The Elgin Affair: The True Story of the Greatest Theft in History
256
The Elgin Affair: The True Story of the Greatest Theft in History
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Overview
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781628721805 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Arcade |
| Publication date: | 10/01/2011 |
| Sold by: | SIMON & SCHUSTER |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 256 |
| File size: | 4 MB |
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CHAPTER 1
Part 1
Sicily
THE SICILIAN SKY was on fire when HMS Phaeton dropped anchor off Palermo at noon. Inside the stifling bowels of the frigate's only stateroom, the young bride trickled more vinegar into her silk handkerchief and dabbed it weakly over her face and wrists. A glass of Portuguese brandy lay untouched on the small oak table beside the bunk where her husband had placed it before leaving the cabin earlier that morning. She had been stricken by the sea from the very moment she stepped on board the Phaeton at Portsmouth. "A fortnight in Lisbon offered no relief, nor the vinegar now." Indeed, its obnoxious fumes augmented her misery, and in desperation she fled once again to her beloved Archerfield, forcing her tortured brain to conjure a picture of peaceful Scottish woods protecting her father's house from the western wind as fields of autumn grass frolicked along the golden sands of Aberlady Bay. In her wildest dreams, she still found it hard to believe that she was the wife of Thomas Bruce, seventh earl of Elgin and eleventh of Kincardine.
Lord Elgin was born on July 20, 1766, of noble and ancient ancestry. The Bruce name of Culross in the kingdom of Fife was traced directly from Robert de Brus, a knight of Normandy, who accompanied William the Conqueror into England. From this same lineage was born the famous Robert the Bruce, first king of Scotland (1306-1329), whose heart is buried in Melrose Abbey, and whose sword still hangs at Broomhall, the palatial estate of the Elgin family. Lord Elgin's mother was in particular favor at court as the countess of Elgin and was governess at one time to the young princess Charlotte of Wales, the only daughter of George IV.
Elgin inherited the earldom in his boyhood. After an education at Harrow, Westminster, Saint Andrew's, and Paris, he was commissioned an ensign in the Foot Guards, passing swiftly through the lower ranks, and eventually was given command of his own regiment, the Elgin Highland Fencibles. He was elected to the House of Lords in 1790, and the next year, at the age of twenty-five, was granted his first diplomatic assignment by Britain's prime minister William Pitt. It came at short notice, and within twenty-four hours Elgin set off for Vienna as envoy extraordinary to the newly crowned emperor Leopold II.
For almost a year, he accompanied Leopold on long trips to the Austrian territories in Italy and tried repeatedly to persuade the emperor to bring Austria into alliance with England. Although his long months of labor and dedication proved unsuccessful, Elgin nevertheless managed to establish a sound diplomatic reputation and was subsequendy rewarded by Lord William Wyndham Grenville, Britain's foreign secretary, with a second appointment: envoy to Brussels, where he remained for two years, mosdy as a liaison officer between the Belgian and Austrian armies. Henry Dundas, who for many years had regulated all the parliamentary elections in Scodand and was instrumental in getting Elgin elected to the House of Lords, once again came to Elgin's assistance and wrote a strong letter of recommendation to Lord Grenville:
Although not very rich, he is easy in his circumstances and would not with a view to emolument alone wish for employment. But if he can be creditably to himself employed in the public service, it would give him pleasure to be so. He thinks himself perfectly safe in that respect in the hands of the present government. He will never urge you to anything; nor will he ever bring forward any pretentions, but you will at any time find him ready to obey any call made upon the grounds I have stated.
Elgin was assigned to the court of Prussia at Berlin, and as British minister plenipotentiary he became involved for the first time in his life with the many intrigues of foreign diplomacy, which he found distasteful. Furthermore, as a gentleman nurtured in the old school, he was firmly entrenched in outdated principles and old-fashioned conceptions of honor and tradition. He was far from naive, however, and although he remained in Berlin until his thirty-second year without being married, he was by no means unacceptable to women. A steady visitor to the embassy house at Berlin was a certain "fair favourite, Madame Ferchenbeck," but nothing came of the relationship, and Elgin returned to England in 1798, stopping first at the office of the foreign secretary before continuing to Brighton for a well-earned holiday.
A few days later, while dancing with the princess Augusta at a ball given by the fleet at Weymouth, Elgin was drawn aside by King George III and told that he should apply at once for the post of ambassador to Turkey, but with the stipulation that he find himself a wife, since his prolonged bachelorhood was considered a distinct disadvantage for an ambassador, particularly in the Levant.
