Tuesday, 25th August.— ... At ½ past 2 sat to M. Collen for my picture till ½ past 3, while Lehzen read to me in Mme. de Sévigné’s Letters. How truly elegant and natural her style is! It is so full of naïveté, cleverness and grace. Then I played on the piano. At 4 we walked out with Lady Flora and Lehzen and came home at 5 minutes to 5. In our walk we met a man with beautiful parrots. Amongst them was one dear little paroquet of a green colour with a pale brown head and so very tame that Mamma took it on her finger and it would hardly leave her. It talks also, the man says. It is not so remarkable for its fine plumage than for its great tameness. Mamma bought the dear little thing. It is now in Mamma’s room....
Friday, 28th August.—At ½ past 11 came the Dean till 1. I read first in the Old Testament, then in Clarendon, and finished with the Spectator. At 1 we lunched. I read after luncheon in the Bishop of Chester’s Exposition of the Gospel of St. Matthew. It is a very fine book indeed. Just the sort of one I like; which is just plain and comprehensible and full of truth and good feeling. It is not one of those learned books in which you have to cavil at almost every paragraph. Lehzen gave it me on the Sunday that I took the Sacrament. I have given up reading Smith’s Theology. It is more a book to refer to than to read all through....
Tuesday, 1st September.—I awoke at 7 and got up at ½ past 7. At ½ past 8 we breakfasted. At ½ past 9 we left dear Tunbridge Wells with Lady Flora and Lehzen. I am very sorry to leave the dear place. I am so very fond of it. I liked Boyne House better a good deal than old Mount Pleasant.... We changed horses first at Tunbridge Town, then at Sevenoaks, and lastly at Bromley. We reached Kensington Palace at 2. At a ¼ past 2 we lunched. Lady Flora went home after luncheon to her own family. At 3 we went over to Aunt Sophia’s (all our carpets being taken up), to receive the Duc de Nemours. Aunt Sophia of course was not present. The Duc de Nemours is nearly 21. That is to say His Royal Highness will complete his 21st year on the 25th of October. He is Aunt Louisa’s 2nd brother. He is tall, has a very fine slender figure, and is extremely fair. He is good-looking but not so much so as his brother the Duke of Orleans. The Duc de Nemours is extremely pleasing but rather timid. He brought Mamma a letter from his Mother, the Queen of the French, and a beautiful set of instruments made of French pebbles for me, from her. I wrote my journal then. We then saw Lady Catherine Jenkinson, and afterwards my Uncle Sussex. I then wrote my journal and did various other things. At a ¼ past 7 we dined. Lord Liverpool and Lady Catherine dined here. After dinner came Princess Sophia. I stayed up till ½ past 9....
Friday, 4th September.—I awoke at 7 and got up at ½ past 7. At ½ past 8 we all breakfasted. At ½ past 9 we left Wansford. It is a very nice clean Inn. We passed through Stamford, a large and populous town, after having changed horses at Witham Common. We changed horses 2ndly at Grantham, also a large town. These 3 are in Lincolnshire. 3rdly at Newark, also a large town, and lastly at Scarthing Moor. The country from Wansford to Scarthing Moor was like yesterday, extremely flat and ugly. From Scarthing Moor to Barnby Moor, where we arrived at 5 o’clock, the country is rich and wooded, but very flat. This Inn (Barnby Moor) is extremely clean and pretty. Newark, Scarthing Moor and Barnby Moor are all in Nottinghamshire. I am struck by the number of small villages in the counties which we passed through today, each with their church. And what is likewise peculiar is, that the churches have all steeples of a spiral shape. I read in the Alhambra again in the carriage. Finished the 1st vol. and began the 2nd. We all walked in the little garden behind the house for a short time. When we came in I wrote my journal. At a ¼ to 7 we all dined. After dinner Lady Catherine played on the piano, for there was one in the Inn. She played a variation of Herz’s, one of Hünten’s, and the Polacca; and she accompanied us while we sang “Il rival.” I stayed up till 9.
