Part 2

There have been a few newcomers every day; Mr. Newbolt came over to see us. Yesterday Mr. Wingfield,[15] who married Ld. Digby’s sister, arrived. He is like Archibald Hamilton, who, by-the-bye, is now become Ld. A. H.,[16] in person, and unfortunately, in manner resembles Mr. Chaplin,[17] the same precise, deliberate way of speaking.

Since I have been here I have read a _Life of Voltaire_, written, I believe, by Condorcet. It proves what I was not at all aware of--that Voltaire was really persecuted for his freedom of opinions, and that a timely escape and concealment was necessary to save his liberty at different periods. Absurd and unjust as most of the attacks are against _philosophy_, as it is called, one must admit that those free principles and the spirit of investigation which pervades all Voltaire’s writings, tended very much to induce people to attempt eradicating prejudices and making reforms before they had well examined into the abuses or prepared a remedy against them. It is without an example in the records of mankind that a single man, unaided by the fanaticism of religious superstition, should have produced such a change in the sentiments of a large bulk of Europe as Voltaire did: one can scarcely say it has been for the better when the devastation of France is now before our eyes. Whatever mischief may have arisen from the freedom of discussion, I think many now living will outlive the practice, as there is an anti-conspiracy to that of which the philosophers are accused now making among the rich and powerful--one that, if pursued with the ardour I see many enter into it with, will inevitably be the ruin of all taste, literature, and civil liberty. The young men of fashion and birth are bit with a military mania; they all aim at attaining a martial air, and a reputation for strictness in their Militia discipline. Without reflecting much, they are persuaded a military force is necessary to keep the people down, and that as religion is co-existent with the State, so it is wise to support it even in its abuses. Fifty years hence I have no hesitation in foretelling that there will be little toleration, a curbed press, a great standing army, and what is called a _vigilant_ government.

[Sidenote: BOBUS SMITH]

Poor Doctor Ingenhousz is gone for ever; he died last week at Bowood. Ld. L., with his warm benevolence to those to whom he is attached, afforded him every friendly comfort to the last. He did not shun the sight of a dying man, altho’ at his time of life the spectacle is but painful to contemplate, as it brings to mind a crisis that to him cannot be very distant. Ingenhousz was a Dutchman by birth; he was first distinguished as an inoculator to the Imperial Court.

We stayed exactly a week at Sherborne; I passed my time agreeably and left it with regret. I did nothing the whole morning but float upon the water in a state of luxurious indolence. Ld. Digby told me he had heard that Ld. Ossory had asked the Chancellor for a Commissioner of Bankruptcy for Bobus.[18] I can believe it _now_, tho’ two years ago I was credulous enough to receive as sincere the fustian declamations upon independence, and that a lofty, aspiring mind would owe nothing to the influence of others; that it would extort reward by its sole merit, and that the only check upon his felicity in uniting himself to his antiquated wife was that her connections were great and powerful, which, to little minds, might be supposed operated as an inducement to the union.

Not, however, to speak fairly, do I think these motives actuated him: I truly believe he imagined he felt the _belle passion_. Be that as it may, I now think he is disposed to avail himself very readily of any advantage those connections can procure him, for his whole deportment recently demonstrates what is always said, ‘That no one despises situation and family, but those who have no claim nor chance of either.’ He reminds me of the old story of the opera contractor, Gallini, who captivated a lady of noble family, Lady Betty Germaine, and was astonished at hearing that his marriage with her did not ennoble him, and that he did not legally become what he styled himself, Ld. Betty Gallini. The alteration has not escaped the keenness of Dumont, who observes that after a visit to Warwick Castle he is more than usually inflated with dignity and a soaring spirit; he says the _Lord-erie_ of the coronets, escutcheons, towers, gateways, etc., at that place inspire him by anticipation with all the haughtiness he will feel when he fulfils the dignities he expects to acquire.

