Part 23

[24] The Association was formed largely to promote Parliamentary Reform, a subject which was brought forward by Grey in that session of Parliament. It was originated at a dinner at the house of Lord Porchester, who refused to join as it was not sufficiently Republican. A few months later he termed it a seditious movement, and was raised to an earldom. Lord Holland relates that Mr. Fox said upon this that Lord Porchester was right in saying that the Association was not as Republican as he wished, otherwise he would probably have got a marquisate.

[25] Mr. Thomas Pelham, in a letter to Lady Webster, dated June 15, 1792 (_Holland House MSS._), recounts a conversation he had with Mr. Fox about the Association:--‘He told me (what I knew to be the truth, notwithstanding what is _now_ said) that he had never been consulted about it, and that, on the contrary, the Associators seemed determined _not to have any advice_, and particularly not to _have his_. This I know to be true, for Lauderdale told me that they were determined not to consult Fox until they saw the probability of success, in order that he might not be involved if they failed.’

[26] Henry, second Viscount Palmerston (1739–1802), who succeeded his grandfather in 1757. He was twice married, his second wife, whom he married in 1783, being Mary, daughter of Benjamin Mee, Esq. She died 1805. The celebrated statesman was her son.

[27] Under La Touche Tréville. Their unwelcome presence was due to the recent dismissal of the French Minister, Mackau. The Court were ignominiously compelled to allow him to return.

[28] Russian Secretary of Legation at Naples, and afterwards Minister there. He was Minister at Constantinople for some years.

[29] Roger Joseph Boscovitch (1711–1787), mathematician and astronomer.

[30] Sarah, daughter of Andrew, Lord Archer. She married Other Hickman, fifth Earl of Plymouth, in 1778, and after his death in 1799, William Pitt, first Earl Amherst. She died in 1838.

[31] Marie Caroline (1753–1814), daughter of Empress Marie Thérèse of Austria, and sister of Queen Marie Antoinette. She married Ferdinand IV., King of Naples, in 1768. One of her sixteen children was married to her nephew, Francis, who had succeeded his father, Leopold, as Emperor during the preceding year. He proclaimed himself Emperor of Austria in 1804 under the title of Francis I., and resigned the Empire of Germany altogether, two years later.

[32] One of the patron saints of Naples, more especially of the Lazzaroni. The yearly liquefaction of the Saint’s blood was said to propitiate Vesuvius. Mr. Sichel, in his _Emma, Lady Hamilton_, states that the Saint was accused of Jacobinism at the outbreak of the French Revolution, and that his statue was condemned in court.

[33] The King’s hunting box, near Caserta.

[34] Alexandre Sauveur, who in a letter to Wilhelmine, Comtesse de Lichtenau (1796), says that he retired from the world owing to his unspoken love for Princess F----. (He was engaged in Berlin to instruct the latter in the Italian language.)

[35] Probably Jacob Philipp Hackert (1737–1807), a Prussian landscape painter, who with his brother entered the service of the King of Naples in 1782.

[36] Among Marie Caroline’s favourite schemes for the social and mental improvement of her people was the foundation of an ideal colony of San Leucio, near Caserta. The inhabitants were subjected to a most rigid code of laws and regulations for religious and domestic observance. A copy of these ordinances, given to Lady Hamilton on this very occasion by the King, with the names of the party present in her own handwriting, is now in the British Museum (Sichel’s _Emma, Lady Hamilton_).

[37] Thomas Noel, second Lord Berwick, of Attingham (1770–1832). He married, in 1812, Sophia, daughter of John James Dubochet.

[38] Margaret, daughter of Sir John Stuart, Bart., of Allonbank, Berwickshire, and first wife of John Coxe Hippisley, whom she married in Rome in 1780. She died in 1799. Mr. Hippisley resided in Italy from 1792 to 1796, and was engaged in negotiations between the Vatican and the English Government. He was made a Baronet in 1796, for his services in connection with the marriage of the Duke of Würtemberg with the Princess Royal of England. He died in 1825.

