This
Made It Impossible For The Duc De Nemours And The Duchess De
Montpensier To Remain At The Embassy, And They Fell By Inheritance
To Mr. Van De Weyer, Whose Queen Is Louis Philippe's Daughter.
The
Queen has taken Louis Philippe's daughter, Princess Clementine, who
married Prince Auguste de Saxe-Coburg to the Palace, but for State
Policy's sake she can do nothing about the others.
Mr. Van de Weyer
offered Mr. Bates's place of East Sheen, which was most gratefully
accepted.
Friday
This morning came Thackeray, who is the soul of PUNCH, and showed me
a piece he had written for the next number.
Saturday
The King has arrived. What a crossing of the Channel, pea-jacket,
woollen comforter, and all! The flight is a perfect comedy, and if
PUNCH had tried to invent anything more ludicrous, it would have
failed. Panic, despotism, and cowardice.
These things are much more exciting here than across the water. We
are so near the scene of action and everybody has a more personal
interest here in all these matters. The whole week has been like a
long play, and now, on Saturday night, I want nothing but repose.
What a dream it must be to the chief actors! The Queen, who is
always good and noble, was averse to such ignominious flight; she
preferred staying and taking what came, and if Madam Adelaide had
lived, they would never have made such a [word undecipherable]
figure. Her pride and courage would have inspired them. With her
seemed to fly Louis Philippe's star, as Napoleon's with Josephine. .
. . Mr. Emerson has just come to London and we give him a dinner on
Tuesday, the 14th. Several persons wish much to see him, and
Monckton Milnes reviewed him in BLACKWOOD.
LETTER: To W.D.B.
LONDON, March 11, 1848
Dear W.: . . . Yesterday we dined at Lord Lansdowne's. Among the
guests were M. and Madam Van de Weyer, and Mrs. Austin, the
translatress, who has been driven over here from Paris, where she
has resided for several years. She is a vehement friend of
Guizot's, though a bitter accuser of Louis Philippe, but how can
they be separated? She interests herself strongly now in all his
arrangements, and is assisting his daughters to form their humble
establishment. He and his daughters together have about eight
hundred pounds a year, and that in London is poverty. They have
taken a small house in Brompton Square, a little out of town, and
one of those suburban, unfashionable regions where the most
accommodations can be had at the least price. What a change for
those who have witnessed their almost regal receptions in Paris!
The young ladies bear very sweetly all their reverses. . . . Guizot,
himself, I hear, is as FIER as ever, and almost gay. Princess de
Lieven is here at the "Clarendon," and their friendship is as great
as ever.
March 15th
Yesterday we had an agreeable dinner at our own house. Macaulay,
Milman, Lord Morpeth and Monckton Milnes were all most charming, and
we ladies listened with eager ears.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 47 of 60
Words from 23840 to 24350
of 30995
