CHAPTER VI.
RETURN TO ENGLAND—MEETING WITH THE PRINCESS CHARLOTTE—FRANCE UNDER THE BOURBONS—PARISIAN SOCIETY.
[Onthe 29th of June, Miss Knight left Paris and travelled by way of St. Germain and Mantes to Rouen, and so on to Dieppe, whence she crossed over to Brighton, and arrived in London on the 3rd of July.]
July 4th, 1816.—The weather so cold and uncomfortable that I was obliged to have a fire. London is still full, but growing thinner. The state of the country is rather alarming, owing to the riots and the general discontent.
5th.—There has been a great bankruptcy in London. Ministers have sent to stop deputations from Manchester and Birmingham which werecoming to the Regent. He has a levee to-day. In the evening I wrote a note to Princess Charlotte to inform her of my arrival in England, and to inquire when I might see her. I had a kind answer in return, desiring to see me next day between one and two.
6th.—I went to Princess Charlotte’s,[73]whom I found sitting to Hayter, the miniature painter. He remained during the whole of the time I was there, which was an hour and a half, as he was told that Prince Leopold wished to see him before he left. She appeared agitated, but was friendly as usual. Prince Leopold came in to look at the picture, and announced the weather being fine and the curricle ready, on which I took my leave. He was civil.
11th.—A person called on me who has the means of knowing many things relative to the affairs of Princess Charlotte, and told me the Regent and the Queen had opened their eyes with respect to myself, and were now persuaded that my conduct had been such as they could not think injurious to themselves. It is probable they knewwhowas the mischief-maker.
12th.—In the morning I saw Princess Charlotte, who gave me a print of Prince Leopold. She was very cordial, but, I believe, sees very few people. Hayter was there, and Prince Leopold came in tosit for his picture. Not having been very well, she is not going to the grand ball given by the Regent this evening.
13th.—The Duke of Sussex called on me early, as he was going to Sheridan’s funeral.[74]He said the Prince Regent was moving everything to get a divorce. This I had heard from various people, as also that Lord Exmouth was to be an informer.
22nd.—Having received accounts of the death of Vittoria Ruffo, eldest daughter of Prince Castelcicala, I returned to town from Rochetts for the purpose of seeing her afflicted parents. She was accomplished and sensible, and most useful in her own family, and her loss must be felt by all who knew her. When I arrived, I found they were not yet in Town, as she is not to be buried till to-morrow morning.
At nine in the evening the guns fired for Princess Mary’s marriage with the Duke of Gloucester.
25th.—I saw Princess Charlotte; her husband,and Hayter, the painter, were with her. She told me she had Claremont, and seemed pleased with it.
30th.—I called to take leave of Princess Charlotte, but could not see her, as Prince Leopold was suffering from a pain in his face. She wrote me a very affectionate note afterwards to apologise. I left my name at Carlton House.
August 6th.—I went with Miss Jervis and the Countess de F—— to New Hall, a large house built by Henry VIII. at a little distance from Chelmsford, now occupied by a convent of English nuns, who, after various wanderings, in consequence of being driven from their home at Liége by the French, have been settled here about seventeen years.[75]The superior, lately elected, is an agreeable woman, sister of Sir William Gerard, of Lancashire. Lady Frances Browne, a daughter of Lord Kenmare, is there, and a sister of Lord Stourton has professed. There are thirty-six nuns and sixty-five boarders, the latter chiefly daughters of Roman Catholics of fashion. They are not rich, but appear well-behavedwomen, and are very hospitable. The young ladies were dancing when we went into the hall, and performed three quadrilles with great propriety. Henry VIII. was staying here when Anne Boleyn was beheaded, and there is a sign, at a short distance on the road, which has his portrait on one side and a headless woman on the other.
29th.—Arrived at Buckden.[76]The Bishop of Lincoln has inhabited this palace thirty years. It is not known when it was built, but it is mentioned in the reign of King Stephen. The tower which I inhabit, with four turrets at the angles, was once the residence of Katharine of Aragon, after her divorce from Henry, before she went to Kimbolton. That place, belonging to the Duke of Manchester, is not many miles distant from hence. Buckden Palace is not large, but very curious as a specimen of the architecture of many ages. The grounds are laid out so as to agree perfectly with the style of building. Over the second gateway in entering the palace is the episcopal library, not very large, but interesting from the antiquity of some of the books. The Bishop has his private library in a room he built for the purpose. The appearance of the entire building gives the idea of great strength. The Bishop has all Mr. Pitt’s papers, and is writing his life.
