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 IN THE DAYS OF THE 
 DANDIES
 
 IN THE DAYS OF 
 THE DANDIES 
 
 BY 
 
 LOED LAMINGTON 
 
 WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS 
 
 EDINBURGH AND LONDON 
 
 MDCCCXC 
 
 All I.
 
 ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN 'BLACKWOOD'S MAGAZINE'
 
 
 PUBLISHERS' NOTE. 
 
 The series of recollections which the late Lord 
 Lamington began to contribute to ' Blackwood's 
 Magazine' in January 1890, were brought to a 
 premature close by his Lordship's much lamented 
 death on 15th February. These reminiscences of a 
 polished and brilliant society, which is little more 
 than a tradition to the present generation, were so 
 favourably received, and so widely noticed, that the 
 present reprint will be generally acceptable. It must 
 be a matter of deep regret that the rich and varied 
 stores of memory whence these papers issued, are 
 now sealed by the decease of the noble Author. 
 
 861
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 AUTHOR AND PUBLISHER OF 'MAGA,' . . 1 
 
 SOME GREAT BEAUTIES AND SOCIAL 
 
 CELEBRITIES, 44 
 
 THE YOUNG ENGLAND PARTY, ... 86
 
 IN THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 AUTHOR AND PUBLISHER OF 'MAGA. - 
 
 Author. Well, you have read my MS., tell me 
 frankly what you think of it. 
 
 Publisher of Maga. It is excellent, full of interest 
 of the highest order ; the historic incidents are most 
 graphically described. I have read few works which 
 show deeper research and a higher appreciation of 
 the stirring events of the period you describe ; to 
 me it seems admirable. 
 
 A. I am delighted to hear this, and with your 
 name on the title-page, it will he a success. 
 
 Maga. Excuse me, I have only given you my 
 opinion of the hook ; 1 did not say that I would 
 publish it.
 
 IN THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 A. What do you mean 1 
 
 Maga. I mean that my opinion is quantum sufficit, 
 just what it is worth as an individual opinion ; as a 
 publisher I have to consider the public taste, and I 
 fear a work like yours would have little chance of 
 success. There are two styles of literature which are 
 popular just now : with the public anything connected 
 with mental processes of thought, of involution, evolu- 
 tion, metaphysical, analytical disquisitions, — all the 
 subtleties and mysteries of science, the more unin- 
 telligible the better ; or it must be a startling novel, 
 a nineteenth-century Mrs Eadcliffe style, the shilling 
 thrilling volume of sensational incidents, worked up 
 by the pen of a ready writer, the Mystery of a Han- 
 som Cab, — this is what succeeds; but a work of 
 culture and thought, men or women either have no 
 time to read, or at any rate no time to appreciate. I 
 am sure we should not dispose of a hundred copies 
 of your book. 
 
 A. That's not encouraging, but I agree with you. 
 Literature in its high and elevated sense is quite 
 neglected ; people seem to have, as you say, no time 
 for reflection, only for feeling. We move at railway 
 speed ; and then there are the competitive examina- 
 tions, which fill and weaken the brains of half our 
 youth, and the other are swept onward by the whirl
 
 AUTHOR AND PUBLISHER OF ' MAGA. 3 
 
 of political or social life. So I perfectly see the force 
 of your observations, and so far as circulation goes, I 
 may as well throw the MS. into the fire ! 
 
 Maga. That is the worst use you could make of 
 it ; there is still an interest in writing for the few. 
 There are always some who retain their classic tastes, 
 and whose presence would have been welcomed in 
 society half a century ago, when no man coidd play 
 a part there unless he was the possessor of mental 
 acquirements. I admit they are rare now, but the 
 approval of tin; intellectual minority is worth having. 
 
 A. As you say, the cultivated minds are few com- 
 pared with what they were even in my younger days, 
 for we somehow did manage to combine the student 
 and the society life. Then you must remember that 
 we lived in the time when the memories of the great 
 literary giants were still fresh in the minds of men, — 
 Scott, Byron, Shelley, Wordsworth, Hallam, — what 
 a list I might name ! — had just passed away. The 
 classics were not considered useless studies. In the 
 occupation of time, no1 what would pay, but what 
 would elevate the mind, was chiefly considered. An 
 Oxonian told me the other day that all the historic 
 Btandard works are Left unread on the shelves of the 
 Bodleian now, and no one cares for them. 
 
 Maga. You allude to college life. The change
 
 4 IN THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 must be as great in all social life since you first en- 
 tered it. 
 
 A. Talk of the Jubilee ! no change during the last 
 half-century has been greater than the changes in 
 social life. You made a very true remark just now, 
 that no man could fill a space in society fifty years 
 ago unless he possessed intellectual qualifications ; a 
 dandy, even, recpiired something more than stage 
 properties to obtain and to maintain his position. 
 
 " When wits and courtiers sought the same resorts, 
 All courtiers wits, and all wits fit for courts." 
 
 • 
 
 The extravagances of dandy life have been widely 
 told ; but these vanities were merely the ripple on 
 the surface of superior merit. I have always heard 
 that Brummell, who, in the time of the Eegency, was 
 the great leader of fashion, the chief of the dandies, 
 was the possessor of great gifts of tact, of knowledge, 
 of memory, and keenness of perception. " Had Brum- 
 mell," writes a great authority in those days, " been 
 nothing better than an elegant automaton, he would 
 never have acquired the influence that he decidedly 
 obtained : he would not have enjoyed the society of 
 clever men ; neither would they have thought it 
 worth their while to bestow a word upon him, even 
 in their moments of relaxation. But the reverse was
 
 AUTHOU AND PUBLISHER OF ' MAGA. 
 
 the case. His acquaintance was not limited to men 
 of fashion only — it comprised a great portion of the 
 most intellectual men of the time ; and at what 
 period of our history was there such a constellation 
 of genius?" And Lord Byron writes: "I liked the 
 dandies ; they were all civil to me. I had a tinge of 
 dandyism in my minority, and probahly retained 
 enough of it to conciliate the great ones at five-and- 
 twenty. I knew them all, more or less, and they 
 made me a member of AVattier's (a superb club at 
 that time), — being, I take it, the only literary man, 
 except two others (both men of the world) — Moore 
 and Spencer — in it. Our masquerade was a grand 
 one; so was the dandy ball too."/ 
 
 I will take the men I have personally known, of 
 a far later date — Count d'Orsay, Lord Cantilupe, 
 Lord Chesterfield, Lord Alvanley, Sir George Womb- 
 well, Sir Henry Mildmay, Ridley Colborne, and 
 others. They were all men of excellent accomplish- 
 ments, and dress was the least part of their merit : 
 they understood the value 
 
 " Of employing 
 Some hours to make the remnant worth enjoying." 
 
 They were always welcome guests, not only in 
 fashionable but in grave political circles. To be a 
 man of the world, was to lie a man above the level
 
 G IN THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 of ordinary men. Count d'Orsay was a brilliant 
 leader of the dandy class — strikingly handsome, of 
 a splendid physique, a commanding appearance, an 
 admirable horseman of the Haute Ecole school. 
 When he appeared in the perfection of dress (for 
 the tailors' art had not died out with George IV.), 
 with that expression of self-confidence and self-com- 
 placency which the sense of superiority gives, he 
 was the observed of all. Add to this his real 
 accomplishments — a sculptor, an excellent artist, and 
 the possessor of a happy faculty of seizing the ex- 
 pression and drawing an admirable likeness in a 
 remarkably short time. ! A collection of the habitue* 
 of Gore House was published by Mitchell in Bond 
 Street, and had a large sale. 
 
 Mar/a. In fact, there were Admirable Crichtons 
 in those days 1 
 
 A. Very much so. Men took great pains with 
 themselves — they did not slouch and moon through 
 life ; and it was remarkable how highly they were 
 appreciated by the crowd, not only of the upper but 
 the lower classes. C\ have frequently ridden down 
 to Eichmond with Count d'Orsay. A striking figure 
 he was in his blue coat with gilt buttons, thrown 
 well back to show the wide expanse of snowy shirt- 
 front and buff waistcoat ; his tight leathers and
 
 AUTHOR AND PUBLISHER OF ' MALA.' 7 
 
 polished boots ; his well-curled whiskers and hand- 
 some countenance ; a wide-brimmed glossy hat, spot- 
 less white gloves. He was the very beau-ideal of a 
 leader of fashion. As he rode through Kensington 
 and Brompton he excited general attention. I was 
 greatly interested in noticing the admiration with 
 which he was regarded. What sentiment such an 
 appearance might excite at the present day I cannot 
 pretend to say, but at that time the effect pro- 
 duced was unmistakable : they stared at him as 
 at a superior being. ) 
 
 Maga. Like Beau Brummell, be must have pos- 
 sessed higher qualities than even those you have 
 mentioned. 
 
 A. He bad certainly a great self-command, and 
 must of all, great kindliness of disposition. If lie 
 were sui profusus, be was never alieni appetens. He 
 was lavish in bis generosity; if any merit claimed 
 kindred at (Jure Huuse it had its claim allowed. 
 /He possessed, moreover, that great quality, as I say, 
 of self-command ; this enabled him to bear bis own 
 burden in life without inflicting the history of his 
 sorrows on others. During the latter years of bis 
 residence at Gore House, be could only leave it 
 from midnight on Saturday until the same hour on 
 Sunday; at all other times bis creditors wen; on
 
 8 IN THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 the watch to seize him. On Saturday after twelve 
 he was to be seen at Crockford's, always gay and 
 smiling, as if he had no anxiety or fears./ During 
 the week-days I sometimes passed the afternoon 
 with him in Gore House gardens, and never on any 
 one occasion did he allude to his misfortunes. He 
 bore in his conduct testimony to the wisdom of 
 Jaques Eoux, who says : " Happy he who mortifies 
 the bitter pleasure of calling out at all that hurts 
 and pains him ! he will be at peace with others and 
 himself." This reserve I call true courage, and the 
 Count possessed it in the highest degree. Even 
 cruel ingratitude, which in general embitters most 
 dispositions, failed to arouse in him any feeling of 
 indignation. At the time I speak of, the late Em- 
 peror Napoleon resided, when Louis Napoleon, near 
 Gore House, where he spent all his time. When, 
 hi 1850, the Gore House establishment had to be 
 broken up, and its occupants went to Paris, they 
 naturally expected that the President would have 
 shown them all possible kindness. On the contrary, 
 he treated his old friends with coldness and indiffer- 
 ence, and the Count even then never complained. 
 Lady Blessington did not practise so much restraint. 
 A good mot is told of her, when the President on 
 some formal occasion asked her, " Vous pensez rester
 
 AUTHOR AND PUBLISHER OF ' MAGA. U 
 
 a Paris tres long-temps, Milady?" she replied, " Et 
 vous, Monseigneur 1 " 
 
 Doubtless it was difficult for the President, after 
 Count d'Orsay's prolonged self-imposed exile from 
 France, and occupying as he did a very large space 
 in a very important circle in English society, to 
 place him over the heads of those who were more 
 ostentatiously connected with, him, and who had been 
 associated with all his schemes; but still, he should 
 have remembered that Gore House was for a long 
 period a real home for him in his lime of anxiety 
 and disappointment, when there seemed to be little 
 chance of the realisation of his ambition. Count 
 d'Orsay painted a charming picture of Lady Blessing- 
 ton as she presided over the nightly reunions of all 
 that was most eminent in literature and politics and 
 social distinction. Her face at that date was still 
 beautiful, and she dressed with the grace beyond the 
 reach of art, which sets oil" those advantages that 
 survive even the lapse of time. It was a lesson for 
 us of the younger generation to observe the grace 
 with which the grands seigneurs bent the knee as 
 they kissed her hand, and then addressed her beau- 
 tiful niece, Marguerite Power, with such courteous 
 words as bring "the smile to beauty's lips and light 
 tn glorious eyes." Count d'Orsay was always rich
 
 10 IN THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 in epigram and amusing anecdote, pleasing every one 
 in turn by some kind remark. If any young mem- 
 ber of Parliament bad made any trifling success in 
 tbe House, D'Orsay was sure to bave heard of it, 
 and to say, " Mon cber, comme vous avez Men ex- 
 prime cette idee." The occupants of Gore House 
 bore testimony to the truth that the charm of all 
 manner must come from the heart. 
 Marja. Did the Count die in Paris 1 
 A. Yes. Lady Blessington did not long survive 
 the change from her charming home and entourage 
 to a new society, and after her death the Count 
 pined away, — he had no object in life or interest 
 left. When at last the President did offer him the 
 place of Directeur des Beaux Arts, he Avas unfit for 
 any work. I visited him at that time, and found 
 bis room all hung with black curtains, the bed and 
 window curtains were the same ; all the souvenirs 
 of one so dear were collected around him. It was 
 most sad. There are moments and scenes even in 
 early youth in which we are deeply impressed with 
 the nothingness of all worldly things : such a scene 
 and such a moment was this to me. 
 
 Maga. It must have been a painful sight ! You 
 spoke of Crockford's. Was not that a very pleasant 
 club 1
 
 AUTHOR AND PUBLISHER OF ' MAGA.' 11 
 
 A. It was indeed the beau-ideal of a club. The 
 notion that any man of large fortune was at once 
 elected a member, in order to pluck and pigeon him, 
 was quite absurd. A novel was written at the time 
 I speak of called ' Crockford's ; or, Life in the "West,' 
 winch was about as true a representation of the life 
 and manners of that time as ' Lothair ' is of the pre- 
 sent. The fact is. it was very difficult for any one, 
 however well known or highly considered, to he 
 elected to Crockford's. The number of candidates 
 being out of all proportion to the vacancies, a man 
 of large fortune and good birth was, cceteris paribus, 
 more widely known, and so far was preferred to a 
 person with not the same credentials; otherwise suc- 
 cess depended on personal qualifications. It cannot 
 be said that the club was independent of play, for 
 it could not have been kept up in such a luxuri- 
 ous style without play; but many a member never 
 entered the play -room. It was at the end of a 
 long suite of magnificent apartments. The custom, 
 if members like myself partook frequently of the 
 supper and never played, was at the close of the 
 season to throw a ten-pound note on the play-table 
 and leave it there. Hut that was really conscience- 
 money; no one inquired, asked for it, or perhaps 
 even noticed it.
 
 o 
 
 12 IN THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 Maga. These must indeed have been delightful 
 nodes ccenceqne. 
 
 A. AVe shall never see their like again. During 
 the parliamentary season, supper was provided from 
 twelve o'clock to five in the morning — and such a 
 supper ! Francatelli was chef. I rather think he 
 received £800 a-year. But there was every dish and 
 drink that could gratify the most fastidious taste ; 
 and night after night were met there all those who 
 Avere noted for any superiority, intellectual or per- 
 sonal. Politics, literature, art, fashion, rank ; the wit, 
 the courtier, the poet, the historian, the politician, 
 were found at the table. It was frequently a tilt of 
 freshest wit and clever repartee. There every night 
 after the House of Commons might be heard the 
 sparkling epigrams and wit of the party whips, Henry 
 Baring and Ben Stanley, rivals in social as in political 
 life ; there might be seen that arbiter elegantiarum, 
 Mr Auriol, whose good luck, appetite, and appearance 
 obtained him the name of " Crockford's Ugly Cus- 
 tomer." There the great leaders, who, like Charles 
 Fox, "in retreat laid their thunder by," would meet 
 on neutral ground, forgetful of all party objects 
 in the good-fellowship of mutual enjoyment. The 
 dandies of course mustered strong ; and there, as I 
 have remarked, Count d'Orsay generally every Satur-
 
 AUTHOR AND PUBLISHER OF ' MAGA.' 13 
 
 day night was seen, and again on Sunday night until 
 half-past eleven, when he left, so as to reach Gore 
 House hefore the Cinderella hour of twelve, where 
 he Avould not unfrequently find some of those who 
 were so anxious for his society waiting at the 
 gates ; hut he was safe until the last stroke of 
 twelve. 
 
 Maga. Why was such a pleasant resort ever broken 
 up ? 
 
 A. In consequence of the report of the Gambling 
 Committee of the House of Commons, of which I 
 was a member. Lord Palmerston was our chairman, 
 and he did all in his power to save Crockford's, on 
 the ground that the play was fair, credit was seldom 
 given, and that anything was preferable to private 
 play. The sequel has proved how correct he was. 
 This was a most interesting Committee. All the 
 keepers of the various gambling-houses, the bonnets, 
 touters, and accomplices, were examined, and start- 
 ling revelations were made. One episode in the 
 course of the examination of witnesses amused us 
 very much. Sonic important turf authority was in 
 the witness-box, and Milner-Gibson failed to obtain 
 any distinct evidence from him. Then Lord George 
 Bentinck tackled him, and he at once gave us full 
 information. Milner-Gibson was very angry. "Why
 
 14 IN THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 do you reply to Lord George," he asked, " and not to 
 mel" " Because his lordship knows what he is talk- 
 ing about, and you don't." The whole report of that 
 Committee is well worth studying as a picture of the 
 turf and the gambling circles of fifty years ago. But 
 all the chairman's efforts failed to save Crockford's. 
 The Committee recommended that on the declaration 
 of two householders the police should be empowered 
 to enter any house where public play was carried on. 
 Very shortly after the report of the Committee the 
 required declaration was made, and the police at once 
 acted upon it. In vain it was declared in court that 
 the club existed independent of play, that the gam- 
 ing was carried on in another part of the establish- 
 ment. The magistrates decided against it, and it was 
 at once closed. The anticipations of Lord Palmer- 
 ston proved to be correct ; for since then private play 
 has greatly increased, and has led to very painful 
 results. 
 
 Mdija. So there was an end of these festivities? 
 
 A. An end of the play and of this pleasant life. 
 But a supping club was started in Piccadilly, called 
 the Coventry ; it was not, however, the same thing. 
 It was easy to succeed Crockford's, but not to replace 
 it. The Coventry dragged on a lingering existence. 
 There was not the same desire to belong to it.
 
 AUTHOR AND PUBLISHER OF ' MAGA.' 15 
 
 Coventry House was very near the old famous club 
 Wattier's. 
 
 Maga. The centre of the old dandies you have 
 been talking of] 
 
 A. ^Exactly ; it was their headquarters. Lord 
 Willoughby de Eresby, then Lord Gwydyr, was chief 
 of the dandies. This great friend of the Prince 
 Regent told me how important the dandy class of 
 society was, not only socially but politically ; so 
 much so, that at the Coronation, when there was 
 great fear of disturbances in consequence of the 
 queen's expressed intention of presenting herself at 
 the Abbey during the ceremony, George IV. was in a 
 state of great anxiety, and he sent for Lord Gwydyr 
 to ask him what was the feeling of the dandies; who 
 replied, "It is not favourable to your Majesty." "I 
 care nothing for the mob," exclaimed the king, "but 
 I do for the dandies!" and asked Lord Gwydyr's 
 advice. Lord Gwydyr suggested that to keep them 
 in good humour it might be well if his Majesty in- 
 vited them to breakfast somewhere in the vicinity of 
 the Abbey on the morning of the Coronation. The 
 king acquiesced. A grand breakfast was prepared in 
 one of the rooms of the Eouse of Lords, and the king 
 lined all his popularity with the dandies. 
 
 Maga. You spoke of the private play which fo]
 
 1G IN TITE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 lowed on the closing of Crockf ord's ; but surely, from 
 all you have heard, much larger fortunes were lost 
 formerly than have been lost hi recent days? 
 
 A. That is quite possible ; but I can understand 
 that the results were not so bad when playing against 
 a public bank. With a public bank there can be no 
 personal quarrels, no bitter feelings awakened. A 
 man loses his money ; there is an end of it. No one 
 can be personally reproached or suspected ; there is 
 no hatred, malice, and all uncharitableness after- 
 wards ; there are no ties of affection and friendship 
 broken. This was Lord Palmerston's contention. 
 No doubt immense fortunes were squandered at 
 Crockford's, and the high play and high living 
 were attended with the saddest resvdts. I have 
 been told on unquestionable authority that several 
 of the members of Wattier's Club committed suicide. 
 I myself can recall six or seven of that set (Wattier's 
 was closed before my time) who did so. It must 
 have been a life of intense excitement, and the ner- 
 vous system could not stand it. Moreover, in those 
 days hard drinking was the custom, and weakened 
 alike both mind and body. 
 
