Memories of many men and of some women : being personal recollections of emperors, kings, queens, princes, presidents, statesmen, authors, and artists, at home and abroad, during the last thirty years

Front matter

The Institute of Museum and Library Services through an Indiana State Library LSTA Grant

3ln& of Some tOomen:

PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS

Preface

MAKE no pretensions to have written any thing in this little book which rises to the dignity of even minor history. I know that it is all liable to be treated with disdainful scorn by the serious and dignified muse whose recording pen traces the solemn and heroic records of the world's march through time, and the immortal achievements of the great. And yet it seems to me that the random, hap-hazard recollections of men and things herein set down can hardly fail to entertain and amuse, although they may not instruct the curious reader. If my anecdotes are sometimes trivial, most of them, at least, concern persons famous, some in civil, and some in military life. If their perusal should not add any thing to the real knowledge which you already possess of those to whom they relate, they may, nevertheless, succeed in presenting to you in bolder relief some of the peculiarities which distinguished them-.

I have made no attempt to be otherwise than desultory. I have wandered on through the garden of memory, dreamily and almost at random, plucking here and there, it might be flowers, and it might be weeds, as they presented themselves to my hand ; and I venture to offer them, unsymmetrically arranged and loosely

A ii PREFACE.

tied together, for your acceptance. Some of them you may find worthy to be pressed and preserved with your own collections ; and others you may drop by the wayside, as having neither fragrance nor beauty. In either event, I shall be content.

How many of those about whom I hare written have passed away ! "Webster, and Adams, and Van Buren, and Pierce, and Marcy, and Scott, and Soule, and Lincoln, and Seward, and Stanton, and Fessenden, and Greeley, and Chase, are all gone ! The martyr President was carried through the land in a triumphal march to a now neglected and crumbling tomb ! But yesterday I followed the remains of the great Chief Justice to their temporary resting-place in the beautiful Georgetown Cemetery. Irving, and Thackeray, and Dickens, and Hawthorne, and Cooper, and James, and "Willis, and Poe, have passed before us to the silent land. The Emperor Napoleon III. no longer wields a sceptre, but is again an exile in England, and fills there an exile's grave! Wellington, Palmerston, and Macallay have dropped the sword, the portfolio, and the pen !

I feel that it is a privilege to have seen such men, and to have known most of them ; and it has made me happy during the brief, drowsy hours of a summer vacation to seek relief from the duties of an arduous profession by wandering back into the past in their company.

M. B. F.

New York, October, 1873.

Table Of Contents

PAET L— ABROAD.

Chapter I

An Interview with Edward Everett. — The Duke of "Wellington at the Horse Guards, and in the Lords. — Count d'Orsay's Intererence with the Mob. — Minister King and his Negro Major-domo. — M. Guizot and M. Thiers. — The Duke de Nemours at the Races. — The Duke d'Aumale returning from Algeria. — The Duke de Montpensier at a Concert. — The King of Holland : on Horseback ; in his Picture-Gallery ; his Habits. — Minister Wheaton. — The King of Prussia at Potsdam. — The Crown Prince and Princess of Prussia in Switzerland. — The Emperor and Empress of Austria, and the Archduchess Sophia. — The "Festive" Mr. Jenifer. — The Archduke Charles of Austria and his Daughter at Baden. — The Grand-duke of Tuscany. — Charles Albert of Sardinia.— The Eccentric Hereditary Grand-duke of Lucca: his Peculiarities, and his Tragical Death. — An Indiscreet "Brummagem" Man. — The Duke d'Ossuna. — The Marquis de St. Jago. — Pope Gregory XVI., and Cardinal Mezzofanti. — The Roman Nobility. — Charles Dickens in Rome : Sight-seeing and Carnivalmaking. — King Bomba of Naples : his Vulgarity and Brutality. — Sultan Abdul Medjid. — Mehemet Ali, Viceroy of Egypt, his Senile Gallantry. — Ibrahim Pasha and Abbas Pasha. — Prince Albert of Prussia at the Second Cataract. — Sofia, the Discarded Wife of Abbas Pasha. — The Greek Revolution of 1844. — Prince Mavrocordato. — The Beautiful Women of Athens. — Washing-

