau of Hougomont. 
 
 The Guaeds' Club. — In order that my readers 
 may understand what I am about to relate, it is 
 desirable for me to advert to the causes which 
 induced the officers of the Foot Guards to form 
 their Club. Circumstances which it is unnecessary 
 to enter into had for a long time prevented those 
 gaUant sons of Mars from carrying out the object 
 they had in view. Unseemly broils and quarrels 
 often took place in the room at the St James's 
 Coffee-house, at the bottom of St James's Street, 
 where the officers of the Guards used to congregate, 
 and these were caused mainly by the admission of 
 
36 The Guards' Club. 
 
 (or rather the impossibility of excluding) Irish 
 bullies and persons of fashionable exterior but not 
 of good birth or breeding. Consequently the officers 
 were obliged, on the return of their regiments from 
 the Peninsula after the disaster at Corunna, to estab- 
 lish a club of their own. Arrangements were made, 
 and the Guards' Club was formed, the subscription 
 to which was at first only £5 per annum for each 
 member. 
 
 Among- those who first patronised this new 
 institution were the Dukes of York, Cambridge, 
 and Gloucester, and nearly all the general and 
 field officers then in London. The room where the 
 meetings of the officers of the Guards used to be 
 held at the St James's Cofiee-house was a miserable 
 little den, the floor sanded over like a tap-room 
 now-a-days : a strange contrast to the luxurious 
 apartments now occupied by the officers in Pall 
 Mall ; but notwithstanding this, among the people 
 Avho used to assemble might be found all the wits 
 of the day — Brinsley Sheridan, Jekyll, Wyndham, 
 and others, whose choice sayings over their punch 
 and pipes would fill a volume. The rules of the 
 new Club excluded gambling; and from 1812 till 
 1821, when I left it, I cannot recollect any serious 
 
General Thornton and Theodore Hook. 37 
 
 quarrel occurring among the members, who were 
 composed of the best men England could boast of. 
 So great was the loyalty that pervaded them, that 
 when the trial of Queen Caroline took place, and 
 the Times made use of disrespectful language 
 towards her, that paper was, at a meeting of the 
 Club convened by Sir Henry Hardinge, late Lord 
 Hardinge, expelled. Tempora mutantur et nos 
 mutamur in illis. 
 
 General Thorntok and Theodore Hook. — On 
 the teturn of the British army from Spain in 1814, 
 the Prince Regent, desirous of rewarding the per- 
 sonal associates of the Duke of Wellington, decided 
 on removing the Generals of the Guards, and giving 
 their places to officers of the Duke's staff who 
 ranked as Colonels. The Generals were mostly 
 either useless and decrepit veterans, or officers whose 
 ideas of service consisted in attending as little as 
 possible to their regiments, and giving the balance 
 of their time to pleasure. One of them. General 
 Thornton, was afflicted with the idea that of all 
 persons in the world he was the only one who 
 understood the art of waltzing. In fact, it was quite 
 a mania with him, and he might be seen at nearly 
 
38 General Thornton and Theodore Hook. 
 
 every party of note, making himself exceedingly 
 ridiculous by teaching young ladies to waltz : this 
 dance having only shortly before come into fashion. 
 Theodore Hook gave him the sobriquet of the 
 " waltzing General ; " this occasioned a violent 
 altercation between them at a ball in Portman 
 Square, where, it is said, the General received a 
 more personal affront from Hook : which, however, 
 the soldier did not resent according to the then 
 received notions of honour, by calling him out. 
 The inquiry into this affair by a committee of the 
 other officers of the Guards, no doubt caused the 
 sweeping change proposed by the Prince Eegent ; 
 it was found that General Thornton had been 
 guilty of cowardice in not demanding immediate 
 satisfaction of Hook, and he was therefore desired 
 to quit the regiment forthwith. His resignation, 
 and the comments on it at the time, paved the way 
 to the proposed changes in command ; and when 
 Hook heard that the companies had been given to 
 the Duke's Colonels, he said, " I rejoice to hear 
 that they have adopted the Wellington over- 
 alls, and discarded their inexpressibles." These 
 Colonels were ever after called the " Wellington 
 over-alls." 
 
The Heroic Lady Waldegrave. 39 
 
 The Heroic Lady Waldegrave. — When the 
 British army was about to enter France, I was 
 struck with the beauty and attainments of the 
 chivalrous Lady Waldegrave, who accompanied her 
 lord throughout the war. Her conduct was the 
 theme of the army, and she won universal praise 
 and admiration. She was a perfect heroine. 
 
 Since the peace, I have had the honour to receive 
 invitations to her house in the Champs-Elysees. 
 She used to speak of her campaigns with the same 
 energy that an old soldier would talk of battles 
 wherein he had distinguished himself, and would 
 tell you of the innumerable risks she had been 
 . exposed to in the several charges of cavalry which 
 her husband had led. She felt much, she used to 
 say, for those poor fellows who were left wounded 
 on the ground, and her description of their suffer- 
 ings was so natural and touching that it frequently 
 brought tears into the eyes of those who heard her. 
 The heroine was nearly taken prisoner upon one occa- 
 sion; but, upon presenting her pocket-pistol at the 
 breast of the French cavalry soldier who menaced 
 her, he dropped his sword, and suffered her to escape. 
 
 The Countess of Waldegrave was not only young 
 but beautiful ; she had a splendid figure, and was 
 
40 Colonel, alias "Jemmy," Cochrane. 
 
 one of the best riders I ever saw. She was not at 
 all masculine in her style ; her voice and manner 
 of speaking were remarkable for sweetness and 
 grace. I cannot hope to see her like again. 
 
 Colonel, alias "Jemmy," Cochrane of the 
 Guards. — This gentleman was, in the fullest sense 
 of the word, fearless — in fact, he dared danger ; yet, 
 although so brave, he was an amiable and quiet 
 man, and an enemy to every species of disordei. 
 Looking at him, one would have thought that he 
 was fit only for a drawing-room, as he had moat 
 delicate hands and feet ; but his figure was perfect 
 symmetry, and his strength was prodigious. He 
 had neither vanity nor ambition, and was a firm 
 friend to all his comrades. 
 
 Fifty years since, my lamented friend was sent to 
 Bristol with a recruiting party of the 3d Guards. Fre- 
 quent quarrels arose between the soldiers and sailors 
 at that place; and upon one occasion he observed a 
 mob of brutal fellows ill-treating his recruiting-ser- 
 geant. Eegardless of the immense odds against him, 
 he ran to the rescue of the sergeant, who lay bleeding 
 on the ground, and, alone, attacked the furious mob 
 that surrounded them. Every blow he dealt brought 
 
Mr Cornewall and the Provost-Sergeant. 41 
 
 one of his adversaries to the ground, till at length 
 they ran away right and left, leaving him master of 
 the field. I was told by a gentleman who arrived 
 on the ground a few minutes after this unequal 
 fight, that he saw three men unable to move, owing 
 to the punishment they had received: — one had his 
 jaw broken, another his shoulder dislocated, and 
 the third was so frightfully disfigured that his own 
 mother would not have known him. 
 
 "Jemmy" Cochrane married a lady near Bath, 
 where he resided many years, and died a lieutenant- 
 general. 
 
 Me Coknewall akd the Peovost-Sergeant. — 
 A large army is accompanied, not only by the sut- 
 lers and others who make their living by so doing, 
 but by curious or scientific men, who seek to ac- 
 quire either materials for sma]l talk or solid in- 
 formation useful to the world at large. Our army 
 in the Peninsula was not an exception to the prac- 
 tice, and many wealthy and educated men set out 
 from England to follow its fortunes ; but Lord 
 Wellington set his face against all these intruders, 
 with the exception of Mr Cornewall, who was fa- 
 voured with his especial patronage. 
 
42 Mr CornewaU and the Provost-Sergeant. 
 
 This gentleman, the eldest son of the Bishop of 
 Hereford, having letters of introduction to his Lord- 
 ship, on arriving at Lisbon, provided himself with 
 horses, &c., and, thus equipped, reached the head- 
 quarters of the army in the Pyreu6es, He -was 
 present at all the battles, down to that of Toulouse, 
 and upon all occasions he exhibited before the 
 enemy the greatest sang froid. At Toulouse Lord 
 Wellington requested CornewaU to be more careful 
 of his person, saying, '' If you are killed or wounded, 
 the army will not pity you ; for you are unneces- 
 sarily courting danger." " Well, my Lord," replied 
 CornewaU, " I think the odds are in my favour now ; 
 having up to this moment escaped being hit, I care 
 not for what may happen." 
 
 CornewaU happened to dine at head-quarters that 
 day, and when returning home at a late hour, he 
 saw a soldier suspended by the neck from a pair 
 of halberds. He naturally hastened to the spot, 
 where he found the provost-sergeant and a few 
 soldiers and peasants ; and, on inquiring what it all 
 meant, the sergeant replied, " Sir, the man you see 
 hanging there has been found guilty of robbing 
 and ill-treating some of these poor peasants, and 
 was sentenced to be hanged by a drum-head court- 
 
Arma Virumque Cano. 43 
 
 martial, and there he is expiating his crime." Corne- 
 wall went the next morning to head-quarters, 
 and related to Lord Wellington what he had seen ; 
 upon which our illustrious hero said, "Discipline 
 must be maintained at any cost, or my soldiers 
 may become a rabble of thieves." " True, my 
 Lord," replied CornewaE, " but the provost-marshal's 
 power appears to me to be too great ; for he acts as 
 judge and executioner, without the culprit having 
 time to appeal for mercy." Lord Wellington re- 
 plied, " My orders are peremptory on that score ; 
 and I would recommend you to be careful not to 
 get into the provost-sergeant's clutches, or you will 
 inevitably be strung up." " Thank you, my Lord, 
 for the hint. I will never more trust myself within 
 a hundred miles of such danger ; for I would rather 
 be riddled with the enemy's bullets than be placed 
 between a pair of halberds." 
 
 Aema Virumque Cano. — Towards the close of 
 the continental war, viz., in 1814, the militia of 
 that epoch were full of military ardour. The Mar- 
 quis of Buckingham, who was enormously fat, and 
 not unlike the pictures which are represented of 
 FalstafF, volunteered, in conjunction with his friend 
 
44 Arma Virumque Cano. 
 
 Sir Watkin Williams Wynne, to take their regi- 
 ments, the Buckinghamshire and Flintshire Militia, 
 to the seat of war. Permission was granted them 
 to join the Duke of Wellington's army, and off 
 they started for Bordeaux. But they arrived " a 
 day after the fair," for the treaty of peace had 
 been signed by the allied sovereigns ; so, as the 
 King of France with forty thousand men 
 
 " Marched up a hill, and then marched down again," 
 
 our patriotic warriors were obliged to retrace their 
 steps without having fired a shot at the enemy. 
 
 Before they re-embarked for their native land, 
 however, they took good care to impress upon the 
 inhabitants of Bordeaux their value as soldiers, by 
 parading their battalions with all the pomp and 
 circumstance of war, both in the morning and at 
 noon. Those for whose benefit this spectacle was 
 intended never failed attending these military 
 parades ; not with the idea of gaining any hints as 
 to evolutions, &c., but to gaze on the commanding 
 officers, whom they denominated, " Les boeufs-gras 
 anglais." The militia regiments appeared but a 
 sorry sight in comparison with British veterans 
 who had marched through Portugal and Spain, 
 
Arma Virumque Cano. 45 
 
 fighting a hundred battles, and afterwards re- 
 mained some time at Bord^ux, where they gained 
 the respect of the inhabitants by their orderly con- 
 duct and manly bearing. Unfortunately, too, our 
 militiamen did not conduct themselves in a be- 
 coming manner ; for, delighted at the cheapness of 
 the wine and brandy, and happening to be officered 
 by men incapable of looking after them properly, 
 when off duty they were constantly tipsy, and 
 getting into all sorts of scrapes and broils with the 
 inhabitants ; so much so, that their conduct was 
 reported to the Commander-in-Chief, who ordered 
 them home without delay. 
 
 The wine-merchants, who had not done badly 
 during the stay of our warlike friends in Bordeaux, 
 persuaded the Marquis and the Welsh baronet, on 
 the eve of their departure, into buying a quantity 
 of stuff they designated claret. Proud of their 
 purchase, they had it carefully shipped ; and when 
 it arrived in due course at London, it was stowed 
 away in the cellars of Stowe and Wynstay. Orders 
 were eventually given to have the precious liquid 
 bottled; but when the casks were tapped it was 
 found that an acetous fermentation had taken 
 place, converting the "delicate Bordeaux wine" 
 
46 Sir Jerry Coghlan. 
 
 into very bad vinegar. The two heroes, doubly- 
 disappointed of the wiije they had bought and the 
 honours they hoped to win, commenced legal pro- 
 ceedings against the vendors of the liquor ; but 
 they were non-suited, and had to pay costs, 
 amounting to a considerable sum. 
 
 Sir Jerry Coghlan. — Sir Jeremiah Coghlan'^ 
 name, and the daring acts performed by him, are 
 familiar to every naval man. Beginning life as a 
 cabin-boy on board a trading sloop, running be- 
 tween Cork and Neath, Coghlan was treated by the 
 Captain in a most inhuman manner. The brutality 
 of this man becoming unbearable, Jerry determined 
 on quitting the vessel at Neath, but was caught by 
 the police, and brought before one of the magistrates 
 of the county, a relation of the author. The boy 
 said that, owing to the cruel conduct of his mother, 
 he had been obliged to leave home, and went to 
 Cork, where he was bound as cabin-boy to the 
 master who had treated him so ill. Under these 
 circumstances, he was allowed to leave the sloop, 
 and obtained employment in Neath as a bricklayer's 
 lad in the building of a few houses which were in 
 course of erection on the Parade. Not contented 
 
Sir Jerry Coghlan. 47 
 
 with this mode of gaining a li"\dng, he offered his 
 services as ordinary seaman to a captain about to 
 sail for Plymouth ; he was engaged, and arrived at 
 that port, where a terrible storm was raging. Cogh- 
 lan went on shore, and found his way to the beach, 
 where a number of persons were assembled to look 
 at a large East Indiaman, which was in danger of 
 being wrecked. Among the crowd was Sir Edward 
 PeUew, afterwards Lord Esmouth, who, perceiving 
 that the vessel was already aground, oflFered a prize 
 to any one who should carry a rope through the 
 breakers to those on board. No one venturing, 
 Jerry thrust himself forward, stripped, tied the rope 
 round his waist, dashed through the waves, and 
 succeeded in establishing a communication between 
 the shore and the ship. This heroic deed won the 
 admiration of aU who witnessed it, and among them 
 that of Sir Edward PeUew, who took Coghlan on 
 boaxd the man-of-war that he commanded, and 
 made him one of his midshipmen. 
 
 In a few years Jerry was sent into the Mediter- 
 ranean, where he displayed such coolness and daring 
 in cutting out prizes from the enemy's ports, engag- 
 ing with success French vessels larger than his own, 
 and running into the best guarded harbours, that 
 
48 Sir Jerry Coghlan. 
 
 the Admiralty were induced to give him his lieu- 
 tenancy, and the command of a sloop of war.- The 
 exploits Coghlan performed with this small vessel 
 are matters of history ; and his achievements fur- 
 nish instances of the wonders that can be wrought 
 by the union of skill, presence of mind, and ener- 
 getic daring : qualities which have distinguished the 
 British navy for the last century. Coghlan's bravery 
 elicited many commendations in the despatches of 
 Lord St Vincent, the Admiral of the Fleet. In one 
 place the noble Lord says : — " I did not think the 
 gallantry of Sir Edward Hamilton and Captain 
 Patrick Campbell could have been rivalled, until I 
 read the enclosed letter from Sir Edward Pellew, 
 relating the great services performed by Lieutenant 
 Coghlan of the Viper cutter, which has filled me 
 with pride and admiration." Lord St Vincent 
 also addressed the following letter to Lord Spencer, 
 the First Lord of the Admiralty : — 
 
 " My deak Lord, — I shall not trouble your Lord- 
 ships with a word more than is contained in the en- 
 closed private letter from Sir Edward Pellew, on the 
 subject of the intrepid Coghlan, except to say (not 
 out of ostentation, but to prevent the city or any 
 body of merchants making him a present of the same 
 
Lord Jersey and an Officer of the Guards. 49 
 
 sort) that I gave him a sword of one hundred 
 guineas' value. — Yours faithfully, St Vincent." 
 
 Poor Coghlan died young, owing to the wounds 
 he had received in the service ; but some years pre- 
 vious to his death the quondam cabin-boy became 
 a Knight of the Bath. I had the honour of being 
 well acquainted with him, and can speak with 
 pleasure of his varied attainments, extraordinary 
 in a self-educated man, and the manly bearing he 
 always exhibited. 
 
 LoED Jersey and an Officer of the Guards. 
 - — When duelling was at its height in England, the 
 most absurd pretexts were made for calling a man 
 out. I recollect that at one of the dinners at the 
 Thatched House in St James's Street, Mr Willis, the 
 proprietor, in passing behind the chairs occupied 
 by the company, was accosted by a Captain in the 
 3d Guards in a rather satirical manner. Mr 
 Willis, smarting under the caustic remarks of the 
 gallant Captain, said aloud,—" Sir, I wrote to you at 
 the request of Lady Jersey, saying that as her 
 Ladyship was unacquainted with you, I had been 
 instructed to reply to your letter, by stating that 
 the Lady Patronesses declined sending you a ticket 
 
 D 
 
50 Lord Castlereagh and Sir E. Pakenham. 
 
 for the ball." This statement, made in a public 
 room, greatly irritated the Captain ; his friends in 
 vain endeavoured to calm his wrath, and he sent a 
 cartel the following day to Lord Jersey, requesting 
 he Avould name his second, &c. Lord Jersey replied 
 in a very dignified manner, saying that if all per- 
 sons who did not receive tickets from his wife were 
 to call him to account for want of courtesy on her 
 part, he should have to make up his mind to be- 
 come a target for young officers, and he therefore 
 declined the honour of the proposed meeting. 
 
 Lord Castleeeagh and Sir E. Pakenham. — 
 The following incident occurred in London in 1814. 
 When the war had terminated in the Peninsula, 
 Sir Edward Pakenham, with his physician, Dr 
 John Howell, arrived in England, en route to North 
 America, where Sir Edward had been named by the 
 Duke of York, Commander-in-Chief of the British 
 forces. Before the departure of the gallant General, 
 he had promised Lord Castlereagh to breakfast 
 with him, and at the same time to introduce his 
 physician to the minister. After breakfast. Lord 
 C. inquired of the Doctor the precise place 
 where the jugular vein was situated. Dr Howell 
 
Louis Philippe at Tivickenham. 51 
 
 explained it to the satisfaction of his Lordship, 
 stating that it would be a dangerous experiment 
 for any man to take the slightest liberty with that 
 artery, for death would inevitably follow if it were 
 pierced. AVhen the General and his friend were 
 returning to their hotel, the former said, "I am 
 afraid, Doctor, you were too explicit about the 
 jugular artery, for I observed Castlereagh to be in 
 a strange mood when you finished your anatomical 
 lecture." It is needless to state that many years 
 did not elapse before Lord C committed suicide 
 by cutting his throat with a penknife. 
 
 Dr Howell related this incident to me at Brighton 
 in 1849. 
 
 Louis Philippe at Twickenham.— Early in this 
 century Louis Philippe lived with his brothers in a 
 small cottage at Twickenham, where, though fond of 
 conviviality, he practised the most rigid economy. 
 They had only one man-servant and a maid-of-all- 
 work. Towards the end of his chequered life he 
 was heard to say in passing the cottage, " There I 
 passed some of the happiest days of my life ; but 
 during that period I had to struggle against poverty, 
 without receiving aid from any one." The three 
 
52 Louis Philippe at Twickenham 
 
 royal brothers had a tilbury, which they drove by 
 turns ; but they gave both man and horse a holiday 
 on Sundays. 
 
 I received this little anecdote from a friend who 
 when young resided at Richmond, and was inti- 
 mately acquainted with the fallen monarch. Louis 
 Philippe resided in England till 1808, when he em- 
 barked for Malta, carrying thither, for change of 
 climate, his surviving brother, the Count Beaujolais, 
 then in a rapid consumption. The Count's health 
 was such that it was found necessary to stop at 
 Gibraltar, where H. R. H. died. Louis Philippe 
 afterwards proceeded to Sicily to return thanks for 
 various favours he had received from the King of 
 Naples, and there he met his future wife in the 
 king's second daughter, the Princess Amelie. There 
 can be little question but that it was a love match, 
 as at that period there did not appear to be the 
 remotest chance of Louis Philippe succeeding to his 
 patrimonial estates, much less to the crown of France ; 
 and it was by many considered a foolish marriage. 
 There were many difl&culties in the way of their 
 being married ; but these were, however, surmounted, 
 and the royal pair were united on the 25th Novem- 
 ber 1809, at Naples. 
 
Eton College in 1810. 53 
 
 After the downfall of Napoleon the First, Louis 
 Philippe returned to Paris, contrary to the wishes of 
 Louis XVIII., whose jealousy was sharpened by the 
 wily Talleyrand. There he occupied himself with 
 the culture of his vast estates, the education of his 
 children, and the formation of a political party, 
 which a few years later placed him on the throne 
 of France. 
 
 Eton College in 1810. — When Dr Keate, the 
 head master of the Lower School, was elevated to 
 the Upper, he did not bring with him a popular 
 name ; his abrupt, blunt, and somewhat rude man- 
 ner, which contrasted strongly with the mild and 
 polished bearing of his predecessor, Dr Goodall, did 
 not tend to remove the unfavourable impression his 
 antecedents had produced. The consequence was a 
 good deal of disaffection, which showed itself in 
 various ways. The most remarkable and successful 
 trick which was played off on him, by some bold 
 and skilful boy whose name to this day remains 
 undisclosed, I will endeavour to describe. The 
 head master, when he came from his private cham- 
 bers to the upper schoolroom, had to pass through 
 the old library by a private door, the key of which 
 
54 Eton College in 1810. 
 
 Keate always carried in his pocket. One morning 
 coining to his accustomed duties, on reaching the 
 door he tried in vain to insert the key into the 
 lock ; the key could not be forced into it : and no 
 wonder, for it was afterwards discovered that a 
 small bullet had been dexterously inserted into the 
 wards of the lock. The little autocrat, (for Keate 
 was diminutive in stature,) thus compelled to sound 
 a retreat, descended the private stairs, and after 
 making a long detour under the colonnade, entered 
 the upper schoolroom : he strode along full of ire 
 and breathing vengeance ; which, however, was never 
 gratified. But the game was not yet played out ; 
 for when the Doctor got to the upper end of the 
 school, and ascended the steps which led to the pul- 
 pit, he found the door which led into it was screwed 
 up. Keate was considered to be a sort of pocket 
 Hercules, but nevertheless all his efforts to force 
 open the door proved inefi"ectual. Foiled here, he 
 rushed to the other side ; but the same result 
 awaited him. The well-known Eton cry, " Boo, 
 boo," was now reiterated from one end of the school- 
 room to the other, which naturally added fuel to the 
 flame of the Doctor's wrath. Plucky to the last, 
 with one bound he vaulted over the doorway into 
 
Flogging at Eton, under Dr Keate. 55 
 
 his sanctum, his face glowing with rage like a fiery 
 meteor. Off fiew his three-corner cocked-hat, and 
 down he sat ; but his seat being smeared all over 
 with cobbler's wax, the little man found that he could 
 not rise without an awkward rent in his silk breeches. 
 I leave it to the reader's imagination to picture the 
 result of this species of practical joking : it certainly 
 did not improve the Doctor's temper, for he grew 
 more unpopular with the school, and he avenged 
 himself upon the persons of delinquent boys. 
 
