Part 22

_27th._--Instead of going to Cork, I found Add. still remaining; he came Tuesday eve., and yesterday to dinner, and very imprudently did not go to Eden Farm fête. This morning I went to the Tower; Ld. H. made a visit to Ld. Thanet, whilst Drew and I saw the sights. Of the latter none are worthy of notice, except the beasts, and those are very fine. Ld. Thanet came down to the court to see me. He looks very well; the confinement will be of service to his health, as he is perforce obliged to live regularly with regard to hours and drinking, for the gates shut at eleven. He is allowed to see whom he pleases and do precisely as he likes, but not quit the precincts of the Tower. He has always some company with him. It is very amiable in the D. of Bedford being so attentive to him. He scarcely stays a week out of town on purpose that he may visit him; there cannot be a better natured man.

_27th._--To-day D. of Bedford and Ld. Boringdon dined here; stayed late in the garden. Ld. B. stayed cozing with me very late. The Duke has half a mind to attend the H. of Lords, but _secession_ hangs round his neck like a dead weight. He and Grey are the _two_ who repent the most; but as they were the two who urged Mr. Fox to it, a dereliction from it in them would come with a bad grace. Indeed, in Grey it would be suspicious, as it might be inferred he had got Fox out of the way to make room for himself as leader. That D. of B. should be unpopular is not marvellous. His manner to _all_ is rude, and to acquaintances must be intolerable; but exterior polish is immaterial when the foundation is good, and with him it is respectable: no man so just, so generous, so true.[316] The first may at times amount to harshness, but the second never to ostentation, for with the slur of penuriousness it may be asserted that his donations to friends and family are unequalled by those reputed highly liberal. His veracity is quite remarkable; to the most minute occurrence he applies a degree of accuracy that is prolix: one would take upon trust what he convinces you by proof is true. His understanding is good, and so is his judgment, but he has given the latter into Ld. Lauderdale’s keeping too much. It is notorious that the _secession_ never would have been dreamt of unless Ld. L. had not lost his election as one of the sixteen Scotch peers, and he, being out of Parliament, determined to make those who _were in_ as null as himself.

[Sidenote: NATURE OF THE SOUL]

_30th June._--On Friday, 28th, Ld. H. went to the Slave business.[317] I dined at home with Drew and Mr. Adderley. When Ld. H. returned they fell into a long metaphysical disquisition upon the nature of the soul. Add. has applied himself to the examination of that inquiry, and can reason fluently and technically upon those abstract, incomprehensible points. He has adopted the Platonician doctrine of spirit and matter, and conceives that spirit is a quality endued with faculties indefinable, that it is a particle of celestial origin, and secures to us immortality. The other two supported the old Epicurean tenet (for after all those old fellows were the first who started the systems which our modern philosophers appropriate to themselves) of materialism, that life and intelligence were carried on by material objects only, matter acting upon matter; in short, that to a fortuitous concourse of atoms we owed _being_ as we are. I have not the capacity to follow thro’ a labyrinth of metaphysical sophisms; the very little I could ever understand I had no sooner been convinced was right than a new system proved to me it was fallacious, and this having happened above once, I have determined not to trouble myself with endless speculations that neither make one wiser nor happier.

Ld. Wycombe has neglected an eruption. He is under the care of Adair and Hawkins, and is quite a cripple. This disease gives him an opportunity of moralising upon the want of moral justice among mankind. A pampered debauchee writhing under the gout, a malady brought on by his own excesses, is an object of general pity; all hearts are in union with his pangs and sympathetic with every twinge, whereas he says a temperate, unoffending person who acquires accidentally a disease conveyed by harmless, innocent contact, is shunned and treated with disgust and contumely.

The D. of Bedford told a story of Ld. Lauderdale’s delight at reading a passage in Arthur Young, who says the cattle, especially the sheep, in Lincolnshire, are affected with a cutaneous disease upon their nose. This, he says, is owing to their rubbing their snouts upon thistles. ‘Aye, to be sure,’ cried Ld. L., ‘we pull the thistles in Scotland between our fingers, so we catch the itch.’

