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Francis H. Smith Trip to Europe in 1858 Letterbook # 2
Transcribed, edited, and annotated by Col. Edwin L. Dooley, Jr.
Masthead from The Illustrated London News, July 1858
Letter No. 21 Continued
So that I may say good night to those so dear to me, whose memory is in my waking and in my dreaming thoughts – by day and by night – may the blessings of God rest upon you all forever.
Tuesday morning July 20th
It is one month to day since we landed at Liverpool. Time really does fly fast to those who have been so much on the push as we have been.
To-day we all are going to Windsor Castle and Palace, one of the residences of Queen Vic. and the mausoleum of the later Kings and Princes. To morrow we contemplate, this is John Cocke and myself, a trip to Chester near Liverpool to a great Agricultural Fair, taken there by regard to John’s interest.
In the meantime, I will dispatch this ______four sheeted letter, and hope that in Seventeen days you will have the happiness of receiving it, and that it may find you all in the enjoyment of good health. You say nothing about your summer plans, but I suppose your next will give me the news.
With affectionate love to all the children and remembrances to all friends I am as ever your own dear Husband Francis H Smith Mrs Sarah H. Smith Lexington VA
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P.S. This is either 20 or 21, my numbers are sometimes misplaced, I write so much, you find it as hard as I do to keep it separate.
P.S. July 20 6 P.M. I have just gotten back from Windsor. F.H.S. ______
Queen Victoria, Royal Monarch at the time of Smith’s visit Illustrated London News, 4 February 1854
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(No 22)
London July 21st 1858
My Dearest Sarah
We had expected today to have been on our way to Chester, to attend the Fair of the Royal Agricultural Society,1 but last evening Mr. Peabody called to see us, and brought invitations for us, to attend a dinner to be given by him, in compliment to Mr Mason, our Minister at Paris.2 As it is expected that all the foreign ministers will be there, and we may have an opportunity of seeing things and persons that might otherwise be denied us, we have concluded to accept, and I have just dispatched our notes to this effect. You may be sure it will be a brilliant affair; as Mr Peabody3 never does things by halves – and the enclosed Programme ______of the Musical Performance by the celebrated Swiss Singers,4 as introductory to the dinner, will give you some idea of the rich treat we anticipate. That I may not get too much behind-hand in my journal therefore, I take a moment this morning, while the boys are getting ready for breakfast, to write up the transactions of yesterday, being the 8th day in London.
Paddington Station Public Domain illustration from Wikipedia
1 The Royal Agricultural Society was established in 1838 and received a royal charter in 1840. Smith refers to a “fair” of the society, by which he meant one of the regular exhibitions that the society held from its earliest days. Smith was especially interested in scientific agriculture and promoted the teaching of agriculture at the Virginia Military Institute.
2 John Young Mason (1799-1859). American politician and diplomat. Mason served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1823 to 1827 and in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1831 to 1837. He was U.S. Secretary of the Navy from 1844 to 1845 and from 1846 to 1849. From 1845 to 1846, he was U.S. Attorney General. He served as envoy extraordinary and U.S. minister plenipotentiary to France from 1853 until his death in Paris on 3 October 1859. As a states rights Democrat, he defended slavery. He married Mary Anne Fort. See “John Young Mason,” at “Wikipedia.” See also Tyler, Virginia Biography, 2: 118, and Dictionary of American Biography, XII: 369-370.
3 For Peabody, see previous reference. Peabody’s US-British friendship dinners began in 1850 and continued, usually at the Star and Garter Hotel, for a decade. He also often entertained visiting American notables there and introduced them to British government officials and business leaders.
4 Smith is probably referring to the Sänger Gesellschaft, or Female Swiss Singers, who were performing solo and ensemble choral music in London at the time of his visit.
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We took the train at Paddington Station5 at 9 ½ A.M. for Windsor, 22 miles distant to visit the celebrated Castle and Palace now used as one of the residences of the Queen.6 Windsor has figured so much in History and romance, that we anticipated much in our visit, and we were not disappointed. This is regarded as one of the most magnificent royal palaces in Europe, and taking it in all its arrangements, ______its interest – its magnificent park, and its position, I presume there is none can excel it. There are parts of it that are very old, dating as far back as the time of Caesar, while important additions have been made to it by the various sovereigns, who have made it either a defensive retreat; or the palace for their courts. To give you an idea of its magnificence, I have only to say that Parliament has granted in the last 20 years ₤70,000 to improve and extend the Queen’s Stables, called the “Mews”. We only saw the State apartments, and a ticket is given for the asking. These rooms are very handsome, ornamented with most costly tapestry, illustrative of scripture or historic incidents, and filled with superb pictures from the great artists – Van Dyke’s pictures filling one room almost entirely. The dining Hall is a magnificent ______
Windsor Castle with the Chapel of St. George on the left. Public Domain illustration from Wikipedia
5 London Paddington station, the main station dating from 1854, was established as the terminus of the Great Western Railway in 1838. See “London Paddington Station,” at “Wikipedia.”
6 Windsor Castle was, and remains, one of the principal official residences of the British monarch. It was begun as a wooden castle in 1070 by William the Conqueror and was later rebuilt in stone and expanded. After Prince Albert’s death in 1861, his widow Queen Victoria made Windsor her home until her death in 1901 and was known as “The Widow of Windsor.” See “Windsor Castle,” at “Wikipedia.”
According to Murray’s, Windsor Castle was one of the places “… near London which a Stranger should see.” The guidebook states: “WINDSOR CASTLE, by Great Western Railway from Paddington, or by South Western Railway from Waterloo Station. Ask for return ticket, if returning the same day; or if from Saturday, you are privileged till Monday: always show your return tickets on passing through the office. The state apartments in Windsor Castle are open gratuitously to the public on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, by the Lord Chamberlain’s tickets, to be obtained in London (gratis) of Messrs. Paul and Dominic Colnaghi, Printsellers…. The tickets are available for one week from the day they are issued.” Murray’s Modern London (1856), xlviii.
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VMI Archives www.vmi.edu/archives room, ornamented with the coats of arms of the Knights of the Garter,7 the highest order of Knighthood in England. The Waterloo room is very attractive. Here are to be seen the target presented to Henry VIII by Francis 1st8 when their meeting took place on the Cloth of Gold,9 and the part of the mast of the ship Victory, and the hole made by the cannon ball, when Lord Nelson was killed at Trafalgar,10 with a chair made from the tree near the church where the scene of Tam O’Shanter,11 was laid, and one from a willow on the plain of Waterloo.12 Connected with Windsor Castle, but not a part of it, being under the control of the Dean of Windsor, is the Chapel of St George,13 at which the Queen worships when her residence is at this Palace. But the chief interest of the Chapel, consists in the fact, that it is the burial ______place of so many of England’s Kings and Queens. Here Henry VIII and Jane Seymour were buried, and also Charles 1st and all the Kings since Wm 3d I think.
One of the most striking mausoleums is that of the Princess Charlotte,14 whose death caused so much consternation, having died on the birth of her first child. It is the most touchingly beautiful thing I ever saw. It is of white marble, and the Princess is taken at the moment of her death, lying on her bed, covered with a sheet only, so as to show the exact shape and position of her body and one hand seen below the sheet on the side of the bed. She is lying full turned on
7 The Most Noble Order of the Garter was founded by King Edward III around 1348. Membership is limited to the monarch, the Prince of Wales, and no more than 24 companion members and a number of supernumerary members. Membership is granted only by the monarch. See “Order of the Garter,” at “Wikipedia.”
8 Francis 1st of France (1494-1547), reigned from 1515 to 1547. He is considered France’s first Renaissance monarch. See “Francis I of France,” at “Wikipedia.”
9 Field of Cloth of Gold. A site in France, near Calais, where Francis 1st and Henry VIII of England met in June 1520 to cement a bond of friendship between the two kingdoms. See “Field of Cloth of Gold,” at “Wikipedia.”
10 The HMS Victory was launched in 1765 and was Lord Horatio Nelson’s flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, a sea battle fought between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of Napoleonic France and the Spanish navy. The battle was a victory for Nelson, but he was killed during the battle by a French sniper. See “Battle of Trafalgar,” at “Wikipedia.”
11 “Tam o’Shanter” is an epic poem written in 1790 by Robert Burns. In it, the hero of the poem, Tam, sits and drinks with his friends.
12 The Battle of Waterloo (18 June 1815) took place between Napoleon’s forces and the forces of the 7th Coalition. The Anglo-Allied army was under the command of the Duke of Wellington. See “Battle of Waterloo,” at “Wikipedia.”
13 St. George’s Chapel, at Windsor Castle, is a royal chapel and a chapel of the Order of the Garter. Portions of it date to 1348, when King Edward III founded a college there. Over the centuries it was greatly expanded. During the Middle Ages, it’s relics, including “a piece of the True Cross,” made it a destination for pilgrims. The chapel was damaged during the English Civil War. During the reign of Queen Victoria, additions were made, including a section devoted to the late Prince Albert. For a list of royals buried in the chapel, see “St. George’s Chapel, Windsor,” at “Wikipedia.”
14 Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales (1796-1817), daughter of King George IV and Caroline of Brunswick. She married Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld in 1816. She died in childbirth on 6 November 1817. See “Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales,” at “Wikipedia.” See also Dictionary of National Biography11: 184-186.
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VMI Archives www.vmi.edu/archives her side. Above her is her Apotheosis, where she is represented as an angel going to Heaven and her babe with her. The whole is so perfect ______a work of art, it has been engraved. The Castle of Windsor has a tower attached to it; in which King John was confined at the time of his contest with the Barons, and the field of Runnemede15 being only 2 ½ miles distant, we took a Cab and rode out to see the spot at which Magna Charta, the great chart of freedom for England and America was proclaimed. This ride enabled us also to see the beautiful park attached to this royal palace. The Queen usually comes here towards the last of October, and remains until after Christmas. We took a hasty lunch in Windsor, which has a population of some 8,000 souls, and by three (3) o’clock we were again in London. As I had some shopping and other business to attend ______to, we made no appointments for sight seeing in the evening.
Covent Garden Theater Public Domain Illustration from Wikipedia
15 Runnymede is the meadow where King John (1166-1216) signed Magna Carta in 1215. The “Great Charter” required King John to honor and guarantee the rights of certain subjects of the realm, mainly nobles and barons.
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Giulietta Grisi The Illustrated London News
At night I was anxious to hear Madame Grisi,16 the great vocalist, in the Opera of Norma; so we went to the Royal Italian Opera at Covent Gardens.17 While the music was very fine, I did not
16 Giulietta Grisi made her debut in 1823. From 1834 to 1861, she sang regularly in London at the King’s Theatre and at the Royal Italian Opera. In addition, during her career of a quarter of a century, Grisi toured Europe and the United States. She continued to sing until 1866 and died in 1869. See Henry Charles Lahee, Famous Singers of To-day and Yesterday (Boston: L. C. Page and Company, 1898; digitized by Google), 58-63.
17 The first Theatre Royal was built at the site of a convent garden in 1728. This building was destroyed by fire in 1808. The second Theatre Royal opened in 1809. It was remodeled in 1846 and opened as the Royal Italian Opera in 1847. This building was destroyed by fire in 1856, was immediately rebuilt, and opened on 15 May 1858, about two months before Smith attended a performance there. The theater became the Royal Opera House in 1892. See “Royal Opera House,” at “Wikikpedia.”
According to Murray’s, “COVENT GARDEN THEATRE, or THE ROYAL ITALIAN OPERA, stood on the west side of Bow-street, Covent-Garden, and was the second theatre on the same spot. The first stone was laid (1808) by the Prince of Wales, and the theatre opened (1809) at ‘new prices:’ hence the O.P. (Old Prices) Row. The architect of the exterior was Sir Robert Smirke, R.A., and of the interior Mr. Albano, when, in 1847, it was converted into an Italian Opera; and the statues of Tragedy and Comedy, and the two bas-reliefs on the Bow-street front, are by Flaxman. This noble theatre (the finest in London) was destroyed, on the morning of the 5th March, 1856, by fire, at the termination of a lengthy entertainment and masqued ball managed by Mr. Anderson, the Wizard of the North. The origin of the fire is unknown.” See Murray’s Modern London (1856), 178.
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VMI Archives www.vmi.edu/archives think any of the singing comparable to what we heard at the Queen’s Theater,18 at which Madame Alboni,19 Madamselle Picolomini20 and Madamselle Titieni21 and Mons. Guiglini22 performed, and each far exceeded any thing I have ever heard or ever expect to hear.
Picolomini and Guiglini, Illustrated London News, 23 May 1857
The tenor voice of Guiglini is beyond all description, and showers of bouquets were constantly thrown to him.
The Operas and Theatres are so differently managed from what they are in America, that attendance upon them is less exceptionable than it is with us. One of ______our party had on a frock coat, but the police stopped him, and he was required to withdraw, he went out and hired a dress coat and got in. The Queen keeps a portion of the royal troops there, and the body of police is so large that more order is preserved than we see in a private party in America.
Ninth Day in London.
July 21.
18 For Smith’s attendance at The Queen’s Theatre, see earlier reference in letterbook one. Smith enjoyed the music he heard there but was offended by a ballet performance.
19 Marietti Alboni (1826-1894), Italian contralto opera singer. See “Marietta Alboni,” at “Wikipedia.” See also Lahee, Famous Singers (cited above).
20 (Maria) Marietta Piccolomini (1834-1899), Italian soprano. See “Historic Opera,” date posted unknown, Historic Opera, date accessed 5/25/09, electronic address:
21 Theresa Carolin Johanna Tietjens (or Tietiens) (1831-1877), Hungarian oratorio soprano. See “Thérèse Tietjens,” at “Wikipedia.” See also Lahee, Famous Singers (cited above).
22 Antonio Giuglini (1827-1865), Italian operatic tenor. See “Antonio Giuglini,” at “Wikipedia.”
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The invitation of Mr Peabody started us all by times this morning, that we might rig out for the grand entertainment for tomorrow. I had postponed buying any dress clothes, intending to get them in Paris, but we went down and got full suits today, costing us some ₤800 $40, which may be considered cheap for first quality black dress clothes. I also had a ______pair of new Epauletts and sash made, so that I shall be full rigged for my trip to the Continent. My sash, epaulettes and sword belt cost ₤10, so that you may rely upon it I have got something worth taking home.
The Great Eastern (“Leviathan”) under construction Illustrated London News, 7 November 1857
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After arranging our meeting etc., a party of us went down to see the Leviathan, 23 the mammoth Steamer which has created so much interest in America, as well as Europe and which we hope to see running to Norfolk. She is an immense affair, of which you may judge by her measures as follows:
692 feet long 83 “ broad 59 “ Deep 2500 tons burthen Will carry 10,000 troops Has 4 decks & 10 boilers 112 Furnaces 30 feet draught There are 10,000 tons used in ______her construction. She has gas laid in all parts of the ship, and electric lights at the mast head. Her combined steam power is 3000 horses, and she spreads 6,500 square yards of Canvass. To walk around her upper deck once is ¼ of a mile. She is not finished, the expense of building her and launching her, having exceeded the Capital of the Company. An application has recently been made to the Government (to day in fact) to buy her, or to advance funds to complete her, but the armament is so large, that Sir Joseph Paxton received a response from the Admiralty today, that the Government declined, as at present advised to take the offer made. It is presumed a new company will be organized, or ______additional funds added to the original concern, so as to get her into Commission by a year from this time. The Leviathan lies in the Thames, just above Greenwich Hospital,24 and we reached her by one of the little Steamers that are continually plying the Thames, and we had only to pay 4d fare, but 2S. 6d was charged for seeing the ship. On our return we stopped at the Thames Tunnel.25 This tunnel is built across the bed of the Thames at Dempford, and was designed to
23 The S.S. Great Eastern, originally named Leviathan, was constructed and launched in 1858 for the Eastern Steam Navigation Company, in England. Built of iron and powered by four massive steam engines, the ship had sail, two paddle-wheels, and screw propulsion. Because of its enormous size, it could not be built in a slipway, so it had to be constructed parallel to the River Thames. It began its sea trials in August 1858, the time of Smith’s visit to London. The ship suffered an explosion on its maiden voyage and many other problems during its life (1858-1889), nearly bankrupting the several companies that owned and operated it. Originally intended for sailing to the Far East and Australia, it was used mainly on the Atlantic sailing between England and New York. It was the largest steamship in the world until the Oceania was built in 1899. See Bowden, A Century of Atlantic Travel, 98-99. See also “S.S. Great Eastern (British Steamship, 1859),” date posted unknown, Department of the Navy – Naval Historical Center, date accessed 5/25/09, electronic address:
24 Greenwich Hospital was founded in 1694 as a Royal Naval Hospital for sailors. It ceased being used for that purpose in 1869 when it was converted for use as a training center for the Royal Navy and the Royal Naval College (1869-1998). See “Old Royal Naval College,” at “Wikipedia.”
25 The Thames Tunnel was built beneath the River Thames between 1825 and 1843. It was originally intended for carriage traffic, but cost overruns prevented the construction of proper entrances for vehicles and the tunnel ended up being used only by pedestrians, which made the project a financial failure. In
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VMI Archives www.vmi.edu/archives meet the wants of the population on both sides of the river, at a point where it would be inconvenient to have bridges from their interference with shipping. As a work of science and art it is a great one, but has thus far proved a failure as an enterprise of investment.
Persons go to see it, ______as one of the London curiosities, but it is no thoroughfare. I bought a little whistle for the baby with the words marked on it, “bought in the Thames Tunnel.”
The Thames Tunnel Public Domain Illustration from Wikipedia
I was curious to know its length and I counted my steps and found I took 450, while there are 90 steps required to reach from the level of the Tunnel to the level of the pavement above. We got to London at 4, and dined at the Wellington.26
I neglected to mention in its proper place that at 6 ½ P.M. yesterday I walked to Hyde Park,27 one of the centres of attraction of an afternoon to all in London. I was so pleased with it, that I repeated my walk this afternoon. Hyde Park is an immense park of some 388 acres, not
1865, the tunnel was purchased by the East London Railway and converted into a railway tunnel. See “Thames Tunnel,” at “Wikipedia.”
According to Murray’s, “The famous Thames Tunnel lies under the voyager’s feet, and it is more than probable that at the very moment he passes, light and life, music and laughter, are going on below these waters which look so calm, so dirty, and so deep; for fairs and fêtes, and even balls, are matters of constant occurrence in the Tunnel, in the line of arches not used as a public thoroughfare.” See Murray’s Modern London (1856), xxi.
26 Possibly The Wellington hotel at Vincent Square, London.
27 Hyde Park is one of the Royal Parks of London. Originally it was a private deer park and part of the manor of Hyde, acquired by Henry VIII in 1536. King James I opened it to select visitors, and Charles I opened it in 1637 to the general public. The park is adjacent to Kensington Gardens, but the two are often
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______
5 minutes walk from our lodgings in Half Moon St, and looked upon as one of the lungs of London. It connects Green Park with Kensington Gardens, and thus forms a continuous area from Whitehall to Kensington.
Hyde Park, London Illustrated London News regarded as one park. In 1851, Hyde Park was the site of The Great Exhibition and the Crystal Palace. See “Hyde Park,” at “Wikipedia.”
According to Murray’s, “In this Park, in the London season, from April to July (between half past 5 and half past 6 p.m.), may be seen all the wealth and fashion and splendid equipages of the nobility and gentry of Great Britain. As many as 800, including the Knot at the music, have been seen assembled at Hyde-Park in the height of the season. The bridle-road, running east and west (from Apsley House to Kensington Gardens) is called Rotten Row, a corruption it is supposed of Route du Roi – King’s Drive. The first set of horsemen are valetudinarians taking their ‘constitutional’ before breakfast; to many of whom a horse is a new acquaintance, and a saddle a new seat. At eight the ride is sprinkled with the children and young ladies of our aristocracy, taking their lessons with papas, brothers, or grooms. To these succeed, between half-past eight and ten, leading counsel, hard-worked barristers and solicitors of eminence, some bankers, city merchants, and retired officers, increased by a few M.P.’s seeking fresh air after a night spent under Dr. Reid’s ventilator. Here the last night’s debate, the appointment of a vacant office, some point in Common Pleas or Chancery, and general politics are discussed. As these retire, down come the ‘Big Wigs,” of the law, on their way to Westminster. The sheet of water called the Serpentine was formed by Caroline, Queen of George II. The carriage-drive along the upper side is called ‘The Lady’s Mile.’ The boats may be hired by the hour. Certain traces of the Ring, formed in the reign of Charles I. and long celebrated, may be recognized by the large trees somewhat circularly arranged in the centre of the Park. Near the Humane Society’s Receiving-house (on the north bank of the Serpentine) is the great government store of gunpowder. In this house upwards of one million rounds of ball and blank ammunition are kept ready for immediate use. A review of troops in Hyde Park is a sight worth seeing, but reviews of late years have been of very rare occurrence. They usually take place in June or July…. The Crystal Palace, or Great Exhibition Building stood on the S. side of the park, opposite Prince’s Gate, and the large elm trees covered in by the transepts are still alive though far from flourishing.” See Murray’s Modern London (1856), 26- 27.
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The Park (Hyde) is the fashionable place for the nobility to ride in the afternoon. You may see on any fine evening there from 800 to 1000 with their gay outriders etc and the ladies in their full rigging. There is also a horse ride in which young ladies ride on horseback. There must have been at least 100 out yesterday, with their attendants in addition. Finding a comfortable seat this afternoon, I [quietly?] set down in a chair, and left Cocke and Grandy to look at the pretty girls standing on the margin of the horse ride. ______
Presently a little fellow came up to me, touching his hat as he spoke, “A penny, please Sir, for the Chair.” I smiled at the ingenious mode in which a weary fellow is taken in with his pennies, and really felt that I had had at least a sixpence worth of comfort in the half hour I sat in it. But misery (comfort I should say) likes company, so calling to John and Grandy I said, “I suppose sitting is as cheap as standing”. They assented and took each a chair. The demand of the little boy, “Penny Sir, if you please” – provoked a smile from me, which betrayed the trap I had set for them, by which I made two pennies more for the boy.
By the way every one you deal with in this country is respectful to you. “Thank you Sir”, always ______
follows a fee, or the payment of a penny for any thing, and we have a little boy who waits on us, who always says, “Thank you sir”, if we send him of a message. “Charly, I said, one night, I want you to wake me up at 8 tomorrow”, “Thank you Sir.” In Scotland the common response, if the person you speak to does not hear you, or understand you, is “I beg your pardon”, while no Irishman, will say yes or no, to a question you put to him. The common people say, “I will, my master, please your honor”, while those of education will while assenting to what you say, to them, interrupt you frequently by repeating as rapidly as possible – “yes – yes – yes – yes”. But to return to Hyde Park. This is the Park at which the Great Exhibition in the Chrystal Palace took place in 1851, ______the Palace having been since removed, as I before remarked to Sydenham.
There is a beautiful lake above the Park called the Serpentine, constructed by the Queen Caroline28 of George II,29 which adds much to the refreshment of the hot days in the Summer,30 and here may a poor fellow is allowed to bathe at prescribed hours, without charge, under the Queen’s order. We realize to day the just complaint against the odor of the Thames. It is really enough to breed pestilence, arising as it does from the immense Sewerage.31 The river was low this morning and very offensive.
28 Caroline Amelia Elizabeth of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (Germany), Queen Caroline (1768-1821), wife of King George IV. See “Caroline of Brunswick,” at “Wikipedia.” See also Dictionary of National Biography, 10: 207-210.
29 Queen Caroline was married to King George IV (1762-1830), not George II. George IV is remembered for a lifestyle that Smith would have found highly “disagreeable.”
30 According to newspaper reports, the summer of 1858 was one of the hottest in memory.
31 During Smith’s visit to London, Parliament was engaged in a debate on what to do about the foul condition of the River Thames, a condition that had become almost unbearable during the unusually warm summer of 1858. Calls were made for “the purification of the Thames” or “non-pollution,” but overlapping municipal jurisdictions and government inaction hindered any solution until 1859. The Illustrated London
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I am in hopes that tomorrow will telegraph the arrival of an other vessel from America, so that I may have ______happiness of receiving fresh tiding from loved ones at home.
Be sure and prepay your letters – 24 cents. The 3 cent stamps are thrown away, for unless you pay the full postage to England, you lose what you do pay. I weigh all my letters, and as I can put in as many sheets as I please, for 24 cents, provided I do not exceed ½ ounce. I get very thin paper, and fill up as you have realized by my long letters. Do the same and if Fanny will not help you, get some of the pretty girls who come to see you to write, as I only expect to hear from you once a week, you cannot give me too many letters, or two long ones when I do hear, and I am sure you will have no cause to complain of mine.
From what I have said you will know ______that our boarding house is in the midst of the most fashionable part of London. We have Buckingham Palace,32 St James Palace,33 and Whitehall34 just in sight, Apsley House,35 the
News reported: “The Thames, which, fifty years ago, ran through London in a clear and limpid stream, over whose current it was a pleasure to be rowed, in whose waves it was delightful to bathe, and of whose pure waters it was wholesome to drink, has, by sheer neglect on the part both of the people and the Government, become a foul sewer, a river of pollution, a Stream of Death, festering and reeking with all abominable smells, and threatening three millions of people with pestilence as the penalty of their ignorance and apathy.” See The Illustrated London News, Saturday, 24 July 1858, p. 1.
Recently (24 November 2008), an article on the subject appeared in the Roanoke Times in conjunction with “World Toilet Day” (19 November). Titled “Loo and behold,” written by Margaret Wertheim, the article included the following information: “… You might consider the plight of Londoners during the summer of 1858, when the city experienced what historians know as the Big Stink.
“As a thriving metropolis at the peak of an empire, London teemed with vitality. But all those productive citizens had to poop, and all that excrement had to go somewhere.
“Where it went, generally, was into chamber pots and thence into the streets or one of the city’s 200,000 backyard cesspits, which overflowed into basements, neighbors yards and nearby streets. Most of it ended up in the River Thames as undiluted, putrid muck. The problem was perennial, but the summer of 1858 was unusually hot, causing bacteria in the pits and river to multiply. The stench was so appalling the House of Commons was overpowered. Parliamentarians soaked the curtains in chloride of lime to combat the smell and considered moving their business upriver to Hampton Court. Anyone who could leave town did. “The experience galvanized the Metropolitan Board of Works, which set about reforming the city’s sanitation infrastructure. The next year [1859], the major elements of the London sewage system were under construction, which in turn necessitated the evolution of the flush toilet. Though the first modern toilet is said to have been built for Elizabeth I, true flushable loos are an invention of the late 19th century.” See Roanoke Times, 24 November 2008, editorial and opinion page.
The smell from the Thames was so bad that George M. Dallas, U.S. Minister to England, noted in his diary on 23 June 1858: “The pestiferous condition of the Thames much talked of. The smells thrown from the mud flats when the tide is out threatens to break up the session of Parliament.” See Susan Dallas, ed., Diary of George Mifflin Dallas While United States Minister to Russia 1827 to 1839 and to England 1856 to 1861 (Phila: J. B. Lippincott, 1892, Google digitized book),p. 280.
32 See previous reference in letterbook one.
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VMI Archives www.vmi.edu/archives residence given to the Duke of Wellington by Parliament not two minutes walk, while the houses in which Lord Byron36 and Sir Walter Scott lived when in London are just as near.
Our chief comfort is in the salubrity of the air, produced by the delightful “lungs”, as the Parks around us are called, while none the less the pleasing associations to a youthful and gallant tourist like myself, is to see the beauty of the fashionable and noble world pass by in their fine equipages. I have had the privilege of seeing Mr Bulwer,37 the novelist, several ______times. He is now Sir E Bulwer Lytton – and is a member of the Cabinet, but is not a prepossessing looking personage. Indeed, the Lords and Noblemen I have seen are about as ordinary looking people as I have met with anywhere, and not so much an object of notice to us, (green ones) as their liveried lackeys and footmen, with their powdered heads and breeches and silk stockings and knee and shoe buckles. Earl Derby38 is a striking likeness of old Mr Patton,39 but not as intelligent a face, and I doubt very much whether he has half his talent – altho’ Earl Derby is a superior man. I have not seen his daughter, Lady Eleanor.
33 St. James’s Palace is located on Pall Mall, near St. James’s Park. The palace was commissioned by Henry VIII in the red-brick Tudor style. It served as the royal residence in London until a fire destroyed a portion of it in 1809. It ceased being the official residence of the monarch in 1837 on the accession of Queen Victoria. See “St. James’s Palace,” at “Wikipedia.”
According to Murray’s, “The Queen still holds her Drawing-rooms in the Palace, for the purposes of which, though not for a royal residence, it is particularly adapted. In June, 1853, the carriages attending the Drawing-room extended into Harley-street. In the ‘Colour-court,’ (to the E., and so called because the standard of the household regiment on duty is planted within it), the Guards muster every day at 11, and the band of the regiment plays for about a quarter of an hour. The visitor should see this once.” See Murray’s Modern London (1856), 4.
34 See previous reference in letterbook one.
35 Apsley House, located at Hyde Park, was the London residence of the Dukes of Wellington. According to Murray’s, “The London residence, 1820-1852, of Field Marshal the Duke of Wellington, built by Henry Bathurst, Baron Apsley, Earl Bathurst, and Lord High Chancellor, (d. 1794,) the son of Pope’s friend. The house originally of red brick, was faced with Bath stone in 1828, when the front portico and the W. wing, containing on the upper stories a gallery 90 feet long, (to the W.,) were added for the great Duke…; but the old house is intact. The iron blinds – bullet-proof it is said – put up by the great Duke during the ferment of the Reform Bill, when his windows were broken by a London mob, -- were taken down in 1855 by the present duke. They were the first of the kind, and have since been generally copied.” Murray’s Modern London (1856), 10.
36 The Byron House was located in Piccadilly, near Apsley House. According to Murray’s Modern London (1856), 241, Lord Byron was born at No. 24, Holles-Street, Cavendish-square, where his mother was lodging.
37 Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton (1803-1873) was a novelist, poet, playwright, and politician. Known for his historical fiction, he wrote in a florid and melodramatic style popular in his day. He was Secretary of State for the Colonies (5 June 1858 to 11 June 1859) and thus a member of the Earl of Derby’s Cabinet. See “Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton,” at “Wikipedia.” See also Dictionary of National Biography, 34: 979-987.
38 Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, Prime Minister (1852, 1858-59, 1866-68).
39 Someone in Virginia, possibly in Lexington or Rockbridge County, but not identified.
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______
(Letter No 23) London, Friday July 23 1858
My dearest Sarah
The arrangements necessary for the dinner party of Mr Peabody did not enable me to complete my letter to you, no 22. After John Cocke and myself had done some shopping, and had been to the Barbers to have our hair dressed, a la mode, it was time to prepare for the entertainment, and at 3 o’clock each of us dressed, cap à pied in our new clothes, and looking like so many fresh band box beaux, we started for the Waterloo Station40 to go to Richmond. Richmond Hill41 has long been celebrated in History and in song; and is one of the finest views in England. ______
Its beautiful park owes much of its beauty to Charles I, and George II. Here Thomson wrote his Seasons,42 and the spot where he habitually sat is pointed out by some very appropriate verses to his honor and placed on one of the trees of the Park. The views from this point over-looking the Thames are very fine. Richmond is about 12 miles from London, and the Star and Garter Hotel43 is a fashionable place for the London gentleman to give their dinner parties. Trains pass
40 London Waterloo (Waterloo Station) was opened by the London and South Western Railway on 11 July 1848. Its original name was “Waterloo Bridge Station,” but was changed in 1886 to “Waterloo Station.” The name commemorates the allies’ victory at the Battle of Waterloo against Napoleon. The entrance to the station is a victory arch. See “Waterloo Station,” at “Wikipedia.”
41 Richmond Hill is located in Richmond, a town in Greater London. Henry VII built a palace there and named it Richmond Palace. The area contains open spaces, parks, and walking paths along the Thames. As Smith points out, the view from Richmond Hill was much celebrated, and the area surrounding the hill was, and remains, protected.
According to Murray’s, “RICHMOND PARK, 9 miles from London, and 1 from the Station of the Richmond Railway: -- the Park of the Royal manor of Richmond, owing much of its present beauty to King Charles I. and King George II. The principal entrance is close to the Star and Garter Hotel. Be sure and enter by his gate, keeping to the right (as you enter) for about half a mile past Pembroke Lodge, the residence of Lord John Russell. The view begins a few yards within the gate, is stopped by the enclosure of Pembroke Lodge, but soon reappears. The view overlooking the Thames, is not to be surpassed. An afternoon at Richmond and Twickenham and a dinner afterwards in the Coffee Room of the Star and Garter, will make a capital pendant to a like entertainment at Greenwich.” See Murray’s Modern London (1856), 35.
42 James Thomson (1700-1748) was a Scottish poet and playwright. He is known principally for The Seasons, considered one of the finest nature poems in the English language, and the lyrics to Rule Britannia!” See “James Thomson (poet),” at “Wikipedia.”
43 The Star and Garter Hotel where Peabody held his grand banquet on 22 July 1858, and many other banquets and parties, was a large, five-story Victorian building close to Richmond Hill. The original inn was built in 1738. A later owner bankrupted himself and the inn closed in 1808. It was reopened under new ownership in 1809. In 1822, the executors of the new owner sold the hotel to pay off the mortgage, and it was bought by Joseph Ellis. The Star and Garter Hotel was operated successfully by the Ellis family for the next forty years (the time in which Smith visited). Much of the hotel was destroyed by fire in 1870, but parts of it and additions continued to be used for the next fifty years, finally being demolished in 1919.
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VMI Archives www.vmi.edu/archives this station every 15 minutes until 10 ½ P.M. and then Cabs and omnibuses are always to be had at a moments notice.
Here our host Mr Peabody was to give his complimentary dinner to our Minister at the Court of ______
France, Mr John Y Mason.44
John Young Mason Public Domain Illustration from Wikipedia
The dinner was fixed for 6 ½ but a concert was to proceed it, by the accompanying programme, which I send you and also the bill of fare, that you may appreciate, in some measure, the liberal provision made by this open hearted gentleman. We found a select company of about 80 persons, about equally divided, in ladies and gentlemen, assembled at 4 P.M. among them besides the family of Mr Mason, were the Lord Mayor of London,45 Sir Everand Terrent,46 Sir Joseph Paxton47 (the Chrystal Palace man) and both of whom are members of Parliament. As I
For photos of the Star and Garter Hotel, see “The Original ‘Star and Garter,’ Richmond Hill,” date posted unknown, London Borough of Richmond Upon Thames, Richmond Libraries’ Local Studies Collection, date accessed 5/27/09, electronic address:
44 See previous reference.
45 The Lord Mayor of London in 1858 was David Wire, but Smith doesn’t name him in his letter.
46 Smith was probably referring to Sir James Emerson Tennent (1804-1869), permanent secretary to the Board of Trade (1852-1867). He was a member of Parliament for Lisburn, Ireland. See “James Emerson Tennent,” at “Wikipedia.”
47 See previous reference in letterbook one.
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VMI Archives www.vmi.edu/archives had long known Mr Mason,48 I was received by him very cordially, and I was glad to meet him, at this time, and on this occasion, as I was enabled to secure assurances from him, of his friendly aid when I went to Paris. ______
The vocal music was very fine.49 There were nine singers, all male voices, and their harmony, and especially the manner in which one half made accompaniment with their voices for the other half, drew repeated bursts of applause from the company.
At 6 ½ the Company were assembled in the parlour, and the gentlemen and the ladies assorted according to Court etiquette. Mr Peabody presided – on his right was Mrs Mason50 and on her right the Lord Mayor. On the left of Mr. Peabody lady Glasgow51 the daughter of the distinguished Agriculturist, Sir John Sinclair52 and on the other side of her Mr Mason. I was assigned according to rank etc. to a lovely young lady, Miss Black,53 and according to custom, lost my heart with ______her. I found her intelligent, pious, and most ladylike, and I thought myself the most fortunate gentleman of the evening in having had so agreeable a companion to converse with for 5 hours.
I took an early occasion to let her know, that I had objects of tender interest in America, in the shape of a wife and six babies, and she had the good sense not to think the less of me for having communicated what to a young lady ought to have been an unpleasant piece of intelligence. I will not attempt to give you a description of the variety and profusion of the entertainment. The bill of fare will give you some idea of it. Four or five different kinds of soup – 7 or 8 separate courses of fish; as many of fruits, and thus the variety of many dishes. ______
I was told the peaches cost half a pound each ($2.50) and a bouquet was opposite to each lady, and each cost 10 shillings ($2.50). I presume the dinner must have cost Mr Peabody $5,000. The cloth being removed, Mr Peabody gave out in order, the toasts of the evening. The two first were drank standing and with great applause to the Queen and the President of the United States. Then one to Mr. Mason which drew from him a most graceful and well conceived
48 What Smith may not have known was that Mason was hopelessly in debt, living far beyond his means in Paris, and the family was in crisis. Slaves and family properties in Mississippi, Virginia, and a large house in Richmond had to be sold to pay his creditors. In a little over a year, Mason would be dead. See Daniel W. Crofts, Old Southampton: Politics & Society in a Virginia County, 1834-1869 (Charlottesville: U of Virginia Press, 1992), 29-35, and Dictionary of American Biography, XII: 369-371.
