'During all this time a severe engagement had been carried on at the advanced posts. The Doria Palace had been taken by the King's troops the evening before. Batteries had been erected against it by the rebels and the contest was most fierce, all the morning batteries were firing on both sides with high guns. An attack by escalade was preparing against Fort Bogota, a sally had been made from it to destroy La Marmora's works, more troops were coming up, and occupying ground on the east side of the town. My business now was to exert myself to make the fire to cease on all sides.

'My love, I must leave my narrative for another letter, I find it takes more time even to relate it shortly than I thought. I must write my despatch to the Admiral and write to you a short note.

'H.

'Excuse faults, I've no time to read it over.'

* * * * *

GENOA: April 27, 1849.

'MY DEAREST S.,

'I have so long neglected to pursue the narrative of events at this place, that I fear you will think I had forgotten both you and it, but in truth since the troubles have ceased, I have been so well employed in writing and disciplining this ship, this each day takes me till 1 P.M., that I have not found the days too long. But now I am out of the port, for I weighed this morning with Prince Regent for a little exercise, I shall finish this short narrative of past events.

'I think I had acquainted you of the completion of the armistice and terms, signed by all parties, for surrendering and accepting the surrender of the town. Having therefore seen the deputation of the town off for Turin, my next most anxious endeavour was to cause the battle to cease, which had been carried on at the advanced posts with great smartness. I therefore once more took to my boat to begin the arduous duty of separating the combatants. General La Marmora sent aide-de- camps, but it took time before they could reach all points from which cannon were firing, not on the town but all the points of attack. The first stop I put on the firing was by landing on the mole and taking a 32 lb. gun that was being worked against the Doria Palace. I landed with my six gigs, and they drove them with their swords from the gun, which I ordered to be drawn and all the ammunition to be thrown into the sea. But my coxswain thought the powder too good, and when I again got into the boat I found it all stowed away in her. Of course a body of muskets mustered against us to drive us away, in turn, with fixed bayonets. I walked quietly up to them, and after being informed how the case stood, with a little grumbling they went quietly away.

'From hence I went to the naval arsenal; here I was warned at the entrance, by sentry, to take care, for the houses that commanded the basin and storehouses were full of armed men, placed there in readiness to attack the arsenal with a view to release the galley slaves. I went in, however, and saw the Commander of the Bagnio, and looked at the means of defence that might be offered if attacked; he told me he was quite deserted, but if matters came to the worst he would make an attempt to defend the prison. From the Arsenal I went directly to the headquarters of the rebel General. Here elbowing my way amid a host of armed brigands and people of the lower and lowest class of Genoese I found the general, Avezzana, seated at a table in a moderate sized room. As soon as I was offered a seat at his table, a crowd of armed folk filled the room and pressed hard upon us. He was haughty and distant in his manner; I said that I had just seen the deputation off for Turin and that as an armistice was agreed on for forty-eight hours I begged he would at once do all in his power to cease the firing on his side; he was out of humour and said: "When General La Marmora does!" He then charged me with being a partisan. I said I feared I was, and belonged to a party in the world that loved order and government. "Oh ah!" said he, "but you have taken on you and thrown the ammunition of the people into the sea"—on which there was a shout as he raised his voice in finishing his sentence. I saw my ground was critical and that much depended on myself, so I quietly but audibly said, "Yes, I did so, and shall do the same whenever I find the like; I have not toiled for two nights and days to save the property of the poor, the widow from affliction, and the orphan from wretchedness (I might have said more) and now for the sake of a few cartridges to allow more blood to be shed, when you have signed a peace." This was a blow he did not expect, for he had not told the people he had signed, but on the contrary went out and harangued at the barricades talking stuff about liberty, death, patriotism and all other fine things. He quietly listened though, and began to question me as to many things he said I had done against the people. On this I rose, took up my hat and in a haughty tone said, "I don't come here to be questioned, but to make peace, so I wish you good morning."

'There was a murmur, and then a civil speech from those about me to pray I would be seated, when suddenly the tone of questioning was taken up by a young man in a blue and red uniform, standing close to the General in a most intemperate manner. To him I civilly said I would not be questioned, and rose, took my hat and departed. They made a lane for me; the young man followed me and grasping my hand said, "I beg your pardon, I know I was very hot, but I have had two horses killed under me this morning." I said I thought that ought to make him cool, on which he laughed and said, "I am not a Genoese, I am a Frenchman." He then told me he was sent by the Republicans in France to aid the cause of liberty in Italy.

'I said, "Well, if you wish to see me, come on board to-morrow at 9." I never saw him again.

'I remained on shore visiting several points where the fire had been most active, and about 3 P.M. all was silent, the battle was over, and I came on board to my crowd of women and children. You may suppose I was well tired. I had not had my clothes off for 3 nights, and only a plank and an hour or two the nights previous to the last. I, however, took the head of my table at 6 o'clock; it was a beautiful evening, and with the Genoese ladies and Captain Tarlton to take care of me I sat out in the stern gallery till 10 P.M., when Tarlton told me he had a bed made for me in a spare cabin below. In this I got a good night's rest in spite of the diabolical witlow; the witlow is so unromantic a wound that I shall leave it out of the narrative for the future. The next morning I was with General La Marmora at daylight and from him I went to the municipality. I found them in a sad plight, full of terror. The Syndic, or Mayor had been threatened in the night. Albertini, a leader of the revolt, one of the worst of ruffians I am told, entered his bedchamber at midnight with money orders and proclamations ready drawn out, and with a pistol to his head forced him to sign them. I had a long conversation with them on the state of affairs, I found that the Red Republicans had shown themselves in reality.

'I advised them to send out confidential emissaries to all the National Guards of a respectable character that could be found, to come to the ducal palace; to get the mob on pretences of various kinds out of it, and at once begin to endeavour to rally the better spirits within the town. They promised me they would do so. They then showed me an excellent paper they had drawn up, containing the truth in regard to the armistice and present position of affairs. They were afraid to publish it, for Avezzana had told another story. I suggested that such a paper, published with the signatures of all the European Consuls, would have an excellent effect. They thought it the best, but again were afraid of being thought the authors; so I then offered that it should be mine and I could at once try and get the consuls to sign it. You can hardly conceive the relief even this small act, and truth having a chance of being told, seemed to give them. I went straight to the French Consul and found him at home, showed him the paper which he seemed to approve, said I might leave it to him and he would summon the Consuls and do the needful. He did nothing. Leon Le Favre, brother to Jules Le Favre, editor of the Nationale, Red Republican; but more of him by and bye.

'I now went on board to breakfast, having the day previous had a letter from Sir William Abercromby, our Minister at Turin, begging me to do all I could for the King of Sardinia in his distress; and the letter containing a positive request that I would prevent all the Sardinian vessels from entering Genoa, as they are bringing more Reds and Lombards to assist the revolt; and having had one of my cutters fired on with grape in relieving guard the evening before, I determined to move the Vengeance into the inner mole, where I could work the ship effectually, if I chose, to prevent the entrance of anything into the harbour for disembarkation. While in the act of moving the ship I received the serious news from the Municipality, that it was the intention of the Reds, with Albertini and Campanelli at their head, to at once open the Bagnio and let loose the galley slaves; begging at the same time that I would take it on myself to prevent this, as it could only be in contemplation for purposes easily conceived, though dreadful to contemplate.

'I now placed the ship in a position to command with her guns the dockyard and houses opposite to it. She had opposed to her a 20-gun battery in the dock-yard and Bagnio, and a 20-gun battery on the opposite side to the dockyard, one of 15 guns on the bow, and various small masked batteries on various heights about the ship; not naming the great forts on the heights. But be it remembered that these works were ill-manned, and none provided with trained artillery men. Having secured the ship and got her ready for action, not loading guns, I never loaded a gun while at Genoa, I went on shore and found that the Governor of the prison had received his summons to open the doors, and had refused. He was glad to see me, we now settled his plan of defence as far as he was able, and to my astonishment he struck chains off fifty forats and put a musket into their hands. He made excellent arrangements for defence, and assured me he could rely on these men. I had them drawn up and found they all understood the weapon. I told them if they behaved well, &c. &c. &c. I now informed him that at the first report of a musket fired from a point agreed on, I should land with 150 marines, and my gun boats would enter the mole and would sweep with grape the houses and wharfs, while the ship could do as she pleased. I am praised in a public letter from Sir William Parker for this, the only act that was not neutral and that would, had the Reds acted, have brought the Vengeance into the whole affair. To end the affair at once these acts of mine stopped the whole thing, and broke up the Red gang in Genoa.

'It also had another effect; it cleared my ship of every soul. As soon as we anchored and prepared for battle, every soul fled the ship and got away through Marmora's army to St. Pierre de la Regina, where they were quite safe.