On Saturday I went to town and did many duties in the visiting way. T. has made his wife low-spirited and unhappy by his foolish whimsies about me. Ld. G. Leveson came to dinner accidentally on his way from Winchester races; Mr. Adderley dined also. In the evening the Smiths came. She looked, as usual, cold and starch. Nothing very interesting in the conversation.

_4th July._--Sunday, 30th June, Lds. Ossory and Macartney came; the latter stayed 3 hours and 3 quarters. We drove up and down the Green Lane in the whisky all the time; he declares that he has closed his peregrinations, that he always said he would at 60. Mr. Richard Penn[318] called to see me upon the score of an old acquaintance.

[Sidenote: A FOOLISH SECRET]

We had to dinner General Fitzpatrick, Mr. Charles Sheridan, Tierney, Lord Ossulston,[319] Amherst, Mr. Weld, the Smiths, Hamilton. Adderley came in the eve. for a little time. On Monday alone; went for a short time to the play, sat with Mrs. Wyndham. On Tuesday Marsh arrived; dined at Lord Digby’s, went in the evening to see Ld. Morpeth. On Wednesday went to Boyle Farm to stay the day for the christening of Lord Henry’s[320] youngest son. Lord Holland is his godfather; he is christened Edward. Returned at night. To-day, July 4th, Adderley called for a few minutes in ye morning. Marsh and I drove in the whisky after dining alone with Ingenhousz.[321] Ld. H. at the House of Lords, from which he is just returned, and is now at dinner with Lds. Bessbro’ and Digby.

So many unpleasant observations have been made upon the frequency of a person’s visits to this house, and the self-reproach I have felt at having anything mysterious or hidden from Ld. H. was so great, that I resolved to unburthen the foolish secret I had participated in concealing (by allowing it to go on) by telling the whole affair to Ld. H. A confidence in him is never misplaced; his head is so right, and his heart, where I am concerned, so peculiarly indulgent that, delicate as the nature of the subject is, I felt very little apprehension in disclosing the whole. He considered the affair in a proper light, by feeling more compassion than resentment. The circumstance that brought the noticing it among Adderley’s friends to a crisis was the following. Canning proposed to bring A. in for a Treasury Borough, and he told me of the proposal that was made. I inadvertently deprecated the patronage of Canning, alleging (by way of conversation, not for _influence_) all the mortifying objections I conceived to subsist against such dependence. Thus, what I said became a rule of conduct; he rejected the offer. Canning, who is full of intrigue, was surprised, and immediately conjectured that the refusal was from counter-movement, and went so far as to hint something about Holland House politics, and even particularising the quarter. Hence I, without caring five straws for the business, was involved into the thick of it. Unluckily enough, Tierney proposed a seat to him at Coventry, which he may be secure of provided the Treasury won’t oppose, to ascertain which Canning was consulted. Thus this last measure will confirm _his_ opinion of my interference. I also told Ld. H. of Tierney’s persecution; we jointly laughed at his vain presumption, and imputed it to his opinion of the depravity and corruption he believes exists among women of fashion. I confess I feel sorry that Add. should allow a romantic love to interfere with his happiness, for I sincerely credit it has done so, tho’ I hope and believe it is rapidly abating. Be it as it may, my mind is easier since I have shaken off all reserve about it with Ld. H., for I have a superstitious dread of keeping a secret from him. Mystery between those who love is dangerous; it may begin upon a trifle, another trifle that may depend upon that may grow to involve so much that one can never too soon prevent the possibilities of such difficulties.

[Sidenote: CHARLES SHERIDAN]

Charles Sheridan is Sheridan’s elder brother; he was Secretary in Sweden at the time of the revolution made by the late King in favour of the people against the nobles. His history of that period is reckoned very good and correct. The General told me that in coming here he spoke strongly and freely with regard to the Union between Ireland and this country, adding that he rejoiced at having an opportunity of telling him his sentiments, as he did not like speaking openly in mixed companies. This sounded cautious; but before dinner was over he got into a long argument with Bobus, in which he not only displayed his own opinion, but told that of all whom he had consulted with. He told Bobus he would make an excellent lawyer, as he was _disputatious_. He appears animated, and inclined to embellish his narrative by imagination where dry facts would not bear him out.

