The Works of Lord Byron. Vol. 2Byron, George Gordon Byron, Baron
General
The Works of Lord Byron. Vol. 2
Byron, George Gordon Byron, Baron
English poetry
[he] {228} _Or league to teach their kings_----.--[MS.]
[290] [The most vivid and the best authenticated account of the Duchess
of Richmond's ball, which took place June 15, the eve of the Battle of
Quatrebras, in the duke's house in the Rue de la Blanchisserie, is to be
found in Lady de Ros's (Lady Georgiana Lennox) _Personal Recollections
of the Great Duke of Wellington_, which appeared first in _Murray's
Magazine_, January and February, 1889, and were republished as _A Sketch
of the Life of Georgiana, Lady de Ros_, by her daughter, the Hon. Mrs.
J. R. Swinton (John Murray, 1893). "My mother's now famous ball," writes
Lady de Ros (_A Sketch, etc._, pp. 122, 123), "took place in a large
room on the ground-floor on the left of the entrance, connected with the
rest of the house by an ante-room. It had been used by the coachbuilder,
from whom the house was hired, to put carriages in, but it was papered
before we came there; and I recollect the paper--a trellis pattern with
roses.... When the duke arrived, rather late, at the ball, I was
dancing, but at once went up to him to ask about the rumours. 'Yes, they
are true; we are off to-morrow.' This terrible news was circulated
directly, and while some of the officers hurried away, others remained
at the ball, and actually had not time to change their clothes, but
fought in evening costume."]
[hf] {229}
_The lamps shone on lovely dames and gallant men_.--[MS.]
_The lamps shone on ladies_----.--[MS. erased.]
[hg] {230} _With a slow deep and dread-inspiring roar_.--[MS. erased.]
[hh]
_Arm! arm, and out! it is the opening cannon's roar_.--[MS.]
_Arm--arm--and out--it is--the cannon's opening roar_.--[C.]
[291] [Frederick William, Duke of Brunswick (1771-1815), brother to
Caroline, Princess of Wales, and nephew of George III., fighting at
Quatrebras in the front of the line, "fell almost in the beginning of
the battle." His father, Charles William Ferdinand, born 1735, the
author of the fatal manifesto against the army of the French Republic
(July 15, 1792), was killed at Auerbach, October 14, 1806. In the plan
of the Duke of Richmond's house, which Lady de Ros published in her
_Recollections_, the actual spot is marked (the door of the ante-room
leading to the ball-room) where Lady Georgiana Lennox took leave of the
Duke of Brunswick. "It was a dreadful evening," she writes, "taking
leave of friends and acquaintances, many never to be seen again. The
Duke of Brunswick, as he took leave of me ... made me a civil speech as
to the Brunswickers being sure to distinguish themselves after 'the
honour' done them by my having accompanied the Duke of Wellington to
their review! I remember being quite provoked with poor Lord Hay, a
dashing, merry youth, full of military ardour, whom I knew very well,
for his delight at the idea of going into action ... and the first news
we had on the 16th was that he and the Duke of Brunswick were
killed."--_A Sketch, etc._, pp. 132, 133.]
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