Chapter X (3)
_In the ferry, crossing the Po_ (i.e. written in the ferry).--Called on Madame de Marescalchi to take leave. Set off at half-past one, and in clouds of dust arrived at Ferrara. It is curious to see this town, so large, deserted, and melancholy. A pestilence might have swept over it, for there seems no life in it, and hardly a soul is to be seen in the streets. It is eight and a half miles round, and contains 24,000 inhabitants, of which 3,000 are Jews, and their quarter is the only part of the town which seems alive. They are, as usual, crammed into a corner, five streets being allotted to them, at each end of which is a gate that is closed at nine o'clock, when the Jews are shut in for the night. The houses are filthy, stinking, and out of repair. The Corso is like a street in an English town, broad, long, the houses low, and with a _trottoir_ on both sides. The Castle, surrounded by a moat, stands in the middle of the town, a gloomy place. In it lives the Cardinal Legate. I went to see the dungeon in which Tasso was confined; and the library, where they show Ariosto's chair and inkstand, a medal found upon his body when his tomb was opened, two books of his manuscript poetry; also the manuscript of the 'Gerusalemme,' with the alterations which Tasso made in it while in prison, and the original manuscript of Guarini's 'Pastor Fido.' The _custode_ told me that in the morning the library was full of readers, which I did not believe. There are some illuminated Missals, said to be the finest in Italy. Though the idea of gaiety seems inconsistent with Ferrara, they have an opera, corso, and the same round of festivals and merriment as other Italian towns, but I never saw so dismal a place.
[Page Head: VENICE]
Venice, June 16th, 1830 {p.405}
We crossed the Po, and afterwards the Adige, in boats. The country is flat, and reminded me of the Netherlands. I was asleep all night, but awoke in time to see some of the villas on the banks of the Brenta. Of Padua I was unconscious. Embarked in a gondola at Fusina, and arrived at this remarkable city under the bad auspices of a dark, gloomy, and very cold day. It is Venice, but living Venice no more. In my progress to the inn I saw nothing but signs of ruin and blasted grandeur, palaces half decayed, and the windows boarded up. The approach to the city is certainly as curious as possible, so totally unlike everything else, and on entering the Great Canal, and finding
The death-like silence and the dread repose
of a place which was once the gayest and most brilliant in the world, a little pang shoots across the imagination, recollecting its strange and romantic history and its poetical associations.
_Two o'clock._--I am just driven in by a regular rainy day, and have the prospect of shivering through the rest of it in a room with marble floor and hardly any furniture. However, it is the only bad day there has been since the beginning of my expedition. The most striking thing in Venice (at least in such weather as this) is the unbroken silence. The gondolas glide along without noise or motion, and, except other gondolas, one may traverse the city without perceiving a sign of life. I went first to the Church of Santa Maria dei Frati, which is fine, old, and adorned with painting and sculpture. At Santa Maria dei Frati Titian was buried. Canova intended a monument for him, but after his death his design was executed and put up in this church, but for him, and not for Titian, the reverse of 'sic vos non vobis.' Here are tombs of several Doges, of Francis Foscari, with a pompous inscription. The body of Carmagnola lies here in a wooden coffin; his head is under the stone on which it was cut off in the Piazza di San Marco. He was beheaded by one of those pieces of iniquity and treachery which the Venetian Government never scrupled to use when it suited them. Then to the Scuola di San Rocco, containing a splendid apartment and staircase, all richly gilded, painted by Tintoret, and with bronze doors. To the Church of Santa Maria della Salute, containing a very rich altar-piece of precious stones, which is locked up, and produced on great occasions; and in the sacristy three fine pictures by Titian. To the Church of St. Mark and the Doge's Palace--all very interesting, antique, and splendid. But the Austrians have modernised some of the rooms, and consequently spoilt them. They have also blocked up the Bridge of Sighs, and the reason (they told me) is that all the foreigners who come here are so curious to walk over it, which seems an odd one for shutting it up. The halls of audience and of the different councils are magnificently gilded, and contain some very fine pictures.
The Hall of the Council of Ten (the most powerful and the most abominable tribunal that ever existed) has been partly modernised. In the Chamber of the Inquisitors of State is still the hole in the wall which was called the 'Lion's Mouth,' through which written communications were made; and the box into which they fell, which the Inquisitors alone could open. There were 'Bocche di Lioni' in several places at the head of the Giant's Staircase, and in others. The mouths are gone, but the holes remain. Though the interior of the Ponte di Sospiri is no longer visible, the prisons are horrible places, twenty-four in number, besides three others under water which the French had closed up. They are about fourteen feet long, seven wide, and seven high, with one hole to admit air, a wooden bed, which was covered with straw, and a shelf. In one of the prisons are several inscriptions, scrawled on the wall and ceiling.
Di chi mi fido, mi guardi Iddio,
Di chi non mi fido, mi guardo io.
Un parlar pocho, un negar pronto,
Un pensar in fine può dar la vita
A noi altri meschini.
Non fida d'alcuno, pensi e tacci
Se fuggir vuoi di spioni, insidie e lacci.
Il pentirti, il pentirti, nulla giova
Ma ben del valor tuo far vera prova.
There are two places in which criminals, or prisoners, were secretly executed; they were strangled, and without seeing their executioner, for a cord was passed through an opening, which he twisted till the victim was dead. This was the mode pursued with the prisoners of the Inquisitors; those of the Council were often placed in a cell to which there was a thickly grated window, through which the executioner did his office, and if they resisted he stabbed them in the throat. The wall is still covered with the blood of those who have thus suffered. From the time of their erection, 800 years ago, to the destruction of the Republic nobody was ever allowed to see these prisons, till the French came and threw them open, when the people set fire to them and burnt all the woodwork; the stone was too solid to be destroyed. One or two escaped, and they remain as memorials of the horrors that were perpetrated in them.
