competent then as they are to-day, they were differently commanded. The generals of the Republic have proved themselves greater, nobler, and more efficient than those of the Second Empire. Those same fifty years have turned our Russian foes into friends, and have also shown us that nation steadily advancing in civilisation and education, and becoming, in more than a political sense, one of the Great Powers. As to the Germans, there was no need for Sir Frederick's opinion to change in that quarter. His dislike and distrust of the Kaiser were profound, and expressed constantly and vehemently. He was convinced that Germany was the enemy of England, and that any expression of goodwill, or a desire for peace, was hypocritical and intended to mislead. He would have followed the fortunes of our splendid sailors and soldiers with deep emotion, and the fact that ten of his great-nephews were engaged in the war, some in the navy and some in both the French and British armies, would have been a source of immense gratification. Two of those great-nephews, grandsons of Captain Giffard of H.M.S. Tiger, and of the sister whose " noble conduct " is referred to in the early Crimean letters, have already gained distinction. One has given his life for his country after being mentioned in dispatches and promoted; the other (his twin), who was severely wounded at Mons, is one of the few survivors of the gallant L Battery of R.A., and has, besides promotion, received the Cross of the Legion d'Honneur.
H. A. P.
January 191 5.
CONTENTS
Introduction. I. Joseph Stephenson II. Sir Benjamin C. Stephenson III. Sir William H, Stephenson IV Sir Frederick C. A. Stephenson
Letters from the Crimea —
Preface.....
The Crimea— 1854-1856
Notes......
Letters from China —
Preface.....
Letters from Egypt —
Preface by Field-Marshal Lord Grenfell Egypt— 1883-1887
Notes.
Appendix I.. Appendix II.. Index.
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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Sir William H. Stephenson, K.C.B.
From an oil painting by George Richmond, R.A.
Frontispiece
Presented to Lady Stephenson, by members of the Board of the Inland Revenue Department, on the retirement of Sir William H. Stephenson, K.C.B., Chairman of the Board, 1866-1877.
Sir Benjamin C. Stephenson, G.C.H. From an oil painting by J. F. Biro.
The Chestnuts
From a photograph.
Sir Frederick C. A. Stephenson, G.C.B.
From an oil sketch by Lady Munro.
THE HAPPY WARRIOR
"Whose high endeavours are an inward light That makes the path before him always bright."
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ATTLEFIELD
Joseph Stephenson
The year 171 3 is the earliest date that can be positively fixed upon in any account of this family of Stephenson. In that year Joseph Stephenson was born in Cumberland, it is believed in Carlisle. He must have been of good family, being recorded as " armiger " on his tombstone in Kensington Churchyard. He appears to have broken from his relations entirely when he came to London, and nothing is known of them, nor much of his own personal history. There is a family tradition that he ran away from home to come to London, but where that home was, or why he ran away from it, his grandchildren had no idea. The only facts that can be verified are that he became President of the Board of Green Cloth (the forerunner of the Board of Works), and married Jane Clifford, by whom he had three sons and four daughters. He died in lySs in the apartments he occupied in Kensington Palace. The apartments continued in the occupation of his widow and of his daughters till the death of the last survivor in 1 8 5 3. None of the daughters married, neither did the youngest son. The eldest son, John, married a daughter of the fifth Viscount Molesworth, and left one son, Ernest, who married Frederica Bevan, but died without issue. The second son, Benjamin Charles, was born in 1766.
Such an excellent account of him was written after his death by his friend Mr. Markland for the Gentleman's Magazine that it will be best to quote it in full. It gives all that the present generation know of his life and habits, for his death occurred when his eldest grandchild now surviving was but eight years old, and all the intervening generation are dead.
Gentleman's Magazine,"
" June 10. — In Bolton Row, Piccadilly, aged 73, Major-General Sir Benjamin Charles Stephenson, G.C.H., one of the Commissioners of Woods and Forests.