 Maga. Did you see much of Louis Napoleon at 
 Gore House 1 
 
 A. Constantly. He was always there. The strange
 
 A.UTHOE AND PUBLISHER OF ' MAGA.' IT 
 
 tiling is that the Count d'Orsay, who was such a 
 remarkable judge of character, had no opinion of the 
 Prince's ability. " C'est un brave garcon," he used 
 to say, " rnais pas d'esprit ; " and he smiled when the 
 Prince used to speak qf the possibility of his return 
 triumphant to France — a conviction which he always 
 possessed. At the time of the vacancy of the Greek 
 throne it was suggested that the Prince might be an 
 excellent candidate for the succession; if elected, he 
 would have been so with the good wishes of France 
 and England. This was Lord Palmerston's idea ; 
 but when the Prince was sounded on the subject he 
 declined at once, and privately explained that all his 
 hopes were centred in France. He had such implicit 
 confidence in the future, that he used to say to his 
 cousin the Duchess of Hamilton (Princess Marie of 
 Baden), "Marie, when I am at the Tuileries I shall 
 make such and such changes; " and she would reply, 
 "I wish, Louis, you would not always talk like this 
 —people only laugh at you." Even when he was 
 leaving Paris for his prison at Ham, he turned to 
 the officer who commanded the guard of Chasseurs 
 drawn up on tic platform of the station, and ex- 
 pressed his intention of changing (he uniform of the 
 regiment. Ee was a regular fatalist, like his uncle 
 with the sun of Austerlitz. 
 
 Ii
 
 18 IN THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 Mat/a. Louis Napoleon really liked the English 1 
 
 A. Very much so. I recall a dinner at the Elysee. 
 We were about thirty English and the same number 
 of French. After dinner, when, in Erench fashion, 
 we all rose to leave the table with the ladies, the 
 President said, " No, no, we follow the English 
 fashion to-day ; " so to the astonishment of all the 
 establishment wine was put on the table, and we 
 remained about an hour after the ladies. He was 
 always very kind to the English and grateful for the 
 attention he had received, except, as I have said, in 
 the case of Lady Blessington. 
 
 Maya. You young men who had a fair start must 
 have had a good time of it in those days. 
 
 A. We had indeed. I was early in public life, 
 and the political youth of the nation filled a large 
 space in men's minds then ; the leaders greatly in- 
 terested themselves in the young generation. It was 
 not only in political circles that we were welcomed, 
 but all the salons were opened to us ; and there Avere 
 salons then such as can never exist again. The in- 
 fluence of highly gifted women, preeminent by birth, 
 education, and manners, is lost, I fear never to be 
 renewed ; and even if it were possible to renew the 
 past, female influence would not be the same under 
 the present conditions of society. In the interest of
 
 AUTHOR AND PUBLISHER OF ' MAGA.' 19 
 
 high culture and breeding, this is one of the most-to- 
 be-regretted changes in the last half-century. How I 
 recall the kindly, genial presence of Lady Jersey, the 
 warm greeting of Lady Willoughby de Eresby, the 
 perfection of Lady Pahnerston's manner, the charm 
 of Lady Tankerville, who combined English frank- 
 ness with all the grace of the House of Grammont ! 
 It was indeed a distinction to be received into any of 
 these houses. It was the time of select recherche 
 dinners, and such petits soupers as those recorded in 
 Lady Mary Wortley Montagu's epicurean verse : — 
 
 "But when the long hours of public are past, 
 And we meet with champagne and a chicken at last." 
 
 At this time Vanxhall existed. Large parties met 
 there and returned to supper; all was hospitable and 
 genial, but there was no vulgar extravagance. La 
 famille Juive and la famille Benoiton were' not ad- 
 mitted even into the outer halls of those houses, 
 which they have now supplanted with the combined 
 forces of wealth and vulgarity, and have changed 
 refinement ami -nod taste into a race of expenditure, 
 when all things are valued by their cost, and not their 
 merit. Few of the present magnates of society could 
 have been seen at Almack's, which temple of fashion 
 the greal ladies I have named presided over, ami
 
 20 IN THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 without whose voucher uo one could gain admission. 
 Almack's was the portal to that select circle of in- 
 tellect and grace which constituted the charm of 
 society. The great ladies then received in the early 
 evening, la prima sera, immediately after dinner, 
 without any special invitation, all their inner circle. 
 It was the hour of pleasant companionship and live- 
 ly talk, when wit and politician mingled with the 
 beauties of the day. Alas ! even now as I write, the 
 last of those grandes dames has passed away ; Holland 
 House will he a thing of the past. I never recall 
 what is called the London season, even as it was 
 in my youth, without thinking how forms and habits 
 survive the spirit which originated and animated 
 them. We have a -London season now, but how 
 different from the season of fifty years ago ! / Lord 
 Willoughby said that in his dandy days the inner 
 circle of society certainly never exceeded six hundred, 
 and no one could enter it unless with the approval of 
 the great ladies ; even the young men were taken 
 round and duly presented to them before they were 
 invited within the sacred circle. The real object of 
 the season was to give the youth of the aristocracy 
 occasions for meeting ; and it rarely happened that 
 any young lady of consideration passed two seasons 
 without having the opportunity of settling for life.
 
 AI'TIIOi: AND PUBLISHER OF ' MAGA.' 21 
 
 There were no railways to invite incessant change. 
 Once established in town, families remained there; 
 the same society met on every public occasion, and 
 each individual was thoroughly known to all the 
 others. JNow there is the same idea of a season 
 and of society, but quanta mutatus thousands of 
 people crowd into the "West End ; the publican 
 and Jew have jostled the aristocracy off the stage of 
 London life. It is the hour of the speculator, the 
 schemer, the stockbroker. They reign supreme ; 
 there is no time or opportunity to cement acquaint- 
 ances ; the old order has passed away, and the new 
 order leaves everything to be desired, and year after 
 year only adds to the long list of failures and disap- 
 pointments on the part of those families who cling to 
 a tradition which is nothing but a name. 
 
 Maga. Surely the ladies you mention must have 
 possessed far greater merits than those associated 
 with mere fashion. You say they were highly ac- 
 complished; but even fashion and accomplishments 
 cannot explain the vast influence they seem to have 
 exercised. 
 
 A. This is true. I will take Lady Jersey : from 
 her earliest youth she had played a great role in 
 society, and was proficient in the qualifications which 
 constitute its charm. An admirable linguist, all
 
 22 IN THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 foreigners found a home in Berkeley Square. She 
 possessed the special knowledge which rendered her 
 society agreeable to literary men ; and her keenness 
 in politics placed her at the head, as it made her 
 house the centre, of attraction to the then Tory 
 party. At the time I knew her she was at the 
 zenith of her popularity. Her personal influence 
 was remarkable. Whenever she travelled she met 
 with exceptional attentions. I remember when she 
 arrived in Paris she was received like royalty by all 
 the directors of the Chemin du Nord ; and when she 
 visited the Louvre the galleries were all lit up, an 
 honour only paid to royalty. She moved with a 
 kind of regal dignity, as if she felt herself to be the 
 queen of society. What an acquaintance she had 
 among the celebrities of the day ! She frequently ex- 
 pressed regret that she had never kept a list of those 
 who had dined with her since she first lived in Berke- 
 ley Square. Their very names would have been an 
 interesting record of the past. Byron was a frequent 
 visitor there. She told me that after his separation 
 from Lady Byron, when he left the seat he had 
 occupied next her at the end of the room, the ladies 
 who approached her lifted up their dresses that they 
 might not be polluted by touching the floor where he 
 had passed, so strong was the feeling against him.
 
 AUTHOR AND PUBLISHER OF ' MAGA.' 23 
 
 It certainly required a great deal of self-denial to fill 
 such a position as Lady Jersey's. After she became 
 a widow, and had lost, one by one, all her children, 
 she always dined at home, where she had a table 
 for ten or twelve every day, and never went into 
 society. Her intimate friends had the privilege of 
 writing their names down at the house, and dining 
 there whenever there was room. Of course, this kind 
 of life was very expensive; so, independent of pop- 
 ularity, prestige, and rank, other qualifications were 
 indispensable for a lady of fashion. Lady Jersey's 
 name recalls to my memory one who was widely 
 known, and as widely appreciated and loved. Let 
 me pay this tribute to Lady Clementina Villiers, the 
 light of her home and of the society she adorned. 
 Some one remarked to Lord Jersey, " Xo one was 
 perfect." "There is one who is perfect — there is 
 Clementina," was his reply. Her very presence lent 
 a charm to all her surroundings. Leading the gay 
 life of the London season, she found time for many 
 accomplishments and serious studies. Needless to 
 say how many suitors she had, amongst them being 
 the Luke d'Ossuna, 1 pleasant, agreeable, sixteen times 
 
 1 The Duke d'Ossuna represented the mu^iiificence of the 
 old Spanish grandees. During his prolonged absences, his 
 palace in Madrid wae kepi up as it he were resident there —
 
 24 IN THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 Grandee of Spain. He renewed over and over again 
 most magnificent offers ; and he really was attached 
 to her, for a friend who long resided at Madrid told 
 me his palace at Madrid was full of drawings of Lady 
 Clementina. She was indeed a pearl which he hoped 
 he had found in his path in life ; but he pleaded in 
 vain. What infinite grace and charm she possessed ! 
 Well I remember when there was to be a grand fancy 
 ball at the palace, when it was intended to introduce 
 the minuet, how we daily practised the steps in 
 Berkeley Square under the direction of the Jfeur 
 des poix, the young gay Prince Talleyrand. Then 
 Augustus Stafford wrote a graceful stanza, with which 
 all sympathised, for Lady Clementina : — 
 
 " May every hope and every joy 
 Combine to make thy lot 
 As tranquil as the minuette, 
 And as gay as the gavotte." 
 
 Alas ! it was not to be. Lady Clementina went to 
 Germany with her mother, contracted a fever there, 
 and returned to England to die at her beloved house, 
 
 establishment, stables, and a daily table for twenty, at which 
 his major-domo presided. He had eight chateaux or palaces 
 maintained in the same condition, and as many more which 
 only required a few days for preparation ; and all this time he 
 lived in a small apartment in Paris.
 
 AUTHOR AND PUBLISHER OF ' MAGA.' 25 
 
 Middleton Park. I was told that she had a singular 
 foreknowledge of her death when she left her home. 
 
 " 'Tis the sunset of life gives me mystical lure, 
 And coming events cast their shadows before." 
 
 Maga. This was very sad; but tell me about Lady 
 Palmerston. Do n< »t y< >u think that Lord Palmerston 
 owed much to Lady Palmerston, and that her great 
 popularity and hospitality was of much use in his 
 relations with his party 1 ? 
 
 A. There is not the least question that Lady 
 Palmerston's dinners and receptions kept the party 
 together. She was a perfect hostess. Except the 
 first Lady Granville, I have never seen any one 
 possessed of so much tact, and, on great occasions, 
 courtesy. Lady Granville's manner was consummate 
 acting; she had not only a word, but the word, to 
 say to all her guests. When ambassadress in Paris 
 she was always looking beyond the person she was 
 actually receiving, and preparing for the next. Never 
 was ambassadress more popular. But Lady Palmer- 
 ston's frank and genial manner really came from the 
 heart. She was grateful to her husband's supporters, 
 and her welcome was the expression of her affection 
 for, and pride in him. No leader of a party ever 
 had a more efficient helpmate than Lady Palmerston 
 proved herself to Lord Palmerston.
 
 26 IN THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 Mar/a. What do you say to Mrs Disraeli — I beg 
 her pardon — Lady Beaconsfield ] 
 
 A. Yes; she was certainly his "guide, companion, 
 counsellor, and friend," and Lord Beaconsfield fully 
 appreciated her sympathy and devotion. He always 
 said that he owed everything to her. But she never 
 attempted a salon ; hers were entirely domestic quali- 
 ties. As the wife of a great leader and minister she 
 had little influence on the party ; in fact, was very 
 little known. Lady Palmerston was entirely devoted 
 to the object of confirming the wandering in their 
 adherence, and winning over opponents. Many a 
 difficult crisis has been averted by Lady Palmerston 
 entering the room at the suitable moment, and in her 
 charming manner insisting on the discontented or 
 disappointed one accepting her gracious hospitality. 
 She possessed the power of making each visitor feel 
 that he was the guest she delighted to honour ; and 
 thus her receptions were highly appreciated, and were 
 of incalculable benefit to the party. Lord Palmerston 
 was also admirable in his tact and manner. It was 
 ironically said of him by an old diplomatist, " Lord 
 Palmerston is an excellent Foreign Secretary, he has 
 so many pleasant social vices." One thing is certain, 
 he had remarkable social qualities, he was keen in 
 observation, with a curiosa felicitas of expression, —
 
 AUTHOR AND PUBLISHER OF ' MAGA.' 27 
 
 a consummate actor. An old friend who was recalled 
 from an important but distant legation and appointed 
 to an inferior post in Europe, came to me the day of 
 his arrival in a state of indignation that he had never 
 been consulted about the change. " I shall go at once 
 to Carlton Gardens and let his lordship know in un- 
 measured terms what I think of his abominable con- 
 duct ; afterwards I will return and tell you the result." 
 He did return ; and 1 said I hoped he had not minced 
 the matter with the Minister. "Plague confound the 
 fellow ! I never could say a word.'' "What do you 
 mean?" "Why, I sent in my card and was kept in 
 the dining-room — while he was, of course, arranging 
 the scene; for no sooner was I shown into his study, 
 than before I could utter a word, he rushed up, seized 
 me by both hands, — 'My dear, dear friend,' he said, 
 'I rejoice we have you Lack amongst us; you ex- 
 change barbaric life for civilisation; all your friends 
 are so glad to welcome you.' ' My lord, 1 am sur- 
 prised,' I struggled to say. ' Not a word, not a 
 word! here is Lady Palmerston. My dear, welcome 
 your old friend home; he is one of us again. He 
 will dine with us to-day — won't you? We must 
 keep you, now we have got you back. 1 am off to 
 a Cabinet. Lady Palmerston, gel our friend to tell 
 you 3ome of those anecdote, which used to delight
 
 28 IN THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 us ; I leave him in your care. Good-bye — au revoir, 
 at eight o'clock,' and so he rushed out. I am engaged 
 to dine, and have lost my chance ! " 
 
 lie possessed great epigrammatic power. Some one 
 remarked there was no difference between occupation 
 and business. " Why," he remarked, " the French 
 are in occupation of Ancona, but they have no busi- 
 ness there." He defined a deputation as "a noun of 
 multitude, implying a great many, but signifying very 
 little." He certainly had the art of keeping in office, 
 hence the lines : — 
 
 " Full many a government I have known 
 For now twice twenty years, 
 In every one I see the name 
 Of Palmerston appears. 
 
 But yet I would not rashly blame, 
 
 And pause ere I condemn ; 
 Did all these rat to Palmerston, 
 
 Or Palmerston to them ? " 
 
 His vanity gave occasion for many a joke ; there 
 was one, the parody on Goldsmith's — 
 
 " When some gay viscount old and jolly, 
 Thinks that his hair becomes too grey ; 
 What art can chase the tempus molle, 
 What art can drive his years away 1
 
 AUTHOR AND PUBLISHER OF ' MAGA.' 29 
 
 The only art his years to cover, 
 To hide his age from every eye, 
 
 And be the young and tender lover 
 "We used to know him, is to dye I" 
 
 He might have been classed among the dandies I 
 have mentioned. 
 
 Lord Palmerston possessed great readiness and tact. 
 A friend of mine wished to obtain a consular appoint- 
 ment for a relative — this was before the introduction 
 of competitive examinations. "Too happy to serve 
 you," said Lord Palmerston. " Call to-morrow and 
 I will see what can he done." The next day he 
 proposed a consulship of £600 a-year in Asia Minor. 
 My friend was delighted. But as he was leaving the 
 room, Lord Palmerston called out, " I will have the 
 papers sent for you to sign." "What papers?" 
 "Why, you are aware that whoever recommends a 
 consul, is made responsible for all the money that 
 passes through the consul's hands." Need I add 
 that there was an end of the transaction, for the 
 relative was fond of play, which Lord Palmerston 
 well knew. 
 
 Maga. What was the meaning of the feud between 
 Urquhart and Palmerston? You must have, known 
 I Irquhart. 
 
 .1. Intimately ; ami a remarkable man he -was.
 
 30 IN THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 His relations with Lord Palmerston were curious. I 
 forget what was the original cause of Urquhart's 
 hatred of Palmerston ; of one thing he was certainly 
 convinced, that he (Lord Palmerston) was in the pay 
 of Russia, and betrayed the interest of England. The 
 thing was absurd ; but Lord Palmerston did not like 
 it, and was very glad when Urquhart had the oppor- 
 tunity of bringing forward his indictment in the 
 House, when, as Avas expected, he entirely failed to 
 substantiate any of his charges. From that moment 
 the " faith as it was in Urquhart," as the ' Spectator ' 
 styled it, visibly declined. 
 
 Maga. Had he not a large following 1 
 
 A. Very large indeed. There were a great number 
 of persons, and these men of ability and consideration, 
 who regarded Urquhart as a prophet — as the founder 
 of a new dispensation. His was a strange career. 
 He was secretary at Constantinople during Lord 
 Ponsonby's embassy ; he then adopted quite the 
 oriental life, and his influence entirely superseded 
 the ambassador's. This led to violent scenes, and 
 Urquhart was recalled ; this was in the reign of 
 William IV., who became acquainted with Urquhart, 
 and at once was subject to his influence. Had the 
 king lived, that influence would have affected any 
 government. At this time 'The Portfolio,' a col-
 
 AUTHOK AND PUBLISHER OF ' MAGA.' 31 
 
 lection of documents on foreign affairs, was edited 
 and written by Urquhart. It produced a great sen- 
 sation in the diplomatic world ; not alone by the 
 new light it threw on many political and social ques- 
 tions, but from the keen observations and ability of 
 the writer. It contained from time to time passages 
 of singular beauty and remarkable foresight. I re- 
 member when he foretold our terrible Afghanistan 
 disasters of 1841, he wrote (I opiote from memory) : 
 "I warn you in this midnight of your intoxication 
 a day-dawn of sorrow is at hand ; and although my 
 voice is now raised in vain, and my words find no 
 responsive echo in your hearts, they will sink into 
 your spirits when they are broken and subdued by 
 misfortune." His chief work — 'The Spirit of the 
 East ' — possesses great merit. He was entirely master 
 of the Eastern question; and on his own evidence, 
 like the poet, he wandered eastward, not ''now and 
 then," but in his daily life. His house at "Watford 
 was an Eastern palace, with a Turkish bath (for it 
 was Mr Hrquhart who introduced Turkish baths into 
 this country), which in luxuriousness was inferior to 
 none in Constantinople. Here Mr Drquhart passed 
 much of his time writing ami sipping sherbet, with 
 the thermometer at 140 to 150 degrees Fahrenheit. 
 The repasts consisted of piloffs, kabobs, Indian curries,
 
 32 IN THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 and sauces. He expended, all the fortune he inherited, 
 and the large sums he received from his many followers, 
 on missions and couriers to all parts of the globe. 
 Through him the world was to be renewed. Never 
 was a greater instance of how faith in one's self can 
 affect others. Although he has long passed away 
 from public life, his memory survives among many 
 who are interested in foreign affairs. The Foreign 
 Affairs Committee of Newcastle, and in many large 
 towns, still exist, and have not lost faith in their great 
 master, with whom they were always in constant com- 
 munication. Numerous deputations arrived from these 
 local bodies, to ask advice as to candidates for Parlia- 
 ment, or for an opinion on the important foreign 
 question of the day. "Woe betide the individual who 
 presumed to differ from, or wrongly interpret, the 
 oracle ! 
 
 Lord Houghton tells us in his melodious verse — 
 
 - 
 
 " Westward roll the orbs of heaven, 
 Eastward turn the thoughts of men." 
 
 Every thought of Urquhart turned eastward : he 
 could trace the influence of the East in the most 
 trifling incident — each thought was oriental. One 
 morning he called on me accompanied by a tailor : he 
 was to be the best man at a wedding, and wished for
 
 AUTIIOP. AND PUBLISHEE OF ' MAO A.' 33 
 
 my advice as to his costume for the ceremony. There 
 was a Scotch plaid lying on a chair, and the tailor, 
 a little sallow sharp-nosed man, happened to take it 
 up, and threw it over his shoulder. Urquhart paused 
 in the discussion, as to blue frock-coat or blue dress- 
 coat, gilt or plain buttons, looked at the tailor, went 
 to him with an exclamation of astonishment, seized 
 him by the arm, and said, "Sir, you are an Eastern." 
 " A what, sir ] " said the astounded man. " An 
 Eastern, — an Arab. Xo one without Eastern blood 
 could have worn a plaid in that way. "What's your 
 name 1 ?" "Jones, sir." "Your Christian name?" 
 "Abraham." "Exactly; I was sure it was Eastern. 
 I don't care what your name is, — Jones, Potts, any- 
 thing you like, — you may tell your family that they 
 may call themselves what they like ; but they are 
 Arabs, they come from the East, and they should be 
 proud of it." 
 