[39] Thomas Jenkins, the principal English banker in Rome at this time. He died in 1798.

[40] William George Browne (1768–1813), who published his description of these journeys in 1800. He was murdered, in 1813, in Persia while on his way to Teheran. Whishaw was approached in 1817 on the question of editing his papers, but the publication did not take place.

[41] The Princess Santa Croce was one of the most celebrated of the Roman ladies of her day. Her intrigue with Cardinal Bernis does not seem to have attracted any attention, though well known to all.

[42] There is certainly a decided likeness in both these cases to Lady Webster’s picture, painted by Fagan in 1793.

[43] Clement XIII.

[44] François Joachim de Pierre de Bernis (1715–94), poet and statesman. Taken up by Madame de Pompadour in Paris, he was made Foreign Secretary by her influence. He only held the post for one year (1757–8), and on his retirement became a Cardinal. He was French Ambassador in Rome for many years, and was deprived of that post for his refusal to take the oath of allegiance to the Revolutionary Government. He spent the remainder of his days there.

[45] Daughter of Louis XV. She was born in 1733, and leaving France early in 1791, remained abroad until her death at Trieste in 1799.

[46] The Duke of Sussex and Lady Augusta Murray were married in Rome by a Protestant Minister in April 1793; and again at St. George’s, Hanover Square, in December.

[47] Phillipina Deane, wife of Admiral Sir Joseph Knight, and mother of Miss Cornelia Knight, Princess Charlotte’s companion. A volume of her letters from Italy, 1776–95, was published in 1905.

[48] Now called Ponte Molle, a contraction of the original name.

[49] Compare Byron’s _Childe Harold_, Canto iv. lxix.--lxxii.

The roar of waters! From the headlong height Velino cleaves the wave-worn precipice; etc.

[50] Curius Dentatus, the Conqueror of the Sabines.

[51] The Prince of Wales’s friend.

[52] Trasimene.

[53] _Gil Blas’_ uncle, ‘three and a half feet high, with his head sunk well between his shoulders.’

[54] The celebrated Italian tenor (1750–1830).

[55] Gustavus Maurice, Baron d’Armfeldt (1757–1814). After Gustavus IV. reached his majority he was appointed Ambassador at Vienna. He retired to Finland in 1810, and held office under the Russians.

[56] Gustavus III. (1748–1792). He was assassinated at the instigation of certain nobles, who considered that he was interfering with the rights of their order. Gustavus IV., his son, was only fourteen years old at the time, and until 1796 the government was carried on by his uncle, the Duke of Sudermania.

[57] John Augustus, Lord Hervey (1757–1796), son of Frederick Augustus, fourth Earl of Bristol. He served in the navy, and was Ambassador at Florence from 1787 to 1794. He married, in 1776, Elizabeth, daughter of Colin Drummond, of Megginch Castle, Perthshire. Lord Holland in his _Memoirs of the Whig Party_ (i. 56) states that he was recalled for violently and indecorously insisting on the dismissal of La Flotte, the French Minister, and thereby causing the Grand Duke to commit a breach of neutrality. Lord Holland mentions that common report in Florence suggested that Lord Hervey’s enmity to his colleague was not entirely based on public grounds.

[58] Thomas Pelham, afterwards second Earl of Chichester.

[59] The Princess Royal of Sweden, who was travelling incognito as the Princess of Wasa.

[60] Louise de Stolberg-Goedern (1753–1824). She married Prince Charles Edward in 1772, but after eight years of unhappiness left him, and went to Florence. There she became the mistress of Alfieri, and remained with him until his death in 1803. She subsequently formed an attachment for Fabre, a young French painter, and possibly married him.

[61] One of the insurrectionist leaders in La Vendée, formerly a hairdresser. He was killed at Saint-Gervois towards the latter end of 1793.

