LONDON, March 25th, 1868.
—Dizzy gives a grand party tonight for the Prince and Princess ; is said to ask only such Liberals as are shaky ! N.B. We are not asked.
Tuesday, November 03, 2009
19Mar1868, A Wonderful Set of Frumps
LONDON, March 19th, 1868.
—We dined with the Carews, meeting a wonderful set of frumps, but it wasn't very bad.
—We dined with the Carews, meeting a wonderful set of frumps, but it wasn't very bad.
18Mar1868, A Workhouse and a Drum
LONDON, March 18th, 1868.
—We went to the East "by sea," as Atie. P. calls it, viz., embarking at Hungerford and landing at the Tunnel ; then conducted to the workhouse by a dirty little boy who was enchanted with a bit of bread and butter out of my basket in payment. . . . Dined at the Gladstones' ; drum, to which came Lord Dizzy !—he will be that next, I suppose. It was a sight to see him chaffing Agnes !
—We went to the East "by sea," as Atie. P. calls it, viz., embarking at Hungerford and landing at the Tunnel ; then conducted to the workhouse by a dirty little boy who was enchanted with a bit of bread and butter out of my basket in payment. . . . Dined at the Gladstones' ; drum, to which came Lord Dizzy !—he will be that next, I suppose. It was a sight to see him chaffing Agnes !
17Mar1868, Auntie P's Orphanage
LONDON, March 17th, 1868.
—Yesterday at the L. House meeting, a little statement drawn up by Caroline Smith and me about Auntie P.'s orphanage was read : I had hardly realised before what a gallant good work it was. She took over 150 poor tinies straight to her arms ; all orphans and many weak after cholera themselves ; all friendless and without even clothes on their poor little bodies. Of these not one has died at the Home, which she got in a hurry for them at Clapton ; and she has provided for a great many in different ways ; but 57 remain on her hands.
—Yesterday at the L. House meeting, a little statement drawn up by Caroline Smith and me about Auntie P.'s orphanage was read : I had hardly realised before what a gallant good work it was. She took over 150 poor tinies straight to her arms ; all orphans and many weak after cholera themselves ; all friendless and without even clothes on their poor little bodies. Of these not one has died at the Home, which she got in a hurry for them at Clapton ; and she has provided for a great many in different ways ; but 57 remain on her hands.
08Mar1868, Lou's Baby
06Mar1868, A Most Powerful Sermon
LONDON, March 6th, 1868.
—Service at St. James's : the Dean of Westminster preached a most powerful sermon on "Eli, eli, lama sabachthani ?" speaking as if from his very heart of the darkness and perplexities of life, and how we should be sustained in them by the knowledge that our Saviour went through that awful moment of apparent desertion. He ended by appealing to one to abide patiently, sure of peace and light in the end, as our Lord in His next utterance confided His Spirit to His Father, though an instant before He had felt Himself forsaken. It made me cry, partly from the intense way I knew the pain the great perplexities give one, partly from feeling how he spoke from his own experiences, which must be, alas those of a man of faint and doubtful faith ; but at the same time, of strong love.
—Service at St. James's : the Dean of Westminster preached a most powerful sermon on "Eli, eli, lama sabachthani ?" speaking as if from his very heart of the darkness and perplexities of life, and how we should be sustained in them by the knowledge that our Saviour went through that awful moment of apparent desertion. He ended by appealing to one to abide patiently, sure of peace and light in the end, as our Lord in His next utterance confided His Spirit to His Father, though an instant before He had felt Himself forsaken. It made me cry, partly from the intense way I knew the pain the great perplexities give one, partly from feeling how he spoke from his own experiences, which must be, alas those of a man of faint and doubtful faith ; but at the same time, of strong love.
05Mar1868, Helping a Girl in a Fit
LONDON, March 5th, 1868.
—Saw a poor miserable girl lying quite rigid on her back in a fit in a smart part of Belgravia ; if we had not come up, I suppose she would be there now, everybody "passing by on the other side" like priests and Levites ! We sent for a policeman, who brought her round, and after a time she was well enough to walk feebly away, refusing to go in a cab : only lately out of an infirmary.
—Saw a poor miserable girl lying quite rigid on her back in a fit in a smart part of Belgravia ; if we had not come up, I suppose she would be there now, everybody "passing by on the other side" like priests and Levites ! We sent for a policeman, who brought her round, and after a time she was well enough to walk feebly away, refusing to go in a cab : only lately out of an infirmary.
