Recollections of a tour in the North of Europe in 1836-1837

Front matter

RECOLLECTIONS OF A TOUR IN THE NORTH OF EUROPE IN 1836—1837. BY THE MARQUIS OF LONDONDERRY. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. LONDON : RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET, . er in ©rtimarg to ?$et IKajegtg. 1838. LONDON : FIUNTED BY IBOTSON AND PALMER, SAVOY-STREET, STRAND. TO SIR ROBERT PEEL, BART. M.P. Sir, During your short administration of 1834, you were so kind as to recommend me to his Majesty King William the Fourth, to M ihe high appointment of Ambassador to the Court of St. Petersburgh. The violence of party spirit, and (I think) an ungenerous feeling towards myself, opposed the nomination. Though you indignantly resisted so unusual an attack on the King's prerogative, nor would permit me, after a long life of public services, (frequently acknowledged by parliament,) to be put aside ; y7et I conceived it was my duty to relieve you at once from any possible em barrassment, by tendering my resignation.

I derived, Sir, the following year, the highest gratification in visiting, as a private individual, those foreign courts and that sovereign with whom (by your favour) I was to have been officially connected. The extraordinary attention I received, in 1836 and 1837, at the hands of the Emperor of Russia,— myk b DEDICATION. marked reception in Sweden by the present King, with whom, in 1813 and 1814, I transacted many important military and diplomatic duties, — the re newed partiality so peculiarly manifested towards me by the King of Prussia, and by my old friends in his brave army, — appear to me the best proof that can remain on record, that your flattering nomination had not been injudiciously made. In my tour in Belgium, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Russia, and Prussia, I committed such remarks to paper as those countries in their present state offered to my imagination.

They are written without ar rangement, and merely as notes of events as they happened, of sights in the order I saw them, and of reflections which they suggested. To commemorate your great kindness, and as a proof of the value I attach to your good opinion, I venture to dedicate my hastily-written volume to you. Although it may add little to the ornament of a library, on the shelves of which are proudly ranged a thousand grateful addresses, bearing a million of British signatures ; yet, Sir, as the offering of a soldier, and (may I add) a friend, I hope it will not be entirely7 without value in your book-case. I remain ever Your sincerely obliged, VANE LONDONDERRY. Holdernesse House, August, 1838.

Chapter II

Amsterdam — Streets and Drawbridges — Palace of Susdyk — Royal Inhospitality — Untoward Event— Osnaburgh — Bremen — Hamburgh — Road to Kiel — Danish Steam-boat — Voyage to Copenhagen — Madame de Zayas . . . ]8

Chapter III

Copenhagen — The Streets — Bombardment of Copenhagen — Thorwaldsen's Statues — Palace of Christianburg — The King's Pictures — Audience of the King — Chateau of Rosenberg — Prison of Caroline Matilda — Crossing the Sound — Entrance of the Sound — Travelling in Sweden — The Roads — Fences — The Swedish People — Cattle— Food — Inn at Gothenbourg . 13

Chapter IV

Gothenbourg — Inn at Trollhatten — Canal to Stockholm — Falls of Trollhatten — Mr. Lloyd — Marienstadt — Dreary Country — Stockholm — Public Buildings — View of Stockholm — Shops — Porphyry — Carriages and Horses — The Swedish Army . . X CONTENTS.

Chapter V

The King of Sweden— Conversation with the King— Royal Dinners — Ladies of the Court— Prince Oscar — Military Festival — Prince Oscar's Sons— The King's Villa at Rosenberg — Royal Dinner — Other Visits to the King — Conversation with his Majesty—Unexpected Occurrence — Royal Steam-yacht — Our Fellow Passengers — Departure from Sweden . . 64

Chapter VI

The Voyage — Intricate Navigation — Cronstadt — Its Fortifications — The Russian Fleet — Approach to Petersburgh . 80

Chapter VII

The Russian Empire — Facility of visiting it — Search for a Residence — St. Petersburgh — Magnificent Public Buildings — Improvements in Petersburgh — Divisions of the City — Church of St. Peter — Palace of Tauride — Public Institutions — The City Revenue — Theatres and Promenades — The English Club . 88

Chapter VIII

The Russian People — Governments — Wretched Hotel — Count Nesselrode— Lord Durham— Le Palais d'Hiver— Column of Alexander — The Inauguration — L'Hermitage — Splendid Treasures — Bali-Room — Saloon of the Marechals — Remarkable Custom— Droschkas — The Emperor's Accident ■ 102