49 The music, according to a New York Times report, cited in full below, was provided by the Swedish Minstrels.
50 Mary Anne Fort Mason.
51 Julia Sinclair (b? – d. 1868) was the daughter of Sir John Sinclair. She married George Boyle, 4th Earl of Glasgow in 1824 and was known as Countess of Glasgow. See “Julia Sinclair,” date posted unknown, thePeerage.com, date accessed 5/27/09, electronic address:
52 Sir John Sinclair, 1st Baronet (1754-1835), a Scottish politician and writer on agriculture. He entered the House of Commons in 1780, where he served until 1811. He was responsible for the creation of the Board of Agriculture and served as its first president. See “Sir John Sinclair, 1st Baronet,” at “Wikipedia.”
53 Not identified.
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VMI Archives www.vmi.edu/archives response. The Lord Mayor was then toasted by Mr Mason54 with some prefatory remarks, to which the Lord Mayor responded. Sir Everand Terrent made the best speech I have heard from an Englishman. It was graceful in manner, and breathed ______a most liberal spirit toward America.55
Mr Raymond56 of the New York Times, and Mr. Sampson57 the writer of the money articles in the London Times, Mr Sturges58 of New York, and Gen Campbell59 our American Consul at London also made speeches, but as the morning papers will probably contain them, I will send them to you as soon as they are out.60
54 Smith was mistaken. The Lord Mayor was toasted by J. P. Kennedy, former Secretary of the American Navy, according to a New York Times report of the banquet, cited in full below. John Pendleton Kennedy (1795-1870), of Maryland, was Secretary of the Navy (July 1852-March 1853) under President Millard Fillmore. See “John P. Kennedy,” at “Wikipedia.”
55 For the speeches mentioned by Smith, see New York Times report in full below.
56 Henry Jarvis Raymond (1820-1869) was a politician and founder of the New York Times in 1851. He remained the editor until his death. He served in the New York State Assembly (1850-1851) in the radical anti-slavery wing of the Whig Party. He also served as Lieutenant Governor of New York (1855-1856), as a member of the US House of Representatives (1865-1867), and as second chairman of the Republican National Committee (1864-1866). At the time of Peabody’s banquet, Raymond was in England on his way to Italy to report on the Franco-Austrian War. See “Henry Jarvis Raymond,” at “Wikipedia.” See also Dictionary of American Biography, XV: 408-412.
57 Marmaduke Blake Sampson (1809-1876) was Private Secretary to the Governor of the Bank of England and was the financial editor (1858) of the London Times for 30 years. He was a close friend of George Peabody. Sampson was an advocate of phrenology and was chairman of the British Homeopathic Association. See “Marmaduke Blake Sampson,” date posted 2008, Sue Young Homeopathy, date accessed 5/28/09, electronic address:
58 Russell Sturgis (1805-1887) was a Boston merchant who traded in China. At the time of the Peabody banquet at the Star and Garter, Sturgis was head of Baring Brothers, London, a merchant bank founded in 1762. (In 1802, Barings helped the US finance the Louisiana Purchase from Napoleon.) See “Russell Sturgis,” at “Wikipedia.”
59 Robert B. Campbell (died 1862). He served in the US House of Representatives from South Carolina, his native state, 1823-25 and 1834-37. He was commissioned general of South Carolina troops in 1833. He served in the House of Representatives of Alabama, 1840, was consul to Cuba, 1842-50, and was a commissioner for the US in the settlement of the boundary line between Texas and Mexico. Campbell served as consul at London, 1854-61. He died in England in 1862. See “Robert B. Campbell,” at “Wikipedia.”
60 The Tuesday, 17 August 1858 New York Times, page 2, carried a lengthy article about Peabody’s banquet, based on an article that appeared on 29 July in the London Chronicle. The article is quoted here in full as it gives a good account of the banquet and reflects some of the political issues of the day: “Mr. Peabody’s Banquet to the American Minister to France. Speeches of Mr. Mason, the Hon. J. P. Kennedy, the Lord Mayor of London, Sir J. E. Tennant, Mr. Peabody, the Hon. Henry J. Raymond, &c From the London Chronicle, July 29 “Mr. PEABODY, the eminent American merchant and capitalist, gave one of his usual grand banquets at the Star and Garter Motel, at Richmond, in honor of his Excellency Mr. MASON, the United States Minister to France, and Mrs. MASON, at which nearly one hundred English and American ladies
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and gentlemen were present. Previous to the dinner, the company assembled in the large hall for nearly two hours, and listened to a concert by the Swedish Minstrels, whom Mr. PEABODY had engaged for the occasion. At the dinner, which was sumptuous and elegant, Mr. PEABODY had on his right hand Mrs. MASON, and on his left the Countess of GLASGOW – Mr. MASON and the Lord Mayor occupying seats by their side. “After the cloth was removed, Mr. PEABODY, in proposing the first toast, said he felt sure every one present, American as well as English, would most cordially unite in receiving it with equal pleasure to that which he had in proposing it. He would give them ‘the health of her Majesty the Queen,’ which was drunk with great enthusiasm. “Mr. PEABODY next proposed ‘the health of the President of the United States,’ which was received with equal enthusiasm. “Mr. PEABODY next gave as the toast of the evening, ‘the health of his Excellency Mr. MASON,’ a toast which he prefaced by some graceful allusions to the high political office which that gentleman had held in the United States, previous to the acceptance of the mission to Paris. After the applause which followed SPEECH OF MR. MASON “His Excellency Mr. MASON, in responding to the toast, said: Mr. PEABODY, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: I am at a loss, Sir, for words to express my sense of your hospitable kindness, and the honor which you confer on me by this unlooked-for reception. When my wife and our invalid daughter came to the Isle of Wight for the sea bath, they had no sooner entered the dominions of the Queen VICTORIA, than which characteristic hospitality you invited them to Richmond Hill, and urged me, at Paris, to meet them. I have long known, Sir, that your generous hospitality has given great pleasure to your fellow-citizens coming to London, and I am confident that you have done much to promote mutual respect and good feeling between the citizens of the United States and the subjects of the British Crown. [Cheers.] No one, perhaps, is better qualified for this delightful task than yourself – a native of the United States, universally respected here. You have long resided here, and must have the esteem and confidence of those who know you; and around your table English and Americans forget prejudices, and learn to appreciate each other. This is no small public good. [Cheers.] but notwithstanding all that I have heard of your kindness to your countrymen, I am surprised at what I now see. To the distinguished guests who surround you, I am deeply indebted for the kind manner in which they have received your compliment to me. It is my first visit to Richmond, in England, and I can never forget it, -- ‘I was a stranger,’ and you have taken me in. [Cheers.] Yu have kindly spoken of my long occupation in the service of my country. To have such evidences of the public confidence at home is most gratifying. When the mother of the Gracchi was called on for her jewels, she pointed to her sons. Maternal love prompts to filial duty, and he must be a bastard who is not proud to serve such a mother as my country. You have kindly told your guest that I have gained popular favor. It is not the popularity which is run after, but that which follows good and virtuous actions. If I have been so fortunate as to secure that, I am happy. We live, Sir, in an exceptional age – a new era has opened on the Christian world. For forty years with inconsiderable exceptions, peace has prevailed, and, under its benign influence, human industry and the affairs of business have made a progress hitherto unknown. [Cheers.] It is during this auspicious cessation of the din or arms that steam has been successfully applied to ocean navigation, and the iron road, with its capacity for rapid transit, and enormous transportation, has been brought into general use. What mighty influences and results for the good of mankind have not been developed during these happy years! Commercial and social intercourse has been increased, national antipathies and prejudices have been mollified, if not obliterated, and those who had been enemies have been made friends. I venture to remind you, that under these auspicious influences the two great nations of Western Europe, England and France, after ages of conflict, and unneighborly feeling, have become friends and allies. In France I have now resided for more than four years, and I am indebted to them for numerous acts of friendship, of graceful kindness, and official personal courtesy. I have had opportunities of observation; while I have no authority to speak of the future, I may claim the privilege which is conceded to my countrymen of guessing; and I will venture to guess [a laugh] that the approaching meeting of the Sovereigns of France and England will only tend to strengthen the entente cordiale. [Cheers.] The period to which I have alluded has given birth to other great events. Within the last four years great principles, involving the equal rights of independent nations on the high seas, have been settled by common consent, and with universal satisfaction. Disputes in regard to them had in times past produced ruinous wars, annoyed and harassed commerce, and destroyed private property.
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But, animated by mutual respect, each asserting his own rights and respecting those of others, the discussion has been undertaken in a spirit of honor, candor, and conciliation, and has resulted in the establishment of justice and concord. The mercantile marine of the weakest State may now go to sea in safety under the protecting aegis of these great principles. A fruitful source of irritation, injustice and war is thus closed, I trust forever. Honor to the governments and negotiators who have achieved these grand results. With no sickly sentimentality on the subject of war, when national honor requires an appeal to arms, the cherished policy of the United States has ever been peace and friendship with all nations. No one of the family of nations has derived greater advantage from the happy influences to which I have averted than our country. In the career of national greatness her progress has been marvelous, and to us it is a source of pride that her growth is not selfish, but always promotes the interests of the world. We persuade ourselves that as States of the American Union – Louisiana, Florida, Texas, and California are more valuable to the commerce of the world, as well as to the people who inhabit them, than they ever could have been in the hands of their original distant Sovereigns. [Cheers.] Such is the natural result of our system and policy. Nor can the people of the United States regard with jealousy the prosperity of other nations. It is their peculiar good fortune, from their surplus products, to supply the great staples of foreign commerce. All nations are their customers; and on a plain principle of safety in business, they desire to see their customers prosperous and happy. [Cheers.] Within the last half century everywhere labor has risen in dignity, and the working man receives more of the awards of his own industry, freed from the unnecessary burdens of taxation imposed by wars. This must become more and more the case. [Cheers.] I believe at this moment there is not a nation, the interests of whose people are not bound up in peace, and I hope that there is not a Government which is indifferent to the interests of its people. There is an interest involved in the preservation of peace which the Almighty wisely intended should be the greatest interest of humanity. [Cheers.] Other pursuits give luxury, and add to human comfort, but upon agriculture mankind reposed for subsistgence. It is not wise to withdraw from its healthy and virtuous pursuits the labor of a country, and, by placing it in the ranks of the army, make men ‘food for gunpowder.’ [Cheers.] I am particularly obliged that you have done me the honor to place me by the side of the Countess of GLASGOW, whose illustrious father was distinguished for his devotion and enlightened contributions to this course of scientific agriculture. I pray her ladyship to excuse this reference to herself; but I have made it from grateful respect to her father’s memory; the name of Sir JOHN SINCLAIR, of Scotland, is known and revered in the United States as the cherished friend and correspondent of WASHINGTON. [Renewed cheering.] “The Hon. J.P.KENNEDY, late Secretary of the American Navy, gave ‘The Lord Mayor of London; honor to him and prosperity to his administration.’ “The toast having been drunk with great enthusiasm,
REMARKS OF THE LORD MAYOR The Lord Mayor, in responding to the toast, said he little expected when he heard the eloquent speech of the hon. Gentleman, listened to with so much gratification by all present, that his name was to be associated with it. Indeed he was listening with the greatest anxiety to discover what name was to be introduced to their notice. He felt, however, most highly the compliment which had been paid, not only to him, but to the Corporation of London, and much as he may have estimated the high position he was placed in as their chief magistrate, still the honorable speaker had so greatly enlarged his dominions, not only by adding some of our most important colonies, but even placing under his care the last but most extensive colony of New-Caledonia. [A laugh.] He feared, however, in the extension of his dominions, the hon. Gentleman had given him the charge of many unruly subjects. With one remark, however, he must bet leave to differ, as it might convey a false impression, that vice existed in the world greatly in excess of virtue, and he should be sorry if the ladies present left the room with the same opinion. [A laugh.] True it was that vice was chronicled, remembered and discussed in every shape, while virtue sought no publicity, and quietly did its good works without the knowledge of the world; hence the erroneous impression that his friend had arrive at – at all events, he was willing to place the mass of his subjects at least on the side of virtue. [Cheers.] His honorable friend had likewise alluded in terms of adulation to his amiable neighbor, the Countess of GLASGOW. Now, he did not wish to detract one iota, but quite agreed in all he had said, still, being of a jealous disposition, he might be excused for drawing attention to his most agreeable neighbor to his left, he meant the wife of his excellency, (Mr. MASON,) whose presence they were all invited to celebrate, and whose presence added such grace and ornament to the festivity. [Cheers.] In conclusion, he expressed a hope that the good and kindly feeling existing at the hospitable table of their
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princely host might be an emblem of that union between the two nations, that even a thought of misunderstanding might be forever banished, and that they might long be united for their mutual advantage. [Cheers] “Mr. PEABODY, in offering the next toast, ‘Perpetual amity and increasing commerce between the old country and the new,’ coupled with it the name of his friend Sir J. EMMERSON TENNENT.
REMARKS OF SIR J. E. TENNENT. “Sir J. EMMERSON TENNENT replied. He felt that, without unbecoming presumption, he might take on himself to speak on behalf of a large section of his fellow-countrymen on this important and international topic. After upwards of a quarter of a century of public life, most of it spent in the service of the Crown, and as the representative of a large and influential community, and mingling, as he had done, in all ranks of society, he could say, without an instant’s hesitation, that the feelings of the United Kingdom wee in cordial concurrence with the sentiments expressed by Mr. PEABODY. Whatever might be the exceptional conduct of individuals, whatever the occasional indiscretions of the British Press – indiscretions which the Press of the United States was always prompt in applying its abilities to correct – the sympathy he had attempted to express was the habitual and increasing feeling of the people of the United Kingdom. [Cheers.] It would, however, be unbecoming in them not to trace this feeling to its true source, as well as ungrateful were they not to ascribe the merit of promoting it to them to whom that merit is due. He had no hesitation in saying that it was not referable merely to the strong conviction of this country that its own well-being as a nation, as well as the progress of civilization and liberty throughout the world, were intimately dependent on the maintenance of a cordial understanding between us and the United States of America. [Cheering.] But it had another and equally obvious source; it was directly referable to those events to which His Excellency the American Envoy to the Court of France had alluded, as largely increasing the facilities of intercourse between the two countries, and to increase of esteem and attachment which that intercourse engendered.
REMARKS OF MR. PEABODY. “Mr. PEABODY, on rising to return thanks, was received with the most enthusiastic applause, and in a feeling manner briefly replied to what he termed the too complimentary speech of his friend, Sir J. EMERSON TENNENT. What his friend had said with respect to the kind feelings which existed in this country towards the people of the United States, might with equal force be said of the sentiments in America towards the people of England. He had had an excellent opportunity of knowing this fact. Last year he had made a tour of some months in the United States, visiting most of the principal places in the Union, and everywhere he found nothing but the best feelings and kindest expressions towards this country. [Cheers.] Mr. PEABODY resumed his seat amid loud and protracted cheering. “The next toast was ‘The Press,’ with which Mr. PEABODY begged permission to associate the name of Lieutenant-Governor RAYMOND, of New York.
REMARKS OF THE HON. H. J. RAYMOND “Mr. RAYMOND, of the NEW-YORK TIMES, and Lieutenant-governor of the State of New- York, briefly acknowledged the compliment paid to the American Press, and said it had been his desire, in conducting the journal with which he was connected, to promote a feeling of kindly regard, and to diffuse a more just estimate of the English nation among the people of his own country. The people of America were not under the control of any prejudices against England. While he would not undervalue that formal and recognized international diplomacy of which the principal guest of the evening (Mr. MASON) was the representative, and still less that diplomacy of hospitality which brings individuals of the two nations face to face, and of which their distinguished host had given, during his long residence abroad, the most remarkable example the world had ever seen, he could not help regarding the press of the two countries as sustaining still more important relations to their permanent peace and prosperity. Of necessity the press of every country must represent the sentiments of its people, and the discussions of the press were therefore the discussions of the people. He rejoiced in believing himself able to say that there had been, within the last few years, a decided improvement in the tone and temper with which international affairs were discussed in both the British and American journals, and he felt satisfied that if the conductors of these great engines of popular influence would continue to present the character and the interests of the two nations in their proper light, and to dwell more upon each other’s virtues, and less upon each other’s vices,
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The Company dispersed about ½ past 12. The young men of our party returned to London, but acting under your good advice to take the world more easy, I determined, if possible, to take a bed at the Star and Garter. It happened very well that I did, for the boys had a tedious ride in an omnibus and did not get to bed until 2 o’clock. The detention in
A Parisian Omnibus (probably similar to English version) Illustrated London News, 24 September 1853 ______
Richmond prevented me from concluding my letter to you for the Persia, (22) and as Mr Peabody called me into his service to escort Mrs Mason and her two daughters to the Chrystal Palace today, I had no opportunity of reaching London in time to close my letter.
As I was anxious you should not miss a letter by the Persia I wrote a note to John Cocke and got him to take the two sheets which I had written, and to which I had intended to add two more, and without having my name signed to them, to envelope then to you.
we might prove that the day was not far distant when war between them would not only be impossible, but when it would seem incredible that any feelings but those of mutual and friendly regard should ever have found place in their breasts. In the American Press he was quite sure there had been a great improvement within the last ten years. Though completely identified in his interests, his labors and his hopes, with the American Press, he was perfectly free to confess that in steadiness of judgment and sobriety of expression it was still very far behind the journalism of England. He deemed it no departure from a just patriotism to say that he looked to the great journals of the English metropolis as the greatest examples the world had ever seen of this new and potent profession. [Cheers.] Mr. RAYMOND concluded by proposing ‘the English Press.’ “Mr. PEABODY next proposed a sentiment, which he felt sure would be received and welcomed by the gentlemen with double honors – the ‘Health of the Ladies,’ whose presence added so much grace to this assembly. “After the applause which succeeded, the toast was responded to in behalf of the ladies by Mr. RUSSELL STURGIS in a felicitous and happy manner. “Some other toasts were proposed in the course of the evening, which were responded to by General CAMPBELL, the United States Consul at London, and other gentlemen, and the company separated, after having enjoyed a most agreeable evening.”
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I take it for granted, that as the last piece of intelligence given to you in those sheets was, that I was going to a dinner party, you concluded I was too much surfeited ______with good things to sign my name. At all events, that dispatch will be acceptable to you, and this will serve to put all things right, while it brings up the record of my tenth day in London and vicinity.
July 23. – Eleventh Day in London
Although I did not get to bed until 1 o’clock at the Star and Garter, I was awake by 5, and the early morning light kept me from going to sleep again so that I had to wait until 9 ½ before I got breakfast.
Being the guest of Mr Peabody, I breakfasted with him and Mr Mason’s family, and some four or five others.
At twelve Mrs Mason, her two daughters61 and little son and myself took a two horse Barouche62 furnished by Mr Peabody and we drove to Sydenham and the Chrystal Palace, distance 12 miles.
Crystal Palace relocated to Sydenham Illustrated London News, 9 June 1855
61 One of the daughters was Mary Anne “Mollie” Mason. An older son remained in Virginia attempting to hold the family finances together.
62 A barouche was a four-wheeled, low-slung, horse-drawn carriage with double seats inside that faced each other. See “Barouche,” at “Wikipedia.”
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______
Upon these roads, the trip was only an hour and a quarter.
We found an immense Company at the Palace, as today was a regular concert day, Friday being the regular appointed day for set concerts. The best Italian singers and an orchestra of 100 instrumentalists were engaged and I had the pleasure of hearing the best singing I have heard at all. The chief singers were Miss Grisi,63 Bucid,64 and Didiee65 -- and there were four of the best male voices of the Continent. I liked the effect of the singing at the Palace, and in the simple concert style, much better than in the opera, although the pieces sung were selections from the best operas. I estimated that there were 15,000 persons present.66
We took a lunch at the Palace and got back to Richmond at ______
7 ¼ and at 8 PM I was at my comfortable quarters in Half Moon Street.
The ride from Richmond to the Palace was a most pleasant one, and we were constantly interested in the striking views which at every turn of the road broke upon us.
This morning, while waiting for breakfast, I walked in Richmond Park67 and I never was more forcibly struck with the appropriateness of the term Merry to Old England – Everywhere I had been I had reason to know that more than ordinary joyousness pervades the English, from the boy to the man, but the fact was made more apparent by the continual buzz of the childrens voices sounding through the depths of the park, and along the banks of the Thames. At last I fell in with a parcel of boys, some 10 or 15, who constituted a ______
63 See previous reference.
64 Not identified.
65 Madame Constance Nantier-Didiée (1832-1867). Born in France, she made her debut as a mezzo soprano in 1850 in Turin, Italy. In 1851, she toured France with other singers and then sang at the Italian Opera in Paris. In 1853 she was employed by the London Theatre, Covent Garden, to replace Mme. Alboni. She gave her first performance there in May 1853. After this, she sang throughout Europe and in the United States. In 1857 she returned to Covent Garden and, in 1858, sang at the Crystal Palace (where Smith saw her). Later she went to Russia and Spain, where she died in 1867. See “Constance Nantier-Didiée,” date posted unknown, Les femmes et les arts, date accessed 5/28/09, electronic address http://membres.lycos.fr/j3m7/femmescreoles/art4.htm
66 All the reports of the day speak of the thousands who gathered at the Crystal Palace on these weekly and other special concert days. Smith’s estimate was probably not far off.
67 The website for Richmond Park (“The Royal Parks”) states: “Richmond Park is the largest Royal Park in London covering an area of 2,500 acres. From its heights there is an uninterrupted view of St. Paul’s Cathedral, 12 miles away…. The royal connections to this park probably go back further than any of the others, beginning with Edward (1272-1307), when the area was known as the Manor of Sheen. The name was changed to Richmond during Henry VII’s reign. In 1625 Charles I brought his court to Richmond Palace to escape the plague in London and turned it into a park for red and fallow deer. His decision, in 1637, to enclose the land was not popular with the local residents, but he did allow pedestrians the right of way….” “Richmond Park,” date posted 2009, The Royal Parks, date accessed 5/29/09, electronic address: http://www.royalparks.org.uk/parks/richmond_park/history.cfm
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VMI Archives www.vmi.edu/archives portion of those from whose merry voices the sound came. “Ah ha! My good fellows”, I said, “what are you all doing here today”? “Two or three promptly and joyously replied –“This is treat day,68 and we are Westminster boys”. “What is treat day?” “We all go to St Stephen’s School, Parish of Westminster, and the Master gives us two parties and one treat day each year, and this is our treat day”, “But where did you come from? “Oh! We came out on the train from London this morning, and we are all going back this evening”. “Do tell me”, said I, “how many are there of you?” “Some six or seven hundred, said the boys – “Ours is a large school and we have on the treat today about 650, one half of them are girls”. “And who takes charge of you?” “The Master is here. But he can’t ______take care of so many boys and girls. “Yes, he can, when he has twenty teachers along with him”. Is your school a free school”? I asked. “Oh! no we are not a charity school, some of us pay 2 shillings a week, some one and three pence, according as we learn to draw or not.” “Well, you are a fine looking set of fellows – and I have no doubt, you will have a happy day today”. “Yes, indeed we will, for tomorrow is Saturday, and we have no lessons to say”. Happy boys, thought I and the sentiment of Miss Hannah Moore69 occurred to me, that “it was easier to repress vivacity than to stimulate dullness.”
Much similar “treats” of the boys and girls have we seen in England. Meet them where you will, and in whatever condition of life, ______
and you will see them running along as merry as larks.
And the grown up people, are only old girls and boys. Every body seems ready for fun and amusement and they have it too. These points of retreat in the Surburbs of London, and there are many of them, are frequented by the people all the time, and the facilities of reaching them are so great, not only in expense but conveyances, that the lower Class as well as the rich and middle class, have their enjoyments.
From 15 to 20,000 were at the Chrystal Palace yesterday – some 8 or 10,000 were at Hampton yesterday when we were there, and among them we saw parties consisting of entire families with babes only a few weeks old, all sitting upon the grass, and eating ______
luncheons, including of course a jug of ale.
68 Half day holidays for school children were given from time to time, including what was called “school treat.” The practice was also followed in the United States.
69 Hannah More (1745-1833). English writer on religious and moral subjects, playwright, social reformer, and philanthropist. After teaching in Bristol for several years, she moved to London where she met David Garrick, Elizabeth Montagu, Joshua Reynolds, Samuel Johnson, Edmund Burke, Horace Walpole, and William Wilberforce, the abolitionist, with whom she sympathized. In the 1780s and 90s, she wrote on female education, character, Christian morals, piety, and against the slave trade. More became highly popular and wealthy, and she turned this to philanthropy, especially in setting up, with evangelical friends, Sunday schools where reading the Bible and catechism were taught to children. She is sometimes referred to as an “evangelical author.” See “Hannah More,” at “Wikipedia.” See also Dictionary of National Biography, 39: 39-46; and Patricia Demers, The World of Hannah More (U. Press of Kentucky, 1996).
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Miss Black, my fair companion at Richmond, gave me many particulars of the new Bishop of London,70 by whom she was confirmed at his [unclear] visitation. She says he has done much good since he has been in office. That he has made opportunities of preaching, where a Bishop was never known to go before, in the midst of dens of vice, and that he has had crowds to hear him – that he would speak to them in the simplest and most affectionate manner, and that great feeling has been awakened among this class. I asked her if his family were of noble birth, that he should have been elevated to so high a station at so early an age. She said no – but he was chosen because of his fitness for the office, and that nowadays
Archibald Campbell Tait, Bishop of London The Illustrated London News
______it is usual to select young men rather than old ones for the office. I should suppose the Bishop of London could not be over 40 years of age, she says he has been very sad – from having lost all his Children from disease.
As I may dispatch this letter before I have an opportunity of giving you my operations for today and tomorrow, I will say now that we expect to leave London on Monday or Tuesday for the Isle of Wight, spend three days there and then go direct to Paris. We can make no definite
70 Bishop Archibald Campbell Tait. See previous reference and picture in letterbook one.
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VMI Archives www.vmi.edu/archives arrangements with reference to our Continental tour, as the routes etc. will depend upon information received at Paris.
Your letters will, of course, be always sent to Peabody & co. as usual ______as the most certain mode of reaching us promptly, for we can communicate with them quicker than with you, and they are very promp in dispatching our letters. I see by the papers this morning that the Africa has arrived in New York on the 8th. You no doubt got letters from us by her.
As ever your dear Husband
F H Smith
Saturday night July 24th 1858 My twelfth day in London has not been a very busy one in the way of sightseeing.
The chief thing was to arrange our money matters with Mr Peabody, preparatory to our Continental tour, and this kept us until 1 ½ P.M. After [this] John Cocke and myself took a cab to endeavor to get a ticket to the Surry Gardens, to hear Mr Spurgeon71 tomorrow. The driver ______
71 Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892). Because Smith dwells here on Spurgeon, the previous reference in letterbook one is repeated and expanded in this note. Smith speaks of Spurgeon here again, at length, several days later when he went to hear Spurgeon preach.
Spurgeon was a British Reformed Baptist preacher and religious writer known, in his time, as “Prince of Preachers.” Some thought of him as a genius, “a prophet for his time,” and a “prophet for the people.” He was named pastor of the New Park Street Chapel, London, at the age of only nineteen. Soon his plain speaking, dramatic manner, and humor drew audiences so large on weekends – 10,000 to 12,000 gathered to hear him; at times there were as many as 20,000 – that he began preaching at the Music Hall at Surrey Gardens. In an age which valued earnestness in its preachers, he showed “red-hot earnestness.” His critics considered him a “nine-day wonder” who engaged in sensationalism, irreverence, “popular services,” and theatrical performances. Some objected to his Puritan emphasis on the Old Testament. Smith apparently shared this low opinion of Spurgeon before he went to hear him, but changed his mind once he had heard Spurgeon in person. Without a doubt, Spurgeon was a phenomenon – some would say a “moral phenomenon” -- in London at the time. See Dictionary of National Biography, 52: 6-10.
Spurgeon biographer W. Y. Fullerton, quoting Spurgeon’s wife, gives the following account of the preacher: “Sometimes his voice would almost break and fail as he pleaded with sinners to come to Christ, or magnified the Lord in His sovereignty and righteousness. A glass of chili vinegar always stood on a shelf under the desk before him, and I knew what to expect when he had recourse to that remedy. I remember with strange vividness the Sunday evening when he preached from the text, ‘His name shall endure for ever.’ It was a subject in which he reveled, it was his chief delight to exalt his glorious Saviour, and he seemed in that discourse to be pouring out his very soul and life in homage and adoration before his gracious King. But I really thought he would have died there, in face of all those people. At the end he made a mighty effort to recover his voice; but utterance well nigh failed, and only in broken accents could the pathetic peroration be heard -- ‘Let my name perish, but let Christ’s name last for ever! Jesus! Jesus! JESUS! Crown Him Lord of all! You will not hear me say anything else. These are my last words in Exeter Hall for this time. Jesus! Jesus! JESUS! Crown Him Lord of all!’ and then he fell back almost fainting in the chair behind him.” See W. Y. Fullerton, “Charles Haddon Spurgeon: A Biography,” date posted unknown, The Spurgeon Archive, date accessed 5/29/09, electronic address:
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Charles Haddon Spurgeon Illustrated London News, 17 October 1857
took us to his Chapel in Park Street, and there a female attendant for a shilling each gave us the tickets. It may seem surprising that admission tickets are required for such a purpose and at a price. But it is reasonable and proper. The crowd who usually attend the Surrey Gardens meeting is so immense that no comfort would exist to many who are desirous of attending. The ticket secures you a seat, provided you reach the place ¼ to 10. At this hour the doors are open to the crowd, and then there is a general rush on the part of the masses, who scramble in as well as they may, many of course standing without charges. Our ticket therefore secures us a seat if we reach the Hall at the proper hour, which we shall endeavor to do. ______
Having secured the tickets, we drove to London Tower, as John had not seen it – I set in the Cab while he made his visit, and then we drove to St Pauls.72
72 St. Paul’s Cathedral is the Anglican cathedral in London, the seat of the Bishop of London (Archibald Campbell Tait, in 1858). The present cathedral was designed by Sir Christopher Wren in 1668 and was completed in 1708. See “St. Paul’s Cathedral,” at “Wikipedia.”
According to Murray’s, “ST. PAUL’S CATHEDRAL, the most marked feature in the architecture of London, and the noblest building in Great Britain in the Classic style, stands on the site of a former building to the same saint destroyed in the Fire of London. The principal approach to it is by Ludgate-hill, but it is too closely hemmed in by houses to be seen in detail to much advantage. The best general view of it is from the Thames, or Blackfriars Bridge…. General History. -- The ground began to be cleared, and the first stone was laid June 21st, 1675. Divine service was performed for the first tine Dec. 2nd, 1697, on the day of thanksgiving for the peace of Ryswick, and the last stone laid – 1710, 35 years after the first. It deserves to be mentioned that the whole Cathedral was begun and completed under one architect, Sir
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St. Paul’s Cathedral Public Domain Illustration from Wikipedia
This Cathedral is one of the objects of greatest interest in London, and it was planned by Sir Christopher Wren. Church services were being conducted when we went in, and as we could not inspect the buildings and its monuments while they were progressing, we withdrew for want of time, and having exchanged our English coin for French, went to St James Hotel, Regent Street, to dine.
I called for some venison stake [sic], and was luxuriating in the anticipation of a nice dinner. The first mouthful spoiled my dinner, I called the waiter and told him it was too strong, for me. “Too high, Sir, too high! Why sir, the gentlemen of the city don’t ______think it is high enough, and won’t eat it.” “Well, I replied, the gentlemen of the City may do as they please, but for myself I prefer something a little lower, and ordered him to take it away. I had fortunately taken a good plate of Vermicelli soup before, and this with a piece of fish, (Sole) and a few strawberries, gave me a very good dinner, for which including a mug of ale, I had to pay 3s 9d, equal to 84 cents.
We had expected to be off on Monday for the Continent, but the American Steamer with our mails did not get in this morning as we expected, and if she comes tomorrow, we shall not get our letters until Monday, so you see what affectionate fellows we are, to be wiling to postpone our ______trip two days to be sure of getting letters.
In this we hope we shall not be disappointed. One thing I know you will not complain of me for want of regularity in writing, for generally I dispatch two letters each week.
To day73 closes my 54 day of absence, and this is my 23d letter, making one letter every two days.
The truth is, writing as I do now, by a journalizing mode, I write something nearly every day, so that you have the certainty, my dear wife, if you needed the assurance, that my thoughts are turned toward you every day. If you could read my heart as you read this letter, you would
Christopher Wren; one master mason, Mr. Thomas Strong; and while one bishop, Dr. Henry Compton, presided over the diocese. The whole cost, 747,954£ 2s. 9d., was paid for by a tax on every chaldron of coal brought into the port of London, and the Cathedral, it is said, deserves to wear, as it does, a smoky coat in consequence….” See Murray’s Modern London (1856), 111-112.
73 Saturday, 24 July 1858
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VMI Archives www.vmi.edu/archives find that you have my thoughts every hour of the day. In my waking as well as my sleeping moments, my thoughts are turned to you and my dear little ones. You must ______not therefore, think me too sentimental in the scented verses which I enclose to you, and which I purchased from a poor fellow as an act of Charity.
Good night now and may Heavens choicest blessings be with you and all my dear household evermore, is the constant prayer of your own dear Husband F H Smith
P.S. Don’t fail always to remember me affectionately to all my friends and the Faculty – Mr. Catlett, Ball [or Bull?], Gibbs, Christy, the Sergeant, Mr & Mrs Moore, Dr & Mrs Estill etc. etc. not forgetting the Servants whom I always remember in my prayers74 F.H.S.
Monday July 26th. I was made most happy this morning my dearest Sarah by the receipt of your letter of the 8th July ______with its postscript of the 9th, so that our delay until this morning was not without its reward. I was glad to know that the dear little baby was better, for although I have tried to commit all that is most precious to me to the guardianship of one who never sleeps, I could not but feel anxious to hear again.
The only fault I found with your letter was, that when I had gotten through with it, I had’nt as much more to read. But I am thankful to have received good tidings today, and I shall wait each weeks news with patience. As the mail was not received until 12, and as Mr Mason had called for the boys to go to Westminster Abbey with the girls, we have concluded to postpone leaving here until 8 tomorrow, when we go to the Isle of Wight en route for Paris, reaching Paris on Thursday evening. ______
We go by the Isle of Wight to see the grave of little Jane etc. The last illustrated Times75 I sent is for Sally. It contains a valuable map which will give you a clear idea of my route through Great Britain. Let it then be preserved. To-day I send you an illustrated news for Frank. You will see a reference to Mr Peabody’s dinner on the 4th of July at the Chrystal Palace. That which we attended has not yet been noticed.76
Yesterday77 according to our arrangements we went to the Surrey Gardens to hear Mr Spurgeon preach.78 To secure our seats we had to be there by 10 o’clock. Altho’ we were full early, it was as much as we could do to get a good seat. At 25 past 10 the doors were thrown open, promiscuously and crowded as the Hall was, you would have thought as many
74 These individuals are identified in letterbook one.
75 Smith probably meant to write The Illustrated London News.
76 See earlier reference to Peabody’s banquet in an article that appeared in the 17 August 1858 issue of the New York Times.