[62] Prime Minister of Tuscany. Originally tutor to the sons of Grand Duke Leopold, he accompanied the latter to Vienna on his elevation to the Imperial throne. He returned as Minister to Archduke Ferdinand, and continued in the same position in the Duchy of Würtzburg, which the Archduke received from Napoleon as compensation for the loss of Tuscany.

[63] Ferdinand III. (1769–1824) became Grand Duke of Tuscany in 1790 when his father succeeded as Emperor. He was ejected in 1801, receiving the Grand Duchy of Würtzburg in 1805, but finally returned to Florence after the battle of Waterloo. His wife was Luigia Amalia, daughter of the King and Queen of Naples.

[64] Felix Fontana (1730–1805), originally Professor at the University of Pisa. He was appointed director of the museum at Florence by the Grand Duke Leopold.

[65] The war between Austria and France broke out on the Netherlands frontier in April 1792, and success in turn favoured each of the combatants. Dumouriez’s treachery in March 1793 allowed the Austrians to pass the French frontier, and the scene of action was removed to that country. England declared war against France in February, and despatched a force under the Duke of York to assist the Austrians.

[66] The Opera House of Florence.

[67] Lady Ann Hatton. Daughter of Arthur, second Earl of Arran, she married first, in 1783, Henry Hatton, of Clonard, co. Wexford; secondly, in 1800, John, first Marquess of Abercorn. She died in 1827.

[68] King Sebastian (1554–1578), who succeeded to the throne of Portugal at the age of three, and was killed fighting the Moors in Morocco.

[69] Count Rumford.

[70] Lord Henry Spencer.

[71] An old French measure. A toise is just over six feet.

[72] He took part in the trial and condemnation of Charles I.

[73] Armand-Louis de Gontaut Biron (1747–1793). He was guillotined in December.

[74] Francis, afterwards second Marquess of Hertford; at this time Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Berlin and Vienna.

[75] George, Lord Morpeth (1773–1848), eldest son of Frederick, fifth Earl of Carlisle, and Margaret, daughter of Granville, first Marquess of Stafford. He married, in 1801, Georgina, eldest daughter of William, fifth Duke of Devonshire, and succeeded to the titles on his father’s death in 1825.

[76] George James, fourth Earl of Cholmondeley (1749–1827), who was created Marquess of Cholmondeley in 1815. He married, in 1791, Georgina Charlotte (1764–1838), daughter of Peregrine, third Duke of Ancaster.

[77] Valenciennes was invested by the allied troops under the Duke of York, and capitulated after a siege lasting forty-three days.

[78] La Fayette had broken his connection with the Jacobins after the execution of Louis XVI., and was forced to take refuge in neutral territories at Liège. He was there taken prisoner by the Austrians, and was kept in confinement at various places for five years.

[79] Charles François Dumouriez (1739–1823). At the outbreak of the Revolution he was closely connected with the Girondist faction, and held for short periods the offices of Foreign Minister and Minister for War. He was appointed to the army of the north as Lieut.-General, and inflicted a severe rebuff to the allies at Valmy in 1792. After the execution of Louis XVI., however, he became lukewarm in the cause, and when defeated by the Austrians at Neerwinden he seized the opportunity of joining the Austrians, with a small portion of his army. He lived at Hamburg for some years, but finally settled in England in 1804, and was granted a pension of 1200_l._ by Government.

[80] Spencer, eighth Earl of Northampton (1738–1796). He was twice married, and died at Berne. The _Gentleman’s Magazine_ records that he originally retired to Switzerland to recover from the expenses of a Parliamentary contest at Northampton, for which he sat 1762–63. He succeeded to the peerage in the latter year.

[81] It was sold in 1830 for 20,000_l._ to the Emperor of Russia, and is now in England.

[82] Lenzburg.

