Chapter XIX: Appendix: Some Secret Negotiations of the Pretender with Sir Robert Walpole (2)

There is another practice in the House of Commons itself, that
helps to destroy the freedome of Parliaments: I mean the method
taken by the stronger party of thinning the House, and expelling
such as are of different sentiments from themselves, however
duely chosen; altering the rights of electors as they see fit
and as will best furnish them a pretence for that purpose. Some
method should therefore be taken in fixing the right of voting
in elections on an invariable foot, so as not to be violated or
altered by any determination of the House of Commons. If this
were done by an Act of Parliament, and every person whose vote
is refused by the returning officer, or whose right is infringed
by the intrusion of a wrong member, had power to bring an action
and to recover very great damages, from both of these, this
scandalous and mischievous evill might possibly be prevented.

The iniquities of these late times suggest some other measures
to be taken; such as the limiting of the number of officers and
pensioners that sit in the House of Commons; and the disabling
of all Excise men, Custom house officers, and soldiers, that are
under command and consequently not free to vote according to
their own inclinations and real sentiments, from having voices
in elections, unless on account of their freeholds, when they
have any.

In former times the Civil and Military power of the Nation lay
entirely in the hands of Gentlemen of estates, and was incident
to their tenures; but that face of things is now changed, and
the exercise of the Civil power is at present vested in the
Justices of the peace, as that of the military is in the Lord
and Deputy Lieutenants. Very inconsiderable persons have of late
years been put into both these commissions; and very ill
consequences have either been found or are daily apprehended, to
arise from thence. This makes it generally wished that none
should be qualified for the office of a Deputy Lieutenant who
has not £500 a year, or for that of a Justice of peace in any
county, who has not £300 or at least £200 a year in such County.
These methods for restoring in some degree such considerable
branches of our old Constitution would at the same time advance
the security of the Church.

There are penal laws enough already made, and I do not see any
occasion there can be of adding to them unless that instead of
receiving the Sacrament occasionally, the constant conformity of
a person to the established Church, be made the qualification
for any government, command or office of rank or profit: and
that instead of a Certificate of a persons having received the
Sacrament, another of his being a constant communicant with the
Church of England be insisted on and given by the Minister and
Churchwardens of the parish where such person usually resides
six months at least in the year, before he shall be allowed to
enter upon the exercise of his office.

Some such regulations as these, (which are but too much wanted
at present,) would contribute equally to the security of the
Church, and the happiness of the Nation.

At the end of this Memorandum there is appended the following autograph letter from the Pretender, which would seem to show that Sir Robert Walpole had personally authorised Mr. Carte to obtain a statement of his views. It runs as follows:—

ROME, _July 17, 1739_.

The Message you bring could not but appear verry singular and
extraordinary to me because you deliver it only from second hand
and that I have no sort of proof of your being authorised by the
person in question, who cannot but feel that it is natural for
me to mistrust what may come from him. It may be and I hope it
is the case that he wishes me and my cause well, and I am
sensible it may be greatly in his power to serve both.

If he hath realy my interest at heart, lett him send to me some
trusty friend and confident of his to explain to me his
sentiments and viewes; and if he pursues measures which
manifestly tend to my Restoration, I shall be persuaded of his
sincerity, and shall consider and reward him after my
restoration proportionably to the share he may have had in
bringing it about. But whatever may or may not be in this
matter, I have no difficulty in putting it in your power to
satisfy him authoritically on the two articles about which he is
sollicitous, since independant of his desire, I am fully
resolved to protect and secure the Church of England according
to the reiterated promisses I have made to that effect, and
shall be ready after my restoration to give all reasonable
security which a first Parliament can ask of me for that end. As
for ye Princes of the House of Hannover I thank God I have no
ressentment against them, nor against any one living; I shall
never repine at their living happily in their own Country after
I am in possession of my Kingdomes and should they fall into my
power upon any attempt for my restoration, I shall certainly not
touch a hair of their heads.

I thought it proper to explain in this manner my sentiments on
these heads not absolutely to neglect an overture which may be
of great importance if well grounded, and if otherwayes no
inconvenience can arise from what I have here said.

JAMES R.

At the back of this letter is written in Sir Robert Walpole’s writing—

This original letter wrote to Mr. Tho. Cart when at Rome, and
given Him by the Pretender was deliver’d to me by the said Mr.
Tho. Cart Sept. 15th. 1739 together with the Heads &c.

Whilst this correspondence would seem to show that Sir Robert was not altogether disinclined to enter into secret negotiations with the Pretender, it must be remembered that up to comparatively recent times statesmen at the head of affairs were much given to employing secret agents for the purpose of obtaining information—very often without the knowledge of the Government over which they presided. Cavour, I believe, was about the last to employ these methods, and it is said that though he was very much given to this sort of thing, he never obtained any good by it, as the agents he employed never reported anything of the slightest value, most of their communications being absolutely unreliable and untrue. Mr. Carte, however, appears to have really enjoyed the confidence of the Pretender, and the whole correspondence is somewhat interesting as showing the great amount of intrigue and love of secret negotiation which prevailed at the period of the eighteenth century when this memorandum was drawn up.

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[2] The site of Sir Robert’s house in Chelsea is now covered by Walpole Street, which traverses the ground upon which his mansion stood.