There were countless young ladies on both sides of the firth, attractive and of sound family fortune, but Elgin chose Mary Nisbet, who lived in Dirleton, a small village ten miles east of Edinburgh. William Nisbet's estates brought in eighteen thousand pounds annually, and Elgin certainly was aware of this when he made his heralded appearance at Archerfield, the Nisbet home, on the raw morning of March 11. It was not an easy victory for him. William Nisbet did not favor the discrepancy in age; his daughter was only twenty-one and Elgin thirty-three. Aside from this, some of Edinburgh's wealthiest young men had already expressed their desire to marry his only child. Furthermore, he also knew that Elgin had recently incurred heavy debts restoring Broomhall. Nevertheless, he was attracted by the idea of marrying his daughter to a member of the nobility, and he gave his consent.
Soon after Elgin's application for ambassador was accepted, he selected a sizable staff for his embassy. The men were youthful, well qualified, and dedicated. Foremost among them was Professor Joseph Dacre Carlyle, who previously held the chair in Arabic at Cambridge. He had just turned thirty-nine and already had several important books published. He also had a weakness for poetry and "kept beleaguering everyone on the staff with his poor verses." His chief purpose in joining the embassy was to fulfill a sincere desire to convert the natives of Asia and Africa by distributing an Arabic version of the Bible, over which he had labored for several years. Lord Elgin had no objection to this as long as Carlyle was able to fortify the embassy with his knowledge and scholarly achievement.
The Reverend Philip Hunt was twenty-eight and had been for a short time a clergyman under the patronage of Lord Upper Ossory. A meticulous scholar, he could dissect the history of many archaeological sites in Europe and Asia and had a sound knowledge of Greek. The opportunity to join Lord Elgin's embassy excited him:
As the Turks have now made a common cause with us to stop the progress of the French, it has been thought expedient by our court to send a splendid Embassy to Constantinople in order to enter into certain treaties for the mutual advantage of both countries. The Earl of Elgin is appointed Ambassador Extraordinary etc., to the Porte, and by the interest of my worthy and excellent friend, the Reverend Mr. Brand, Rector of Maulden, the situation of chaplain and private secretary to the Ambassador will most probably be filled by me. I have consulted Lord Ossory and my other friends here, and they all concur in describing it as a most brilliant opportunity of improving my mind and laying the foundation of a splendid fortune. I need only add that it is a situation by which the young son of a Nobleman might aspire; that it will be certainly attended with great present advantages and most probably lead to an independent fortune.
Elgin's two other secretarial assistants were both twenty-two. John Morier knew about the East, having been born in Smyrna, where his father was consul. This was his first diplomatic assignment, and he religiously supplied his diary with many details of the voyage, particularly Lord Elgin's coldness of manner and frugality. Even during their first day at sea, Morier noticed
a great indifference on the part of Lord Elgin towards those most immediately dependent upon him. However, part of this can be attributed to His Lordship's chronic indisposition. He suffers constantly from rheumatism and is susceptible to catching cold, which is a deep source of vexation for Her Ladyship. Everyone under employment has very quickly discovered that His Lordship does not intend to pay one penny of the salary agreed upon until the Embassy is closed by order of the government. He has even stood by and allowed all in the party to pay their own expenses and studiously avoids any mention of money.
Elgin's first personal secretary, William Richard Hamilton, was also on his first assignment. He had studied at Oxford and Cambridge, and when his sponsor wrote to Elgin, the letter brimmed with hyperbole: "He has much good sense and great activity of mind. He is industrious and in the highest degree anxious to render himself useful. His manners are most pleasing and his principles perfectly good, so you may use him at once as your companion and your confidant."
Dr. Hector McLean was the embassy physician. "An esteemed medical authority," he was at his wit's end in effecting a cure for Lady Elgin's mai de mer and with great exasperation finally decided that the Phaeton should stop briefly at selected ports of call to afford her some measure of relief. McLean had a weakness for alcohol and confined himself in his compartment throughout most of the voyage.
Lady Elgin unabashedly regarded her husband's desire for the post at Constantinople as vain and senseless. The world was already spinning into the nineteenth century, yet Turkey still remained a barbarous country, her plague-infested towns swelling with harems and dens of hashish. To seek such an embassy at a time when England was at war with Bonaparte seemed even more absurd, but Elgin, refusing to be dissuaded, continually reminded her of Constantinople's ancient beauty and fame, the matchless splendor of Haghia Sophia, the Gardens of Pera, the Bosporus, the seraglio.
But more importantly, Elgin had a deeper reason for seeking the post at Constantinople. From the time he was a young student at Westminster, he had developed a fond affection for art, and especially sculpture. Largely through the influence of Thomas Harrison, the architect he had engaged to restore Broomhall, Elgin learned that the best models of classical art were to be found in Greece, not Rome. Harrison further suggested that while Elgin was at Constantinople he could make periodic visits to Athens, where excellent opportunities for improving his knowledge of Greek sculpture and architecture were agelessly present. Although many publications had been recently written by English and German scholars, Harrison insisted that books could not truly inspire. Far more important were plaster casts of the actual objects, as well as paintings and drawings done in situ under the brilliance of the Grecian sky.
