_July 21st, 1821._

We have just finished reading the newspaper account of the Coronation which must have been a magnificent spectacle. We were horrified at the Queen debasing herself so much as to ask admission at the door--a request she was certain of being denied. We long to hear how you and Philip saw the ceremony, and whether the latter is not half killed by the fatigue of it.

But John Stanhope seems to have been more interested in the various events attendant upon the Coronation than in the ceremony itself. His diary records:--

_July 19th, 1821._

The morning was beautiful. I had not attempted to get a ticket for the Abbey or the Hall, so I determined after breakfast to sally forth and see the Balloon ascend, and then to walk down Palace Yard and try whether there was not a place to be got. Nothing could be more animating than the scene, the St James's Park and the Green Park were entirely covered with Spectators. The Balloon ascended to a considerable height before it was at all carried away by the wind, it rose, indeed, out of our sight.

As soon as this spectacle was over, I went to see the guns fired, and from thence to George St., where for five shillings I got a place in a Booth for which the previous night they asked as many guineas, and after waiting for some time I saw the procession go from the Abbey to the Hall,--a superb sight. I afterwards returned home much fatigued, but issued forth again to see the illuminations.

But a long time elapsed before I could get into the Park owing to the string of carriages through the large gates and the pressure of the mob through the smaller ones. At last I was obliged to go round by Grosvenor Gate.

I first directed my steps to the fireworks, which were let off under the direction of the Military from the middle of the Park. I afterwards saw the Serpentine where there was a very brilliant display. There was a splendid illumination at the lower end on the water, a car drawn by elephants with lanterns, and boats with variegated lamps, water rockets, and, at intervals, lights on the terrace at Kensington Gardens which lighted up the whole park.

From the Park I proceeded to Piccadilly, down St James's St., along Pall Mall, up the Haymarket and Bond St., and went as far as Portland Place where some of the houses were illuminated most splendidly. The French and Spanish Amba.s.sadors' houses also produced a magnificent effect. I returned home about two o'clock, much exhausted.

_July 20th._

I went to the Opera, it was very full, and after the Opera and Ballet we had a grand _G.o.d Save The King_. Nothing could exceed the enthusiasm of the audience. Tumults of applause at the end of every stanza, and the whole encored. A solitary hiss was heard, but it was soon silenced by cries of "Turn him out! Throw him over!"

[Ill.u.s.tration: WALTER SPENCER STANHOPE, AETAT 70 _From an ivory bust in the possession of Mrs Stirling._]

But save for the descriptions in the newspapers and the accounts sent to her by her sons, Mrs Stanhope saw nothing of the splendid spectacle which had been taking place. That year of general rejoicing had proved for her a year of seclusion and of mourning. After her return home the health of her husband had rapidly declined, and with the coming of April, 1821, while all England was awakening to a summer of festivity and gladness, Walter Stanhope, overborne with the burden of his seventy-one years, had peacefully breathed his last.

He left behind him the record of a blameless and honourable life, and on April 21st, while his funeral was in progress in Yorkshire, his wife wrote to her son John:--

Upon this mournful day my first wish is to converse with my children- the only remaining tie I now have in this world. I hope in G.o.d you will all bear up during the awful and heart-rending Ceremony. The prayers of the poor and the afflicted will follow your beloved parent to the Grave, and may they fall upon his children.

FOOTNOTES

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

[1] She married, March 1828, Robert Hudson, Esq. of Tadworth Court, near Reigate. Died September 1862, aged 76.

[2] He succeeded to the estates of Cannon Hall and Horsforth, etc.; married, in 1822, Elizabeth Wilhelmina, youngest daughter of Thomas William c.o.ke, Esq., afterwards 1st Earl of Leicester. Died 1873, aged 86.

[3] She died, unmarried, 17th March, 1860, in her 72nd year.

[4] a.s.sumed by Royal Licence, in 1816, the name and arms of Collingwood, pursuant to the will of his great-uncle, Edward Collingwood, Esq., whose estates he inherited. He married, September 9th, 1820, Arabella, daughter of General John Calcraft, of Cholderton, Hants. Died August 4th, 1866, in his 75th year.

