Part 10
_Thursday._--This place is crowded with people of my acquaintance, the Cholmondeleys, etc. She is in a low state, and really affected by the death of the Duchess,[107] who died at Lausanne. I passed the evening there. Lord Yarmouth gave us some curious details about the French prisoners; 4000 are marched into Hungary to work in the mines. He declaimed against the obstinacy of the French who will not accede to any _cartel_, although the Austrians have offered three French in exchange for one Austrian.
The hatred between the soldiery is so great that in the hospitals the sick will not share their food, or lie in the same room. He thinks Toulon quite untenable. I went to supper at Ld. Elgin’s. Nobody would credit that W. Wyndham was appointed Minister to Florence; ‘Comment donc, ce petit polisson, ce petit Jacobin.’ He passed last winter here, and belonged to the Jacobin Club at Paris, and was very much slighted here. Ld. Elgin frankly told me he doubted my story, it was impossible that _such_ a man could be employed.
I had a long conversation with Ld. Malmesbury,[108] who is going to Ath to meet the D. of York. I desired him to deliver my message, which was from T. P., to say that he would obey his instructions in Parliament, what to say about Dunkirk, etc. Ld. M.’s private opinion is that the Duke’s friends ought to be silent, and leave Ministry to fight for their own measures, as they alone can be responsible. Whether the proposal originated with the Duke or at home is not material for his public character. I saw Ld. Darnley,[109] he is less _farouche_ than he was. He has married Miss Bourke [_sic_]. I asked him how the Dss. of G. let him escape her; he said he was naturally obstinate, and the pains she took to prevent his marrying hastened it. He is going to Berlin with Ld. M.
[Sidenote: LORD MALMESBURY’S MISSION]
Barnave is executed; I am disposed to be sorry, as he latterly showed great humanity about the Queen. When condemned he spoke like a philosopher, ‘Citoyens, la Revolution tue les hommes, mais la postérité les jugera’; but he died like a coward, he scuffled when they tried to fasten him to the fatal plank. Ld. Moira is sailed to take the command of the army.[110] Lord Howe is out, and probably gone very far to the westward, as a frigate was brought in that had been taken off Ushant. Ld. Malmesbury thinks he shall not succeed in his attempts to obtain La Fayette’s release. He _has no instructions whatever from Ministry_, and all must be done through his own influence. The Duchess of Devonshire suggested the measure to him: she did not intend writing a letter herself to the Empress of Russia to beg her interference on behalf of the poor captive, but all will be fruitless. I went in the evening to the Baron de Breteuil’s.[111] He is in excellent spirits, and very sanguine about Lord Moira’s expedition. He praises d’Hervilly, who is the chief instigator of the scheme.
_Saturday._--I had a narrow escape of being burnt in my bed last night. A very strong smell of burning made me uneasy, and I examined the room; upon taking up some of the floor we discovered that the beams near the hearth were burnt to cinders.
I dined at Ld. Elgin’s. Just as the dinner ended Ld. Malmesbury returned from Ath with Lord Herbert.[112] I went and passed the evening in Ld. M.’s apartments; I wrote by a messenger just going off. It was odd enough that Ld. Herbert sat _tête-à-tête_ with me from 8 to 12. He joined with me in lamenting the Duke’s unpopularity, which he ascribes partly to his ungracious manners, and partly to the bad character of many who are about him. He is the first man I have yet seen who seems to speak with candour about French armies, neither with extravagant praise or censure: that they may be hated is fair, but no military man can despise them.
_Sunday._--Wrote letters home and saw company; dined at the Cholmondeleys--very dull. Saw Prince Coburg at the play--a heavy hero. Supped at Mde. de Balbi’s.
_Monday._--Left Bruxelles. Slept the first night at St. Trond. Ld. Darnley passed through and left me a letter from T. P.: there is no official news of Lord Howe’s successes. The _pavé_ is intolerably rough; I could not hold a book to read in the carriage.