Chapter IX

The Imperial Academy— Diplomatic Dinner — Dinner at the Ambassador's — Palace of Peterhoff— Imperial Cottage — Its Interior — Visit to Czarskaeselo — Audience with the Empress — Dinner with her Majesty— Mode of Serving— Imperial Ball— Unexpected Announcement — Travelling Party CONTENTS. XI

Chapter X

Empress Catherine's Baths — The Arsenal — Trophies and Armour — Imperial Dairy — Magnificent Palace — Its Interior — Reception Rooms — Chapel — Gateluna — Posting in Russia— Russian Roads — Wagons, Inns, Villages — Government Inns — Travelling Fare — Delicacies . . . . 135

Chapter XI

Moscow— Seat of Government — Internal Communication — Peculiarity of Moscow — Imperial Residences — Political State of Russia — Russian Aggrandisement — Russian Policy — Marmont's Hypothesis — The Russian Army — Russia and British India — The Emperor Nicholas — Absurd Calumnies — Opinions of the AbbedePradt . . . .151

Chapter XII

Arrival at Moscow — Burning of Moscow — Its Reconstruction — Public Institutions — Commerce — General Tolstoy — Visit to the Kremlin — The Palaces — Senate House and Arsenal — Grand Entertainment — Prince Serge Galitzen — Dinners and Soirees — Cathedrals and Hospitals — Establishment for young Ladies — Convent of Troitza — Return from Moscow . 179

Chapter XIII

Return from Moscow — Grand Review — Russian Cavalry — The Emperor Nicholas — Czarskoeselo — Imperial Soiree — Etiquette of Dress — Conversation with the Emperor — High Mass . CONTENTS. XII

Chapter XIV

The Emperor— Marked Compliment— Salutation and Reply — Royal Dinner— Peculiar Arrangement— Russian Climate — Government Establishments — L'Etat Major — Quarter Master General's Department — New Invention 208

Chapter XV

Cadet Establishment — The Students — Course of Education — The Dining Room — The Medical Department — Noble Cadets — Marine Cadets — L'Ecole de Genie — Engineers' Department — Riding School — School of Artillery — Civil Engineering — The Arsenals — Relics of Alexander — School of Artillery — College for young Officers . . . 222

Chapter XVI

Military Fetes — Dinner at the Winter Palace- Intercourse of Officers — The Imperial Family — The Dinner — Interesting Spectacle— Gracious Invitation . . .241

Chapter XVII

Assembling at the Palace — The Imperial Cortege — Procession — High Mass — Kissing Hands — Christmas Day — Russian Decoration — The Emperor and Empress — Splendid Spectacle — High Mass — Mournful Ceremony — Benediction of the Colours . 250

Chapter XVIII

Singular Ceremony — The Metropolitan— The Procession — Blessing the Waters — Dangerous Superstition — The Empress's Rooms — Splendid Entertainments — The Imperial Court — -Public Decorum — Death of Alexander — Heroism of Nicholas —His Military Knowledge — His Universal Proficiency . ILLUSTRATIONS. VOL. I. Portrait of tlie Emperor Nicholas I. . . To face Title. Portrait of the Queen of the Belgians . . — 8 Portrait of the Crown Princess of Sweden . . — 69 Plan of St. Peter_burgh . . . — 88 Plan of Moscow . . . . — 150 VOL II. Portrait of Count Nesselrode . . To face Titk. Portrait of the Empress of Russia . . — MEMOIRS OF A TOUR IN THE NORTH OF EUROPE in 1836-7.

Chapter I

Projected Tour — Landing in France — Route and Road to Ghent — Vicissitudes of Life — Bonaparte's Policy — King Leopold — Belgian Railways— Antwerp — Vexatious Treatment — The Hague — The Prince of Orange — Diplomatic Dinner — SirE. Disbrowe — Scheveling. A long-projected tour to the north of Europe was finally7 determined on in the beginning of the month of August, 1836. Both Conservatives and Whig Radicals found their attendance at the House productive of nothing but fatigue and dissatisfaction ; the former deplored an unsuccessful campaign, the latter appeared convinced that, although they still kept the reins, they wanted the means, both physical and moral, of governing the country ; in short, all seemed thoroughly tired of their parliamentary labours. Nor VOL. T. B DESIRE FOR CHANGE. was the gay world less free from ennui ; equipage after equipage had deserted the fashionable streets and favourite drives, &c; the last balls at Cremorne-lodge, thc Regent's-park, and Chiswick, announced that the curtain had dropped over the season of 1836.