Lord Ossulston is insignificant and diminutive in his appearance, and aims at thinking and judging for himself. How far his understanding warrants the attempt I cannot yet judge; I am rather disposed to think favourably of him for the effort, as it is without arrogance.

I got into correspondence with Maurice,[322] the author of _Indian Antiquities_, from reading his preface. I thought him poor and neglected, and was willing by way of subscription to do something for him; I did, and obtained him a few subscribers. His language is diffuse, and his style unconnected, but the book is curious, as it assembles curious facts from prolix, voluminous writers, which otherwise I should never have got at.

_6th July._--Ld. H. is said to have made a most excellent speech on Thursday night on the Forfeiture Bill.[323] Last night he spoke on the Slave business, but the Limitation Bill was rejected. Add. came and dined. I bathed in ye evening; when I returned to the library after ye bath he made me some compliments upon my person, freshness, etc. Being previously resolved to say something upon the continuance of his love, I thought the opportunity these observations offered as good as any. I represented to him the impropriety of allowing himself to indulge an inclination that could only end in vexation and annoyance; that to him it had already been productive of unhappiness, by unsettling his plans and inducing him to shun his friends; that to me, in a worldly point of view, it was materially injurious, but _that_ was a secondary consideration compared to the effect that might be produced upon Ld. H.’s mind, were any officious person to suggest to him that _his_ visits did not proceed from friendship to him, but from love to me. I coloured as highly as I could the statement of the deplorable consequences that might ensue if Ld. H. should become suspicious of me--of _me_, I who owed him everything, more than a long life of tenderness and acquiescence can repay. I diminished the possibility of Ld. H.’s supposing it possible I could ever feel an abatement of love for him, but noted the uneasiness he would suffer, first, at finding his friend was acting ungenerously, and, 2ndly, at the possibility of the world’s supposing I could encourage it; for, idolising me as he does, he would think me incapable of deceiving him. He was agitated, and absented himself sulkily till yesterday.

On Saturday Ld. Morpeth dined. Tierney came in ye eve.; he asked to have a run for his horses, as the soil seemed likely to suit their feet. Drew looked comical, and whispered me that it would suit him for an excuse to come and see after them. On Sunday Ld. Digby dined and stayed till ¼ past 12. He is a man who has not yet been fairly judged by the world; he passes for a fool, but, if I have any discernment, _bien s’en faut_. He has sound good sense, great shrewdness in his understanding, tho’ downright in his manner, and I would as soon abide by his opinion of a character or event as by that of a more refined person. On Monday, yesterday, Add. dined; he is less annoyed, and begins to see the advice I gave him as just and reasonable; he goes the end of the week.

[Sidenote: LORD DARNLEY]

_10th July._--Tuesday, 9th, Ld. Morpeth, G. Leveson, Digby, Canning dined. Ld. H. brought Ld. Darnley[324] from the H. of Lords. He had never been here before, tho’ I have known him for many years. His father fancied himself made of glass, and imagined a particular part of his person essential to sitting the most brittle; besides, he had various other fancies. Ld. D. has one great merit for a great man, excessive generosity; he has assisted with large sums, and even annuities, young men of promising abilities in mean circumstances, by which means they have got on in life, tho’ as yet he is too young to see the entire advantage of his benevolence. The Dean of Christ Church[325] has hurt him in his _own_ judgment, and in that of the world, by most disproportionate praise; he is himself intoxicated with vanity, and the world, expecting much and finding but a modicum, have fallen into the common extreme, and deny him any ability whatever.

Canning asked me whether his suspicions had fallen rightly when he accused me of advising Add. to accept of the offer for Coventry. I declared the truth, that I had nothing to do with it, and had only heard him converse on the subject, but as it was one I felt little interest about I did not even know the result. Ld. D. told with some humour a remark of a Mr. W. Bootle or Boodle, who has written several pamphlets and poems, and said with great naïveté that whatever people might say of the profits of books, he knew better, as they did not clear the expense they incurred. His brother used to come a good deal last year; he had travelled into Arabia, Persia, etc. He looks like a wild Arab.