INDEX

Advertisement, a curious, 305 Agnew, Sir William, 212 Aidé, Mr. Hamilton, and his paintings, 191 Ailesbury, Maria, Marchioness of, her appearance, economies, and one extravagance, 39 Ainsworth, Harrison, 42 Airlie, Countess of, and her garden of friendship, 244-245 Albert Gate, Hudson’s house at, 293; stone stags at, 164 Aldershot in 1860, Bernal Osborne’s criticism on, 66 Alexandra, Queen, 155; her dogs, 233 Algerian corsairs, a prisoner of, alive in 1854, 89 Algiers in 1861, a letter on, from Cobden, 240 Amelia, Princess, statue of George III. erected by, in Berkeley Square, 150 American girl, the, her conquest of English society, 33 invasion, the, 30, 33 Amusements and entertainments, recollections of, 246 _et seq._ Anglo-American marriages, 30, 33 Angoulème, Duchesse de, and her brother’s escape, 116, 119; her Memoirs, 119 Annesley, Lady (_née_ Grant), famous portrait of, 188 Apethorpe, needlework carpet at, 50 Apsley House entertainments, forbidden ground to the Press, 27-28 Aquarium, 249 Architecture in London, eccentricities of, 140-141, 144-145 Art in the Victorian era, 40 Artist acquaintances, 188 _et seq._ Ashburnham Iron Furnace, extinction of (1825), 282 Ashburton, Lord, the late, and the English truffle, 131 Ashley, Hon. Evelyn, and the _Owl_, 16 Astley, Miss, and the customs, 120 Atheism, Russian, story of, 302 Atkyns, Mrs. (_née_ Charlotte Walpole), her efforts to save the Dauphin (Louis XVII.), 110; ingratitude of Louis XVIII., 111; her Memorial at Ketteringham, a print of her in character, 112-113; a letter from her to Mr. Perceval, 113-114 Author, the, her bad handwriting, 71; her long ride in the ’thirties, 233; portraits of, and of her sister, 188, 189

Bagot, Bishop, discards the wig, 268 Bancroft, Sir Squire and Lady, souvenir of their retirement, 257 Banks, Lady, her art treasures, 197, 200 Bantling’s cure for fat, verses, etc., on, in the _Owl_, 17-18 Bardelin, Chevalier de, his life in exile, 79; before and after his marriage, and daughter, 80 Bartolozzi, engraved benefit tickets by, 200 Bath, Marquis of, and his election, 44-45 Marquis of (_late_), and his wife, as hosts, 44-45 Battersea Park, old nursery gardens near, 310 Battle Abbey, its owners, 55-57, 59; historical associations and surroundings of, 57; relics from, fate of, 282 Beaconsfield, Countess of (Mrs. Wyndham Lewis), 36, 72, 73, 155; her dinner-parties, 71; her bad writing, 70-71 — Earl of (Disraeli), 51, 190; letter from, on _Henrietta Temple_, 42; great ladies befriending him, 68, 69; early days of, 74; his Reform Bill, 75-76; his real views on politics and distrust of Gladstone, 75; his motto, 70; his friendship with the author and her brother, a letter showing, 73-74; his marriage and devotion to his wife, 72-73; his carelessness as to money, his tact, 73; his death in Curzon Street, 154 Bean, attack by, on Queen Victoria, 165 Beauclerk, Lady Diana, her riding dress, 170 Beaufort, Duchess of (a former), her “lover’s tragedy,” 169-170 Bedford, Duke of, duel of, in Kensington Gardens (1822), 173 — Paul, comedian, 256 Belgrave Square, art treasures in, 207 Belvoir Castle, lamps at, in former days, 272 Bentinck, Lord George, his good looks, 50-51 Berkeley Chapel, its famous incumbent, 150 — Square, associations of, and notable inhabitants, 145, 150, 151 Bernal, Mr., collection of, present-day value of, 184; tragic death of his wife, _ib._ Berri, Duchesse de, 98, 195 Berry, the Misses, in Curzon Street, 154 Bertall, caricaturist, 308 Bessborough, Earl of, 163 Best, Mr., duel of, with Lord Camelford, 174, 177-178 Bewick, Thomas, drawings by, of gibbets, 277 Bexhill, smuggling affray at (1828), 275 Bill-heads, engraved, author’s collection of, 200 Bird pets of the author, 234 _et seq._ Bismarck, Count, on non-indispensableness, 20 Blanchet, portrait of Prince Charles Edward by, its past and present owners, 194 Blarenberghe, Von, snuff-box painted by, 209 Blessington, Countess of, 179, 235 Blomfield, Bishop, two stories of, 268-269 Boileau, Sir Francis and Lady, Memorial set up by, to Mrs. Atkyns, 112 Bookbindings in human skin, 279-280 Bookplates, 257 Borghese, Princess Pauline, sister of Napoleon I., 81 Borrow family and the West Norfolk Regiment, 47 Bourbon family, devotion inspired by, instances of, 98 _et seq._ Bourgogne, Duchesse de, her portrait in a Sussex cottage, 183 Bradlaugh, Mr., and the House of Commons, 301 Braham, the singer, 39; his singing of “The Midnight Review,” 94; beauty of his voice, 262 Brick Street, associations of, 153 Bridge-playing, 298-299 Brienne, Napoleon I.’s early days at, 84 British Museum, Banks’ collection of engraved benefit tickets in, 200 Brocket, Lady Holland’s impertinence at, 63 Browne family of Cowdray, 183; the curse on, stories of, 282 _et seq._ “Brummell, Beau,” his house in Charles Street, 151 Buckingham, Duke of, duel of, in 1822, 173 Buckingham Palace, 165 Buckinghamshire, Earl of, and his unwelcome baby girl, 49 Buckner, portrait by, of the author, 189 Bulstrode, literary associations of, 42 Burdett, Sir Francis, 168 Burgess, Mr. John, and his collections, 216-217 Buried treasures in France, 102, 103, 105 Burke, Edmund, his snub to the youthful Fox, 288 Burney, Dr., and Nelson’s nightcap, 269-270 Burnham, Norfolk, a Walpole property, 174 Burton, Decimus, architect, 248 Byron, Lord (the poet), on the sham funeral of Harriet Webster, 61