[Page Head: VENICE]
June 17th, 1830 {p.408}
This morning was fine again, and everything looks gayer than yesterday. From the Rialto to the Piazza di San Marco there is plenty of life and movement, and it is exactly like Cranbourne Alley and the other alleys out of Leicester Square. While Venice was prosperous St. Mark's must have been very brilliant, but everything is decayed. All round the piazza are coffee houses, which used to be open and crowded all night, and some of them are still open, but never crowded. They used to be illuminated with lamps all round, but most of these are gone. One sees a few Turks smoking and drinking their coffee here, but they are all obliged to dine and sleep in one house, which is on the Grand Canal, and called the Casa dei Turchi. I went this morning to the Chiesa Scalzi, San Georgio Meggiore, Redentore, SS. Giovanni e Paolo, and the Gesuiti. The latter is the most beautiful church I ever saw, the whole of it adorned with white marble inlaid with verd antique in a regular pattern. SS. Giovanni e Paolo has no marble or gilding, but is full of monuments of Doges and generals. To the Manfrini Palace for the pictures. The finest picture in the palace is Titian's 'Deposition from the Cross,' for which the Marchese Manfrini refused 10,000 ducats. A Guido (Lucretia) and some others. Tintoret was no doubt a great genius, but his large pictures I cannot admire, and Bassano's still less. Titian's portrait of Ariosto is the most interesting in the collection. To the Arsenal, which is three miles in circumference, and a prodigious establishment. In the time of the Republic there were nearly 6,000 men employed in it, in that of the French 4,000, now 800. The old armoury is very curious, full of ancient weapons, the armour of Henry IV. of France, and of several Doges, Turkish spoils, and instruments of torture. The Austrians have made the French much regretted here. It is since the last peace that the population of Venice has diminished a fourth, and the palaces of the nobles have been abandoned. There is no commerce; the Government spend no money, and do nothing to enliven or benefit the town (there has not yet been time to see the effect of making it a free port). The French employed the people, and spent money and embellished the place. They covered over a wide canal and turned it into a fine street, and adjoining it they formed a large public garden, which is a delightful addition to the town. Till the French came the bridges were dangerous; there was no balustrade on either side, and people often fell into the water. They built side walls to all of them, which was the most useful gift they could bestow upon the Venetians.
This morning I asked for the newspapers which came by the post yesterday, and found that they had not yet returned from the police, and would not be till to-morrow. Before anybody is allowed to read their newspapers they must undergo examination, and if they contain anything which the censor deems objectionable they detain them altogether. After dinner I went to the public gardens, and into a theatre which is in them; there is no roof to it, and the acting is all by daylight, and in the open air. I only arrived at the end, just in time to see the deliverance of a Christian heroine and a very truculent-looking Turk crammed down a trap-door, but I could not understand the dialogue. Nothing certainly can be more extraordinary or more beautiful than Venice with her adjacent islands, and nothing more luxurious than throwing oneself into a gondola and smoothly gliding about the whole day, without noise, motion, or dust. At night I went to a dirty, ill-lit theatre, to see the 'Barbiere di Seviglia,' which was very ill performed. There was a ballet, but I did not stay for it.
June 18th, 1830 {p.409}
To the Church of St. Mark, and examined it. It is not large, but very curious, so loaded with ornament within and without, and so unlike any other church. The pavement, instead of being flat, is made to undulate like the waves of the sea. All the sides are marble, all the top mosaic, all the pavement coloured marble in exquisite patterns. There is not a single tomb in it, but it wants no ornament that the wealth and skill of ages could supply. Climbed up the tower to see Venice and the islands; a man is posted here day and night to strike the hours and quarters on a great bell, to ring the alarm in case of fire in any part of the city. It is a very curious panorama, and the only spot from which this strange place can be completely seen. In the Grimani Palace there are some Titians (not very good) of Grimani Doges, and others of the family; the famous statue of Agrippa, which Cardinal Grimani brought from Home, and a ceiling by Salviati of Neptune and Minerva contending to give a name to Athens. In the Pisani Palace, a fine picture of P. Veronese, 'Darius's Family at the Feet of Alexander.'[13] The Barbarigo Palace has never been modernised, has kept all its original form and decorations. It is full of Titians, all very dirty and spoiling. The finest is the 'Magdalen,' which is famous. The Royal Academy, called the Scuola della Carità, contains a magnificent collection of the Venetian school.
[13] [This fine work is now in the National Gallery,
London.]
In I forget which church is the 'Martyrdom of St. Peter' by Titian, so like in composition the same subject by Domenichino at Bologna that the one is certainly an imitation of the other (Titian died in 1576; Domenichino was born in 1581). There is the same sort of landscape, same number of figures, and in the same respective attitudes and actions, and even the same dress to each. In the hall of the Academy are preserved Canova's right hand in an urn, and underneath it his chisel, with these words inscribed: 'Quod amoris monumentum idem gloriae instrumentum fuit.' There is also a collection of drawings and sketches by various masters; some by M. Angelo and some by Raphael.
[Page Head: VINCENZA AND PADUA]
Vicenza, June 19th, 1830 {p.411}
This morning went again to St. Mark's to examine the library and the palace, which I could hardly see the other day, it was such, gloomy weather. The library is open to everybody, but with a long list of rules, among which silence is particularly enjoined. The _custos librorum_ is a thorough Venetian; talked with fond regret of the splendour of the Republic, and is very angry with Daru for his history. The Hall of the Great Council, containing the portraits of the Doges (and Marino Faliero's black curtain), is splendid, and adorned with paintings of Paul Veronese, Bassano, Tintoret, and Palma Giovane. At twelve o'clock I got into the gondola and left Venice without the least regret or desire to return there. The banks of the Brenta would be very gay if the villas were inhabited, but most of them are shut up, like the palaces at Venice. There is one magnificent building, formerly a Pisani palace, which belongs to the Viceroy, the Archduke Rainer.
