'*-* 
 
LADY BURGHERSH'S 
 
 LETTERS 
 
 1813 1814 
 
PRINTED BY 
 
 SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE 
 LONDON 
 
-, '3&.Sc. 
 
THE LETTERS 
 
 OF 
 
 LADY BURGHERSH 
 
 (AFTERWARDS COUNTESS OF WESTMORLAND) 
 
 FROM GERMANY AND FRANCE DURING 
 THE CAMPAIGN OF 1813-14 
 
 EDITED BY HER DAUGHTER 
 
 LADY ROSE WEIGALL 
 
 WITH PORTRAITS 
 
 LONDON 
 
 JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET 
 1893 
 
PREFACE 
 
 I HAVE been asked several times to allow 
 this collection of my mother's early letters 
 from abroad to be printed. I have hesitated 
 about doing so, knowing how averse she 
 was to the indiscriminate publication of 
 private papers. But now that the events 
 to which these letters allude have all passed 
 into the domain of history this objection 
 no longer holds good, and those friends of 
 her later years who still survive may be 
 glad of this remembrance of her. A wider 
 public may perhaps appreciate this con- 
 temporary sketch of a great episode of 
 history. 
 
 The campaign to which these letters 
 
 253588 
 
[6] LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 relate was that of 1813. In that year the 
 whole of Europe was in arms against 
 Napoleon. While the English under 
 Wellington were fighting his armies in 
 Spain, the Russian, Austrian, and Prussian 
 Governments were united for the purpose 
 of driving him and the remnants of his 
 ' Grand Army ' (then retreating from 
 Russia) out of Germany. 
 
 There had been abortive peace nego- 
 tiations at Prague, in which the diplomatists 
 of all the Governments concerned had 
 taken part, so that nearly all the foremost 
 men in Europe were gathered together at 
 the Allied Sovereigns' headquarters. 
 
 Amongst the English there were Lord 
 Aberdeen, Sir Charles Stewart, and others, 
 all of whom were well known to Lady 
 Burghersh. She had had the advantage 
 of living from her earliest childhood among 
 wide interests, and in a brilliant political 
 
PREFACE [7] 
 
 society. Her father, as well as his cele- 
 brated brothers, was constantly in high 
 office, and his house was one of the meet- 
 ing places of the official people of the day. 
 Many foreigners especially many of the 
 French tmigrts were also amongst the 
 frequenters of the house. A very care- 
 ful education had developed her natural 
 abilities and fitted her to appreciate these 
 advantages more than many young girls 
 might have done, and when she first went 
 abroad, young as she was, she had the 
 habit of society, a perfect knowledge of 
 French and Italian, and a good general 
 idea of the leading questions of the day. 
 She used, however, in later days to say 
 she regretted that her youth and inexpe- 
 rience at the time of the campaign had led 
 her into rash and hasty judgments, and 
 had prevented her deriving as much real 
 benefit from all she saw and heard as 
 
[8] LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 she might have done had she been 
 older. 
 
 France had at that time been absolutely 
 closed to England during the twenty years 
 the war had lasted (with the exception of 
 the short period of the Peace of Amiens 
 in 1802), and everything in France was 
 therefore absolutely new and strange to 
 the younger generation of English people 
 at this date. The horror and dread of the 
 name of ' Bonaparte ' was at its height in 
 England, and no doubt intensified in the 
 society Lady Burghersh lived in by their 
 association with the Bourbons and others 
 of the French noblesse, who lived in 
 much intimacy, during their years of 
 exile, with all the Wellesley family and 
 their relations. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 From Gottenburgh : Arrival at Warholm A 
 Dreary Prospect Journey to Gottenburgh 
 Mr. Norrie A Friend in Need News from 
 Berlin 6 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 From Gottenburgh : Departure for Ystad House- 
 hold Difficulties The Emperor of Russia and 
 Madame Moreau . . . . . .13 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 From Ystad\ Windbound Swedish Post-horses 
 and Inns Helsingborg Reports and Lies 
 Bernadotte Sir C. Stewart . . 16 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 From Ystad : Rough Fare Cleanliness of the 
 Swedes . ... 
 
[10] LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 LETTER V. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 From Ystad: Still Windbound Primitive Lodg- 
 ings An English Footman .... 22 
 
 LETTER VI. 
 
 From Ystad: The Road from Gottenburgh to 
 Ystad Princess Charlotte Departure for Stral- 
 sund 26 
 
 LETTER VII. 
 
 From Stralsund: Passage from Ystrad to Stral- 
 sund A Cure for a Cold Pust Bay A Galliot 
 Explosion of a Transport A Narrow Escape 
 Effects of the Explosion Tidings of the Battle 
 of Leipzig . ... ... 28 
 
 LETTER VIII. 
 
 From Berlin : Lord Burghersh ordered to Head- 
 quarters Journey from Stralsund to Strelitz 
 Brandenburg Friedland The Duke of Cum- 
 berland at Strelitz Oranienburg Public Entry 
 of the King of Prussia into Berlin Sufferings 
 and Patriotism of the People The King of 
 Saxony a Prisoner . .... 37 
 
 LETTER IX. 
 
 From Berlin : The City and its Inhabitants' Bon- 
 nets The Theatre Fashionable Hours The 
 Dowager Princess of Orange Countess Pauline 
 Neale Princess of Brunswick Madame Zichy 
 Popularity of Wellington .... 45 
 
CONTENTS [11] 
 
 LETTER X. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 From Berlin : Berlin Society Princess Louisa 
 Radziwill Lint-making Patriotic Self-denial 
 The late Queen Dinner at Count Zichy's 
 Porcelain Manufactory French Prisoners 
 Marshal Bertrand, ' Duke of Berlin' The 
 Fashions of the Day Lord Burghersh ordered 
 to Frankfurt 55 
 
 LETTER XI. 
 
 From Weimar-. Departure from Berlin Road to 
 Auerstadt Headquarters advancing Con- 
 dition of Leipzig The Line of the French Re- 
 treat Hanau Horrors of War Dessau 
 Weissenfels Narrow Escape of Buonaparte 
 Halle Jena Auerstadt sacked by the French 
 Patriotism of the People The < King of West- 
 phalia' 63 
 
 LETTER XII. 
 
 From Frankfurt-. Scarcity of Postboys Erfurt 
 occupied by the French A Narrow Escape 
 The Prussian Army A Difficult Journey 
 General Ziethen's Headquarters Rough Quar- 
 ters Gotha Horrors of the Road Pozzo di 
 Borgo D ifficulties of Lord Burghersh's Position 7 1 
 
 LETTER XIII. 
 
 From Frankfurt : Society at Headquarters Russian 
 Grand Duchesses Ambassadors Schwarzen- 
 
[12] LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 PAGE 
 
 berg Metternich Hardenberg Fete of Em- 
 peror of Russia's Regiment An Impressive 
 Sight The Emperor Alexander The Emperor 
 of Austria The King of Prussia Grand Dukes, 
 Generals, and other Celebrities Progress of the 
 Campaign Cossacks' Theatre .... 78 
 
 LETTER XIV. 
 
 From Frankfurt-. Disputes at Headquarters Re- 
 ception of Prince of Orange in Holland The 
 Grand Duchess Catherine 87 
 
 LETTER XV. 
 
 From Frankfurt : Departure for Freiburg Inter- 
 view with the Emperor Alexander His Pane- 
 gyric on Lord Wellington A Russian Ball 
 The King of Prussia and his two Sons The 
 Emperor Francis Bliicher and Platow Eng- 
 lish Jewellery . ... . .89 
 
 LETTER XVI. 
 
 From Freiburg \ Enthusiastic Reception of Allies 
 Continued Uncertainty at Headquarters An Un- 
 pleasant Adventure A Good English Carriage 96 
 
 LETTER XVII. 
 
 From Freiburg ". Indecision of Leaders Schwarzen- 
 berg The Bavarian Army Marshal Wrede 
 Scenery of the District The Grand Cross of 
 Maria Theresa for Lord Wellington Christmas 
 Denmark and Naples join the Allies Friend- 
 liness of Switzerland To Lorrach and Basle . 102 
 
CONTENTS [13] 
 
 LETTER XVIII. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 From Lorrach : Advance of the Allies Passage of 
 the Rhine Camp-followers The Fortress of 
 Huningue Preparing for all Contingencies . 107 
 
 LETTER XIX. 
 
 From Lorrach : The Armies at Berne Bombard- 
 ment of Huningue Under Fire Foggy Weather 
 Goitres Christmas A Ride into France A 
 Deserter from Metz News from Paris . .112 
 
 LETTER XX. 
 
 From Lorrach : Want of a Leader Another Change 
 of Plans Delays and Indecision Dinner given 
 by Sir R. Wilson in Basle Our Household 
 Schwarzenberg Bavarian and Prussian Officers 1 16 
 
 LETTER XXI. 
 
 From Basle : Good Quarters Siege of Huningue 
 New Year's Day Schwarzenberg crosses the 
 Frontier Lady Burghersh's Reunions The 
 Swiss Deputies News of Wellington's Victories 
 in France . 121 
 
 LETTER XXII. 
 
 From Basle : Schwarzenberg's Advance to Vesoul 
 and Langres Lady Burghersh left at Basle 
 Advance of Russians and Prussians Prince 
 Radziwill Lady Burghersh's Tea Parties 
 Progress of the Siege The French Army 
 Prospects of Peace Snow Platow at Nancy . 125 
 
[14] LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 LETTER XXIII. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 From Basle : Imperial Headquarters Russian New 
 Year Russian Army crosses the Rhine Rus- 
 sian Soldiers Illuminations Arrival of the 
 Ambassadors A Domestic Outbreak . .129 
 
 LETTER XXIV. 
 
 From Basle : Preparations for Departure A Letter 
 from Metternich Occupation of Langres Ar- 
 rival of Lord Castlereagh Lord Castlereagh's 
 praise of Lord Burghersh's Despatches Duke 
 of Wellington's Despatch from St. Jean de Luz 
 Travelling Experience Blockade of Belfort and 
 Huningue 133 
 
 LETTER XXV. 
 
 From Basle : Departure to Vesoul An Offer of 
 Peace Occupation of Langres, Nancy, Dijon 
 Good Disposition of the French People . . 139 
 
 LETTER XXVI. 
 
 From Langres : Journey from Basle to Vesoul 
 Kind Reception by the Natives Adverse Feel- 
 ing towards the Emperor Junction with Bliicher 
 and Platow Ricey Mortier retires to Troyes 
 Prospects of Peace Lord Castlereagh and Lord 
 Beverley Dinner at Lord Aberdeen's Prince 
 Royal of Wiirtemburg repulses Mortier at Bar- 
 sur-Aube People afraid of the Cossacks . .140 
 
CONTENTS [15] 
 
 LETTER XXVII. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 From Chaumont : Bliicher's Victory at Brienne 
 Schwarzenberg's Preparations Buonaparte's 
 feigned Retreat Battle of La Rothiere Anxiety 
 News of the Victory Advance of the Allies 
 Congress at Chatillon Conversation between 
 a French and a Prussian Soldier Burning of 
 Brienne Bliicher The Empress of Russia 
 * The Corsair ' ' The Wanderer ' Severe 
 Weather Heavy Losses in the late Battles . 147 
 
 LETTER XXVIII. 
 
 From Bar-sur-Aube : A Difficult Position A 
 Solitary Journey Buonaparte at Troyes Un- 
 certainty The Emperor Francis A Crisis 
 Wounded Soldiers Ricey Swedish Gloves 
 Prince Metternich Nesselrode Hardenberg 
 Buonaparte retires to Nogent The Emperor of 
 Austria and his Daughter 154 
 
 LETTER XXIX. 
 
 From Troyes : Surrender of Troyes Junction of 
 the Allies The Battlefield Sufferings of the 
 Inhabitants The Cossacks . . . .162 
 
 LETTER XXX. 
 
 From Troyes : Active Operations Distressing 
 Scenes Beggars The Cathedral The 
 Theatre Misery in France Absence of Men 
 The Polignacs Mameluke Deserters Soult at 
 Paris Advance of Headquarters to Pont-sur- 
 Seine . 166 
 
[16] LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 LETTER XXXI. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 From Troyes : Divided Counsels Progress of the 
 Allies Wilfulness of Emperor of Russia 
 Eagerness of Bliicher Discord among Allied 
 Leaders The Bourbons Sufferings of France 
 Excesses of Allied Troops Insubordination 
 Conference at Prince Metternich's Fresh 
 Delays and Divisions The Grand Duchess 
 Catherine 170 
 
 LETTER XXXII. 
 
 From Chdtillon-sur-Seine : Bad Roads Progress 
 of the Conference Scarcity of Provisions 
 Bliicher's Reverses Prospects of Peace 
 Dinner to the Plenipotentiaries 'The Corsair' 178 
 
 LETTER XXXIII. 
 
 From Chdtillon-sur-Seine : Caulaincourt Ra- 
 sumoffsky, the Russian Plenipotentiary 
 Buonaparte's Efforts Timidity of Allies Lord 
 Castlereagh 181 
 
 LETTER XXXIV. 
 
 From Chdtillon : Battle at Bar-sur-Aube Lord 
 Burghersh's Anxiety French driven from Bar- 
 sur-Seine The Commissioners at Lusigny 
 Bliicher advancing by Meaux to Paris Rumours 
 of Lord Wellington Schwarzenberg wounded 
 Royalists 186 
 
CONTENTS [17] 
 
 LETTER XXXV. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 From Chdtillon : Home Correspondence Bliicher 
 bears the Brunt of the Attack Scarcity of Food 
 at Troyes Disgraceful Conduct of Troops 
 Delays of Congress Diminished Prospects of 
 Peace Charles Kean 191 
 
 LETTER XXXVI. 
 
 From Chdtillon : A Riding Habit The King of 
 Prussia Emperor of Austria Hot Weather A 
 Bare Country Washerwomen Lord Cathcart . 195 
 
 LETTER XXXVII. 
 
 From Chdtillon : Break-up of the Congress Inde- 
 cision of Schwarzenberg Headquarters at Bar- 
 sur-Seine No News of Bliicher Departure of 
 Ambassadors Devastation of the Country 
 Recriminations of the Leaders . . . . 197 
 
 LETTER XXXVIII. 
 
 From Chdtillon : Schwarzenberg at Arcis The 
 French at Plancy The Emperors and Ambas- 
 sadors 200 
 
 LETTER XXXIX. 
 
 From Dijon : Departure to Chaumont Alarming 
 Rumours A Bivouac The Emperor at Dijon- 
 Cut off from the Allies Attractions of Dijon 
 
[18] LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 Lord Castlereagh Headquarters at Chalons 
 Union of Bliicher and Schwarzenberg 
 French Fashions The Russian Royal Family 
 Schwarzenberg's Victory at Fere Champenoise 
 Lords March and Wellington wounded in Spain 202 
 
 LETTER XL. 
 
 From Dijon : Lord Burghersh reaches Paris Com- 
 munications re-opened A Narrow Escape 
 Death of Rapatel Colonel Campbell wounded 
 by a Cossack The White Cockade Talleyrand 
 The Empress Maria Louisa leaves Paris 
 Count Weissenburg taken Prisoner Conversa- 
 tion with Buonaparte The Emperor's Opinion 
 of his own Position and of the Bourbons The 
 Allies enter Paris At the Theatre < Vive les 
 Bourbons / ' * Oh Louis, oh mon Roi / ' . . 211 
 
 Narrative of Lady Burghersh's Journey to Paris 
 Anticipated Difficulties Arrival in Paris Out- 
 stripping the Diplomatists 220 
 
 LETTER XLI. 
 
 From Paris : Lord Burghersh appointed to accom- 
 pany Buonaparte to Elba The Empress Maria 
 Louisa at Fontainebleau The King of Rome 
 Lady Burghersh's subsequent Friendship with 
 the Empress Entry of Monsieur into Paris 
 Te Deum in Notre Dame Time-servers The 
 Fickle Parisians Sightseeing Degradation of 
 Society Grassini La Princesse de Benevente 224 
 
CONTENTS [19] 
 
 LETTER XLII. 
 
 PACE 
 
 From Paris : State of the City Lord Edward 
 Paget Figaro at the Odeon The Grand Duke 
 Constantine M. de Gontaut St. Blancard 
 The Polignacs . 233 
 
 LETTER XLIII. 
 
 From Paris-. Apartments Lord Binning La Poste 
 and VAuberge Schwarzenberg at St. Cloud 
 Madame Ney Lord Cathcart Bliicher's Illness 235 
 
 Conclusion : The Duke of Wellington in Paris 
 Lord Burghersh appointed Minister at Florence 
 Berlin Vienna Family Life .... 238 
 
JOURNAL 
 
 OF 
 
 LADY BURGHERSH 
 
 PRISCILLA ANN WELLESLEY POLE, born 
 in March 1793, was the youngest daugh- 
 ter of William Wellesley Pole (afterwards 
 Lord Maryborough), the second son of the 
 Earl of Mornington, of musical celebrity, 
 and brother to the Duke of Wellington 
 and Marquis Wellesley. Her mother was 
 a daughter of Admiral Forbes. 
 
 At the age of eighteen she married 
 Lord Burghersh, who had been aide-de- 
 camp to her uncle (then Sir Arthur 
 Wellesley) in the Peninsula. About two 
 years after their marriage an appointment 
 was offered to Lord Burghersh to go out 
 
 B 
 
2 LADY BuRGHERstfs JOURNAL 
 
 as Commissioner (or, as it would now be 
 called, ' military attache ') to the head- 
 quarters of the Austrian Army in Ger- 
 many, where the ' allied sovereigns ' (the 
 Emperors of Russia and Austria and the 
 King of Prussia) were in the field against 
 Napoleon and his army, then retreating 
 from Russia. 
 
 The appointment, though flattering, was 
 not welcome to either of them. For many 
 reasons Lord Burghersh would have pre- 
 ferred to remain with his regiment, and he 
 was aware that his selection would cause 
 jealousies and ill-will on the part of some, 
 then on the spot, with whom he had no 
 wish to enter into competition. But 
 the Government had chosen him, and 
 he had no alternative but to carry out 
 his orders with a soldier's unquestioning 
 obedience. 
 
 At this time the difficulty of getting 
 from England to Germany was not small, 
 for all the French and Dutch ports were 
 closed against English ships, and it was 
 
PREPARATION FOR JOURNEY 3 
 
 necessary to undertake a long sea voyage 
 (with the chances of falling into the hands 
 of French cruisers) before a port at which 
 to land could be reached. 
 
 For a short time Hamburg was open, 
 and Lord Burghersh hoped to land there, 
 but before he was ready to start Hamburg 
 fell again into the hands of the French, 
 and then the only way left to get from 
 England to North Germany was to go by 
 sea to Gothenburg, in Sweden ; thence 
 across Sweden to Ystad, and there re- 
 embark and cross the Baltic to Stralsund, 
 on the coast of Prussia. 
 
 The season of the year was getting 
 late, and the prospects of the journey and 
 subsequent winter campaign full of hard- 
 ships and difficulties ; but the young wife 
 was not frightened, and determined to 
 face them all with her husband, though 
 all her family, and especially her father, 
 tried strongly to dissuade her. She had 
 never been strong, was quite unused 
 to travelling, and, though she had been 
 
 B 2 
 
4 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 married two years, was only twenty years 
 old, so that there was much to be said for 
 her father's strong objections to her under- 
 taking such a journey in the face of her 
 youth, her inexperience, and her delicate 
 health. But her husband wished to have 
 her with him, and her mother then said, 
 that being so, and she having no children 
 or duties requiring her presence at home, 
 it was right she should go ; and so it 
 was settled. A great many preparations 
 had to be made for so long and, under 
 the circumstances, so adventurous a j our- 
 ney. One difficulty was as to the ser- 
 vants to be taken. Ordinary servants, 
 accustomed merely to the usual routine of 
 a London life, would, they felt, be worse 
 than useless. This was especially the 
 case with the young lady's maid. It was 
 absolutely necessary to have in her place 
 some older woman, who would be more of 
 a nurse and protector to her young mis- 
 tress ; but the difficulty was to find any- 
 one willing to face such an expedition. - 
 
VOYAGE TO GOTHENBURG 5 
 
 At last an elderly Frenchwoman, named 
 Madame Legoux, who had been be- 
 friended by her mother, and had known 
 her from a child, volunteered to go. She 
 proved a most devoted and excellent ser- 
 vant, and was invaluable through all the 
 difficulties of the subsequent winter. They 
 also took with them men-servants and 
 horses. A private secretary also accom- 
 panied them. 
 
 As has been said, it was not safe then 
 for single vessels to attempt the passage 
 through the French fleet in the North 
 Sea, so their departure was delayed till a 
 convoy carrying subsidies to the German 
 Government was ready to sail, and they 
 finally embarked at Yarmouth in one 
 of the vessels escorting this convoy in 
 September 1813, but were driven back 
 and delayed ten days by contrary winds 
 before they finally got off. The passage 
 was rough and slow, and lasted eleven 
 days. On October 10 they landed on 
 the Swedish coast, and Lady Burghersh's 
 
6 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 first letter from abroad is addressed to 
 her sister Emily, and dated from 
 
 Gottenburgh : October 11, 1813 
 
 My dearest E., I am so lucky as to 
 find a messenger here who sets off for 
 England, so I hasten to give you an 
 account of all I have done since yester- 
 day. I was but just in time to send off 
 my letter to Mama by the packet. The 
 moment I had done writing it (about 
 twelve o'clock) we left the frigate and 
 got into the boat ; but as we had eight or 
 nine miles to row from Wingo Sound to 
 Gottenburgh, we were advised to land at 
 a place called Warholm, in Wingo Sound. 
 It is, in fact, only a few scattered wooden 
 houses, built here and there among the 
 barren rocks which compose the whole 
 coast of Sweden as far as I have yet seen. 
 Upon landing there we found no post- 
 
WARHOLM 
 
 house, so we went into one of the houses 
 and by luck found a man who could under- 
 stand a little English and German. By 
 his directions we walked on about half a 
 mile to another house, where another man, 
 who also understood a little English, pre- 
 pared to get us conveyances to carry us 
 to Gottenburgh, a distance of about seven 
 miles all through these bare rocks. You 
 can't conceive how dreary and miserable 
 it looks ; as far as the eye can reach, 
 nothing but these rocks not a tree, but 
 only here and there between the rocks 
 a little patch of ground to feed a cow and 
 grow turnips. 
 
 While they were preparing the vehicles 
 we stayed in the house, a very poor place, 
 but very clean, and the people so very 
 intelligent that you can make them un- 
 derstand almost anything by signs. The 
 language is the softest and prettiest thing 
 
8 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 I ever heard. The men are remarkably 
 good-looking, but the women and children 
 sodden, owing, I suppose, to the heat of 
 the stoves. Their rooms are all strewed 
 with bits of yew, and from the ceiling they 
 hang their provision of cakes for the year. 
 They only bake them twice a year. The 
 cakes are as hard as stone, but very good. 
 I ate some last night. 
 
 After waiting in the cottage a long 
 time, the vehicles arrived. They con- 
 sisted of little open carts, so small that it 
 is difficult for two people to sit, with no 
 springs, and drawn each by one horse. 
 Into two of these we got B. and I into 
 one, the messenger and Madame Legoux 
 into another and the rest of the house- 
 hold, A.D.C. and all, we were obliged 
 to leave in the ship to come ashore to-day 
 with the carriage, &c. We proceeded in 
 these along the road, which is cut through 
 
GOTHENBURG IN 4813 
 
 the rocks, jolted, as you may suppose, 
 most terribly, and at the end of seven 
 miles arrived at a ferry, where we got 
 into a boat, and, having crossed, found 
 ourselves in the faubourg of Gottenburgh. 
 We were then obliged to have recourse 
 to our legs alone to carry us to an inn 
 kept by an Englishman, which we were 
 told was not far off, where B. meant to 
 deposit me and go himself to the English 
 Consul's to find out where we had better 
 establish ourselves, &c. It was then 
 nearly dark, very cold, and the road so 
 shocking that in five minutes we were wet 
 up to the ankles. We were also very 
 hungry, having had nothing since we left 
 the ship but a little rum and water, the 
 only thing we could get in the houses at 
 Warholm, and which, I assure you, nasty 
 as it was, we were too glad to have. In- 
 stead of finding the English inn near, we 
 
io LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 walked nearly two miles before we got to 
 it, and then ! such a place ! like the worst 
 sort of public-house. The man said his 
 house was full ; he had no beds, and only 
 one room which he could allow us to go 
 into, while B. and the messenger went on 
 to the Consul's. We wished to have gone 
 on at once, if possible, to the Consul's, 
 but we were told it was two miles further, 
 and therefore we could not attempt it. 
 Into this room, therefore, we went : no 
 fire, no stove, but we got some shoes and 
 stockings from the women of the house, 
 and put them on as well as we could, 
 having seven or eight men in the room 
 passing and repassing. 
 
 Conceive our happiness when B. 
 returned into the room, having met 
 the Consul's brother, Mr. Norrie, in his 
 carriage, who immediately took us in 
 and carried us to his house. There I 
 
A FRIEND IN NEED 11 
 
 was shown into a very pretty, well-fur- 
 nished bedroom, where Mrs. Norrie, a 
 young Swedish woman, was ending her 
 toilette. I was almost starved, and she 
 gave me some very tough cold beef, with 
 some Swedish cake and a glass of porter, 
 which I found delicious. 
 
 I stayed there about an hour while 
 Mr. Norrie went out to get us lodgings 
 for the inns here are so horrid, he said, 
 we could not stay there. He returned 
 with the good news that he had got rooms 
 for us at the house of an Englishwoman 
 who has lived here twenty years, but still 
 she is English. Here we immediately 
 moved, and we are very comfortable. 
 We got a very clean bed and the most 
 exquisite coffee I ever tasted. All other 
 eatables we must get from a traiteur's. 
 There is a very remarkable and strong 
 smell all over the country not unpleasant, 
 
12 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 I think, but everything you eat tastes of it, 
 and I am not yet used to it. The cold I 
 do not mind ; it is very dry and bracing, 
 and none of that raw, damp feel which 
 kills one in England. I am very well, 
 except a little stiff from the jolting of the 
 cart yesterday. 
 
 The messenger who will carry this 
 comes from the headquarters ; the news 
 he brings is so good that I think I shall 
 probably (from the position of the armies) 
 find Berlin my best headquarters. We 
 hear the Crown Prince has crossed the 
 Elbe, and Bllicher is on the point of doing 
 so. ... I long to hear from England 
 beyond what I can express ! but it is a 
 great comfort to have been able to write 
 so soon, and to-day, at leisure. God bless 
 you, my dearest E. 
 
 Ever yr. aff. 
 
 P. B. 
 
DEPARTURE FOR YSTAD 13 
 
 Lady Burgkersh to her Mother 
 
 Gottenburgh : Wednesday morning, 
 October 13, 1813 
 
 My dearest Mama, We are just 
 setting off for Ystad ; the distance is about 
 250 English miles. We shall arrive about 
 Saturday. We are obliged to hire coach- 
 men here to drive all the way, as they 
 furnish horses but no postboys at the inns, 
 and we are obliged to carry with us all 
 the ' prog ' we want on the road ; the only 
 thing they furnish at the inns being coffee 
 and eggs (without bread). . . . 
 