77 Sunday, 25 July 11858
78 See earlier references to Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
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Charles Spurgeon preaching at Surrey Gardens Illustrated London News, July 1858
______more were seeking admission in the rush that was made at the door. All around us where we were sitting there were women standing up, and I really felt my politeness severely taxed to find it in my heart to sit while females were standing. But a gentleman sitting behind me as soon as the crowd commenced coming in, said to me, I had better keep my seat, that if I left it for a second it would be gone. At ¼ to 11 the services commenced. Mr Spurgeon is a young man of about 25 or 28 years of age, thoroughly John Bull in his build, and with a decided English accent. Thus mercy is pronounced – mearcy, Heavenly, Heave-enly. His countenance is good. His manner not graceful. He opened with singing – his hymn being distinctly and emphatically read – and then as the congregation sang, he gave out again verse by verse. “All ______our audience are not singing, I think if the tune is changed to Old Hundred, we shall have a more hearty praise to God.[”] The tune was changed accordingly, and the singing was more cordial. His prayer was distinct and earnest, in short petitions, and I thought was written. He read a short passage from St Luke, descriptive of some of the Parables of our Saviour, interspersing his reading with some extemporaneous remarks. In the course of these he referred to the Saviour’s style of preaching. “It was parabolic. He sought not to please – but to edify – So ought preachers now to do” His text was Hosea 12.10. “He taught them by similitudes.” His entire sermon was illustrative of this mode of teaching truth. He observed that God was constantly preaching to ______to men, by nature and by providence, and if men would only look into the ways in which He spoke to us thus, we would find much Heavenly wisdom in them. We arose this morning – if we would only heed the voice then speaking to us, we would be reminded as we dressed of our spiritual nakedness, and of our need of that robe of righteousness which the Savior has provided for us. By and by, we are in the breakfast room, and while our families are gathering around us to receive, at our hands, their daily bread; we may, at the same time, be reminded, that our Father in Heaven is offering to us that bread which came down from Heaven, even his own Son. We go to our work – and does not this work suggest to us all the day, that we have a work to day, to secure our salvation, and as the sun arises to the noon, are we not ______
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VMI Archives www.vmi.edu/archives admonished so to advance in holiness more and more to the perfect day. In this way for one hour he kept up his discourse, in the most familiar illustrations, shewing, how, by Similitudes, nature and providence were teaching us Heavenly wisdom. He carried his illustrations into the trades, the baker, butcher, jeweler and shoemaker etc. etc., and also into the professions – medicine, farmer, and then as he closed he said, “Now Dear bretheren while the clock ticks a few more beats, I will pass from Similitudes, and present to you a few solemn verities, Heaven is to be secured, Hell to be shunned. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.” “Will you act upon this or will you refuse. May God give you grace to choose this day to act upon the privilege given. His grace now appears ______to you.”
My impression before hearing Mr. Spurgeon was not favorable to him, but I was most agreeably disappointed. He is in no respects an orator, either in voice or manner. He is earnest, although not impassioned, and yet by his peculiar faculty in illustrations, he was enabled to keep his audience numbering yesterday 10,000! in breathless attention during the whole time, not a thing occurred to mar the occasion. He rents for these morning meetings the great Music Hall in the Surrey Gardens, for which he pays ₤15 each day. A man who has the power of thus enchaining an audience not for one Sabbath only, but for months – from Sabbath to Sabbath – must be a man of power. I understand he is gong to America.79
At 3, I went to St James’ Church80 ______and heard a most indifferent sermon from what I took to be a half Puseyite,81 and at 7 I was at the national Scotch Church, and heard an admirable sermon from your Mother’s great favorite, Dr Cumming82 whose sermons and lectures she was always fond of reading. I have been interrupted by the call of some gentlemen who expected to meet Mr Mason here, and I shall not be able to fill up my sheet.
79 From published lists of events in the life of C. H. Spurgeon, it does not appear that he went to America. Perhaps the outbreak of the American Civil War kept him from traveling there.
80 According to Murray’s, “ST. JAMES’S, PICCADILLY, or ST. JAMES’S, WESTMINSTER. Was built (1682-84) by Sir Christopher Wren, and erected at the expense of Henry Jermyn, Earl of St. Albans, the patron of Cowley, and the husband, it is said, of Henrietta Maria, the widow of Charles I. The exterior of the church is of red brick with stone quoins, and is mean and ugly in the extreme. The interior is a masterpiece, light, airy, elegant, and capacious – well worthy the study of an architect. It is Wren’s chef d’oeuvre in this way – and especially adapted to the Protestant Church service.” See Murray’s Modern London (1856), 126.
81 See earlier references in letterbook one to Pusey and the high church Oxford Movement, which Smith opposed.
82 Dr. John Cumming, D.D., born in Aberdeen, Scotland, 10 Nov. 1807, ordained in 1832, Minister of the Scotch Church, Crown Court, London. His popularity as a preacher attracted large congregations and the church had to be enlarged in 1847-48 to accommodate 1000 people. According to the DNB, “Cumming was prominent as a controversialist. He opposed the seceders, who ultimately formed the Free church…. Cumming became most widely known by his writings on the interpretations of prophecy, holding that the ‘last vial’ of the Apocalypse was to be poured out from 1848 to 1867. He continued preaching, writing, and involvement in church matters until his death in 1881. See Dictionary of National Biography, 13, 297- 298.
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But this will give you the pleasing news that we are all well, and unite in love to all the dear ones at home, and remembrances to all friends, while I remain as ever your own dear Husband. Francis H Smith Mrs Sarah H Smith Lexington Va ______
(Letter No 24)
Ventnor Isle of Wight83 England Tuesday evening July 27th 1858
My beloved Children
You will surely understand the motive which induces me to address this letter to you, which describes my visit to the Isle of Wight. Here was the scene of the labors of that beloved man of God, Rev Leigh Richmond.84
Here the “Dairyman’s Daughter”, and dear “little Jane” lived and died and were buried – and it was to visit the spots made sacred by their lives and hallowed by the eloquent tributes to their memories in the well known tracts which you have so often read, that I am here tonight.85
Take then up with me your maps, while ______
I point out the route I have traveled today, and when you have read what I have to say of Elizebeth Wallbridge and Little Jane, open those sweet little Tracts again, and may God’s blessing attend you and sanctify to you what you read.
Frank Smith86 and Robt Taylor87 were anxious to get to Paris, and we could not persuade them to take this trip with us. John Cocke,88 Mr Grandy,89 and Mr Terrell90 most cordially desired
83 Smith was on his way to France when we wrote from the Isle of Wight, an island off the south coast of England. Ventnor was established during Queen Victoria’s reign as a seaside resort. See “Isle of Wight,” at “Wikipedia.”
84 Legh Richmond (1772-1827), Church of England clergyman and writer, was appointed curate of two churches on the Isle of Wight in 1798. He was influenced by William Wilberforce and was active in the British and Foreign Bible Society and the Church Missionary Society, two organizations in which Smith had a deep interest. According to the Wikipedia entry, “The best known of his writings is The Dairyman’s Daughter, of which as many as four millions in nineteen languages were circulated before 1849.” See “Legh Richmond,” at “Wikipedia.” See also Dictionary of National Biography, 46: 878-879.
85 The Dairyman’s Daughter was a booklet, or tract, written by Legh Richmond about the illness, religious experiences, and death of Elizabeth Wallbridge who, “after a lingering sickness of a year and a half,” died May 3, 1801. The tract recounted her religious transformation by a sermon and how she studied the Bible, “in which she became remarkably proficient.” The tract first appeared in 1814 and was published by the New England Tract Society in Boston the same year. It was considered the cause of the conversion of thousands who read it. See “the Dairyman’s Daughter’s Chair,” date posted unknown, American Tract Society, date accessed 6/4/09, electronic address:
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VMI Archives www.vmi.edu/archives it, and leaving our other companions in London, to take the mail line by Dover and Calais at 9 ½ today for Paris, we took the train for Southampton at 8 A.M. passing through Bishopstoke, Winchester, and reaching Southampton at 11 ½ A.M. Here we took a Steamer ______for Cowes, on the Isle of Wight, and were only an hour in crossing this narrow sea.
New Dock at Southampton Illustrated London News, 17 January 1852
Southampton91 is a seaport of considerable importance, being next to Liverpool, the most valuable port in England. It is the port for the American line of Steamers, and is well suited for commercial and shipping purposes. As we only rode through the town on the top of an Omnibus, we had no opportunity of seeing much of it. Our boat was very small, and the sea for a while was quite rough, but I was not seasick.
86 See previous reference to Francis Williamson Smith in letterbook one. Frank later attended the Ecole des Ponts et Chaussees (School of Bridges and Roads) in Paris.
87 Probably Robert Barraud Taylor (died 1896), VMI 1857, graduate of University of Virginia. See The 1989 Register of Former Cadets, 61.
88 See previous reference in letterbook one to John Bowdoin Cocke (VMI 1856)
89 See previous reference in letterbook one to Albert Horace Grandy (VMI 1865)
90 Probably James Barbour Terrill, VMI 1858, KIA 1864. See The 1989 Register of Former Cadets, 62.
91 Southampton, a major port city, is located on the south coast of England, about 62 miles southwest of London. The city grew significantly during the Victorian period. The railway link to London was opened in May 1840. Southampton was the home of the Cunard Line, which built and operated the steamship Africa, on which Smith sailed to England. See “Southampton,” at “Wikipedia.”
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I was shocked at a sight, which made my blood run cold, as I came on board. Four little boys, but a little larger than dear little Frank, were chained by the wrists together, and, in charge of two policemen, where on their way with us to the Isle of Wight – to ______be imprisoned.92 I involuntarily approached them, and asked one of the Keepers what they had been doing to deserve, at their early age, such a punishment. “I am sure I don’t know,” was his reply, “Stealing – I suppose”, they are not as young as some I have taken over. I have sometimes taken boys not more than 6 years of age”. “Poor fellows”, I thought, Perhaps they had no pious father of Mother to teach them the ways of God – but have been left without a guide or a teacher, to run in the ways of folly and crime. Perhaps their parents have only been examples of evil to them, for only look at them, although chained as criminals, and felons – they are laughing and joking with each other, and seem to possess no idea of Shame. ______
My dear children, thank God, that your parents have endeavored, imperfectly, I know, to train you up “in the fear and admonition of the Lord”. Pray to God, that he may give you his grace, that you may so live, as to never dishonor him, nor to dishonor their teaching.
Carisbrooke Castle, Isle of Wight Public Domain Illustration from Wikipedia
As we had a good days riding before us on reaching Cowes,93 we thought it best to take luncheon, so calling for a cup of tea, some boiled potatoes, and a piece of cold roast beef – we laid in a good supply to make up for dinner on the way, and by 1 o’clock we were on our way in a post chaise for Cargelrook,94 passing through New Port.95 At the former place is a Castle96
92 The boys were probably being sent to Parkhurst Prison, on the Isle of Wight, transformed in 1835 from a military hospital to a prison for boys awaiting deportation to Australia and other locations. See “Parkhurst (HM Prison),” at “Wikipedia.”
93 Cowes is located on the west bank of the river Medina on the north side of the Isle of Wight. See “Cowes,” at “Wikipedia.”
94 This is an error. The correct name is Carisbrooke.
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VMI Archives www.vmi.edu/archives bearing this name, and celebrated in England’s history as the place in which Charles 1st and his children after his death were confined. Charles was kept here 10 months, and ______the window is shewn to us from which he once attempted to make his escape. The Castle bears the marks of the desolating spirit of the times of the Commonwealth, and is quite a ruin. I stopped at the Port cullis gateway to buy some views of the Island, and while my companions passed on, I made some inquiries of the old lady who vended them, with reference to the labor of Mr Richmond.97
She was about 55 years of age, and much in appearances like old Mrs. Farley,98 excepting that her countenance was lighted up with great benevolence, and a sweetness which really formed one of my reasons for stopping to converse with her. “You have no doubt read the story of the Dairymans Daughter,” I said – “Yes, indeed” ______she replied, and often have I longed that the grace found in her, might also be given to me.” “Yes I knew that dear man Mr Richmond, and tears have often run down my cheeks as I have read the story of Elizebeth Wallbridge, for I know her family well. Thank God – those tears have been turned into joy, for I have found in Jesus, that he was my Saviour”. I cannot do justice to the eloquence of this old lady. There was grace of expression in her language, (and she was evidently unlettered) which fascinated me – and which I endeavored to catch, but in vain, while the tone of her voice, and the humility and sweetness of her manner, added much to the attraction which made me linger at her stall. “I am afraid I am interfering with the sale of your articles Madam,” “Not at all” she contentedly ______
replied, “It is time, I wish to sell what I have – but it is a great privilege for me to talk of My Saviour to those who love Him, and while I stand at this gate to sell what may secure for me the bread which I need for my family, it is but little that I want now – so I can only secure that bread which comes down from Heaven”. Truly this was a delightful prelude to my visit to Arreton Church Yard,99 where rest the remains of the Dairyman’s Daughter.
I gave her my hand as I parted from her, and deemed it a privilege to have had the short interview with her. We drove then some 6 miles and entered upon that rich scenery which is so beautifully described by Leigh Richmond, in his tract of the Dairyman’s Daughter, and my recollect- ______
95 Newport is the county town of the Isle of Wight, located near the center of the island. Carisbrooke Castle is located there. Parkhurst Prison is located nearby. See “Newport, Isle of Wight,” at “Wikipedia.”
96 Carisbrooke Castle. This is an ancient fortified site, dating back to Roman times. The castle dates from around 1200. It was strengthened in 1588 when the Spanish Armada was expected. King Charles I was imprisoned here before his execution, and his daughter Princess Elizabeth died in the castle. See “Carisbrooke Castle, at “Wikipedia.’
97 The Rev. Legh Richmond, mentioned earlier.
98 Probably Ann L. Farley, age 57, a resident of Lexington who lived on Main Street.
99 Arreton Church is in the village of Arreton, about three miles southeast of Newport.
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VMI Archives www.vmi.edu/archives tions of her funeral were so vivid, that I remarked to the young men that I knew we were approaching the grave yard from the accurate correspondence of the scenery as seen by us, with that given by Mr Richmond.
And sure enough we were at the gate of the Church yard. A crowd of little children ran out to meet us, altho’ it was raining – and seemed to know the object of our visit. They permitted us to wander about the yard for a while, without offering to point out the sacred spot, until one of our number saying that he could not find the grave; they quickly added, pointing to it with their fingers – “There it is”! And there we stood in the silence at the head of the grave of Elizebeth Wallbridge, The Dairyman’s Daughter.
I cannot express to you what a crowd of emotion came upon me as I gazed upon the scene before me. The dust of an immortal spirit lay at my feet – the soul washed in the blood of the Lamb was hymning the praises of undying love. Here was the grave of a poor cottage girl, and yet how many thousands of eyes have moistened at the story of her life and of her death. I stooped down and plucked a blade of grass, from her grave, for no flowers were there – The chaplet she wears is [weaved?] by no mortal hands – This blade of grass my dear Children I enclose to you as plucked from the grave of the Dairyman’s Daughter by your father – and I copy for you the inscription on her humble Headstone as I copied it ______
To The Memory of Elizebeth Wallbridge “The Dairyman’s Daughter” who died May 30, 1801 Aged 31 years. “She being dead yet speaketh.”
Stranger if ever by chance or feeling led, Upon this hallowed spot, thy footsteps tread, Turn from the contemplation of the God, And think of her whose spirits rest with God. Lonely her lot on earth, but He who bore Tidings of grace and blessings to the poor, Gave her, his truth and faithfulness to prove, The choicest treasure of his boundless love, Hope, that could cheer the passage to the tomb, Peace, that not Hell’s dark legions could destroy; And love, that filled the soul with heavenly joy, Death of its sting disarmed, she knew no far, But tasted Heaven, e’en while she lingered here, Oh! Happy Saints, may we like thee be blessed In life be faithful – and in death find rest.”
The few last lines were so illegible that I could scarcely make them out, but the little children who were standing around, and saw my difficulty, in deciphering, promptly filled up the words, for they ______all seemed to know them by heart.
We drove from the Church yard along the road so beautifully described by Mr Richmond as that along which the funeral procession moved, while they sang the funeral Psalter, and a little over a mile came to the cottage where the Dairyman lived and his daughter died. I got out and went into the Cottage, an elderly man met me at the door, and on learning the object of my visit,
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VMI Archives www.vmi.edu/archives asked me to walk in. I found that he was a nephew of Elizebeth, who was with her when she died, attended her funeral, and has now in his possession the bible which she was in the habit of reading. He kindly shewed it to me, and I read with my own eyes, her own name written on the back ______of it with her own hand “Elizebeth Wallbridge, her book”, I then entered my name on a Register which the family keep of those who visit this humble cottage, and you will know how God has distinguished this spot, when I tell you that in the same book in which I recorded my name I read that of the Duke of Wellington, written by himself on a visit he paid here in 1845.
Many Noblemen of the world have also enrolled their names here also. May our names be enrolled in that book which bears the title of inheritance to the Heavenly Mansions for the Dairyman’s Daughter.
A ride of nine miles through the loveliest country my eyes ever rested upon brought us to Ventnor,100 where we rest for the night – and where I now bid my dear Children ______and, their dear Mother good Night; while the rain is falling and the sea is roaring around me, in my snug Inn, on the brink of the Majestic Ocean.
Wednesday July 28. Portsmouth101 5 ½ P.M. My letter closed as I was going to bed last night. I had a refreshing sleep after a tedious days journey. Again this morning we were on the way going first to Shanklin,102 then to Sandown103 and finally to Reading and on to Ryde.104
100 See previous reference, above.
101 Portsmouth, a heavily fortified historic naval base and port on an island, is located on the south coast of England. See “Portsmouth,” at “Wikipedia.”
102 Shanklin is a seaside resort on the Isle of Wight. A wooded ravine located there, Shanklin Chine, was and remains a major tourist attraction. See “Shanklin,” at “Wikipedia.”
103 Sandown, near Shanklin, became a seaside resort on Sandown Bay in the Victorian age. Nearby is Culver Down, a chalk cliff typical of this area of the coast. See “Sandown,” at “Wikipedia.
104 Ryde is another seaside resort town on the coast of the Isle of Wight. See “Ryde,” at “Wikipedia.
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Shanklin Chines Public Domain Illustration from Wikipedia
Our object was to see the fine cliffs of chalk at the two former places, and especially to see the Shanklin Chines105 – a chasm in which runs a most beautiful rivulet and along the sides of which art has constructed a most attractive footpath. This point is much frequented by invalids, and Mrs Mason and her daughters from Paris, have been ______spending sometime here, for the benefit of the sea bathing. It was an unpleasant morning or we should all have been tempted to try a sea surf bath. The weather did not prevent the Ladies from bathing and we saw several in the surf. They are taken into the Sea in wheel cabins, and get down by steps. Of course we tarried but a short time at these parts but hastened on to Reading,106 that we might visit Reading Church,107 and the burial spot of “Little Jane,” the Young Cottager.108 Our chaise drove to the very gate of the Church yard. The Church is a venerable
105 Shanklin Chine is a wooded coastal ravine cut from a sandstone cliff. It is located in the town of Shanklin. The Chine contains waterfalls and footpaths popular with tourists for centuries. This entire area is sunnier and warmer than most of England, and with its sandy beaches draws many tourists. As Smith points out, the climate drew “many invalids” for the “benefit of the sea bathing.” See “Shanklin Chine,” at “Wikipedia.”
106 Smith probably meant to write “Brading.”
107 St. Mary’s Church, Brading.
108 The Rev. Legh Richmond was curate-in-charge of Brading from 1757 to 1805. In his memoir, he states that “Little Jane” was his “first convert” in Brading and often visited his Sunday school held in the church and in the churchyard. Legh Richmond wrote about Jane’s conversion, life, and death by consumption at
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VMI Archives www.vmi.edu/archives stone Edifice, built in 704 and is one of the earliest works of Christianity on the Island. We saw a tomb stone in the chancel, with an inscription as far back as 1440.
But the object of attraction to me was the sacred ______dust of Little Jane, and the spot where she was buried was kindly pointed out to me by a little boy who was my guide. Here as at Arreton Church, I was overwhelmed with the emotions which the spot awakened.109 The story of Little Jane always impressed my sensibilities more strongly than that of the Dairyman’s Daughter, and as I bent over her grave the scene of Mr Richmond’s visit to her came fresh before me. I plucked a single blade of grass from her grave and send it to you and copy the following inscription which I wrote down in my memorandum book at her grave
Sacred to the memory of “Little Jane” who died 30 January 1799 in the 15th Year of her age.
Ye, who the power of God delights to trace And mark with joy each monument of grace Tread lightly o’er the grave, as ye explore The short and simple annals of the poor” A child reposes underneath this sod, A child to memory dear, and dear to God, Rejoice! Yet shed the sympathetic tear, Jane, “The Young Cottager” lies buried here.
Her name was Jane. I saw also the tombstones from which she learned the verses which are quoted in her memoir. One belongs to the tomb of Robert Berry, who died July 3d 1792 in the 35th year of his age, and the other his wife Ann who died 24th August 1790, aged 25 years, and whose tomb contains the verses commencing
age 15 in 1799 in Annals of the Poor.” This tract inspired thousands of the faithful. For a full transcription (etext) of Annals of the Poor by Legh Richmond, see Project Gutenberg at
See also Rev. T. S. Grimshawe, A Memoir of the Rev. Legh Richmond (New York: Carvill, 1830, Google digitized book), 280. “Little Jane’s” cottage is located in Brading, and she is buried in St. Mary’s churchyard. For a photo of “Little Jane’s” thatched roof cottage, Brading, see “Little Jane’s Cottage,” date posted unknown, British Isle Genealogy, date accessed 6/4/09, electronic address:
109 “Little Jane” Squibb was the first-born of her parents, and Rev. Richmond commented in his tract that “Every parent of a family knows that there is a very interesting emotion of heart connected with the birth of his first-born child.” Smith’s emotional response to the stories of the Dairyman’s Daughter and of “Little Jane the cottager” were no doubt accentuated by the remembrance of the death of his and Sarah’s first child, Anna (“Annie”) Marsden Smith, who was born at Fort McHenry, Baltimore Harbor, Maryland, on 30 March 1836, and died at the Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, on 12 May 1846. Information obtained from loose pages from the Smith family Bible, courtesy of Alexander H. Morrison, of Rockbridge County, Va.
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“Forgive blest etc.”110
“Little Jane’s Cottage” Public domain illustration from Wikipedia
110 As Smith did not record here the entire inscription, it is assumed that he and his wife knew these lines that appear in Richmond’s Annals of the Poor:
“Forgive, blest shade, the tributary tears That mourns thy exit from a world like this; Forgive the wish that would have kept thee here, And stayed thy progress to the seats of bliss.
No more confined to groveling scenes of night, No more a tenant pent in mortal clay; Now should we rather hail the glorious flight, And trace thy journey to the realms of day.”
These lines on Ann Berry’s tombstone reflect a sentiment regarding death, the death of a loved one, and especially the death of a child, felt by many in mid-nineteenth century America: the belief in a Christian hereafter. See Lewis O. Shaum, “Death in the Popular Mind of Pre-Civil War America,” in Charles O. Jackson, ed., Passing: The Vision of Death in America (Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1977), 65-87.
On the death of Francis and Sarah’s child “Annie” in 1846, Sarah’s father, Dr. Thomas Henderson, wrote the couple a four-page letter which included the following: “Not for the wealth of worlds would I have my child back again in the world, where woe is so rife and happiness so rare. She is safe – safe for ever from sin and sorrow. We cannot follow the disembodied spirit – eye has not seen nor ear heard, nor has the heart of man conceived of the bliss of thou who pass to another state of existence in Christ Jesus – but we know that they enjoy what ‘God has prepared for those that love him.’” Dr. Thomas Henderson to Col. F. H. Smith, VMI Inst., Lexington, Rockbridge Co., Va., 20 May 1846, manuscript letter from the collection of Alexander A. Morrison.
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I then walked to the cottage in which she lived and found it exactly corresponding with the description so beautifully given by Mr Richmond.
Mr. R. lived you know in Brading, and his parsonage just behind the ______church yard – I send you several views that may interest you, in this connexion.
The blade of grass with the seed came from the grave of the Dairyman’s Daughter, that without it – from Little Jane’s.
The Isle of Wight is called the garden spot of England, and surely it has filled us with wonder and admiration, every mile that we have gone over. Ryde is immediately opposite to Portsmouth, and is only a ride of 20 minutes from it by Steam boats. As our hack drove into Ryde, we saw the British Fleet in the Roads, which is to escort the Queen to Cherburg next week. The Queen is now at Osborne House,111 one of her favorite mansions, and lying between Ryde and Cowes and in full view from either place. The Duke ______of Malakoff112 was visiting the fleet, as we came into town, and our building was reverberating from the salute they were firing in his honor. Taking the boat at Ryde at ¼ to 4, we were at Portsmouth at 5.
This is a great naval station and we counted 10 men of war lying off the harbour as we passed through there. It was a beautiful sight and they looked in fine order for their excursion next week. I am now writing in the Railroad Station House, as I am waiting for the cars for Southampton, at which point I take the boat to night for Havre, on my way to Paris. I write now that you may have the latest news of me writing as I almost always do in odd ends of time, without ever reading over what I write, you must all make due allowances for ______errors of style etc., I value the amount more than the manner of my letters.
Southampton, England, July 28th 8 o’clock P.M.
A short and pleasant ride from Southampton in the rail of one hour and ten minutes finds us at the Dolphin Hotel, to remain here only to get a cup of tea and until the tide is sufficiently high, to enable our steamer to go down Southamptons Waters. This will be at ¼ of 12 tonight. The tides here rise very high and fall correspondingly low, so that at low tide, it is nothing unusual to see ships and steamers lying on their broadsides high and dry, and there they lie until the tide floats them again. The river seeming to dwindle away into a mere ______rivulet, and you would not suppose it would float the large vessels found in them.
111 Osborne House was the summer retreat of Queen Victoria. It was built in the Italian Renaissance palazzo style between 1845 and 1851 for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. See “Osborne House,” at “Wikipedia.”
112 Aimable Jean Jacques Pélisser (1794-1864) was commander-in-chief of French forces at the Siege of Sevastopol during the Crimean War. His forces successfully stormed the Tower of Malakoff, which ended the siege and ended the war. Emperor Napoleon III awarded Pélisser the title of 1st Duke of Malakoff and made him a Marshal of France. Queen Victoria awarded Pélisser the Knight’s Grand Cross. For a short time he was French Minister to England in 1858. See “Aimable Pélisser” at “Wikipedia,” and “Obiturary: The Duke of Malakoff,” The New York Times (7 June 1864), 2.
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The journey from this to Paris is but a trifling affair. We get to Havre after a few hours sail – there we take the cars and passing through Rouen, hope to meet the other members of our party at Paris tomorrow at ½ past Six (6). The great annoyance to travellers on the continent is the examination of their passports – called viséed or looked at, and the still more minute examination of our luggage. For expedition and comfort we sent out trunks to Paris by express – taking only a portmanteau between Grandy, Cocke and myself. In the meantime to save foreign duties, and the tax of transportation upon excessive luggage, (for they weigh everything on the Continent) ______
we bought a huge box trunk between us, in which we have put such clothing as we should not need, our English guide books, and other articles not needed by us on the continent. Robert Taylor was our packer general, and a good one he was, and thus we were enabled to leave London with all the baggage of the four of our party now weighing only 216 pounds, much less than an American lady would take for herself alone. So you see we have already learned to be right good travellers. But our tea has come in, and now with another adieu for dear Mother and all our dear friends not forgetting any who may think and enquire for me, including always the servants, I am as ever your ______own dear Father Francis H Smith For my dear Children Lexington Va
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Ile de la Cité, Paris (ca 1856) From Galignani’s Guide (1856),from the editor’s collection
(No 24) Paris – France113 Hotel de Bade114 Boulevard des Italians115
113 Smith arrived in France on the 29th of July 1858. France was then under the government of the Second Empire and the reign of Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, 1808-1873), Emperor of the French (1852-1870). He allied with the British in the Crimean War and secured the Peace Congress for Paris in 1856. Thereafter, for a decade, Napoleon III was the arbiter of Europe. His adventure in establishing a French-dominated Empire in Mexico, however, was a disaster for his government. Later, France was outmaneuvered by Bismarck and lost the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. Napoleon was captured and imprisoned in Germany.
During the Second Empire, France – and especially Paris – experienced a cultural flowering that defined it for years. Starting with a warren of cramped, unplanned neighborhoods with narrow medieval streets and alleys, Paris was transformed by Baron Georges-Eugène Haussman (1809-1891) into the most beautiful city in Europe with parks, new bridges, monuments, public buildings, cafés, shops, and especially many long, wide, tree-lined boulevards which were not only attractive but served the government well in suppressing riots. Much of this urban renovation took place between 1854 and 1858, so Smith would have seen the results of this work when he visited Paris.
For the purpose of annotating Smith’s letters from Paris, an original copy of Galignani’s New Paris Guide for 1856 (Paris: Galignani and Co., 1856) in the editor’s collection has been used. It is cited hereafter as Galignani’s Guide (1856). Smith used a copy of this guidebook, perhaps the 1858 edition.
114 The Hotel de Bade was located at the corner of the Boulevard des Italiens and the Rue du Helder, which would place it directly at the southeast corner of the future Paris Opera. It was not among the hotels recommended to British and American visitors by Galignani’s Guide (1856).
115 The Boulevard des Italiens is one section in the line of “grands boulevards” that run from the Madeleine, past the Paris Opera, and on to the Place de la Bastille. It is located just to the east of the Paris Opera in the 2nd and 9th Arrondissements. The Boulevard des Italiens was an area frequented by elegant elite, society people, financiers, men of letters, and journalists during the Second Empire. The Paris Opera, known as the Opéra Garnier, was conceived in 1857 but not built until 1875. When Smith visited, there was no major
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My beloved Sarah
If I can address you an intelligible letter this morning, it is more than I can expect, from the continued jargon of half French and half English, which we have all been keeping up to make ourselves understood, since we first touched the shores of “La Belle France.”
I had no idea I would have so much difficulty with the French tongue.116 ______
But two difficulties present themselves – first to familiarize your ear to the pronounced French of the Parisian, and then the vocabulary of words to a stranger embraces just that class of words with which an ordinary French Scholar is least familiar -- Towels – Sheets – and a thousand other things which constantly present themselves, soon run you out of your own stock of words, and you have to speak a sign language or call for an interpreter until you can make yourself understood. Still the difficulty so embarrassing at first, disappears just in proportion to its annoyance, for being driven necessarily to speak and to understand, your stock of words soon increases, and your ear becomes accustomed very soon to the accent. A few hours experience has already given me much progress in ______this respect.
I put a letter in the mail bag at Southhampton for the benefit of the children on Wednesday night, giving them an account of my delightful trip to the Isle of Wight, and sending them enclosed some reminiscences of my trip. A few minutes after dispatching it, I was on board the Havre steamer, and soon after I was in my berth prepared for such a nights rest as the constant tramping on deck, the blowing off of the steam and the rather comfortless berth would allow. The comfort was that the trip was a short one, for by half past nine in the morning we were at Havre,117 and only for a single instant did I experience any sea sickness. As we neared Havre, to my great annoyance I discovered that my trunk, with all my valuables, embracing a new suit of black, my new uniform coat brought from America, my new epaulettes etc were missing. ______
I soon had the boys around me and true it was not there. Acting as I do, as purser of the party, settling each night, the others take charge of the baggage so as to relieve my mind of what might be a double inconvenience.
John Cocke promptly offered to go back from Havre, but this I declined as it might be well enough to wait until we got to Paris, as Frank might have heard something of it. So after taking all the precautions necessary at Havre and at the Paris station, and also writing to the London Station, I had to resign myself to the condition of one whose portmanteau contained two shirts,
building at its present location. See “Boulevard des Italiens” and “Paris Opera” at “Wikipedia.” See also modern editions of the Michelin Paris guidebooks, and many other reference works for these and other sites in Paris.
116 Smith had translated a number of French mathematical books into English for the use of the cadets at the Virginia Military Institute, and he may have learned a little conversational French at West Point, but as many novice French speakers find when visiting France for the first time, there is quite a difference between knowing written or literary French and being able to converse in it, especially with fast-talking Parisians.
117 Le Havre is a major port city in the northwest region of France, located on the Seine River.
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VMI Archives www.vmi.edu/archives and 2 or 3 pairs of socks – having parted company with the best portion of his traveling comforts – in order to secure no accidents, delay or unnecessary fees, by ______taking for it a registered ticket through.
At Havre we took the cars, and after 143 miles in a very comfortable carriage we reached Paris in 4 ½ hours, Stopping for twenty minutes at Rouen at 1 o’clock, to get what was to me a great comfort my breakfast. The coffee was delicious – the bread and butter equally as good – and after a fast of twelve hours I got the worth of my money.
John Cocke and Grandy were unaware we should be detained so long, and did not get any – but seeing the guard I quickly called out “A quelle heure part il?”118 He politely answered, “un heure et vignt et cinq minutes.119 I caught what he said, and set down very quietly at the Coffee room of the Station, and enjoyed my first French repast.
We had appointed with the other members of our party to ______to meet them at Hotel Windsor,120 but on reaching there, we found a note for us directing us to Hotel de Bade, on one of the most frequented thoroughfares of Paris, so by 7 o’clock last evening, we were at our new quarters, and in pretty comfortable rooms in the 5th story.
Paris is a gay city. Altho’ of course I have seen but little of it, yet last night I strolled along the Boulevard des Italiens, the street on which we live, and I never saw a more brilliant exhibition than the numerous cafes presented along the Boulevards.121
118 “What time does it [the train] depart?”
119 “At 1:25.”
120 The Hotel Windsor, 226, rue de Rivoli, was one of the hotels recommended to tourists by Galignani’s Guide (1856), but probably pricier than the Hotel de Bade and, as the young Cocke and Grandy probably found, not sufficiently near the glittering cafés of the Boulevard des Italiens.
121 In the area of the Boulevard des Italiens were many of the most famous cafés in Paris at the time of Smith’s visit, including le Café Tortoni, le Café Anglais, le Café de Paris, le Café Riche, le Café du Helder, and the Café du Cardinal, shown above in an 1855 illustration from The London Illustrated News.
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Scene on the boulevard des Italiens London Illustrated News, 18 August 1855
They were most brilliantly illuminated with gas lights, crowds were collected at the little tables in the saloons and in front of the cafes, composed of ladies as ______well as gentlemen, each taking his or her cup of coffee, Chocolate, or glass of cream, while shops, of the most attractive articles for dress or variety were met all along the street.122
122 Galignani’s Guide (1856) confirms the scene that Smith described along the Boulevard des Italiens: “CAFES. – At present they are to be found in every quarter, and rank among the most remarkable features of Paris, decorated as they generally are on the western boulevards, and in other fashionable parts of the town, with unrivalled costliness and splendour. Exceptions to this general expensive style of decoration lavished upon them are of course to be found; but on the western boulevards, and other fashionable parts of the town, it is difficult to fancy anything more tastefully brilliant than the Parisian coffee-rooms. When lighted up at night, the effect either seen from the exterior or within, is perfectly dazzling. Chairs and small tables are placed outside, where both sexes enjoy the cool of the evening, and witness the animated scene around them; while within you see yourself reflected by mirrors, remarkable for their size and number; you find yourself bewildered with the blaze of light, amidst the confused glitter of gilding, painting, and glass. The eye is dazzled with gorgeousness, and the effect is heightened by the degree of taste and luxury displayed in the fitting-up. Here it is, in these spacious rooms, resplendent with decoration and brilliant with light, that the character of the French people may be seen, amongst the numerous guests who nightly crowd together to amuse and to be amused. Nearly all these places furnish coffee, chocolate, tea, ices, liqueurs, &c., and déjeuners à la fourchette, either hot or cold; but dinners and suppers are generally to be had only at the restaurateurs. Among the privileges which the gentler sex enjoy in Paris, and from which
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This presented so striking a contrast to London. The stores in London close very early – an hour or two before dark, in consequence, I presume, of the long evening twilight, and it is very rare you find a shop open after gas is lighted.
Here the city is all animated after night, and presents, but in a more brilliant show, the same appearance that Philadelphia did when we rode into it in an omnibus at night some three or four years ago.
We have made no plans for our sight seeing – but go up this morning to call on Mr. Mason and ______
deliver some letters, and we shall then take the rounds of Paris.
6 P.M. I had written thus far when breakfast was announced, say 10 o’clock, and after drinking in my chamber in company with two others of our party, a good cup of tea and eaten two boiled eggs and some very nice bread and butter, we were ready for the day’s work.
I was anxious to deliver a letter of introduction which Mr Wiley123 of New York kindly gave me to Messrs Bossarge et fils,124 who are large booksellers and who have much connection with the literate of Paris. I found the son at the office, who was very kind to me, and the father called to see me this evening, and both seem disposed to afford me ______every facility in their power.
I then called at the American Embassy,125 Mr Adams126 and delivered him my letters of commission, which he will present to the minister of war127 and instruction,128 and thus secure our admission at the various establishments of France which are closed to an ordinary visitor. they are debarred by the ungallant customs in England, is the advantage of being able to visit these establishments, either in company or alone, without attracting observation….. the most splendid are the café Riche and café Cardinal, boulevard des Italiens….” See Galignani’s Guide (1856), 12.
123 John Wiley established his publishing firm in Manhattan, NY, in 1807. Wiley published Smith’s 1840 translation of Jean Baptiste Biot’s An Elementary Treatise on Analytical Geometry and Smith’s 1849 The Regulations of Military Institutions, Applied to the Conduct of Common Schools.