On Wednesday, Tierney, Sr. Lionel, Mr. Adderley, and those who are in the house. The news came on that day of Suwarrow’s victory over the French.[326] The citadel of Turin seems evidently to have been surrendered by treachery, as it was besieged but 3 days. If the skill of Vauban can do no more, a clay fence _à l’abri d’un coup de main_ would be sufficient. One of the terms of the capitulation is a tacit acknowledgment of bribery; the Governor who surrenders requires a safeguard from the Austrians beyond the French posts, and he is to remain as a hostage--both circumstances that denote fear.

I had a long walk upon the terrace with Tierney. I was in an eloquent _veine_, and happily conveyed all I intended to express without the rigorous exterior of forbidding prudery. I think I convinced him his attentions offended and his hopes insulted me, that I was firmly attached at home, and tho’ I felt at present no resentment towards him, yet I should if his pretensions continued. On Thursday Ld. H. dined at the Tower; Ld. T. is confined by a fit of the gout. Sheridan was of their party; he is just come from ‘Peruvianising,’ that is from the country. He is so delighted with _Pizarro_ that his allusions are taken from it in everything he says. He said ye 10th of July was so delicious, something in the temperature so bewitching and tempting to go astray and follow ye dictates of nature, that if he were to sit in judgment upon a cause of gallantry, if the indictment stated it as committed on ye 10th of July, he would go into the evidence, but instantly bring in _Guilty, by the visitation of God_.

[Sidenote: COUNT RUMFORD]

In ye eve. I, Drew, and Marsh went to Astley’s, Ld. B., Ly. E. Foster, and some of the girls; we had a very comfortable chat. Friday, Add. and Cornewall and ourselves in ye house. Saturday we were alone; reading Mr. Browne’s book, _Travels into Africa_. On Sunday Ct. Rumford, Ld. G. Leveson, Adderley, and ourselves in the house. The first was entertaining; he gave an account of some experiments going on in France upon ye tanning matter, by which it is ascertained that a larger quantity of it is contained in willow and some other aquatic plants than in oak bark, and that it is even better, as there is less of ye gallic acid, which consumes ye leather. His manner is soft and plausible; it rather excites distrust, and perhaps more than his intentions merit, but there is something suspicious in a kept-down manner. Ld. G. is going to his regiment at Winchester. He praised me for my behaviour to Add., approves of keeping friends, but checking the progress of an attachment. He laughs at women’s dexterity in letting a man in love down gently. He, Add., goes to Ireland immediately.

END OF THE FIRST VOLUME

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FOOTNOTES:

[1] Abbé Maury (1746–1817), one of the most violent members of the _États Généraux_. He obtained a Cardinal’s hat in 1794.

[2] Hon. William Frederick Wyndham (1763–1828), fourth son of Charles, second Earl of Egremont. He married, in 1784, Francis Mary Harford, natural daughter of Frederick, Lord Baltimore. Their son succeeded as the fourth and last Earl of Egremont.

[3] Hon. Thomas Pelham, afterwards Lord Pelham and second Earl of Chichester (1756–1826), son of Thomas, Lord Pelham, of Stanmer (who was created Earl of Chichester in 1801). He married, in 1801, Lady Mary Osborne, daughter of Francis, fifth Duke of Leeds; and was Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, 1783–4 and 1795–8, and Secretary of State for the Home Department, 1801–1803.

[4] _Zaïre_ was written in Paris, not in Switzerland.

[5] John Baker Holroyd (1735–1821), created Baron Sheffield in 1781, and advanced to an earldom in 1816. He married, in 1767, Abigail, only daughter of Lewis Way. She died in 1793, and Lord Sheffield married, the following year, Lady Lucy Pelham, daughter of Thomas, first Earl of Chichester. He married, thirdly, in 1798, Lady Anne North, daughter of Frederick, second Earl of Guilford.

[6] Comte Bonnières de Souastres, Duc de Guines (1735–1806), Ambassador in London from 1770 to 1776. On the outbreak of the French Revolution he left France, and did not return until Napoleon became Consul.