Under circumstances such as these it was, that the party whose tour I shall now attempt to describe, anxious for change of scene, and desirous of acquiring new ideas, by investigating fresh and distant lands, sailed for Calais on the 4th of August. If there is a fatality in human affairs, there is also, a strange and unaccountable caprice which governs the actions of mankind. It might last year (1835) have been the lot of some who engaged in this northern tour to have visited the capital of the Czar, surrounded with all those advantages which high rank and position confer, and yet strange to say, the prospect at the time offered but little temptation, and the inconvenience attending it would have been im mense. A sense of duty, however, and a desire for change so natural under all circumstances to ardent minds, might have had their influence in closing with an offer conferring such privileges.

To certain spirits, monotony7, even in its most agreeable form, that of sober, intellectual, domestic happiness, becomes insipid, and the new stimulus, even though productive of discomfort and anxiety, is welcomed as a friend. The tour to the north was this y7ear eagerly adopted; the advice of kind friends was immediately put in requisition as to the best means, considering the lateness of the season, of seeing the most in the least LANDING IN FRANCE. 3 possible space of time. Russian princes, Swedish diplomatists, and connoisseurs in travelling, were severally consulted how to avoid more exposure to the sea than was absolutely necessary, and how to gratify curiosity by the sight of the greatest number of " northern lions." At length it was decided that the first position to be taken up should be Rotter dam, and the heavy7 baggage, consisting of carriages, servants, camp-beds, canteens, courier, cook, &c, embarked for that port on the morning of the 3rd August.

Some of the family proceeded also by the same conveyance, while the writer and his companion, both equally eschewing steam and sea-sickness, ran down in a light britchka to Dover, and on the follow ing day sailing for Calais, reached Dunkirk, where they slept the same evening. So many of our countrymen have seen Calais since the peace of Paris and the battle of Waterloo, that it would be as absurd to give any7 description of it, as to paint the remarkable features of Margate or Brighton ; and no Englishman can land at Calais, without experiencing renewed surprise at the gruff tone of the French sailors, the garrulity of the motley coloured fisherwomen, the insolence of the police-officers and douaniers, and the obse quiousness of the commissioners who besiege you with numerous packs of their recommendation-cards ; added to all which, there is in every look and ges ture of the inhabitants, as well as in every form, fashion, and fabric that presents itself to the eye, something so indescribably different from all we see in b OUR ROUTE. our own country, that every one on landing in France, however frequently, experiences a pleasing sensa tion, and the spirit becomes buoyant and elastic from the cheering aspect of novelty that appears as it were to greet his arrival.

All who have travelled much on the continent have, at every successive visit, been struck with the fact, that the various countries of the European world (except England) assimilate more or less, and that she alone is morally, as well as geogra phically, isolated and unique in all the minutiæ of existence. The major part of our travelling countrymen and countrywomen may have felt, especially the fair sex, the extreme mania which prevails on arriving in France to throw aside everything English, and spend the last of their notes and sovereigns in running to all the Calais shops to purchase bonnets, caps, perfumery, and, in short, everything French. English maids now make a fine harvest, as all old things in wear are invariably handed over to them by their mistresses, for the sole besoin of buying the new objects that present them selves to the eye.

The direction of our route was that of Rotterdam, and wre were anxious to visit those towns which excited perhaps a stronger interest when they belonged to Austrian Brabant, and were the theatre of the Duke of York's campaign in Flanders, than they now do under their newly-created sovereign, Leopold I. Ypres, Menin, Courtray — were all garrisons well known to our guardsmen ; and the spot where British soldiers have fought and bled must always command ROAD TO GHENT. 5 the warm sympathy of a British bosom. Of the two routes that lead from Calais to Ghent, it may be as well to remark, for the sake of those who travel this way hereafter, that the coast line by Furnes Glustche and Bruges to Ghent is not always good and passable if the tide be full in ; and although, by not taking it, the interesting city of Bruges is missed, yet the traveller is compensated by a view of the fortresses above mentioned, and by the superiority of the road from Dunkirk to Ghent.