'Just after the sun had set this evening and it was growing dark enough not to know green from blue, a steamer at full speed was seen entering the port, and to my horror La Marmora's nineteen gun battery at the lighthouse, while she was passing close under Vengeance's bows, opened fire upon her, putting two 30 lb. shots through her hull. In an instant all the batteries opened on him, I thought all my efforts in a moment destroyed. In a fit I jumped into the first boat, and shoved on board the Frenchman, sending an officer to La Marmora's batteries to beg them to leave off firing. To end this story, the officer at La Marmora's battery had mistaken the French for the Sardinian flag, and fired on it. The mistake cleared up, to my joy the volcano ceased vomiting, but here was more fat in the fire. I sat down to my dinner at six once more in peace and tte—tte with Tarlton talking over our affairs with the gusto given by a superior appetite to a shocking bad dinner, when in burst the two French captains, one of the Tonnerre a frigate in the port, and the other the captain of the packet.

'I won't try to paint with my poor pen the scene, but I was highly amused and in such imperturbable good humour, that even the captain of the Tonnerre, calling me a party man and attacking me as if I had fired at his nasty flag, did not make me call him what I might with truth have done, a Red. He would not eat, or drink, or do anything but fume. At last I coolly said "Eh bien, Monsieur, c'est votre faute." "Why, how, what you mean, Monsieur?" "That you have set the example of Tricolor, and desire all the world to adopt it, and are now angry because blue and green are so much alike, that after the sun has set one colour cannot be known from the other"; on which the Captain of the packet said Bon! and laughed heartily; he was a good little man and made light of the whole affair. The French have insisted on the extreme of satisfaction in this case.

'The next morning I was with the municipal body at 5 A.M. I found them in the lowest possible state of despondency and terror, although there was a change for the better in the appearance of the National Guard. They with anxious looks led me to their chair, shut the doors and then revealed to me in low tones that the state of affairs was worse. Of this I felt sure that it would either end in a pillage and a massacre, or cease from that moment.

'They placed before me a letter of Avezzana's addressed to the municipal body, threatening them with energetic measures if they did not advance the revolt by more activity. I found he and Albertini had instituted a tribunal, Albertini as president, with power of life and death with instant execution. Guillotines were built; these poor devils were waiting their doom. I sent for him, by a civil message, of course, I taxed him roundly with his intentions and bad faith. He, cowed, answered in a subdued tone. In short, the game was up, he that day tried to put an insult on me through the flag, failed again, got aboard an American ship and fled that night.

'I can't go on with this story any longer, I have written it to its positive finish to amuse you, my dearest wife. I have told it very ill, it may form, when we meet, a subject for an evening's conversation, when I can fill up gaps, explain incongruities, but not read my own handwriting.

'If you show it to anyone, take care it is only to a mutual friend or sister; it is not fit to meet the eye of a critic or indeed of anyone, but it is a note of the time from which a statement might with some further details be made.

'I have not said a word of loss of life. The King of Sardinia has about 100 killed, 15 officers and 300 wounded. What the loss on the side of the revolt is, no one can tell. My surgeons attended the wounded, sent by me; all the time the hospitals were full, but they said more were carried home than went there. They must have buried their slain in the night, for I have seen many women who have never seen their sons or husbands since the day the firing began.

'The Doria Palace and houses round it show the chief destruction. The town has suffered little, it did not last long enough to make impression on stone and marble houses. Five shell fell into the Ducal Palace, and six into the great hospital, the rest are scattered about, so that the damage only meets the eye here and there.

'I have a satisfaction in feeling that I shortened the punishment of the beautiful city.

'Its frescoes and its pictures, given to the bomb and the sack, would have been forgotten in Europe, and its ancient splendour might only have been talked of as existing before the bombardment of 1849.

'I say this to you only, and now shall hold my peace for the future.

'Yours ever,

'H.

'PS.—Packet sails at 6; hour 5 P.M. April 30.'

* * * * *

These graphic letters, which were never intended to see the light, clearly show the important part taken by Lord Hardwicke as mediator between the insurgents and the King's army. They show him cool under fire and intrepid in action. Humane he certainly was, and it was the feeling for the city and its inhabitants which prompted him to take action outside the strict limits of his duty. Nothing succeeds like success, and all this was accomplished without a gun being loaded on board the Vengeance. If Lord Hardwicke had had to 'sweep with grape the houses and the wharfs' as he threatened to do, the fat would have been in the fire and the question of interfering in the affairs of a foreign nation might have been raised. The knowledge, however, of his determined character, and that he would not hesitate to shoot should the necessity arise, was sufficient to deter the rebels from carrying out their threat to open the prison doors and let loose the convicts on the town.

A striking proof of the part the Vengeance took in foiling the schemes of the rebels is afforded in the pages of a little book written at the time by one who was in sympathy with the Revolution. It is entitled 'Della Rivoluzione di Genova nell April del 1849. Memorie e Documenti di un Testimonio Oculare. Italia 1850.' 'The capitulation which shortly took place,' says the author, 'was his [Lord Hardwicke's] work (opera sua) and that of the English Consul in concert with the municipality.' He had accomplished a great work to the satisfaction of all parties with the exception of a few agitators.

The fact that a few days after these events Lord Hardwicke was able to gather at his board in convivial entertainment not only the Generals and Staff of Victor Emmanuel's army, but also the Syndic and Municipal Body of Genoa, is a proof of the complete success of his undertaking.

'I gave a grand dinner to 73 persons, consisting of the English residents, General de la Marmora and 6 of his generals, all his colonels of regiments and his staff. The two Admirals, all the Captains of the Sardinian Navy, the Syndic and Municipal Body of Genoa, 4 Judges, all the following Consuls and some of my officers.

'It was admirably done, an excellent dinner very well served indeed. The room was decorated with the Queen's arms and naval trophies, together with two Bands of music. When the Queen's health was drunk at 9 o'clock, the ship was brilliantly illuminated, the yards manned and she fired a royal salute. The whole gave great satisfaction here, the heads of the revolt, the Conqueror and Mediator dined together, and La Marmora gave as his toast, "Success to the City of Genoa."'

So it was a day of shaking hands and conviviality under the shade of the British flag.

It was not until August 6, 1849, that a treaty of peace between Piedmont and Austria was finally settled; by its terms the Piedmontese had to pay a war indemnity of 75,000,000 francs. The National Parliament, however, hesitated to ratify the treaty, and the King was obliged to dissolve Parliament and make a personal appeal to the country. The result was satisfactory and the treaty received the necessary ratification. Piedmont was not in a condition to renew hostilities with so powerful a foe as Austria, and for the moment had to play a waiting game. In the meantime the King, in spite of the reactionary spirit which was abroad, honourably maintained the liberties of the country, and in the courageous appeal to his people he gave a pledge of his intentions.

'The liberties of the country run no risk of being imperilled through the dissolution of the Chamber of Deputies, for they are protected by the venerated memory of my father, King Charles Albert; they are entrusted to the honour of the House of Savoy; they are guarded by the solemnity of my own oath: who would dare to have any fear for them?'

The liberty which was now firmly rooted in Piedmont gave umbrage to the other states of Italy, especially in Naples, where Ferdinand II established a tyranny. It was at this time that Mr. Gladstone, after having visited Naples, published his famous letters to Lord Aberdeen summing up the position as 'The negation of God created into a system of government.' Under the influence of Cavour, Piedmont became the centre of the movement for Italian unity and Garibaldi took for his watchword, 'Italy and Victor Emmanuel.'

Every endeavour was made by the leaders of the Italian movement to interest Europe in their cause. Much had been done in this direction at the Paris Congress of 1856. Piedmont had taken part in the Crimean War by contributing 15,000 men to the allied army. Napoleon was known to be sympathetic to the Italian cause, and in 1859, on Austria calling on Piedmont to disarm, war was declared.

The successes of Magenta and Solferino, as far as Northern Italy was concerned, gave Lombardy to Piedmont, but left Austria in the possession of Venice. Napoleon, who was by no means a whole-hearted supporter of Italian Unity, had designs of his own, and therefore did not press the campaign to its ultimate conclusion which, as Cavour had hoped, should have been the total exclusion of Austria from Italian territory. A great step, however, had been gained, and Victor Emmanuel showed his accustomed wisdom in accepting the position for what it was worth and waiting on events. This course was soon to be justified. Cavour did not live to see the success of his policy. He died in 1861, five years before the war between Germany and Austria, in which Italy took a part against her ancient foe, gave the opportunity of freeing the Peninsula from Austrian rule. On the outbreak of the war attempts were made through the mediation of Napoleon to sever Italy from her alliance with Germany, Austria offering to voluntarily cede Venice. Victor Emmanuel, however, wisely stood firm to his alliance, and the war ended in the complete discomfiture of Austria, and Sadowa must rank with Magenta and Solferino as one of the decisive battles in the Liberation of Italy. By the Peace of Prague Venetia was ceded through Napoleon to Italy, and on November 7, 1866, Victor Emmanuel made his entry into the city as King.