Padua is a large and rather gloomy town. They say it is beginning to flourish, having been ruined by the French, and that, since their downfall, the population has increased immensely. The University contains 1,400 scholars. It contained 52,500 in the time of the French, and in the great days of Padua 18,000. I went to look at the outside of the building, which is not large, but handsome. The old palace of the Carraras is half ruined, and what remains is tenanted by the commandant of the place. The old Sala di Giustizia, which, is very ancient, is now a lumber room, and they were painting scenes in it. Still it is undamaged, and they call it the finest room in Europe, and perhaps it is. It is 300 feet long, 100 wide, and 100 high. At one end of it is the monument and bust of Livy, the latter of which they pretend to have found here; they also talk of his house and the marbles, &c., that have been dug up in it, which they may believe who can. The Cathedral has nothing to boast of, except that Petrarch was one of its canons, and in it is his bust, put up by a brother canon. I had not time to go to the churches.
The whole road from Fusina to this place is as flat as the paper on which I am writing. I really don't believe there is a molehill, but it is extremely gay from the variety of habitations and the prodigious cultivation of all sorts. Vicenza is one of the most agreeable towns I ever saw, and I would rather live in it than in any place I have seen since Rome. It is spacious and clean, full of Palladio's architecture; besides the Palazzo della Ragione, a very fine building, there are twenty-two palaces built by him in various parts of the town. They show the house in which he lived. From the Church of Santa Maria del Monte, a mile from the town, there is a magnificent view, and the town itself, under the mountains of the Tyrol, and the end of a vast cultivated plain, looks very inviting and gay. There is a Campo di Marte, a public walk and drive, and from it a covered walk (colonnade) half a mile long up to the church on the hill. One of the most remarkable things here is the Olympic Theatre, which was begun by Palladio and finished by his son. It is a small Grecian theatre, exactly as he supposes those ancient theatres to have been, with the same proscenium, scenes, decorations, and seats for the audience. There appeared to me to be some material variations from the theatre at Pompeii. In the latter the seats go down to the level of the orchestra, which they do not here, and at Pompeii there is no depth behind the proscenium, whereas here there is very considerable. It is, however, a beautiful model. The air and the water are good, and there is shooting, so that I really think it would be possible to live here. They talk with horror of the French, and of the two seem to prefer the Austrians, but peace is better than war, _caeteris paribus_.
[Page Head: BRESCIA AND MILAN]
Brescia, June 21st, 1830 {p.412}
This is a particularly nice town, airy, spacious, and clean, and in my life I never saw so many good-looking women. There is a drive and walk on the ramparts, where I found all the beauty and fashion of Brescia, a string of carriages not quite so numerous as in Hyde Park, but a very decent display. The women are excessively dressed, and almost all wear black lace veils, thrown over the back of the head, which are very becoming. The walks on the ramparts are shaded by double rows of trees, and command a very pretty view of the mountains and country round. This inn is execrable. I stopped at Verona to see the Amphitheatre, which is only perfect in the inside, and has been kept so by repeated repairs. It is hardly worth seeing after the Flavian and the Pompeiian. There is a wooden theatre in it, where they act, and the spectators occupy the ancient seats. The tombs of the Scaligeri are admirable, the most beautiful and graceful Gothic; their castle (now the Castle Vecchio) a gloomy old building in a moat, but with a very curious bridge over the Po. The Church of St. Zeno is remarkable from its Gothic antiquity and the profusion of ornament about it of a strange sort. Here is the tomb of Pepin, erected by Charlemagne, but empty; for the French, in one of their invasions, carried the body to France. In the Cathedral is a fine picture of the 'Assumption of the Virgin' by Titian. I saw many Veronese beauties in their balconies, but none quite like Juliet. Her tomb (or, as they would say at Rome, 'sepolcro detto di Giulietta') I did not see, for it was too far off. I was in a hurry to be off, and there was nobody to detain me with a tender 'Wilt thou be gone? It is not yet near' _night_. The road, which is excellent, runs in sight of the Alps all the way, and the Lago di Garda is excessively pretty.
Milan, June 23rd, 1830 {p.413}
Milan is a very fine town, without much to see in it. The Duomo, Amphitheatre, Arch of the Simplon, Brera (pictures). There are a few fine pictures in the Brera; among others Guido's famous 'St. Peter and St. Paul,' Guercino's 'Hagar and Abraham;' a row of old columns which were broken and lying about till the French set them upon their legs; Leonardo da Vinci's fresco, which is entirely spoilt. The view from the top of the Duomo is superb, over the boundless plain of Lombardy with the range of the Alps, and the Apennines in the distance. I like the Duomo, but I know my taste is execrable in architecture. I don't, however, like the mixture of Italian with the Gothic--balustrades over the door, for instance--but I admire its tracery and laborious magnificence. Buonaparte went on with it (for it was never finished), and this Government are completing it by degrees; there will be 7,000 statues on different parts of the outside, and there are already 4,500. St. Charles Borromeo's tomb is very splendid, and for five francs they offered to uncover the glass case in which his much esteemed carcase reposes, and show me the venerable mummy, but I could not afford it. The entrance to Milan from Venice, and the Corso, are as handsome as can be. The Opera is very bad, but the Scala is not open, and none of the good singers are here.
