SPECTATOR'S LIBRARY.

Anrcourrs,

The Courts of Europe at the Close of the Last Century. By the late Henry Swim

borne, Esq., Author of" Travels in Spain, &c. Edited by Charles White,

Esq.. Author of " The Belgic Revolution," &c. In 2 vols Cotburn. NATIONAL Cu TOkis'

Manners and Customs of the Japanese, in the Nineteenth Century. From Recent Dutch Visiters of Japan. mid the German of Dr. Ph. Fr. Von Siebold -Froriorr, Corse de Leon ; or the Brigand. A Romance. By G. P. R. James, Esq., Author of

•• The Robber," &c. In 3 vols Longman.

SWINBURNE'S COURTS OF EUROPE.

THESE volumes are not exactly what the titlepage professes, but perhaps upon the whole something better—the letters of a gentle- man, a scholar, and an artist, who had seen much and heard more, and whom nature and education had enabled to profit by what he beard and what he saw.

The SWINBURNES were an ancient Catholic family; and the author of these volumes was born in 1752, the third son of Sir Joint SWINBURNE. He was educated at the monastic seminary of Lacelle in France ; and then made the tour of Europe ; marrying a West Indian lady on his return to Paris. Shortly after this period his letters commence—in 1774 ; and are continued, with occasional intervals of varying duration, till the very day before his untimely death by a coup de soled in Trinidad, in the year 1803. The countries they embrace are France, Spain, Italy, Sicily, Germany, and the West Indies : the topics are various and entertaining— the Sovereigns, Courts, and Ministers of the time ; the amuse- ments of fashionable life, the facetim of men of wit ; the charac- ter of governments and peoples ; with the aspects of the country, and the incidents of the road.

Nor is Mr. SWINBURNE a commonplace traveller or an everyday man. His education had acquainted him with elegant literature ; his pursuits as an amateur had given him a painter's eye ; his early introduction to the most accomplished society of a most accom- plished age had sharpened and polished his perception and taste, in a manner and to a degree of which the present generation can afford no example ; added to which, he saw Europe at a critical time. He was one of the last presentations to Louis the Fifteenth, and was in Paris during the illness and death of that monarch. Mrs. SWINBURNE was a sort of favourite of MARIE ANTOINETTE, who undertook to provide for their son : so that the family, we may be sure, had many intimates amottst the French nobility ; and our author saw the old regime in the height of their polish, their splendour, and their rottenness. By a fortunate occurrence for the wader of his letters, Mr. SWINBURNE was appointed by our Ministry to negotiate an exchange of prisoners with the Directorial Govern- ment, that succeeded to the rule of ROBESPIERRE ; and he paints the best picture of Paris at the close of the Reign of Terror that we have ever met with. At Vienna he was noticed by the Imperial re- fcrmer JOSEPH the Second, and by his Empress mother, whose early misfortunes had roused the chivalry of Hungary, when she appeared before the assembled nobles with her baby son, to their famous cry, " Moriemur pro nostro rege Maria Theresa." At Naples he was equally fortunate in his opportunities, and became acquainted with one of the most unsophisticated of royal families. His tours in Spain and Sicily are less amusing, partly because they deal with landscape and the common incidents of a tour, partly because be might reserve his best materials for the two works which he published, Travels in Spain and Travels in Italy. in England his letters deal more with society and persons than with the Court ; though we meet with an early notice or two of GEORGE the Fourth, then just come out, and mentioned as a "pleasing and well-mannered" young man. The epistles from the West Indies are chiefly descriptive, but they present an ani- mated picture of its gorgeous landscapes. The matter of the work is set off by its style; which has the clearness and pleasantry of a gentleman's conversation, who will be superficial, slight, or discursive, rather than, heavy, tedious, or involved. The skimming mode, though injurious to exposition, is well enough in description, and is especially adapted for the prin- cipal topics of the volumes—anecdotes, repartee, personal traits, and sketches of society. In his peculiar way, indeed, we think SWINBURNE equal to WALPOLE; for if he has less point and elaboration, he has several things WALPOLE wanted—ease, nature, unaffected liveliness, and above all a heart. It adds to the value of the correspondence, that the letters are mere letters, written to his brother, his wife, and a few other intimates, without a single thought of publication to mar the effect of their felicitous negli- gence.

