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EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION
EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION
These sketches of my dear aunt’s life were begun by her only a few years before she died. The discretion as to their publication was left to those on whose judgment she relied, and at their request I have undertaken to prepare the sketches for presentation to the public, and to add to them here and there a few explanatory notes of my own. I have left her chapters almost exactly as she wrote them. They are well described in her Preface, and are very characteristic of herself. Like a light-winged
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PREFACE
PREFACE
I hope my readers, whether gentle or simple, will do me the favour to read this Preface, as I wish to explain a little, perhaps apologise a little, after the usual fashion of people who write their reminiscences. According to custom, I had better begin by stating that it was at the instigation of many personal friends, some of them men of literary tastes and distinction, that I overcame my cowardice to embark on what appeared to me a most hazardous enterprise; but one in which I have found so mu
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CHAPTER I BIRTH, PARENTAGE AND FAMILY
CHAPTER I BIRTH, PARENTAGE AND FAMILY
The nineteenth century was still in its teens when I first saw the light. Let me pause, lest I make an inaccurate assertion, for I was born on the 12th November, the month of fogs, in Margaret Street, Cavendish Square, London, the home of fogs. It was under the sign Sagittarius, whose patronage, combined with the tastes inherited from two grandfathers, both masters of hounds, made me a “mighty huntress.” “Tuesday’s child,” says the old adage, “is full of grace,” hence my vocation for, and profic
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CHAPTER II LIFE IN A DOCKYARD—FRIENDS, FAVOURITES AND RETAINERS
CHAPTER II LIFE IN A DOCKYARD—FRIENDS, FAVOURITES AND RETAINERS
Few people have had more homes than I, and few have resided in those homes for, comparatively speaking, so short a consecutive time. I have often said during a long life that I might lay claim in some measure to the character of a gipsy; but then, in the language of the profession to which I always boast that I belong by taste and inclination, I most assuredly never “looked the part.” The first home I recollect is that of Sheerness Dockyard, when my father was Commissioner, and where, with occas
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CHAPTER III MY FIRST PLAY—MARRIAGE OF THE DUKE OF CLARENCE—DEPARTURE FOR SHEERNESS
CHAPTER III MY FIRST PLAY—MARRIAGE OF THE DUKE OF CLARENCE—DEPARTURE FOR SHEERNESS
A subject of such deep and vital interest, to a mind so dramatically constituted as mine, demands a separate chapter. My brother Charles came home for the holidays, from Charterhouse, just in time to celebrate the fourth anniversary of Cavendish’s birthday, and this we proposed to do on a scale of unprecedented magnificence. For we entertained the astounding idea of writing and performing a Tragedy, in which the company, though consisting only of three persons, were to enact seven characters, th
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CHAPTER IV EARLY DRAMATIC RECOLLECTIONS—RESIDENCE AT HAMPTON COURT
CHAPTER IV EARLY DRAMATIC RECOLLECTIONS—RESIDENCE AT HAMPTON COURT
Some of our more fashionable friends in London complained of Somerset House “being a long way off,” that ambiguous term which, I suppose in those days, meant a long way from exclusive Mayfair. So indeed it was, but it was not far from the theatres, which, in my estimation, represented Elysium. We had two cousins, both influential in regard to position and fortune, but whose grandeur came home to me as being part proprietors of Drury Lane and the Lyceum. My father was a great lover of the drama,
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CHAPTER V LIFE AT HAMPTON COURT
CHAPTER V LIFE AT HAMPTON COURT
Our apartments were situated in the older, or Wolseyan, portion of the building, not in the square edifice which Sir Christopher Wren built for Dutch William. The architect’s monogram may still be found over a small door in Fountain Court, to mark where he lodged. Our windows looked out on the Chapel Court on one side, and Tennis Court Lane on the other; and under those windows I often listened of a summer’s night, with mingled pride and rapture, to a quartette of serenaders, who sang there in M