Rome was still a difficulty; there the Pope, supported by French bayonets, held out for his temporal powers against free Italy which wanted Rome for its capital, and Garibaldi's expedition of 1867 was a failure. 'In the name of the French Government, we declare that Italy shall never take possession of Rome,' were the brave words of the President of the French Ministry on the eve of the Franco-Prussian War.

In 1870, after his first defeat, Napoleon failed to secure the help of Italy, and Rome being denuded of foreign troops fell an easy prey to the army of the King. Thus it was through the agency of Prussia that Italy secured Liberty. The statecraft of Cavour and the patience and self- control of Victor Emmanuel gained what the impetuous bravery of Garibaldi and the revolutionary efforts of Mazzini could never have realised. Each, however, had done his part. The spirit of a people to accomplish great things must be aroused to create the energy which the master-hand must hold in check.

The force must be there, ready to propel the State when times are ripe. The discontent which showed itself at Genoa after the battle of Novara, the ideals which animated the thousand who sailed with Garibaldi to free Sicily, were both of them valuable assets to the nation.

That there were men who for their own ends took advantage of the situation cannot be doubted, and the revolutionaries in Genoa were of this kind. The ruin they might have brought on the city of Genoa and the difficulties they would have put in the way of Victor Emmanuel had they been successful are easily imagined.

APPENDIX TO CHAPTER VIII

In view of the reflections made upon Lord Hardwicke's conduct at Genoa which I have considered in the preceding chapter, I have thought it well to print, without further comment, copies of certain documents which were found among his papers. These, I think, leave no doubt as to the light in which that conduct appeared to those best able to judge of it.

A letter from General La Marmora: dated 'La Lanterna,' 9 April, '49. Three o'clock.

STATO MAGGIORE, QUARTIER GENERALE, della 6 Divisione, addi 1849. OGGETTO.

'MILORD,

'J'aurai des dpches trs importantes vous communiquer. Si ce n'est pas une indiscretion je vous prirai de passer un moment ici d'autant plus que j'espre le Sindic de la ville voudra y venir aussi ainsi que je l'ai invit.

'Votre trs humble serviteur,

'ALPHONSE LA MARMORA.'

* * * * *

Letter from the Syndic of Genoa to Lord Hardwicke.

'MILORD,

'Le Syndic de la Ville de Gnes s'empresse votre demande de vous envoyer les copies des projets de capitulation entre les reprsentants de la Ville sousdite et le Gnral La Marmora contr[e]-signes par vous l'original, et cela d'une manire toute confidentielle et sans aucun caractre d'autenticit, le Municipe ne pouvant pas, (ds que tout est rentr dans l'ordre,) se mler d'aucune chose qui directement ou indirectement puisse avoir trait la politique.

'Agrez, Milord, les sentimens de haute estime et de reconnaissance que nous et la Ville entire vous devons par la part gnreuse que vous avez pris pour la conciliation de nos diffrences.

'De V S Milord,

'Trs-humble et trs obissant serviteur

'le Syndic

'A. ROFUMOTTI.'

GNES: 12 Avril, 1849.

A MILORD HARDWICK,

Commandant le Vaisseau

de S. M. Britannique,

La Vengeance.

* * * * *

Letter from General de Launay, Minister for Foreign Affairs to Victor Emmanuel II, King of Sardinia, conferring the Cross of the Order of St. Maurice and St. Lazarus upon Lord Hardwicke.

SECRTAIRERIE D'ETAT POUR LES AFFAIRES TRANGRES.

TURIN: le 22 Avril, 1849.

'MILORD,

'J'ai eu l'honneur de faire connatre au Roi, mon auguste Souverain, les importans services que vous avez rendus Son Gouvernement pendant les graves vnemens qui ont afflig la ville de Gnes et l'empressement efficace avec lequel vous avez puissamment second Mr le Gnral de La Marmora pour y ramener l'ordre. Sa Majest, prenant en bienveillante considration l'activit que vous avez dploye pour empcher toutes nouvelles bandes de factieux de pntrer dans la place et de se joindre aux rebelles, ainsi que les mesures promptes et nergiques que vous avez adoptes pour prvenir la mise en libert des forats, dtenus dans le bagne, que les rvolts voulaient armer, a pris la dtermination de vous donner, Milord, un tmoignage clatant de Sa satisfaction Royale, en vous confrant la croix de Commandeur de Son Ordre religieux et militaire des Saints Maurice et Lazare.

'Persuad que vous trouverez, Milord, dans cette marque flatteuse de la bienveillance du Roi, une preuve du prix que Sa Majest attache au service important que, suivant les intentions toujours si amicales de l'Angleterre, Son ancienne et fidle allie, vous avez rendu Son Gouvernement dans les circonstances pnibles ou il s'est trouv, je m'empresse de vous envoyer ci-joint la dcoration qui vous est destine.

'En me rservant de vous transmettre votre diplme aussitt que la Grande Matrise de l'Ordre de St Maurice me l'aura fait parvenir, je vous prie d'agrer, Milord, les assurances de ma considration trs distingue.

'G. DE LAUNAY.'

A LORD HARDWICKE,

Commandant le Vaisseau

Anglais 'Vengeance,' &c. &c.

* * * * *

Despatch from Vice-Admiral Sir William Parker, commanding the Mediterranean Fleet, to Lord Hardwicke.

'CALEDONIA' AT MALTA:

26 April, 1849.

'MY LORD,

'I have this morning received your Lordship's letters Nos. 11 and 12, of the 18th and 20th insts. detailing your proceedings with reference to the late events of Genoa, reported in your despatches of the 2nd, 7th and 10th April.

'I am satisfied that your Lordship's energies and personal exertions have been anxiously exercised for the preservation of order, and the humane object of preventing destruction, pillage and other atrocities in the City, and I fully appreciate the advantages which the Community has derived by their deliverance from a state of anarchy and the lawless acts of an unprincipled rabble.

'I therefore freely approve the arrangements made by your Lordship at the request of the Municipality, to protect the town as well as Her Majesty's subjects from brigandage. And also your commendable intercession with the Sardinian General on behalf of the individuals compromised for political acts, trusting that there has not been any actual infraction of the neutral position of Her Majesty's ship, or undue interference in the political contention of the opponents.

'I am, My Lord,

'Your very humble servant,

'W. PARKER, Vice-Admiral.'

* * * * *

Letters from Viscount Palmerston, Minister of Foreign Affairs, to the Lords of the Admiralty, enclosing copy despatch from the Marquis of Normanby, Her Majesty's Ambassador in Paris.

FOREIGN OFFICE: April 24, 1849.

'SIR,

'I am directed by Viscount Palmerston to transmit to you for the information of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty a copy of a despatch from H.M. Ambassador at Paris, stating that the French Minister for Foreign Affairs has expressed his conviction that during the late insurrection at Genoa, that City was in a great measure saved from pillage and destruction by the energetic attitude assumed by H.M.S. Vengeance.

'I am, Sir, &c.

'(Signed) H. A. ADDINGTON.'

H. G. WARD, ESQ.

* * * * *

FOREIGN OFFICE: April 30, 1849.

'Sir,

'I am directed by Viscount Palmerston to request that you will acquaint the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty that his Lordship has received from H.M. Minister at Turin, a copy of a despatch addressed by the Earl of Hardwicke to Vice-Admiral Sir William Parker, dated the 18th inst., giving an account of the measures which he took to promote the surrender of Genoa to the Forces of the King of Sardinia, and I am to state to you at the same time for the information of their lordships, that Lord Hardwicke's conduct on this occasion seems to Lord Palmerston to have been highly praiseworthy, and Lord Palmerston is of opinion that the Earl of Hardwicke, by his promptitude, energy and decision saved the City of Genoa from the calamities of further bombardment, and prevented a great effusion of blood and much destruction of property and life.

'I am, &c.,

'(Signed) H. A. ADDINGTON.'

H. G. WARD, ESQ.

* * * * *

PARIS: April 19, 1849.

LORD,

'Monsieur Drouyn De Lhuys has more than once expressed to me his conviction that during the late troubles at Genoa that City was in great part saved from pillage and destruction by the energetic attitude assumed by the British Naval Force in that port. The Minister read to me extracts both from Monsieur Bois le Conte and from Monsieur Lon Favre the French Consul at Genoa, stating that there were moments when the lives and properties of the peaceable inhabitants would have been in great danger but for the dread inspired by the position taken up by H.M.S. Vengeance and the efficient support given by Lord Hardwicke to the Consular Authorities. Monsieur Drouyn De Lhuys said there had been no distinction whatever between the two Commanders of the two nations except inasmuch as the British Naval Force at that time in the Port of Genoa was of so much more commanding a character.