Varese, June 26th, 1830 {p.414}
Left Milan at six o'clock on the 24th, and got to Como after dark. Embarked in the steam boat at eight yesterday morning, went as far as Cadenebbia, where I got out, saw the Villa Sommariva, then crossed over and went round the point of Bellagio to see the opening of the Lake of Lecco, turned back to the Villa Melzi, saw the house and gardens, and then went back to dine at Cadenebbia, and waited for the steam boat, which returned at four, and got back to Como at half-past six. Nothing can surpass the beauty of all this scenery, or the luxury of the villas, particularly Melzi, which is the best house, and contains abundance of shade, flowers, statues, and shrubberies. The owners live very little there, and principally in winter, when, they say, it is seldom cold in this sheltered spot. The late Count Melzi was Governor of Milan under Napoleon, and used to feast the Viceroy here. He once gave him a _fête_, and had all the mountain tops illuminated, of which the effect must have been superb.
_Evening. Top of the Simplon._--Set off at five from Varese, travelled very slowly through a very pretty road to Navero, where I crossed the Lago Maggiore in a boat, and landed at the Isola Bella, which is very fine in its way, though rather flattered in its pictures. The house is large and handsome, and there is a curious suite of apartments fitted up with pebbles, spars, and marble, a suite of habitable grottoes. The garden and terraces are good specimens of formal grandeur, and as the Count Borromeo's son is a botanist, they are full of flowers and shrubs of all sorts and climates.
Whatever fruits in different climes are found,
That proudly rise or humbly court the ground;
Whatever sweets salute the northern sky
With vernal flowers, that blossom, but to die;
These, here disporting, own the kindred soil,
Nor ask luxuriance from the planter's toil.
The expense of keeping this place up is immense, but the owner is very rich. He lives there during August and September, and has fifteen other country houses. All the island belongs to him, and is occupied by the palace and gardens, except some fishermen's huts, which are held by a sort of feudal tenure. They live there as his vassals, fishing for him, rowing him about the lake, and their children and wives alone are employed in the gardens. It was built about 150 years ago by a younger son (a nephew of San Carlo), who was richer than his elder brother. He was his own architect, and planned both house and garden, but never completed his designs. The cost was enormous, but if he had lived and finished it all, he would have spent four millions more. There is a laurel in the garden, the largest in Europe, two trees growing from one stem, one nine and the other ten feet round and eighty high; under this tree Buonaparte dined, as he came into Italy, before the battle of Marengo, and with a knife he cut the word 'Battaglia' on the bark, which has since been stripped off, or has grown out--so the gardeners said at least. Breakfasted at Baveno, which is the best inn I have seen in Italy. The road from Baveno is exceedingly beautiful, but on the whole I am rather disappointed with the Simplon, though it is very wild and grand; but I am no longer struck with the same admiration at the sight of mountains that I was when I entered Savoy and saw them for the first time. I walked the last thirteen miles of the ascent to this place, and found one of the best dinners I ever tasted, or one which my hunger made appear such.
[Page Head: RETURN TO ENGLAND]
Geneva, June 29th, 1830 {p.415}
Got here last night, and found twenty letters at least. I only think of getting home as fast as I can. Left the Simplon in torrents of rain, which lasted the whole day. The descent is uncommonly grand, wild, savage, and picturesque, the Swiss side the finest. All along the valley of the Rhone fine scenery; and yesterday, in the most delightful weather I ever saw, the drive from Martigny, along the lake and under the mountains, is as beautiful as possible. The approach to Geneva is gay, but Mont Blanc looks only very white, and not very tall, which is owing to the level from which he is seen. They tell me it has never ceased raining here, while on the other side of the Alps hardly a drop has fallen. Only three rainy days while I was in Italy--one at Venice, one at Rome, and a couple of halves elsewhere.
_Evening._--Passed the whole day driving about Geneva, in Bautt's shop, and at the Panorama of Switzerland. Dined with Newton, drove round the environs by Sécheron; a great appearance of wealth and comfort, much cultivation, no beggars, and none of the houses tumbling down and deserted. Altogether I like the appearance of the place, though in a great hurry to get away from it. We had a storm of thunder and lightning in the evening, which was neither violent nor long, but I had the pleasure of hearing
Jura answer from her misty shroud
Back to the joyous Alps, that call on her aloud.
Mont Blanc was hid in clouds all day, but the mountains owe me some grudge. Mont Blanc won't show his snows, nor would Vesuvius his fires. It was dark when I crossed the Cenis, and raining when I descended the Simplon.
[Page Head: DEATH OF GEORGE IV.]
Paris, July 3rd, 1830 {p.416}
Got here last night, after a fierce journey of sixty-three hours from Geneva, only stopping two hours for breakfast; but by never touching anything but bread and coffee I was neither heated nor tired. The Jura Mountains, which they say are so tedious, were the pleasantest part of the way, for the road is beautiful all through them, not like the Alps, but like a hilly, wooded park. It rained torrents when I set out, but soon cleared up, and when I got to the top of the first mountain, I saw a mass of clouds rise like a curtain and unveil the whole landscape of Geneva, lake, mountains, and country--very fine sight. We heard of the King's death in the middle of the night.
Calais, July 6th, 1830 {p.417}
Voilà qui est fini. Got here last night, and found the Government packet only goes out five days a week, and not to-day. I am very sorry my journey is all over, but glad to find myself in England again--that is, when I get there. I saw Lord Stuart at Paris, just breaking up his establishment and sending his wife off to the Pyrenees. Heard all the news of London and Paris, such as it was. Not a soul left in Paris, which was like a dead city. I only heard that, notwithstanding the way the elections are going against the Government, Polignac is in high spirits. The King of France was very civil about the death of our King,[14] and, without waiting, as is usual, for the announcement of the event by the English Ambassador, he ordered the Court into mourning upon the telegraphic account reaching Paris.
[14] [George IV. died at Windsor on the 26th of June, 1830.]
Here is the end of my brief but most agreeable expedition, probably the only one I shall ever make. However this may be, I have gained thus much at least--
A consciousness remains that it has left,
Deposited upon the silent shore
Of memory, images, and precious thoughts,
That shall not die, and cannot be destroyed.
