Part 24

[24] Lieut.-Colonel George Montagu (1751–1815), son of James Montagu, of Lackham, Wilts, a connection of the Earls of Manchester. He served in the American war, and commanded the Wiltshire Militia for many years. He was an authority on natural history, and published an _Ornithological History of British Birds_ in 1802. His collection of birds was purchased by the British Museum.

[25] Edward Adolphus, eleventh Duke of Somerset (1775–1855) eldest son of Webb, tenth Duke of Somerset, and Anna Maria, daughter of John Bonnel, Esq., of Stanton Harcourt, Oxford. He succeeded his father in 1793, and married, first, in 1800, Charlotte, daughter of Archibald, ninth Duke of Hamilton. His wife died in 1827, after a long illness. He married, secondly, in 1836, Margaret, daughter of Sir Michael Shaw Stewart, Bart. The Duke of Somerset’s Devonshire residence was Berry Pomeroy, near Totnes.

[26] Lord Webb John Seymour, born in 1777, and died unmarried in 1819. Lord Cockburn in his _Memorials_ says, ‘His special associate was Playfair. They used to be called husband and wife, and in congeniality and affection no union could be more complete. Geology was their favourite pursuit.’

[27] John Playfair (1748–1819), Professor of Mathematics, and later of Natural Philosophy, in the Edinburgh University.

[28] Jérôme Marie Champion de Cicé (1735–1810), appointed Archbishop of Bordeaux in 1781. He sided with the popular party, and his appointment to a post in the Ministry by Louis XVI., after Necker’s return, was well received. He was accused, however, of favouring the reactionaries, and resigned his office and Bishopric in 1790. He remained abroad until the establishment of the Consulate.

[29] Dugald Stewart (1753–1828), son of Matthew Stewart, Professor of Mathematics at Edinburgh University. He assisted his father in his later years with his mathematical classes, and in 1785 was appointed to the chair of Moral Philosophy. His lectures were eagerly attended, and many of the young men of the great Whig families were sent to Edinburgh to benefit by them. He married, first, in 1783, Helen, daughter of Neil Bannatyne, by whom he had one son. She died in 1787, and he married in 1790, Helen, daughter of Hon. George Cranstoun--the ‘Ivy’ of the letters, recently published, from John William Ward (afterwards Earl of Dudley), who had been placed under her husband’s care. She died in 1838.

[30] Sir Ralph Abercromby, his second-in-command.

[31] Alexander (1767–1852), who succeeded his father, as tenth Duke of Hamilton in 1819. The difficulty was solved by styling him Marquess of Douglas and Clydesdale.

James, sixth Duke of Hamilton (1724–58), the husband of the beautiful Elizabeth Gunning, left two sons and one daughter, Elizabeth, who married Edward, twelfth Earl of Derby. The two sons succeeded successively as seventh and eighth Dukes, and on the latter’s death in 1799 the titles reverted to Lord Archibald Hamilton’s father--the half-brother of the sixth Duke.

[32] Copley.

[33] Lord Holland’s uncle, the Hon. Henry Edward Fox (1755–1811), youngest son of Henry, first Lord Holland, and Caroline, daughter of Charles, second Duke of Richmond. He entered the army at the age of fifteen, and served in America throughout the war. On his return in 1783 he was appointed aide-de-camp to George III., and especially distinguished himself in command of an infantry brigade in Flanders (1793–95). He was appointed Lieut.-General in 1799, and received successively the appointments of General in the Mediterranean (1801), Commander-in-Chief in Ireland (1803), Lieut.-Governor of Gibraltar (1804). In 1806 he was given command of the forces in Sicily, and appointed Ambassador to the Court of Naples, but was recalled on the fall of the Ministry the following year and made Governor of Portsmouth. He married, in 1786, Marianne, daughter of William Clayton, Esq.

[34] The treaties were originally drawn up with the object of prevailing on the King of Prussia to join against the common foe. These efforts, however, failed, and England and Russia decided that a joint attack on the French in Holland was the most likely step to annoy. A second treaty was therefore concluded to this effect. After the ultimate failure of the expedition the Russians were quartered for the winter in Jersey and Guernsey.

[35] Evan Nepean (1751–1822), created a Baronet in 1802. He was Secretary to the Admiralty from 1795 until 1804, when he became Secretary of State for Ireland.

[36] General Sir Charles Grey, K.B. (1729–1807), afterwards created Earl Grey. He was at this time in command of the Southern district in England.