Jy TABLE OF CONTENTS.

ton Irving at Madrid. — An Anecdote of Dickens in New York Pages 13-31

Chapter II

Prince Lucien Murat : his Appearance, Manners, and Reputation. — His Story about his Uncle, Joseph Bonaparte. — His Election to the French Legislative Assembly. — Spring and Early Summer Weather in England. — George N. Sanders and George W. Kendall.— Lord Fitzroy Somerset, a Chance Traveling Companion. — The Iron Duke and the Chartists. — Yankee Curiosity. — Dispersing the Mob. — Roasting a Cockney. — Queen Victoria at the Opera 32-44

Chapter III

Ralph Waldo Emerson in London. — A Visit with him to the New Houses of Parliament.— A Call upon Sir Benjamin Brodie. — A Mysterious Foreigner. — Loyalty of the English Lower Middle- Classes. — A Future Emperor. — Baroness Coutts and Mrs. Bates. — Lady Blessington. — Mitchel, the Manager of the St. James' Theatre. — A Problematical Hoax. — An Anglicized Knickerbocker.— Queer Shop Signs 45-56

Chapter IV

Acting Secretary of Legation in France. — Sweets of Diplomatic Life. — Yankee "Cheek." — A Virginian Gentleman. — Slaveholder and Abolitionist.^-Presenting Unpresentables. — Donn Piatt. — A Blunt Soldier. — Sponging a Uniform. — Chapeau vs. Chimney-pot.— Diplomatic Catastrophe 57-74

CHAPTER Y.

Secretary Marcy and the Ostend Dispatch. — The Author starts for Madrid. — Riding Spanish. — Pierre Soulti. — His Duel with M. Turgot. — A Baited Minister. — A Spanish Constituent Cortes. — Wheedling the Queen-mother. — The Black Warrior Affair. — Pre-

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paring for an Audience. — Spanish Etiquette. — Baffling a Chamberlain.— The " Innocent Isabel." — Royal Affability. — A Pressing Invitation. — Baffled again 75-94

Chapter VI

The " Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin." — The Duke and the Duchess of Alva. — A Drive with Mr. Soule. — He resigns in Disgust. — His Confidence in the Ostend " Platform." — Farewell to Madrid. — Mr. Mason stricken down by a Paralytic Stroke . 95-100

Chapter VII

President of the Board of United States Commissioners at the Exposition in Paris.1 — Perplexities and Annoyances. — The Sewing- Machine People. — Mr. Goodyear's Vulcanized India-Rubber. — Plon-Plon.— The Princess Mathilde Demidoff.— An " Enfant Terrible."— A Would-be Leader of the French Democracy. — The Bourbons' Blunder 101-110

Chapter VIII

Stupidity or Malice? — A Gathering of Royal Personages. — The Empres9 Eugenie. — The Emperor Intrigued. — India-Rubber Cannon-Balls. — Horace Greeley at the Exposition. — He gets into Trouble. — He is carried off to Clichy. — A Dinner to the American Commissioners. — " Parson Adams in Jail." — Seeing Good Society 111-122

Chapter IX

An Odd Fish in Paris. — Self-titled Ilumanes. — The American Eagle Soars. — A Free and Easy Diplomatist. — An Attempted Assassination.— Some of the Emperor's Characteristics. — A Royal Anxious Mother. — The Emperor's Irony. — Guizot and Vattemarre. — Ex-President Van Buren, Majors Mordecai and Delafield, and Captain McClellan in Paris. — The Marquis of Farintosh. — Thackeray's Knowledge of the French. — A Money Lord's Poyj TABLE OF CONTENTS.

liteness. — A Hebrew Funeral. — Award of the Cross of the Legion of Honor 123-136