NOTE.
_MR. GREVILLE'S CONNEXION WITH THE TURF._
Frequent references will be remarked in these volumes to the connexion of their author with the Turf, which was his favourite amusement, and to his position as an influential member of the Jockey Club. It may, therefore, be worth while to record in this place the principal incidents in his racing career; and we are tempted, in spite of the strange and incorrect phraseology of the writer, to borrow the following notice of them from the pages of 'Bailey's Magazine,' published soon after Mr. Greville's death:--
'Though the Warwick family have long been identified with the sports of the field, it is fair to assume that Mr. Greville's love for the turf came from his mother's side, as the Portlands, especially the late Duke, have always been amongst the strongest supporters of the national sport, and raced, as became their position in society. That Mr. Greville took to racing early may be imagined when we state he saw his first Derby in 1809, when the Duke of Grafton's Pope won it, beating five others. At that period he was barely fifteen years of age, and the impression the sight of the race made upon him at the time was very great, and it was rekindled more strongly when, in 1816, travelling with his father and mother to Ickworth, the seat of the Marquis of Bristol, he stopped at Newmarket and saw Invalid and Deceiver run a match on the heath; and subsequently he saw a great sweepstakes come off between Spaniard, Britannia, and Pope, which the latter won. Four years elapse, and, as a proof that the lad we have described had kept pace with the times, we find him selected to manage the racing establishment of the late Duke of York, on the death of Mr. Warwick Lake. The first step taken by Mr. Greville on being installed in office was to weed the useless ones and the ragged lot; and with the aid of Butler (father of the late Frank and the present William Butler) he managed so well that in his second year he won the Derby for him with Moses. As the Duke's affairs at that time were in anything but a flourishing condition, Mr. Greville did not persuade him to back his horse for much money; still his Royal Highness won a fair stake, and was not a little pleased at the result. He likewise carried off the Claret with him the following year. With Banker, who was a very useful horse at all distances, he won for him many good races; and, by a reference to the "Calendars" of the day, it will be seen the Duke won in his turn, if he did not carry all before him. To reproduce the names of his horses now would not be worth while, as from the effluxion of time the interest in them has ceased. The first animal in the shape of a race-horse that Mr. Greville ever possessed was a filly by Sir Harry Dimsdale, which he trained in the Duke's stable with a few others of no great standing.
'Circumstances with which the world are familiar rendering the retirement of the Duke of York requisite, his stud came to the hammer, and Mr. Greville came to the assistance of his uncle, the Duke of Portland, who trained with Prince. With the Duke Mr. Greville remained some little time, and afterwards became confederate with Lord Chesterfield, who was at that time coming out, and was in great force with his Zinganee, Priam, Carew, Glaucus, and other crack horses. During this time he had few horses of any great account of his own, although his confederate had nothing to complain of in the shape of luck. At the termination of this confederacy Mr. Greville entered upon another with his cousin, Lord George Bentinck, who, from his father's hostility to his racing, was unable to run horses in his own name. The extent of this stud was so great that we are unable to deal with it at the same time with the horses of the subject of our memoir, who can scarcely be said to have come across a really smashing good mare until he met with Preserve, with whom, in 1834, he won the Clearwell and Criterion, and in the following year the One Thousand Guineas, besides running second for the Oaks to Queen of Trumps. A difference of opinion as to the propriety of starting Preserve for the Goodwood Stakes led to their separation, and for a time they were on very bad terms, but by the aid of mutual friends a reconciliation was effected. From what Preserve did for him, Mr. Greville was induced to dip more freely into the blood, or, as old John Day would have said, to take to the family, and accordingly he bought Mango, her own brother, of Mr. Thornhill, who bred him. Mango only ran once as a two-year-old, when, being a big, raw colt, he was not quick enough on his legs for the speedy Garcia filly of Col. Peel and John Day's Chapeau d'Espagne, and was easily beaten. In the spring Mango made so much improvement that Mr. Greville backed him for the Derby for a good stake; and had he been able to have continued his preparation at Newmarket, and been vanned to Epsom, as is the custom in the present day, there is little doubt he would have won; but having to walk all the way from Newmarket, he could not afford to lose the days that were thus consumed, and although he ran forward he did not get a place. That this view of the case is not a sanguine one is proved by his beating Chapeau d'Espagne, the second for the Oaks, for the Ascot Derby, and within an hour afterwards bowling over Velure, the third in that race, for William the Fourth's Plate. On the Cup Day he likewise beat the Derby favourite, Rat-Trap, over the Old Mile. At Stockbridge, in a sweepstakes of 100 sovs. each, with thirteen subscribers, he frightened all the field away with the exception of Wisdom, whom he beat cleverly, and then he remained at Dilly's, at Littleton, to be prepared for the St. Leger. Having stood his work well, John Day brought over The Drummer and Chapeau d'Espagne from Stockbridge to try him on Winchester race-course. Both Mr. Greville and Lord George Bentinck had reason to be satisfied with what Mango did in his gallop on that morning, and the latter backed him very heavily for the race--much more so, indeed, than his owner. Mr. Greville was anxious to have put up John Day, but the Duke of Cleveland having claimed him for Henriade, he was obliged to substitute his son Sam, a very rising lad, with nerves of iron and the coolest of heads. The race was a memorable one, inasmuch as William Scott, who was on Epirus, the first favourite, fell into the ditch soon after starting, and Prince Warden running over him and striking him with his hind leg, he sustained a severe fracture of the collar-bone. Henriade also came down about a distance from home from a dog crossing the course. John Day, however, soon righted him, but the _contretemps_ spoilt his chance. At the stand there were but three in the struggle--The Doctor, Abraham Newland, and Mango. The two former seemed to be making a match of it, and it looked impossible for Mango to get up; but a slight opening presenting itself, which was not visible to the spectators, Sam Day, with a degree of resolution which justifies the attributes we have before ascribed to him, sent his horse through with such a terrific rush that his breeches were nearly torn off his boots, and won by a neck.
