INTRODUCTORY NOTE
Reading edition
BY THE COLLECTOR OF THE LETTERS
Mary Alsop King Waddington is a daughter of the late Charles King, President of Columbia College in the City of New York from 1849 to 1864, and a granddaughter of Rufus King, the second Minister sent to England by the United States after the adoption of the Constitution.
Miss King was educated in this country. In 1871, after the death of her father, she went, with her mother and sisters, to live in France, and in 1874 became the wife of M. William Henry Waddington.
M. Waddington was born in Normandy, France, in 1826. His grandfather was an Englishman who had established cotton manufactories in France, and had become a naturalised French citizen. The grandson, however, was educated first in a Paris lycée, then at Rugby, and later at Trinity College, Cambridge. As an undergraduate he rowed in the Cambridge boat in the University race of 1849. Soon after leaving the University, M. Waddington returned to France and entered public life. In 1871 he was elected a representative from the Department of the Aisne to the National Assembly, and two years afterward was appointed Minister of Public Instruction in place of M. Jules Simon. In January, 1876, he was elected a senator for the Department of the Aisne, and two months later again became Minister of Public Instruction. In December, 1877, he accepted the portfolio of Minister of Foreign Affairs.
M. Waddington was the first plenipotentiary of France to the Congress of Berlin in 1878. On February 4, 1879, he became President of the Council (Premier), retiring the following December. In the winter of 1879-1880 he refused the offer of the London Embassy. In May, 1883, he was sent as Ambassador-Extraordinary to represent France at the coronation of the Czar Alexander III at Moscow, and upon his return from Russia was appointed Ambassador at the Court of St. James to succeed M. Tissot. He held this post until 1893, and died in Paris in the following year.
Mme. Waddington accompanied her husband on his missions to both England and Russia. The letters collected in this volume were written during the period of her husband's diplomatic service to describe to her sisters the personages and incidents of her official life. About a fourth part of their number have lately been published in Scribner's Magazine; with this exception, the letters are now given to the public for the first time.
Tompkins McIlvaine.
New York, April 1, 1903.
ILLUSTRATIONS
Portrait of Madame Waddington Frontispiece
FACING PAGE
Colonel Benckendorff From a photograph by Bergamasco, St. Petersburg. 34
The Emperor Crowning the Empress. Church de l'Assomption 66
Empress Marie in her Coronation Robes 68
Grand Duc Wladimir From a photograph by Bergamasco, St. Petersburg. 104
M. William Waddington From a copyright photograph by Russell & Son. 142
The French Embassy, Albert Gate, London 168
The Dining-room of the French Embassy, London, Showing its Two Famous Gobelin Tapestries 172
J. J. Jusserand, Counsellor of the French Embassy Recently appointed French Ambassador to the United States. From a photograph by Walery, Paris. 178
The Duchess of Cambridge From a photograph by Walery, London. 180
Windsor Castle 192
M. and Mme. Waddington and Their Son From a photograph by Cesar, Paris. 198
The Salon of the French Embassy in London 210
Lady Salisbury 216
Knowsley Hall The Earl of Derby's place at Prescot, Lancashire. 228
The Late Earl of Derby From a photograph by Franz Baum, London. 232
The Countess Fanny Karolyi, the Austrian Ambassadress From a photograph by Walery, London. 240
Queen Victoria, in the Dress Worn During the State Jubilee Celebration, June 21, 1887 From a photograph, copyright, by Hughes & Mullins, Ryde, England. 250
The Crown Prince Frederick of Germany, in the Uniform Worn by Him at the Jubilee Celebration, London, June, 1887 From a photograph by Loescher & Petsch, Berlin. 254
Comtesse de Florian From a photograph by Walery, London. 262
Group at Hatfield House during the visit of the Shah of Persia, July 8, 1889 From a photograph by Russell & Sons, London. 304
Lord Salisbury From a photograph by Lambert Weston & Son, Dover. 306
A Comedy for Children at the French Embassy From a photograph by Barker & Pragnell, London. 320
The Empress Frederick, Wearing the Order of the Black Eagle The last portrait of the Empress by the artist Angeli. 388
Entrance to the Club and Gardens, Cowes, Isle of Wight From a photograph by Broderick. 392