 Drquhart invited me for two days to — I forget the 
 in name he gave his house at Watford, by the 
 river-side — but he added, "if you come early you can 
 take a bath." I was ao1 greatly tempted to take, as 
 I supposed he intended, a dip in the Colne; but I 
 left early, and reached the house aboul 10 o'clock, 
 where I was received by two servants in oriental 
 costume, who salaamed as they showed me into the 
 
 <■
 
 34 IN THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 drawing-room. " Family all in bath," said one. " All 
 in the river ! " I exclaimed. " No river, no river, 
 sahib! in bath." It seemed an extraordinary recep- 
 tion, still more so when a small child, with only a 
 little linen cloth on and all dripping wet, entered the 
 room, made a low salaam, kissed my hand, pressed it 
 to his forehead, and said, "Papa and mamma leave 
 bath soon," and then ran away. "What it all meant 
 I conld not imagine, never having heard of this 
 Eastern life and Turkish baths ; but presently the 
 two orientals again appeared, threw open the folding- 
 doors at one end of the room, and a procession such 
 as was seldom seen in the West, appeared. It was 
 headed by Mr and Mrs Urquhart, in turbans and large 
 white sheets, fringed with gold embroidery, thrown 
 over them. They were followed by three or four 
 young men in similar costumes, only not quite so 
 magnificent. These, I learnt subsequently, were the 
 private secretaries ; then followed a large retinue of 
 servants, some still in a very moist condition. No 
 word was spoken. Urquhart saluted me in Eastern 
 fashion, said in a solemn voice, " Breakfast will be 
 ready in an hour," and the pageant passed on. This 
 delay brought it to half-past 11. I had plenty of 
 time to admire the beautiful furniture of the rooms, 
 mostly of Eastern production. When my host and
 
 AUTIIOi: AND PUBLISHER OF ' MAGA.' 35 
 
 hostess returned they were in ordinary dress. At 
 length, to my great relief, breakfast was announced, 
 and I found myself recalling my young life in Smyrna. 
 Except that we were given knives and forks, we might 
 have been eating in an Eastern bazaar. After break- 
 fast the bath mystery was cleared up, for through the 
 folding-doors I was shown into a beautifully furnished 
 boudoir. This led at once into a room lined with 
 white marble, inlaid with gold work. Here were 
 seats with embroidered cushions, there were tables 
 covered with goblets such as Benvenuto Cellini would 
 not have despised. I may say that this description 
 was the result of subsequent observation ; for when 
 first the heavy crimson velvet portieres, which 
 separated it from the boudoir, were drawn aside, I 
 was completely overcome by a rush of hot air. " I 
 forgot," said Urquhart, who observed my astonish- 
 ment, "you are not accustomed to a Turkish 
 bath," 
 
 " I never have even heard of it." 
 
 "Well, it will be a new life, a new revelation for 
 you. You think tliis hot; why, it is only 1 10. 1 
 sit for hours in this at ISO degrees, read, write, and 
 si]) sherbet. I undertake to say (hat, any invalid, 
 do matter whal his ailment or his age, put in here 
 for a couple "I' hours at 180 degrees, he would leave
 
 36 IN THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 all his maladies in the bath, and come out fresh as a 
 youth. Now you will try it 1 " 
 
 "No, I thank you." 
 
 " To please me 1 " 
 
 " Not even to please you. I am glad to have seen 
 it, for it recalls my early Eastern travel, and certainly 
 seems the perfection of luxury." Then we passed on 
 to what my guide called the cooling room. This 
 really was delightful — a gentle warmth of tempera- 
 ture, divans placed all round it, amber-mouthed pipes 
 inviting the bather to soothe his nerves. In all these 
 rooms there was a subdued light, such light as half 
 conceals the grace which it reveals. It was admirable 
 in the combination of richness and good taste. I could 
 well picture the Sybarite existence of the man of deep 
 and earnest thought dreaming his dreams in such an 
 epicurean calm ; for silence was written up in large 
 letters. So here the recluse or student might indulge 
 the dolce far niente ; and it was evident that all who 
 came within the influence of Mr Urquhart were 
 bound to go through this process of purification. 
 Seeing that I had no faith in the virtues of the bath, 
 we passed from the bath to the garden. 
 
 Here was seen another proof of his wonderful 
 energy and thought. From far and wide visitors who 
 knew nothing of Mr Urquhart and his eccentricities,
 
 AUTHOR AND PUBLISHER OF '.MAC A.' 37 
 
 or, as his disciples called them, his mysterious 
 qualities, came to see his strawberries; they were 
 exceptional in size and flavour. This result was 
 achieved by digging trenches six feet deep, tilling in 
 four feet of any refuse, even dead leaves or decayed 
 branches, then covering this with two feet of soil, 
 and between the rows of plants placing slates so as 
 to preserve the heat engendered by the decayed sub- 
 stance. The effect was remarkable, although it must 
 be said that others have tried a similar process in 
 other parts, and the result has not been equally satis- 
 factory; but his attention to gardening proved the 
 remarkable versatility of mind of my entertainer, 
 and walks, shrubberies, and flower-beds were all kept 
 in perfection of order. Here Ave strolled, and Urqu- 
 hart gave me ]ii">l interesting information on tin; 
 Eastern question, which was shortly to lie discussed 
 in tin- Eouse cf Commons. His knowledge id' 
 treaties, of all matters connected with the influence 
 of Russia in the East, was very great, ami his remarks 
 were interspersed with amusing anecdotes. I listened 
 with rapt attention, as it I were a disciple of his 
 school. Now and then 1 ventured a remark; hut 
 before my sentence was concluded, he would stop me 
 witli "1 know what you are about to say, but first 
 let up' tell you par parenthkse, so and so." In vain
 
 38 IN THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 did I try to edge in an observation : on went my host 
 in one roll of interesting matter, clothed in eloquent 
 language. At last my attention was exhausted, and 
 I suggested an adjournment. 
 
 "We have had a delightful talk," said Urquhart, 
 "and really it is refreshing to find any one so well 
 informed on these questions. I agree with most of 
 your views." As I had not had the opportunity of 
 expressing any opinions, Mr Urquhart's imagination 
 must have been very vivid. The dinner was in the 
 same oriental style as the breakfast. While we were 
 at table a secretary announced the arrival of a deputa- 
 tion from one of the Foreign Affairs Committees. 
 
 " How long have they been here ] " 
 
 " Two hours." 
 
 "Have you shown them all over the grounds'?" 
 
 " We have shown them everything, sir." 
 
 " Well, I shall not be ready to receive them for 
 nearly two hours more. Is the bath well heated 1 " 
 
 " 160 degrees, sir." 
 
 " Put them into . the bath ! " And so, to their 
 astonishment, these political pilgrims, who had never 
 heard of a Turkish bath, found themselves suddenly 
 plunged into an atmosphere of torrid intensity; nor 
 less must they have been surprised at the evidence of 
 Sybarite luxury in the life of the preacher of the new
 
 AUTHOR AND PUBLISHER OF ' MAGA.' 39 
 
 dispensation. When Mr TJrquhart was ready for 
 the interview, we assembled in the large hall ; the 
 deputation was courteously welcomed by Eastern 
 observances— for one of Urquhart's creeds was that 
 hand-shaking was one of the results of a degraded 
 civilisation. After the question was asked on what 
 particular subject they required information, Mr 
 TJrquhart let forth with a knowledge and volubility 
 which was in no degree diminished by his morning's 
 exertions. Treaty after treaty was quoted with an 
 amount of detail perfectly astounding, denunciations 
 against Palmerston rolled forth in unlimited How. 
 "What," he asked, "must be the errors and weak- 
 nesses of a nation when a traitor like Lord Palmerston 
 is enthroned in the highest place, and governs this 
 great people?" 
 
 Unfortunately for the perfect harmony of the in- 
 terview, one of the deputation ventured to remark, 
 "There is one point you have mentioned, Mr TJrqu- 
 hart, on which I presume to differ from you." 
 
 "What!" shrieked out (Jrquhart, amid responsive 
 -loans of indignation on the part of the establish- 
 ment— " What ! do T hear you differ from me? 
 \\ by, sir, you come to learn here, to have your con- 
 temptible ignorance enlightened, to sit at my feet 
 and listen ; and you differ from me ! Are you
 
 40 JN THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 mad 1 " and so saying lie rushed at the trembling 
 culprit, seized him by the collar, shook him, while 
 the three friends tried to assist him, and adjured 
 XJrquhart to forgive the outrage. " He never meant 
 this, Mr XJrquhart ; he only asked for a little more 
 information." 
 
 At last the great man was appeased, and quiet 
 restored. The lecture continued to a late hour. 
 When I was shown to my bedroom I found a bed- 
 stead and blankets, but no sheets and pillows. " Is 
 this my bed 1 " I asked. 
 
 " Of course," was the reply ; " what is the matter 
 with it 1 " for my surprise was apparent. 
 
 " Why, there are no sheets or pillows " 
 
 " Sheets and pilloAvs ! Well, my dear fellow, 1 
 am disappointed in you. I was just congratulating 
 myself, after all you said this morning, on having at 
 last found in the younger generation a man who was 
 superior to the contemptible ideas of what is called 
 civilisation. Sheets and pillows ! Why, sir," — and 
 here his voice rose to the oratorical pitch — "do you 
 imagine our forefathers in the days of England's 
 greatness, before men like Palmerston were permitted 
 to drag on a guilty existence, — do you suppose they 
 cared for sheets and pillows 1 It is this miserable 
 contemptible luxury that is the ruin of England.
 
 AUTHOl: ANH PUBLISHER OF ' MAGA.' 41 
 
 Sheets and pillows ! Well, I did not expect this 
 of you. Our Led is on the floor with blankets ; our 
 children's the floor without blankets. . . . However, 
 as my guest, you shall have sheets." And then there 
 was a great disturbance hi the household. At last 
 sheets were brought, but they must have been taken 
 direct from the -water-tub, for they were so wet that 
 Mr Urquhart had his own way, and I had to roll the 
 blankets round me and wait for day. 
 
 Maga. What connection was there between civil- 
 isation, Turkish Laths, and Palmerston's supposed 
 Russian intrigues 1 
 
 A. Urquhart's theory was, that a nation must be 
 in the last state of decline to admit of the existence, 
 much less of the rule, of such a "criminal" as he 
 styled Lord Palmerston, — rather a far-fetched conclu- 
 sion, even if his premises were correct. But Urqu- 
 hart did not care for logic ; he demanded faith, what, 
 as I have said, the 'Spectator' styled the "faith as it 
 is in Urquhart," one article of which was that only 
 those have enlightened minds who have clean bodies 
 — hence the introduction of the Turkish baths. He 
 found devoted adherents amongst the ablest men. 
 Monteith of Carstairs, one of those who at Cambridge 
 were styled the Twelve Apostles (amongst whom 
 were Tennyson, Hallam, all men of distinguished
 
 42 IN THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 ability), entirely believed in him as the Saviour of 
 Society. 
 
 Maga. Was the Monteith you speak of the son of 
 Monteith of Carstairs, who received Sir Eobert Peel 
 in 1835 in Glasgow? 
 
 A. Yes ; it was on the occasion of Sir Eobert's 
 election as Lord Eector of the University. I can 
 remember the sensation Sir Eobert created when 
 he visited Glasgow. A grand banquet was given 
 him, and his speech, like his inaugural address, was 
 a noble effort, and produced a deep impression ; but 
 I recall a passage which gave occasion for a great 
 deal of parody and amusement. Sir Eobert de- 
 scribed how he travelled through Scotland, "not in 
 a luxurious post-chaise, but on a humble but faith- 
 ful steed." Lord Lytton in his admirable satire, the 
 " New Timon," says — 
 
 " Now, ou his humble but his faithful steed 
 Sir Robert rides, he never rides at speed." 
 
 Old Mr Monteith was very proud of having Sir 
 Eobert as his guest on this important occasion. Mr 
 Monteith was a very remarkable man — one of the 
 last of the city magnates, in the days of tappit hens 
 and Glasgow punch — of shrewd sense and great 
 benevolence. His son, the late Eobert Monteith,
 
 AUTHOR AND PUBLISHER OF ' MAGA.' 43 
 
 came very early under the Urquhart influence, and 
 was one of the most considerable of his disciples. 
 Urquhart never moved without a tribe of secretaries 
 and clerks. His correspondence was enormous. I 
 have always been surprised that some portion of it 
 has not been published ; it would throw light on a 
 great many diplomatic negotiations. 
 
 Maga. I can well imagine his papers to be of 
 great interest. And now you must let me say that 
 you have told me a great deal which interests me. 
 If you will allow me to publish what I recollect of 
 your reminiscences, they will prove far more accept- 
 able to the public than any historic essay. And 
 why should you not continue these recollections of 
 the past in a future number of ' Maga,' if we find 
 that my readers sympathise with my view] 
 
 A. Willingly. I will find the memories of the 
 past if you find the readers.
 
 SOME GEEAT BEAUTIES AND SOCIAL 
 CELEBRITIES. 
 
 Maga. You suggested last month that I should 
 continue my questions, and enable you to recall the 
 most interesting events of your life. There are a 
 great many ideas which occur to me connected with 
 the subjects of our last conversation. You told 
 me much about the Dandies, and great ladies of 
 your early days : were there no great Beauties who 
 attracted your attention at that time 1 
 
 A. Yes, certainly there were many remarkable for 
 beauty ; but I have often wondered whether the pre- 
 eminently beautiful women are rarer than they were 
 in the time of Horace Walpole, who tells us that 
 Avhen the Miss Gunnings passed through Doncaster 
 the street was full of an admiring crowd at early 
 dawn to see them start for the North : and you
 
 GREAT BEAUTIES AND SOCIAL CELEBRITIES. 45 
 
 remember that George III. ordered an officer's guard 
 to protect one of them, Lady Coventry, from being- 
 pressed upon by the people when she walked in the 
 Mall. "We see nothing of such excitement in these 
 days. The costumes of that time may have had 
 something to do with this. Each class had its own 
 style of dress : the laced bodices, brocaded petticoats, 
 bright stockings, and German hoops of the upper 
 classes, may have aided to attract attention. Now 
 and then at the date you mention — in my time — 
 some paragon of beauty, independent of rank ami 
 attractive dress, was occasionally to be seen. I re- 
 member a friend telling me Miss Maclean was so 
 beautiful that whenever she appeared in Edinburgh, 
 where she resided, a crowd collected : on one occasion 
 when he accompanied her to a shop in Princes Street, 
 police had to be sent for to clear the way ; and when 
 that evening she entered the theatre, the audience 
 stood up in homage to her charms. I can recall one 
 person who came up to this standard of perfection. 
 1 was with her in Paris, and walking in the Champs 
 Elysees was one of the most unpleasant processes 
 I ever went through. It was almost impossible to 
 move, from the crowds of admirers rushing by, and 
 then t inning back to look at her. At lasl we took 
 to .1 fiacre, and escaped this unwelcome demonstra
 
 46 IN THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 tion. This charming person did not live long, and 
 left a daughter who has inherited much of her 
 mother's beauty and grace, and is " La Eeine des 
 Fetes " at Cannes. 
 
 A very interesting circumstance occurred in con- 
 nection with this lady when she was in Scotland — 
 and it proves what a poet Landseer was. She was 
 on a visit to the Duchess of Bedford, somewhere 
 in Inverness-shire. There was a large party in the 
 house, amongst others Sir Edwin Landseer. Oue 
 day there was a picnic in the forest, and it so hap- 
 pened Landseer was left behind with this graceful 
 lady on the summit of a hill which the rest of the 
 party were descending. She was leaning against a 
 grey pony. Landseer was at once struck with the 
 beauty of the picture : the wild crags, purple heather, 
 the charming figure with the pony in relief against 
 the sky-line, was such a combination as an artist 
 might well love to paint. He invited her to remain 
 a few minutes in the same attitude while he sketched 
 her : it was a very slight sketch, but one of his love- 
 liest. He led the pony down the steep brae, and the 
 great artist ever retained the most vivid impression 
 of that twilight walk, a dream of the fairest of 
 women, and indeed only a dream, for a few months 
 after this a slight cold brought on* that fatal heritage
 
 GREAT BEAUTIES AXD SOCIAL CELEBRITIES. 47 
 
 of our climate, consumption, and the beautiful vision 
 faded away. There was subsequently a sale of all 
 her personal effects, including the grey pony, which 
 Landseer bought in memory of that memorable after- 
 noon. As he had no use for it, it was turned out 
 and carefully tended, and no one was permitted to 
 use it. 
 
 Maga. That was indeed true poetic sentiment ! 
 
 A. Landseer was a poet, at least he saw everything 
 from a poetic point of view. The names he gave his 
 pictures were proofs of his poetic nature. His two 
 famous pictures, " Peace " and " War " : in "Peace" 
 the sheep nibbling the grass which had grown into 
 the mouth of the cannon — in "War" the wounded 
 soldier lying beside it. The two dogs "Pride and 
 Humility"; the "Children of the Mist," the deer 
 on the grey mountain - side, with the mists of the 
 dark silent lake rising around them. There was a 
 truth about Landseer's paintings no other painter 
 of animals has ever equalled ; in fact, his heart 
 was in his work. The most charming collection of 
 his works was at Redleaf near Penshurst. lie 
 resided there '-very year, ami I understood that all 
 the pictures he painted there were left to his friend 
 t In' proprietor. 
 
 Maga. Besides this beautiful Lady you mention,
 
 48 IN THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 there must have been others, if not so remarkable, 
 at any rate possessed of great attractions. 
 
 A. You recall to me the Coronation, when the 
 foreigners who crowded London on that occasion 
 were astonished at the galaxy of beauty and grace 
 which shone in the Abbey, more especially sur- 
 rounding the Queen. I came up from Eton for the 
 night, and it was certainly very striking, and im- 
 pressed me vividly. I recall now the gallant chival- 
 rous appearance of Lord Alfred Paget, who headed 
 the procession on a charger that caracoled and curveted 
 in the most admirable haute ecole style. It is always 
 some individual in a pageant which clings to the 
 memory. Then came the great Scottish duke — to 
 whom Lord Brougham might have applied his phrase, 
 "very duke of very duke" — the popular graceful 
 " bold Buccleuch," who was the observed of all. I 
 remember the enthusiastic welcome given to Marshal 
 Soult, who, after all his campaigns, had never met 
 the Duke of Wellington until he entered the hall 
 of Apsley House, when he found himself in front 
 of Canova's statue of the great emperor, who stands 
 there with the globe in his hand. It was referring 
 to this statue the eminent sculptor replied to the 
 Duke, Avho remarked that the globe was too small in 
 proportion to the statue, " Vous savez, Monseigneur,
 
 CURAT BEAUTIES AND SOCIAL CELEP.RITIES. 49 
 
 que l'Angleterre n'est pas comprise!" Eowever, 
 you asked me about the beauties of the days of 
 my youth, and I am telling you the incidents of the 
 Coronation, so divergent are recollections ! There 
 were at this time three sisters, fairest among the 
 fairest, who, 1 imagine, might have competed in 
 beauty with the Gunning family, and in other quali- 
 ties have greatly excelled them; for they, from their 
 grandfather, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, inherited 
 with the Sheridan beauty all the Sheridan genius — 
 the beauty of the Lindleys and the genius of Richard 
 Brinsley Sheridan being alike unequalled. The three 
 sisters were Lady Seymour, Lady Dufferin, and Mrs 
 Norton, who afford the brightest proofs of the trans- 
 mission of hereditary qualities. The very name of 
 Sheridan is associated with the highest personal and 
 intellectual gifts. If Sheridan, as Moure has ex- 
 pressed it, was 
 
 " The pride of the palace, the bower, and the hall, 
 The orator, dramatist, minstrel, who run 
 Through each mode of the lyre, and was master of all," — 
 
 Miss I.indley was equally remarkable for the grace 
 and charm of womanhood. The grandchildren pos- 
 $ed the united gifts which won all hearts. No 
 one who ever met Lady Dufferin could forget her 
 rare combination of grace, beauty, and wit. Of Mrs 
 
 i)
 
 50 IN THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 Norton, Mrs Shelley writes : " I never met a woman 
 so perfectly charming, with so variable but always 
 beautiful an expression, with the ebb and flow of the 
 eloquent blood in her cheek." But the succession 
 of merit and excellence does not stop here. We 
 have in the present Lord Dufferin a proof of the 
 inheritance of the highest qualities of talent ; and 
 that charm of manner which is no little set-off to 
 the highest intellectual qualities, is still transmitted 
 to the present generation. The fame of Richard 
 Brinsley Sheridan will survive as long as the name 
 so dear to all exists. 
 
