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CHAPTER IV.

1853-1856.

ARRIVAL IN LONDON-PRESENTATION TO THE QUEEN AT OSBORNETHE MINISTRY OF LORD ABERDEEN-MR. MARCY'S CIRCULAR ABOUT COURT COSTUMES, AND THE DRESS QUESTION AT THE ENGLISH COURT-LETTERS TO MISS LANE.

THE

HE reader has seen with what reluctance and for what special purpose Mr. Buchanan accepted the mission to England. He left New York on the 1st of August, 1853, and landed at Liverpool on the 17th, whence he wrote immediately to his niece; and I follow his first letter to her with four others, extending to the middle of October.

MY DEAR HARRIET :

[TO MISS LANE.]

ADELPHI HOTEL, LIVERPOOL, August 17th, 1853.

I arrived in Liverpool this morning, after a passage of about ten days and sixteen hours. I was sea-sick the whole voyage, but not nearly so badly as I had anticipated, or as I was in going to and returning from Russia. Captain James West, of Philadelphia, the commander of the Atlantic, is one of the most accomplished and vigilant officers and one of the most kind and amiable men I have ever known. I never wish to cross the Atlantic in any but a vessel commanded by him. We did not see the sun rise or set during the whole voyage. The weather was either rainy or cloudy throughout, but many of the passengers were agreeable. Upon arriving here I found Mr. Lawrence, who came from London to receive me. It is my purpose to accompany him to London to-morrow, where I shall at first stay at the Clarendon Hotel. I do not yet know whether I shall take, or rather whether I can obtain, Mr. Ingersoll's house or not. I thought I would have to remain here some days to recruit; but I had scarcely got upon land before I felt perfectly well, and have enjoyed my dinner very much-the first meal for which I felt any appetite since I left New York. I shall write to you again as soon as I am settled at London, or probably sooner.

Although I left Wheatland with regret and a heavy heart, yet I am

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resigned to my destiny, and shall enter upon the performance of my duties, with God's blessing, in a determined and cheerful spirit.

I received your letter in New York. I had not supposed there was any thing serious in Lily's apprehensions.

In the midst of calls and engagements, I have not time to write you a longer letter. Please to keep an eye on Eskridge and James Reynolds, as you promised.

Give my affectionate regard to Miss Hetty and Eskridge, and remember me to all my friends. In haste, I remain your affectionate uncle, etc.

LONDON, August 26th, 1853.

I have received your letter written a few days after my departure from New York, which is mislaid for the moment, and it afforded me great pleasure. It is the only letter which I have yet received from the United States.

I was presented to the queen at Osborne, in the Isle of Wight, on Tuesday last, by the Earl of Clarendon, and delivered her my letter of credence. She has not many personal charms, but is gracious and dignified in her manners, and her character is without blemish. The interview was brief. Mr. Ingersoll, who accompanied me to take his leave, and myself lunched at the palace with Lord Clarendon and several of the attachés of royalty. His conduct towards me is all I could have desired; and Miss Wilcox is a very nice girl.t They will pay a short visit to France and the continent, and return to the United States in October.

You have lost nothing by not coming to England with me. Parliament adjourned on last Saturday, and this was the signal for the nobility and gentry to go to their estates in the country. There they will remain until next February, and in the mean time London will be very dull. All gaiety in town is at an end, and has been transferred to the estates and country seats throughout the kingdom.

I have not yet procured a house, but hope to do so next week. I have just paid my bill for the first week at this hotel. I have two rooms and a chamber, have had no company to dine and have dined at home but three days, and the amount is £14 7s. 6d., equal to nearly $75.00.

It is my desire to see you happily married, because, should I be called away, your situation would not be agreeable. Still you would have plenty. Whilst these are my sentiments, however, I desire that you shall exercise your own deliberate judgment in the choice of a husband. View steadily all the consequences, ask the guidance of Heaven, and make up your own mind, and I shall be satisfied. A competent independence is a good thing, if it can be obtained with proper affection; though I should not care for fortune provided the man of your choice was in a thriving and profitable business and possessed a high and fair character. I had not supposed there was any thing serious in the conversation; certainly none of your relatives can interpose any just objec+Niece of Mr. Ingersoll.

* His predecessor.

tion.

Be, however, fully persuaded in your own mind, and act after due reflection; and may God guide you!

It will require some time to reconcile me to this climate. We have none of the bright and glorious sun and the clear blue sky of the United States; but neither have we the scorching heat, nor the mosquitos. I have slept comfortably under a blanket ever since I have been here, and almost every man you meet carries an umbrella. The winters, however, are not cold. Society is in a most artificial position. It is almost impossible for an untitled individual who does not occupy an official position to enter the charmed circle. The richest and most influential merchants and bankers are carefully excluded. It is true, as we learned, that the niece of a minister at the head of his establishment does not enjoy his rank. At a dinner party, for example, whilst he goes to the head of the table, she must remain at or near the foot. Still, Miss Wilcox has made her way to much consideration, admiration and respect.

The rage which seems to pervade the people of the United States for visiting Europe is wonderful. It takes up much time at the legation to issue passports. London, however, is but a stopping place. They generally rush to Paris and the continent; and this, too, wisely, I have no doubt. I would not myself tarry at London longer than to see the sights. My promise to you shall be kept inviolate; and yet I have no doubt a visit to Europe with an agreeable party would be far more instructive and satisfactory to you than to remain for any considerable length of time with me in London. I thank my stars that you did not come with me, for you would have had a dreary time of it for the next six months.

But the despatches are to be prepared and the despatch bag must close at five o'clock for the steamer of to-morrow. I have time to write no more, but to assure you that I am always your affectionate uncle, etc.

