TWO SHILLINGS Captain cSro.noto's Celebrities /m <^I \\BB& ba<*YB S^SSS &eon«ianj»niEk. of UorvtujTi'anti Mam «N. SMITH,. ELBER, i G0. ANECDOTES OF CELEBRITIES OF LONDON AND PARIS, TO WHICH ARE ADDED THE LAST RECOLLECTIONS OF CAPTAIN GRONOW, FORMERLY OF THE FIRST FOOT GUARDS. A NEW EDITION. LONDON: SMITH, ELDER & CO., 15, WATERLOO PLACE. 1870. CONTENTS. PAGE Almack'a in 1815, .... 1 The Duke of Wellington and the Cavalry, 2 The Duke at Carlton House, 4 The Duke and the Author, 4 Wellington's First Campaign, . 8 The Guards and the Umbrellas, 1(J Colonel Freemantle and the Duke's Quarters, 11 A Word for Brown Bess, 12 A Strange Rencontre, .... 13 English and French Soldiers on the Boulevards, 15 " Date obolum Belisario," 16 "Hats off," 16 Hatred of the Prussians by the French Peasantry, 18 Severe Discipline in the Russian Army, 19 The Emperor Alexander in Paris, 2(1 A Fire-Eater Cowed, .... 21 An Insult Rightly Redressed, . 22 A Duel between Two Old Friends, 23 A Duel between Two Officers in the Life Guards, 23 Fayot, the Champion of the Legitimists, 24 The Gardes du Corps, .... 24 The late Marshal Castellane, 28 The late General Gabriel, 31 Admiral de la Susse, .... VI Contents. I'AOK Marshal Lobau, . 34 Montrond, 35 Chateaubriand, . 36 Parson Ambrose, 36 Captain Wilding, 37 The Church Militant, . 38 Louis XVIII., . 38 The Bridge of Jena Saved, 39 Louis XVIII. and Sosth&nes de la Rochefoucauld, 40 The Due de Grammont, 40 The Montmorencies, 42 Ouvrard the Financier, 45 Madame de Stael, 48 A Feminine Foible, 52 Mademoiselle le Xormand, 52 An Ominous Fall, 55 Louis Philippe and Marshal Soult, 55 Decamps and the Duke of Orleans, 56 Fashion in Paris, 57 Literary Salons in France, 64 Sir John Elley, . 69 An English Dandy in Paris, 70 Sheridan and the Electors of Stafford, 71 Sheridan at Drury-Lane Theatre, 76 Shelley's Fight at Eton, 79 Epigram by Canning, 80 Mr Canning and Lord Lyndhuryt, 81 Crockford's Club, 81 " " King Allen, . 86 Ball Hughes, 89 Scrope Davies, . 93 Thomas Moore, . 96 Francis Hare, 98 Theodore Hook, . 101 Cosway the Painter, 101 Contents. vn PACK Martin Hawke, ....... 102 Lord Normanby, ...... 103 A Mother in Israel, ....... 108 Equipages in London and Paris—The Four-in-hand Club, 108 Kate North, ...... 114 Sally Brooke, ...... 118 Madame Grassini, ..... 120 Piety of Madame Catalani, .... 122 Miss T and the Perverts, .... 123 Rachel's Debut, ...... 124 Rachel and Judith, ..... 125 Rossini, ....... 125 Pio Nono's Flight to Gaeta, .... 128 Sudden turns of Fortune in France, . 132 Parisian Cockneydom, ..... 135 Improvements in Paris, .... 140 French Criminal Jurisprudence, 143 The Paris Insurrection of 1848, 147 French Statesmen and Journalists in 1851 — M. Guizot, ...... 151 M. Thiers, ...... 152 Lamartine, ...... 153 Prince Louis Napoleon. .... 154 The Coup d'Etat— State of Public Feeling in Paris, . 156 The Prince-President, .... 157 M. de Morny, ..... 159 The Night of December 1, 160 The Arrests, ..... 163 Paris on December 2, 165 Louis Napoleon at the Elysee, . 168 Reception of the Prince-President, . 171 Alarm of the Parisians, .... 172 The Legislative Assembly, . 174 The 3d and 4th of December, . 177 — Vlll Contents. The Coup d'fitat continv.td. What the Author Saw, 181 Groundless Fabrications, . 183 Camp Life during the Peninsular Wa; 180 A Foraging Party on the Adour, 190 General Sir Warren Peacocke, Governor of Lisbon, 193 Frank Russell at the Battle of the Pyrenees. 197 Hunting in the Pyrenees, 1S13, 1814, . 200 Dysentery in the Peninsula, 201 A Daring Exploit, 202 My Soldier-Servant, 204 Sir Thomas Styles, 205 Sir John Elley of the " Blues," 206 Jack Talbot of the Guards, 208 "Teapot" Crawfurd, . 210 The Guards' Club, 211 General Thornton and Theodore Hook, 212 The Heroic Lady Waldegrave, . 213 Colonel, alias " Jemmy," Cochrane of the Guards, 214 Mr Cornewall and the Provost-Sergeant, 215 Arma Virumque Cano, . 217 Sir Jerry Coghlan, 21.9 Lord Jersey and an Officer of the Guards, 221 Lord Castlereagh and Sir E. Pakenham, 222 Louis Philippe at Twickenham, 2 ;> 3 Eton College in 1810, . 224 Flogging at Eton, under Dr Keate, 226 George IV. when Prince of Wales, 226 Beau Brummel's Aunt, Mrs Searle, 227 One Way out of a Dilemma, 229 Anecdote of a Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, 229 Mr Lawrence, the Celebrated Surgeon, 230 Escapade of an Officer of the 3d Foot Guards, 231 The Good Fortune of a Pretty Woman, 233 Colonel, or " Bull," Townshend, 236 Contents. IX PAGK The Marquis d'Aligre and the Dentist, . 237 The French Emigres, ...... 239 The Emperor Alexander, ..... 241 An Incident at the Battle of Borodino, . 241 General Jacqueminot, ...... 242 The Emperor's Fur Cloak, ..... 243 A Marriage Quickly Arranged, ..... 244 Napoleon the First's Love of Music, .... 246 Parting of Napoleon and Madame Mere, . 