 I have seen nothing more of Gotten- 
 burgh since the day I went out to get your 
 gloves and some furs for myself. There 
 is not much to see, for it is a monstrous 
 dull town. There are no shop windows ; 
 most of the shops are at the top of the 
 
14 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 houses, so there is nothing to see ; but the 
 quay is handsome. I did not go out much 
 because I have a little cold, caught, I sup- 
 pose, by the wet walk we had the day we 
 arrived. It was very slight, but I thought 
 it best to take care of it, as I had three 
 days here quiet before I began my journey* 
 I should not mention it, only I knew you 
 would rather I told you every trifle. I 
 am well to-day, and the weather is mild. 
 
 I should be very glad if you would 
 write to Grandmama, 1 for me. She begged 
 I would write to her as soon as I landed. 
 I have not time ; pray tell her so, and say I 
 will write to her from the next place where 
 I stop. 
 
 You will perhaps wonder how my time 
 can be so taken up, but you have no idea 
 how much falls on my shoulders. Dear 
 
 1 Lady Mornington, the mother of the Duke of 
 Wellington. 
 
HOUSEHOLD DIFFICULTIES 15 
 
 little Madame Legoux, who is the greatest 
 comfort and treasure to me in all essentials, 
 has not, of course, an idea of managing 
 or settling anything. She says, fai tant 
 souffert que ma mtmoire ne me sert plus. 
 I am obliged to remember and think of 
 everything. Certainly Providence gives 
 one capacity for what one must do, for I 
 find really no difficulty in arranging every- 
 thing, not only for myself, but for the 
 servants too. B. has enough out-door 
 work to do, but we do very well, and I am 
 never the least worried about anything, 
 owing, I believe, to having my time fully 
 occupied, and so much the better. As to 
 Herbert, 2 he is of about as much use as a 
 child, and frightened to death at every- 
 thing. James 3 is the best servant I ever 
 saw, and we find young Aubin, the 
 A.D.C., so active, intelligent, and ready 
 
 2 Their footman. s The groom. 
 
1 6 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 for anything, that he is of the greatest 
 use. What a household history ! but I 
 know they are details you will like to 
 know. 
 
 The Emperor of Russia has made 
 Madame Moreau a Princess, and given her 
 100,000 roubles a year about 7,ooo/., I 
 believe. 
 
 A mail is just arrived from England- 
 brings us papers to the 6th, but no letters, 
 a great disappointment. I must end the 
 carriages are ready. God bless you all. 
 /How I long to hear of you. 
 / Yr. most affec. 
 
 P. A. B. 
 
 Lady Burghersh to her Father 
 
 Ystad : Sunday, October 17 
 
 My dearest Papa, We have just met 
 two couriers landed this morning from 
 
SWEDISH POST-HORSES 17 
 
 Stralsund on their way to England. I 
 seize the opportunity to write and tell you 
 we arrived here late last night, having left 
 Gottenburgh on Wednesday. The wind 
 is now directly against us, and the Swedish 
 packets cannot sail from hence unless it is 
 quite fair ; therefore I don't know how long 
 we may be kept here. We made a good 
 journey, and the travelling here is, I be- 
 lieve, as good as anywhere but England. 
 The horses are excessively small, but they 
 go at a great rate. They put four abreast 
 to each carriage, which are driven by the 
 coachman whom you hire at the beginning 
 of the journey, and they carry you through. 
 When the road is heavy they put on two 
 additional horses in front, with a postilion. 
 The harness is all rope, and you are also 
 obliged to buy that yourself, as they furnish 
 only the horses. 
 
 We sent on a courier to order the 
 k c 
 
1 8 LADY BURGHERSI^S JOURNAL 
 
 horses for us, otherwise we should have 
 wasted about two hours at each stage. 
 As it was, we had often half an hour or an 
 hour to stop while they were putting to. 
 The inns, to be sure, are such as we have 
 no idea of in England, but they are clean, 
 and as we have our own beds we do very 
 well, though we generally find but one 
 room of a few feet square to eat, drink, 
 and sleep in. I have never seen a carpet 
 or curtain, basin or jug, but as soon as we 
 arrived at our sleeping-place we sent the 
 servants into the yard to snatch up the 
 pans the chickens feed out of, or the pails 
 from the stable, and made use of them. 
 As to eatables, we got at nearly all 
 the inns most excellent coffee, eggs, and 
 smoked fish (which is very good) ; that is 
 all, except at Helsingborg, where we dined 
 on Friday, and got some roast mutton and 
 white bread for the first time. 
 
HELSINGBORG 19 
 
 Helsingborg is much the best town we 
 passed through. It has a castle, and the 
 view from it of Elsinore and the coast of 
 Denmark is beautiful. The country on 
 this side of Helsingborg is so different 
 from that on the side of Gottenburgh that 
 it is quite like a different region. The 
 first two days' journey we passed through 
 a completely barren country, nothing but 
 rocks and sands, and here and there a very 
 little wood. But from this to Lund and 
 Helsingborg is very fertile, and well cul- 
 tivated. The dress of the people is also 
 quite different ; the women's dress beauti- 
 ful, if any of them were at all so, but I have 
 not seen yet a pretty Swedish woman. 
 
 We heard a great deal of news at every 
 posthouse, but unfortunately it happened 
 to be different everywhere, and the fact is 
 they live upon reports and lies. All the 
 people seem really interested and eager 
 
 C 2 
 
2O LADY BURGHERSIJS JOURNAL 
 
 for the good cause, and Bernadotte seems 
 very popular throughout the country. The 
 courier who will take this letter brings an 
 account of an alarm at Berlin from a move- 
 ment of Ney's, but he seems to know little 
 about it, and I don't suppose we shall 
 know anything true till we get to Stral- 
 sund. I hear Sir C. Stewart has left the 
 Prussian army to be attached to the Crown 
 Prince. I must end, for the courier waits 
 for this, and I must write to Mama. God 
 bless you, my dearest Papa. 
 
 Yr. most aff. 
 
 PRISCILLA. 
 
 Lady Burghersh to her Mother 
 
 Ystad: October 17 
 
 My dearest Mama, I have written 
 to Papa, but you will like to hear from me 
 that my cold is well, and that I am not the 
 
ROUGH FARE 21 
 
 least tired, though I have been travelling 
 every day from eight in the morning till 
 twelve at night. I have never felt the 
 least fatigue for a moment. The third 
 day of my journey I found the bad food 
 (smoked fish and brown, or rather black, 
 bread) disagreed with me, so I have taken 
 care since not to eat their food ; but when 
 I could not get meat and bread to cook 
 myself, contented myself with eggs and 
 coffee, and did very well. The best dinner 
 I have yet made was yesterday, when we 
 stopped at a place where there was no 
 fire, and nothing in the house but four 
 raw eggs. The people were so savage 
 they would not attempt lighting a fire or 
 doing anything for us ; then our cooking 
 machine came into use. We had the 
 remains of two cold fowls, which we put in 
 with some of Aubert's portable soup, some 
 of our own vegetable powder, and some 
 
22 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 potatoes, and it was quite excellent. 
 Madame Legoux is quite well, not the 
 least tired, and as merry and happy as 
 possible. We have a great deal of fun, 
 certainly, when one has made up one's 
 mind to face all kinds of difficulties . . . 
 but one pleasure is the cleanliness here. 
 God knows how we shall find it in Ger- 
 many. I must put up this to give to the 
 courier, 
 
 Lady Burghersh to her Mother 
 
 Ystad : October 18, 1813 
 
 My dearest Mama, Having at length 
 a little leisure, I begin to write to you in 
 comfort, and shall continue adding to this 
 till I go from this place, and I shall leave 
 it to be carried by the next courier that 
 passes. 
 
 I have been made quite happy to-day 
 
PRIMITIVE LODGINGS 23 
 
 by the arrival of English papers and letters 
 for the first time. The latest date of the 
 letters is the 4th, though the papers are 
 up to the 8th, but the delight and joy of 
 seeing your handwriting was beyond ex- 
 pression. . . . The wind is completely 
 against our sailing, and the weather is so 
 bad that I have never been outside the 
 doors yet. We have got a gun brig to 
 go across in, for, on going on board the 
 packets, B. found them so horridly bad 
 and dirty that he said it was out of the 
 question our going in them. The captain 
 of the brig seems to think this wind will 
 last some days, so here we must remain. 
 
 To be sure, Yarmouth, which we com- 
 plained of, was paradise compared to this 
 place, yet we find ourselves quite comfort- 
 able here, by comparison with the other 
 inns we have been in, and the living here 
 is really good. I will tell you how we are 
 
24 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 lodged. Up a staircase, exactly like a 
 ladder, we have a good-sized room, with 
 casement windows at each end, and sanded 
 floor. Within this room are two little 
 rooms, i and 2, about four feet square. In 2 
 is a bed, and Madame Legoux has that to 
 herself. In i , we can just squeeze in our two 
 little beds, and there we sleep. In the large 
 room Aubin sleeps on a couch. B. dresses, 
 and w T e eat, drink, and sit, but then it is all 
 clean. We get very good soup, excellent 
 freshwater fish, and a sort of vegetable 
 which is excellent stewed. The roast meat 
 is not good, and with it they bring you up 
 apples, currant jelly, and all sorts of sweet 
 things ; you get excellent Hock. 
 
 If I could think less of home, of Eng- 
 land, and your own dear self, more than 
 all, or anything else, I should be happy, 
 and we always find something to amuse 
 us and to laugh at. There is a little 
 
AN ENGLISH FOOTMAN 25 
 
 tittupping doctor on his travels, whom we 
 fell in with at the inn at Engelholm, and 
 as all English herd like sheep in a foreign 
 country, and he is going the same way as 
 us, we see him at the different inns. He 
 is now waiting here to sail. He kills me, 
 for I am convinced he means to write his 
 travels, and he is so exactly the kind of 
 dapper trayeller whose tours one reads. 
 Then as to H., 4 no great fat bear could 
 be so stupid or so useless at all events, 
 a bear would be bolder. We laugh at him, 
 and every moment have some ridiculous 
 story of him ; but, if one thought seriously 
 about it, he deserves hanging, for the 
 selfishness and total want of attention he 
 has shown from the moment we left 
 England ; for he literally thinks only of 
 taking very good care of himself. 
 
 I must now go to bed, and shall write 
 
 4 The footman. 
 
26 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 more to-morrow. Heaven bless you ! 
 How I wish I could kiss you and hear 
 you say good-night ! 
 
 Lady Burghersh to her Mother 
 
 October 19 
 
 My dearest Mama, I begin again 
 this morning. The wind is the same and 
 the weather very fine, but I do not go 
 out, for somehow or other my cold, which 
 was quite gone, has returned, and I am 
 nursing it before I sail again. There is 
 indeed nothing to tempt one out here, 
 but they say the church is pretty. The 
 passage from here to Stralsund is about 
 the same as from Holyhead to Dublin. 
 You may trace our route on the map you 
 have got, like mine, from Engelholm 
 (which is the place we slept at the second 
 night from Gottenburgh) through Helsing- 
 
PRINCESS CHARLOTTE 27 
 
 borg, Lund, and Dalby to Ystad. Lund is 
 the only thing like a town, except Hel- 
 singborg, on the whole road, and it is there 
 the women dress so prettily. 
 
 I got a long letter from Princess Char- 
 lotte yesterday, qui brule le papier with 
 love. She says she is ill. ... I shall not 
 forget the prints for my aunt, 5 but I 
 should like to know what was her route 
 to and from Vienna, as it would be some 
 guide for me. I don't think she ever 
 went by Berlin, did she ? If she would 
 let me know that, I could be of more use, 
 perhaps. . . . 
 
 Tuesday evening 
 
 The captain of the brig has this 
 moment been to say the wind is fair, 
 and we are going to embark, and shall be 
 
 5 Mrs. Villiers, afterwards Lady Clarendon, her 
 mother's twin sister, who had been abroad many years 
 before for some time. 
 
28 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 to-morrow, I hope, at Stralsund. My cold 
 is better to-night, and I hope the sea-sick- 
 ness (which I am sure of in the brig) will 
 carry it quite off. God bless you ever, 
 dearest Mama. 
 
 Your most truly affec., 
 
 P. 
 
 Lady Burghersh to her Sister Emily 
 
 Stralsund : October 22, 1813 
 
 My dearest Emily, Here we arrived 
 last night, and here I am as well as ever I 
 was, which you will wonder at when you 
 know all that has passed since I wrote to 
 Mama from Ystad on Tuesday ; but Pro- 
 vidence protects us, and, thank God, all the 
 dangers and horrors of the sea are now at 
 an end. 
 
 I told Mama in my letter that I had 
 my cold still, and I had not stirred from 
 
A CURE FOR A COLD 29 
 
 one hot room for three days. The doctor 
 I mentioned to her had prescribed for me, 
 and as he seemed to understand me and 
 be sensible, I caught at the idea of taking 
 him over in the ship with us, for conceive 
 what a risk it appeared to take me out of 
 this hot room at two o'clock in the morning, 
 put me into an open cart which was half 
 full of water, and thence to embark. I 
 went to bed the instant I got on board ; my 
 cold did not increase at all, but the next 
 morning I had a great deal of fever, and 
 the doctor said I must positively not leave 
 my bed, whether the ship came to anchor 
 or not. As it was, we had the good luck 
 of a calm, and therefore, though our pas- 
 sage was slow for we only arrived in Pust 
 Bay yesterday morning no one was the 
 least sick, and we felt no motion. There 
 never was anything so attentive and oblig- 
 ing as the captain of the brig. He could, 
 
3O LADY BURGHERSH*S JOURNAL 
 
 however, only carry us as far as Pust Bay, 
 which is in the Island of Rligen, and 
 twenty-five English miles from Stralsund. 
 We had our choice of landing there and 
 getting up to Stralsund as we could in 
 carts, or going into a ship which had the 
 carriages on board. I had too good a 
 lesson of scrambling up to Gottenburgh, 
 so I chose the latter. This ship we moved 
 into was a sort of galliot, a small thing 
 with one mast ; no cabin that you can go 
 into, and the carriages are put down into 
 a sort of hole, so that I could not sit in 
 them, and had no alternative but to sit 
 on deck, which appeared rather desperate 
 just out of my bed, and it was very cold. 
 However, there was no help for it, so I 
 wrapped myself well up, and Madame 
 L. and I sat in the boat on deck ; we were 
 in it from two o'clock till pitch-dark, and 
 I gradually recovered the whole tinte, 
 
EXPLOSION OF A TRANSPORT 31 
 
 arrived here without fever, my cold nearly 
 gone, and not even tired ! 
 
 Now I have to tell you of a sight 
 which certainly I might not see in a thou- 
 sand years ! Just as we were entering the 
 harbour, within sight of the town, we saw 
 a ship on fire ; we did not know what it 
 was or we should not have ventured past 
 it, but the captain of our ship was dead 
 drunk, and it was literally by chance that 
 B. told the men to keep as far away as 
 they could for fear, as he said, the guns 
 should go off; but the passage was so 
 narrow that we were obliged to pass very 
 near it. It proved to be an English 
 transport (a brig) laden with ammunition, 
 and having on board 9,000 whole barrels 
 of ball cartridges. As we passed her the 
 whole stern was blazing ; we were at the 
 distance of two or three hundred yards 
 from her, certainly not more, and I was 
 
32 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 looking intently at the flames, when she 
 blew up. It is quite impossible to render 
 the effect of so tremendous and so magni- 
 ficent a sight, but the most extraordinary 
 part was the minute after the explosion ; 
 the balls and splinters of the ship came 
 rattling down like a thick shower of hail, 
 they fell all round us, and numbers struck 
 our ship in every part. It is hardly 
 credible that not a soul on board was 
 touched. Every man fell flat upon his 
 face, except B., who was standing near me 
 and threw himself over me to protect me. 
 On looking up, the whole sky was covered 
 with black smoke, and not a single vestige 
 left of the ship ; the effect on the sea was 
 exactly as if it boiled. A little rowing 
 boat had just passed us, and three men in 
 it were wounded with the balls, one very 
 badly. That is all the mischief: was there 
 ever so miraculous an escape ! 
 
EFFECTS OF THE EXPLOSION 33 
 
 Now I will tell you what has aston- 
 ished me beyond measure. I was not 
 the least moved by it. I can hardly 
 believe myself that not only I neither 
 jumped nor trembled, but was wholly in- 
 tent on the magnificence of the sight. 
 And till B. threw himself over me, as I 
 tell you, I never thought of looking away. 
 Madame L. says she never shall forget 
 in her life her surprise that the first thing 
 she heard after the shock was me saying 
 to her : ' Mais regardez done comme cest 
 beau ! ' She was very much frightened. 
 The concussion shook our boat most 
 violently ; you may think what it was 
 when I tell you what damage it did in the 
 town. In the house we are now in, which 
 is certainly two miles from where the 
 ship was, the windows are not only broken, 
 but several of the frames with iron hoops 
 round them were broken and thrown into 
 
 D 
 
34 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 the rooms. There are great heaps of 
 plaster lying in the passage, shaken down 
 from the ceiling, and the door of the room 
 B. dresses in is broken from the top to 
 the bottom. 
 
 As it was, I would not have missed 
 seeing it for anything ; but how curious 
 that it should happen at the instant of our 
 passing, and how curious that, after all I 
 have gone through, I am here this morn- 
 ing in the most perfect health ! Madame 
 L. is also quite well. 
 
 We proceed to-morrow to Berlin. B. 
 found a letter here for him from C. 
 Stewart, 6 begging us to make use of his 
 house at Berlin (the English Ministers 
 residence), which, as he is not likely him- 
 self to want it now, we shall accept, at least 
 until if we find Berlin the best place for 
 
 6 Sir Charles Stewart (afterwards Lord Londonderry), 
 then Minister to Prussia, and at that moment with the 
 armies. 
 
STRALSUND 35 
 
 me to stay at I can get a house of my 
 own. It is a great relief to me, for I have 
 seen enough of foreign inns to tremble 
 at the idea of remaining in one for any 
 time, and without B. really I don't think 
 I could ; and I suppose I shall have the 
 misery of being left in Berlin while he 
 goes up to headquarters. 
 
 This appears a fine large town ; I 
 have not been out to-day yet, but am 
 going presently to walk about. The 
 weather is beautiful to-day. We are in a 
 large inn kept by an Italian ; well off, so 
 far, that the people speak French, and we 
 have four good rooms (though there is no 
 possibility of a fire except in one). There 
 never was such a treasure as the little 
 cooking machine ; I regularly make use 
 of it, for I cannot accustom myself to the 
 garlic and onions of foreign dishes ; but 
 I get a fowl (which you find everywhere) 
 
 D 2 
 
36 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 and boil it in the machine, and boil my 
 potatoes also, and have that way a good 
 wholesome dinner every day. 
 
 The news we hear here you will have 
 in England as soon as this letter, and more 
 circumstantially than I can give it you. It 
 is very great, and Bavaria having joined 
 the allies is excellent. They tell us of a 
 battle 7 fought on Tuesday, which they say 
 nearly annihilated Buonaparte, but I have 
 not yet heard if that is official or not. 
 God grant that it may be true, and that 
 B. may have little occasion to leave me ! 
 I must leave off" now, and shall add more 
 by and by. ... Heaven bless you, and 
 kiss my dearest Mama a thousand times 
 for me ! I don't believe anyone can im- 
 agine the misery of being so many many 
 days without hearing of you all. . . . 
 
 I tear open my letter to say young 
 7 Leipzig. 
 
BERLIN 37 
 
 James, 8 C. Stewart's cousin, has just come 
 into the room, covered with orders, beard 
 and sweat (!) on his way from head- 
 quarters to England, with the account of 
 the finest battle. He will take this ! 
 
 Lady Burg her sk to her Mother 
 
 Berlin : October 27 
 
 My dearest, dear Mama, I have just 
 received large packets from England, 
 and yours and Emily's letters, . . . and 
 you may imagine how happy all this has 
 made me feel. Indeed, I wanted some- 
 thing to rejoice me now, as I cannot 
 but be very miserable at the idea of so 
 soon parting with B., for we have now 
 settled that I shall remain here while he 
 goes to headquarters, where I do believe 
 no woman could go, so I must make the 
 
 8 Father of the late Lord Northbourne. 
 
38 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 best of it, and hope he will not be absent 
 very long at a time. I have one great 
 comfort, that it is totally impossible that 
 there can be another great battle, nor 
 can Buonaparte stand on this side the 
 Rhine, and I believe the game will 
 very soon be up, and we may amuse 
 ourselves as we please throughout the 
 winter. B. remains here till he hears from 
 headquarters, which must be three or 
 four days, and by that time I shall ' get 
 into my shoes 1 here. 
 
 Now to tell you of our journey. I don't 
 think language can express the state of 
 the roads from Stralsund to Strelitz. They 
 are reckoned the worst in Germany, and 
 heavy rains for several days had rendered 
 them almost impassable. What with 
 dawdles, and delays of the German post- 
 boys, we did not get away from Stralsund 
 till four o'clock on Saturday, and we got 
 
STRALSUND TO STRELITZ. 39 
 
 one stage that night to Greifswalde ; we 
 were eight hours doing four German miles 
 (about twenty English). Next day we were 
 nineteen hours in the carriage, and the 
 roads of the kind that to sleep is quite 
 impossible. We only stopped for three 
 hours each night, and for dinner in the 
 middle of the day, and yet I was not at 
 all tired, though we travelled from six in 
 the morning till two or three the next 
 morning ; but we had the carriage open 
 a good deal. 
 
 The second night we slept at Branden- 
 burg, going by Anclam and Friedland. I 
 must tell you that at Friedland, where we 
 arrived about nine or ten at night, I went 
 into the post-house while the horses were 
 putting to. There were three or four 
 men in it looking at a print of Lord 
 Wellington, and talking of him with great 
 admiration. When we came in, they 
 
4O LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 greeted us as English, and told us who 
 they were talking of, when one of them 
 said he did not believe the print was like 
 Lord Wellington, as he had heard he was 
 an elderly man, and blind of one eye ! 
 
 Monday we stopped for two hours at 
 Strelitz. B. went to wait on the Duke of 
 Cumberland, and carry him some letters, 
 and he came to the inn to see me, and 
 sat a long time with me. . . . Strelitz is 
 a pretty and very clean town, and the 
 country about it very pretty, with an im- 
 mense quantity of fine wood, and a most 
 beautiful lake about a mile long near the 
 town. I walked round the palace, which 
 is very large, but like an old barrack, and 
 wretched ill-kept gardens to it. 
 
 We slept Monday night at Zehdemik, 
 and arrived here yesterday at seven 
 o'clock. We stopped at Oranienburg to 
 dine, and went to see the palace there, 
 
ORANIENBURG 41 
 
 which is the wreck of a very fine one ; but 
 it has been completely sacked and ruined 
 by the French, and is quite a melancholy 
 object. The Crown Prince's 9 headquarters 
 were there last month. We were very 
 unlucky not to be here two days sooner, 
 when the King of Prussia 1 made his public 
 entry here : they say there never was any- 
 thing so fine as the enthusiasm with which 
 he was received. He is perfectly adored 
 here. There was a Te Deum^ and in the 
 evening he went to the opera, where every- 
 one belonging to the Court hired their 
 boxes to give the profits to the wounded. 
 This morning he returns to the army. 
 
 It is certainly a most interesting mo 
 ment to be here. Everything is so en- 
 thusiastic, and there is a patriotism and 
 eagerness of which we have no idea in 
 
 9 Bernadotte, then Crown Prince of Sweden. 
 1 Frederick William III. 
 
42 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 England, nor have we a conception what 
 these poor people have sacrificed in the 
 good cause ; for the poverty and wretch- 
 edness to which they have reduced them- 
 selves are quite shocking. There are now 
 38,000 wounded in this town, and the 
 princesses and ladies have many of them 
 sold their jewels to assist them. I hear 
 that at Princess Radziwill's, 2 where there is 
 an assembly every night, they all scrape 
 lint to send to the hospitals, where there 
 is so much wanted that it is really neces- 
 sary they should do it. Tout respire le 
 militaire throughout the country. We 
 met numbers of prisoners on the road. 
 The King of Saxony with his wife and 
 daughter were brought in here prisoners, 
 the day before yesterday. The King of 
 Prussia lodged him in his palace, but he 
 
 2 Princess Louisa, daughter of Prince Ferdinand of 
 Prussia. 
 
PRISONERS FROM LEIPZIG 43 
 
 still persists in declaring his allegiance to 
 Buonaparte. This day, 4,000 prisoners, 
 with Laureston, Regnier, 3 &c. who were 
 taken at Leipzig, march in here where 
 there are already princes and dukes with- 
 out end, for there never was such a crash 
 as the Leipzig business. 
 
 We are most comfortably lodged in a 
 very fine house in the Linden, which is the 
 public walk of Berlin. I have seen no- 
 thing as yet of the town, for I was deter- 
 mined to begin writing to you directly. . . 
 The house is beautiful and immensely 
 large. It appears to me like an enchanted 
 castle after the horrid huts we have been 
 in for so long. Tom Tyrwhitt is here, 
 and spent a long time with us last night, 
 putting us an fait of everything, and very 
 entertaining he was. He remains here, 
 which I am glad of, as I shall feel more 
 3 French marshals. 
 
44 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 comfortable with someone here that I 
 know. . . . 
 
 To-night I think I shall go to the 
 theatre, and perhaps, if I can summon 
 courage, to Princess Radzi will's afterwards, 
 but I have such a dread of seeing and 
 being seen for the first time, yet I must 
 make acquaintances before B. goes, the 
 idea of which, I own, makes me tremble, 
 but I know from all the accounts of head- 
 quarters that my attempting to go with 
 him would be madness. . . . 
 
 I own I never have flagged in courage 
 or spirits till now, and I do find them fail 
 me at the idea of remaining here alone ; 
 but I don't give way, and I am more con- 
 vinced every day how right I was in 
 coming here, for if increased affection and 
 gratitude from any human being can 
 satisfy one, I ought to be so with B., and 
 if we both feel so much at a separation 
 
BERLIN 45 
 
 which at most will not exceed a few 
 weeks, what would it have been if I had 
 stayed in England ; so all is for the best. 
 
 Pray say everything most affectionate 
 from me to Mrs. V., 4 and tell her I believe 
 we owe our legs to her idea of having 
 everything in the carriage strapped down, 
 for I really think they would otherwise 
 have been broken. Lord A.'s cushion is 
 the very comfort of my life, and when you 
 see him, pray tell him so. I must now 
 end, as B. and T. Tyrwhitt are waiting 
 for me to walk about the town. Heaven 
 bless you, my dearest and best Mama ! 
 
 Lady Burghersh to her Sister Emily 
 
 Berlin : October 28 
 
 My dearest Emily, I have to thank 
 you for your letter and to tell you of our 
 
 * Mrs. Villiers. 
 
46 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 proceedings since I wrote to Mama 
 yesterday. 
 
 I went out and walked all over the 
 town, which is the most beautiful I ever 
 saw. The buildings are quite magnifi- 
 cent, and not one or two of them, but at 
 every step the most beautiful palaces and 
 buildings of all kinds. The gate which 
 leads to Charlottenburg 5 is the finest thing 
 I ever saw. The Linden, where we live, 
 is a long double alley of trees, with this 
 gate at the end and very fine houses on 
 each side. The King's palace, the 
 arsenal, the churches, &c., are superb. 
 You see but few equipages, but quanti- 
 ties of soldiers of all kinds and Cossacks 
 in plenty, both officers and men, and all 
 the greatest beasts I ever saw ! The 
 ladies walk a great deal in the Linden 
 with bonnets that you must see to con- 
 
 5 The Brandenburg gate. 
 
BONNETS THE THEATRE 47 
 
 ceive, for they are really a mile high 
 and ten miles round, and many of them 
 with ten and twelve feathers on the top ! 
 They either wear these bonnets or go 
 without anything at all on their heads, 
 which is quite astonishing, for the intense 
 cold here is beyond anything I ever felt. 
 I have been obliged to take to worsted 
 stockings. 
 