'I am, &c.,

'(Signed) NORMANBY.'

* * * * *

Extracts from 'An Episode of Italian Unification' by General Alfonso la Marmora.

'Lord Hardwicke conducted himself to me like the honourable man that he is, expert in dealing with men and circumstances. He did not propose unacceptable conditions to me; indeed, he charged himself with the task of persuading the Municipality to submit to the conditions which I might impose, for the welfare of Genoa itself, and the permanent re- establishment of order.

'On the 9th another complication developed. I have said that the English Captain placed his ship opposite the docks to prevent the liberation of the convicts. Avezzana allowed two days to pass without protesting against this menace: then he addressed to the aforesaid commander a letter of truly radical insolence, ordering him to vacate the harbour before 6 P.M. and declaring that if by that hour he were not gone he should be sunk by the batteries of the people, and so teach the Queen of Great Britain that it did not suffice to entrust her men-of-war to men of high lineage unless they were also men of judgment.

'Lord Hardwicke, like a man of sense and good feeling, contented himself with acknowledging the receipt of the insulting letter, being determined not to stir a finger to leave his drawn position.

'He submitted copies of the correspondence to me and to all the representatives of the friendly powers.'



CHAPTER IX

POLITICS AND LAST YEARS. 1850-1873

Having resumed the profession to which he had always been devoted, it was the ambition of Lord Hardwicke's life to continue his naval career, and to complete a period of active service afloat which would have entitled him to promotion to flag rank. He was encouraged in this desire by all his friends, even by those who, like John Wilson Croker, had opposed his return to active service. In a letter written by that gentleman to Lady Hardwicke in 1849, he said: 'I never was very favourable to his going to sea, but I am now decidedly against his not going through with it, and I cannot but believe that his services are appreciated, if not at their full value at least with respect, on the part of the Whigs. But however that may be, and however glad I shall be to see you all again at Wimpole, I earnestly advise him to play his hand out.'

Unhappily, Lord Hardwicke was prevented from carrying out his intention by the very serious illness of Lady Hardwicke, which caused him the gravest anxiety, shortly after the termination of his arduous responsibilities at Genoa. Lady Hardwicke was brought to death's door by an attack of fever at Naples, and he immediately resigned his command of the Vengeance, and hurried to her bedside. She happily recovered, and after her convalescence the whole family returned to England.

Apart, however, from this urgent private trouble, it is doubtful whether Lord Hardwicke would have continued his service in the Mediterranean. He felt, indeed, that the approval of his conduct at Genoa by the Whig Government was less hearty than Mr. Croker believed was the case, confined as it was to the barest official acknowledgment of services which to everyone else appeared not only creditable to Lord Hardwicke as a captain of a British ship of war, but of the highest value to Italy, to the cause of good order, and, by the havoc and bloodshed his tact and firmness had certainly prevented, to humanity itself. As the documents set out in the appendix to the last chapter fully show, all this was highly appreciated abroad. King Victor hastened to confer on Lord Hardwicke the order of St. Maurice and St. Lazarus for what were described by General de Launay, his foreign secretary, as 'les importans services que vous avez rendus Son Gouvernement pendant les graves vnemens qui ont afflig la ville de Gnes et l'empressement efficace avec lequel vous avez puissamment second M. le Gnral de La Marmora pour y ramener l'ordre'; Lord Normanby, the British Ambassador at Paris, reported to his government that the French Minister at Turin had more than once expressed his conviction 'that during the late troubles at Genoa that city was in great part saved from pillage and destruction by the energetic attitude assumed by the British naval force in that port, and that the French consuls had stated to him that there were moments when the lives and properties of the peaceable inhabitants would have been in great danger, but for the dread inspired by the position taken up by H.M.S. Vengeance, and the effective support given by Lord Hardwicke to the consular authorities.' There was less value perhaps in the thanks given by 'the Count and Colonel, Director of the Bagni Maritim,' whose gratitude was mingled with a sense of favours to come, in the possible exertion of Lord Hardwicke's good offices with King Victor Emmanuel for clemency for the convicts under the Count's charge, whose conduct had added so much to the dangers of the situation. But of the foreign testimony to Lord Hardwicke's service at Genoa perhaps the most eloquent was that of Mazzini, who admitted to Lord Malmesbury that his career in Italy had been spoiled 'by one English sailor at Genoa called Hardvick.'

This universal approbation of the part played by Lord Hardwicke was of course perfectly well known to the Government; it was also more or less known to the public from the letters written by the Times correspondent at Genoa. 'But for the decision and judgment Lord Hardwicke manifested,' he wrote, 'Genoa would, in all probability, have been at this moment a ruined and pillaged city. The very worst vagabonds were hired to mount guard and man the walls, since the National Guards had retired for the most part to their own dwellings. It was indeed a reign of terror, and it was most fortunate for Genoa that the Vengeance was in the port to prevent its being a reign of blood.'

Under these circumstances Lord John Russell's government could scarcely withhold official recognition of Lord Hardwicke's success in having virtually saved a great and historic city from destruction. His conduct, moreover, was such as would certainly appeal to Lord Palmerston, the Foreign Secretary, who took the occasion to inform the Admiralty 'that Lord Hardwicke's conduct seemed to him highly praiseworthy, and that he was of opinion that the Earl of Hardwicke by his promptitude, energy and decision saved the city of Genoa from the calamities of further bombardment, and prevented a great effusion of blood and much destruction of property and life.'

This official approval, as we have seen, was conveyed to Lord Hardwicke by his admiral, Sir William Parker, who had already indicated his own rather tepid approval accompanied, however, by the hope that there had been 'no actual infraction of the neutral position of Her Majesty's ship, or undue interference in the political contention of the opponents.'

But it seems clear that both political and professional influences were already at work against Lord Hardwicke. On the happy conclusion of the trouble at Genoa by what he truly described in a letter to Lady Hardwicke as 'the only English interference that has been successful in Europe since the affair began,' he had already detected a certain faintness in the praise he received from Admiral Parker: 'The good admiral gives me negative praise,' he writes, 'but I leave it all to him to judge my acts. I have no fear of results; I have a good reason for all I did.' But from a memorandum written by Lady Hardwicke after his death, it appears that he felt very acutely the grudging spirit in which his services had been received by a section, at least, of the Cabinet. Upon reporting himself at the Admiralty on his arrival in London he was greeted by Sir Francis Baring, the First Lord, with these words: 'Well, Lord Hardwicke, you certainly did do well at Genoa, and it was lucky that you succeeded, for if you had failed you certainly would have been broke.' He made no complaint, however, but returned to Wimpole, resumed his life of a country gentleman, and renewed all his interest in the affairs of his estate and his county.

He was called at length from this retirement by the return of his own party to power. In March of 1851 Lord John Russell had announced the resignation of the Government owing to their defeat on the franchise question; Lord Stanley was sent for by Queen Victoria, but found himself unable to form a ministry, and upon the advice of the Duke of Wellington the Queen had requested her ministers to resume office. But this arrangement lasted less than a year. On the 27th of February following Lord Stanley, by that time Earl of Derby, became prime minister in the new Government with Mr. Disraeli, Mr. Spencer Walpole, Lord Malmesbury and Sir John Packington, among his colleagues, and in this cabinet Lord Hardwicke sat as Postmaster-General. It was a short term of office, which lasted less than a year, during which time, however, Lord Hardwicke's energy and powers of organisation were much appreciated in his department, where he came to be known as 'Lord Hardwork'; but his official life came to an end with that of the Government upon the return to power, in December 1852, of the Aberdeen administration, which included Lord John Russell as Foreign Secretary and Sir James Graham as First Lord of the Admiralty.

A characteristic souvenir of the immortal Duke of Wellington occurs to me in connection with this first administration of Lord Derby, well known as the 'Derby D'Israeli Ministry,' which may find a place here. A great many new men necessarily composed it, and when they were all mustered before being 'sworn in' the Duke began chaffing them 'as somewhat raw recruits,' and then taking his stick he put them into line and said, 'You will require a little drilling' and he flourished his stick about, imitating a sergeant, and amused them all very much. Such was the great man's way of putting a home truth.

The fall of Lord Derby's government was the occasion for a letter to my father from Mr. Croker, in which that gentleman appears to admiration in the characteristic role of candid friend. I print this, not only as a typical effort of that critical spirit, but because it contains a very just appreciation of my mother's great qualities, to which her husband and her children owe so much.

* * * * *

Dec. 31, 1852.

'... As for the party, I cannot but feel with you, that a party without a spokesman in the House of Commons is as nothing, but with such a spokesman as Disraeli, it is worse than nothing. In Opposition, his talents of debate would be most valuable, if there was any security for his principles or his judgment. I have no faith in either.