August 9th.—Quitted Buckden, after passing my time there very pleasantly, owing to the interesting conversation of the Bishop[77]and Mrs. Tomline, whose sister, Mrs. Maltby, was staying with them.
23rd.—Went to see an old tree in Thorndon Park,[78]called “the Riven Oak.” It must be of extraordinary age, as it is mentioned in papers belonging to Lord Petrie’s family in the reign of Henry VIII. as “the old oak.” Lord St. Vincent told me it served as a boundary in the reign of Henry VII. It is of considerable dimensions, and in good foliage as far as the trunk goes, which seems to be about one-third of its former height. The several coats of bark, which grow whiter as they advance in age, are very curious.
September 18th.—Called on Lady Loudon, who has lately returned to England, on account of her children. She goes back to Lord Moira in a few months.
23rd.—Went with Lady Charleville to see the cast which was taken from the first monument erected to the memory of Shakspeare by his son-in-law. The original figure, which is a sort of half length, with hands, was, it seems, painted to represent dress and drapery. It cannot, therefore, be expected that the features should be correct or the drawing good; but traditionally we learn that thelikeness was perfect. The forehead is beautiful. Indeed, all the features are good, but there is more of benevolence than of any other expression in the countenance.
[In the spring of 1817, Miss Knight left England on a tour through France and Italy, and did not return to England until the latter end of May, 1819. The rough notes of her wanderings do not, however, contain anything of general interest, though she is mentioned in Mrs. Piozzi’s correspondence as acting the part of cicerone to the friends with whom she travelled.[79]At Rome, Miss Knight received intelligence of the death, on the 6th of November, 1817, of the Princess Charlotte. The entry in her diary, on this afflicting subject, is brief and inexpressive. “The Count de Blacas, Ambassador from France,” she writes in her journal at the end of November, “and several of my former Roman acquaintances, have been very kind. The Duke of Devonshire, the Marquis of Douglas, and many English, very obliging—particularly on the melancholy event of the Princess Charlotte’s death, the news of which arrived on the 22nd, but I did not hear of it till the 23rd.”[80]
JOURNAL CONTINUED.
May 13th, 1821.—The christening of the little Duke de Bordeaux,[81]and the fêtes in consequence of it, in the first week of the present month, went off remarkably well; and the people, it seems, appeared very happy. At the Chamber of Peers a trial is going on for the conspiracy of last year,[82]and it is supposed both Houses will sit till July. M. de Chateaubriand is returned from Prussia, and says that not only all is tranquil at Berlin, but that the Government has energy, and the people are satisfied. He sat beside Mr. Canning at a great dinner on Monday, when they had much conversation together on public affairs.
19th.—Took possession of apartments, which I had engaged for three months, in the Place Bourbon, opposite to the Hôtel du Corps Législatif, formerly the palace of the Prince de Condé. This is a very central situation, being near the Pont de Louis Quinze.
The Royalists have obtained a great victory in the Chamber of Deputies, by carrying the bill for the creation of several additional bishoprics.
24th.—The weather continues cold and windy. The Duchess de Berri has gone to some chapel near Soissons, on a pilgrimage. She will be absent five days.
25th.—Went to Prince Castelcicala’s in the evening, and met the Count de Sèze, who defended Louis XVI. before the National Convention. He is now a Peer, head of the first tribunal in the kingdom, and decorated with orders. He was fourteen months in a dungeon, and only obtained his liberty on the death of Robespierre. Malesherbes, who had invited him to come to stay with him in the country, was guillotined. He told several anecdotes of the King, and said that sometimes his Majesty thought his life would be spared, and that if he were obliged to abdicate he would retire into Switzerland. It appeared to me, from the conversation of De Sèze, that the reason why Louis XVI. chose to be defended by the constitution which he had sworn—or, rather, the reason why he acknowledged the Assembly as his judges—was that Charles I. had declined to make a similar acknowledgment, and was beheaded. De Sèze said that according to the constitution the King could only be obliged to abdicate. He seemed to think that Louis showed great firmness, and that he was a man of abilities. He sometimes read Tacitus and Livy with him. He also stated that the King was sincere in his attachment to the constitution whichhe had accepted and wanted to maintain. He therefore made De Sèze leave out from the defence which he was to read a preliminary part, in which the latter had introduced a sentence against the lawfulness of the tribunal before which he was to plead the cause of his royal client. That Louis XVI. had sanctioned what are now called liberal principles there can be no doubt. His support of the Americans, and his first measures with respect to his own kingdom, demonstrated his having listened to that party; but when he discovered his danger, and perceived the excesses to which all this had led, one would think that he must have been heartily sick of the constitution. Indeed, the paper which he left behind him when he fled—if it were authentic—seems to prove this was the case.