Saturday, 5th September.—I awoke at ½ past 6 and got up at 7. Read in the Exposition of St. Matt.’s Gospel while my hair was doing, and also in the Venetian History. Last night I also read in the Gospel and in Mme. de Sévigné. At a ¼ to 8 we all breakfasted. At a ¼ to 9 we left Barnby Moor. It is a remarkably nice and clean Inn. We changed horses 1st at Doncaster, a very pretty town, 2ndly at Ferry bridge where there is a fine bridge, and lastly at Tadcaster. All these towns are in Yorkshire. We reached Bishopthorpe (the Archbishop of York’s Palace) at 2. It is 2 miles and a half from York. It is a very large house and part of it is very old. Besides the Archbishop[192] and Miss Harcourt (his daughter), the Duchess of Northumberland, Lady Norreys,[193] Sir John and Lady Johnstone[194] (Lady Johnstone is the Archbishop’s daughter), Mr. and Mrs. and Miss Granville Harcourt,[195] Colonel Francis Harcourt,[5] Mr. Vernon, are staying in the house. After half an hour we lunched in a large dining-room. We then went to our rooms which are very nice. I finished the Alhambra. It is a most entertaining book and has amused me very much. I wrote my journal when I came into my room. Wrote a letter to Feodore and read in the Venetian History. The country through which we travelled today is very flat and ugly, but extremely rich. I find the air in Yorkshire cooler than in Kent and the South of England. I read in Mrs. Butler’s journal which amuses me. There are some very fine feelings in it. At a ¼ to 7 we dined. Besides the people whom I mentioned, Mr. Charles Harcourt,[196] Mr. William Harcourt, the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress, Colonel York, Colonel[197] and Mrs. Wildman, &c. After dinner Lady Norreys and her cousin Miss Vernon sang a duet from La Gazza Ladra beautifully, and also “Suoni la tromba.” They are both extremely pretty. They are pupils of Tamburini. We sang something then. I like Miss Vernon’s voice the best of the two. We then went to prayers. After that, I sang the Barcarola from Faliero, frightened to death. I stayed up till a ¼ to 11....
Bishopthorpe, Wednesday, 9th September.—... At a ¼ past 11 we went to the York Minster with the same party as yesterday with the exception of Lord and Lady Norreys and Mrs. Vernon, who remained at home. The Minster was fuller than on the preceding day. It was Handel’s Oratorio of The Messiah. It is considered very fine, but I must say that, with the exception of a few Choruses and one or two songs, it is very heavy and tiresome. It is in 3 parts. In the 1st part Grisi sang “Rejoice greatly” most beautifully. She pronounces the English so very well, and sang the whole in such excellent style.... The Hallelujah Chorus at the end of the 2nd part and another at the end of the 3rd act are the finest things besides “Rejoice greatly.” But I am not at all fond of Handel’s music, I like the present Italian school such as Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti &c., much better....
Friday, 11th September.— ... Lablache and Rubini sang only once each. Alas! it will be a long time before I shall hear their two fine voices again. But time passes away quickly and April and the dear Opera will soon return. I am to learn to sing next year. Mamma promised I should; and I hope to learn of Lablache. What a delightful master he would be to learn of! Grisi sang “Laudate Dominum,” by Mozart, accompanied by Dr. Camidge[198] on the organ. She executed the delicate passages in it beautifully. Between the two parts we lunched at the Deanery with our party and many others. Grisi came in with her uncle while we were at luncheon. She is extremely handsome, near-by, by day-light. Her features are not small, but extremely fine, and her eyes are beautiful as are also her teeth. She has such a sweet amiable expression when she smiles, and has pleasing quiet manners. She had an ugly dingy foulard dress on, with a large coloured handkerchief under a large muslin collar. And she had a frightful little pink bonnet on, but in spite of all her ugly attire she looked very handsome. She is a most fascinating little creature.... Grisi sang the last air “Sing ye to the Lord.” Never did I hear anything so beautiful. It was a complete triumph! and was quite electrifying! Though a very little bit and with very little accompaniment, the manner, the power with which she sang it, and the emphasis which she put into it, was truly splendid. I shall just write down the lines:
Sing ye to the Lord, for He hath triumphed gloriously:
The horse and his rider hath He thrown into the sea.
She pronounced it beautifully. When she had sung “The horse and his rider hath He thrown” she paused a moment, and then came out most emphatically with “into the sea!”...