Fifty thousand years, if so many were allowed, would not efface from my mind the advice a man gave me about my poor little girl; he said, ‘Suppress her entirely; do not let her suffer in a pecuniary way. She is not injured, as she is ignorant of what she loses. Success for her is doubtful, and the misconstruction and chattering of the world against her is certain.’ These worldly maxims revolted my feelings, but convinced me he who could give them was made to thrive, and would not kick at that stumbling-block in the road to ambition which throws many off their course, called _genuine_ honesty, as there is a material difference in the essential properties of that quality. The one he will make use of will help him on. Depraved as men are in a corrupt state of things, they yet like the names of virtues as much as they abhor the practice. La Rochefoucauld says, ‘L’hypocrisie est un hommage que le vice rend à la vertu.’ I heard of Dr. Parr’s saying a thing to Mackintosh that was more coarse than witty, but yet it was pointed and quick. Mackintosh, in canvassing O’Coigly’s character, alluding to some transactions, said, ‘That was shabby; besides, his confession proved that he died with a lie in his mouth.’ ‘No, no, Jemmy, he was not shabby, because he was an Irishman and _not_ a Scotchman; he did _not_ die with a lie in his mouth, because he was a Catholic and _not_ a philosopher.’

Leaving Sherborne they went to Saltram by way of Honiton, Exeter, Ashburton and Ivybridge.

[Sidenote: SALTRAM]

This house (Saltram, Ld. Boringdon’s) is quite the best I ever resided in. The apartments are numerous and excellent; they contain many pictures, and some very fine. It is an immense pile of building. The beauty of the view depends upon the tide, which when full is very pleasing, Mount Edgcombe, Plymouth, etc. Switzerland, Italy, the Tyrol, and Nice have rendered me difficult about picturesque and grand views, therefore I am less inclined to be enthusiastic than most people.

Living in a house built and liked by the great Raleigh[19] brought him more forcibly to my recollection. I turned over various histories to obtain all I could relating to him,--_State Trials_, _Biographia Britannica_, Gibbon’s _Memoirs_, Osborne’s detached remarks. I stayed at Saltram till the 22nd September. Ye time slipped away easily. Ld. Bor. was really happy at seeing us, and cordiality combined with goodheartedness and temper are such excellent ingredients in a character, that if there are any deficiencies they are overlooked. I had the misfortune--and a most severe, heartfelt one it was--to lose my faithful companion, my attached Pierrot.[20] He died! I loved him for his own merits, and was grateful for his devotion to me; indeed, I am convinced that he could not have survived my loss. Ld. H. made impromptu the following lines for his epitaph:--

Pierrot, of race, of form, of manners rare, Envied alike in life and death lies here. Living he proved the favourite of the fair, And dying drew from beauty’s eye a tear.

He was the gift of Ld. Henry.[21] He faithfully maintained the love for me his master felt whilst living. Peace to them both!

I viewed the dockyard and Mt. Edgecombe from it; I was too timid to venture in a boat across the Hamoaze. Many people came to dinner; Colonels of the Militia Regiments quartered at Plymouth, the celebrated Tommy Onslow,[22] who was full of jokes and puns. Some are good; to me he was entertaining, as I did not know his stock, but that is slender, and they are often repeated. Seeing him but once or twice did not exhaust them. Sir John Frederick[23] is a mild, gentlemanlike man; he has the manners of a man of the world, pleasant conversation, and a fair portion of information. Colonel Montagu[24] I saw but once. Ld. Bor. announced him as a superior man, and I was therefore prepared for something remarkable, tho’ his praises are often queerly bestowed, frequently for the love of paradox, to surprise by admiring what others disapprove. However, Col. M. appears to be clever: he launched forth upon the topics he is _au fait_ of, and during a three-hours’ assemblage of people at and after dinner he gave the natural history of every bird that flies and every fish that swims. He is a man of bad temper, nor does it sound creditable to him that none of his officers speak to him, and they are upon the eve of bringing him to a Court-martial. He is separated from his wife, and might inherit an estate of his brother’s if he would be united to her; but the condition is too hard, and he renounces the possession of a benefit _so_ encumbered.