 Flogging at Eton, under Dr Keate. — Eton 
 under Dr Keate was conducted on a system of brutal 
 severity, which never ought to have been permitted. 
 I recollect that a row — or, as it was foolishly de- 
 nominated, a rebellion — took place there in 1809, 
 owing to the vexatious and tyrannical conduct of 
 the head master, who had ordered an extra muster 
 roll during the summer months, by which the 
 boys were precluded from amusing themselves as 
 before at cricket, boating, &c. On this occasion, 
 no fewer than ninety grown-up boys were flogged 
 for the crime of declining to comply with the irk- 
 some regulation. Though this affair occurred nearly 
 sixty years ago, I really cannot think of it with- 
 
56 George IV. when Prince of Wales. 
 
 out indignation ; for I remember that the fear 
 of the birch was so strong at the time that no 
 boy went up with his lesson without trembling 
 with apprehension of being put in the bill for a 
 flogging. 
 
 Keate, however, paid the penalty for his excessive 
 severity, for he never got on in the Church ; whUe 
 the late excellent Archbishop Sumner, who was a 
 tutor under Keate, and never got a boy flogged, 
 owed his position to his kindness towards those who 
 afterwards became public men. 
 
 George IV. when Pkince of Wales. — When 
 everybody took snuff", the Prince of Wales followed 
 the fashion ; or rather led it, for he was known to 
 possess the finest collection of snuflf-boxes that were 
 to be had for love or money. His Eoyal Highness 
 never permitted his friends or acquaintances the 
 liberty to take a pinch out of his box, so that every 
 one had his own particular tabatiere. How different 
 this was to times gone by, when a great man de- 
 lighted in nothing so much as to offer any one he 
 was acquainted with a pinch of snuff" : for instance, 
 the greatest dandy of the time to which I am 
 referring, thought it an honour to take a prise 
 
George IV. when Prince of Wales. 57 
 
 from the poet Dryden's box ; but there was un- 
 fortunately a wide difference between the Prince 
 and the poet. 
 
 Mrs Fitzherbert, who was considered by many to 
 be the wife of the Prince Eegent, lived in a mag- 
 nificent house in TUney Street; Hyde Park, in great 
 state, her carriages and servants being the same as 
 those H. E. H. made use of Brummel, who was then 
 on good terms with the Prince, called on this lady 
 one day accompanied by his friend Pierrepoint, and 
 found the Prince seated on a sofa. The Prince, 
 according to the Beau's statement, appeared sullen 
 and evidently annoyed at the visit of the two gen- 
 tlemen, and on Brummel's taking a pinch of snuff 
 and carelessly placing his box on a small table nearly 
 opposite H. E. H., the Prince observed, "Mr Brummel, 
 the place for your box is in your pocket, and not on 
 the table." Another specimen of H. E. H.'s rudeness 
 may be cited. Lord Barrymore called at Carlton 
 House one day, and was ushered into the Prince's 
 private room ; on entering he placed his hat on a 
 chair, when H. E. H. observed, in a sarcastic man- 
 ner, '■' My Lord, a well-bred man places his hat under 
 his arm on entering a room, and on his head when 
 out of doors." 
 
58 Beau Brummel's Aunt, Mrs Searle. 
 
 Beau Brummel's Aunt, Mks Searle. — At the 
 small entrance of the Green Park, opposite Clarges 
 Street, and close to the reservoir, there stood some 
 years back a neat cottage surrounded by a court- 
 yard, with stables for cows. The exterior of the 
 cottage betokened no small degree of comfort and 
 modest afSuence ; nor did the interior disappoint 
 those who formed that opinion. Its inmates were 
 two old ladies, dressed in the style of Louis XY., 
 with high, lace caps and dresses of brocaded silk. 
 
 In the autumn of 1814 I happened to stroll into 
 the Park to see these cows, which were famed for 
 their colour and symmetry. It was the hour for 
 milking them, and one of the old ladies, obserAdng 
 my curiosity to see that operation performed, came 
 up to the palings and begged me to walk in. I 
 readily complied, and remained some time, then, 
 thanking her for the honour she had done me, I took 
 my leave, having accepted her invitation to pay her 
 a visit the next evening ; which I did. After sa- 
 luting Mrs Searle and inquiring after her health, I led 
 her on to talk on divers matters. She had an ex- 
 cellent memory, was replete with esprit, and appeared 
 to possess a knowledge of everything and everybody. 
 I soon discovered that the old lady was proud of her 
 
Beau BrummeTs Aunt, Mrs Searle. 59 
 
 blood, and she told me that she was aunt to George 
 Brummel, the Beau; that George III. had placed her 
 as gate-keeper of the Green Park, and that the Prin- 
 cess Mary had kindly furnished her little cottage. 
 Her description of the Eoyal Family was somewhat 
 interesting. She said, that one day the Prince of 
 Wales, accompanied by the beautiful Marchioness 
 of Salisbury, called upon her, and as it was a beauti- 
 ful summer's evening, stopped to see her cows milked. 
 Her nephew George Brummel, who had only a day 
 or tAvo before left Eton, happened to be present. 
 The Prince, attracted by his nice manners, entered 
 into conversation with him, and before he left said, 
 " As I find you intend to be a soldier, I will give 
 you a commission in my own regiment." Tears of 
 gratitude filled the youth's eyes, and he fell on his 
 knees and kissed the royal hand. Shortly after, 
 George Brummel's commission in the 10th Hussars 
 was made out, and he was soon quartered with his 
 regiment at Brighton. Mrs Searle added, "But what is 
 most singular, a striking change took place in my 
 nephew's behaviour ; for so soon as he began to mix 
 in society with the Prince, his visits to me became 
 less and less frequent, and now he hardly ever calls 
 to see his old aunt." 
 
60 Anecdote of a Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, 
 
 One Way Out of a Dilemma. — I recollect when 
 a boy seeing a strange couple, a Mr and Mrs Turbe- 
 ville, who were famed for their eccentricities. Mr 
 Turbeville was related to Sir Thomas Picton, but did 
 not possess the talent or discretion of the gallant 
 General. Upon one occasion, at a dinner at Dun- 
 raven Castle, after the ladies had retired, Mr Turbe- 
 ville observed to a gentleman present, that the woman 
 who had sat at his right was the ugliest he had ever 
 seen ; upon which the gentleman said, " I am sorry to 
 hear that you think my wife so ill-looking." " Oh, no, 
 sir, I have made a mistake ; I meant the lady who 
 sat on my left." " Well, sir, she is my sister." " It 
 can't be helped, sir, then ; for if what you have 
 said is true, I must confess I never saw such an 
 ugly family during the course of my life." 
 
 Anecdote of a Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland. — 
 In times gone by, when Lords-Lieutenants thought 
 more of love and beauty than the land they were sent 
 to govern, and considered they had a right to mono- 
 polise every pretty girl who appeared at the Castle 
 balls, two sisters, the beautiful Misses Gunn, were 
 the objects of the Viceroy's assiduous attention. Of 
 course, they were much envied both by mothers and 
 
Mr Lawrence, the Celebrated Surgeon. 61 
 
 da'aghters for the attention sliQwn them by the Vice- 
 roy and his family. All went on swimmingly until one 
 day a young lady, only about sixteen years of age, 
 and of surpassing beauty, a Miss Woodcock, made her 
 appearance at one of the drawing-rooms. She came 
 as if from the waves of the Channel, for nobody knew 
 her name or family, and she was known by the cog- 
 nomen of the beautiful Venus. The Lord-Lieutenant 
 at once discarded the Misses Gunn, and lavished 
 jewellery and presents upon the youthful Venus in 
 so barefaced a manner, that society began to be 
 alarmed, and gave the new beauty the cold shoulder. 
 Bunbury, the celebrated caricaturist, happening to be 
 at Dublin, turned the scandal to good account, by 
 drawing a capital likeness of the Viceroy, dressed as 
 Eobinson Crusoe, carrying a Gun upon each shoulder, 
 and a Woodcock at his left side ; denoting that his 
 affections lay in that quarter. 
 
 Mr Lawrence, the Celebrated Surgeon. — It 
 was my good fortune to have known Mr Lawrence, 
 who was allowed to have been the most scientific, 
 as well as one of the most skilful surgeons England 
 or Europe could boast of at that time. The opinion 
 entertained of him by the faculty was evinced by 
 
62 Mr Lawrence, the Celebrated Surgeon. 
 
 the many Mgli encomitims passed upon his talents by 
 his contemporaries. He was the most accomplished 
 and gentlest of mankind, and ever ready to render the 
 slightest service to a friend in distress. Upon one 
 occasion I called upon him at his house in White- 
 hall, opposite the Admiralty, and told him that 
 half an hour, before I had seen a pretty girl, an 
 opera dancer, unable to move from her sofa owing 
 to " soft corns," which precluded her from appear- 
 ing on the stage. " Bring her here, my friend 
 Gronow, and I will endeavou.r to cure her ; but do 
 not mention to any one that I have turned chiro- 
 podist." I lost no time in calling upon the 
 danseuse, and prevailed upon her to place herself 
 under the care of my skilful friend. Some few 
 days elapsed, when I met Lawrence in his carriage 
 and was invited by him to take a drive, during 
 which he asked me if I had seen the young lady, 
 whom he had operated upon and completely cured. 
 Upon my replying in the negative, he said, " It is 
 always so when you render a service to persons 
 possessing neither principle nor feeling ; you are 
 sure to be treated with ingratitude." This lady 
 became immensely rich, and I regret to add that 
 
Escapade of an Officer of the 'M Foot Guards. 63 
 
 the surgeon's fee was never paid, which I had good 
 reason to know amounted to twenty guineas. 
 
 Escapade op an Officer of the 3d Foot 
 Guards. — It is nearly fifty years since a young 
 officer in the 3d Guards, smitten with the charms 
 of Lady Betty Charteris, who was remarkable 
 for her beauty and attainments, determined at 
 all hazards to carry her off and marry her. Her 
 father put a stop to any legitimate, straightfor- 
 ward wooing, by forbidding her to encourage the 
 attentions of the young officer, who was too poor to 
 maintain her in the position in which she had been 
 brought up. When the London season was over, 
 the family left for Scotland, and my friend, An- 
 drew C '-, decided on following his lady-love. 
 
 Andrew was young, handsome, romantic, and 
 sentimental ; but a brave fellow, and had fought 
 gallantly at Waterloo. After consulting several of 
 his intimate friends, who recommended persever- 
 ance, he determined to further his scheme by dis- 
 guising himself. So, with the aid of a black wig 
 and a suit of seedy clothes, he engaged the services 
 of an Italian organ-grinder, and took his place be- 
 side him on one of the Edinburgh coaches. 
 
64 Escapade of an Officer of the 3 c? Foot Guards. 
 
 In the course of a few days the pair arrived at a 
 village close to the mansion of the lady's father, 
 and a correspondence was carried on between the 
 lovers. They met, and after a great many urgent 
 entreaties on the part of the enamoured swain, a 
 day was arranged for the elopement. Andrew next 
 gained over the head gardener, by stating that he 
 had just arrived from Holland, and was up to the 
 latest dodges in tulip-growing ; then a mania in 
 England. By this means he contrived to be con- 
 stantly on the premises, and to obtain frequent in- 
 terviews with the charming Lady Betty. The day 
 fixed at length arrived, and the organ-grinder (then 
 a rarity in Scotland) was introduced on the scene ; 
 his sprightly airs fascinated the servants, who 
 thronged to listen to him, and meanwhile a post- 
 chaise and four was driven up, out of sight of the 
 house, according to a previous understanding be- 
 tween the lovers, who were ready for instant flight. 
 Unluckily there was an excessively vigilant gover- 
 ness in attendance on Lady Betty, and at the 
 moment when afi"airs seemed most prosperous, this 
 duenna was at her post at the young lady's side in 
 the garden. Andrew, feeling that everything de- 
 pended on some decisive action, suddenly appeared. 
 
The Good Fortune of a Pretty Woman. 65 
 
 and ejaculating, "Now or never ! " caught hold of 
 his dulcinea's arm, and attempted to hurry in the 
 direction of the chaise. The dragon interposed, 
 and clung to the young lady, screaming for assist- 
 ance ; her cries brought out the servants, the en- 
 raged father, and the inmates of the house to her 
 assistance, and poor Andrew and the organ-man 
 with his monkey were ejected from the premises. 
 The young Guardsman, however, soon got over 
 the sorrow caused by the failure pf his scheme ; 
 but the nickname of "Merry Andrew," bestowed 
 on him by his brother officers, stuck to him after- 
 wards. 
 
 The Good Fortune of a Pretty Woman. — 
 More than half a century ago a lady, conspicuous 
 in the aristocratic world, on returning from a 
 courtly fete and arriving at her mansion about four 
 o'clock in the morning, was informed by her ser- 
 vants that a female child had been left at the door, 
 wrapped up in a blanket. She desired that the 
 infant might be taken care of ; and, in the course of 
 time, the child became a servant in the establish- 
 ment. The girl grew to be a remarkable speci- 
 men of female beauty ; her form was exquisitely 
 
66 The Good Fortune of a Pretty Woman. 
 
 modelled ; her complexion Avas delicate and bloom- 
 ing ; her features were regular, and she was re- 
 markable for her large blue, thoughtful eyes. But 
 her greatest charm consisted in a most engaging 
 and lovable smile. It was difficult to gaze upon 
 that face without feeling an interest in ClotUde far 
 beyond that which generally accompanies the con- 
 templation of ordinary beauty. Although educated 
 in the servants' hall, yet, by that singular instinct 
 which some women possess, she had learned to make 
 her conversation and manner acceptable and engag- 
 ing to educated persons, whether male or female. 
 The titled lady whom she knew as her protector 
 made her her confidential maid, and Clotilde soon 
 became the companion of her mistress. 
 
 She was not more than eighteen years of age 
 when an Admiral of the British navy, who visited 
 the house, fell desperately in love with her. It was 
 during the period of the great wars of Napoleon the 
 First, and the Admiral, being employed in cruising 
 about the Mediterranean, was absent from London 
 for long periods ; but he never failed to correspond 
 with Clotilde, and his letters were regularly placed 
 before her mistress. The girl used to turn into 
 ridicule the passionate language of the old sailor ; 
 
The Good Fortune of a Pretty Woman. 67 
 
 but time passed on, and the Admiral returned, 
 having distinguished himself, and become kno\\Ti as 
 the intimate friend of the immortal Nelson ; and, 
 within six months afterwards, Clotilde became the 
 wife of one of the most distinguished officers of the 
 British navy. 
 
 As frequently occurs when a young and beautiful 
 woman of humble extraction is allied to a man in 
 advanced years, and finds herself surrounded by 
 men occupying the highest position in society, 
 Clotilde became susceptible to attentions which 
 were paid with a view to undermine her virtue. 
 Amongst her admirers was a royal Duke, who 
 afterwards ascended the throne of Great Britain ; 
 and there is every reason to believe that many 
 public acts of the naAy and army originated in her 
 influence. In short, the marriage was anything 
 but a happy one, although the lady had daughters 
 who were married to rich and noble foreigners. In 
 tlie course of time the Admiral ignored her amours ; 
 and it was well known in London society that my 
 lady had her friends, and the Admiral his. 
 
 As Clotilde advanced in life, she fascinated and 
 formed an intimacy with one of the most wealthy 
 of British peers. By pandering to the eccentri- 
 
68 The Good Fortune of a Pretty Woman. 
 
 cities of the noble Lord, her authority over him 
 became absolute. It was through this nobleman 
 that she bestowed magnificent doweries on her 
 daughters, and became possessed of a colossal 
 fortune. Although her conduct was notoriously 
 immoral, she was countenanced and visited by 
 persons who, as is too frequently the case, permit 
 their morality to become exceedingly elastic in the 
 presence of wealth. Later in life, she thought it 
 advisable to remove to Naples, where accident 
 threw her in the way of a French lady's-maid, who 
 in course of time obtained an alarming influence 
 over his Lordship. Ever adroit, and possessing, 
 intuitive perception and forethought, the lady 
 made friends with the Frenchwoman; and when 
 his Lordship's will was opened, it revealed an 
 engagement which the rival ladies had previously 
 
 concocted : I^ady S became the legatee to an 
 
 immense fortune, whilst her maid was moderately 
 provided for. 
 
 Her great aim, after the death of the nobleman 
 in question, was to become a respectable member of 
 society. She invited people to magnificent dinners, 
 became very devout, gave away a great deal of 
 ;noney in charity, and indeed did everything that 
 
Colonel, or "■Bull" Townshend. 69 
 
 such, women do under similar circumstances. Her 
 career is another illustration of what a pretty and 
 clever woman, without heart or conscience, can 
 accomplish, if smiled upon by fortune. 
 
 Colonel, or "Bull," Townshend. — When the 
 Grenadier Guards returned to London from Cara- 
 brai, where they had been quartered some consider- 
 able time, the first thing that was proposed by the 
 officers, was to invite their colonel, the Duke of 
 York, to a banquet at the Thatched Hoiise, St James's 
 Street. His Royal Highness, in a letter full of feel- 
 ing and good taste, in which he alluded to the gal- 
 lantry of the regiment he commanded, accepted the 
 invitation, and, as was the custom upon such occa- 
 sions, the army agents of the regiment were also 
 invited. After dinner. Colonel Townshend com- 
 monly called the Bull, addressed the Du.ke, stat- 
 ing that, as he was then in command of the old 
 battalion, he hoped H. E. H. would permit him to 
 propose a toast. The Duke bowed assent, when 
 the Bull bellowed out, " I propose the health of Mr 
 Greenwood, to whom we are all of us so much 
 indebted." This toast was ill chosen, for the Duke 
 of York owed his army agents at that moment 
 
70 Colonel, oi' "Bull," Toivnshend. 
 
 nearly fifty thousand pounds ; but Townshend con- 
 sidered it a good joke, for he used frequently to 
 boast of having astonished the Duke with his witty 
 toast. Townshend was the brother of Lord Sidney. 
 He was considered by the officers and men of the 
 regiment to be intrepid and brave. He was un- 
 fortunately a slave to good cookery, which was the 
 principal cause of his death. Townshend, despite 
 his imperfections, was generous and full of com- 
 passion to the soldiers he commanded ; he stooped 
 to no flattery, disdained all disloyal arts, and, in a 
 word, was replete with sterling and splendid qualities. 
 Many of my old comrades can remember the 
 excellent dinners Townshend used to give his 
 friends at Cambrai. I can call to mind that at one 
 of those banquets, a young ofiicer wilfully placed 
 some ipecacuanha in one of Townshend's favourite 
 entrees, of which he ate rather voraciously. The con- 
 sequence was, the Colonel was obliged to quit the 
 dinner-table sooner than the rest of the convives. 
 In the hurry of the moment he sat clown upon a 
 brittle vase, which broke, and caused a wound so 
 severe that he was confined to his room for many 
 weeks, and the doctor of the regiment was appre- 
 hensive of mortification, for it baffled for a con- 
 
The Marquis d'Aligre and the Dentist. 71 
 
 siderable time his skill in effecting a cure ; but, 
 fortunately, the gallant colonel recovered. 
 
 This unlucky accident became the subject of 
 general conversation all over London, and the Duke 
 of York happened at one of his diuners to allude to 
 the awkward wound inflicted upon " the Bull," when 
 Alvanley, who was dining at the royal table, observed 
 in bis off-hand manner, it was a "filet de hceiif saute." 
 
 The Maequis d'Aligre and the Dentist. — In 
 my third volume I alluded to the Marquis d'Aligre, 
 who, though enormously rich, was known as the 
 miser. When in England, during the war with 
 France, he lived in great penury ; and his costume 
 and appearance, half military and half Moraviau, 
 aided his assumption of the character of an im- 
 poverished Emigre. Having lost nearly all his 
 teeth, he determined to have a set of false ones, 
 and accordingly called on Mr Spence, a celebrated 
 dentist, who lived in Arlington Street, Piccadilly, to 
 whom he represented himself as an emigre in 
 urgent need of a set of teeth, but without means to 
 pay for them. Mr Spence, commiserating the 2^oor 
 Frenchman, said he would make him a present of 
 them : a day was fixed for their completion, and 
 
The Marquis d'Aligre and the Dentist 
 
 D'Aligre joyfully promised to keep the appoint- 
 ment. 
 
 It happened that a countryman of D'Aligre's 
 overheard the interview, and seeing Mr Spence in a 
 thinking attitude, after the cunning old miser had 
 left, said, " I suppose you are wondering why that 
 old gentleman should be so iU-dressed, instead of 
 being clothed like the generality of his country- 
 men." Mr Spence, not understanding the drift of 
 the remark, begged he would be more explicit ; 
 upon which the gentleman repeated his remark, 
 adding, " his penurious habits make us blush for 
 our country." " What do you mean, sir 1 " reiter- 
 ated the dentist. " I have promised to supply him 
 with a new set of teeth gratis, for he represents 
 himself as a poor nobleman without means ; and 
 unless you can prove that all he has said is false, 
 I shall keep my word ; on the other hand if I find 
 that I have been imposed upon, I will make him 
 repent it." The Frenchman said no more, but 
 bowed and left. It happened, however, that among 
 the many foreigners who participated in Mr Spence's 
 hospitality, was the Due de Bourbon, who, although 
 very proud, was glad enough to dine with the den- 
 tist when invited ; and at table one day, about this 
 
The Marquis d'Aligre and the Dentist. 73 
 
 time, D'Aligre's name was mentioned. Mr Spence, 
 anxious to learn more about the man, asked His Koyal 
 Highness if he could enlighten him on that point. 
 The Duke said, " D'Aligre's wealth is unbounded ; he 
 possesses more than all the emigres from France." 
 
 Mr Spence's wrath and indignation on disco- 
 vering the imposition were great ; and he deter- 
 mined to revenge himself On the day appointed 
 for the teeth to be ready, the Marquis made his 
 appearance, and wished the dentist good morn- 
 ing in a most obsequious manner. Mr Spence took 
 out of his pocket a piece of paper upon which was 
 written, "The Marquis d'Aligre to Mr, Spence for 
 a set of false teeth, £200," at the same time holding 
 in his other hand the coveted articles. D'Aligre 
 again attempted to enact the " poor man ; " but the 
 dentist gave him till the following day to pay for 
 them. The money not being forthcoming, Mr 
 Spence, in the presence of several persons, broke in 
 pieces the false teeth he had made, saying, " Eather 
 than be cheated and robbed in such a manner, I 
 would discontinue my profession. But this affair 
 will only hurt the Marquis ; for he will have to 
 live upon slops until he finds some dentist whom he 
 can defraud." 
 
74 The French Emigres. 
 
 The French Emtge£s. — We must all acknow- 
 ledge that the self-denial and patience exhibited by 
 the refugees from France at the time of the Eevo- 
 lution was worthy of the highest praise : nearly 
 all the nobles and proprietors of that country 
 quitted it during that fatal period, and the greater 
 part came to England. Among them I recollect the 
 Counts Forbin d'Offfede, Choiseul, la Rochejacquelin, 
 de Marin, and d'Aubenton, who gave lessons in 
 French or music ; while the nobles De la Eochefou- 
 cauld, De Sainte-Aldegonde, and others, became linen 
 merchants ; others, with equally great names, kept 
 furnished lodgings, or cafes; while youths extremely 
 well born and educated were obliged to seek situa- 
 tions as clerks in mercantile houses. One of the 
 most remarkable men alive was obliged to emigrate 
 to London — I mean Auber, the great composer. He 
 became clerk in a bank, where he remained some 
 years : it was the same establishment where the rich 
 Greffulhe laid the foundation of a fortune which, it 
 is said, exceeds at the present moment six millions 
 sterling. 
 
 I have already mentioned the Marquis d'Aligre's 
 conduct with regard to tradespeople ; and towards his 
 own countrymen he was eqiially mean in refusing 
 
TJie French Mmigrh. 75 
 
 them any assistance, although then in the enjoyment 
 of a princely income. After the affair with the den- 
 tist, London becoming too warm for him, he took his 
 departure for Germany with his wife, whose death 
 occurred there. It is the custom in that country on 
 such occasions, for an official to call at every house 
 proclaiming in a loud voice the age and titles of the 
 deceased, and the day fixed for the funeral ; the 
 Marquis, desirous of avoiding expense, and being in 
 a measure compelled to respect the rule, employed 
 his servant to announce these particulars. Accord- 
 ingly, the flunkey, dressed in a sorry threadbare suit 
 of black, carried out his master's orders by knocking 
 at every door, and exclaiming in a loud voice, " Hier, 
 d, six heures du soir, Madame la Marquise d'Aligre 
 caput." As " caput " in the German language means 
 destroyed and broken to pieces, this announcement 
 rather astonished the natives. 
 