September 15, 1853.

On the day before yesterday I received your kind letter of the 28th August, with a letter from Mary, which I have already answered. How rejoiced I am that she is contented and happy in San Francisco! I also received your favor of the 18th August in due time. I write to you this evening because I have important despatches to prepare for the Department to-morrow, to be sent by Saturday's steamer.

How rejoiced I am that you did not come with me! Perceiving your anxiety, I was several times on the point of saying to you, come along; but you would see nearly as much fashionable society at Wheatland as you would see here until February or March next. You cannot conceive how dull it is, though personally I am content. The beau monde are all at their countryseats or on the continent, there to remain until the meeting of Parliament. But what is worse than all, I have not yet been able to procure a house in which I would consent to live. I have looked at a great many,—the houses of the nobility and gentry; but the furniture in all of them is old, decayed

and wretched, and with very few exceptions, they are very, very dirty. I can account for this in no other manner than that they are not willing to rent them until the furniture is worn out, and that London is for them like a great watering place from about the first of March until the first of August. This hotel, which is the most fashionable in London, is not nearly equal to the first hotels in Philadelphia and New York, and yet the cost of living in it, with two rooms and a chamber, is about $90 per week. The enormous expense [here] and the superior attractions [there] drive all the American travellers to Paris and the continent. The London Times has taken up the subject, and is now daily comparing the superior cheapness and superior accommodations of the hotels in the United States with those of London. Here there are no table-d'hôtes, and the house may be full without your knowing who is in it. I think I have a treasure in the servant (Jackson) I brought with me from New York. If he should only hold out, he is all I could desire.

Mr. Welsh surpasses my expectations as a man of business. Colonel Lawrence, the attaché without pay, is industrious, gentlemanly, and has been highly useful. He knows everybody, and works as though he received $10,000 per annum. I venture to say I have as able and useful a legation as any in London. Lawrence has gone to Scotland, in company with Miss Chapman and her father, and I think he is much pleased with her. In truth, she is a nice girl and very handsome. The Chapmans will return immediately to the United States.

The Marchioness of Wellesley is suffering from the dropsy, and she, with her sister, Lady Stafford, remained a few days at this house. I saw a good deal of them whilst they were here, and they have been very kind to me. They love to talk about America, and they yet appear to have genuine American hearts. Lady Wellesley lives at Hampton Court,—the old historic palace, about fifteen miles from London, erected by Cardinal Wolsey, and I am going there to dine with them and see the palace on Saturday. The Duchess of Leeds is in Scotland. These three American girls have had a strange fate. Many of their sex have envied them, but I think without cause. They are all childless, and would, I verily believe, have been more happy had they been united to independent gentlemen in their own country.

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It is impossible to conceive of a more elegant and accomplished lady than Lady Wellesley, and although bowed down by disease, she still retains the relics of her former beauty. Her younger sister, Betsy Caton (Lady Stafford), the belle of belles in her day in America, has become gross and does not retain a trace of her good looks, except a cheerful and animated countenance. She is evidently a fine woman, and very much a Catholic devotee. They are all widows, except the Duchess of Leeds.

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Rank, rank is everything in this country. My old friend of twenty years and ago, Mrs. the wife of the partner of the great House of then a nice little Yankee woman, who had never been at court, continually talks to me now about the duchess of this and the countess of that, and the queen, lords and ladies afford her a constant theme. Her daughter, and only

child, who will be immensely rich, is the wife of

and this has given

her a lift. She is still, however, the same good kind-hearted woman she was in the ancient time; but has grown very large. They are now at their country-seat at

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her husband's business preventing her from going far away. I have now nearly finished my sheet. I have not yet had time to see any of the lions. God bless you! Remember me kindly to Mrs. Hunter. I have written to Clemmie since I have been here.

From your affectionate uncle, etc.

September 30, 1853.

I have a few minutes to spare before the despatch bag closes and I devote them to writing a line to you. I have received your very kind and acceptable letter of the 14th September from Charleston, and cordially thank you for the agreeable and interesting information which it contains.

I have not yet obtained a house. It seems impossible to procure one, in every respect suitable for myself and the legation, for less than $3500 to $4500. The expense of living in this country exceeds even what I had anticipated. . . . . . I shall preserve my hotel bills as curiosities.

I did not suppose that your name had reached thus far. I dined the other day at Hampton Court with Ladies Wellesley and Stafford. Mr. and Mrs. Woodville of Baltimore were present. Mrs. Woodville said she did not know you herself, but her youngest son was well acquainted with you and spoke of you in the highest terms. I found she had previously been saying pretty things of you to the two ladies.

I shrewdly suspect that Miss Chapman has made a conquest of Colonel Lawrence. He went off with her and her father on a visit to Scotland, and I shall not be much surprised if it should be a match, though I know nothing. The colonel is quite deaf which is very much against him.

She is delighted with her travels, is very handsome, and has a great deal of vivacity. . . . . . Upon the whole I was much pleased with her.

I am sorry I have not time to write you a longer letter. Remember me very kindly to our friends in Virginia. May God bless you!

Yours very affectionately, etc.

October 14, 1853.

I have received yours of the 28th ultimo. I did not think I would write to you by to-morrow's steamer, but have a few minutes left before the closing of the bag. I am sorry, truly sorry, that you look upon your trip to England as "the future realization of a beautiful dream." Like all other dreams you will be disappointed in the reality. I have never yet met an American gentleman or lady who, whatever they may profess, was pleased with London. They hurry off to Paris, as speedily as possible, unless they have business to detain them here. A proud American, who feels himself equal at home to the best, does not like to be shut out by an impassable barrier from the best or rather the

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