[Sidenote: DUKE OF SOMERSET]

The Duke of Somerset[25] came over and stayed at two different times. He would have liked to have made a longer visit, but his mother was arrived at Plymouth, and she is a jealous bigot. He possesses a plain understanding and a mind in a progressive state of improvement. He reads and reflects and judges for himself, mixed with great diffidence and caution. He has had no advantage from an intercourse with the world. He lives retired, and it is quite singular to observe the impression a common, sensible remark, which might be made by anybody, makes upon him; he looks at one, pauses, and exclaims ‘Very true!’ in a sincere way, that manifests that he is struck with the justness of the observation, and that he admires the sagacity of the person. I perceived this during the conversation I had with him, and the points that struck him were merely such as any person at all _au courant_ of common events would make, rather commonplace, tho’ true. His politics are just and temperate; his principles precisely those of a reflecting man, not actuated by any party motives, viewing things not men. He deprecates the inadvertencies of Opposition, as they have rendered themselves so obnoxious that they are dreaded in the country, and have been the means of throwing an unfounded popularity upon King and Ministers. He feels the necessity of abridging the power of the Crown, which he thinks has made rapid strides towards absolute, independent Monarchy. The first step to be taken, he thinks, is to obtain peace almost upon any terms, and the next to retrench the dangerous extension of prerogative this unfortunate war has given to the King. He has a taste for literature, rather free upon religious subjects, a great admirer of Gibbon--not his style, but his sentiments; many passages he knew by heart and repeated, tho’ from diffidence he could hardly finish a sentence, but that soon wore off. He seems well-read in polemics, knew the arguments urged on both sides in all the modern controversies, Parr, Travis, Curtis, Porson, Paley, Gisborne, etc. Upon the whole, I should be pleased to improve my knowledge of him. His brother[26] is a great mathematician and man of science. He would not come, but proposed solving an abstract problem with Mr. Playfair,[27] which had occupied him for some days.

[Sidenote: MR. DUGALD STUART]

On ye 25th we arrived here, Bowood, where we have found a numerous party. The Archbishop of Bordeaux,[28] a man who practises the piety and resignation his profession bids him teach. Tho’ fallen from a high dignity which he supported with honour, he has not been heard to utter an unavailing regret upon the past; he is truly respectable. His Grand Vicaire, L’Abbé Landrecelles, is also entitled to praise for his philosophy. Another Abbé, who is sensible, also was here. Indeed, the whole class of clergy have alone distinguished themselves by their conduct; they acted from principle, and are rewarded with universal esteem and respect. Mr. Dugald Stuart[29] and his wife, from Edinburgh, were here: he is reserved, and I did not hear him speak, but he is supposed deservedly to enjoy a high reputation. She is clever, well-informed, and pleasing.

I read Voltaire’s _Memoirs_, written by himself; I do not think any of his works abound with more genuine wit. The whole narrative of his connection with the King of Prussia is a _chef d’œuvre_, but tho’ he tells his own story, yet it is evident that he was in the wrong in their quarrel.

The Duke of York has met with a check in his attack on Alkmaer; he seems to have quarrelled with Abercromby,[30] as his official dispatch is silent in his praise. I fear the whole expedition will fail, and prove a useless waste of blood and treasure.