 The avarice of the Marquis so disgusted the inha- 
 bitants of Carlsbad that they determined by hook or 
 by crook to get rid of him. Every sort of practical 
 joke was played on him, and he at last quitted the 
 town just as a concert of rough music, or, in other 
 words, a charivari, which had been preparing for 
 some time, was about to be given in his honour. 
 
76 The Emperor Alexander. 
 
 The Emperor Alexander. — The Emperor Alex- 
 ander was considered one of the politest men of his 
 age. When attending the Congress at Aix la Cha- 
 pelle, he would, out of compliment, put on the Prus- 
 sian uniform when he visited the King of Prussia, 
 the Austrian when he visited the Emperor of Austria, 
 and the English uniform, in honour of our country, 
 which was represented by the Duke of Wellington. 
 
 It is known that, prior to the disastrous Eussian 
 campaign, his majesty was an enthusiastic admirer 
 of Napoleon, and it is said that when, according to 
 custom, orders were exchanged between the sove- 
 reigns of Eussia and France, the Emperor Alexander 
 was so proud of the grand cross of the Legion of 
 Honour, that, not content with wearing it in his 
 button-hole, he had another cross made which, on 
 gxand occasions, was hung round the neck of his 
 favourite horse. When Napoleon heard of this 
 eccentricity he said, " My brother the Emperor can 
 do what he likes at St Petersburg ; but if he adopted 
 that plan in Paris, my Minister of Police would feel 
 it his duty to consign him to Bicetre (the madhouse) 
 to prevent his being mobbed and laughed at by the 
 public." 
 
General Jacqueminot. 77 
 
 An Incident at the Battle of Borodino.— 
 At the bloody battle of Borodino, tbe news of the 
 great redoubt having been taken was carried to the 
 Emperor Napoleon by a staff officer. The Emperor 
 inquired whether the bearer of the message had been 
 sent by General Caulaincourt, and the officer had 
 begun his reply thus, "No, your majesty; I saw 
 the General receive his death wound on entering 
 the battery" — when he himself received a terrible 
 wound, and fell from his horse insensible through 
 loss of blood. The Emperor took off the cross of 
 honour which he wore, and directed his aide-de- 
 camp to place it on the poor fellow's breast. The 
 wound was so severe that all the surgeons could do 
 to resuscitate him proved for some time of no avail ; 
 but happily, on one of the grenadiers slapping his 
 hands, he opened his eyes and beheld the cross of 
 the Legion of Honour with which he had been deco- 
 rated by order of his sovereign, and was told that 
 if he survived he would be promoted. Fortunately, 
 youth and health carried him through, and the pro- 
 mise made to him was kept. 
 
 General Jacqueminot. — In 1814, soon after the 
 
78 General Jacqueminot. 
 
 return of tlie Bourbons, General Jacqueminot and 
 three other officers of the Bonaparte school dressed 
 themselves like emigres, went to the cafe Hardy, 
 asked for the carte, and looking it over observed an 
 entree called "Poulet d la Marengo," upon which Jac- 
 queminot observed, " No, that won't do ; it smells too 
 much of the Revolution." A gentleman, sitting at 
 the next table, who had served under the Emperor 
 at the battle of Marengo, jumped up and exclaimed, 
 " What the devil do those emigres know of our 
 battles % They ran away from France when there 
 was danger, but come back when it is over." Jac- 
 queminot pretended to be very irate ; but gcfing up 
 to the gentleman in question said, in a low voice, 
 " You are one of the right sort. I admire both your 
 courage and frankness ; and if all men of our party 
 would follow your example, tbere Avould not be a 
 Bourbon left in Paris twenty-four hours longer." 
 
 Unfortunately for the young men who had acted 
 the part of emigres, it happened that one of the 
 waiters was a policeman in disguise. He denounced 
 them to the Government, who ordered the whole 
 of them to appear before a court-martial ; they 
 were tried, and condemned to lose their rank and 
 pay in the army. Jacqueminot was so enraged 
 
The Eviperor's Fur Cloak 79 
 
 "witli the police spy, that lie caught hold of the man 
 in the presence of the court, and would have mur- 
 dered him, had not the President, who had formerly 
 known Jacqueminot in Russia, cried aloud, " You 
 are too brave to hurt that villain. All hail, Jacque- 
 minot, as a hero ! " Suddenly Jacqueminot recollected 
 that the President had been saved by him at the 
 battle of Borodino. 
 
 The Emperor's Fur Cloak. — When Napoleon 
 I. assumed the title of Emperor, he received from 
 the Emperor of Russia a magnificent fur cloak, 
 which, it was reported, cost a fabulous sum. The 
 Princess Pauline, being desirous of possessing this 
 costly mantle, by exercising her bewitching fascina- 
 tions, prevailed upon her imperial brother to give it 
 her. It was generally believed that she had given 
 her affections to a young officer, who was considered 
 very handsome ; but he, not content with being 
 thus favoured, was very jealous of her, and objected 
 to her wearing the mantle, as she thereby attracted 
 great attention : the Princess, therefore, made him 
 a present of it. 
 
 This gentleman, a M. de Canouville, vain of his 
 good looks, which the superb cloak set off to advan- 
 
80 A Marriage Quickly Arranged. 
 
 tage, determined on wearing it at a grand review 
 of the Guards, prior to their departure for Russia. 
 He was riding a very young horse, which had not 
 been sufSciently broken, and when the Emperor ar- 
 rived on the ground with his escort, the sudden 
 burst of music and the firing of cannon so fright- 
 ened the animal that he bolted at railroad speed 
 across the review ground. Unluckily for the cox- 
 comb, this contretemps did not escape the keen eye of 
 the Emperor, who recognised the imperial gift ; and, 
 on his return to the Tuileries, he gave orders to 
 send the culprit to join the army, saying that the 
 fur cloak would keep him warm amid the snows 
 and ice of Russia, from whence it came. 
 
 A Maeeiage Quickly Aeeanged. — When the 
 expedition was about to sail from France for St 
 Domingo, the First Consul named his brother-in- 
 law. General Leclerc, commander-in-chief of the 
 invading army. The General went, as is usual in 
 such cases, to make his bow to his superior, prior to 
 his departure. Bonaparte addressed him in rather 
 a laconic tone, saying, "You must quit Paris 
 to-morrow evening." " But, sire, it is impossible," 
 replied General Leclerc. " Nothing is impossible : 
 
A Marriage Quickly Arranged. 
 
 my orders must be obeyed. I have no objection to 
 your taking my sister Pauline, your wife, with you • 
 but go you must." "But, sire, my sister will be left 
 behind in France, without money or friends." " Oh ! 
 is that all "? " replied the First Consul. " I will send 
 her a husband to-morrow, with rank and money. 
 Begone, sir, and come back in the course of to- 
 morrow, and all will be arranged to your satisfac- 
 tion," General Leclerc left, muttering, "Nous ne 
 devons plus qu'obeir. Nous avons trouvS un maitre 
 Id oil nous ne voulions qu'un protecteur." 
 
 Meanwhile General Davoust entered the First 
 Consul's cabinet, when Bonaparte said to him, " I 
 am glad you are come, for I have foun^ you a wife, 
 young and accomplished." " But, sire, I am engaged 
 to a young lady, and have promised to marry her 
 as soon as I have procured your consent." " Not a 
 word more, Davoust, about your promise ; but come 
 kere to-morrow morning, and you shall know more 
 about your future wife." It was no use to kick 
 against the pricks, so Davoust arrived at the palace 
 the next morning, where he met Leclerc ; neither 
 being aware of the relation in which they were 
 about to stand to each, other. They sent in their 
 names ; and Bonaparte calling them in, told Leclei;c 
 
82 Napoleon the First's Love of Music. 
 
 to accompany Davoust to St Germain, where he was 
 to introduce the latter to his sister. Madame 
 de Campan, in her position of directress of the con- 
 vent, was to accompany them back to Paris with 
 the young lady in question, and all were to present 
 themselves at the Tuileries at a given hour. There 
 the marriage-contract was signed. Napoleon settled 
 a large dowery on the bride, and agreed to provide 
 her with everything necessary for her corbeille de 
 mariage. Thus, in twenty-four hours, one General 
 found a brother-in-law in a rival, the other a brother- 
 in-law in an engaged lover, and the young lady a 
 husband in the man who was justly called " the 
 bloody DavQust." 
 
 Napoleon the First's Love of Music. — The 
 Emperor Napoleon I. was passionately fond of 
 Italian music, and wherever the Court stayed, 
 several of the best artistes of the day might be 
 found, who were treated with the greatest con- 
 sideration. Paesiello was the Emperor's favourite 
 amongst them : indeed, he took an unbounded 
 interest in his success, and was so enchanted one 
 day by a song Paesiello had just written, that he 
 caught him by the hand, saying, " Without doubt 
 
Napoleon the First's Love of Music. 83 
 
 you are the greatest composer that ever lived." 
 " No, sire, I am not," replied he ; " while Cimarosa 
 lives, to him must be given the palm." 
 
 Paesiello wrote the opera of " Proserpine," which 
 was brought out at Paris under the auspices of the 
 Emperor ; but somehow or other it did not suit the 
 French taste, and proved a failure. Napoleon was 
 furious at the non-success of his proteges opera, and 
 observed, " It is not to be wondered at, for the French 
 understand nothing of music." Paesiello thought so 
 too ; for though so highly patronised by the Emperor 
 and court, he quitted France in disgust. It was 
 with difficulty that a man of musical genius could 
 be found to replace the Italian in the Emperor's 
 favour; but Mehul was at last thought of, and 
 summoned to the Tuileries. When he was in- 
 formed of Napoleon's wishes, the composer sohcited 
 an interview with the great man, and after the usual 
 salutation, informed the Emperor that he could not 
 accept the proffered honour unless allowed to 
 divide the perquisites with his friend Cherubiui. 
 This was refused ; Napoleon saying, " I can never 
 permit that, for I hate the man." " It is a pity, 
 sire, that you do not like him, for he is my superior 
 in every way." " I care not for that. I still per- 
 
84 Napoleon the First's Love of Music. 
 
 sist in refusing to have that man near me, and 
 nothing can change my determination." "Then," 
 replied Mehul, " I am compelled to decline the 
 flattering offer your majesty has made me." 
 
 The reason why the Emperor was so inimical to 
 Cherubini was that, when Napoleon returned from 
 the Italian campaign with only the rank of General, 
 he on one occasion offered a remark not very flat- 
 tering to the composer ; and Cherubini retorted, 
 " Melez vous. General, de gagner des batailles ; c'est 
 votre metier. Laissez-moi faire le mien, auquel 
 vous n'entendez rien." For this Cherubini was 
 never pardoned. M^hul, though he had refused the 
 Emperor's offer, still remained in favour at Court, 
 and his pieces were criticised by the Emperor ; who 
 often told Mehul that his compositions were too 
 German, and not to be compared with those of the 
 Italian school. '• The Germans, in composing, think 
 too much of science, but are unmindful of that 
 which touches the heart. This fault is also shared 
 by the French composers : all their operas want 
 grace and gaiety." On the appearance of the opera 
 "LTrato" which is written in the Italian style, Na- 
 poleon, ignorant as to who the composer was, begged 
 
Parting of Napoleon and Madame Mere. 85 
 
 Mehul to be present. After some demur he* con- 
 sented. The overture was much applauded, and 
 the Emperor observed to Mehul, " Now, you see, 
 there is nothing like Italian music." The opera 
 then proceeded, and was throughout much admired 
 by the audience ; and when at the end the authors 
 of the piece were called before the curtain, Mehul, 
 the composer, and Marsollier, the writer of the 
 piece, appeared, and were received with boisterous 
 applause. The Emperor, delighted, sent for M^hul, 
 and cried out, in a tone loud enough to be heard by 
 many present, "Attrapez moi toujours de meme, 
 mon cher M6hul, et je m'en rejouirai pour votre 
 gloire et mes plaisirs." 
 
 Parting of Napoleon and Madame MSre. — 
 Talma was present at the last parting at the Malmai- 
 son between the Emperor and his mother, and he 
 said that it was one of the most tragic scenes he 
 had ever witnessed. When the last moment arrived, 
 the Empress-mother, prostrated with grief, and 
 with tears streaming from her eyes, could only 
 utter, in a tremulous voice, " Adieit, mon Jils ! 
 adieu .'" And Napoleon was so affected, that he 
 
-86 Prince Eugene Beauharnais. 
 
 caught hold of both her hands, cried, "Adieu, ma 
 mere ! " and burst into tears as he left her. The 
 mother was destined never again to meet the son 
 
 " Whose filial piety excels 
 Whatever Grecian story tells." 
 
 Prince Eugene Beauharnais. — Soon after the 
 fall of Napoleon, the Emperor of Russia, together 
 with the other allied sovereigns, desirous of show- 
 ing their respect and admiration for the conduct of 
 Prince Eugfene, offered him the Duchy of Genoa. 
 The following was the reply sent by the Viceroy to 
 the one he had received making the offer : — 
 
 " Sire, — I have received your Majesty's proposi- 
 tions. They certainly are very flattering, but they 
 will in no way change my determination. Neither 
 the duchy nor the kingdom of Italy will induce 
 me to become a traitor ; and rather than follow the 
 example of Murat, I would prefer entering the 
 ranks again as a private soldier. 
 
 " You state that the Emperor Napoleon was not 
 kind to me. I have forgotten all this. I know, 
 however, that I owe everything to him — my for- 
 tune, my rank and titles. If he should require my 
 services again, I would serve him with aU my 
 
The JEmperor of the French when a Boy. 87 
 
 ability ; for my body belongs to him, as does my 
 heart. 
 
 " I flatter myself that in refusing to agree to the 
 offer you have done me the honour to make, your 
 Majesty will appreciate my conduct, and assure me 
 the continuance of your esteem. 
 
 " Eugene Beauharnais." 
 
 The Present Emperor of the French when a 
 Boy. — Prince Louis Napoleon, when at the age of six, 
 lived with his mother. Queen Hortense, at the Mal- 
 maison, with whom resided the Empress Josephine ; 
 who, it will be remembered, received the allied sove- 
 reigns there in 1814, after Napoleon I. was exiled to 
 Elba. The Emperor of Eussia when in Paris scarcely 
 passed a day without visiting those exalted ladies, 
 and on each occasion he breakfasted or dined with 
 them. The Queen told her children, that when the 
 Emperor Alexander called, every mark of attention 
 and respect was to be paid to his Imperial Majesty ; 
 for to him, and him alone, they owed everything 
 they possessed in the world. Prince Louis listened 
 to his mother's precepts with great attention, but 
 said nothing. The next time the Czar came, how- 
 ever, the little fellow sidled up to him and quietly 
 
88 The Emperor of the French when a Boy. 
 
 placed on one of the Czar's fingers a ring, which his 
 uncle Prince Eugene, the Viceroy of Italy, had 
 given him. The boy, on being asked by his mother 
 what he meant, said, " I have only this ring, which 
 my uncle gave me ; but I have given it to the 
 Emperor Alexander, because he has been so kind to 
 you, dear mamma." The autocrat smiled, and placing 
 the gift on his watch-chain, said he would never part 
 with it, but would keep it in remembrance of the 
 noble trait of generosity shown by one so young. 
 The Queen replied, " Sire, my son Louis keeps nothing 
 for himself : the other day I gave him some pretty 
 buttons, but he gave them away to some of his play- 
 mates ; and when I reproached him for so doing, his 
 answer was, " Vous voulez, maman, me procurer un 
 plaisir en me les offrant, et vous m'en procurez deux ; 
 celui de recevoir de vous, maman, un jolie chose, 
 et ensuite le plaisir de la donner d un autre." 
 
 Another anecdote, showing the good nature of 
 Louis Napoleon, was related to me by the late M. 
 Mocquard, with whom I was well acquainted. 
 After leaving the Malmaison, Queen Hortense 
 settled by the Lake of Constance, where the young 
 Prince was constantly in the habit of relieving 
 poor people by giving away his pocket-money. One 
 
Jerome Bonaparte and Cardinal Fesch. 89 
 
 day lie observed a family in the greatest distress, 
 but having no money to give them ; he took off his 
 coat and boots and gave them to these poor people, 
 saying that he was sorry that he had not any 
 money for them, as he had given away the allow- 
 ance his mother made him to some other poor 
 persons who had just passed by the house ; but he 
 hoped they would dispose of his clothes to relieve 
 their wants. The weather at this time was very 
 cold, and the ground covered with snow ; the Prince 
 nevertheless, trudged through it towards home, 
 and when near the house was met by Mocquard, 
 who expressed his surprise at seeing him in that 
 state. The little fellow, then ten years old, replied, 
 " I have given away my clothes to some poor 
 people to prevent them from starving." Mocquard 
 added, that " the Emperor is never so happy as 
 when he can relieve the distressed." 
 
 Jerome Bonaparte and Cardinal Fesch.— 
 Jerome, the youngest brother of the great Em- 
 peror, was when young extremely wild and extra- 
 vagant. He was always in debt, and would borrow 
 money of any one who woidd trust him. Upon 
 one occasion he called upon his uncle, the Car- 
 
90 The Czar and the Apple Girl. 
 
 dinal Fesch, who invited him to dinner. The Car- 
 dinal was a great amateur of paintings, and his 
 gallery contained some of the finest specimens of 
 the old masters. After dinner, the Cardinal was 
 on the point of quitting the dining-room, when 
 Jerome followed him, and asked for the loan of 500 
 francs. The old Cardinal refused to lend him the 
 money, whereupon Jerome became furious, drew his 
 sword, swore vengeance against his uncle, and 
 began cutting at everything about him. Unfortu- 
 nately his sword fell upon a chef-d'oeuvre by Van- 
 dyke, which the Cardinal, upon his return to the 
 dining-room, observing, called out in a loud voice, 
 "Stop, young man ! sheathe your sword, and here 
 are your 500 francs ! " 
 
 The Czar and the Apple Giel. — In the neigh- 
 bourhood of the Tuileries there used to be a small 
 fair, where apples, toys, cakes, &c., were sold. When 
 the Emperor Alexander was in Paris, he one day 
 stroUed through it, and remarking a very pretty 
 fascinating girl staring intently at him from one of 
 the stalls, he asked her the reason. " I am looking 
 at you, sir," she replied, " because you are the very 
 counterpart of the Emperor of Eussia ; but you can- 
 
De Soma, the Portuguese Ambassador, 91 
 
 not be that great personage, or you would not lower 
 yourself by talking to a poor apple girl." The auto- 
 crat replied, "Whether I am the Emperor or not, 
 rest assured, my dear, that were I to stay much 
 longer in your company I should lose mj heart ; but, 
 however," continued he, presenting her with a louis 
 d'or, " can you tell me the address of the Emperor 
 of Eussia, for I am anxious to find it outl" She 
 gave up her stall to one of her friends, and volun- 
 teered to accompany the great man to find himself. 
 On their arrival at the hotel, he begged she would 
 walk in. " No, sir : I have shown you where the 
 Emperor lives, which I think is all that you re- 
 quire ; so good morning, sir." " No, no, that is not 
 all, my little angel ; you must now tell me where 
 you live." " Well, sir, I am to be found at my stall." 
 The result of this was, that the girl found her way 
 to St Petersburg, where she lived for some time un- 
 der the Emperor's protection : she afterwards mar- 
 ried a great nobleman, and became the mother of 
 the man who played the most prominent part in 
 the Crimean war. 
 
 De Sotjza, the Poetuguese Ambassador. — The 
 fame of De Souza for the piquancy of his wit and 
 
92 De Souza, the Portuguese Amhassador. 
 
 his readiness in retort was general at every court in 
 Europe. When in England, lie had the entree of 
 Carlton House, and was on terms of intimacy with 
 the Prince Eegent. At that time his Eoyal High- 
 ness's life was spent in great dissipation, and those 
 at court followed his example. A hundredth part 
 of what actually occurred at Carlton House would 
 afibrd rare materials for anecdote ; though it is only 
 right to add that much of the scandal propagated 
 respecting this period was pure invention. 
 
 De Souza, though perhaps the ugliest little man I 
 ever saw, was nevertheless remarkable for the charm 
 and grace of his conversation ; and there was no one 
 then in the diplomatic world, Tallyrand excepted, 
 who attained greater perfection in what is called the 
 art de vivre than the Portuguese ambassador. Our 
 hero revelled in the gossip and scandal of society, 
 and he used to amuse the Prince Eegent with fre- 
 quent anecdotes and witty sayings from both Lisbon 
 and the Brazils. His sayings made everybody laugh, 
 and his droll manner was inimitable. He had a 
 mania for relating stories about women, which some- 
 times made even the Eegent blush. At dinner at 
 Carlton House one day he observed that some men 
 were addicted to extraordinary tastes, and com- 
 
Lord Hay and the Prince Regent. 93 
 
 menced a story in illustration, when tlie Prince ex- 
 claimed, " Halt ! no more at present, De Souza. 
 Ton shall tell us the rest when the cloth is removed." 
 After the servants had retired, the Prince said, " Now, 
 De Souza, continue the story which you began 
 during dinner." " Well, your Eoyal Highness, my 
 story will not occupy much time ; it is merely that 
 a friend of mine in Lisbon was exceedingly fond of 
 peacock's tails." " Well, what then V " Ah ! your 
 Eoyal Highness, he preferred those ornaments to the 
 most beautiful women : indeed, he was so infatuated 
 with them, that he sometimes fancied himself a pea- 
 cock." " Come, come, De Souza, this is too much : 
 we cannot swallow such nonsense." "Well, sire, I can 
 only vouch for what I saw, and that was, a nun 
 rubbing down the tails upon my friend's back, and 
 saying, What a beautiful bird you are!" 
 
 LoBD Hay and the Prince Eegent. — At the 
 Prince Eegent's first le,vee, in 1815, Lord Hay, eldest 
 son of the Earl of Brrol, was presented with other 
 officers of the Guards to have the honour of kissing 
 hands ; when the Prince gave his hand to be kissed, 
 the young nobleman, unversed in court etiquette, 
 caught hold of it and shook it with all his might. The 
 
94 Lord Hay and the Prince Regent 
 
 Prince, though a very proud and formal personage, 
 seeing the youth of the young soldier, took the salute 
 in good part, and inquired how the Earl of Errol 
 was. Lord James Murray, observing that something 
 had occurred which was creating a laugh at the ex- 
 pense of his young countryman, good-naturedly took 
 him by the arm and removed him from the royal 
 presence. " What have you been doing. Lord Hay," 
 inquired Lord James Murray, " to be the cause of so 
 much mirth V "I don't know, unless it was that I 
 shook the Prince's hand with aU my might." " Only 
 that, my Lord ! " replied Lord James ; " why, you 
 have committed a flagrant breach of etiquette." 
 " How so 1 " inquired Lord Hay. " Why, you 
 ought only to have placed the royal hand to your 
 mouth, instead of shaking it." " Oh, my Lord, I 
 will make amends. 1 will return and apologise to 
 his Eoyal Highness." " No, no, Lord Hay ; that wiU 
 make matters worse." The same evening Lord James 
 Murray dined with the Prince, and mentioned to his 
 Eoyal Highness what Lord Hay proposed doing, by 
 way of making amends for his gaucherie. The Prince 
 was extremely amused, and observed, he never had 
 seen so handsome a young soldier in the uniform of 
 the Guards. 
 
The Prince Regent and Carlton House. 95 
 
 Lord Hay, a few days subsequently, left England 
 for Brussels, to join Ms regiment, tlie 1st Foot Guards ; 
 and at the battle of Quatre Bras, whilst gallantly lead- 
 ing his company ia a charge against the French sharp- 
 shooters, this young nobleman received a musket ball 
 in the heart, which, of course, caused instant death. 
 