Caldbeck Hill and the Battle of Hastings, 57 Camber Castle, smuggling affray at (1838), 275 Cambridge House, Lady Palmerston’s parties at, 65 Camelford, first Lord (Thomas Pitt), verses by, on the lovely Lepell (Lady Hervey), 178 — second Lord, his will preserved at Wolterton, occasion of its making, 174-178; his burial place, 178; his family, _ib._ Camoys, Sir John, and his wife, sarcophagus of, at Trotton, 286 Campbell, Sir Neil, 85 Cardigan, Countess of, her _vis-à-vis_ carriage, 172 Carnarvon, Earl of, Napoleonic relic owned by, 80-81; other treasures, 187 Carriages, former magnificence of, in Hyde Park, 172 Carte, Mr. Thomas, and the Pretender’s negotiations with Sir R. Walpole, 317 _et seq._ Casanova, stormy meeting with Lord Orford at Vienna, 47; his hasty temper, 48 Cassilis, Lord, quaint mistake concerning, 38 “Castle” rule in Ireland, Bernal Osborne’s views on, 77 Catherine II., Empress of Russia, 208 Cattermole, George, and John Burgess, 216 Cavour and his methods, 341 Caylus, Madame de, lines on her dog’s collar, 232 Cerito in social life, 254-255 “Chaff” and flippancy in modern gatherings, 23-24 Cham, caricaturist, 308 Chambers, George, and his paintings, 194 Chambord, Comte de (Henry V.), his appearance and character, 99 Changes and survivals, 265 _et seq._ Chantrey, Sir Francis, works done by, in Curzon Street, 153 Charles I. and Hyde Park, 162 Charles II., 285 Charles X. (Comte d’Artois), 83, 95; portrait of the old Pretender mistaken for, 195-196 Charles Street, curiosities of, 145, 152; derivation of the name, 151; notable inhabitants, 150-151 Chatham, Earl of, 198 Chelsea in 1826, 311 Cheltenham, a Sedan-chair used at, in the ’sixties, 128 Chesterfield, Lady, her friendship with Lord Beaconsfield, 69 Chinese Ambassador, mistaken for his own wife, 38 Chippendale, 212 _et seq._; characteristics of his work, 214-215 Church “restorations,” nineteenth-century effects of, 286-287 Churchill, Lord Randolph, and the Fourth Party, 18; association of, with the Primrose League, 19; as conversationalist, 19; his personality, portraits, and caricatures, what he really said at time of his political fall, 20-21 Cigars, when introduced into England, 138 Cigarettes, as making for temperance, 137, 138; origin of, 138 Cipriani, engraved tickets by, 200 Cleveland, Duke of (Sir Harry Vane), one-time owner of Battle Abbey, 55, 56, 59 — Duchess of (_née_ Paulet), her detestation of slang, 38 — Duchess, the late, and Battle Abbey visitors, public, 55; and personal, 57 — Duchess of, on her visit to Holland House in youth, 60-61 Clive, a dweller in Berkeley Square, 151 Cobden, Richard, 242; his dislike of Palmerston, 67; his discovery of a French painting, 182-184; his home in Sussex, 289 — letters from, on Algiers, 240-242; on the author’s silkworms, 243 “Coliseum,” the, and its attractions, 284 Comfort, rise in standard of, 311-312 Conjuring, Houdin’s feats, 259-260 Constitution Hill, and its associations, 165; old name of, 166 Continental travelling in old days, difficulties and discomforts of, 120, 126, 127, 130; the early days of railways, 129 Conversation a lost art, 23, 26-27 Conyngham, Marquis of, the late, 210 Cooper, Thomas Sidney, as scene-painter, 194 Corder, William, the “Red Barn” murderer, and his skin, 279 Corrigan, Tom, and Bernal Osborne’s repartee, 3, 4 Cortachy, “garden of friendship” at, lines on, by Lord Sherbrooke, 244-245 Cossé-Brissac, Due de, last lover of the Du Barry, his fate, 107 Costessey Hall, the Jerninghams of, 108 Couder, sketches by, of Napoleon I., 82 Country houses of England, a unique national possession, 41; utilised by authors, 42 — old-time self-dependence of, 266-267 Country houses as political forces in former days, 42, 44; why so no longer, 43 Coutts Bank, jewellery of _emigrés_ still unclaimed at, 109 Coventry, Earl of (husband of Miss Gunning), and the abolition of Mayfair, 152-153 Cowdray, ruins, stones and relics of, 183, 282 _et seq._ Cowley, Countess of (_temp._ William IV.), wedding of, 198-201 Cowper, Countess, her recipe for a successful ball, 152 Cox, David, as scene-painter, 194 Crayfish, author’s attempt to acclimatise, 132 Cremorne, 247-248, 311 Creevy, Mr., 168 Crinoline, 156 Croome, needlework carpet at, 50 Cruikshank, George, 143 Cumming, Miss Gordon, her conversation, an amusing example, 24-25 Curzon, Lady Georgiana, afterwards Duchess of Beaufort, a pet of William IV., 197-198; her story of a wedding, 198-199 Curzon Street, highway robbery in (1889), 149; notable inhabitants of, 153-154 Customs officers, 274-275; murder of, at Poole, 275

Dacheux, Mr. Peter Lewis, a schoolfellow of Napoleon I., at Lynn, 80 _Daily Telegraph_ founded, 304 Dance, Sir Charles, his steam cars, 294 Dandies of the past, 158 Dangstein, 238 Darwin, Mr. Charles, a talk with, 239 Davis, Mr. Frederick, and his son, 208-211 Day, Mr., of Norwich, a loyal banker, 114 Dayes, military prints drawn by, 205 Delane, Mr., of the _Times_, 28 Demidoff, Prince, and Napoleon’s old gardener, 87 Democracy, English, Lord Beaconsfield’s views on, 75 Devis, Arthur, paintings by, 181 Devonshire, Duchess of, 45 Duke of, 195 Dillon family and the Dauphin (Louis XVII.), 109 Dogs owned by the author, 229 _et seq._; their graves and epitaphs, 232 — of Queen Alexandra, 232-233 D’Orsay, Count, dandyism of, 171-172; lithographs after his drawings, 189-100; a match for Lady Holland, 62 Downing Street, historic scene in, 180 Drewitt brothers, story of, 277-278 Du Barry, Madame, her missing jewellery, 103-104; how she came to her end, 104 _et seq._ Dubois, famous table by, 208, 210 Duelling, slow extinction of, in England, 173 Dumb-bell gallery at Knole, 223 Duncannon, Lord, afterwards Earl of Bessborough, and the improvement in the Green Park, 163 Dunford, Cobden’s Sussex home, 289

East Anglian folklore, 314 Edward VII., 155, 232 Egan, Pierce, 143 Eglinton Tournament, 305; Napoleon III. present at, 306 Egmont, sixth Earl of, new house built by, at Cowdray, 284 Egypt, evacuation of, 76 Elba, Island of, Napoleon I. at, 84 _et seq._ Election souvenirs, political squibs, etc., 2, 4, 6, 7 Electric light, early days of, 144 Elizabeth, Princess, daughter of George III., her paper cuttings, 197 Elwin, Mr. Whitwell, on Thomas Carte, 317 English furniture, eighteenth-century, no representative public collection of, 211 Eridge Castle, Lady Holland’s visit to, 62; large silhouettes at, 186; mysterious passage from, 274; park, smugglers’ caves in, 274 Evans’ supper rooms, a visit to, 258 Evelyn, John, mention of stage scenery by, 195 Exhibition of 1851, 258