Chapter X

The "Ways of the English. — The Duchess of Sutherland and Mrs. Stowe. — A Negro Sculptor. — Some of Lady Byron's Peculiarities.— Macaulay at Home. — A Dinner with Thackeray at the Reform Club. — Thackeray and Dickens. — Tom Taylor, Dramatist instead of Parson. — A Party at Mrs. S. C. Half's : Professor Owen, Jenny Lind, Lover, and Hawthorne present. — British Eloquence, with Mention of Lord Derby, the Bishop of Oxford, the Duke of Argyll, Lord Grey, the Marquis of Clanricarde, the Earl of Hardwicke, the Earl of Carnarvon, Mr. Disraeli, " Lord John," Mr. Gladstone, and Lord Palmerston. — The Indecorum of the British Senate. — Giving Mr. Bull " his Papers.1' — A Terrific Scream by the American Eagle. — The Commons in a Twitter: — Her Majesty's Friendliness to the States 137-152

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Chapter I

Aaron Burr at Richmond Hill. — Red Jacket. — General Jackson's "Weeper," and General Pierce's Umbrella. — Presidents, Past and Future. — A Visit to Franklin Pierce at Rye Beach. — His Story about his Nomination. — His Friendship for Nathaniel Hawthorne. — Political Chowder. — Pierce as President: One Thing to All Men. — Office-seeking and Office-seekers. — A Joke of the Secretary of State. — Appointment and Disappointment.— James Buchanan. — Love's Last Shift. — A Final Interview 155-174

Chapter II

" Sam " Houston, and " Mike " Walsh.— Daniel Webster.— Tyler, Fillmore, and Van Buren. — John Van Buren. — A Pun on Cass's Name. — John Van Buren as a Politician . . . 175-184

Chapter III

Dickens in Cincinnati. — G. P. R. James. — James and Sir Walter Scott. — James's Impressions of Horace Greeley. — The Journey to Hell Gate. — James and Sir Hamilton Seymour. — The Sedgwicks and the Literary Coterie at and near Stockbridge. — A Disgusted Idler. — Fanny Kemble in Private. — Melville and Holmes. — Twin Authorship. — Hawthorne's Shyness. — James as an Official. — Consul-making. — Anecdotes of Campbell, Hogg, and Byron.—" Alexander in the Tent of Darius" . 185-214

CHAPTER IV. Thackeray at the Century Club. — Jenny Line! and Barnum

Public Charity. — Miss Lincl and her Persecutors. — Her Detesta-

' tion of Humbug and Abhorrence for Negroes . . 215-220 viii TABLE OF CONTENTS.

Chapter V

General Scott. — Anecdotes related by him. — His Friendship with Sir John Harvey. — His Opinion of McClellan, Lee, and Grant. — Fitz-Greene Halleck. — Edgar A. Poe, and his Lecture upon " The Universe."— Rufus W. Griswold and N. P. Willis. — John Quincy Adams and Albert Gallatin. — Charles Francis Adams and ex-President Monroe. — The "Monroe Letter." — Colonel James Monroe. — His Experience as " a Friend" . 221-228

Chapter VI

Prince Napoleon and the Princess Clotilde in New York. — The Prince's Visit to Mr. Benkard's House, and to the Picture- Galleries of Mr. Belmont and Mr. Aspinwall. — A Dinner in Brooklyn. — He offers to procure Arms for the United States. — He visits Lake Superior and the West. — Dinner to him at the Union Club. — " Vive la France !" — An Entertainment on board the Prince's Yacht 229-237

Chapter VII

A Visit to Montreal for the Purpose of Inviting the Prince of Wales to New York. — An Official Reception. — Dinner vs. Ball. — Lunching with the Prince. — Preparations for the Ball. — Reception of the Prince at New York. — Plow he spent his Time. — The Ball. — He attends Service at Trinity Church. — An Economical Committee 238-249