[37] Peter, seventh Lord King (1776–1833), eldest son of Peter, sixth Lord King, and Charlotte, daughter of Edward Tredcroft, Esq., of Horsham. He succeeded his father in 1793, and married, in 1804, Lady Hester Fortescue, daughter of Hugh, first Earl Fortescue. His eldest son was created Earl of Lovelace in 1838. He made his maiden speech in the House of Lords on the above subject two months later, but seldom took part in the debates. He became, however, a recognised authority on questions of finance and currency.

[38] Joseph Hager, born at Milan in 1757. A German by birth, he was educated at Vienna, and after obtaining a thorough knowledge of European languages turned his attention to those of the East. He wrote several books on the Chinese tongue, by which he obtained celebrity, and was appointed Professor of Oriental Languages at Pavia in 1809. When this post was abolished, he became Keeper of the Milan Library. He died in 1818.

[39] At the opening of the session, on September 24.

[40] In a series of engagements centring round Zurich Masséna forced the Russian General Korsakoff to retreat to Constance, and inflicted on him great loss. The _Annual Register_ puts the loss of the Allies, arrived at ‘by a most ingenious and accurate computation,’ from September 25 to October 9, at 15,000 men, and that of the French at 9000. Suvarroff, however, was not ‘totally defeated.’ On finding what had occurred, he decided to move his army straight across Switzerland, and after an adventurous march, complicated by continual fighting, effected a junction with Korsakoff early in October. Suvarroff retired to Russia shortly after this, and died in retirement.

[41] The castle of Aboukir had been stormed and captured on July 15 by the Turkish army under Mustapha Pasha. It fell again into the hands of the French on August 2, after eight days’ fighting.

[42] William Cusac Smith (1766–1836), eldest son of Sir Michael Smith, Bart., who died in 1808. He was called to the Irish Bar in 1788, and became a King’s Counsel seven years later. Though a follower of Burke, he sided with the Government, and was a strong supporter of their policy of the Union. He was appointed Solicitor-General in 1800, and a Baron of the Exchequer the following year.

[43] The position of the British and Russian troops in Holland had become so unsatisfactory and precarious owing to the inclemency of the weather and various other circumstances, that the Duke of York decided early in October to withdraw his advance posts and report the whole matter to the home Government. The enemy made one determined attack on the British during their retirement, but were repulsed with loss. On October 17 a truce was agreed to between the combatants, and it was arranged as a set-off to permission to the British to re-embark without molestation that 8000 of the Batavian and French seamen, prisoners in England, should be given up to the French.

[44] John Philpot Curran (1750–1817), the Irish lawyer and patriot. He was on most occasions distinguished for his wit and the brilliancy of his conversation.

[45] George Ponsonby (1755–1817), third son of John Ponsonby, and brother of William, first Lord Ponsonby. After many years in the Irish Parliament, he took his seat at Westminster in 1801, as member for Wicklow. He was appointed Lord Chancellor of Ireland in 1806, but after the fall of the Ministry returned to the House of Commons. From 1808 until his death he was recognised as the official leader of the Opposition in that House.

[46] Bonaparte left Egypt on August 24 ‘in consequence of news from Europe,’ as he stated in his general declaration to the Army. He landed at Fréjus on October 7, and at once set off for Paris.

[47] William Young was not Fielding’s tutor, but an intimate friend, who collaborated with him in several of his works.

[48] Etienne Charles Loménie de Brienne (1727–1794), who was appointed to succeed Calonne as Finance Minister in 1787. Louis XVI. appointed him Archbishop of Sens the following year, when he had proved himself no greater success as Minister than his predecessor. He was replaced by Necker.

[49] James Scarlett (1769–1844), second son of Robert Scarlett, Esq., of Jamaica. He was called to the Bar in 1791, and became a King’s Counsel in 1816. After an unsuccessful attempt in 1812 he entered Parliament as a Whig in 1819, and was made Attorney-General by Canning in 1827. He resigned this post the following year, but considering himself ill-used by his party in 1830, joined the Tories, and was by them appointed Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer in 1834. He retained the post until the time of his death. He was created Lord Abinger in 1835. He married, first, in 1792, Louisa Henrietta, daughter of Peter Campbell, Esq., of Kilmory, co. Argyll; and secondly, in 1843, Elizabeth, daughter of Lee Steere, Esq., and widow of Rev. Henry John Ridley.

[50] Harvey Christian Combe, Lord Mayor of London for year ending November 9, 1800.