'But after all, nobody is so much to blame as Derby; why did he not take higher and surer ground. Why are you all turned out on—neither you nor anyone else can say what? You had not even hoisted a flag to rally round. You have been like some poor people I have read of in the late storm, buried under the ruins of your own edifice, but whether you were stifled or crushed, killed by a rafter or a brick, nobody can tell. You have died a death so ignoble that it has no name, and the Coroner's verdict is "Found Dead."

'Why did you not die in the Protestant cause; on something that some party could take an interest in? Why did you spare Cardinal Wiseman? Why butter Louis Buonaparte thicker than his own French cooks? Why did you lay the ground of the confiscation of landed property by a differential income tax and by hinting at taxing property by inheritance? "You have left undone the things you ought to have done, and you have done those things which you ought not to have done, and there is no help for you."

'My own grief is this, that Disraeli's vanity, or as he would say, his character, was committed by his electioneering speeches and addresses, and that you all, half generosity and half prudence, resolved to stand by him rather than break up the Government, which his resignation would have done. That's my solution of the greatest political riddle I ever encountered.

'I know not what to say about your going to sea, I fear observations on your resigning the ship abroad and taking one at home for the mere purpose of making up a little time. Pray think well of it. I daresay you would receive a civil answer, perhaps get a ship, but cui bono. What is your flag to you? [Footnote: He was promoted to the rank of Vice-Admiral in November 1858.] I wish you were on the Admiral's list for the sake of the country if we are to have a war, but I see no advantage in it if there is no prospect of distinguished service.

'Give my best love to all the dear people round you and, above all, to the dearest of all, whose solid good sense and natural sagacity, quite equal to her more charming qualities, will be your best guide in the topic last treated. Indeed, if I knew her opinion on any of those topics, it would have a prime chance of becoming my own.

'Ever most affectionately hers and yours,

'J. W. CROKER'

* * * * *

The Aberdeen Government will always be remembered as that of the period of the Crimean War, and it was in connection with that great struggle and his wish to serve his country afloat that Lord Hardwicke found just reason to complain of more than the mere belittling of his services at Genoa which had been his sole reward upon his return to England in 1849.

Lord Hardwicke's desire to obtain active employment at sea so soon as hostilities with Russia appeared probable was well known at the Admiralty, but political rancour as well as professional jealousy were both employed in a secret but active agitation to prevent his obtaining that employment. The entirely honourable distinction he had received from the King of Sardinia by the bestowal of the order of St. Maurice and St. Lazarus was made the opportunity of a series of slanderous suggestions which caused him the greatest pain. It was perfectly well known that a regulation in force at the English Court forbade the acceptance of foreign distinctions of that kind without the express permission of the Crown. Yet it was stated that 'The English Government had desired that the order should be returned on the ground that Lord Hardwicke had acted at Genoa without orders.' Further than this, as Lady Hardwicke records, 'Much jealousy was created by his successful diplomacy at Genoa, and his enemies disseminated a report that he had disobeyed Admiral Sir William Parker's orders, and "made the Mediterranean sea too hot to hold him."'

These injurious statements, however, did not reach Lord Hardwicke's ears until some time after they were first made—'he was of course ignorant of what was going on to defame his professional character and stop his career in a service to which he was devoted and in which he had spent the best years of his life.' They at length, however, came to his notice under more responsible authority than that of mere rumour at service clubs, and at a moment when their acceptance by a member of the Government was allowed to stand in the way of Lord Hardwicke's selection for an important command.

By a recent regulation of the Admiralty, Lord Hardwicke with many other senior captains who had failed by a short period to complete the active service afloat necessary to entitle them to the rank of rear-admiral, was placed upon the retired list. In his case, the regulation took effect upon January 28, 1854. Meanwhile, however, the probability in 1853 of a declaration of war between this country and Russia had led to great naval activity, and Lord Hardwicke had applied for active employment. 'Sir Charles Napier,' writes Lady Hardwicke, 'who fully appreciated his courage and ability, applied for him as his flag- captain.' His offer, however, as well as Admiral Napier's wish for his assistance, were both disregarded by the Admiralty, and his appointment as flag-captain refused.

There was, perhaps, no legitimate grievance in this refusal, but at this moment information reached Lord Hardwicke through Lord Clarendon, that the refusal had been accompanied by a revival at the Admiralty of the injurious suggestions, already mentioned, of his having exceeded his instructions from Sir William Parker at Genoa.

'I believe it to have been at this juncture,' writes Lady Hardwicke, 'that his friend Lord Clarendon, feeling acutely his position, informed him of the slanders which had been spread abroad. ... This statement was made use of by Sir James Graham, First Lord of the Admiralty and successor to Sir F. Baring, and carried by him to the ears of his best friends, the Queen and the Prince Consort.'

It will be readily understood that the adoption of these injurious reports by a cabinet minister, and their repetition by him in his official capacity to the Queen and Prince Albert, placed the whole matter upon a different footing. Queen Victoria, almost from the beginning of her reign, had honoured my father with her regard and confidence, and so recently as his return from Genoa he had received a letter which shows very plainly the terms upon which he stood with his Sovereign.

* * * * *

BUCKINGHAM PALACE: March 4, 1850.

'MY DEAR LORD HARDWICKE,

'The Prince is anxious that you should resume your seat at the Council of the Duchy of Lancaster which you resigned when you went abroad. I hope that you will be willing to do so as it is important for the Queen's interest that the persons upon that Council should be well acquainted with the peculiar details of the Duchy business, as well as generally accustomed to the management of property, and it would be a considerable time before any person could acquire the knowledge of the subject which you have gained. The change in the Chancellor of the Duchy will not, I hope, make the working of the Council less easy.

'Sincerely yours,

'C. B. PHIPPS'

* * * * *

In such circumstances, and apart altogether from any question of the refusal of employment by the Admiralty, it is obvious that the matter could not be allowed to rest where it was, and a letter received by Lord Hardwicke in September 1853 from Lord Clarendon makes it clear that he lost no time in seeking an explanation from Sir James Graham.

* * * * *

September 30, 1853.

'MY DEAR HARDWICKE,

'I hope you will excuse me for not having answered your letter by return of post as I ought to have done, but I assure you that the last two days, I have been unable to do anything but fight against an extraordinary pressure of public work. My firm belief is that the personal errors into which Graham had fallen are now quite removed. "Hardwicke is a good sailor, and an officer of real ability and merit"—is an extract from a letter of Graham's in answer to mine about you; but I see that the bar to your being employed, is your own position in the Service and your having one year and eleven months to serve afloat before you can render yourself eligible for the Flag. There are only three captains above you and if when your turn arrived you were in command of a ship, and your full period of requisite service was not accomplished, I suppose that a question, which has not yet arisen, would then arise, respecting your right to promotion to the Active Flag. This I take to be the real difficulty, and your professional knowledge will enable you to judge of its value. I sent a copy of your note to Graham, and as far as I am concerned I hope you will now take any course you may think most expedient, only bearing in mind that Graham has no unfriendly feeling towards you. I have said to you upon that point, nothing more than what he told me, but I should be sorry that he thought I had said less. I fear that all endeavours to keep the peace are exhausted or nearly so, and I don't anticipate much active hostility at this time of year, if hostilities we are to have. The Emperor of Russia is quite without excuse, he persists in asking what the Turks cannot concede, and he wants a power in Turkey which would be useless to him, except for overturning the Ottoman Empire, the independence of which he declares must be maintained.

'Ever yours truly,

'CLARENDON.'

* * * * *

From this letter it is clear that Lord Clarendon as a friend of both parties did all he could to explain the conduct of Sir James, but his mention of 'personal errors' into which the First Lord had fallen seems an ample confirmation of that gentleman's indiscretion in giving an official countenance to the rumours of which Lord Hardwicke complained. In any case, Lord Clarendon's letter was obviously an explanation thoroughly unsatisfactory to Lord Hardwicke, who, as Lady Hardwicke writes, 'immediately wrote to Sir William Parker and obtained from him the following memorable credential.'

* * * * *

SHENSTONE LODGE, LICHFIELD: 14 Nov., 1853.

'My DEAR LORD HARDWICKE,

'I fully enter into your feeling of mortification and disappointment in not obtaining professional appointment in the present threatening aspect of affairs; I am much grieved that a fallacious impression should for a moment have obtained that the slightest approach to a misunderstanding between your Lordship and myself had ever occurred. I am indeed at a loss to conceive on what pretence such an idle and mischievous rumour could have originated. Sir Francis Baring intimated to me the astonishment and annoyance you had expressed to him at such a fabrication; I assure you my reply quite corresponded with your sentiments. I can truly say that the Vengeance was very satisfactorily conducted under your command, while attached to my flag, and all your proceedings manifested genuine zeal for the Service. I cannot forget with what anxiety your Lordship withdrew your application to be relieved in the command of that ship, when on the Squadron being ordered to the vicinity of the Dardanelles, there appeared a temporary prospect of more active service. I truly regret it that on our departure from the East you again felt yourself compelled to resign your ship, in consequence of the illness of Lady Hardwicke at a time when I believe you were within a short period of completing the requisite servitude for your active Flag.

