On Saturday Was The Dreaded Drawing-Room, On Which Occasion I Was To
Be Presented To The Queen.
.
. . Mr. Bancroft and I left home at a
quarter past one. On our arrival we passed through one or two
corridors, lined by attendants with battle-axes and picturesque
costumes, looking very much like the supernumeraries on the stage,
and were ushered into the ante-room, a large and splendid room,
where only the Ministers and Privy Councillors, with their families,
are allowed to go with the Diplomatic Corps. Here we found Lady
Palmerston, who showed me a list she had got Sir Edward Cust, the
master of ceremonies, to make out of the order of precedence of the
Diplomatic Corps, and when the turn would come for us who were to be
newly presented. The room soon filled up and it was like a pleasant
party, only more amusing, as the costumes of both gentlemen and
ladies were so splendid. I got a seat in the window with Madam Van
de Weyer and saw the Queen's train drive up. At the end of this
room are two doors: at the left hand everybody enters the next
apartment where the Queen and her suite stand, and after going round
the circle, come out at the right-hand door. After those who are
privileged to go FIRST into the ANTE-ROOM leave it, the general
circle pass in, and they also go in and out the same doors. But to
go back. The left-hand door opens and Sir Edward Cust leads in the
Countess Dietrichstein, who is the eldest Ambassadress, as the
Countess St. Aulair is in Paris. As she enters she drops her train
and the gentlemen ushers open it out like a peacock's tail. Then
Madam Van de Weyer, who comes next, follows close upon the train of
the former, then Baroness Brunnow, the Madam Bunsen, then Madam
Lisboa, then Lady Palmerston, who, as the wife of the Minister for
Foreign Affairs, is to introduce the Princess Callimachi, Baroness
de Beust, and myself. She stations herself by the side of the Queen
and names us as we pass. The Queen spoke to none of us, but gave me
a very gracious smile, and when Mr. Bancroft came by, she said: "I
am very glad to have had the pleasure of seeing Mrs. Bancroft to-
day." I was not [at] all frightened and gathered up my train with
as much self-possession as if I were alone. I found it very
entertaining afterward to watch the reception of the others. The
Diplomatic Corps remain through the whole, the ladies standing on
the left of the Queen and the gentlemen in the centre, but all
others pass out immediately. . . . On Sunday evening Mr. Bancroft
set off for Paris to pass the Easter recess of Parliament. . . . I
got a very interesting letter yesterday from Mr. Bancroft. It seems
that the Countess Circourt, whose husband has reviewed his book and
Prescott's, is a most charming person, and makes her house one of
the most brilliant and attractive in Paris. Since he left, a note
came from Mr. Hallam, the contents of which pleased me as they will
you. It announced that Mr. Bancroft was chosen an Honorary Member
of the Society of Antiquaries, of which Lord Mahon is president,
Hallam, vice-president. Hallam says the society is very old and
that he is the first citizen of the United States upon whom it has
been conferred, but that he will not long possess it exclusively, as
his "highly distinguished countryman, Mr. Prescott, has also been
proposed."
LETTER: To W.D.B. and A.B.
Tuesday
My dear Sons: . . . On Monday morning came the dear Miss Berrys, to
beg me to come that evening to join their circle. They have always
the best people in London about them, young as well as old.
The old and the middle-aged are more attended to here than with us,
where the young are all in all. As Hayward said to me the other
evening, "it takes time to make PEOPLE, like cathedrals," and Mr.
Rogers and Miss Berry could not have been what they are now, forty
years ago. A long life of experience in the midst constantly of the
highest and most cultivated circles, and with several generations of
distinguished men gives what can be acquired in no other way. Mr.
Rogers said to me one day: "I have learnt more from men that from
BOOKS, and when I used to be in the society of Fox and other great
men of that period, and they would sometimes say 'I have always
thought so and so,' then I have opened my ears and listened, for I
said to myself, now I shall get at the treasured results of the
experience of these great men." This little saying of Mr. Rogers
expresses precisely my own feelings in the society of the venerable
and distinguished here. With us society is left more to the
crudities of the young than in England. The young may be
interesting and promise much, but they are still CRUDE. The
elements, however fine, are not yet completely assimilated and
brought to that more perfect tone which comes later in life.
Monday, April 12th
. . . On Saturday I went with Sir William and Lady Molesworth to
their box in the new Covent Garden opera, which has been opened for
the first time this week. There I saw Grisi and Alboni and
Tamburini in the "Semiramide." It was a new world of delight to me.
Grisi, so statuesque and so graceful, delights the eye, the ear, and
the soul. She is sculpture, poetry, and music at the same time. . .
. Mr. Bancroft has been received with great cordiality in Paris. He
has been three times invited to the Palace, and Guizot and Mignet
give him access to all that he wants in the archives, and he passes
his evenings with all the eminent men and beautiful women of Paris.
Guizot, Thiers, Lamartine, Cousin, Salvandi, Thierry, he sees, and
enjoys all.
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