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CHAPTER VI OUR EXTRA HOMES
CHAPTER VI OUR EXTRA HOMES
I must now make a break in the regular line of narrative, to interpolate a chapter, without specifying any particular dates, as the visits of which this portion of my story treats were spread over a large space of time, and intersected many of the different passages of the life I have hitherto recorded. To begin with Marston, the property of my uncle Lord Cork, and the early home of my dear father. Marston Bigot was a pretty place and had been purchased by our direct ancestor, Richard Boyle (sur
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CHAPTER VII MY GRANDMOTHER’S MAID
CHAPTER VII MY GRANDMOTHER’S MAID
I must now devote a short chapter to a record of a faithful friend and retainer of my mother’s family, whose sterling worth and amusing peculiarities deserve especial mention. When my uncle, Mr Poyntz, married, he went to live at his wife’s beautiful estate of Cowdray Park, and his ancestral home of Midgham was let to strangers. It had not been long in the family. Anna Maria Mordaunt, first cousin to the “great Earl of Peterborough,” was maid of honour to Queen Caroline, wife of George II., who
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CHAPTER VIII OUR HOUSEHOLD
CHAPTER VIII OUR HOUSEHOLD
After treating of the worthy member of the household of a former generation, I am now desirous to make some mention of two or three personages who occupied different grades in my mother’s family, and the recollection of whom is intimately connected with different periods of my life. In my youth, it was the custom for servants to remain much longer in families than it is at present; and my mother was so kind and gentle a mistress that her domestics did not consider they would be likely to “better
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CHAPTER IX BRIGHTON—SCHOOLDAYS
CHAPTER IX BRIGHTON—SCHOOLDAYS
Brighton was a favourite resort of my dear mother, both before and after I went to school there; not only on account of its healthy and invigorating air, but more especially because it was the home of her elder sister, Lady John Townshend, Lord John being the proprietor of two houses in the King’s Road, called Little and Great Bush. The smaller of the two was often lent to my mother for the winter months: there was a door of communication between the two houses, and the members of our family wer
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CHAPTER X VISITS IN CUMBERLAND AND LEICESTERSHIRE[27]ACCESSION OF WILLIAM IV.
CHAPTER X VISITS IN CUMBERLAND AND LEICESTERSHIRE[27]ACCESSION OF WILLIAM IV.
27 . I have made some endeavours, but without success, to fix the date of this visit. It was after 1826, and must have been before 1829, in which year Isabella Howard, one of the four sisters, married Lord Suffolk. Lord Henry Howard had died in 1824, so his widow was living in the house of her son Henry, on whom Greystoke had been entailed by Charles, tenth Duke of Norfolk. Mr Crackenthorpe was born in either 1788 or 1789, for he told my sister-in-law, Lady Rachel Howard, that his first recoll
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CHAPTER XI FIRST CONTINENTAL TRAVELS—TURIN AND GENOA
CHAPTER XI FIRST CONTINENTAL TRAVELS—TURIN AND GENOA
It was on the 11th September, 1832, that, in company with my mother, my sister Caddy, and eldest brother Courtenay, I started for Turin, where Charles had preceded us. It would be difficult to imagine the delightful anticipations I had formed of that journey to the South, and yet, like all earthly pleasures, they had a drawback; for, on that blissful morning, I shed many tears at parting from my youngest brother Cavendish, as he stood with a great friend of ours at the door of our apartments in
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CHAPTER XII SUMMER AT THE BATHS OF LUCCA
CHAPTER XII SUMMER AT THE BATHS OF LUCCA
We were all delighted with the Baths at Lucca, and the picturesque environs. The surrounding hills were covered with Spanish chestnut trees, which retained their fresh spring green during the whole of the summer, and the cool, refreshing river Lima, which runs through the valley, tempered and mitigated the heat of those months, that to some of our compatriots appeared excessive. My brother and I hired ponies, and in the company of two Englishmen, his friends, we rode every day, making excursions