'After the race Lord George, who was a very heavy winner, gave Honest John £500 for his trial with the Drummer; the like sum to Sam Day for having ridden him better than he was ridden in the Derby, and an equivalent proportion to Montgomery Dilly for preparing him better than Prince for the same race. Mango was afterwards sent to Newmarket for the St. Leger, and "Craven," who then edited the "Sporting Magazine," having asserted that Mr. Greville had caused it to be reported that Mango was lame to get him back in the markets for that race, he called on him to apologise for the statement, which proving, by the volunteered testimony of Lord George Bentinck, Colonel Anson, and Admiral Rous, to be wholly without foundation, the writer in question made Mr. Greville the fullest _amende honorable_. Mango only won once again as a four-year-old, when he carried off a sweepstakes of 300 sovereigns at Newmarket, beating Chapeau d'Espagne and Adrian. Having thus established himself with Dilly, owing to Mr. Payne, with whom he had become confederate, training at Littleton, Mr. Greville made no change until Dilly gave up, when he continued his confidence to his brother William Dilly, who succeeded him on his retirement from Lord Glasgow.
'It was some few years before Mr. Greville had another good horse, at least one that is worth dwelling upon, and Alarm must be considered the legitimate successor to Mango. This colt Mr. Greville purchased of his breeder, Captain George Delmé, and tried him good enough to win the Derby in 1845 in a canter, even in the face of such animals as Idas and The Libel. But just prior to starting an accident occurred by which all Mr. Greville's hopes were destroyed; for The Libel flying at Alarm very savagely, he jumped the chains, threw Nat who lay for a time insensible on the ground, and ran away. He was, however, soon caught and remounted, and although much cut about ran forward enough to justify the idea that but for his accident he must have won, as no other animal could have got through the Cambridgeshire with 7st. 10lb. on him so easily as he did in a field of such quality as he met. In the following year Alarm made some amends for his Epsom failure, by winning the Ascot Cup, as well as the Orange Cup at Goodwood, the latter after a terrific race with Jericho. He also, at Newmarket in the autumn, won three great matches in succession, viz. with Oakley, the Bishop of Romford's cob, and Sorella. Going through the "Calendar," Cariboo is the next most noteworthy animal we come across, for it will be recollected he ran second to Canezou for the Goodwood Cup, having been lent to make running for her. But it is almost needless to add that, had Mr. Greville known him to be as good as he was, he would have been started on his own account, in which case the cup in all probability would have gone to Bruton Street instead of to Knowsley. Continuing our track through the "Calendar," we light on a better year for Mr. Greville, in 1852, when he had really two good animals in Adine and Frantic. With the former, at York, he had perhaps the best week he ever had in his life, having won both the Yorkshire Oaks and Ebor Handicap with her, besides beating Daniel O'Rourke with Frantic, who two months before had carried off the Union Cup for him at Manchester. The following year Adine did a good thing for him by winning the Goodwood Stakes, and two years afterwards he again won that race with Quince.
'Between Adine and Quince's years came Mr. Greville's last good horse, Muscovite, whom he thought impossible to lose the Metropolitan, and backed him accordingly. He was much put out, however, by old John Day telling him he had no chance with his mare Virago. At first Mr. Greville was incredulous at what John told him, and made him acquainted with the form of Muscovite. This made not the slightest impression on the old man, who merely went on repeating Mr. Greville must back Virago for £500, and the value of the advice was proved by the mare beating the horse very easily. Muscovite's career for a time was a very unfortunate one, for when in Dockeray's stable he was so "shinned" that his chance for the Goodwood Stakes was completely out, and his trainer, who could not discover the offender, and who was terribly annoyed at the circumstance, begged he might be transferred to William Dilly's, at Littleton. While there he was betted against for the Caesarewitch in the same determined manner as he had been for his other races, and when he arrived at Newmarket, and stood in Nat's stables, which were perfectly impregnable, there was no cessation in the opposition to him, although his trainer told everybody that unless he was shot on the Heath, which he could not prevent, he would walk in. This he did, and the crash he produced is still fresh in the public recollection; but it is creditable to the bookmaker who laid the most money against him to state that out of £23,000 which he lost, he paid £16,000 down on the spot, an act which procured him time for the remainder.
'Since Muscovite, who is now at the stud at Newmarket, Mr. Greville has had no animal that has done a really good thing for him, though Anfield made another determined attempt at the Goodwood Stakes this year; and having, at Lord Ribblesdale's sale of General Peel's horses, purchased Orlando, and added him to his establishment at Hampton Court, he has turned his attention perhaps more to breeding than racing. For some time his returns were very large, but of late, from the age of Orlando, and from getting some of his stock so small, they have diminished in amount, although the old horse looks as fresh as a four-year-old, and preserves all that fine symmetry for which he was remarkable both in and out of training. Latterly Mr. Greville, from being the confederate of Mr. Payne, has trained with Alec Taylor at Fyfield; but with Godding he has generally two or three at Newmarket.
'In turning to Mr. Greville in his private capacity we hardly know how to treat him, for his is a nature that shrinks from having his good deeds brought before the glare of the public eye. No man, ever so high or low, we believe, ever sought his advice and assistance in vain; and to no one individual, probably, have so many and such various difficulties been submitted. Neither can we remember a new trial or even an appeal demanded by those who had sought his counsel. Beloved by his friends, and feared by his opponents, Mr. Greville will ever be considered one of the most remarkable men that have lent lustre to the English turf.'
END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.
INDEX.
