Letter from Spencer Compton Cavendish to William Cavendish, 2nd Earl of Burlington

SCC writes to his father that nothing has happened in the last fortnight and he will not be sorry to leave as not much is happening. He wishes to sail as soon as possible but also wishes to see the trip to its conclusion. He writes that there has been a variety of functions since the coronation such as balls, reviews and hunts. He reports that there have been two state balls at the Kremlin. SCC describes the first ball as "splendid" with two thousand people attending and supper for everyone. He writes that there were reported to be twenty thousand people that attended but he does not believe there were that many. He recounts that there were people in their national costumes. SCC writes that all the balls have been successful even though the Russians are "said to hate us." He informs his father that there was a great sham fight between two armies where each army covered two miles and the battle took place over five or six miles of country. SCC writes that there were two hunts. At the first hunt, he describes that it was a little quiet one to show the imperial dogs and hawks. He describes the second hunt as a "curious performance" by the Tsar Alexander II of Russia. He reports that the dinner for the people was a "failure" with "nasty looking sheep roasted whole". He writes that they went to see the dinner at midday but they all they saw was the people making off with the furniture. He believes that the Emperor was said to be furious as he wanted to show that his people are orderly. On 25 September, SCC writes that he does not think the Russians like them even though they seem cordial and he has not made any Russian friends. He reports that the British embassy group have all "gone on in tolerable peace and amity internally" since his last letter and they are now split into two factions but SCC gets on with both sides. Sent from: Moscow, date stamped 24 Sept.

Arranged in accordance with ISAD(G): General International Standard Archival Description, Second Edition, Ottawa 2000 and The Devonshire Collection Cataloguing Guidelines.

Copyright held by Chatsworth House Trust.