Elizabeth Davis Bancroft, the writer of these letters, was the youngest child and only daughter of William and Rebecca Morton Davis, and was born at Plymouth, Mass., in October, 1803. She often spoke in later times of what a good preparation for her life abroad were the years she spent at Miss Cushing’s school at Hingham, and of her visits to her uncles, Judge Davis and Mr. I. P. Davis of Boston. In 1825 she married Alexander Bliss, a brilliant young lawyer and a junior partner of Daniel Webster. On his death a few years later, her father having died, her mother and brother formed a household with her and her two sons in Winthrop Place, Boston. As a young girl in Plymouth she became a great friend of the future Mrs. Emerson and later of Mr. Emerson and of Mr. and Mrs. Ripley, and through them was much interested in Brook Farm.
In 1838 she married George Bancroft, the historian and statesman, who was then Collector of the Port of Boston and a widower with three children. They continued to live in Winthrop Place till 1845, when for one year Mr. Bancroft was Secretary of the Navy in Polk’s cabinet. While he was in that position the Naval Academy at Annapolis was established; and he played an important part in the earlier stages of the Mexican War. In the fall of 1846 he became Minister to England. It was then that the letters were written from which these extracts have been taken. A number of passages not of general interest have been omitted, without any indications of such omission in the text, but in no case has any change in a sentence been made. Most of the letters are in the form of a diary and were addressed to immediate relatives, and none of them were written for publication; but owing to the standing of Mr. Bancroft as a man of letters, as well as his official station, the writer saw London life under an unusual variety of interesting aspects.
In 1849 Mr. and Mrs. Bancroft returned to this country, and Mr. Bancroft occupied himself with his history until 1868, when he was for seven years Minister to Prussia and the German Empire. At the expiration of that time they took up their residence in Washington, where they lived during the remainder of their lives.
PORTRAITS AND VIEWS
| Elizabeth Davis Bancroft Probably taken at Brady’s National Gallery, New York, sometime after her return from England; from a picture owned by Elizabeth B. Bliss. | Frontispiece |
| Aston Hall (Bracebridge Hall) | [8] |
| Henry Edward, fourth Lord Holland From the portrait by C. R. Leslie, R. A., at Holland House, by permission of the Earl of Ilchester. | [14] |
| Augusta, Lady Holland From the portrait by G. F. Watts, R. A., at Holland House, by permission of the Earl of Ilchester. | [20] |
| Holland House | [26] |
| George Bancroft From the painting by C. C. Ingham in the possession of William J. A. Bliss. | [34] |
| Elizabeth Davis Bancroft From the painting by C. C. Ingham in the possession of William J. A. Bliss. | [40] |
| The Duke of Wellington From the portrait by Count Alfred D’Orsay; photograph copyright by Walker & Cockerell, London. | [70] |
| Sir Stratford Canning From the drawing by Richmond, make about 1848, by permission of the Hon. Louisa Canning. | [74] |
| Lord Ashburton After Sir T. Lawrence, R. A. | [84] |
| Miss Berry, at the Age of 86 From a crayon drawing by J. R. Swinton (1850); from a picture owned by Elizabeth B. Bliss. | [88] |
| A. W. Kinglake (“Eothen”) From a photograph. | [90] |
| Samuel Rogers From the drawing by G. Richmond (1848); photograph copyright by Walker & Cockerell, London. | [98] |
| Lady Byron From the portrait in the possession of Sir J. Tollemache Sinclair, Bart. | [106] |
| George Hudson, the “Railway King” From the engraving after F. Grant. | [114] |
| Lord Palmerston From the portrait by Partridge; photograph copyright by Walker & Cockerell, London. | [130] |
| Lady Palmerston From a painting, by permission of Sir Francis Gore. | [136] |
| Mrs. Dawson Damer From the miniature by Isabey, by permission of Lady Constance Leslie. | [154] |
| Mrs. Fitzherbert From the pastel by J. Russell. | [160] |
| Richard Monckton Miles (Lord Houghton) From a drawing by Cousins, by permission of the Hon. Mrs. Arthur Henniker. | [170] |
| Lord George Bentinck From a painting by Lane, by permission of the Duke of Portland. | [190] |
| Sir Robert Peel From the mezzotint after Sir T. Lawrence, R. A. | [194] |
| Lady Peel After Sir T. Lawrence, R. A.; photograph copyright by W. Mansell & Co., London. | [198] |
| George Bancroft Probably taken at Brady’s National Gallery, New York, sometime after his return from England; from a picture owned by Elizabeth B. Bliss. | [210] |
Letters from England
To W. D. B. and A. B.
Liverpool, October 26, 1846.
My dear Sons: Thank God with me that we are once more on terra firma. We arrived yesterday morning at ten o’clock, after a very rough voyage and after riding all night in the Channel in a tremendous gale, so bad that no pilot could reach us to bring us in on Saturday evening. A record of a sea voyage will be only interesting to you who love me, but I must give it to you that you may know what to expect if you ever undertake it; but first, I must sum it all up by saying that of all horrors, of all physical miseries, tortures, and distresses, a sea voyage is the greatest . . . The Liverpool paper this morning, after announcing our arrival says: “The Great Western, notwithstanding she encountered throughout a series of most severe gales, accomplished the passage in sixteen days and twelve hours.”
To begin at the moment I left New York: I was so absorbed by the pain of parting from you that I was in a state of complete apathy with regard to all about me. I did not sentimentalize about “the receding shores of my country;” I hardly looked at them, indeed. Friday I was awoke in the middle of the night by the roaring of the wind and sea and such motion of the vessel.