 Maga. Was not Lady Seymour the Queen of 
 Beauty at the Egiinton Tournament 1 
 
 A. I was a very young man then ; but I heard 
 so much about it, I feel as if I bad been, present 
 at it. Lady Seymour was, as you say, the Queen 
 of Beauty, and by every report appeared in all 
 her glory, radiantly beautiful. I cannot tell you 
 what a sensation that Tournament made — not only 
 at the time of its celebration, but long after- 
 wards. At this time a certain halo of poetry and 
 romance surrounded society : the railway had not 
 exercised its levelling influence on all around. Lord 
 Egiinton was himself the very type of chivalry, and 
 in the Tournament he gratified not merely his own
 
 CHEAT BEAUTIES AND SOCIAL CELEBRITIES. 51 
 
 taste but the spirit of the age. It was only recently 
 that ladies "wore the manclie d. la Caradoc, because 
 Colonel Caradoc 1 — " le beau Caradoc," as he was 
 called — had been wounded at the siege of Antwerp, 
 and for some months appeared with the sleeve of 
 his coat cut open and tied with ribbons ; and the 
 ladies had their sleeves slashed in a similar manner. 
 Thus the courtly grace and chivalrous spirit which 
 still survived gave to the Tournament an interesl 
 far beyond a mere pageant, not only with the upper 
 but with all classes of society. There are at Eglinton 
 Castle two volumes of applications for tickets of 
 admission from very distant parts, which prove how 
 it was appreciated far and wide. Lord Eglinton told 
 me that when he first thought of it, he fully ex- 
 pected that the cost would not exceed £2000 : it 
 ended in an expenditure of £30,000 to £10,000. 
 However, we will not talk of the Tournament, of 
 which you must have heard enough, and of which 
 I can only give you reports. The curious part of 
 it is, that Lord Eglinton gained so much popularity 
 by it — for certainly in the Lowlands of Scotland 
 no one was more popular. Until the Tournament 
 lie was only known as a genial, frank, open-hearted 
 nobleman; hut after this event he was regarded as 
 1 Afterwards second Lord Howden.
 
 52 IN THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 one* of tlie leading political men of the day, and 
 was certainly in the confidence of Lord Derby, who 
 sent him to Ireland, when, as Lord Lieutenant, he 
 achieved a great success. His warm-hearted nature 
 sympathised with the generous qualities of the Irish 
 nation ; he moved amongst and entered into the 
 lives and interests of all classes. Lord Eglinton was 
 a proof how much heart can do in attracting all sorts 
 and conditions of men ; for although he seemed, 
 when he entered on his high office, to gain those 
 qualifications which are especially required for its 
 due fulfilment, he was not a highly gifted man, nor 
 in his early youth had he devoted much time to 
 serious occupation ; yet he surprised those who knew 
 him best by his admirable speeches, the clearness of 
 his judgment, and his power of work. These strata 
 of merit in his nature were entirely unknown even 
 to himself : the circumstances of his position called 
 them forth, and this position he certainly OAved to 
 the Tournament, without which he might never have 
 been selected from a number of his compeers for 
 so high a post. 
 
 Mat/a. Were you often at Eglinton Castle? 
 
 A. Yes, constantly. Next to Drumlanrig, it was 
 the great house of reception in Scotland. Every 
 degree of merit or renown might claim welcome
 
 GKEAT BEAUTIES AND SOCIAL CELEBRITIES. 53 
 
 there; and had not only their claims allowed, but 
 the welcome was unlimited — unstinted. I have 
 known guests remain weeks, even months, and show 
 no inclination to leave, which was trying enough to 
 the patience and gentle nature of their host and 
 hostess. There was, as might be anticipated, an evil 
 attending this exuberant hospitality : it led to exces- 
 sive hero-worship. Simple, kind, and unassuming as 
 Lord Eglinton was, he could not avoid the atmosphere 
 of incense that was burned at his shrine. The effecl 
 of this was sometimes amusing. It was an article of 
 the Castle faith that no one could beat his lordship 
 at billiards, rackets, or tennis — indeed at any game. 
 A young officer — one of the Mundy family — arrived 
 there, ami, in ignorance of the Eglinton infallibility 
 doctrine, had the audacity to offer to play his host at 
 billiards, and to announce his superior skill by giving 
 Lord Eglinton so many points. The general indigna- 
 tion was intense, especially amongst those habitues 
 who never left the Castle, and who, if they were ever 
 called away for a day or two, locked up their rooms. 
 Those offered to prove their belief in their host's 
 superior skill by backing him for large amounts. In 
 the evening we adjourned to the billiard-room, and 
 the great match commenced. It was evident from 
 the first strokes that Lord Eglinton, who was really
 
 54 IN THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 a very good player, had found his superior. There 
 was a calm confidence about the new-comer that was 
 very exasperating ; he seemed so perfectly at his ease ; 
 there was a smile on his countenance that would 
 have entirely disconcerted a less gentle nature than 
 Eglinton's. As the game went on and the residt was 
 foreseen, the excitement of the Eglintonians could 
 scarcely be suppressed, — it almost amounted to a 
 tempest of indignation. The game ended, and the 
 young Guardsman collected his bets. However, we 
 all looked forward to the morrow : the racket-court 
 would recover the honours of the day, and the losses 
 of the previous evening were to be retrieved. But 
 meanwhile the successful rival was regarded with 
 eyes of jealousy and treated with scant courtesy by 
 many of the backers of the Castle against the world 
 — not by our host, who, with his perfect tact, only 
 showed more than usual warmth and kindliness in 
 his greeting. I was much interested in this specimen 
 of the gay fleur despoix of the day; he was the beau- 
 ideal of a Lord Foppington. After the billiards, I 
 went to his room, where I saw all his equipment, 
 worthy of a Dandy of the last century. Amongst 
 other articles was a long box for his neckties, of 
 which he had several dozen. I asked him why he 
 required so many, and he explained that he never
 
 GREAT BEAUTIES AND SOCIAL CELEBRITIES. 55 
 
 wore a white tic twice. "Do you ever wear a 
 washed tie 1 " he asked me in the young-exquisite 
 style. The next day the racket-court became the 
 centre of attraction. Here there was a large gath- 
 ering of spectators, for all the establishment Avere 
 present. Alas for the courtiers! the result was the 
 same as at billiards. Lord Eglinton had no chance 
 against his youthful antagonist. At last even his 
 lordship Linked disappointed and annoyed. As for 
 his supporters, they seemed to consider themselves 
 shamefully treated, that any one should dare to 
 snatch the laurel from their patron's brow ; and 
 they were not appeased when the victor offered to 
 run a race or ride a race against any one present. 
 Nn one look his bet, so he was left alone in his 
 glory. I was one of the few guests who took a 
 kindly view of this young original. The only time 
 I ever saw Lord Eglinton annoyed was when the 
 Prince of Parma complained that he had not been 
 t rented with proper respect by tins young gentle- 
 man. 
 
 
 
 Maga. Which Prince of Parma was that? 
 
 A. The son of the Prince who abdicated when 
 this Duke became sovereign Prince (he had married 
 Mademoiselle, sister of the Comic; de Chambord). 
 lie professed to dislike all etiquette, and yet was
 
 56 IN THE DAYS OE THE DANDIES. 
 
 easily put out if Ills position was not fully recognised. 
 He was very proud of his ancestral connection with 
 the royal blood of Scotland, and always maintained 
 that his claim to the throne was nearer than the 
 Duke of Modena's. I don't know how that is, but 
 it was a subject on which he was never tired of 
 talking. He was by way of being a great sportsman, 
 yet when he hunted with the Duke of Buccleuch at 
 Bowhill, he recpiested a groom might accompany him 
 to break down the fences, as he dismounted at every 
 obstacle. The "room was worn out before the end 
 of the day, and expressed the hope that he might 
 never ride with a Eoyal Highness again. It is 
 strange he should have been so bad a rider, for his 
 father was very fond of horses, and kept a magnifi- 
 cent stud. There were from two to three hundred 
 horses at Parma. The Prince was very interesting 
 on the subject, and told us the stables were put into 
 the perfection of order by Ward, the Yorkshire 
 stable boy. His was a remarkable career. 
 Maya. You mean the famous Baron Ward 1 
 A. Precisely; one of the cleverest diplomatists, 
 financiers, and ministers of the day. The Duke told 
 us the Baron's history. The Prince said his father 
 used to visit the stables every morning to inspect the 
 horses. On one occasion his attention was called to
 
 GREAT l'.KAUTlEs AND SOCIAL CELEBRITIES. :>7 
 
 some horses which had arrived from England the 
 previous week. The stables at that time were not in 
 good order, and he overheard some one say, "We 
 would not stand this kind of thing in Yorkshire." 
 The Prince turned round quickly, and saw young 
 Ward. "Was it you who spoke]'' lie asked. 
 
 •• Well, 1 did say something, your Royal High- 
 ness." 
 
 "What's your name]" 
 
 "Ward, please your Highness. 1 arrived with 
 horses last week for your Royal Highness." 
 
 " You said, ' We would not stand this in 
 Yorkshire'?" 
 
 "That's about it, your Royal Highness," replied 
 Ward, tugging away at his forelock. 
 
 " What do you mean 1" 
 
 "Only, please your Royal Highness, in Yorkshire 
 1 thinks we know how to keep horses." 
 
 The Prince turned away; but shortly after, Ward 
 was appointed the Prince's personal groom, whose 
 place it was always to ride with him. When they 
 w.-re out of the town, the Duke would order Ward 
 to draw near him, and ask him every kind of ques- 
 tion regarding the management of horses and stables; 
 ami one 'lay. to the astonishmenl of all the establish- 
 ment, the young Yorkshire stable-boy was named
 
 58 IN THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 Master of the Horse, but with the understanding 
 that he was still to remain the Prince's personal 
 attendant. It may well be imagined what excite- 
 ment this created in the princely establishment. 
 The latter condition was the most exasperating to 
 the old servants, as it proved what an influence he 
 might acquire over the Duke. Indeed, from that 
 time he practically became the Prince's adviser, and 
 the Duke was accustomed to invite his groom's views 
 on subjects quite unconnected with the stables. The 
 Prince was a keen judge of character, and, like the 
 Emperor Alexander, had an enthusiastic admiration 
 for England and Englishmen, and used to say, " If I 
 wish to express in what I place the greatest confi- 
 dence, it is the word of an English gentleman." 
 
 Ward at this time had not associated with gentle- 
 men ; but after his promotion he astonished the 
 Court of Parma by the facility with which he ac- 
 quired courtly manners. A short time subsequent 
 to his appointment as Master of the Horse, he was 
 attending the Duke at a review of his small Italian 
 army, for there was always a large Austrian force 
 quite independent of the Parmesan troops. It must 
 be admitted that the manoeuvres left a great deal to 
 be desired, and the Prince invited Ward's opinion of 
 their drill.
 
 GREAT BEAUTIES AND SOCIAL CELEBRITIES. 59 
 
 " I don't think much of it," was the reply. 
 
 ""What do you know about military matters?" 
 asked the Duke. 
 
 " I have been in the Yeomanry six years, your 
 Royal Highness, and have seen a good deal of soldier- 
 ing in Yorkshire." 
 
 "Do you think you could make these men drill 
 better?" 
 
 Ward replied he was sure he could ; and he was, 
 shortly after this conversation, placed at the head of 
 the military department, where it was universally 
 admitted he at once made reforms which resulted in 
 great economy and efficiency. This was not suffi- 
 cient: the finances of Parma were in a deplorable 
 state, and but a short time elapsed before Ward was 
 finance minister, when, what with reductions and 
 reconstruction, there was a material improvement in 
 the revenue. So here he was at the head of every 
 department. Never was such a rise, except in the 
 opera of "La Grande Duchesse." And strange to 
 say, with all this he was not unpopular, although to 
 obtain this result many so-called vested interests had to 
 be disregarded, and great reductions made. But "Ward 
 showed so much shrewdness and practical -nod sense, 
 that even the must interested in the existing order of 
 things had to admit the justice of his administration.
 
 60 IX THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 Of course he was now a member of the Court 
 circle, and as such became known to all the liter- 
 ary and political celebrities with whom it Avas the 
 pleasure of the Prince to surround himself, until 
 his Court might have vied with that of Weimar in 
 its classic days. It was not long before Ward was 
 sent on a diplomatic mission to the Court of Vienna, 
 when he gave eminent proof of his sagacity, and 
 was highly appreciated. The emperor created him 
 a baron, and it was as Baron Ward he came to Eng- 
 land as minister, when the Yorkshire groom found 
 himself the object of general interest. 
 
 Lord Palmerston had the highest opinion of him, 
 and thought him one of the most remarkable men of 
 the age. He possessed the tact not to be thrown off 
 his balance by his rapid elevation, and to retain, even 
 if he did not cultivate, his simple, sometimes even 
 uncouth manner. There was nothing particularly 
 prepossessing in his appearance, only a straightfor- 
 ward honesty of expression which won the confidence 
 of all with whom he came in contact. The close of 
 his life was not so successful as its opening. When 
 the reigning prince — the same who was at Eglinton 
 — was assassinated in the gardens of the Palace at 
 Parma in 1854, his widow, the Grand Duchess of 
 Parma (Mademoiselle), imagined that Ward in-
 
 GREAT BEAUTIES AND SOCIAL CELEBRITIES. Gl 
 
 tended to seize the sovereignty. There was really 
 no reason to suppose that he even meditated such 
 treachery, although his popularity was so great 
 that had the attempt been made there is little ques- 
 tion but it would have been attended with success. 
 The Duchess did not give him the chance; for no 
 sooner had the news of the Trince's death arrived, 
 than Ward's house was surrounded with Austrian 
 troops and all intercourse with the town refused him. 
 Subsequently he was banished the territory, and had 
 to claim the protection of Austria, where he was 
 made most welcome. I forget whether he ever had 
 any office under the Austrian Government, but his 
 opinion was very highly valued, and he was treated 
 with the greatest consideration. But the change was 
 too great, from the Avide authority he had exercised 
 at Parma. Ee was another proof of the proverb, 
 "When the house is roofed in, then the grave 
 opens," for he fell into a state of dejection, and did 
 not long survive his exile. 
 
 The Prince of Parma maintained great state in his 
 small principality, and by the aid of the Austrians, 
 very despotic authority. His little army was en- 
 tirely under his own military code. His punishment 
 of the officers was at times original. One of them 
 consisted in compelling them to carry pails of water
 
 62 IN THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 from one well to another, three or four hundred 
 yards distant. He insisted that the entire absence 
 of any useful purpose in this disagreeable task added 
 greatly to its unpleasantness, in which he "was not 
 far wrong. His practical jokes did not add to the 
 dignity or comfort of his Court. I was present at a 
 grand ball, when he ordered a large plate of strong 
 cayenne pepper and mustard sandwiches to be handed 
 round with his compliments at supper-time to the 
 most dignified of the great ladies, who coughed and 
 gesticulated painfully when they tasted the pungent 
 mixture. 
 
 Strange to say, that with all his extravagance and 
 folly, he possessed deep susceptibilities. His pride 
 in the blood of the Stuarts, and love for Scotland, 
 were rooted in his nature. " Give me but one hour 
 of Scotland," exjjressed something more than mere 
 sentiment with him. The Comte de Vallombrosa— 
 the title by which the abdicated Duke was known— 
 was with his son after he had been struck by the 
 assassin's knife, and he told a friend of mine that 
 almost the last Avords of the poor Prince referred to 
 Scotland, — to the happy days he had passed and the 
 many dear friends he had there. It was a sad end- 
 ing to a very active, exciting life. At that time it 
 was little foreseen that those principalities which had
 
 GREAT BEAUTIES AND SOCIAL CELEBRITIES. 63 
 
 so long preserved their independence would have 
 heen absorbed in what Lord Palmerston called "a 
 geographical impossibility," — a united Italy. 
 
 Minn. What a loss Lord Eglinton was ! He was 
 well known to 'Maga,' and at his death he received 
 from us the rare tribute of an " In Memoriam." We 
 wrote of him as one who had conciliated the deep 
 affections of tin' people. Honour was Ids polar star, 
 and no consideration could induce him to move one 
 step to tlic right hand or to the left from -what he 
 felt was the path of duty. Such Avas the high 
 esteem in which his character was universally held, 
 and so sincere the admiration which his high quali- 
 ties inspired, that he was without exception the most 
 popular nobleman in Scotland ; and even those 
 whose views were most diametrically opposed to 
 his, acknowledged his merit. In such terms wrote 
 c Maga' in 1861; and now in 1890, after a genera- 
 tion has passed away, his memory is still dear to all 
 classes in the Lowlands of Scotland. 
 
 A. It is true there are men who, from personal 
 qualities, can never he replaced. As the minister 
 who succeeded Mr Franklin at the Court of the 
 Tuileries said to Louis XV., "] come to succeed "Mr 
 Franklin; i ae can replace him." Another im- 
 portant personage who was all-powerful in the Low-
 
 G4 IN THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 Lands, was the late Duke of Hamilton. He was the 
 duke Lord Brougham styled, " Very duke of very 
 duke." He inherited in some measure his father's 
 grandeeship of manner, for never was such a magni- 
 fico as the tenth duke, the ambassador to the Court 
 of Eussia in the time of the Empress Catherine. 
 When I knew him he was very old, but held himself 
 straight as any grenadier. He always dressed in a 
 military laced undress coat, tights, and Hessian hoots. 
 "When he showed any visitor over Hamilton Palace, 
 he insisted on opening every door himself, and then 
 made the lowest obeisance to each lady who passed 
 him. I have seen him walk down a long drive 
 bareheaded in a pouring rain while conducting a lady 
 to her carriage. At the time of his son's — the late 
 Duke's — marriage to the Princess Marie of Baden, 
 his satisfaction and pride were unbounded. He ar- 
 ranged a triumphal progress from the borders of the 
 county to Hamilton Palace in honour of her Serene 
 Highness ; and to commemorate what he considered 
 a national event, a series of pictures were published, 
 in all of which the Duke is himself the prominent 
 figure. Well, after all, this was very harmless 
 vanity, and it was a great happiness for him to see 
 his son married — a son who combined the dignity of 
 the father with the beauty of the mother, for the
 
 GREAT BEAUTIES AND SOCIAL CELEBRITIES. 65 
 
 Duchess of Hamilton was the lovely daughter and 
 heiress of Beckford of Fonthill, that most eccentric 
 and brilliant possessor of boundless wealth, the au- 
 thor of 'Yathek.' The Beckford library formed 
 one of the most interesting features of that treasure- 
 house, Hamilton Palace — alas ! all dispersed now, 
 quanto mutatum : the halls that knew those admir- 
 able collections of all that was of most value in art, 
 refinement, and taste, shall know them not again. 
 The " blindness to the future " is never more " kindly 
 exemplified" than in these days, when self in its 
 lowest sense of the word rules supreme, and the self- 
 denial of one generation is sacrificed to the self-in- 
 dulgence of its successor. 
 
 Maga. 1 have always understood that the late 
 Duke of Hamilton preferred Arran to Hamilton 
 Palace. 
 