De Sèze is a lively, active man. The King sent him the other day a snuff-box, with the portrait of Louis XVI., and a note written with his own hand, telling him it was the only one worthy of him. The Emperors of Austria and Russia and the King of Prussia, when they were here, gave him boxes set in diamonds.
27th.—Went by appointment to the Duchess d’Angoulême’s. She looked thin and ill, but was very gracious, and talked to me of the death of the Duke de Berri, of the providential birth of the Duke de Bordeaux, and of English affairs. She is going for a month to the baths of Vichy. A M.Prévost, who has often been employed on diplomatic business, arrived from Naples. The King entered that city on the 15th. M. de Blacas, now a duke, accompanied his Majesty, and the joy was universal—illuminations, music, dancing, and general festivity, with immense crowds in the streets.
30th.—Went to Neuilly, to pay my respects to the Duchess d’Orleans.[83]It happened also to be the nameday of her father, the King of Naples, and of her son, the Duke de Chartres. The Duke d’Orleans is now proprietor of Neuilly, having made an exchange with Government. He is building and embellishing both house and garden, and has already added some handsome apartments for his sister.
June 1st.—Met at Prince Castelcicala’s the Russian Ambassador at the Court of Naples, who is going to England to compliment the King on his coronation. There was the Baron de Vincent, the Austrian ambassador here, who has arrived from the Congress.[84]He was at the battle of Waterloo, and was wounded there. He went as a volunteer, being then Minister at Brussels, and is said to be a very worthy man.
4th.—Went in the evening, with Prince Castelcicala,by invitation, to Madame de Gontaut’s, who is governess of the little Duke de Bordeaux. There was a considerable assembly of ladies, and several gentlemen. The Duchess de Berri was there, and talked to everybody. Monsieur came late, but, as usual, was most amiable.
5th.—Accompanied Lady Stafford and Charles Ruffo to the Chambre des Députés. The house is in the form of an ancient theatre, but the speakers are not well heard—and speakers they should not be called, for they read their discourses, and in a very monotonous way. We heard none of the famous personages, to be sure, but there was one of the Côté Droit, another of the Côté Gauche, and another half and half. I clearly perceive that they wish to prove that they have much judgment, are great reasoners, and that they have what is called “aplomb.” For this purpose they are as dull as possible, and I judge, not only from what I now heard, but from the speeches of some of their most able men which I have read. The question was about the budget, and the man who came from the Côté Gauche was a caricature of our reformers, for the small sum which he objected to appeared really ludicrous. All he said was aimed against Government and the clergy. One of his expressions was, “Pourquoi devons-nous payer tant pour nous faire gouverner?” and another, “Deux cent cinquante francs à des gens qui ne s’occupent qu’à rester aucoin de leur feu, ou peut-être pis encore.” I am afraid ten pounds a year would not make them very warmau coin du feu. It is true the Côté Droit had the good taste to laugh vehemently at some of these tirades.
In the evening I was at a party at Lady Elizabeth Stuart’s, where, by crowding all together into the middle of the room, we contrived to appear a great many English; but I do not think there are so many as in former years since the peace.
18th.—Dined at Lord Stafford’s. Humboldt, the traveller, Denon, Mr. Fazakerley,[85]&c., were there. Humboldt talks much, and with great vivacity. Denon I had not seen since 1796, when he was Secretary of Embassy, with M. le Baron de Talleyrand, at Naples, since when he has been made a Baron.[86]He is now wild after lithography, and I saw a portrait which he had done extremely well. His etchings formerly were very spirited.
21st.—The weather is by no means warm yet, but it has not rained for some days, notwithstanding the ill-omen of St. Médard.[87]The Duchess-Dowager of Orleans has been for several weeks in a sad state with a cancer, and her release is daily expected. Two days ago she received the pon-tificalbenediction from the Nuncio, and has blessed her children and grandchildren.