Fabry, Baroness de, her parentage, 85 Falmouth, Charles, Earl of, 151 Family portraits owned by the author, 179 _et seq._ Farren, Miss Nelly, 251 Fauveau, Mademoiselle Félicie de, sculptress, her devotion to the Bourbons, 98-100 Fersen, Count, his devotion to Marie Antoinette, 101 FitzGerald, Edward, 127 Flags of Napoleon I. at Elba, present location of, 88-89 Florence, a diorama at, 246 Flower, Sir William, his letter on the author’s pet choughs, 237 Footmen, running, stories of, 145-148 Foreign manners and customs, old-time English dislike to, 36 Fox, Charles James, 60; his first seat, 280 Fragonard’s “Escarpolette,” print of, 205; replica of, at Hertford House, 206 Franco-German war, caricatures of and skits on, 307 Franking letters, 295-296 French art, past and present estimates of, 182-184; eighteenth-century books at Highclerc, 186-187; furniture, Jones collection of, 206 French panelling, fine examples of, set up in London house, 206-207 Friday, Napoleon I.’s superstitions as to, 84 Frotté, Vicomte de, a brave French royalist, 98 Fulham and its market gardens, 310-311 Fuller, Dr., and the crinoline, 156; family, source of its wealth, 281-282 Furniture supports, a curious set of, 221

Gambling, 299 Gardening, a letter on, from Cobden, 240-242; modern books on, 244; old gardens of friendship, lines on, by Lord Sherbrooke, 244-245 “Gazette,” derivation of, 304 George III., 197, 219; statue of, formerly in Berkeley square, 150 George IV., 210, 214; robbed on Hay Hill, 148-149 Géramb, Baron de, and the hussars, his end as Trappist Procureur-Général, 170-171 Gibbets, pictures of, 277 Girodet, sketches by, of Napoleon I., 82 Gladstone, Rt. Hon. W. E., a bad portrait of, one view of, 14, 15; as a subject of caricature, 6; Lord Beaconsfield’s distrust of, verbal jugglery, 75-76; Bernal Osborne’s apt nickname for, 76-77; Mr. Orrock’s reply to, 212-213 Glasse, Mrs., her famous cookery book, 187 Glenesk, Lord, and the _Owl_, 16 Goethe, his favourite flower, 86 Goodall, Messrs., and the first series of Christmas cards, 202 Goodwood House, coming-of-age festivities at, of the present Duke of Richmond, 46; “Lion dogs of China” bred at, 229-230 Gordon, General C. G., death of, cartoon on, directed against Gladstone, 7 Gorst, Sir John, and the Fourth Party, 18 Goschen, Viscount, and Lord Randolph Churchill, 21 Gossip and scandal in newspapers, an instance of, 305 Gould, Sir F. Carruthers, his political caricatures, 7 Grange, the, Hants, English truffles at, 131-132 Grant, Sir Francis, and the red-cloak craze in portraits, 188; portraits of the author and her sister by, _ib._ Graves, Hon. Henry, portrait of the author by, 189 _Great Eastern_ steamship, its builder, 295 Green, Paddy, and Horace Walpole’s “Opera Pass,” 253-254 Green Park, old Ranger’s Lodge in, 163 Gregory, Sir William, as cat purveyor, 228 Greville, Mr. Charles, his nickname, 258 Grévin, caricaturist, 308 Grieve, George, destroyer of Madame du Barry, 104 _et seq._ Grieves, Mr. Mackenzie, the late, a well-known figure in Paris society, 309-310 Groome, Archdeacon Hindes (the late), 127; Misses, two survivals noted by, 127-128; Mrs., and the Cheltenham Sedan-chair, 128 Grosvenor Square, No. 9, drawing-room in, 152 Grote, Mrs., her claim to Norman descent, 56 Guinea-pigs as a table dish, 15 Gurney, Mr., his steam coaches, 294 Guy Fawkes celebrations, 143

Haliburton, Lord, 315 Hambro, Mr., 254 Hamilton, Emma, Lady, cabinets once owned by, 220 Hammersley and Morland, bankers of Madame du Barry, 104 Hammersmith, its nursery gardens and fine fruit, 310 Hancock’s steam omnibus, 294 Hanged man’s hand, curative power ascribed to, 277-278 Hanging in chains, 275, 277; the last case of, 276 Hanson, Mr., and others associated with the American “Dauphin,” 116 Harcourt, Sir William, and the _Owl_, 17; his _mot_ on “The Souls,” 15 Harold, King, and the battle of Hastings, 56, 57-58 Hastings, the battle of, 57-58 Haversham, Lord and Lady, artistic tastes of, 152 Hawkins, Mr., art collector, his eccentricities, 211 Hay, Lady Emily, afterwards Lady Emily Peel, marriage of, 27 Hay Hill, inn sign near, 148; robberies on, eighteenth century, 148-149 Hayward, Mr. Abraham, and the _Owl_, 17; his _Art of Dining_, 130; his powers of port wine drinking, 136 Henniker, Hon. Mary and Hon. Helen, 314-315 Hepplewhite, 212, 214 Herbert, Sir R., 226 Hertford, Marquis, as collector, 184; the Tilsit table, 208-210 Hervey, Lord, and his lovely wife, 178 Hewgill, Captain, military prints published by, 205 Higgins, Mr., the tailor, and the word “Piccadilly,” 154 Highclerc Castle, Napoleonic relic at, 80 Highwaymen in Mayfair, 148-150 Hinchingbrooke, 45 Hogarth, William, _mise en scène_ of his “Mariage à la Mode,” 155; paintings by, at Vauxhall, 247 Holard, Monsieur, Napoleon’s gardener, his tales of his imperial master, 84 _et seq._, his life-story, 86-87 Holland, Lady (_née_ Vassall), her first husband and life at Battle Abbey, 59; her elopement and marriage with Lord Holland, 60; her court at Holland House, 60, 63; her kinship with the author, 61; sham funeral of her daughter, 61; her ways and insolence, 61-63; some pleasanter traits, 63-64; a clever criticism, 64 — Lord, and his wife, 60; his character, 64 Holland House, duel fought behind, 174; in Lady Holland’s days, 60 _et seq._ Home Rule movement, the, and Mr. Gladstone, 77 Hone, Nathaniel, miniature by, of Horace Walpole, 179 Hooker, Sir Joseph, 239 Horsham gaol, scene of the last “pressing to death,” 278-279 Horsley, Mr. J. C., R.A., designer of the first Christmas card, 201 Hortense, Beauharnais, Queen of Holland, and the hortensia blooms, 85-86 Hortensia or hydrangea plant, 85; some famous lovers of, 86 Hôtel de Ménars, _boiserie_ of, now in London, 207 Houdin, Robert, conjurer, a story of, 259-260 Houghton, Lord, 155; and the _Owl_, 17 Hudson, Mrs., and her Malapropism, 37; Mr., the “railway king,” 293 Hunt, William, and his paintings, 193-194; Ruskin on, 194 Hussar, the English, the creator of, _see_ Géramb Hyde Park, carriages in, 172; deer hunts and poaching in, 161; dress in, 169-170; duelling in, 173; gallows in, 164; once royal property, 162; Peel’s scheme for adorning, 163; railway station, proposed, in, 165; riots in, 166; smoking in, 137; walnut avenue formerly in, 173 Hyde Park Corner, 164