 A. I think he did ; bat lie kept up a princely 
 establishment at Hamilton : he was in every act the 
 grand seigneur he looked. Lady Jersey always 
 spuke of his wonderful resemblance to Lord Byron. 
 No doubt he was deeply impressed with the import- 
 ance of his position, ami especially with his being 
 next of kin to the throne of Scotland. The head of 
 the house of Hamilton was really in a quasi royal 
 position without any aid from a princess of Baden. 
 
 i'
 
 6G IN THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 At Arran every visitor to the Castle received a token, 
 which, when shown, enabled him to pass all over the 
 island, taking carriages, stopping at hotels, incurring 
 any expenditure, without spending a sixpence. As 
 at Eglinton, it frequently happened that visitors, 
 especially foreigners, took advantage of this un- 
 bounded hospitality, and never would leave. The 
 list of visitors to Hamilton Palace was a long and 
 distinguished one. The Duke and Duchess delighted 
 to show their princely residence with its art treasures 
 to foreigners, and those of any consideration who 
 visited England were invited to Hamilton. I remem- 
 ber well the sensation one of the most important 
 visitors made : it was the Empress Eugenie, after the 
 death of her sister, the Duchesse d'Albe. There was 
 something most tragical in all the circumstances con- 
 nected with the sadly premature end of this charming 
 young person, which explained the profound melan- 
 choly of the Empress Eugenie, without the gossip and 
 scandal of the Tuileries entourage. It occurred in 
 August 1860. The Emperor and Empress were on 
 their way to Algiers, where the news of her sister's 
 death had preceded her. As soon as the Imperial 
 yacht anchored, the Emperor was informed of the 
 sad event, but at such a time it was not thought well 
 to announce it to the Empress ; she was only told
 
 GREAT BEAUTIES AND SOCIAL CELEBRITIES. 67 
 
 that the Duchess was seriously unwell. Even then 
 she wished to return at once without even landing : 
 but this was quite impossible. The whole city was 
 en fete ; the Arab chiefs and their tribes had come 
 from the uttermost parts of the country ; the greatest 
 excitement prevailed; and the Emperor was com- 
 pelled to ask the Empress to conquer her feelings, 
 and with a sad heart to enter into all these festivities. 
 The grand receptions over, the Imperial yacht sailed, 
 and then the Empress was told the truth. The pas- 
 sage was delayed by bad weather, and on her arrival 
 at St Cloud the Empress learnt that her loved sister 
 was already buried. 
 
 The Duchesse d'Albe was older than the Empress, 
 and only thirty-iive at the time of her death, — equally 
 remarkable as her sister for beauty, but of quite a 
 dilferent character. Both the sisters combined the 
 stately grace of the Spanish with the gentle frankness 
 of the English nature. There had been more than 
 ordinary sympathy and affection between the sisters; 
 and the Empress, after her loss, fell into a state of 
 deep depression, and a tour in Scotland was pro- 
 jected, where, it was hoped, she would not be sub- 
 jected to any necessity for representation or grand 
 ceremonial. The Duchess of Eamilton's connection 
 with the Emperor led to the visil I mention, when I
 
 68 IN THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 was one of the very few friends invited. The mo- 
 ment it was announced that the Empress was to pass 
 the day at the Palace, the excitement was quite 
 extraordinary. To my surprise, on my arrival at 
 Motherwell I found not only the station Hocked with 
 people, but a dense crowd all the way from Mother- 
 well to Hamilton Palace. The one anxiety was to 
 obtain a glimpse of the Empress. On driving up to 
 the door, I found the whole establishment en grande 
 tenue. On entering the draAving-room, there stood 
 the Empress, with a large suite, all in the deepest 
 mourning. There were not more than four or five 
 visitors. Scarcely a word was said, and the effect 
 was very melancholy ; neither did the subsequent 
 repast conduce to cheerfulness. The great dining- 
 room had been darkened ; although it was only three 
 o'clock, the lights were subdued : so the repast was a 
 very funereal one. The whole scene was suited to 
 the Empress's frame of mind : she talked very little, 
 and afterwards, in conversation with her entourage, 
 it was impossible to gain any information. In fact, 
 there was an air of profound mystery in the whole 
 proceeding. By the time the dinner, or rather lun- 
 cheon, was over (and it lasted two hours), the crowd 
 of people in the park was immense. It seemed as if 
 the whole county had collected to stare and wonder,
 
 GREAT BEAUTIES AND SOCIAL CELEBRITIES. 69 
 
 not at any grand procession or military display, but 
 simply at a graceful lady, in deep mourning, who 
 wore such a thick veil that not a feature was dis- 
 cernible ; nor was the interest confined to the county 
 of Lanark. I was much amused at a friend, who saw 
 my name as one of the few guests on that occasion, writ- 
 ing to say that, if I woidd only tell him le mot de 
 Venigme — what I had learnt of the secret history of 
 this journey — he would promise to repeat to me the 
 two most confidential secrets which had been recently 
 confided to him. The secret, however, as far as I 
 was concerned, was nil — like the Knife-grinder's 
 story, there was none to tell. So I lost the confi- 
 dential anecdotes. 
 
 Among the foreigners, I recall a very distinguished 
 artist, who afforded us much entertainment — M. 
 Gudin, the great marine painter. Some of his sea- 
 pieces were wonderful in their power and conception. 
 I remember one at Hamilton House; there was noth 
 ing but the wide sea, the floating wreck of a mast, 
 with a sea -biid upon it — nothing more. But it 
 filled the mind with an indescribable sense of lone- 
 liness, — the waste of ocean ; the, lurid sky and dark 
 -cs of clouds; the solitary spar, which told its 
 own (ale ; the wild bird which found a resting-place 
 on the lonely wreck, — it was a picture which always
 
 70 IN THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 fascinated me, and conveyed a far deeper sense of 
 awe than the famous shipwreck of the Medusa in the 
 Louvre, or the scene of the battle raging wild and 
 strong. Companionship even in death seems to 
 mitigate the horrors of the scene ; the loneliness of 
 what Rousseau called the melancholy ocean, as de- 
 picted by Gudin, was almost painful. 
 
 Gudin was not, however, himself of a melancholy 
 mood ; on the contrary, he was one of the liveliest 
 of Frenchmen. A great Anglomanian, it was de- 
 lightful to see him equipped for le sport. His 
 shooting - costume was a little better adapted for 
 the Palais Royal arcades than for our moors. I 
 went out shooting with him one day, when he 
 allowed all the birds to escape. At last he wounded 
 a hare, which, however, was able to limp away. 
 Gudin's excitement was intense ; in vain he tried 
 to get another shot. At last he threw down his 
 gun, to the amusement of the whole party, ran after 
 the hare, and at last fairly outran his poor victim, 
 caught it within his arms, and returned triumphant. 
 He set a high value on his paintings. One of the 
 guests, who was rather notorious for getting amateur 
 work out of artists, told Gudin he much wished to 
 possess some slight record of the great master. 
 
 " Charme, charme, mon cher," said Gudin ; and
 
 GREAT BEAUTIES AND SOCIAL CELEBRITIES. 71 
 
 the next day gave him a sketch in oils the size of 
 a sheet of note-paper — a sunset at sea. Except 
 that it was by Gudin, I would not have given £10 
 for it. The face of the connoisseur was quite a 
 study when he learned that Gudin valued it at 1500 
 francs (£G0). 
 
 The last time I met Gudin was in the lobby of the 
 House of Commons. I was told that a distinguished 
 foreigner wished to see me. When I went out I 
 saw quite a crowd round a man whose coat was 
 covered with decorations, crosses, stars, and ribbons. 
 To my astonishment and that of the surrounders, he 
 rushed up to me and threw his arms round my neck, 
 " Comme je suis charme de vous voir, mon cher ! " 
 I became the linn of the lobby. When I released 
 myself from his embrace, and his attentions were 
 transferred to some other acquaintance, every one 
 rushed forward to hear who this distinguished indi- 
 vidual was. He was supposed to he a great warrior, 
 or at least a royal or ducal highness : and the revul- 
 sion of feeling was great when they learned the 
 lavishly decorated individual was a marine painter. 
 Gudin played a part in the Revolution of 1848 in 
 Paris; he was one of Lamartine's faithful followers, 
 a kind of body-guard who never left him. During 
 one month he slept under the dining-room table, for
 
 72 IN THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 there was no accommodation in Lamartine's house : 
 similia similibm, there was one affinity between La- 
 martine and Gudin — intense vanity. 
 
 Another illustrious personage who paid frequent 
 visits to Hamilton was the Queen of Holland. She 
 was one of the many notables who preferred Scotland 
 to her own country ; and yet she possessed a charm- 
 ing residence near the Hague — La Maison de Bois. 
 She was better informed on our public affairs than 
 most members of either House of Parliament ; and 
 she was perfectly astonished when she mentioned a 
 member, and I had to confess that I did not know 
 the names of half the House, of which I had been so 
 many years a member. The customs of her Court 
 were curious. Once I visited the Hacrue. As soon 
 
 O 
 
 as I arrived, an aide-de-camp brought me an invita- 
 tion to dine that day at six o'clock. The Maison de 
 Bois is so styled as the drive to it is through a beauti- 
 ful wood. The house itself is in no way remarkable, 
 except for its very unusual English - comfort look. 
 The dinner was a very short performance : an hour 
 saw us out of the room, and I was told we were not 
 expected to remain, but to return at nine o'clock. 
 This seemed a very inconvenient arrangement ; but 
 I conformed to it, and nine o'clock found me again 
 en route. The evening party was on a much larger
 
 GREAT BEAUTIES AND SOCIAL CELEBRITIES. 73 
 
 scale, and we all stood in a circle while the Queen 
 passed round : suddenly in the midst of this function 
 the doors were thrown open, and a little man in a 
 splendid livery, a kind of miniature cathedral Swiss, 
 carrying a large halberd, appeared ; he was followed 
 by four attendants, two with baskets full of bottles 
 of champagne — the others carried trays, with long 
 old - fashioned glasses. He stopped opposite each 
 guest, struck the parquet with his halberd, made a 
 low obeisance, and then stood aside while a glass of 
 champagne was poured out. This represented the 
 festive part of the evening's entertainment. Then 
 followed several games of commerce, and at eleven 
 we left. This invitation was renewed every other 
 day ; but agreeable and intellectual royal society 
 tires at last, especially when it entails most incon- 
 venient hours, and I did not make a prolonged stay 
 at the Hague. 
 
 Tlii' diplomatists were especially welcome at Hamil- 
 ton. The Great Elchi, Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, 
 Lord Ponsonby, Count Apponyi, &c, found them- 
 selves in congenial society, li is needless to speak 
 of Lord Stratford as a remarkable man. His excel- 
 ling power, his influence, are testified I" in every page 
 of Kinglake. Eis indomitable will was shown even 
 in his daily life. A party of young men, we started
 
 74 IN THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 from Hamilton to walk to Bothwell, about five miles 
 distant. Lord Stratford wished to see the old castle, 
 and proposed to join us. It was a long walk for a 
 veteran of seventy-four, but he stepped out as briskly 
 as the youngest. It was evident as we approached 
 the park that he was very tired, and I suggested 
 when we reached the lodge-gate that he should re- 
 turn. " Certainly not. I shall touch the ruins with 
 my hands. I always carry out my intentions." And 
 he did so. He would put his hands on the crumbling 
 walls, — cared little for the ruins, and still less for 
 the beautiful view of the rushing Clyde as it sweeps 
 round the base of the rock. His eagerness was to 
 return, and he showed the same energy to the last. 
 He was very proud of his connection with Mr Can- 
 ning. His vanity had nothing of the lower class of 
 personal egotism. Gratified as he was when Mr 
 Gladstone recommended him for the Garter, he ac- 
 cepted it as a recognition of a life's work devoted to 
 his country, for his one idea was the greatness of 
 England. The lines written on his death were most 
 appropriate — 
 
 " Thou third great Canning, stand among our best 
 And noblest, now thy long day's work has ceased ; 
 Here silent in our Minster of the West, 
 
 Who wert the voice of England in the East."
 
 GREAT BEAUTIES AND SOCIAL CELEBRITIES. 75 
 
 The second Canning alluded to was the Viceroy of 
 India, one of the galaxy of illustrious men the com- 
 panions of Mr Gladstone at Oxford. 
 
 Mmju. Lord Stratford. I suppose, had at this time 
 retired from diplomacy? 
 
 A. This was just after his retirement. And after 
 such a crowded life, he missed active work ; although 
 in his Life, recently published, he seems to have 
 always sighed for England. But when he did retire, 
 he found himself quite out of touch with the new 
 society. This was not the case with Lord Ponsonby, 
 who could adapt himself to all sorts and conditions 
 of men. Lord Ponsonby had never the same influ- 
 ence as the Great Elchi, hut his name was very 
 powerful at the Porte. As 1 have mentioned, he 
 was at one time troubled by the presence of Mr 
 Urquhart, who by his orientalism eclipsed the am- 
 bassador; hut when Urquhart was recalled, Lord 
 Ponsonby attained, by his social qualities, almost as 
 great weight as Lord Stratford by his strength of 
 character. Lord Ponsonby, I have heard his con- 
 temporaries say, was the handsomest man of his time ; 
 ami I recall a hook by a very well-known and very 
 clever lady, who mentions that her attention was 
 attracted to a gentleman in deep mourning, who at 
 a certain hour rode down South Audley Street, in
 
 76 IN THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 a 
 
 which she resided, on his way to the Park ; how his 
 singular beauty fascinated her, and how she waited 
 daily to see him pass long before she became ac- 
 quainted with him as Lord Ponsonby. It is rarely, 
 indeed, that a man's life is preserved by his beauty, 
 for it is a quality more likely to lose than to save ; 
 but it was the case with Lord Ponsonby. He told 
 me the anecdote himself as far as the risk of life 
 which he ran, but he left others to inform me of the 
 cause of his rescue. He was not twenty when he 
 passed through Paris in 1791. War had not been 
 declared, but there was a strong feeling against Eng- 
 land. At that time the lamps were hung across the 
 streets — hence the cry "A la lanterne." When any 
 unhappy victim was taken, the process of hanging 
 him was a very simple one. Lord Ponsonby, walking 
 in the Rue St Honore, was so unfortunate as to fall 
 in with the mob, who seized him with the cry, 
 " Voila un agent de Pitt ! un sacre Anglais ! a la 
 lanterne ! " The lamp was taken down, the cords 
 placed round his neck, and he was actually hanging 
 in the air, when the women, who played such a 
 prominent part throughout the revolution, rushed 
 forward and cut the cords. " C'est un trop joli 
 garcon pour etre pendu," was the cry. He fell on 
 the pavement, and was immediately carried off by his
 
 GREAT BEAUTIES AND SOCIAL CELEBRITIES. 77 
 
 protectors and carefully tended. All these circum- 
 stances, I repeat, with the exception of the cause of 
 the interference of the women, were told me by Lord 
 Ponsonby ; and he proceeded to give an account of 
 his sensations on returning to consciousness. He 
 could not have been actually suspended in mid-air 
 more than a few seconds, and yet in that brief space 
 of time all the events of his past life passed through 
 his mind. It is true that his life to that date had 
 not been a very eventful one, being only nineteen 
 years of age, but every past sensation was renewed in 
 all its freshness. It is also remarkable that he did 
 not at the time experience any sensation of fear ; 
 while he added, his was an essentially nervous tem- 
 perament. This remarkable mental power of calling 
 up the past in moments of suspended animation, I 
 have heard frequently mentioned. One was the case 
 of Count Zichy, in the Revolution of 1848, in Vienna. 
 Ee was caught by the savage mob, hung like Lord 
 Ponsonby in the middle of the street, when his own 
 regiment of dragoons charged down and cut the cords 
 as he was swinging in the air. He fell to the ground 
 and was supposed to be dead ; but his recovery was 
 ;i very different matter from Lord Ponsonby's, for he 
 suffered agonies, and for tin days had four men con- 
 stantly witli him. He described exactly the same
 
 78 IN THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 sensations as Lord Ponsonby : the scroll of what was 
 a much longer life was unrolled, even the smallest 
 detail rushed back on his memory ; he had the same 
 fearlessness at the moment, but he felt all the horror 
 of the agony when the danger was past. Another 
 instance that I recall was in connection with the 
 famous Hamilton railway accident in Canada. The 
 train was running at a rapid pace down a steep 
 incline to the river, when suddenly it was observed, 
 by all those standing outside, that the bridge over 
 the river was broken down. It was evident to the 
 passengers that a terrible catastrophe was inevitable. 
 Amid shrieks and cries of alarm all the brakes were 
 applied, but the descent was too steep to render them 
 of any avail. At last the train leaped into the abyss 
 of rushing waters. My informant was in the last 
 car, and he said that from the time when the carriage 
 was dragged over until the final crash was only a 
 few seconds, but it seemed an eternity, and all his 
 life passed before him. A most interesting little book, 
 called 'Admiral Beaufort's Experiences of Drowning,' 
 bears testimony to this seemingly universal experience 
 in sudden danger. "Thought succeeded thought," 
 says the Admiral, " with a rapidity that is not only 
 indescribable, but probably inconceivable by any one 
 who has not himself been in a similar situation, —
 
 GREAT BEAUTIES AND SOCIAL CELEBRITIES. 79 
 
 the event that had just taken place, the effect it 
 would have on my family, and a thousand circum- 
 stances associated with home, travelling backward 
 in time in retrograde succession." All this proves 
 that duration of life does not depend on hours, hut 
 on the number of impressions conveyed to the brain. 
 Thus a monotonous life passes like a dream, whereas 
 a crowded life of exciting events seems very prolonged. 
 Let a man turn globe-trotter and "survey mankind" 
 for only a few months " from China to Peru " : lie 
 will be inclined to ask on his return, " Stands Scot- 
 land where she did 1 " the changes of scene will have 
 been so strongly reflected on his mind. But to 
 return to Lord Ponsonby, whose career was a very 
 interesting one, and who, by tact and perfection of 
 manner, achieved those successes in diplomatic life 
 which are frequently attained, as in the case of Lord 
 Stratford, by the "power of thought and magic of 
 the mind," — the one gained his objects by love, the 
 other conquered by fear. Lord Ponsonby was a 
 charming raconteur, had an excellent memory, was 
 very epigrammatic. II'' said, "After a long life 
 passed in diplomacy, I come to the conclusion that 
 the great advantage an ambassador lias in social life; 
 is, that al dinner-parties he in general is handed the 
 liver wing of the chicken ! "
 
 80 IN THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 Hamilton Palace, which is rather a gloomy stately 
 pile, with its black -marble stair, was in the late 
 Duke's time the scene of many a joyous festivity ; 
 fete succeeded fete, and the town of Hamilton was 
 enlivened by the constant succession of visitors. 
 Then there were occasional grand functions. One 
 I remember afforded the guests much amusement. 
 There was to be a review of the Lanarkshire Militia, 
 when the Commander of the Forces in Scotland was 
 General Viscount Melville. He was a strict dis- 
 ciplinarian, an excellent soldier, but most particular 
 as to detail : it was said he could detect a missing 
 button on a private's coat. He was the inspecting 
 officer. The review was to take place in the park 
 of the Palace. Luncheon was prepared for the whole 
 county. A large party were invited in honour of 
 Lord Melville, who arrived at the Palace the previous 
 
 day to meet Lord B , the colonel of the militia 
 
 regiment. There were few people so popular as 
 
 Lord B . His geniality equalled his hospitality, 
 
 and his residence was a house widely known and 
 highly considered ; but he was very forgetful, and 
 despised all those military details which Lord Mel- 
 ville considered to be of the first importance — so 
 much so, that at dinner the General expressed him- 
 self very strongly as to the attention the Colonel
 
 GREAT BEAUTIES AND SOCIAL CELEBRITIES. 81 
 
 should give the next day to the equipment of the 
 corps, and, ahove all, to his own personal appearance. 
 
 " Trust to me," said Lord B ; " you will see how 
 
 well I shall turn out to-morrow." However, it was 
 evident that the Commander-in-chief was full of 
 doubt ; nor wore his apprehensions unfounded. The 
 next day Avas beautiful. Crowds assembled in the 
 park and at the entrance of the Palace ; but the 
 regiment arrived without its colonel. Lord Melville 
 was purple with rage. There we all waited half an 
 hour. At last appeared the Colonel, and in the 
 most motley guise — no cocked-hat, his sash slung 
 rather than tied round his waist, his trousers with- 
 out straps, half-way up his legs. He jogged along in 
 perfect iudifl'erence as to his appearance. Lord Mel- 
 ville was too overcome with indignation to speak 
 when Lord B— - said, " Well, General, I hope you 
 think me all right to-day." 
 
 Low-muttered anathemas were the only reply to 
 this salutation. However, the review proceeded, but 
 very slowly, for the Colonel had to read the word 
 of command from a paper which lie did not even 
 try to conceal. Lord Melville dashed about in a 
 frenzy. At length the last manoeuvre and final 
 blow came. 
 
 The regiment formed square. " Make ready, pre- 
 
 F
 
 82 IN THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 sent, fire ! " was the word of command. Not a sound 
 but the click of the locks. 
 
 " Colonel, what does this mean 1 " shouted the 
 General. 
 
 " They have no powder," replied the Colonel. 
 
 " No powder, Colonel, for a field-day ! " 
 
 " The fact is, General, sometimes the horses don't 
 stand fire ; mine is very fidgety, and I thought it 
 just as well the review should go off without an 
 accident." 
 