[5] He a.s.sumed the name of Roddam on succeeding to the estates of his kinsman and G.o.dfather, Admiral Roddam of Roddam, Northumberland. He married, first, Charlotte, daughter of Henry Percy Pulleine, Esq. of Crakehall; and secondly, Selina Henrietta, daughter of John Cotes, Esq. of Woodcote. Died 1864, aged 71.

[6] He was subsequently Vicar of Weaverham in Cheshire, and for fifty-two years non-resident Vicar of Cawthorne, Yorkshire. Married Frederica Mary, daughter of the late Robert Philip Goodenough, Prebendary of Carlisle and Southwell. Died October 29th, 1874, aged 79.

[7] Died, unmarried, 1857, aged 60.

[8] Captain in the Grenadier Guards and Page of Honour to George III. and George IV. General in the Army and Colonel of the 13th Light Infantry.

Married, May 2nd, 1865, Mary Catherine, relict of Edward Strickland, Esq.

She died in July of the same year. General Stanhope died in 1880, aged 81.

[9] Died, unmarried, February 5th, 1885, in her 85th year.

[10] Died, unmarried, December 30th, 1884, aged 82.

[11] Barrister-at-Law of the Middle Temple; lived at Glen Alien in Northumberland, near Alnwick. Married, 1848, Amy Anne, 5th daughter of Henry Percy Pulleine, Esqre. of Crakehall. D.S.P. 1871, aged 67.

[12] It is now No. 32 Upper Grosvenor Street, the door being in the latter street. In the directories prior to 1800 it is described as being in Upper Grosvenor Street, but subsequently it was No. 28 Grosvenor Square.

[13] The culminating achievement of his public life was his strenuous promotion of the grand scheme of volunteer service at a time of great national danger: yet in his old age he used to state that the most interesting act of his existence on which he could look back was his having persuaded the Prime Minister, Pitt, to colonize Australia.

CHAPTER I

[1] Mary Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Richard Carr Glyn, 2nd Bt. of Ewell, eminent banker of London (of the firm of Glyn, Mills, Currie & Co.), and his wife Mary, daughter of John Plumptre, Esq. Of Fredville, M.P. for Nottingham. Miss Glyn married, 14th August 1811, Edward Greated, Esq. Of Uddings, Co. Dorset, and died his widow, 17th January 1864.

[2] William Hanry West Betty, better known as "The young Roscius." See page 27.

[3] Sydney Smith, 1771-1845; Canon of St Paul's. He started the _Edinburgh Review_ in 1802; and was celebrated for his wit and keen sense of humour.

[4] Wife of Edward, Lord de Clifford; she was for many years governess to Princess Charlotte.

[5] Sarah Trimmer (1741-1810); born at Ipswich, dau. of Joseph Kirby, and a great favourite of Dr Johnson. She wrote many books for the young. In 1762 she married Mr Trimmer and had a family of twelve children.

[6] Mrs Fitzherbert, who had been secretly married to the Prince of Wales, afterwards George IV., in 1785.

[7] Daughter of Henry Drummond, Esq., by his wife Anne, daughter of Viscount Melville.

[8] Thomas, eldest son of 1st Earl of Ranfurly and Viscount Northland.

Born 1786, married 1815 Mary Juliana, daughter of the Hon. and Most Rev.

William Stuart, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of all Ireland; succeeded his father as 2nd Earl of Ranfurly, 1840. Mrs Stanhope's house in Grosvenor Square being at the corner of Upper Grosvenor Street, she refers to Mr and Mrs Knox as living "in this Street."

[9] Mrs Beaumont was the natural daughter of Sir Thomas Blackett, Bt. of Bretton, who made her his heiress. She married Col. Beaumont, M.P.

[10] _Memoirs of Sir William Jones_, the orientalist, appended to his Works, by Lord Teignmouth, 9 vols., 1799-1804.

[11] Maria Juliana, daughter of Robert Edward, both Baron Petre. Married 30th April 1805, to Stephen Philips, Esq., and died 27th January 1824.