We will commence our extracts with the Court of Louis the Fifteenth ; where Mr. SWINBURNE was presented by the English Ambassador, in company with the Duke of DORSET. It will be seen they went from one great personage to another, in a series of morning calls.

THE KING'S LEVEE.

About eleven, the introductors gave notice of the King's levee being ready ; and so, in company of a German baron, we trudged up stairs, and surprised his Most Christian Majesty in his waistcoat; for none but the family Ambassadors may see him in bulf. After staring at us, talking about the opera with some few of the crowds of courtiers, and saying about one minute's prayer with his Cardinal, he drew to- wards us, who were ranged near the door in rank and file. All he said was, "Est-il fils du vieux Due de Dorset, que j'ai connu autrefois ? " and so marched off. However, as they talked much to others who stood near us, I can describe them better from this view than from the subsequent one. The Dauphin [Louis the Sixteenth] is very awkwardly made, and uncouth

in his motions. His face resembles his grandfather's, but he is not near so handsome, though he has by no means a bad countenance. His nose is very prominent, his eyes are gray, and his complexion is sallow. He seemed cheerful and chatty, and I think his aspect bespeaks a goodnatured man. The second brother [Louis the Eighteenth] is a pretty figure ; and so is the third, [Charles the Tenth,] only his mouth is rather wide, and drawn up in the middle to the top of the gums.

They are not yet quite formed as to legs and strength ; and have all a good deal of that restless motion, first upon one leg and then upon another, which is also remarkable in some members of the English Royal Family.

The questions they ask seem very frivolous and puerile. I believe they find their time harg, very heavy on their hands; for they ran with great glee to ticlide one of the King's valets de chambre, as he was carrying out the King's dirty clothes.

THE ROYAL FAMILY OF FRANCE, 1774.

Our next trot was to the Dauphin; who said nothing. The same silence reigned at the levee of his brothers, as to our share at least. The Comtesse de Provence is a little dumpy woman, and but a plain piece of goods : her sister, the Comtesse d'Artois, is rather prettier, having a fine skin and tolerable eyes ; but her nose is immense, and her toes are turned in. Poor thing! she seemed quite frightened, and could hardly speak.

I did intend to reserve Madame du Barre for the bonne bouche ; but it must

be the Dauphiness, [Marie Antoinette,] who quite won my heart. I can give you no account of her particular features; but her air, eyes, shape, motion, her tout ensemble, were most charming. She spoke so cheerfully, and so easily, comme si elle se sentait, as the French say- " Eile avoit uue grace,

Un je ne sal, quoi qui surpasse De rumour les plus deux appas."

From her we passed to the three not Graces, but any other trio you may think would suit them : I mean the King's daughters. The Dauphin's sisters were not visible.

MADAME DU BARRE..

After all these perambulations up stairs and down stairs through the Royal

Family, we climbed up a dark winding staircase, which I should have suspected would have led to an apartment of the Misfile, rather than to the temple of love and elegance. In a low entresol we found the favourite sultana, in her morning-gown, her capuchin on, and her hair undressed : she was very gra- cious, and chatted a good deal, as everybody else seethed to do at Versailles, about the opera. 1 could hardly refrain from laughing at an involuntary ex- clamation from my brother presentee, the Duke; whose mistress, Mrs. Parsons, has, you know, been long out of her teens. " Good heavens!" said his Grace in a whisper to me, "why her bloom is quite past." She is of a middling age,just plump enough, her face rather upon the yellow leaf, her eyes good, and all her features regular ; but I cannot think her a pleasing figure now, whatever she may have been, or may be still, when made up and decked out in her pride.