It is, in fact, a perfect garden, a beautiful chaussee, lined with fine old lime and elmtrees of immense size, the former with their pale leaves in continual motion, the latter affording their effective and agreeable shade : add to this the luxuriance of all the crops, the admirable labours of the husband men, the perfection of the cattle, and above all, the breed of horses from that most valuable of all its kind, the Flanders mare. At Dunkirk we could not be accommodated at the Hotel de Flandres, which is the first inn in the place, but every attention was paid us at the Hotel du Chapeau Rouge. In many of the inns in Belgium, English waiters are now regularly engaged ; the steam conveyances to all the ports from Calais, Ostend, Dunkirk, Antwerp, Rotterdam, &c, and the swarms of travellers that now frequent the Low Countries and make the tour of the Rhine, have probably induced the hotel keepers to have recourse to their services.

Our intention was to go en the 6th to the famed city of Ghent, and to reach Antwerp in the evening ; but, on our arrival at the former place to dinner, we found there VICISSITUDES OF LIFE. would be a difficulty in passing the Scheldt after dark; so changing our plan, we directed our course upon Brussels, submitting to the inconvenience of tra velling through the night. I have nothing to say of the attractions of Ghent, but I can say much more of Brussels, where we were lodged in the Hotel Belle Vue, Place Royale, at four o'clock a. m., on the 7th. It was fifteen years since some of our party had seen this capital. The House of Orange had, at the former period, by a wise arrange ment of the great European alliance, received a territory which was to be a barrier against France on the one side, and against Germany on the other.

A line of the most prominent fortresses had been placed in the best order, under the inspection of the Duke of Wellington, to render this new kingdom inde pendent ; France had been made by the allies to pay a great part of the sums necessary for this purpose. England had just grounds to be proud of the part she took in the accomplishment of these acts, — they were based on treaties, the departure from which Europe may7 long, in times to come, have cause to rue. In stead, however, of that royal palace which was built by the gratitude of the country for that young prince who gloriously fought and bled at the battle of Waterloo, being inhabited by him, his royal and imperial wife, and interesting family, it is now ex posed to the vulgar gaze and curiosity of every pass ing traveller for the payment of a few francs.

And to show the vicissitudes of human life, it may not be amiss here to quote the remark of one of our party, bonapakte's policy. 7 an officer of rank, who had served in all the campaigns of the Duke of Wellington, and was at Paris in 1814 and 1815. " I was often with Leopold at Paris when ha was in the Russian service, and it has happened not unfre quently, that at the charming petits soupers so often given after the theatre to English ladies at Tortoni's or other restaurateurs, we exchanged the greatest marks of personal and intimate friendship. The next time I saw him was as the husband of the Princess Charlotte. I now contemplate him as a king, filling the throne of that prince whose promised, nay, almost affianced wife, Leopold had the good fortune to withdraw : and lastly, from being the man whom England most looked up to when he was the husband of her future queen, he has become the individual France protects, because he is the husband of the daughter of Louis Philippe."

It was always Bonaparte's policy that, on this side of her frontier, France should be bounded by the ocean and the Rhine. Against this inordinate ambition the great alliance of Europe fought, and fought success fully. How strange does it appear, then, that Eng land, in later years, should aid in the establishment of a kingdom, which can never be anything but a pro vince of France, for, in fact, Belgium is and must be French. More strange is it, to those who were mixed up in the transactions of 1814 and 1815, that Russia, Prussia, and Austria could have given their adhesion to this arrangement, more fatal to European interests, because it is likely, from the connexion of Leopold with the thrones of France and KING LEOPOLD. England, to become durable ; and yet the House of Orange will never cease to regret, and endeavour to regain, what it has lost, although the commercial towns __f Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and others, may not be so anxious as the court for a reunion with Belgium.

I was desirous of knowing how this royal favourite of fortune now passed his time, and I was informed he lived chiefly at the palace of Lacken. He had lately, however, made an excursion with the queen to Paris, but staying longer than " Les braves Beiges" approved of, they wrote upon the palace doors, " Cette Maison a Louer." He comes into Brussels every morning, transacts business till two o'clock, and re turns to the country, dines, passes the evening in his gardens, and after dark, either in reading or in con versing with the queen. He sees company and gives large dinners twice a week, but his court is dull and formal ; and, but for the English residing at Brussels, the place would be melancholy. An anecdote I heard, impresses me with the idea that neither the king nor the queen of Belgium can feel much at ease in their new possessions, or such things would hardly be related.

