The excellent training of 'Uncle Eliot' during the dull winter evenings made the winter holidays a real joy; we rehearsed and acted in the Gallery, originally built to hold the Harleian Manuscripts, and divided by columns into three parts, making an admirable theatre and a handsome proscenium. On one great occasion we had Frank Matthews as prompter, and we none of us forget seeing him initiate Lady Agneta in the art of making a stage kiss. Oh! how we laughed. He cried so much during the performance that he prompted badly; but perhaps the dear man was touched by the family talent! A letter from Tom Taylor recommending plays suitable for our company will be read with interest.
* * * * *
'There is a play called "Hearts are Trumps" which I think would suit your friends, from what you tell me of their troupe and requirements. We played a piece at Canterbury called "Palace and Prison" adapted by Simpson from "La Main gauche et la main droite" which, as far as I remember, is unobjectionable. I think Palgrave Simpson had it printed, though I do not think it has been acted in London. My little comedietta "Nine Points of the Law" is free from all critical situations and language, but perhaps Mr. Sterling's part may be too old for your jeune premier.
'There is a piece called the "Secret Agent" well suited to drawing-room theatricals; you might look at it. "You can't marry your Grandmother" is a good one-act piece, free from objectionable situation and dialogue. See also "Time tries all," "A Match in the Dark," and "Kill or Cure."
'Ever yours truly,
'TOM TAYLOR.'
* * * * *
In 1857 the Wimpole Theatre reopened with the same company and gave 'Sunshine through the Clouds' and 'Only a Halfpenny'; and in 1860 for the last time with 'The Jacobite' by Planche; a scene from 'King John'; and 'Helping Hands' by Tom Taylor. The last was a beautiful play, but too refined for the ordinary theatre, and consequently did not have the run it deserved.
All these performances were strictly confined to the family, including
the painting of the scenery and the composition of Prologues,
Epilogues, &c. As we said in one of those compositions, 'We are no
London stars; we're all of Yorke.'
While we were play-acting, my father would continue persistently the work of his estate and county. It was his habit to hire his own labourers for the estate and home farm, and these, well and carefully chosen, were secure in their posts from year to year, and loved him. He also made a rule every Saturday of passing elaborate accounts at the estate office with his steward. He dined at Cambridge once a year with all his tenants; never was a landlord more beloved. The old-fashioned harvest home was celebrated in the spacious coachhouse cleared for the occasion; my mother and 'all of us' went down to welcome the labourers and hear my father address them. He settled things in his own way, sometimes differing considerably from ordinary routine, but he was scrupulously just, liberal and kind, with a most attractive sense of humour.
My father had seen and felt acutely the harm raw spirits had done in the Navy. This made him very careful when at Wimpole. According to old custom, beer was brewed twice a year, and he kept the key of the cellar and punctually opened it every morning before breakfast to give out the 'measure' for daily consumption. I remember so well a new butler arriving with a pompous manner and very red nose. Shortly after arrival he was taken ill and retired to his bed for several days, the family doctor from Royston attending him. On his recovery, going into luncheon with us all, my father with his usual courtesy said, 'I hope you are better.' Answer: 'Oh yes, thank you, my Lord, it was only the Change of Beer!'
I remember the average doctor's bill for domestic servants at Wimpole was £100 a year. May I be allowed for once to speak of self? Mine, with a more or less teetotal home, comes on an average to £1; I give extra wages and no strong drink, and this system works admirably, except for the poor Doctors, whom I fear sometimes find their incomes sadly diminished by the Temperance movement!
My father made great additions and improvements at Wimpole House. He found it needing repair, and after releading the extensive roof, he built offices on the left side, and later restored the large conservatory on the right, besides entirely rebuilding the stables, and placing the handsome iron gates at the Arrington entrance. A group of sculpture by Foley in the pediment of the stone porch over the front door greatly improved the centre of the house, which was very flat. In round numbers he spent £100,000 in these improvements. There were twelve reception rooms en suite, including the beautiful chapel painted by Sir James Thornhill, and no sooner had No. 12 been done up than No. 1 began to call out! It was always beginning, never ending.
In 1867 came the first home bereavement, the first heart-breaking loss, from which my father never recovered; he kept to his daily work, but gaiety forsook him, and the trouble no doubt told upon his constitution, which was threatened with a serious form of rheumatic gout, and with gradual heart failure. His beloved third son, Victor Alexander, Queen Victoria's godson, died suddenly whilst assisting at a penny reading at Aston Clinton, the residence of Sir Anthony and Lady de Rothschild, to whom he was devoted. Victor was a lad of great promise; he was in the Horse Artillery, and a bad accident in Canada is supposed to have left some injury to the back of the head and spine. He had been suffering from pains in the head, but was in the highest of spirits the day before he died. An accomplished fellow, fond of music and poetry, he was reading 'The Grandmother' by Tennyson, and at verse three—
Willy my beauty, my eldest born, the flower of the flock,
Never a man could fling him, for Willy stood like a rock'—
he fell forward on his face and never spoke again.