[51] Probably William, second son of Hon. George Dalrymple, of Dalmahoy, who became a general officer and Lieut.-Governor of Chelsea Hospital. He died in 1807, and left a son who succeeded as seventh Earl of Stair.

[52] Sir Gilbert Affleck’s house, near Newmarket.

[53] See _Annual Register_ for 1800, State Papers, p. 203.

[54] _St. Leon_, a novel.

[55] Duchess of Leinster.

[56] William Gifford (1756–1826), a friend of Canning and editor of the _Anti-Jacobin or Weekly Examiner_. He was subsequently editor of the _Quarterly Review_ from its commencement in 1809 until 1824.

[57] Charles Nevison, Viscount Andover (1775–1800), eldest son of John, fifteenth Earl of Suffolk. He married, in 1796, Jane Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas William Coke, afterwards created Earl of Leicester.

[58] Lords Morpeth, Granville Leveson-Gower, Boringdon, Duke of Bedford.

[59] Don Raymond della Massa.

[60] Hon. Charles Kinnaird (1780–1826), eldest son of George, seventh Baron Kinnaird. He succeeded his father in 1805, and married the following year Lady Olivia Fitzgerald, youngest daughter of William Robert, second Duke of Leinster. He sat in the House of Commons for Leominster from 1802 to 1805.

[61] The subject of this correspondence was a remark of Lord Kenyon in June 1799, when in dealing with a case, Host _v._ Whalley, he mentioned that General Fitzpatrick had lost 400_l._ or 500_l._ in a gaming house, which he refused to pay, and animadverted somewhat severely on his conduct. General Fitzpatrick, in his first letter, dated August 27, 1799, denied that these were the true facts. He stated his reasons for refusing to discharge his debt for the present to Mr. Martindale, an undischarged bankrupt, and informed him that he had the latter’s sanction to the course he was taking. He said he hoped, therefore, that Lord Kenyon would take an early opportunity of correcting his statement, but as he did not do so, he wrote again, on January 20, that his only course was to publish his letters. These appeared in the _True Briton_, March 5, 1800.

[62] Sir Archibald Macdonald, Chief Baron of the Exchequer.

[63] Sylvester Douglas (1743–1823), created Lord Glenbervie in 1800.

[64] Jacques Etienne Macdonald (1765–1840), one of Napoleon’s generals; made a Marshal, and created Duke of Tarento, after Wagram.

[65] Benedetto Menzini (1646–1704), Italian poet and satirist.

[66] Louis Léon de Brancas, Duc de Lauragais (1733–1824), French _savant_ and writer.

[67] The island was captured by the English in 1655.

[68] The Royal Institution, founded in March 1799 by Count Rumford, Sir Joseph Banks, and others. It was incorporated January 13, 1800, by royal charter.

[69] Horne Tooke opposed Fox and Sir Alan Gardner at Westminster in the election of 1796, and was returned at the bottom of the poll. He was ordained in 1760, at his father’s bidding, but did very little clerical duty. After he obtained a seat in Parliament for Old Sarum in 1801, a bill was brought in by Addington declaring the ineligibility of clergy. This was passed, but Tooke was allowed to retain his seat until the end of that Parliament.

[70] Charles François de Riffardeau, Marquis de Rivière (1763–1828). He left France with the Comte d’Artois, but returning was implicated in the Cadoudal conspiracy in 1804, and was condemned to death. The sentence was commuted by Napoleon to perpetual imprisonment, and it was not until the Restoration that he regained his liberty. He was Ambassador at Constantinople from 1816 to 1820.

[71] Sir Benjamin Hobhouse (1757–1831), son of John Hobhouse, of Bristol, and father of John Cam Hobhouse, created Lord Broughton. He sat in Parliament from 1797 until 1818, and was made a Baronet in 1812.

[72] The Duc de la Rochefoucauld was killed in 1792 by the revolutionaries at Gisors. The Duc de Liancourt was his first cousin.

[73] Claude Carloman de Rulhière (1735–1791), a French writer, was aide-de-camp to the Maréchal de Richelieu for some years.

[74] _His History of James II._, which was published, after his death, in 1808, with a preface by Lord Holland. Lord Brougham, in his _Statesmen of the time of George III._, says of his writings, ‘The practice of composition seems never to have been familiar to Mr. Fox.... His _History_ shows the same want of expertness in composition. The style is pure and correct, but cold and lifeless; it is even somewhat abrupt and discontinuous, so little does it flow naturally or with ease.’