In the Prince of Orange's palace, the boudoir of the princesses, and his own room, were, for a long time, shown to the gaping multitude just in the state they left it at the revolution, — the very gloves the princess had on, the pens she was writing with, and the clothes laid out for the prince to change, &c. Some English tra vellers, particularly devoted to the Orange party, having unwittingly exclaimed, "Good God! every BELGIAN RAILWAYS. thing appears ready for the immediate return and reception of the prince and princess," a sudden order was issued for closingthe apartments to all visitors. Stately palaces, marble statues, magnificent furni ture, &c, can often be seen, but the deep interest in spired by the actual position of the abode of royalty at the moment of the soulbvement du peuple, and of the flight of the royal occupants, awakens reflections which contrast order and power with revolution and anarchy ; enjoyment and possession, with deprivations and expulsions ; and when (which is rarely the case) such a picture presents itself to the sympathising tra veller, it is never forgotten.

It is but justice to Prince Leopold's government to remark, in this place, the very useful and beautiful railway that is just finished between Brussels and Antwerp ; it must be of advantage both in a commercial and military point of view. The thirty English miles can be travelled in an hour. The machinery and arrangements seem admirable ; all being under the direction of the military and police, the strictest order and regularity are preserved. As Antwerp is now become the strong fortress of the Belgian frontier, the incalculable advantages of its rapid and constant communication with the capital must be evident. These railways are to be extended towards Liege and the Rhine, and probably, as they are likely to answer so well, they will soon be universal throughout Belgium ; and I question if the execution of them, where they are entirely constructed under the direction of govern ment, will not be superior to those in England, where ANTWERP. many originate with, and are carried into effect by, gambling speculators and adventurers, whose wild schemes will ultimately be productive of incalculable mischief.

On our arrival at Antwerp on the 7th, the best hotel, " Le Grand Laboureur," was completely occupied by the multitudes thronging from and to England by the steam-packets, which at this season are never empty. We were lodged in a good inn, L'Hotel St. Antoine. The siege of Antwerp, with all its concomitant events, has been of late so fully described, that it would be presumptuous to add to the ample pages with which the public has been gratified. Very great difficulty was experienced in obtaining permission to visit the works of the fortress. I am not desirous of dwelling on the uniformly mistaken conduct of Great Britain towards her old ally, nor is it necessary for any historian, however humble, to describe the gallant and glorious conduct of General Chassee. The writer of these pages prefers drawing a veil over the whole of this tragical occurrence, so injurious in his opinion to British fame and honour.

We were chiefly occupied during our stay in in specting Mr. Baily's magnificent shawl repository, unequalled in Europe ; at which the fancy, taste, and extravagance of a beautiful woman's wardrobe may be indulged from one hundred guineas to one thousand and upwards. With the exception of this re pository, and our visit to the cathedral, which boasts of one of the most heavenly pictures in the world, Rubens' Descent from the Cross, nothing struck me as worth detailing. VEXATIOUS treatment. I must now mention the information given us by the English waiter at the hotel, who stated that it was of no consequence by whom our passports out of Belgium were signed, for if we had not the vise of a M. Francois, the chief of police at Brussels, we should be arrested. The British envoy at Leopold's court (whose passport I had taken care to obtain) seemed quite ignorant of the necessity of submitting his signature to this M. Francois, neither was Leopold's minister in London (who had signed our passport) better informed, nor more respectfully treated.

But the account we accidentally received from the waiter proved true, and we found we could not get out of Belgium except by sending our courier back to Brussels to the said M. Francois. Off he started: he arrived on a Sunday morning. M. Francois was absent on an excursion of pleasure : his secretary wrote an order to the civil authority7 at West Wezel, the village at the frontier. On our arrival there, the military lieutenant in command of the out-posts treated this secretary's order with the utmost contempt, and would not let us pass without M. Francois' own signature and official passport. Again we were thrown out by these admirably conducted arrangements between the civil and military authorities of" Les braves Beiges," and after enduring considerable insolence from this son of Mars, who would listen neither to reason nor remonstrance, we were obliged to send back our courier for the due authority, and to remain all night in a wretched cabaret by the road side.