There is some perverse quality in the mind that seems to take an active pleasure in destroying the amusement it promises to itself. It never fails to baffle my expectations; so sure as I propose to my imagination an agreeable conversation with a person where past experience warrants the hope, so sure am I disappointed. I feel it perpetually, for example, with Dumont; with him I have passed very many cheerful hours. This knowledge tempts me to renew our walks, the consequence is we both yawn. I can only account for it from a mutual effort to revive the same topics, or that we both endeavour to infuse a liveliness equal to what we remember pervaded our past conversations; and where there is labour there is always failure. It is now got over; we have ascertained that we each vary in _agrément_, either from condition, weather, or other circumstances; and we have made up our minds to it, and are four times in five highly gratified. I am convinced there is a period in all intimacies where that feeling takes place. I am so persuaded of the impracticability of arranging, ‘_Now_ we will be pleasant,’ that I shun settling a meeting: chance does favourably what method would destroy. He possesses a fund quite inexhaustible of amusement, literature, anecdotes, lively observation, disquisition upon grave subjects; all this combined with a good heart and temper. He spends his leisure too much upon an occupation that I should doubt repaying him with fruit equal to the labour. He is translating and elucidating a metaphysical system upon legislation, jurisprudence, etc., of Bentham’s. His imagination appears better calculated to adorn the _belles lettres_ with just criticism than to define the Penal Code. But no person of abilities finds out exactly their excellence. Boccaccio despised the only work which makes him immortal. He never showed his friend Petrarch his _Decamerone_, tho’ upon second thoughts Petrarch must have known parts at least of the work, as he tells him in their letters he frequently reads _Griselda_, but never without shedding tears. Beautiful as the _Griselda_ is in ye Italian, I am almost disposed to prefer our Chaucer’s English version; there is a pathetic simplicity that touches the heart. The expressions are very natural where one can understand the language.

The day before we left Bowood Mr. Jekyll came. He is never so pleasant where Ld. L. is, as elsewhere; he aims at being the grave senator, and becomes pompous, didactic, and, with his merry little figure, one may add ridiculous.

[Sidenote: MR. FOX’S ACCIDENT]

On Tuesday we left Bowood. Our long conversations and disputes upon Stonehenge and the Druidical worship made us desirous of seeing that remarkable place: we therefore went by it to London. It is, to be sure, a most wonderful edifice, let it be raised by who it may. I shall transcribe great part of the description of its situation, etc., from Gough’s edition of Camden’s _Britannia_.

We arrived that night at Basingstoke, and arrived here on Wednesday. We found Ste. in perfect health and spirits; he is fat and ugly, but very merry and strong. His head is beautifully shaped; his ears are as pretty as his father’s; he will be darker than Charles. In the eve. Ld. H. went to see his uncle Mr. Fox, who was confined in town under the care of two surgeons. A gun burst in his hand and shattered his fingers. There was for some time a danger of his losing one of them. Hamilton came and stayed a night. There is a great perplexity in the family about his brother’s name, whether it is to be Douglas or Clydesdale.[31] The Chancellor has started the difficulty, but Scotch etiquettes are a _mer à boire_. The late Duke made no will, but left bonds to a great amount, for which his personal property must answer; thus the fine pictures at the Palace of Hamilton will go to the hammer. There is no danger of Ld. Stanley claiming the dukedom.

I went on Thursday to the play; General Fitzpatrick came with us. Sr. Lionel[32] dined with us on Saturday, and Hamilton. On Sunday, General Fox.[33] He is going immediately to Minorca, where he is appointed Governor. His wife is not to accompany him now; she imputes her not doing so to Sr. James St. Clair’s pompous dispatches, in which he announces the intention of the Spaniards to attack that place, a vapour to give himself importance.

_10th October, ’99._--On Monday last Ld. H. moved for leave to bring in an Address to his Majesty upon the Russian Treaties;[34] consequently the House is summoned, and to-morrow he is to bring it forward. He is extremely nervous, not having spoken in public for some months till the other two days last week. The Treaty for ye 17,000 men employed in Holland contains an article contrary to ye constitution: ‘His Majesty _engages_, in case the troops should be compelled to leave Holland at a season when the Baltic is frozen over, that they shall pass ye winter in England.’ This article is a direct violation of the laws, and without precedent. He means to introduce at the same time a wish that measures may be taken to manifest a desire of peace.