Abercromby, Right Hon. James, proposed as Speaker, ii. 333;
Master of the Mint, iii. 95; proposed as Speaker, 201; the
Speakership, 204; elected Speaker, 213
Aberdeen, Earl of, Duchy of Lancaster, i. 124; motion about
Belgium, ii. 238
Achmet Pacha, concludes a treaty with Russia, iii. 69
Adair, Right Hon. Sir Robert, sworn in Privy Councillor, i. 136
Addington, Henry Unwin, recalled from Madrid, iii. 14
Address, proposed amendment to the, iii. 217
Adelaide, Queen, ii. 7; at the Ancient Concert, 133; mobbed in
the City, 141; audience of, about the crown, 179; coronation
of, 190; Lord Howe, 338; yacht, iii. 99; return of, 125;
illness of, 125; supposed to be with child, 198, 199, 201
Adrian's Villa, i. 377
Agar Ellis, _see_ Dover, Lord
Alava, General, and the Duke of Cumberland, iii. 275
Albani, Cardinal, influence of, i. 310; conversation with, 373;
interview with, 380
Albano, i. 331
Alexander, Emperor of Russia, death of, i. 78; coronation of,
described by Talleyrand, ii. 185
Allen, Dr., Bishop of Ely, iii. 363
Allen, John, iii. 135; unbelief of, 324
Althorp, Viscount, proposed as Chairman of the Finance
Committee, i. 120; Chancellor of the Exchequer, ii. 66,
introduces the budget, 114; leader of the House of
Commons, 116, 200; letter to Attwood, 205, 206; hurries on the
Irish Church Bill, 364; as Chancellor of the Exchequer, iii. 2;
arrested by the Sergeant-at-Arms, 56; financial statement, 60;
defects as leader, 62; summons a meeting of the supporters of
Government, 92; resigns, 101; popularity of, 105; Chancellor of
the Exchequer under Lord Melbourne, 113; succeeds his father as
Earl Spencer, 140
Alvanley, Lord, duel with Morgan O'Connell, ii. 257; on Irish
affairs, 348
America, dispute with France, iii. 322
Anglesey, Marquis of, recalled, i. 149; entry into
Dublin, ii. 99; disputes with O'Connell, 106
Antwerp, threatened bombardment of, by the Dutch, ii. 321; French
army marches to, 329
Arbuthnot, Right Hon. Charles, nickname 'Gosh,' i. 103;
conversation with, on the Duke of Wellington's
Administration, ii. 51; conversation with, at Oatlands, 170
Arbuthnot, Mrs., death of, iii. 116
Arkwright, Sir Richard, fortunes of, iii. 50
Arkwright, Mrs., visit to, iii. 49
Arms Bill, the, ii. 196
Arnold, Dr., proposed for a bishopric, iii. 325
Artevelde, Philip van, iii. 114; discussed at Holland House, 128
Ascot Races, 1831, ii. 147; 1833, 375
Attwood, chairman of the Birmingham Union, ii. 205, 206;
proclamation against, 215
Auckland, Lord, Board of Trade, ii. 66; First Lord of the
Admiralty, iii. 88, 113; on the state of affairs, 238; First
Lord of the Admiralty in Lord Melbourne's second
Administration, 256
Augustus, Prince, of Prussia, ii. 319
Austin, Mr. John, his work on Jurisprudence, iii. 138
Austin, Mr. Charles, ii. 306
Aylmer, Lord, recalled from Canada, iii. 394; the King's address
to him, 395
Bachelor, valet to the Duke of York and to King George IV.,
i. 142, 143; conversation with, ii. 30
Bagot, Lord, conduct to Lord Harrowby, ii. 253
Baiae, Bay of, i. 341
Baring, House of, ii. 53
Baring, Right Hon. Alexander, offered the Chancellorship of the
Exchequer, ii. 299; proposes a compromise with the ex-Ministers,
300
Baring, Francis, Chairman of the West India Committee, iii. 279
Barnes, Mr., editor of the 'Times,' ii. 97, 214; negotiations
with, for supporting the Government, iii. 155, 156, 157; dines
with Lord Lyndhurst, 167, 169; alarm of, at the prevailing
spirit, 188
Barri, Madame du, ii. 219
Barry, Dr., sent to Sunderland, ii. 216; report on cholera, 217
Bath, Chapter of the Order of the, i. 254
Bathurst, Earl, Lord President, i. 124; death of, iii. 115;
character of, 115
Bathurst, Countess, conversation with, ii. 62
Bathurst, Hon. William, appointed Clerk of the Council, ii. 61,
86; delay in appointment of, 74; sworn in Clerk of the Council,
94
Bathurst, Lieut.-Colonel Hon. Seymour, death of, iii. 79
Baudrand, General, ii. 33; reception of, 38
Bazaar, in Hanover Square, ii. 383
Beauclerc, Lord Aurelius, dances a country dance with the King,
ii. 341
Belgian question, the, settlement of, ii. 314
Belgium, revolution in, ii. 41; affairs of, 44; unsettled state
of, 69; deputation from, 160; fortresses of, 169; invaded by
the Dutch, 175; French army refuses to leave, 181; end of
hostilities with the Dutch, 184; Conference, 1832, 321
Belmore, Earl of, Governor of Jamaica, i. 140, 147
Belvoir Castle, iii. 46
Benson, Canon, sermon at the Temple Church, ii. 113
Bentinck, Right Hon. Lord William, desires to be appointed
Governor-General of India, i. 59; address to the electors of
Glasgow, iii. 339, 343; qualities of, 339; inscription on
monument in honour of, 340
Bentinck, Lord Henry, quarrel with Sir Roger Gresley, ii. 148
Bergara, Convention of, iii. 259
Berri, Duchesse de, in La Vendée, ii. 322
Berry, Miss, iii. 58
Berryer, M., iii. 379; appearance of, 380