Chapter VIII

Howell Cobb, a Secessionist. — An Empty Treasury. — General Dix appointed Secretary of the Treasury. — A Loyal Democrat. — Mr. Cisco visits Secretary Chase. — The Sinews of War. — Negotiations with the Banks. — The Government again in Difficulties. — Replenishing the Treasury. — Any Thing for Money. — Confidential and Semi-official Correspondence with Washington. — The

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Purchase of the Merchants' Exchange Company's Building for a Custom-House. — The Great Draft Riot, — The Writer invited to Washington as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury . 250-261

Chapter IX

Mr. Seward. — The Emancipation Proclamation. — Mr. Stanton. — Mr. Chase's Diary. — Was Mr. Cameron Dismissed ? — General Mc- Clellan. — Thurlow Weed Governor of Neio York. — Mr. Welles. — Mr. Chase the Foremost Member of Mr. Lincoln's Cabinet 262-274

Chapter X

John D. Van Buren in Washington. — The Difficulties of Taxation. — Mistakes of Mr. Chase and of Mr. Pitt. — Mr. Lincoln's Inability to appreciate Mr. Chase. — Mr. Chase's Delicacy. — His Presidential Aspirations. — Scolding Dignitaries. — His Scrupulousness in signing Warrants. — Mr. Lincoln's Savings. — How a State Dinner was Paid for. — Mr. Chase passing Counterfeits of his own Currency. — Assaulted in his own Dej)artinent. — His Opinion of General Butler. — Visit to the General at Fortress Monroe. — An Incident of the Taylor Campaign. — Mr. Colfax and Mr. Washburne Competitors for the Speakership. — Mr. Henry G. Stebbins, a Member of the Committee on Ways and Means. —Mr. Wood's Aspirations for the same Position. — The Swearing Treasurer. — The Blood of John Brown. — A Cool Government Clerk.— A Pretty Thief.— Frederick Douglass . . 275-295

Chapter XI

How Mr. Chase came to leave the Treasury Department. — Canvassing the Senate. — Mr. Chase Resigns. — Mr. Fessenden is appointed Secretary. — Mr. Lincoln Explains. — Mr. Chase is Stubborn. — Mr. Chase's Four Resignations. — A Characteristic

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TABIS OF CONTEXTS.

Chapter XII

Mr. Fessenden as Secretary of the Treasury. — Mr. Hartley. — " Tite Barnacle " in Washington. — Mr. Lincoln's Sectarian Preferences. — " A Little Story." — Mr. Lincoln and the Fair Sex. — Mr. Lincoln's Kindness. — General Nye's Republican Saint. — Greeley as Chesterfield. — Greeley walks Seward around the Block. — The Foreign Ministers in Washington .... 807-820

Chapter XIII

Mr. Lincoln's Assassination ; Death - bed Scenes, and Funeral 321-329

PART I.

ABROAD.

AND OF SOME WOMEN.

PART I.

Chapter I

WENT abroad for the first time in the spring of the year 1843, and remained absent from America until the month of December in the year 1845. During the intervening period I traveled through all the countries of Europe, except Russia, made the tour of the Seven Churches in Asia Minor, and ascended the Nile as far as the second cataract. I was very young at the time, and my experiences were mostly those of an ordinary traveler. As I am not writing a book of travels, I do not propose giving here any extended account of them. I shall limit myself to a slight, sketchy recital of some trifling incidents connected with distinguished persons whom I happened casually to see.

Mr. Edward Everett was at that time our Minister at the Court of St. James. I was the bearer to him of a letter of introduction from Mr. Benjamin F. Butler, who had been Attorney-General of the United States under President Yan Buren. I found Mr. Everett as frigid as an iceberg. His reserve was constitutional. He was as polished as his own writings, but equally cold.

To a young man just out of college, this sort of reception operated like a wet blanket. After my first call, I never ventured upon him again. I feared taking cold.

I had the good fortune to see the famous Duke of Wellington several times on horseback, going to or returning from the Horse Guards, and once in the House of Lords. He was very feeble, and very bowed and bent, and much anxiety was felt on account of his persistent habit of riding instead of driving; but the old warrior was determined to back his steed as long as he •possessed the strength to mount him. Every man removed his hat on meeting the Duke, and he saluted all in turn with a quick military movement of his forefinger to his own.