 Lord Melville's disgust was too deep for utter- 
 ance ; his sorrowful countenance was more effective 
 than his usual volleys of excited language. Thus 
 
 ended the grand review. But Lord B returned 
 
 home feeling persuaded that it had been a great 
 success, for the General's anger was too great for 
 utterance. 
 
 The Duke was an excellent reel -dancer : there 
 were few who could compete Avith him in agility 
 and endurance. I remember at Nice when he was 
 dancing a reel, to the great surprise of the Nizzards, 
 a grand lady of the old regime being quite scandalised 
 at what she considered a most savage exhibition. 
 " lis sont des sauvages comme les Irlandais : bientot 
 on va danser le Irish gig," as she pronounced the 
 name of the Irish jig. The Duke of Hamilton and
 
 GREAT BEAUTIES AND SOCIAL CELEBRITIES. 83 
 
 the Duke of Athole would dance against each other 
 until they almost sank exhausted. The Duke of 
 Athole was another grand representative of a nohle 
 Highland family. Like the Duke of Hamilton, he 
 was taken away prematurely, and was deeply la- 
 mented. He had a disease which was certain to 
 end fatally; hut it afforded him time hefore his 
 death to call on every tenant, and his farewell was 
 so cheerful that it bore testimony to his perfect 
 peace of mind. A touching incident occurred at 
 the last. It was recounted in the daily papers how 
 the Queen visited Blair- Athole to hid the final adieu 
 to the chief of one of Scotland's nohlest clans. She 
 had returned to the station, where a great crowd 
 was collected, but which, in sympathy with the 
 solemnity of the occasion, maintained perfect silence. 
 The train was about to start, when there was a shout 
 of " Stop ! stop ! " and a brougham was seen driving 
 rapidly from the castle. Out of it, wrapped in 
 flannels, staggered the Duke, came to the door of 
 the royal saloon, knelt to kiss the Queen's hand, 
 waved his cap, called out "Three cheers for the 
 Queen ! " re-entered his carriage, and never left the 
 castle again. 
 
 Arran was a delightful abode. The Duke much 
 preferred il to Eamilton, which is so surrounded by
 
 84 IN THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 coal-pits. Brodick — not a large house — possessed 
 charms quite unequalled hy any other residence. 
 They were happy days he passed in that grand in- 
 sular feudal residence, where every cottar regarded 
 the Duke as their friend and protector. He was 
 abused because he would not permit Brodick to be 
 turned into a modern watering-place, to be crammed 
 with loafers and tourists. But those who really 
 appreciated the Highland life, artists and true lovers 
 of scenery, were ever welcome to Brodick, where 
 the family lived, dispensing a feudal hospitality. 
 The death of the late Duke of Hamilton in 1863 
 was felt far and wide ; and the suddenness of the 
 accident which led to his loss added to the great 
 sorrow. The Duke had left Scotland for the Con- 
 tinent in perfect health. In Paris he slipped on 
 one of those dangerous highly polished stairs which 
 are so common in French houses, and had a con- 
 cussion of the brain. He was taken to his hotel — 
 the Bristol. A messenger was at once sent to in- 
 form the Emperor. So soon as the sad intelligence 
 reached St Cloud, the Empress went to nurse him. 
 He lingered many days, and no soeur cle cliarite could 
 have afforded more comfort, and attended him more 
 lovingly than that kind-hearted lady. She never
 
 GREAT BEAUTIES AND SOCIAL CELEBRITIES. 85 
 
 left him until the sad end, realising in its noblest 
 sense the grand old Douglas motto, "Tender and 
 true." 
 
 Now I daresay, for the present, you have heard 
 enough of social recollections : we will next talk of 
 politics.
 
 THE YOUNG ENGLAND PARTY. 
 
 Maya. You promised to tell me your early political 
 experiences. Were you in Parliament with the 
 Young England party 1 
 
 A. Yes; but I was an outsider. I joined them 
 much later. Young England, so called, was a body 
 of young men who had grown up together from Eton 
 days. 
 
 It is remarkable how much the public education of 
 England influences the lives of public men. The 
 associations of public schools, and then of college, 
 survive even political rivalries : it would be curious 
 to study the influence of college friendships on politi- 
 cal life. The present century has seen many parties 
 which have had their origin and gained their strength 
 by the ties of college sympathies. Take our great 
 political meteor, W. Gladstone ; what a phalanx of
 
 THE YOUNG ENGLAND PARTY. 87 
 
 young future legislators and statesmen were at col- 
 lege with him ! — Cardwell, Dalhousie, Canning, Sid- 
 ney Herbert, Lord Elgin, Lord Lincoln, cum multis 
 aliis. All these achieved eminence in parliamentary 
 and official life. Minister after minister, proconsul 
 after proconsid, hear testimony to the merit of our 
 public school and college education. Another most 
 interesting combination of college friends in the pre- 
 sent century resulted in the Oxford movement, when 
 we find, about the same period as Mr Gladstone's, a 
 galaxy of brilliant talent fraught with the most im- 
 portant destinies of the future. Newman, Manning, 
 Faber, Pusey, Ward, Moseley, all imbued with the 
 same earnestness of faith and sincerity of purpose. 
 Cambridge was never so strong in literary sets or 
 scholastic parties as Oxford, notwithstanding the old 
 verse — 
 
 "The King to Oxford sent a troop of horse, 
 
 For Oxford knows no argument but force ; 
 
 In place of troops, to Cambridge books were seut, 
 
 For Cambridge knows no force but argument." 
 
 There was at Cambridge a small reunion of men very 
 highly esteemed, who preceded the Young England 
 party. They were called the Apostles: Hallam, 
 Tennyson, Doyle, Monteith (the same whom I have 
 already mentioned as so intimately connected with
 
 88 IN THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 Mr Urquhart). The Apostles set was succeeded by 
 the Young England party : it originated, as I have 
 remarked, in early friendships and good-fellowship. 
 Every one who has enjoyed the advantage of a public 
 school education knows how strong those friendships 
 are. Mr Disraeli says in ' Coningsby ' : " All loves 
 in after-lif e can never bring their rapture ; no bliss 
 is so absorbing, no pangs of jealousy or despair so 
 crushing or so keen. What tenderness, what devo- 
 tion, what illimitable confidence, infinite revelations 
 of inmost thoughts, what hopes in the present, what 
 romance in the future, and melting recollections are 
 confined in the simple phrase — a schoolboy's friend- 
 ship ! It is these recollections that make grey- 
 haired men mourn over the memory of their school- 
 boy days, and it is a spell that can soften the acerbity 
 of political warfare." There was something also of 
 the romantic poetic sentiment which existed at that 
 time, when the memories of Byron and Shelley were 
 still fresh. The air was full of Byronism : the 
 golden youth might be seen with their shirt-collars 
 turned down, and living on biscuits and soda-water, 
 a la Byron. This frame of mind quickened the 
 susceptibilities and sympathies. Young politicians 
 felt kindly towards the poor and suffering, and strove 
 to improve their condition, not by giving them votes,
 
 THE YOUNG ENGLAND PARTY. 89 
 
 but by ministering to their wants and their enjoy- 
 ments. "What Kuskin calls "the two essential in- 
 stincts of humanity, the love of order and the love 
 of kindness," in their relations to the people, were 
 the first principle of the Young England party. 
 Radicals proposed to console the suffering by votes 
 and speeches • the Philosophic School gave them 
 tracts and essays. Young England desired to lighten 
 their servitude and to add to their enjoyments — in 
 fact, to restore " Merrie England.'' People smiled at 
 some of the panaceas suggested, but the smile was 
 one of kindness and approval. 
 
 M'lijn. Whom did the party consist of ? 
 
 A. Disraeli's novel of ' Coningsby ' gives a great 
 many. There were Coningsby, Eord Henry Sydney, 
 Sir Charles Buckhurst, Oswald Millbank, A key to 
 'Coningsby' was published, which explains that the 
 above names were supposed to represent respectively 
 — Coningsby, lion. George Smythe, afterwards Lord 
 Strangford ; Lord Henry Sydney, Lord John Man- 
 ners, now Luke of Rutland ;-Sir Charles Buckhurst, 
 Mr Baillie-Cochrane, now Lord Lamington-j Millbank, 
 MrWalter; Lord Monmouth, the Marquis of Eert 
 ford; Rigby, Mr Croker ; Sidonia, Mr Disraeli. 
 There was a long list of others, but there were many 
 of the members of Young England nol included in
 
 90 IN THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 ' Coningsby ' — Mr Peter Borthwick, Mr Beresford 
 Hope, Augustus Stafford, Mr Richard Monckton 
 Milues, afterwards Lord Houghton. 
 
 There were some amusing lines on Young England, 
 by Serjeant Murphy, which were shown me by that 
 popular whip and favourite of the House of Com- 
 mons, Colonel Taylor. They appeared at the time 
 of "Jack Sheppard," when that admirable comedian 
 Paul Bedford sang a song with a refrain of "Nix 
 my dolly pals, fake away," which was the popular 
 air of the barrel-organ and the ballad-singer for the 
 next season. I never had a copy of the verses, so 
 quote from memory. 
 
 " In the city of Oxford I was born, 
 At the time the moon was filling her horn, 
 
 Fake away. 
 Of offspring I had clivers rum ones, 
 And you will find them all in the House of Commons, 
 
 Fake away. 
 I'll tell you them all — there is Cochrane-Baillie, 
 And then we have Benjamin Disraeli, — 
 Fake, Young England, fake away. 
 
 Bridport's the seat that Baillie won, 
 From the veteran Purist Warburton ; 
 And Mitchell's his colleague, with face so yellow, 
 A Russia merchant what deals in tallow, — 
 Fake, Young England, fake away.
 
 THE YOUNG ENGLAND PARTY. 91 
 
 On Palmerstou Baillie makes attacks, 
 But you must not think him a lad of wax ; 
 I'll tell you awhile if you'll hold your peace, 
 For he's always a-flaring up about Greece, — 
 Fake, Young England, fake away. 
 
 With Roncesvalles upon his banners, 
 Comes prancing along my Lord John Manners ; 
 He will play you a game of pitch-and-toss, 
 From a Spanish bull -fight to Don Carlos, — 
 Fake, Young England, fake away. 
 
 Next Peter Borthwick comes, and who knows, 
 Queen Christina might take him instead of Munoz. 
 And Benjamin Dizzy, our Jew d'esprit, 
 Who writes his novels in volumes three, — 
 Fake, Young England, fake away. 
 
 We have Smythe, and Hope with his opera-hat ; 
 But they cannot get Dicky Milnes, that's flat — 
 He is not yet tinctured with Puseyite leavening, 
 But he may drop in in the 'cool of the evening,' ] — 
 Fake, Young England, fake away." 
 
 It may seem strange that I have only slightly 
 mentioned Mr Disraeli, who was supposed to be 
 the head of the party ; but this I understood was 
 not so. He had nothing to do with the original 
 formation of this small but far from unimportant 
 
 1 Mr Richard Monckton Milnes was known amongst his 
 friends as " the cool of the evening."
 
 92 IN THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 section. After it was fairly started he took his 
 seat on the Young England bench, and by his 
 genius attracted all the younger members, when 
 Grosvenor Gate became the centre where the poli- 
 tical topics of the day were dismissed and a gener- 
 ous hospitality was exercised. The politics of Young 
 England may in part explain, if it does not justify, 
 Mr Disraeli's Household Suffrage Bill, for one of the 
 principal tenets of Young England was perfect con- 
 fidence in the people. There was an intense con- 
 viction that the Conservative strata was to be found 
 in the lower classes, and lately much had occurred 
 to justify this view. The great object of the party 
 was to relieve the working classes from the tyranny 
 of the manufacturers and employers. It was greatly 
 by the energetic action of Young England that the 
 Factory Acts were passed. The effect which Mr 
 Busfeild Ferrand, one of the party, produced in the 
 House when he made his first attack on the manu- 
 facturers, will live long in the parliamentary memory. 
 He had only recently taken his seat, and had not 
 attracted much attention, except for his strenuous, 
 bold, and burly appearance ; but as soon as he rose, 
 the House was taken by surprise by his Dantonesque 
 appearance and stentorian voice. The great denun- 
 ciator of all manufacturing wrongs, of tyranny and
 
 THE YOUNG ENGLAND PAKTY. 93 
 
 fraud, had at last appeared. It was a Danton, a 
 Mirabeau, addressing the Convention — not a simple 
 member of Parliament, fresh from the hustings. 
 When he spoke of the truck system, and tore in 
 shreds a piece of cloth, full of what he styled 
 "devil's dust," the effect was electrical. "Who," 
 each one asked, " was this man come to judgment, 
 to strike the manufacturer root and branch with his 
 terrible invective]"- — a Yorkshireman, who was 
 master of the subject, and clearly well acquainted 
 with all the secrets of the factory system. It was 
 a new revelation, and the Young England party 
 followed up this speech by others in the country, 
 whirl) produced a great effect, and interested every 
 one in this small section of the House. So great 
 was the interest they excited, that invariably the 
 first question asked by a stranger referred to the 
 Young England party. Well, this party, headed 
 latterly by Mr Disraeli, did exercise an important 
 influence on social questions ; and, as has been al- 
 ready stated, " the Boys," as they were, styled, 
 were the favourites of society — for it was an event 
 in society to find young men in Parliament with 
 a new set of ideas, who spoke in the name, of the 
 people, and combined the love of class privilege 
 with a deep sympathy for the masses. It was called
 
 94 IN THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 romantic, visionary, poetic ; and there is even some- 
 thing in this, but there was much more beyond. 
 They had most of them studied hard and thought 
 deeply on political questions, and there was a fresh- 
 ness of mind, an honesty of purpose, which was an 
 agreeable change from the hard practical dogmatic 
 speeches of the old habitues, the red-tapist parlia- 
 mentarians. As they were of good social position, 
 it may well be imagined that the interest the small 
 party created was not confined to the House of 
 Commons : the old politicians on either side were 
 very kind to those who recalled to them their own 
 youth. If it is gratifying to see the regard youth 
 shows to age, the sympathy of age for the young 
 is not less touching, and the verdict of the youth 
 of the nation is the anticipation of that of posterity. 
 The new party found no warmer friend than Lord 
 Lyndhurst, whose generous qualities only became 
 more expansive with advancing years. JS~o public 
 man of the day commanded more respect than Lord 
 Lyndhurst ; no one certainly possessed more brilliant 
 qualities. He invited me to hear his summing-up 
 in the famous Begum Dyce-Sombre case. What an 
 effort of memory that was ! For three hours he 
 went through the Avhole evidence without even re- 
 ferring to a note, — dates, localities, interviews — all
 
 THE YOUNG ENGLAND PARTY. 95 
 
 were remembered : it was a grand exercitation. His 
 annual review of the session in the House of Lords 
 was always looked forward to with the deepest in- 
 terest. I remember a curious incident. Dr Paris 
 told me of the influence of the imagination even on 
 so powerful a mind. He always had a small phial 
 of some kind of pick-me-up compounded by Dr 
 Paris in his waistcoat-pocket, to be ready in case of 
 sudden faintness. On one of these occasions, at 
 about the hour when the Lords met, Lord Lynd- 
 hurst drove up to the doctor's in a state of great 
 agitation, and said he had felt for the bottle as he 
 entered the Lords, missed it, and he must make up 
 another at once ; for although he had never used it 
 for years, he did not venture to commence without 
 knowing it was in his pocket. He returned with his 
 elixir, and made a magnificent oration. His was a 
 grand old age, united alike with the old and young; 
 but his dietary would not suit all palates or all purses, 
 — pdtesdefoie gras&nd curacoa are not panaceas that 
 are generally attainable, — but whatever the diet, it 
 was well adapted to his grand nature. Happy days 
 those were when we were invited to George Street 
 (Hanover Square), and made welcome by this Nestor 
 of hosts, the "old man eloquent," and by a hostess 
 who in herself po i 3sed all those qualities which
 
 96 IX THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 such a mind as his could appreciate, and which 
 endeared her for herself, as well for the tie which 
 united her to our affectionate friend and protector. 
 How gladly we learned from him the tales of his 
 early life and splendid successes ! how he would hit 
 off by word or action the nature of his colleagues ! 
 "I'll show you what Peel is," and button his coat 
 up to his chin. " There is Peel, buttoned up with 
 reserve." Lord Lyndhurst opute realised Faber's 
 notion of a grand old age : — ■ 
 
 " Old age, what is it but a name 
 For wilder joys departed ? 
 For we shall be for ever young, 
 If we are loyal-hearted." 
 
 Lady Lyndhurst's pleasant dinners and charming 
 suppers we were always invited to. The great ladies 
 mentioned in a former paper all welcomed us, and 
 many others not mentioned there crowned us with 
 their sympathy and good wishes. We were never 
 tired of hearing Mr Townley, who with Lady Caro- 
 line added so much to the charm of society, speak 
 of his father, Mr Peregrine Townley, who was in 
 Paris during the days of the French Eevolution in 
 1793, and was the frequent guest of Eobespierre, 
 whom he described as a very pleasant companion 
 and admirable raconteur. When in a merry mood,
 
 THE YOUNG ENGLAND PARTY. 97 
 
 Eobespierre was in the habit of pulling him by the 
 ears while he called him, " Ah, polisson ! mauvais 
 gareon ! " This seems a peculiar habit of French 
 rulers, for we read that Xapoleon treated his favour- 
 ite courtiers in the same caressing manner. 
 
 Lord Brougham was another of the idtimi Roman- 
 ovum who welcomed the youth of the time with 
 kindly greeting. Many a lesson of political life we 
 learned from him. I recall that on one occasion he laid 
 down as the principle of the first element of success 
 the power of concentrating the mind on one subject. 
 We had been talking of the French Revolution. 
 
 "Do you mean, Lord Brougham," 1 asked, "that 
 if you had been sentenced to be guillotined at ten 
 o'clock you would have forgotten it till the hour 
 arrived 1 " 
 
 ' ; If 1 were sentenced to be guillotined at ten 
 o'clock I would not think of it until eight o'clock," 
 he replied. " On the occasion of my speech on the 
 Queen's trial, when all my reputation depended upon 
 it, I determined to banish it from my mind. I slept 
 so sound the night before, I only awoke in the morn- 
 ing in time to go to the Court." 
 
 A keen sense of the ridiculous he considered a 
 proof of genius. He possessi <l an amusing sense of 
 his own importance and his popular estimation. One 
 
 G
 
 98 IN THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 day I went with him to dine at the Trafalgar, at 
 Greenwich. We were a party of six : it was a picnic 
 dinner, and we each of us paid our share. Lord 
 Brougham called for writing materials and wrote a 
 cheque. One of us suggested that if he had not 
 any money we could lend it. " No, no," said Lord 
 Brougham, " I have plenty of money ; but don't you 
 see, the host may prefer my signature to the money." 
 Lord Brougham's kind interest in us was not limited 
 to London ; it extended to his charming residence, 
 Brougham Hall, which is admirably restored, and a 
 perfect specimen of Gothic architecture. There are 
 few places commanding such wide and beautiful 
 prospects. The most favoured were invited to the 
 Chateau Eleanor at Cannes, which place, now grown 
 into a great city, owes its existence as a winter resi- 
 dence to Lord Brougham. At the time when he first 
 settled at Cannes the town consisted of one street 
 and one small house, hardly worthy of the name of 
 a hotel, kept by a man called Pinchinet, whom Lord 
 Brougham called Pinch-'em-hard. It was quite by 
 accident that Lord Brougham ever purchased land 
 and built at Cannes. He was on his road to Italy. 
 When he arrived at the Italian frontier on the Var, 
 he was told if he passed on to Nice he would have 
 to perform quarantine on his return to France, the
 
 THE YOUNG ENGLAND PARTY. 99 
 
 cholera being in Italy ; so he returned to Cannes, 
 and was compensated for the inconvenience of the 
 delay by the beauty of the surrounding country. 
 There was the wide richly cultivated plain, bounded 
 on one side by the rippling waters of the dark-blue 
 sea ; on the land side by the long waving line of 
 the blue Esterel, or by hills covered with the orange- 
 tree, the vine, and olive ; the ground carpeted with 
 fragrant wild-flowers ; and the pine and the palm 
 were not wanting for the perfection of scenes such 
 as Claude loved to paint. Lord Brougham decided 
 to make an immediate purchase of land, which the 
 country people were only too anxious to dispose of. 
 He bought several hundred acres, and built the 
 Chateau Eleanor ; ami later Mr Leader the Chateau 
 Leader. To these were soon added Chateau St 
 George and a house built by Mr AVoolfield, the 
 clergyman. At the present time, instead of four 
 chateaux, may be seen forty or fifty monster hotels, 
 three or four hundred villas, interminable boulevards, 
 and endless streets. No more rides in olive and 
 orange glades, no wanderings through pine-forests 
 and palm-grove, 
 
 " Qua pinus ingen albaque populus," 
 
 used t" invite the wanderer \>> a charming retirement
 
 100 IN THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 and peaceful repose : there are now hideous stuccoed 
 houses or vulgar aesthetic villas, while the publican, 
 dealer, and trader have supplanted the simple kind 
 Provencal. 
 