248 Prince Euge"ne Beauharnais, ..... 248 The Present Emperor of the French when a Buy, . 249 Jerome Bonaparte and Cardinal Fesch, . .251 The Czar and the Apple Girl, . .251 De Souza, the Portuguese Ambassador, . 252 Lord Hay and the Prince Kegent, .... 254 The Prince Eegent and Carlton House, . 255 Lord Barrymore, ...... 257 Lord Byron and Dan Mackinnon, .... 259 Caricature on the Allied Sovereigns, .... 260 Breguet, the French Watchmaker, . .261 Labedoyere and the Number Thirteen, . 262 Fouche and Carnot, ...... 262 L'Enfant de Troupe, ...... 263 Incident at a Ball at the British Embassy in Paris, 1816, . 264 Unknown Persons at a Ball at the British Embassy, Paris, . 265 A Musician's Reproof, ...... 267 Lord Alvanley, ....... 268 Sir Astley Cooper and the Troop Horses, . 269 Italian Brigandage in 1815, ..... 270 Madame de Stael and Mr Canning, .... 273 The Duchess of Duras, ...... 273 Mr and Mrs Graham—their Soirees, .... 274 Mr Williams Hope and his Mistress, .... 276 How to get Invited to a Ball, ..... 277 Melancholy Result of a Ball, ..... 278 X Contents. PAGE A Eoland for an Oliver, ..... 279 Sir Charles Shakerley, ...... 279 " Taking the Bull hy the Horns," . .280 Eagget, of White's Club, 2S2 The Cafe Tortoni, ...... 283 An Inveterate Gambler, ..... 287 Colonel Sebright of the Guards, . .288 The Princess Charlotte of Wales, . .290 The Duke of Clarence, ...... 291 The Origin of " Shocking Bad Hat," .... 294 Englishmen in Paris in 1S17, . .294 The Bold Wife of a Rash Husband, . .297 A Mishap at Almack's, ...... 297 Sir Astley Cooper, ...... 299 Lady Holland and " the Bridge," . .300 The Bishop of Exeter and his Son, .... 300 Lord Deerhurst, (afterwards Lord Coventry,) . .301 MrNeeld, 302 Mrs Beaumont, ....... 303 Windsor Castle in 1819, . 305 A Shoulder of Mutton a la Soubise, .... 307 Attempt to Assassinate trie Prince Regent, . 308 Coronation of George IV., ..... 309 George IV. and Bishop Porteous, . .310 Latter Days of George IV., ..... 311 Death and Funeral of the Duke of York, . 312 Colonel the Honourable II. Stanhope, . .312 Sir Robert Peel's Hat, ...... 313 An Irish Welcome, . , . .314 The Prince do Poix, . .314 Lady Normanby's Ball at the British Embassy, Paris, . 314 Louis Philippe's Sons at a Masked Ball, . .315 Count Talleyrand Perigord's Private Theatricals, . 31G Prince Talleyrand's Opinion of the Duke of Wellington, . 317 Mots of Talleyrand, . .319 Contents. XI PAr,E at the . The Emperor Nicholas Hague, . 320 Ligne, Tne Prince de . 320 Pride of a Spanish Grandee, . 322 The Emperor's Extra Equerry, 322 The Duke of Wellington and Lord Strangford. , 323 Marshal Magnan's Opinion of British Soldiers, ) • 324 Marshal Canrobert Reviewing the British Army,my, 324 A Beady Eetort, . 325 An Act of Charity, i • 325 Madame Alboni, « 326 The Derby of 1865 and French Racing, • « • 327 ; CELEBRITIES OF LONDON AND PARIS, Almack's in 1815.—The personages delineated on the cover are well worthy of notice, both from the position they held in the fashionable world, and from their being represented with great truth and accuracy- The great George Brummell, the admirable Crichton of the age, stands in a degage attitude, with his fingers in his waistcoat pocket. His neckcloth is inimitable, and must have cost him much time and trouble to arrive at such perfection as the following anecdote shows. A friend calling on the beau saw the valet with an armful of flowing white cravats, and asked him if his master wanted so many at once. " These, sir, are our failures," was the reply. " Clean linen, and plenty of it," was Brummell's maxim. He is talking earnestly to the charming Duchess of Kutland, who was a Howard, and mother to the present Duke. The tall man, in a black coat, who is preparing to waltz with Princess Esterhazy, so long ambassadress of Austria in London, is the Comte de St Antonio, afterwards Duke of Canizzaro. He resided many years in England, was a very handsome man, and A. 2 The Duke of Wellington and the Cavalry. a great lady-killer ; he married an English heiress, Miss Johnson. The original sketch from which these figures are taken, included also portraits of Charles, Marquis of Queensberry, Baron Neumann, at that time secre- tary of the Austrian Embassy ; the late Sir George Warrender (who was styled by his friends Sir George Provender, being famed for his good dinners) ; and the handsome Comte St Aldegonde, afterwards a general, and at this period aide-de-camp to Louis Philippe, then Duke of Orleans. The sketch was made in water-colours, from a group of these celebrities at a ball at Almack's, and' was given to Brummell by the artist who executed it ; it was highly prized by the king of the dandies, and was purchased at the sale of his effects in Chapel Street by the person who gave it to me.