 I went yesterday to the theatre. It is 
 about the size of Covent Garden, perhaps 
 rather bigger. It is reckoned the best- 
 lighted theatre in Germany, but it ap- 
 peared to me wretchedly dark, having only 
 one large lustre hanging in the centre and 
 one small one in the Royal box, which 
 was in the middle of the house. The old 
 Princess of Orange and her daughter the 
 Princess of Brunswick were in the Royal 
 box, but in a side box the King (who has 
 delayed his return to the army for a day 
 
48 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 or two) was with his sister, the young 
 Princess of Orange. It was so dark that 
 I could not see him well, though we were 
 just opposite. 
 
 The house is dirty ; but the fine 
 theatre, the Opera, is not now open, which 
 I am very sorry for. 
 
 They gave three pieces last night 
 the first was a German play which bored 
 me, of course, as I could not understand 
 a word ; the second was a little musical 
 farce, and, though there were no fine 
 singers, the orchestra is so perfect and 
 the music so good, that I was very much 
 pleased. The last piece, a ballet, or 
 rather pantomime, the dancers very me- 
 diocre ; but there were two grotesque 
 dancers, sort of buffoons, who amused me 
 very much, and the music was very good. 
 It is all over at nine, and begins at six. 
 
 I own I don't like the hours here, for 
 
y' / y-4 / / , 
 
 / <V(t / ;///'(///<'/: j/f / 
 
 /?/"/// // f/linui/u '!< . 
 
DOWAGER PRINCESS OF ORANGE 49 
 
 one's whole morning is cut up, and one 
 does not know what to do between dinner 
 and evening, for every one dines at three 
 o'clock. This morning we received an 
 invitation to dine with the Dowager 
 Princess of Orange at three, but soon after 
 the King sent to desire B. would dine with 
 him at Charlottenburg at two, so I was 
 left to make my appearance at the Prin- 
 cess of O.'s by myself. Before I went to 
 dress I received about a thousand visits, 
 amongst others old Mr. and Madame 
 Neale, and Pauline, 6 who was enchanted 
 to see me, and who enchanted me by talk- 
 ing of all of you. 
 
 ... At three o'clock I arrived at the 
 Princess of Orange's and was shyer than 
 
 6 Countess Pauline Neale, who survived until 1870, 
 had in early life been attached to the Cour.t of Queen 
 Louise. She was a remarkable figure in Berlin society 
 for over half a century. Her father was of Irish extrac- 
 tion, and she had many English connections. 
 
5o LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 shy. There was only herself and the 
 Princess of Brunswick, with three ladies 
 and three gentlemen belonging to them, 
 T. Tyrwhitt, myself, and Aubin. They 
 were all particularly kind to me the old 
 Princess is very pleasing and good- 
 humoured, and talked to me a great deal 
 of Lady Anne, 7 Lady Mornington, 8 &c., 
 &c., whom she knew in England. She 
 said the Queen 9 had desired her (in the 
 letter she sent her by us) to show me 
 every kindness, as I was a person qm 
 FinUressait beaucoup. The Princess of 
 Brunswick asked me numerous questions 
 about feu sa belle-mere^ sabelle-sozur? &c., 
 &c., .and told me she knew my mother 
 
 7 Lady Anne Culling Smith, only sister of the Duke 
 of Wellington, and aunt to Lady Burghersh. 
 
 8 Her grandmother. 
 
 9 Queen Charlotte. 
 
 1 The Dowager-Duchess of Brunswick, George III.'s 
 sister. 
 
 2 Princess of Wales (Queen Caroline). 
 
THE ROYAL FAMILY 51 
 
 had shown the greatest kindness to 
 Madame Haeckel. They are just like 
 the Windsor Royalties, for they literally 
 know everything, and seemed completely 
 au fait of my family, for the Princess of 
 O. said she knew I had lived a great 
 deal at Blackheath, knew exactly how 
 long I had been married, &c., &c. They 
 are all very inquisitive about Princess 
 Charlotte, and seem to be completely 
 aware of all her good qualities. . . . 
 
 The dinner was over in a trice, and 
 (as I am not yet used to putting half a 
 dozen plates round me) I was nearly 
 starved. B. arrived about five from Char- 
 lottenburg, and soon after we were con- 
 gtdit. It is the custom here to pay visits 
 after dinner, so we drove to Madame 
 Zichy's, a very good-humoured, gay, 
 pleasing woman, not pretty, who talks 
 English without the least accent, and 
 
 E 2 
 
52 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 seemed a sort of person to like. We are 
 now come home to amuse ourselves as we 
 can till eight, which is the hour to go to 
 Princess Louisa s, and it is lucky for me 
 to have this moment to write, as I find 
 the courier sets off to-night. To-morrow 
 we are asked to dine with Princess Ferdi- 
 nand of Prussia, the King's aunt. 
 
 As B. has not heard yet from Lord 
 Aberdeen or C. Stewart, I do not know 
 exactly when he will go. Of all those I 
 have seen, I like best Pauline Neale's 
 mother, who talked to me with so much 
 feeling, and seemed really anxious to be 
 motherly that she quite won my heart. I 
 should enjoy seeing everything so new if 
 it was not for the idea of so soon being 
 left, and I am obliged to summon up all 
 my courage to go through it all as I 
 do. To-day I saw an immense number 
 of prisoners go by. I never saw such 
 
WELLINGTON'S POPULARITY 53 
 
 wretched sights : many of them quite boys, 
 and so haggard, so sickly, and almost 
 bare ! 
 
 Wellington is in every mouth here, 
 and the perfect idol. ... I am looking 
 most eagerly for the opening of Hamburg, 
 for if it is not open before the frost sets 
 in, the communication by Sweden will be 
 stopped, and we may be many weeks 
 without news from England. God forbid 
 it should be so ! 
 
 Lady Burghersh to her Mother 
 
 Berlin : October 30, 1813 
 
 My dearest Mama, For the first 
 time since my letter to E. was finished 
 Thursday last, I find a moment to begin 
 this letter, which will be sent God knows 
 when, but I am obliged to keep ready as 
 the couriers from headquarters often stop 
 
54 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 only an hour here. We are just returned 
 from dining at Count Zichy's, and, thank 
 God ! spend the evening at home. 
 
 B. has not heard a word yet from 
 Lord Aberdeen or C. Stewart, although 
 an estafette was sent to the latter the 
 moment we arrived. We cannot account 
 for such a delay, but I am very glad of it, 
 as it keeps B. here a little longer. The 
 idea is that the armies are still pursuing 
 the French, which would prevent their 
 writing. 
 
 Since I wrote last, I have made ac- 
 quaintance with most persons at Berlin, 
 and I must say one and all show me the 
 greatest kindness and attention. Thurs- 
 day evening I went for the first time to 
 Princess Louisa's, 3 who receives every 
 night. She is quite adored here, and is the 
 person who makes society here. She is 
 
 3 Radziwill. 
 
PR/NCESS LOUISA RADZIWILL 55 
 
 ugly (even like Lady , only not so 
 
 ugly), but particularly pleasing, and with 
 no sort of form about her. Her husband, 
 Prince Radziwill, is much the most agree- 
 able man I have seen here, and they have 
 a great many beautiful children, particularly 
 a little girl of ten years old, who is the 
 most graceful little creature I ever saw, 4 
 and who has taken a great fancy to me. 
 The youngest, a baby of nine months old, 
 is beautiful. I cannot say the ' Societe ' 
 is very gay, and I never saw such an 
 assemblage of ugly women. I assure 
 
 you P N is quite good-looking 
 
 amongst them ! . . . 
 
 The Princess has a large basket near 
 her filled with linen, and everybody 
 takes a bit and picks it to pieces for lint, 
 and it is surprising the immense quantity 
 
 4 Elisa Radziwill, the early love of the Emperor 
 William. She died young. 
 
56 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 there appears at the end of the evening. 
 Certainly the inhabitants of this town 
 have shown a devouement to the good 
 cause which is admirable. The ladies of 
 the highest rank attend at the hospitals. 
 Princess Louisa told me yesterday that 
 she had several wounded officers in her 
 own palace, and that yesterday morning 
 she had attended two of them when they 
 were dressed. The women hardly dress 
 at all smartly, as all luxe was laid aside 
 during the horrors of the war when it was 
 carried on under the walls of Berlin, and 
 has not been taken up since. They were 
 saying yesterday that no ladies were now 
 seen to ride in Berlin, as all superfluous 
 horses have been sent by them to the 
 armies. It is impossible not to catch an 
 enthusiasm so general. I was happy 
 when the first evening was over. Yester- 
 day we dined at Princess Ferdinand's, who 
 
THE LATE QUEEN 57 
 
 is Princess Louisa's mother. You must 
 have heard of her, for she was mother, 
 too, of Prince Louis. 5 I never saw such 
 a formal, stiff, disagreeable old woman 
 vieille cour outrte, and she frightened me 
 to death. I was glad to get away, and 
 go again to Princess Louisa's, who had 
 dined there with us. I liked that evening 
 much better than the first, for there were 
 only six or seven persons. . . . 
 
 The Princess showed me some pic- 
 tures of the late Queen of Prussia, who 
 must have been beautiful. The King, 
 who adored her, and who seems to be the 
 most amiable private character possible, 
 is still miserable at her loss, and never 
 misses a day visiting her tomb at Char- 
 lottenburg. 
 
 To-day we had a dinner quite a lan- 
 glaise at Count Zichy's, with roast beef and 
 
 5 Killed at Jena. 
 
58 LADY , BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 a wood fire ! . . . This morning I went 
 to the Porcelain Manufactory, and stayed 
 three hours looking at the most beautiful 
 things I ever beheld. I think I shall 
 spend half my life there. There is a din- 
 ner service making for Charles Stewart, 
 which the master of the manufactory said 
 surpasses everything they have yet made. 
 Every plate and dish is different, and the 
 painting the finest that can be conceived, 
 but it is enormously expensive. They say 
 this service will cost between one and two 
 thousand pounds ! They have heads of 
 Lord Wellington on many pieces of china, 
 but none like, so I have promised to give 
 them a print and medal to copy from, under 
 my directions. I bought nothing there 
 to-day but some blue china necklaces, 
 which I thought pretty, and which I mean 
 to send over to you by the first oppor- 
 tunity, but I am sorry to say it is very 
 
THE ' DUKE OF BERLIN* 59 
 
 difficult to convey anything to England, 
 and particularly china. . . . 
 
 I don't yet know, except the china, 
 what Berlin produces, as I have not been 
 into a single shop. I reserve it all to 
 amuse me when B. is gone. 
 
 This house is in the most delightful 
 situation for gazing, for everything comes 
 by it. I saw Lauriston, Regnier, and 
 Bertrand 6 brought in. Bertrand lodges at 
 an hotel a few doors off. He was very 
 much insulted by the populace, as he 
 was the man who was promised the title 
 of Duke of Berlin if he should take Berlin. 
 They cried out to him, * Here comes the 
 Duke of Berlin, take him to the hangman ! ' 
 He has never dared to go out since ; the 
 others go about and go to the theatre. 
 This morning I saw 5,000 prisoners come 
 in with a great many officers and a quantity 
 
 6 French marshals who had been made prisoners. 
 
60 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 of wounded; the latter were a sickening 
 sight. 
 
 Not having heard anything, my plans 
 are of course as unfixed as before, but 
 meantime I am most comfortably lodged 
 here. My apartments consist of two large 
 ante-rooms, then the room I sit in, which 
 opens on one side into a magnificent large 
 room with gilt panels, where we dine and 
 breakfast ; on the other side into the bed- 
 room, with a fine blue satin bed ; beyond 
 that a dressing-room, another large ante- 
 room, and then Madame Legoux's room. 
 All these look into the Linden. On the 
 other side of the house, which is built 
 round a square, there is another suite of 
 rooms all on the same floor. . . . 
 
 The cold is extreme, but so dry and 
 bracing that it is a pleasure to be out. I 
 cannot bear the stoves : one always feels 
 stived, and then it is so dull not to see 
 
THE FASHIONS OF THE DAY 61 
 
 the fire. . . . Words can't describe the 
 figures the women dress here of a morning. 
 Figure to yourself the most fashionable 
 hat, black, with at least six and often ten 
 or twelve very high feathers, an im- 
 mense quilling of lace or ribbon round the 
 poke, and enormous bows wherever they 
 can be stuck. A pelisse of some very 
 glaring colour of satin wadded, and the 
 sleeves tied like those in England, but 
 immensely full. 7 As every woman wears 
 these hats, my little cottage bonnet is so 
 stared at that I really believe I must get 
 one to walk about in. P. in one is much 
 higher from her chin upwards than down- 
 wards ! 
 
 November i 
 
 B. has at last had a letter from C. 
 Stewart. The armies have advanced with 
 
 7 A rough sketch accompanying this letter shows the 
 fashions here described to have closely resembled those 
 of the present day ! 
 
62 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 most wonderful rapidity, and will, I think, 
 have reached Frankfurt before B. gets 
 there. He sets off to-morrow ; I need 
 not say what I feel about it, because you 
 must know it requires no common courage 
 to think even of my forlorn situation here, 
 which is rendered for the moment ten 
 times worse by the advance of the armies 
 towards the Rhine, as, though it is such 
 good news for the cause, it removes him 
 so much further from me. However, it 
 is no use brooding over such melancholy 
 subjects which cannot be remedied. 
 
 A break here occurs in the letters 
 three or four having evidently been lost 
 or destroyed. After Lord Burghersh had 
 left her she remained nearly three weeks 
 without any news of him or knowing 
 where he was. At last, news came of his 
 having joined the Austrian headquarters 
 on their way to Frankfurt, and by this 
 
DEPARTURE FROM BERLIN 63 
 
 time she had become so tired of her life of 
 idle suspense and uncertainty at Berlin, 
 that she determined to set off to join him 
 at Frankfurt. Fortunately for her, Sir T. 
 Tyrwhitt (the English officer mentioned in 
 her letters from Berlin) was going to head- 
 quarters, and offered to escort her, for she 
 could not have ventured on a journey along 
 the line of the French retreat without 
 protection of some sort. The journey is 
 described in two letters to her mother, 
 the first being dated from 
 
 Weimar : November 21, 1813 
 
 My dearest Mama, Being detained 
 here for want of horses, I cannot do better 
 than begin a letter to you which I shall 
 finish at Frankfurt. 
 
 Last Tuesday I took leave of all my 
 friends in Berlin, and dined at Princess 
 Louisa's. I am in violent favour, and 
 received the most tender embrassades, 
 
64 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 assurances of eternal friendship, and all 
 kinds of compliments, &c., &c. 
 
 Next morning, before I set off, I re- 
 ceived a ring from Princess Louisa, with 
 joined hands, but, notwithstanding all their 
 kindness, I left Berlin with real joy. We 
 set off on Wednesday morning in the 
 midst of a heavy snow, which, however, 
 did not last. 
 
 I will give you our route to this place, 
 as you may like to trace it on the map. 
 The first day through Potsdam to Bran- 
 denburg ; the second day through Ziethen 
 to Zerbst ; the third day we crossed the 
 Elbe at Dessau, and slept at Halle ; and 
 yesterday we went through Merseburg, 
 Weissenfels, and Naumburg, and slept at 
 Auerstadt. We shall get to Frankfurt 
 Wednesday, and never did any poor crea- 
 ture long more eagerly to get to any place 
 than I do to arrive there, for I have gone 
 
CONDITION OF LEIPZIG 65 
 
 through a great deal, and it required no 
 little courage to undertake such a journey. 
 Think what comfort for me to hear on the 
 morning of my leaving Berlin that the 
 armies had left Frankfurt and crossed the 
 Rhine in pursuit of the French, and, till I 
 arrived here to-day, I had no idea where 
 B. was likely to be or what was doing, for 
 there is no information to be got on the 
 road. I expected to find a letter from him 
 here, but there is not one. I am, however, 
 amply repaid for that disappointment by 
 finding that the two Emperors and King 
 remain at Frankfurt ; therefore I shall find 
 him there, and my joy at this may be 
 conceived ! 
 
 You will see we have not gone through 
 Leipzig. It is in such a state from the 
 numbers of unburied bodies remaining 
 from the battle, that we were advised not 
 to approach it, and, God knows, we have 
 
 F 
 
66 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 seen horrors enough without seeking more. 
 We have come all along the line of the 
 French retreat, and as it is not a month 
 since they passed, the roads are covered 
 with dead horses and remains of dead men. 
 The latter, I am told, we shall see many 
 of between this and Frankfurt, particularly 
 at Hanau, where Wrede fought his san- 
 guinary battle a fortnight ago. No lan- 
 guage can describe the horrible devasta- 
 tion these French have left behind them, 
 and without seeing it no one can form an 
 idea of the country through which such a 
 retreat as theirs has been made. Every 
 bridge blown up, every village burnt or 
 pulled down, fields completely devastated, 
 orchards all turned up, and we traced their 
 bivouaques all along by every horror you 
 can conceive. None of the country people 
 will bury them or their horses, so there 
 they remain lying all over the fields and 
 
THE LINE OF RETREAT' 67 
 
 roads, with millions of crows feasting we 
 passed quantities, bones of all kinds, hats, 
 shoes, epaulettes, a surprising quantity of 
 rags and linen every kind of horror. 
 
 At Dessau, and below, we crossed on 
 bridges of boats (rather nervous work), 
 and at Weissenfels we went over a bridge 
 of rafts only, which was thrown over a 
 very wide river, the Saale, in three hours' 
 time, for General Bliicher to pursue the 
 French, who had hardly time to get out of 
 the town, and Buonaparte hid himself in a 
 mill. They told us that the French soldiers 
 were in such a state of starvation that they 
 took the earrings from their ears and im- 
 plored for bits of bread, which none of the 
 inhabitants would give them. The con- 
 sequence is the river is full of bodies ; we 
 found Halle full of wounded ; there being 
 14,000 in that town. 
 
 There was but one room to be had 
 
 F 2 
 
68 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 in the inn, which was also quite full 
 of wounded Russians, and smelling ! oh, 
 heavens ! I got that room for myself and 
 Madame Legoux, and T. Tyrwhitt per- 
 suaded some Prussian officers to give up 
 another to him and his secretary. 
 
 I took precautions before I left Berlin, 
 and got some sulphureous powder which 
 is burnt in the hospitals to purify the air. 
 I also wear quantities of camphor and my 
 dear little aromatic vinegar-box, and make 
 Madame L. do the same. Never was 
 such a treasure to me as she is, or any 
 creature so attentive, so amiable, and such 
 a comfort as I find her in the midst of all 
 my troubles. We have not seen a single 
 traveller on the road. We meet nothing 
 but Cossacks and troops going to join 
 the grand army, and a few deserters and 
 stragglers from the French. The country 
 from Merseburg here is very fine where 
 
DEPREDATIONS OF THE FRENCH 69 
 
 the French have not devastated it. We 
 passed over the field of the battle of 
 Jena. 
 
 At Auerstadt, where we slept last 
 night, the French passed a night on their 
 retreat, and have left it but the remains 
 of a ruined village. They burnt half the 
 houses, pulled many entirely to pieces, 
 and left them heaps of ruins. They 
 sacked everything, and did not leave a 
 cow or chicken even in the town. The 
 place where we slept was saved, as the 
 poor w r oman told us, by the kindness of a 
 Polish general, who preserved her house 
 from being burnt or pulled down, but 
 could not save all her hay, which she said 
 was worth 600 dollars, all her poultry, her 
 cows, six horses, and everything the house 
 contained, for we found in it scarcely any- 
 thing but straw strewed as in a stable. 
 The room I slept in was occupied by 
 
7o LADY BURGH ERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 Oudinot, and T. Tyrwhitt's by Victor. 8 
 Buonaparte slept at an apothecary's shop 
 over the way. 
 
 Instead of complaining at all they 
 have suffered, and which years cannot 
 repair, these fine people seem really to 
 have but one sentiment devotion to the 
 cause, and abhorrence of the French name. 
 They laugh at their King Jerome, 9 and say 
 they do not think he will visit them again 
 soon. 
 
 I must wish you good-night, my 
 dearest, dear Mama, for I am very sleepy, 
 and must be up long before daylight to- 
 morrow. I am perfectly well, not the least 
 tired, and look forward with such delight 
 to the end of all these melancholy sights 
 at Frankfurt ; for, as I don't think I am 
 likely to follow them into France, I shall 
 
 8 French marshals. 
 
 9 Napoleon's brother, Jerome Buonaparte, King of 
 Westphalia. 
 
WEIMAR TO HANAU 71 
 
 there end my travels over a line of retreat, 
 and shall then again be with B. Sir T. 
 Tyrwhitt is as obliging and kind as pos- 
 sible. Heaven bless you ! I shall con- 
 tinue this at Frankfurt. 
 
 Lady Burgher sh to her Mother 
 
 Frankfurt : Friday, November 26 
 
 Here we arrived to-day, my dearest 
 Mama, but I consider my journey as over 
 since yesterday, as it was yesterday I had 
 the happiness of finding B. at Hanau, 
 where we slept. But I will go on regu- 
 larly and tell you of our expedition from 
 Weimar. 
 
 We got horses on Monday morning, 
 but we could not get schwagers^ so we 
 had peasants to drive us. These peasants 
 knew nothing of the road, which is rather 
 intricate, as it is necessary to avoid the 
 
 1 Postboys. 
 
72 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 vicinity of Erfurt, where the French garri- 
 son is 6,000 strong. We were going on 
 when we saw an officer galloping very 
 hard towards us, and making us signs to 
 stop. He was a Prussian officer, who 
 came up to us very civilly, and asked us if 
 we were aware that we were going right 
 into Erfurt, 2 which was not above half 
 an English mile off. Conceive what an 
 escape ! We were already at the outposts 
 of the Prussians, and they came to guide 
 us through their bivouaques round the 
 town. We were close to the trenches, 
 which are opened in front of the town ; 
 the bombarding was expected to begin the 
 next day. As we were so near we got out 
 of the carriage and walked all through the 
 army and along the trenches, and on the 
 parapet we could see close into the town. 
 
 2 Which was occupied by the French and besieged 
 by the allies. 
 
AN ENFORCED HALT 73 
 
 The officers, with their suite, &c., came 
 out to us, and were very civil. It was 
 very amusing, and so new to me ; but the 
 worst part of the day was to come. We 
 were obliged to go over the country, and 
 that is in such a state that it was necessary 
 to get out of the carriage and have it held 
 up by two or three men to prevent it 
 overturning. After being out the whole 
 day we got at night to a village (one of 
 the outposts), where we hoped to get 
 horses and go on to Gotha. We found 
 this village destroyed by a sortie of the 
 French. No horses to be got, nor even 
 any fodder for the poor creatures that 
 drew us. We were therefore obliged to 
 drag on to another most wretched village, 
 the headquarters of General Ziethen, with 
 2,000 soldiers in it, and about three Eng- 
 lish miles from Erfurt. Here we had no 
 alternative, for stop we must. A very 
 
74 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 civil old man and woman came out, and 
 offered us one room in their miserable 
 cottage. In that and the yard were 
 already quartered twenty-eight soldiers. 
 The one room was at the top of the house, 
 without fire, and the window broken. 
 Here we made up our minds to pass the 
 night that is, T. Tyrwhitt, his secretary, 
 and me ; for my carriage, in which was 
 Madame Legoux, with everything belong- 
 ing to me, had got more sensible peasants 
 to drive, and they got safely to Gotha in 
 good time. In this room, then, in one of 
 the coldest November nights, I lay down 
 on the carriage cushions spread on the 
 floor, and covered with a great coat. T. 
 Tyrwhitt spent the night in the kitchen. 
 
 I slept well, caught no cold, and set 
 off merrily next morning. At Gotha we 
 found poor Madame Legoux, who had 
 been in a fine fuss about us. I also found 
 
HORRORS OF THE ROAD 75 
 
 a courier from B., telling me he would 
 meet me at Hanau, one stage from this 
 place. Think how bad the communication 
 is with Berlin that he never got my esta- 
 fette, and only knew of my coming through 
 Charles Stewart, who arrived here from 
 Hanover some days ago. 
 
 The horrors of the road increased at 
 every step as we approached Hanau. We 
 made the postboys holloa out when we 
 were coming to any dead bodies, so I 
 escaped seeing many. I only saw five, 
 which came upon me unawares ; four of 
 them were stripped of all clothing, two 
 nearly skeletons. As to the horses, they 
 lay ten and twelve together, and in some 
 places the stench was horrid. But at 
 Hanau it all ended in my joy at finding 
 B. again ! This morning we came here. 
 The town is as full as it can hold em- 
 perors, kings, princes, without end. We 
 
76 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 are in a very bad quarter, and with great 
 difficulty got any at all ; but to-morrow 
 we are to change into a very good one, 
 which C. Stewart has insisted on giving 
 up to us. 
 
 The Grand Duchess of Weimar is, I 
 believe, the only woman here, but I can 
 tell you little of the persons here, having 
 been only a few hours in the town, and I 
 am so very happy to find myself with B. 
 that I am as yet quite bewildered. 
 
 Is it not extraordinary that after such 
 a journey of nine days, getting up every 
 morning two hours before daylight, and 
 travelling till eight, nine, or ten at night, 
 I am not only not the least tired, but 
 grown fat! Both Pozzo 3 and C. Stewart 
 were quite struck with my looking so 
 much better than in London. C. Stewart 
 
 3 Count Pozzo di Borgo, a Corsican diplomatist in 
 the Russian service. He had been much in England, 
 and was a friend of all Lady Burghersh's family. 
 
LORD BURGHERSH'S DIFFICULTIES 77 
 
 looks shockingly ; Pozzo much as usual, 
 with a fine Russian general's uniform. 
 
 C. Stewart has behaved beautifully in 
 every way, and shown the most real friend- 
 ship for both B. and me. He has had an 
 opportunity of showing it to B., who has 
 
 been most abominably used by , who 
 
 has done everything in his power to un- 
 dermine him with the great folks and to 
 put another person in his shoes. It is a 
 long story, and can't be entered into in a 
 letter, but I must say B. has behaved like 
 an angel, and I must think if there is any 
 justice he will gain great credit at home 
 as he has done here for his moderation 
 and good sense. He is so happy to have 
 me again, and I really hope there is every 
 chance of their all staying here quietly 
 some time longer. If they should move, 
 I believe I should go to Stuttgardt. 
 
 I have had a great disappointment in 
 
78 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 not finding letters here from you. It is 
 such an age since I have had such a 
 happiness, but B. has sent many letters 
 which arrived here to Berlin, so I must 
 wait till they are returned from thence. 
 My dearest, dear Mama, do you know 
 how hard it is to wait for them, for I 
 never have you out of my thoughts, and 
 a letter is such a happiness ! Oh, if I 
 could give you one kiss, dearest Mama ! 
 I send this off by young Woronzow, who 
 sets off to-night for England happy 
 man ! God bless you and all of you a 
 thousand times ! 
 