 In those days the 1st Foot Guards were officered 
 by some of the handsomest young men that Eng- 
 land could boast of. I recoUect with pride the 
 names of several of them, viz. : — The two Foxes, 
 William and SackviUe ; the two Bridgemans ; Johnny 
 Lyster, Augustus Dashwood, Cradock, Daniel Tighe, 
 Douglas, Erskiae of Mar, Alix, Thoroton, Lord Hay, 
 Barrington, Langrishe, and many others whose names, 
 alas ! I now forget. But as nothing is perfect in 
 this world, I must in justice state, that notwithstand- 
 ing the noble list I have particularised, there were in 
 the regiment one or two of the ugliest men, perhaps, 
 that the world ever beheld. 
 
 The Prince Eegent and Caklton House. — 
 One of the meanest and most ugly edifices that 
 ever disfigured London, notwithstanding it was 
 screened by a row of columns, was Carlton House, 
 the residence of the Priuce Eegent. It was con- 
 
96 The Prince Regent and Carlton House. 
 
 demned by everybody who possessed taste ; and 
 Canova the sculptor, on being asked his opinion 
 of it, said, " There are at Eome a thousand build- 
 ings more beautiful, and whose architecture is in 
 comparison faultless, any one of which would be 
 more suitable for a princely residence than that ugly 
 barn." This building was constantly under repair, 
 but never improved, for no material alterations were 
 made in its appearance. The first step towards 
 improvement should have been to give it a coat 
 of " lime- wash," for it was blackened with dust and 
 soot. Apropos of the alterations : the workmen en- 
 gaged therein were a great source of annoyance to 
 the Prince, who, pretending that he did not like to 
 be stared at, objected to their entering by the gate- . 
 way. It is certain that the Prince Eegent kept him- 
 self as much aloof as possible from the lower class 
 of his subjects, and was annoyed by the natural 
 curiosity of those who hold that as " a cat may look 
 at a king," permission for that luxury should not 
 be denied to bipeds. 
 
 I recollect that, having called, when on guard, 
 upon Sir Benjamin Bloomfield about the salei of a 
 cob, which he gave me to understand he wanted for 
 the Prince Eegent, while conversing we were inter- 
 
Lord Barrymore. 97 
 
 rupted by tlie entrance of the Prince, attended by 
 M'Mahon and the eccentric "Tommy Tit." His 
 Royal Highness was in an angry humour, and 
 blurted out in his rage, "I wiU not allow those 
 maid -servants to look at me when I go in and out; 
 and if I find they do so again, I will have them 
 discharged." I could hardly believe my ears, that 
 a man born to the highest rank could take um- 
 brage at such pardonable curiosity. But while 
 riding in Hyde Park the next day, I was joined by 
 General Baylie, who it seemed had been a spectator 
 of this outburst of wrath: he told me that the 
 Prince constantly complained of the servants star- 
 ing at him, and that strict orders had been given, 
 to discharge any one caught repeating the ofience. 
 
 Lord Baeeymoee. — This nobleman came of a 
 
 very old family, and when of age succeeded to a fine 
 
 estate. He acquired no smaU degree of notoriety 
 
 from his love of pugilism and cock-fighting; but 
 
 his forte lay in driving, and few coachmen on the 
 
 northern road could "tool" a four-in-hand like 
 
 him. His Lordship was one of the founders of the 
 
 "Whip Club." The first time I ever saw Lord 
 
 Barrymore was one fine evening while taking a 
 
 a 
 
98 Lord Barrymore. 
 
 stroll in Hyde Park. The weather was charming, 
 and a great number of the bon-ton had assembled 
 to witness the departure of the Four-in-Hand Club. 
 Conspicuous among all the "turns-out" was that 
 of his Lordship, who drove four splendid grays, un- 
 matched in symmetry, action, and power. Lord 
 Barrymore was, like Byron and Sir Walter Scott, 
 club-footed. I discovered this defect the moment 
 he got off his box to arrange something wrong in the 
 harness. If there had been a competitive examina- 
 tion, the prize of which would be given to the most 
 proficient in slang and vulgar phraseology, it would 
 have been safe to back his Lordship as the winner 
 against the most foul-mouthed of costermongers ; for 
 the way he blackguarded his servants for the mis- 
 adjustment of a strap was horrifying. On return- 
 ing home, I dressed and went to the Club to dine, 
 where I alluded to the choice morsels of English 
 vernacular that had fallen from the noble whip's 
 mouth in addressing his servants, and was assured 
 that such was his usual language when out of 
 temper. 
 
 In addition to his " drag " in the " Four-in-hand 
 Club," Lord Barrymore sported a very pretty " Stan- 
 
Lord Barrymore. 99 
 
 hope," in which he used to drive about town, ac- 
 companied by a little boy, whom the world denomi- 
 nated his tiger. It was reported that Lord Barry- 
 more had, in his younger days, been taken much 
 notice of by the Prince Eegent ; in fact, he had 
 been the boon companion of His Eoyal Highness, 
 and had assisted at the orgies that used to take 
 place at Carlton House, where he was a constant 
 visitor. Notwithstanding this, Lord Barrymore 
 was considered by those intimately acquainted with 
 him to be a man of literary talents. He certainly 
 was an accomplished musician, a patron of the 
 drama, and a great friend of Cooke, Kean, and the 
 two Kembles ; yet I have heard a host of crimes 
 attributed to his Lordship. This, if not a libel, 
 showed that the connexion existing between the 
 Prince Eegent and this nobleman could not have 
 been productive of good results, and tends to con- 
 firm the impression that the profligate life led by 
 His Eoyal Highness and those admitted to his in- 
 timacy was such, as to make it a matter of wonder 
 that such scandalous scenes of debauchery could be 
 permitted in a country like ours. Indeed, his ac- 
 quaintance with the Prince ruined Lord Barrymore 
 
100 Lord Byron and Dan MacJcinnon. 
 
 both in mind, body, and estate. While participating 
 in the Regent's excesses, he had bound himself to 
 do his bidding, however palpably iniquitous it 
 might be ; and when he was discarded, in accord- 
 ance with that Prince's habit of treating his favour- 
 ites, he left Carlton House ruined in health and 
 reputation. 
 
 Lord Barrymore during his last years was a mar- 
 tyr to the gout and other diseases ; and on his 
 deathbed he was haunted hj the recollection of 
 what he had been, and the thought of what he might 
 have become : indeed, the last scene of his profli- 
 gate life, when tortured by the inward reproaches 
 of his accusing conscience, was harrowing in the 
 extreme. 
 
 Lord Byron and Dan Mackinnon. — During 
 Lord Byron's sojourn at Lisbon, he was much 
 amused with Dan Mackinnon's various funny 
 stories. Upon one occasion Dan's time was en- 
 tirely taken up by presenting women with tooth- 
 brushes, a supply of which he had received by the 
 packet from London. Opposite his quarters there 
 lived two very pretty Portuguese ladies, who, un- 
 
Lord Byron and Dan Machinnon. 101 
 
 mindful of Dan's proximity, and of the fact that 
 his windows commanded a view of their chamber, 
 dressed, undressed, and went through their morning 
 ablutions and toilet. Dan's astonishment was great 
 when he perceived that the fair ones never brushed 
 their teeth ; and he lost no time in sending his ser- 
 vant with two tooth-brushes in paper, well perfumed 
 and sealed up. The ladies opened the packet, and 
 appeared delighted with the present ; but judge of 
 Mackinnon's horror in beholding those dainty crea- 
 tures perseveringly brushing their raven locks with 
 the tiny brushes ! 
 
 Lord Byron was a great admirer of well-formed 
 hands : he preferred a pretty hand to a pretty 
 face. He was asked whether he admired pretty 
 feet : his answer was, " that he never went so 
 low;" "and as for teeth," said he, "a blackamoor 
 has as white a set of teeth as the fairest lady in the 
 land." His Lordship added, " A Frenchman thinks 
 very little of the teeth, face, or colour of the hair ; 
 provided a woman put on her cashmere veil in a 
 graceful manner and is well shod, then he is in 
 raptures with her." 
 
 Dan Mackinnon was ever in good spirits and 
 
102 Caricature on the Allied Sovereigns. 
 
 good humour, and he was a great swell both in 
 Lisbon and London. His calm smile, black eyes, 
 and splendid figure, when he strutted in uniform 
 down St James's Street, struck every one with 
 admiration. He was the most active man I ever 
 saw : he would run, jump, and climb against the 
 most expert professional gymnasts. 
 
 Caricature on the Allied Sovereigns. — I re- 
 collect a droll caricature in Paris, which created 
 much amusement among the crowds that thronged 
 the Boulevards. It represented the Emperor of 
 Austria seated in a magnificent carriage, with the 
 Emperor of Eussia on the box as coachman, the 
 Prince Eegent of England as postilion, and the King 
 of Prussia as footman. The Emperor Napoleon was 
 portrayed as a running footman, holding the handle 
 of the carriage door, and saying to the Emperor of 
 Austria, then his father-in-law, " Beau fere, ils m'ont 
 mis dehors — et moi ils m'ont mis dedans." 
 
 It was stated in well-informed circles, that, up to 
 the very moment the Bourbons entered Paris, the 
 Emperor of Austria had not the slightest idea that 
 the dethronement of the King of Rome, and the ban- 
 
Breguet, the French Watchmaker. 103 
 
 ishment of his father, were contemplated by the 
 allied Sovereigns. But the English declared that 
 the Bourbons were the legitimate Royal Family of 
 France ; and by the aid of a bribe to Metternich, 
 and the exercise of their continental influence, which 
 was then unlimited, the claim of the son of the Em- 
 peror Napoleon was set aside. 
 
 Breguet, the French Watchmaker. — This cele- 
 brated man was greatly encouraged by the Allies in 
 IS 15. The Emperor Alexander purchased several 
 of his unequalled watches, and the Duke of Welling- 
 ton also had one which, on touching a spring at any 
 time, struck the hour and minute. The Duke car- 
 ried it for many years, and it proved of great ser- 
 vice to him on many occasions : it cost, I was told, 
 three hundred guineas. The Duke and Duchess of 
 Berri, the Marquis of Londonderry, Lords Beau- 
 champ, Chesterfield, Bruce, and many others, were 
 also customers of Breguet ; who was, without doubt, 
 the best and most scientific watchmaker known. I 
 frequently visited his shop, and had many conver- 
 sations with him ; and, although at that time get- 
 ting old, he was full of energy and vivacity. He 
 
104 Breguet, the French Watchmaker. 
 
 was not an advocate for flat watclies, as he said they 
 impeded the proper action of the wheels and could 
 not be depended upon as time-keepers : he defied 
 any one to make a watch so good as those made on 
 his own principle. The prices he paid to his best 
 workmen were enormous ; there being few to whom 
 he could confide his watches, as so many were drunk- 
 ards, and could only work a day or two in the 
 week. He told me that he paid some of them thirty 
 francs a day, and none less than a napoleon ; and 
 that throughout Paris there were only fifteen or 
 twenty able to execute the delicate work necessary 
 for such watches as he made. 
 
 Breguet was a great encourager of merit : he 
 used to say to his young workmen, " Don't be dis- 
 couraged, or allow a failure to dishearten you ; acci- 
 dents- will happen, miscalculations cannot altogether 
 be avoided : be persevering, industrious, sober, and 
 honest." Such was the advice he gave, and he fre- 
 quently enabled those in his employ who were skil- 
 ful, steady, and industrious, to arrive at opulence, 
 Breguet, besides his scientific knowledge and me- 
 chanical skill, possessed great general information. 
 Napoleon himself, knowing his abilities, frequently 
 
Lahedoyere, and the Number Thirteen. .105 
 
 went incognito to the workshop and conversed upon 
 the improvements which he was anxious to effect in 
 cannon and fire-arms. The Eussian campaign and 
 its disasters put an end to all projects on that 
 score. 
 
 LAB^DOYfeEE AND THE NuMBER THIRTEEN. — In 
 
 1815 Lab6doyere, one of Napoleon's aide-de-camps, 
 paid a visit to the Malmaison prior to the fallen mon- 
 arch's departure for Cherbourg. The dinner hour 
 arrived, and when the company were seated, Queen 
 Hortense observed that the ominous number of 
 thirteen had assembled, and that, according to the 
 prevalent superstition, one of them would inevitably 
 die before the expiration of a year. Lab^doyfere 
 remarked, "In all probability your Majesty's pre- 
 diction will be verified in me ; for the Bourbons 
 will never forgive the part I played in joining the 
 Emperor on his return from Elba." The dinner 
 proceeded, and nothing more was thought of the 
 speech ; but before a year was over, poor Labe- 
 doyfere's anticipations were realised : he was seized 
 by the police, brought before a court-martial com- 
 posed of legitimists, and condemned to die, for hav- 
 
106 r Enfant de Troupe. 
 
 ing all his life espoused one cause, and fought for 
 it bravely. 
 
 Fouch:^ and Caenot. — During the latter part- 
 of the reign of Louis XVIII. his majesty nominated 
 Fouche as his Minister of Police. To propitiate 
 the Bourbonists, this man desired many of his former 
 friends and associates to quit France, without assign- 
 ing a cause. Among those who received this unex- 
 pected congS was the celebrated General Carnot, 
 who wrote the following laconic epistle to Fouchd : 
 " Ou veux tu que faille, traitre f" to which the fol- 
 lowing answer was given : " Oil tu voudras, imhS- 
 cile." Both Fouche and Carnot had voted for the 
 death of the u.npopular Louis XVI., but had subse- 
 quently served as ministers to the Emperor. 
 
 L'Enpant de Troupe. — A sergeant in the 16th 
 Dragoons, dying suddenly, and leaving his child, a 
 fine boy, entirely unprovided for, without any one 
 to take care of him, the officers of the regiment 
 interested themselves in the little fellow's welfare, 
 and adopted him. He was brought up with great 
 care, and received a very good education ; and as he 
 was a remarkably clever youth, and his conduct 
 
L' Enfant de Troupe. 107 
 
 was unimpeachable, he made great progress in his 
 studies. He became a thorough musician, and could 
 play upon several instruments, and his aptitude 
 for learning languages was astonishing : he could 
 speak fluently Spanish, Portuguese, French, and 
 German, and had a fair knowledge of almost every 
 continental language. Having attained to the rank 
 of sergeant in the Peninsula, on the return of the 
 regiment to England he was sent, under the charge 
 of an officer, to continue his military studies at 
 Clifton House ; and he afterwards attended Colonel 
 Peter's driU in Pimlico to learn the German method 
 of riding (thanks to the Prince Regent's love of 
 change in every department of the army.) 
 
 Having obtained an entree into the houses of 
 several city families, and being a remarkably clever 
 horseman, and possessing a fine figure and good 
 looks, he became somewhat neglectful of his military 
 duties, passing most of his time among the citizen's 
 wives and daughters. A young lady, the daughter 
 of a rich merchant, fell desperately in love with 
 him, and the end of it was that our dashing young 
 sergeant married her privately ; absenting himself 
 for the purpose several days from Colonel Peter's 
 drill without leave, and when he returned it was to 
 
108 Incident at a Ball at the British Embassy. 
 
 give himself up as a deserter. His wife, who was 
 very beautiful, and who had returned with him, 
 flung herself on her knees before the commanding- 
 officer to implore pardon for her husband, who was, 
 notwithstanding, placed under arrest; but at the 
 court-martial held on the matter he was, on the 
 certificates of the officers of his regiment, acquitted. 
 His discharge was obtained with his wife's money, 
 and he was afterwards appointed second in com- 
 • mand of one of our Indian Irregular corps ; in which 
 country he ended his somewhat eventful life. 
 
 Incident at a Ball at the British Embassy 
 IN Paris, 1816. — During the reign of thd Bour- 
 bons, society was, as now, divided into two or more 
 classes ; the nobility on the one hand, and the rich 
 mercantile men on the other. The latter studiously 
 copied their betters in dress, manner, and style of 
 living ; but as a system of exclusiveness was ob- 
 served, which militated against their being admitted 
 into the best salons, great interest was necessary 
 to overcome the obstacle to their admission. A 
 beautiful woman, the wife of a rich banker, being 
 desirous of getting an invitation to a hal costumi 
 given at the British Embassy in Paris, induced Mr 
 
Incident at a Ball at the British Emhassy. 109 
 
 James Eothschild, the great financier, to ask Lady- 
 Elizabeth. Stuart, the Ambassadress, for an invita- 
 tion. The entree being obtained by means of a 
 ticket obtained by stealth from Sir Charles Stuart, 
 the lady set about choosing a costume, and decided 
 on appearing as Diana ; but, not having been 
 classically educated, she did not bear in mind 
 that chastity was a distinguishing characteristic of 
 the goddess she intended to represent. The con- 
 sequence was, that her appearance was such as 
 to lead any one, not versed in Greek mythology, 
 to suppose that the country in which Diana 
 hunted must have lain in some happy region near 
 the equator, where the scantiest drapery was the 
 most agreeable costume. The lady, with a tri- 
 umphant air, that was regarded as effrontery, 
 entered the ballroom dressed, or rather undressed, 
 as described, and approached the British Ambas- 
 sadress, who, astonished at the exhibition, turned 
 her back, and studiously avoided compromising 
 herself by even looking at the lady during the 
 rest of the evening ; informing the visitors present, 
 her friends, that the " Jew " was alone responsible 
 for the immodest appearance of this representative 
 of the chaste goddess. 
 
110 Unknown Persons at a Ball. 
 
 Unknown Persons at a Ball at the British 
 Embassy, Paris. — When the late Lord Cowley was 
 Ambassador in Paris, Lady Cowley, during a ball 
 that was being given at the Embassy, observed a 
 face in the crowd of visitors that she was unac- 
 quainted with ; she accordingly interrogated his 
 Lordship's private secretary and the master of the 
 ceremonies, but neither could find the slightest clue 
 as to who the gentleman was. Mr Bulwer, perceiv- 
 ing her Ladyship in trouble, offered his services to 
 find out the name of the unknown guest, and boldly 
 advancing towards him, accosted him in Fretich, 
 saying, " I am sent by Lady Cowley to know your 
 name." Whereupon the stranger replied, " Before I 
 gratify you with mine, perhaps you will let me know 
 yours ; for your manner is excessively impertinent, 
 and you require to be made an example of." Bul- 
 wer replied, that his rank as Secretary of the Embassy 
 authorised him to make the inquiry, as the Ambassa- 
 dress did not know him. This elicited the stranger's 
 name and address : he was the Marquis D . 
 
 The following morning this nobleman called upon 
 me, and mentioned what had occurred the previous 
 evening ; he swore that he would run Bulwer through 
 the body for the insult ofi'ered him, and requested 
 
Unhnown Persons at a Ball. Ill 
 
 me to be the bearer of a challenge to the offender. 
 I however took upon myself the responsibility of 
 arranging the matter without consulting any one, 
 and succeeded in calming the fury of the irate Mar- 
 quis ; I assured him that Bulwer was the last man 
 in the world intentionally to insult any one, espe- 
 cially a French nobleman with whom he was totally 
 unacquainted, and used other arguments to convince 
 him that no affront was intended ; thus preventing 
 a meeting. 
 
 During the same evening. Lady Cowley disco- 
 vered another stranger, and applied to Windsor 
 Heneage to enlighten her respecting him. Heneage 
 replied, " I know one thing of him ; but that he lives 
 in the Rue Basse du Eampart, and sold me a silver 
 teapot not later than yesterday." The master of the 
 ceremonies was sent for, and desired to request the 
 silversmith to inform him how he dared appear at 
 the ball without an invitation. The man replied, 
 " But I had one : I received a ticket." " Then be 
 pleased to produce it," was the request of the master 
 of the ceremonies. " I left it on my mantelpiece," 
 said the intruder. " Then go and fetch it." The 
 intruder departed on the errand : and it is hardly 
 necessary to say that he did not return. 
 
112 A Musician's Reproof. 
 
 A Musician's Eepeoof. — Among those of the 
 fashionable world in London who patronised music, 
 early after the peace, no one was more conspicuous 
 than Lady Flint ; whose charming concerts, given 
 generally on Sunday at her house in Birdcage 
 Walk, delighted all who had musical tastes and en- 
 joyed the honour of an invitation. Among the 
 musicians present there were Dusseck and Cramer, 
 who played on the piano, and were accompanied by 
 Viotti and Jarnowickz, the celebrated violin play- 
 ers. Lady Flint's desire to gratify her friends, how- 
 ever, was often frustrated by the annoying conduct 
 of those who had no taste for music, who disturbed 
 the enjoyment of some of the most beautiful pieces 
 by the rattling of their cups and saucers, and the 
 tone in which their conversation was carried on. 
 Jarnowickz, the violin player, having upon one occa- 
 sion commenced a concerto by Beethoven, accom- 
 panied by his little orchestra, consisting of Cramer, 
 Spagnoletti,Lindley, and Dragonetti, suddenly ceased 
 playing, and apologised for so doing by stating, that 
 the discord caused by the tea-drinkers was such as 
 to mar the effect of the immortal composer's music. 
 He added, that those who thus showed that they 
 did not understand music, would perhaps appreciate 
 
Lord Alvanley. 113 
 
 better the piece whicli he was about to play, — viz., 
 " God save the King," to which they would listen at 
 least with respect. The reproof had a good effect, 
 for always afterwards a complete silence reigned 
 during the performance. 
 
 LoED Alvanley. — When Alvanley was at col- 
 lege, he was smitten with a sudden thirst for mi- 
 litary glory, and a pair" of colours in the Coldstream 
 Guards, then commanded by the late Duke of York, 
 was given him. He became the Duke of York's bosom 
 friend, and this unfortunately led him to become 
 reckless in money matters. Upon one occasion 
 George Anson, afterwards General Anson, asked 
 Alvanley at White's if he felt disposed to join a 
 water party on the Thames, at which his cousin, Lord 
 Ellenborough, and several pretty women of fashion 
 would assemble. He assented, inquiring where they 
 were to dine, Anson replied, he never thought of 
 dining. " Well, never mind, Anson ; I will give in- 
 structions on that head." Accordingly, he told 
 Gunter to supply the party with a good dinner, to 
 hire the largest boat on the Thames, to have it car- 
 peted and covered with an awning, and make it as 
 comfortable as possible, and to hire twelve boat- 
 
 H 
 
114 Lord Alvanley. 
 
 men : in short, nothing was to be wanting. The 
 fete succeeded to the satisfaction of all parties; 
 but Alvanley paid Gunter two hundred guineas for 
 his folly. 
 
 Apart from his extravagance, Alvanley, the mag- 
 nificent, the witty, the famous, and chivalrous, 
 was the idol of the clubs, and of society, from 
 the king to the ensign of the Guards. AU sorts 
 of stories used to be told of his recklessness 
 about money. When Lord Alvanley succeeded 
 to his father's fortune, he inherited an income of 
 eight thousand pounds a year ; when he died, he 
 did not leave to his brother, who succeeded to the 
 title, above two thousand. Armstrong, full of biting 
 sarcasm, well knowing that the noble Lord never 
 paid ready money for anything, asked him the price 
 of a splendid hunter he had just purchased. " I owe 
 Mathe Milton three hundred guineas for it," was 
 the characteristic reply. 
 
 There is another amusing story of Alvanley's ex- 
 travagance. His dinners were considered perfect, 
 and the best in London. He had given directions 
 to have a cold apricot tart every day throughout 
 the year, and his maitre d'hdtel remonstrating with 
 him upon the expense, Alvanley replied, "Go to 
 
Si?' Astley Cooper and the Troop Horses. 115 
 
 Gunter's, the confectioner, and purchase all the pre- 
 served apricots, and don't plague me any more about 
 the expense." 
 