Friday, October 02, 2009
03Mar1868, Smart Little Party
28Feb1868, The Flirting of Married Women
LONDON, February 28th, 1868.
—St. James's, where Lord Arthur Hervey preached, making a lashing attack upon the state of society, the fastness and extravagance and absence of modesty in dress and manner ; the flirting of married women and all the mass of self-indulgence and pleasure-seeking. I don't mean he used these very expressions, but he was plain-spoken ; and it is all terribly true.
—St. James's, where Lord Arthur Hervey preached, making a lashing attack upon the state of society, the fastness and extravagance and absence of modesty in dress and manner ; the flirting of married women and all the mass of self-indulgence and pleasure-seeking. I don't mean he used these very expressions, but he was plain-spoken ; and it is all terribly true.
25Feb1868, Dizzy: Lord High Conjuror
LONDON, February 25th, 1868.
—Great news ! Lord Derby has resigned, owing to broken health ; and the Lord High Conjuror has got to the top of the ladder, viz., Dizzy is Prime Minister ! ! His party take it with a bad grace. I wonder how the Queen likes it.
—Great news ! Lord Derby has resigned, owing to broken health ; and the Lord High Conjuror has got to the top of the ladder, viz., Dizzy is Prime Minister ! ! His party take it with a bad grace. I wonder how the Queen likes it.
04Feb1868, Limehouse Distress
HOLKER, February 4th, 1868.
—I heard from Miss Lilley ; the Limehouse distress has been terrible; men fainting at their work when they got a job, or having to stay at home next day from exhaustion ; and yet the neighbouring districts have been worse off. God help them.
—I heard from Miss Lilley ; the Limehouse distress has been terrible; men fainting at their work when they got a job, or having to stay at home next day from exhaustion ; and yet the neighbouring districts have been worse off. God help them.
01Feb1868, Reluctant Sons
HOLKER, February 1st, 1868.
—The energetic Duke carried off his rather reluctant sons to brave storms, shooting Ellerside.
—The energetic Duke carried off his rather reluctant sons to brave storms, shooting Ellerside.
13Jan1868, Notions About Ireland
MARSEILLES, January 13th, 1868.
—Last Saturday F. told me of some notions of his about Ireland. This miserable Fenianism makes one think much of its rights and wrongs, though of course it is the outbreak of only the worst and most reckless people. He has always been for the disestablishing of the Church, on the simplest ground of justice to the large majority. The other great grievance being the land tenures, and the thing to be aimed at being the giving the Irish an interest in the soil and some security of tenure, he would make them permanent tenants, as long as they paid fixed rents, to be settled upon according to income-tax.
—Last Saturday F. told me of some notions of his about Ireland. This miserable Fenianism makes one think much of its rights and wrongs, though of course it is the outbreak of only the worst and most reckless people. He has always been for the disestablishing of the Church, on the simplest ground of justice to the large majority. The other great grievance being the land tenures, and the thing to be aimed at being the giving the Irish an interest in the soil and some security of tenure, he would make them permanent tenants, as long as they paid fixed rents, to be settled upon according to income-tax.
25Dec1867, High Mass
ROME, Christmas Day, 1867.
—We went to the 9 o'clock celebration of the Holy Communion at our own ch. and then to S. Peter's for the High Mass. The elevation, and all the showing of the consecrated ele¬ments to the people, was excessively painful to one ; I followed the service as well as I could in a missal, and, the more one was able to join and feel with the service, the more distressing was the terrible shock that the notion of Transubstantiation gives one. The ceremonial is certainly impressive, but would be much more so, I think, if they would only do away with the ward¬robe part of it, and leave the Pope and Cardinals in gorgeous vestments if they please, but in statu quo. It is impossible too not to see that all the outward worship (except of the Host) centres in the Pope. The music was lovely, but altogether I was pained and grieved, and tired out with conflicting feelings.
—We went to the 9 o'clock celebration of the Holy Communion at our own ch. and then to S. Peter's for the High Mass. The elevation, and all the showing of the consecrated ele¬ments to the people, was excessively painful to one ; I followed the service as well as I could in a missal, and, the more one was able to join and feel with the service, the more distressing was the terrible shock that the notion of Transubstantiation gives one. The ceremonial is certainly impressive, but would be much more so, I think, if they would only do away with the ward¬robe part of it, and leave the Pope and Cardinals in gorgeous vestments if they please, but in statu quo. It is impossible too not to see that all the outward worship (except of the Host) centres in the Pope. The music was lovely, but altogether I was pained and grieved, and tired out with conflicting feelings.