Ibbetson, engraved tickets by, 200 _Illustrated London News_, 303 Inn signs in Mayfair, 145, 148 Invitation cards, author’s collection of, 10 Irish question, Bernal Osborne’s views on, 77 Ironwork railings, past and present designs in, 142 — Sussex, author’s collection of, 281 Irving, Sir Henry, letter from, with a bookplate, 257 Italian political caricatures, 8

Jacobean oak furniture, how to recognise, 223 James, Lord, of Hereford, his pleasant shooting-parties, 190 James III. (the Pretender, _q.v._), letter from, to Mr. Carte, 340 “Jean III.,” descendant of Naundorff, 117 Jerningham family, the, of Costessey Hall, French connections of, 108-109 Jersey, Countess of, and Disraeli, 68 Jewish marriage, a, witnessed by author, 262-263 _John Bull_ newspaper, 304 Johnston, Mr. Butler, 25 Jones collection of French furniture, 206 — Inigo, architect, 164, 194 Jordan, Mrs., silhouette of, 197 Josephine, Empress, 81, 83 Jubilee of 1887, souvenirs of, 10

Kensington Gardens, duel in, 173 — Palace, old prints of London Parks in, 160 Ketteringham Hall, and Mrs. Atkyns, 110-111; her memorial erected by its present owners, 112 Kirk, military prints engraved by, 205 Kleist, Field-Marshal Baron von, and Napoleon I., 92 Knole, art treasures of, and curiosities, 223-225 Knox, Rev. Mr., of Trotton, 284 Kourakin, Prince, and the Tilsit table, 209

Lamb, Mr., at Eglinton Tournament, 306 Landseer, Sir Edwin, gift from, 231 Lansdowne passage, the bar in, and its _raison d’être_, 149 Larabit, Monsieur, on Napoleon in Elba, 89 Largillière, portrait by, strange vicissitudes of, 183 Larochejaquelein, General, dying confidence to, of the Duchesse d’Angoulême, 116 La Rouérie, Marquis de, a gallant Chouan leader, 98 Launay, Nicholas de, famous print by, 205 Leamington, Mr. Burgess’s art treasures at, 217 Lecourbe, General, and his reconciliation with Napoleon I., 90 _et seq._ Leg-iron of hanged man, owned by author, 275-276 Legoux, engraved benefit tickets by, 200 Leicester, last case of hanging in chains at (1834), 276 Leighton, Lord (the late), 190 Lennox, Lady Alexandra, portrait of, by Graves, 189 — Lord Alexander Gordon, on George Payne and his respect for religion, 53 — Lord Henry, and his slang, 38 Lepell, “Molly” (Lady Hervey), verses on, 178 Lewin, derivation of name, according to Mrs. Grote, 56 Link extinguishers, 152 Lion dogs of China, 229-230 _Lions comiques_, 252 Locker, Mr. Frederick, verses by, on St. James’s Street, 158-159 Lockwood, Sir Frank, New Year’s cards designed by, 7 Lombard, Pierre, and his daughter, ancestors of the Walpoles, 315 London, architectural changes in, 140 _et seq._; expansion of, 310-311; Madame du Barry in, 105; Sunday demonstrations in, 166 — parks, hunting in, 160-161; old prints of, 160; a proud proprietor of, 162; wild life in, to-day, 161-162 — streets, noises in, past and present, 142; vanishing characteristics of, 142 _et seq._ Londonderry, Marchioness of, her stately receptions, and friendship for Disraeli, 69; her crinoline, 156 Long, Mr., notabilities met at his house, 254 — Rt. Hon. Walter, and the true text of Lord R. Churchill’s exclamation on hearing that his resignation had been accepted, 21 Longchamps, 309 Longleat, 44; pleasures of visits to, 45 Lonsdale, Earl of, and his postillions, 11 Louis, Dauphin of France (Louis XVII.), attempted rescues of, the problem of his fate, and his impersonators, 109 _et seq._ Louis XV., 102, 106, 107 Louis XVI., 82-83 Louis XVIII. and the dog of Mme. de Caylus, 232; ingratitude of, to Mrs. Atkyns, 111 Louisa, Queen of Prussia, her favourite flower, 86; and Napoleon I., 92 Loutherbourg, De, and his scene-painting, 194 Louveciennes, residence of Madame du Barry, 105; alleged buried treasure at, 106 Lowe, Sir Hudson, and Napoleon I., 94 Lunatics, care of, past and present, 165-166 Lyndhurst, Lord, 73 Lynn, a schoolfellow of Napoleon I. at, 80 Lytton, Sir G. Bulwer, his house in Charles Street and its Pompeiian room, 151