124 Bossarge et frères was a publishing house in Paris.
125 The United States had a Minister Plenipotentiary in Paris, John Young Mason. See previous reference. The U.S. Embassy was located at 13, rue Beaujon, a block or two north of the Arc de Triomphe.
126 Not identified.
127 Jean-Baptiste Philibert Vaillant, 1st Comte Vaillant (1790-1872), entered the army in 1809, served in the Russian Campaign of 1812, and fought at Waterloo. After service in Algeria, he was made director of the Ecole Polytechnique. He subsequently served in Italy, was promoted to Marshal of France, and served as Minister of War from 1854 to 1859, throughout the Crimean War. Smith would have needed permission from Vaillant to visit the Ecole Polytechnique (then located in the Latin Quarter, in Paris). See Jean- Baptiste Philibert Vaillant,” at “Wikipedia.”
128 Gustave Rouland (1806-1878) was French Minister of Public Education, 13 August 1856 to 12 June 1863. See “Gustave Rouland,” at “Wikipedia.”
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My visit to Mr Mason was prolonged this morning by his giving me an account of some recent interviews he had had with the minister of Foreign Affairs129 in reference to the course of M. Bellney in Nicaragua and who has been without authority assuming to act for French Government.130
I renewed to Mr Mason the expression of my cordial approbation of the sentiments announced by him at the recent dinner given to him by Mr Peabody, and my hope that they would be published ______
for I thought they were in such different taste from those of Mr Dallas on the 4th of July, that the dignity of the country would be restored by the better tone which his remarks convened.131 He
129 Alexandre Florian Joseph, Duke Colonna-Walewski (1810-1868) was French Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1855 to 1860. Born in Poland, he was the son of Napoleon I and his mistress Marie, Countess Walewski. See “Count Alexandre Joseph Colonna-Walewski,” at “Wikipedia.”
130 Napoleon III had dreams of establishing a catholic monarchy in Mexico and developing the economy of Nicaragua, including the vision of establishing a commercial center there and creating a Central American canal. The defeat of the French adventure in Mexico in 1862 ended those dreams, but later the French began work on a canal in Panama. The mysterious M. Bellney probably had something to do with the plan the Emperor was developing for Nicaragua. The US also had plans to create a canal across Nicaragua but these had to be put aside because of a civil war in that country and the American Civil War. See Roger L. Williams, The World of Napoleon III, 1851-1870 (New York: Free Press, 1965), 61-63. See also “Nicaragua Canal,” at “Wikipedia.”
131 From about 1820 to the eve of the American Civil War, the United States and Britain were engaged in a diplomatic contest that nearly resulted in war between the two countries. At issue was the right of “visit” (“the right of search”) and “seizure” of ships suspected of operating in the slave trade. Both countries honored the abolition of the slave trade (although not slavery, in the case of the US), but the United States objected regularly to the British Navy stopping its merchant ships on the high seas and searching them for slaves. As a compromise, the United States formed an “African Squadron” to patrol the African coast for slavers, but its results were negligible, and the British suspected that the authorities in Washington were purposely lax in their enforcement. In fact, the US Secretaries of the Navy from 1841 to 1861, including for a time John Young Mason, were mostly Southerners, and they emphasized the need to prevent “all violations of the rights and laws of fair trade” over the suppression of the slave trade. In 1858, British cruisers stopped American vessels off of Cuba and the US government protested. After lengthy debates in Parliament, the British government of Lord Derby concluded in June that no right of visit and search existed in time of peace, and that the British Navy did not have the right to stop, visit, or search ships of other countries.
The New York Times of 30 June 1858, in a news article entitled “The Right of Search and the Slave Trade,” reported: “Our controversy with England on the Right of Search is at an end. According to our Washington advices the British Government concedes, in its fullest extent, the doctrine asserted by the United States, and abandons every pretension to the right of visiting, searching, detaining or arresting American vessels for any purpose whatever. England acknowledges the entire and perfect immunity of American ships upon the high seas, and will instruct her officers to act accordingly.” See New York Times, 30 June 1858.
On the 4th of July 1858, at an annual dinner in London celebrating the anniversary of American Independence, George M. Dallas, US Minister to the Court of St. James’s and former Senator from Pennsylvania (he was chairman of the Committee on Naval Affairs), made a reference to Britain’s
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VMI Archives www.vmi.edu/archives said that his views of Mr Dallas’ speech were just such as I had expressed, and that he had said to Mr D. on his recent visit to London that he was sorry he had said what he did. Mr D replied to him that his remarks were based upon a state of things which were unknown to the country at large and hence he was anxious to give them the fullest and broadest notoriety. The course of the British Ministry on the right of search, had been in a great measure pressed upon it by the necessity of their gaining the support of the liberal men of the House of Commons, and thus while in their interviews ______with Mr Dallas, they were willing to express to him all that he asked, the mass of the people did not know the extent of the demands which had been made, and it was to give them full notoriety that he adopted the course he did; while this explanation relieves Mr Dallas from much of the objectionable matter, it does not remove the manner of his speech, which was rather too much on the bravado and egotistical order, and so I said to Mr. Mason. I had a pleasant talk of an hour with Mr Mason, and he has kindly invited our party to take a family dinner with him on Sunday, apologizing for the day, by saying that in Paris the gayest balls and most fashionable and most objectionable entertainments take place on that evening, and if he can secure his young American friends a ______place in his household on that evening, he feels that he has done much to guard them against much evil. I am not sure that I will go, but shall not look upon it as a party of pleasure if I do.132
concession of the right of visit and search in words which, in the opinion of to Smith and Mason, made it seem that Britain had backed down in the face of American power. The Illustrated News of London reported on 10 July 1858 that “His Excellency Mr. Dallas, in responding to a toast, justly extolled the diplomatic policy of his own country, and took the opportunity to announce that England had frankly and finally abandoned the right both of visit and search, and of course had thus ended the quarrel, and secured peace between the two counties.” See “Anniversary of American Independence,” Illustrated London Times, Saturday 10 July 1858, p. 35.
At the 22 July 1858 banquet at the Star and Garter, at Richmond Hill (cited above), Mr. Mason also addressed the issue and, after emphasizing the friendship between England, France, and the United States, said “Within the last four years great principles, involving equal rights of independent nations on the high seas, have been settled by common consent, and with universal satisfaction. Disputes in regard to them had in times past produced ruinous wars, annoyed and harassed commerce, and destroyed private property. But, animated by mutual respect, each asserting his own rights and respecting those of others, the discussion has been undertaken in a spirit of honor, candor, and conciliation, and has resulted in the establishment of justice and concord. The mercantile marine of the weakest State may now go to sea in safety under the protecting aegis of these great principles. A fruitful source of irritation, injustice and war is thus closed, I trust forever. Honor to the governments and negotiators who have achieved these grand results. With no sickly sentimentality on the subject of war, when national honor requires an appeal to arms, the cherished policy of the United States has ever been peace and friendship with all nations.” See the New York Times, 17 August 1858. Mason, in contrast to Dallas, stressed the idea that the controversy had been resolved through “mutual respect” and “in a spirit of honor, candor, and conciliation.” Smith was obviously in agreement with this approach.
For more on this controversy, see “Calvin Lane, ‘The African Squadron, The U.S. Navy and the Slave Trade, 1820-1862,” date posted unknown, exploringAmistad at Mystic Seaport, date accessed 6/7/09, electronic address:
132 Smith, who adhered to the admonition to keep the Sabbath holy, was strongly opposed to such entertainments on Sunday, and the failure of the French to “keep the Sabbath” troubled him during his
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The Rue de Rivoli, Louvre Palace, and Tuileries Palace Illustrated London News, 1 September 1855
Having finished this visit we all went to the celebrated gallery of paintings at Le Louvre.133 And here we were so much amazed by the number and value of the various works of art, that the idea of doing justice to it in an hour or two was impossible, and after taking a hasty walk through the various Salons, we left with the intention of giving it a more careful examination.
Frank and myself then took a cab and drove to the College de France134 to see my old friend M. Biot.135 entire visit to Paris. But, as he says, he would go Mason’s party to be polite, but would not allow himself to enjoy the event.
133 The Louvre Museum is housed in the Louvre Palace on the Right Bank of the River Seine. The museum opened in 1793. Much of its contents came from artwork confiscated from aristocrats and others during the French Revolution. It was expanded under Napoleon I and Napoleon III. See “Louvre,” at “Wikipedia.”
134 The Collège de France, located in the Latin Quarter near La Sorbonne, is not a college in the American sense. Throughout its long history (since its creation about 1530), it has been a center for higher education and research. It received its present name during the French Revolution. One of its distinguishing characteristics is that its professors, always among the leaders of their fields, have been required to give free lectures to the general public. See Collège de France” at “Wikipedia.”
135 Jean-Baptiste Biot (1774-1862). French physicist, mathematician, and astronomer. Biot was a member of the first class to study at the Ecole polytechnique, in 1794 (then known as the Ecole centrale des travaux publiques). After serving in the artillery, he was named professor of mathematical physics at the Collège de France in 1801, where he remained for the remainder of his career. He became a member of the French Académie des Sciences in 1808. Smith translated one of Biot’s mathematical texts as An elementary treatise on analytical geometry, translated from the French of J. B. Biot, for the use of the cadets of the Virginia Military Institute, at Lexington, Va., and adapted to the present state of mathematical instruction in the colleges of the United States (New York: Wiley and Putnam, 1840). See “Biot, Jean-Baptiste,” date posted unknown, Bibliothèque Centrale, Ecole Polytechnique, date accessed 6/17/09, electronic address:
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Jean-Baptiste Biot Public Domain Illustration from Wikipedia
We were sorry to discover that he was not in, but understood at the conciergerei [sic], that he would be in at 10 tomorrow, we left our cards, with a note that we would call to see him to- morrow.
And this reminds me to give you the result about my trunk. In our hurry to get off from London on Tuesday, our boy neglected to bring down my trunk, and only discovered his mistake some half hour afterwards. He then went down into the room where Frank and Rob Taylor were and most plaintively told the whole story, that the Colonel’s trunk had been left. They told him it made no difference, so adding my own to their luggage, they brought it on safely with them, and thus after many hours of ______grief and annoyance, and no little fuming against porters and RailRoads agents, my trunk and myself joined company last night, with the resolution that we would be compagnons de voyage for the future.
The matter however gave me an opportunity to test the politeness and patience of all the officials of the various Rail Road Companies, and I will say, that the moment I made known the probable loss of my trunk until it was found, no pains were spared to do all in their power to
polytechnicienne” to search for Biot. See also “Biot” in Trevor I. Williams, ed., A Biographical Dictionary of Scientists (New York: Wiley-Interscience, 1969), 60, and “Jean-Baptiste Biot” at “Wikipedia.”
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VMI Archives www.vmi.edu/archives recover it, and I am sure had it been left in London through any neglect of their agents, or at the Rail Road station by my neglect, it would certainly have been recovered and restored.
July 31. I am constantly under the necessity of contrasting the ______state of society in England and France, for striking differences affecting sometimes our comfort give occasion all the time for remark.
I was struck everywhere while in England with the great neatness of the inns at which I stopped, especially in Scotland and England. The beds were neat and comfortable – generally a female attended at the office, and gave all the necessary directions for your comfort, while the chamber maid and “the boots” were as attentive and as honest as possible. A plenty of water and soap and towels provided for you, and Bureau and presses for clothes.
The characteristic feature of society even among the poor is neatness. But here, my own discomfort in my chamber, suggests the ______thought that the French are not as particular about their persons.
I have a small basin – no slop tub – no soap and the “water closets” or Cabinets” in French, which were luxurious on the other side of the Channel are only so-so here. How apt persons are to be deceived by outward appearances. You cannot walk the streets in London or Liverpool or Oxford or in fact any large city, without being interrupted by numerous female “street walkers”. If there should be any here you [are] not annoyed by them. Now a casual observer would draw an unfavorable contrast against England, when we know that the state of private virtue in Paris is miserably low. ______
The English show the worst of their moral condition in the streets or in the beer saloons, and there is no doubt there is much immorality existing everywhere among them
The French have much that is offensive outside, but their inner life is impure and irreligious and the judgment of the passing observer would be greatly in error if he did not look below the surfaces.
I take up Galignani’s Messenger136 of this morning and I note under the head of Stranger’s Diary for Sunday he states – Military Bands – Place Vendome and the garden of the Palais Royal, 6 to 7, Garden of the Tuileries 7 to 8, and then after specifying the places of worship. At the Louvre all the galleries, Paintings, Sculpture, and Drawing 10 to 4, Luxemburg Palace, Chapel and Paintings ______
10 to 4, Cabinet of Natural History, Zoology & Mineralogy, at Garden of plants 1 to 5, Hotel [Cleey?] and Palais des Therming 12 to 4, Dog Market Boulevard de Hopital 12 to 2 etc. etc.
There are the public places of entertainment open tomorrow by governmental authority, besides theatrical exhibitions which he does not mention.
136 A. and W. Galignani and Company, rue de Rivoli, 224, Paris, published a popular guide book for visitors to Paris as well as a daily newpaper, Galignani’s Messenger, in English, that contained news and schedules of events in the capital. The newspaper was begun in 1814 by Giovanni Antonio Galignani (1757-1821). At his death, the newspaper was continued by his two sons, John Anthony (1796-1873) and William (1798-1882). See “Giovanni Antonio Galignani,” at “Wikipedia”
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Sunday Aug 1
Le garcon announced the breakfast was ready before I had completed yesterday all that I had to say, and the engagements of the day caused me to lay aside my writing until a more convenient time. The mail yesterday brought me two letters, one a most tender an affectionate one from Philip Cocke137 dated 10 July at Old Point,138 and the other ______from Dr Minnegerode.139
I was pleased to receive both, but although I did not expect one, I was sorry your own familiar hand did not present itself as they were handed to me.
My appointment this morning140 was a visit to my distinguished friend the Savan141 M Biot, whose great work on Analytical Geometry – I had translated for the use of the Cadets. Having called the day before with Frank and left our cards, we had announced our purpose to return at 12 the next day, we found him at his quarters at the College de France, and he received us with all the affectionateness of a father, extending to us, both of his hands as we approached and begging us at once to sit down. I introduced myself by reaching ______to him the copy of my translation of his work which I had sent here by Major Preston.142 “Oh! I know well your work and you have done me great honor, for when I read it your own improvements were so great, that I hardly recognized the original,[”] Frank fearing that I did not take in fully, as he was speaking French, the high compliment he had been paying me, and that I was perhaps receiving it with too much complaisance, added “You do my uncle more honor than he claims, he has only added one chapter to the book which you did not possess and that chapter was not original”. “No, No”, he rearranged the work and added illustrations which have improved it very much, and he has gained much credit by the work”. I thanked him ______for the compliment which was the more to be valued in consequence of the source from which it came.
137 See previous reference to Philip St. George Cocke in letterbook one.
138 Old Point Comfort, Virginia, is located at the mouth of Hampton Roads. It is the location of Fortress Monroe.
139 See previous reference to Dr. Charles F. E. Minnegerode in letterbook one. Dr. Minnegerode, who was Smith’s traveling companion in England, apparently preceded Smith to Europe, possibly to Germany.
140 It is not clear if Smith visited Biot on Sunday, 1 August, the date of this letter, or if he was referring in his letter to a visit the day before, on Saturday 31 July. The July date is more likely.
141 “the Savan,” French for scientist.
142 Smith is making reference to a visit to Europe by his VMI colleague Major J. T. L. Preston, some time between 1851 and 1854.
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I told him my object in bringing my nephew to see him was, that I might gain from him advice as to my wishes in the completion of his education, and that if the thing were possible, I desired to enter him at L’Ecole des ponts et chausses.143
He said Frank was just of an age to avail of its benefits and that it would give him great pleasure to further his and my wishes – that his son-in-law was the Instructor General of that School and that when we return to Paris we must both come and dine with him when he would have his son in law to meet us, and we should receive all the information we desired.
He enquired partic- ______ularly after many of our distinguished men in the world of Science, and mentioned among them Mr. Bond144 – and Mr Gould145 – and Comd Wilkes146 and Lt Maury,147 adding when he referred to the last, “How is it that Mr Maury only has the rank of Lieutenant in your navy? We told him that he had been unfortunate in breaking his leg some years ago, and that he had distinguished himself [in] sea service, but that he was now a commander, and although not holding a high naval
143 The École des ponts et chausées (School of Bridges and Roads) is the world’s oldest engineering school, founded in 1747. According to Galignani’s Guide (1856), “ÉCOLE IMPÉRIALE DES PONTS ET CHAUSSÉES, 28, rue des Saints Pères. – This school, placed under the authority of the Minister of Public Works, consists of about 100 pupils, taken from the École Polytechnique, who receive instruction in whatever concerns the different branches of civil engineering. Foreigners are allowed to follow the lectures, on receiving an authorization from the Minister of Public Works, which must be applied for by the respective ambassador. It has 15 professors.” See Galignani’s Guide (1856), 104.
144 George Phillips Bond (1825-1865). An American astronomer who took the first photograph of a star, in 1850, and a double star, in 1857. He discovered a number of comets and calculated their orbits. See “George Phillips Bond” at “Wikipedia.” See also Dictionary of American Biography, II: 430-431.
145 Benjamin Apthorp Gould (1824-1896). The first American to receive the PhD in astronomy. He studied at Harvard and in Germany and published papers on comets and asteroids. From 1852 to 1867 he was the head of the Longitude Department of the U.S. Coast Survey. He started and edited the Astronomical Journal in 1849. Later, he founded the Argentine National Observatory. The Gould Belt in the Milky Way is named for him. See “Benjamin Apthorp Gould,” at “Wikipedia.” See also Dictionary of American Biography, VII: 447-449.
146 Charles Wilkes (1798-1877). American naval officer and explorer. He was placed in charge of the Navy Department of Charts and Instruments, which later developed into the Naval Observatory. In 1838, he was given command of an expedition to survey the Southern Ocean, an 87,000 mile journey known as the Wilkes Expedition. He was promoted to the rank of commander in 1843 and captain in 1855. It was Wilkes who, in 1861, stopped the British mail packet Trent and arrested the Confederate commissioners aboard who were on their way to England. See “Charles Wilkes,” at “Wikipedia.” See also Dictionary of American Biography, XX: 216-218.
147 Matthew Fontaine Maury (1806-1873). An American naval officer, astronomer, oceanographer, meteorologist, cartographer, and geologist. His plotting of ocean currents and winds won him the title of “Pathfinder of the Seas” and an international reputation. He became the superintendent of the US Naval Observatory. During the Civil War he sided with the South and was sent to England where he experimented with electrical mines. After the war, he remained in England for two years before he was allowed to return to the US. On his return, he joined the Virginia Military Institute faculty as a professor of physics. Maury is considered the father of modern oceanography. See “Matthew Fontaine Maury,” at “Wikipedia.” See also Williams, Biographical Dictionary of Scientists, 355-357, and Dictionary of American Biography, XII: 428-431.
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VMI Archives www.vmi.edu/archives rank, he was justly esteemed one of the greatest ornaments of our country, and was the Supt of the National Observatory.
After touching upon many other subjects in this way, I added, well Mr. Biot, your health – “Cimmut vous party vous?”148 “Oh! Mon. [Monsieur] J’ai ______une maladie très longue, and [sic] très difficile a guerir, et qui devient plus pesant chaque jour c’est la maladie de quatre vingt huit ans et quatre mois apres.149 The old man said with so much expression, that we were both deeply impressed with it.
I told him how imperfectly I spoke the French and that my ear had not yet caught the French accent, and that I would be gratified if he would speak in English, as I did not wish to lose a word he said. He did not comply with my request as he spoke English imperfectly – but added “vous parley la langue Francais très bien, et si vous manquez un mot 150(what is the word you use in America. Go Ahead!). This he said in broken English parenthetically and then added ______
Go-ahead – “Avancey-en – Avancey en.”
He was dressed in a morning gown with a cloth cap on the top of his head, used for warmth – has but few teeth and my difficulty – in comprehending what he said was caused by his mumbling his words very much when he spoke. He said that he was getting old and that we must come down and sit with him whenever we had time and the inclination to do so.
After this pleasing visit to Mr Biot, we passed by La Morgue.151 This is the place at which all dead bodies are exposed, when their death comes by accident or violence, and are unknown. A strange curiosity in human nature carries one to such a place, and what is even
148 Probably: “Comment vous-allez vous,” or “How are doing.”
149 “Oh, Sir. I have had an illness for a long time that is difficult to cure, and which becomes more burdensome each day. It is the illness of about eighty-eight years and four months.”
150 “You speak French very well, and if you lack a word…”
151 The Morgue would have been an odd choice of spots to visit on a Sunday afternoon, 1 August. Smith probably visited it on Saturday, 31 July, after his visit to Biot. It was an easy walk from the College de France, on the rue des Ecoles (situated beside the Sorbonne), down rue de la Harpe (now boulevard St. Michel) and across the pont St. Michel to the Morgue, which was near the east side of the bridge, on the Isle de la Cité. Notre Dame Cathedral, which he later visited, was within sight to Smith’s right. The Morgue drew not only relatives and friends seeking to identify the dead laid out on marble slabs, but also many tourists intrigued by the drama and mystery of death. It became a must-see stop in guidebooks, especially in English guidebooks. This fascination with the Morgue, which appeared in many of the novels of the day, including those of Charles Dickens, was a reflection of a mid-nineteenth century fixation on death found not only in Europe but also in America. Furthermore, Paris had gained the unfortunate reputation of being the suicide capital of the world, and many of the victims ended up in La Morgue.
Galignini’s Guide (1856) included this on the Morgue: “La Morgue, Marché Neuf. – This is a place in which are deposited for three days the bodies of unknown persons who are drowned, or meet with accidental death. They are laid upon inclined slabs, open to the inspection of the public, in order that they may be recognized by those interested in their fate. Their clothes are hung up near them, as an additional means of recognition. If not claimed, they are buried at the public expense. The average number of bodies exposed annually is about 300, or which five-sixths are males. [footnote:] … during the year [1855] the number of bodies exposed was 377, viz. 239 men, 54 women, and 84 newly-born children. The causes of
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______more remarkable there is an involuntary feeling of disappointment, if none are found on the table, thus when we analyze the matter, we are sorry that no poor creature has met a sad end that the curiosity of the crowd may be gratified. Of course such was not our feeling, altho’ we did leave the House with the disappointment of which I have spoken. Taking an open carriage we rode to the Hippodrome,152 passing in so doing the Tuileries,153 the Louvre, the Triumphant arch of Napoleon.154
death among the adults may be classified as follows: suicides, 136; accident, 91; sudden deaths, 35; drowned, 25; murdered, 6. The Morgue (from moguer, to scrutinize), was formerly a police-prison in the Petit Châtelet… The average number of suicides in France is 2,600.” Galignani’s Guide (1856), 76.
152 “THE HIPPODROME, at the Rond Point de l’Avenue de St. Cloud, Barrière de l’Etoile, is a large wooden circular enclosure for equestrian exhibitions and grand military shows. The arena is uncovered. Performances on Sundays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Admission from 1 to 2 fr.” Galignani’s Guide (1856), 481.
153 Tuileries Palace. This palace once connected the two wings of the Louvre until 1871 when it was destroyed during the suppression of the Paris Commune. It had been Napoleon I’s chief residence in Paris, and during the Second Empire, it was the location of the office of Napoleon III. Queen Victoria visited the palace in 1855. See “Tuileries Palace,” at “Wikipedia.”
154 In Smith’s time, as today, there were two triumphant arches in Paris honoring Napoleon and his victories: the Arc de Triomphe de la Place du Carrousel (contained within the vast courtyard formed by the Tuileries Palace and the Louvre) and the larger and more familiar Arc de Triomphe de l’Étoile. The latter was commissioned in 1806 after Napoleon’s victory of Austerlitz, but only the foundation was completed before his fall in 1815. This monumental arch, located at the western end of the Champs-Élysées, was not completed until 1833-36. As the smaller arch was not visible from outside the Tuileries and the Louvre, and as the Hippodrome was located near the larger arch, it is clear that Smith was referring to the Arc de Triomphe de l’Étoile. See “Arc de Triomphe” at “Wikipedia.”
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L’Arc de Triomphe From the editor’s collection
The high repute of this Parisian Circus155 gave us expectations that were not realized. The riding was only tolerable, one man shewed great activity on a tight rope, and another unusual muscular strength, among other things bearing upon his shoulder ______a brass cannon of some 6 or 700 pounds, and permitting it to be fired off while he there held it. We were not repaid for the visit however, and we were glad when the performance was over. The farce was so ridiculous that we were ashamed to be spectators to so complete a burlesque.
This performance brought us to half past five, (5 ½) and we adjourned to a Restaurant156 on Le [sic] Rue de Rivoli, opposite Le Louvre, and there had a fine dinner for four Francs and a half.
Paris has a Hyde Park as well as London. About two miles from Paris there is Le Bois de Boulonge [sic],157 a park named after the village which is near it. Before the revolution of 1789 its
155 There were two circuses in Paris in the 1850s. One was the Cirque d’hiver (Winter Circus), also known as the “Cirque Napoleon.” The second was the Cirque d’été (Summer Circus), also known as the Cirque de l’Imperatrice. The Winter Circus was located north of the Place de la Bastille. The summer circus was located near the Champs Élysées, and this is the one Smith attended. See “Cirque d’hiver” and “Cirque d’été,” at “Wikpedia.”
156 It is tempting to speculate that Smith dined at the Coffee du Carrousel, 176, rue de Rivoli, which advertised itself as “The only English-Restaurant in Paris, Kept by English People.” Source: business card found in original copy of Galignani’s Guide (1856).
157 The Bois de Boulogne is a large park to the east of the city. During the Middle Ages, it was a royal hunting park, but there was a small village there inhabited by woodcutters. In 1308, inhabitants made a pilgrimage to Notre-Dame de Boulogne-sur-Mer, and when they returned they built a small church and
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VMI Archives www.vmi.edu/archives trees were stunted or dying from age, but the revolutionary axes in part cleared it, and whatever was left there was felled in 1814 ______to make palisades for the barriers at the approach of the allied Army.
On the capitulation in 1815 the British troops under Wellington marched here. The trees have grown out again, and it has been ornamented with many rare exotics, and with artificial lakes and waterfalls, which with its various cottages and picturesque rides, gives to it great beauty.158
It is the fashionable drive at night, between 8 and 11, and as we rode through it, we passed hundreds of carriages with gay furniture and liveries which really recalled Hyde Park to us. We stopped at one of the Cafés in the Park and got a cup of coffee, but although it was good, there was no cream and we did not enjoy it.
After visiting La Morgue and being in the neighborhood of Notre Dame,159 we stopped there to see this celebrated ______church.
called it Notre-Dame de Boulogne-le-Petit. The park was opened to visitors in the 17th century, and it became a fashionable place in the 18th century. In 1815, after Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo, the allies (British and Russian armies) camped in the forest and cut down nearly all of the trees, mostly oak. It was replanted with chestnuts, sycamores, and acacias. The area was made into a park in 1852 by Napoleon III, who had lived in London during his exile and admired Hyde Park. The Bois is 3.3 times larger than Hyde Park. (Later, in 1870, the Bois de Boulogne was once again devastated by armies.) See “Bois de Boulogne,” at “Wikipedia,” and editions of the Michelin guide to Paris.
According to Galignani’s Guide (1856), “BOIS or PARC DE BOULOGNE. – this wood, about two miles from Paris, bears the name of a neighbouring village. Before the revolution of 1789 its trees were stunted or dying from age. The revolutionary axe in part cleared it; whatever was then spared was felled in 1814, to make palisades for the barriers at the approach of the allied armies. In July, 1815, after the capitulation, the British troops under Wellington encamped here. It has now grown again into a thick and beautiful wood. The Bois de Boulogne now the property of the city of Paris, has been long known as a place for dueling and suicides. It is distinguished for the annual promenade de Longchamp, and is now, like Hyde Park in London, the most fashionable place of resort for a drive or a walk, where the most splendid equipages and finest horses of the capital are displayed.” Galignani’s Guide (1856), 496-597.
158 Smith was clearly quoting here from his edition of Galignani’s Guide.
159 Smith’s sequence of visits in this part of his letter is hard to follow. He says that he visited Notre Dame after visiting the Morgue, but he probably visited the Morgue on Saturday and Notre Dame on Sunday, even though Notre Dame Cathedral was only a little over a city block from the Morgue and on the same side of the Isle de la Cité. As was his custom on Sundays, Smith probably wanted to hear a sample of the service offered in the cathedral.
Information on the building and early history of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame can be found in books and on the Internet. It was severely damaged not only during the French Revolution of 1798, but also during the Revolution of 1831, at the time of King Louis-Philippe. Restoration of the cathedral began in 1841 under the guidance of Viollet-le-Duc, and it is this restoration that was seen by Smith (and by today’s visitors).
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Notre Dame de Paris From the editor’s collection
We were shewn the costly robes worn by the Archbishops of Paris and the rich golden services which had been presented to the church from time to time. Many of these robes were terribly mutilated by the mob during the revolution of 1789, but the golden embroidery has been restored. The robe worn by Napoleon I at his coronation is shewn here.160
The walls are ornamented with paintings and sculptures of a high order, and we were fully repaid for the hour given to it.161
A Sabbath in Paris is not exactly a Sabbath in a Heathen land, but if the open shops, the vending of merchandize and the rattle of the carts and carriages be an indication of the spirit in which ______the Sabbath is honored, we may truly say that not one third of the population know when it is the day of rest.162
160 According to Galignani’s Guide (1856), “At the sacking of St. Germain l’Auxerrois and the archbishop’s palace, in 1831, the populace broke into the sacristy of Notre Dame, and, headed by officers of the National Guards, destroyed every thing that came within their reach. The damage thus occasioned was irreparable; the coronation robes of Napoleon, and the splendid dresses he presented to the bishops and the chapter on the occasion of that ceremony, were torn up for the sake of their gold embroidery. They have, however, since been repaired. A celebrated artist who was making a most elaborate picture of the interior of Notre Dame, having left it on the easel in the vestry, it was cut into a thousand pieces.” Galignani’s Guide (1856), fn 317.
161 Given just one hour, Smith’s visit was a cursory one, allowing time only for a quick circuit of the interior of the cathedral.
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I was some what at a loss to know what to do with myself for the day,163 but observing in the notebooks of American travellers, that a visit to Notre Dame or Eglise de St Roch164 was strongly urged, I determined to attend the latter at 10 o’clock, to witness the ceremony of High Mass.
This church is the most highly ornamented and the richest in Paris, the first stone of it having been laid by Louis XIV. It was in front of this church and on its entrance steps that the mob crowded when Marie Antoinette was led to the guillotine, and the same steps were cleared by Napoleon during the directory.
162 Smith, an Evangelical Episcopalian, held strongly to the Sabbatarian belief that a true Christian should severely limit his activities on Sunday and honor the Sabbath. It is no surprise, therefore, that he objected to the way Parisians passed their Sundays. His reaction mirrors that of Bishop Charles Pettit McIlvaine, the Evangelical Bishop of Ohio who had led a revival among the cadets at West Point shortly before Smith arrived there as a cadet. For more on McIlvaine and his connection with Smith, see Appendix I.
Here is what Bishop McIlvaine wrote to his wife in June 1830 from Paris: “The next day but one after our arrival in Paris was Sunday. I had heard and read much of the aspect of this precious day of the Lord in Popish countries, but I was not prepared for the sight of the shocking reality. There was a market near my room. I got up on Sunday morning, and forgetful of the peculiarity of the land, walked to the window. There was the market, as much studded with vegetables and crowded with business and surrounded with noise as usual. After breakfast, I walked out a little way to see the state of things in the street. My spirit seemed loaded with the daring atheism of this people. I never had such an impression of a state of general rebellion against God. No one would remark any difference between the treatment of Sunday and that of any other day, except that, to distinguish the former, pleasures are multiplied. This I expected. But I suppose I should see ordinary labour in a great measure suspended. No, the masons were at work on the walls, women binding shoes, tailors on their benches, tradesmen at their counters, the whole business of labouring in all departments, pretty much as if Sunday had been as literally blotted out of the memory of man, as the commandment to sanctify it has been perverted in the creeds of these poor benighted and Pagan Romansts. It is a horrible city on this account alone – not to speak of all its other abominations. All the worship that I have seen in the churches is nothing better than baptized heathenism, and one might attend it for a month, and, except for the cross or some picture of Christ in his view, would see and hear nothing to prevent his supposing himself in a temple of ancient idolatry. How fast must such a city be ripening for the judgments of God!” See Rev. William Carus, M.A., ed., Memorials of the Right Reverend Charles Pettit McIlvaine, D.D., D.C.L., late Bishop of Ohio n the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States (New York: Thomas Wittaker, 1882, Google digitized book), 52.
163 Sunday, 1 August 1858.
164 The Church of St. Roch, located on the Rue Saint-Honoré, was not far from Smith’s hotel. It was begun in 1653 by Louis XIV and was completed in 1736. Buried in the church are Pierre Corneille (1606-1684), the classical dramatist, André Le Nôtre (1613-1700), designer of the gardens of Versailles, and Denis Diderot (1713-1784), encyclopedist, novelist, dramatist and art critic. Built in the late Baroque style, the church contains much 17th and 18th century religious art. On 5 October 1795, Napoleon, with a battery of cannon set up in front of the church, famously put down a Royalist rebellion against the National Convention. The British historian Thomas Carlyle, referring to this event, wrote that Napoleon had cleared the streets with “a whiff of grapeshot.” For photo of the Church of St. Roch, see “Église de St. Roch,” at “Wikipedia.” See also “Napoleon I,” at “Wikipedia.”
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Napoleon at St. Roche Public Domain Illustration from Wikipedia
In 1830 a stand was made here against the gendarmes of ______
Charles X, and in 1848 the descendants of the votaries of the goddess of reason ascended these same steps to deposit in the church a crucifix found in the palace of the Tuileries. In the church there is a memorial tablet to Corneille, who is buried here, and a handsome marble monument to Abbe de L’Epée,165 the benefactor to deaf mutes, erected by them who had been educated at his institution. The inscription is most beautiful, “vers admodum mirabile, sacerdote de L’Epée, qui fecit exemplo Salvattore muto loqui, cives Gallica hoc monumentum dedicarent anno 1840. Natus an. 1712, Mortuus an, 1789.”
The music was very fine here – both instrumental and vocal, but of true worship to the Great Triune, it was difficult for me to understand how it would be ______promoted by the pomp and ceremony we witnessed.
The procession of the host took place, and as the priest and the followers passed through the church, preceeded by two beedles, dressed in full uniform, with swords, epaulettes and cocked hats, and a musician playing on a horn as if announcing the approach of the procession, I could not but feel for the condition of the poor deluded creatures who were on their knees, telling their beads, and bowing their heads as the host approached.166
I have no doubt in many of the great multitude there were hearts of true devotion, amid all the unfavorable circumstances to develop it, but I do thank God my lot is cast in a land with ______an open Bible, and where the access to a throne of grace is not through the intervention of any other than the Great High Priest, who once for all made atonement for the sins of the world. On
165 Charles-Michel de l’Épée (1712-1789) was an educator and is known as the “Father of the Deaf.” He founded a shelter in 1760, and later a school, for the deaf and developed a version of sign language through which the deaf could communicate and, most important to him, receive the sacraments. During the French Revolution, he was recognized as a “Benefactor of Humanity.” See Charles-Michel de l’Épée,” at “Wikipedia.”
166 Smith’s evangelicalism – his belief that the Christian life is essentially a personal relationship with God in Christ through the direct action of the Holy Spirit and his dislike of religious ritual, pomp, and ceremony -- was definitely awakened by what he witnessed in the cathedrals and churches of Paris where the Catholic Church in France, although containing a strong liberal wing during the Second Empire, was dominant.
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VMI Archives www.vmi.edu/archives the side aisles of the church confessionals were posted, and notices were posted up as to the hour and day when the appointed confessors would attend for the duty of confession.
How thankful ought we be that we can approach one whose ear is ever open to the voice of our own confession, and whose tender love so fully grants pardon and peace to the returning believing and repentant Sinner.
I had intended going to a Protestant Chapel at 11, but it was ½ past 11 before we got out ______of the church, and we determined to return to our quarters, as we found some difficulty in knowing where we could go for spiritual edification. The day therefore passed away very differently from what we had been accustomed to, either in America, or since we had been sojourners in a foreign land. As I was satisfied that Mr Mason desired our company this evening for the pleasure it would afford himself as well as our party to mingle sociably with his family, we concluded to go and dine with him, and my own expectations were more than realized.
