“ALIWAL,” SIR HARRY SMITH’S CHARGER.
(From a picture painted by A. Cooper, R.A., in 1847.)
[Opposite p. 576.
A ball was given in the evening, at which Sir Harry joined in the set dances, but refused to dance the polka. Next day he was entertained at a dinner attended by three hundred persons, including Lords Fitzwilliam, Aboyne, and Hardwicke, Professor Sedgwick, and other leading men of the county, and an épergne of the value of £300 was presented to him by residents of the Isle of Ely. In reply to the chairman, the Rev. Algernon Peyton, who proposed his health, Sir Harry said that that day was his mother’s birthday, and he recalled her parting injunction to him,[169] which he claimed to have obeyed. He concluded, “Many of my playmates, schoolmates, fellow-townsmen are around me, and I trust that, with the other honourable gentlemen present, they will accept the grateful thanks of their townsman and countryman, Harry Smith.” When Lady Smith’s health had been proposed by Lord Hardwicke and drunk by the company, Sir Harry returned thanks for the kindness shown to one he loved so dearly, and who had followed him with the greatest devotion over many fields of battle and in every quarter of the world—a devotion not to him alone, but to the cause in which he was engaged. From Whittlesey[170] Sir Harry proceeded to Cambridge, where an honorary degree was to be conferred upon him in connexion with the ceremony of installing Prince Albert as Chancellor.
Professor Sedgwick, it seems, told Prince Albert on Saturday, July 3rd, that Sir Harry Smith was coming to Cambridge on the following Tuesday. He writes—
“The Prince said that the Queen would wish him to be there on Monday to take an honorary degree. So I fired a shot to Whittlesey, not doubting that I should bring the hero down in time; for the Queen’s wishes are, as you know, a soldier’s law. I returned to Cambridge on Saturday. On Sunday ... after evening chapel, I was rejoiced to find Sir H. Smith waiting at my rooms; he took my bed, and I took Dick’s.... I spent a delightful quiet evening with my hearty and gallant friend. We took a turn in the walks, but he was in plain clothes, and was not known by the multitude.
“Next day (Monday the 5th) began the great hurly-burly. On Monday John told me that more than one hundred people came to lunch at my rooms, no doubt partly drawn there in the hope of meeting Harry Smith, who (after the Duke of Wellington) was the most popular of all the visitors. I could not be there myself except at very short intervals, as I was officially in constant attendance on the Prince.... There was a grand cheer on Monday morning when Sir H. Smith had his degree.... The Vice-Chancellor that day had a dinner—the Queen attended—to a party of about sixty. I presided in Trinity College Hall over a party of more than three hundred; and a right merry party it was. Sir Harry Smith was at my right hand as the Vice-master’s guest, and among the distinguished foreigners were Le Verrier and Struvé. If we had not as much dignity as the Vice-Chancellor, we had more numbers and more fun....
“On Tuesday[171] we had the Installation Ode performed in full chorus, and of all the cheers I ever heard, the cheers after God save the Queen in full chorus, accompanied and joined by a thousand voices, were the most enthusiastic.
“When the Duke of Wellington was leaving the Senate House, a loud peal of cheers was raised for him; and, immediately after, Harry was caught sight of. ‘Cheers for Sir Harry Smith’ were called for; and the Duke, turning back, laid hold of Sir Harry and turned him round, saying, ‘There you have him.’ Indeed, he is more like the Duke’s son, so much is he attached to him.”[172]