When Mr. SWINBURNE next returned to Paris, twelve years bad passed ; and he found a better man for King than the one he had last seen, but that was the only change. As a monarch Louis the Sixteenth was perhaps worse than his predecessor, for he wanted his cleverness and his knowledge of men. Society was as corrupt as ever, though with a little more external decorum. The coming Revolution was, however, visible—visible in the resistance of the Parliaments to the Court, and in the general feelings of society. The proofs of this are scattered, and often minute ; but here is one example of the national spirit amongst the lower gentry. " Accounts from Brittany state that a deputation of four hundred gentlemen waited upon Monsieur de Thiers, requesting him to forward their memorial to the King, and their circular letter to the Princes and the Peers. He promised to do so, but expostulated with them upon the illegality of their assembling in such a manner, and expressed hors much the King would be offended by it. To this they replied, that when the English landed at St. Cast, they assembled in a similar manner, and had been thanked for doing so by his Majesty. ' That was a different case,' said Thiers; ' it was against the enemies of your coun- try.' The case is the same now,' they boldly answered."

Matters grew darker, till at last outbreaks became frequent, and danger threatened. This is Mrs. Slum:maxi's picture of the mis- guided and unfortunate Queen, as she saw her in 1789, when she went to Paris to place her .son under the royal patronage, and to solicit her aid in respect to her West Indian property.

" I had an audience of the Queen two days ago : site is very much altered, and has lost all her brilliancy of look. She was more gracious than ever, and said, 'Vous arrivcz dans un mauvais moment, there Madame Swinburne. Vous ne me trouverez point gate; j'ai beaucoup sur he ceeur.'

" She is very low-spirited and uneasy about her son, who, by all accounts, lies dangerously ill, and is not likely to recover. She inquired kindly after all our family, and assured me she should consider Harry as under her care; and also spoke of our business, which Madame Campan had told her was my reason for now returning to France.

"'Je trains,' said she, que dans ce moment je ne pourrai vous etre d'aucune utilite ; mais si les tems deviennent meilkurs, vous savez que je n'oublie jamais men amis.'

"Apropos of that : I find it was by her desire that the Luzernes have shown us so much attention.

"The whole tenor of her conversation was melaiicholy, but she said little about public affairs : her child's illness seemed uppermost in her mind. The tears, which I with difficulty restrained in her presence, gushed from me as soon as I had quitted the room. She told me she should like to see me again inte- rested Poor thing! her kindness and sorrowful manner made me more nte- rested and enthusiastic about her than ever.

This was the last interview.

" When I had obtained my passports for myself and maid, I asked to take leive of the Queen : and the interview was granted; which is a great favour, for the sees no one. She received me graciously, even kindly ; and the manner in which she spoke of my son was calculated to set my heart at ease concerning him. She wished me every happiness. Vous allez dans votre heurense famille,' said she, dans un pays tranquille, ob la calomnie et la cruautd ne vow poursuivront pas. Je dois vous porter envie.' " I ventured a few words of consolation, hinting that times were now im- proving, and that her popularity and happiness would be restored. She shook her head. We were alone. 1 know not how I was worked up to it, or had courage to make the proposal, but I did so, that if she thought herself in dan- ger, my services were at her command, and that, she could come with me to England in the disguise of my maid, whom I could easily dispose of by sending her under some pretext to her friends at St. Germain. She thanked me, and smiled faintly, but said nothing would induce her to leave her family. She added, that she had refused other offers of the same sort. ' Besides,' and she looked round, si je voulais, cela ne se pourroit pas ; it y a trop d'espions.'"

It was seven years afterwards when Mr. Swranuitsa was de-

apatched to Paris to treat with the Directory : and the effects which the Revolution had produced in so short a time struck him forcibly. The roughness of manners, the squalidness of dress, the absence of decent forms, the licence and vice startling even him who had witnessed that of the old regime and the other Continental courts, together with the poverty and desolation, are all brought out by a variety of touches. It is curious, 'too, to see how this equality of blackguardism subsided as soon as an approach was made to se- curity and a settled government.

" I send you two prints of the present dresses of Paris, done by Veruet's son, and not the least caricatured, however extraordinary they may appear to you. What a change even the two months I have been here have made in dress, manners, &c. The return of tranquillity, and, diminution of tenor in the minds of belles, beaux, and dastardly honnetes gens, who in fact deserve no name but that of egotists, have produced a wonderful improvement and in- crease of luxury. The quantity of handsome carriages just come out—the cir- cumstance of servants again getting up behind them, and being better dressed; alb& and others walking' chapeau has—the men more elegantly and the women more richly babited—strike my eyes as I move about in private and in public. I have this day, for the first time, seen a vinaigrette, (a species of sedan- chair upon two wheels.)

