Some months, passed in anxiety and grief, have elapsed since I even thought of this Journal. The winter had nearly proved fatal to Charles. Illnesses and relapses succeeded each other so rapidly, that his strength was almost exhausted, and in February we almost ceased expecting that he could recover. He did, but to avoid the danger of a return, we are to pass the ensuing winter in a warm climate.
DUKE OF BEDFORD’S DEATH
The death of the D. of Bedford followed. What did not that calamity cost me! In him I lost the truest and best friend I possessed. His society was amongst the greatest of my pleasures. I loved and respected him, and was proud to see intimately the man on whom the eyes of the public were turned with approbation and confidence. He died as he had lived, an example to all who saw him. At the close of a medical consultation about Charles, on ye 28th of Feb., Dr. Vaughan wished me joy of the success of the operation which had been performed the eve. before upon the D. of B. Frightened at this I asked an explanation, and heard from Mr. Knight, the surgeon (who was here for Charles), the nature of the disease.
We left H. H. on the 8th of July (1802), with the following persons belonging to us, ourselves, Charles, Henry Edward,[179] Mr. Allen, Mr. Howard, and little Marsh, for Paris.
We had apartments taken for us some time before we came; they are very spacious and convenient, the whole rez-de-chaussée of the Hotel Beauveau, Faubourg St. Honoré. The next day we went to Maret,[180] the Minister, to see the parade. The Carrousel has been considerably extended, and 15,000 troops can manœuvre in it. The explosion of the infernal machine, by destroying some houses, rendered it more easy to enlarge the court. The Brazen Horses from Venice are placed upon the Grille which runs across the Carrousel; they stand separate, and produce a very poor effect.[181]
Nothing can be more splendid than the uniforms of the officers, and the housings of the horses. The Consul rides a fine white Arabian. He is known amidst his officers by the plainness of his dress and unlaced black hat. The corps of Mamelukes appeared for the first time; their sudden and uncombined evolutions give a wildness to their appearance that shows a little what they must be when attacking in reality. The town was illuminated in the evening, and as carriages were prohibited in the streets, we walked, and saw everything with the greatest ease and facility. There were public dinners given by the Government to some hundreds of the soldiers at each public garden.
When I first came, I saw much of Madame de Coigny, but latterly less; she is inquisitive and talkative.
On the 15th of Fructidor, Mr. Fox was presented to Bonaparte, who seems to have studied how to receive him in a distinguished manner. He addressed him in a speech evidently got by heart and of course highly complimentary. The purport was that he was the greatest man of one of the greatest countries, and that his voice had always been exerted on the side of humanity and justice, and that to its influence the world owed the blessings of peace.