 Lady Burgher sh to 
 
 Frankfurt : December 3 
 
 ... I must now tell you how we 
 are going on here. , . . We are as well 
 lodged .as possible in the best part of the 
 town, and have a very pretty suite of 
 
SOCIETY AT HEADQUARTERS 79 
 
 rooms three very nice drawing-rooms. 
 I lead a curious life, and yet an inter- 
 esting and agreeable one, but I never see 
 a woman, except a visit of ceremony to the 
 two Grand Duchesses and the Princess of 
 Tour and Taxis ; they are the only ladies 
 here. The two first are sisters of the 
 Emperor of Russia, 4 and both in their 
 different ways delightful. The Grand 
 Duchess Catherine, who is widow of the 
 young Prince of Oldenburg, has the most 
 delightful expression of mildness I ever 
 saw. The other, the Grand Duchess 
 Maria, is married to the Prince of 
 Weimar, and is pretty. The Princess 
 Tour and Taxis is our Queen's niece, 5 
 and sister to the late Queen of Prussia. 6 
 I see her often. 
 
 4 Alexander. 5 Queen Charlotte. 
 
 6 Queen Louise, who died in 1810, celebrated for her 
 beauty and misfortunes mother of the old Emperor 
 William. 
 
8o LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 All the Ambassadors have given 
 dinners for me. The first was at C. 
 Stewart's, where I was presented to 
 twenty-five men, all the big-wigs here 
 who manage the destinies of the world ! 
 Schwarzenberg, 7 the Commander-in-Chief 
 of the Allies, Metternich, 8 Hardenberg, 9 
 &c., &c. Lord Cathcart gave one the 
 next day, and Lord Aberdeen the day 
 after. Conceive how odd for me to be 
 the only woman at table with from fifteen 
 to thirty men ! I found it dreadful at 
 first, but now I am quite used to it, and 
 of course I am such a rara avis that I 
 have all the fuss possible made with me. 
 
 To-day I saw a very fine sight. It 
 was the day of the fete of the Emperor 
 of Russia's own regiment. There was a 
 
 7 Prince Charles Schwarzenberg, Austrian field- 
 marshal. 
 
 8 The famous Austrian diplomatist. 
 
 9 Prussian Minister of State. 
 
PARADE OF RUSSIAN TROOPS 81 
 
 grand parade, and after that a mass per- 
 formed. I was at both. It is impossible 
 to conceive. a more magnificent sight than 
 the Emperor's Body Guard all the finest, 
 tallest men that can be picked out, and his 
 own guard of Cossacks quite beautiful. 
 
 The Emperor of Russia, 1 the Emperor 
 of Austria, 2 and the King of Prussia, all 
 came to the parade together on horseback, 
 followed by a concourse of generals and 
 officers, all in full uniform, with their 
 orders, &c., and making as fine a sight 
 as possible. After the regiments had 
 passed they all dismounted, and we went 
 to hear the mass in a room. It is very 
 extraordinary and very beautiful. The 
 singing of the Russian soldiers is inde- 
 scribably beautiful, all bass voices, but so 
 well in tune, and so kept under, that the 
 effect is like soft instruments. When the 
 
 1 Alexander I. 2 Francis I. 
 
 G 
 
82 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 Emperor passes them, instead of huzza- 
 ing, they shout in a very particular 
 manner, but very fine, I think, and then 
 their bands are perfect. 
 
 I must now give you some account 
 of some of the great people. The Royal- 
 ties I did not see till to-day, as the 
 Emperor Alexander only returned yester- 
 day from a visit to Carlsruhe, and the 
 King has also been absent. I was as 
 much examined as / examined, and I am 
 told I gave satisfaction, and that I am 
 threatened with a great dinner at Schwarz- 
 enberg's to create better acquaintance. 
 I never was so disappointed as in the 
 Emperor Alexander. He is the image of 
 
 , only fair instead of red, and also 
 
 very like W., the dentist. He has cer- 
 tainly fine shoulders, but beyond that he 
 is horridly ill-made. He holds himself 
 bent quite forward, for which reason all 
 
ROYALTIES AT HEADQUARTERS 83 
 
 his Court imitate him and bend too, and 
 gird in their waists like women ! His 
 countenance is not bad, and that is all 
 I can say of him. The Emperor of Aus- 
 tria is a little wizened old man, not to be 
 known from the D - of G - ; but as 
 for the King of Prussia, I never saw a 
 more interesting-looking person. With- 
 out being handsome, there is a fine 
 soldierlike look about his whole figure, 
 and a quiet, melancholy expression of 
 countenance which interests one directly. 
 I don't know anyone like him. He has 
 two sons with him very nice boys. 3 
 Then I must not forget the Grand Duke 
 Constantine. He is like the Emperor of 
 Russia, but without exception the greatest 
 monster I ever saw in a human form. 
 Then come the Grand Duke of Weimar, 
 
 3 Afterwards King Frederick William IV. and the 
 Emperor William I. They were then respectively eigh- 
 teen and sixteen years old. 
 
 G 2 
 
84 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 Prince Paul of Wurtemberg, the Elector 
 of Hesse, &c., &c, Old Platow, 4 the 
 finest old weatherbeaten face I ever saw, 
 and very like the little prints I had of 
 him in London* Barclay de Tolly, 5 an 
 ugly old fellow ; Miloradowitch, Czerni- 
 cheff, 6 and old Bllicher, who never was 
 beat, and to whom the allies certainly owe 
 much of their success ; Uvaroff, Alex- 
 ander's favourite, and the same who mur- 
 dered Paul. 7 He looks like a savage, and 
 I could hardly bear to speak to him at 
 dinner. Besides these great sights, I see 
 a great deal Prince Radziwill, who is 
 come from Berlin to see the fun, young 
 Esterhazy, 8 &c., &c. I ride every day, 
 
 4 l Hetman ' of the Cossacks, a great Russian com- 
 mander. 
 
 5 Another Russian general. 
 
 6 Russian and Polish commanders. 
 
 7 The Russian Emperor Paul I. was murdered by his 
 own officers in 1803. 
 
 8 The same who was afterwards Austrian ambassador 
 in England, and famous for his jewels. 
 
PROGRESS OF THE ALLIES 85 
 
 though our own horses are not yet come, 
 but C. Stewart has lent me one of his 
 much the most perfect horse I ever rode, 
 perfectly safe and quiet, and I have re- 
 gained all my courage. ... It is a great 
 beauty, and an interesting horse too, for it 
 has been in the great battles. 
 
 The plan of campaign seems now to 
 be decided for Switzerland, but I have 
 every reason to hope the headquarters 
 w T on't move for some time, as it must take 
 a long time to prepare for such a move- 
 ment, and I am as well and as happy here 
 as I can be under the circumstances. 
 
 The surrender of Pampeluna is de- 
 lightful, but we hear from France of a 
 battle 9 in which Lord Wellington has been 
 most victorious. Platow has offered to 
 
 9 Passage of the Nivelle, November 10, 1813. 
 
86 LADY BURCHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 go with 1,500 Cossacks across France, 
 and to meet Lord Wellington. If allowed, 
 he would accomplish it, for those Cossacks 
 can do anything, and they are so feared 
 that a whole regiment flies before a hand- 
 ful. They are terrible thieves ; they steal 
 everything they see, and you always see 
 them leading, in the most barefaced 
 manner, two or three horses laden with 
 plunder. 
 
 There is a very good theatre here, 
 where I go very often. The orchestra is 
 perfect, and some of the singers very 
 good. I heard the ' Flauto Magico ' done 
 beautifully last night. This morning there 
 was a distribution of medals to every 
 Russian who served in the campaign of 
 1812, from the Emperor down to the 
 lowest soldier. They are very pretty 
 silver medals hung to light blue ribbon. 
 It is not unusual to see men in the ranks 
 
DISPUTES AT HEADQUARTERS 87 
 
 with three or four orders, and surely it is 
 a means of encouraging them. 
 
 Lady Burghersh to her Mother 
 
 Frankfurt : December 6, 1813 
 
 My dearest Mama, As I sent off 
 only yesterday letters both to you and 
 my sisters, I can have but little to say 
 to-day, but I must send a line by Pozzo, 
 who is to set off in the course of to-night. 
 He will have the happiness of seeing you 
 (how I envy him !), and you will hear from 
 him how well and strong I am. I fear, 
 however, that my quiet, agreeable exist- 
 ence here will soon end. After such dis- 
 cussions and disputes as must exist in 
 such a headquarters as this, where there 
 are so many great people, and not one 
 great head to whom the others look up, 
 I believe they have decided to move from 
 
88 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 hence towards Switzerland directly. Next 
 Friday is the day named for Schwarzen- 
 berg's departure, and we of course move 
 with him. Freiburg will be the head- 
 quarters. I cannot yet say whether I 
 shall go there directly, or stop for a time 
 at Stuttgardt. That must depend upon 
 the plan of operations, which is as yet 
 dans fair. The indecision and squab- 
 bling about it among all the different 
 chiefs is incredible, and as long as they 
 can't agree nothing can be done. I am 
 certainly very sorry to move from here, 
 though, as a soldier, I am sure we have 
 been here much too long, and let the- 
 moment escape. If Lord Wellington had 
 been here, he would not have hesitated. 
 
 We have just heard of the Prince of 
 Orange's reception in Holland. When I 
 hear of the expedition to be sent from 
 England, I can't help rejoicing that we 
 
DEPARTURE FOR FREIBURG 89 
 
 are here, but there are moments when the 
 sort of longing I have for home cannot 
 be described in short, I can only live 
 an jour la journte, for I dare not look 
 forward from one week to another. B. is 
 quite well, and must, I think, have gained 
 great credit by his conduct here. 
 
 I must leave off, for I am just going 
 to the Grand Duchess Catherine's. It is 
 her jour de fete^ and everybody goes this 
 evening to faire leurs compliments. I 
 have this instant received your letters ! 
 How dear your expressions are about my 
 safety ! I must end. &c., &c. 
 
 Lady Burghersh to her Mother 
 
 Frankfurt : December 10, 1813 
 
 My dearest Mama, Our departure 
 is now decided. Prince Schwarzenberg 
 
 1 November 25, St. Catherine's day by Russian 
 Calendar. 
 
9O LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 set off late last night or early this morning ; 
 the Emperors go on Sunday, and we also 
 set off the day after to-morrow for Frei- 
 burg. We shall probably go by Stuttgardt. 
 As they think to get possession of Switzer- 
 land by negotiation, they don't expect any 
 active operations yet. I must say how 
 very civil and obliging I have found all 
 the great people about my following the 
 headquarters. The moment the going 
 was decided on, late on Tuesday night, 
 Schwarzenberg sent to me to tell me, and 
 to say he hoped I meant to go with them, 
 and he would take care I had good 
 quarters, and everything I could want. 
 Independent of being with B., I am so 
 interested in all that goes on, and in all 
 their negotiations, that I should be quite 
 miserable to leave them, and I am now 
 quite used to the sort of life. 
 
 I spent nearly an hour yesterday morn- 
 
THE EMPEROR OF RUSSIA 91 
 
 ing with * Sa Majeste Imperiale Alexandra,' 
 and in a way which made me better ac- 
 quainted with him than I should have been 
 in meeting him thirty times en socidtt. The 
 Grand Duchess Catherine (whom I quite 
 delight in) sent to desire I would go to 
 her at one o'clock. I found the Emperor 
 with her. She said she hoped I would 
 forgive cette petite surprise, as the Emperor 
 wished very much to know me, and she 
 was sure I should not dislike such a con- 
 naissance. As there was only herself, him, 
 and me, we soon got intimate ; he gave 
 me a whole account of last year's cam- 
 paign, 2 with a great deal of modesty as to 
 himself and his people, and then made the 
 most violent panegyrics upon Lord Wel- 
 lington, saying, ' Ah ! si nous avions un 
 capitaine comme celui-la, nous aurions bien 
 
 2 Napoleon's famous Russian campaign and burning 
 of Moscow. 
 
92 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 mieux fait' I said I did not think it was 
 possible to mieux faire. ' Ah, Madame, 
 cest que le bon Dieu nous a servi de capi- 
 taine et que Fexemple des Anglais nous a 
 donnd du courage' I was much better 
 pleased with him than I expected. His 
 manners have much less fanfaronnade 
 than I had imagined, and his countenance 
 is certainly very delightful. When he is 
 animated and smiles, his mouth and chin 
 remind me immensely of Sir H. Mildmay ; 
 he has the same particular curl in his upper 
 lip do you know what I mean ? Never- 
 theless, I can't think him handsome, and 
 his voice is rough and disagreeable. 
 
 In the evening there was a great ball 
 given by the Russians at the Assembly 
 Room, which was beautifully decorated 
 with orange trees and shrubs of all kinds. 
 The ladies (besides the Grand Duchesses) 
 were collected from Frankfurt and its 
 
A RUSSIAN BALL 93 
 
 environs. There were, of course, few 
 compared with the number of men, but 
 these in all their different uniforms and 
 orders made it brilliant and magnificent. 
 I was so dreadfully abashed when I first 
 went in that I thought I should have died, 
 and don't know what I should have done 
 but for that most charming Grand Duchess 
 Catherine, who was very near as bad as 
 me, as she had not been out before since 
 her husband's death, and we supported 
 each other. 
 
 The ball began with polonaises, which 
 are in fact only walking in time. I 
 danced (or walked) one with the Empe- 
 ror Alexander, one with Prince Paul of 
 Wtirtemberg, and another with General 
 Czernicheff, of whom you may have 
 heard. Then came a set of English coun- 
 try dances, which I danced with Prince 
 Radziwill. After that waltzing ; they all 
 
94 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 waltz as quick, if not quicker, than Madame 
 Lieven. I would not try it. There were 
 also quadrilles. . . . 
 
 The King of Prussia talked to me. 
 He is very shy, but notwithstanding that 
 there is an expression of goodness and 
 amiableness very delightful. I was intro- 
 duced for the first time to the Emperor 
 Francis rather a nice old man, and not 
 at all unlike Lord Clarendon when he 
 speaks. I never saw two nicer boys than 
 the King of Prussia's two sons, particu- 
 larly the elder a merry, good-humoured 
 creature. The King has also a nephew of 
 the Queen's with him, who is also great- 
 nephew to our Queen, and who, I am told, 
 they want Princess Charlotte to marry. 
 He is very young, but as handsome and 
 as pleasing a lad as I ever saw. 
 
 I have made lately another acquaint- 
 ance which I delight in old General 
 
BLUCHER AND P LA TOW 95 
 
 Blucher. He is the picture of a fine old 
 hero. The worst is he speaks very little 
 French, and I have not learnt any German 
 but what I pick up here and there, so we 
 can't get on very well without an inter- 
 preter. I think his head and Platow's 
 would make the finest subjects for beau- 
 tiful old men. You have often read of 
 
 General , of the Cossacks, who is in 
 
 his own opinion a beauty and a great man 
 a bonnes fortunes. In the opinion of others 
 he is the greatest robber in existence, and 
 the most disgusting fanfaron I ever saw! 
 
 What fun we should have if you were 
 here with me, and how little writing 
 answers to one's feelings. We received 
 two days ago Lord Wellington's de- 
 spatches, from Saint Pe. He is quite as 
 much appreciated here as in England. . . . 
 I must leave you to go and dress for 
 dinner at the Chancellor Hardenberg's. 
 
96 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 December n 
 
 . . . The things you have sent to C. 
 Stewart for me are sure of being safe. . . . 
 Thank you for them a thousand times. 
 Muslin gowns are sure of being admired. 
 Cambric muslin and fine calico are thought 
 magnificent, and all kinds of English 
 jewellery run after, beyond what you can 
 conceive. I never go out without having 
 my bracelets, rings, &c., looked at and 
 handed round. ... I see Lord Byron has 
 published a new poem. Pray send it 
 to me. 
 
 Lady Burghersh to her Sister 
 
 Freiburg : December 15, 1813 
 
 My dearest Emily, We arrived here 
 late last night, and performed the journey 
 with great speed, considering how full the 
 roads are, from Frankfurt here, with the 
 removal of the headquarters. We left 
 
FRANKFURT TO FREIBURG 97 
 
 Frankfurt at three o'clock on Sunday, and 
 were here by nine yesterday evening 
 (Tuesday). We came by Heidelberg, 
 Darmstadt, and Carlsruhe, leaving Stutt- 
 gardt on our left, as we were anxious to 
 get here soon on account of quarters, as 
 this is a small town, and therefore the last 
 comers will be but badly off. We are not 
 near so well off as we were at Frankfurt, 
 though we have got nearly the best quar- 
 ters in the town, close to the Emperors. 
 The Austrians only are arrived as yet ; 
 the Russians and Prussians are coming. 
 Schwarzenberg came the day before us ; 
 the Emperor Francis arrived at four o'clock 
 to-day. He came into the town on horse- 
 back with his officers, &c., and was re- 
 ceived with the greatest acclamations. 
 All the windows were lined with women 
 and children waving handkerchiefs, &c., 
 &c., and throwing flowers. To-night the 
 
 H 
 
98 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 town is illuminated. The Emperor of 
 Russia has left Frankfurt, and will be here 
 in a few days ; the King of Prussia not 
 quite so soon. 
 
 I hear this is a pretty little town, but 
 I have not been out. It was very cold 
 to-day, and the town is all in confusion 
 with the marching in of the different regi- 
 ments, scrambling for quarters, &c. I have 
 plenty of amusement from the windows. 
 Though we are here, I believe (entre nous") 
 we are just as far from coming to any 
 decision upon the plans to be pursued 
 as we were at Frankfurt. The Emperor 
 Francis and all his people are bent on one 
 plan ; the Emperor Alexander is directly 
 against it, and the King of Prussia dis- 
 approves of both ! They are all equally 
 positive and obstinate, and as they cannot 
 act till one or the other gives way, the 
 time passes away, and / believe it will end 
 
AN UNPLEASANT ADVENTURE 99 
 
 in our taking up winter quarters here or 
 hereabouts. So much the better for me 
 individually. As for the cause, the want 
 of a Lord Wellington has been long felt, 
 but Providence and the enthusiastic devo- 
 tion of all ranks, and all nations, to the 
 cause, will (as it has hitherto done) make 
 up for that want. 
 
 I must tell you of an odd thing that 
 happened to me on Monday night. I got 
 out at the post-house about eleven at 
 night while the horses were putting to. 
 At the door we met Prince Metternich, 
 who was travelling here also, and while B. 
 was talking to him I got separated from 
 him, the place being very full ; and he, 
 thinking I was gone into the room, went 
 out with Metternich to see about the 
 horses. I, not finding him or knowing 
 where to go, opened the first door, which 
 proved to be the kitchen, to the dire 
 
 H2 
 
ioo LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 offence of an old woman, who immediately 
 seized me by the arm, swearing in 
 German as hard as she could jabber, and 
 dragged me, notwithstanding my struggles, 
 into a room, pushed me in and slapped 
 the door upon me. I found myself in the 
 middle of four Cossack officers who were 
 eating their supper. I was a little scared, 
 but one of the officers, having spoken in 
 French, put me at ease directly, and I 
 told them how I came there, and begged 
 one of them to go out and look for mon 
 mari, as I was afraid of going out alone, 
 as I could not make myself understood. 
 They were excessively civil, and another 
 soon recognised me as la dame Anglaise 
 qui vent bien embellir notre quartier 
 gtntral, and whom he had seen a cheval 
 dans les rues de Frankfort. So by the 
 time B. came in (which was not for a good 
 while, as he had had a row to settle about 
 
A GOOD ENGLISH CARRIAGE 101 
 
 the horses), he found me sitting with them 
 in high conversation and the best friends 
 possible. I never met with four civiller 
 men. It is very lucky Madame Legoux 
 was not with me, for, notwithstanding her 
 courage in other respects, she is terribly 
 afraid of les militaires, et surtout, Miladi, 
 ces vilains Cosaques. She never gets out 
 of the carriage when she can help it. We 
 bought a very nice carriage at Offenbach, 
 near Frankfurt, for her and Mr. Aubin 3 to 
 travel in. The barouche they had before 
 was a good deal shaken. Our own car- 
 riage is worth its weight in gold, for there 
 has never been a nail out of its place since 
 we left London, and it is so easy that 
 even the bad roads hardly shake it. Now 
 I have got to sleep quite soundly in it, 
 and my cushion (Lord A.'s) is really the 
 comfort of my life. 
 
 3 Lord Burghersh's secretary. 
 
IO2 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 I am all impatience to get your letters. 
 Dear Mama's account of herself delights 
 me. I have never had a cold since I was 
 at Stralsund, but I find the climate here 
 to the full as changeable as it is in Eng- 
 land. We have had no snow to signify 
 yet, but very thick fogs the last three days, 
 which was unlucky, as the road from 
 Frankfurt here, along the banks of the 
 Rhine, is beautiful. It is curious to feel 
 oneself within a few miles of France. 
 Who would have believed it last year ? 
 
 Lady Burghersh to her Mother 
 
 Freiburg: December 19, 1813 
 
 My dearest Mama, I have just 
 learnt that Lord Aberdeen sends a courier 
 off to-night. It is now late, but I will 
 write a line. We have been in the midst 
 of such discussions, since my letter of last 
 
INDECISION OF LEADERS 103 
 
 Thursday to Emily, about the affair of 
 Switzerland. Such plans, orders, and 
 counter orders, indecisions, &c. ; but at 
 length the Austrians have prevailed. I 
 believe the troops have already marched, 
 and will certainly enter Switzerland to- 
 morrow, or at latest the day after. 
 Schwarzenberg will not superintend the 
 movement himself, as was at first intended, 
 but will move the following day. We 
 shall move with him. The next head- 
 quarters are not quite fixed yet, but will 
 probably be at a short distance from here 
 Lorrach or between Lorrach and Basle. 
 Schwarzenberg has just been dining here ; 
 there never was anything like his atten- 
 tion and care of me. He has given me 
 the best of his own chasseurs, mounted, to 
 be always with my carriage and in my 
 anteroom, and he will be of great service 
 (o me in moving and taking up quarters. 
 
IO4 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 To-day the Bavarian army passed 
 through here; they are moving in the 
 same direction ; they are fine troops. It 
 was interesting to see Wrede at the head 
 of them, who was supposed to be mortally 
 wounded at the battle of Hanau on 
 November 3 : indeed he was said to be 
 dead several times. They have not yet 
 been able to extract the ball, which is still 
 in the lower stomach, but he is well enough 
 to have been on horseback to-day, at the 
 head of his troops. The Emperor Francis 
 and all the Austrian officers were in the 
 street on horseback to see them. Alex- 
 ander is not yet arrived. He was ex- 
 pected to-day, but did not come. I 
 suppose he will be here early to-morrow. 
 There has been a grand reunion at Carls- 
 ruhe ; the Queen of Sweden is there. 
 
 We are in a country which makes one 
 regret summer bitterly, for it must then be 
 
//A/"/,- llff-iffuu oL/l <'/l;>/<//<>ti ! 
 
 f at 
 
 </ Jg/j. 
 
AUSTRIAN HONOURS FOR WELLINGTON 105 
 
 quite heavenly. The town is in a valley 
 surrounded by mountains, entirely covered 
 with vineyards, and the Rhine within 
 sight. There is a mountain just outside 
 the town from which the view is, even in 
 this season, quite enchanting. I am very 
 anxious to go to Schaffhausen to see the 
 falls of the Rhine, but as it is too far to 
 go and return in one day, I am afraid of 
 absenting myself while the headquarters 
 are on the point of moving. There are 
 two convents of nuns in this town, and 
 one of fat rosy friars. I am going to- 
 morrow to see the nuns. I saw the friars 
 convent and chapel yesterday. 
 
 The Emperor of Austria is going to 
 send Lord Wellington the Grand Cross 
 of Maria Theresa, the first Austrian 
 order. 
 
 . . . Christmas will be past and the 
 New Year begun before you get this 
 
io6 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 God bless you all through it, and grant 
 we may meet before another begins. I 
 shall think (too much, perhaps) of our 
 Christmas dinner last year when we were 
 all together ; but such thoughts as those 
 I don't and won't often indulge in ; but 
 thank God I am as well off as I am : so 
 perfectly well in health and taken such 
 good care of. I could wish I heard 
 oftener from you all. It appears to me I 
 get very few letters, but I am sure you 
 write as often as you can. B. sends you 
 a thousand loves. I never saw him 
 better in my life. . . . 
 
 ... I was in the act of sealing this 
 letter when Prince Wenzel Liechtenstein 
 came in to tell us three pieces of news, 
 just arrived : the accession of Denmark 
 and that of the King of Naples 4 to the 
 good cause, and, what is to us better still, 
 
 4 Murat, Napoleon's brother-in-law. 
 
L'CRRACH 107 
 
 that Switzerland calls upon the allies and 
 is ready to receive us with open arms. 
 You may believe the joy it is to us, and 
 to me in particular, to know that we shall 
 meet with no opposition. Russia has 
 also entirely waived all his objections to 
 Austria's place, and all is now d 'accord. 
 
 We all move to Lorrach to-morrow, 
 and the next day to Basle. It is a 
 glorious moment. What a change in the 
 world in a few months ! and must not all 
 this soon bring the whole to an ending ? 
 God bless you ! Denmark is a famous 
 thing for our English shipping! 
 
 Lady Burghersk to her Father 
 
 Lorrach : December 22, 1813 
 
 My dearest Papa, We have halted 
 here at a small town, one (German) mile 
 from Basle, to give time for the troops to 
 
io8 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 come up and pass the Rhine before we 
 proceed towards Berne. We left Frei- 
 burg Monday, that is to say the Austrians 
 under Schwarzenberg, for the Russians 
 and Prussians will not join us as yet ; the 
 emperors and all the diplomatists remain 
 at Freiburg. We were obliged to come 
 all the way from Freiburg here with our 
 own horses, for every horse in the country 
 is taken up with the removal of waggons, 
 pontoons, &c. It is impossible without 
 seeing an army on a march to conceive 
 the state of the roads, completely covered 
 with artillery, waggons &c., and at night 
 the bivouacs extending all over the 
 country. 
 
 This town is little more than a village, 
 therefore you may imagine the state of it, 
 with all Schwarzenberg s headquarters in it. 
 Our quarter consists of one room, where 
 we eat, drink, and sleep. Yesterday 30,000 
 
ADVANCE OF THE ALLIED ARMIES 109 
 
 Austrian troops passed through the town, 
 and crossed the Rhine at or about Rhein- 
 feld, and to-day the whole Bavarian army, 
 about 40,000 infantry and cavalry, with artil- 
 lery, have gone through. They are remark- 
 ably fine troops, all young and in the best 
 condition. It is impossible to say how wear- 
 ing it is to see such an immense number 
 of men march by ; they were from eight 
 o'clock till past two, going by this house, 
 without a moment's cessation. Wrede 
 commands them. I wish you could see 
 the women who follow the armies, par- 
 ticularly the Hungarians ; there is no 
 doing justice to the horror of these mon- 
 sters : they wear boots and other articles of 
 dress exactly like men, and ride on men's 
 saddles. Those who belong to the infantry, 
 and therefore do not ride, carry baggage 
 on their backs like packhorses ; it is quite 
 extraordinary to see how they are loaded, 
 
no LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 and they do not seem to mind it the least. 
 I have ridden to-day to a hill, a short dis- 
 tance from the town, which overlooks 
 France. Though the day was extremely 
 foggy, we could see quite plainly into the 
 fortress of Huningue, even to see men 
 working at the palisades, and could hear 
 the firing of the small arms as distinctly 
 as possible. Wrede and the Bavarians 
 will immediately blockade Huningue : the 
 Austrians, having passed the Rhine at dif- 
 ferent points between Schaffhausen and 
 Rheinfeld, will assemble near Berne, 
 where the headquarters will be trans- 
 ferred. 
 