The tenderness and sympathy shown by Sir Anthony and Lady de Rothschild on this occasion made a deep impression on our bereaved hearts. It was quite beyond words, and from it sprang that happy marriage between my brother Eliot Yorke, Equerry to H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh, and Annie de Rothschild, their daughter. It was founded on the truest love, and admiration of great qualities which have stood the test of many years. The marriage took place in Wimpole Church in February 1873.
It was about June in the same year that my father left Wimpole for the last time in an invalid carriage. The fatigue of the journey brought on a severe attack of heart failure, and as he reached his house in Portman Square, we feared it was his last. But not so. A few weeks later he reached his beloved Sydney Lodge, where his room was arranged on the ground floor and a young doctor always in attendance. His patience and fortitude were heroic. Unable to lie down, he sat for weeks in an armchair, supported at night by his two attendants. Nothing could be more sad than to witness his lingering end. Sometimes he rallied sufficiently to be wheeled into the drawing-room and be refreshed by our singing hymns to him in parts. He was a firm believer in Christ, and constantly asked for St. Paul's Epistles to be read to him: 'Read me my St. Paul,' he would say. The conclusions of the great Apostle to the Gentiles as to the divinity of Christ supported him through all his troubles.
His last letter, dated September 7, 1873, was written to his friend Tom
Cocks.
* * * * *
'I send my Banker's Book and beg you will return it made up with a balance. I am a dying man, and shall be glad when it pleases God to call me home.
'Yours truly, my dear Cocks,
'HARDWICKE.'
* * * * *
On September 17 he expired at Sydney Lodge, Hamble, conscious to the last, and was laid to rest in the family vault at Wimpole. These lines, 'to his beloved memory,' were written by his widow and engraved on a stone cross erected in the grounds of Sydney Lodge overlooking the Southampton Water:
'To thee, the fondly loved one I deplore,
I dedicate this spot for evermore.
Here, 'neath the shade of spreading beech, we sought
Some brief distraction to overburdened thought,
Some balm for pain, immunity from care,
To lift thy soul and for its flight prepare.
Here forest glade and wat'ry flood combine,
To stamp on nature the impress divine;
The sluggish murmur of retiring tide
Whispers "Much longer thou can'st not abide";
The trembling light of sun's retreating ray
Suggests th' effulgence of more perfect day,
And soothing warblers of the feathered tribe
Hymning their orisons at eventide,
Point to the "Sun of righteousness which springs,"
Saviour of souls, "with healing in its wings."
Hallowed by sacred musings be this ground
Where last we sat, and consolation found.
Brief be the space which binds me here below,
Thy spirit fled, all life has lost its glow.'
INDEX
Abercromby, Sir W.
Addington, Rt. Hon. Henry
Algiers, Dey of; expedition against;
Bombardment of; slaves released
Anaguasti
Ancestry
Anson, Mr.
Asarta, General
Avezzana
Barbary pirates
Baring, Sir Francis
Berlin
Bermuda
Bernadotte
Bevan, Lady Agneta
Brisbane, Captain
Bute, Lord
Byron, Lord; 'Maid of Athens'
Cambridge, Duchess of, and
Princess Mary
Camden, Lord
Campbell, Lord
Canea
Capellan, Admiral von der
Capo d'lstria
Carlo Felice
Cavour
Charles Albert
Chrisaphopulo
Clanricarde, Marchioness of
Clarendon, Earl of
Cochrane, Lord
Cocks, Margaret (Lady Hardwicke)
Coleotronis
Corfu
Corn Laws, repeal of
Croker, J. W.
Dantzig
D'Azeglio
De Launay, General
Derby, Earl of
Devonshire, Duke of
Disraeli, Mr.
Dover, Lord
Druses, the
Dundas, Capt.
Exmouth, Admiral Viscount
Fox, Henry
Garibaldi
Garrick
Genoa
George III
Gladstone, Mr.