 The great charm of Alvanley's manner was its 
 naturalness, or naivete. He was an excellent classi- 
 cal scholar, a good speaker, and whatever he under- 
 took he succeeded in. He had lived in nearly every 
 court of Europe, had a vast acquaintance with the 
 Avorld, and his knowledge of languages was great. 
 When he was recommended to pay his debts, he 
 gave a list of them to his friend " Punch " Greville, 
 but forgot to insert one of fifty thousand pounds 
 which he owed. 
 
 Sir Astley Cooper and the Troop Horses. 
 — Sir Astley Cooper, independently of his great 
 skUl in surgery, was a very clever and humane 
 man. He was exceedingly fond of horses, and 
 whenever an opportunity occurred, would operate 
 on these animals with the same judgment and skill 
 that he bestowed on his human patients. After the 
 battle of Waterloo, all the wounded horses of the 
 Household Brigade of cavalry were sold by auction. 
 Sir Astley attended the sale, and bought twelve 
 which he considered so severely hurt as to require 
 
116 Italian Brigandage in 181i 
 
 the greatest care and attention in order to effect a 
 cure. Having had them conveyed, under the care 
 of six grooms, to his park in the country, the great 
 surgeon followed, and with the assistance of his 
 servants, commenced extracting bullets and grape- 
 shot from the bodies and limbs of the suffering 
 animals. In a very short time after the operations 
 had been performed. Sir Astley let them loose in 
 the park ; and one morning, to his great delight, he 
 saw the noble animals form in line, charge, and then 
 retreat, and afterwards gallop about, appearing 
 greatly contented with the lot that had befalleil 
 them. These manoeuvres were repeated generally 
 every morning, to his great satisfaction and amuse- 
 ment. 
 
 Italian Brigandage in 1815. — In the sober age 
 we now live in, when Englishmen can travel from Dan 
 to Beersheba almost without molestation, John Bull 
 hears with surprise that his friends on an excursion 
 in Italy, not half a mile from a populous town, were 
 seized by a party of brigands, and only liberated on 
 paying a ransom of some thousands of pounds. In 
 1815, however, these occurrences were very com- 
 mon. In fact, at that time both Italy and Spain 
 
Italian Brigandage m 1 8 1 5. 117 
 
 swarmed with banditti, and travellers in those 
 countries were generally accompanied by an escort 
 of cavalry when in dangerous districts. 
 
 Two English gentlemen — Lord Valletort, son of 
 Lord Mount-Edgecumbe, and the Hon. Mr CoUyer, 
 only son of Lord Milsington, and heir to an immense 
 fortunes-decided on visiting Italy. In those days 
 Englishmen exhibited more ostentation when tra- 
 velling than they do now ; and these two young 
 scions of nobility proved no exception to the rule, 
 for they started from London carrying baggage 
 enough to stock a clothes-shop, and money in their 
 pockets sufficient to form the capital of a provincial 
 bank : nothing was forgotten, in short, that might 
 mitigate the hardships of travel. They carried all 
 the luxuries of Pall Mall and St James's Street with 
 them. Of course, they had engaged a courier ; and 
 as character was not so much an object as cleverness 
 and insolence, some of the greatest blackguards and 
 thieves in the world were often candidates for such 
 a situation ; although, from the accounts of Italian 
 brigandage appearing daily in the papers, the cause 
 of the misadventures that befell travellers was in- 
 variably traced to the couriers w^ho accompanied 
 them, and who gave notice to the bandits if they 
 
118 Ita lian Brigandage in 1815. 
 
 were worth robbing. Our young friends had picked 
 up from the purheus of Leicester Square one of 
 these fellows, to accompany them on their travels, — 
 an Italian, without a character as usual, but of 
 engaging manners. But how men coiild be so 
 deluded as to walk into a trap in the manner these 
 two tourists did is incomprehensible. However, 
 they embarked for the Continent provided with 
 baggage and money enough to tempt the brigands, 
 even without a courier to victimise them, and after 
 visiting several continental cities en route, at length 
 found themselves at Eome, where they engaged an 
 old palace and lived in splendour for some time, 
 spending their money like princes, and making 
 themselves the talk of the city. 
 
 At length they determined on making an excur- 
 sion to the south of Italy, and ordering their bag- 
 gage to be packed up, they started on their journey, 
 accompanied by their courier. Immediately before 
 reaching Fondi, the carriage was stopped, a party of 
 brigands made their appearance, and our travellers, 
 with pistols held at their heads, were commanded 
 to give up all that they had. Lord Valletort, who 
 was very hot-headed, made some show of resistance, 
 and had his brains blown out instantly ; while poor 
 
Italian Brigandage i?i 1815. 119 
 
 CoUyer, exasperated at the foul deed, snatched a 
 pistol from the hands of one of the gang and shot 
 him dead ; he was then dragged out of the carriage 
 and brutally murdered on the way-side. It is 
 hardly necessary to state that every article of value 
 was taken from the persons and baggage of our 
 murdered countrymen, and that the courier dis- 
 appeared with the assassins, and was never more 
 heard of. 
 
 This foul deed, among hosts of others, was never 
 avenged ; for we could not then, any more than now, 
 afford to quarrel with a nation like Italy on a per- 
 sonal matter. Very different would have been the 
 conduct of France in such an emergency. A frigate 
 would have been despatched to the scene of the 
 outrage, and a dozen of the peasantry (who are 
 generally either brigands or in league with banditti) 
 would have been hanged or shot in reprisal. When 
 Napoleon I. was in Italy, he issued orders that for 
 every Frenchman or French soldier ill-treated or 
 kiUed by brigands, a dozen villagers should be shot ; 
 and after finishing off about 700 of those pests in 
 Italy, he established a respect for French lynch law 
 that lasted the whole time of his occupation of that 
 peninsula ; as soon, however, as the French left 
 
120 Madame de Stael — The Duchess of Duras. 
 
 Italy, this state of things was instantly changed, 
 and brigandage has existed from that time up to 
 the present : for England is held, as a power by 
 itself, in sovereign contempt by the whole of the 
 hordes that infest Terracina and the spots so graphi- 
 cally described by Washington Irving. 
 
 Madame de Stael and Mr Canning. — Ma- 
 dame de Stael, with all her talents and attractions, 
 was somewhat of a toady. At one of the Duchesse 
 de Castris' soirees I witnessed a quarrel between 
 her and Mr Canning. Madame de Stael thought 
 that by abusing Lord Castlereagh she would obtain 
 favour from our great statesman ; he, however, 
 coolly informed her that the manner in which she 
 had spoken of his political adversary prevented him 
 from continuing to converse with her, and then 
 made his bow, to the surprise of those present. 
 Madame de Stael was so angry that she actually 
 foamed at the mouth. 
 
 The Duchess oe Dueas. — The Duchess of Duras 
 was considered a clever and witty woman. She 
 disliked Wellington very much, for having allowed 
 the pictures and statues in the Louvre to be re- 
 
Mr and Mrs Graham — their Soirees. 121 
 
 moved and sent as presents to the sovereigns 
 among the allies. The Apollo Belvidere, which had 
 been given to the Duke by the Pope, was once 
 the cause of a dispute between Wellington and this 
 high-spirited lady. On meeting him one day she 
 inquired what he intended doing with the statue. 
 He replied that he was going to have it packed up 
 and sent to London. " Then," replied she, " Eng- 
 land will possess one god the more, but one man 
 the less." " How \ " inquired our hero. " Why," 
 replied the lady, "she will gain in possessing the 
 statue, but her honour and yours will be sacrificed 
 by this piece of Vandalism." The far-famed statue 
 however, was not sent to England. 
 
 Mr and Mrs Graham — their Soirees. — In the 
 year 1816, a Mr Graham and his wife, a pretty 
 Sicilian lady, lived in Paris in their charming hotel 
 in the Rue Taitbout. This gentleman, who be- 
 longed to an ancient Scotch family, went to SicUy 
 during the continental war, where he met with his 
 wife ; and, by the good offices of Lord and Lady 
 William Bentinck, the young couple were intro- 
 duced into the best society. Mrs Graham's re- 
 unions were considered charming. The celebrated 
 
122 Mr and Mrs Graham — their Soirees. 
 
 Prince Metternich, with his beautiful wife. Lady 
 Oxford and her daughters, Mr and Mrs Cavendish 
 Bradshaw, Mr and Mrs Hervey Aston, were her 
 constant visitors ; Pozzo di Borgo, the Eussian 
 ambassador, Baron Vincent, and Alava, the Aus- 
 trian and Spanish representatives, also visited the 
 Grahams frequently. 
 
 It is remarkable that all these diplomatists had 
 accompanied the Duke of Wellington at Waterloo, 
 and received wounds in that terrible battle. Met- 
 ternich was considered by all who knew him to be 
 one of the most astute and witty members of the 
 corps diplomatique ; but few are aware of the acute- 
 ness and sagacity evinced by Pozzo, who was the 
 inveterate enemy of the first Napoleon. He was a 
 Corsican by birth, and in his youth a constant play- 
 mate of the younger members of the Bonaparte 
 family ; but when the Eevolution had caused 
 nearly all the respectable families of Corsica to 
 quit that island, Pozzo determined to try his for- 
 tune in Russia ; where he succeeded in thwarting 
 Napoleon's schemes in almost every instance. Dur- 
 ing the continental war he came to England, 
 where, by his wise counsel, he prevailed upon our 
 Cabinet to send subsidies to Eussia and Germany, 
 
Mr and Mrs Graham — their Soirees. 123 
 
 Napoleon ever afterwards entertained a most vio- 
 lent hatred against Pozzo ; and on hearing his name 
 mentioned, he would fly into a terrible rage, and 
 exclaim, " The fellow is a traitor : he is ever in my 
 way : he is like the erysipelas on the body. What- 
 ever harm he can do me he does ; and by him my 
 brain is constantly disturbed, and my nervous system 
 kept constantly on the rack." Pozzo was born in the 
 same year in which Bonaparte, Wellington, and Met- 
 temich first saw the hght. He died very rich, and his 
 nephew, who married into one of the oldest families 
 in France, succeeded to his property. 
 
 To return to the Grahams : The charming Mrs 
 Graham was courted by all who approached her ; 
 and such was the glow of health and cheerfulness in 
 her countenance, that no one could be in her com- 
 pany long without being inspired with feelings 
 stronger than those of friendship : yet not a word 
 was heard against her honour. She had lived 
 happily with her husband for forty years without 
 being; blessed with a child ; but before her hus- 
 band's death, to the amazement and astonishment 
 of all her friends and of the family doctor, she bore 
 a son, like Sarah of old. The heir-presumptive 
 disputed the legitimacy of the little stranger, but 
 
124 Mr Williams Hope and his Mistress. 
 
 evidence was forthcoming to prove that all was 
 perfectly en regie; and the young Scottish chief- 
 tain, who will shortly attain his majority and in- 
 herit a splendid fortune, was acknowledged as the 
 bondjide son of the aged couple. 
 
 Mr Williams Hope and his Mistress. — This 
 gentleman inherited on coming of age a fortune of 
 £40,000 sterling a year from his reputed father, a 
 Dutchman. He exhibited alternately extreme reck- 
 lessness in expenditure and the stinginess of a miser. 
 He would one day spend thousands of pounds on 
 a ball or supper, and then keep his servants for 
 days on cold meat and stale bread. His mistress. 
 Mile. Jenny Coulon, a charming actress, told me 
 that Mr Hope, suspecting her of infidelity, break- 
 fasted with her at her lodgings as if nothing had 
 occurred, and on leaving said, "Oh, my dear, I 
 wish you would give me your diamonds, that I 
 may have them newly set." Jenny, never imagin- 
 ing that her lover had the remotest idea of playing 
 her false, readily gave them to him ; and a fort- 
 night afterwards he returned the ornaments, ex- 
 pressing a hope that she would be pleased with the 
 setting. On the following day, what was Jenny's 
 
How to get Invited to a Ball. 125 
 
 horror at receiving a visit from the jeweller, who 
 called upon her with a bill "for taking out the 
 diamonds and replacing them with paste." The 
 enraged fair one applied to the police for redress, 
 but found she had no remedy, having voluntarily re- 
 linquished all claim on the diamonds by giving them 
 up to the donor. Yet this man has been known to 
 portion the daughter of a lady of rank with £20,000; 
 
 How TO GET Invited to a BajjL. — Mr WUIiams 
 Hope's large fortune enabled him to give the most 
 splendid entertainments to the heau monde of Paris. 
 At his balls and parties all the notables of the city 
 were to be seen, and no expense was spared to 
 make them the most sumptuous entertainments 
 then given. It was his custom, when the invita- 
 tions were issued, not to open any letters till the 
 party was over ; to save him the mortification of 
 refusing those who had not been, invited. 
 
 It happened that a certain Marquis, well known 
 in Paris, who had married the sister of a prince, was 
 desirous of being present at one of these assemblies, 
 and accordingly wrote, requesting the favour of an 
 invitation for himself, his wife, and his wife's sister, 
 the Princess de C . Eeceiving no answer, the 
 
126 How to get Invited to a Ball. 
 
 Marquis called upon Mr Hope, who received him 
 with his usual courtesy. The Marquis began by 
 expressing his surprise that his letter had remained 
 unanswered, when Mr Hope assured him that he 
 had not received the letter in question ; explaining 
 the custom before alluded to. This explanation, 
 however, did not satisfy the Marquis, who observed 
 that such a proceeding was, to say the least of it, 
 extraordinary, as letters were generally written in 
 expectation of their receiving an answer with the 
 least possible delay ; and he added, " Mr Hope, by 
 your conduct you have not only insulted me, my 
 wife, and sister-in-law, but several of my friends. 
 I must therefore tell you, that the first time I meet 
 you in the Champs Elys^es or the Bois de Boulogne, 
 I will give orders to my coachman to drive against 
 your carriage ; which insult you will naturally 
 resent." Mr Hope replied, " I am not of your 
 opinion as to the necessity of having my carriage 
 injured through the awkwardness or stupidity of 
 your coachman ; and to avoid all further altercation, 
 I will have the honour to send you as many cards 
 of invitation to my next ball as you may wish for 
 yourself and friends." 
 
 The Maxquis swallowed the bait, returned to his 
 
Melancholy Result of a Ball. 127 
 
 wife, overcame the objections as to the manner in 
 which the entree was obtained, and appeared with 
 her and his sister-in-law on the appointed evening. 
 They were received with due honours, and when 
 supper was announced, Mr Hope advanced towards 
 the Princess, and offering her his arm, conducted her 
 to the place of honour at his right hand at the 
 supper-table. The rank of the Marquis and his 
 sister-in-law had probably more influence than his 
 threat in procuring for him the invitation, as 
 the vanity and ostentation of Mr Hope were 
 no less remarkable than his meanness and eccen- 
 tricity. 
 
 Melancholy Result of a Ball. — At one of 
 Mr Williams Hope's balls, the crowd of visitors was 
 so great that many persons were obliged, on leaving 
 the saloons, to take shelter under an archway until 
 the arrival of their carriages. The wind, a keen 
 north-easter, was the cause of sore throat and fever 
 to many of the fair visitors; and of those present, 
 a General Didier and his wife, a remarkably hand- 
 some couple, were seized with quinsy, and in eight- 
 and-forty hours afterwards they both died, and 
 were carried to their last resting-place at Pere la 
 
128 A Roland for mi Oliver. 
 
 Chaise, Nantes. This lamentable event created an 
 unusual sensation in Paris at the time, and was the 
 theme of conversation in every quarter. When it 
 was mentioned to a friend of mine, he coolly ob- 
 served that he pitied the lady, but not the General, 
 for it was a glorious end for a soldier to be killed 
 by a hall. 
 
 A EoLAND FOR AN Olivee. — I recoUect dining 
 at the British Embassy at Paris when Lord Stuart 
 was Ambassador. Among those invited were Long 
 WeUesley and the elder CornewaU. The former of 
 these gentlemen arrived very late, and was sarcasti- 
 cally asked by CornewaU if he would take some 
 cheese. Mr Wellesley replied in a good-natured 
 manner, declining the offer, and commenced his 
 dinner as if nothing had happened. When the 
 finger-glasses were handed round, Mr CornewaU 
 made use of the water in his, as one does when 
 dressing, with a tumbler and wash-hand basin ; 
 making, of course, an extraordinary noise with his 
 mouth. Wellesley noticing this, leant over towards 
 CornewaU, and quietly asked him if he should send 
 one of the servants for a piece of soap, in order that 
 he might complete his toilet. 
 
Si7' Charles Shakerley. 129 
 
 Sir Charles Shakerley. — This gentleman had 
 a great horror of a dead body. On one occasion 
 Henry Williams and some others were stopping at 
 his house, when, some slight difference having 
 arisen between him and Sir Charles, the latter spoke 
 in rather an abrupt manner. The visitors, knowing 
 their host's antipathy, determined to pay him off 
 by a practical joke, and accordingly came down the 
 next morning looking very grave, and informed 
 him that Williams was seriously ill. Shakerley 
 hastened up stairs, and found Williams lying in 
 bed, foaming at the mouth and rolling his eyes 
 wildly. Sir Charles, struck with the thought that 
 his guest might die, became alarmed, and was about 
 to send for a conveyance to remove him ; but the 
 "dying man" found it convenient to get better. 
 When Sir Charles left the room, WiUiams took from 
 his mouth a piece of soap, with which he had imi- 
 tated the froth on the mouth of a man in a fit. Sir 
 Charles was, however, so frightened, that he never 
 said an unkind thing to the practical joker during 
 the remainder of his visit. 
 
 "Taking the Bull by the Horns." — The late 
 Lord John Churchill,, prior to his appointment as 
 
130 " Talcing ihe Bull hy the Horns:' 
 
 equerry to tlie lamented Duke of Sussex, com- 
 manded a frigate of H. M. Navy in the Mediterra- 
 nean. The doctor of the ship, a man of great 
 medical experience and decision, was one day ex- 
 patiating to his lordship on the efficacy of blisters, 
 which, he stated, had cured all the sailors who had 
 been attacked with fevers. Lord John replied, 
 " All this may be quite true ; but if ever you apply 
 a blister to any part of my body, by God, doctor, I 
 will order my ship's company to throw you over- 
 board." " Be it so, my Lord ; but you know I in- 
 variably take the bull by the horns," replied the 
 medico : and the matter then dropped. 
 
 A short time afterwards, the noble captain was 
 seized with violent headache and fever, and his pulse 
 was very high ; the doctor, therefore, determined 
 " co'Ate que coUte " to apply his favourite remedy. 
 Having prepared the blister, he contrived while 
 Lord J. slept, to place it on his chest without 
 awakening him ; he then retired to rest, but gave 
 orders to be called if his presence was necessary. 
 At an early hour the following morning, he was 
 awoke by the captain's servant, who, looking more 
 dead than alive said, that his Lordship was very vio- 
 lent, foaming with rage, and calling out with all his 
 
TaMng the Bull by the Horns." 131 
 
 might, " Where 's that damned doctor." The terri- 
 fied medico found his patient in a state of exaspera- 
 tion and excitement ; but upon feeling his pulse, 
 ascertained that the fever had greatly abated. 
 Lord J., though furious at the pain he was en- 
 during, asked what the doctor had done to him, 
 and quoting the " Corsair," added, — 
 
 "Prepare thee to reply 
 Clearly and full ; I love not mystery." 
 
 " In a word, sir, what does it all mean ? I am 
 suffering from blisters all over my body," The 
 doctor; unconscious of what had occurred during 
 the night, opened the captain's shirt collar to look 
 at the ejffects of the blister ; but the sufferer pushed 
 him aside, saying, " No, doctor, it is not there ; you 
 will find it lower down." Lower down it certainly 
 was, for it was discovered, like the one mentioned 
 in " Tom Cringle's Log," in a very awkward place. 
 It had, no doubt, during the night, got rubbed off 
 the chest and had slipped down to a very opposite 
 part of the body, which was blistered severely. The 
 doctor, to appease the captain's anger, explained : 
 " I found your lordship last night in a violent fever, 
 and had no alternative left, but to take the bull by 
 
132 Raggett, of White's Club. 
 
 the liorns : the blister was placed contrary to my 
 orders, I confess ; but ' all 's well that ends well,' 
 and I am happy to seo your lordship so much 
 
 better." 
 
 Ragget, of White's Club. — Eaggett, the well- 
 known club proprietor of White's, and the Eoxburgh 
 Club in St James's Square, was a notable character 
 in his way. He began life as a poor man, and 
 died extremely rich. It was his custom to wait 
 upon the members of these clubs whenever play 
 was going on. Upon one occasion at the Eoxburgh, 
 the following gentlemen, Hervey Combe, Tippoo 
 Smith, Ward (the Member for London,) and Sir 
 John Malcolm, played at high stakes at whist ; 
 they sat during that night, viz., Monday, the fol- 
 lowing day and night, and only separated on Wed- 
 nesday morning at eleven o'clock ; indeed, the party 
 only broke up then owing to Hervey Combe being 
 obliged to attend the funeral of one of his partners 
 who was buried on that day. Hervey Combe, on 
 looking over his card, found that he was a winner 
 of thirty thousand pounds from Sir John Malcolm, 
 and he jocularly said, "Well, Sir John, you shall 
 Jaave your revenge whenever you like." Sir John 
 
The Cafe Tortoni. 133 
 
 replied, " Thank you ; another sitting of the kind 
 will oblige me to return again to India." Hervey 
 Combe, on settling with Raggett, pulled out of his 
 pocket a handful of counters, which amounted to 
 several hundred pounds, over and above the thirty 
 thousand he had won of the baronet, and he gave 
 them to Eaggett, saying, " I give them to you for 
 sitting so long with us, and providing us with all 
 required." Eaggett was overjoyed, and in mention- 
 ing what had occurred to one of his friends a few 
 days afterwards, he added, " I make it a rule never 
 to allow any of my servants to be present when 
 gentlemen play at my clubs, for it is my invariable 
 custom to sweep the carpet after the gambling is 
 over, and I generally find on the floor a few 
 counters, which pays me for the trouble of sitting 
 up. By this means I have made a decent fortune," 
 
 The Cafe Toetoni. — About the commencement 
 of the present century, Tortoni, the centre of plea- 
 sure, gallantry, and entertainment, was opened by a 
 Neapolitan, who came to Paris to supply the Pari- 
 sians with good ice. The founder of this celebrated 
 cafe was by name Veloni, an Italian, whose father 
 lived with Napoleon from the period he invaded 
 
r.U The Uafe Tortoni 
 
 Italy, when First Consul, down to his fall. Young 
 Veloni brought with him his friend Tortoni, an in- 
 dustrious and intelligent man. Veloni died of an 
 affection of the lungs, shortly after the cafe was 
 opened, and left the business to Tortoni ; who, by 
 dint of care, economy, and perseverance, made his 
 cafe renowned all over Europe. Towards the end 
 of the first Empire, and during the return of the 
 Bourbons, and Louis Philippe's reign, this establish- 
 ment was so much in vogue that it was diflficult to 
 get an ice there ; after the opera and theatres were 
 over, the Boulevards were literally choked up by 
 the carriages of the great people of the court and the 
 Faubourg St Germain bringing guests to Tortoni's. 
 In those days clubs did not exist in Paris, con- 
 sequently the gay world met there. The Du.chess of 
 Berri, with her suite, came nearly every night incog- 
 nito ; the most beautiful women Paris could boast 
 of, old maids, dowagers, and old and 'young mem 
 pouring out their sentimental twaddle, and holding 
 up to scorn their betters, congregated here. In 
 fact, Tortoni's became a sort of club for fashionable 
 people ; the saloons were completely monopolised 
 by them, and became the rendezvous of all that was 
 gay, and I regret to add, immoral. 
 
The Cafe Tortoni 135 
 
 Gunter, the eldest son of the founder of the house 
 in Berkeley Square, arrived in Paris about this period, 
 to learn the art of making ice ; for prior to the 
 peace, our London ices and creams were acknow- 
 ledged, by the English as well as foreigners, to be 
 detestable. In the early part of the day, Tortoni's 
 became the rendezvous of duellists and retired offi- 
 cers, who congregated in great numbers to breakfast ; 
 which consisted of cold pdtes, game, fowl, fish, eggs, 
 broiled kidneys, iced champagne, and liqueurs from 
 every part of the globe. 
 