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CHAPTER XIII SHORT SOJOURN IN FLORENCE
CHAPTER XIII SHORT SOJOURN IN FLORENCE
From the baths of Lucca we went by vetturino , a charming drive, to Florence. The chief part of the way I travelled with my eldest brother on the box of our large berline, enjoying thus a perfect view of the country through which we passed. A trifling incident occasioned us much merriment the day we passed the frontier of the little Duchy and entered that of Tuscany. Underneath the carriage was slung a hamper, in which nestled our favourite Scotch terrier, “Boch-Dhu,” so named on account of her
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CHAPTER XIV SUMMER AT NAPLES
CHAPTER XIV SUMMER AT NAPLES
We made rather a sad entrance into our new abode, for we had not been settled above two days when the portress appeared to me with a very troubled face, and asked me to come and see her Giulia, who, she feared, was dying. The poor woman was in dreadful grief, having lost another daughter not many months before. I accompanied her to the sick room, where I found a very pretty girl, by whose bedside I took my place. With that trustfulness which is a leading characteristic in young Italians, she too
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CHAPTER XV PISA AND FLORENCE
CHAPTER XV PISA AND FLORENCE
These two cities have always appeared to me to bear a strong family likeness to each other, the same river running through the principal streets, although the buildings on the quays are very different. They are like two sisters: Pisa, the elder, the more sedate, the graver of the two, while Florence, the younger, is all smiles and gladness. But in one respect we were very fortunate, for we saw Pisa under a most cheerful aspect. There is, or was (for I do not know if it continues), a triennial fe
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CHAPTER XVI RETURN TO ENGLAND—ACCESSION OF QUEEN VICTORIA—HER CORONATION
CHAPTER XVI RETURN TO ENGLAND—ACCESSION OF QUEEN VICTORIA—HER CORONATION
In the year 1836 my eldest brother was married to Miss Ogle, in my opinion the most beautiful bride I have ever seen, before or since. They came to reside with us for a time, but the arrangement did not last long, and they went abroad and settled in Paris. The year 1837 was one of great sorrow for my sister, and indeed for all of us, as the health of her dear kind master, William the Fourth, began to fail. In the month of May I went with my mother to pay a visit of a few days to Princess Mary, D
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CHAPTER XVII MILLARD’S HILL—TENBY—CHARLES YOUNG AND A COURT BALL
CHAPTER XVII MILLARD’S HILL—TENBY—CHARLES YOUNG AND A COURT BALL
In the year 1840, my mother gave up the apartments she had so long occupied at Hampton Court Palace—the place having become intolerable to her since the death of her beloved and only brother, Mr Poyntz, who had died suddenly at his house on the Green. This bereavement determined her to accept the offer of her brother-in-law, Lord Cork, to take possession of a small house on his property in Somersetshire, called Millard’s Hill, an unostentatious building, in a very picturesque part of the county.
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CHAPTER XVIII 1844. TRIP TO THE CHANNEL ISLANDS
CHAPTER XVIII 1844. TRIP TO THE CHANNEL ISLANDS
It was during the summer of 1844 that my dear father, who had been in failing health for some time, breathed his last at the small wayside hotel at Salt-Hill, near Slough. It has since been burned down, but was well known in former years as the resort of the Eton scholars, at the time of Montem. My father had gone thither for change of air, in company with his life-long friend and favourite messmate, Sir Willoughby Lake, who did not long survive him. In the first days of that beautiful autumn I
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CHAPTER XIX WHITTLEBURY
CHAPTER XIX WHITTLEBURY
In passing in review before my mind the different country houses which I have frequented at different periods of my life, I am forcibly struck by the difference in the characteristics of each. I will devote this chapter to Whittlebury Lodge in Northamptonshire, situated on the skirts of the beautiful forest of the same name, where, for many months at a time, I was the guest of kind friends to whom I have alluded in an earlier chapter. Lord Southampton [42] was the Master of the Hounds, in which