24Dec1867, Unbonneting of the Pope
ROME, Christmas Eve, 1867.
—We went to S. Pietro in Vinculo and the Lateran again, Sta Croce in Gerusalemme and S. Martino in Monte ; at 3 to the Papal Vespers in the Sistine Chapel, very unimpressive and wardrobey, with the perpetual bonneting and unbonneting of the Pope, and mutual bowings and curtseyings. The singing fine, but music very stiff and crabbed ; the Pope intoned well.
—We went to S. Pietro in Vinculo and the Lateran again, Sta Croce in Gerusalemme and S. Martino in Monte ; at 3 to the Papal Vespers in the Sistine Chapel, very unimpressive and wardrobey, with the perpetual bonneting and unbonneting of the Pope, and mutual bowings and curtseyings. The singing fine, but music very stiff and crabbed ; the Pope intoned well.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
22Dec1867, An Audience with Pope Pius IX
ROME, December 22nd, 1867.
—The Pope gave us the honour of a private interview, but was so unkind as to fix the hour so as ingeniously to cut us off from both our own afternoon Services, and Benediction at the Trinità, which we wished to hear. He is a nice old man, with snowy hair, ruddy face, twinkling keen dark eyes, an amiable smile and a most pleasing, kind manner, but not dignified. He is short and rather fat, speaks good French and was wonderfully lively and cheerful. He said, "Dieu vous benit. Dio vi benedica," as we came up the room, and gave us his hand which we kissed with our best bow and curtsey ; but kneel we did not. He began almost at once upon politics, said as briskly as possible à propos of the risk and crisis his affairs had passed thro', "Mais néanmoins—cela marche!" and gave one the notion of great fearlessness, and confidence in the justice of his cause. He launched out upon the inefficiency of the King's government and the absence of any distinguished politicians—a lucky line for him to take, as we were able to agree with him unfortunately ! He spoke of Uncle W., and I made a terrible slip, saying, "Il aime beaucoup l'Italie et l'Italien," forgetting that "Italy" now means the kingdom ; but he didn't seem hurt, thank goodness. He spoke very warmly of Lord Clarendon, whom he seems to think he may convert ! but whether he meant politically or religiously, I don't know. He said, "Lord Gladstone est . . . Pooseyite, n'est-ce pas ?" to which I said, "Oui, S. Pere, et moi aussi !" at which he was much amused, saying, "Nous nous rapprochons done un peu plus . . . it faut que vous poussiez un peu plus loin !" ; whereat I felt a little insulted. Apparently he liked Lord Clarendon best of the big-wigs he saw last year, and said he hoped to see him again this year, and see what he thought of his friends (the King's people) ; perhaps he (the Pope) might convert him ! All this he came out with very chattily and with plenty of gesticulation and humour. He dismissed us very gracefully, saying to F., "Eh bien, Monsieur, je vous recommande cette Pooseyite," and we bowed out, much pleased with him.
—The Pope gave us the honour of a private interview, but was so unkind as to fix the hour so as ingeniously to cut us off from both our own afternoon Services, and Benediction at the Trinità, which we wished to hear. He is a nice old man, with snowy hair, ruddy face, twinkling keen dark eyes, an amiable smile and a most pleasing, kind manner, but not dignified. He is short and rather fat, speaks good French and was wonderfully lively and cheerful. He said, "Dieu vous benit. Dio vi benedica," as we came up the room, and gave us his hand which we kissed with our best bow and curtsey ; but kneel we did not. He began almost at once upon politics, said as briskly as possible à propos of the risk and crisis his affairs had passed thro', "Mais néanmoins—cela marche!" and gave one the notion of great fearlessness, and confidence in the justice of his cause. He launched out upon the inefficiency of the King's government and the absence of any distinguished politicians—a lucky line for him to take, as we were able to agree with him unfortunately ! He spoke of Uncle W., and I made a terrible slip, saying, "Il aime beaucoup l'Italie et l'Italien," forgetting that "Italy" now means the kingdom ; but he didn't seem hurt, thank goodness. He spoke very warmly of Lord Clarendon, whom he seems to think he may convert ! but whether he meant politically or religiously, I don't know. He said, "Lord Gladstone est . . . Pooseyite, n'est-ce pas ?" to which I said, "Oui, S. Pere, et moi aussi !" at which he was much amused, saying, "Nous nous rapprochons done un peu plus . . . it faut que vous poussiez un peu plus loin !" ; whereat I felt a little insulted. Apparently he liked Lord Clarendon best of the big-wigs he saw last year, and said he hoped to see him again this year, and see what he thought of his friends (the King's people) ; perhaps he (the Pope) might convert him ! All this he came out with very chattily and with plenty of gesticulation and humour. He dismissed us very gracefully, saying to F., "Eh bien, Monsieur, je vous recommande cette Pooseyite," and we bowed out, much pleased with him.
