Sunday, October 08, 2006

30Aug1861, Brown & Tomkins vs. Marquis & Viscount

HAGLEY, Friday, August 30th, 1861.
Ld. Sandon is to marry Ly. Mary Cecil, refreshing and satisfactory after the Misses . . . and . . . marriages. O if they were profligate Brown and Tomkins instead of profligate Marquis and Viscount, how loud wd be the horror and disdain of the world !

08Jul1861, Hamlet by Fechter

LONDON, Monday, July 8th, 1861.
—I was treated in the evening by Mrs. Talbot to the greatest treat I have had this season : " Hamlet " at the Princess's with the admirable German actor Fechter. In spite of his very evident foreign accent, he did the part most beautifully ; the acting throughout being perfect, and an entirely new delight to me in these days of no good tragic actors. Oh ! what an absorbing, exciting delight it is to see !

03Jul1861, Delightful Home Ball

LONDON, Wednesday, July 3rd, 1861.
—Delightful home ball (my last dancing was on May day !) ; not too crowded nor too empty, and everyone enjoying life peculiarly. Many grandees, however, missed fire : my partners were beyond dowdyissimus [FN: see Glossary] ! Messrs. Ryan, Hope, Majendie, Willy, Wynne, Yorke, Baker, and Edward Neville. From 11 to 3 ; and I went to bed as fresh as may be.

02Jul1861, Cricket and a Comet

LONDON, Tuesday, July 2nd, 1861.
—Charles has been playing well in Gentlemen agst Players : got 3 of the best wickets. Papa deep in " The Woman in White." A comet was visible. Meanwhile the great fire goes on, being fed by vast underground stores.

29Jun1861, Visiting Mr. Phillimore

LONDON, THE COPPICE, Saturday, June 29th, 1861.
—I came to the Coppice with Mr. Phillimore : pleasant breezy weather, which makes the trip to this nice green place very enjoyable. The 2 eldest girls have outgrown their looks, but Catherine and Lucy seem extremely intelligent and sharp, with a strong turn for quizzing, inherited ! Walter [FN: Now Lord Phillimore] a nice fellow and quite awfully clever.

24JUN1861, Great London Fire

LONDON, Monday, June 24th, 1861.
—Most tremendous accts. of the fire in the papers : the greatest since 1666 ! It is along a whole line of warehouses on the banks of the river, full of every sort of store—oil, tallow, cheese, bacon, sugar, cotton, hops, saltpetre, and what not ; and so fierce that the " fireproof " buildings seem to become red hot, and are of no avail. The neighbouring street (Tooley St.) is ankle deep in hot tallow and the Thames itself blazing with masses of burning oil. The ruins are glowing with white heat, the engines were entirely useless, and the excellent head fireman, Braidwood, is killed, with others. They hope to keep it now from spreading further, but if the wind rose I believe it wd be impossible to check it. Providentially it has been perfectly calm weather hitherto. About 2 millions' worth of damage done.

10JUN1861, Cavour Has Died

SHEEN, Monday, June 10th, 1861.
—For the first time a potation of port wine flew into my head, so 3 cheers, I am to leave it off. When I was ill I actually drank what wd amount to a tumbler full in the 24 hours ! besides quinine. And the nurse tells me they give wine or brandy in every fever. The great Cavour has died of typhus or some such thing, because the doctors wd do nothing but bleed. They say there will be a rumpus all over Europe.

06JUN1861, Wheeler Eats Humble Pie

SHEEN, June 6th, Thursday, 1861.
—Wheeler at the last moment ate humble pie ; and was received back into favour with dignified condescension.