We found Archer Anderson,167 a Mr Peters168 who has been two years in Berlin preparing himself for his duties as Professor at Emory and Henry College,169 and one American lady.170
We all felt ______quite at home, and were received and entertained without ceremony. In the course of the evening Mr. Mason remarked “Col I will tell you why I like to have my young American friends with me on Sunday evening. Sunday evening is the most fascinating at the same time the most hazardous evening to a young man of the week. From the frequency with which I have to interfere with the Prefecture of Police to obtain the release of those who have gotten into difficulties, I know him well and upon one occasion he said to Mr Mason, How many balls do you suppose there were in Paris last Sunday – Mr Mason replied, some 70 or 80. There were 1700, he said. This gives you a most striking illustration of the truth I have before glanced at, viz; that ______the sanctity of the Sabbath seems hardly to be thought of in this city.
167 Archer “Archie” Anderson (1838-1918) was the son of Joseph Reid Anderson, owner of the Tredegar Iron Company, in Richmond. Smith knew the elder Anderson very well (Anderson graduated from USMA in 1836; Smith in 1833). Archer graduated from the University of Virginia at age 17 and then went to the University of Berlin to study Latin from 1856-1858, probably under the guidance of professor Peters who was there at the same time. When Smith met him and Peters at Mason’s home in Paris, they were returning to the United States, although at different times. Archer returned to France in 1859 to marry Mary Anne Mason, the daughter of John Young Mason. See “Archer Anderson,” date posted 1/6/02, Find A Grave, date accessed 6/8/09, electronic address:
168 William Elisha Peters (1829-1906). Professor of Latin at Emory and Henry College, Virginia, from 1851-1856 and 1858-1861. He studied Latin at the University of Berlin from 1856-1858. When Smith met him at Mason’s home, Peters was on his way home to Virginia where he would marry Margaret Sheffey. Peters was professor of Latin at the University of Virginia from 1866-1902. See Tyler, Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography, 3: 165.
169 Emory and Henry college, in southwest Virginia, was founded in 1836 and named after John Emory, a Methodist bishop, and Patrick Henry, Virginia’s first post-colonial governor (1776-1779).
170 Most likely Mary Anne Mason, the Masons’ eldest daughter.
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After dinner was over, Mr Mason withdrew with J Cocke, Robt Taylor, and Mr Peters and myself to his private office, and there he interested us for two hours with the many little incidents connected with his mission here. For the benefit of the jeune cadet,171 I mention one striking incident. M. Perrier172 is now one of the most influential money lenders in France. He is at the head of the firm called “le credit mobile”. He is a Jew, and has risen from an humble origin to his present position – when very poor and utterly destitute, he called on the Baron Rothchild, to endeavor to secure employment. It was refused. As he left the office of the Baron, Perrier saw a pin on the passage entry floor, and he picked it up and put it ______in his coat. Rothchild noticed it and asked him what he had found – He replied – only a pin – But said the Baron, why did you pick it up? Perrier replied, I find it useful to me one of these days. The Baron said, M. Perrier, come back. I will give you employment. “A man’s best way of rising to distinction in any profession, is to take care of trifles.
Henderson will remember the anecdote of Dr Johnson which I gave from Dr McNeel on a similar point – and I hope he will remember both in his new career as a Cadet.
Mrs. Mason and the daughters I met in England have not returned yet. They are going to spend two or three weeks in the Isle of Wight for the benefit of the younger daugh- ______ter, who is not well. The one who officiated yesterday as the hostess was Mary Ann, the elder one.173 Archie Anderson has been some years in Europe, and returns about 1st September. Mr. Peters returns on Saturday and I will try and send by him some remembrances from this distant land, which he has very kindly offered to take charge of. If he passes near you, do see him, and he will tell you how well I am, and what a handsome fellow I have grown. You know I never praised myself upon my good looks, but it affords me amusement to laugh at the boys, and let them see how much I can excel them when I make the effort. I have just heard that the papers have been treating our good friend Mr Letcher some what badly.174 Give my love to him and to his wife, and tell him ______
171 Here, Smith was speaking of his son at home, Thomas Henderson Smith, who had recently entered the VMI Corps of Cadets.
172 This story may be apocryphal. Claude Perier (1742-1801) became a rich banker in Paris, but he came from a wealthy family and died in 1801. His sons Casimir (1777-1832) and Scipion (1776-1821) continued in the banking business, but they inherited the bank from their wealthy father. Both died long before Smith’s visit. Smith was probably speaking of Claude Perier’s grandson, Adolph Joseph Scipion Perier (1802-1862), who continued the family business and was enormously rich. He obviously did not “rise from an humble origin… utterly destitute.” See references to the Perier family members at “Wikipedia.”
173 Mary Anne Mason. Anderson Archer married her the following year.
174 John Letcher (1813-1884) was a Lexington lawyer and journalist serving in the U.S. House of Representatives (1851-1859). In early 1858, Letcher officially announced his candidacy for Governor of Virginia. Earlier in his career, in 1847, he had supported the abolition of slavery and criticized eastern slaveholders, and although he repudiated this support a few years later, his enemies used it against him in the upcoming election. In June 1858, The Richmond Whig and the Richmond Enquirer, edited by Governor Henry Wise’s son, led the attack on Letcher. Despite these attacks, in 1860 he was elected Governor of Virginia, an office he held throughout the Civil War. See F. N. Boney, John Letcher of Virginia (U. of Alabama: U of Alabama Press, 1966) 74-90. See also “John Letcher,” at “Wikipedia.”
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VMI Archives www.vmi.edu/archives not to mind the barking of Trey, Blanche, and Sweet heart.175 I shall write by todays mail. I send you Galignani’s Paris Messenger which contains Mr Mason’s speech.
Monday Aug 2d 1858
Two months to day have passed since we parted, my dearest wife, and how gratefully do I recognize the goodness of god, in his mercies to us since we separated. May that Mercy still continue to us. Mr. Davis176 of Charlottesville has joined us here, and he is now by my side as I am writing. I close abruptly as I desire this to go by the first mail to America, and with love to all, my dear wife
I am as ever your own dear Husband
Francis H Smith Mrs Sarah Smith Lexington Va ______
(Letter No 26)
Paris – France Hotel de Bade August 2d 1858177
My Beloved Wife
I despatched to you by this morning’s mail my letter no 25. which I hope will get off in the Steamer from Southampton on Wednesday next, for it will give you the tidings of our safe arrival in France, and of our progress up to this morning.
175 It’s possible this was a reference to the politicians who were hounding Letcher, but it is also possible that he was referring to the Smith family’s pets. The Letcher house and the Smith house were not far from each other in Lexington, and barking dogs at one house easily could have been heard at the other. No specific references to Smith family pets have been found.
176 Not identified, but this may have been John S. Davis, professor at the University of Virginia.
177 Monday evening, 2 August 1858.
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Hotel des Invalides From the editor’s collection
As I had an engagement at 12. I was compelled to close it abruptly and thus leave the greater part of one sheet blank. Frank and myself had an appointment at Mr. Mason’s at 1 – so taking the Hotel des Invalides178 by the way, we stopped for a moment at the tomb of Napoleon.
You cannot ______
178 The Hotel des Invalides was founded in 1670 by Louis XIV as a home for disabled soldiers. It is notable for its dome, built between 1679 and 1706. The Invalides was also used to store weapons, and it was from there that the Revolutionary crowds on 14 July 1789 took cannon and weapons to attack the Bastille. The remains of Napoleon I, who died on the island of St. Helena in 1821, were brought to Paris in 1840, passed through the Arc de Triomphe and down the Champs Élysées, and were taken to the Hotel des Invalides as a final resting place. His coffin remained in St. Jerome’s Chapel at the Invalides until April 1861 while his tomb was being constructed. The coffin that Smith and his nephew saw was in St. Jerome’s Chapel. He and Frank also saw the permanent tomb that was being readied for the Emperor beneath the cupola in the Church of the Dome. See “Les Invalides” and “Napoleon I,” at “Wikipedia.” See also editions of the Michelin guide for Paris.
In Galignani’s Guide (1856) Smith found the following: “Tomb of Napoleon I, -- This entrance is flanked by two sarcophagi resting upon plinths, and surmounted by two Corinthian columns crowned with segmental pediments; one is dedicated to Marshal Duroc, the other to Marshal Bertrand, the Emperor’s friends during his adversity. A bronze door gives access to the crypt; over it, on a black marble slab, are the following words, quoted from the Emperor’s will: ‘Je désire que mes cendres reposent sur les bords de la Seine, au milieu de ce people Français que j’ai tant aimé.’ Two clossal bronze caryatides, by Duret, at the entrance, hold the globe, scepter, and imperial crown. A gloomy gallery running under the high altar, now leads to the crypt, dimly lighted by funereal lamps of bronze, and adorned with bas-reliefs, designed by Simart, and executed by Lanno, Petit, and Ottin…. The tomb, consisting of an immense monolith of porphyry, weighing 135,000 lbs., and brought from Lake Onega in Finland at a cost of 140,000 fr. Its exquisite polish has been effected by a powerful steam-engine. It covers the sarcophagus, also of a single block…” Galignani’s Guide (1856), 355.
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VMI Archives www.vmi.edu/archives conceive any more than I can express, the magnificence of the arrangements for this mausoleum of Napoleon the great. Surrounded by the ashes and monuments of the great marshals who rose with him, and whose military fame is coextensive almost with his own, there his remains rest in their grandeur the object of adoration to the French Soldier. Today was the day for general admission,179 and we found several hundred already there. They took their places quietly and most reverently two and two in double ranks, each couplet passing through the main entrance to the grated door which leads to the room in which the remains are deposited, and then passing on to the opposite side of the Chapel at which they make their debut. Two soldiers resting upon their swords guarded the entrance to the chamber. ______
They were heroes of Waterloo and who had been his body attendants at St Helena. One of them had lost one leg, and I involuntarily put my hand into my pocket to give the old soldier a Franc. It is not the design to leave the remains of Napoleon where they now are, but a splendid sarcophagus made of the hardest and most costly stone has just been finished which rests in the centre of the chapel under the great dome. Passing down into this tomb, into the high altar of the church, the entrance to the new tomb is guarded by two dead soldiers, who were the long and cherished friends of Napoleon, viz: Bertrand180and Duroc.181 Over the archway of this entrance are inscribed these touching words of Napoleon in his will. “Je desire que mes cendres repassent sur les bords de la Seine, au milieu des peoples Francaise, que j’ai tant aimee.”182 On opposite side of the ______great Hall are monuments to the great military men.
179 According to Galignani’s Guide (1856), the general public could visit Les Invalides on Monday and Thursday, but visitors were required to show their passports. Galignani’s Guide (1856), 353.
180 Henri-Gatien, Comte Bertrand (1773-1844), an engineering officer, rose to the post of chief of engineers of the Grand Army in 1809 and, later, grand marshal of the palace (1813). He accompanied Napoleon to Elba and to St. Helena. See Owen Connelly, et. al, eds., Historical Dictionary of Napoleonic France, 1799-1815 (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1985), 68. See also “Henri Gratien, Comte Bertrand,” at “Wikipedia.
181 Geraud-Christophe-Michel Duroc (1772-1813), duc de Frioul. Duroc served as one of Napoleon’s aides-de-camp during the Italian and Egyptian campaigns. In 1804 he was appointed grand marshal of the palace. He was killed at the Battle of Wurzen in 1813. See Connelly, Historical Dictionary of Napoloeonic France, 160. See also “Geraud Duroc,” at “Wikipedia.”
182 “I desire that my ashes be placed along the banks of the Seine, in the middle of the French people, whom I have so loved.”
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Napoleon’s Tomb (the empty sarcophagus) From the editor’s collection
It was a matter of surprise to me, as the sarcophagus was finished, the remains of N. were not placed in it. Mr Mason explained the reason. Napoleon III had no idea of the funeral place of his uncle being in the Hotel des Invalides, among the ashes of the great generals of his age. He conceives that it should be in the chapel of St Denis183 among the tombs of the Kings. There he has had a splendid place prepared for himself and there he means to place the remains of his uncle. It is said that a year ago he called a council of State to consider the matter, at which, Old King Jerome184 was present. Napoleon proposed that the heart of his uncle should be placed at the Hotel des Invalides, while ______the rest of his body should be interred at St. Denis. Jerome sprang with much animation and said, “I will never consent that the body of my brother shall be mutilated”, whereupon the Emperor replied the discussion of the subject is adjourned for one year”. He expected that the old King
183 St. Denis is a town six miles from the center of Paris. It contains the abbey church where the kings of France were buried. According to Galignani’s Guide (1856), “The kings and princes of France were interred here up to the breaking out of the Revolution, but in pursuance of a decree of the Convention, in 1793, their remains were disinterred, and thrown into two large trenches, opposite the northern porch. In 1795, the lead was stripped from the roof, and a decree passed to rase the building to the ground, but happily for the arts, a resolution so Gothic was not carried into effect. The church, neglected for several years, was falling into ruins, when Napoleon order it to be repaired, as well as the vault of the Bourbons, as a place of sepulture for the princes of his own dynasty. The oriflamme, in ancient times the sacred banner of France, was kept at this abbey; and no church in the kingdom was so rich in relics and sacred ornaments. All these were dispersed at the revolution of 1789, and the monuments of the kings were removed to the Musée des Monuments Français, at the Convent des Petits Augustins, now the École Impériale des Beaux Arts, where they were to be restored at a future period to their original places.” Galignani’s Guide (1856), 534-535. See also “Basilica of St. Denis,” at “Wikipedia.”
184 Jérôme-Napoléon Bonaparte, French Prince, King of Westphalia, 1st Prince of Monfort (1784-1860), was the youngest brother of Napoleon I. As a young man, he served in the French navy and went to the United States, where he married Elizabeth Patterson of Baltimore in 1803. His brother would not recognize the marriage and annulled it. He was made King of Westphalia, in northwest Germany (1807-1813) and married Catharina of Württemberg. The kingdom fell to the allies in 1813. In old age, he was made governor of Les Invalides and was named a Marshal of France. See “Jérôme-Napoléon Bonaparte,” at “Wikipedia.”
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VMI Archives www.vmi.edu/archives would have been dead before this – but he is still alive, as hearty as ever. I was much struck by the appearance of the old soldiers who are domiciled at the Hotel des Invalides. Many of them maimed from the disasters of the battle field. Our guide had but one arm, having lost one in Algiers.185 Their devotion to their great chief, exceeding any thing you ever conceived of short of religious fervor, and it is enough to draw tears from one’s eyes to see the old fellows gather around the column in the place Vendome186 ______
and buy wreaths from the Soldier who guards the entrance, that they may place them upon the brow of Napoleon.
185 French rule of Algeria began in 1830 during the reign of Charles X (1824-1830). French forces invaded Algiers and defeated local rulers who administered the area as part of the Ottoman Empire, but native armed resistance against the French continued for years. Under King Louis-Philippe (1830-1848), the French colonized Algeria and, in 1824, annexed portions of the country. In 1848, Algeria’s status was changed from a colony to an integral part of France and was declared a French department. As resistance to the French continued, Napoleon III, in 1858, returned Algeria to military control and the country was put under the administration of a military governor general. Later, Napoleon attempted to moderate French rule in Algeria. See “French Algeria,” at “Wikipedia.”
186 The Place Vendome is a large square begun around 1698. At the center stood a statue of King Louis XIV and the square was named ‘Place de Louis-le-Grand.’ During the French Revolution, the statue was destroyed and later replaced by a stone and bronze column made from the 1,200 cannons captured by Napoleon at Austerlitz. The column was torn down during the insurrection of 1871 but restored under the Third Republic. See “Place Vendôme,” at “Wikipedia.”
According to Galignani’s Guide (1856), “COLONNE VENDÔME, erected by Napoleon, to commemorate the success of his arms in the German campaign of 1805. This column is an imitation of the pillar of Trajan at Rome… Its total elevation is 135 feet, and the diameter of the shaft is 12 feet. The pedestal is 21 feet in height, and from 17 to 20 in breadth. The pedestal and shaft are of stone, covered with bronze bas-reliefs, cast out of 1200 pieces of Russian and Austrian cannon, and representing the victories of the French army. The metal employed weighs about 360,000 pounds. The bas-reliefs of the pedestal represent the uniforms, armour, and weapons of the conquered troops. Four eagles, weighing 500 pounds each, stand at the corners of the pedestal, supporting garlands of oak. The door, of massive bronze, is decorated with crowns of oak, surmounted by an eagle; above is a bas-relief, representing two figures of Fame, supporting a tablet.... the capital is surmounted by an acroterium, upon which was originally placed a statue of Napoleon as Emperor. This was melted down in 1814 to form part of the horse of Henry IV., now on the Pont Neuf, and was during the Restoration replaced by a fleu-de-lis and a flag-staff; but on the 28th of July 1833, the statue of Napoleon now seen on the column was solemnly inaugurated in the presence of Louis Philippe, his family, the ministers and municipal functionaries… the view of Paris and the environs from the gallery is most interesting. To ascend it, apply to the guardian at the door, who expects a small gratuity, and furnishes the visitor with a lantern. The hours are from 10 to 6 in summer, and 1 to 4 in winter.” Galignani’s Guide (1856), 180-182.
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Place Vendôme From the editor’s collection
The reference to the tomb of Napoleon reminds me that I omitted to mention that in my conversation with Miss Black at Mr Peabody’s dinner I expressed surprise that Sir Walter Scott did not direct his remains to be interred on the beautiful lawn in the rear of his mansion and on the banks of his favorite river. The guide remarked to me that he much preferred to be in the old abbey with the dust of his kindred. Miss Black remarked that the feeling was universal in Great Britain, to be buried in consecrated ground, and hence the reference which they received every where. I could not but think that our own ______country men wanted some of this reverence for the dead, and it is a feeling [unclear] it is not possessed by them.
Having only a moment to spare at the Hotel des Invalides, we did not give it a careful examination, as we were obliged to be punctual at our appointment with Mr Mason. Mr Mason had kindly offered to go with me to the minister of war,187 and present an application for me to be admitted into the various public establishments, which are the special objects of my investigations. We found old Marshal Valliant, at his office, hard at work in his shirt sleeves, and after a nod of recognition, and a short command “asseiyey [sic] vous”188 proceeded with his writing. He promptly gave directions for my letters of admission to be prepared, and I send you a copy of one as shewing you the manner in which these ______things are done.
Monseur le General, Commandant L’Ecole Polytechnique
187 See previous reference to Jean-Baptiste Philibert Vaillant, 1st Comte Vaillant, Minister of War (1854- 1859).
188 “asseyez-vous,” have a seat.
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Paris 2 Aout 1858
Mon General
Le Minister vous prie de vouloir bien permettre et faciliter la visite de l’ecole polytechnique et M. C. Colonel Americain Francis H Smith, qui bien c’est specialement recomand par M l’embassador des etats unis M. C Colonel Smith sera accompagne d’une aide de camp.189
Agriey190 [sic] Mon General ex[unclear] de mes sentiments respecteuix [sic] Le Colonel d’etat Major Sr aide de Camp Chef des Cabinets N. Castlemon.
Thursday night Aug 3 1858
My own precious wife, upon my return from Versailles this evening after a visit made to its palace, I found letters for me to the 15 and 16 July. I cannot tell you how my ______heart has been beating for my dear little baby, and in an instant of time, it seems to me, every thing dear and precious to me, in memory of the past comes like a vision before me. His dear sweet smile, as he furtively accepted my offer to sing him to sleep – my song to him – oh! My heart is too full – and I can only pray to that Heavenly Father, whose mercies never fail, that if it be his will, He may spare this dear boy. I have felt my darling Sarah, more than I have ever felt in my life, how dependant we are upon this Heavenly Friend. In our seeming security at home, we have often forgotten our utter helplessness – and it has only been in seasons of alarm, that we have realized that every comfort and every blessing we hold from Him. But exposed as I have been to dangers seen and unseen, by land and by sea, separated from those dearest to me, my only ______
refuge for support and comfort has been in my covenant God, and thus I would now resign all that I have and am at this moment to Him, and I would pray, that he may give us all grace, more fully to see his goodness and to trust in His love, and whether He gives us trials or not, to believe that he is good as well as wise, and to rest upon His precious promise, that He will keep those in perfect peace, who trust in Him – I pray that our submission may not be that of those who resign themselves to that which they cannot escape, but the submission of loving children, whose love may be made more tender, as his dealings with us, shew more and more of His love to us. And thus while I cannot dissipate from my mind the feelings of a father, and ______
shall await with intense anxiety all your letters, will try to make this and every other trial a means of grace to my soul, by endeavoring to keep nearer and nearer my dear Saviour.
189 “General, Commandant of the Ecole Polytechnique. The Minister requests that you permit and facilitate the visit to the Ecole Polytechnique American Colonel Francis H. Smith, who has been recommended by the Ambassador of the United States. Colonel Smith will be accompanied by an aide de camp.”
190 “Please accept my respectful sentiments…. Etc., etc.”
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After obtaining letters to which I referred from the minister of War, I rode to the office of M. Bossange et fils,191 the kind firm to which I had been commended by a letter of introduction from Mr Wiley.192
Frank wished to make his application for admission into the “ecole des ponts et chausées”,193 and as it was most proper that his letter should be in French, I asked the favor of M. Bossange to prepare it as it should be. This he kindly did, and I more deeply felt his service from the fact, that immediately over his chair, he has a card, with this inscription “Le temps est de l’argent”,194 ______
I expressed to him as well as I could my obligations to him, and his manner was so kind and so pleasing, that we almost felt that he conceived that he was receiving instead of bestowing a favor. He turned to Frank and said as we left, “Well Mr Smith you will be in Paris some time. My wife and myself are now very old, we cannot expect to afford you much amusement, but I wish to be your friend – come and see me, and we will always give you a good dinner.”
This day we set apart for a trip to Versailles,195 15 miles from Paris, to visit the Royal Palace, and while the whole of the day has been most laboriously occupied in this single object, we have all returned satisfied that we have been fully repaid ______for the labor. Cars leave Paris every half hour for Versailles, so that leaving here at ½ past 10, we were at the Palace before 12. We were so fortunate as to secure a capital guide, who happened to be a cousin of General Bertrand,196 and friend and companion of Napoleon. He took us through all of the Halls of the Palace, open to the public, and was able to give very full and accurate information touching the history of the place, and the works of art which are preserved here. After the wonder which I have before expressed at what I had seen at Chatsworth, Blenheim, Hampton Court etc., I am almost ashamed to tell you how insignificant these palaces really are, when compared with the great memorial of Le Grand Monarque – Louis XIV. Only ______
191 Bossarge et frères. See previous reference.
192 John Wiley. See previous reference.
193 École des ponts et chausées. See previous reference.
194 “Time is money.”
195 The Palace of Versailles, the major part of which was built during the reign of Louis XIV (1643-1715), was the center of royal government in France from 1682 to 1789. Originally a royal hunting lodge and small chateau, it was transformed into a massive palace from 1669 to 1682. During the Second Empire, the Palace of Versailles functioned mainly as a museum and a location for state events. See “Palace of Versailles,” at “Wikipedia.”
Galignani’s Guide (1856) devotes nearly 30 pages to the town and Palace of Versailles. Addressing the visitor, it cautions: “…[T]he crowd attracted to Versailles is very great; but ample means of communication are afforded by the two railroads, and the first-class places… may be secured beforehand both for going and returning. Visitors should not remain late, on account of the crowds at the railroads.” Galignani’s Guide (1856), 573.
196 Henri-Gatien, Comte Bertrand. See previous reference.
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conceive a few prominent facts. To walk through the continuous Halls of the Palace of Versailles, and through its various apartments requires you to walk six miles. If you were to pass around each Hall it would take you twenty miles. Versailles was a small village in the time of Henry IV,197 to which he was in the habit of resorting for the purpose of hunting. Louis XIII198 built a small hunting lodge here, which was the beginning of the splendid Palace which his successor Louis XIV commenced and finished – employing at times 30,000 soldiers simultaneously on the work, and expending upon the Palace and its other improvements not less than ₤40,000,000 equal to $200,000,000. It was in this Palace that the brilliant and licentious court of Louis XIV for more than half a ______
Palace of Versailles From the editor’s collection century figured in all their pleasures, their follies and their sins. Here Madame de Maintenon199 and Madame de Montespan200 ruled and reigned in his affections. Here Mazarin201 exercised his wonderful powers over the King, and here after being the scene of gaiety for upwards of one
197 Henry IV of France (1553-1610), reigned 1589-1610.
198 Louis XIII of France (1601-1610), reigned 1610-1643.
199 Françoise d’Aubigné, marquise de Maintenon (1635-1719), the second wife (never officially admitted) of Louis XIV. She held enormous influence at the court at Versailles.
200 Françoise-Athénaïs, marquise de Montespan (1641-1707) was one of Louis XIV’s mistresses. She, like Madame de Maintenon, had enormous influence at court.
201 Cardinal Jules Mazarin (1602-1661) was chief minister of France from 1642-1661. He succeeded Cardinal Richelieu, under whom he served. As chief minister, he was a proponent of Louis XIV’s expansionist policies that kept France at war for decades and eventually bankrupted the kingdom.
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VMI Archives www.vmi.edu/archives hundred years, during the reigns of Louis XIV, Louis XV,202 and Louis XVI,203 the last unfortunate King with his still more unfortunate Queen Marie Antoinette204 were seized by the mob of Paris in 1789,205 and after a miserable confinement in the Tuileries were taken to the scaffold during the crisis of The Reign of Terror.206 Here it was that Queen Marie Antoinette addressed the mob, while she held up to them her helpless babes, and since that awful morning when she and her husband were dragged to Paris, the Palace of Versailles has ceased to be ______a royal residence.
It was sacked and terribly mutilated by the mob during the revolution, so that it was estimated that 50,000,000 of Francs, equal to $6,000,000 would have been required to restore it to a condition fitted for a royal residence.
This deterred Napoleon from making use of it for this purpose, altho’ he did repair the walls and fountains and some of the apartments. Louis XVIII207 also wished to make it his residence, but the expense of the repairs deterred him, altho’ he did spend 6,000,000 of Francs upon it. Thus it remained through the reign of Charles X,208 and it was reserved for Louis Phillipe209 to give a distinction to it. Time had produced such a revolution in public opin- ______ion since Louis XIV, that it could no longer be the abode of a population of courtiers, or the Olympus of a Monarch. Louis Philippe therefore conceived the idea of preserving here the glories of France, and without being despoiled, of the type of grandeur now passed away, to clothe it with other grandeur which though new, should be natural. With this view the building was repaired, enlarged and harmonized at an expense of 15,000,000 of Francs. An immense series of paintings, sculptures, and works of art, illustrative of every event that has reflected honor upon the annals of France, how fills the Halls of this splendid palace, the whole constituting a museum, which has no parallel in Europe.
It would be impossible for me to give you an account of all that is now to be seen in the splendid galleries of painting
202 Louis XV of France (1710-1774), reigned 1715-1774.
203 Louis XVI of France (1754-1793), reigned 1774-1792. A supporter of the American Revolution, he and his Queen Antoinette were victims of the French Revolution.
204 Marie Antoinette (1755-1793), wife of Louis XVI, Queen of France and Navarre. She and Louis XVI were deposed during the Reign of Terror and were executed.
205 6 October 1789.
206 The Reign of Terror (September 1793 – July 1794) was a period of trauma and violence during the French Revolution. It is associated with Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre. Between 20,000 and 40,000 were executed during this period, many on the guillotine.
207 Louis XVIII of France (1755-1824), reigned De jure 1795-1824.
208 Charles X of France (1757-1836), reigned 1824-1830, the last of the Bourbon monarchs. He was forced to abdicate during the July Revolution of 1830.
209 Louis-Phillipe I, King of the French (1773-1850), reigned 1830-1848. He was the last king to rule France. His reign is known as the July Monarchy. During his early travels, he spent 4 years in the US. He was forced to abdicate during the Revolution of February 1848.
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______sculpture etc in these Halls. Although we were five hours walking through them, we could take time only for a hasty glance at the most noted, for as I have before said, a direct course through these halls demands a walk of six miles.
Here are likenesses of Napoleon and his wives, of all the Kings of France from Clovis to Napoleon III, and of their Queens. Here you see the successive Marshals. Here you see in full life the great Generals of Napoleon – and splendid paintings of all the battle fields – and these works of art are no common place pieces, they are from the pencil of such men as Horace Vernet210 and David,211 while marble statues in splendid workmanship signalized many of France’s ______greatest men in war, science politics and literature.
Here are represented on canvass the various events of the French revolution in 1789 and 1830, and as you gaze upon them you can almost fancy you are now in the midst of the exciting periods whose history this so forcibly commemorates.
It was difficult in the midst of so much that was attractive to say which was the most striking, yet I could not but pause a moment longer at the portrait of Josias Comte de Rautgan212 who died in 1650, who had lost in battle one arm, one leg, one eye, and one ear, and over whose likeness was printed the following lines
«Il despence ses members et sa gloire « tout abbatu qu’il fut, il demeura vanquer « son sang fut en cest lieux, le prix de la victoire213
And in all that I have said ______
I have omitted to speak of the splendid Chapel, where Boussuet214 and Bourdalva215 et Pere la Chaii216 before them preached – of the splendid theatre for the entertainment of the court, and in
210 Horace Vernet (1789-1863), French academic painter (Neoclassical style), known for his paintings of battles and portraits.
211 Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825). French painter in the Neoclassical style. Known especially for his historic scenes and immense paintings from the Revolutionary and Napoleonic periods, several of which are on display at Versailles.
212 Not identified.
213 “He gave his members and his glory; as wounded as he was, he remained a victor; his blood was in this place, the price of victory.”
214 Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet (1627-1704), French bishop, theologian, and court preacher to Louis XIV. He is famous for his sermons and for his defense of the divine right of kings.
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VMI Archives www.vmi.edu/archives which a magnificent supper was given to Queen Victoria when she visited France a short time ago217 – Of the ball room of Louis XIV, of the Salle a manger of the same Monarch, and the room in which Madame de Montespan lost 5,000,000 Francs in one nights gambling – of the chamber of Louis XIV and the bed in which he died – such of which, except the bed, is based upon a scale of magnificence that defies all description.
And yet when you have grasped all this, you will go into the ______
Orangerie – and the gardens – and parks – to have in each new sources of wonder and admiration. It costs 5,000 francs an half hour whenever the waterworks are exhibited in their various sports – a single group of marble statue represents Apollo surrounded by five nymphs, the whole cut from one piece of marble, cost with its attendant arrangements $200,000, while the grounds belonging to the palace embraces 60,000 acres, and now with all this wonder I have another to add, and with which I will close my account of this visit = that my expense for seeing all this wonderful palace, including two hack rides – two omnibus rides – a ride of fifteen miles to and fifteen back in the cars, the fees to guides, and a good snack ______at the palace, amounted to how much? Will you guess? let Fanny, and Henderson guess? then Jenny? and Frank and Sally? do you give up? One dollar. so that while the extravagance of the palace of the Louis’, constituted an important element in the Revolution of 1789, I am sure that my own in visiting it will not very seriously embarrass my finances.
Wednesday Aug 4. After a visit which I again paid to day in company with John Cocke and Mr Davis to my friends Messrs Biot and Bossange,218 I went to the Ecole polytechnique219 and delivered my letters from the Minister of War.
215 Louis Bourdaloue (1632-1704), French Jesuit preacher known for his eloquence. He was often invited to preach at the court of Versailles.
216 Père François de la Chaise (1624-1709), confessor to Louis XIV.
217 Queen Victoria and Prince Albert visited Versailles in 1855.
218 Bossarge
219 The Ecole Polytechnique, a school of advanced studies in Paris, was founded on 28 September 1794, after the fall of Robespierre and at the end of the Reign of Terror. Its original purpose was to prepare artillerists and military engineers and was known as the Central School for Public Works. In September 1795, the school was reorganized to prepare all types of engineers – civil and military – and was renamed the Ecole Polytechnique (Polytechnical School). Jean Baptiste Biot was a member of the first class of students to study at the school.
As time went on, the Ecole Polytechnique became less a school of engineering and more a school of science, mathematics, and high analysis to prepare students for study at advanced schools known as “schools of application.” These included the school of artillery and school of bridges and roads (ponts et chausées). In 1804, Napoleon was declared Emperor of the French. In 1805, he relocated the Ecole Polytechnique to an unused college in the Latin Quarter, militarized it, and required the students to wear uniforms of his army. The Ecole Polytechnique then became known as the Ecole Impériale Polytechnique. Also in that year, Claudius Crozet (1790-1864) entered the school as a student. He completed his studies in 1807, served in Napoleon’s army, and was captured on the Russian Campaign. At the fall of Napoleon, he emigrated to the US, taught mathematics at the USMA, became Principal Engineer and Surveyor of Public Works for Virginia in 1823, and in 1837 was elected president of the first Board of Visitors of the Virginia Military Institute. Col. Crozet and his colleagues on the Board of Visitors selected Francis H. Smith as VMI’s first Superintendent.
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I found the Commandant220 very civil and very intelligent, and as I had no idea of pressing upon the kind indulgence of the Minister by trespassing unreasonably upon ______
The histories of the Ecole Polytechnique are almost exclusively in French. See Jean-Pierre Callot, Histoire de l’Ecole polytechnique (Paris: Stock, 1975), Ambroise Fourcy, Histoire de l’Ecole Polytechnique (Paris: Belin, 1987), and Janis Lāngins, La République avait besoin de savants (Paris: Belin, 1987). See also “Ecole Polytechnique,” at “Wikipedia.” For Crozet, see Robert F. Hunter and Edwin L. Dooley, Jr., Claudius Crozet: French Engineer in America, 1790-1864 (Charlottesville: U Press of Va., 1989), and “Claudius Crozet,” at “Wikipedia.”
According to Galignani’s Guide (1856), p. 104, “ECOLE POLYTECHNIQUE, rue Descartes, Montagne Ste. Geneviève. – A decree of the National Convention, dated March 11, 1794, created a Commission des Travaux Publics, and an École Centrale, the latter of which, by a decree of Sept. 1, 1795, took the name of École Polytechnique. The object of this justly-celebrated institution is to form pupils for the artillery, engineering, the marine service, bridges and highways, mining, telegraphs, and other departments. Pupils are admitted from the age of 16 to 20. They must be French by birth, or naturalized, and free from any physical defect which might render them unfit for service. Every year candidates for admission undergo a very severe examination in Paris and the departments. The terms are 1,000 fr. a-year, the pupils also providing themselves with books and other objects necessary for the pursuit of their studies, and a uniform. The affairs of the school are under the superintendence of a council of amelioration, and an administrator. The period allowed for study is two years, to which, in certain cases a third year is added. The number of pupils is about 300. Strangers cannot visit this school without permission from the Minister of War. It possesses a library of 26,000 volumes.”
Galignani’s Guide (1856), p. 435, continues: “ÉCOLE POLYTECHNIQUE, rue Descartes, established in 1795 in the buildings of the Collège de Navarre, founded n 1304 by Philippe le Bel and Joan of Navarre. A fine hall and chapel of the 14th century belonging to the old college still remain. A new front has been erected to this inconveniently-placed institution, facing the old place, to which it now gives its name. It is ornamented with bas-reliefs representing implements and machines of war and peace, with five medallions on the attic, of Legrand, Laplace, Monge, Bertholet, and Fourcroy. The building with its enlargements has cost 2,000,000 fr.”
220 General Charles Eblé (1799-1870) was commandant of the Ecole Polytechnique from 1854-1860. He attended the school as a student from 1818 to 1820, the normal two-year program. After his service as commandant of the Ecole Polytechnique, he became inspector general of artillery (1862-1864). He retired in 1864 and died in 1870. See “Charles Eblé,” date posted unknown, Bibliothèque Centrale, Ecole Polytechnique, date accessed 6/17/09, electronic address:
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The Ecole Polytechnique (at its original location in Paris) Photo by the editor, 1970
the officers in charge of this important school, I said to him, that if my visit today at the hour at which I had called would subject him to the slightest inconvenience, I could call as well on any other day, and at any hour he might appoint. He very politely replied that if it would suit me as well, I might call tomorrow at 9, and thanking him for his attention I withdrew. I took John Cocke with me as my aide de camp, and we both appeared in full dress uniform.
He noticed this and said that although the Polytechnic School was under a military government, it was not a military school in its strictest sense, as it prepared pupils for the civil as well as military service, and hence it would not be necessary for me in my visitations to appear in full uniform. This was very agreeable to me ______as it will relieve me from much trouble
I am at a lost to know how to act in reference to Mr Pendleton’s221 watches, and hence send the enclosed note to him as the best course I can adopt. And now my darling wife, I stop another time, and I wish every time I do so, that I could still go on, for by day and by night my heart is with you. How can I tell you how many times this day my thoughts have crossed the mighty deep and been with you. As I may be on the continent until 20th October, dispatch and economy in your letters will be promoted if you address them until 1st October to Paris, care John Munroe & Co,222 No 5, rue de la paix and always prepay your letters and put as many sheets
221 See previous reference in letterbook one.
222 John Munroe, an American banker, established a banking house in Europe in 1836. See “Death of John Munroe” [his son] in the New York Times (2 December 1904).