23rd.—The Duchess of Orleans died this day. She was a woman of great good nature, and very charitable, but weakly guided by a man who, she thought, had saved her life and property. Perhaps he had, but scandal, very unjustly I believe, took advantage of her gratitude, while his disagreeable manners made him many enemies. He died a year ago, but his widow remained with the Duchess. The Duchess leaves an immense property, of which one-third goes to her daughter (Madame Adelaide) and two-thirds to the Duke, besides legacies and pensions to her ladies and servants. The mourning is to be six days in black and six in white.
24th.—At Lord Stafford’s I met at dinner the Abbé de Montesquiou-Fénezac,[88]an entertaining, agreeable man, and one of the last survivors of the class of “aimables abbés” of the times of yore. His manners are particularly good. As a minister he did not shine. He seemed much attached to the Duke d’Angoulême.
27th.—Dined at Epinay, at Madame de G.’s. The Bishop of St. Cloud went with me: a sensible, respectable man. Count Sorzo, a Ragusan, whom I had formerly met at Rome and Venice, dined there, as also a Frenchman, whose father having been consul at Ragusa, he had had the good fortune to be educated there. By which means he had acquired wonderful knowledge (for a consul), and they say he writes Latin verses with great facility, like the Ragusans themselves. He has himself been consul in the Levant. His conversation, and that of Count Sorzo, were very interesting. Mme. de Boufflers,[89]widow of the Chevalier Count de Sabran, and her son by her first husband, who is an elegant poet, and other clever people, dined there; yet it was not a “blue” dinner—there was no pretension. The gardens are very pretty; a lake, with a bridge of cords over it, in imitation of the American ones described by Humboldt; grottos; the Temple of Truth, with mirrors reflecting every way, &c. &c.
July 4th.—The King and Royal Family went to St. Cloud, to stay a month. His Majesty does not like moving from the Tuileries, where he has his books and his visitors, but the apartments require cleaning and repairing.
6th.—Received a telegraphic account of the death of Bonaparte.[90]
17th.—I have observed very little sensation occasioned by the death of Bonaparte. Dr. F——, who lives in the Place Vendôme, told me he observed a sort of procession walk round the column in the night, but not of military men. They were probably students, who, particularly those of surgery and medicine, are disaffected to the present Government. I heard also of some who carried staves in their hands, walking in companies in the Palais Royal and in the Rue des Petits Champs, but nothing of consequence.
23rd.—Prince Leopold arrived in Paris, on his way to Germany and Italy. He dined with the King at St. Cloud.
28th.—Prince Leopold dined with Sir CharlesStuart. He is often with the Orleans family. It is said that the Duke de Richelieu has persuaded the two Royalist Ministers, Messieurs de Corbière and de Villèle, to remain in office. They were going to resign.
29th.—At Prince Castelcicala’s I met Don Luigi Medici, who has been to the coronation in England, having left Rome a few weeks ago. He happily escaped from Naples without passport or bill of health, having concealed himself for three days, as he was on the proscribed list, and would have been murdered by the Carbonari. He was an excellent Minister of Finance, but the rebels knew he would not forward their views. His account of the whole affair was very interesting. Amongst other horrid things, there was a procession of forty thousand men armed with stilettoes. It is difficult to decide whether atrocious rapacity on the one side, or cowardly weakness on the other, were most conspicuous.
Princess Augusta has gone to see her sisters in Germany, and the King to Ireland.
August 9th.—The Duke de Richelieu received a telegraphic account of the death of the Queen of England.[91]For some days the reports of her case had been very bad.
13th.—Mrs. Lutwyche and I went to the Tuileries, where the King, Madame, and the Duke d’Angoulême received company; all very gracious.
14th.—The remains of the late Queen of England have been removed from Brandenburg House, where she died, to be taken to Harwich, and embarked for the Continent, as she had expressed a desire that she might be buried at Brunswick. The telegraph gave sad accounts of the scuffle between the Government and the populace, in which some persons lost their lives, and others were wounded.
