None the less, all other members of the world of fashion went to the entertainment, which proved one of surpassing brilliancy. The night was fine, and the company, which began arriving soon after nine o'clock, stayed till the small hours of the following morning. The walks adjacent to the Palace were enclosed and converted into temporary rooms, glittering with lights and festooned with flowers. The supper took place at two o'clock in the morning in an exquisite grotto of rare exotics, and along the centre of the table, which was 200 feet long, a river of pure water flowed from a beautiful fountain at its head. Gold and silver fish disported themselves in its limpid waters, while along its banks were ranged cool green moss and aquatic flowers. In contrast with this scene of simulated sylvan beauty, the daily papers relate with awe, if with some lack of humour, that "the gold and silver plate used at the fête amounted to seven tons. Nearly a wagon load of it belonged to the late Sir W. Pulteney and was borrowed for the occasion." In the midst of this astonishing display, surrounded by his most favoured friends and waited on by sixty servitors, sat the Regent, resplendent in his finest clothes and swelling in the plenitude of his new importance. To him it mattered nothing that his daughter was breaking her heart in the dullness of Windsor, that his wife was chafing in her seclusion at Blackheath, or that the woman who loved him knew herself publicly humiliated by his attitude towards her; yet the condemnation meted out freely to his conduct, even by those who accepted his hospitality, finds no echo in the correspondence of Mrs Stanhope, who with tireless energy attended the royal fête previous to starting on the long journey to Cannon Hall.
CANNON HALL, July 1st, 1811.
The day before I left Town I attended the most magnificent fête I ever saw, given by the Prince Regent. It was to have been on the King's Birthday, but the preparations could not be ready in time. Three Thousand people were invited and there was room at supper for all, the tables were in the temporary rooms in the garden, and it was more like Vauxhall than anything I know to compare it to. All our princes, the Duke of York & Princess Sophia & the Duke of Gloucester were there.
We did not get home till 1/2 past 5 & started on our journey to Yorkshire at 3. I hear the public are to be admitted to see the Hébris of our feast.
Unfortunately, this well-intentioned decision on the part of the Prince Regent was attended with a dire result. "The condescension of the Prince," relate the papers, "in extending the permission to view, for three days longer, the arrangements for the late fête at Carlton House, has nearly been attended with fatal consequences. Wednesday being the last day of the public being admitted, many persons took their station at the gates so early as seven o'clock. By twelve the line of carriages reached down St James's Street, as far as Piccadilly, and the crowd of pedestrians halfway up the Haymarket. At three o'clock the crowd had so much increased, that the Guards were forced to give way; several ladies were unfortunately thrown down and trampled upon; and we regret to learn that some were seriously hurt, among whom were Miss Shum of Bedford Square, and a young lady, daughter of a gentleman at the British Museum. Another young lady presented a shocking spectacle; she had been trodden on till her face was quite black from strangulation, and every part of her body bruised to such a degree as to leave little hopes of her recovery."
"I hear," wrote Mrs Stanhope from her safe retreat in Yorkshire, "that no one knew what to do nor how to disperse the people. At last, the Dukes of Kent and Cumberland ordered ladders to be brought, and, climbing up on to the wall of the court-yard, they personally announced loudly that the Prince Regent had given orders that the house should be shut up and no more people admitted. There were numbers wounded, however, before the immense crowd could get away. What a mercy Esther Acklom did not go, as I know that she intended doing!"
Esther Acklom, to whom constant reference is made in the correspondence of Mrs Stanhope, was the only daughter and heiress of Richard Acklom, Esq., of Wiseton Hall, Nottinghamshire. She was much sought after in society on account of her reputed wealth; and although stout and somewhat plain in appearance, she was a decided flirt, and extremely fond of amusement.
Partly owing to the fact that her mother was in delicate health, partly to the proximity of her father's house in Lower Grosvenor Street to that of Mr Stanhope, she was the constant associate of the young Stanhopes, and attended many balls and routs chaperoned by their mother. There was, indeed, much to recommend her companionship. Clever, well-read, lively in manner and witty in conversation, she was invariably agreeable, despite the fact that her speech was apt to be too frank and her determination too unswerving to render her universally popular. Of her extraordinary decision of character, indeed, her life furnishes more than one striking instance, and an illustration of this may be given, which occurred when she was but fifteen years of age.
She was then journeying abroad with her parents, when, in common with some other English travellers, they were detained at Vienna on its capture by Napoleon. The danger was imminent. Once plunged into a foreign prison, it was impossible to say when or by what means they might escape thence. In such a dilemma none knew what to do or to advise; but Esther Acklom was equal to the occasion. Hearing that the military commandant was Marshal Mortier, who had been known to her family in England, she took her maid, and went off to interview him. She found the great man seated in the Hotel de Ville, surrounded by a large staff, listening to the complaints of the burghers and administering justice. She presented her petition, but he scarcely glanced at it, and roughly bade her to stand aside till others had been attended to who were of more importance. Her maid, terrified at his manner, implored her young mistress to come away, but Esther, nothing daunted, stood her ground. She had shrewdly observed that an aide-de-camp of the Emperor was by the side of the marshal, and concluding that this fact might account for his manner, she patiently awaited the turn of events. Nor was she wrong. In course of time the aide-de-camp departed, and the commandant then politely inquired in what he could serve her. She explained, and, evidently struck by her courage, he further asked in the kindest manner how many passes she required. Again she had presence of mind to perceive the drift of his question, and to see that he was anxious, if she so desired, to aid her friends as well as herself. She boldly answered, three, in the hope of serving two English families of her father's acquaintance. To her delight, the passes were at once handed to her, and within a few hours the three carriages were hastening from Vienna.
Even then her adventures were not at an end. An English family, who had failed in securing a pass, decided, as a forlorn hope, to follow in the wake of the other carriages on the chance that, in the confusion of so many vehicles leaving the city, they might effect their departure under cover of the passports of their friends. As was to be expected the attempt failed. The Official on guard allowed the three carriages with passes to drive through the gates, but the fourth was at once arrested and ordered to return. Vainly did its frightened occupants entreat and expostulate, the man was obdurate, and they had given up all for lost, when the clever girl who had secured the safety of the rest of the party came to their rescue.