 Though Tortoni succeeded in amassing a large 
 fortune, he suddenly became morose, and showed 
 evident signs of insanity : in fact, he v/as the most 
 unhappy man on earth. On going to bed one night, 
 he said to the lady who superintended the manage- 
 ment of his cafe, " It is time for me to have done 
 with the world." The lady thought lightly of what 
 he said, but upon quitting her apartment on the fol- 
 lowing morning, she was told by one of the waiters 
 that Tortoni had hanged himself. 
 
 Among the prominent and singular personages 
 who used daily to visit this co/e was the Eussian 
 Prince Tuffiakin, who was immensely rich, and 
 perhaps the greatest epicure in Paris. When he 
 
136 The Cafe Tortoni. 
 
 attained the respectable age of seventy, lie fell des- 
 perately in love with a beautiful girl, named Anna 
 Sinclair, who was born of Scotch parents. Upon 
 one occasion, whilst sipping his ice, the old man 
 observed his adored Anna ogling a young dandy, 
 and a serious quarrel was the consequence ; how- 
 ever, in course of time, a sort of truce was patched 
 up between the lovers. The fair Scotch girl pro- 
 mised never more to ogle, and the old man proposed 
 the following plan of reconciliation ; they were both 
 to meet at the church of Notre Dame de Lorette, 
 and exchange rings at the altar, and afterwards to 
 leave the church arm in arm. Though Tuffiakin 
 was of a jealous disposition, he was nevertheless a 
 great libertine, for he pretended to be in love with 
 every pretty girl he met. He suddenly became 
 enamoured of a well-known danseuse, who was 
 living under the protection of an English nobleman. 
 The Prince, well knowing the power of his money, 
 boldly presented himself at the lady's house, and by 
 the application of an immense bribe of money and 
 jewels, he succeeded in obtaining the good graces of 
 the inconstant daughter of Terpsichore. This old 
 Eussian debaucM hastened his death by his excesses, 
 and became an idiot. 
 
The Cafe Tortoni. 137 
 
 Among the English persons of note who usually 
 met at Tortoni's, I recollect Lords Brudenell Bruce, 
 Bingham, and Chesterfield ; also Lord Herbert, after- 
 wards Earl of Pembroke, whom the French deno- 
 minated L'air bSte: not that the noble Lord was 
 by any means deficient in intellect, but the envy 
 and jealousy of the French were piqued ; for he was 
 extremely handsome, and his equipages were the 
 finest in Paris. Sir Henry Milmay, with his beau- 
 tiful and accomplished wife, created an immense 
 sensation. Hall Standish, who spent fabulous sums 
 upon pictures, dinners, and balls, was a habitii6 
 there ; and you were sure to stumble upon the kind 
 and excellent Tommy Garth, full of spirits and youth. 
 Lord Stair, who was club-footed, and the most un- 
 popular Englishman in Paris, might be seen sitting 
 in his carriage, accompanied by two dogs, within 
 hail of the waiters. I must not forget to mention 
 Mr Green, an epicure of the first water, who gave 
 excellent dinners ; and also poor Cuthbert, who died 
 in Spain, much regretted by his old friends. 
 
 It was the custom for the great ladies who came 
 to Tortoni's, to form their parties there ; and I recol- 
 lect as if it had occurred yesterday, that upon one 
 
138 The Cafi Tortoni. 
 
 occasion, the Princess de Beauvau invited those 
 who were assembled in the centre room, to meet at 
 her hotel at midnight to dance. On our arrival, we 
 were agreeably surprised to find Musard, Colinet, 
 and other musicians assembled, and ready to strike 
 up a quadrille or a waltz. The charming daughters 
 of the Princess, the Ladies Harley, with others whom 
 I now forget, danced with all the grace of profes- 
 sional performers. lu those days, the Minuet, Ga- 
 votte, and Monaco were the favourite dances, and 
 if a gentleman could muster sufficient grace and 
 agility for any of those fashionable dances, he was 
 sure of receiving invitations from the best houses in 
 the Faubourg St Germain. 
 
 About the period I allude to, a young captain in 
 one of the French regiments of hussars suddenly 
 made his appearance at Tortoni's, the Count Walew- 
 ski, a natural son of the great Napoleon's. He was 
 remarkable for his good looks ; the ladies adored 
 him ; and it must be acknowledged he was one of the 
 finest-looking men I ever saw. Not liking a mili- 
 tary life, Walewski retired from the hussars and 
 adopted politics ; in which sphere he soon evinced 
 considerable talent. His friends the Dues de Morny, 
 
The Cafe Tortoni. 139 
 
 and Mouchy, the Counts Antonin and Louis de No- 
 ailles, the Count Montguyon, and Lavallette, met here 
 nearly every night. Upon one occasion, a strange 
 scene took place between Lavallette and Montguyon, 
 owing to a pretty girl, Mademoiselle D., with whom 
 it was said that they were both in love. Be this as 
 it may, " the green-eyed monster " was aroused, and 
 from high words, a duel was the consequence ; they 
 fought with swords, and Montguyon received a 
 wound in the arm, when the seconds interfered and 
 put an end to the affair. 
 
 The Eevolution of 1830 was a death-blow to Tor- 
 toni's. Persons in the best society, who had during 
 many years been considered proud and exclusive, 
 now began to keep entirely aloof, and studiously 
 avoided going there, because of the new set which 
 had been formed. This cafe, nevertheless, for some 
 time continued to be in fashion, and the rendezvous 
 of persons of celebrity. Victor Hugo, Lamartine, 
 Sophie Gay, Alexandre Dumas, the bankers Eoths- 
 child, and the moneyed aristocracy, frequently met 
 there. Clubs have, however, sprung up in Paris in 
 every direction within a few years, and. the conse- 
 quence has been that Tortoni's has lost its renommee ; 
 
140 An Inveterate Gambler. 
 
 but, nevertheless, the ices here are still considered 
 the best in Paris. 
 
 An Inveterate Gambler. — Mr Lumsden, whose 
 inveterate love of gambling eventually caused his 
 ruin, "was to be seen every day at Frascati's, the 
 celebrated gambling-house kept by Mme. Dunan, 
 where some of the most celebrated women of the 
 demi-monde usually congregated. He was a mar- 
 tyr to the gout, and his hands and knuckles were 
 a mass of chalk stones. He stuck to the rouge et 
 noir table until everybody had left ; and while 
 playing would take from his pocket a small slate, 
 upon which he would rub his chalk stones until 
 blood flowed. Having on one occasion been placed 
 near him at the rouge et noir table, I ventured to 
 expostulate with him for rubbing his knuckles 
 against his slate. He coolly answered, " I feel re- 
 lieved when I see the blood ooze out." 
 
 Mr Lumsden Avas remarkable for his courtly 
 manners ; but his absence of mind was astonishing, 
 for he would frequently ask his neighbour where 
 he was. Crowds of men. and women would con- 
 gregate behind his chair, to look at "the mad Eng- 
 
Colonel Sebright of the Guards. 141 
 
 lishman," as he was called ; and his eccentricities 
 used to amuse even the croupiers. After losing a 
 large fortune at this den of iniquity, Mr Lumsden 
 encountered every evil of poverty, and died in a 
 wretched lodging in the Eue St Marc. 
 
 Colonel Sebright op the Guards. — This gen- 
 tleman was well known in London, from the com- 
 mencement of the present century down to 1820, 
 as one of the most eccentric men of the age. He 
 stuck to the old style of corduroy knee-breeches 
 and top-boots to the day of his death. He never — 
 that is to say, for many years before his death — left 
 town ; and his daily occupation was to walk from 
 his house in Chapel Street, South Audley Street, 
 to Hyde Park, accompanied by his wiry-haired ter- 
 rier. Then he would stroll to the Guards' Club, 
 finding fault with everything and everybody con- 
 nected with the changes taking place in the 
 dress, &c., of the army, and that of the English 
 gentleman. From the windows of the Club he 
 used to gaze at White's, which was opposite, and 
 abuse the dandies, especially Brummel and Alvan- 
 ley, who were his especial aversions, ejaculating, 
 
142 Colonel Sebright of the Guards. 
 
 " Damn those fellows ; they are iipstarts, and fit 
 only for the society of tailors ! " 
 
 I recollect on one occasion his dining, when on 
 guard, with Colonel Archibald Macdonald, (who 
 was killed afterwards at Bergen-op-Zoom,) when 
 Brummel, Alvanley, and Pierrepoint were also of the 
 party. These dandies were aware of the dislike he 
 entertained for them, but nevertheless made a point 
 of asking him to take wine. But to each invitation 
 he replied gruffly, " Thank you ; I have already had 
 enough of this horrid stuff, and cannot drink more." 
 His speeches were usually of this curt description. 
 
 When Sebright went to Spain with his battalion, 
 he left directions to have the newspapers regularly 
 forwarded to him, and on their arrival he desired 
 his servant to damp them ; then holding them to 
 the fire, he would exclaim, " Why, my papers smell 
 as if they were only printed last night." This 
 operation was performed every day the mails ar- 
 rived from England. 
 
 My gallant friend was a thorough John Bull, 
 and an enemy to everything that was French, even 
 to the dress of that nation. It was with difficulty 
 that he bore the innovation of the black neckcloth. 
 
The Princess Charlotte of Wales. 1 43 
 
 that had then just come into fashion. Upon one 
 occasion, on entering the Guards' Club, he per- 
 ceived Willoughby Cotton with a black cravat on, 
 when he said, in a loud voice, "It is evident that 
 the officers of the Guards are in debt to their 
 washerwomen, or they would not wear dirty black 
 cravats." Willoughby Cotton, feeling indignant, 
 replied that he did not understand such imperti- 
 nence. Sebright then jumped up from his chair, 
 exclaiming, " I will not brook this language ! " and 
 left the room. Colonel Keate followed the irritable 
 gentleman, and told him that he had brought it all 
 on himself by his sarcastic observations ; and, in 
 short, so convinced him of his error as to cause 
 him to shake hands with Cotton. 
 
 The Peincess Chaelotte op Wales. — A few 
 months after the death of the lamented Princess 
 Charlotte of Wales, Prince Leopold, now the King of 
 the Belgians, went to Paris, where he lived at the 
 Hotel des Princes, Eue Eichelieu ; but for a length 
 of time he remained incognito. I was on one oc- 
 casion dining in the company of his Eoyal High- 
 ness, who interrogated me about a shooting party 
 at St Germain, which had taken place a day or two 
 
144 The Duke of Clarence. 
 
 before. When I mentioned the number of hares 
 we had shot, the Prince observed, " I never intend 
 again to shoot a hare, because at Claremont, one 
 day, when walking with my beloved wife, we 
 heard the cries of one that had been wounded by 
 one of the shooting party ; and so affected was she 
 by its pitiful screams, that she begged I would 
 not be the cause of pain to one of these animals in 
 future." 
 
 The Duchess of Leeds used to tell an anecdote of 
 her Eoyal Highness and her love of fishing. When 
 engaged in this sport, on catching a fish the Princess 
 used to tie a piece of ribbon round its tail and throw 
 it back again into the water, noticing with delight 
 that those which had not been caught attacked those 
 decorated by her. Once, having been very success- 
 ful in catching a great many, and having exhausted 
 all her ribbon, she unpicked her bonnet and made 
 use of its trimmings to decorate the fish she caught. 
 
 The Duke of Clarence. — At the commence- 
 ment of 1817, the Duke of Clarence, bent upon 
 improving his pecuniary means, decided on marry- 
 ing a rich heiress. The report was circulated all 
 over England, (where it produced the most intense 
 
The Duke of Clarence. 145 
 
 sensation,) that the Duke had, with the consent of 
 his brother, the Prince Eegent, actually proposed to 
 Miss "Wykeham, whose estates in Oxfordshire were 
 large and of immense value. When the event was 
 communicated to Queen Charlotte, his royal mother 
 was outrageous ; she flew into a violent rage, and 
 with vehement asseverations, (either in English 
 or German,) declared that her consent should 
 never be given to the match. The law officers of 
 the Crown were consulted, cabinet councils met 
 daily, and after much discussion, ministers deter- 
 mined on opposing the Duke's project; notwith- 
 standing the opinion of one of the best lawyers that 
 " a prince of the blood-royal, being of age, and 
 notifying his intended marriage previous to its 
 taking place, was at liberty to marry without the 
 consent of the king, unless the two Houses of Par- 
 liament should address the Crown against it." 
 
 The excitement among all classes was at its height, 
 when the Morning Post informed the world one 
 morning that the Duke's intended marriage was 
 entirely "off;" H. R. H. having been prevailed upon 
 by the Queen to forego his intentions. In this 
 course Queen Charlotte was evidently supported by 
 the rest of the royal family ; and it was whispered 
 
146 The Duke of Clarence. 
 
 that, as an inducement to the Prince to behave like 
 a good boy, the Queen, Prince Regent, and his 
 royal sisters had subscribed a sufficient sum among 
 themselves to pay off all H. R. H's. debts, and to 
 provide him with an increase of income for the 
 future. Much amusement was caused at the clubs 
 by a caricature of an old saUor, called " the love- 
 sick youth." 
 
 The Duke of Clarence, together with his brothers, 
 were in the habit of frequently dining at the table 
 prepared for the officers who mount guard at St 
 James's, and it was the custom for their Royal High- 
 nesses to send in their names when they intended 
 to honour the Colonel with their presence. Al- 
 though I was at the time very young, I recollect 
 being present on several occasions when the Duke 
 of Clarence honoured our mess with his presence, 
 and the amusing anecdotes he used to relate. He 
 astonished Colonel Archibald Macdonald one day at 
 table by .putting the following question to him : 
 " Colonel, are you ever under the necessity of giving 
 ' chocolate' to your young officers V The Colonel 
 (who was afterwards killed at Bergen-op-Zoom) 
 replied, that he did not understand what H. R. H. 
 meant by "giving chocolate." The Duke replied, 
 
The DwJce of Clarence. Ii7 
 
 " Oh, I can see, Colonel, that yon have not break- 
 fasted with Sir David Dundas, for it was his invari- 
 able custom to ask such officers as had fallen 
 under his displeasure for breaches of military dis- 
 cipline to breakfast with him, in order that during 
 the repast, where some excellent chocolate invariably 
 formed one of the comestibles, the culprit should be 
 severely lectured, and sometimes recommended to 
 leave the service." Ensign "Bacchus" Lascelles, 
 who was present, a plain-spoken fellow, sang out 
 from the end of the table, " Your Eoyal Highness, 
 if the Colonel does not understaind the meaning of 
 ' chocolate ' I do ; for only this morning I received 
 ' goose ' from the adjutant for not having suffi- 
 cient powder on my hair u it is quite immaterial 
 whether a ro-wing be denominated 'chocolate' or 
 'goose,' for it is one and the same thing." The 
 royal Duke laughed heartily at the sang froid of 
 the young ensign, and ever after evinced great par- 
 tiality for him. 
 
 Talking of military despotism, my old friend 
 Upton, though an excellent man, was extremely 
 rigorous in enforcing attention to military regula- 
 tions. Having discovered that I shirked morning 
 parade, he sent for me, intending, to adminis- 
 
148 The Origin of " Shocking Bad Hat" 
 
 ter a due amount of " goose." On my arriving 
 at the Queen's Lodge, where he lived as one of the 
 equerries, and entering his apartments, I was horri- 
 fied at finding this excellent fellow lying on the 
 floor bleeding. It appeared that he had, in a tem- 
 porary absence of mind, made use of a pair of 
 razors to pull on his boots with ! Fortunately, Dr 
 Heberden, who was on duty in attendance upon the 
 King, was immediately sent for, and succeeded in 
 stopping the haemorrhage ; but he at the same time 
 expressed his fears that lock-jaw would ensue. 
 Luckily, Upton's strong constitution carried him 
 through the disaster, and in a few weeks he was 
 able to resume command of the battalion : and ready 
 to administer a plentiful allowance of "goose" to 
 the first unlucky wight who fell under his displea- 
 sure, 
 
 The Origin op " Shocking Bab Hat." — At 
 ]Sfewmarket, when the Duke of York, surrounded by 
 the Dukes of Queensberry, Grafton, Eutland, Port- 
 land, and other noblemen and gentlemen, was 
 busily engaged talking about and betting on a race 
 which was about to be run, a little insignificant- 
 looking man pushed his head into the ring, ofiering 
 
Englishmen in Paris in 1 8 1 7. 149 
 
 to bet a considerable sum against a horse in the 
 race in question. The Duke of York's curiosity 
 was aroused, and he asked his neighbour who it 
 was that oflfered to lay the odds. Some one cri^d 
 out, "Oh, it is Walpole." "Then the little man 
 wears a shocking had hat — a shocking had hat," 
 rejoined His Eoyal Highness. The late Lord Wal- 
 pole and his father were both addicted to wearing 
 hats with large brims and low crowns, which made 
 the wearers appear anything but " comme ilfaut." 
 
 Englishmen in Paris in 1817. — In the year 
 
 1817, Lord A , his brother, and another friend, 
 
 were staying in Paris. They had dined one day at 
 Very's, then the famous restaurant in the Palais 
 Eoyal, and the conversation had turned upon the 
 insults oflfered by the Parisians, particularly the 
 military, to the English visitors. His Lordship 
 was silent during this conversation, but took note 
 of what had been said, while imbibing some potent 
 Burgundy ; and his indignation was none the weaker 
 for having thus " bottled it up." On leaving the 
 restaurant the first thing he did was to kick over a 
 basket of toothpicks, which were presented to him 
 for purchase ; the next was to shove oflf the pave- 
 
[50 Englishmen in Pa^is in 1817. 
 
 ment a Frencliman, who proved to be an officer. Of 
 course, there was a violent altercation ; cards were 
 exchanged, and each party Avent his way to make 
 arrangements for the " pistols and coffee for four." 
 
 Our countrymen, when near home, picked up 
 their friend Manners, who had' been shut out of' 
 his lodgings, and promised to accommodate him 
 with a sofa at their rooms. On their arrival, he 
 partially uncased and wrapped himself up in a large 
 Witney blanket and greatcoat, and then "turned 
 in." At an early hour the next morning, two gen- 
 tlemen called on our countrymen, and were ushered 
 into the saloon. The first who presented himself to 
 receive them was his Lordship, who had nothing 
 on but a large pair of trousers, and a cotton night- 
 cap full of holes : he being so particular about 
 having it aired that it was constantly singed in 
 the process. Not speaking French, he requested 
 his servant to act as interpreter, and asked the 
 strangers the object of their visit ; the incidents 
 of the preceding night having passed off from his 
 memory with the fumes of the Chambertin. The 
 discussion that ensued woke up Manners, who, 
 wrapped in his blanket, rose from his couch, looking 
 more like a white bear than anything else. It also 
 
Englishmen in Paris in 1817. 151 
 
 drew from his dormitory Captain Meade, who made 
 his appearance from a side door, clothed only in his 
 night-shirt and a pair of expansive Russia duck 
 trousers, whistling, as was his wont, and spitting 
 dccasionally through a hole that had been bored in 
 one of his front teeth, in imitation of the stage- 
 coachmen of the day. Lord A 's brother next 
 
 appeared on the scene, in a costume little more 
 complete than those of the others. 
 
 The visitors, although astonished at the appear- 
 ance of the group, proceeded to business. Manners 
 conducted it on the part of his friends, who could 
 not speak French ; and, with a view of discharging 
 his office more comfortably, drew aside the folds of 
 his Witney blanket and placed his back against the 
 mantelpiece, to enjoy the warmth of the glow- 
 ing wood-ashes in the grate below. The French- 
 men were refused an apology by our friends, 
 coupled with the observation, that with English- 
 men the case would be different ; but that it was 
 impossible on the present occasion to arrange mat- 
 ters in that way. They therefore requested the 
 other party to name their weapons. Manners cooUy 
 informed them that they had decided on using 
 fusils, at twelve paces! This seemed rather to 
 
152 The Bold Wife of a Rash Husband. 
 
 astonish the Frenchmen : they exchanged glances, 
 and then cast their eyes round the room, and on 
 the strange figures before them. Meade was 
 
 whistling through his teeth; Lord A , whose 
 
 coppers were rather hot, had thrust his head out 
 into the street through a pane of glass that had 
 been smashed the night before ; while the others 
 were stalking about the room in their rather airy 
 costumes. The gravity of the Frenchmen was over- 
 come by the ludicrous aspect and sang froid of 
 their opponents, and they burst out laughing. 
 
 Lord A , who was as full of fun as he was of 
 
 pluck, stretching out his hand to the injured party, 
 said, " Come, I see you are good fellows, so shake 
 hands. I had taken rather too much wine last 
 night." I need not say that the proffered hand 
 was accepted, and the French oflBcers retired. After 
 their departure, Manners asked the servant what 
 fusil really meant, as, when naming the weapon to 
 be used, he supposed it to be a kind of pistol. 
 
 The Bolb Wife of a Eash Husband. — About 
 thirty j^ears back a bet was made in Paris by the 
 Comte de ChatauvUlard, that he would ride a 
 horse which no groom would venture to mount be- 
 
A Mishap at Almach's. 153 
 
 cause of its vicious propensities. The animal in 
 question had been allowed to remain idle for several 
 months, without having ever been touched by any 
 one during all that time ; for it was fed through a 
 hole in a neighbouring stall, and watered and lit- 
 tered in a similar manner. As the time approached 
 for the conditions of the bet to be carried out, great 
 excitement prevailed in the clubs with regard to it, 
 especially among those skUled in horsemanship, and 
 a wager of 20,000 francs was jointly laid by several 
 gentlemen against the Count. Information was, 
 however, conveyed to the Count's wife, an Irish 
 lady by birth, and foreseeing the danger her husband 
 would inevitably incur, she armed herself with a 
 brace of pistols, entered the stable, and placing one 
 of them to the horse's head, fired. The animal 
 reared and fell dead, the lady exclaiming, " Thank 
 God, I have done my duty ! " 
 
 A Mishap at Almack's. — Among the many 
 droll incidents which occurred at those elegant balls 
 at Almack's, I recollect one which created much 
 amusement among those who witnessed it, at the 
 expense of the person whose name I am about to 
 mention. The late Lord Graves, who was extremely 
 
154 A Mishap at Almacks. 
 
 fat, but wlio danced well for his size, engaged the 
 beautiful Lady Harriet Butler one evening as his 
 partner in a quadrille. Her Ladyship had just 
 arrived from Paris, where she had been brought up 
 under the auspices of Josephine, and having received 
 lessons in dancing from the celebrated Vestris, 
 she electrified the English with the graceful ease 
 with which she made her entrechats ; so much so, 
 that a circle was generally formed to admire her 
 dancing. Lord "Graves, desirous of doing his 
 utmost to please his fair partner, ventured on imi- 
 tating the lady's entrechat; but in making the 
 attempt, he unluckily fell heavily on the floor. 
 Nothing daunted, however, he got on his legs again 
 and finished the quadrille as well as he could ; when 
 his friends hastened to sympathise with him. But 
 Sir John Burke, in a sarcastic manner said, " What 
 could have induced you, at your age and in your 
 state, to make so great a fool of yourself as to 
 attempt an entrechat?" Lord Graves not relish- 
 ing the manner in which the Baronet had addressed 
 him, replied, " If you think I am too old to dance, 
 I consider myself not too old to blow your brains 
 out for your impertinence ; so the sooner you find 
 a second the better." Lord Sefton, who overheard 
 
Sir Astley Cooper. 155 
 
 the conversation, said, " Tut tut tut, man, the sooner 
 you shake hands the better ; for the fact is, the 
 world will condemn you both if you fight on such 
 slight grounds : and you. Graves, wont have a' leg 
 to stand on." This sensible remark led to the 
 parties shaking hands, and thus the matter dropped. 
 