[75] Rev. Francis North (1772–1861), afterwards sixth Earl of Guilford. He was eldest son of the Hon. Brownlow North and Henrietta Maria, daughter of John Bannister. His father held successively the sees of Lichfield (1771), Worcester (1774), and Winchester (1781), and died in 1820. Mr. North married, in 1798, Esther, daughter of Rev. John Harrison, who died childless in 1823. He married, secondly, in 1826, Harriet, daughter of Lieut.-General Sir Henry Warde, G.C.B. On the death of his cousin Frederick, fifth Earl of Guilford, in 1827, who never married, he succeeded to the earldom.

[76] John Courtenay (1741–1816), son of William Courtenay. He was private secretary to Lord Townshend in Ireland, and was returned by him in 1780 for Tamworth, for which place he sat until 1796. From that year until 1807 he was member for Appleby.

[77] The Royal Institution.

[78] Joseph Stock (1740–1813), appointed Bishop of Killala in 1798, and transferred to Waterford and Lismore in 1810. Lord Holland, in his _Memoirs of the Whig Party_, states that this pamphlet was supposed to have interfered with his chances of promotion.

[79] Holland House.

[80] Henry Rich (1590–1649), second son of Robert, Earl of Warwick, and his wife Penelope Rich (the ‘Stella’ of Sir Philip Sidney). A favourite with James I., he was, in 1623, created Baron Kensington, having married Isabel, daughter and heiress of Sir Walter Cope, who had built what was then called Cope Castle in 1607. There was probably a house near, if not on the same site, but this was removed in order to make way for Sir Walter’s mansion, erected from designs of John Thorpe. Rich was raised to an earldom in 1624. Lady Holland has somewhat exaggerated his intimacy with the Queen, but he certainly owed his rapid advancement at Court greatly to her favour after James’ death.

[81] Sir James Mackintosh, in a fragment of a _History of Holland House_, preserved among the MSS., says that Van Dyke lived there for about two years. He produces no authority, however, for this statement, nor is the fact referred to in any recent biography of the great painter.

[82] This picture, as well as that of his brother, Robert, Earl of Warwick, now belongs to the Hon. Mrs. Baillie Hamilton, a granddaughter of the first Marquess of Breadalbane, at Langton, Duns. Lady Mary Rich, daughter of Lord Holland, married, in 1657, Sir John Campbell, of Glenorchy, who was created Earl of Breadalbane and Holland in 1681. Lady Holland is, however, mistaken in her description of the picture. Lord Warwick is in court dress, while Lord Holland wears the leather doublet and steel breast-plate of the period.

[83] These passages are not from Clarendon. They both are quoted in Faulkner’s _History of Kensington_, published in 1820. The latter of them is there said to be taken from a journal of the time, the _Perfect Diurnal_.

[84] Henry, Earl of Holland’s elder brother, Robert, became second Earl of Warwick in 1618. On his death in 1658 the title passed in succession to his sons Robert and Charles. The latter died in 1673, and leaving no male issue the earldom passed to his cousin Robert, second Earl of Holland, who had succeeded his father in 1649. He died two years later, and both titles passed to his son Edward, who married Charlotte, daughter of Sir Thomas Middleton (afterwards wife of Addison), while his daughter married Francis Edwardes of Haverfordwest. Edward, Earl of Holland and Warwick, died in 1701, and was succeeded by his only son Edward Henry, above mentioned. On his death, unmarried, in 1721, the properties passed to William Edwardes, his first cousin, who was created Baron Kensington in 1776, while the earldoms reverted to a distant cousin, at whose death the titles became extinct.

[85] Horace Walpole, in a letter to George Montagu (May 16, 1759), writes, ‘Unluckily, he died of brandy.’

[86] ‘In 1749 it was let on lease, at a rent of 182_l._ 16_s._ 9_d._, to Henry Fox, first Lord Holland, who bought it in 1767’ (Princess Liechtenstein’s _Holland House_).

[87] Lady Georgina Caroline Fox, created Baroness Holland in 1762, was Charles, second Duke of Richmond’s eldest daughter. She died in 1774, twenty-three days after her husband’s death.

[88] Sister of Sir Lionel Copley and of Lord Abercorn’s first wife, who died in 1791. Her second brother, Joseph, who succeeded to the baronetcy on Sir Lionel’s death in 1806, ran away with and married Lord Abercorn’s second wife.

[89] Lady Ann’s brother, who succeeded his father in 1809 as third Earl of Arran (1761–1837).

[90] Lord Archibald Hamilton’s sister, and eldest daughter of Archibald, ninth Duke of Hamilton. The marriage took place on June 24. She died in 1827. Her youngest sister, Susan, married, in 1803, George, fifth Earl of Dunmore.