Macirone, Colonel, his steam car, 294 Mallock, Mr. W. H., a dog’s epitaph by, 232 Malmaison, Napoleon at, 84; his gardener’s stories, 85, 87 Manning, Mr., his travels in the East, his passport from Napoleon I., and the sequel in St. Helena, 93-94 Marble Arch, the, 164 Marie Antoinette, Queen of France, tragedy of her fate, 82, 100 _et seq._ Marie Louise, Empress, a glimpse of, 81-82 Marlborough, Duke of (about 1770), his match with a running footman, 147 Mayfair, the original, abolition of, 152-153; highwaymen in, 148-150 Melbourne, Earl of, and Lady Holland, 63 Menus, author’s collection of, 9, 10 Midhurst, its arms and associations, 277 “Midnight Review, The,” poem, by von Seidlitz, two versions of, 94 _et seq._ Military prints, a pretty set, 215 Millais, Sir J. E., 190 Mitchell, General, Sir John, gift from, 235 Modane, instance from, of “English as she is wrote,” 129-130 Molesworth, Lady, 253 Monk, Bishop, and his wig, 268 Mount Street, bachelor abodes in, past and present, 157-158; military associations of, 150; its architecture, 141 “Mrs. Poodles,” a Siamese cat, 227 Munich in 1837, 121, 123 Munro of Novar, his eccentricities, 25, 26 Music halls, past and present, 252

Napoleon I., relics of, in England, 78, 80 _et seq._;
the invasion scare, as affecting East Anglia, 79-80;
his wives, 81;
portraits of, his attitude during Mass, 82-83;
his beliefs and superstitions, his love of church bells, 84;
at Elba, tales of, 85 _et seq._;
traces of, 88;
his power over men, a tale of, 90 _et seq._;
alleged visit to London, 94;
on the death of Marie Antoinette, 100
Napoleon III., in England, 306;
a portrait of, by Count D’Orsay, 190
Naundorff, the pretended Louis XVII., 115;
his descendants, 117
Needlework carpets, 50;
pictures, 204
Nelson, 180,181, 269-270
Nelthorpe, Colonel, permanent visitor at Wolterton, 46, 47
Nemours, Duke of, 204
Nevill, Miss Meresia, and the Primrose League, 19
New College, Oxford, dumb-bell machine at, 224
_Newcastle-upon-Tyne Courant_, antiquity of, 304
“Newman’s Greys,” at weddings, 11
Newmarket, 50;
Lord Orford’s Mecca, 55
Newspapers, 303 _et seq._
Nightcaps, Dr. Burney’s lines on, 269-270
Norfolk, advent of the railway, 292;
beliefs and customs, 313;
newspapers, early in the field, 303;
police first constituted, 292;
“squarsons” and their ways, 13
_Norfolk Chronicle_, age of, 303
Normandie, Duc de, Naundorff’s assumed title, 115
Northampton, two hanging stories of, 276-277
Norton, Hon. Mrs. (_née_ Sheridan), 14;
and the _Owl_, 17
Norwich, anti-catholic feeling in, 109;
hatred shown by, to Napoleon I., 79;
democrats of, 114;
Peace Society’s doings at, 47
_Norwich Postman_, antiquity of, 303

O’Connell, Daniel, first Roman Catholic M.P., 300
Oliphant, Laurence, and the _Owl_, 16
Onslow, Earl of, tries to acclimatise crayfish, 133
Opera, the, and its attractions, 254;
the crush-room, 255-256
Orford, Earl of (author’s brother), stories of, 13, 14, 172, 231, 267;
letter to, from Lord Beaconsfield, 73-74
— Earl of (author’s father), 84,158;
characteristics and opinions of, 48, 123, 292, 296;
his racing, 50, 64-65
— Earl of (author’s nephew), old documents owned by, 174
Orrock, Mr. James, connoisseur and collector, 217, 218;
scheme for National Gallery of British Art, 212
Osborne, Bernal, 253;
his election struggles, 2, 3;
on the author’s gardening tastes, 239-240;
nicknames given by, 68, 76;
his attitude to Palmerston, 65-67;
his “parrot” story, 234;
his repartee, 3, 4;
his views on the Irish question, 77
Otway, the poet, his birthplace and career, 285;
his death and tomb, 286
Over-taxation, clever squib on, 4-6
_Owl, The_, its staff and supporters, 15;
its dinners, 16, 17;
its jokes, verse, and riddles, 17-18
Oxford, Edward, attempt of, to kill Queen Victoria, 165

Paas, Mr., his murderer, the last man hanged in chains, 276 _Pall Mall Gazette_, 304 Palmerston, Lord, his social qualities, 65; as a politician, 66; Bernal Osborne’s attitude to, 65, 66-67; Cobden’s dislike for, 67 Parham Park, a smuggler’s haunt, 274 Paris, Napoleonic relics in, 89; noted English residents in, 309 Paris, the Comte de, and the French “White Rose League,” 18, 19 Paris Exhibition, 1878, 308 Parliament, changes in, 300 Parr’s steam carriage, 293 Parrot story, the, of Bernal Osborne, 234 Payne, George, his racing experiences, 51-52, 54; his religious feeling, 53 Peel, Sir Robert, and the Holbein painting of the Barbers’ Company, 124, 125; his scheme for adorning Hyde Park, 163 Pekinese dogs, 231 Pelletan, Dr., and the heart of the alleged Dauphin (Louis XVII.), 119 Pellew, Lady, daughter of Lady Holland’s first marriage, her sham funeral, Byron on, 61; 261 Pellew, Miss, grand-daughter of Lady Holland, her connection with the author, 61 Pender, Sir John, famous party of, to celebrate the telegraph cable to India, 155 Penny postage introduced, 296 Perceval, Mr., the assassinated statesman, letter to, from Mrs. Atkyns, 113-114 — Rev. Mr., and Naundorff, 115 Petit Trianon, and its associations, 101-102 Petworth, the last of the smugglers at, 275 Piccadilly, origin of the name discussed, 154 Pictures, needlework, 204 Pigeons in London, 162 Piombino, Princess Elise of, sister of Napoleon, 87 Police, modern, established, 291 Ponsonby, Hon. Gerald, 221 Poole, the Custom-House murders at (1749), a relic of, 275-276 Pope, the (Gregory XVI.), Lord Vernon’s interview with, a discussion on Dante, 8-9 Post-chaises, 50 Posy-rings, 270-272 Poyntz family, connection of, with Cowdray, and its curse, 284 Pressing to death (_peine forte et dure_), last instance of, 278-279 Pretender, the, a strange likeness to, 101; portrait of, 195-196; secret negotiations of, with Sir R. Walpole, 317 Primrose League, the, its originator, 19; interest in, of the Comte de Paris, 18, 19 Print-collecting, French prints, 205-206; military prints, 295 Public execution, the last, in England, 276 Publicity, modern love of, 27