 God knows what Buonaparte will do 
 to oppose this force ! If it should appear 
 likely for fighting to begin, I should retire 
 probably towards Zurich ; but I have 
 plenty of safe places to choose, and I still 
 hope I may not be obliged to leave the 
 
UNCERTAINTY 1 1 1 
 
 headquarters yet. Schwarzenberg will 
 give me two Cossacks, as well as my 
 chasseur, for my own body-guard, which is 
 very respectable, besides B.'s dragoons. 
 
 We are very anxious for news from 
 England, which we hope will also bring us 
 news from Spain. . . . We have not yet 
 seen our horses from England they have 
 been travelling all over the country after 
 us, and are sure to arrive at a place two or 
 three days after we have left it. ... We 
 have been obliged to buy a whole stud of 
 both riding and carriage horses to carry 
 us on. . . . We have the mildest possible 
 weather. I hope we shall very soon be in 
 
 Berne, which is a very good town, and 
 
 get out of this nasty noisy place. . . . 
 I hope Emily's appetite does not fail 
 
 her for mince pies : I wish I had a chance 
 
 of eating any. 
 
ii2 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 Lady Burghersh to her Sister 
 
 Lorrach : December 24, 1813 
 
 . . . We are still here. I believe 
 Schwarzenberg wants to watch the pro- 
 gress of the siege of Huningue, and to see 
 if they will do anything from Strasburg, 
 before he goes on. The troops have 
 arrived at Berne and Neufchatel. To be 
 sure we are badly off enough here as to 
 lodgings. Imagine one very dirty white- 
 washed room with two casement windows, 
 up a pair of stairs, in a small house in the 
 principal street of a village in the middle 
 of the mountains, which street is about 
 three feet deep in mud, and quite filled up 
 with the constant succession of baggage 
 waggons, artillery, and troops passing 
 through. In this one room we have our 
 beds, we eat and we sit, and one goes out 
 
ATTACK ON HUNINGUE 113 
 
 while the other dresses. There is just 
 such another room, where Madame 
 Legoux sleeps, and which is filled with 
 the trunks, baggage, &c. Aubin and the 
 servants sleep on straw in the kitchen and 
 the stables ! I don't mind it at all, and 
 in this beautiful room I have always tea 
 going on, and Schwarzenberg, Liechten- 
 stein, and most of the staff generally 
 come in and drink tea. 
 
 We hear the firing at Huningue quite 
 distinctly ; the siege is not begun, but 
 there is a constant popping kept up at the 
 advanced posts of the Bavarians. To-day 
 we rode up close to Basle (but did not go 
 into it) ; there was a great deal of firing at 
 Huningue while we were there, and we 
 could even hear the balls whizzing through 
 the air. The bombardment they say will 
 begin to-night. Schwarzenberg is going 
 to have a hut made on the hill behind this 
 
 i 
 
H4 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 town, which overlooks Huningue, for me 
 to see it from. They do not expect it to 
 hold out above two or three days. 
 
 I regret every day that we are in this 
 beautiful country at such a season. We 
 have had such thick fogs that we have 
 never seen the tops of the mountains, and 
 when we get half way up them, we can't 
 see the valleys ; but we must not complain, 
 for we have wonderfully mild weather and 
 no snow. I ride a great deal, and my 
 horse is perfection, and the greatest beauty 
 you ever saw ! He is iron-grey I should 
 like to put you on him ! All the people 
 about here have goitres^ which are very 
 disgusting, but the women are pretty. 
 They all wear their hair plaited down their 
 backs with ribbon ; but I have not seen 
 any of the pretty Swiss dresses yet. . . . 
 
CHRISTMAS 115 
 
 December 26 
 
 I could not help thinking of home all 
 yesterday Christmas Day and of last 
 year, when we all dined together in Savile 
 Row. 5 Don't you remember it was quite 
 an event for neither Mary 6 nor me to be 
 in Staffordshire or at Apethorpe ? 
 
 I spent my Christmas Day in taking 
 a ride in France. We went through 
 Basle, and along the road opposite Hunin- 
 gue. The French were firing all the time 
 like fools to waste their balls ! It was. 
 the finest day I ever saw ; the first clear 
 frost we have had ; we could see them in 
 the fortress quite plain. We met upon 
 the road a French soldier who had de- 
 serted from Metz r and just walked quietly 
 on in his uniform without molestation. 
 He told us there were 30,000 men in 
 
 5 Mr. Wellesley Pole's house in London. 
 
 6 Her eldest sister, wife of Sir Charles Bagot. 
 
 I 2 
 
n6 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 Metz. The Austrians have occupied the 
 town of Belfort successfully. The bom- 
 bardment of Huningue has not begun 
 they cannot get their cannon up as soon as 
 they expected. 
 
 We get papers from Paris here in 
 three days! They seem in a terrible 
 fright. The last mentioned an idea of 
 Buonaparte going directly to Brussels. 
 How differently we stand now to what we 
 did last year, when I was so angry at 
 Tunbridge at Charles's 7 croaking. 
 
 Lady Burghersh to her Mother 
 
 Lorrach : December 28 
 
 A thousand thanks, my own dearest 
 Mama, for your two very dear letters. . . . 
 The bare idea of your coming over in the 
 summer makes my heart jump, but I will 
 hope even better that our work may be 
 
 7 Sir Charles Bagot. 
 
WANT OF A LEADER 117 
 
 ended, and that we may be together in 
 dear England, for no place is like that, 
 after all. I am well convinced that had 
 a Lord Wellington existed here the work 
 would have been ended two months ago, 
 and we should not have spent so many 
 idle weeks at Frankfurt, but time lost can 
 never be redeemed ; and if too many good 
 cooks spoil the broth, how good must the 
 broth be which is not spoiled by so many 
 bad ones ! 
 
 All our plans here are again altered. 
 I do not believe the headquarters will go 
 to Berne at all. 90,000 of the troops are 
 already arrived there, but I believe our 
 headquarters will remain here, at least 
 till we see what Buonaparte means to do 
 against us. The two Emperors and the 
 King of Prussia, with all the diplomatists 
 and the Russian and Prussian guards, re- 
 main at Freiburg ; Barclay de Tolly and 
 
n8 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 his army will be up with us in a few days, 
 and Wittgenstein is just behind us. The 
 bombardment of Hunirtgue again put off 
 till to-morrow ; and so we go on. For 
 myself, I shall be sorry not to see Berne, 
 and, being on the confines, not to go 
 further into Switzerland. 
 
 We went yesterday to Basle to a 
 great dinner given by Sir R. Wilson to 
 all the Austrian and Bavarian officers, 
 previous to his going to the Italian army, 
 for which he takes his departure in two 
 days. We stayed all night at Basle, and 
 came back to-day. It is a very pretty, 
 clean, cheerful town, and seems so delight- 
 ful after this, that we have taken quarters 
 there, and mean to be backwards and 
 forwards, and remain there when there is 
 nothing going on here, as it is not more 
 than three or four English miles from here. 
 
 We were delighted on our return 
 
OUR HOUSEHOLD 119 
 
 here to see Tibbets and Samuel 8 grin- 
 ning at the door, having just arrived with 
 the horses. The poor men thought they 
 should never catch us, I believe ! The 
 horses are well, only a little lame, which is 
 not to be wondered at considering the 
 immensely long journey and the bad roads. 
 James 9 is an excellent servant in out- 
 landish parts, and can speak German very 
 tolerably already. Our maitre d' hotel 1 
 curls his hair, wears earrings and rouge, 
 lisps, and walks on tiptoe, for which sundry 
 reasons we should be glad to pick up 
 another ; but, what is most essential, we 
 have got an excellent cook, and a very 
 careful, good coachman. Our family is 
 pretty considerable, having (dragoons and 
 all) nineteen souls and twenty horses to 
 feed and carry about ! . . . 
 
 Their grooms. 9 The English footman. 
 
 1 Engaged at Frankfurt. 
 
120 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 Schwarzenberg is remarkably good- 
 humoured and perfectly gentlemanlike. 
 He reminds me of a Legge, particularly 
 of the Admiral Arthur Legge, that sort 
 of good-looking, jolly face. I don't much 
 like what I have seen of the Bavarian 
 officers, of whom we had a good lot at 
 dinner yesterday. They are such com- 
 plete Frenchmen, with short-waisted uni- 
 forms all covered with gold and silver. 
 In short, of all the different nations I have 
 seen, I think the Prussians are the best. 
 I think when I return I shall amuse you 
 with many things one can't write, or do 
 justice to in writing. I am wonderfully 
 well in body and mind, quite strong, much 
 fatter, and I have not had an inkling of 
 a cold since I left Sweden. I am sur- 
 prised at it myself, but much more sur- 
 prised to find myself always contented and 
 gay, without anxieties or fears on any one 
 
BASLE 1 2 1 
 
 subject, not minding noise, stink, or dirt 
 in the least, and quite bold on horseback 
 and amongst men and soldiers, even Cos- 
 sacks, who are the greatest thieves in the 
 world! I believe God has changed me 
 inside and out expressly for this journey, 
 and for that one cannot be sufficiently 
 thankful. . . . 
 
 As to Lord Wellington, I should not 
 wonder if we were to meet before either 
 of us sees England again. 
 
 Lady Burghersh to her Father 
 
 Basle : January 3, 1814 
 
 My dearest Papa, . . . We moved 
 from Lorrach here two days ago, to my 
 great joy, for we left a most horrible hole, 
 and are now in excellent quarters in a 
 very nice town. I don't believe there can 
 
122 LADY BURGHERSU'S JOURNAL 
 
 be a more beautiful view in the world than 
 from my windows, even at this time of 
 year : close to the banks of the Rhine, 
 which is as clear as glass, the hills of Baden 
 cultivated up to the top, and beyond the 
 mountains of Switzerland covered with 
 snow ; behind us France. 
 
 Huningue is just opposite. The bom- 
 bardment began at twelve at night on 
 the 3ist, to usher in the new year, and 
 has continued every night since. From 
 my bed I see the shot and the shells 
 bursting. The noise at first prevented 
 sleep, but now I am so used to it that it 
 does not disturb me at all. They think it 
 will hold out some time ; they are strong 
 and well provisioned. This day Schwarz- 
 enberg moves his headquarters into 
 France, to Altkirch, a small place on the 
 road to Bel fort, about seven leagues from 
 hence. I do not mean to follow for a day 
 
LADY BURGHERSH'S REUNIONS 125 
 
 or two till they have got my quarters and 
 are a little settled, for I had a lesson at 
 Lorrach of scrambling in the same day 
 with them all. 
 
 The Russian army (Barclay de Tolly) 
 come to-day into Lorrach, the Emperors 
 and King, &c., will soon come on and join 
 us, whenever we can get to a place big 
 enough to contain us all, which I shall be 
 glad of, for the more the merrier in this 
 kind of life. It is, however, a most in- 
 teresting existence, and will furnish me 
 with recollections for the rest of my life. 
 As my room is the point de reunion and 
 my English tea is a great luxury, so all 
 the great and little people meet every 
 evening, and all the most interesting dis- 
 cussions pass at my tea-table, and all the 
 different reports from different quarters 
 which are brought to the different gene- 
 rals make it always agreeable. Here we 
 
124 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 have the addition of the Swiss deputies 
 and General Watteville, with the Bava- 
 rians ; as they know I am always glad 
 to see them every evening, they come in 
 and out, and I know in that way all that 
 goes on. 
 
 We hear from France that Lord Wel- 
 lington gained a great victory on the I4th 
 close to Bayonne ; 2 we are of course very 
 anxious for the details. Here we do not 
 expect anything decisive till after the i3th 
 or 1 4th, as we have no news of the French 
 collecting as yet. A few days ago we be- 
 lieved Buonaparte to be gone to Brussels, 
 but the last accounts from Paris speak of 
 his being still there. I send you a por- 
 trait of him, said to be like. 
 
 2 At St. Jean de Luz. 
 
Across THE FRONTIER 125 
 
 Lady Burghersh to her Mother 
 
 Basle : January 10 
 
 My dearest Mama, . . . Last night 
 I received the long-delayed parcel. I can't 
 describe to you what the sight of your 
 silver gown made me feel. It brought 
 your own self so before me. ... I was 
 so provoked, the sea-water had gone over 
 it, and so it did not smell of violets, 
 which would have put me quite beside 
 myself. . . . 
 
 ... I have been here alone since 
 Friday. I submitted to the opinion that I 
 had better not attend the advanced posts 
 into France till a little time has passed, 
 though hitherto the French people have 
 received the allies admirably, and no 
 French army is to be heard of! Schwarz- 
 enberg moved his headquarters first to 
 
126 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 Altkirch, then to Montbelliard, where B. 
 joined them, and to-day to Vesoul, in- 
 tending to push on directly to Langres. 
 Everywhere the inhabitants have received 
 them with delight, as they have done 
 Blucher in the direction of Metz. Schwarz- 
 enberg wished me to come to Montbel- 
 liard and return here when they went on. 
 I meant to have done so, but, on finding 
 the two Emperors and King were coming 
 to fix their headquarters here, I deter- 
 mined to remain here at once, for fear of 
 losing my quarters, which were sure to be 
 snatched up if I had left them a moment. 
 As it was, I had difficulty enough in keep- 
 ing them. I am not at all uneasy at re- 
 maining here as I am so near, and B. will 
 be constantly backwards and forwards as 
 the Emperors, &c. come here, and when- 
 ever they move on I can go with them in 
 all safety. B. will certainly be here in a 
 
PRINCE RADZIWILL 127 
 
 few days to meet Lord Castlereagh, who 
 is expected daily. The Emperor Francis 
 comes to-morrow ; the next day Alexander 
 will cross the Rhine and enter the town 
 at the head of his army, which will be a 
 fine thing to see. The same day the 
 King of Prussia, with all the ministers &c. 
 come. ... I am very happy they are all 
 coming, as, since B. went, I have been 
 here without one human being in or near 
 the town whose face I knew. 
 
 This evening Prince Radziwill arrived 
 and came to me. I was quite overjoyed 
 to see an acquaintance, for I found it very 
 lonely after being used to see so many 
 people. I am told my tea-parties were 
 thought delightful by ces messieurs du 
 quartier gtntral, and that Schwarzenberg, 
 &c., say they don't know how they shall 
 pass their lives now I am left behind ! 
 
 The siege goes on very slowly and 
 
128 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 very tamely ; there is but little firing. Is it 
 not most wonderful that the allies should 
 now be in so many different points in 
 France, and that we cannot hear of any 
 French army whatever collecting any- 
 where ? The accounts given by spies, de- 
 serters, and prisoners all agree that there 
 is no army, at least none to be seen. I 
 would bet a great deal we have an im- 
 mediate peace. From all I hear (and I 
 hear everything that goes on, every report 
 and every opinion) I have not the least 
 doubt in my own mind that the thing is 
 over. As myself, Priscilla, you may be- 
 lieve I have no little joy ; but as a 
 soldier, I must think it a pity to have, 
 had the power, and not to have crushed 
 that wretch! . . . 
 
 . . . The snow has set in here, and 
 I am in hopes of some traineau parties, 
 which I am anxious to see. I am happy 
 
IMPERIAL HEADQUARTERS AT BASLE 129 
 
 to be so well and comfortably lodged in 
 the cold weather, and to have got out of 
 that horrid Lorrach. As to catching cold, 
 I have forgotten how. 
 
 We hear of Lord Wellington's vic- 
 tories through France only, and that in an 
 uncertain way, but I hope we shall soon 
 establish a line of communication with him 
 through the south of France. Platow and 
 his Cossacks are at Nancy. 
 
 Lady Burgkersh to her Sister 
 
 Basle : January 14, 1814 
 
 The imperial headquarters are all 
 arrived here, but Lord Castlereagh is not 
 yet come, nor is B. returned. I got a 
 letter from him yesterday : they are at 
 Vesoul, getting on to Langres. Received 
 everywhere with open arms, and the 
 
 K 
 
130 LADY BURGHERSH*S JOURNAL 
 
 people supply them with everything they 
 want. Besangon is invested, and the 
 people of the town have refused to obey 
 Buonaparte's order to form a guard for the 
 town. In short, everything goes on bril- 
 liantly. There is an idea that there are 
 some French troops in Langres, but they 
 must be very weak. Yesterday (being 
 the Russian New Year's Day) the Russian 
 army with a great part of the Prussian, all 
 in their best accoutrements, passed the 
 Rhine, and defiled in the town before the 
 two Emperors and King, &c. It is im- 
 possible to see a finer sight or a more 
 interesting one, than to see these men and 
 recollect what they have done since last 
 year, and now in such perfect order, the 
 horses in such excellent condition, and the 
 men (especially the Russians) so clean. 
 Soldiers will tell you it is ridiculous, but 
 there is a recherche and coquetterie in most 
 
THE RUSSIAN SOLDIERS 131 
 
 of the Russian regiments, which make 
 them a sight too magnificent to be de- 
 scribed ! The extreme care and cleanli- 
 ness of their dress is quite beautiful. The 
 Cossacks of the guard and the Emperor's 
 footguard are all picked men, the hand- 
 somest of the empire. The latter are all 
 gigantic ; they are composed of the tallest 
 men to be found in Russia ; their coats 
 are all padded to stuff out their chests 
 and widen their shoulders, and therefore 
 they really look like statues for fine make. 
 Don't think I exaggerate, for everyone 
 raves of them. The Prussians are fine 
 troops, and probably much the better, as 
 troops ; but one cannot look at them after 
 the Russians. The town was illuminated 
 last night. The Emperors have some idea 
 of moving to Montbelliard in a few days, 
 but I rather think they will stay and ne- 
 gotiate here. 
 
 K2 
 
132 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 All the ambassadors are arrived, in- 
 cluding C. Stewart with youfig James. . . . 
 It was very lucky for me they did arrive, 
 for the people of the house I am in are so 
 enraged at not having the King instead 
 of me, that they have tried f impossible 
 to get me out, and, finding nothing would 
 stir me, they have flown to open war, and 
 such hostilities rage between masters and 
 servants that I have had no end of rows, 
 and at last had to call in the authority 
 of le General Stewart, backed by the 
 quartierants, to settle them. Yesterday 
 evening, while I was quietly reading 
 ' Corinne,' the woman of the house flew in 
 to say she would turn my chasseur out of 
 the house because he spit in the kitchen ; 
 and she was followed by William, the 
 English footman I got at Frankfort, in 
 tears, declaring he should lose his senses 
 because they insulted his country ! I could 
 
ADVANCE TO VESOUL 133 
 
 not help it, but I burst out laughing and 
 laughed till I cried don't you know the 
 sort of thing ? But finding, with all my 
 impudence, I could not 'jaw' sufficiently, 
 I this morning called in the aid of Mr. 
 James, who has, I believe, settled them. 
 
 Lady Burghersh to 
 
 Basle : January 20, 1814 
 
 . . . We are all on the wing for 
 Vesoul ! Our Emperor goes to-morrow 
 or Saturday ; the King is gone ; I go on 
 Sunday. I let them all go on first to 
 secure horses, quarters, &c., &c. for me. 
 Schwarzenberg's headquarters are at Lan- 
 gres. I was woke this morning by a 
 note from Metternich announcing that 
 Langres was ready to be laid a vos jolis 
 pieds, and without the least resistance. I 
 
134 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 am so very happy to-day, so much easier 
 
 than I have been for many days, till it was 
 
 decided if they would get hold of so strong 
 
 a place as Langres without at least as 
 
 much resistance as Mortier's small force 
 
 could oppose. Now negotiations will begin 
 
 and peace be signed before the French 
 
 have an opportunity of making a stand ; 
 
 so everyone thinks. This evening one of 
 
 Schwarzenberg's aides-de-camp arrived 
 
 with the keys of Langres to lay before the 
 
 Emperor. He has just been with me and 
 
 brought me letters from Burghersh. They 
 
 established themselves at Langres on the 
 
 1 8th. Our headquarters go at first only 
 
 to Vesoul, but B. will certainly come there 
 
 to see Lord Castlereagh, and Schwarzen- 
 
 berg sent me word to-night that all was 
 
 perfectly safe, and that I should be quite 
 
 as well at Langres as here. 
 
 Lord Castlereagh arrived the day 
 
LORD CASTLEREAGH 135 
 
 before yesterday, and came here to tea 
 last night with Mr. Robinson and Mr. 
 Planta, the only two he has brought with 
 him. Lady Castlereagh wanted very 
 much to come on, but he will not let her 
 leave Holland. . . . 
 
 I never was more surprised than to 
 hear of William's 3 coming. It will make 
 me very happy to see him, for if I 
 feel quite to love anything English 
 I see, what must it be to see one of 
 my own I am in great impatience to 
 move on from hence ; it is now nearly a 
 fortnight since B. went, and then we were 
 certain of meeting in a few days. . . . 
 
 I am sure you will be pleased to 
 hear how very much Lord Castlereagh 
 approves of B. He says his despatches 
 astonished everyone in England, from 
 
 3 Her brother ; he did not however carry out his in- 
 tention. 
 
136 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 the talent and cleverness they showed, 
 and that the last in particular, he thinks, 
 is not to be beat by anything of the sort 
 he ever received, and he seems quite 
 pleased with his whole conduct. . . . 
 
 I have hardly had time to read 
 Arthur's 4 despatch, as the papers only 
 came just before dinner, and the courier 
 for England going off to-morrow morning 
 early, I am anxious to get my letters 
 done. There appears to be a great list of 
 killed. I believe we shall meet him at 
 Paris! 5 Only imagine that. The Em- 
 peror Alexander has set his heart on 
 going there ; the Austrians, on the con- 
 trary, wish to negotiate and end it all 
 here. Prussia is very quiet and ready for 
 either, I believe. 
 
 4 Duke of Wellington : always called Arthur in his 
 family then. The despatch was that from St. Jean de 
 Luz, describing the passage of the Nive. 
 
 5 They did. 
 
TRAVELLING EXPERIENCE 137 
 
 It is certainly most entertaining and 
 extraordinary to follow all the workings, 
 the squabbles, the different views and 
 ends, &c. I shall have enough to talk 
 and think about all my life. How you 
 would laugh to see me (the helpless crea- 
 ture I was in England) by myself, arrang- 
 ing my journey, my money matters, ex- 
 change, &c., the horses, dragoons every- 
 thing on my shoulders, and really it gives 
 me no sort of trouble or anxiety. E. 
 amuses me talking of her ' terribly 
 tedious ' journey to Brighton of thirteen 
 hours. We are always from eighteen to 
 twenty- two hours in the carriage, and that 
 for days together. I shall be more going 
 to Vesoul, for I do not mean to stop on 
 the road, but go through at once, as I do 
 not like the idea of sleeping at any sort 
 of French inn by myself, and I mean 
 my carriage to follow Metternich's, as he 
 
138 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 remains till Sunday. Our mild weather 
 is come back and is delightful. . . . 
 
 I believe I told you that at Frankfurt 
 there was a great deal of Brussels lace to 
 be had . . . but here there is neither lace 
 nor anything else to be had ; I believe I 
 shall have to wait to get it at Paris ! I 
 wonder if we shall fall in with Edward 
 Paget. 6 I went into a shop here the other 
 day to look at some Lyons silks . . . and 
 the man told me he had sold some a few 
 months back at Moulins to un de vos com- 
 patriotes, Milord Beverley et dautres 
 Anglais. Belfort and Huningue remain 
 in the same state, blockaded but no firing. 
 Bllicher is at Nancy. 
 
 6 Brother of Lord Anglesey, who had been one of 
 the English detained prisoners in France after the 
 rupture of the Peace of Amiens. 
 
DEPARTURE TO VESOUL 139 
 
 Lady Burghersh to her Mother 
 
 Basle : January 22 
 
 My dearest Mama, Count Mer- 
 veldt has just sent to say he sets off to- 
 morrow for England, so I must write you 
 a line by him, though I am in all the 
 hurry and worry of departure and bothered 
 out of my wits about passports, billets, 
 &c. I set off at twelve o'clock to-night, 
 following Metternich's carriage ; we shall 
 get to Vesoul to-morrow evening, and if I 
 do not find B. there, he will certainly 
 be there in a day or two. Yesterday 
 Schwarzenberg sent one of his orderlies 
 to me from Langres to tell me there was 
 now no reason at all against my going on 
 to his headquarters if I chose, and that 
 the sooner I arrived the better ; but as I 
 v knew B. does not like me to advance 
 
140 LADY BUKGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 beyond the Emperors, I shall stay with 
 them, at least till he comes to me. Indeed 
 it is most likely they will all go soon to 
 Langres. It is a secret, but I am so 
 happy at it. 
 
 The armies will not advance or 
 attempt anything more till peace has been 
 offered, and I believe we may be pretty 
 sure that will not be rejected, so I verily 
 think our campaign is over. Think of 
 our occupying Langres, Nancy, Dijon, 
 . without firing a shot, and the Prince 
 Royal of Wurtemberg has got his advance 
 at Chaumont ! The French people every- 
 where delighted to see them. . . . 
 
 Lady Burghersh to her Sister 
 
 Langres : January 26 
 
 You will be surprised to see this 
 letter so soon, dated from this place. . . . 
 
AT VESOUL 141 
 
 I left Basle on Sunday at two o'clock, 
 instead of the night before, as Prince 
 Metternich could not get his business over 
 before. I dined with him at one o'clock, 
 and we set out together. However, as he 
 had the Emperor's good horses and I had 
 wretched post horses, I soon lost sight 
 of him, and he got to Vesoul many hours 
 before me. I did not stop at all between 
 Basle and Vesoul, and was thirty-one 
 hours in the carriage through the coldest 
 night I ever felt, and indeed it is reckoned 
 extraordinarily cold even for this part of 
 the world. At Vesoul, unexpectedly, and 
 to my great joy, I found Burghersh, who 
 on hearing I had left Basle came from 
 here to meet me there, and as the Em- 
 perors' headquarters were all moving on 
 here, we proceeded and arrived here to- 
 day. As Schwarzenberg is here also, we 
 are all united for the moment. Schwarz- 
 
142 LADY BURGHERSH' s JOURNAL 
 
 enberg intends moving his headquarters 
 to Chaumont. I have not settled whether 
 I shall go there with him, or remain here. 
 I am not the least tired with my journey, 
 nor have I suffered from the cold at all. 
 So here we are, far advanced in France, 
 and I can only say that after all the places 
 I have been in, I never met with hospi- 
 tality and cordiality till here ; at every 
 place every individual has received us 
 with the most genuine delight, and though 
 the country is really almost exhausted 
 from the passage of so large an army 
 without any magazines, the people give us 
 everything they have and show an eager- 
 ness to do their utmost which is delightful. 
 They all talk of Buonaparte exactly in the 
 same manner, as a monster whom they 
 detest, and then,' with the levity and gaiety 
 of the French, in the midst of their com- 
 plaints at all they suffer under him, the 
 
FEELING IN FRANCE 143 
 
 loss of their children by the conscription, 
 the ruin of commerce, &c., they mix it up 
 with jokes and quizzes of him and les gen- 
 tillesses du Roi de Rome. They say that 
 since his defeats Napoleon est toujours 
 soul. They say that for four years the 
 war in Spain has been the subject of 
 universal execration. It is impossible to 
 conceive a greater contrast than coming 
 out of Germany into France, where the 
 sort of manner in which the people jabber 
 and chatter, though it is sometimes amus- 
 ing, at times is also too provoking. I am 
 a great sight here, both as an English- 
 woman and as the only woman with the 
 armies, and they all run to look at la 
 princesse anglaise, as I am always called. 
 I suppose the headquarters will remain 
 here as long as there remains anything to 
 eat or any forage in the country which 
 cannot be long, I take it. 
 