" Yesterday, Madame de Gontant gave as fine a ball as ever was given in days of }ore : three hundred of the company had lost near relations by the guillotine. Some of the men there danced with their bats on, and with red heels. Two of the Ministers (I do not mean foreign ones) were present."

We will turn back some years, and go to Vienna, for a few anecdotes of Empress, Emperor, and Prime Minister. Here is the Minister at full-length.

PRINCE KAUNITZ.

At dinner we had the Count de Burghausen, the Comtesse de Thun, the Comtesse de Clary, a young widow the favourite of Kaunitz, and Baron Swieten, son of the famous physician Mr. Beaky. After diuner the Prince treated us with the cleaning of his gums; one of the most nauseous operations I ever witnessed, and it lasted a prodigious long time, accompanied with all manner of noises. He carries a hundred of implements in his pocket for this purpose—such as glasses of all sorts for seeing before and behind his teeth, a whetting-steel for his knife, pincers to hold the steel with, knives and scissors without number, and cottons and lawns for wiping his eyes. His whims are innumerable. Nothing allusive to the mortality of human nature must ever be rung in his ears. To mention the smallpox is enough to knock him up for the day. I saw an instance of this; for Burgbauseu, having been long absent, came out with it ; and the Prince looked as black as could be all the rest of the day. To derange the train of his ideas puts him sadly out of sorts. The other day he sent a favourite dish of meat as a present to an aunt of his, four years after her decease; and would not have known it but for a blundering servant, who blabbed it to him.

He is full of childish vanities, and wishes to be thought to excel in every thing. He used to have a spiral glass for mixing the oil and vinegar for salads, which he shook every day with great parade and affectation. At last the bottle broke in his hands, and covered him and his two neighbouring ladies with its contents. A gentleman not opening a bottle of champagne to his mind, he called for one, to give the company a lesson in uncorking and frothing the Epos : unluckily he missed the calculation ofhis parabola, and poured out the wine into his uplifted sleeve, as well as into his waistcoat .pocket, &c. By the by, he is dressed very oddly : his wig comes down upon his nose, with a couple of small straggling curls on each side, placed in a very ridiculous manner. He is extremely fond of adulation, will swallow any thing in its shape, and indeed lays it upon himself with a very liberal hand. One of his peculiarities is a de- testation of musk. He is a sovereign Count of Reitberg, in right of his mother, which brings him in about 3,000/. a year. His paternal fortune is 4,000/. He has enormous debts, but gets 10,000/. a year from the Empress, and is never stinted by her. His expenditure in fancies and trifles is incredible. He studied at Leipsic with great reputation, and is an excellent Latin scholar, but no Grecian ; he understands English, French, and Italian very perfectly, and reads a good deal, or rather a great deal is read to him. He has good taste, and has raised the arts from barbarism to great perfection at Vienna. In bu- siness he is intelligent, and far above any mean subterfuges or falsehoods. He is always silent when he does not choose to express his real sentiments. a • When the Grand Duke Leopold was to be married at Inspruck to the King of Spain's daughter, Prince Kaunitz went thither beforehand to see that every thing was in order for the fete. The opera, among the rest, engaged his at- tention ; and he questioned Gliick about it. The composer assured him that the performers, singers, and decorations, were perfect. " Well then," said the Prince, "let us have the opera directly." " Howl" exclaimed Gliick, " with- out an audience ?" "Monsieur Gluck," he replied, "sachet que la qualitd vent bien la quantite; je suis moi soul une audience." He was obeyed, and I heard him tell this with great triumph.

Kaunitz patronized a Diamice. One day when he carried his portfeuille to the Empress, she began to upbraid him with the scandal of his conduct. " Ma- dame," said he, " je suis venu ici pour parler des affaires de votre Majeste, non des miennes."

TWO UNBENDING PERSONS.