He was then Commander-in-chief. I saw him in the House of Lords, and heard him speak. The Peers then occupied their old apartment in Westminster Hall ; it was very small, and there was scant room for visitors, and no seats at all for them. When the Duke rose to speak, his tones were so low as to be almost inaudible to me. He hemmed and hawed, after the English manner, and there were painfully long pauses between his sentences. To one who could only see and not hear, it was a disappointing exhibition.

At this time there were iron shutters upon the front of Apsley House, his town residence, which were always kept closed. This was a reminder of ingratitude to the populace, who had stoned his windows on account of his opposition to the Reform Bill. The attack might have had serious consequences had it not been for the gallant interference of Count d'Oksat, who, although a Frenchman, succeeded in shaming the mob.

Our Minister to France at that period was Mr. "VVm. R. King, of Alabama, afterward Vice-President of the United States, who, with his accomplished niece, Mrs. Ellis, dispensed charming hospitality at the Legation. Mr. King had brought with him from home a negro, whom he made the major-domo of his household, and who acquired a surprising ascendency over the other servants and the tradespeople who supplied the family. He was strictly honest himself, and would not permit others to peculate ; and this is a terrible hardship to the underlings of a Parisian establishment. He accompanied his master every where. He always coupled his own name with that of Mr. King, and constantly employed the expression, " Me and the Minister." Mr. King was a tall, stiff, stately Southerner, and a dignified and high-toned gentleman.

In Paris I attended several meetings of the Chamber of Deputies, and one of the House of Peers. I saw both M. Guizot and M. Thiees, and heard the former speak. I recollect one thing he said which raised a terrific storm of indignation — "La France a besoin de se sentir gouvernee !" (France requires to feel herself governed !)

I never saw the king, Louis Philippe ; but upon different occasions I saw three of his sons, who are still living. I attended one day in the summer of the year 1843 the races in the Champ de Mars. The Due de Nemoues was then the leading patron of the turf in France, and he had a private stand upon the course. The carriage in which I came was stationed so far off that, although I could make out that this stand was filled with people, I was unable to distinguish any faces. After the first race- was over, I alighted from the vehicle, intending to walk across the course and have a look at the Prince, who I was informed was one of the party. When I got to the stand it was empty, and I supposed that he had gone home. Lighting a cigar, 1 turned back until I reached the centre of the course, where I stood some time, watching what was going on. Near me was a young man, who did not particularly attract my attention, in conversation with an older one. I only noticed that he wore very ill-fitting clothes, and had a very decided lisp in his speech. After a while he took a case from his pocket, and, selecting a cigar, asked me for a light. A few minutes later an officer approached him, bareheaded, and asked when Monseigneur would have his guard. I then knew that the young man was the Due de Nemours.

The Due d'Aumale I saw the next year, when he returned from the war in Algeria. He made a triumphal entry into Paris at the head of his regiment, if I recollect aright, the Seventeenth Light Infantry, and marched down the Avenue of the Champs Elysees. He was on foot ; his uniform was very seedy, and his boots covered with mud. The regiment had camped outside the walls the night before in order to make its entrance in the day-time, and it was said that the Prince, before starting upon the march, had for effect bedabbled his boots in a gutter.

The Due de Montpensier, who was then not much more than a boy, I saw at a monster concert in the Champs Elysees. Among the pieces performed was the chorus from the opera of Charles VI., "Jamais VA?iglais ne regnera en France!'''' (Never shall the English reign in France !) Feeling between the two nations was running high at that time, and the applause was tremendous. The Prince, by his enthusiastic clapping, split his gloves. His unlucky marriage with the sister of the Queen of Spain was one of the principal causes which led to the hurling of his father from the throne.