'I remain faithfully and cordially yours,

'W. PARKER, Admiral.'

* * * * *

'Armed with this letter,' continues Lady Hardwicke, 'he sought an audience of the Prince Consort, and stated his case, placing the refutation of these calumnies in the Prince's hands. Upon reading this generous and truthful statement, Prince Albert expressed his satisfaction at having seen it, and his astonishment at the falsehoods that had been circulated, and requested Lord Hardwicke that he might place it in the hands of the Queen, which he accordingly did and returned to express Her Majesty's gratification on its perusal.'

All this took place at the end of 1853: meanwhile Sir Charles Napier was unwearying in his applications to the Admiralty to obtain Lord Hardwicke's assistance in the expedition which was shortly to sail for the Baltic. In January Lord Hardwicke was placed upon the retired list, but Sir Charles was still anxious to secure him as one of his admirals, as is very clear from a memorandum of a conversation by Lord Hardwicke which he left among his papers.

* * * * *

March 6, 1854.

'I met Sir Charles Napier in the United Service Club. He took me aside and told me that Sir James Graham had consulted him as to whom he would select as 3rd Divisional Admiral for the Baltic Fleet. He answered Sir James Graham by saying that he would have asked for Lord Hardwicke as Captain of the Fleet as he preferred him, but he thought he would have no chance of having him. But now he was again to select an Admiral, he should ask for Lord Hardwicke as he should prefer him to anyone. Sir James Graham said, "Very well, I will appoint him, but in this peculiar case, I must apply to the Cabinet." The result was the refusal of the Cabinet to appoint me, in consequence of their fearing to excite emotion in the officers of the Active List; but that although at the beginning there was this ground of refusal, yet by and by it might be done. Sir Charles Napier added, "I shall want one more Admiral and I shall again apply for you."

'H.'

* * * * *

The controversy with Sir James Graham perhaps affords a sufficient explanation of the failure of Sir Charles's repeated efforts in behalf of Lord Hardwicke, though there is no doubt the Government had an answer in the Admiralty regulation which had placed him upon the retired list.

'Lord Hardwicke's application for employment was brought before the Cabinet,' writes Lady Hardwicke, 'but the Admiralty declaring that an order in Council to make this exception would bring the whole retired list upon their shoulders, his request was politely declined, with the feeling that the late enactment had fallen cruelly upon his professional career.'

'Few but myself,' concludes Lady Hardwicke, 'who have seen the anguish of disappointment caused by such a termination of the cherished ambition of a whole life, can at all appreciate the severity of this blow. This statement of facts engraven on the tablet of my heart I have drawn up with a view of placing in the hands of my dear children the means of vindicating their beloved father's memory in case upon any future occasion they should be called upon to do so. Let them remember that "the Lord nourisheth with discipline" and accept the trials and disappointments of life with the same spirit of resignation which their beloved father always exhibited, to my great and endless consolation.'

To me, his daughter, it has seemed that the occasion of which my mother speaks, for the vindication of my father's memory, has arrived with the publication of this memoir of his life, and I have therefore set out the facts as she wrote them down.

The long period of Whig rule, which had lasted with the single break of a few months in 1852 since the year 1846, was at length terminated by the return of Lord Derby's second administration to power in 1858, and Lord Hardwicke took office as Lord Privy Seal with a seat in the Cabinet. His energy and professional zeal, however, had been fully employed since 1856 as the Chairman of a Royal Commission which had been appointed to inquire into the question of the manning of the Navy. The negative results of the expedition to the Baltic during the late war with Russia had brought the question into public notice, and the great changes which were taking place in the design and construction of ships of war by the invention of the screw propeller and the evolution of the ironclad battleship had given a more than ordinary urgency to the question of national defence.

Lord Hardwicke entered upon his duties with the greatest energy. One of the instructions to the Commission was to 'determine in case of need the means necessary to man at short notice thirty or forty sail of the line.' In a speech at Cambridge in 1858 he pointed out some facts regarding the Navy of which the public were quite ignorant, and which pointed to a serious decrease in the naval power of the country which caused much uneasiness. Lord Hardwicke reminded his hearers that though during the period of the American, Revolutionary, and Napoleonic wars we had maintained an establishment of from 105,000 to 140,000 seamen and marines, and had experienced little difficulty in manning a fleet of ships of the line which averaged 120 sail, yet during the recent war with Russia the Admiralty had with difficulty found crews for the thirty-three vessels which took part in the operations in the Baltic. 'These ships,' he said, 'went to sea in such a condition as to inflict a positive injustice on the brave officers in command of them, and if it had not been for the efficiency of the latter and the way their crews were disciplined, they might as well have stopped at home.'

Queen Victoria and the Prince Consort both took great interest in this important question, and the Prince in the following letter showed his practical knowledge of the subject by urging the importance of the training-ship as a source of an efficient personnel for the Navy.

* * * * *

'My DEAR LORD HARDWICKE,

'In your position as chairman of the Manning Committee I wish to draw your attention to a point, which I consider of the utmost importance.

'We have two brigs, the Rollo and the Nautilus, at Portsmouth and Plymouth for apprenticing boys for the Navy. You are perfectly acquainted with their excellent system, and the fact that, after having completed their time of instruction, these boys form the best sailors in the Queen's service, having acquired a taste for the Man-of-War service early in life, and are free from any connection with the Merchandise. But these two ships give the Navy only about 200 seamen a year. What are 200 annually to a fleet of 50,000? Why should not each of the Coast Guard Ships have a brig attached to them on their respective stations for receiving boys? The brigs are worth nothing to the service, and I am told that the applications for the entry of boys is always far beyond the present means of receiving, whilst men are frequently not to be had. If 2000 boys so trained were added every year to the Navy for ten years' service, it would be none too many. It would only give us 20,000 men at the end of ten years; but these would be permanently added to the stock of seamen of the country, which I am sorry to say appears to be gradually falling below our wants.

'Ever,

'Yours Truly,

'ALBERT.'

OSBORNE: July 24, 1856

* * * * *

The labours of Lord Hardwicke and his colleagues were received with general approbation on all sides, although his own declared opinion of the advisability of reviving the Press-gang in certain circumstances was not generally accepted.

I must here mention that although Lord Hardwicke was debarred by the regulation in force from accepting the decoration from King Victor Emmanuel of St. Maurice and St. Lazarus, his Majesty was still determined to mark his sense of my father's services to Italy at Genoa. Six years after the revolution of Genoa he caused a medal to be struck bearing the national arms and inscribed with the words:

'Al Valore Militare. Lord Conte di Hardwicke, commandante il vascello Vengeance. Distinti servizii pel Ristabilmento del Ordine. Genova, 1849.'

Queen Victoria's permission to wear this medal was accorded to Lord Hardwicke by the following letter from Lord Clarendon.

* * * * *

GROSVENOR CRESCENT: July 24, 1855.

'MY DEAR HARDWICKE,

'The Queen's permission has been duly received for you to wear the medal conferred upon you by the King of Sardinia and I have communicated the same officially to the Admiralty.

'Very truly yours,

'CLARENDON.'

* * * * *

The end of every life is the hardest to describe. The time of rest must come, and with it retirement from public work. The parent begins life again in his children, and in making place for them in the world. We have followed the career of an active and energetic man, who thoroughly lived his life, and enjoyed it. We have seen his first great disappointment in the profession that he loved, when an opportunity offered itself for service under Sir Charles Napier in the Baltic Fleet during the Crimean War. To die in action, fighting for England, was his ambition, and the failure of an opportunity for its fulfilment brought with it much depression.

Meanwhile, however, he lost no time in vain regrets, or ceased from active and useful work on his estate and in his county. We have read a letter describing old 'Wimple' in 1781; I shall now try to carry on the description in few words from 1855. It was a beloved home; we 'were seven,' and in the adjoining rectory lived my uncle the Hon. and Rev. Archdeacon Yorke, Canon of Ely, with six cousins, a merry party in holiday time. The house was big and the furniture, books and pictures fine, but my father's life would have satisfied the severest of socialist critics by its simplicity. Our own dress was scrupulously simple. Our boots I well remember, they were all made by a little hump- back cobbler who lived at New Wimpole, and used to come by the avenue to the 'Big House,' as it was always called, to measure us. These substantial thick boots and leather gaiters from the village shop, with short linsey skirts, formed our walking attire. And in the Christmas holiday we all tore about the muddy fields in 'paper-chases.'