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______
in one envelope as you please, if your weight does not exceed half ounce.
When you do not write to Paris, you can do so to London as usual. A prepaid letter if sent on Tuesday, may go in a Steamer on the Saturday following as there are two lines.
Once more good night, and may Heaven’s choicest blessings be with you all is the constant prayer of your own devoted Husband
F H smith Mrs S H Smith Lexington Va
P.S. Aug 5th. I am going this morning again to the Polytechnic School FHS ______
(Letter No 27.)
Paris August 6th 1858 My precious Wife
Before dispatching my last letter no. 26, yesterday morning, I added a short note of that date saying that I was on my way to the Polytechnic School, knowing that a single line would give additional comfort in bringing the date one day later.
Occupied as I have been, ever since, in the most intensely interesting enquiries to me, in connection with the operations of the great school upon which West Point and the Institute are modeled, there has not been one moment of either day that my thoughts have not been turned to you and my precious little babe, and when by chance a little child has ______passed by me on the road, it would only quicken my pulsations – How strong are the ties which bind heart to heart in this life – and shall they not be perpetuated? -- Are not the unions formed in this life but the beginnings of that closer bond which believers in Christ shall realize hereafter.
Agreeably to my appointment with M. Le General Eblé I went in company with J. Cocke to the Polytechnic School at 9 o’clock yesterday morning. I found on reaching the Institute that Gen. Eblé had not arrived, but that instructions had been given to Col Reffault,223 the Director of Studies, to put me in possession of all the information that I might desire. As he did not speak one word of English, our conversation was conducted exclusively in French, very good French I take it for granted, on his part, on my own, such French as a generous coinage of new French words would
223 Juste Frédéric Riffault (1814-1885) was a member of the Ecole Polytechnique class of 1832 (the year he entered the school for a two-year program). He entered the army after studying at two application schools. He served in France and in Algeria. In 1848 he was attached to the Office of the Secretary of State for War, and then to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Promoted to aide de camp to Minister of War Vaillant in 1850, he was promoted to the rank of Lt. Col. and named Director of Studies at the Ecole Polytechnique, a post he held from 1856 to 1869. Later, as a general, he served as Commandant of the Ecole Polytechnique from 1870 to 1873. For bio and photo, see “Juste Frédéric Riffault (1814-1885),” date posted unknown, Annales, date accessed 6/18/09, electronic address:
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______furnish. Suffice it to say I was enabled to make him comprehend what I wanted, and I have received a very clear idea of what I asked while the document which he gave me will supply all deficiencies on either side. Col Reffault took me through the various Halls of the Institution, I saw the lecture rooms of the various professors, the academies of the departments of Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, Engineering and Mathematics, in which the various models are kept – and also the Laboratories of the chemistry department – Then we went to the Halls of the Studies, and saw the young men (élèves) some in a room at their books, while the officers of the (week) (not day) occupied a central Hall between the two divisions of the school, to preserve order.224 The Salles à Manger225 are below this ______again – and les Salles à coucher226 above. We were not shewn into either, and I did not press for admission, as I presume there were reasons why they should not have been exhibited with the others.
In the course of this rapid inspection, for I was unwilling to seem to intrude upon the time which I know to be very precious, I saw many things which were of use to me, and of which I have already availed. The models in descriptive Geometry227 were very perfect, and I at once solicited information as to the quarter where they might be obtained, that I might procure a long desired aid to our own Institute. By the aid of my friend M. Bossange I traced out the manufacturers of these models today, and I have ordered some which will be much valued by the Cadets.228 Having completed my examination of the Polytechnic ______
School, after returning my thanks to Col R., and to Gen. Eblé (who came in before I had completed my visit) I left for M Bossange’s, with whom I had an appointment.
I could not presume to interest you in all that I have to say in reference to the Polytechnic School. My letters therefore which are designed to be a journal of my progress, will necessarily be imperfect upon these special points, which are the objects of more elaborate examination, and will of course form the basis of detailed official reports.
You may desire to be informed however on some points of interest in this connection – and hence I remark here, that the Polytechnic School, altho’ under a military regime, is not a military school exclusively, or even essentially,
224 The Ecole Polytechnique offered a two-year program of study. There were two “divisions,” one for the beginning or first year class (known informally as “conscripts”) and one for the second year class (known informally as “the seniors”). As occurred at VMI, the senior cadets often harassed the younger cadets, and officers had to be appointed to prevent this activity. See histories of the Ecole Polytechnique.
225 Mess Halls (dining rooms)
226 Sleeping quarters
227 Descriptive Geometry was essentially developed at the Ecole Polytechnique by Gaspard Monge, professor and head of the school in its first years. At first protected as a “military secret,” the teaching of descriptive geometry was later widespread. Claudius Crozet wrote a descriptive geometry textbook for use at the United States Military Academy at West Point, and Francis Smith published a textbook on the subject in 1868.
228 Smith purchased a number of models for use in teaching Descriptive Geometry at VMI. These models were taken or destroyed when Union troops burned the Institute in July 1864.
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______
It is as its name imports, a general school of science and art, with pretty high conditions for admissions – giving a two years course, and from which on graduation, its élèves go into the military or civil service as may be afterwards determined. Those, intended for the military service go to the schools of application at Metz, for Engineers and Artillery, or to St Cyr for infantry. Those for the Navy, go to the corresponding school of application, while those for civil service enter either the Ecoles des Ponts et Chaussées, (Bridges & Roads) l’ecole des mines, or l’ecole central des arts et des métiers. Both General Eblé and Colonel Reffault were very anxious to press upon me the fact, that the Polytechnic School was not essentially a Military School, and this whilst the distinction gained by its eleves in the Crimean War had led to such an inference, they ______said that facts would abundantly demonstrate that the civil service had derived more benefit from the Institution than the Military. Hence they remarked, we have but few military exercises here – the élèves being chiefly drilled in the school of the battalion in Infantry, for we are unwilling to subject those to such exercises who are not destined for the military service. I added, “I believe the eleves of this School were very conspicuous in the days of the Revolution”,229 “Oh! oui – oui”, with a significant shrug of the shoulder, from which I conclude, that the policy of the Government is not to encourage too much of a military ardor among those who may at any moment turn their knowledge to account when occasion presents for a new Revolution. ______
The remainder of yesterday was pretty much taken up in hunting up some models, suggested to me in part by my visit to the P. School, and this morning, one of M. Bossange’s sons very kindly gave me two hours upon a like examination.
And this reminds me to repeat to you, that I cannot be too grateful to Mr. Wiley for directing me to M. Bossange. He is the very man above all others to serve me in my present work, and he has done it so handsomely, as to have won the regard of us all.
Saturday morning August 7
Under the permission of the proper officers our party visited the palace of The Tuileries230 yesterday morning.
229 Here one has to distinguish between revolutions. The cadets of the Ecole Polytechnique played a role in defending Paris against the allies in 1815, for which the government and school authorities would have been proud, but they also participated on the side of the people in the Revolution of 1830, which embarrassed the authorities. They also participated in the Revolution of 1848, but that time as a force for moderation against the rebelling crowds.
230 Tuileries Palace. This palace once connected the two wings of the Louvre until 1871 when it was destroyed during the suppression of the Paris Commune. It had been Napoleon I’s chief residence in Paris, and during the Second Empire, it was the location of the office of Napoleon III. Queen Victoria visited the palace in 1855. See “Tuileries Palace,” at “Wikipedia,” and in editions of the Michelin guide to Paris.
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The Louvre Palace and the Tuileries Palace The Illustrated London News
Tuileries is derived from the word Tile, as a Tile Kiln once stood on the site of the palace.
This famous building ______has been the abode of the Court since the times of Francis I, altho’ the royal residence was not established in it before Louis XIII.
Louis XIV lived in it occasionally and only while the Palace at Versailles was completing, and on his removal to Versailles the Court forsook Paris entirely. The Palace of the Tuileries is conspicuous as being the centre of the great violence during the first revolution. The mob entered it in June 1792, and in August of the same year it was attacked and the Swiss guard massacred. It was the official residence of Napoleon as 1st Consul and also as Emperor, and he began in 1808 the great work of uniting the Tuileries with the Louvre by the northern gallery.
Galignani’s Guide (1856), pp. 147-148, states: “THE PALACE OF THE TUILERIES. – This palace occupies the site of a rubbish-shoot and some tile-fields that existed in the time of Charles VI., 1476…. This palace is inscribed on almost every page of the history of the first revolution. The mob entered it on June 20, 1792, and on Aug. 10 of the same year it was attacked and the Swiss guards massacred. It was the official residence of the First Consul, and subsequently the imperial palace. In 1808 Napoleon began the northern gallery, to communicate with the Louvre. After the Restoration the Tuileries continued to be the chief residence of the King and Royal Family. After the revolution of 1830, when the people attacked and took the palace (July 29th), Louis Philippe fixed his residence in it, and continued to inhabit it till the 24th of February, 1848, when it was again invaded by the people, and the King made his escape. By a decree of the Provisional Government, dated Feb. 26th, 1848, which was never put into execution, this palace was to be thenceforth transformed into an asylum for invalid workmen. During and after the insurrection of June, it was used as an hospital for the wounded. In 1849 the yearly exhibition of paintings was opened in it. At present it is the official residence of the Emperor.”
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After the restoration, this palace ______continued to be the chief residence of the King, and when in 1830 the mob again attacked it and took it, Louis Phillipe fixed his residence in it and continued to reside in it, until 1848 it was again invaded by the people and he was compelled to run away and abdicate his throne to save his life. It is now the official residence of the Emperor, altho’ a most beautiful building and most Highly ornamented with gilding, it is not comparable with the Palace of Versailles either in extent or expensiveness. And while contemplating this and other specimens of French luxuriance and magnificence marked as they all are by the most lavish show of gilding, I could not but think that it was a type, perhaps too true, of the character of the French people, which ______exhibits itself with great outward splendor, while within there are too sad evidences of a diseased condition. Every day my experience in Paris opens to me more and more of the low state of public and private morals. Twice on yesterday while transacting business with those whom I had expected to act differently, they wished to make appointments with me for Sunday morning – and both cases involving labor on that Holy Day. And what struck me more than any thing else, was the absence of any surprise or hesitation in the proposition.
They both spoke as if Sunday was the best day for the Service to be rendered, inasmuch as the parties would be less liable ______to interruption by general customers.
Tomorrow week,231 altho’ Sunday, is appointed by the Emperor as a grand fete day in commemoration of the birth of Napoleon 1st, and the most extensive arrangements are in progress for fireworks – and on the evening of this Holy Day.
Chateau de Vincennes Illustrated London News, 3 January 1852
231 15 August 1858
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To day we appointed to go to Vincennes,232 distant some five or six miles and accessible by cab in an hours ride. Letters of admission had been obtained previously, and these gave admission for our whole party. There is an ancient fort here, with a very substantial tower, and we found with in the fort an old church, which had, in the midst of the various commotions to which this country has been subject, been converted into a magazine. It ______has however been restored to its sacred use by Napoleon III, and will be placed upon the same scale of ornamental arrangement as St Chapelle in Paris. There is a very striking monument in this chapel erected by Louis Phillipe to the Duc de Engheim233 whose cruel massacre by a mock tribunal in the days of the Revolution is so well known. We saw, nothing however very striking in Vincennes, and were scarcely paid for our ride there, except in the view of the country. Some of the Soldiers were on drill in Artillery and Infantry and the Chasseurs à pied, et à cheval, were being exercised in Gymnastics.
There is a large depot of arms here, of some 60,000 of the models now used. We passed in our ride the place
232 The Château de Vincennes is a 14th-17th century fortress-palace, built in the style of the Bastille which was destroyed during the French Revolution, and located in the eastern part of Paris. Like the Bastille, its donjon served as a prison down to recent times. See “Château de Vincennes,” at “Wikipedia.”
Referring to recent additions and use of Vincennes in 1858, Galignani’s Guide (1856), pp. 581- 582, states: “Behind the chapel are the workshops of the arsenal, and to the left is the Armoury, containing a vast store of arms, all arranged with great symmetry, and exhibiting many fanciful devices. The staircase is flanked by columns, with their pedestals and capitals complete, all formed with musket-barrels, pistols, bayonets, etc., very ingeniously combined for the purpose. Fronting the staircase is a sort of sun, composed in a similar manner; above this are seen the initials L.N. [Louis Napoleon], and the Eagle. The armoury consists of a long gallery, filled with modern weapons of every kind arranged in racks; from the ceiling hang imitations of lustres, all obtained as before from combinations of swords, pistols, etc. This gallery contains upwards of 60,000 muskets, and an immense store of swords, pistols, pikes, etc.; and at the furthest end is a trophy formed of the colours of the Garde Mobile of 1848, with an inscription recording their bravery in the insurrection of June. A great extension has been given to the château by the junction of the new fort, which contains barracks for 2 regiments of artillery and stabling for 1250 horses. In each corner of the fort at the eastern extremity is a powder-magazine, sheltered by a high rampart of earth. Here also is seen an immense park of artillery, kept in constant readiness for service. The garrison of Vincennes is composed of 1 regiment (sometimes two) of artillery, 1 regiment of infantry, 1 battalion of riflemen (Chasseurs de Vincennes), and some companies of sapers and miners. There is also the newly-created Ecole de tir, where officers from all the regiments are sent to be instructed in the use of the improved fire- arms. The consumption here of powder and shot is immense; every regiment of the garrison of Paris and its environs daily sends its contingent to practice at the Polygone. From the month of July to the month of September the artillery practice firing at the butt 3 times a-week, generally the Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. These exercises commence at 6 o’clock, and continue till 9, and attract many visitors from Paris. Visitors are permitted to see the Château on Saturdays only, by writing for a ticket, some days beforehand, to M. le Commandant de l’Artillerie du 1er arrondissement (Est) at Vincennes.”
233 Louis-Antoine-Henri de Bourbon-Condé, Duke d’Enghien (1772-1804). He was executed during the French Consulate, suspected of participating in a conspiracy against France and Napoleon. Enghien was seized by French agents in German territory and brought to France for a military trial and execution. See “Duke d’Enghien,” at “Wikipedia.”
According to Galignani’s Guide (1856), p. 581, “This church contains a monument to the unfortunate Duke d’Enghien, who was shot here March 20th, 1804. The Prince was led down to the ditch at the south-east angle of the fortress, where, his grave being already dug, he perished by military execution…. His body was disinterred in 1816, and placed under the magnificent monument….”
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______at which the infernal machine of Fieschie was thrown at Louis Phillipe and which proved so destructive to a large number of people.234
Sunday Morning Aug 8th 1858
Fulton Steamer arrived at Southampton on Thursday with U.S. mail, and I have been most anxiously looking out for letters from home. These Southampton mail boats leave New York on Saturday, and thus letters prepaid at Lexington on Thursday morning will be in time for them.
By this mail I have been enabled to give you at times tri-weekly intelligence from me, which I always do, and when I have more to say than will go by one mail in the same letter for single postage. One half ounce will always go for single postage.
We were all so uncomfortable in the ______
Hotel de Bade from the want of proper cleanliness in the House that we concluded yesterday to change our lodgings. By the kind aid of one of M. Bossange’s sons we have taken very comfortable quarters in No. 63 Rue de Provence, which is only a few minutes walk from Boulevard des Italiens and from our former residence. Here we get six furnished rooms (chambers meublés) for 24 francs a day, including service, making about 75 cents a day for each, and we have a good parlour besides.
Our removal gave offence to the attachés at the Hotel de Bade, who besides charging us an extra day, were very ungracious in receiving our instructions as to our change of residence to our friends who might enquire for us, but especially for our letters. This last item has given us ______much concern, and we are a little disposed to report the House to the prefect of Police, for we are not sure that he has withheld letters which we had expected. Certain it is that Mr Davis received his last night, we are glad to get out of the noise and dust of the Hotel, and if our letters only come safely, we shall be satisfied to pay the extra day without grumbling. We found out the ill humor of the establishment, from a tailor, who, Paris fashion, brought Frank’s new clothes to him this morning (Sunday) and said that when he went to the Hotel de Bade, all they would tell him was that we had moved away, and altho’ Frank had left a note to be handed to the Tailor, they failed to deliver it, and it was by accident that the Tailor found out from the Garcon (the waiter) where we were. We are not without ______hope that letters may turn up for us yet.
I felt so condemned in my conscience for the want of a proper use of the last Sabbath, that I made no attempt to see any more of the miserable mummery of the Catholic worship in their Cathedrals or Churches. There was so little of profit or instruction afforded to me in the Services of L’Eglise St Roch last Sunday, that having found out where I might go with profit this morning, I did not hesitate to attend the American Chapel. This is a neat little house of worship,
234 Giuseppe Mario Fieschi. In 1835, Louis Philippe survived an assassination attempt in Paris by Giuseppe Mario Fieschi, a native of Corsica. Living in Paris, Fieschi and two accomplices built an “infernal machine” of twenty gun barrels that would fire simultaneously. On 28 July 1835, as Louis Philippe passed by Fieschi’s dwelling place, the machine was fired and a ball grazed the King’s head. Eighteen people were killed and many wounded. Fieschi was guillotined in 1836. See “Giuseppe Marco Fieschi,” at “Wikipedia.”
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VMI Archives www.vmi.edu/archives recently erected in rue de Berry near the Champ Elysees, and not far from the American legation. The house is built by Americans.235 The pastor is an American Congregationalist,236 who uses the church service of the American Episcopal Church, ______which he read with great propriety this morning, and then gave us a capital Sermon from Romans 1.16. “I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ” The church is small but it was well filled, chiefly with American residents in Paris, and Americans traveling abroad.
I saw there this morning our minister Mr. Mason and family, and some 8 or 10 of our fellow passengers on the Africa, and it was pleasant to know that scattered as we had been since we parted in Liverpool, we had as Americans been drawn together by the ties of our common Christianity to the American House of God in Paris. I do not know when I have enjoyed the service of our beloved church more than I did this morning.
There was so much of simple grandeur in ______
its prayers, and of recollections of Home – our American Home, while we were worshiping God in a foreign land, that came in to aid the sentiments which I experienced.
The prayer for the President was used, in which the Minister said “For the President of the United States, the Emperor of the French and the Queen of England”, a most appropriate prayer for such an occasion.
For several days past we have been taking our dinners at the Palais Royal.237 Paris style of living consists in taking your rooms either at Hotels – or where “apartments meubles” are secured, then breakfasting at a Café, and dining at a Restaurant. At the Cafes you may get either a simple Dejeuner238 or a dejeuner in [sic] la fourchellie [fourchette]. The former is a cup of Coffee ______with bread and butter and an egg, anything which does not require a fork. The other is more properly a lunch or is taken as a lunch by the French, who have with it a cup of coffee, a mutton chop or a beefsteak. Of these Cafes and Restaurants, there are hundreds along the Boulevards and principal Streets, all brilliantly illuminated at night and very handsomely furnished, and
235 The American Chapel in Paris was built in 1857-58, and was opened on 6 May 1858, by The American and Foreign Christian Union. This was a society created in 1849 by the union of the American Protestant Socety (founded in 1843) and the Foreign Evangelical Society (founded in 1839). The purpose of the AFCU was to carry out the work of evangelical denominations and to “diffuse the principles of religious liberty, and a pure and evangelical Christianity, both at home and abroad, where a corrupted Christianity exists,” this according to its constitution. It received a charter in 1857 from Napoleon III to establish the American Church in Paris. See “AFCU History,” date posted unknown, American and Foreign Christian Union, date accessed 6/18/09, electronic address:
236 The minister of the American Chapel in Paris was Rev. R. H. Seeley. He arrived there in 1858 and remained for a year. See “The Christian World,” publication of The American & Foreign Christian Union, Vol. 10, Jan. – Dec. 1859, p. 263.
237 See reference below.
238 Lunch
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VMI Archives www.vmi.edu/archives differing very much in price and fare.239 Usually you pay for whatever you order, and the bill is so minute as to include even the bread you eat. A Stranger is apt to be imposed upon for not knowing how the charges are made out, he is apt to eat something of whatever is put before him, and when he calls for his bill, finds a pretty heavy item of extras in the Shrimps or prawn he may have eaten or the rolls or cakes placed before him, and thus he may ______
The Palais Royal From the editor’s collection have to pay 10 francs for what he expected to cost only 3 or 4.
The Palais Royal240 was once what its name imports, a royal palace, and bears the type now of all the splendor in exterior shew of the French Royal Palace. It was originally built by
239 Galignani’s Guide (1856), pp. 11-12, explains: “Restaurants have private rooms called cabinets de société, in which a party may dine in private. Besides the principal restaurateurs, where the dinner is à la carte, there are other houses where dinners are served for a fixed sum, from 2 francs, including wine. In most parts of Paris, a dinner may be had for 30, 25, and even 22 sous. The last of these prices will procure soup, 2 dishes at choice, a dessert, bread, and a modicum of wine. Traiteurs, or petty restaurateurs, send out dishes, or dinners ready dressed, to order. A family in lodgings, or at an hotel, had better bargain with the traiteur for a number of dishes at a certain hour. After dinner Parisians go to a café, to take a demi-tasse of coffee, and a petit verre de liqueur, instead of sitting over the wine. … The principal restaurants are Trois Frères Provençaux, Very, Véfour, (all in the Palais Royal,) Café de Paris, Maison Dorée, and Café Anglais, Boulevard des Italiens.”
240 The Palais-Royal is a palace near the Louvre, originally the home of Cardinal Richelieu. The Cardinal, concerned about Louis XIII’s jealousy over this palace, gave it to him. On Richelieu’s death, the King took up residence there and it became known as the Palais-Royal. It remained the home of royalty and finally of Louis Philippe II d’Orléans. During the French Revolution, he took the name Philippe Égalité. He opened the Palais-Royal to the public and rebuilt it to contain galleries, colonnades, and fashionable shops and cafés. The historic restaurant “Le Grand Vefour” continues to this day. The Palais-Royal was looted during the Revolution of 1848, but during the Second Empire it became the home of a branch of the Bonaparte family. See “Palais-Royal,” at “Wikipedia.”
Describing the Palais-Royal around the time of Smith’s visit, Galignani’s Guide (1856), p.p. 214-
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Cardinal Richlieu and was presented by him to Louis XIII, and became the residence of Anne of Austria241 during the Regency and Ministry242 of Louis XIV.
The Catholics bestowed it on the heritage of the Duke d’Orleans, and in consequence of the extravagance of one of the Dukes, some parts of the palace, after the burning of the theatre, attached to it were converted into Cafes [,] Shops etc, to yield a revenue to relieve the exhausted eschecquer [sic] of the Duke. Louis Phillipe occupied this Palace ______as Duke of Orleans, and when he came to the throne he failed to comply with one of the conditions of the French Constitution, by transferring his personal estates to the Government.
A few days before he took the throne, he deeded the interest he had in Palais Royal to his children. Louis Napoleon confiscated this property when he came into power, upon the ground that the act of Louis Philliipe was fraudulent.
The Palais Royal, in its Cafes and shops has been the scene of some of the most violent proceedings of the hottest revolutionists, and has suffered great violence from the unlicenced assaults of the mobs.243 Louis Napoleon repaired some of the devastation244 – has opened Cafes and Shops in some parts of the palace – while some of the Court rooms are
215, presents the following scene: “Within the garden are 4 kiosks generally occupied by persons who let out journals to read at a sou each; and round them are to be found at all hours of the day politicians of every caste and rank. Under the lime trees are rows of chairs, occupied, during the summer months, by crowds of loungers; and so great is the profit arising from them, and from the privilege of supplying frequenters of the garden with refreshments, that government derives an annual rent of 38,000 fr., or £1520 from these two items alone. The buildings that surround the garden are all of uniform architecture, and consist of two stories and an attic, resting upon arcades, divided by fluted Composite pilasters, which rise to the cornice above the second story. The shops under the arcades are among the most elegant in Paris, arranged with the greatest taste, and, being chiefly devoted to articles of luxury, produce a most brilliant effect. On the first floors are a great number of restaurants, and here were formerly the gambling-houses which rendered this place so celebrated. The stories above are occupied by individuals of various professions. Under the arcades, at the corner of the Théâtre Français, is Chevet’s magasin de comestibles, well known to epicures. In the Galerie Montpensier is the café de Foy, and in the Galerie Beaujolais are the three restaurants of Véry, les Trois Frères Provençaux, Véfour, and the café de la Rotonde, all unique in their kind. Under the Péristyle Beaujolais, to the north-east, is the Café des Aveugles, a place of amusement worthy of a visit by the curious traveller, as being a favourite resort of the lower classes. It takes its name from a band of blind musicians, who accompany singers in little vaudevilles. A ‘sauvage,’ too, a celebrated drummer, performs here. In the Péristyle Joinville, at the north-west corner, is the entrance to the Théâtre du Palais Royal, formerly Montansier…. The best time for seeing this splendid bazaar is in the evening, when the garden and arcades are brilliantly illuminated and full of people; the shops of the watch-makers and jewelers will then particularly strike the visitor’s eye. The Palais royal has been called, not without reason, the Capital of Paris, and it certainly is more frequently entered than any other space of equal dimensions in the city. To the stranger it is particularly interesting from its historic associations….”
241 Anne of Austria (1601-1666), mother of Louis XIV of France.
242 Perhaps Smith meant “minority” here. Anne of Austria was Regent for her young son.
243 Galignani’s Guide (1856), p. 215, explains: “As early as Anne of Austria, the troubles of the Fronde may be said to have commenced in it; there Camille Desmoulins from one of the straw chairs harangued the populace on the night of the famous charge of the Prince de Lambese; the club of the Jacobins was formed in it, as was that of the Thermidorians; the Dantonists met at the Café de Foy, the Girondists at the Café de Chartres..”
244 Looting and destruction of the Palais-Royal that took place during the Revolution of 1848.
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______still preserved for Court purposes but are not open to the public. It is in one of the Cafes or restaurants rather that we have been taking our dinners for the two days before today. We had Soup – a choice of 6 kinds, fish a choice of as many kinds, a dish of meat au choix, a dish of vegetables au choix – and peaches or grapes for dessert, and a bottle of wine, and all this for 2 ½ francs – say 50 cents.
Its central position in Palais Royal, being near the Louvre and the Tuileries makes it very acceptable and great crowds of very genteel persons frequent it. It is not as stylish as many other restaurants, but very good and certainly very cheap.
On Sabbath we usually dine at our lodgings, and so we have concluded to do today. I ______have suffered very much from the want of good water. The water of London was very bad, and that in Paris is not much better.245 I have not been able to resort to the expedient of many others who drink ale in England and wine in France. Ale does not agree with me, and wine is not agreeable to me, and Ice is so dear that I have really suffered for a good draught of water, and many a time have I wished that my mouth was under the spout of the spring near Christy’s.246 Water with ice is dearer than wine, as is shewn by the fact that at the Palais Royal they will give you a bottle of wine with your dinner and make no charge, but if you call for ice, they will give you very scant allowance, and charge you a franc extra.
I had another ______painful illustration today of the want of reverence for Gods Holy day among the French. As we passed on our way to church at 11 o’clock, the majority of the shops were open and business was going on as if it were an ordinary day. We saw a painter at work – some stone masons at another place, carts transporting merchandize [sic], persons peddling wares along the streets, women and others sewing and working in Shoe Shops and the like, and when Shops are closed, the exception seemed to require a notice on the sign to this effect “cette maison n’est pas ouverte sur le dimanche et fete”.247 Every day I am more and more struck with the fact that the Parisian French have no home. They have no word for home in their vocabulary – Chez vous or Chez ______moi,248 are the only terms expressive of the idea, and no wonder they have no Homes. The Cafés supply the wants of men and women for two meals of the day – while the restaurants are the common resort of both classes for dinner. Domestic ties in the best circles I will not speak of, for I know nothing of them, but Home to the French in Paris is not the Sanctum which Americans
245 According to Galignani’s Guide (1856), p. 337, “At the corner of the rue St. Paul, No. 4, are a few remains of the Hôtel de St. Paul, long a royal residence; the greater part is of comparatively late date, and is now occupied by a company for distributing through Paris the filtered water of the Seine. In a long spacious room are placed four rows of charcoal filters, receiving the water of the river, which is drawn up by a steam-engine. The clarified water thus obtained is perfectly sweet and wholesome.”
246 Christopher “Christie” Birmingham, who worked at times at VMI, lived on Main Street, Lexington, near the South (Maury) River, at the site of an important spring.
247 “This house is not open Sundays and holidays.”
248 “At your place or house.” “At my place or house.”
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VMI Archives www.vmi.edu/archives are in the habit of making theirs249 – May the day never come when we shall lose the comfort of this word in all its holiness and purity and peace.
Tuesday Aug 10 1858
The unprofitable Sabbath that I first spent in Paris, led me to seek a Protestant service for the evening and I fell in with an English Chapel250 rue de l’Arcade, where in a Gymnastic Hall, the ______the English Church has slated services every Sabbath, about 200 persons were present and I had the pleasure of hearing a capital sermon from an English Clergyman from the 1st verse of 55th Chapter of Isaiah.
In person he was not unlike Gov McDowell.251 He preached without notes, and with great earnestness and a fine evangelical Spirit, and when I returned to my bed at night I thanked God that in this worldly city, I was privileged to enjoy a spiritual worship on his Holy Day.
Yesterday I had fixed for a visit to St Cyr Military School,252 and after attending to some matters of business which occupied me until 2 o’clock, we had a lunch at our boarding house at 3, ______and Robt Taylor and myself [set?] off for St Cyr at 4 ½ P.M.
St Cyr is situated only a few leagues Southwest of Paris, and some 3 or 4 miles from Versailles, so that by half past five we were at the Concierge of the School. The commandant was not in when we arrived, but being assured that he would be in in 10 minutes, we quietly waited in the Hall his arrival. He made his appearance at 6.10 minutes and on my delivering my order from the Minister of War, he enquired how long we had been waiting. I replied only a few
249 Smith is reporting what he saw in the center of Paris, and he may be correct in general, but his judgment on the French did not apply to towns and villages outside of Paris, where family life was very strong and holding long family meals – especially after church on Sunday – was the norm.
250 There were three English chapels in Paris: one at the British Embassy, 39, rue du Faubourg St. Honoré; the second at 5, rue d’Aguesseau, Faubourg St. Honoré; and the third the Marboeuf Chapel, 10 bis, Avenue Marboeuf, Champs Elysées. See Galignani’s Guide (1856) p. 119. These were the main English chapels in Paris, but Smith says he found one on the rue de l’Arcade. If he his not mistaken of the location, he probably attended a Protestant service in a makeshift location. In fact, he says it was held in a Gymnastic Hall.
Accordng to Galignani’s Guide (1856), p. 194: “THE CHAPEL MARBOEUF (Church of England), 10 bis, Avenue Marboeuf, established in 1824, is a chaste specimen of the pointed style; a flight of steps gives access to the principal entrance, separated by buttresses from the lateral ones. The interior consists of a nave, around which runs an oaken gallery, resting upon iron pillars. The chapel is numerously attended. The minister [in 1856] is the Rt. Rev. Bishop Spencer.”
251 James McDowell (1795-1851) was governor of Virginia from 1843 to 1846. His home, “Col Alto,” is located on the edge of Lexington, Virginia.
252 École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr is the French national military school. It was created by order of Napoleon in 1802 and established at Fountainebleau in 1803. The school was moved in 1808 to Saint-Cyr, west of Paris, where it remained until WWII. See “Saint-Cyr,” at “Wikipedia.” See also Jacques Godechot, Les Institutions de la France sous la Révolution et L’Empire (Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1968), 605, 738.
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VMI Archives www.vmi.edu/archives minutes, and then adding that inasmuch as his dinner hour was probably near at hand, I would not trespass on his time, but presuming I might be able to see some of the military exercises of the school, (as this is essentially a school of practice) I would request him to detail one of ______the officers to go with me. This he very promptly acceded to, and preparing an order he accompanied me to the Porter, who took me to the Captain on duty and by him and an adjutant of the day, I was escorted thorough all the public rooms, the salles à manger, salles a coucher, salles d’etudes, et salles de recitation, Gymnasium, and the riding school for Cavalry. In each of these I of course found much to interest me, and was much pleased with many of the arrangements, especially with the Gymnasium. The riding schools were also very fine, and I enjoyed the exercises which were going on at the time.
There are 550 Cadets here at this time, destined for the Cavalry, Infantry and Marine Service. I was mistaken in supposing that ______any were sent from the Polytechnic School to this school. This school prepares for the services mentioned before, and the course is two (2) years.
The Commandant at present here is General Comte de Mounet,253 an officer who was wounded in the Crimean War. The Captain who guided us was a fine looking and intelligent officer, who had served also in the Crimea. As our inspection today was only partial I shall return tomorrow to make a more full one. We left in our cab for Versailles and taking the 8 P.M. train was [sic] in Paris by 9 o’clock.
As we rode along the left bank of the Seine, we had a beautiful view of the picturesque country around, and on our return saw the illumination proceeding from a terrible fire which seemed to be raging in Paris. ______
Passing along the Rue de Rivoli and then by the cross streets into the Boulevard des Italiens, I never was more struck with the brilliancy of Paris at night. The Arched Collonade along the Rue de Rivoli, with a gas light under each arch, and extending for two (2) miles or more, were beautiful, and then the dazzling brilliancy of the Cafés, with their crowds of gay Parisians taking their ices, or cafés, presented a scene of which we know nothing in America, while the jardins des Fleures254 exhibited a gayer scene of beauty and loveliness, not free from the corruptions of Paris life and morals.
The Fulton brought me a letter from Bro. M,255 dated 18 July, announcing the birth of another daughter. I was sorry to learn of the ______sad accident to a son of Dr Minnegerode.
Tuesday. 4 o’clock Aug 10.
253 Not identified.
254 Flower gardens
255 James Marsden Smith (1803-1889), of Norfolk, Va., whom Francis Smith referred to as “Marsden.”
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How can I be sufficiently thankful my precious wife to our Father in Heaven, that your letter of 23d, received this morning gave me better tidings of our dear little babe.
To shew you the regularity of our American mails, I called at our bankers, Mr. Monroe256 yesterday to know when an American mail might be expected. He replied between 12 and [?] tomorrow, (today) we went down at ½ past 12, and in fifteen minutes more I was in possession of your letter. Thank you for it, and again and again let me praise the Father of every mercy for the signal blessing again vouchsaved to us. May it make me more and more grateful. Thank also Major Williamson257 for his letter with the proceed- ______ings of the Board.258 Since the 9th of June 1858, I have thrown away completely all care about the Institute. I am satisfied it is in good hands, and I have needed rest from its responsibilities, and therefore I cheerfully give it up for the present.
We have had much merriment at the blunders which our party have made from time to time in speaking French. We went into a Café a few evenings ago to get some refreshing drink, and I called for some drink which was tres chaud instead of tres froid259 and scarcely discovered my blunder until a smoking hot lemonade was bought to me. It proved to be very good and satisfied my thirst. Terril260 went out one day and on his return told the “Cocher” (the driver) to take him to Rue de Provence “maison meu- ______blé,” not knowing that almost every house has on it a sign for a maison meublé, while another of our party in giving directions to the driver said to him Cochon (pig) instead of Cocher. We hope that by degrees we are learning French, as well as making blunders as in avoiding them. And so my friend John Lyle261 has passed into his rest. I can never forget my last visit to him. I remember saying to him, “Well Friend Lyle, Good bye, if we meet not again here – may we meet in our Fathers mansion”. His eye moistened – he gave me a warm grasp of the hand, he spoke not a word. It was his last grasp with me. May I meet him in peace in Heaven.
Had you better not let me get some good Paris shoes and gloves for Fanny and yourself, which I can get here at much reduced prices. Let me know the no. of Alexanders gloves262 you use, ______
256 John Munroe. See previous reference to this American banker in Paris.
257 Major Thomas H. Williamson, of VMI. See previous reference in letterbook one.
258 Reference to the VMI Board of Visitors.
259 “very hot” instead of “very cold”
260 James Barbour Terrill (?) See previous reference.
261 John B. Lyle (1808-1858) was the proprietor of a bookstore in Lexington, which served as one of the intellectual centers of the town, and was director of the choir of the Lexington Presbyterian Church. He was a close friend of Smith, J. T. L. Preston, Thomas Jonathan Jackson, and many others. See Robert Hunter, “Stonewall’s Church: the First Two Centuries, Proceedings of the Rockbridge Historical Society, XI, 31.
