NOTES AND QUERIES. [ii s. xn. JULY 3, 1915.
his whole family at half past four in the
morning, not a soul having been in bed, and
all of them considering Bonaparte as all but
in Brussels. They had ordered horses at
four, which, it seemed, had not come. The
Guards marched at four the same morning,
and Russell had called the last thing before
marching for the chance of finding a servant
up to get his sword or something that he had
left a day or two before. In the course of a
day or two we learned that Bonaparte had
never quitted Paris, and that the report had
been treacherously spread for the purpose
of making Louis quit Lille. The best of the
joke is that four or five days afterwards
Lord Waterpark sent over a lady, his sister-
in-law, disguised in a French costume and
travelling in a carriage of the country, for
the purpose of ascertaining in whose
possession Brussels was, whether Boney was
here, and what chance Lord Waterpark had
of recovering certain heavy packages he had
left behind. This lady was recognized,
notwithstanding her disguise, in a shop by
one of the Ladies L., and was obliged to
confess the object of her mission, and
expressed surprise that any English persons
were found still at large in this town. We
are all packed up and ready to start at a
moment's warning, but I should not be at all
surprised at the Duke's refining a little too
much, for he is very sanguine, expecting the
success of the Allies, and, in short, of all of
us being made prisoners should the great
Emperor make a dash at Belgium. Bona-
parte said a few days ago : " Je ^plains
beaucoup pour ces bons Bourbons." We
have had most of the branches of the royal
family scampering through Belgium without
daring to look behind them.. They certainly
have behaved in the most cowardly manner
except the king, and he is little better than
the rest. Had some individual shown spirit
enough *, fall in the cause, there might have
been a " civil { war." Lord Wellington [sic] is
appointed General-in-Chief of the English,
Prussians, Dutch, and Hanoverians, and is
expected here daily ....
II.
[To his sisters.]
Brnxelle?, April 11, 1815. ... . .The Duke of Wellington arrived here on the 4th, after having travelled near 700 miles in seven days, at least I believe it is about that distance from Vienna to Brux- elles. He dined here on Thursday the 6th You may conceive the pleasure it gave me to find myself at the same table with such a
man as he is. The company consisted of
the Hereditary Prince General, Lord Hill,
Lord W.'s second in command, Sir Charles
Stewart, Ambassador at this Court, Hon.
Charles Gordon,* Secretary of Legation, his
Brother Col. Sir Alexander Gordon. Col.
Bourg, aides-de-camp to the Duke, the Duke
and Duchess of Richmond, two Lady
Lennoxes, Lord March, and your humble
servant. Upon numbering them up to make
up the fourteen. I find I have omitted Mr.
apel, a man who holds some high, office in
- he Prince's household, and wears the royal
ivery, red cuffs and collar. The Duke of Wellington was in the highest spirits, full of r un and drollery, and made himself the life and soul of the company. When the ladies retired he engrossed the whole of the con- versation, and told many interesting anec- dotes of Bonaparte and his campaigns, which he had heard from some of the French Marshals during his residence in Paris. No source can be more authentic, and every one istened to him with the greatest interest. The day happened to be the anniversary of Badajos, and you may be sure this was not forgotten by the Duke of Richmond.
The Duke appears to unite those two xtremes of character which Shakespeare gives to Henry V., the hero and the trifler. You may conceive him at one moment commanding the Allied armies in Spain, and at another sprawling on his back or on all fours upon the carpet, playing with a child. His judgement is so intuitive that instant decision follows perception, and consequently, as nothing dwells for a moment on his mind, he is enabled to get through an infinity of business without ever being embarrassed by it or otherwise than perfectly at his ease. In the drawing-room before dinner he was playing with the children, who seemed to look up to him as to one on whom they might depend for amusement, and when dinner was announced, they quitted him with great regret, saying, " Be sure you remember to send for us the moment dinner is over," which he promised he would do and was as good as his word. During the latter part of his residence at Paris that impatience of rest and love of active life, which most
- Col. the Hon. Sir Alexander Gordon, K.C.B.,
and Col. the Hon. Sir Charles Gordon were the third and fourth sons respectively of George, Lord Haddo (1764-91), who predeceased his father, the third Earl of Aberdeen. The former was a Lieutenant- Colonel and A.D.C. to his uncle, Sir David Baird, and later to the Duke of Wellington. He died of wounds received at Waterloo. See post, Letter IV. The Hon. Sir Charles Gordon was Lieutenant- Colonel of the 42nd Highlanders, and died in 1835,