Later on I remember writing a paper for my friends on how to dress on eighty pounds a year, which was my allowance at eighteen.

The cottages were beautifully clean and the furniture solid, all the men wore smock-frocks and very thick boots with large nails that lasted a year: no such thing as a blue suit and yellow boots would have been tolerated then. The best dressed wife wore a red cloak and neat black bonnet. The family Bible was found in every cottage, and my uncle gave two cottage Bible-readings every week of his life. There was no attempt at Cathedral services in country churches. The Communion service was reverently given once a month, and on the great feast-days my uncle preached in a black gown. And such a fuss was made when the black waistcoat now commonly worn by the clergy was introduced: it was called the M. B. Waistcoat (mark of the beast).

My uncle ultimately adopted it, when promoted to a canonry at Ely. What changes since those days, what luxury has crept in everywhere, and how often one sighs over the simplicity of the past, which certainly produced a stronger, if not a better race.

My father was very courteous, especially to ladies, cheery, full of life and spirits; liberal in heart though a strong Conservative in politics. If anything pleasant or amusing was on hand, such as a dance or our 'private theatricals,' he would wave his hands and say, 'Clear the decks! Clear the decks!' We often used to 'clear the decks' for games of Post and Magical Music!... Evenings at Wimpole were never dull. We attempted to keep up old traditions, and intellect and vitality were not wanting. There was always a sprinkling of rising men in all the practical departments of life among the guests at Wimpole, statesmen, agriculturists, shipbuilders and owners, besides intimates and relations; dear old 'Schetky' with his guitar among the most popular, and the delight of the children after dinner when he would sing his favourite ballad 'When on his Baccy Box he viewed.' Amateur music was greatly encouraged, not that it came up to the requisitions of the present day, but it was very pleasant. My mother's ballad singing was exceptional, and without accompaniment very interesting.

'Annie Laurie' and all Lady John Scott's ballads, besides 'Caller Herrin''—the Scotch cry for fresh herring—were her favourites and brought tears to one's eyes. Nothing was spared where education was concerned, and music and languages were among the great advantages afforded to myself and my sisters. To the latter I attribute one of the greatest enjoyments of my life, especially when in later years I often lived in Paris. Histrionic art also was cultivated in the holidays under the able management of uncle Eliot Yorke, M.P. The 'Wimpole Theatre' opened in 1796 with 'The Secret,' with Lady Anne, Lady Catherine and Lady Elizabeth Yorke and Viscount Royston as the caste. It was reopened in 1851 with the 'Court of Oberon: or The Three Wishes,' by the Dowager Countess of Hardwicke, with Viscount Royston, the Hon. Eliot Yorke, Mr. Sydney Yorke, Lady Elizabeth Yorke, the Hon. John Manners Yorke, Lady Agneta Yorke, the Hon. Victor Yorke, and the Hon. Alexander Yorke in the caste, and the Hon. Eliot Yorke, M.P., as stage manager. This company in 1853 repeated the 'Court of Oberon' with 'The Day after the Wedding.' In 1854 'The Day after the Wedding' was again given with a comic interlude 'Personation' by Charles Kemble and a popular farce 'Turning the Tables.'

In 1855 'Personation' and 'Popping the Question' were given before their Royal Highnesses the Duchess of Cambridge and Princess Mary. A very smart party was invited to meet their Royal Highnesses, and a great deal of merriment was our reward.

The excellent training of 'Uncle Eliot' during the dull winter evenings made the winter holidays a real joy; we rehearsed and acted in the Gallery, originally built to hold the Harleian Manuscripts, and divided by columns into three parts, making an admirable theatre and a handsome proscenium. On one great occasion we had Frank Matthews as prompter, and we none of us forget seeing him initiate Lady Agneta in the art of making a stage kiss. Oh! how we laughed. He cried so much during the performance that he prompted badly; but perhaps the dear man was touched by the family talent! A letter from Tom Taylor recommending plays suitable for our company will be read with interest.

* * * * *

'There is a play called "Hearts are Trumps" which I think would suit your friends, from what you tell me of their troupe and requirements. We played a piece at Canterbury called "Palace and Prison" adapted by Simpson from "La Main gauche et la main droite" which, as far as I remember, is unobjectionable. I think Palgrave Simpson had it printed, though I do not think it has been acted in London. My little comedietta "Nine Points of the Law" is free from all critical situations and language, but perhaps Mr. Sterling's part may be too old for your jeune premier.

'There is a piece called the "Secret Agent" well suited to drawing-room theatricals; you might look at it. "You can't marry your Grandmother" is a good one-act piece, free from objectionable situation and dialogue. See also "Time tries all," "A Match in the Dark," and "Kill or Cure."

'Ever yours truly,

'TOM TAYLOR.'

* * * * *

In 1857 the Wimpole Theatre reopened with the same company and gave 'Sunshine through the Clouds' and 'Only a Halfpenny'; and in 1860 for the last time with 'The Jacobite' by Planche; a scene from 'King John'; and 'Helping Hands' by Tom Taylor. The last was a beautiful play, but too refined for the ordinary theatre, and consequently did not have the run it deserved.

All these performances were strictly confined to the family, including the painting of the scenery and the composition of Prologues, Epilogues, &c. As we said in one of those compositions, 'We are no London stars; we're all of Yorke.'

While we were play-acting, my father would continue persistently the work of his estate and county. It was his habit to hire his own labourers for the estate and home farm, and these, well and carefully chosen, were secure in their posts from year to year, and loved him. He also made a rule every Saturday of passing elaborate accounts at the estate office with his steward. He dined at Cambridge once a year with all his tenants; never was a landlord more beloved. The old-fashioned harvest home was celebrated in the spacious coachhouse cleared for the occasion; my mother and 'all of us' went down to welcome the labourers and hear my father address them. He settled things in his own way, sometimes differing considerably from ordinary routine, but he was scrupulously just, liberal and kind, with a most attractive sense of humour.

My father had seen and felt acutely the harm raw spirits had done in the Navy. This made him very careful when at Wimpole. According to old custom, beer was brewed twice a year, and he kept the key of the cellar and punctually opened it every morning before breakfast to give out the 'measure' for daily consumption. I remember so well a new butler arriving with a pompous manner and very red nose. Shortly after arrival he was taken ill and retired to his bed for several days, the family doctor from Royston attending him. On his recovery, going into luncheon with us all, my father with his usual courtesy said, 'I hope you are better.' Answer: 'Oh yes, thank you, my Lord, it was only the Change of Beer!'

I remember the average doctor's bill for domestic servants at Wimpole was 100 a year. May I be allowed for once to speak of self? Mine, with a more or less teetotal home, comes on an average to 1; I give extra wages and no strong drink, and this system works admirably, except for the poor Doctors, whom I fear sometimes find their incomes sadly diminished by the Temperance movement!

My father made great additions and improvements at Wimpole House. He found it needing repair, and after releading the extensive roof, he built offices on the left side, and later restored the large conservatory on the right, besides entirely rebuilding the stables, and placing the handsome iron gates at the Arrington entrance. A group of sculpture by Foley in the pediment of the stone porch over the front door greatly improved the centre of the house, which was very flat. In round numbers he spent 100,000 in these improvements. There were twelve reception rooms en suite, including the beautiful chapel painted by Sir James Thornhill, and no sooner had No. 12 been done up than No. 1 began to call out! It was always beginning, never ending.

In 1867 came the first home bereavement, the first heart-breaking loss, from which my father never recovered; he kept to his daily work, but gaiety forsook him, and the trouble no doubt told upon his constitution, which was threatened with a serious form of rheumatic gout, and with gradual heart failure. His beloved third son, Victor Alexander, Queen Victoria's godson, died suddenly whilst assisting at a penny reading at Aston Clinton, the residence of Sir Anthony and Lady de Rothschild, to whom he was devoted. Victor was a lad of great promise; he was in the Horse Artillery, and a bad accident in Canada is supposed to have left some injury to the back of the head and spine. He had been suffering from pains in the head, but was in the highest of spirits the day before he died. An accomplished fellow, fond of music and poetry, he was reading 'The Grandmother' by Tennyson, and at verse three—

Willy my beauty, my eldest born, the flower of the flock, Never a man could fling him, for Willy stood like a rock'—

he fell forward on his face and never spoke again.

The tenderness and sympathy shown by Sir Anthony and Lady de Rothschild on this occasion made a deep impression on our bereaved hearts. It was quite beyond words, and from it sprang that happy marriage between my brother Eliot Yorke, Equerry to H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh, and Annie de Rothschild, their daughter. It was founded on the truest love, and admiration of great qualities which have stood the test of many years. The marriage took place in Wimpole Church in February 1873.