Queen Anne furniture, 216, 218 Queensberry, Duke of (“Old Q.”), his running footmen, 146

Races won by the author’s father, 54 Raffet’s lithograph of “The Midnight Review,” 95 Railways and the railway mania, 292-293 Ratton Row, a common name for streets, 167 Récamier, Dr., 99 Redgrave, Miss, her artistic gifts, her friends, 191-193 — Mr. Samuel, artistic knowledge of, 191 Reform Bill, changes following, 295 _et seq._ — Disraeli’s, 75-76 Religion, attitude towards, of some non-churchgoers, 53-54 Resurrection men, 280 Richmond, Duke of, coming of age festivities of, 46 — Duke of (the late), rare dogs bred by, 230 Ritchie, Mr. Leitch, his translation of “The Midnight Review,” 95 _et seq._ Robinson, Sir Charles, 183 Roller skating, vogue of, 248-249 Rome, carnival in (1842), 8; a theatrical performance at (1845), 261 Ros, Lord de, 198-199 Rosalba, pastels by, of Walpoles, 180 Rothschild, Miss Alice, French art treasures of, 208 — Mr. Alfred, his French art treasures, 207 Rotten Row, past and present, question of its name, 167-169; some former _habitués_, 170 Rougeville, Chevalier de, his devotion to Marie Antoinette, 101 Rous, Admiral, why he left the navy, 51; his dislikes, 52 Russell, John Scott, his steam car, 295 — Lord John, appearance and manner of, 67; Bernal Osborne’s nicknames for, 68 Rutland, a former Duke of, and his hunting accidents, 273

Sackville, Lord, treasures of, at Knole, 223-225 St. Clement Danes church, tomb of Otway in, 286 St. Helena, Napoleon I. at, 85, 87 St. James’s Park, otter hunt in, 160-161 — Square, memories concerning, 151-152 — Street and its clubs, Locker’s verses on, 158-159 Sala, George Augustus, on Paris, 308-309 Samplers, 204 Sancroft, Archbishop, 319 Sandringham, 232-233 Sandwich, Lady, 45 Sardou, Monsieur, his views on the fate of the Dauphin (Louis XVII.), 118 Satan and the church-goer, 54 _Saturday Review_, 304 Savarin, Brillat, on the truffle, 131 Saxe-Weimar, late Prince Edward of, and the financier, 31 Scene-painters afterwards otherwise famous, 194 Scenery in theatres, first use of, in England, 195 Schlieman, Dr., his collections, 186 Scrap-books of the author, 1 Sedan-chair, a, used at Cheltenham in the ’sixties, 128 Seidlitz, Baron von, author of “The Midnight Review,” 94 Selwyn, George, 151 Serjeants’ rings, 271 Sèvres-china, some splendid specimens, 210-211; a famous commode and its adventures, 210 Seymour, Lady, and Lady Shuckburgh, amusing letters between, about a cook, 305 — Lord Henry, in Paris, 309 Shepherd’s Market, 153 Sheppard, Jack, the highwayman, in Mayfair, 153 Sheraton, 212 _et seq._; his opinion of Chippendale, 214; features of his work, 215 Sherbrooke, Lord, lines by, on the “Garden of Friendship,” Cortachy, 245; squibs on his proposed match tax, 6 Sheridan, his suggestion for building in Hyde Park, 168 Sheriffs and Judges, running footmen of, as late as 1851, 147 Shirts, clean, one way of wearing, 126-127 Siamese cats of the author, 226-229 Silhouettes owned by the author, 196-197 Silkworm culture, successful, of the author, 242-243 ’Sixties, ways and customs of the, 155-156 _et seq._ Skin, human, put to gruesome use, 279-280 Smirke, engraved tickets by, 200 Smith, Rev. Sydney, once minister of Berkeley Chapel, 150; political squib attributed to, 4-6 — Sergeant, deserter, execution of, in Hyde Park, 164 Smithurst, the smuggler, 275 Smoking, past and present, 52, 137-138 Smuggling stories, 274-276 Snuff-boxes, Mr. Hawkins’s, 211 Socialism, causes leading up to, 297 Society, modern, 22 — moral status of, 297-298 — of the past, 22; its leaders and noted conversationalists, 23 — pleasures of, 297 _et seq._ Somerset, Duchess of (_née_ Sheridan), her wit and beauty, 14; her use of guinea-pigs as food, 15 — the Protector, letters to, at Longleat, 44 “Souls, The,” Sir W. Harcourt on, 15 Southhill Park, 152 Soyer, famous cook, his artistic wife, their grave and its inscription, 135 Spencer House and its designer, 164 Squarsons, stories of, 13 Stanfield, J. C, as scene-painter, 194 Stanhope, Lady Hester, 163 Steam carriages, 293-295 Stock Exchange, the, as a social power, 30-31, 299 Straight, Sir Douglas, 304 Strawberry Hill, Lady Waldegrave’s “decorations” at, 40 Stuart memorials and portraits collected by Earl of Orford (the late), 195 — papers found by the present Earl, 317 _et seq._ — period, furniture of, 222, 223 Suckling, owners of Nelson’s sword, 180 Suffield, Countess (the “Double Dow”), aristocratic insolence of, her carpet work, 49; an eighteenth-century dame, 50 Sussex, customs, songs, and superstitions, 265-266, 277-278; ironwork, 281-282; roads, eighteenth century, 280; smuggling in, 274 _et seq._ Sutherland, Duke of (the late), 137 Sutton, Miss, marriage of, with the Chevalier de Bardelin, 80