[91] Lord Auckland was Chief Secretary in Ireland under Lord Carlisle, but was included in Lord Shelburne’s Government of 1783, and went out of office with Pitt, to whom he attached himself.

[92] The treaty of El Arish was concluded in January. By it the French troops were to be allowed to return to France, without any stipulation as to their non-employment in the future. This was directly contrary to the instructions of the British Government, which only reached Sir Sidney Smith after the conclusion of the peace. The Ministers, however, on hearing that his word was pledged, assented to the Articles, but meanwhile the French victory at Heliopolis over the Turks made them disinclined to accept terms, and the fighting was renewed.

[93] Charles, Lord Whitworth (1752–1825), Minister Extraordinary at St. Petersburg from 1788 till 1800. He was raised to the peerage at Paul’s own special request, but before the news of the honour arrived the Czar had quarrelled with him and dismissed him from his dominions.

[94] Paul’s views on the European question underwent a radical change soon after Napoleon’s accession to the Consulate. He conceived a great admiration for the conqueror of Italy, and this feeling was fostered by the latter’s action in restoring him 7000 Russian soldiers, clothed in new uniforms, whom the English had refused to include in a cartel of exchange. Instead of the ally he suddenly became the active opponent of England and Austria, seized all British ships in his ports, and ordered Lord Whitworth to retire to Riga.

[95] Grey in his speech disclaimed the fact that the object of his motion was the reform of Parliament, though he owned he wished it was so. As, however, this was impracticable he wished only to try to keep Parliament in its present state.

[96] John Gale Jones (1769–1838), a Radical politician of the advanced school, though by profession a surgeon.

[97] Fox, in a letter to Lord Holland, dated March 1798 (_Memorials and Correspondence_), says: ‘With regard to secession (that is _declared_ secession) I confess I do not like it as a measure, but I believe the Duke of Bedford does. I should dislike to a degree I cannot express to attend again myself: ... but I am so far from wishing others to do the same, that I even wish for occasions when you and others may have opportunity of attending.’ Again, on October 21, he writes: ‘The Duke of Bedford, who is here, confirms what you say of Grey’s intention to attend occasionally, and I shall not be at all sorry to find myself the sole seceder.’

[98] Lord Holland points out in the _Memoirs of the Whig Party_ that this was the first motion in the House of Lords on a subject which finally received the assent of Parliament in 1829. The motion was not directly negatived, but the debate was concluded by Lord Boringdon, who moved the previous question.

[99] A bill on this subject was brought in by Lord Auckland in April, but was dropped after passing the second reading. The same gentleman introduced a new Bill on May 16, which passed through the House of Lords, though on third reading the figures were only 77 to 69. It was also read twice in the House of Commons, but was thrown out on a motion that it should be considered in Committee. The first was to prohibit the intermarriage of the offending parties. The second contained an additional clause making the offenders liable to imprisonment and fine.

[100]

From every latent foe, From the assassin’s blow, God save the King! O’er him thine arm extend, For Britain’s sake defend Our father, prince, and friend, God save the King!

[101] Mr. William Fawkener, clerk to the Privy Council, and eldest son of Sir Everard Fawkener, a London merchant.

[102] Philip, fifth Earl of Chesterfield (1755–1815), son of Arthur Stanhope, Esq., of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, succeeded his relation and godfather, the celebrated politician and wit, in 1773. His former tutor, Dr. William Dodd (1729–1777), whom he appointed to the living of Wing, forged his name in 1777 for a bond of 4200_l._ Dodd was arrested, and notwithstanding great efforts made to save him, he suffered the supreme penalty of the law.

[103] Duke of Sussex. He had married Lady Augusta Murray secretly in 1793.

[104] He was acquitted, upon the grounds of insanity, and was ordered to be confined for the remainder of his life.

[105] J. D. Carlyle (1759–1804), appointed Chancellor of Carlisle in 1793. He accompanied Lord Elgin’s mission to Constantinople as chaplain.

[106] Masséna was forced to capitulate on June 4, but the delay had given Bonaparte necessary time to cross the passes while Melas and his Austrians were still busily engaged at Genoa. Part of the French army of the Rhine was also liberated by Moreau’s successes over Knay, near Ulm, and French reinforcements poured into Italy by the Simplon and St. Gothard. Melas, probably unaware of the new arrivals, turned to defend himself against Bonaparte, but was signally defeated on June 14 at Marengo.