_Saturday, 14th, Remagen._--Set off at 8 o’clock. Six hundred Carmagnol prisoners had slept in the town, and quitted it about the time we did. I never beheld more miserable objects; many of them were boys of fifteen and sixteen years old, crying from cold and nakedness, walking upon the hard flints barefooted; others, sick and wounded, were huddled upon each other in small carts. I tried to convey them some money, but the _impitoyable_ Austrian corporal took all for himself. Reached Coblentz to dine; uncommonly well lodged at the Hôtel de Trèves. This place, which was enlivened a year ago by the residence of the Prince and all Versailles, is now tranquil, even to dulness. The situation of the town is pretty, and the fortress of Ebrenstein[113] is finely placed.
[Sidenote: A GERMAN ROAD]
_15th._--My early exertions seldom succeed: I was up in time to rouse the lark. It was scarcely light when we got into the carriages, but by the laziness of the people at the _pont volant_ we did not leave the city until 9 o’clock. Unfortunately, in quitting the town we took the road to Nassau. I verily believe since the Creation no four-wheeled carriage ever went upon such a road, unless Pluto conveyed his reluctant bride in his infernal car, for it seems to lead to his dominions only. The country is ugly; the want of population, so unlike every other part of Germany, is remarkable. Since I saw the Sussex downs I have seen nothing more disconsolate. Upon a bare hill an immense flock of sheep were feeding; they relieved the eye from the hopeless sterility around. The breed of sheep is remarkably small; they are even less than those in Wales, and it equals the Welsh mutton in flavour. After many hairbreadth escapes we at length re-entered the habitations of men: we descended a very steep hill upon a narrow road, which was very slippery nor had it the protection of a _garde-fou_, till we came to a smart little town, charmingly situated upon the Lahn and surrounded by fantastically shaped hills covered to the summit either with vines, or what in summer must form thick foliage.
Just entering Nassau there are ruins of two such picturesque castles! How I longed for a pencil to sketch their mouldering walls ere the rude blast of winter shall destroy their antique forms! Perhaps they may have been the residence of a haughty baron with a proud line of ancestry enough to make Dan Prior say:--
Can Bourbon or Nassau go higher?
But, alas! with the heroes he commemorates they are gone by. Their ruined walls scarcely afford a shelter to a wretched goatherd and his shaggy flock.
The night of the 15th was spent at Neustadt, and from thence the road lay by Schwalbach to Mayence.
_17th._--We determined to go on to Mannheim without resting, but I believe the lot of rash determinations is to be controverted, for before we reached Oppenheim, ye first post, the spring of my carriage snapped, and I bumped into the town in that _delabré’d_ state. That place is now the _Quartier-Général_ of some Prussian officer. There are stores in abundance, and a bridge of pontoons across the river for the facility of transporting the troops. We tied up the springs and got to Worms.
_18th._--Reached Mannheim early in the day. The fortifications are put in the most trim state, the embrasures cut sharp and neat, the walls new-faced, and the ditches filled. The prettiest toy in grown life is the whole apparatus of military preparations, and I am not astonished at all young sovereigns liking war. If they have any sense, the evil is soon manifested, and they get cured by it. The Palatines have made an alteration in their dress: the _crinières_ to the helmets were formerly white, but at the siege of Mayence when they worked in the trenches at night the white betrayed them to the enemy. Sir Benjamin[114] has certainly adopted many saving schemes in his system, but he has dressed the Bavarian officers like paupers.
_19th._--So fatigued from the roughness of the roads that I lay down till dinner. The news from Toulon (if true) is very bad. The French beat the allies in a sortie, killed many English, and made prisoners of General O’Hara[115] and the Spanish Lieut.-Colonel. Poor O’Hara will end his merry life under the guillotine, as the _savages_ will retaliate upon him the murder of one of the deputies from the Convention or army commissioner taken in Toulon. Ld. Moira and the emigrants are waiting at Jersey. It is yet a secret where the descent is to be made in France. People are grumbling at Ld. Howe’s inactivity. The garrison of Landau, so far from intending to capitulate, replied to the summons, “Que les Français ne cèdent jamais.”