Taglioni, 254; on modern dancing, 255 Talleyrand, Charles Maurice, on Lady Holland’s caprices, 64 Teanby, William, watch-papers by, 199 Tennyson, Lord (the late), 67, 68 Testina, author’s mare, a long ride on, 233 Thackeray, W. M., 42 Theatres, 254; foreign, 260-262 Thorburn, portrait by, of the author, 189 Thurgar’s school, Norwich, 80 Thynne, Sir John, builder of Longleat, 44 Tickets, engraved for balls and concerts, author’s collections, 200 Tides, Norfolk superstition about, 313 Tilsit, Treaty of, a relic of, 80, 208-210 _Times_, the, and the _Owl_, 16; an odd advertisement in, 305 Tokens issued by towns, 288 Toole, Mr., the late, cause of his success, 256; his love of joking, 258 Töplitz, a Jewish wedding at, 262-263 Torrington, Lord, 253 Trafalgar Square riots, 166 Trotton church, “restoration” of, 286, 287 — Place, 284; association of, with Otway, 285 Truffles, English, excellence of, 131-132 Turkish ambassador, a story of a, 157 Turko-Russian affairs, 1878, 25; Lord Beaconsfield on, in 1876, 74 Tyburn, executions at, 164; one useful result of, 125 — stream, extant traces of its course, 167

“Ugly Mugs,” 197-198 _Undaunted_, vessel which took Napoleon to Elba, 88 Unemployed processions, a story of, 167 Valentines, 201 Van der Weyer, M., Belgian Minister, his reply to Lady Holland, 62 Vanneck family, “conversation” group of, by Devis, 181; their connection with the Walpoles, 181-182 Vardy, architect, 164 Vauxhall Gardens, in old days, fate of, 246-247 Vernon, Lord, his Dante discussion with Pope Gregory XVI., 8, 9 Versailles, alleged buried treasure at, 102 Vestris, Madame, in Curzon Street, 154 Vicenza, a glimpse of the Comte de Chambord at, 99 Victoria, Queen, attempts on her life, 165; libellous description of her habits, 263-264 Victoria and Albert Museum, 211 Victorian era, art of, 40 — furniture, its ugliness, 216 Vienna, ladies of, carpet made by, for Lord Westmoreland, 50 Village life, changes in, 312 _et seq._ Villegagnon, Madame de, and her husbands, 182 Visitors “down with the fish,” 43

Waddesdon, art treasures at, 208 Waldegrave, Frances, Countess of (_née_ Braham), her character, her place in society, her doings at Strawberry Hill, 39, 40 Wallace, Lady, 186 — Sir Richard, 309 Wallace Collection, the, and its founder, 184; why not left to France, 185; treasures of French art, 80, 208, 211 Walpole, characteristics, 315-316 — portraits and relics owned by the author, 179 _et seq._ — Admiral Galfridus, his portrait and his sword, 180 — Colonel Walpole of Heckfield Place, Stuart relics owned by, 195 — Colonel John, and his crest, 110 — Hon. Thomas, his wife and misfortunes, 181; his honesty, 182; his second wife, _ib._ — Horace, 109, 163; as a child, miniature of, by Hone, 179; another portrait, _ib._; a relic of, 182; his old Opera Pass, 253-254 — Lady, author’s great grandmother, her carpet work and spinning, 50 — Madame, her garden, 110 — The Hon. Frederick, father of present Lord Orford, 317 — Sir Spencer, 113; his great-grandmother, 181; a “serious” Walpole, 315 — Sir Robert, connection of, with Nelson, 180; his otter hounds, in St. James’s Park (1739), 161; some secret negotiations of the Pretender with, 317 _et seq._ — Robert, father of Mrs. Atkyns, 110 Walpole Street, Chelsea, 318 Ward, Messrs. Marcus, and Co., and Christmas cards, 202 Wassailing, 265-266 Watch-papers owned by the author, 199-200 Watch-stands, old, 203-204 Watts, G. F., the late, letter from, 34; interest of, in Zazel, 251 Wealth, modern dominance of, 32 Webb, John, designer of scenery, etc., 194 Webster, an artist, his pictures, 191-193 — Sir Augustus, present owner of Battle Abbey, 59 — Sir Godfrey, first husband of Lady Holland, 59 Weddings, former-day, stories of, 10-13; a Jewish, 262-263; rural (Norfolk), customs at, 313 Weir, Mr. Harrison, 226 Wellington, 1st Duke of, French residence of (1817), 85; his meeting with Nelson, 180 — 2nd Duke of, his dislike of press publicity, 27 West, Colonel and Mrs. Sackville, and the Knole art treasures, 224, 225 Westminster, Duke of, 140 Westminster Aquarium, Zazel’s cannon feat at, 250-251 West Norfolk Regiment of Militia, some names associated with, 47 Wharncliffe, Lord and Lady, and the _Owl_, 17 “White Rose League,” origin and fate of, 19 White’s Club, its bow windows, 158 Wilberforce, Rt. Rev. S., Bishop of Oxford, and the _Owl_, 17 Wilkie, Sir David, 193 William the Conqueror and the Battle of Hastings, 56-58 William IV., 194; and Mrs. Jordan, his love for children, a story of, 197-198 Williams, Eleazar, the American pretended Dauphin (Louis XVII.), 115 _et seq._ Wimborne House, Arlington Street, its names and occupants, 155 Windham, Mr., 168 Wine-drinking, past and present, 136-137 Wolff, Sir Henry Drummond, and the _Owl_, 18; his powers as _raconteur_, 18; one of the Fourth Party, 18; the originator of the Primrose League, 19; stories of Napoleon I. told to, at Elba, 84 _et seq._ Wolterton Hall, and its treasures, 81, 174, 195, 317; a permanent guest at, 46 Woolett J., watch-paper by, 200 _Worcester Journal_, antiquity of, 304 Wortley, Mr. James Stuart, and the _Owl_, 16

York, Duke of (eighteenth century), 148 — Cardinal, portrait of, at Heckfield Place, 195

Zamor, Madame du Barry’s black page, 107; his latter days, 108 Zazel and her performance, 250-251 Zouche, Baroness de la, and the smugglers, 274

THE END
_Printed by_ R. & R. CLARK, LIMITED, _Edinburgh_.

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