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CHAPTER XX MUNICH—SECOND VISIT TO ITALY
CHAPTER XX MUNICH—SECOND VISIT TO ITALY
We passed the summer of 1846 at Munich, we—that is my mother, my brother Charles, and my sister—having taken a clean and comfortable lodging kept by a Frenchman in the Promenade Gasse. Our life here was most enjoyable; the inseparable companionship of my brother Charles was to me a source of untold delight. Our pursuits and pleasures were all in common; we studied the German language together under the tuition of a well-read and accomplished master, and gained great proficiency by our almost dai
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CHAPTER XXI ARRIVAL IN ROME, 1846—OCTOBER FESTIVALS AND “POSSESSO”
CHAPTER XXI ARRIVAL IN ROME, 1846—OCTOBER FESTIVALS AND “POSSESSO”
But let me hasten on to Rome, where, on our arrival, we took up our abode in a charming apartment in Palazzetto Torlonia, at the corner of the Piazza di Venezia, than which a more excellent situation could scarcely be found, with the full prospect of enjoyment of every kind, social and intellectual. Our hopes brought no disappointment in their train. October in Rome is a season of great beauty, especially when the citizens look forward to the Festivals. We crossed the Tiber on a glorious day in
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CHAPTER XXII SUMMER OF 1847—FLORENCE, VILLA CAREGGI
CHAPTER XXII SUMMER OF 1847—FLORENCE, VILLA CAREGGI
On our arrival in Florence, we took up our abode on the north side of the Arno, in the same house with our friends the de Fauveaus, and many a delightful hour did I pass in Félicie’s studio, watching her beautiful work with deep interest, and sometimes reading aloud to her the works of our best authors, for she was as good an English scholar as I was, although she could not often be tempted to converse in our language. But we did not stay long under the same roof, for it had been arranged that o
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CHAPTER XXIII RESIDENCE IN FLORENCE—CHARLES LEVER—REVOLUTION, AND THE BROWNINGS
CHAPTER XXIII RESIDENCE IN FLORENCE—CHARLES LEVER—REVOLUTION, AND THE BROWNINGS
Our new residence in Florence consisted of a very pretty apartment on the ground floor of the Casa Lagerschwerd, opening on a bright little garden, which was a perfect sun-trap, and where, even on cold days, my dear mother could bask in safety. We had not been there very long ere I received a letter from our friend G. P. R. James, recommending his friend, the bearer, Charles Lever, to our especial notice. Him he thus describes:-“One of the most genial spirits I ever met; his conversation is like
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CHAPTER XXIV LAST DAYS AT FLORENCE—RETURN TO ENGLAND—MILLARD’S HILL, LONDON 1848.
CHAPTER XXIV LAST DAYS AT FLORENCE—RETURN TO ENGLAND—MILLARD’S HILL, LONDON 1848.
While we were at Florence the popular mind had become so excited by passing events, by the Revolution in France, and by the outbreaks in the north of Italy, that disturbances on a modified scale were of almost daily occurrence in the streets or on the walls of the city. I was amused one day at a comic manifestation of the Florentine horror of the Austrian by overhearing a peasant who was beating his donkey, cry out to him in a tone of objurgation: “Oh, Maiter Nick-ee—oh, Maiter Nick-ee.” I could
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CHAPTER XXV ROCKINGHAM CASTLE—CHARLES DICKENS.
CHAPTER XXV ROCKINGHAM CASTLE—CHARLES DICKENS.
The autumn of 1850 marks, indeed, a memorable era in my heart’s calendar, for it was then I spoke for the first time with Charles Dickens. He had been my familiar friend, as a writer, for years—since his publication of “Sketches by Boz”—but the day that my conquest was complete was while on a visit to Burghley. My brother Cavendish had secured an odd number of “Pickwick,” and coming up to my favourite little room (“Queen Elizabeth’s China Closet”), he told me he had a treat in store for me, and
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CHAPTER XXVI PROTECTIONIST PARTY AT BURGHLEY[51].
CHAPTER XXVI PROTECTIONIST PARTY AT BURGHLEY[51].