144 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 Bliicher's army is nearly concentrated 
 with ours, and Platow is at Bar-sur-Aube, 
 which is, if I remember right, quite close 
 to Mademoiselle's 7 Ricey. She need have 
 no anxiety about her family, for no one 
 could conceive that a large army was in 
 an enemy's country ; on the contrary, the 
 people are much more friendly than they 
 were in their own land. We are within 
 twenty-four hours' journey of Paris, and 
 as yet we hear of no preparations to check 
 us, the small force under Mortier, which 
 evacuated this place on the I7th, leaving 
 twelve pieces of cannon, have retired to 
 Troyes. Peace will probably be signed in 
 a very short time. The treating begins 
 immediately, and no one has yet expressed 
 a doubt of the issue. 
 
 Lord Castlereagh has pleased very 
 
 7 Her old governess, Mile. Quenday, an tmigrte) who 
 had brought her and her sisters up. 
 
DINNER AT LORD ABERDEEN'S 145 
 
 much here. They say he has une fort 
 belle physiognomie, and seem to like him 
 extremely. His placidity of course never 
 ruffles. I hear that Lord Beverley and 
 his son 8 are still at Moulins, but E. Paget 
 has been some time at Paris. Two Eng- 
 lishmen, who had been prisoners and came 
 from Moulins to headquarters, brought 
 this intelligence. . . . 
 
 January 27 
 
 I continue this to-night, being just 
 returned from a great dinner at Lord 
 Aberdeen's, where I had a long codger 
 with Schwarzenberg, and, as he assures me 
 I shall find no sort of difficulty at Chau- 
 mont, I have decided to move there with 
 B. to-morrow, and I am not a little happy 
 to go on with him instead of staying at 
 these headquarters. I do not think the 
 
 8 English prisoners. 
 
 L 
 
146 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 Emperors will continue here many days. 
 The Emperor Alexander is all impatience 
 to advance, and he generally gets his own 
 way. 
 
 There was a very brilliant affair, two 
 days ago, between Mortier and the Prince 
 Royal of Wlirtemberg, near Bar-sur-Aube, 
 where the latter ' drubbed ' him and killed 
 2,000 men ; the Austrians lost about 800 
 killed and wounded. I have been walking 
 about this town to-day, which seems a good 
 one, but there is nothing to be seen, as the 
 people have all shut up their shops for fear 
 of being plundered. They are terribly 
 afraid of the Cossacks, and not without 
 reason, for robbing and plundering is their 
 system among friends as well as enemies. 
 
BLUCHER'S VICTORY AT BRIENNE 147 
 
 Lady Burgher sh to her Mother 
 
 Chaumont : February 3 
 Thursday morning 
 
 My dearest Mama, I feel this morn- 
 ing as if I had had a hundredweight 
 taken off my heart after all I have suffered 
 of anxiety since the 28th the day we 
 heard of Buonaparte's having taken the 
 command of his army, and attacked 
 Bliicher, who beat him as usual (fine old 
 fellow !) at Brienne. Schwarzenberg, upon 
 this, determined to collect his force and 
 attack him in his position at Dieuville, a 
 few leagues from this place. As he could 
 not, however, get Wrede's corps up the 
 next day, the attack was determined upon 
 for Tuesday, the day before yesterday, 
 when they all set out from hence early in 
 the morning. However, we got a report 
 
 L 2 
 
148 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 that in the night Buonaparte had retired, 
 and that he would not come to action, 
 which appeared so probable, and was so 
 generally believed, that many officers and 
 persons, not under orders, thought there 
 would be no fighting, and did not follow 
 Schwarzenberg. ... I heard nothing all 
 day and went to bed quite easy and secure 
 that they had done nothing, but was woke 
 in the night by the arrival of a courier to 
 bring me the account of the battle of which 
 you will have the details. 
 
 It appears Buonaparte's retiring was a 
 feint, and his force much stronger than 
 we supposed. Mortier having joined him, 
 he had between 70,000 and 80,000 men. 
 I hear they fought admirably. Buonaparte 
 charged himself at the head of his young 
 guards three times, and was three times 
 repulsed. We have taken fifty-six pieces 
 of cannon ; the battle lasted from twelve 
 
BATTLE OF LA ROTHIERE 149 
 
 till dark. B. wrote to me from Bar-sur- 
 Aube, where the headquarters were after 
 the battle, 9 and they were preparing to re- 
 attack the enemy the next morning (yester- 
 day) with great reinforcements. Conceive 
 my state of mind through the day, for 
 though I knew B. ought not to be exposed, 
 yet it was impossible not to suffer the 
 greatest anxiety in every way, and inde- 
 pendently of him, to know every soul with 
 whom one is living intimately, engaged ! 
 Besides that, the poor people in the house, 
 terrified out of their wits for the event of 
 the battle, running to me every moment and 
 telling me they heard the cannon from the 
 gates of the town (a lie). About eleven at 
 night the door opened and Charles Stewart 
 entered, saying ' All is well!' It is im- 
 possible to describe the sort of joy and 
 relief I felt. He then told me I might 
 
 9 Of La Rothtere and Brienne. 
 
150 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 have saved my fears, as Buonaparte would 
 not stay to be beat again, and Has run for it 
 towards Paris. The armies follow him up, 
 and to-day Schwarzenberg's headquarters 
 are at Vaudceuvres. The Emperor of 
 Russia and King of Prussia arrived in the 
 rear during the battle of Tuesday. Of 
 course, from their advancing, B. could not 
 return here, so I am again left without him. 
 The Emperor of Austria has not yet 
 left Langres. Till I hear where he goes 
 I can't decide any plans. I cannot of 
 course be with Schwarzenberg while he is 
 in pursuit of the enemy. The Congress 
 opens at Chatillon this day, twelve leagues 
 from hence. Caulaincourt for France ; a 
 Commission of three (consisting of Lord 
 Cathcart, Lord Aberdeen, and Sir Charles 
 Stewart) for England ; Count Stadion for 
 Austria ; Count Rasumoffsky for Russia. 
 Lord Castlereagh is there, though he does 
 
BURNING OF BRIENNE 151 
 
 not treat. While writing this, I have just 
 heard the Emperor of Austria comes here 
 to-day, so I shall not move. 
 
 I must tell you a speech so like a 
 Frenchman which was made the day of 
 the battle at Brienne. One of the Prussian 
 officers entered into conversation with a 
 French soldier at the outposts, and said to 
 him, ' Savez-vous que le Roi de Naples et 
 le Danemarc se sont rtunis aux allies ? ' 
 The soldier answered, ' Cela nest pas vrai! 
 The officer continued, ' Pourquoi continuez- 
 vous la guerre f vous la faites pour un 
 tyran qui cause le malheur de funivers' 
 ' Cela est vrai] answered the Frenchman. 
 And so it ended. 
 
 The town of Brienne was burnt. 
 There is a very fine chateau there, which 
 contained a famous museum of stuffed 
 birds, shells, and natural curiosities. It 
 has been, of course, destroyed and pulled 
 
152 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 to pieces, but from the debris they sent me 
 a few shells as trophies, which are and will 
 be memorable. 
 
 I wish you could see that delightful, 
 fine old Bllicher. At seventy-two years 
 old he tires out all his young aides-de- 
 camp and officers, and is equally alert in 
 mind and body. He calls Burghersh the 
 1 lord of the sch'one Fran' i.e. the pretty 
 wife ! The Russians are very jealous of 
 his having had the first battle in France. 
 Platow is on at Sens. The Empress of 
 Russia is now at Berlin on her way to 
 Carlsruhe to see her family. I should like 
 to see her. They say she is quite an 
 angel. . . . 
 
 I hope you will have the charity to 
 send me the new poem which I see 
 Lord Byron is publishing, 1 and also Miss 
 Burney's (or rather, I believe, Madame 
 
 1 The Corsair. 
 
Sfi VERB WE A THER I 5 3 
 
 d'Arblay's) new novel. 2 I have not a 
 book to read, and one can get nothing 
 in these towns, as all the people shut up 
 their shops for fear of pillage. To-day is 
 B.'s birthday. It is rather hard to be 
 away from him, but it cannot last long. 
 If Chatillon does not produce peace in a 
 few days we shall be at Paris, I suppose. 
 
 We have very severe weather and a 
 deep snow, which seems to intend lasting 
 the year. It is hard for the poor soldiers, 
 but the armies are in most excellent con- 
 dition, and there are very few sick. 
 Schwarzenberg has 190,000 men under 
 his orders here, but there were not above 
 80,000 engaged. The loss was severe : 
 I don't know what. C. Stewart says he 
 left the dead yesterday piled up in 
 heaps. . . . 
 
 2 The Wanderer. 
 
iS4 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 Lady Burghersh to her Sister Emily 
 
 Bar-sur-Aube : February 6, 1814 
 
 My dearest E., ... I must now 
 tell you all my history since I wrote to 
 Mama on the 3rd, just after the battle 
 of Brienne. 
 
 The Emperor Francis was then be- 
 hind me at Langres, and I expected he 
 would come to Chaumont to fix for some 
 days. Depending upon this, I was under 
 no uneasiness at being there alone, know- 
 ing myself between him and the rear 
 guard and the other Emperor &c. with 
 the army. I sent all the horses away with 
 B. and his baggage waggon, knowing that 
 Prince Metternich would take care to give 
 me requisition horses when he and the 
 Emperor moved on. My whole depend- 
 ence was on them. Conceive, therefore, 
 my sensations on Friday morning when 
 
A DIFFICULT POSITION 155 
 
 I heard that the Emperor, Metternich &c. 
 &c., in short the whole court, had gone 
 by in the night and proceeded to Bar-sur- 
 Aube ! So I found myself entirely alone 
 in the town, not even a garrison left, not 
 one soul I could apply to, no order for 
 horses, no passport, no billet for quarters, 
 even if I could get off, and the wounded 
 from the battle coming in by cartfuls to 
 make the stjour agreeable. 
 
 For the first time in all my difficulties 
 I was completely discouraged, and sat for 
 an hour quite bewildered ; add to all, I 
 had no news whatever of B. since the 
 battle, and no one knew what the armies 
 were doing, and that the chasseur whom 
 Prince Schwarzenberg had given me, and 
 whom I depended upon, had been put in 
 arrest for some regimental fault ; and I 
 had that morning got a strange one. I 
 think no one ought ever to have any 
 
i $6 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 anxiety about me after getting myself, by 
 myself, out of such a situation. 
 
 After despairing for an hour I began 
 to think that I must do something for my- 
 self, and that with five senses and money 
 I might do much, so I set about the 
 means of getting on, for the rear of an 
 army is, for many reasons, much the 
 worst place to be in. I sent to the mayor 
 of the town, and after every sort of diffi- 
 culty, rowing, begging, threatening, and 
 forcing, I got four wretched requisition 
 horses ; but the driver ran off, and after 
 waiting from nine in the morning till two, 
 I got hold of a one-armed man whom I 
 made drive, and set off boldly, having sent 
 a servant on here to tell Prince Metternich 
 to get me quarters. 
 
 I arrived safe and sound last night, 
 and found to my joy the Emperor 
 Francis's headquarters still here; I met 
 
BUONAPARTE AT TROVES 157 
 
 also on the road a messenger from B., 
 who is at Bar-sur-Seine, and who was in 
 a terrible taking when he heard the Em- 
 peror had arrived here without me. 
 
 We are now in great anxiety to-day. 
 Buonaparte is at Troyes, and as he has a 
 good position, it is expected he will try 
 to make a stand and probably attack the 
 allies. Till this is decided, the Emperor's 
 plans are not fixed. B. writes me word 
 to arrange my plans with Metternich, that 
 is, if he thinks I had better not stick to 
 the Emperor, I must go to Chatillon, 
 where the congress is, and all the English, 
 and where I should know all that goes on. 
 I had much rather stay with the Emperor 
 if I can, but it is a good thing to have 
 such a retreat as Chatillon, and I shall be 
 guided by Metternich. I expect him here 
 every moment and shall not close this till 
 I am decided. Much of the future move- 
 
158 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 ments will depend on the turn things take 
 at Chatillon. I expect every hour a 
 courier from them with a report of the 
 first conference with Caulaincourt, the 
 French Plenipotentiary, which took place 
 yesterday. B. is only a few miles on. It 
 is hard I cannot get to him or he to me. 
 Alexander and the King of Prussia are 
 both gone on ; it is only old Franz who 
 stays behind. 
 
 It is certainly the most interesting 
 moment which perhaps the annals of the 
 world afford. Every hour may produce 
 great events. In the midst of all I am 
 well, quiet and happy after some moments 
 of anxiety are passed. It is a dreadful 
 sight to see the wounded coming in after 
 a battle ; we met quantities on the road. 
 Our loss has been very severe, I fear, but 
 the Wlirtembergers and Prussians suf- 
 fered most. 
 
SWEDISH GLOVES 159 
 
 We have a magnificent army assem- 
 bled here, but it will ruin the country, 
 which is poor and already exhausted. I 
 hope we shall soon have Troyes, where 
 we may be all together. Pray tell 
 Mademoiselle 3 that I happened to hear 
 the day I left Chaumont of a M. Duval, 
 who was going that day to Ricey Haut, 
 and that I desired him to call at her 
 mother's or brother's, and say that une des 
 Sieves de sa fille Franfoise had been at 
 Chaumont, and that the last accounts I 
 had she was well and happy in England. 
 I was afraid of writing myself, not know- 
 ing who or what may be in Ricey. 
 
 I am sorry, my dear, I have no chance 
 of getting any more Swedish gloves. It 
 is difficult to get them even in Sweden, 
 but I will tell you what I will do. A 
 young Swede made me a present of two 
 
 3 Her old French bonne. 
 
160 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 pair of very rare gloves, which can only 
 be made in one village in Sweden, from 
 the water of a particular spring. They 
 are the same sort as the others, only a 
 great deal softer and finer, and you shall 
 have them, but I cannot send them now, 
 as they are in a trunk, and I must not 
 undo a trunk now, as I am obliged to be 
 ready to start at a moment's notice. 
 
 How can you ask who is Prince 
 Metternich ? I thought everybody knew 
 the fame of so great a person, who is, and 
 has been for years, the mainspring of all 
 that passes on the Continent. He is the 
 Emperor of Austria's prime minister, and 
 reckoned the best and deepest diplomatist 
 going. He is wonderfully clever, and 
 manages all the emperors, kings, and 
 ministers, turning them round his little 
 finger, and they are all afraid of him. . . . 
 
BUONAPARTE RETIRES 161 
 
 He is uncommonly agreeable and good 
 looking. . . . The two other prime 
 ministers are Nesselrode (the Emperor 
 of Russia's), a little, sharp, cunning, ugly 
 fellow ; and the King of Prussia's minister, 
 Hardenberg, who is like Sir W. Far- 
 quhar, and gives one the idea of just such 
 a good, worthy old man. He has de quoi 
 to be very agreeable, but is so terribly 
 deaf that one must roar to him, which 
 prevents all conversation. . . . 
 
 ... A courier is arrived from 
 Schwarzenberg. Instead of attacking, 
 Buonaparte is retiring upon Nogent, be- 
 hind Troyes : so far good. Metternich 
 says I have no reason to go to Chatillon, 
 but had better on all accounts remain with 
 the Emperor, who will stay here over to- 
 morrow, and then talks of moving his 
 headquarters to Ricey. . . . The Emperor 
 is ill to-day, and has got une terrible 
 
 M 
 
1 62 LADY BURGHERSH' s JOURNAL 
 
 migraine. The fact is the poor man is 
 completely miserable about his daughter, 
 whom he loves very much. She is not 
 much liked here in France ; they say she 
 is so very proud. 4 . . . 
 
 Lady Burghersh to her Mother 
 
 Troyes : February 8, 1814 
 
 My dearest Mama, You will be 
 glad to hear I have again rejoined B., 
 having arrived here this day. When 
 I wrote to Emily two days ago from 
 Bar-sur-Aube, our headquarters (that is, 
 the Emperor's) were to move the next 
 day to Ricey ; but having that day re- 
 ceived intelligence of Troyes' surrender 
 
 4 The Empress Marie Louise. Some years later 
 Lady Burghersh became very intimate with her in Italy, 
 and found out then that the coldness, which was taken 
 for pride in France, was in truth extreme shyness. 
 
THE ALLIES AT TROVES 163 
 
 without resistance, Ricey was given up, 
 and this morning the Emperor, Prince 
 Metternich, and I all set out at the same 
 time for this place, where B. came with 
 Schwarzenberg last night, and so I have 
 the happiness to be with him again. 
 Finding a courier going off to-night, I 
 cannot resist writing a few lines, though 
 I cannot tell you much, being but just 
 arrived. This seems a large, ugly, dirty 
 town, and is brim full, having the two 
 Emperors', the King's, and Schwarzen- 
 berg's headquarters all united. I fear 
 the latter will move on in a couple of 
 days, but our old Emperor will remain 
 here. I shall either stay with him or go 
 to Chatillon, as circumstances may direct. 
 I am very happy to have managed my 
 matters so well as to arrive here and catch 
 B. flying, at least for a day or two. 
 Though we have been but a few leagues 
 
 M 2 
 
1 64 LADY BURGHERSH>S JOURNAL 
 
 from each other, we have been dodging 
 about, so that he knew so little where I 
 was gone to that he set off two days ago 
 and went to Chatillon, thinking to find me 
 there, whilst I was at Bar-sur-Aube. He 
 was delighted to see me arrive here safe 
 and sound. The country presents a most 
 woeful spectacle, and the remains of the 
 battle reminded me of the objects on the 
 line of retreat in Germany. The poor in- 
 habitants suffer greatly, for the country is 
 completely exhausted, and there literally 
 is hardly sustenance left in the places 
 we have passed through ; besides, notwith- 
 standing all the pains which the com- 
 manders take to prevent pillage, it is 
 impossible to keep the troops from ex- 
 cesses of all kinds, to the utter ruin 
 of the unfortunate people. Indeed, the 
 scenes of misery one is witness to are 
 enough to break one's heart, and the 
 
MISERIES OF WAR 165 
 
 worst is, there is no remedy. Nothing 
 can be more humane or well-intentioned 
 than all the sovereigns, Schwarzenberg, 
 and, indeed, the whole set of those in 
 command ; but it is of no avail, particu- 
 larly with the Cossacks, who know no 
 law. Indeed, I am sick of war and all 
 its horrors, and long to get away from 
 such scenes. 
 
 It is odd we should have been so 
 very near going to Mademoiselle's home ! 
 I hear it is a very pretty town. If I go 
 from hence to Chatillon (which I shall 
 not if I can help it), I shall pass very 
 near it, and certainly, if I find it practic- 
 able, I will go there. The negotiations 
 at Chatillon seem likely to trainer. . . . 
 
1 66 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 Lady Burghersh to her 
 
 Troyes : February 12, 1814 
 
 . . . We are all still here. The de- 
 parture of the Austrians and Russians 
 was fixed for to-day, but owing to some 
 (I fear foolish) business of a Russian 
 corps under Bllicher, the intended 
 manoeuvre is altered, and they will not 
 move till the day after to-morrow, When 
 they do move, I have consented to go 
 to Chatillon. B. is uneasy at the idea of 
 my advancing further now the operations 
 have become so very active, and as there 
 must soon be something very decided. It 
 is all very smooth as long as we go on 
 victoriously ; but if we should receive the 
 least check, and be obliged to make a 
 retrograde movement, I should certainly 
 then be exposed to difficulty. God for- 
 
BEGGARS 167 
 
 bid such a thing should happen, for a 
 retreat through this country would be 
 really terrific ; it is now completely 
 drained. 
 
 I am very sorry to leave B., and 
 very sorry to leave the armies, which 
 interest me so much ; but I own I shall 
 rejoice to get from the sight of such 
 'misery as we witness at every step. It 
 makes one's heart bleed, and I really do 
 not see how these wretched inhabitants 
 are to escape starvation after we leave 
 them. I never saw so filthy a town as 
 this, and the number of beggars far sur- 
 passes that of Dublin : all women and 
 children, for of spare men there are 
 none ; but the former follow you about 
 the streets in herds of twenty and thirty 
 together. If you give money to one, the 
 rest all fall on her, and then begins a 
 regular fight. I live in the great street, 
 
168 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 and spend the day at the window, from 
 whence I have the pleasure of seeing four 
 or five battles every day. 
 
 There is a most magnificent cathedral 
 here, built in the time of St. Louis, and 
 full of the most beautiful painted glass I 
 ever saw. There is also a very good 
 theatre, where I have been every night, 
 and where they give little operas and 
 vaudevilles very well, getting the Russian 
 musicians to make up the orchestra. One 
 night there were two women in the 
 gallery ; the other nights I have been the 
 only female in the boxes, pit, or gallery, 
 the house being entirely filled with the 
 army. The King of Prussia and his 
 two uncommonly nice boys 5 go every 
 night. . . . 
 
 One may form some idea of the 
 wretchedness of France by this town, 
 
 5 Frederick William IV. and the Emperor William I. 
 
MAMELUKE DESERTERS 169 
 
 which is one of the principal ones, and 
 which is really more vile than Deptford, 
 and such multitudes of miserable-looking 
 women ; one never sees a young man, 
 and I am particularly struck with not see- 
 ing any babies whatever. Last night Jules 
 and Armand de Polignac arrived here, to 
 the great joy of everyone, having made 
 their escape from Paris on the very day 
 on which they were destined to be moved 
 with the Pope to a place of safety 
 (Saumur), and they came here on foot. 
 
 Some Mamelukes of Buonaparte's 
 body-guard have deserted from him, 
 and come in here. We hear that a great 
 part of Soult's army is already arrived 
 at Paris. I belieye we really shall meet 
 the great lord. 6 I am just going to hear 
 mass at the Emperor Alexander's, and 
 will finish this by-and-by. 
 
 6 Wellington. 
 
170 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 Since writing this we have had ac- 
 counts from Bllicher. I fear some of his 
 corps have been roughly handled, and we 
 have lost some cannon and a good many 
 men. The headquarters will move to- 
 morrow to Pont-sur-Seine. I shall stay 
 a day longer before I go to Chatillon. 
 Count d'Escars, who came with Monsieur, 7 
 arrived here this morning ; Monsieur is 
 stopped at Basle, et pourquoi? 
 
 What a winter you have had in Eng- 
 land ! It has been equally severe here 
 since Christmas, but the last week we 
 have had delightful weather, just like May. 
 
 Lady Burgher sh to her Father 
 
 Troyes : February 13 
 
 My dearest Papa, A thousand thanks 
 for your long letter. I was very much 
 
 7 Charles X. 
 
DIVIDED COUNSELS 171 
 
 pleased to hear your opinion on the great 
 question, as that opinion is in most cases 
 the soundest I know of, and all you say 
 appears so very just. I wish here there 
 was a little more consistency one way or 
 another, for it is impossible to know (and 
 I am sure many of them do not know 
 themselves) what they mean or wish to 
 do. I do not know if I shall reap any 
 other benefit from my expedition, but I 
 am sure I have matter for astonishment 
 for the rest of my life ; to think how 
 everything has gone on in this most extra- 
 ordinary war, and been crowned with such 
 complete success, when to all appearance 
 the difference of opinion, the number of 
 cooks, and the uncertainty and inconsis- 
 tency which goes on in these headquarters 
 should mar the whole business. The 
 whole system is so curious that it must be 
 seen to be believed. Nothing can be 
 
172 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 more inconsistent than their present con- 
 duct. When the desire and but of all the 
 Allied Powers seem to be the annihilation 
 of Buonaparte and his dynasty, each of 
 them sends a Minister to treat with his 
 Ministers, and that alone, one should think, 
 would frighten many from rising against 
 Buonaparte. Then, though they appear 
 all, or nearly all, to agree in the wish of 
 getting rid of Buonaparte, no two agree in 
 the choice of who they should put in his 
 place, but each Power has its own view 
 and object. The Emperor Alexander has 
 set his heart upon entering Paris, and is 
 exactly like an eager child about it, swear- 
 ing to the right and left that he does not 
 mind what they are doing at Chatillon, 
 that he won't sign peace or think of it till 
 they are at Paris (Rasumoffsky treating 
 with Caulaincourt all the time). Schwarz- 
 enberg entreats his Majesty to raisonner 
 
DISCORD AMONG THE ALLIES 173 
 
 un pen ; but his Majesty takes le mors aux 
 dents, and sets off from Langres with his 
 guards to push on to the utmost. The 
 rest, finding he will go his own way, are 
 obliged to follow him. 
 
 Old Blucher is determined on his side 
 to get to Paris first, and, being used to 
 victory, sets off likewise, pushes on a tort 
 et a travers, and consequently gets a fillip, 
 which obliges them now to look about a 
 little. Poor Prince Schwarzenberg has 
 really a hard task to play, as he bears all 
 the responsibility, and yet really cannot 
 act upon his own plans when so many 
 interfere. The Emperor Francis is un- 
 happy for his daughter, and wished to end 
 it all at Basle. Metternich is jealous of 
 the Emperor of Russia, and all and each 
 work with their views, yet to all appear- 
 ance they are all the best possible friends. 
 The King of Prussia is very quiet ; they 
 
174 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 say he wishes for more coolness and con- 
 sistency, but considers himself bound to 
 Alexander, and always remains with him. 
 
 We are all curious to see what effect 
 the Bourbons will produce ; I fear not 
 much. The people appear too completely 
 debased for one spark of national pride or 
 patriotism co rise from them ; they are 
 reduced to abject misery. They all hate 
 and abuse Buonaparte, but none seem to 
 be at all ready to make an effort to better 
 themselves, or to have a recollection of the 
 Bourbon family. If one wishes to abhor 
 a man who has caused such misery as 
 Buonaparte, it is not in the countries that 
 he has carried war into, but in his own 
 empire one must behold it. This was 
 formerly one of the richest and most 
 flourishing commercial towns in France. 
 Now commerce is ruined, and the inhabi- 
 tants (almost all old men and women) are 
 
EXCESSES OF ALLIED TROOPS 175 
 
 all in the most abject distress. There is 
 one thing which will, I fear, very much 
 injure the good cause, and that is the 
 horrid excesses committed by the troops. 
 Notwithstanding the great pains and very 
 strict orders of all the commanders, they 
 cannot keep up discipline, and, if it goes 
 on, it is impossible to suppose, if the 
 people have a spark of energy in them, 
 that they will not attempt to revenge 
 themselves. The discipline was very well 
 kept up till we got to Langres, and the 
 troops everywhere received as friends and 
 deliverers, but at Langres they met with 
 the first resistance, a few shots having 
 been fired in the street, and from that 
 time there has been no possibility of re- 
 straining them. It is to the honour of the 
 Russian and Prussian troops that no com- 
 plaints have been made of them. The 
 Cossacks steal and pillage everything, but 
 
176 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 that is their metier ; but the Bavarians 
 and Wlirtembergers (who have been 
 brought up in the French school), and I 
 am sorry to say some of the Austrians, 
 have done horrors. All this reconciles me 
 to going to Chatillon for the present 
 moment, for I am quite sick of seeing and 
 hearing of so much misery. 
 
 There has been a grand conference 
 to-day at Prince Metternich's, and, from 
 what I hear to-night, I believe they think 
 an armistice likely. Monsieur is at Basle. 
 Why he remains there, and why he loses 
 his time when it is so precious, no one 
 can tell. Providence, who has certainly 
 blessed this extraordinary warfare with 
 success up to the present moment, will, I 
 hope, lead it to the end. 
 
