Chapter II: Preface: Of the Editor

The Letters which we now lay before the public have this peculiarity,--that, with very few and unimportant exceptions, they were actually written at the moment as they appear in these pages.

It may, therefore, easily be imagined that they were written without the most distant view to publicity. The writer, however, is now numbered with the departed. Many scruples are thus removed: and as his Letters contain not only many interesting details, but more especially internal evidence of a real individuality; as they are written with no less uncoloured freedom than perfect impartiality,--we thought that these elements are not so abundant in our literature as to render such a work a superfluity.

It was, I must confess, an infelicity which attended the deceased author during life, that he set about everything in a manner different from that pursued by other men; from which cause few things succeeded with him. Many of his acquaintances thought that he affected originality. In that they did him injustice. No man was ever more sincere and genuine in his singularities; none, perhaps, had less the appearance of being so. No man was more natural, in cases where everybody thought they saw design.

This untoward fate still, in a certain degree, pursues the appearance of his Letters. Various circumstances, which cannot be explained here, compel us, contrary to all usage, to begin with the last two volumes, which the public must accept as the first. Should these meet with approbation, we hope soon to be able to publish that _preceding sequel_ which will be found no less independent than these. For the convenience of the reader, we have annexed a short table of contents, as well as occasional notes, _ad modum Minellii_; for which we beg pardon and indulgence.

_B----, October 30, 1829._

CONTENTS.

LETTER I.

Departure. Madame de Sevigne. Dresden. Homoeopathic disposition. The art of travelling comfortably. Reminiscences of youth. Weimar. Grand Duke's library. The Court. The park. Dinner at Court. Duke Bernhard. Anecdote. Visit to Göthe. A day in the Belvedere. Late Queen of Wurtemberg. Granby. English abroad and at home......1

LETTER II.

Gotha. Old friends. Eisenach. The wedding. Hasty flights. The banks of the Ruhr. Wesel. Fatherlandish sandbanks. Beautiful gardens of Holland. Foreign air of the country. Culture. Utrecht. The cathedral at Gouda. Houses built aslant. Fantastic windmills. Rotterdam. The civil banker. Pasteboard roofs. The golden gondola. Ætna. The lovely girl. L'adieu de Voltaire......9

LETTER III.

The passage. The planter. The English custom-house. The lost purse. Macadamized roads. Improvements of London. Specimens of bad taste. National taste. The Regent's Park. Waterloo bridge. London Hotels. The bazaars. Walks in the streets. Shops. Dinner at the ---- Ambassador's. Johannisberg. Chiswick. Decline of taste in the science of gardening. Favourable climate. The menagerie. Life in the City. The universal genius. The exchange and Bank. The gold cellar. Court of justice of the Lord Mayor. Garroway's Coffee-house. Rothschild. Nero. Exeter 'Change. Wurtemberg diplomacy. Theatre in the Strand. The ingenious man. Too much for money. Hampton Court. Dangerous fumigation......14

LETTER IV.

Climate. British Museum. Its guards. Strange _Mischmasch_. Journey to Newmarket. English scenery. Life there. The races. The betting-post. Visit in the country. English hospitality. The Dandy. Englishmen on the continent. National customs. Order of dinner. Hot-houses. Audley end. The Aviary. Short Grove. Sale of Land in England......23

LETTER V.

Advice to travellers. Clubs. Virtue and Umbrellas. Arrangement of Maps. English wine. How an Englishman sits. Comfortable customs. Rules of behaviour. Treatment of Servants. The higher classes. Rules of play. Pious wishes for Germany. Good-breeding of a Viscount. The actor Liston. Madame Vestris. 'Manger et digerer.' Sentimental effusion. Inconvenient Newspapers. Drury-lane. Braham the everlasting Jew. Miss Paton. Vulgarity of the theatre. Coarseness of an English audience......34

LETTER VI.

Barrel organs. Punch. His biography. Ruined Houses. The King in Parliament. Contrast. George the Fourth. The Opera. Figaro without Singers. English melodies. Charles Kemble. Costume of old times. Prince E----. A diplomatic 'bon mot.' Sir L---- M----. Practical Philosophy. Falstaff as he is and as he should be. The King in Hamlet. The intelligent actor from Newfoundland. Little circle in the great world. How the day passes here. Learning languages. The author of Anastasius. His antique furniture. Oberon. The chorus of rocks. Presentation to the King. Incidents at the levee. Dinner with Mr. R----. Real piety. His fashionable friends. State carriage of the King of the Birmans. Mathews at home......44

LETTER VII.