Met Mr. Nott, whom I formerly knew in Switzerland. He came with an Irish Lord Longford; they are going to pass the winter at Neufchâtel.
_Brucksal, 21st._--The roads extremely bad from Heidelberg. It was merely perverseness that made us come on them, for we knew the road to Heilbronn to be good.
[Sidenote: THE ARMY OF CONDE]
_22nd._--Met 800 Austrians, fine strong men, though rather, for Germans, undersized. The interesting and brave little army of Condé have done wonders, but they are compelled to go into winter cantonments. Three hundred gentlemen fell in the course of two months, and nine out of one family are wounded. The Duc de Bourbon distinguished himself, and his son, the Duc d’Enghien, proved himself a worthy descendant of the _grand_ Condé. Alas, what strange vicissitudes in their fortunes! Reached the post before Stuttgart early.
_23rd._--Detained at Stuttgart: the horses were all employed with the army. The Duke of Würtemberg died since I was last here. His successor[116] is wrangling with his excellent widow about jewels, etc. The late Duke’s life would, if it were written, make an extraordinary romance. His amours were numerous, and to make them notorious he made the ladies who had received his _homage_ appear at his Court in _blue shoes_. Mr. Stuart read me some letters he has received from France. The situation of the English at Nancy is quite deplorable. They were much frightened about a month ago; there was an alarm about the French; the inhabitants ran off. The finest old hock might have been purchased for four florins a bottle.
_23rd._--Left Stuttgart with the intention of reaching Ulm at night; rather an arduous undertaking in December, without a moon, and the distance of four and a half _German_ posts. We travelled on prosperously until eleven o’clock, when I proposed stopping, as I suffered much pain from my chest in consequence of a blow, and it was sore from a blister Farquhar had put on. But the fates were adverse and such good fortune as _rest_ was not my lot. Even though we could not get post-horses, we set off with those belonging to some peasants, poor wretched animals exhausted by the labour of the day; it was really cruel to drag them out of their wretched shed, but it was as hard almost upon me. The consequence was that they could hardly get on; those to the servants’ carriage fell from weakness every five yards. At the top of a bleak hill _l’essieu_ of our chaise, from a violent jolt, was broken. All hopes of advancing were useless, so we adopted the only method of getting on: we got into the servants’ carriage and left Josephe with the broken vehicle, and got on with the other as well as we could to Ulm. A smart frost came on, and the road, which was before soft mud, became a hard incrustation of ice. Got to Ulm at seven in the morning.
The twenty-fourth of December I passed in my bed; as I only got into it at eight o’clock in the morning, I thought myself entitled to a full twenty hours’ repose.
From Ulm they took the road to Memmingen, which they reached on the evening of the 25th.
A very neat, pretty town; the inhabitants are free and rich. The _aubergiste_ had lived seven years at Lyons. With tears in his eyes he said upwards of forty of his friends had been guillotined.
[Sidenote: KEMPTEN]
The next night was passed at Kempten.
The town is odd and pretty, and I have a fancy that it resembles the German towns in America and other colonies. Enclosures for cattle between the houses like early settlers, and an air of frugality and neatness throughout the whole. The houses in the neighbourhood are very Swiss-like, being chiefly constructed of wood, with shingle roofs, on which large stones are laid to prevent their being carried off by high winds. So much wood grows in the country that the inhabitants employ it in building their cottages and fencing their enclosures. The Bishop is a Prince of the Empire, and assists at the Diet of Ratisbon. Flax grows in the neighbourhood, and linen is manufactured. Much of what the soil produces must be consumed by the inhabitants, as they have no navigable rivers to transport their productions to a distance. Perhaps they are happier without the facility of intercourse; for commerce introduces luxuries, and they again create new wants, which to supply commerce must be extended, and the love of gain soon destroys the love of ease. This goes to the destruction of morality and that charming simplicity of manners.