262 Not identified.
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VMI Archives www.vmi.edu/archives also take a slip of paper and put it inside of the shoes giving the exact length inside, and then measure straight across the instep and across the toes, and mark the measures on the same slip, and I will have made what you may need, either as walking or dress shoes or gaiters. I have me a pair of boots made for me of the best Calfskin, which cost $4.75, for which I would have to pay $10 in America. I can get the best Kid gloves for ladies at 63 cents. You can buy them for 18 ¾, but of course they are not good.
Wednesday Aug 11th 1858
I am about to start on my second visit to the Military School at St Cyr, accompanied this time by John Cocke, and expect to return by 6 o’clock this evening.
Yesterday after receiving and enjoying ______your good letter of 23d July, felt as if I could rest in sightseeing and let the enjoyment of your comfort in your letter be my comfort for the day. Do thank Maj Williamson for his kindness in copying the proceedings of the Board. After dinner Grandy, Terril and myself took a ride to the Champ de Mars, an immense oblong area, marked by many historic incidents in the revolutionary annals of France.263 Here in 1790, Louis XVI, on l’Autel de la Patri made oath to maintain the new Constitution. At the great fete de la Federation, 60,000 persons were constantly at work in throwing up the embankments and making the ditches which surround this famous field. Here
263 The Champ de Mars is a large open area where military drills used to be held. Bordering it is the École Militaire. During the French Revolution, the Champ de Mars was the location of a number of massive patriotic demonstrations and ceremonies, including the Fête de la Fédération held on 14 July 1790, one year after the fall of the Bastille. In 1794, at the direction of Robespierre, the Ceremony of the Supreme Being was held there.
According to Galignani’s Guide (1856), p. 351, a copy of which Smith was reading: “CHAMP DE MARS – an immense oblong space between the École Militaire and the Seine, of 2952 feet by 1476. It has four rows of trees on each side, and has gentle slopes towards the center. It was formerly bordered east and west by ditches and embankments, which were formed, in the year 1790, by the population of Paris, of both sexes and all ranks, for the celebrated Fête de la Fédération, which took place on the 14th of July, when an altar, called l’Autel de la Patrie, was erected in the centre, and Louis XVI., seated in a superb amphitheatre in front of the École Militaire, made oath to maintain the new constitution. More than 60,000 persons were constantly at work till the embankments were completed. Napoleon held here the famous Champ de Mai, before the battle of Waterloo; and here too, in 1830, Louis Philippe distributed their colours to the National Guards. On the night of the 14th June, 1837, during the rejoicings in celebration of the marriage of the Duke of Orleans, 24 persons were suffocated or trodden to death by the pressure of the crowd passing through the gates. On May 10th, 1852, Louis Napoleon distributed the Eagles to the army, which were to replace the Gallic Cock. The sight on this occasion was magnificent; upwards of 60,000 troops were present, together with many Arab chiefs, who had come over from Algeria as representatives of the Arab tribes what have made their submission to the French Government. The Champ de Mars is used for military reviews and manoeuvres, as also for horse races.”
France then, and for hundreds of years, was considered a preeminent military power. Militarism was a feature of the Second Empire as Napoleon III tried to recapture the glory and influence of the days of Napoleon I. A strong military was also considered a guard against disorder and revolution, outbreaks of which had disrupted France for nearly sixty years. Anyone who visited Paris at this time could not help but notice the omnipresence of soldiers in and around Paris. Galignani’s Guide (1856), p. 494, states: “REVIEWS. From the military character of the French nation, and the great number of troops forming the garrison of Paris, reviews are frequently passed; they generally take place in the Court of the Tuileries, or in the Champ de Mars.” These military demonstrations were intended more to impress or intimidate French citizens as they were to display French military might to other countries.
Francis H. Smith in Europe, 1858. Letterbook #2 Page 94
VMI Archives www.vmi.edu/archives also Napoleon held the famous Champ de Mai before the battle of Waterloo, and here in 1830 Louis Phillipe distributed their colors to the National Guards. ______
The École Militaire (a barracks at the time of Smith’s visit) From the editor’s collection
The military school which was once here has been converted into a Military barracks, the service being provided with schools elsewhere.
On returning from the Champ de Mars, we stopped at one of the places of evening amusement for Parisians in its Gardens, this being the evening for an entertainment at the Jardens [sic] Mabille.264 At these gardens persons of both sexes are freely admitted, the males
264 The Jardin de Mabille was the most famous of the French bals, dance pavilions that were open several nights a week in the summer months. The Mabille contained a garden, a large dance floor, and other amusements such as billiard tables. These were respectable places, but visitors like Smith were surprised to find that women could attend unescorted and were admitted free. Mark Twain visited these bals when he was in Paris and described them in Innocents Abroad. See “A Missing Passage from Innocents Abroad,” date posted unknown, Twainquotes, date accessed 6/20/09, electronic address:
According to Galignani,’ Guide (1856), p. 490: Jardin Mabille, Avenue Montaigne, is another favourable specimen. A large circular space, with a pavilion for the orchestra in the centre, is reserved for the dancers, and lighted by a profusion of gas-lights suspended from artificial palm trees, while small shady circular bowers placed around afford the dancers the means of repose, after the fatigues of the polka or the waltz, apart from the intrusive eye of idle curiosity; for we must remark that the fair visitants of these places appear completely ignorant of, or at least to have forgotten, the well-meant caution of the poet of the ‘Seasons:’ –
Be cautious of your hearts, nor in the bower Where woodbines flaunt and roses shed a couch, Whilst Evening draws her crimson curtains round,
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VMI Archives www.vmi.edu/archives paying 3, and the females 1 franc. The gardens are most beautifully and artistically arranged with flowers and winding paths, and thousands of gas lights add brilliancy to the rural scene. In the centre is an orchestra, where a well appointed band plays all the evening and around which the dancing takes place. Everything here is upon the “free and easy ______scale.” Any gentleman may ask any lady to dance with him, whether he knows her or not, and then there is a whirl around the ring in a waltz, or a bout at the (lonceis?), and the dance being over for the sett, the parties separate without any ceremonial forms.
Trust your soft minutes with betraying man.’
“Leaving poetry, however, for the positive, we find a snug corner laid out with tables and chairs for refreshments; here the sober Parisian may enjoy his bottle of beer and his cigar, or the votary of Terpsichore treat his partner to a refreshing lemonade, and recruit for subsequent exercise in the mazy waltz. An immense covered saloon and rooms adjoining afford the visitor a secure asylum from the malicious influence of bad weather upon the sports of the evening. The company of this elegant garden we should mention generally comes under the description of ‘the gayest of the gay,’ and the licence of the dance is frequently carried beyond the limits of propriety.”
Years later, in 1882, the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher confessed to a congregation in Brooklyn, NY, that “when I was in Paris I went to hell.” In his remarks, reported in The New York Times, he explained that he and some companions had visited the Jardin Mabille, “and saw hosts of courtesans, many of them comely and seemingly well-behaved. What horrified him most, was the appearaance of the men who, he was told, were paid by the city to get up frolics at that place for the people. If ever he saw hell written in the faces of men it was when he gazed into the countenances of those who conducted the Jardin Maille. He pictured them in his own graphic manner as representatives of all that was fiendish, grasping, corrupt, and lustful, and said that he quickly arrived at the conclusion that it would be useless to attempt their reformation, because it was too plain that they were beyond redemption. They were persons who were born on an animal level. They never knew when the Sabbath came. It was not in their calendar. Yet there was hope for them. They were men who had good mothers, and who were brought up in the light of the Gospel, yet they had come to disregard all sentiments that go to make a home happy, and there was no cure for them but death.” “Beecher on Forgiveness; What horrified him in the Jardin Mabille in Paris,” The New York Times, February 20, 1882.
On most other subjects, Smith would not have agreed with Beecher (1813-1887), the Congregationalist clergyman, social reformer, and abolitionist, but on this topic of frolics, Smith was in perfect agreement with him.
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Scene from Paris Life London Illustrated News, 30 Aug. 1856
Mr Prime265 in his book of Travels, says he saw nothing here that could offend the most fastidious taste, but that did a person know nothing of the character of many of the parties here, he would suppose himself in an entertainment of the most refined society. My own observations contradict the statement, while the dress was appropriate, and there was no offensive approach of any of the gay and miserable throng, the dance was vulgar266 and I cannot conceive how any young man could frequent such a place, and mix with ______its customs without injury.
I remained but a short time and then we walked homeward. As we passed along the Champ elysées, we saw at almost every square a new form of amusement for these gay Frenchmen. Little wooden horses flying around a ring, brilliantly illuminated or Café chantant, where you have free admission to hear singers, male and female, but are expected to take a Café or a glace (ice.) We stopped in one for a moment, took an ice, heard a poor song, and then wended our way homeward, reaching Rue de Provence by half past four. (4 ½). Objectionable as in my judgment these places of amusement are in many respects, yet so dependant are the French people upon them, that another revolution would immediately follow any ______attempt to suppress them.
265 Samuel Irenaeus Prime (1812-1885) was an American Presbyterian clergyman, prolific writer, and traveler. He wrote religious books, biographies, and travel books, including Travels in Europe and the East (1855) and The Power of Prayer (1859), of which 100,000 copies were sold in five years. He was the editor of the New York Observer, a religious weekly affiliated with Presbyterians, from 1851 to 1895. See Dictionary of American Biography, XV: 228.
266 The waltz was criticized on moral grounds as a “wicked dance” because couples danced too close together (“voluptuous intertwining of the limbs and close compressure on the bodies,” according to the Times of London, 16 July 1816), and because of the” immodest cantering around the room.” Clergymen considered it vulgar, indecent, and sinful, a judgment with which Smith completely agreed.
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It is true a well organized police is always in attendance, and any one offending delicacy to a marked extent, is promptly removed. Yet this is no remedy for the evil which is to be found in the fact that the French do not find their happiness at their homes and must seek them every evening at these places of amusement, where the worst of passions are appealed to, under the cover of the most captivating forms of French politeness. Whatever Mr Rivers267 may say to the contrary, I do say that these gardens are not the places to make virtues, and I very much question the propriety of a traveler visiting them at all, even upon the plea of seeing French life.268
In this connection I would remark that one of the pleasantest enjoyments I have taken in Paris was a bath. The water was abundant, and of the right temperature, and then ______you were supplied with a linen gown, nicely warmed, with which you enveloped yourself to wipe with, while there was an abundant supply of Stove warmed towels. The towels are of fine linen, and are very objectionable on this account, and I have often longed for some of the Hackaback,269 so comfortable to one who has taken a good bath. The idea of having the clean and warm gown and warm towels is a good one, and I would suggest to you to try, for aiding in producing a delicious glow.
Wednesday Aug 12 1858
Yesterday I made a second visit to the military school at St Cyr, taking with me John Cocke, and returning by 6. I was enabled to see the model rooms, and to finish the examination which I had only commenced the ______previous visit.
The day was excessively hot, and St Cyr, saving its school, which by the way is cut off entirely from it by its wall of stone, is the dirtiest place I ever was in. This drew from John Cocke and myself the remark that the French were a dirty people. I think that excepting the Boulevards, and the Rue de Rivioli, and along the Tuileries, more offensive ordor exists in Paris than I ever met with in one city, and you cannot go up a bystreet without having occasion to remark this every day. The basins for washing are small, very small, the allowance of water in proportion.
Last evening Frank and myself rode up to Mr. Mason’s, the American Minister, and spent a pleasant evening. Mr Mason has been very kind to us, and espe- ______cially to myself, and I do very cordially hope that he will be retained here. I wrote a long letter to John Letcher,270 which I hope he will show you in reference to Mr Mason, that his services here might be understood & appreciated and there I will add one for which every American Christian
267 Not identified. Probably a travel writer.
268 One suspects that this reveals the reason Smith, who disapproved of such dance pavilions, visited the Jardin Mabille. It was unlike him to enter such places. His two young traveling companions, who earlier cleverly moved Smith to a hotel on the fashionable Avenue des Italiens, probably argued that they should visit the Jardin Mabille in order to “see French life.” Or perhaps this was simply an argument made by “Mr. Rivers.”
269 Hackabak towels: white woven linen towels, often with embroidery, sometimes referred to as “shackabak towels.”
270 John Letcher, of Lexington. Candidate for Virginia Governor. See previous reference.
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VMI Archives www.vmi.edu/archives should thank him, and this is, in obtaining from the French Government the authority to build the American Chapel271 here; in which I was privileged to worship on Sunday last. It cost $60,000, and is the pride of all Americans coming to Paris. We all feel at home there. No sectarianism keeps any one away, and the Pastor is at the service of any American needing his aid. By the way Mr James Soutter272 has a son who has been in Europe for some time traveling with a friend by the name of Wolsey273 who is very wealthy & who pays ______young Soutter’s expenses. He is some what of a bigot on religious subjects, and a few days ago while attending a Jewish Synagogue he left a tract against Judaism on the altar of the Synagogue. The Jews were so much incensed that he with great difficulty got back to his Hotel, and the next Sabbath while a protestant clergyman was preaching in Amsterdam and discoursing on Judaism, he was stabbed by a Jew. I have not seen the particulars, but this is the story as I heard it at Mr. Mason’s last evening.
The state of the Sepulchres here in Paris is shocking. The want of room for burial ground had for sometime given concern to the authorities, when the giving away of some of the streets in consequence of the extensive excavations made under portions of Paris for building stone, suggested the idea in 1784 of having the graves emptied and the bones piled in chambers or ______vaults in the subterranean caverns. The ceremony of consecrating these Catacombs274 was performed in 1786 on the same day the removal from the cemetery began. The work was always performed at night, the bones borne in funeral cars, followed by priests chanting the burial service, and when they reached the catacombs were shot down on a shaft prepared for the purpose. The ascertained extent of these Subterranean Quarters is 200 acres. In 1810 a regular system of arranging the bones was commenced, openings & stair cases were made in different part of the Catacombs, and it is estimated that not less than 3,000,000 of persons are thus stowed away in these subterranean vaults. The removal of bones from the public cemeteries takes place very four years, and is still continued.
We expect to leave here on Monday for our tour to the ______
Rhine, Switzerland & Germany
We have made no definite plans and cannot do so until we meet with Dr. Minnegerode.275 I am anxious to be in Geneva on 24th of August, where a convention of the Young Men’s Christian Association of the world meets. You can follow the directions given you
271 See previous reference.
272 James Taylor Soutter (1809-1873, died in Paris), of Norfolk, Va. See Emily Woolsey Dix, Reminiscences of the Knox and Soutter Families of Virginia (NY: DeVinne Press, 1895, electronic text by Internet Archive).
273 Possibly George Woolsey, a relative of the Soutters.
274 The Catacombs of Paris is an immense underground ossuary created in the 18th century. These tunnels are filled with the bones of generations dead from church cemeteries that had reached their capacities or that had begun to cause health problems. The Catacombs became a tourist attraction in the 19th century. See “The Catacombs of Paris,” at “Wikipedia.”
275 Smith had not seen Dr. Minnegerode since England. It appears that Minnegerode preceded Smith to Europe, perhaps to Belgium or Switzerland.
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VMI Archives www.vmi.edu/archives about the letters you send. Prepay the postage, 24 Cents I think. The 3 Cent envelope is thrown away unless the whole is paid and direct to Paris until 1st of Oct. care of John Monroe276 & Co No 5 rue de la Paix.
And now my own precious wife once more adieu, a Dieu, a beautiful French mode of saying good bye. My dearest love to all the Children and a sweet kiss for the dear little baby. Tell the Servants I always think of them. Remember me to Maj Preston, WmSon [Williamson], Gilham, and the officers, also Mr Catlett, Mr Bull, Mr Gibbs family, Dr Estill & the Moores.277 ______
This letter will go by the Liverpool Steamer which sails on Saturday the 14th and I expect you to get it on the 1st of Sept.
All the party well and I have never been better than since I have been traveling. Once more adieu and that the choicest blessings of Heaven may be with you is the constant prayer of Your own Husband F H Smith Mrs Sarah H. Smith
Letter No 28.
My precious Wife
I dispatched no. 27. to you yesterday, which will leave Liverpool in the Steamer ______of tomorrow and reach you by the 1st of September. To my surprise I found French postage to be nearly double of the English so that the five (5) sheets of paper which I could readily forward from England for 24 cents, cost me here double postage. I went out last night however & bought a thinner paper, with its corresponding envelope & I shall be able with these to give you four sheets for single postage. Thus has France added another to the infinite annoyances to which she subjects all who enter her domains. She not only watches all with a jealous eye who enter, but places restrictions by a high rate of postage upon their correspondence. Apropos the servillience [sic] is not general merely, but minute. When we enter a Hotel in Paris our passports are called for at the Conciergerei [sic], and a report is immediately made to the Prefect of Police, of our names, places of ______nativity, when we entered and where we came from. If we change our residence from one Hotel to another, the same forms are gone through, and today in anticipation of leaving the French territory for Germany, we have employed a commissionare [stet] (a jack of all trades) who has to take our passports to the prefect of police, and to the Austrian and Swiss legations, that they may be visited – as indispensable pre-requisites to leaving France on the one hand, or entering the dominions of other powers. The smaller states of Germany being under the control of France278 are not so particular about passports, if all is shewn to be right as far as France is concerned.
276 John Munroe. See previous references.
277 See previous references for all.
278 These included mainly Alsace and Lorraine, where 80 percent of the inhabitants were Germans. These territories were transferred to the new German Empire at the end of the Franco-Prussian War in 1871.
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For the last two or three days I have been again absorbed in the interesting models which I have been preparing for the Institute, and I have in con- ______sequence been unable to accompany the boys in their visits to places of interest, which I should have taken pleasure in seeing with them. But my heart was in the work before me and as I had for years longed to secure these models I was willing to forego every other pleasure for the one all absorbing one before me. This took me yesterday to the Conservatoire des arts et métiers,279 to which I had been directed by the officer of the School at St. Cyr. Here I not only saw the very models I was looking for but was enabled to trace the residence of the fabricateur [sic], and to see many ingenious specimens of art such as are to be seen at the Patent office of our own Country. I cannot tell you how often I longed that I had a few thousand dollars at my command, to purchase some of the splendid models which I saw. I could only gratify a very limited desire a few cheap & select ones ______
and to ride round to the place where some of these are made. Here I found that only 10 sets of the kind I saw had ever been made, and that the cost was 4,000 francs. I shall get one or two of the varieties as specimens of the models themselves. These models are designed to represent some of the most difficult problems in Descriptive Geometry (Warped Surfaces) and differ from all other models in the fact that they are not fixed, but admit of a motion by which the generation of the bodies which they represent might most clearly be illustrated. This morning as I had an hour or two of leisure, before meeting as arranged with M. Bossange, we went to see the church of St Chapelle,280 we did not know until we reached there that a permit was required before admission, and altho’ the porter kindly permitted us to enter, we concluded to postpone the visit and ______
279 Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers (Conservatory of Arts and Trades) was created in 1794 (opened in 1802) as a “depository for machines, models, tools, drawings, descriptions and books in all the areas of the arts and trades.” See “Conservatory of Arts and Crafts,” at “Wikipedia.”
280 Sainte-Chapelle is located on the Ile de la Cité, adjacent to the Palais de Justice. It was built by Louis IX (Saint Louis) and consecrated in 1248. It was damaged during the French Revolution and restored between 1841 and 1867. See “Sainte Chapelle,” at “Wikipedia.”
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The Palais de Justice (center) and Sainte-Chapelle (left) Illustrated London News, 28 February 1857 go to the Halls of Justice281 close by. Here we saw the supreme tribunals of the Country in session, Judges as well as Lawyers in black gowns, and a long white band around their necks.
This style of dress for the legal profession seemed outré when I first saw it in England, but I can see great propriety in it. The French bench and bar wear no wigs, as in England, but black caps, the Judges being mounted by a silver band.
From the Halls of Justice we went to the Panthéon,282 now restored to its original design as a Church of St. Geneviere [sic]. This is one of the most costly and imposing specimens of ecclesiastical architecture in Paris, and is visited not only for its intrinsic beauty, but on account of
281 The Palais de Justice is located on the Ile de la Cité, on the site of Louis IX’s royal palace. It houses a number of high courts. See “Palais de Justice,” at “Wikipedia.”
According to Galignani’s Guide (1856), pp. 35-36, “The Palais de Justice unites within its precincts the supreme civil jurisdiction of the State, the Cour de Cassation, the Cour d’Apel, the Tribunal de Première Instance, and the Tribunal de Police Municipale. The Tribunal of Commerce is placed at the Exchange. The chambers of the Parisian barristers are not generally in the vicinity of the courts; legal societies, as the Temple, etc., in London, do not exist in Paris; and, although many lawyers reside in the neighbourhood of the Palais de Justice, there is no particular place of abode for them as a professional body.”
282 The Panthéon, located in the Latin Quarter, not far from the old location of the Ecole Polytechnique, was originally built as the church of St. Genevieve, the patron saint of Paris. It was completed in 1789, the year the French Revolution began, and was changed from a church to a mausoleum and monument to “National Heroes.” For a complete list of those interred in the Panthèon, see “Panthéon (Paris),” at “Wikipedia.”
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VMI Archives www.vmi.edu/archives some fine copies of the frescos of Raphael and Michael Angelo in the Vatican at Rome. Among other notables found here, [Lassage?]283 the great Math. finds place.
The Panthéon From the editor’s collection
We had but time for a hasty glance and the[n] stopped at the College de France,284 where I had another short ______visit to my good friend M. Biot. I told him that I was anxious when I published the next edition of my Analytical Geometry to adorn it with his likeness, taken as he is now, I told him I had obtained one of him when he was 55 years old, but I preferred one as he was. He said I did him too much honor, that he had not a copy but his friend M. Reynolds the Physician of the College had taken a
283 Smith no doubt meant Joseph-Louis, Comte Lagrange (1736-1813), a mathematician famous for his work on theoretical mechanics and a professor at the Ecole Polytechnique. He was interred in the Panthéon at his death in 1813. See “Joseph Louis Lagrange,” at “Wikipedia.”
284 The Collège de France (see previous reference), located in the Latin Quarter, is near the Sorbonne, the Ecole Polytechnique, and the Panthéon.
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VMI Archives www.vmi.edu/archives photograph of him a short time since, and might be able to get one from him. The kindness of the old man was as marked as usual in following me to the door, altho’ so unwell as to be scarcely able to walk. I expressed to him my surprise that at this time of life he should have undertaken such a work as the republication of his Physical Anatomy in 5 volumes, a work which scarcely has a parallel (he being upward of 88 years of age) except in that of the celebrated Baron ______
Humbolt.285 The old gentleman said the labor was not very great, and I take it for granted that the study of his books on Science may be his meat and his drink.
At 3 ½ this afternoon I had an appointment with M. Bossange to see M. Bardin,286 the fabricator of the models in Descriptive Geometry in plaster. For five days I had been hunting up this old man. He is the only person in Paris competent for this kind of work, and altho’ I had in my frequent disappointments in seeing him, had enough to dissuade me from any further effort, yet I reasoned that my time and money would be thrown away, should I not see him at all. This last time then, we were successful. He was in, and my first glance at him satisfied me that he was no ordinary man. He is about the statue [sic] of old Mr Warner,287 but has more benevolence and genius in his countenance. A perfect enthusiast and a man who is a scientific artif[i]cer, and ancient elève of ______the Ecole Polytechnique and now its Chef Des Travaux. His rooms were filled with the most curious specimens of art, and I had not finished my visit before I had laid aside work for him until 15th of October. Next to M. Biot, there is no one that I have seen that has interested me so much and I said to him that if we only had him in America, we should make something out of him.
Saturday August 14 1858
Another mail from America to day, via the Kangaroo,288 but not being the regular mail Steamer no letters came for me. Mr Grandy had letters of a date of July 28th. This morning we had a great treat in witnessing the review of the Guard of Paris in the Champs de Mars by Marshall Magnan289 the Commandant. The review was announced in Galignani, to take place tomorrow, but the arrest of some suspi-
285 Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander Freiherr von Humbolt (1769-1859). German naturalist and explorer. He conducted research and taught for a while at the Ecole Polytechnique. See “Alexander von Humbolt,” at “Wikipedia.”
286 Libre Irmond Bardin (1794-1867), Ecole Polytechnique Class of 1813. After serving in the artillery, Bardin became a professor of design and fortification at the Ecole Polytechnique. He also taught classes in descriptive geometry and science applied to industry. In 1852, he was named “Chief of Graphic Works” at the Ecole, where he fabricated mathematical models. Representatives from schools across Europe and the United States purchased his plaster models of prisms, pyramids, cylinders, cones., etc. See “L. I. Bardin” at “famille polytechnicienne” referenced earlier.
287 Not identified.
288 The Steamer Kangaroo, a Cunard Line steamer, carried immigrants to New York from Liverpool. It was not a “regular mail steamer,” as Smith point out. See New York Times, 17 September 1859.
289 Bernard Pierre Magnan (1791-1865). Magnan rose through the ranks of Napoleon’s army, serving in the Peninsula War, in the Campaign of 1814, and during the Hundred Days. Later, as a Colonel, he took part in the conquest of Algeria. He was promoted to General in 1835. In 1851, he was appointed commander of the army in Paris, and in that position participated in Louis Napoleon’s coup d’etat in 1851. Napoleon III made him a senator and Marshall of France. See “Bernard Pierre Magnan,” at “wikipedia.”
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______cious persons last Sunday, led the government to fear that tomorrow being the great fete day, another emute290 [sic] might take place, and the review was ordered today that the troops might be in readiness to meet any emergency that might occur. Strange infatuation truly, that “liberty, equality, and fraternity”, should be the password of Frenchmen, and yet this be consistent with the overawing influence of a standing army.
We could not say how many troops were on the parade, but we were told not less than 50,000, and there must have been 100,000 persons, including the soldiers on the field. We were in the neighborhood of the Place Vendome where large bodies of the infantry and cavalry were collecting, and we had for half an hour a good opportunity of seeing them as they filed pass. The French soldier is not a military looking man. His carriage in ranks is careless, and almost slovenly, and their marching was unsteady – and far below what I expected. The Cavalry looked well. The horses remarkable good, but too fat.
Emperor Napoleon III, Emperor of the French at the time of Smith’s visit The Illustrated London News ______
The music not equal to ours, for they had no fife. I was particularly struck with the appearance of the “Cantoniers, (or Vivandieres). These are women, followers of the Camp, dressed in appropriate uniform, with long pants and long riding frocks coming down a little below the knee,
290 “disturbance”
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VMI Archives www.vmi.edu/archives who carry the canteens and provision vessels, which they transport to the troops in time of service. During the heat of the day, we could see them running along the ranks and distributing water and wine and spirits according as they were authorized to the men in the ranks, and it is said that during the Crimean War their services were of great value. Those that we saw today looked rather like fancy specimens of the military service, but they presented a very striking appearance, and I can readily see that their duties would be appropriate in an action. What more refreshing to a wounded man than a cup of cool water. Surely women could never be a ______
more truly ministering angel, as she always is, than in presenting this cup to the parched lips of the sick, wounded or suffering.
We have all made our arrangements for our German tour on Monday, and yet I am somewhat undecided with regard to my own movements. Professor Morse,291 the great inventor of the telegraph, has just reached here from America, and he is to be honored with a complimentary dinner to be given by the Americans in Paris; to take place on Tuesday. Mr John S. Preston, a relative of the Major, is to preside at the dinner – I deem it every way appropriate that Americans abroad as well as at home should honor this patriarch of Science at all times, but especially at this time when the great triumph of his genius has been consummated by giving us a communication between America and England by his electric telegraph. As an American then, and as a friend of Science and of progress in civilization, I should ______gladly do my part in this homage, and if I can possibly so arrange it, that I can reach Geneva in time for the Young Mens Christian Association by the 24th of August I shall try and be present upon the interesting testimonial to Prof Morse.
Sunday Aug 15th 1858
What a variety of scenes has Paris witnessed to day. Commencing at sunrise with a salute of artillery – marked during the morning with every species of pantomine, musical performances, and sleights of hand; then honored by a solemn mass in all the Catholic Churches, the distribution of gratuitous provisions to the poor – the afternoon and night are to be appropriated to gratuitous performances in all the Theatres – gratuitous military pantomines at the esplanade near the Hotel des Invalides – place de Concerts etc. the day is to be wound up with another ______salute from Artillery, and a great display of every species of fire works. Such are the honors directed to be paid by the Government of France to the memory of the Great Napoleon, now dignified as worthy of being worshipped as one of the saints of the church on this festival of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary. At 11 o’clock I went to the American Chapel and united in the beautiful service of our church so appropriate for God’s Holy day, and for the house of prayer and heard a Capital sermon from Rev Mr Sealy.292 At 3 ½ I again attended the same church and heard a sermon from an American Clergyman, who has just reached Paris, a resident of Mass. And now at 6 o’clock I am getting ready for my dinner, taking advantage of a few minutes to write up the events which have transpired since I closed yesterday.
291 Samuel Finley Breese Morse (1791-1872), the American inventor of the single-line telegraph and Morse Code. His telegraph was officially adopted as the standard in Europe in 1851, but not in Britain. See “Samuel Morse,” at “Wikipedia.”
292 Rev. R. H. Seeley. See previous reference.
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I spent a very pleasant evening with Mr. Mason last evening, and was accompanied by ______
Grandy, Cocke and Frank. We met there two of the sisters of Lord Elgin,293 the British Ambassador at China, Lady Augusta and Lady Charlotte Bruce, lineal descendents of Robert Bruce. They are very clever and agreeable persons and was well pleased to have met with them. Their Mother294 is now here on account of her health and are near neighbors of Mr. Mason, and are living upon terms of great intimacy with them. Mr Mason has kindly given me without solicitation a letter of recommendation to the chief military establishments of France, in which he specifies the character of our school and the nature of the mission intrusted to me. This adds another to the many marks of kindness I have received from him, and which I ever shall remember with gratitude.
I have ______found some difficulty in ascertaining any reliable particulars with regard to the meeting at Geneva, altho’ I sought an introduction from Mr. Mason to Mr. Seely295 this morning, for the purpose. He has kindly referred me to a French clergyman who will probably give me the information, and I am going to see him as soon as I get my dinner. I have been greatly divided in my mind, in my desire not to miss that meeting and at the same time unite in honoring our distinguished Country man, Mr. Morse; a decision which is made the more painful to me because if I decide to remain I shall be for a week separated from our party, who will leave tomorrow for their trip on the Rhine.
Monday Aug 16th 1858
After a tedious hunt last night for the French clergyman I at last found his residence at 4 rue d’Oratoire – Rev Mr. Monod296 a brother of Rev Fred Monod. He was just going ______
to his place of worship in L’Oratoire297 opposite to his residence, and I had not time to make all of the inquiries of him which I wish before his service commenced. I very cheerfully accepted his invitation to attend his service. He preached in the upper room of the Temple d’Oratoire, which I found very plainly fitted up for a small congregation, not more than 30 or 40 persons being in attendance at this time. The place of worship being directly upon the Rue d’Rivoli, it was difficult
293 James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin, 12th Earl of Kincardine (1811-1863), was a colonial administrator, Governor General of Canada, High Commissioner in China and Japan for trade, and viceroy of India. See “Earl of Elgin” and “James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin,” at “Wikikpedia.”
294 Second wife of 7th Lord Elgin, of Elgin Marbles fame, Lady Mary Lambton, daughter of the 1st Earl of Durham and niece of the Colonial Secretary the 3rd Earl Grey. See “Lord Elgin,” date posted unknown, Indianetzone, History of India, date accessed 6/20/09, electronic address:
295 Rev. R. H. Seeley
296 Smith appears to have the names reversed. He would have found Frédéric Monod (1794-1863), the French Protestant (Calvinist) minister of L’Oratoire. Frédéric’s brother was Adolphe Monod, also a French Protestant minister who served at the L’Oratoire, but Adolphe died in April 1856. See The New Schaff Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge (NY: Funk & Wagnall Co., 1910, digitized by Google), 8: 473.
297 The Temple protestant de l’Oratoire du Louvre was a Protestant church in Paris, rue de Rivoli.
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VMI Archives www.vmi.edu/archives to conduct the exercises with the reverence becoming the House of God from the noise which those engaged in the Fete out doors were making with their hand organs, cries for the sale of Cigars, peaches etc., the whole service was conducted in French, which I was glad to find I could follow with tolerable accuracy. It was very simple in its character, the ______singing of two verses of a canticle, a short prayer, the reading of the 18th Chapter of Revelations and expository discourse upon it, and then closing with another hymn and prayer. The discourse was a bold and faithful declaration of the truth of God’s word, and was designed to show that the mystical Babylon spoken of in the chapter he had read, was the church of Rome, that it could not be the literal Babylon spoken of by Isaiah, for it had long since fallen, & the place of its existence was scarcely to be traced. He showed how by the evils & the errors of the Papal Church,298 & their dishonoring & degrading the authority of God, how the declarations of the chapter were applicable to Rome, & that all present had a demonstrative proof of these false teachings in the abuse of that Holy-day which was at this very time passing before them. He did not mean to say that all belonging to the Church ______of Rome were equally involved in the curses pronounced in the chapter.
Many were connected with her visible form, whose spirit was in consonance with the truth, but it was the church of Rome as a church in its doctrines – its corrupt practices -- & its false teachings that was spoken of in the chapter.
I asked him when he was going out, how he could speak so plainly in the midst of Rome in Paris, -- he said if a police had but been present he probably would have been reported for it & would have to appear before the tribunal of justice, but that he must preach faith & trust in God, for in his little church was the place where he dared to speak the truth, -- that if his religion[‘]s press was to publish what he had spoken, the party would at once be summoned before the tribunal & his paper stopped, and he find it true yet, -- “Liberty, equality & fraternity” is the “nom de bouche” of the Frenchman.
When I reached my quarters I found ______my fellow travelers getting ready for their start on the morrow. I felt weary after the services of the day, and I did not wish to harass my mind with the business arrangements incident upon an early start the next morning, involving the calls for bills, separating the items, packing trunks and other duties not proper for a Sabbath evening.
Frank thought my scruples were very unreasonable & absurd, but as I was the keeper of my own conscience, I did not allow him to judge for me, whereupon he sat down to address me a note, which he read as he wrote, and by which he asked the favor of me to receive from him 64 Franks [sic] & pay with them, on the next morning, his bill. I told him it was no use for him to attempt to cast ridicule upon what was my conviction of duty – and that he must settle his own accounts, and if he and the other members of the party chose to transact the business arrangements referred to at that time they could easily send for the maitre d’hote and pay him ______
298 The theme of anti-Catholism, or more accurately “anti-Papism – runs through Smith’s travel letters. The Protestant ministers in Paris he met or whose sermons he attended were openly critical of the Church of Rome and, as the constitution of the American and Foreign Christian Union suggested, may have been engaged in attempting to convert Catholics to Protestantism. That the government of Napoleon III, with its tight control of Paris and strong military presence, tolerated these activities suggests that these American “missionaries” may not have been considered a serious threat.
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but this I would not do for either of them, what I would not do for myself.
I was still undecided about remaining but the lateness of the hour & the necessary arrangements one required decided me to stay here at least to-day ---
I should like to do so but it is unpleasant to be separated from the party, and as all but Terril set off this morning, I will follow them to morrow morning, and will probably overtake them at Brussels or Cologne.
This little event has been very painful to me, but a proper self respect demanded of me the exercise of the firmness which I was obliged to exhibit.
The route before us is, Brussels, Waterloo, Antwerp, back to Brussels, Aix la Chapelle, Cologne, from there by steamer up the Rhine to Mayenne, Frankfort, Heidelburg, Baden-Baden, where we hope to meet Dr. M. and arrange more fully in regard to our next town.299 My view is to proceed at once to Geneva & there be present at the conference to commence on the 22d of August, & last for 5 days ______
As I shall now be proceeding from the centre of the mail transits, you may not hear as regularly from me as hitherto, while it will still be my object to keep up at least one letter each week.
The mail from America due at Liverpool yesterday, and which doubtless brought a letter for me, will not be in Paris until tomorrow, so that by being here tomorrow I shall be one day in advance of the mail, and thus have to delay several days before I have your letter. Pleasing as it would be to receive the mail now, I still commit you & my dear children to that same God and Father who has watched over us all our lives, -- praying that each of us may be precious in his sight. Give my affectionate love to the children. Remember me always to all my friends, while you will only receive by each letter, the reassurances of the undying love of your own dear Husband. F. H. Smith Mrs. Sarah H Smith Lexington Va. ______
(No 29)
Brussels Aug. 18 1858
My dear Son,
Now that you have assumed the responsibility of a Cadet I trust that you are entitled to a letter, and I address you the first one written since leaving Paris.
I am sure my dear Son, that you know the deep interest which your parents have in your success in the new life now opening before you.
I expect with much confidence that you will so profit by your opportunities that you will become a useful and respectable gentleman. I have no misgivings about your success.