Six or seven persons with tlieir families had been sent back on account of the same frivolous cere- THE HAGUE. monials, introduced without due consideration, made up of all sorts of confused references from civil to military, and military to civil authorities, and exe cuted by new liberals in office, who, " dressed in a little brief authority," conceive it trbs brave to make their modicum of power as inconvenient and oppres sive as possible. The same treatment did not await us at the Dutch advanced posts. We had written, previously to our leaving England, to the Prince of Orange, and the orders for our reception and protec tion were awaiting us. West Wezel and Gros Hun dert are the two villages which mark the respective line of boundary of these two newly7 separated king doms. Before taking leave of Prince Leopold, I must express my unbounded admiration of the beautiful capital of Belgium, and of her luxurious palaces, her fertile plains, her impregnable fortresses.

But let him remember the battle of Fleurus, and let him seriously reflect that the power which took possession of those provinces in those days of revolution, will consider them ever as virtually her own, and will seize upon them whenever a fit opportunity shall present itself. On the 7th we put up at the dirty spirit-shop or ale house of West Wezel ; miserable accommodation with still more wretched fare. The 8th, Rotterdam. On the 9th we arrived at the Hague. The royal family were absent at Loo and Susdyk, the two country palaces of the king and Prince of Orange. The prince himself was stationed at Tilborg, where he commanded the camp of observation. The Dutch army being still on the war establishment, the long pending question THE PRINCE OF ORANGE. with Belgium — " malgre les protocols," and the time that had elapsed — was not as yet adjusted, and the Dutch still submitted to the extraordinary taxes ne cessary for keeping their army on full pay7.

The conduct of his Royal Highness the Prince of Orange during the ten days' campaign before the siege of Antwerp, had revived his popularity with his country men, (which was before much on the decline.) He was now in entire command of the army, that had been in the hands of his younger brother, Prince Frederick, who, to do him justice, had organised it since the fatal day7s of Brussels, and placed it in the best order. This prince was now war minister, and also minister of marine. Nevertheless, the king keeps a. strict superintendence over the minutest arrangements himself, even to the moving of a regiment. This newly-constituted Dutch monarchy is another of the creations of the late experimental legislators of Eu rope. It is difficult to pronounce how the prosperity of the country, or the duration of its institutions, will be consolidated under its practical operations.

I own my hopes were by no means sanguine when I heard that the king had first proposed to his chambers to vote him a budget for ten years ; but, finding a stout resist ance, he yielded, and began to temporise for three. This proceeding (as is always the case with truck ling) produced increased arrogance on the side of the refractory spirits, and the dispute ended in the king being obliged to content himself, in 1836, with an annual budget. In the new framing of the constitu tion of Holland, the project of law emanates from the DIPLOMATIC DINNER. crown, the chambers vote it in sections, before it goes to the peers, and in fact the decision upon the act by the sections is known before it is even discussed in the Lower House. The working spirit in the constitution is decidedly liberal, and the power of the crown is diminishing yearly.

In conversing with various persons on the ill-fated Bel gian question, the general feeling seemed to be that it would be wise for the King of Holland to yield now, even to the injustice and power by which hew7as oppressed, and settle all differences between Holland and Bel gium, because the course his majesty had hitherto pursued was one of ceding by driblets, which equally weakened his own consequence and the respect which Holland ought to have commanded during the course of the negociations. Sir E. Disbrowe gave a great entertainment the day after my arrival: the party consisted chiefly of his colleagues of the diplomatic corps with some strangers. Amongst the most prominent were the Count and Countess Strogonoff ; but as these distinguished and noble persons were on their way to Russia, where they were afterwards met with, I will not here descant upon my feelings of affectionate attachment, nor say more of them in this place.

Baron Mortier and his wife were the next conspicuous guests ; he being a diplomatist of reputation, very intimate with Talley rand and the leading men at Paris. He had lately arrived, and was just married to a very beautiful woman, next to whom I had the good fortune to sit at dinner ; and if the baron can make as good and SIR E. DISBROWE. efficient use of his pen, as his lady does of her brilliant and enchanting eyes, the government of France will have no lack of information during the period of his appointment at the Hague. I was particularly struck with this charming person's admiration of Lord Byron. She conversed with me in English on all his poems, but dwelt chiefly on the " Corsair" and " Childe Harold ;" she spoke English admirably7, and is in all respects a delightful person. At these great diplomatic dinners, it is singular to remark the im portance that each individual (representing even a small court) attaches to what he himself says, or to the facts he mentions.