[83] Custine was placed in charge of the northern army after Dumouriez’s defection, but found it in such a state of disorganisation that he was unable to cope with the enemy. Condé and Valenciennes fell without him being able to give them any assistance. His ill success cost him his life.

[84] Charles Eugène (1728–1793) who succeeded his father as Duke of Würtemberg in 1737. He was twice married, his second wife being Franziscka de Bernardin, Comtesse de Hohenheim.

[85] Ludwigsburg.

[86] Lionel Robert Tollemache, grandson of Lionel, fourth Earl of Dysart, and son of the Hon. John Tollemache and Bridget, daughter of Robert, first Earl of Northington. He was in his nineteenth year.

[87] They were not to serve against the allies for a year. This condition, however, left them free to serve against the insurgents in La Vendée, and there they were sent.

[88] Dormagen (?).

[89] The collection was removed for safety in 1805 to Munich by Maxmilian Joseph, King of Bavaria, and was never returned.

[90] Lord H. Spencer.

[91] Thomas, seventh Earl of Elgin and eleventh of Kincardine (1766–1841), the collector of the ‘Elgin Marbles.’ He was at Brussels from 1792 till 1795.

[92] Three of these were fired from covered mines, and the assault was delivered at the same moment, during the confusion caused by them.

[93] Lady Webster’s spaniel.

[94] The English army was engaged at Dunkirk, while the Imperial force besieged Quesnoy. A very large force was also required to preserve the communications between them.

[95] Charles, third Duke of Richmond (1735–1806), Master-General of the Ordnance 1783–1795. ‘The Duke of Richmond quitted the Ordnance, ascribing the failure to the Duke of York, and the Duke of York, or at least his friends, insinuated that it had arisen from the neglect or the malicious delay of the Ordnance’ (Lord Holland’s _Memoirs of the Whig Party_, i. 68).

[96] It is interesting to compare a letter of Mr. Elliot, of Wells, quoted in Lady Minto’s _Life of Sir Gilbert Elliot_, and written on Nov. 2, from Tournay, after a visit to the Duke’s headquarters. ‘Almost all the persons immediately about the Duke are very young men, and as they live at headquarters, they fill his table and prevent him from inviting the general officers and colonels of regiments as frequently as it is usual for a Commander-in-Chief to do. This is one source of disgust. The youth of the circle which surrounds him occasions also a levity of manners at headquarters, hence arises a lamentable deficiency of discipline among the officers. The Duke feels this, and sometimes _expresses_ himself hardily, when he ought to _act_ with severity.’

[97] Mrs. Wyndham’s house.

[98] Better known as Lady Hertford. Isabella Anne, second wife of Francis, Lord Yarmouth, who succeeded his father as second Marquess of Hertford in 1794. The first Marquess, whose stepmother was a daughter of Lawrence Hyde, Earl of Rochester, was created Viscount Beauchamp and Earl of Hertford in 1750, and was raised to a Marquisate in 1793. Lady Beauchamp was daughter of Charles Ingram, Viscount Irvine, and married in 1776. She died in 1834, at the age of seventy-four.

[99] Madame de Walmoden, George II.’s mistress, was created Countess of Yarmouth.

[100] Lord Sheffield married Miss Pelham, Thomas Pelham’s sister, in December 1794. She died early in 1797.

[101] Elizabeth, only daughter of Sir Ralph Milbanke. She married Peniston, first Viscount Melbourne, in 1769, and died in 1818. Her second son, William, succeeded to the titles, and became Prime Minister.

[102] Afterwards first Earl of Minto. As a follower of the Duke of Portland he had ceased to co-operate with the Opposition when his leader joined the Ministry.

[103] Toulon was handed over by its inhabitants to Lord Hood on the condition that it should be held in trust for Louis XVII., and given back to the Royalists on the restoration of the monarchy. It was soon afterwards besieged by the Republicans under General Cartaux, who appeared before the walls on August 30. Large reinforcements swelled his force to over 30,000 men, while the numbers of the allies never exceeded 12,000. After several sorties, in one of which General O’Hara, the commander of the land forces, was taken prisoner, it was decided to evacuate the town, and the design was successfully carried out after burning the majority of the stores and ships in the harbour.