299 Smith’s visit to these and other places in Germany, and his attendance at the YMCA conference in Geneva, were described in letters to his wife that were copied into a third letterbook, now missing. His tour of German educational institutions, however, can be reconstructed from the official report he wrote when he returned to Lexington.
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I know that you have a good mind and that you have been well enough forwarded in the elements of Algebra, French & Latin to enable you to take a good stand in your class.
To enable you to do this, let me suggest a few thoughts. When I was a cadet300 my habit was to get my mathematics lesson at night carefully, and ______never to go to sleep before Tattoo.
Then I arose in the morning at Rev. and gave my mathematics a careful review, so that I might be fresh upon it in the morning recitations. As you have been over much of the Algebra, you may be inclined to assure yourself that you know your lesson, but be assured you cannot know it too well, and carefully study it, and work out all the examples as the surest mode of securing facility in the course, and distinction in your class.
A note book in which to put the extra demonstrations of problems of the professor is a good plan, and it is well to commence the habit soon.
The time to get your English & French will depend upon the hour you recite, -- but it ought also to be gotten the day before, and the best way to be perfect in the French verbs, is to write them down, in a book, the irregular ones especially, both affirmatively & negatively, now if you will set upon this simple rule which I have given you, you will never go to the section room unprepared. ______
Don’t depend too much upon the Professor explaining difficulties to you.
Rely more upon yourself, & this will give you self-confidence.
I do not dwell upon the punctual observance of all religious duties. You know my dear Son the value of the soul, and that if a man were to gain the whole world, its knowledge, wealth, reputation and honor, and lost his own soul, he would be miserable forever. This is the estimate which our blessed Saviour put upon the value of the soul, and we must be carefull that we do not lower this estimate. Seek first the Kingdom of God, and its blessed comforts, and all other blessings needful for you will be yours.
I do not expect you to be always without demerits, Cadets sometimes get demerits on account of others, but I expect you to avoid demerit by attending to your studies, and never knowingly do what may infract the rules of the School. Demerit constitutes a heavy element in the standing of a Cadet, and try to stand No. 1 in this, ______
Whatever may be your place in the standings, My advice to you is not to use Tobacco in any way. I would not think hard of you if you used tobacco, -- but I advise you against it. It is a dirty and expensive habit and a most fruitful source of demerits. I never did chew tobacco, and although I smoked for many years, I am glad I gave it up, -- because I am satisfied I have been better without it.
Some young men show a manishness by swearing. This is a different matter. It is God’s law which says his name is holy and I can add nothing to the dignity of the command.
300 Smith was a cadet at the United States Military Academy. He graduated in 1833.
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In your excuses for reports, be strictly truthful. I would rather you should receive any number of demerits than have one removed by a false excuse. The temptation to false excuses arises from three sources, one, on the part of the cadets who have done something which they do not wish their parents to know, the other, from those who have exceeded, or nearly so, the number of their demerits, while a third class are proverbially untruthfull and write-false excuses, because they take pleasure in ______doing so. I hope there is no danger with you in either of the two last cases. In the first case remember the striking story of Gen’l Washington – “I would rather take a whipping than tell a lie, - - I did it mother.”
It is only by beginning upon right principles that you can establish for yourself right character and this character which you are now to form is to be your passport into life. Don’t borrow money or clothes. You are near your Mother – who has a mother’s heart, and will always be happy to give you what you need & which may be good for you, and never let your necessities or your desires prompt you to a mean act.
Take no notice of remarks made of me by Cadets. You will hear many things in blame of me by the cadets. No gentleman would insult you, in that way – none other could.
After traveling until 11 last night, I have risen this morning early, while my roommate is asleep ______in the quietness of my early morning devotions, I have devoted this hour to you my dear Son.
It is a letter of affection from your Father in a far distant foreign land, with no human being with him in the city whom he even saw before, save his traveling companion.
May God bless to you what I have endeavored to write, and bless you in all that you do and all that you propose to do.
You will at once recognize that I am in the kingdom of Belgium.301 The Belgae were known, you are aware, in Caesar’s times, for in his commentaries he speaks of them as occupying one of the three parts into which ancient Gaul (now France) was divided. I left Paris yesterday morning at 8 o’clock, accompanied by G. W. Terril, and our route by rail-way was through Amiens, Doway, Valencienne, Mons to Brussels, distance some 250 miles, -- which we reached at 4 P.M. The country through which we passed is uninteresting, but ______improves as we reach Brussels. Valencienne is the place at which the celebrated lace is made, and here we had to get out of the cars and have our baggage and passports examined before we could pass into Belgium.
Our chief object in visiting Brussels302 was to visit the battle-field of Waterloo,303 so taking a diligence with two horses by 5 o’clock we were on our way to Waterloo. It is not the scene of the great battle, but the field is 1 ½ miles beyond Waterloo. [W]e stopped at Waterloo to visit a
301 The 1830 Belgian Revolution against union with Holland resulted in an independent, Catholic, constitutional monarchy under Leopold I (1790-1865), King of the Belgians.
302 Brussels, the capital of Belgium
303 See previous references to the Battle of Waterloo.
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VMI Archives www.vmi.edu/archives church in which 29 monuments, erected to the memory of some of the slain, are to be seen, getting a guide we at once drove to the battle-field. Our position to see was on the top of a huge monumental mound 200 ft high, which the king of Holland erected at the cost of (4,000,000) four millions of francs, to commemorate the victory. It is surmounted by an immense brass lion – the Belgian arms. It stands upon the spot on which the Prince of Orange fell wounded. ______
You will recollect that the battle of Waterloo resulted in the complete victory gained by the Duke of Wellington over Napoleon Buonaparte and which was the first conflict which the combined forces of Europe had with Napoleon. This victory resulted in his fall, -- He was then taken to St Helena, where he remained as a prisoner until he died.
32,000 men were slain in this battle and our guide pointed out to us all the places at which the deadly carnage was carried on. “Here,” said he, is the spot where the Duke of Wellington stood with his watch in his hand and gave that final order to his Guards – to charge.” There lies Heugenot, -- the scene of that bloody carnage, which the French vainly tried to carry. There is the farm of La Haye Saint, almost as it was at the time of the battle, except that the houses have been repaired, and which was taken & retaken two or three times by the French during the conflict. Between us and the farm Wellington had his infantry in a square
Waterloo, the Chateau of Hougomont Illustrated London News, 18 September 1852 ______
which so fully repulsed the charge of the French Cuirassiers that Napoleon said, “Confound these Infantry – they stand these charges as if they were walls.” “There is La Belle Alliance where Wellington and Blucher met and away off to the left you see a dense wood from which Blucher’s troops made their appearance just in time to make complete the victory of the day.” Nothing could have been more complete, than the view we had from the top of this monument, and then we went down to the plain below to see more minutely the particular localities. Wellington had admirably selected his position, on a rising ground, protected as it was by the orchard of
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Hayemont and the farm of La Haye Saint, the village of Waterloo in his rear, and his lines crossing the road to Brussels.
There are other monuments on the field, one to Lt. Col. Gordon an aide de Camp to the Duke, who was killed, -- erected by his sur- ______viving Sister and 5 brothers, -- another to the German Legion that fell here, and a third on the spot at which the dreadful carnage was made of the Prussians. The building used as a Hospital in Mont St. Jean is still standing – and it was here that Col. Gordon died. Opposite the Church in Waterloo is the house in which the Duke wrote his dispatches.
Altogether the view of the battle-field was very interesting, and we were glad that we had made the trip, and did not leave the battle-field until it was dark.
Mount St Jean is a little village near the battle-field and between it and Waterloo.
The moon was rising very prettily, so we had a pleasant ride into Brussels reaching it at 11 o’clock, without accident except that the driver fell asleep, and ran against a tree, which threw him off his box, but without injuring him.
4 P.M. I had to suspend my letter this morning for my break- ______fast, a simple repast of a cup of coffee, cold bread and 2 soft boiled eggs.
This is my usual breakfast. It was not so good as we had been accustomed to in Paris – far excellence beyond anything I have ever known previously is yet the Paris Coffee. Say to your dear Mother, the coffee is made very strong in the usual French coffee pot, and then it is weakened with 2/3 of boiled milk, so that when you call for a cup of coffee they will give it to you of any strength you may require; It would be too bitter to use it in any stronger proportion than I have indicated, and when it is thus made it is delicious. And I will further add, that as many eggs as we have consumed, I have never met with a bad one. This is what Frank would call a “good- egg.”
After breakfast I rode round to my banker, hoping to get a letter forwarded from Paris by the last steamer at Liverpool from Amer- ______ica, but was disappointed, so it will not be ‘till we get to Bonn (tomorrow), that I can hear. This suggested to me to say, that when my letters are rec’d in Paris by Monroe & Co. and they are forwarded to him by Peabody and Co. they are again forwarded by Monroe, to such places on the continent as I may indicate. Thus I gave him, Brussels to-day – Bonn to-morrow, and Baden- Baden, Saturday.
Taking a cab (a l’heure) we rode thorough the principal streets of Brussels – and had a very good view of the town. Brussels is the capital of Belgium. Before 1832 it was united to Holland under a common Kingdom, but a revolution then occurred, which resulted in the severance of the Kingdom as it stood. Although it is divided into two Kingdoms, a very small country, called the Netherlands, yet there is no real affinity between the two people.
The Belgians, including Flanders are Romanists, while the Dutch ______
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Hotel de Ville, Brussels, Belgium Illustrated London News, 16 April 1853
Brussels is a miniature edition of Paris, the streets, houses and people resembling them very much.
It contains however 150,000 inhabitants, and is celebrated for the lace manufacture. The finest of which sell for 4 and 500 dollars a yard. You may ask why it is that this lace sells so high? It is caused by the fineness of the workmanship. The women who manufacture it, work in dark rooms, into which only a small beam of light is admitted, so as to accustom their eyes to see and to work with the fine thread which they have to use.
The boulevards are broad streets very tastefully laid off and which encircle the city.
At 11 o/clock we drove to the rail-road station to visit Antwerp (Anvens in French).
By 12 o’clock we were in Antwerp and taking a cab and a valet de place. By 3 o’clock we were enabled to see all that we desired to see in our visit.
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EDITOR’S NOTE: At this point the second letterbook ends. The third letterbook, covering Smith’s trip to Geneva, Germany, and Austria is lost. His journey through those lands, however, can be reconstructed by reading Smith’s Special Report of the Superintendent of the Virginia Military Institute on Scientific Education in Europe (Richmond: Ritchie, 1859), attached to this transcription of Smith’s letters. In addition, some of his time in Italy, while on the Continent, and in England, on his return from the Continent, can be reconstructed from other correspondence and reports. The following two Appendices provide this missing information.
APPENDIX I SMITH’S TRAVELS THROUGH ITALY WITH BISHOP CHARLES P. McILVAINE
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Bishop Charles Pettit McIlvaine Public domain Illustration from Wikipedia
Charles Pettit McIlvaine (1799-1873) was born in New Jersey. He was a student at the College of New Jersey (early name of Princeton University) during the 1815 “Great Princeton revival.” He graduated in 1816 and returned to his home in Burlington, NJ, to read for Holy Orders under Dr. Charles Wharton, minister of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church. McIlvaine was ordained a deacon in 1820 and was called to his first pastorate at Christ Church, Georgetown, Washington, D.C. He was elected chaplain to the U.S. Senate in 1822 and was ordained a priest in the Episcopal Church in 1823. From 1825 to 1827, he served as chaplain and professor of ethics at the United States Military Academy at West Point, during which time he led a revival at the Academy and converted a number of cadets, starting with Cadet Leonidas Polk. McIlvaine became one of the leaders of the evangelical party in the Episcopal Church, a movement that espoused: (1) a deep awareness of personal sin and the depravity of man, (2) the necessity of being born again through a conversion experience, (3) a renewal of self and commitment to evangelical activism in service of God, and (4) the Bible as the sole foundation of faith. The movement was part of a widespread evangelical trend in England and the United States in the early nineteenth century, known as the Second Great Awakening, that criticized formal liturgy and ritual acts that did not seem to engage the personal involvement and commitment of the believer. Evangelical Episcopalians (moderate, sober-minded, and self-disciplined evangelicals who remained in the Episcopal Church) opposed Roman Catholicism, the Oxford Movement (Puseyism) in the Episcopal Church, sacramentalism, and formalism, but also rejected “excitement,” “enthusiasm,’ “innovation,” and “false revivals” of the radical evangelicals. They looked upon the church as a redemptive community with a mission in the world. McIlvaine shared this spiritual disposition with other Evangelical Episcopal leaders of his day, including the Rev. William Meade (1789-1862), Bishop of the Episcopal diocese of Virginia, and the Rev. Leonidas Polk (1806-1864), Bishop of Louisiana. In 1832, he became the second Bishop of Ohio, where he remained until his death in 1873. In 1858, McIlvaine traveled to Italy and met Francis Smith, a fellow Evangelical Episcopalian.
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The following are excerpts from “Recollections of Bishop McIlvaine during his visit to Italy, by Colonel F. W.[sic] Smith, October 1858,” in Rev. William Carus, ed., Memorials of the Right Reverend Charles Pettit McIlvaine, D.D., D.C.L., late Bishop of Ohio, in the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States (Google digitized book),173-181.304
Col. Smith wrote: p. 173 “I had not the privilege of a personal acquaintance with Bishop McIlvaine until the year 1858. Educated as I had been at the Military Academy at West Point, I had long known the extent of the happy influence, which he exerted there during his ministry as its chaplain, and this only added to the desire to see p. 174 and know him, and hear from his own lips some account of his wonderful work there. It was on a raw and cold evening in October, 1858, after a week of fatiguing journeyings through the Piedmont of Italy, that I reached Camerlata station, near the town of Como, at eight p.m. on Saturday, on my way to Milan. The train was a little behindhand, and while in the reception-room of the railway-station waiting for its departure, my attention was arrested by the presence of a tall, elderly, clerical gentleman, whose appearance carried with it a strong impression that he was a dignitary in the Church. So deep were my convictions, that I took the liberty of asking the courier of the party, whether that aged gentleman was not a Bishop? ‘Yes,’ he immediately replied; ‘that is Bishop McIlvaine.’ I immediately introduced myself to the Bishop, and was gratified to receive a warm salutation as of an old friend. His party comprised, besides his daughter and her friend, the Rev. Mr. Gadsden, of Charleston, his wife and niece. Our destination was the same, viz. Milan, where all had arranged to spend the next day – Sunday; and it was agreed that with so large an American party, we should endeavour to make arrangements for public services. It was indeed a rare thing for an American Protestant Bishop to preach n Milan, and the notice which was sent to the other hotels soon gathered a respectable congregation of English and Americans. How shall I convey the impressions left upon my mind and heart by the exercises of this rare meeting? As the Bishop’s tender and subdued voice305 led the hearts of his little congregation through the petitions of our beloved Liturgy, I though I had never realized so fully the richness and preciousness of this form of prayer. p. 175 “The service being ended with a hymn sung, the Bishop rose to preach. Without a written sermon, or even notes,306 in the utmost simplicity, he said he would endeavour to improve the occasion by a brief reference to the words of the Psalmist, recorded in the 116th verse of the 119th Psalm: ‘Let me not be ashamed of my hope.’ Comparing the received version with the Psalter, ‘Let me not be disappointed in my hope,’ he showed how these versions illustrated and explained each other, and the peculiar fitness of this prayer for poor pilgrims who must soon exchange the scenes of time for those of eternity. Every eye was riveted upon this tall majestic form, as, with a
304 See Rev. William Carus, ed., Memorials of the Right Reverend Charles Pettit McIlvaine, D.D., D.C.L., late Bishop of Ohio in the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States (New York: Thomas Whittaker, 1882, Google digitized book); Diana Hochstedt Butler, Standing Against the Whirlwind: Evangelical Episcopalians in Nineteenth-Century America (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995), and Donald G. Mathews, Religion in the Old South (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1977).
305 Evangelical Episcopalian preachers chose a moderate, restrained style of preaching to distinguish themselves from what they considered the “fanaticism” and “unhealthy excesses” of the more emotional revivalists and confessionalists. Decorum, order, discipline, and moderation were valued above all.
306 Emotive, extemporaneous oratory was a hallmark of Evangelical Episcopalian preachers. It signified to them freedom and spontaneity as opposed to the formalism of prepared sermons.
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VMI Archives www.vmi.edu/archives tone I can never forget, he added, ‘Let me not, poor dying sinner as I am, be resting my hope of heaven upon anything that will make me ashamed, that will disappoint me – that will not stand the test of god’s eye and of God’s judgment. Let me not be deceiving myself by a false hope. Rather let me try and examine myself, and more and more closely scrutinize my relations to heaven, and my hope of reaching heaven, that I may not be brought to confusion. It must be a hope that stands upon the sure warrant of God’s own Word – as David says in the preceding verse, ‘I hope in Thy Word.’ It will not do, that our hope be sustained by the opinions of mere man, or of any assembly of men, or of councils, or of fathers. The soul wants the authority of God Himself as the warrant of its hope; and when this authority is given, and the soul is directed to the Lord Jesus Christ as the ground of its hope, then comes the voice which speaks directly to the heart: and in the salvation, which Jesus has purchased with His own blood, the soul finds hope, which satisfies it and sustains it through its darkest trial, until the inheritance which He promised is received, and hope is exchanged for endless fruition.’
“Kindly invited by the bishop to join his party, it was page 176 my privilege to visit Turin, Geneva, Florence, and Rome with him, and our pleasant intercourse terminated in Paris, a few days before my return to the United States. Closely associated as I was with him during these two or three months of foreign travel, the impressions left upon me cannot be effaced; and now that the grave has closed upon him, they are revived with all the freshness of early recollections. It chanced to be on Sunday when we reached Civita Vecchia, on our way to Rome. We tarried there in all the discomforts of a most filthy Italian inn. In the afternoon we took a walk on the sea-shore and along the old Via Aurelia. Our conversation turned to the period in the history of Rome when apostles and martyrs trod that very road. As a more and more serious direction was given to our thoughts, he at last touched upon the interesting circumstances, connected with the revival of religion among the cadets at West Point.307 Scepticism in its varied forms was prevalent among officers and cadets, and his labours for some time seemed to be in vain. He finally concluded that he would combine with his pulpit ministrations the distribution of religious books and tracts among the cadets, leaving them in their rooms while they were on drill. They would be ‘bread upon the waters,’ and a return was promised ‘after many days.’ The answer came sooner than was expected. First one and then another cadet sought counsel with him as to the salvation of the soul. The case of Cadet Leonidas Polk was of special interest. Intelligent, high-toned, commanding in person, holding a high position in the corps, and justly popular – he was one, who had only to be assured on the point of duty, and he was ready to brave all public opinion, and meet the claims which Christianity imposed. His conviction was complete, and in the spirit of the missionary he laboured among his fellows with a zeal which showed the earnestness of his character. The awaken- page 177 ing begun—it spread from room to room, from heart to heart, until the interest became so intense, that the Bishop added: ‘Had I gone on with a sermon which I was preaching to them, I verily believe I should not have been able to moderate or control their feelings. I had to stop, and I did stop.
“It was with much pleasure I listened to the details which he gave of the special cases among officers and cadets, involving more than ordinary interest; and as he proceeded with his narrative, his eye lighted with its wonted fire when he added: ‘the office of a bishop does not give
307 For an account of McIlvaine’s work at West Point, including his encounter with Cadet Leonidas Polk, see Thomas J. Fleming, West Point: The men and Times of the United States Military Academy (New York: Wm. Morrow & Co., Inc., 1969), 59-60, and Edgar Denton, III, The Formative Years of the United States Military Academy, 1775-1833 (Ann Arbor, Michigan: University Microfilms, Inc., Syracuse University Ph.D. dissertation, 1964), 222-226.
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VMI Archives www.vmi.edu/archives the happiness which that of the pastor affords. I long to see some fruits of my ministry, and that my labours are bringing souls to Christ.
“The next Sabbath we spent in Rome – ever memorable day to the little company assembled in a private room on the Pincian Hill. The sacrament of the Lord’s Supper was to be administered in Rome by an American Protestant Bishop. Bishop McIlvaine was to preach.308 We could not be sure that our services would not be interrupted by the interdiction of the Papal police. Still, it was in our hearts to have this service, and it was held. In fine view of our little temple rose the massive dome of St. Peter, with the stately palace of the Vatican by its side. Below, in the Piazza de Spagna, was the monument erected by Pope Pius IX, to commemorate the dogma of the Immaculate Conception; and it was in the midst of associations like these that these solemn services were held.
“The bishop manifested deep emotion when he arose to preach; the preliminary services having been conducted by Mr. Gadsden. He referred to the feelings which must ever attend him when addressing a congregation, the faces of many of whom he had never seen before and whom he should probably never see again. He spoke of the place in which they were assembled.”
In early December 1858, according to Rev. Carus, Bishop McIlvaine traveled to England where he visited Cambridge and where he received an honorary degree. Afterward he returned to London. In a letter to his wife, dated 8 December 1858 (Carus biography, p. 184), the Bishop wrote:
“After being at our lodgings in London awhile, we went to make a visit to the Archbishop of Canterbury, at Addington, where this letter was begun. We arrived at Croydon about 5 P.M., and found there the kind Archbishop’s carriage waiting for us to take us three miles to Addington Park. There we met the ladies of the family whom you saw. That evening, Mr. Goode, Mr. and Mrs. Chalmers of Beckenham, and others, came to dine, and some stayed all night. The Archbishop expounded that evening, and next morning at prayers in the chapel. Next day we spent the morning as we pleased, writing or walking. The Archbishop took us a walk all about the beautiful grounds. After lunch, we went in his carriage to see the dear people, at Beckenham, for a short visit, about half-an-hour’s drive. I saw my old friend Dr. Marsh, as bright as ever. Dear Miss Marsh is required to keep her room for a long time, overworked, as I have been told; but she said she must see us, so we all went into her room; she makes a great impression on me. We rode back to Addington, dined, and returned to London that night. I never before had so much and such delightful conversation with the venerable and beloved Archbishop upon religious subjects. He is so clear and positive and simple in his gospel views. I have seen no one in England who more entirely appreciates the Revival than him, understands it, confides in it, and sees the hand of God in it.”
On the eve of the Civil War, Smith wrote several times to Bishop McIlvaine, in Cincinnati, Ohio (McIlvaine was Bishop of Ohio). The letters reveal Smith’s fear of a coming war and his
308 “Evangelical Episcopal prayer meetings always combined liturgy, teaching, and extemporaneous prayers,” according to Butler, Whirlwind, 37.
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VMI Archives www.vmi.edu/archives concern over the possible consequences of the activities of abolitionists. The following letter from Smith to McIlvaine reveals his fears:
[July 1860] Rt. Rev. C. P. McIlvaine, Cincinnati, Ohio
My Dear Bishop,
The month that has intervened since the rec’t of your interesting and impressive letter of the 4 Jan’y has been a month of incessant labor to me. This duty which called me to Richmond in Dec, summoned me again on the day after I read your letter, and I was detained there before the military committee until the bill for $500,000 in arms and munitions of war was passed, by nearly unanimous vote, and now I have the additional duty of being one of the Commissioners by whom the sum is to be spent.309 God grant that the evil spirit of our country may be so subdued, and eradicated, that none of this preparation shall be needed except for COMMON defense. Unless his grade & his spirit moderate the madness of the people, brother swill be arrayed against brother, a more deadly civil war will be waged than ever the records of history have traced.
“Decisions of allowing your enlarged observation to have its fullest effect upon those who could appreciate your position (…) I took the liberty of showing your letter to several of our public men and among them our Governor Letcher. I was anxious that they should know your opinion of Ohio sentiment, and while I differed with you in your comparative estimate of the Kentucky affair. I know your letter would have influence in tending to moderate the indignation of all honest minds. And so it proved – I would not say to you all that was said to me from many in high authority, complimentary to yourself and to your views – One gentleman’s qualification was, that it was ‘TOO RELIGIOUS.’ I did not retort by saying this defect could not be charged against him. I am sure, however, it was well reviewed & I wish you to know this.
“I said that I differed with you in respect to the Kentucky affair. The question there was, as it is in Virginia & the whole South, whether the state has not the right to guard the magazine from the explosive sparks which threaten our safety. I am not arguing that slavery is RIGHT but the ‘OPINIONS HELD’ and known to be held, are as disastrous in this effect, as sparks in the vicinity of the powder magazine. No man can complain when he is commanded to take off his shoes when he treads upon the floor of such a magazine and yet this is the very secret of all the seeming severity of the Kentucky affair. The law of self protection and self preservation gives a right, founded upon the necessity of the case. Suppose an individual were to come into this state, and in exercising what he would call ‘right of opinion’ or ‘liberty of speech’ should publicly (decry?) the institution of slavery as a SIN, and justify resistance to it as a duty to God from which no law of man (…). Would he not be a disturber of the peace, and ought he not to be punished as such? Nay, more, would not his teachings be justly liable to the charge of incendiarism? I know not how far the Kentucky men carried their liberty of opinion, but I would say for them, that if their acts were overt, the LAW of this state would deal with them, & I regret that no such legal process exists in Kent’y. the question is a nice one, Dear Bishop, & one has to live in a slave country & understand the confidence we necessarily put in our slaves, to estimate the danger under which we lie from inflammatory appeals to conscience or prejudice or passion. While I was travelling in Europe, my wife and six children were locked up every night by my man servant & the key put to his pocket, & he sleeping in the outside kitchen. And such is slavery in Virginia. I do not like to see men punished OUTSIDE of law, for we c’d never know when our turn would come & THIS
309 A reference to Smith’s appointment to the Governor’s Armory Commission.
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VMI Archives www.vmi.edu/archives was the wrong in Kentucky. The LAW should have taken hold of those men & vindicated itself in affording protection to all the (…) with which it is charged.
“It is a little (…) that although you have so impressively enjoined (…) Christians the duty of praying for the country, it had just re-commenced (…) (…) of Bickerslath. (five?) in my family. You know his earnestness in this duty.
And now how are you all? I do long so much to see you & talk over the troubles of our times & country, and to receive from you more & more of those words of wisdom, which I so much need to guide me right. What a comfort it is for us, to know & to realize the FULLNESS that there is in Christ for all our necessities. Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.
“I spent a night at Mr. John Stuart’s when I was in Richmond & he enquired most affectionately after you. You remember this (sweet?) home 4 miles from Richmond. Do give my affectionate remembrance to Miss (Nain?) and all your household, & accept from me & remain Dear Bishop, assured… Francis H. Smith.”
Bishop McIlvaine, like many Northern Evangelicals, opposed slavery, but he did not support abolitionism. He saw slavery as an evil, a sin, and he joined the Republican Party and supported Lincoln. The differences between Smith and Bishop McIlvaine, however, apparently did not destroy their friendship. In 1879, General Smith was invited to address the Association of Graduates of the U.S. Military Academy on the theme of “West Point Fifty Years Ago.”310 In his address, he spoke warmly of Bishop McIlvaine, who had died in 1873. Smith said:
“Rev. CHARLES PETTIT M’ILVAINE, D.D., was called to the chaplaincy of the academy in 1825, and resigned Dec. 31, 1828, so that he had just left the academy when my class entered. I cannot in these reminiscences of those early days omit some reference to this great and good man, whose labor had such far-reaching influence in the after career of so many of his pupils.
[Smith then went on to state what he later included in the Carus biography of Bishop McIlvaine in 1882].
APPENDIX II SMITH’S VISIT TO BECKENHAM MANOR, ENGLAND November-December 1858
At some time during his return to England from the Continent in late 1858, as he was preparing to return to the United States, Smith visited Rev. Frederick Skene Courtnay Chalmers at “Beckenham Rectory,” Beckenham, Kent. The visit was probably coordinated with a visit to nearby Canterbury Cathedral. Where or when Smith first met Chalmers is not known for certain, but it is likely that he was referred to Rev. Chalmers by Bishop Charles Pettit McIlvaine, with whom Smith had traveled during the final three months of his tour of Europe, parting in Paris. A warm and lasting long-distance friendship ensued between Smith and Chalmers, two evangelically-minded men. We know about Smith’s visit to “Beckenham Rectory” through later correspondence that passed between them.
310 Francis H. Smith, LL.D., West Point Fifty Years Ago. An Address delivered before the Associations of Graduates of the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, at the Annual reunion, June 12, 1879 (New York: D. Van Nostrand, 1879), 14-15.
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On 2 February 1860, over a year upon returning to Lexington, Smith addressed a long letter311 to Chalmers in which he said, in part: “I cannot express to you how much I have felt worried lest my long silence should have occasioned the (premise?) that I had forgotten my kind and cherished friends at Beckenham.” He offered as his excuse his normal duties at VMI, the remodeling of VMI based on the recommendations contained in the report that he produced after his European trip, the cares related “to the moral & spiritual internals of those committed to my charge,” and his appointment to the Armory Commission by the Governor of Virginia “for the purchase & manufacture … of arms & munitions of war.” 312 Smith also made reference to “the late attempt on the part of a wicked man John Brown” and the possibility of war.
Smith concluded his letter with a reference to Bishop Charles Pettit McIlvaine, Bishop of Ohio and one of the leaders of the Evangelical Party in the Episcopal Church, who, as chaplain at West Point several years before Smith entered as a cadet, led a revival that converted many cadets, including Leonidas Polk, later Bishop of Louisiana. Smith knew of McIlvaine, but he had never met the bishop until his trip to Europe when Smith met him in Italy and they traveled together for three months (see Appendix I). In his 1860 letter to Chalmers, Smith wrote, “I had the pleasure of meeting with (dear?) Bishop McIlvaine about several Episcopal Conventions in October. He was looking well, and it was a delightfully agreeable privilege to me to recall the memories of dear old England. I have now on my table a long letter from him, dated January 4. Yet unanswered, but which I will try to answer when I have finished this.”
Smith continued: “And now dear Mr. Chalmers, do not allow the same length of time to intervene with you before I hear from you. I want you to tell me something of dear Mrs. Chalmers, and your honored father, Dr. Marsh and Miss Marsh313 & Miss Marshall, and the soldier Son,314 and my little pet who won my button & the barn meetings315 -- The Sergeant Mr. Southey – Miss Holland – and other kind friends whom I met at your hospitable table. Say to Miss Marsh, my wife & myself read her recent kind remembrances in her Preface to Dr. Boardman’s work.316 I shall read it to my boys (I mean the cadets) in their prayer meeting, and I
311 Smith to Chalmers, 2 February 1860, Outgoing Correspondence of the Superintendent, Online Collection, VMI Archives, Preston Library, Virginia Military Institute.
312 See “Arms for Virginia on the Eve of the Civil War: The Armory Commission Letters of Francis H. Smith, transcribed and annotated by Col. Edwin L. Dooley, Jr. Online Collection, VMI Archives, Preston Library, Virginia Military Institute.
313 Catherine “Katie” M. Marsh, author of Memorials of Captain Hedley Vicars, Ninety-seventh Regiment, The Victory Won!, and English Hearts and English Hands. Marsh was one of the foremost evangelists of her day. She wrote sympathetically about workmen (“navvies”) engaged in reconstructing the Crystal Palace at Sydenham, near her father’s parish of Beckenham. Her book English Hearts and English Hands was popular in England and America. She was deeply engaged in the work of the Navvy Mission Society. See Dick Sullivan,”Navvyman,” date posted unknown, Victorian Web Book, date accessed 8/3/09, electronic address http://www.victorianweb.org/history/work/sullivan/20.html
314 Frederick William Marsh Chalmers (1836-1898)
315 Barn meetings had been popular with evangelicals from the time that dissenters were restricted in where they could hold religious services. Some advocated them because Christ had been “born in a barn.”
316 Rev. William Edwin Boardman, The Higher Christian Life (1858). Boardman (1810-1886) was a Presbyterian pastor, teacher, and a leading evangelical preacher and writer. His book, The Higher Christian Life, was an international success. The Preface to the 1858 edition does not mention Smith directly, but there may be an indirect reference to him. See “William Boardman,” at “Wikipedia” and The Higher Christian Life (Google digitized books).
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VMI Archives www.vmi.edu/archives know they will value it for the authors sake. Our meetings for prayer are still kept up, and every night we have a ROOM FULL.
“Do give my & my wife’s most affectionate love to all the members of your dear household. May the (…) blessings of our Covenant God be with you, while I remain with sincere affection. Your friend & brother in Christ, Francis H. Smith.”
Frederick Chalmers was born ca. 1804. A Cambridge graduate, he was ordained deacon in the Anglican Church, 1843; priest, 1844; chaplain to the Earl of Cranworth, 1849; rector of Beckenham, Kent, 1851-1873. He married Matilda, daughter of the Rev. William Marsh, D.D. Chalmers died 15 July 1885, aged 81. He was the father of Dalzell Henry John Chalmers, a barrister, and Frederick William Marsh Chalmers, who served in the British Army during the Mutiny in India, 1857-1859 (at the time of Smith’s visit).317
Four years later, Chalmers wrote Smith the following letter:318
[page one] Beckenham Rectory, June 23d 1864
My Dear Colonel Smith,
Your most interesting letter was extremely welcome to us all; for very often since the commencement of this mighty struggle have our thoughts travelled after you; & it was only the other day that I was looking at the manuscript letter of our good friend Mr. Southey recording the recollections of the accounts of the Lord’s doing at the Military Institute.
The fate of your gallant & distinguished associate General Jackson was a subject of almost national regret amongst us, & a similar tho’ not so deep an emotion has been felt at the death of General Stewart. No soldiers & especially no Christian soldiers could have followed the brilliant career of either of these gallant men without the (unclear).
General Lee’s talents as a general are universally appreciated in this country, & what you tell us of his piety lends a far deeper interest in his movements.
[page 2] We have often wondered where our path was ordered in the contest, & I have often looked for some mention of your name.
I am thankful my dear friend that you have hitherto been preserved in safety & that you are still spared to be a comfort to your own family, & to be the instrument I trust of training many a young soldier not only in the sterner duties of his profession, but in those blessed ways of the God of Peace, & in the service of that Saviour who shall make wars to cease unto the end of the Earth.
On the mighty questions which have caused & maintain the fearful war I feel myself ill qualified to judge. To slavery I cannot but be (unclear) after what I now know of it, but this institution it seems to me must have received its death. Now if the Northern States had permitted the south quietly to separate, & why they did not (accede?) to your secession appears to me an infatuation entirely unaccountable. I grieve at the bloodshed, suffering, & desolation &
317 Alumni cantabrigienses: a biographical list of all known students, graduates and holders of office at the University of Cambridge, from the earliest times to 1900 (London: Cambridge University Press, n.d., Internet Archive digitized book), Part II, 2: 2.
318 Letter from Frederick Chalmers to Colonel F. H. Smith, dated 23 June 1864, property of Col. Alexander H. Morrison.
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(destruction?) which are proceeding on so gigantic a scale & in proportions so enormous - & pray daily that …
[page 3] I love many dear Brethren on both sides the conflict
… the conflict may soon cease, - & that an honorable & satisfactory separation may take place. The fury of the Northern States is a perplexing phenomenon to me - & I mourn over it. In all this I am only candidly describing my own individual feelings. In this country generally the current of sympathy sets strongly in one direction, & that is in favour of the South. You will see by the papers that we may soon be involved in the beginning of a War in behalf of Denmark, - & when once it has begun who shall say where it will end. But I look for His coming who shall bring in Everlasting Righteousness. Even so come Lord Jesus come quietly.
You will expect some accounts of our home circle. Our dear father in law Dr. Marsh is still spared to us. He will be 89 on the 20th of July next month. He is as bright & beautiful as ever, - tho’ feeble in body, & chiefly confined to a recumbent posture. Our good sister Miss Marsh has been a great invalid, the victim of long continued over exertion of mind & body. At this moment she is I hope recovering a little – She is absent from us – or would send Mrs. Smith some special message in return for the touching letter she so
[page 4] kindly forwarded in your letter. Our sweet young niece is also with her & well. I forget whether you saw my dear Son who was in the Army in India. He has returned safe & sound, is married & has two dear children. He has left the Army & is now in the office of one of his brothers in law – who is a partner in a large Liverpool House.
Mr. Southey is settled in a pleasant small country living.
Our parish has greatly increased since you were with us, & we have another church just completed. Both Mrs. Chalmers & I are feeling the effects of increasing work - & I may also say for myself of increasing years. But the Lord is good, & I look to the fulfillment of the petition in the good old Hymn “Thy presence that my journey shine, And crown my journey’s end.”
If peaceful times should return & the Lord should open my way it would be a full delight to visit your beautiful country, & to be refreshed with your brother love. But dear friend there is a meeting place & & a meeting time soon coming.
The Good Lord bless you & yours. With Christian love from us all believe me, Your affectionate friend & brother
Fredk Chalmers.
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