The Empress has a fine face, but is enormously fat and unwieldy. A few days ago, her Chamberlain, Sinzendorff, waited on her with a petition from some part of her territories, which was very interesting to her. They were alone in the apartment, both standing whilst he read to her the document. Sinzen- dorff is a thin old man, stiff and erect, and troubled with a rheumatic com- plaint, which has in some measure paralyzed his frame. It happened that the paper fell to the ground. The Empress bade him pick it up. " Helas ! Ma- dame," said be, "il y a vingt annees que je ne me suis courbd!" She would have stooped for it herself, but was too unwieldy : he was accordingly obliged to ring the bell for the purpose; and the groom of the chambers, on entering, found her Imperial Majesty in a violent fit of laughter.

A RETORT TO AN EMPEROR.

All the Poles were presented to Joseph on his return from Russia—that is to say, those whose property was included in his share of Poland ; (after the dismemberment.) Most of them were dressed in the French fashion, and ac- quitted themselves respectfully of their homage. A few were in the Polish habit ; among the rest an old man, grave, sullen, and backward. Perceiving that he did not approach, the Emperor went up to him, addressing him in a courteous manner. The Pole remained sulky and shy. Joseph asked if he amused himself at Vienna. " Very little," was the reply. " I wonder at that," said the Emperor, good-humouredly, "for there never were such a vast number apses countrymen here as there are at this moment." " Nay," said the Pole, " I have heard that about a hundred years ago Vienna was filled with Poles !" The Emperor, who tells- this story himself, declares he was quite confounded at this speech, and totally unable to say another word ; but he was so pleased with the man's boldness and amor patrin, that he felt almost inclined to shake hands with him.

Those who have read the narratives of such travellers as visited Naples before the French Revolution came to terrify, and purify after a fashion, are aware that morals were at a very low ebb ; but one would hardly have suspected the public way in which matters were carried on.

ROYAL SPOUSES.

Ill-natured people say the Queen's gallantries are numerous, and that her confidante was the Dutchess of San Severo, whose husband was at one time a great favourite with the King. For some unknown reasons, the Queen has had a quarrel with the Dutchess, who, to revenge herself, persuaded her husband to inform his Majesty of his wife's conduct, upon promise of his never divulging the name of his informer. The King, who was just then worried to death by the Queen's real or affected jealousies, was quite enchanted with this discovery, and could not help telling her of it the first time she upbraided him with go- ing astray. This attack made her furious, and she never rested till she learned from him the name of the person who had given him this information. The Duke of San Severo was banished from Naples; and his vexation brought on a fever, of which he died.

The King once carried his jokes so far, as at a grand supper at Posilipo to take Guarini (a favourite) by the hand, and bring him up from the end of the table to the seat next the Queen, saying that was his place: she boiled with anger, but was forced to swallow the affront ; and, as soon as she could,. had him removed to Turin ; there furnished a house for him, and gave him a magnificent set of porcelain, which she had received as a present from the Em- peror, besides a very fine diamond star and cross. Her present favourite is an officer in the Guards, son of the late Prince of Marrico. They are much to- gether at the masquerades, &c. She is only allowed 50,000 ducats a year for every expense, therefore cannot be very generous.

AN AMBASSADOR TO A QUEEN.

Madame Camp sn informed me of the Queen of Naples having been delivered of a dead child, in consequence of the Spanish Minister's language to her, by orders of his master. He accused her of having General Acton for her lover : to which she answered, " I will have his picture drawn by the beat painter in Italy, and his bust made by the best sculptor, and both sent to the King of Spain, who may judge whether his is a figure for a woman to fall in love with." " Oh, Madam," replied the insolent Don, " my master has lived long enough to know there is no answering for the caprices of des dames galantes.'

Thus far we have endeavoured to convey some idea of definite subjects. We will now string together a few miscellaneous anec- dotes.

WILKES.

The other day at a dinner, in company with the Prince of Wales, Wilkes being called upon for a toast, gave " The King, and long life to him !" " Since- when have you become so loyal, Wilkes ?" said the Prince, laughing. " Ever since I have had the honour of knowing your Royal Highness," said he, with a respectful bow.

When the Prince was a little boy, having been very troublesome in his father's room, and several times turned out of it by him, he returned at last, and thrusting his head into the doorway, screamed out, "Wilkes and Liberty!" Wilkes told me that Churchill had sold to George Kearcdey twelve sermons for five hundred pounds, and that he had only nine to produce : the bookseller would not pay the money unless the number was complete ; so Wilkes himself composed the three wanting ; which were so much superior, (for Churchill wrote bad prose,) that he was afraid they would be found out not to be by the same author as the other nine.