It was about June in the same year that my father left Wimpole for the last time in an invalid carriage. The fatigue of the journey brought on a severe attack of heart failure, and as he reached his house in Portman Square, we feared it was his last. But not so. A few weeks later he reached his beloved Sydney Lodge, where his room was arranged on the ground floor and a young doctor always in attendance. His patience and fortitude were heroic. Unable to lie down, he sat for weeks in an armchair, supported at night by his two attendants. Nothing could be more sad than to witness his lingering end. Sometimes he rallied sufficiently to be wheeled into the drawing-room and be refreshed by our singing hymns to him in parts. He was a firm believer in Christ, and constantly asked for St. Paul's Epistles to be read to him: 'Read me my St. Paul,' he would say. The conclusions of the great Apostle to the Gentiles as to the divinity of Christ supported him through all his troubles.

His last letter, dated September 7, 1873, was written to his friend Tom Cocks.

* * * * *

'I send my Banker's Book and beg you will return it made up with a balance. I am a dying man, and shall be glad when it pleases God to call me home.

'Yours truly, my dear Cocks,

'HARDWICKE.'

* * * * *

On September 17 he expired at Sydney Lodge, Hamble, conscious to the last, and was laid to rest in the family vault at Wimpole. These lines, 'to his beloved memory,' were written by his widow and engraved on a stone cross erected in the grounds of Sydney Lodge overlooking the Southampton Water:

'To thee, the fondly loved one I deplore, I dedicate this spot for evermore. Here, 'neath the shade of spreading beech, we sought Some brief distraction to overburdened thought, Some balm for pain, immunity from care, To lift thy soul and for its flight prepare. Here forest glade and wat'ry flood combine, To stamp on nature the impress divine; The sluggish murmur of retiring tide Whispers "Much longer thou can'st not abide"; The trembling light of sun's retreating ray Suggests th' effulgence of more perfect day, And soothing warblers of the feathered tribe Hymning their orisons at eventide, Point to the "Sun of righteousness which springs," Saviour of souls, "with healing in its wings." Hallowed by sacred musings be this ground Where last we sat, and consolation found. Brief be the space which binds me here below, Thy spirit fled, all life has lost its glow.'



INDEX

Abercromby, Sir W. Addington, Rt. Hon. Henry Algiers, Dey of; expedition against; Bombardment of; slaves released Anaguasti Ancestry Anson, Mr. Asarta, General Avezzana

Barbary pirates Baring, Sir Francis Berlin Bermuda Bernadotte Bevan, Lady Agneta Brisbane, Captain Bute, Lord Byron, Lord; 'Maid of Athens'

Cambridge, Duchess of, and Princess Mary Camden, Lord Campbell, Lord Canea Capellan, Admiral von der Capo d'lstria Carlo Felice Cavour Charles Albert Chrisaphopulo Clanricarde, Marchioness of Clarendon, Earl of Cochrane, Lord Cocks, Margaret (Lady Hardwicke) Coleotronis Corfu Corn Laws, repeal of Croker, J. W.

Dantzig D'Azeglio De Launay, General Derby, Earl of Devonshire, Duke of Disraeli, Mr. Dover, Lord Druses, the Dundas, Capt.

Exmouth, Admiral Viscount

Fox, Henry

Garibaldi Garrick Genoa George III Gladstone, Mr. Grafton, Duke of Graham, Sir James Greek Committee, the Grey, Marchioness

Hamburg Hardwicke, first Earl of Lord Chancellor character as a judge political influence marriage and children ———second Earl of ———third Earl of Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland ———Charles Philip, fourth Earl of, birth, education, enters navy first ships letters from Mediterranean visits Genoa joins Queen Charlotte, Lord Exmouth's flagship letter commands gunboat at bombardment of Algiers sails for Halifax Crazy Jane sloop letters from Halifax lieutenant commander anecdotes of commands Alacrity in Mediterranean, mission to suppress Greek piracy at Malta Corfu Gibraltar visits Lord Byron the 'Green Bag,' at Smyrna massacre at Psara visit to Pasha opinion of the Greek Committee Odysseus visit to Ali Bey at Magnesia Ephesus Malta again Beirut Sidon visits Lady Hester Stanhope account of Tyre goes to Alexandria and Cairo holiday in Sweden and Norway: Kiel Copenhagen Gottenborg, incident at Christiania the Storthing dinner with Bernadotte the Doverfeld Trondhjem Diet at Stockholm conversation with Bernadotte desire for active service returns to Mediterranean in Alligator diplomatic duties in connection with Greek settlement chases pirate Macri Georgio proceeds to Crete grief at leaving Alligator voyage home; Reform question Sir Joseph Yorke's death his last letter elected M.P. for Reigate for Cambridgeshire marriage succeeds to Earldom country gentleman President of the Agricultural Society Lord-Lieutenant Lord-in-Waiting attends on King of Prussia visit to fire at Hamburg Berlin and Sans Souci goes with King to Court of St. Petersburg, Dantzig Cronstadt impressions of Emperor of Russia and Russian Royal Family Peterhof and Court life at St. Petersburg review of military cadets takes leave of Emperor at Erdmansdorf with King of Prussia and Konigsberg Marienberg Dresden pictures Dresden fair Sans Souci attends Emperor of Russia in England the Queen and Prince Consort visit Wimpole Her Majesty's opinion of him Wimpole cheese for King Louis Philippe correspondence with Sir R. Peel attitude on repeal of Corn Laws resigns Court appointment relations with Mr. Disraeli wish for naval employment Mr. Croker's opinion appointed to command the Vengeance under Sir W. Parker; ordered to Leghorn his instructions at Genoa letters to Lady Hardwicke describing his action during the Genoese crisis letters commending his conduct in having saved Genoa from pillage and ruin from La Marmora, Syndic of Genoa, Sir W. Parker, Lord Palmerston, &c. but official approval somewhat grudging joins Lord Derby's Cabinet as Postmaster-General applies for command in the Baltic under Sir C. Napier refusal controversy with Sir James Graham Lord Privy Seal in Lord Derby's second Cabinet Chairman of Royal Commission on manning of the Navy King of Italy's medal life at Wimpole evening amusements and society music and theatricals estate work improvements at Wimpole death of Hon. Victor Yorke marriage of Hon. Eliot Yorke his own illness and death at Sydney Lodge Hardwicke, seventh Earl of ———Countess of, Margaret. See Cocks. ———Countess of, Susan. See Liddell. Hotham, Sir H. Hurd Hydra Hypsilantes, Prince Alexander

Independence, War of Ismail Pacha Italian unity, movement for

Karabusa in Crete Keppel, Admiral Knigsberg

La Marmora, General

Liddell, Hon. Susan (Countess of Hardwicke) Liverpool, Earl of

Magnesia Maitland, Sir T. Mansfield, Lord Marienberg Massna Matthews Mavrocordato Mazzini Mecklenburg Schwerin, Duke of Mehemet Ali Melbourne, Viscount Miaoulis, Admiral Milne, Sir D. Missolonghi Montesquieu Morden, Barony

Napier, Sir C. Nauplia Navarino Nelson, Lord Newcastle, Duke of Nore, mutiny at the Normanby, Marquis of Novara, battle of

Odysseus, the Chief Otho, King Oxford, Harley, Earls of

Palmerston, Viscount Parker, Sir W. Peel, Sir R. Perceval, Rt. Hon. Spencer Pitt, William (Lord Chatham) Pitt, William Plumptre Prince Consort Prior Prussia, King of Psara

Rattray, Elizabeth Weake (Lady Yorke) Reform Bill Rockingham, Lord Rodney, Lord Rothschild, Sir A. and Lady de Royston, Lord Russell, Lord John Russia, Emperor of (Nicholas I)

Sadowa, battle of St. Germans, Countess of Schetky, John Christian Smyrna Somers, Lord Chancellor Stanhope, Lady Hester Stanhope, Col. Leicester Stanislas, King of Poland Stanley, Lord. See Earl of Derby Sydney Lodge

Taylor, Tom Trevelyan, Sir George's 'Life of Fox' Tyre

Victor, Emmanuel I Victor, Emmanuel II Victoria, Queen

Warburton, Bishop of Gloucester Watson, Dr. Wellington, Duke of Wilkes, John Wilmot, Lord Justice Wimpole

Yorke, Lady Agneta ———Agneta (Hon. Mrs. Charles) ———Hon. Alexander G. ———Archdeacon ———Hon. Charles (second Chancellor) ———Rt. Hon. Charles Philip, M.P. ———Hon. Eliot ———Lady Elizabeth ———Hon. Grantham (Dean of Worcester) ———James, Bishop of Ely ———Hon. John ———Hon. Sir Joseph (Lord Dover) ———Admiral Sir Joseph Sydney, K.C.B. ———Hon. Victor A. Yorkes of Forthampton ———of Hannington

THE END