Best, Right Hon. William Draper, _see_ Lord Wynford
Bethnal Green, distress in, ii. 261
Bexley, Lord, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, i. 95
Bickersteth, Henry, _see_ Lord Langdale
Blacas, M. de, favourite of Louis XVIII., ii. 305
Black Book, the, ii. 79
Bloomfield, Sir Benjamin, dismissal of, i. 55
Blount, Rev. Mr., sermon, iii. 12
Body-snatchers, ii. 227
Bologna, i. 402
Bonaparte, Emperor Napoleon, in the 100 days, i. 24; campaigns
of, described by Marshal Marmont, ii. 35
Bonaparte, Louis Napoleon, Strasburg attempt, iii. 381
Bonaparte, Joseph, at dinner at Lady Cork's, iii. 18
Bonaparte, Lucien, introduced to the Duke of Wellington, iii. 11;
at dinner at Lady Cork's, 18
Boodle's, dinner at, ii. 124
Bosanquet, Right Hon. Sir John Bernard, sworn in a Privy
Councillor, iii. 30; Judge of the King's Bench, 71
Boswell, 'Life of Johnson,' anecdotes lost, ii. 105
Boulogne, iii. 388
Bourbon, Duke de, death of, ii. 50
Bourmont, Marshal de, marches on Lisbon, iii. 25
Bourne, Right Hon. Sturges, Secretary of State for the Home
Department, i. 95
Bowring, Dr., sent to Paris, ii. 219; satire of Moore on, 219;
career of, 220
Bradshaw, Mrs., acting of, at Bridgewater House, ii. 353
Brescia, i. 412
Bretby, visit to, iii. 327; Chesterfield Papers, 327
Bridgewater House, dramatic performances at, iii. 352, 355
Bridgewater Election, iii. 398
Brighton, the Court at, 1832, ii. 334; races, 1835, iii. 284
Bristol, riots at, ii. 208
Broglie, Duke de. conduct of, iii. 386
Brooks's Club, iii. 320
Brougham, Lord, attack upon, in 'Quarterly Review,' i. 16; speech
on the Queen's trial, 35; letter to the Queen, 57; character
of, 117; qualities of, ii. 18, 33; appointed Lord High
Chancellor, 65; discontent of, 65; social qualities of, 69;
anecdote of, 106; quarrel with Sugden, 106; correspondence with
Southey on rewards to literary men, 112; speech on Chancery
Reform, 118; domestic kindness of, 120; origin of
representation of Yorkshire, 125; as Lord Chancellor, 128; at
the Horse Guards, 129; as a judge, 145; at dinner at Hanbury's
brewery, 148; at the British Museum, 149; claims the old Great
Seal, 188; intention of sitting at the Privy Council, 223;
speech on the Russian Loan, 244; quarrel with Sugden, 312;
anecdote of, 314; Bill for creating a new Court of Appeal, 342;
Bill objected to, 344; Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
Bill, 365; sits on the case of Drax _v._ Grosvenor, 370; as
Chancellor, iii. 22; anecdotes of Queen Caroline, 36; and Sir
William Horne, 67; meets Sir Thomas Denman in Bedfordshire, 71;
judicial changes, 71; defence of himself, 72; apology for, 76;
speech on Lord Wynford's Bill for the observance of the
Sabbath, 83; on the Pluralities Bill, 86; on the Irish Church,
94; and the 'Times,' 96; Lord Chancellor in Lord Melbourne's
Administration, 113; and Lord Westmeath, 119; conduct in the
Westmeath case, 119, 124; versatility of, 121; lines applied
to, 121; Greek epigrams, 121; ambition of, 122; in Scotland,
133; communicates to the 'Times' the fall of Lord Melbourne's
first Administration, 145; resigns the Great Seal, 156; takes
leave of the Bar, 156; asks for the Chief Baronship, 157;
anecdote, 232; conduct of, in the case of Swift _v._ Kelly,
260, 267; on the London University Charter, 261; judgment in
the case of Swift _v._ Kelly, 274; on the Corporation Bill,
286; violence in the House of Lords, 303; illness of, 329; and
Macaulay, 337, 338; at Queen Victoria's first Council, 408
Brummel, 'Beau,' i. 282
Brussels, disturbances at, ii. 40
Buccleuch, Duke of, subscription to election expenses, iii. 182
Budget, the, 1831, ii. 113
Buller, James, death of, ii. 59
Bülow, Baron von, on English affairs, iii. 211
Bulwer, Sir Edward Lytton, iii. 348
Bunsen, Baron, i. 315; career of, 327; on Roman affairs, 389
Burdett, Sir Francis, returned for Westminster, 1837, iii. 398
Burghersh, Lord, at Florence, i. 299; amateur opera, 301
Burghersh, Lady, intercedes for a prisoner at the Old Bailey, ii.
85
Burghley, party at, iii. 53
Burke, Right Hon. Edmund, writings of, iii. 209; compared with
Mackintosh, 314
Burke, Sir G., conversation with, on O'Connell, ii. 111
Buxton, Fowell, dinner at the brewery, ii. 148
Byng, Right Hon. George, Lord of the Treasury, iii. 95
Byron, Lord, Moore's Life of, i. 272; character of, 273
Cambridge, H.R.H. the Duchess of, reception of, i. 2
Cambridge, University of, petition for the admission of
Dissenters to the, iii. 72, 75
Campbell, Sir John, Solicitor-General, ii. 333; Attorney-General,
iii. 141
Canada, affairs in, iii. 350
Canning, Right Hon. Sir Stratford, Ambassador at St. Petersburg,
ii. 352, 357; anecdote of, iii. 39; offered the
Governor-Generalship of Canada, 234
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The Greville Memoirs, Part 1 (of 3), Volume 1 (of 3)Chapter X (3)
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