 I have written a great deal of non- 
 sense I fear more than you will have 
 patience to get through, but I should like 
 
THE GRAND DUCHESS CATHERINE 177 
 
 to give you some idea of how the great 
 people go on here. I can go by no 
 opinion but my own, for every opinion is 
 different, and so few candid ones can be 
 got at, that one is little the wiser for hear- 
 ing any of them. If the war continues 
 you must put your plan in execution in 
 the summer, and form your own opinion. 
 I need not say how delightful it would be 
 to me, or half the happiness I should feel, 
 to see you here, but I am sure it is a 
 scene which for a short time would in- 
 terest and amuse you. . . . 
 
 We are all anxiety for news from 
 Lord Wellington since hearing that Soult 
 has withdrawn. 8 . . . The Grand Duchess 
 Catherine talks of taking a journey to 
 England. If she goes there you will see 
 a very clever and delightful person. 
 
 8 From Spain. 
 
 N 
 
178 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 Lady Burghersh to her Mother 
 
 Chatillon-sur- Seine : February 17, 1814 
 
 . . . This seems a clean, good town, 
 but I have not been out, for the cold 
 weather is returned with all its rawness, 
 and I have had (for the first time since 
 November) a slight cold. . . . 
 
 I left Troyes yesterday morning, and 
 none of the roads in Germany surpassed 
 in badness those to this place. I really 
 never was so jolted. I am extremely well 
 lodged here, which I have not been before 
 for long, and if I could enjoy anything 
 without my better half I should enjoy 
 the cessation from the sight and noise of 
 troops,, artillery, wounded, prisoners, and 
 all the horrors of war, which I never can 
 get used to. 
 
 The plenipotentiaries 9 spend their 
 
 9 At the Conference then sitting at CMtillon. 
 
BLUCHER'S REVERSES 179 
 
 lives in giving great dinners to each 
 other, and gorge so effectually that two 
 or three have fallen ill from the effects 
 of their intemperance. It is certainly a 
 luxury to get as much and what one likes 
 to eat, which is not the case in the midst 
 of an immense army quartered in a poor 
 country. Even in ' la bonne Ville de 
 Troyes ' it was impossible to get eggs or 
 milk, all the cows having been killed for 
 their flesh. I can drink my tea very well 
 without milk, but I found it a great luxury 
 here this morning, and, greater still, sweet 
 bread. I wrote you a long letter from 
 Troyes and one to papa, but I doubt 
 whether you will get them sooner than 
 this, as I believe the courier was delayed. 
 We had then just heard of the rub which 
 Sacken's corps, under Blucher, had re- 
 ceived. Since then there has been some 
 severe and disastrous work in that quarter, 
 
 N 2 
 
180 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 which has given a lesson to the rash im- 
 prudence of some and the vacillations of 
 others, and cost a severe loss, but still I 
 hope we are strong enough to repair it ; 
 but we were all in a great quandary at 
 Troyes when the news arrived, and before 
 we knew how far Bllicher would retreat 
 or Buonaparte pursue. I have just heard 
 from B., proceeding from Nogent to Bray. 
 Here things are taking at least a more 
 consistent turn, and probably to-morrow 
 may decide a great deal. I am still of the 
 same opinion as when I was at Basle, that 
 peace will be made, and the Bourbons left 
 to shift for themselves, or the French 
 people to do for themselves what others 
 will not do for them, but that I fear they 
 have not energy enough for. 
 
 I am to meet all the negotiators the 
 day after to-morrow at a great dinner, 
 given (as it is his turn) by C. Stewart, 
 
CA ULA1NCOURT 1 8 I 
 
 and if I dine there I shall probably be 
 obliged to go through with all the others. 
 Though I am curious to see Caulaincourt, 
 I had rather avoid the dinners by my- 
 self, but B. says that is foolish, and that 
 I had better see all the fun I can. . . . 
 I am just out of my wits with delight 
 at Lord Byron's new book, ' The Cor- 
 sair.' C. Stewart has got it and lent it 
 to me. 
 
 Lady Burghersh to her Mother 
 
 Chatillon-sur-Seine : February 19, 1814 
 
 ... I met Caulaincourt and all the 
 other plenipotentiaries at dinner yesterday, 
 and thus satisfied a very great curiosity I 
 had to see a man of whom I had heard so 
 much. I can only say, of all the foreign- 
 ers I have seen, he has by far the best 
 
1 82 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 manners, is the most perfect gentleman, 
 and the most prepossessing address 
 how vulgar ! but I can't find other words. 
 In person he is like Lord Petersham, with 
 a touch of the Duke of Richmond, that is, 
 his sort of very amiable smile, only he 
 looks much younger ; besides which he 
 has an air of the Emperor Alexander, 
 which he takes care to improve by imitat- 
 ing the cut of his hair, &c. I sat by him 
 at dinner, and could not but admire the 
 tact he showed in his very difficult position 
 amongst us all, when a thousand subjects 
 were to be avoided, and when a man of 
 less tact would appear either too proud or 
 too dejected. Then he has all the civility 
 and provenance of a Frenchman, without 
 any of their insolence and forwardness. 
 I never saw a countenance so expressive 
 of kindness, sweetness, and openness, and 
 then one recollects the taking of the Due 
 
RASUMOFFSKY 183 
 
 d'Enghien ! ] so much for outward appear- 
 ance ! I happened to say at dinner that I 
 was fond of perfumes, and after dinner he 
 told me, in the most obliging way, he would 
 despatch a courier to Paris with orders to 
 bring back the best perfumes for me, and 
 begged if there was anything I wished for 
 from Paris, I would tell him and I should 
 receive it in two days. This I refused, 
 as I do not choose voluntarily to put my- 
 self under any obligations to the Due de 
 Vicenza. 2 
 
 As I expected, if I appeared at one 
 dinner I should be asked to go to all, 
 so Rasumoffsky, the plenipotentiary for 
 Russia, entreated me to dine with him to- 
 day. I told him that, in the absence of 
 
 1 Murdered at Vincennes by Napoleon's order. 
 Caulaincourt had been sent to demand his extradition 
 from the Grand Duchy of Baden, but was not really 
 implicated in the murder. 
 
 2 Title conferred on Caulaincourt by Napoleon. 
 
1 84 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 Lord B., I should not choose to go to 
 Caulaincourt, and, as I could not refuse 
 him if I went to others, I had made a rule 
 to go only to the houses of the English. 
 He took it perfectly, and wrote me this 
 morning le billet le plus aimable about it, 
 and I think I managed very well, for I do 
 not think it would be convenable for me 
 alone to go to the house of any foreigner. 
 ... I have now dined with Lord Aber- 
 deen and C. Stewart, and shall probably 
 with Lord Castlereagh and Lord Cathcart, 
 and that is all very well amongst my own 
 compatriotes. But I have sanguine hopes 
 of seeing B. here to-morrow. The head- 
 quarters have returned to Troyes, which 
 is only three or four hours' ride from here, 
 and B. has promised to come here to- 
 morrow. I don't know what they mean 
 to do, but I know that Buonaparte is em- 
 ploying all his energy, all his activity, and 
 
LORD CASTLEPEAGH 185 
 
 all his power, and that we are dilatory, 
 uncertain, and (entre nous] frightened 
 Alexander as much so as any, with all his 
 bravado ! But Providence orders it all, I 
 am sure, or we should not be here ! 
 
 I quite delight in * Cas.' 3 I had no 
 idea he had so much fun in him, though 
 he is impenetrably cold ! . . . I have, 
 while writing this, received yours of the 
 7th. ... I am so grieved to think you 
 should worry yourselves about me, and it 
 is exactly what I feared would be when 
 the campaign began. I wish you knew 
 me safe and quiet here. Oh ! the relief to 
 one's ears and heart, getting away from 
 the actual scene of war, though one suffers 
 equally in another way from solitude, 
 absence, and anxiety. 
 
 I must end good night, dearest. I 
 wish I could kiss you all round, instead of 
 
 8 Lord Castlereagh. 
 
1 86 LADY BURGHERSH' s JOURNAL 
 
 leaving a solitary room with no one to 
 kiss ! 
 
 Some letters have been lost, the next 
 one being dated 
 
 Lady Burghersh to her Father 
 
 CMtillon : March 3, 1814 
 
 You will have got the account of the 
 battle last Sunday at Bar-sur-Aube. . . . 
 As we none of us here expected a battle 
 then or there, I was saved a great deal of 
 anxiety in knowing nothing about it till 
 all was over. Poor Burghersh has en- 
 dured a terrible worry about me during 
 the days when the Austrians abandoned 
 this town, and left us to the French. I 
 wrote Mama word that we could have 
 no communication with the army, as the 
 French were in possession of the roads 
 
FRENCH REVERSES 187 
 
 leading to this town, and were in force at 
 Bar-sur-Seine, six leagues off Burghersh 
 was therefore quite ignorant of my fate, 
 not knowing whether I should be protected, 
 as I could not pass for a member of the 
 Congress. He therefore gave me up for 
 being taken prisoner, and remained with 
 this idea three days ! Meanwhile, I was 
 very safe here ; Monsieur Caulaincourt, 
 quite hurt at Lord Aberdeen's thinking 
 Miladi could want protection amongst 
 Frenchmen, and the French troops (except 
 a few dragoons) never having been within 
 the town. 
 
 Yesterday General Gyulai and the 
 Prince Royal of Wurtemberg, having 
 driven them from Bar-sur-Seine, the Aus- 
 trian general returned here, and we are all 
 quiet again. Sir C. Stewart is this instant 
 returned from the Emperor's headquarters 
 at Chaumont, where he went the day 
 
1 88 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 before yesterday on a visit, and fell in 
 there with Burghersh, who came from 
 Schwarzenberg's headquarters at Colom- 
 bey for the same purpose. The commis- 
 sioners are still at Lusigny, treating for an 
 armistice of fifteen days. The French are to 
 send in their final answer to-morrow even- 
 ing by eight o'clock. Meantime Bllicher, 
 who has now a magnificent army (being 
 joined by that of the North), and having 
 got in Buonaparte's rear, is proceeding by 
 Meaux towards Paris, and Buonaparte is 
 turning all his strength upon him, and 
 following him. Our troops, therefore (I 
 mean Schwarzenberg), this day re-enter 
 Troyes, and there I believe they must 
 stop a few days for their pontoons, which 
 on their first alarm they sent back to 
 Langres. A little vigour and firmness 
 may now do a great deal. The Russians 
 have got a report which we don't have, 
 
CLOSING IN 189 
 
 that ' Lord Wellington has begun the cam- 
 paign most vigorously.' I hope it is true, 
 for it would do us more good than any- 
 thing. It is certainly, by all accounts, 
 entirely to the obstinate fighting of the 
 cavalry, lately withdrawn from Spain, that 
 Buonaparte owes his late successes ; but I 
 hope they are his last. I am very happy 
 that Prince Schwarzenberg's wound is as 
 trifling as possible only a spent ball 
 which hit his arm. It is supposed to have 
 been fired by a peasant concealed in a 
 vineyard. Here the plenipotentiaries go 
 on eating and drinking, and entertaining 
 each other, and doing nothing ; but they 
 have now tied Caulaincourt down to the 
 loth of this month, on which day he is 
 to give his yes or no. My coup de vent 
 has left me, and I am perfectly well. 
 
 I am lucky here to find myself quartered 
 in the house of a most respectable and 
 
IQO LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 good family of the ancienne noblesse, 
 furious royalists, and sighing for the 
 Bourbons. There are two sisters, one a 
 widow, with a grown-up son and daughter, 
 who are very agreeable and very amiable 
 people ; and they are as kind to me and 
 as attentive to me as if I belonged to 
 them, which is a great comfort to me, 
 having been so long alone. B. gives me 
 hopes of riding over to me in a day or 
 two. . . . 
 
 Pray tell dear Emily I hope to get 
 something for her birthday. ... It will 
 be the first birthday of hers or mine 
 which we ever spent separated or away 
 from home, and it will seem very very 
 hard to me. 
 
HOME CORRESPONDENCE 191 
 
 Lady Burghersh to her Father 
 
 Chatillon : March 13, 1814 
 
 My dearest Papa, I wrote you 
 yesterday three sheets of paper, but to- 
 day I have taken fright, as the courier 
 goes by Paris, and I spoke openly of 
 things and people, and therefore I have 
 put my three sheets in the fire. You 
 will not be much worse for the loss, but 
 I am too happy to think my letters can 
 afford you a moment's interest or amuse- 
 ment, and that idea is far more likely to 
 make me vain than all the fine things you 
 tell me are said of me ; I am already vain 
 enough, however, to think they will not 
 make me so. 
 
 As B. promised (unless some wonder- 
 ful fit of activity seized our chiefs) that he 
 would come here to-day for my birthday, 
 
192 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 I rode out this morning on the Troyes 
 road and met him, and he thinks he can 
 stay two days with me. The heavy 
 machine seems at last to think such a 
 thing as moving from Troyes possible, 
 and some of the troops are already ad- 
 vancing ! Schwarzenberg having con- 
 tented himself at that place while the 
 whole of the enemy's force was turned 
 upon Bllicher, who seems, by common 
 consent, to have the whole game given 
 up to him ! It is too incomprehensible ! 
 They are not in clover either at Troyes, 
 where the want of food is so dreadful 
 that B. says the people literally share 
 with the dogs the dead horses in the 
 streets. The conduct of the troops is 
 shocking, and latterly has become horrible 
 in every degree of pillage, plunder, and 
 cruelty, which of course makes us enemies 
 all over the country, and gives more par- 
 
DIMINISHED PROSPECTS OF PEACE 193 
 
 tisans to Napoleon than all his own 
 powers could do. Here we are anxiously 
 awaiting the decision we expected on the 
 loth, but on that day Caulaincourt's 
 answer was so far from categorical that 
 it entailed a little more delay, which, 
 however, cannot last above twenty-four 
 hours longer. 
 
 There seems (at least, as far as such 
 a head as mine can judge from what one 
 can learn of their different conferences) to 
 be very little chance of peace now, and 
 I expect the Congress will break up in 
 a day or two, when I shall go to the 
 Emperor's headquarters, now at Chau- 
 mont, as I cannot be at Schwarzenberg's. 
 
 For my own individual feelings 
 nothing can be more disappointing than 
 the idea of a continuance of war arid of 
 my existence of the last five months, 
 which it requires some courage to look 
 
 o 
 
194 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 forward to, for an indefinite period ; for 
 when one takes in anxiety of mind, bodily 
 inconveniences, and the horrid scenes of 
 misery constantly before one's eyes, it 
 cannot be too soon over. We stand so 
 very differently now (God knows why) 
 from what we did two months ago, that I 
 am not sure a peace now here would not 
 save us from a disgraceful end : but I am 
 getting as bad as my three sheets. . . . 
 
 Pray, are the newspapers correct in 
 their opinion of Mr. Kean ? 4 Is he such 
 a wonderful talent ? . . . 
 
 4 C. Kean, the actor, then first becoming known on 
 the stage in London. 
 
HOT WEATHER 195 
 
 Lady Burghersh to her Sister 
 
 CMtillon: March 19, 1814 
 
 ... I wish you would order me a 
 summer riding-habit. . . . You know I 
 like a very short waist behind, and I 
 think the sleeves look better put in with 
 a very few very small plaits on the 
 shoulders. ... I should wish it light 
 French grey . . . and a man's riding hat 
 of ' shepherd's straw ! ' . . . The King 
 of Prussia is le meilleur enfant du monde, 
 but so very very shy that it is quite 
 ridiculous. As to the Emperor of Austria, 
 he is a complete cipher, guided entirely 
 by MetternicL . . . 
 
 The last few days we have had quite 
 hot weather. I suppose where there are 
 trees they are beginning to come out ; but 
 there never was such a bare country as 
 
 o 2 
 
196 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 this. In all my rides on different sides 
 of the town, I have never seen a twig, 
 except a row of poplars planted by the 
 side of a beautiful clear fountain, close to 
 the town, where the women carry all the 
 linen to wash. It is very pretty to see 
 them kneeling all along the banks. I go 
 there every day before dinner to pick 
 watercresses. You can't think how kind 
 old Lord Cathcart was ! Hearing it was 
 my birthday (when we dined there, when 
 B. was here), he prepared a surprise for 
 me that is, got a troop of comedians to 
 come to his house, and after dinner had 
 two little pieces performed. The actors 
 were bad, but French people have all a 
 sort of fun and intelligence that makes 
 everything go off well. 
 
BREAK-UP OF THE CONGRESS 197 
 
 Lady Burgher sh to her Mother 
 
 Chatillon: March 20, 18-1-4 
 
 The negotiations ended yesterday, and 
 the Congress is broken up, so there is an 
 end to all my fondest hopes of a quick 
 return home, for I cannot look forwards 
 to a speedy termination by the sword, 
 seeing the same weakness, inconsistency, 
 and timidity prevail amongst us. How- 
 ever, the final breaking up of the nego- 
 tiations may inspire us with a little more 
 energy, and may make Buonaparte more 
 moderate, seeing the allies will not make 
 peace upon his terms. 
 
 Schwarzenberg, after taking a grand 
 determination, and advancing as far as 
 Arcis, one should imagine with the inten- 
 tion of seeing the enemy, upon hearing 
 of him at some distance, orders a retreat,. 
 
198 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 which, on the persuasion of Alexander, 
 incited by Pozzo, was recalled, and re- 
 turns this day to Bar-sur-Aube. 
 
 The Emperors and Kings all fixed 
 their headquarters yesterday at Bar-sur- 
 Seine, which suits me very well, as it is 
 only a few leagues from here, and while 
 they are there I am much better here in 
 my quiet house, with my good people, 
 than if I was amongst them. They say 
 the Emperor of Austria will come here ; 
 so much the better if he does, for I shall 
 be very sorry to move from here. . . . 
 
 It is a very extraordinary circumstance 
 that nothing is known of Bllicher since 
 the 1 2th, eight days ago. We are in the 
 greatest possible anxiety to hear what 
 direction Lord Wellington has taken. If 
 he should judge it most expedient to turn 
 to La Vendee, &c., which they say is cer- 
 tainly rising, it will be a great disappoint- 
 
RECRIMINA TIONS 1 99 
 
 ment here, for we have all looked to his 
 coming this way. The Ambassadors are 
 all taking their flight. C. Stewart went 
 this morning ; Lord Aberdeen remains 
 here; Caulaincourt . is not yet gone. He 
 was very much attendri, I am told, at 
 taking leave of them all yesterday at the 
 last Conference. I am very anxious to 
 hear what line the Emperors intend 
 taking. It seems impossible they should 
 continue the war in this country, which 
 is completely and utterly ruined, devas- 
 tated, and pillaged. It is a very anxious 
 moment, but I should not think it unlikely 
 that Buonaparte, finding we have been 
 sturdy here, should offer new propositions 
 to the Sovereigns themselves, and I am 
 sure they had better take them if they 
 cannot find abler heads to manage their 
 armies. . . . The brother marshals re- 
 criminate terribly upon each other, but 
 
2OO LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 there is, I am afraid, little doubt that our 
 good friend deserves it more than old 
 Vorwarts. 5 . . . 
 
 . . . The ladies of this house, having 
 offered me a safe opportunity by a friend 
 of theirs in Paris, I wrote a letter to 
 Edward Paget. I despair of getting an 
 answer, but I thought he would like to 
 hear news of his family. . .. . 
 
 Lady Burghersh to her Mother 
 
 CMtillon: March 21 
 
 . . . Schwarzenberg has thought better 
 of his plan of retreat, and remains with his 
 whole army assembled at Arcis, a very fine 
 position. The enemy is at Plancy, on the 
 other side of the river. This being the case, 
 we expect some event hourly. The Em- 
 
 5 Bliicher's nickname. 
 
ANXIETIES 201 
 
 perors are all gone from Bar-sur-Seine to 
 Bar-sur-Aube. Lord Aberdeen, Stadion, 
 and Rasumoffsky remain here until some- 
 thing is known which will decide whether 
 we are to move backwards or forwards. I 
 shall remain with them, and move with 
 them. I hope very shortly to be able 
 to rejoin B., for this long separation is 
 dreadful. I should think next move might 
 enable me to be with him. Caulaincourt 
 left this, this morning. All the rest of the 
 negotiators, except the three I have named, 
 went yesterday. The Austrian garrison 
 remains here, and Maurice Liechtenstein's 
 corps covers us. If things go well, I 
 hope we may return to Troyes. If we 
 get a check, or are frightened, we shall 
 go to Chaumont. We have no news of 
 Bliicher. . . . 
 
 I have been buying horses, for there 
 are no more post horses left in the coun- 
 
2O2 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 try, and laying in stores of provisions in 
 case of moving into the sacked towns or 
 villages. 
 
 Lady Burghersh to her Mother 
 
 Dijon: March 26, 1814 
 
 ... I must give you some details as 
 to my affairs, and how I come to be here 
 when B. is, alas ! so far away. This comes 
 of following the wise heads of diplomatists. 
 When I wrote to you last from Chatillon 
 we were all in uncertainty what we were 
 to do, but upon Tuesday last it was 
 decided that we should go to Chaumont 
 (supposing the Emperor at Bar-sur-Aube), 
 and we accordingly set off on Wednesday 
 morning in a train of twelve carriages, 
 with an escort of hussars and Cossacks. 
 Arrived at Chaumont, we found the tocsin 
 ringing, and the whole town in an uproar 
 
ALARM AT CHAUMONT 203 
 
 of alarm and confusion, and they told us a 
 corps of 16,000 French were within four 
 or five leagues of the town, and a body of 
 2,000 armed and organised peasants close 
 to it. Upon this it was necessary to de- 
 camp, and without even waiting to bait 
 our horses, away we went in the direction 
 of Langres. At about three leagues 
 from Chaumont we found 2,000 Austrians 
 bivouacked, and here it was determined to 
 pass the night and wait the result of the 
 morning to know if the French corps 
 entered Chaumont or went off the other 
 way, and also to know where the Emperor 
 was, which no one knew, but it was said 
 he had gone to Brienne. 
 
 Luckily it was a fine night, and I 
 think a bivouac by no means unpleasant, 
 it is such a very curious sight ; but only 
 conceive poor me sitting at a great fire, in 
 the open air, in the middle of the night, 
 
2O4 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 surrounded by soldiers and horses ! At 
 about two in the morning, however, I got 
 into the carriage, though I could not sleep, 
 the scene was so curious. At daylight 
 we got intelligence that the Emperor was 
 gone to Dijon, and desired all the diplo- 
 matists to follow him. I never was so 
 thunderstruck at any news, but there was 
 no help for it. We went on that day to 
 Langres, where we stopped the night, and 
 arrived here yesterday, our horses quite 
 done up, myself not at all so. I am as 
 strong as Hercules ! But here I find 
 myself as much out of the reach of the 
 armies as if I was in America, and even 
 our communications are cut off, the French 
 being at Bar-sur-Aube, between us and 
 them, but meantime it is a most painful 
 situation to bear, and an anxiety almost 
 too great. Conceive, it is now seven days 
 since I knew anything at all of B., and he 
 
LORD CASTLEREAGH 205 
 
 is still worse off, for he has not heard of 
 me since I left Chatillon, and therefore 
 cannot know if I am here or not. Perhaps 
 no one ever got (for the time it lasts) a 
 heavier load of anxiety to bear, but I have 
 learnt lately to bear a great deal. 
 
 ... It is quite a pity I am not at ease 
 and happy enough to enjoy this town. It 
 is quite beautiful, and the only town I have 
 yet been in where the shops are all open, 
 and full, and looking gay. They say the 
 theatre is excellent, but I cannot go while 
 in this terrible state of anxiety and sus- 
 pense. I walk about all day, and am 
 followed and stared at like a wild beast. 
 You would be amused at the remarks 
 which I hear made out loud. 
 
 You never saw such a beauty as 
 Lord Castlereagh has become. He is 
 as brown as a berry, with a fine bronzed 
 colour, and wears a fur cap with gold, 
 
206 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 and is really quite charming. There 
 never was anybody so looked up to as he 
 is here. 
 
 Can you conceive anything more vexa- 
 tious for me, who hoped by getting to the 
 Emperor's headquarters soon to rejoin B., 
 and the last they know was of the junction 
 of Schwarzenberg's and Bliicher's armies, 
 and the headquarters being at Chalons, 
 and me down at Dijon ! It is impossible 
 to conceive what can have possessed old 
 Francis to come here. Lord Castlereagh 
 is here, all the civil characters, and Lord 
 Bradford is also here, and very kind and 
 friendly to me ; but I never before was so 
 uncomfortable and uneasy, or in such a 
 dreadful predicament. I hope it won't 
 last long, and that I may soon be able to 
 get away. Meanwhile I am excellently 
 lodged with very obliging people, and this 
 
DIJON 
 
 207 
 
 is much the best town I have been in 
 since Frankfurt. . . . 
 
 A thousand thanks for the tea. I 
 thought it such a luxury this morning, 
 for I had been drinking the horrid stuff 
 they sell in France at a louis a pound ! 
 I went (as usual) this morning poking into 
 the shops here, and bought a gown for 
 you, but I cannot send it by this convey- 
 ance 
 
 Sunday, March 27 
 
 I continue this morning, being just 
 returned from Mass in a very fine old 
 church here. You cannot think what a 
 nice town this is, and there is an air of 
 comfort and ease which I have not seen 
 before in France. Certainly, if my mind 
 could be easy, I am most extremely lucky 
 
208 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 to find myself here, where I enjoy (with 
 security) repose and a cessation of the 
 horrid sights of war ; but I fear, finding 
 themselves so well off here, the Court will 
 stick. 
 
 All one can hope is that the union of 
 Blucher and Schwarzenberg will produce 
 a grand coup, and finish the business. 
 We have Maurice Liechtenstein's army 
 here. 
 
 I find this morning I can squeeze your 
 gown into a letter, so I send it. I am 
 afraid you will think the stripes too large, 
 but it is the rage now in France to have 
 everything enormous, and this is the 
 smallest pattern I could get. Never 
 was anything so frightful as the French 
 fashions everything outrt to a degree of 
 monstrosity. The hats get worse and 
 worse ; they make them now with very 
 narrow, small pokes, and crowns two feet 
 
THE RUSSIAN ROYAL FAMILY 209 
 
 high, and the front covered with enormous 
 bows and bunches of flowers and these 
 are worn by every creature. 
 
 I am so stared at in my cottage bonnet 
 that I really don't know what to do, for I 
 cannot put one of these horrors on my 
 head ! . . . 
 
 I hope you will soon make acquaint- 
 ance with the Grand Duchess Catherine, 
 and be as much pleased with her as I was. 
 She was so kind to me. The Emperor 
 Alexander's two young brothers, the Grand 
 Dukes Nicholas and Michael, are coming 
 to the army ; they are sixteen and eighteen 
 years old. They say the eldest (Nicholas 6 ) 
 is quite beautiful. 
 
 Tuesday, 29th 
 
 I add a line to tell you the Emperor 
 has just received the news of a great 
 
 6 The Emperor Nicholas, who died in 1855, during 
 the Crimean war. 
 
2io LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 victory gained by Schwarzenberg, at Fere 
 Champenoise on the 25th, in which he 
 took 8,000 prisoners and sixty cannon. 
 We don't know particulars yet, or whether 
 Bllicher shared or not. Buonaparte him- 
 self is at Vaudoeuvre, so our communica- 
 tion is still cut off, but this must drive him 
 very soon off. 
 