18Dec1867, Justify the French Occupation
ROME, December 18th, 1867.
—Afterwards went to see Monsignor Talbot, a civil old gentleman in a long violet frock, distressingly like a prize-pig, who produced with great pomp a stage-property-looking pike and halberd and a little revolver, which he declared Garibaldi had hidden in thousands about Rome to kill priests, Pope, and all with. It isn't quite true, but they make out all the danger they can to justify the French occupation, and the fortifications which are still kept up.
—Afterwards went to see Monsignor Talbot, a civil old gentleman in a long violet frock, distressingly like a prize-pig, who produced with great pomp a stage-property-looking pike and halberd and a little revolver, which he declared Garibaldi had hidden in thousands about Rome to kill priests, Pope, and all with. It isn't quite true, but they make out all the danger they can to justify the French occupation, and the fortifications which are still kept up.
08Dec1867, Terrible Worship
NAPLES, December 8th, 1867.
—Walked about, peeping into churches (Feast of the Imm. Conc. ; terrible worship was going on at the feet of smart dolls in a blaze of tapers).
—Walked about, peeping into churches (Feast of the Imm. Conc. ; terrible worship was going on at the feet of smart dolls in a blaze of tapers).
02Dec1867, French Troops All Cleared Out
ROME, December 2nd, 1867.
—The French troops all cleared out of the town to-day. According to the Contessa, they are a good deal stung by this state of things. One of the old officers said to her, "On nous envoie combattre pour cette prétraille, leur gagner les batailles ; ensuite, quand ils n'ont plus besoin de nous, ils nous disent : fichez votre camp !—c'est un joli role que nous avons joué là." There is some talk of disturbances now they are gone, but it doesn't seem likely that this degraded, unarmed people should be able to do anything against the large papal army ; and as for outsiders, the town walls and gates are regularly fortified.
—The French troops all cleared out of the town to-day. According to the Contessa, they are a good deal stung by this state of things. One of the old officers said to her, "On nous envoie combattre pour cette prétraille, leur gagner les batailles ; ensuite, quand ils n'ont plus besoin de nous, ils nous disent : fichez votre camp !—c'est un joli role que nous avons joué là." There is some talk of disturbances now they are gone, but it doesn't seem likely that this degraded, unarmed people should be able to do anything against the large papal army ; and as for outsiders, the town walls and gates are regularly fortified.
27Nov1867, News from Home
ROME, November 27th, 1867.
—We have taken to omit luncheon, as we can't spare the middle of the day ; letters and Murray, etc., keep us in till about 12. The wretched Fenians who attacked a prisoners' van at Manchester and let out a fellow-Fenian, shooting the policeman in charge dead, have been condemned to death ; and out of the 5, 3 have been executed. It is very sad and terrible, as they are the 1st who have been executed for a political offence ; but it seemed inevitable. There have been deputations and demonstrations against the sentence in London. Foreigners think England must be in danger ; somehow one can't feel that a bit. Never did I take in better the immense strength we have in our fearless freedom of press, opinion and discussion, than now, when there are anxieties and disturbances and an impending revolution in national power. Parliament has met about the Abyssinian war.
—We have taken to omit luncheon, as we can't spare the middle of the day ; letters and Murray, etc., keep us in till about 12. The wretched Fenians who attacked a prisoners' van at Manchester and let out a fellow-Fenian, shooting the policeman in charge dead, have been condemned to death ; and out of the 5, 3 have been executed. It is very sad and terrible, as they are the 1st who have been executed for a political offence ; but it seemed inevitable. There have been deputations and demonstrations against the sentence in London. Foreigners think England must be in danger ; somehow one can't feel that a bit. Never did I take in better the immense strength we have in our fearless freedom of press, opinion and discussion, than now, when there are anxieties and disturbances and an impending revolution in national power. Parliament has met about the Abyssinian war.
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