[104] Sir Charles Grey, a distinguished general officer and K.B. (1783), was created Baron Grey of Howick in 1801. He was raised to an earldom in 1806, but died the following year at the age of seventy-eight. His elder brother, Sir Henry Grey, died unmarried in 1808, and the baronetcy devolved on Charles, second Earl Grey, the commencement of whose political career Lady Webster here relates.

[105] Pitt brought forward his plan for reform in 1785.

[106] Lord Hervey’s brother, who survived him, and became fifth Earl of Bristol upon his father’s death in 1803.

[107] Duchess of Ancaster.

[108] James Harris (1746–1820), created Baron Malmesbury in 1788, and raised to an earldom in 1800. He was originally a friend of Fox and the Whigs, but severed his connection with that party in 1792. He was at this time on a special mission to King Frederick William at Berlin.

[109] John, fourth Earl of Darnley (1767–1831). He married, in 1791, Elizabeth, daughter of the Right Hon. William Brownlow, of Lurgan.

[110] He was appointed to command the expeditionary force sent to assist the Royalist insurgents in La Vendée. The undertaking was a failure, and the troops returned without effecting anything decisive.

[111] Ambassador at St. Petersburg and afterwards Louis XVI.’s Minister for the Home Department. He emigrated at the time of the Revolution, but returned under the Empire.

[112] George Augustus, afterwards eleventh Earl of Pembroke (1759–1827). He was at this time in command of the 2nd Dragoon Guards, but returned home on the death of his father in 1794.

[113] Ehrenbreitstein.

[114] Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford. See _ante_, p. 12.

[115] General O’Hara was wounded and taken prisoner in the attack on Fort Mulgrave. He was taken to Paris, and imprisoned in the Luxembourg until his exchange for General Rochambeau in August 1795.

[116] Louis Eugène, brother of the preceding Duke. He only lived until 1796, when he was succeeded by a third brother, Frederick Eugène.

[117] Lord Henry Fitzgerald (1761–1829), fourth son of James, first Duke of Leinster. He married, in 1791, Charlotte, Baroness de Ros in her own right.

[118] See _ante_, pp. 47, 55.

[119] As soon as the news of the outbreak of war between England and France was received in India, the English took possession of all the small French factories. Lord Cornwallis, the Governor-General, also made preparations to besiege Pondicherry, but the fortress capitulated to the troops under Colonel Braithwaite before he arrived upon the scene. The town was restored to France in 1816.

[120] St. Domingo was taken over in September 1793, by a force from Jamaica, at the request of the inhabitants of Jeremie and other towns, to be held under British protection until the conclusion of a general peace.

[121] Lord Granville Leveson-Gower (1773–1846), afterwards created Viscount and Earl Granville, son of Granville, first Marquess of Stafford, by his third wife, Lady Susannah Stewart, daughter of Alexander, ninth Earl of Galloway. He was Ambassador to Russia in 1804, and married, in 1809, Lady Henrietta Cavendish, daughter of William, fifth Duke of Devonshire.

His half-brother, George Granville, who succeeded to the titles on Lord Stafford’s death in 1803, and was later created Duke of Sutherland, married, in 1785, Elizabeth, Countess of Sutherland in her own right.

[122] Lord Holland, in his _Miscellaneous Reminiscences_ (_Further Memoirs of the Whig Party_), states that the work was said to be that of Fabroni, the Sub-Director of the Museum, though Fontana always exhibited it as his own.

[123] The _Amphitrite_ frigate was wrecked on its passage from Porto Ferraio, in Elba, to Leghorn. Sir Gilbert writes on January 31, 1794, to Lady Elliot, ‘I was yesterday shipwrecked, but nevertheless I arrived at Leghorn without even having wetted my feet’ (_Life and Letters of Sir Gilbert Elliot_).

