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In 1850, Rev. Artemas Bullard, Jr. traveled to Europe, with his accomplished wife Anne Tuttle Jones Bullard, to serve as a delegate at the International Peace Congress in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. The couple spent six months traveling in Europe. She wrote letters to the Missouri Republican back home in St. Louis, Missouri, which were later published as Sights and Scenes in Europe: A Series of Letters From England, France, Germany, Switzerland and Italy, in 1850 (1852), which she dedicated “to the ladies of the First Presbyterian Church, St. Louis, Mo.”
There are interesting literary connections to the Bullard family. Anne herself was a gifted writer who often published under pseudonyms. Her husband’s younger sister, Eunice Bullard, married the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher (both Eunice and Henry were noted writers), which meant that Anne also had family ties to Harriet Beecher Stowe. And, further, the Rev. Henry Bullard (son of Artemus and Anne), was a fellow transatlantic passenger with Mark Twain. It has been noted before that Anne’s Sights and Scenes in Europe bears a similarity to Twain’s Innocents Abroad (1869), inspired certainly by the 1867 voyage, but perhaps Anne’s 1852 book was known to him, since Twain also was from St. Louis and it is thought that he had heard Artemas preach (before Artemas died in 1855 during the Gasconade Bridge train disaster).
One little snapshot of the Bullards’ trip through Europe has to do with the day that Mrs. Bullard was an invited guest for a speech given by Queen Victoria to the House of Lords in London on August 15, 1850. A Mr. R . Cobden procured for her admission to the one of the most-sought after seats in the city (she writes: “A ticket of admission is obtained only from the Lord Chamberlain through a Peer”).
Mrs. Bullard’s ticket of admission to hear Queen Victoria’s speech.
Mrs. Bullard’s description of the event takes up many pages (see Letter No. IV), but we can glean how momentous the occasion was from this extract:
The streets were lined with people to see the Queen pass. I understood it is three years since she has prorogued Parliament in person. Temporary seats, three tiers or more, were built up on each side, for which some persons paid three shillings (or seventy-five cents) each.
No gentlemen are admitted to the floor of the House of Lords except peers, Bishops, and Ambassadors, and there are seats for only about two hundred ladies. It was announced that the Queen would arrive at 2 o’clock, and to be in season I took a carriage at half-past eleven. There were about fifteen carriages in advance of mine, and as the House was not opened until 12 o’clock, the ladies must of course sit in their carriages until their turn came to be admitted. Precisely at twelve the door was opened, and when all the carriages before me were emptied and my turn came, I was allowed to pass in, but without the escort of any gentleman. Only about thirty ladies were seated before me, and I was shown one of the most desirable places for observation in the room, near the Queen, and for two hours and a half I had an admirable opportunity to scan the novel scenes before me.
The House of Lords is a most gorgeous place. The ceiling is magnificently gilded in raised figures, and the galleries are formed of very open iron-work, also gilded. The Queen’s throne, or chair of State, her canopy &c., have also all the appearance of the most elegant carved work, covered with gold. The seats, arranged lengthwise of the room in four rows, were without backs and covered with crimson morocco. One of the most beautiful young ladies in the rooms [was] at my right hand, and, very fortunately for me, she was agreeable and communicative, and pointed out many persons of rank, whom I could not have recognized but for her politeness. In answer to one of my inquiries, whether such a lady was a Peeress, my companion replied, “Oh, yes, we are all Peeresses, you know.” I smiled, but did not undeceive her, thinking as it was the first and last time I should ever pass for a Peeress, I would enjoy my rank.
She went on to enjoy the privilege of hearing Queen Victoria’s speech, which was a rare opportunity for the wife of an American Presbyterian minister. For the full story, see her account, and read about her other experiences in Europe, here. Peeress for a day!