[Sidenote: EXPEDITION TO HOLLAND]

Alkmaer is taken with a great loss of men; the details are not yet come. Tierney was here this morning in a sort of perplexity at a suspicion of Nepean’s,[35] the Under-Secretary of State. It seems that in a private letter from General Coote to Sr. Charles Grey[36] the _truth_ is told of the conduct of the Russians, who absolutely refused to advance, throwing themselves flat on their bellies and declaring they would not stir. This letter Tierney saw, and it was known to Nepean that he had seen it. Combining that with Ld. H.’s motion to-morrow, they feared this circumstance would be made public, and Sr. C. Grey came to town this morning, in a fright, to explain matters. The fact is, Ld. H. knew nothing of the affair till to-day, and at Tierney’s request from Sr. C. G. of course will not make any use of the knowledge.

_11th October, ’99._--On Wednesday, 9th October, Ld. King[37] passed the day and dined. He is young and handsome. His political principles are strongly anti-Government; his liking to Ld. H. makes him act with him, tho’ his opinion disposes him to exceed the limits Opposition have drawn to themselves; _pour trancher le mot_, he is what is called a Jacobin. His dislike to what is established is more against the Church than to the State: he quite abhors the Christian religion. He has a considerable share of information in theology, metaphysics, and political economy. Seeing him but once sociably, I cannot accurately estimate his worth. He is a most affectionate, excellent son. He came to town on purpose to second Ld. H. to-night. Tho’ he is not a remarkable speaker, yet he is stout, and Ld. H. expects to find a consolation in having him; as any person who is warm on the same side must be a relief from the _agony_ of a solitary opposition. Yesterday I had a visit from a strange man, a Dr. Hager;[38] he was employed by ye King of Naples to detect a literary fraud in Sicily. One of the impostures was a supposed Arabic translation of all the works of Livy containing the lost books: this curiosity he discovered to be an ingenious fabrication. The other was some grants to the Church during the period where there is a hiatus in ye Sicilian history. His head is crammed full of metaphysics and erudition, to the total exclusion of every particle of common sense. I could perceive _rays_ of _illumination_ about him, when he talked of his admiration of truth and the necessity among enlightened people to substitute a moral catechism for _that_ built upon the credulity and superstition of mankind. His _generous spirit_ of converting those misled by error, alias religion, will involve him in scrapes should he not be wiser before he publishes in this country, as I suspect it has done already in Germany. He is one of Ld. Wycombe’s strange men; he picked him up in Sicily.

[Sidenote: LORD AMHERST]

Amherst came; I complimented him upon his speech. He seconded the Address.[39] He was sure to do it with propriety, therefore a congratulation was safe; as he is as certain of not exposing as he is of not distinguishing himself. He has a good heart, with a narrow mind; of all the young men he is the most _borné_ in point of intellect. Nature seems to have determined upon confining him within _proprieties_. He was born to be a courtier, to live upon the terrace at Windsor, and wear the uniform; beyond that he will never get, unless Canning may want a _tête-de-perruque_ to fill up a gap in any motley Administration he may have the forming of hereafter.

Tierney spent the whole morn.; I am very happy to discover that he has dropped the folly that made him tiresome and ridiculous this summer. To-day Mr. Grey came to assist Ld. H. in some calculations and in drawing up the Address; he is very pleasing when at his ease. We laughed over Tierney’s unsteadiness; one day his determination to make motions upon every great question, the next his _abattement_ and timidity. Grey told a good answer of Mr. Beddinfield’s to Dundas. A few years ago the mob attacked ye King’s carriage and were going to commit some violence. Mr. B. was in the park; he immediately pulled out a pistol, and dispelled the rioters. The next day Dundas asked him what he would have bestowed upon him as token of favour. He said, ‘I wish only, Sir, that you would make me a Scotchman.’

He read the surgeon’s letter giving an account of his brother’s wound; the ball went through the knee, and was extracted from the hollow ham within. It seems to have been an escape. Grey was going over to see him, unless this good report had come.

_Sunday, October 13th, ’99._--Ld. H. made a motion for peace. He was satisfied with himself, especially in his reply to Ld. Grenville. From his account I should fear that, tho’ it was able, it was too personal.