 Maga. You mentioned Mr Leader, member for 
 "Westminster — was he the same Mr Leader who 
 played a not inconsiderable part in Parliament at 
 one time 1 ? 
 
 A. Yes. Talking of parties in the House, I 
 wonder I omitted him and Sir William Molesworth. 
 He and Sir William Molesworth did form a party 
 and used to give parliamentary dinners, inviting the 
 members in their joint names. What were the ex- 
 act tenets and opinions of their party (I think they 
 numbered twenty or thirty) I am ignorant, but they 
 were known by the general designation of " Philoso- 
 phical Eadicals." You are aware that Molesworth 
 was afterwards Colonial Secretary, and gained great 
 credit in the post. Mr Leader subsequently sold the. 
 Chateau Leader and settled in Florence. 
 
 Maga. Is he still there ? 
 
 A. Yes ; he resides there at the present time. He 
 has made extensive purchases of land round Florence, 
 especially at Ficsole, where a remarkable Castle Vin- 
 cigliata has been rebuilt by him, representing pre- 
 cisely the old one which was nearly destroyed during
 
 THE YOUNG ENGLAND PARTY. 101 
 
 the wars of the Republic. He made a good exchange 
 from the benches of the House of Commons to the 
 City of the Lily, seated in all her beauty by the 
 Anio. 
 
 Maga. This brings me back to Young England, 
 from which we have wandered. 
 
 A. True, the memory is very discursive. Lord 
 Brougham recalled the Riviera, the Riviera sug- 
 gested Leader, Leader Florence; but I return to 
 Young England, who may be said to have come to 
 light at Cambridge. The Union of Cambridge was 
 the vestibule of St Stephen's. Young England 
 brought to the House of Commons the fervid de- 
 valuation which was the characteristic of under- 
 graduate oratory, and which used to call forth the 
 cheers of the Pitt and Canning Clubs. The yoiuvg 
 party started with one great advantage; they be- 
 lieved in themselves and in the power of sympathy. 
 For them youth was rich in possibilities. Mr 
 Disraeli writes, " 1 do not say that youth is genius, 
 only it is divine." The history of heroes is the 
 history of youth. The age thirty-seven is the old age 
 of intellect. Byron died at thirty-seven; Raphael 
 and Burns died at that age. Was not Mr Pitt 
 Prime Minister at twenty-three % — Lord Henry Petty, 
 Chancellor of the Exchequer at twenty-one? Did
 
 102 IN THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 not Napoleon, a sub-lieutenant, without any influ- 
 ence to aid him, command the armies of Italy at 
 twenty-seven 1 ? Was he not First Consul at thirty- 
 one ; Emperor at thirty - three ; had kings for his 
 sentinels when he was thirty -five 1 All his marshals, 
 Kleber, Massena, Jourdan, Hoche, were under thirty. 
 Don John of Austria fought Lepanto at twenty-four. 
 Thus, to Young England all life lay mapped out be- 
 fore them. It was not, like Columbus, the Old 
 World seeking the New ; it was the New World of 
 ideas starting forth to influence, if not to renew, the 
 Old. 
 
 All the Young Englanders were in some degree 
 poetic. A few of them were poets, and wrote very 
 graceful verses. Among them Monckton Milnes was 
 most known and admired. Some of his poems will 
 live as long as the English language. The " Brook- 
 side " and "They seemed to those who saw them 
 meet " are dear to many a sympathising heart. Mr 
 Beresford Hope is not so well known, but he wrote 
 lines well worthy of record. 
 
 But our great master of epigram and impromptu 
 verse was one not exactly a member of Young Eng- 
 land, but who always gave them his support, and 
 Avas beloved by men of all parties and opinions. 
 Augustus Stafford — the very name recalls all that
 
 THE YOUNG ENGLAND PARTY. 103 
 
 is genial, kind, and true — at college or after college, 
 in the House of Commons or in the lobby, he was a 
 universal favourite. I think he was the author of 
 the lines on the Master of Trinity — Whewell, whom 
 they were irreverently wont to call Billy "Whistle. 
 The Master of Trinity had published the profoundest 
 works on the deepest and most abstruse subjects: 
 one of these was the 'Plurality of Worlds.' One 
 morning he received the following : — ■ 
 
 " Through the realm of invention wherever you travel, 
 And the secrets of worlds and of nature unravel, 
 You will find when you've mastered the works of infinity, 
 The greatest of all is the Master of Trinity." 
 
 The Master of Trinity had a very exalted opinion of 
 his own importance, because the Master's residence 
 had been once a palace. He considered himself en- 
 titled in royal observances, and undergraduates were 
 not permitted to sit in his presence. I have heard 
 that some amusing incidents occurred when the 
 Queen visited Cambridge and resided at the Mas- 
 ter's house. 
 
 The Queen's visit I allude to was on the occasion 
 of Prince Albert's Installation as Chancellor of the 
 University, to that collegiate throne where 
 
 " Yilliers' grace of old, and Cecil's grandeur shone" —
 
 104 IN THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 when the famous contest took place between the 
 Prince and the Earl of Powis. It was at the time 
 when Lord Powis had been the defender of the 
 "Welsh bishoprics, and Prince Albert had just in- 
 vented a new infantry uniform hat, which had not 
 obtained the approbation of the army. This was too 
 tempting an opportunity for Augustus Stafford, and 
 the following verses were widely circulated : — 
 
 " Prince Albert on this side, Lord Powis on that, 
 We will not say which is the brighter ; 
 But we give up the youth who invented the hat, 
 For the man who has saved us a mitre. 
 
 Then why, oh collegiate dons, do you run 
 
 Into all this Senate-house bother ? 
 Can it be that the lad who invented the one 
 
 Has a share in dispensing the other ? " 1 
 
 Much-loved Augustus Stafford, that frank, cordial, 
 friendly nature, so sadly and harshly treated by those 
 who should have judged all his acts in a more gener- 
 ous manner ! Yes, he was somewhat vain, proud of 
 his talents — and why not? Why should a woman 
 not appreciate her beauty, and a man his intellectual 
 
 1 Although it has no connection with this period, I am 
 tempted, while quoting graceful verse, to recall two stanzas 
 by Cowper, written on the occasion of the fire at Lord Mans-
 
 THE YOUNG ENGLAND PARTY. 105 
 
 superiority 1 Men of heart like to see the feelings of 
 success and the glory of the triumph lightening the 
 brow and brightening the eye ; and one should sym- 
 pathise with the language of Eahel to Kanke on the 
 death of Gentz : " Therefore you cannot know how 
 I for that very reason loved my lost friend when he 
 said that he was so happy to feel his superiority to 
 many others, and this with a little laugh of triumph. 
 Wise enough to be silent is every transient distorted 
 mind ; but give me the self-betraying soul, the child- 
 like simplicity of heart to speak it out." 
 
 Maga. All your college set were not given to 
 politics, but 1 suppose you associated with men of 
 all opinions and of all pursuits? 
 
 field's, when all the library of Lord Chief-Justice Murray was 
 entirely destroyed : — 
 
 " And Murray siylis o'er Pope, and Svi ill . 
 And many a treasure moi e, 
 The well-judged purchase, and the gift, 
 That graced his lettered si 
 
 vt pages mangled, burnt, and torn, 
 Tlir loss was his alone ; 
 But ages yet to come shall mourn 
 The burning of his own." 
 
 Mr Pitt used to say that letters of Murray or Peterborough 
 were those which he would rather possess than any other 
 originals. The few specimens we have of Murray's composi- 
 tions justify the high appreciation of Mr Pitt.
 
 106 IN THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 A. There was a great deal of sympathetic senti- 
 ment at this date among the undergraduates. For 
 instance, when the Earl of Dundonald (better known 
 as Lord Cochrane, the hero of Basque Eoads) paid a 
 visit to Cambridge, he dined in the Hall of Trinity 
 College, and when he entered the Hall all the fellows 
 and students stood up. This was remarkable ; for the 
 glorious exploit of Basque Boads occurred in 1809, 
 but it still interested the rising generation. Lord 
 Cochrane' s was quite a reputation to win the sym- 
 pathy of the young and daring. Napoleon called 
 him " le Loup des Mers," and always expressed 
 astonishment at the treatment the great captain re- 
 ceived. I remember Lord Dundonald saying, in no 
 boasting spirit, for he was simplicity itself, " that he 
 never knew what fear was." A near relative of the 
 great Marquis of Anglesey told me that the Marquis 
 always made the same remark. 
 
 We were very cosmopolitan in our college life ; 
 wine-parties, riding-parties, reading-parties, we took 
 part in all, and pleasant they all were. Many an 
 early ride to Newmarket, not for racing but for 
 breakfast, and boating excursions to Ely. We were 
 never tired of visiting the Cathedral, one of the most 
 beautiful and oldest ecclesiastical churches in the 
 land.
 
 THE YOUNG ENGLAND PARTY. 107 
 
 I do not intend to afflict you with a series of 
 undergraduate reminiscences ; but there occurred an 
 incident indirectly associated with the Bishop of Lin- 
 coln which suggests an amusing and original mode 
 of raising money. There was a rather popular, ex- 
 travagant young fellow, well known and well liked 
 in all sets, whose popularity led him frequently into 
 financial crises. He was the nephew of Mr Mort- 
 lock, the great Cambridge banker, ami also of the 
 Bishop of Lincoln. The relatives did all they could 
 — paid and paid until they would pay no more, and 
 atlasl desired him to take his name off the boards. 
 This he refused to do, hut adopted an unusual ex- 
 pedient to have his debts paid. He hired an apple- 
 stall and a small tent, placed them exactly opposite 
 Mr Mortlock's bank, with the inscription in large 
 letters on the stall, "Fruit-stall kept by Mr Mort- 
 lock, nephew of Messrs jMortlock, bankers, and of 
 the Right Reverend the' Lord Bishop of Lincoln. 
 No change given." He passed the day seated in the 
 tent in a magnificent velvet-lined cloak, hooks on the 
 table : beside him there was a plate to receive dona- 
 tions, which poured in — sovereigns and half-sovereigns 
 abounded. As there was room for two in the tent, 
 friends took it by turns to sit with him. Mr Mort- 
 lock, the hanker, could not move out or even appear
 
 108 IN THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 at the windows without seeing a crowd, whose sym- 
 pathies were all with the stall-keeper, and who en- 
 joyed the joke immensely. The result was inevitable. 
 He had to be bought off. However, he did not re- 
 main at college ; the authorities found an early excuse 
 to get rid of him. 
 
 Maga. I daresay you could fill a volume with 
 anecdotes of college life ; but I feel more interest in 
 the conduct of Young England in the House of Com- 
 mons. Where did you sit 1 For there are no cross- 
 benches in the Commons as in the Lords, where it is 
 understood peers have places assigned for what Lord 
 Eosebery called " cross-bench minds." 
 
 A. No: but sitting below the gangway, it is un- 
 derstood you are open to convictions, and are not 
 out-and-out Ministerialist. The Young Englanders 
 were not supposed to adopt a factious line: they 
 simply expressed in bright and vigorous language 
 fresh political views, which they hoped to see 
 adopted by the Government, so they sat on the 
 bench exactly behind the Ministerial or leader of 
 the Opposition. It was not without anxiety Sir 
 Robert Peel heard the voices of the new party, who 
 clearly intended to be independent of the Tapers and 
 Tadpoles of the Government, and would not at word 
 of command cheer his glowing utterances. They were
 
 THE YOUNG ENGLAND TARTY. 109 
 
 the more important because the ' Times/ as repre- 
 sented by Mr Walter, adopted them, and honoured 
 their speeches with leading articles and panegyrics. 
 The fact is, Sir Eobert Peel was not popular in the 
 House, and not even with the nation, for whom he 
 made the greatest sacrifice, even that of consistency. 
 When he arrived from Rome in 1835, he was at the 
 zenith of his popularity and fame : it was something 
 to have a whole nation hanging in suspense on the 
 movements of one man, while the Duke of Welling- 
 ton really filled ad interim every office in the State. 
 It was then Sir Eobert had that remarkable reception 
 at Glasgow, when he was installed as Lord Eector of 
 the University, and made two speeches, one as Lord 
 Elector, and the other hi reply to his health at the 
 banquet, which have never been equalled, certainly 
 never surpassed, by any succeeding Lord Eector. 
 But if his speech was frank, free, and open, his 
 manner was not so, and the result was that the great 
 divisions in the lobbies 
 
 " Knit votes which served with hearts abhorring Peel." 
 
 And all this arose from his shyness, for he was a 
 kind friend, a true and honourable man, of whom Mr 
 Eaikes Currie (in one of those admirable speeches 
 frequently delivered at the dinner-hour, which have
 
 110 IN THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 therefore won no applause, either within or without 
 the walls of the House) so greatly and nobly ex- 
 pressed himself, when he said, turning to Sir Eobert, 
 " He who would enter on a great political career must 
 bring to its study qualities to which I have no pre- 
 tension, — industry, philosophy, deep thought, perfect 
 habits of business, unremitting self-denial. When 
 my name shall be forgotten, or remembered only as 
 a household word beloved by my children or de- 
 scendants, you, sir, will be remembered, for you 
 belong to history ; you will ever be spoken of as the 
 statesman of unsurpassed ability, as the consummate 
 orator, the unrivalled debater, as one who achieved 
 successes in a field of intense competition. Will you 
 not demand something more, standing as you do on 
 the summit of fame, with, as I may say, all nations 
 and languages at your feet, — will you not use your 
 power, like the prophet of old, to bless and not to 
 curse the people 1 " 
 
 A similar appeal was made to Sir Eobert Peel as 
 to the use of his great power, in the following 
 verses : — 
 
 " Oh thou to whose plebeian brow 
 The noblest lords are forced to bow, 
 And e'en thy sovereign must avow, 
 Thy plenitude of power ;
 
 THE YOUNG ENGLAND PAETY. Ill 
 
 So high indeed thy name doth rise, 
 That men who love thee not nor prize, 
 Can with thy feelings sympathise 
 In this triumphant hour. 
 
 When high-born fools who would think it shame 
 To bear thy father's honest name, 
 Now humbly beg to share the fame 
 
 And trophies of the war ; 
 When 'neath the spur hot Stanley frets, 
 And, thankful for the post he gets, 
 The last of the Plantagenets 
 
 Walks fettered to thy car. 
 
 Oh ! if thou couldst but understand, 
 How great to rule the noblest land 
 That mortal eye has ever scanned 
 
 Since time its course began ; 
 Thou wouldst not stoop their aid to ask, 
 But doff the actor's hollow mask, 
 Rise equal to the mighty task, 
 
 Proclaim yourself a man. 
 
 Then thou wilt only place retain 
 To rid our commerce of its chain. 
 The bigot's folly to restrain, 
 
 And ^ive the poor man bread ; 
 And then perchance, contenl and tree. 
 The people will thy guardians be, 
 Aii'l in their gratitude decree 
 
 A laurel for thy bead,
 
 112 IN THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 liut if with low and factious aim, 
 
 Thou playest the landlord's degenerate game, 
 
 No power on earth shall shield thy fame 
 
 From Britain's darkest frown. 
 No craft nor speech nor haughty pride 
 Shall turn the vengeful shaft aside, 
 The curse of talent misapplied 
 
 Alone shall drag thee down. 
 
 And thou wilt leave to after-times 
 Dark records of blood and crimes, 
 And bards will tell in future rhymes, 
 
 Of one who, raised by fate 
 From out the people's ranks to be 
 The lord of England's sovereignty, 
 Fell far below his destiny, 
 
 And did not dare be great." 
 
 The orator and the poet were satisfied when in 
 1846 Sir Robert Peel proposed the repeal of the Com 
 Laws. It is needless to say what a blow this was to 
 all his party. The consequence of this sudden change 
 of policy extended far beyond the measure itself, for 
 it was the commencement of the sad loss of confi- 
 dence in public men. It was not, however, until six 
 months afterwards that the division on the Irish 
 Coercion Bill hurled the great Minister from power. 
 However much he was convinced of his own integrity 
 of purpose, it cannot have been without deep emotion
 
 THE YOUNG ENGLAND PARTY. 113 
 
 that on this memorable evening he saw the great 
 country party pass into the Opposition lobby. It 
 was well said at the time, that those who voted 
 against him on that occasion "were men of honour, 
 breeding, and refinement, of great weight and station 
 in the country." They had been not only his fol- 
 lowers but his friends, had joined in the same pas- 
 times, drunk from the same cup, and in the pleasant- 
 ness of private life had often forgotten together the 
 cares and strife of politics. He must have felt the 
 bitterness of fate, while the Manners, the Lowthers, 
 the Bentincks, the Somersets, passed before him. 
 Yes ; these were the country gentlemen, the gentlemen 
 of England, with whose cheers, but live years before, 
 the very same building had been ringing whenever he 
 rose : they were proud at having him for their leader. 
 So they marched out, all the men of high character, 
 and large-acred squires, Avhose spirit he had so often 
 quickened, and whose council he had so often soli- 
 cited in his eloquenl speeches. 
 
 'Ibis occasion was the first difference of opinion in 
 the Young England party. To some it seemed more 
 desirable rather to continue to supporl a Conservative 
 Ministry, than to turn out Sir Robert Peel and let in 
 the Whigs Eorthe sake ofagreal principle, more especi- 
 ally when lie could only be put into a minority by 
 
 ii
 
 114 IN THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 voting with the Opposition. It was a very difficult 
 position for young politicians to be placed in, the 
 more so as not a few had very recently been speaking 
 at agricultural meetings, and advocated the principle 
 of protection in magniloquent periods. Many of the 
 boroughs at that time embraced large contiguous 
 country districts — indeed, in not rare instances, the 
 agricultural element predominated ; but up to the 
 last moment there was perfect confidence in the 
 staunchness of Sir Robert to protection, and the 
 voters had been gladdened with eloquent descriptions 
 of golden crops and remunerative harvests, " of the 
 bold peasantry, the country's pride." Nothing had 
 been wanting to complete the picture of agricultural 
 prosperity ; now these visions had melted into air, 
 and hereafter England was to depend on other 
 countries for her food-supplies. Those of our party 
 who cared for men more than measures, resolved to 
 consult the great man himself. Interviews with 
 Prime Ministers are always solemn events, and it was 
 not without nervousness that we went to Whitehall 
 Gardens. But if we were nervous, Sir Eobert Peel 
 was much more so. No schoolboy could be more 
 anxious than the great Minister. While with one 
 hand he fidgeted with his watch-chain and seals, 
 with the other he played with papers which were
 
 THE YOUNG ENGLAND PARTY. 115 
 
 lying on the table. Still, when once he began to 
 explain the position, no words could be heartier, no 
 expression of feeling nobler. He said his brother, 
 Colonel Peel, found himself in the same difficulty. 
 When Sir Robert was told that in some instances it 
 was impossible conscientiously to retain the seat 
 without re-election, he made tempting offers to vacate 
 on taking office, which were invariably declined. 
 One of the elections consequent on these events was 
 remarkable. The rival candidates were exactly equal 
 the whole day. The poll was published every hour 
 after eight o'clock, and on each occasion it was a tie. 
 The poll should have closed at four o'clock, but at a 
 quarter to four an excited mob made an attack on 
 the polling booth. It was carried away, together 
 with the returning officers and pull-clerks, the Liberal 
 candidate, as it was supposed, being in a majority of 
 one. The return was to be declared at the town-hall, 
 whither the Conservative candidate went to protest 
 against the return as illegal, the poll not having been 
 kept open until four. As he commenced a very 
 energetic protestation, the returning officer beckoned 
 him to draw near, and whispered. "It is a mistake, 
 you have a majority of one." As he spoke the hand 
 was heard approaching, playing " See, the Conquering 
 Hero eom< They were chairing the supposed
 
 116 IN THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 successful candidate. When the triumphal proces- 
 sion reached the town-hall, they were told of the 
 mistake, when (as was commonly reported) the occu- 
 pant of the chair descended from his rickety and 
 most uncomfortable elevation, for the bearers were in 
 very high spirits, and the Conservative, then member, 
 took his place. Again " See, the Conquering Hero " 
 was played by the same band, the same mob of thirsty 
 souls cheered, and the same amount of beer flowed, 
 although from a different source. Alas ! the result 
 of all this was the break up of the great country 
 party, and what was more, the loss of confidence in 
 the consistency of public men. 
 