Harrison's words stirred Lord Elgin. It was the opportunity he had long been seeking, the chance to restore the entire position of the fine arts in Great Britain and to improve British architecture, painting, and sculpture. Moreover, classical designs could be used everywhere, even on furniture and household items, and consequently the embassy could very well benefit the whole advancement of the arts in England. It was a grandiose scheme, and immediately after Elgin learned that he had been accepted for this much-desired post, he put his ideas to Lord Grenville. After requesting sufficient money to support such an important undertaking, Elgin furthermore asked for painters, artists, architects, draftsmen, and formatori. These demands, however, exceeded Grenville's authority, and he suggested that Elgin present them in person to the prime minister, Wiliam Pitt. Pitt's response was disheartening: "His Majesty's Government cannot equip your Embassy with such grand ideas. If you choose to embark upon this venture you must do so at your own expense."
Elgin's salary had already been fixed at only six thousand pounds per year. Nevertheless he was determined to carry his scheme forward, and soon the best painters of England offered themselves at Broomhall. First to arrive was the watercolor painter Thomas Girtin. He waited two hours in the great hall before being interviewed, only to learn that Elgin could offer him thirty pounds annually, which was half the salary of an English valet. In addition to his main task as artist of the embassy, Girtin "was also expected to assist Lady Elgin In the decoration of fire screens, worktables, and other household duties requiring artistic knowledge."
Next came Richard and Robert Smirke. Robert was the more famous of the two brothers. At the age of thirteen, he was apprenticed in London to a heraldic painter, and seven years later, he studied in the schools of the Royal Academy. His works were usually small, humorous, graceful, and accomplished in draftsmanship. He also executed many clever and popular book illustrations. With each of the brothers, Elgin was forced to adjust his price, but the basic terms remained unacceptable, and further negotiations broke down.
William Daniell, another artist to be interviewed, was the nephew of the great English painter Thomas Daniell. William had accompanied his uncle on a voyage to India when he was only fourteen, and shortly after this, his many sketches engraved in aquatint had been published. However, he, too, balked at Elgin's terms and reluctantiy refused the proposal.
In the weeks that followed, Elgin had the same results with the rest of the artists that presented themselves at Broomhall. Shortly before embarking on the Phaeton with his young bride, he called upon Benjamin West for advice, and die venerable painter suggested the name of J. M. W. Turner, who was only twenty-four but had already gained stature in London art circles.
Turner seemed quite willing at first, but when Elgin demanded sole possession of all paintings and added that Turner's leisure hours were to be devoted to drawing lessons for Lady Elgin, "the young artist retaliated with a salary demand of four hundred pounds, at which point the interview was brought to a sharp halt by Elgin."
HMS Phaeton had now covered more than half the way to her destination, yet Elgin was still without an artist who would supervise his grand scheme. Seized by a heavy melancholy, he became even crankier with the members of his staff, and although Lady Elgin tried to lift his sagging spirits, she, too, had her own discomfort to consider.
While the Phaeton strained at her anchor, the ship's courier Charles Duff was sent into Palermo to secure lodgings. He returned with the discouraging news that it was impossible to get on shore that night. In the next breath, however, Duff revealed that Sir William Hamilton had learned of their arrival and was offering the use of his house.
At first Lady Elgin balked at the thought of living under the same roof with Lord Nelson's notorious mistress Emma Hamilton, but she had been one whole month on the high seas, confined in a damp cabin that was divided into six insufferable compartments by a hideous green curtain. To make matters worse, not one day had passed without listening to the constant complaints of the Reverend Philip Hunt: "How can I be expected to share this molecular compartment with four other gentlemen? It is twelve feet long, six broad, and six high. It has five beds, thirteen trunks, six basins, hats, dressing gowns, boat cloaks, a cabin-boy brushing our shoes, servants preparing our shaving apparatus, five foul clothes bags, four portmanteaux, brooms, blankets, quilts, an Eighteen-Pounder with carriage tackles, iron crow, balls and grapeshot!"
Despite these annoyances, Hunt managed to perform his ministerial duties on board the Phaeton and also to conduct services on deck every Sunday morning, even in bad weather.
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "The Elgin Affair"
by .
Copyright © 2011 Theodore Vrettos.
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Table of Contents
Author's Note,
Acknowledgments,
Principal Characters,
Significant Dates,
Prologue,
PART ONE,
Sicily,
Turkey,
Greece,
Constantinople,
Athens,
PART TWO,
Paris,
Barèges,
Pau,
Scotland,
PART THREE,
The Trial,
Epilogue,
Notes,
Bibliography,
Index,