 Sir Astley C!ooper. — I recollect meeting this 
 celebrated surgeon in South Wales about thirty 
 years back, when on a visit to some of his friends. 
 I had only returned the day before from Paris, and 
 Sir Astley was very inquisitive about everything I 
 had seen there. He eulogised the French surgeons, 
 but objected to the means employed after amputa- 
 tion ; for instead of giving beafsteaks, port wine, 
 and other stimulants, the French surgeons recom- 
 mended lemonade and tisanes, whereby eight 
 patients out of ten died, whereas by the English 
 system only two succumbed out of ten. Neverthe^ 
 less, he spoke of Dupuytren in the most enthusias- 
 tic terms, and acknowledged him to be the most 
 skilful surgeon in Europe. I asked him his opinion 
 ■ of French cookery ; he replied, " It suits the French ; 
 but it would never do in England ; for our men 
 require animal food twice a-day, and porter ; but 
 
156 Lady Holland and "the Bridge." 
 
 tlie French, from their birth, live upon fruit and 
 vegetables, and their meat is boiled down to rags ; 
 this is, however, congenial to their stomachs, and 
 proves that digestion begins in the kitchen." 
 
 Our great surgeon perceiving that I was fond of 
 smoking, cautioned me against that habit, telling 
 me it would sooner or later be the cause of my death. 
 If Sir Astley were now alive he would find every- 
 body with a cigar in his mouth : men smoke now-a- 
 days whilst they are occupied in working or hunting, 
 riding in carriages, or otherwise employed. During 
 the experience of a long life, however, I never knew 
 but one person to whom it was said that smoking 
 was the cause of his death : he was the son of an 
 Irish earl, and an attache at our Embassy in Paris. 
 But, alas, I have known thousands who have been 
 carried off owing to their love of the bottle ; ay, 
 some of the noblest and famous men in our land, 
 splendid in youth, strength, and agility. I regret 
 to add, I have met with refined ladies, too, who 
 never went to bed without a little brandy " to drive 
 away the colic." 
 
 Lady Holland and "the Bridge." — "When 
 Holland House was the rendezvous of all that was 
 
The Bishop of Exeter and his Son. 157 
 
 great and illustrious, a gentleman, well-known on 
 account of his literary attainments, requested per- 
 mission from its noble hostess to introduce a friend 
 of his, who had just written a novel, which had 
 been well received by the public. Lady Holland, 
 ever happy to do a good-natured act, said, " You 
 may bring him here to-night." The gentleman 
 and his friend accordingly made their appearance 
 that very evening, and were graciously received. 
 On the following day, the introducer called on her 
 ladyship to thank her for the honour she had con- 
 ferred upon his friend, when she observed, " I can't 
 say much for his good looks, for it was impossible 
 for me to get over the bridge." " AVhat bridge, my 
 Lady 1 " " Why, the broken bridge of his nose, 
 which has made him the ugliest man I ever saw." 
 " Oh, madam, allow me to state that he was bora 
 with that unfortunate defect." " More 's the pity, 
 sir ; and I conjure you never bring any more of 
 your friends to Holland House who are not blessed 
 with bridges to their noses." 
 
 The Bishop of Exeter and his Son. — The 
 Bishop of Exeter, in the course of conversation at a 
 dinner party, mentioned that many years since, 
 
158 Lord Deerhurst (afterwards Lord Coventry) 
 
 while trout-fishing, he lost his watch and chain, 
 which he supposed had been pulled from his pocket 
 by the bough of a tree. Sometime afterwards, when 
 staying in the same neighbourhood, he took a stroll 
 by the side of the river, and came to the secluded 
 spot where he supposed he had lost his valuables, 
 and there, to his surprise and delight, he found 
 them under a bush. The anecdote vouched for by 
 the word of a bishop astonished the company ; but 
 this was changed to amusement by his son's in- 
 quiring, whether the watch, when found, was going. 
 " No," replied the bishop ; " the wonder was that 
 it was not gone." 
 
 Lord Deerhurst, (afterwards Lord Coven- 
 try.) — Persons are still living who remember this 
 nobleman hastening down Piccadilly after some 
 pretty girl or other. Lord Deerhurst was distin-- 
 guished for his good looks and manly bearing ; 
 but he always seemed in a hurry : his habits 
 and appearance were in other respects singular, 
 though they did not lessen the respect his rank and 
 abilities deservedly commanded. His wit was pro- 
 verbial ; in short, such were his talents in society, 
 that he was considered a match for Alvanley. 
 
Lord Deerhurst {afterwards Lord Coventry.) 159 
 
 Another good trait in his character was the atten- 
 tion he paid to Lord Coventry, who was blind. 
 
 His marriage proved a very unhappy one. After 
 living some time with his wife on very bad terms, 
 a separation ensued, which caused him great misery. 
 I recollect, after this occurrence, seeing a letter 
 dated from his father's place in Worcestershire, in 
 which he said, " Here I am at leisure, free to in- 
 dulge in my grief, and to correct those errors that 
 have brought upon me so much mental suffering." 
 He never completely recovered, and contrived to 
 km time by travelling from London to his seat in 
 Worcestershire and back, once a week. Before his 
 death poor Deerhurst became excessively irritable, 
 and subsequently insane. He recovered his reason 
 slightly, but died shortly after, attended only by a 
 few trusty servants. 
 
 I recollect dining at Madame Vestris's pretty house 
 in St John's Wood, in company with him. Lords Al- 
 vanley and Foley, and Tom Duncombe. Deerhurst 
 was the life and soul of the party ; and although 
 there was, of course, a little sparring between him and 
 Alvanley, he was " cock of the walk." He was then 
 in good health and spirits, and conversed easily, and 
 without appearing conscious that he was delighting 
 
160 Mr Neeld. 
 
 us all with his witty sayings. Of all the dinners 
 I have been present at, I recollect this as being the 
 most pleasant ; it might be called a dinner of 
 dandies, as most of those present belonged to 
 White's, and led the heau monde at that period. 
 Of Madame Vestris I can only say, that I never 
 knew any lady more perfectly natural and agree- 
 able in manner and conversation, and she did the 
 honours of her house in admirable style. 
 
 Me Neeld. — Lord Alvanley having been invited 
 to dine in Grosvenor Square, at the house of Mr 
 Neeld, the heir to Mr Eundell the wealthy gold- 
 smith, was, previous to sitting down to table, shown 
 some fine pictures which hung on the walls of the 
 drawing-room, together with many articles of virtH 
 that crowded the apartment ; the host praising 
 and describing each, and stating the cost, in by 
 no means a well-bred manner. One would have 
 thought that the infliction would have been dis- 
 continued on entering the dining-room ; but, on 
 the guests being seated, Mr Neeld began excusing 
 himself for not having a haunch of venison for 
 dinner, and assured his guests that a very fine 
 haunch of Welsh mutten had been prepared for 
 
Mrs Beaumont. 161 
 
 them. He then returned to his favourite topic, 
 and began praising the room in which they were 
 dining, and the furniture ; he had got to the gild- 
 ing, which he assured his guests had been done by 
 French artists at an enormous expense, when the 
 mutton made its appearance. Lord Alvanley, who 
 had been intensely bored, exclaimed, " I care not 
 what your gilding cost ; but, what is more to the 
 purpose, I am most anxious to make a trial of your 
 carving, Mr Neeld, for I am excessively hungry, 
 and should like to attack the representative of the_ 
 haunch of venison." 
 
 The nouveau riche, though rather astonished by 
 this remark, was obliged to let it pass without 
 notice ; his anxiety to form a circle of aristocratic 
 acquaintances preventing his taking offence at any- 
 thing said by such a person as his Lordship. 
 
 Mes Beaumont. — There are probably many per- 
 sons who remember this lady. She was reported 
 to have been of low origin, but inheriting vast 
 estates in the north, and having married a colonel 
 of militia, who became member for the county 
 where her large estates lay, she became one of the 
 leaders of the fashionable world in 1812. From 
 
 L 
 
162 Mrs Beaumont. 
 
 that time to 1820, it was impossible, during the 
 London season, to walk from St James's Street to 
 Hyde Park at a certain hour in the afternoon, 
 without seeing her and her daughters in her large 
 yellow landau. Her style of living was most luxu- 
 rious and full of ostentation. Her preference of a 
 nobleman before a gentleman of no title was shown 
 in a manner that was perfectly ridiculous, and 
 evinced a great want of good sense and tact. Her 
 fetes were thronged with the grand monde, and 
 her system of excluding all but persons of rank 
 amused the fashionable world : even men of talent 
 and good family rarely got the entree of her saloons. 
 This recalls to my mind a rather ludicrous inci- 
 dent. Through the kindness of the Duchess of 
 Marlborough, I was present at one of Mrs Beau- 
 mont's balls, and this led to my being invited to 
 the rest of them during the season. In fine, I be- 
 came a constant visitor at her house in Portman 
 Square, tiU one day I ventured to ask for an invi- 
 tation for a friend of mine, a distinguished officer 
 in the Guards, good-looking, and in every respect 
 fit company for the best saloons. I was of course 
 asked what was his rank ; and on my replying 
 that he was a captain in the regiment in which I 
 
Mrs Beaumojit. 163 
 
 had the honour to serve, Mrs Beaumont exclaimed, 
 " I want no more captains at my balls : you should 
 consider yourself lucky in getting an invitation." I 
 bowed and toot my leave ; and, reflecting on the 
 injustice I had done Mrs Beaumont in presuming 
 to appear at her assemblies, I never again perpe-r 
 trated the offence. 
 
 Mrs Beaumont had three sons, two of whom died 
 insane ; the other sorely wounded her pride by 
 marrying Miss Atkinson, the daughter of a hatter. 
 When his mother died he succeeded to her large 
 property, and this somewhat turned his head. Like" 
 all parvenits, he was ambitious of being raised to 
 the peerage ; but he threw away the only chance 
 he had, by quarrelling with the only great man 
 likely to forward his views — the celebrated Lord 
 Grey. Mr Wentworth Beaumont fought a duel 
 with the late Lord Durham, and had to pay his 
 second an annuity for life, — why or wherefore no 
 one could tell. The issue of his marriage was a 
 son, of whom he was very proud. Soon after the 
 birth of his heir, poor Beaumont became in a mea- 
 sure insane ; but there was method (or satire) in 
 his madness, for in his last moments he ejaculated, 
 " I cannot say that I have lived for nothing, for my 
 
164 Windsor Castle in 1819. 
 
 son, besides inheriting my vast fortune, will become 
 the ' Due de Feltre.' " 
 
 In spite of all the anxiety and trouble Mrs Beau- 
 mont had taken in bringing up her daughters, in the 
 hope of their marrying men of exalted rank, she had 
 the mortification of knowing that they had married 
 men of low origin in Italy. 
 
 WiNDSOE Castle in 1819. — While on duty with 
 my regiment at Windsor in the summer of 1819, I 
 received an invitation to dine at the Equerries' table 
 at the Castle, or the " Queen's House," as it was then 
 called, on which occasion I met Lord Liverpool, the 
 Prime Minister, the Archbishop of York, Dr BaiUie, 
 Sir H. Halford, Dr Heberden, and the "mad Doctor" 
 Willis. These personages had come from London, 
 in virtue of their office, to inquire after the health 
 of the King. I must confess to a feeling of aversion, 
 and even horror, at being placed next the "mad 
 Doctor" at table. He was sallow, iU-looking, and 
 indeed had a most forbidding countenance. He 
 was dressed in black, with silk breeches, white neck- 
 cloth, and frill. However, my feelings were soon 
 calmed ; for, although he never spoke, he seemed to 
 enjoy his dinner, eating and drinking as much as 
 
Windsor Castle in 1819. 165 
 
 any two persons at table. Dr Baillie was evidently 
 a great favourite with the Prime Minister and 
 Archbishop. The equerries present were Generals 
 Garth and Gwynne, both fine gentlemen of the old 
 school, in powder and pigtails. 
 
 I once saw George III. walking with his favourite 
 son, the Duke of York, with whom he talked inces- 
 santly, repeating his, " Yes, yes, yes, Frederick," in his 
 usual loud voice. His beard was of unusual length, 
 and he stooped very much. He wore the Windsor 
 uniform, with a large cocked hat, something like that 
 with which Frederick the Great is usually represented. 
 The doctors walked behind the King, which seemed 
 greatly to annoy him, as he was constantly looking 
 round. It was said, and I believe with truth, that 
 the poor King could not hear Dr Willis's name 
 spoken without shuddering. H. R. H. the Duke of 
 Cumberland frequently visited his Eoyal parents, 
 with his beautiful wife, whose figure at that time 
 was such as few women could boast of 
 
 I cannot pass by an event which caused some 
 scandal at the time. The Duke of Cumberland, on 
 his visits to Windsor, was generally accompanied 
 by his aide-de-camp. Colonel Disney. One day. 
 
166 Windsor Castle in 1819. 
 
 on the occasion of the Duke's recovery from the 
 wounds received in resisting the murderous attack 
 of his valet, H. E. H. arrived at the castle to pay 
 his respects to his Eoyal parents ; when, finding 
 that the Queen was walking on the terrace, he has- 
 tened to join her Majesty, desiring Colonel Disney 
 to remain in waiting. The Colonel, who was a hare- 
 brained, half-cracked sort of a fellow, finding wait- 
 ing rather irksome, commenced making a tour 
 through the apartments, and in his peregrinations 
 entered her Majesty's bed-chamber, which was 
 rightly held to be sacred ground. Curiosity led 
 him to inspect the various toilet articles of the 
 queen, and still further to examine a golden vase, 
 which he put to a use that cannot be named to ears 
 polite. This breach of good manners was detected 
 by the royal housekeeper, the Hon. Miss Town- 
 shend, who, with tears in her eyes, reported to the 
 Duke of Cumberland the gross impropriety. His 
 Eoyal Highness, a proud overbearing man, sought out 
 Disney, and attempted to inflict summary chastise- 
 ment for the insult he had perpetrated ; however, 
 the Colonel evaded the punishment so richly de- 
 served, but he was almost immediately placed on 
 
A Shoulder of Mutton d la Soubise. 16] 
 
 the shelf, and died at his lodgings, in Bury Street, 
 St James's, heart-broken, on the second anniversary 
 of his thoughtless freak. 
 
 A Shoulder of Mutton 1 la Soubise. — When 
 George IV. passed through Carmarthenshire on his 
 return from Ireland, he remained a day and night 
 at Dynevor Castle, the seat of the nobleman of that 
 name. His Lordship, desirous of entertaining his 
 Majesty in a befitting manner, asked Sir Benjamin 
 Bloomfield what particular dish the King preferred. 
 Sir Benjamin replied, that his Majesty was very 
 fond of a shoulder of mutton boiled with "sauce 
 soubise." Lord D. sent word to that efi"ect to the 
 "cook, who full of vanity and self-conceit, like the 
 majority of "Welshmen, did not deign to make the 
 inquiry as to what a " sauce soubise " meant. The 
 consequence was that Tafiy got into a scrape, for 
 when the shoulder appeared on the dinner-table, the 
 King observing it, said that he had never seen a 
 shoulder of mutton covered with currant-jelly, in- 
 stead of onion sauce. The Welch cook was called, 
 and Lord Dynevor asked him what could have in- 
 duced him to make such an egregious mistake. He 
 replied, that he thought the gentleman (meaning the 
 
168 Attempt to Assassinate the Prince-Regent. 
 
 king) would prefer sweet sauce to that ordered by 
 his Lordship. 
 
 Attempt to Assassinate the Peince Regent. — 
 An attempt was made to assassinate the Prince 
 Regent when on his way home from the Houses of 
 Parliament in 1819 ; but it happily failed. In the 
 park, opposite Marlborough House, a bullet was 
 fired from an air-gun by a man concealed in one 
 of the trees, who escaped. This occurred when I 
 was on duty at the Horse Guards, marching across 
 the park with what was commonly called the 
 " Tilt Guard," and I remember it was anything but 
 pleasant to get through the mob of blackguards 
 who were ripe for mischief. The Life Guards, who' 
 escorted the Prince Regent, evinced great want of 
 energy on the occasion. The officer commanding 
 the troop, when he saw the danger, should have com- 
 manded his men to charge and clear the way. Such 
 was my opinion then ; and I am persuaded, from all 
 that I have witnessed abroad since, that the wisest 
 plan upon such occasions, is to take the initiative and 
 act promptly. The fact of this attempt having been 
 made, was doubted at the time by the public at 
 large, but I can speak from my personal knowledge 
 
Coronation of George IV. 16.9 
 
 that a shot was fired, and it was aimed at the royal 
 carriage. 
 
 Coronation of George IV. — At this gorgeous 
 solemnity it fell to my lot to be on guard on the 
 platform along which the royal procession had to 
 pass, in order to reach the Abbey. The crowd that 
 had congregated in this locality exceeded anything 
 I had ever before seen : struggling, fighting, shrink- 
 ing, and laughing, were the order of the day among 
 this motley assemblage. Little Townsend, the chief 
 police officer of Bow Street, with his flaxen wig and 
 broad-brimmed hat, was to be seen hurrying from one 
 end of the platform to the other, assuming immense 
 importance. On the approach of the cortege you 
 heard this officious person, "dressed with a little 
 brief authority," hallooing with aU his might, 
 " Gentlemen and ladies, take care of your pockets, 
 for you are surrounded by thieves ; " and hearty 
 laughter responded to Mr Townsend's salutary 
 advice. 
 
 When the procession was seen to approach, and 
 the royal canopy came in sight, those below the plat- 
 form were straining witn all their might to get a 
 peep at the Sovereign, and the confusion at this 
 
170 Coronation of George IV. 
 
 moment can be better imagined than described. 
 The pick-pockets, of course, had availed themselves 
 of the confusion, and in the twinkling of an eye 
 there were more watches and purses snatched from 
 the pockets of his majesty's loyal subjects than per- 
 haps on any previous occasion. 
 
 Amidst the crowd a respectable gentleman from 
 the Principality hallooed out in his provincial tongue, 
 " Mr Townsend, Mr Townsend, I have been robbed of 
 my gold watch and purse, containing all my money. 
 What am I to do "? what am I to do to get home 1 I 
 have come two hundred miles to see this sight, and 
 instead of receiving satisfaction (3r hospitality, I am 
 robbed by those cut-throats called ' the swell mob.' " 
 This eloquent speech had a very different effect 
 upon the mob than the poor Welshman had reason 
 to expect ; for all of a sudden the refrain of the 
 song of " Sweet Home " was shouted by a thousand 
 voices ; and the mob bawled out, " Go back to your 
 goats, my good fellow." The indignities that were 
 heaped upon this unfortunate gentleman during 
 the royal procession, and his appearance after the 
 King had passed, created pity in the minds of all 
 honest persons who witnessed this disgusting scene : 
 his hat was beaten over his eyes, and his coat, 
 
George IV. and Bishop Porteous. 171 
 
 neckcloth, &c., ■were torn off his body. For there 
 were no police in those days ; and with the excep- 
 tion of a few constables and some soldiers, there 
 was no force to prevent the metropolis from being- 
 burnt to the ground, if it had pleased the mob to 
 have set it on fire. 
 
 George IV. and Bishop Porteous. — Lord 
 Brougham, the late lamented Thackeray, and others, 
 have been very severe in their censures on the 
 character of George IV. My readers will perhaps 
 be interested in hearing the following : — Some few 
 years before the death of the King, Dr Porteous, then 
 Bishop of London, having heard that his Majesty 
 had appointed a review of the Household Troops to 
 take place on a Sunday, ordered his carriage, though 
 he was in a precarious state of health, and waited 
 upon his Majesty at Carlton House. The Bishop 
 was most graciously received, and proceeded to say, 
 "I am come to warn your Majesty of the awful 
 consequences of your breaking the Sabbath, by 
 holding a review on that day which the' Almighty 
 has hallowed and set apart for Himself" The King 
 upon this burst into tears, and fell on his knees 
 before the Bishop, who bestowed upon his Majesty 
 
1 72 Latter Days of George IV. 
 
 his blessing. The King then assured Dr Porteus 
 that no review should take place on the Sabbath 
 during his life. Bishop Porteus then left the royal 
 presence never more to return ; for on arriving at 
 his residence he took to his bed, and died shortly 
 afterwards. The King was so deeply afflicted at 
 the news that, on hearing it, he retired into his 
 own apartments and was heard to sob as one in 
 deep affliction. 
 
 Latter Days of Geoege IV. — For some months 
 prior to his death, the King abstained from eating 
 animal food, and lived on vegetables and pastry, for 
 which he had a great liking. His conduct, from 
 being that of a sensual, greedy old man, became that 
 of a spoilt child ; and the way he spent his time 
 was frivolous in the extreme. He was very fond of 
 punch, made from a recipe by his maitre d'hdtel, 
 Mr Maddison, and which he drank after dinner ; this 
 was the only time he was agreeable, and on these 
 occasions he would sing songs, relate anecdotes of 
 his youth, and play on the violoncello : afterwards 
 going to bed in a " comfortable " state. But a 
 nervous disorder which affected him prevented his 
 sleeping well, and he invariably rose in the morn- 
 
Death and Funeral of the Duke of York 1 73 
 
 ing in the most iinamiable of tempers. Poor man, 
 he was greatly to be pitied ; for he was surrounded 
 by a set of harpies, only intent on what they could 
 get out of him, among the most prominent of whom 
 
 was Lady C , the " English Pompadour." Sir 
 
 Benjamin Bloomfield was not a favourite with this 
 lady, and, at the first opportunity she found, she 
 caused the King to give him his dismissal ; replacing 
 him by a tool of her own. Sir William Knighton. 
 
 Death and Funeral of the Duke of York. — • 
 I perfectly recollect the sorrow felt in London at 
 the death of the Duke of York, and the splendid 
 funereal honours paid to him. The royal Duke died 
 after three or four weeks suffering from dropsy, in 
 his sixty-fourth year. His administration at the 
 Horse Guards wiU long be held in remembrance, as 
 beneficial in the highest degree to the British 
 soldier ; and such was his popularity, that ministers, 
 statesmen, and general officers followed his remains 
 to the grave. I recollect my late lamented friend, 
 John Scott, telling me that his father, Lord Eldon, 
 spoilt a new hat by placing it on the ground and 
 putting his feet into it to keep them warm ; for it 
 was intensely cold weather at the time, and the 
 
1 74 Colonel the Honourable H. Stanhope. 
 
 funeral took place at night. It is certain that a 
 great many persons who took part in the procession 
 caught severe colds from their not having suffi- 
 ciently "wrapped themselves up ; and among them 
 was Mr Canning, who never entirely recovered : he 
 died the same year, in the room at Chiswick where 
 Charles James Fox breathed his last. 
 
 Colonel the Honourable H. Stanhope. — Next 
 to the death of the Duke of York, there was no 
 event which pained the Grenadier Guards so much 
 as the untimely death of the Honourable Colonel 
 Stanhope. He had seen much service ; served as 
 aide-de-camp to Sir John Moore and to Lord Lyne- 
 doch, and distinguished himself greatly at Waterloo. 
 He was the only, one of the staff accompanying the 
 Duke of Wellington when the Duke took refuge in 
 our square from the enemy's cavalry, as related in 
 my first volume. 
 
 The sensation the death of Colonel Stanhope 
 created in the public mind was partly due to the 
 melancholy circumstance of his suicide. He had never 
 recovered from the effects of a gun-shot wound he had 
 received at the siege of St Sebastian, and under the 
 combined influences of pain and nervous depression. 
 
Peel's Hat — An Irish Welcome. 175 
 
 he hanged himself in Caen Wood, the property of 
 his father-in-law, the Earl of Mansfield. Besides his 
 merits as a soldier. Colonel Stanhope was a most 
 accomplished scholar and gentleman. In his youth 
 he lived with his nncle, Mr Pitt, the great minister, 
 and he entered the army at the age of sixteen. 
 