I twice saw the late King of Holland at the Hague. He was reputed the most daring horseman in Europe ; and at the breaking out of the revolution which resulted in the separation of Belgium from Holland, he performed the feat of riding from Brussels to the Hague in a single day. The first time that I saw him was upon a Sunday afternoon, when I was walking, accompanied by a valet de place, on an almost deserted street on the outskirts of the town. Presently there came in view a horse, dashing headlong in our direction ; and, turning in alarm to my companion, I exclaimed, " There is a runaway !" " It is the King," he replied, and in a moment his Majesty passed us at the same furious gait. He had a foraging cap upon his head and a cigar in his mouth, and, without in the least relaxing his speed, he bowed and touched his cap. Behind him, at a long distance, came two panting and blowing aids, and behind them again two Court carriages. They were all returning from a country palace where they had been dining. It was said that no aid to the King could stand the service more than two or three years at the utmost, and the position was not at all in request.

A few days afterward I was loitering in the Royal Picture-gallery attached to the Palace. Besides myself there happened to be nobody there but a French artist, who was making a very creditable copy of an important picture. Soon I entered into conversation with this gentleman, and while I was so engaged, a door opened and the King walked briskly in. Instead of crossing the room, as we supposed it his intention to do, he came directly to ns, and began to compliment the artist upon his picture. He then talked to me for a long time, and tendered me many civilities. At length, offering us each a cigar, he withdrew as he had entered. On one side of the gallery there stood, upon a pedestal, stuffed, the white horse which the King, then Prince of Orange, had ridden at Waterloo.

He was a fearful spendthrift. His father was not only a king, but also the most successful merchant and speculator in Europe, and upon his death he left an enormous fortune to his son. The latter managed not only to squander the whole of it in a reign of about seven years, but also to accumulate debts, which compelled the sale, after his death, of his pictures and other effects. He was a very ill-favored man, although the Orange family is noted as an uncommonly fine race. The King was the Grant of his day in respect of smoking. He was never without a cigar. He even smoked at the opera, When he did this, he occupied a latticed proscenium box, where yon could not see him, but whence the odor of the tobacco emerged and impregnated the entire atmosphere of the house. He was a great linguist, and otherwise accomplished ; but his reputation as a man was scandalous, and he made the Hague during his reign the rendezvous of some of the vilest characters in Europe.

I was well accredited to Mr. Henry Wheaton, our Minister at Berlin, and the distinguished writer upon international law. Upon my arrival I sent my letter with my card to the Legation, and the next day the Minister called upon me, and, not finding rne within, left for me my own card, with " Mr. Wheaton for " written over my name. It was surprising that such a solecism in manners should be committed by a diplomatist of Mr. Wheaton's experience. Of course, no offense was intended ; but I did not return the call.

The King of Prussia, elder brother to the present Emperor of Germany, I saw once at Potsdam, as he was entering his carriage. He was a rough, coarse, redfaced German, and wore an immense military cloak of Prussian gray. He afterward became mad, or rather imbecile — from an excessive addiction to champagne, it was said. The present Emperor, then Crown Prince, I accidentally met one day upon a by-way in Switzerland. I had left the vettura in which I was traveling to walk to a water- fall, only accessible to pedestrians. I overtook several Germans, with whom I entered into conversation. One of them, who seemed to be the leader of the party, was particularly polite to me. When we again reached the highway, I saw, drawn up on the side of the road, two handsome traveling carriages, with two fourgons, or luggage-vans, behind them, and I thus became aware that my chance companions were people of consequence. In the foremost of the carriages were two ladies, and the chief personage, after an exchange of compliments with me, said that he would be pleased to present me to his wife before we separated. Accordingly I handed him my card, and he presented me to the " Croavn Princess of Prussia." He very cordially invited me to again visit Berlin, assuring me that it would afford him pleasure to be of service to me there. We spoke French together. Had I understood German, which I did not, I might perhaps have learned earlier in our interview the rank of my fellow-traveler.

