"He was at one time on the Continent as a travelling tutor with two young Englishmen. He happened one day to be sauntering with his pupils near one of the Royal Palaces of Prussia, when they observed some young and very striking-looking girls walking at a little distance. This was enough to excite the romance of the young Englishmen, who were in no great awe of their tutor. They began to give chase, which excited an evident alarm among the ladies. In her embarrassment, one of them dropped her handkerchief, which was immediately picked up and presented to her by one of the young gentlemen. This, of course, tended to increase the agitation of the ladies, who retreated as fast as they could, and disappeared through a door in the wall before them.
"Upon the return of the youths to Monsieur d'Ivernois, he addressed them with—'Well, gentlemen, unless I am mistaken, you have got into a pretty scrape. I suspect that those ladies were the Princesses of Prussia!'
"'Pooh, pooh, nonsense!' answered his pupils, highly amused.
"'Not so much nonsense as you suppose; by their dress and appearance they were evidently persons comme il faut; they were frightened and embarrassed by your conduct, and they retreated through a gate which opened into the Palace gardens!'
"The young men laughed at their tutor's conjecture, but shortly after, they were at some ball or reunion at Berlin, when the Duchess of Brunswick went up to Monsieur d'Ivernois and addressed him with—'Monsieur d'Ivernois, come with me, I want to speak to you.' Conducting him into a more retired part of the room, she continued—'The other day the young Princesses were guilty of an indiscretion. Tired of always walking in the Palace Garden at Potsdam, they could not resist the inclination they felt to steal out and enjoy a walk in the open country—a pleasure enhanced perhaps by the feeling that it was forbidden. They were followed and addressed by two young English gentlemen who were in company with a man older than themselves, and of a grave and more sedate appearance, who was supposed to be their tutor. I have taken it into my head that you were this person of more sedate appearance, and that the two indiscreet young men were your two pupils. Now if I am right in my conjecture, I suppose that you have no great wish to pay a visit to Spandau, and therefore I need not impress upon you the absolute necessity of holding your tongue on the subject. The Governess, who is fully aware of the indiscretion she committed in permitting such an escapade, is in the greatest alarm and as anxious as you can be that the strictest secrecy should be observed, so that she, at all events, will not boast of the adventure.'
"M. d'Ivernois had nothing to say in reply. He took the hint, for the name of Spandau effectually sealed both his lips and those of his pupils, whilst the Princesses, when their alarm had subsided, were most probably flattered to find that their beauty produced no less an effect when not enhanced by the splendour of Royalty."
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Space forbids following in detail the adventures of John Stanhope en route to Greece or the outcome of his researches there; an account of which latter, moreover, he published personally. He accomplished his journey without misadventure and succeeded in closely investigating the historical remains of Olympia, the description of which, brought out in two separate volumes, he dedicated to the Institute of France. [3] A severe attack of fever, however, unfortunately brought his operations to an untimely ending; and on becoming convalescent, he was forced to start upon his homeward journey.
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Retracing their steps through Italy, he and his brother found the land terrorised by the gangs of robbers with which it was infested, but who, far from being common banditti, he explains, were to be looked upon as a body of men who were at variance with the Government of that day.