CHAPTER XXVI.
Chapel at Bath--Pope, the Poet--Warburton, Bishop of Gloucester--Lady Fanny Shirley--Charles Wesley--John Wesley--Beau Nash--Anecdote--Mr. Hervey--Methodist Conference--Mr. Larwood--Potter, Archbishop of Canterbury--Dr. Doddridge--Hon. Mrs. Scawen--Mr. Cruttenden--Mr. Neal--Dr. Doddridge visits Bristol--Visits Lady Huntingdon at Bath--Anecdote--Dr. Oliver--Dr. Hartley--Prior Park--Death of Dr. Doddridge--Mrs. Grinfield--The Moravians--Count Zinzendorff--Elizabeth King--Lady Gertrude Hotham--Death of Miss Hotham--Marriage of Sir Charles Hotham--Death of his Lady--His own Decease--Death of his Mother, Lady Gertrude--Mr. Theophilus Lindsay--Mrs. Brewer--Lord Huntingdon and Mr. Grimshaw--Lord Chesterfield and Mr. Stanhope--Countess of Moira--Mrs. Carteret and Mrs. Cavendish--Countess Delitz--Lady Chesterfield--Earl of Bath--Lord Cork--Anecdote of George II.
The frequent visits of Lady Huntingdon to Bath, during a period of twenty-five years prior to the opening of her chapel in that city, were attended with the happiest results. Wherever she went she invariably produced an extraordinary degree of attention to religious subjects. Her Ladyship’s character[226] was in many respects new. There was a publicity in her religion which no other, Dissenter, Puritan, Churchman, or Reformer, had ever displayed, at least since the Reformation. Wherever she was, and in whatever company, her conversation was on religion, in which there was this peculiarity, that she spoke of the sins and errors of her former life, her conversion to God, the alteration in her heart and conduct; and she plainly said to all, it was absolutely necessary that the same change should take place in them, if they would have any hope in death. What an innumerable multitude will have abundant cause to bless God to all eternity on her account, as the honoured instrument in his hands of leading them to a saving acquaintance with the truth as it is in Jesus. The means on which she chiefly relied in this good work was the erecting of numerous chapels, where the glad tidings of a free and full salvation, suited to the wants and necessities of the ruined, the vilest, and most abject of the human race, have been, and still continue to be, faithfully proclaimed; whereby many outcasts and wanderers have been brought back to the fold of the Great Shepherd and Bishop of Souls.
Towards the close of the year 1739, the Earl of Huntingdon, who had been much indisposed during the summer, had been recommended to use the Bath waters. One of his friends, the late Mr. Allen, then resided at Widcombe, where Pope (the poet) and Dr. Warburton (afterwards Bishop of Gloucester) were on a visit.[227] In the society of these distinguished men[228] Lady Huntingdon enjoyed many opportunities of advancing the interests of true religion, which she uniformly embraced with all the ardour of a newly-awakened convert, and with that energy and talent which she so remarkably possessed. The bigoted and intolerant Warburton took every occasion to rally her Ladyship on her newly-adopted sentiments, and, with his characteristic rudeness, pronounced her an incurable enthusiast; for with him all personal experience of a divine witness, by the Spirit of God, in the heart was rank enthusiasm: and this Lady Huntingdon maintained as the essence of truth and Christianity. She pleaded for the application and enjoyment of divine truth in the conscience; Warburton for bishops, priests, and deacons, and the two sacraments of sacerdotal administration, as essential to the being of a Christian. Through life this singular man was strongly prejudiced against, and warmly opposed and censured, both the principles and people that Lady Huntingdon honoured and respected, and on numberless occasions manifested an undeviating opposition, contempt of, and endeavour to suppress, what he was pleased to style Methodism, which he abhorred, but which her Ladyship loved and vindicated--even that true, spiritual, experimental religion that is really felt in the heart, and acknowledged to be the work of the Holy Ghost, illuminating, converting, and comforting the chosen people of God.
Mr. Charles Wesley was at Bath,[230] but meeting great opposition, preached only once or twice. Lady Huntingdon, however, attended his preaching at Bristol, Bradford, and other places, where he was heard by thousands. The ridicule of Warburton was ever ready to encounter her Ladyship on her return from these excursions.