51 . My Aunt’s visits to Burghley extended over many years. Lord and Lady Exeter were extremely hospitable, and continued their hospitality until his death in January 1867. As an Oxford undergraduate, I was more than once invited to one of the younger parties, and the stately but courteous manners of the house impressed my mind indelibly. It was one of the last great houses in which ceremonial at breakfast was maintained. We were always expected to appear in frock-coats and faultless garb for
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CHAPTER XXVII ALTHORP
CHAPTER XXVII ALTHORP
In speaking of Althorp, the home of my dear cousin, Lord Spencer, I place no dates at head of the chapter, as my constant visits there embraced the period of many years, and I am grateful to say that, even at this present writing, I am still welcome in that resort of former happy days. It is a place of so much interest as to claim some description from my pen. Althorp has been the home of the Spencer family since the reign of Henry VIII. The Library consisted of seven rooms, the very walls compo
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WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR
WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR
It was at the house of G. P. R. James that we first became acquainted—that mutual friend of whom Landor thus speaks in one of his earliest letters to me:— “You cannot overvalue James. There is not on God’s earth (I like this expression, vulgar or not) any better creature of His hand, any one more devoted to His high service—the office of improving us through our passions.” The close friendship between these two men was to me inexpressively touching, inasmuch as it would be almost impossible to c
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VISCOUNT STRATFORD DE REDCLIFFE[71]
VISCOUNT STRATFORD DE REDCLIFFE[71]
71 . Stratford Canning, Viscount Stratford de Redcliffe; born 1786; died 1880. My first acquaintance with this eminent man, who was known to his contemporaries as the great “Elchee,” was during his residence at Westbrook Hayes, within a few miles’ distance of Ashridge where I was then staying, and while there, and on his return to his house in Grosvenor Square, I always met with great kindness, and was encouraged to be a constant visitor; that, not only by the great “Elchee” himself, but by th
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CARLYLE
CARLYLE
It was on the death of his wife that Carlyle’s attached friend, Louisa, Lady Ashburton, [74] knowing the state of grief into which he was plunged by the sudden blow, persuaded him to come out to Mentone to pass some weeks with her in a charming villa not far from the hotel, La Grande Bretagne, where I was staying with Lady Marian Alford, and her son, the late Lord Brownlow. During the early part of the winter there had been daily intercourse between the Villa and the Hotel, and Lady Ashburton, a
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THE GROVE[75]
THE GROVE[75]
75 . The seat of the Earl of Clarendon. At this charming Hertfordshire home I was a constant guest, and I look back with gratitude and pleasure to the “many good times” and varied social enjoyments which the very name of The Grove awakens in my mind. It seems almost presumptuous in me to speak of the late Lord Clarendon, [76] whose fame was European, yet it is impossible for me to refrain from paying a tribute, however humble, to a man I have had every reason to love and honour. 76 . George
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HINCHINGBROOKE
HINCHINGBROOKE
The name had been familiar to me from my earliest childhood as the home of my mother’s uncle and that of her contemporaries and favourite companions, George [89] and Mary [90] ; but it was not till after my dear mother’s death that I became a frequent guest at the house she loved so well. For in the days of which I am speaking, the master [91] and mistress [92] were both friends of my own, and I had known them both before their marriage, and the cordial welcome they jointly gave me was gladly ac
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OSSINGTON
OSSINGTON
It had been a long promise that I should pay a summer visit to Ossington in Nottinghamshire, the residence of my good friends, Evelyn Denison, Speaker of the House of Commons, and his wife, Lady Charlotte, née Bentinck. [98] Shortly after my return from Madeira, I proceeded on my way thither with the delightful prospect of meeting Lady Waterford, [99] the Duc and Duchesse d’Aumale, their son, [100] and my old friend Wilberforce, Bishop of Oxford. 98 . Daughter of the fourth Duke of Portland. 9
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ASHRIDGE
ASHRIDGE
Ashridge is one of the finest parks in England, rich in magnificent timber trees, more especially tall and stately beech, which are the glory of the surrounding country. The estate originally belonged to the Duke of Bridgwater, and was brought into the possession of the Cust family by the paternal grandmother of the present owner, the daughter and heiress of Sir Abraham Home. It was nearly passing out of the family some years ago, when a complicated lawsuit took place, and would almost inevitabl
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WREST PARK
WREST PARK
This magnificent dwelling, now in possession of Earl Cowper, K.G., but at the time of which I am writing, was the residence of his mother, [108] who inherited it from Earl de Grey, [109] her father. The estate of Wrest, together with the fine mansion in St James’s Square, London, devolved on the above-mentioned nobleman on the death of his aunt, Countess de Grey. This house of Wrest in Bedfordshire he pulled down and rebuilt according to his own designs in the style of a French chateau. The pict
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