Passing Füssen, they entered the Tyrol, and reached Innspruck on the 28th.
I have been very negligent in my journal; the intense cold benumbed my faculties in the Tyrol. I was much shocked at Roveredo by hearing rather suddenly of the death of the Duchesse de Polignac. She fell a victim to her attachment to the Queen. Even her rivals--for enemies she had none--admitted that her affection was most disinterested; that she loved the person, not the dignity, of her unhappy friend. The death of the King threw her into violent convulsions that brought her into such a state of debility that three attempts to quit Vienna were ineffectual. The murder of the Queen filled up the measure of her grief: she sank under it, and only languished in horrible sorrow a short time. She expired in the arms of Vaudreuil. At Vienna when I saw her she gave me the idea of a person labouring under the weight of woe, which she struggled to conceal that she might spare her friends the anguish of seeing she suffered. She was lovely, features and countenance perfect, figure short and not light; her manner simple and serious, character rather grave. The brilliant situation her intimacy with the Queen put her into was always repugnant to her inclinations, and she oftentimes, and with sincerity, regretted that the difference of rank prevented her the enjoyment of retired, unsuspected, and unenvied friendship.
Upon the road we heard rumours of the capture of Toulon, but I could not and would not credit them. However, at Trent it was confirmed with many particulars. At Verona we found Ld. and Ly. Henry Fitzgerald;[117] she was suddenly brought to bed there.
Hervey passed us in the night on his return; he carried back with him the dispatches relating to the loss of Toulon. On the 18th the French made a general attack; the outposts were abandoned, and the allies forced to fly. In the evacuation 8000 of the inhabitants were saved and conveyed to the combined fleets. Previous to their quitting the town a train was laid to blow up the ships of war; many were destroyed, but still many remain.
[Sidenote: CAPTURE OF TOULON]
Just beyond Mantua we met three English officers who had been at Toulon, Messrs. Mathews, Wemyss, and Featherstone; they complained (as all English officers do) of hard duty and bad commanders. They said, what was likely to be true, that the retreat was ill-conducted, and that not a fifth part of what might have been destroyed has perished. O’Hara was taken prisoner from his own inactivity and despondency. He was deceived in his expectations: everything at Toulon was represented in the most favourable light--the valour, zeal, and unanimity of the allies, the strength and excellence of the British forces, the loyalty of the natives, etc. But how different was the truth! The allies all quarrelling; the British army (if such a word is not a satire upon a few hundreds) brave but refractory and headstrong, as they all are when they have arms in their hands; the inhabitants so disaffected that at every sortie great care was taken to prevent their shutting out the allies whenever the Carmagnols gained an advantage; the peasantry equal Republican; nor did the allies possess an inch beyond the glacis of the town.
_Florence, 10th January._--On the 8th of January I arrived here, and found to my supreme delight both my dear children perfectly well. Webby surprisingly improved. The baby is as perfect a _lazzarone_ as the Chiaia ever produced: in the first place, he has the appetite and digestion of a Neapolitan. He is a nice child, but far from pretty. I found no less than five letters cautioning me strongly against going to Naples with the baby, as there rages in the town a malignant species of smallpox, to which 7000 infants have fallen victims, and amongst them poor Lady Plymouth’s infant.
In consequence of these warnings I have determined upon performing the operation of inoculation here, and Dr. Gianetti did it this morning. The consciousness of being under the same roof with my dear children gives me a sort of tranquil delight, that my mind and spirits are quite calm: I even feel happy. The siege of Landau is raised. The French are successful everywhere, and will not be conquered by our vain taunts and boasts; they verify what they say of themselves: ‘Que la France ne sera jamais domptée, que par la France.’ This opinion is in the first page of my political creed, hence I was sanguine when I heard they had raised the standard of counter-revolution _themselves_.
The alarm here is very great; in the same proportion as that increases so does hatred and contempt for the English, whom they justly accuse of having compelled them to break their neutrality, and then promised support.[118] Manfredini told me that England will cause the ruin of Italy, whereas _he_ could have saved it by temporising measures.