[7] Simon Tissot (1728–1797), a celebrated Swiss doctor. He died at Lausanne.

[8] Miss Holroyd’s description of Lady Webster on this expedition is amusing: ‘If anybody ever offends you so grievously that you do not recollect any punishment bad enough for them, only wish them on a party of pleasure with Lady Webster! The ceremony began with irresolution in the extreme whether they should or should not go! How and which way they should go? And everything that was proposed she decidedly determined on a contrary scheme, and as regularly altered her mind in a few hours’ (_Girlhood of Maria Josepha Holroyd_, p. 65).

[9] Sir Godfrey Webster had returned to England late in 1791.

[10] Frederick, Viscount Duncannon (1758–1844), who succeeded his father as third Earl of Bessborough in 1793. He married, in 1780, Henrietta, daughter of John, first Earl Spencer, and Margaret Georgiana, daughter of the Right Hon. Stephen Poyntz. Her sister, Lady Georgiana, married, in 1774, William, fifth Duke of Devonshire.

[11] Charles Rose Ellis (1771–1845), son of John Ellis, a large landed proprietor in Jamaica. He was created Lord Seaford in 1826.

[12] John Hampden Trevor (1749–1824), who succeeded his elder brother as third Baron Hampden in 1824, a month before his own death. He was Minister at Turin from 1783 until 1798. He married, in 1773, Harriot, only child of the Rev. Daniel Burton, Canon of Christ Church.

[13] The Prince of Piedmont (1751–1819) succeeded his father as King of Sardinia in 1796 under the name of Charles Emmanuel IV., but abdicated in 1802 in favour of his brother. He married, in 1775, Marie-Therèse de Bourbon, sister of Louis XVI.

[14] Josephine-Louise, Comtesse de Balbi (1763–1836), a favourite of the Comte de Provence (Louis XVIII.) and lady-in-waiting to his wife for some years.

[15] Harriet Mary, daughter of Sir George Amyand, Bart. She married James, first Earl of Malmesbury in 1777, and died in 1830.

[16] George Ellis (1753–1815), miscellaneous writer. A joint founder with Canning of the _Anti-Jacobin_. He was the only son of George Ellis, member of the House of Assembly in Grenada.

[17] Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex (1773–1843), sixth son of George III. He married at Rome, in 1793, Lady Augusta Murray, daughter of John, fourth Earl of Dunmore. The marriage was annulled the following year, as it violated the Royal Marriage Act.

[18] Lazaro Spallanzani (1729–1799). Director of the museum at Pavia.

[19] Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count von Rumford (1753–1814), was born at North Woburn, Massachusetts. After suffering imprisonment in 1774, for lukewarmness in the cause of liberty, he sailed for England. He became Under-Secretary for the Colonies in 1780, and also served in America against his fellow-countrymen. On his return he entered the service of the Elector of Bavaria, and received the honour of knighthood from George III. He came back to England in 1795, and devoted the remainder of his life to scientific research. His experiments for the improvement of fireplaces and chimneys have proved of lasting benefit to mankind.

[20] Lord Henry Spencer (1770–1795), second son of George, third Duke of Marlborough. He died at Berlin, to which court he had been accredited as Envoy-Extraordinary. Lord Holland, in his _Miscellaneous Reminiscences_, says of him: ‘Notwithstanding his constitutional shyness and reserve, he would have distinguished himself by his wit and ingenuity, but died at the early age of twenty-four, when employed on a mission to Berlin.’

[21] Hugh Elliot (1752–1830), brother of Gilbert, first Earl of Minto. Minister at the Court of Saxony from 1791 until 1803.

[22] An Eton publication, which first appeared about 1786. Canning, Frere, and ‘Bobus’ Smith were among the chief contributors.

[23] The Duke of Brunswick’s Manifesto, issued on July 25 in the joint names of the Emperor and King of Prussia, was very unlikely, under the circumstances of the case, to assist the French Royal Family. Paris was ordered to submit to the King, under penalty of instant attack, and all popular leaders were to suffer for their misdeeds with their lives.