I
fear the conviction left on my mind was that my idol, though
transcendent amongst musicians, was a bear amongst men.
Pride (according to his ancient associate) was his strong
point. This he vindicated by excessive rudeness to everyone
whose social position was above his own. Even those that did
him a good turn were suspected of patronising. Condescension
was a prerogative confined to himself. In this respect, to
be sure, there was nothing singular.
At the house of the old flutist we played family quartets, -
he, the father, taking the first violin part on his flute, I
the second, the son the 'cello, and his daughter the piano.
It was an atmosphere of music that we all inhaled; and my
happiness on these occasions would have been unalloyed, had
not the young lady - a damsel of six-and-forty - insisted on
poisoning me (out of compliment to my English tastes) with a
bitter decoction she was pleased to call tea. This delicate
attention, I must say, proved an effectual souvenir till we
met again - I dreaded it.
Now and then I dined at the Embassy. One night I met there
Prince Paul Esterhazy, so distinguished by his diamonds when
Austrian Ambassador at the coronation of Queen Victoria. He
talked to me of the Holkham sheep-shearing gatherings, at
which from 200 to 300 guests sat down to dinner every day,
including crowned heads, and celebrities from both sides of
the Atlantic. He had twice assisted at these in my father's
time. He also spoke of the shooting; and promised, if I
would visit him in Hungary, he would show me as good sport as
had ever seen in Norfolk. He invited Mr. Magenis - the
Secretary of Legation - to accompany me.
The following week we two hired a BRITZCKA, and posted to
Eisenstadt. The lordly grandeur of this last of the feudal
princes manifested itself soon after we crossed the Hungarian
frontier. The first sign of it was the livery and badge worn
by the postillions. Posting houses, horses and roads, were
all the property of His Transparency.
Eisenstadt itself, though not his principal seat, is a large
palace - three sides of a triangle. One wing is the
residence, that opposite the barrack, (he had his own
troops,) and the connecting base part museum and part
concert-hall. This last was sanctified by the spirit of
Joseph Haydn, for so many years Kapellmeister to the
Esterhazy family. The conductor's stand and his spinet
remained intact. Even the stools and desks in the orchestra
(so the Prince assured me) were ancient. The very dust was
sacred. Sitting alone in the dim space, one could fancy the
great little man still there, in his snuff-coloured coat and
ruffles, half buried (as on state occasions) in his 'ALLONGE
PERUCKE.' A tap of his magic wand starts into life his
quaint old-fashioned band, and the powder flies from their
wigs. Soft, distant, ghostly harmonies of the Surprise
Symphony float among the rafters; and now, as in a dream, we
are listening to - nay, beholding - the glorious process of
Creation; till suddenly the mighty chord is struck, and we
are startled from our trance by the burst of myriad voices
echoing the command and its fulfilment, 'Let there be light:
and there was light.'
Only a family party was assembled in the house. A Baron
something, and a Graf something - both relations, - and the
son, afterwards Ambassador at St. Petersburg during the
Crimean War. The latter was married to Lady Sarah Villiers,
who was also there. It is amusing to think that the
beautiful daughter of the proud Lady Jersey should be looked
upon by the Austrians as somewhat of a MESALLIANCE for one of
the chiefs of their nobility. Certain it is that the young
Princess was received by them, till they knew her, with more
condescension than enthusiasm.
An air of feudal magnificence pervaded the palace: spacious
reception-rooms hung with armour and trophies of the chase;
numbers of domestics in epauletted and belaced, but ill-
fitting, liveries; the prodigal supply and nationality of the
comestibles - wild boar with marmalade, venison and game of
all sorts with excellent 'Eingemachtes' and 'Mehlspeisen'
galore - a feast for a Gamache or a Gargantua. But then, all
save three, remember, were Germans - and Germans! Noteworthy
was the delicious Chateau Y'quem, of which the Prince
declared he had a monopoly - meaning the best, I presume.
After dinner the son, his brother-in-law, and I, smoked our
meerschaums and played pools of ECARTE in the young Prince's
room. Magenis, who was much our senior, had his rubber
downstairs with the elders.
The life was pleasant enough, but there was one little
medieval peculiarity which almost made one look for retainers
in goat-skins and rushes on the floor, - there was not a bath
(except the Princess's) in the palace! It was with
difficulty that my English servant foraged a tub from the
kitchen or the laundry. As to other sanitary arrangements,
they were what they doubtless had been in the days of Almos
and his son, the mighty Arped. In keeping with these
venerable customs, I had a sentry at the door of my
apartments; to protect me, belike, from the ghosts of
predatory barons and marauders.
During the week we had two days' shooting; one in the
coverts, quite equal to anything of the kind in England, the
other at wild boar. For the latter, a tract of the
Carpathian Mountains had been driven for some days before
into a wood of about a hundred acres. At certain points
there were sheltered stands, raised four or five feet from
the ground, so that the sportsmen had a commanding view of
the broad alley or clearing in front of him, across which the
stags or boar were driven by an army of beaters.
