He Begged Her To Rise,
But She Remained In The Attitude Of Deep Humiliation, Until The
Grand Duke Sunk Also On HIS Knees And Gently Raised Her, And Then
Kissed Her On The Cheek, A Privilege, You Know, Of Royalty.
. . . On Monday evening we both went to a concert at Mr. Hudson's,
the great railway "king," who has just made an immense fortune from
railway stocks, and is now desirous to get into society.
These
things are managed in a curious way here. A NOUVEAU RICHE gets
several ladies of fashion to patronize their entertainment and
invite all the guests. Our invitation was from Lady Parke, who
wrote me two notes about it, saying that she would be happy to meet
me at Mrs. Hudson's splendid mansion, where would be the best music
and society of London; and, true enough, there was the Duke of
Wellington and all the world. Lady Parke stood at the entrance of
the splendid suite of rooms to receive the guests and introduce them
to their host and hostess. On Tuesday morning I got a note from Mr.
Eliot Warburton (brother of "Hochelaga") to come to his room at two
o'clock and look at some drawings. To our surprise we found quite a
party seated at lunch, and a collection of many agreeable persons
and some lions and lionesses. There was Lord Ross, the great
astronomer; Baroness Rothschild, a lovely Jewess; Miss Strickland,
the authoress of the "Queens of England"; "Eothen," and many more.
Mr. Polk, CHARGE at Naples, and brother of the President, dined with
us, and Miss Murray, and in the evening came Mr. and Mrs. McLean, he
a son of Judge McLean, of Ohio.
June 17th
On Friday evening we went to the Queen's Ball, and for the first
time saw Her Majesty dance, which she does very well, and so does
the Duchess of Sutherland, grandmother though she be.
On Monday evening we went to a concert given to the Queen by the
Duke of Wellington at Apsley House. This was an occasion not to be
forgotten, but I cannot describe it. On Tuesday I went for the
first time to hear a debate upon the Portugal interference in the
House of Lords. It brought out all the leaders, and I was so
fortunate as to hear a most powerful speech from Lord Stanley, one
from Lord Lansdowne in defence of the Ministry and one from the Duke
of Wellington, who, on this occasion, sided with the Ministers. On
Wednesday was the great FETE given by the Duchess of Sutherland to
the Queen. It was like a chapter of a fairy tale. Persons from all
the courts of Europe who were there told us that nowhere in Europe
was there anything as fine as the hall and grand staircase where the
Duchess received her guests. It exceeded my utmost conceptions of
magnificence and beauty. The vast size of the apartment, the
vaulted ceilings, the arabesque ornaments, the fine pictures, the
profusion of flowers, the music, the flourish of trumpets, as the
Queen passed backward and forward, the superb dresses and diamonds
of the women, the parti-colored full dress of the gentlemen all
contributed to make up a scene not to be forgotten. The Queen's
Ball was not to be compared to it, so much more effective is
Stafford House than Buckingham Palace. . . . We were fortunate to be
present there, for Stafford House is not opened in this way but once
in a year or two, and the Duke's health is now so very uncertain,
that it may be many years before it happens again. He was not
present the other evening.
LETTER: To Mr. and Mrs. I.P.D.
My dear Uncle and Aunt:
LONDON, June 20, 1847
On the 19th, Saturday, we breakfasted with Lady Byron and my friend,
Miss Murray, at Mr. Rogers'. He and Lady Byron had not met for
many, many years, and their renewal of old friendship was very
interesting to witness. Mr. Rogers told me that he first introduced
her to Lord Byron. After breakfast he had been repeating some lines
of poetry which he thought fine, when he suddenly exclaimed: "But
there is a bit of American PROSE, which, I think, had more poetry in
it than almost any modern verse." He then repeated, I should think,
more than a page from Dana's "Two Years Before the Mast," describing
the falling overboard of one of the crew, and the effect it
produced, not only at the moment, but for some time afterward. I
wondered at his memory, which enabled him to recite so beautifully a
long prose passage, so much more difficult than verse. Several of
those present with whom the book was a favorite, were so glad to
hear from me that it was as TRUE as interesting, for they had
regarded it as partly a work of imagination. Lady Byron had told
Mr. Rogers when she came in that Lady Lovelace, her daughter (Ada)
wished also to pay him a visit, and would come after breakfast to
join us for half an hour. She also had not seen Rogers, I BELIEVE,
ever. Lady Lovelace joined us soon after breakfast, and as we were
speaking of the enchantment of Stafford House on Wednesday evening,
Mr. Rogers proposed to go over it and see its fine pictures by
daylight. He immediately went himself by a short back passage
through the park to ask permission and returned with all the
eagerness and gallantry of a young man to say that he had obtained
it. We had thus an opportunity of seeing, in the most leisurely way
and in the most delightful society, the fine pictures and noble
apartments of Stafford House again.
. . . On Tuesday Mr. Hallam took us to the British Museum, and being
a director, he could enter on a private day, when we were not
annoyed by a crowd, and, moreover, we had the advantage of the best
interpreters and guides. We did not even enter the library, which
requires a day by itself, but confined ourselves to the Antiquity
rooms.
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