At Vienna, I saw the Emperor Ferdinand, of Austria, a man of low stature and defective intelligence, with the overhanging under-lip of the Hapsburgs; and the Empress, an unusually tall woman, who looked like a giantess by the side of her diminutive husband. The Archduchess Sophia, mother to the present Emperor (who succeeded upon the abdication of his uncle Ferdinand), was called in those days the most beautiful woman in Austria. Our Charge d' Affaires in Vienna was Mr. Jenifer, of Maryland. He was an old dandy and beau, and he had pictures of the lovely Archduchess hung in every room of his house. I shall never forget a dinner at which he produced real Johannisberger of the highest grade, presented to him by Prince Metternich, and other wines of equal fame, all the gifts of titled and distinguished friends.

I saw the great Archduke Charles, the most distinguished adversary of the first Napoleon next to the Duke of Wellington, at Baden, near Vienna. He was a tall, slender old man, with the unmistakable features of his imperial house, and was walking in the public garden, with his daughter leaning upon his arm, but otherwise unattended. He was himself in plain citizen's dress, and so simple a costume as that worn by the Archduchess would disgust a Fifth Avenue belle. Hats were respectfully doffed to them, but otherwise they moved among the crowd like any one else. And so it is all over the Continent of Europe, but not so in England, unless a great change has occurred there. Members of imperial and royal families are accustomed to walk the streets and frequent public places very much as every body else does. Fancy Queen Victoria taking a promenade with the Prince of Wales on Bond Street !

I frequently saw the Grand-duke of Tuscany in Florence. He was an Austrian Prince, and a plain, farmerlooking person, with a sailor's roll in his gait.

The King of Sardinia at that time was Charles Albert, the father of Victor Emmanuel, the present King of Italy. Unlike his son, he was of very lofty stature, overtopping most of his subjects by a head. The angle of his forehead and nose was unusually acute, and his face altogether a very peculiar one.

I came upon a very singular personage during my visit to Turin. I was one day sitting alone in the dining-room of my hotel, wTaiting for my dinner to be served. There were a great many ladies and gentlemen in the room at the same time, either dining or expecting to dine. Presently there entered a very tall young man, dressed, or rather overdressed, in the most outre Paris fashion, who seated himself at a round table, hitherto unoccupied, which stood between two windows which opened upon the street. His first act was to roll up a napkin into a ball, and throw it at the head of a waiter in a distant part of the room, for the purpose of attracting his attention. Shortly afterward he was joined by two young officers in uniform, and I observed a deference in their manner toward him which strangely comported with his ill-bred conduct. Every few minutes he would spring from his seat, rush to one of the windows, shout to some passer-by at the top of his voice, and wave a napkin as if in salutation. All the time he talked so loud as to drown all other conversation in the room. I

22 MEMORIES OF 3IANY MEN.

noticed that the ladies smiled behind their fans ; but neither their gentlemen companions nor the people of the hotel seemed to pay any attention to his eccentricities. After dinner I went for a walk to the public promenade. I had been sauntering about for some time, when I saw approaching an English drag drawn by four magnificent horses. In the inside were three military gentlemen, and lying upon the roof at full length, his long legs dangling; over on the one side, and his head extended beyoncl the other, was the strange young man whom I had seen at dinner. There was a crowd of pedestrians, and as the drag rolled on he kissed his hand and fluttered a pocket-handkerchief at the ladies. I knew nobody there, and I did not venture to ask who he was. But after I had returned to the hotel, I went straight to the proprietor and inquired about him. He informed me that he was the Hereditary Grand-duke of Lucca, and nephew to Charles Albert, to whose pious care his father had intrusted him. The King at first gave him apartments in the royal palace, but he conducted himself so outrageously that it soon became necessary to send him adrift. He was the scandal of all decent people in Turin. He had been turned out' of many of the best houses for his shameful behavior. He had ever so many horses of his own, but he seldom drove any but hired ones. He would sometimes come to the hotel at noon, and order a dinner for forty, to be ready at six o'clock. He was both a mountebank and a blackguard.