 Sir Eobeet Peel's Hat. — A Welsh Baronet and 
 M.P. entered the shop of Lock & Lincoln, in St 
 James's Street to purchase a hat. The foreman 
 could not find one sufficiently large for the Baronet's 
 head, and stated that he only knew one person 
 whose head was so large. " Who is that person % " 
 asked the indignant Welshman. The foreman re- 
 plied, " It is no other than the great minister, Sir 
 Eobert Peel." " Oh ! oh ! " exclaimed Tafly, " you 
 make hats for that Eadical, do you 1 Well, then, it 
 shall never be said that you have sold me a hat. I 
 have a horror of such men as your great ministers." 
 An.d the Baronet left the shop in dudgeon, much to 
 the wonder and astonishment of the hatter. 
 
 An Irish Welcome. — During Sir Eobert Peel's 
 administration. Lord St Germains, who had been 
 absent from his post on a visit to London, on re- 
 
176 Lady Normanhy's Ball. 
 
 turning to Dublin as Viceroy, was greeted at the 
 railway station by some one in the crowd shouting, 
 " 'Tia glad we are to see your Honour back again 
 amongst us ! " This compliment having been grace- 
 fully acknowledged by a bow from his Lordship, the 
 same voice was heard making the delicate inquiry, 
 " But has your Honour taken a return ticket %" — a 
 witty allusion to the instability of the ministry at 
 the time, and a significant qualification of the ori- 
 ginal greeting. 
 
 The Prince de Poix. — During the reign of 
 Charles X., the soldiers on duty at the garden 
 gates of the Tuileries received strict orders to 
 allow no one to enter. One day, however, a person 
 of distinguished mien endeavoured to pass by one 
 of the sentinels, who told him to go back, at the 
 same time stating the orders that had been issued. 
 " But," replied the intruder, " do you know who I 
 am 1 I am the Prince de Poix, aide-de-camp to 
 the King." " Eh, sacre ! " was the answer of the 
 soldier, " quand vous seriez le roi des haricots, vous 
 ne passeriez pel's." 
 
 Lady Normanbt's Ball at the British Em- 
 
Lady Noo-manhj's Ball. 177 
 
 BASSY, Paeis. — Lady Normanby once gave a bril- 
 liant fSte in honour of the Duke and Duchess 
 d'Aumale. In the entrance hall of the Embassy- 
 were ranged twelve footmen in splendid liveries ; 
 the landing was a bosquet of rose trees, flowers 
 filled the drawing-rooms, and enoTraons jardinieres 
 were placed in every direction ; the garden walks 
 were covered with carpets, and furnished with_sofas, 
 and a gorgeous marquee for dancing was erected in 
 the garden. The company was composed of the 
 Slite of society, and the most beautiful women Eng- 
 land could boast of were present ; much to the 
 chagrin of the Parisians, whose admiration of the 
 Englishwomen was intense, but mixed with envy. 
 The supper was exquisite ; and as there were not 
 seats enough for all the company at once, it was 
 arranged that none but ladies should sit, and con- 
 sequently the men stood behind their partners 
 during the repast. Notwithstanding this arrange- 
 ment, our Ambassadress observed a noble marquis 
 seated in conversation with a person with whom 
 she was unacquainted. She asked somebody to 
 inquire the stranger's name, &c., and the noble 
 Lord replied, " I don't know him ; but no doubt 
 he is acquainted with Lady Normanby, or he 
 
 M 
 
178 Louis Philippe's Sons at a Mashed Ball. 
 
 would not be here." Her Ladyship having re- 
 ceived this answer, stated that she had never seen 
 him before, and requested the master of the cere- 
 monies to demand his name. He accordingly ac- 
 costed the intruder, who gave his card, on which was 
 incribed " The Baron Deldique." It was, however, 
 subsequently discovered that this man was an impos- 
 tor, and in the habit of attending balls without being 
 known to either the host or any of the company. 
 
 Louis Philippe's Sons at a Masked Ball. — I 
 witnessed a strange sight at one of the masked 
 balls at the opera in Paris, A young man of her- 
 culean strength had intruded himself among a 
 party of dancers in a quadrille, and laid violent 
 hands on a young lady already engaged. The 
 gentlemen of the party flew to the rescue, and for 
 a few minutes all was confusion ; but four or five of 
 the secret police presently appeared on the scene, 
 and arrested the cause of the disturbance. I was 
 surprised to observe that none of the other persons 
 engaged in the disturbance were molested, but al- 
 lowed to dance as if nothing had occurred, and on 
 quitting the ball I determined to unravel the secret. 
 After some trouble, I found that the party was com- 
 
Count Talleyrand Ferigord's Theatricals. 1 79 
 
 posed of the sons of Louis Philippe and some of 
 their friends, who were completely metamorphosed 
 by the aid of false wigs, &c. 
 
 On my mentioning the circumstance to a friend 
 of mine. Count D , he said that they often dis- 
 guised themselves, and appeared thus in public ; and 
 that one day during the preceding summer, after 
 dining with them at Chantilly, the Duke de Nemours 
 proposed a stroll, and taking out of his pocket his 
 false wig and whiskers, said, " You, sir, have no occa- 
 sion to disguise yourself ; but as it fell to my lot 
 to be the son of a king, I am obliged to have re- 
 course to disguise and strategy from morning till 
 night/' 
 
 Count Talleyeand PfiRiGORD's Private Thea- 
 tricals. — Among the many ludicrous incidents 
 that occurred during the reign of Louis XVIII., I 
 recoUect the following : — The Count Talleyrand Peri- 
 gord having been appointed Ambassador — or, more 
 properly speaking, minister — at Berne, determined 
 to amuse his friends with theatrical representations ; 
 accordingly his dining-room was arranged with 
 side-scenes, drop-scenes, and all the stage requisites, 
 and he invited the dignitaries of Berne to witness 
 
180 Count Talleyrand Perigord's Theatricals. 
 
 the opening of his little theatre. The Count in- 
 tended to have represented the part of a miller, and 
 therefore ordered his valet de chamhre to take off 
 his coat, and to bring him some flour from the kit- 
 chen, with which to cover himself in a manner that 
 would make the disguise appear natural. The 
 valet obeyed his master's instructions to the letter, 
 and, begging the Count to shut his eyes and remain 
 motionless during the operation, the servant emptied 
 the contents of a box of flour over his master's 
 head. At that moment a courier arrived with the 
 news that the Emperor Napoleon had disembarked 
 at Fregus. This intelligence excited the diplomate 
 to that degree that he flew out of the house, with 
 the intention of calling upon the English minister 
 to know whether he had received any tidings of the 
 kind. The strange appearance in the streets of the 
 Count covered with flour, occasioned a commotion 
 in the quiet town of Berne. Men, women, and 
 children followed the French minister, crying out, 
 " Take care of him, for he is mad." In a word, it 
 was with difficulty he got back to his hotel, where 
 he found the company assembled and waiting for 
 the performance which had been promised; but, alas! 
 the nerves of the Count were so terribly disturbed 
 
Talleyrand's Opinion of Wellington. 181 
 
 that he rehnquished the idea of enacting the part 
 of the miller. 
 
 Prince Talleyrand's Opinion op the Duke of 
 Wellington. — There are some personages who seem 
 to gain, and others who lose, dignity and import- 
 ance, when the achievements by which they acquired 
 honours and fame are recorded in biography. The 
 name of Wellington, by universal consent, heads 
 the list of military commanders : he is not more 
 distinguished for his military genius than for his 
 sagacity and judgment. The late Prince Talleyrand, 
 being at a dinner in London, soon after the French 
 Ee volution in 1830, was asked his opinion of the 
 Duke of Welhngton. The Prince replied : — " First, 
 I must tell you that when the Duke of Wellington 
 came to Paris in 1814 as English Ambassador, I 
 was then Minister of Foreign Affairs. The skill the 
 Duke displayed as a diplomatist was astonishing. 
 He never indulged in that parade of mystification 
 which is generally employed by ambassadors : 
 watchfulness, prudence, and experience of human 
 nature, were the only means he employed ; and it 
 is not surprising that, by the use of these simple 
 
182 Talleyrand's Opinion of Wellington. 
 
 agencies, he acquired great influence over those with 
 whom he was brought into contact. 
 
 " When the Emperor Napoleon returned from 
 Elba, the Duke went to Vienna, where we (that is, 
 the ambassadors and ministers of nearly every 
 court of Europe) had been congregated for the last 
 six months. On the Duke's arrival, his first ques- 
 tion was, ' What have you done, gentlemen 1 ' 
 Prince Metternich replied, ' Nothing ; absolutely 
 nothing.' The Duke listened to what every one 
 had to say, with his usual unassuming and non- 
 chalant air ; but it was evident that, while he 
 seemed astounded at times at what he heard, he 
 was exercising his gTeat powers of observation and 
 reflection. Determined not to lose a moment, he 
 put his shoulders to the wheel, and the machinery, 
 which had before moved so slowly, was at once put 
 in rapid motion : in the incredibly short period of 
 three days everything was arranged and finished, to 
 the wonder and satisfaction of all his colleagues. 
 
 "After the battle of Waterloo, the illustrious 
 Duke returned to Paris, where he had frequent 
 opportunities of communicating with me, and, on 
 the return of the King, I occupied my old post, 
 
Mots of Talleyrand. 183 
 
 that of Minister for Foreign Affairs. I was then 
 more than ever convinced that the man who had 
 fathomed the designs of all the cabinets of Europe 
 was an extraordinary statesman. I discovered that, 
 while others found everything impracticable which 
 was proposed to them, Wellington appeared never 
 to discover a difficulty. In a word, gentlemen, if 
 we consider him in all his relations, public and 
 private, it can safely be said that the Duke of Wel- 
 lington is the greatest man that England, or any 
 other country, ever produced." 
 
 Mots of Talleyrand. — General Count de Gir- 
 ardin had a most ugly squint, and was extremely 
 inquisitive. Upon one occasion, he asked Talley- 
 rand, " Comment vont les affairs, Prince f" " Comme 
 vous voyez, General ; tout de tr avers." 
 
 Fontaine, the architect, who built the triumphal 
 arch in the Carrousel, placed upon it an empty car, 
 drawn by the famous bronze Venetian horses. 
 Talleyrand asked him, " Qui avez vous I'intention de 
 mettre dans le char?" The answer was, "L'Em- 
 pereur Napoleon, comme de raison," upon which . 
 
 Talleyrand said, " Le char I'attend." 
 
184 The Emperor Nicholas. 
 
 General Flahault, who when young was bald, 
 had received an invitation to dine with the Prince 
 de TaUeyrand. In the course of conversation, he 
 expressed to the Prince a desire to present some- 
 thing rare to a great lady as a mark of his 
 esteem. Talleyrand replied, " Then present her 
 with a lock of your hair." 
 
 The Empeeor Nicholas at the Hague. — On 
 the occasion of the late Emperor of Eussia's last visit 
 to England, he returned home vid the Hague, for 
 the purpose of paying a visit to his relative the 
 King of Holland. During the few days the Czar 
 remained there, a levee was held by the King, in 
 order that his Imperial Majesty might have an 
 opportunity of seeing the flower of the Dutch aris- 
 tocracy. Among those present, the Emperor singled 
 out a remarkably tall but weU-built man, who was 
 considered the handsomest fellow in Holland, the 
 Baron Capelli, whose right arm had been amputated, 
 owing to a wound received in a duel. The Em- 
 peror, little imagining how the limb had been lost, 
 approached the Baron, and inquired in what battle 
 he had had the misfortune of losing his arm. " I 
 
Tlie Prince de Ligne. 185 
 
 lost it in a duel, your Majesty," was the cool 
 reply. The Emperor, without a word, turned upon 
 his heel, and said afterwards to one of his friends, 
 " It is a pity so fine a fellow should have been sacri- 
 ficed : he had better have been killed in battle." 
 
 The Prince de Ligne. — I had the honour of 
 being invited by the Prince de Ligne to his country 
 seat, Bel' CEil, one of the most magnificent mansions 
 I ever saw. In looking over the old portraits of 
 this princely family, the Prince jocularly observed, 
 " You have few old families in England : in other 
 words, your nobility are mostly of modern date ; 
 but no one wUl contest that you have no Lords, for 
 they are created by every minister who holds the 
 helm." 
 
 Speaking of the manners we English indulge in 
 towards foreigners, the Prince told me the following 
 anecdote : — " I was sent by the King of the Belgians 
 to London, as Ambassador Extraordinary, to con- 
 gratulate your Queen on her accession to the throne. 
 During the period of my sojourn at your Court., 
 diplomatic dinners were given daUy. It happened 
 that upon one occasion I was asked a question as to 
 the state of the Belgian army, when a noble Lord, 
 
186 Pride of a Spanish Grandee. 
 
 a ci-devant ambassador, without the slightest pro- 
 vocation, made a very offensive remark to me. I 
 instantly left the dinner-table to consult a friend 
 as to what steps ought to be taken to resent the 
 insult offered ; but, after thinking the matter over, 
 it was considered the act of a madman, and there- 
 fore, to prevent scandal, and the creation of a bad 
 feeling between the English and the Belgians, the 
 affair was allowed to drop." 
 
 It is much to be regretted that we English are 
 even now in the habit of regarding all foreigners in 
 an unfavourable light. The vulgar brag that any 
 John Bull is a match for three Frenchmen, and 
 other extravagances of a similar description, are 
 becoming obsolete ; but English tourists are still 
 apt to disparage foreigners, and entertain the notion 
 that when we set foot on the Continent, a system of 
 cheating and extortion commences. These and simi- 
 lar prejudices, arising from ignorance of the language 
 and usages of foreign nations, naturally create a 
 bad feeling towards England and Englishmen. 
 Foreigners say, and not without justice, that we 
 are pre-eminently self-conceited, boastful, and proud. 
 
 Pride op a Spanish Geandee. — The Marquis of 
 
The Emperor's Extra Equerry. 187 
 
 St Jago, a young Grandee of Spain, was at one time 
 the theme of conversation in Paris, owing to his 
 eccentric habits and the dissolute manner in which 
 he lived. Although well born, and sufficiently edu- 
 cated to be selected to accompany the Spanish 
 Ambassador to England on the occasion of our 
 gracious Queen's Coronation, he possessed an un- 
 paralleled fondness for dissipation, and an extensive 
 acquaintance with the class of flatterers. Moreover, 
 an absurd idea as to his pretensions to rank induced 
 him to wear the ribbon of the French Cross of the 
 Legion of Honour, and although " chaffed " about it, 
 he continued to do so ; until one day, at the Jockey 
 Club, some one present flatly told him that he had no 
 right whatever to the decoration then in his button- 
 hole : which was true. This public rebuke proved 
 such a stunning blow to the pride of St Jago, that 
 he returned to Madrid broken-hearted, and died 
 there at the early age of thirty. 
 
 The Empeeor's Extra Equeeey. — Some persons 
 will have perceived with surprise that an English- 
 man, moving in good society, should have consented 
 to receive the appointment of extra Equerry to the 
 Emperor of the French. The occasion of his being 
 
188 The Duke of Wellington and Lord Strangford. 
 
 installed into that office was as follows: — The 
 gentleman in question had, when at Eome, shown 
 some civility to Prince Louis Napoleon. The 
 gossip of the day ran, that on the Prince's elevation 
 to the purple, some one meeting our countryman 
 coming out of the imperial stables, recommended 
 him to ask for General Fleury's post, as he was 
 better qualified for an equerry than that gallant 
 General. Our countryman, taking the hint, 
 promptly solicited an audience of the Emperor, 
 which being granted, he coolly made the surprising 
 application that had been suggested to him. The 
 Emperor endeavoured blandly to silence the aspi- 
 rant to stable honours, by reminding him that he 
 was an Englishman ; but added, " If, sir, you are 
 really in earnest, I will name you one of my extra 
 equerries." And this offer was gratefully accepted 
 by the gentleman in question. Tempora mutant^r!; 
 
 The Duke of Wellington and Lord Steang- 
 FOED. — Not long before the death of the Duke of 
 Wellington, the late Lord Strangford, on his return 
 from Paris, was invited by the Duke to pass a few 
 days at Walmer Castle. His Grace inquired whether, 
 during his sojourn in the French capital, he had 
 
Magnan's Opinion of British Soldiers. 189 
 
 seen Lord Hertford ; upon which Lord Strangford 
 replied he belonged to the same club, where they 
 frequently met. "Ah!" added the Duke, "Lord 
 Hertford is a man of extraordinary talents. ' He de- 
 serves to be classed among those men who possess 
 transcendent abilities. What a pity it is that he 
 does not live more in England, and occupy his place 
 in the House of Lords. It was only the other day," 
 added the Duke, "that Sir Eobert Peel observed, 
 when speaking of Hertford, that he was a man 
 of great comprehension ; not only versed in the 
 sciences, but able to animate his mass of knowledge 
 by a bright and active imagination. In a word, if 
 he had lived in London, instead of frittering away 
 his time in Paris, he would have no doubt become 
 Prime Minister of England." 
 
 Marshal MagnIn's Opiniok op British Sol- 
 DTERS. — Soon after the Cowp d'Etat, it fell to my 
 lot to hear Marshal Magnan state, in the presence 
 of several persons who expressed a doubt of the 
 efficiency of the British army, that he had been in 
 the Peninsula in 1813 and 1814, and in eleven 
 battles, but never saw the back of the British 
 soldier. This announcement, on the part of a 
 
190 Canrobert Reviewing the British Army. 
 
 Frenchman high in command, who had seen real ser- 
 vice, completely silenced his garrulous countrymen. 
 
 Marshal Cankobert Eeviewing the British 
 Army. — At Compiegne, some two or three years 
 back. Marshal Canrobert related a fact which re- 
 dounded to his credit. At a review of the British 
 army in the Crimea, the Duke of Cambridge, who 
 was to have inspected the troops, observing the 
 French Marshal approaching with his staff, re- 
 quested him to assist, and to take the right ; where- 
 upon the Marshal acquiesced. When they came to 
 the drooping of the colours, Canrobert's blood 
 thrilled in his veins at seeing the names of several 
 of our victories over the French ; however, having 
 undertaken the task of reviewin'g our troops, he 
 accomplished the arduous and painful duty im- 
 posed upon him, and went down the line without 
 evincing the slightest emotion. When he related 
 this incident there were several general officers 
 present, some of whom ventured to expostulate. 
 The Marshal said, " There is no use in expostulating 
 and endeavouring to conceal the fact ; but those 
 victories inscribed upon the colours were won by 
 the British troops against us," 
 
An Act of Charity. 191 
 
 A Eeady Eetoet. — C. de M , one of the most 
 
 fashionable, at the same time one of the cleverest, 
 young men of the Eestoration, had the singular 
 taste of being in love with two ladies each old enough 
 to be his mother. The one a duchess, the other a 
 celebrated actress. When the Duchesse de Berri 
 asked him whether it was really true that his taste 
 was for old women, he replied, " Qui, Madame, je 
 suis I'homme du sidcle." 
 
 An Act of Charity. — Not many years back, on 
 a cold winter's day, an eccentric Baronet was in the 
 shop of Mr Mitchell in Bond Street, where a few 
 friends of his used to congregate to pick up the news 
 of the day. On this occasion, the Baronet was boasting 
 
 of his munificence, when in came Colonel de B 
 
 of the Guards, and addressing him said, " My dear 
 
 S , I have just left our poor friend. Jack S , in 
 
 a spunging-house without a shilling in his pocket to 
 pay for a mutton chop." " Is it possible ?" exclaimed 
 our eccentric friend. " I will go and order something 
 for the poor feUow which shall make his heart glad." 
 And saying this he jumped into his cab, which was 
 
 waiting at the door. Colonel de B lost no tinje 
 
 in calling on the poor debtor, and told him he was in 
 
192 Madame Alboni. 
 
 luck, as S had promised to do something for him. 
 
 In a short time our charitable Baronet arrived at 
 the spunging-house, bringing — not the good things 
 that a man needs in such a predicament — but a 
 pottle of strawberries, which he boasted he had 
 given two sovereigns for ! 
 
 Madame Alboni. — About twelve years ago the 
 inimitable Alboni, having finished her engagement at 
 the Theatre des Italiens, Paris, entered into one with 
 the manager of the Opera at Nantes, to sing there and 
 at the watering-places adj acent. She left Paris dressed, 
 as usual, in male attire, accompanied by a lady who 
 passed as the wife. During the first weelc after their 
 arrival at Nantes, they lived in furnished lodgings 
 on the Place Royale, and thought of nothing but 
 the piano and their scales ; the incomparable singer 
 attracting the other occupants of the house to the 
 landing place, ever and anon, by the power of her 
 splendid voice. One day, something occurred which 
 created a misunderstanding between Alboni and her 
 friend : from high and violent words they came to 
 blows, and a neat " back bander " of Alboni's on the 
 other's nose caused blood to flow. The injured lady 
 ran down stairs, and implored the porter to go for 
 
Madame Alhoni. 193 
 
 a surgeon ; but the man, alarmed for the respecta- 
 bility of the house, instead of obeying, went to the 
 police and informed them what had occurred. On 
 his returning with two policemen, Alboni and her 
 friend were found in hysterics ; nevertheless, they 
 were hurried off, more dead than alive, to the police 
 office. 
 
 When the Commissary began to interrogate the 
 lady with the bloody nose as to the origin of their 
 quarrel and other particulars, Alboni stepped for- 
 ward, and addressing the man in authority, ex- 
 ■ plained that they began to quarrel about a note in 
 a song in " La Gazza Ladra," which opera was to be 
 given that evening. The Commissary, wondering 
 what it all meant, asked their names, which were 
 given by the ladies, and Alboni implored him to 
 release them with as little delay as possible, as she 
 had scarcely time left to dress for the theatre. The 
 Commissary took the ladies by the hand, and con- 
 ducted them to the door, saying that he was ex- 
 tremely sorry that his agents had acted in so pre- 
 cipitate a manner as to bring through the public 
 streets two ladies of such standing, without first 
 ascertaining that there were good reasons for their 
 being arrested. Alboni bowed, and said she hoped 
 
194 The Derhy 0/ 1865 and French Racing. 
 
 to see the officer that night on the stage. The 
 invitation was readily accepted ; and when the 
 vocalist perceived him at the conclusion of the 
 opera, she flung her arms round his neck, to the 
 astonishment of all present. 
 
 The Derby of 1865 and French Racing — 
 The victory gained on the 31st May 1865, on 
 Epsom Downs, by what is technically known as 
 the " French stable," is a proof what good blood, 
 careful training, and good living, under the super- 
 intendence of English trainers and stable-boys and 
 a " captain " like G-rimshaw, can do for such a spe- 
 cimen of horseflesh as " Gladiateur ;" whose preten- 
 sions to being French consist in just this, that his 
 sire waS' born in France, together with his dam : 
 but their pedigrees run through the very purest 
 blood of English racehorses. His owner, the Comte 
 de Lagrange, well deserves the success which has 
 crowned his perseverance in turf matters. 
 
 Unfortunately, the French will not understand 
 what sport really is, in the generally received ac- 
 ceptation of the term in England. At a French 
 race, nine-tenths of the men go there merely be- 
 cause it is fashionable, and because it is a more ex- 
 
The Derby o/'1865 and French Racing. 195 
 
 citing way of killing time than sitting in a club 
 reading tlie newspapers ; and as for the women, it is 
 an opportunity for showing off a " fast," but, be it 
 confessed, a becoming toilet, and thus becomes an 
 attraction irresistible to a Frenchwoman. Of the 
 true spirit of the affair the French comprehend not 
 one iota. 
 
 Since the introduction of racing into France by 
 Sir Charles Smith, — when the races run in the 
 Champs de Mars were more often won by the 
 mounted police, who accompanied the horses from 
 the start to the finish, than by the beautiful speci- 
 mens of " thorough-bred s" that were then imported, 
 — ^the breeding of " blood stock" has occupied the 
 attention of many Frenchmen, and has been at- 
 tended with no small success ; for not only have 
 our neighbours procured from us our purest bred 
 stallions and mares, but they have secured the ser- 
 vices of English trainers and jockeys : upon whom 
 they will have to depend for many, many years to 
 come. 
 
 BALIAHTYNE, ROBERTS, AND COMPANY, PRINTBRS, KDINBOROri. 
 
jil?''?: i>M>')i^''SVa!^- :*:,