The auctioneer. The Napoleonist. French theatre. A rout. Lady Charlotte B----. Politics and conversation. English Aristocracy. The foggy sun of England. Extraordinary testamentary dispositions. Modern knights of St. John. Sion House. Richmond. Adelphi. Admirable drunkard. Alexander Von Humboldt. King of Prussia. The Diorama......58

LETTER VIII.

Journey of business. Gothic and Italian villa. Stanmore Priory. English country inns. Breakfast. Cashiobury Park. Tasteful magnificence. Drawings by Denon. Flower-Gardens. Ashridge. Modern Gothic. Woburn Abbey......64

LETTER IX.

Warwick Castle. Feudal Grandeur. The baronial hall. Portraits. Joan of Arragon. Machiavelli. Leamington. Guy's Cliff. His cave. Gaveston's cross. Tombs of Warwick and Leicester. The ruins of Kenilworth. Elizabeth's balcony. The past. Birmingham. Mr. Thomasson's manufactory. Aston Hall. Cromwell. Chester. The town prison. The rogue's fête......70

LETTER X.

Hawkestone Park. Uncommonly beautiful scenery. The red castle and New Zealander's hut. More manufactories. Dangerous employment. The room in which Shakspeare was born. His grave. Various parks. The Judith of Cigoli. Blenheim. Vandalism. Pictures. Oxford. Its Gothic aspect. The Sovereigns as Doctors. The Museum. Tradescant and his bird Dodo. The blue dung-beetle in the character of a knight. Elizabeth's riding gaiters, and her lover's locks of hair. The library. Manuscripts. Stowe. Overloading. Louis the Eighteenth's lime trees. Valuables behind a grating. Decoration for Don Juan. Portrait of Shakspeare. Ninon de l'Enclos. Balustrade. Christmas pantomimes......81

LETTER XI.

Conversational talents of the French. Death of the Duke of York. Adventure at his house. English mourning. Excerpts from my journal. Lady Morgan's Salvator Rosa. 'What is conscience?' Cosmorama. Skating on the Serpentine. The blacking-manufacturer's 'sporting match.' Visit to C---- Hall. Life there. Lord D----'s recollections of M----. Pictures. The most beautiful woman. The Park......97

LETTER XII.

Brighton. Sunset. Oriental baths. 'Gourmandise' and heroism. Count F----. Ride on the sea-shore. Almack's ball. English notions of precedence. The romantic Scot. Sermon and priests. Duties of a clergy. The windmill. Party at Count F----'s. Highland Costume. Private balls. Wanderings of the garden Odysseus. Innocent politics......107

LETTER XIII.

Beggar's eloquence. Tea-kettle pantomime and jugglers. Dream Superstition. The fancy ball. Miss F----. Mrs. F----. Remarks on society, 'Nobodies.' Pleasures of a ball. Pictures in the clouds. The French Physician. Amateur Concerts. Chinese feet. Italian Opera. Hyde Park. English horsemanship......117

LETTER XIV.

Technicalities of English Society. 'Bonne chere.' Captain Parry and his ship. The Guards' mess. Play. 'Le Moyen age.' Monkeys and Poneys. 'Le Grand Seigneur dentiste.' Lady Hester Stanhope in Syria. Adam still alive. Tippoo Saib's shawl. Homeward flight. Lord Mayor's dinner. Lord H----'s and the Banker's houses. Inaccessibleness of Englishmen. Persian Charge d'affaires. Courtesy of the English princes. Ride in the suburbs......123

LETTER XV.

Correspondence. Lord Mayor's feast. Speeches. Caricatures. Dangers of a fog. English society. Middle classes. Critical position of the Aristocracy. Freedom of the press. Newspaper extracts. Dinner at Mr. Canning's. Concert. Easy manners. Liston. The Areopagus. Rev. R. Taylor. Almack's. Rapid travelling. Prince Schw----. House of Commons; Messrs. Peel, Brougham, Canning. House of Lords; Duke of Wellington, Lords Goderich, Holland, Lansdowne, Grey. Value of a ticket for Almack's. Lady Politicians. Indian Melodrame. Sir Thomas Lawrence. Portuguese eyes. Prince Polignac. London season. Duchess of Clarence. Countess L----'s ball. English horsewomen. Breakfast at the Duke of Devonshire's. The new Venus. Crush of Carriages. Dinner at the Duke of Clarence's. Fitzclarence family. English-French. Dinner at Mr. R----'s. Marchioness of L----. Marquis of L----. Bishops' aprons. Concerts of ancient music. Ambulating advertisements. Mr. R----. Aristocracy in Religion. Dream......130