September 7th.—I heard Don Luigi Medici say that there was some reason for the persecution by the English of the late Queen of Naples, Caroline of Austria. He believed that Lord William Bentinck, and the English in general, were deceived by letters to Bonaparte, fabricated in her name. These letters were forged by a Neapolitan notary, who imitated her handwriting perfectly, and were thrown in the way of the English, in order to be intercepted by them. This notary was in the employ of Bonaparte. Another circumstance which appeared to confirm the suspicions of the English was this: When Lucien Bonaparte was taken by an English frigate, he wrote to the Queen of Naples, and enclosed open letters, which he wished to have forwarded to his sister, &c., throwing himself on her generosity. Medici and others advised her to show those letters to the English authorities, but she said that shewould not betray even an enemy, and particularly one who had trusted her. These letters also were intercepted, and told against her.
25th.—A telegraphic despatch from Calais announced that the King of England had landed there at five o’clock. He goes to Hanover, but it is said that he has given up the intention of coming to Paris on his way home. He had very stormy weather on his passage from Ireland, and stayed in London only long enough to appoint the Lords Justices for the government of the kingdom during his absence.
29th.—Michaelmas-day—anniversary of the birth of the Duke de Bordeaux. I went to Court at the Tuileries, and saw the King, Madame, the Duke d’Angoulême, Monsieur, and the Duke de Berri. Monsieur told me that the King of England did not now mean to come to Paris, but that he gave hopes of their seeing him in the spring.
October 7th.—Went to meet a party of English at Baron Denon’s, who has fine apartments on the Quai Voltaire, and a very large collection of paintings, bronzes, and drawings. He was Director of the Museum in the time of Bonaparte, and much patronised by him. There was a head by David, the beginning of a picture of Bonaparte when he was in Italy. The hair is like that of the Covenanters in the seventeenth century, and the countenance is that of an ill-natured, scowling boy.There was a curious ivory cabinet, with figures, said to be of the time of St. Louis, and an ivory bas-relief of Scripture history, from Constantinople, of the fourth century, besides paintings by Velasquez and Murillo, and a great quantity of lithographs by Denon himself, who is now engaged on a history of the Arts in different ages.
8th.—Went to dine with M. de G. at Epinay, and before dinner went with Madame de Boufflers, Count de Sabran (her son), and the Bishop of St. Cloud, to the house of Larive,[92]a celebrated actor, now retired from the stage, and aged seventy-five, but remarkably active and well in health. He has built a very pretty house on the summit of a steep hill, and made walks through the woods, cutting channels to drain off the water in a very curious way. For, as you ascend, you everywhere hear the water bubbling under your feet or beside you. He recited a couple of speeches with great effect.
18th.—I was invited by the Duchess of Orleans to Neuilly, to hear an improvisatore. His name is Pestrucci, brother of the medallist in England; he is also a painter. The Duchess de Berri, with one of her ladies and her equerry, came uninvited. There was a very small party.
His Majesty, having had two attacks of the goutat Hanover, does not come to Paris this winter. A turtle that had been sent for and kept for his arrival by the King of France, is now put to death.
November 5th.—The two Chambers opened at the Louvre by the King. Yesterday there was La Messe du St. Esprit, at Notre-Dame, which was attended by all the great personages of the kingdom.
About the end of November the ultra-Royalists and the Liberals joined together to attack Ministers. The King was very angry with their address, which was chiefly, if not entirely, penned by the former. The phrase which most hurt him was the implied suspicion that he would forget the honour of France to keep up a good intelligence with other nations.
December 10th.—As yet nothing has been done towards changing the Ministry. The Opposition now declare they will vote against the Budget, and if Ministers continue in a minority it is difficult to say how they will get on. In the mean while, this stupid business is canvassed in all societies, and leads to nothing entertaining or instructive.
The Prince and Princess of Denmark are here. I think them like our Royal Family. She is the grand-daughter of poor Caroline Matilda, and he the grandson of her persecutrix, the Dowager Queen. The Ambassadors will not give place to them, and they appear to assume very little state.They go by the names of the Count and Countess of Oldenburg.
15th.—A new Ministry.[93]Messieurs Villèle and Corbière for the Finance and Home Departments (Royalists); Viscount Mathieu de Montmorency, who was a Constitutionalist, for the Foreign Office; M. de Clermont-Tonnerre, also a Constitutionalist, for the Marine; Victor, Duke de Bellune, one of Bonaparte’s generals, who rose from the ranks, Minister of War—said to be an excellent Royalist. The ultras, on the whole, are much pleased. The Duke de Richelieu and all the former Ministers have resigned.