 I am sure you and Mama will have felt 
 a great deal for poor Lord March. 7 I trust 
 he is doing well, though I was grieved at 
 the account Gurwood (from whom I got a 
 letter to-day) gives of him. How does the 
 poor Duke bear it ? I am very anxious to 
 hear particulars of Arthur's slight wound. 8 
 Gurwood says the ball went an inch into 
 his thigh. It makes me shudder ! We 
 have got this morning an account of the 
 proceedings at Bordeaux ; there never was 
 
 7 Wounded in Spain. 
 
 8 At the Battle of Orthez, February 27, 1814. 
 
LORD BURGHERSH IN PARIS 211 
 
 anything so good, and we are all in hopes 
 the good example may be followed here, 
 and the white cockade mounted. 
 
 This part of the country has not as 
 yet suffered from the bad conduct of the 
 troops as yet all has been kept in good 
 order and discipline. 
 
 We are still cut off from intelligence 
 from our army, though we hope it will 
 soon be free, for Buonaparte certainly 
 cannot stay long on his present line. 
 
 Lady Burghersh to her Mother 
 
 Dijon: April 4 
 
 At last, my dearest Mama, I am re- 
 lieved from the dreadful suspense and 
 anxiety I have endured for thirteen days, 
 and I have just received a letter from 
 B., dated Paris! April ist. There is no 
 
 P 2 
 
212 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 describing my sensations at seeing this 
 blessed letter after such an age of anxious 
 expectation, having heard nothing since 
 I left Chatillon, excepting of the battle 
 fought at Fere Champenoise, of which I 
 had just heard when I wrote my last letter, 
 but we knew only the fact of there having 
 been a battle and a victory on our side, 
 and you may believe what I felt in my 
 heart at hearing nothing more. Poor B. 
 was in equal distress, not having heard 
 from me, and not having a guess where I 
 was gone to, with the knowledge of Chau- 
 mont, &c., having been in danger. All 
 this prevented him from enjoying the entry 
 into Paris, which seems to have been the 
 most magnificent and most extraordinary 
 event in the annals of the world, perhaps. 
 You will have the details in the despatches ; 
 at this moment we are all perfectly mad 
 here, and I doubt much if I can write one 
 
COMMUNICATIONS REOPENED 213 
 
 word of sense with all the feelings that 
 work me, but I know the only thing I can 
 do is to sit down and write to you. To 
 be sure, it is enraging, after going through 
 so much, not to be ' in at the death/ and 
 I have missed entering Paris with the 
 victors, but I must console myself with 
 many others in the same predicament with 
 the knowledge of the total impossibility of 
 our doing so, as Buonaparte contrived so 
 cleverly to cut us off. For with all my 
 grumblings in my last letters, we did not 
 run here a moment too soon. Buonaparte 
 slept at Bar-sur-Aube in the very bed the 
 Emperor Francis had left that same morn- 
 ing, and the French troops passed through 
 Chaumont and came to the stop where we 
 bivouacked the day after we were there. 
 
 I feel so grateful and so happy, after 
 all the dangers we have both been in, to 
 know that it is over, that I have really 
 
214 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 heard from him (which I began to think 
 impossible), that he is well and safe, and 
 that we may hope soon to be together. 
 I don't yet know the Emperor's plans, and 
 I don't much think I can well leave this 
 place till he does, but I suppose I shall see 
 Metternich to-night, and I hope in a very 
 few days we may all meet in Paris. B. 
 writes to me on the ist, expecting to leave 
 Paris the next day, to collect and go after 
 what remnant Buonaparte can have with 
 him in the direction of Sens ; but that will, 
 I hope, be short and easy work. 
 
 Poor Rapatel, General Moreau's aide- 
 de-camp, was killed in the battle before 
 Paris. I am very sorry for him. His letter 
 to Madame Moreau, published in the 
 English papers last September, made him 
 interesting, and I have seen him often at 
 headquarters, and liked him much. The 
 last time he dined with us at Troyes he 
 
THE WHITE COCKADE 215 
 
 told me he meant to go directly to Eng- 
 land to Madame Moreau, and it must be a 
 great blow to her, poor soul ; it was said 
 she would marry him. Colonel Campbell, 
 a Scotchman attached to Lord Cathcart, 
 was severely wounded in the same battle 
 by a Cossack, who took him for a French- 
 man. I have not heard of anyone else 
 whom I know. Neither Lord Cathcart's 
 nor C. Stewart's despatches are arrived, 
 so there is only B.'s (which I think an in- 
 comparable one) which has been translated 
 into French and stuck up all over the town 
 with the Emperor Alexander's declaration, 
 and now all the people are walking about 
 in white cockades. What do you say to 
 Talleyrand being the first person to mount 
 the white cockade in Paris ! 
 
 Maria Louisa left Paris for Rambouillet 
 on the 2Qth. It really appears like a 
 dream, all of it, after the gloomy prospects 
 
216 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 we had a month ago ; but, as Alexander 
 told me, ' cest le bon Dieu qui guide nos 
 armies] and I am sure that is true. I long 
 to return to the army to see how ' cocky ' 
 all the Russians will be ; they are excellent 
 fun when they have performed any feat ! 
 
 I meant to write to dear Emily by this 
 courier, but I cannot ; but my first letter 
 from Paris shall be to her, and I must put 
 into this letter all I wanted to tell her. 
 First, Count Weissenberg (to whom Lord 
 Westmorland gave a letter of Emily's to 
 me, and the spy-glass) was taken prisoner 
 on his journey, and carried before Buona- 
 parte at Bar-sur-Aube. He had the most 
 extraordinary conversation with him upon 
 the state of affairs, in which Buonaparte 
 owned to him that his own situation was 
 desperate, but said the Bourbons had no 
 chance, ' car Us sont devenus Grangers a 
 la France' After taking everything from 
 
THE ALLIES ENTER PARIS 217 
 
 him, even his clothes, they set Weissen- 
 berg at liberty, and he came on here. He 
 contrived, just as he was taken, to burn all 
 his letters and papers, so Emily need not 
 fear the Moniteur, but I lose her letter. . . . 
 This evening the town is illuminated, 
 and all the people walking about with 
 white cockades and flambeaux, calling* out 
 * Vive le Roi / ' One is really beside one- 
 self, and I think I am displaying no little 
 prudence and moderation in staying here 
 one instant, and not setting off this instant 
 to join my own headquarters. Conceive 
 how fine it must have been to see Alex- 
 ander enter Paris at the head of his 
 beautiful guards (20,000), attended by the 
 King of Prussia at the head of his guards 
 (7,000), and Schwarzenberg and Blticher 
 together. I can just fancy Alexander in 
 all his glory ! He was to go to the opera 
 the day after (the 2nd). B. was lodged in 
 
218 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 a palace in the Rue 'de la Concorde.' He 
 had not been to any sight, and, indeed, his 
 uneasiness about me prevents his giving 
 me as many details as I still hope to have. 
 We expect another courier to-night or to- 
 morrow morning. Schwarzenberg's aide- 
 de-camp, Szechenyi, 9 brought the account 
 to-day. I have not seen him yet, but I 
 suppose I shall when he has done with 
 the Emperor and Ministers. . . . 
 
 Tuesday night 
 
 I am just returned from the theatre, 
 where I have been chaperoned by Lord 
 Castlereagh and all the English. It has 
 been a most interesting evening, the theatre 
 crammed quite full, and everybody in white 
 cockades. They gave ' Richard Cceur de 
 Lion,' and every part at all applicable to 
 
 9 Count Stephan Szechenyi, a Hungarian statesman, 
 well known in later years. 
 
POPULAR ENTHUSIASM 219 
 
 the present situation was caught up by the 
 audience and produced shouts of ' Vive 
 Louis XVIIL! Vive les Bourbons T Be- 
 fore the curtain drew up they called for a 
 song out of the ' Deserteur,' with a refrain 
 of ' Vive le Roi!' which was joined in with 
 the greatest enthusiasm. Between the acts 
 the curtain drew up and discovered a 
 placard with ' Vive les Allies!' under a 
 fleur-de-lys, and one of the actors came on 
 and sang an incomparable parody on that 
 very beautiful romance, 4 Oh Richard, oh 
 mon Roi ! ' I cannot describe to you the 
 effect of the beginning, 'Oh Louis, oh mon 
 jRoz/'or the violent enthusiasm with which 
 it was received, everybody getting up and 
 waving white handkerchiefs, &c. Nothing 
 could be more affecting. The parody went 
 on, ' Oh Louis, oh mon Roi ! tout funivers 
 avec moi sintdresse a ta personnel 
 
 In the midst of this exulting moment I 
 
220 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 cannot help feeling for poor Maria Louisa, 
 who by every account is certainly sin- 
 cerely in love with Buonaparte, and what 
 a dreadful situation she is in ! The poor 
 Emperor Francis shows just the feeling 
 a good father must show for her, know- 
 ing her sacrifice to be inevitable. It is 
 supposed she is gone from Rambouillet to 
 Orleans. 
 
 Alexander did not occupy the Tuile- 
 ries, but lodged in Talleyrand's house. 
 
 The next letter (or letters) of the series 
 is not forthcoming, but in later years Lady 
 Burghersh used often to tell the story 
 of her journey from Dijon to Paris, and 
 embodied her recollections in a memo- 
 randum. 
 
 Though she boasts in her letter of her 
 prudence and moderation in not setting off 
 at once from Dijon to join her husband, 
 that prudence did not last long. However, 
 
ANTICIPATED DIFFICULTIES 221 
 
 when she spoke of starting to Prince 
 Metternich, Lord Castlereagh, and Lord 
 Aberdeen (the three advisers her husband 
 had desired her to consult in any emer- 
 gency), they all told her that, in consequence 
 of the reports brought by Szechenyi and 
 the couriers who succeeded him of the 
 state of the country, it would be utterly 
 impossible to think of moving from Dijon 
 till the roads were restored, safe conducts 
 organised, escorts provided, &c., and that 
 the Emperor Francis himself would not 
 be able to start for a week or ten days at 
 least. It occurred to her, however, that 
 although all these delays and precautions 
 might be necessary for these great official 
 personages, she could do very well by 
 herself, so, without saying anything more, 
 she packed her carriage, got horses, and 
 set off with her maid and servant. She 
 never experienced any real difficulty, but 
 by civility and paying well managed to get 
 on perfectly, with the exception of one 
 little fright, when she fell in with some 
 
222 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 French soldiers, who insisted on taking 
 her prisoner and carrying her into the next 
 town to be examined. Fortunately their 
 commander was a good-natured man, and 
 on her representing to him that it could do 
 no one any good to detain or hinder a poor 
 unprotected woman like herself, only want- 
 ing to * rejoindre mon mari] he at first 
 made a show of detaining her, but soon 
 saying, * Ah, fa, Madame, vous seriez bien 
 contente si je vous laissais continuer votre 
 route, nest-ce pas f ' he let her go on her 
 way, and this was the only real difficulty 
 she had. 
 
 After travelling three days and nights, 
 she got in the evening after dark to the 
 gates of Paris, which were guarded by sen- 
 tinels of the allied armies. She inquired 
 her way to Lord Burghersh's quarters, 
 where she found all his servants, but he 
 himself had gone out to dinner. She went 
 up into his room, and was especially de- 
 lighted to find on his table the miniature 
 of herself which he always carried about 
 
ARRIVAL IN PARIS 223 
 
 with him. He came home a short time 
 afterwards, and could scarcely believe his 
 eyes, when, on turning to the courtyard of 
 the house, he recognised her carriage un- 
 packing, for the idea of her accomplishing 
 the journey from Dijon in this way, before it 
 was possible for anyone else to come, had 
 never entered his mind ! He rushed up- 
 stairs, and the delight of the meeting in such 
 different circumstances maybe imagined. 
 
 The great people at Dijon waiting for 
 their escorts did not get up to Paris for 
 several days ; they were exceedingly an- 
 noyed when they found they had been 
 distanced, and the journey they were 
 all afraid of safely accomplished by a 
 young unprotected woman, and she used 
 afterwards to say that Lord Castlereagh 
 and Lord Aberdeen had never quite for- 
 given her, but were always sore when any 
 allusion was made to her getting to Paris 
 before them. 
 
 The following is the first letter from 
 Paris which has been preserved : 
 
224 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 Lady Burghersh to 
 
 Paris : April 13 
 
 I am in the greatest rage that ever was 
 to-night ! Only conceive, just as I was 
 beginning to enjoy myself, and be quite 
 happy here, thinking all my lonely hours 
 at an end for ever, Burghersh is named to 
 attend Napoleon to the Isle of Elba. He 
 is to be escorted by a Russian (General 
 Schouvaloff), an Austrian (General Roller), 
 and an Englishman (B.). I would go with 
 him with all my heart, but that they will 
 not allow, and I suppose, indeed, I could 
 not do so, as they will travel with him, 
 dine with him, &c. It will be just like 
 guarding a wild beast. They set off to- 
 morrow, and are to embark him on the 
 sixth day, so B. will probably be back 
 
THE EMPRESS MARIA LOUISA 225 
 
 here in nine days. 1 There never was 
 anything so hard on me ; we were so 
 happy here, and this morning only were 
 agreeing that at the end of three weeks 
 by which time probably the army will be 
 sent into cantonments we would go back 
 to England. I am more than half tempted 
 to go immediately back to England, but 
 he wishes me to remain here till his return. 
 I do think it is a cruel thing on me, but it 
 is a curious mission to be sent on. 
 
 To-day Prince Esterhazy and Prince 
 Wenzel Liechtenstein returned from Fon- 
 tainebleau, where they had been sent by 
 the Emperor of Austria to Maria Louisa. 
 They dined with us to-day, and gave me an 
 account of her. She cried very much, but 
 consented to leave Buonaparte, for which 
 
 1 On finding he was expected to remain at Elba, 
 Lord B. declined the post, and Colonel Campbell was 
 appointed. 
 
 Q 
 
226 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 I think she is a monster, for she certainly 
 pretended love for him, and he always 
 behaved very well to her. She said she 
 would not see him before he goes, for 
 that if she saw him and that he asked her 
 to come with him, she knew she could not 
 refuse him ; but that to obey her father, 
 and for the good of her child, she agreed 
 to go to Vienna. She showed them the 
 King of Rome, and they say he is the 
 most beautiful child they ever saw. She 
 is to have the Duchy of Parma and Gua- 
 stalla. I think it is quite disgusting in her 
 to abandon him in his misfortunes, after 
 pretending, at least, to idolise him in his 
 prosperity, 2 and I feel exactly the same 
 
 2 Subsequently, in Italy, Lady Burghersh formed a 
 warm friendship with the Empress Maria Louisa, which 
 lasted uninterruptedly until the death of Maria Louisa. 
 She always spoke of her as a most lovable person, affec- 
 tionate, and generous almost to excess, and possessing 
 much common sense, which was however marred by her 
 extreme diffidence and distrust of herself, which made 
 her always the tool of others. This want of self-reliance 
 
ENTRY OF MONSIEUR INTO PARIS 227 
 
 about all his marshals, &c., who have 
 left him. 
 
 Yesterday morning Monsieur 3 made 
 his entrance into Paris, and was received 
 with the most violent acclamations. He 
 came in on horseback with a large cortege, 
 went through all the principal streets, 
 which were filled with people with white 
 
 was the real cause of the acts for which history blames 
 her ; her own instincts, had she had the courage to follow 
 them, would have guided her far more rightly. Her own 
 wish was to remain in Paris and place herself and her 
 son under the protection of the Allied Sovereigns, but she 
 yielded to the advice of Joseph Buonaparte, who had 
 been ordered by Napoleon not to let her fall into the 
 hands of the Allies. She wished to follow him to Elba, 
 but gave up this, her undoubted duty, in deference to 
 the opposition of her father, the Emperor Francis, and 
 Prince Metternich, who practised unscrupulously on her 
 fears and credulity, keeping back all Napoleon's letters, 
 and making her believe that he had got a mistress with 
 him, and cared nothing for her. These statements 
 (which were untrue) made her very unhappy, for she was 
 really attached to Napoleon, and often said she had been 
 happy with him, though she was afraid of him, and that 
 he had always been kind to her. 
 3 Afterwards Charles X. 
 
 Q2 
 
228 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 cockades, and went immediately to Notre 
 Dame, to hear the Te Deum. I was 
 there, and it was certainly a magnificent 
 sight. When he entered the church, every 
 creature shouted out ' Vive le Roi / ' ' Vive 
 Louis] &c., and waved handkerchiefs, 
 clasped hands, &c., with a degree of en- 
 thusiasm which I never saw in England 
 for anything. I never saw anything so 
 beautiful or so perfect as Monsieur's whole 
 manner. He was of course very much 
 affected ; but there was something so 
 noble, so thoroughbred, so modest, and so 
 perfectly princely in his look and manner, 
 that it was really delightful. So different to 
 the fanfaronnade with which Alexander 
 courts popular adoration. But what I 
 own disgusted me, was to see Monsieur 
 surrounded by Talleyrand, Ney, Marmont, 
 Oudinot, &c., the National Guard, and the 
 very populace who three weeks ago were 
 
FICKLE PARIS 229 
 
 shouting * Vive I Empereur ! ' All I have 
 seen of the French people, and particularly 
 the Parisians, makes me think them the 
 most despicable set of animals, and I do 
 heartily pity the Bourbons, and all their 
 ancient followers, to find themselves 
 amongst these of the new regime. How 
 they are to be governed, or how things 
 will ever go on between old and new, God 
 knows ; but all the events of the last 
 fortnight are so extraordinary, one can 
 only wonder and wonder on. 
 
 As to the town of Paris, the beauty 
 and magnificence of it surpasses anything 
 I could form an idea of. All the Arcs de 
 Triomphe, pillars, &c., which Buonaparte 
 has erected, are perfect. The Senate have 
 ordered all emblems of him to be de- 
 stroyed ; they have already taken down 
 a colossal statue of him, which was in the 
 Place Vendome, and are taking away all 
 
230 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 the N's and eagles which are stuck in all 
 parts of the public buildings. Monsieur 
 is lodged in the Tuileries in Maria 
 Louisa's apartments. 
 
 I have not yet been into a single shop. 
 Monday, I drove about all day to look at 
 the town yesterday was spent at Notre 
 Dame, and to-day I was all the morning 
 in the Gallery of the Louvre. It is quite 
 impossible to give an idea of the beauty of 
 this gallery, 1,500 feet long and filled with 
 the finest paintings ; but it would take one 
 a fortnight, I am sure, spending every day 
 there, to see it well. The statues (with 
 the famous originals of the Apollo, the 
 Venus and Laocoon) are downstairs. I have 
 been to the Theatre Frangais only, which 
 in size and shape reminds me of Drury 
 Lane, but not near so handsome. I meant 
 to have seen Talma to-night in 'CEdipe,' 
 but we had a dinner, and they stayed so 
 
GRASS INI 231 
 
 late, that when we got there the play was 
 over. I never heard of anything so bad 
 as the society here not only naughty to 
 an excess, but so vulgar, such mauvais ton 
 that I do not think I would spend six 
 months here for a great deal. B. saw a 
 little of it before I came, and he says he 
 could not live with the people who form 
 the society here, it is so shocking. G. is 
 the great person and dear friend of all 
 the first people here, because she was a 
 favourite of the Emperor's ; and Paer, the 
 famous composer, is also received as a 
 great person. 
 
 I met Grassini at dinner yesterday at 
 C. Stewart's (who has got the most beau- 
 tiful house in Paris). She is very hand- 
 some, and after dinner she sang quite 
 divinely. Pray tell Mary 4 she remembered 
 her quite well, and said she was 'une 
 
 4 Her eldest sister, Lady Bagot. 
 
232 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 charmante personne qui avail milles bontes 
 pour moi' She was also at Notre Dame, 
 just behind me. I was next to the Princess 
 de Benevente, whom you will know better 
 as Madame Talleyrand. I confess I cannot 
 stomach treating these people de princes 
 et princesses, and I cannot conceive how 
 the old French will bear it. There 
 never was anything like the tourbillon, 
 the noise, the constant succession of 
 events here : one's head really turns round 
 with it. 
 
 I am most excessively anxious to get 
 home dear home even if I had not all 
 of you to return to : there is nothing in 
 Paris, after seeing the sights, that one 
 could, I think, make one's mind up to live 
 with, or for, even for a few weeks. I 
 think in less than a month I shall certainly 
 be again with you thank God ! 
 
PARIS 23 
 
 Lady Burghersh to her Mother 
 
 Paris : Monday Evening, April 18 
 
 My dearest Mama, As I wrote to 
 Emily and to Papa this morning I have 
 little to add to-night but what fills my 
 mind the delightful idea of seeing you 
 so soon. I am sure you will be much 
 amused here for a little while, though, if I 
 know your taste, I think a stjour in Paris 
 would suit you as little as me ; but you have 
 just seized the right moment to see many 
 extraordinary sights and characters, and I 
 am sure it will answer to Papa. I can 
 hardly believe that I shall so soon have 
 such happiness as to be with you again. 
 
 I saw Edward 5 again to-day ; he in- 
 quired most tenderly after you, and said 
 
 5 Edward Paget, Lord Anglesey's brother, who had 
 been detained for many years as a prisoner in France. 
 
234 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 I looked so like you in my carriage 
 this morning that it did him good. I am 
 just come from the Theatre de 1'Odeon, 
 that is, the Italian Opera, where we 
 saw ' Figaro ' badly done enough. The 
 house is very pretty. To-morrow we have 
 half a hundred Russians to dine with us. 
 How eager I am for you to arrive, and I 
 think all day long who we will have to 
 meet you, and introduce you to, &c. ! B. is 
 really almost (I won't let him be quite) as 
 delighted as I am at the idea of seeing 
 you. He is looking famously well. Pray 
 try and see the Grand Duchess Catherine 
 before you come. You will see the 
 beauteous Constantine 6 here. The two 
 young brothers are not come yet. 
 
 Pray is M. de Gontaut St. Blancard 
 
 6 The Grand Duke Constantine of Russia, who was 
 said to be as hideous as his brother, Nicholas, was hand- 
 some. 
 
THE POLIGNACS 235 
 
 the person I remember as Aime Gon- 
 taut? Such a person called on me to- 
 day while I was out, and I take 
 it to be him. The two Polignacs 7 are 
 both here. Armand dines with us to- 
 morrow. 
 
 Lady Burghersh to her Mother 
 
 Paris : April 20 
 
 ... I have succeeded with very great 
 difficulty in getting apartments for you, 
 and to-day have engaged some very nice 
 ones quite newly done up, not far from 
 here, though not so near as I could wish, 
 but not five minutes' walk, close to the 
 Place Vendome, in a good street. They 
 will be ready for you on Sunday, and I 
 
 7 The Polignacs and Gontauts and many other 
 tmigrts had received much kindness in England from 
 Lady Burghersh's parents and her aunt Mrs. Villiers, 
 who had spent some time in Paris immediately before 
 the Revolution. 
 
236 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 have engaged them for a fortnight from 
 that day, and you may keep them on if 
 you like. The price sounds enormous 
 500 francs for the fortnight about twenty- 
 five guineas but it is quite impossible to 
 get anything cheaper. Besides, B. having 
 gone himself about all yesterday, I sent 
 the two A.D.C.'s into every corner, and 
 they could find nothing else likely to suit. 
 You will have linen, china, the use of a 
 kitchen (which, however, you will of course 
 never want), if you like, and I think it 
 will be very comfortable. 
 
 Lord Binning 8 says there is a good inn 
 at Montreuil, where you had better sleep 
 the night you leave Calais, and I hear you 
 will also find good inns both at Abbeville 
 and Beauvais, as the distance may suit 
 you. Be careful of the difference between 
 
 8 Who had just arrived almost the first English 
 tourist from England. 
 
FESTIVITIES 237 
 
 la poste and I auberge. La poste furnishes 
 nothing but horses ; and if you go to the 
 auberge for them, you wait hours; but 
 you must go at once to the auberge if 
 you mean to put up. I am afraid you 
 will find the best of French inns but bad ; 
 but they say the three places I have men- 
 tioned are as good as you can find in 
 France, and the roads capital all along. I 
 am quite panting for your arrival, and I 
 grudge everything that happens till you 
 come. I believe I shall die with pleasure 
 at seeing you again. To-morrow I am 
 going to spend the day at St. Cloud, where 
 Schwarzenberg is established, and gives 
 me a dinner ; the day after we have a 
 great dinner of half-a-dozen Princes at 
 home, and I believe Madame Ney will 
 give a ball, and I grudge it all before you 
 arrive. We dined to-day at Lord Cath- 
 cart's ; old Blticher was there I was quite 
 
238 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 shocked at the alteration in him since his 
 illness. He is quite broken, and I do not 
 think he will live long. He is going soon 
 to England. Pozzo goes to London to- 
 night, but will return soon. I shall hope 
 to hear from you from Calais very soon, 
 and you must let me know how you mean 
 to travel as to speed, that I may know 
 when to expect you. I must say good- 
 night. It is nearly one o'clock, and my 
 eyes draw straws. Heaven bless you. 
 Thank God, this is nearly the last letter 
 you will get from me ! 
 
 Yr. most aff., 
 
 P. 
 
 The letters now cease. Soon after 
 the Wellesley Poles reached Paris, the 
 Duke of Wellington arrived. Lord and 
 Lady Burghersh were walking down the 
 street one day when they saw a travelling 
 carriage coming along, in which they re- 
 
THE DUKE IN PARIS 239 
 
 cognised their uncle. He immediately 
 jumped out and joined them, and was 
 very soon the object of a great popular 
 ovation. The whole party remained some 
 weeks in Paris, through the fetes of the 
 Restoration, returning to England at the 
 same time as the Allied Sovereigns paid 
 their famous visit. 
 
 In the autumn of that year Lord Bur- 
 ghersh was appointed Minister at Florence 
 exchanging military for diplomatic ser- 
 vice. Here they remained (with occa- 
 sional visits to England) for sixteen years ; 
 subsequently, after an interval of some 
 years, they spent nine years in Berlin 
 and six in Vienna in the same capacity 
 retiring finally in 1856. They were noted 
 everywhere for their hospitality ; there was 
 hardly a distinguished person in Europe 
 whom they did not at some time entertain, 
 and nothing could well be more brilliant 
 than their position abroad from a worldly 
 point of view. Lady Burghersh thoroughly 
 appreciated the intellectual advantages of 
 
240 LADY BURGHERSH'S JOURNAL 
 
 the cultivated and brilliant society she 
 enjoyed, but nevertheless her heart was 
 always in her home. Twelve children were 
 born to her (but of these several died in 
 earliest infancy, and others she lost in the 
 prime of life) ; they were the engrossing 
 care and interest of her life ; in their 
 childhood she tended them and worked 
 for them herself never leaving them if 
 she could possibly help it, and never allow- 
 ing social duties to interfere with her per- 
 sonal care of them. Later in life she 
 reaped the reward of this self-denying 
 affection in the devoted love of her chil- 
 dren, who found in her society their great- 
 est delight, and to whom she was ever 
 the most delightful of companions, as well 
 as the wisest of counsellors and friends. 
 
 She was especially through her inti- 
 macy with her uncle, the Duke of Wel- 
 lington (to whom she was as a daughter), 
 and many of the prominent politicians of 
 the day much mixed up in politics and 
 public affairs, but she never posed as a 
 
CONCLUSION 241 
 
 ' political ' woman or ' leader ' of any kind, 
 holding the now old-fashioned view that 
 a woman's influence is none the less real 
 for being silent and unobtrusive, and she 
 was herself certainly an instance of the 
 combination of the most perfect devotion 
 to domestic duties with wide interests 
 and a powerful mind. 
 
 She was left a widow in 1859, and lived 
 on for twenty years in comparative retire- 
 ment, but happy in the society of her 
 children and grandchildren until her death, 
 at the age of eighty-six, on February 18, 
 1879. 
 
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