_14th January, Florence._--The accounts from Paris make one shudder. The guillotine is active, and hundreds daily perish by that horrible machine of death. It is reported that a body of 25,000 men are advancing to meet Lord Moira. In consequence of this intelligence, the transports that came into Portsmouth are to sail immediately, and the officers have received orders to re-embark. The army that had taken possession of Noirmoutier have landed on the Continent and are marching up the south side of the Loire. Prince Coburg is marching towards Landrecies and Maubeuge to keep the army of the north in check.
[Sidenote: DISSENSIONS AMONG ALLIES]
Pondicherry is besieged and soon will fall into the hands of the English.[119] No official account from the West Indies since the first landing at St. Domingo.[120] It is said that the Spanish proclamation is totally different from ours, in which they offer to take the island for Louis XVII. The jealousy between the English and Spaniards at Toulon was glaring, and violent enough to impede the success of any undertaking that required mutual exertions. As far as my feeble judgment carries me, I do not think the allies are taking the most effectual means to obtain their object. The want of vigour and consistency in our Ministry forces an opinion of their feebleness upon the princes, and must make them distrust their intentions. The declarations at St. Domingo and at Toulon are certainly very different, and I hear that Lord Moira’s is different from either. He declares in favour of monarchy, professing not to interfere in internal arrangements, at the same time disclaiming that monarchy which was established by that ‘_Risible Constitution_’ in 1789. Why call _that_ constitution _risible_ which Lord Hood made in some measure the ground of a negotiation at Toulon? This declaration Lord Moira read at dinner at Portsmouth, together with a declaration from the British Army to their _confrères d’armes_ in Brittany.
The inoculation has not taken effect, therefore the poor baby is again to undergo the operation. He is too pure to be corrupted.
_Sunday, 19th January._--Ld. Hervey lives a good deal with me. He seems to dislike his recall, and talks of going again into the Navy, where, by-the-bye, he is very unpopular. W. Wyndham’s appointment is not much relished, as the Court want a steady, reasonable man, disposed to soothe matters, and, God knows, poor W. is not capable of filling that post.
Ld. H. implies his love for Ly. B. I shut my ears, as I abhor those sort of confidences.
_24th January._--Caught a violent cold, which confined me to my bed several days.
_3rd February._--Henry has passed through the smallpox very prosperously. The Austrians have been forced to abandon Fort St. Louis, which they took in conjunction with the Prussians last November. In less than eight days the French have regained the whole extent of territory the allies fought for inch by inch for this whole campaign.
Pondicherry has surrendered, and shortly the French flag will not fly in India. These distant successes alter very little the public opinion. Great alarms are entertained about Flanders; the Carmagnols are gathered in a point ready to invade it again.
[Sidenote: LORD HOLLAND]
Ld. G. Leveson-Gower[121] and Ld. Holland came here the day before yesterday. The first I knew at Dresden. He is remarkably handsome and winning; a year or two ago he created a great sensation at Paris, when Ly. Sutherland introduced him as her _beau beaufrère_; she also initiated him in the orgies of gambling, an acquisition he has maintained. _Les mauvaises langues de Paris_ said she was in love with him; but that was a calumny. Ld. H. is not in the least handsome; he has, on the contrary, many personal defects, but his pleasingness of manner and liveliness of conversation get over them speedily. He is just returned from Spain, and his complexion partakes of the _Moresco_ hue. He is now in better health. He has a very complex disorder, called an ossification of the muscles in his left leg. Fontana says it is a malady of which there are many instances in the brute as well as the human race. It arises from the calcareous and phosphoric matter, designed for the formation of the bones, being deposited on the flesh and muscles. The original cause of the malady is unknown, but it is probably from the weakness of the vessels destined to secrete this substance from the blood. When the ossification becomes general it is, of course, fatal. There are instances of the brain being indurated. A dissolution of the bones is likewise a very dreadful thing. La Condamine died of it.