Grafton, Duke of
Graham, Sir James
Greek Committee, the
Grey, Marchioness
Hamburg Hardwicke, first Earl of Lord Chancellor character as a judge political influence marriage and children ———second Earl of ———third Earl of Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland ———Charles Philip, fourth Earl of, birth, education, enters navy first ships letters from Mediterranean visits Genoa joins Queen Charlotte, Lord Exmouth's flagship letter commands gunboat at bombardment of Algiers sails for Halifax Crazy Jane sloop letters from Halifax lieutenant commander anecdotes of commands Alacrity in Mediterranean, mission to suppress Greek piracy at Malta Corfu Gibraltar visits Lord Byron the 'Green Bag,' at Smyrna massacre at Psara visit to Pasha opinion of the Greek Committee Odysseus visit to Ali Bey at Magnesia Ephesus Malta again Beirut Sidon visits Lady Hester Stanhope account of Tyre goes to Alexandria and Cairo holiday in Sweden and Norway: Kiel Copenhagen Gottenborg, incident at Christiania the Storthing dinner with Bernadotte the Doverfeld Trondhjem Diet at Stockholm conversation with Bernadotte desire for active service returns to Mediterranean in Alligator diplomatic duties in connection with Greek settlement chases pirate Macri Georgio proceeds to Crete grief at leaving Alligator voyage home; Reform question Sir Joseph Yorke's death his last letter elected M.P. for Reigate for Cambridgeshire marriage succeeds to Earldom country gentleman President of the Agricultural Society Lord-Lieutenant Lord-in-Waiting attends on King of Prussia visit to fire at Hamburg Berlin and Sans Souci goes with King to Court of St. Petersburg, Dantzig Cronstadt impressions of Emperor of Russia and Russian Royal Family Peterhof and Court life at St. Petersburg review of military cadets takes leave of Emperor at Erdmansdorf with King of Prussia and Konigsberg Marienberg Dresden pictures Dresden fair Sans Souci attends Emperor of Russia in England the Queen and Prince Consort visit Wimpole Her Majesty's opinion of him Wimpole cheese for King Louis Philippe correspondence with Sir R. Peel attitude on repeal of Corn Laws resigns Court appointment relations with Mr. Disraeli wish for naval employment Mr. Croker's opinion appointed to command the Vengeance under Sir W. Parker; ordered to Leghorn his instructions at Genoa letters to Lady Hardwicke describing his action during the Genoese crisis letters commending his conduct in having saved Genoa from pillage and ruin from La Marmora, Syndic of Genoa, Sir W. Parker, Lord Palmerston, &c. but official approval somewhat grudging joins Lord Derby's Cabinet as Postmaster-General applies for command in the Baltic under Sir C. Napier refusal controversy with Sir James Graham Lord Privy Seal in Lord Derby's second Cabinet Chairman of Royal Commission on manning of the Navy King of Italy's medal life at Wimpole evening amusements and society music and theatricals estate work improvements at Wimpole death of Hon. Victor Yorke marriage of Hon. Eliot Yorke his own illness and death at Sydney Lodge Hardwicke, seventh Earl of ———Countess of, Margaret. See Cocks. ———Countess of, Susan. See Liddell. Hotham, Sir H. Hurd Hydra Hypsilantes, Prince Alexander
Independence, War of
Ismail Pacha
Italian unity, movement for
Karabusa in Crete
Keppel, Admiral
Königsberg
La Marmora, General
Liddell, Hon. Susan (Countess of Hardwicke)
Liverpool, Earl of
Magnesia
Maitland, Sir T.
Mansfield, Lord
Marienberg
Masséna
Matthews
Mavrocordato
Mazzini
Mecklenburg Schwerin, Duke of
Mehemet Ali
Melbourne, Viscount
Miaoulis, Admiral
Milne, Sir D.
Missolonghi
Montesquieu
Morden, Barony
Napier, Sir C.
Nauplia
Navarino
Nelson, Lord
Newcastle, Duke of
Nore, mutiny at the
Normanby, Marquis of
Novara, battle of
Odysseus, the Chief
Otho, King
Oxford, Harley, Earls of
Palmerston, Viscount
Parker, Sir W.
Peel, Sir R.
Perceval, Rt. Hon. Spencer
Pitt, William (Lord Chatham)
Pitt, William
Plumptre
Prince Consort
Prior
Prussia, King of
Psara
Rattray, Elizabeth Weake (Lady Yorke)
Reform Bill
Rockingham, Lord
Rodney, Lord
Rothschild, Sir A. and Lady de
Royston, Lord
Russell, Lord John
Russia, Emperor of (Nicholas I)
Sadowa, battle of
St. Germans, Countess of
Schetky, John Christian
Smyrna
Somers, Lord Chancellor
Stanhope, Lady Hester
Stanhope, Col. Leicester
Stanislas, King of Poland
Stanley, Lord. See Earl of Derby
Sydney Lodge
Taylor, Tom
Trevelyan, Sir George's 'Life of Fox'
Tyre
Victor, Emmanuel I
Victor, Emmanuel II
Victoria, Queen
Warburton, Bishop of Gloucester
Watson, Dr.
Wellington, Duke of
Wilkes, John
Wilmot, Lord Justice
Wimpole
Yorke, Lady Agneta
———Agneta (Hon. Mrs. Charles)
———Hon. Alexander G.
———Archdeacon
———Hon. Charles (second Chancellor)
———Rt. Hon. Charles Philip, M.P.
———Hon. Eliot
———Lady Elizabeth
———Hon. Grantham (Dean of Worcester)
———James, Bishop of Ely
———Hon. John
———Hon. Sir Joseph (Lord Dover)
———Admiral Sir Joseph Sydney, K.C.B.
———Hon. Victor A.
Yorkes of Forthampton
———of Hannington