[124] Charles George Beauclerk (1774–1846), only son of Topham Beauclerk and Lady Diana Beauclerk, daughter of Charles, second Duke of Marlborough. He married, in 1799, Emily Charlotte, daughter of William Ogilvie, Esq. and Emilia Mary, widow of James, first Duke of Leinster.

[125] Rev. Matthew Marsh, a great friend of Lord Morpeth and his family. He took orders in 1799, and became Chancellor of the Diocese of Salisbury and Rector of Brinkworth, and later of Winterslow, in Wilts.

[126] Edward, second and last Earl Digby. He was born in 1773; succeeded his father in the titles in 1793; and died unmarried in 1856.

[127] Thomas Wallace (1768–1844), created Baron Wallace of Knaresdale in 1828. He was a supporter of Pitt, and at this time member for Grampound.

[128] Pius VI.

[129] Afterwards Lady Pellew.

[130] John, Lord Wycombe (1765–1809), eldest son of William, first Marquess of Lansdown, by his first wife, Lady Sophia Carteret, daughter of John, Earl Granville. Lord Wycombe became second Lord Lansdown on his father’s death in 1805, and married the same year Mary Arabella, widow of Sir Duke Gifford, of Castle Jordan, in Ireland.

[131] Lord Lansdown’s second wife was Lady Louisa Fitzpatrick, daughter of John, first Earl of Upper Ossory, and Evelyn, daughter of John, Earl Gower. After Lord Upper Ossory’s death his widow married Richard Vernon, and by him had three daughters. The one here mentioned was the youngest, Elizabeth. Miss Fox, Lord Holland’s only sister, was Lord Lansdown’s niece.

[132] William Pitt Amherst (1773–1857). He succeeded his uncle in 1797 as second Baron Amherst, and was raised to an earldom in 1826. He was Governor-General of India from 1823 till 1828. He married, first, in 1800, Sarah, widow of Other Hickman, fifth Earl of Plymouth, and daughter of Andrew, Lord Archer. She died in 1838, and he married, secondly, in 1839, Mary, widow of Other Archer, sixth Earl of Plymouth, and daughter of the third Duke of Dorset.

[133] Probably George Cornewall (1774–1835), who succeeded his father as third Baronet in 1819. The latter changed his name from Amyand on his marriage to Catherine, daughter of Velters Cornewall, of Moccas Court, Hereford.

[134] Near the Porta alle Croce, at the south end of the town. Probably it is a house still extant, the Villino Ginori, just inside the walls.

[135] _Paradise Lost._

[136] See Appendix A.

[137] The French gained a foothold in Holland early in January 1795, and so rapid was their advance that before the end of the month Amsterdam and the Dutch fleet, frozen into the Texel, were in their hands. The Duke of York had been recalled in November, and was superseded in the chief command by General Walmoden.

[138] Vasari, in his Life of Jacopo da Pontormo, mentions that the villa was built by Cosimo de Medici the elder.

[139] Now in the Turin Gallery.

[140] George, Earl Macartney (1737–1806). Ambassador to Russia in 1764; Governor of Madras 1780–86; Ambassador Extraordinary to China, 1792–94; and Governor of the Cape of Good Hope, 1797–9. At this time he was on a confidential mission to Louis XVIII. at Verona, and remained in Italy until the following year.

[141] Most of the pictures formerly in this palace are now in the Brera Gallery at Milan.

[142] The picture is now in the Pinacoteca.

[143] Frederick Augustus, fourth Earl of Bristol and Bishop of Derry (1730–1803), who succeeded to the titles on the death of his brother in 1779. Father of Lady Webster’s friend Lord Hervey, for some years Minister at Florence. Lady Louisa, who married Mr. Jenkinson, afterwards second Lord Liverpool and Prime Minister, was his youngest daughter.