[4] In the coffee-houses, the waiters are very inquisitive, and in a manner that one cannot be angry with. A knight of the napkin got me into conversation, asking me a host of questions about England and Englishmen, declaring, that he liked them better than any foreigners; and, after passing those compliments, which I received with due reverence, he eagerly demanded the reason of the English having such red faces? I knew he could not mean mine, as I am dark, and of a sallow complexion; so I told him, that the rich people drank a great deal of Port wine, and the poor equally so of beer, which accounted for the bloom he had noticed.
[5] As Mr. R. is an important personage in Buenos Ayres, I cannot forbear relating an anecdote of him:—In an excursion to Rio Janeiro, he took away with him a slave girl, reporting (or scandal had done so for him) that she was a present from the governor’s lady, as a trifling reward for the pleasure his musical talents had afforded her. This coming to the ears of the lady made her highly indignant, saying, that “she was not in the habit of giving away her slaves.” Rosquellas, upon his return, was sent to prison, and made to account for the slave, by paying a round sum of money.
[6] I once witnessed a most disgraceful scene at the Theatre Français, at Paris. Talma was performing Cinna—the house was crowded, when some English ladies entered the boxes, escorted by two of their countrymen, military officers. It was at the time when the British army occupied Paris. In taking off their shawls, the backs of the ladies were, for a moment, turned towards the pit; when a yelling commenced from that quarter, which would have disgraced savages. The interference of the British officers increased the confusion; the most insulting gestures were resorted to; and the ladies quitted the theatre in tears, affording a noble triumph to those brave champions of etiquette.
[7] A performance was advertised for a benefit, founded upon the battle of Salamanca. In the front of the theatre, on the evening previous, a transparency was exhibited, representing the discomfited French pursued by Wellington and his troop: they had, likewise, a British flag hoisted. All this was too much for Monsieur to bear; and a scuffle took place, in an attempt to haul the flag down. On the play night, an O.P. row was expected, but all went off quietly.
[8] Dr. Oughan has returned to England, in the Kingfisher packet: some eccentricities in the doctor’s conduct occasioned the British consul to make application for his being sent home.
[9] Clerks are no longer permitted to enter the reading-room, unless they subscribe, or make application to their employers for a ticket: this they have declined to do, and keep aloof from the room, depriving themselves of their chief source of amusement.
[10] Mrs. C. formerly possessed a handsome competence, gained by keeping an hotel; but her fortune has been much reduced, by advances made to her late husband, Captain Taylor, and by losses in different speculations. She has now retired from business, and lives upon a moderate annuity. Her adopted daughter, Dona Panchita, who is grown a fine girl, resides with her. Captain Taylor was a visionary, yet a good-hearted man; he died in October, 1822. I am informed that it was he who first lowered the Royal Spanish flag, and hoisted the Patriot flag, at the Fort, at the beginning of the revolution.
[11] The Slaney was stationed in the outer roads, from January, 1821, to February, 1822. Captain Stanhope assumed the command in October, 1821, Captain O’Brien having been promoted. A laughable event happened during her stay in the outer roads:—She was accustomed to signalize with the shore. One day, a black fellow was ordered to whitewash the wall from which the signals were made on land: he was mistaken by those on board for a signal ball; and, by a reference, his position corresponded with the order, to bend sails. Accordingly, the boatswain piped all hands, and never were sails bent with more dispatch: the crew, tired of their monotonous life, felt eager to leave, and with alacrity obeyed the command. During this time, Blackee had taken another position on the wall: book opened again—it made the number, to unmoor the ship. This corroboration of the first order was hailed with joy. Another movement was imperfectly understood; it seemed to convey—send a boat on shore for the captain; and a boat was sent for explanation. Captain O’Brien was astonished: the wall was examined; and there they found the black man harmlessly pursuing his work, unconscious of the important part he had been performing, exposed to the ardent gaze, and raising the beating hearts, of 150 men. At a distance of eight miles from the shore, a mistake of this sort cannot surprise. The crew were greatly disappointed, and, taking hold of one of their shipmates, a black man, declared that, as they amused themselves on land by making signals with one of his colour, he should be the answering pennant.
[12] The following are extracts from the decrees issued by the government on the occasion:—
“A sepulchral monument, at the expense of the government, shall be raised over the remains of the Honourable Cæsar Augustus Rodney, as a memorial of gratitude.