 It was very remarkable that a statesman who had 
 seen and lived so much in all societies, and with so 
 great self-command in public, was so shy in private 
 life. I remember on one occasion going rather early 
 to dinner — a large parliamentary dinner — in White- 
 hall Gardens, and meeting a member who was leav- 
 ing. " I must be very late," I said to him. 
 
 "No, you are early," he replied; "but I am sure 
 there is a mistake in the day. I must have been 
 invited for next Saturday, for I have been in the 
 picture-gallery with Sir Robert for a quarter of an 
 hour, and he has never spoken a word to me." 
 
 This was a new member, and not acquainted with
 
 THE YOUNG ENGLAND PARTY. 117 
 
 Sir Eobert's manner. I advised him to return. He 
 did so, and was warmly greeted by Sir Robert, who 
 gamed confidence with the increase in the number of 
 his guests. 
 
 Sir Robert was not less remarkable for his physical 
 than for his mental power. He was an excellent 
 shot and a good walker. I have heard one who 
 was learned in all manner of sports say he had met 
 feAv better walkers and better shots ; but both as a 
 walker and a shot, he never met any one to equal Sir 
 Robert. 
 
 He dined frequently at the House of Commons. 
 The catering was at that time in the hands of Bel- 
 lamy. There was a great difference between the 
 dinner arrangements at that time and the present. 
 Then, members dined in the kitchen, and the dinner 
 was cooked before them. There was little besides 
 beef-steaks and mutton-chops ; but they were grilled 
 at a roaring fire, and never were mutton-chops better 
 served. Now, there is an elaborate menu of entrees 
 and joints ; but the change is not for the better, and 
 the old members regret the simple cuisine of forty 
 years since. What would they have fchoughl of the 
 new innovation of ladies dining within the sacred 
 precincts I Never was change greater than this, ex- 
 cept in the smoking arrangements. Formerly, the
 
 US IN THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 only place for smoking was Gossefct's room. Captain 
 Gossett was Sergeant -at -Arms, and no one more 
 popular ever filled the post. He was given two 
 rooms, and one of these he invited his friends to 
 smoke in. There were the pleasant reunions. Within 
 these walls no party feeling entered ; it was " lasciate 
 ogni asperitate voi ch'entrate." Each of the invited 
 brought his own cigars and whisky — that is, all who 
 frequently enjoyed this society used to send a present 
 of whisky, and there was no light consumption of the 
 old Glenlivet and poteen. On one occasion Mr Glad- 
 stone was asked what he imagined was the consump- 
 tion during the session. He put it at three hundred 
 and fifty bottles, and he was right within half-a-dozen. 
 I very much question whether the new smoking- 
 rooms ever will see such a genial society as the small 
 retreat where the walls were covered with the photo- 
 graphs of the visitors, and where the pleasant talk 
 until " Who goes home 1 " was heard, was only inter- 
 rupted by the division bell. 
 
 Few deaths ever produced such a sense of loss to 
 the nation as the death of Sir Eobert Peel, which 
 occurred in 1850, in consequence of a fall from his 
 horse on Constitution Hill. The people seemed 
 stunned. Eight or wrong in his politics, he had 
 occupied a large place in the national mind. It was
 
 THE YOUNG ENGLAND PARTY. 119 
 
 hard to realise the loss of that great intellect. It was 
 a mournful clay in the House of Commons when Mr 
 Gladstone rose to move the adjournment of the 
 House ; there were tears in the eyes of all present. 
 " Xow," said the great orator, 
 
 " is the stately column broke, 
 The beacon-light is quenched in smoke, 
 The trumpet's silver sound is still, 
 The warder silent on the hill." 
 
 And then in thrilling voice and in noble language the 
 speaker expressed in no exaggerated terms the deep 
 loss the nation had sustained. There is no assembly 
 more sympathetic than the House of Commons, ox- 
 more generous in its instincts. It is easy to talk of 
 the deterioration of the House. I believe that there 
 is very little dotorioration, and that it still remains 
 the first assemblage of gentlemen in Europe. This 
 was an occasion to which Mr Gladstone was equal, 
 for it appealed to all the deepest feelings of our 
 nature. Had Mr Gladstone been a great prelate, his 
 funeral orations would have rivalled Bossuet's. Mr 
 Oladstone's great power arises from the intensity 
 of ln's conviction. It is of no moment to him that 
 the opinion of Tuesday may not be the opinion of 
 .Mi unlay; but whatever bis opinion at the time, he
 
 120 IN THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 is thoroughly convinced that it is right. To attack 
 him, then, on the ground of inconsistency is idle : he 
 will reply that he is the one consistent man that — 
 
 " Nel raondo mutabile e leggiero 
 Costanza e spesso il variar pensiero." 
 
 It was well said by some one, " When Mr Gladstone 
 brings forward a question it is with a majestic 
 authority, as if he came down from the mountain 
 with the Ten Commandments in his despatch-box 
 for private reference." I have always felt that if 
 Mr Gladstone, from his place in the House, chose to 
 accuse me of any crime, not only would he at once 
 persuade the House that I had committed it, but 
 would persuade even myself that I had done it. 
 
 Mr Gladstone's sympathetic utterance on the death 
 of Sir Eobert Peel reminds me that two years later 
 his great rival moved the funeral honours of the 
 Duke of Wellington. The highest expectations were 
 aroused ; never was such a grand occasion — more 
 favourable for a noble orator than the death of Sir 
 Eobert Peel — for in the case of the Great Duke there 
 coidd be but one unanimous sentiment. If I re- 
 member right, there was a national mourning. Over 
 the untimely grave of the eminent statesman, passions 
 were hushed for a time ; but party animosity only
 
 I11K TOUNG ENGLAND PARTY. 121 
 
 slumbered, for there were many who loved him not 
 and deplored him not. The Great Captain's death 
 was felt throughout the length and breadth, not 
 alone of Great Britain, but of the civilised world. 
 Well was it written at the time, " It is the last stone 
 torn from the ancient foundations of the European 
 monarchies, and the present generation, leaning 
 breathless over the dark gulf of the future, and 
 listening to its fall in the unfathomable deep." The 
 great Minister, the powerful orator, addressed the 
 House of Commons on this memorable occasion. 
 Strange to say, he fell far short of the hopes and 
 wishes of all the expectant hearers. It was very 
 remarkable, and more remarkable that lie who pos- 
 sessed in their fulness " the thoughts that breathe 
 and words that burn," should ever have adopted the 
 words which had been spoken over the grave of the 
 Marshal Gouvion de Saint Cyr. "Doubtless," said 
 Mr Disraeli, " to think with vigour, with clearness, 
 and with depth in the recess of the Cabinet, is a line 
 intellectual demonstration ; but to think with equal 
 vigour, clearness, and depth among bullets, appears 
 the loftiest exercise' and the most complete triumph 
 of the human faculties." These were pretty near the 
 words in the funeral oration of the Marechal, in 
 which the expression, "le silence de son cabinet"
 
 122 IN THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 was curiously translated by Mr Disraeli " in the 
 recess of the Cabinet " ; and if I remember right, it 
 was this which attracted attention. Had Mr Disraeli 
 taken the trouble, he could have spoken imperishable 
 words on that occasion. Only two years had passed 
 since the invasion of the Houses of Parliament by 
 Feargus O'Connor and his Chartist hordes had been 
 averted by the genius and determination of the Great 
 Captain. When the Queen went to Osborne, and 
 the Duke accepted the command of all the forces, 
 it was understood that he was to possess undivided 
 responsibility and authority. It was truly a moment- 
 ous day when in the very early dawn a large force 
 was concentrated in the metropolis, and yet not a 
 soldier to be seen the whole day ; not a carriage was 
 seen in the streets, which were only patrolled by 
 special constables. At four o'clock, when the House 
 was sitting, Feargus O'Connor asked permission for 
 the Chartist delegates from the mass on the other 
 side of Westminster Bridge to introduce the monster 
 petition. The answer was, that the petition of the 
 people woidd, of course, be received by the House, 
 but no deputation. Then Feargus O'Connor's heart 
 sank. On the Vauxhall side of the bridge, there 
 were the tens of thousands he had collected from all 
 parts in the hope of the plunder of the metropolis ;
 
 THE YOUNG ENGLAND PARTY. 12', 
 
 but O'Connor well knew that although no soldier was 
 seen, they occupied every house in the vicinity ; that 
 the Great Duke had said, if one of his soldiers was 
 struck with a stone, or a man put his foot on the 
 bridge, the leaders of the movement and their fol- 
 lowers must take the consequences of their deeds. 
 The cannon knew no distinction of persons, so Fear- 
 gus O'Connor took the most prudent course, and with 
 great difficulty induced his forces to disperse, and so 
 ended the eventful revolution of 1848. 
 
 Some of the Chartist songs, though very profane, 
 possessed a good deal of vigour. I remember the first 
 stanza of one which was popular with this socialist 
 party— 
 
 "Crucified, crucified every morn, 
 Beaten with stripes and crowned with thorn ; 
 Spurned and spat on, and drenched with gall — 
 Brothers, how long will ye bear this thrall I 
 Mary of .Magdalene, Peter, and John, 
 Answer the question and pass it on." 
 
 In Mr Disraeli's graceful dedication of ' Coningsby ' 
 to Mr Henry Hope, he mentions that it was com- 
 posed amid " the glades and galleries of Deepdene," 
 where the party of Young England were ever warmly 
 welcomed, and never was a spot where the youthful 
 imagination could find a more genial home. It
 
 124 IN THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 possessed all the charm that woodland and undu- 
 lating ground and abundant flowers could bestow 
 without; and within, every grace that the most 
 cultivated taste and refinement could lavish upon it. 
 An Italian style of building, which, if not precisely 
 adapted to the climate, harmonised with the land- 
 scape. Happy days were passed there by the 
 youthful party, who added, spite of the warning of 
 Easselas, to their present enjoyment the fond hopes 
 of the future. There were many visitors to Deep- 
 dene, most of whom sympathised with the ambitions 
 and aspirations of youth. One dear kind friend arrived 
 there, with whom a pleasant incident is associated. 
 General Sir "Willoughby Cotton had returned from an 
 important Indian command. He was a very grand, 
 dignified officer, warm-hearted, irascible, and was 
 ready to resent any slight absence of due considera- 
 tion. So much so, that the first day after his return, 
 when the members of the Carlton pressed round to 
 congratulate him on his arrival, among them was Mr 
 Quintin Dick, who slapped the General on the back, 
 and said, " How are you, Willoughby 1 " 
 
 The General started, stared at him, and replied, 
 "Pretty well, Mr Richard." 
 
 " Eichard ! why, you have forgotten, I am Dick ! " 
 "Yes, sir; but although you are familiar enough
 
 THE YOUNG ENGLAND PARTY. 125 
 
 to call me Willoughby, I am not familiar enough to 
 call you Dick ! " 
 
 Mr Henry Hope had been presented with two little 
 bears, which were during the day tied to separate 
 trees by long chains. These bears were constant 
 objects of curiosity, and it was observed that the sure 
 sign of their being out of temper was when they 
 licked their paws. One morning they were evidently 
 in a very bad humour, and we were all looking at 
 them, when the General said, " Not any of you 
 young fellows dare to unchain one of the hears." 
 
 " Why, you are a great officer, and you won't do 
 it," was the reply. 
 
 "You mean 1 dare not?" said Sir Willoughby, 
 very indignantly. 
 
 •• No ! " we exclaimed. 
 
 He took a short stick out of "He of OUT hands, and 
 went to the hear. The little brute licked his paws 
 more and more as the General began to unwind the 
 chain, while we chuckled with delight. No sooner was 
 the chain unwound than the bear clasped the < teneral's 
 portly form in his arms. In vain he struck him on 
 the head with his stick. All his breath was crushed 
 out of him. We all rushed to the rescue. Every 
 one belaboured the little animal, and at last he left 
 hold of the General, who sank panting to the ground.
 
 12G IN THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 We could not seize the chain, and off went the bear, 
 through the flower-beds, to the house, scattering a 
 group of ladies who were sitting on the terrace. The 
 bear dashed through the hall door, dragging his chain 
 after him, clown the wide gallery, and straight into a 
 china-closet, with glass doors, which stood at the end 
 of it. Then came crash ! crash ! ! crash ! ! ! All the 
 establishment rushed to the rescue, and at last the 
 bear was secured ; but not until the closet had become 
 the scene of dire disaster. It may be supposed that 
 after this the bears were never tied to the trees, but 
 were kept in durance vile. This may seem a some- 
 what unimportant incident to record, but it Avas a 
 very amusing scene. How pleasant it was after the 
 long weary hours of the House of Commons to find 
 ourselves in such a cheerful house, where host and 
 hostess only cared for the happiness of their guests ! 
 I remember Mr Disraeli always posted down from 
 London. He considered there was no enjoyment 
 equal to travelling in a comfortable carriage with a 
 pair of good posters. How much was the charm of 
 the travel enhanced, when it was to enjoy a period 
 of repose in a house which possessed what a poet 
 wrote every house should possess, the three L's — 
 light, life, and love ! 
 
 It was on such occasions that Mr Disraeli would
 
 THE YOUNG ENGLAND PARTY. 127 
 
 tell us the tale of his early life, which really was the 
 life of Vivian Grey. The ' Quarterly Review ' said : 
 " No one can forget his first impressions on reading 
 ' Vivian Grey,' and it may well he understood that 
 those who enjoyed the privilege of listening to 
 his tale of the dawn of that ambitious, grand, and 
 crowded life, can never forget it. Like Napoleon, 
 he achieved eminence, not only without any extra 
 neons aid, hut in spite of every disadvantage, lie 
 again, 1 i k ■ * Napoleon, had faith in himself. It 
 is easy to preach the doctrine of humility ; but 
 more careers arc sacrificed by men underrating than 
 overrating themselves, lie possessed the admirable 
 quality of rising after failure — defeat never crushed 
 him. Like the fabled oak, he was strengthened by 
 every blow." It is well known that his failure on 
 the occasion of his first speech in the House in no 
 way daunted him, and yet the failure would have 
 broken most men. Henry Bulwer, afterwards Lord 
 Dalling, told me that he drove with Disraeli from 
 Gore House after this disappointment, and that he 
 was in a most dejected state. Sheil said it was 
 not a break down, it was a crash down. A very 
 short time elapsed before he addressed the Bouse 
 again, and sat down amid cheers from all sides. It 
 was told of him he never told it himself during
 
 128 IN THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 his boyhood that lie was asked by Lord Melbourne, 
 " Well, what do you intend to be 1 " and his ready 
 reply was, " Prime Minister." These parties at the 
 Deepdene succeeded his marriage, when he returned 
 from a long Continental tour, during Avhich he was 
 received with distinction in every Court and every 
 society. By every account, in Paris he was the 
 observed of all,— the representatives of all parties 
 and opinions paid homage to his intellect. He was 
 on the most friendly terms with the King, with 
 whom he was frequently closeted. Lord Brougham, 
 who was at Paris at the same time, found himself 
 eclipsed, and saw Disraeli's success with ill-concealed 
 annoyance. 
 
 Another country house where Young England were 
 received with open arms Avas Mr Walter's, at Bear- 
 wood. Mr Walter possessed the majority of shares 
 in the ' Times,' and could therefore control its politics. 
 Most of the papers, even the Opposition, were favour- 
 able to young men who at least possessed earnestness 
 and honourable ambition ; but the ' Times ' and 
 'Morning Post' took them under their special pro- 
 tection. The latter paper had not at that date 
 hoisted what the ' Times ' called " the red flag of the 
 Foreign Office on the bare poles of Protection : " it 
 was the recognised organ of the upper circles of
 
 THE YOUNG ENGLAND PARTY. 129 
 
 society, and was conducted with remarkable ability 
 by Mr Peter Borthwick, a prominent member of the 
 Young England party. His son, Sir Algernon Borth- 
 wick, has not only maintained tbe high reputation of 
 the journal, but, under his admirable management, it 
 is second to none in its widely extended influence 
 and its high standard of merit. Many pleasant re- 
 unions we had in the sanctum of the ' Morning Post,' 
 when the questions of the day were discussed, with 
 frequently very impracticable residts. At the ' Times ' 
 office we were given a small room, where we had all the 
 advantage of early information and competent advisers. 
 It was, however, at Bearwood, Mr Walter's country 
 seat, that we enjoyed the benefit of his sagacity and 
 wide experience. A spirit of kindness and peace 
 pervaded the whole place ; an extensive park invited 
 to long strolls with our host, from whom Ave learnt 
 much of interest connected with the topics of the 
 day. At Bearwood there is a large sheet of water, 
 which was the scene of a deeply affecting incident. 
 Mr "Walter's grandson was a most graceful thinker 
 and writer. He had been on a voyage round the 
 world, and rejoined his family two days before 
 Christmas, and he lost his life in a most noble 
 effort to save the lives of others who had fallen 
 in. and were struggling amongst the broken ice. It
 
 130 IX THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 was a noble self-sacrifice. But wliat was most re- 
 markable, he had but recently been translating some 
 German poems, in which were lines of solemn beauty, 
 strangely prophetic — 
 
 " When most the chill of death I dread, 
 Chill like the sharp and bitter cold, 
 Ere dawns in heaven the morning red." 
 
 Xo family in the country have ever been more highly 
 considered and more universally popular than Mr 
 Walter's. It was a sad blow when Mr Walter, the 
 friend of Young England, was unseated on petition. 
 The committee had sat for, I think, five or six weeks. 
 At that time election petitions were tried by Com- 
 mittees of the House ; and so little confidence was 
 there in the impartiality of our statesmen, that it was 
 customary to select an equal number from each side 
 and a chairman. It was felt that, except in cases 
 where differences of opinion are quite impossible, the 
 ultimate decision must rest with the chairman, who 
 again rarely voted against his party ; so, in general, 
 when the chairman was known, the result of the 
 petition was pretty certain. Mr Walter's case was 
 very remarkable ; for after the many weary days, no 
 evidence of bribery and corruption worth anything 
 in the opinion of the committee had been brought 
 forward, and there was a general feeling that the
 
 THE YOUNG ENGLAND TARTY. 131 
 
 petition -would be declared " frivolous and vexatious." 
 It was Mr "Walter's own counsel who subsequently, 
 from not having attended throughout the proceedings, 
 suggested the weak points which the committee had 
 overlooked, and which afforded a justification for 
 half the committee to vote that the "preamble was 
 proved," when the chairman gave the casting vote, 
 which confirmed this view, so Mr Walter was un- 
 seated. 
 
 Since the days of ' Coningsby ' there has not been 
 so large a number of young men returned to Par- 
 liament as there is in the present, and in respect 
 of age it might almost be called a Younger England. 
 Those members of Young England who have passed 
 away, or the few survivors, are many of them repre- 
 sented by the new generation. These may now apply 
 to themselves the eloquent conclusion of ' Coningsby ' : 
 "They stand on the threshold of public life. What 
 will be their fate ? Will they maintain in august 
 assemblies and high places the great truths which 
 they have embraced; or will their courage exhaust 
 itself in the struggle, their generous impulses yield to 
 the tawdry temptations of a low ambition ; or will 
 they remain brave and true, refuse to bow before 
 shadows ami worship phrases; sensible of the great- 
 T their position, recognise tie' greatness of their
 
 132 IX THE DAYS OF THE DANDIES. 
 
 duties, denounce to a perplexed and disheartened 
 world the frigid theories of a generalising age 1 Will 
 they believe in their own energies, and dare to be 
 great 1 " 
 
 Maga. I wish I had confidence enough to be able 
 to say, Yes. But without being a laudator temporis 
 acti, I feel more pleasure in your political recollec- 
 tions than a contemporary survey is calculated to 
 afford. I hope you have still more reminiscences to 
 relate of this period. I assure you they have excited 
 a remarkable interest. 
 
 A. "When you next visit me after a month or two, 
 I shall be glad to alloAv you to make some more 
 drafts on my memory. But the clash of political 
 warfare once more resounds, and the memories of the 
 Past must give place for a time to the actualities of 
 the Present. 
 
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