When Churchill was dying at Boulogne, two Capuchins insisted upon seeing and exhorting him ; which Wilkes daily refused. At last he persuaded them to depart, by hinting the danger they would rim of being perverted by the sick man, who was a divine, and one of the most eloquent of the Church of England,

A COURTIER'S PLAN OF ADVANCEMENT.

The King [Louis the Sixteenth] walks out early every morning in a great- coat. He is very much attached to his wife. The Duc de Fronsac, son of the Mardchal de Richelieu, kept the little Zaccari of the Opera. One night he heard the King, who seldom takes notice of any thing, praise her very much. This raised ideas in his head of making her mistress to his Majesty, and thereby building favour and power for himself. In pursuance of this scheme, he, as gentleman of the bedchamber, contrived to place her in the King's way; and as H. M. passed, " La voila, Sire, la petite Zaccari." Louis turned to him with scorn, and exclaimed, " Allez, Fronsac ! l'ou volt Bien de qui vous etes fils."

AN IMPUDENT COURTIER.

When Madame d'Osmond was to be presented to the Queen, her shoemaker- disappointed her of her shoes ; which Leonard the hairdresser told the Queen; upon which she was so good as to send her a pair of hers. Upon her presenta- tion, her Majesty inquired if the shoes fitted her well ; and before she could give an answer, the old Count d'Osmond, who was close behind, said in a loud whisper to her, " Dites gulls sont trop petits."

A MISTRESS ON A MONARCH.

Madame de Pompadour once said to the Duke de Choisseul, "Je voudrais etre morte ! si vous saviez ce que c'est que d'etre obligee d'amuser toujours ua bete qui eennuie."

FOX ON ERSKINE.

Erskine the lawyer having joked too severely upon the poverty of his party, the Buffs and Blues sent him to Coventry : but upon proper repentance he was again received into the set ; and asked Mr. Fox if, having now made every necessary concession, he might not hope to regain once more the confidence of the party. "My dear fellow," answered Fox, " your own confidence is enough to satisfy any man ; what can you want with any more ? "

- There are better, or at least profounder things in the volumes, than any we have quoted—sensible reflections on men and affairs, with some criticism on literature and the arts. Several of the letters, too, have an autobiographical character: and from this class we will take one extract, describing the writer's feelings on the death by shipwreck of his only son. He is writing to his wife. "I must write, though I have nothing to say, except that your gentle soothing letter has in some measure calmed my agitated mind. That you are resigned to the will of the Almighty, 1 thank him ; and I will hope that time will teach me to be patient and devout like you. " If Pelham would but get into office, and give me something to do, it might be an occupation, if not an amusement to me now. I could post the ledger of an apothecary or a haberdasher ; I could feed pigs, or dip a water-dog; but I cannot sit down to my own business without pains in my head and eyes that overcome me in a moment. I cannot draw, I cannot compose, or revise my old MSS., from physical as well as moral causes; and I see no end to my misery. " The papers inform you of all that passes, for I cannot bring myself to have the attention necessary for the perusal of a newspaper. " I will write to Minasi; but his correspondence ceases to give me pleasure, for the subjects be treats of no longer interest me; indeed, man delights not me, nor woman either.' The only idea I can form now, not of happiness but of quiet existence, is to sit by your side all the time my health and duties do t of require absence." Mr. Warm, the writer of an account of the Belgian Revolution, has seen these volumes through the press, and prefixed a Life of Mr. SWINBURNE, which tells little more than the Letters them- selves. He has also added some notes to the correspond- ence, which have sometimes a relation to the text and sometimes none. Mr. WHITE, however, is scarcely the person to edite Mr. SWINBURNE. For example, the latter met at Paris, in 1787, a Madame de la VALUERS, whom he describes as having been in her youth a person of intrigue : his editor considers the censure uncharitable,—confounding this lady, of some seventy years, with the mistress of Louis the Fourteenth, who would have been very much on the wrong side of a hundred. In the case of a new edition of the volumes, we think they would be improved by a judicious omission of mere personal matters, or descriptions of places that have no particular interest.