In the year 1745 the second Methodist Conference was held in Bristol. Besides Messrs. John and Charles Wesley, there were present the Rev. John Hodges, rector of Wenvo, and seven travelling preachers--Thomas Richards, Samuel Larwood,[231] Thomas Meyrick, James Wheatley,[232] Richard Moss, John Slocombe,[233] and Herbert Jenkins.[234] Lady Huntingdon was then at Clifton, and formed an acquaintance with several of these apostolic labourers, some of whom, particularly Messrs. Richards, Meyrick, and Moss, she invited to Bath, whither she went for a short period. The preaching of these men of God was attended by a divine power, and many in the middling and inferior classes of society, as well as some in the more refined circles, became the “seals of their apostleship in the Lord.”[235]
In 1747, Lady Huntingdon again visited Bath, for the benefit of her health. Previous to her Ladyship leaving London she called on Dr. Potter, Archbishop of Canterbury; and as he was then in his seventy-fifth year, and in a declining state, her Ladyship, with the utmost tenderness and fidelity, spoke of the near approach of that last solemn event which would terminate all earthly friendships. He appeared sensibly affected, and at parting, took her Ladyship’s hand, and said, with great earnestness, “May the Lord God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob bless thee!” For many years she enjoyed the friendship of this learned divine, who succeeded Dr. Wake in the see of Canterbury, which high and important office he supported with much dignity for a period of ten years. When Bishop of Oxford he had an opportunity of witnessing the rise of Methodism in the University; and afterwards ordained the Messrs. Wesley, Ingham, Hervey, Broughton, Clayton, Kinchin, &c., the first members of that society. On one occasion he treated Mr. Charles Wesley with great severity; but towards the close of life his sentiments respecting the Methodists seem to have undergone a more favourable change; his long intimacy with Lady Huntingdon may have contributed to this end. On the death of Lord Huntingdon, he visited her frequently, and always treated her with parental tenderness. Not long after her Ladyship left London for Bath, his Grace was seized with an alarming illness, from which he never entirely recovered. The last act of his life was writing the following note to her Ladyship, on the 10th of October, 1747:--
“Dear Madam--I have been very well since I last saw you. I hope soon to hear from you, that your health is better for your being at Bath. Continue to pray for me until we meet in that place where our joy shall be complete. I am, as ever, your affectionate friend,
“JOHN CANTUAR.”
After his Grace had written the above, he was walking with it to his scrutoire, and (as his son, Mr. Potter, acquainted Lady Huntingdon), being seized with a sudden syncope, dropped upon the floor, and expired with the letter in his hand!
Lady Huntingdon was again in Bath in 1750. At this period she was extremely ill, and serious apprehensions were entertained for her life. At the close of a letter from Mr. Hervey to the Rev. Moses Browne, afterwards vicar of Olney, dated December 22, 1750, he enquires--
“What account can you give of Lady Huntingdon’s health? Never, never will the physician’s skill be employed for the lengthening of a more valuable life. May Almighty goodness bless those prescriptions, and command her constitution and our zeal to flourish!”
Dr. Doddridge, in a letter to his correspondent, the Rev. Mr. Wood, of Norwich, dated about the same time, says--“Dear Lady Huntingdon is in a very declining way. Pray devoutly for her important life.”[236] From a letter written by the Duchess of Somerset, better known to the world as the Countess of Hertford, to the Rev. Theophilus Lindsay, dated Percy Lodge, July 9th, 1751, we learn that Lady Huntingdon’s health had by that time considerably improved--“I have had no letter from Lady Huntingdon (says the Duchess), but I hear she is at Cheltenham, and pretty well.” In a subsequent letter from the Duchess of Somerset we find Lady Huntingdon had returned to Bath in the month of August, or beginning of September. Her Grace writes--
“I have had a very agreeable letter last week from Dr. Oliver, who tells me that Lady Huntingdon is pretty well, and much employed in attending Dr. Doddridge, who is in a deep consumption at Bath, but is to set out in a few days, in order to embark at Falmouth, for Lisbon, from whence, it is Dr. Oliver’s opinion, he will never return.”[237]
The consumptive disease under which Dr. Doddridge had long suffered now began to make more rapid progress. His health declined so fast that his excellent physician, Dr. Stonhouse,[238] recommended him a voyage to Lisbon. He had been at Shrewsbury for some time, for the benefit of air, exercise, and an entire cessation from business and company. From thence he proceeded to Bristol, where he remained several weeks, during which period he received numerous letters of condolence from his friends, filled with anxious enquiries after the state of his health. The letters of Lady Huntingdon, the Honourable Mrs. Scawen,[239] Robert Cruttenden, Esq.,[240] Nathaniel Neale, Esq.,[241] and Lord Lyttleton, were peculiarly interesting and affectionate, from the friendship expressed in them, and the divine consolations which they administered.
The worthy Doctor hesitated to take the journey to Portugal, lest the necessary expense should injure his family; but Lady Huntingdon, with that noble generosity which so distinguished her character, contributed the sum of one hundred pounds; and her liberality did not stop here, for with the assistance of Lady Chesterfield, Lady Fanny Shirley, Lord Lyttleton, Lord Bath, and a few others amongst the nobility, she gathered a sum of about three hundred pounds, which she placed in the hands of Mrs. Doddridge.
“Words (says her Ladyship) cannot express the gratitude and thankfulness with which dear Mrs. Doddridge accepted the contributions which I was enabled to collect. I felt grateful to God that he enabled me thus, in a trifling degree, to administer to the external comfort of one of his dear servants. Less than the least, I feel humbled before him for this instance of his goodness, in making me instrumental of any benefit to the saints that are upon the earth. The Lord disposed my heart to add one hundred pounds to the benefactions of dear Lady Chesterfield, Lady Fanny, Lord Lyttleton, and Lord Bath, making a total of nearly three hundred; which, with that Mr. Neale and his friends amongst the Dissenters may collect, will, I hope, be of essential service in procuring him every comfort which his almost helpless state requires.”
Accordingly, on the 17th of September, Dr. Doddridge left Bristol, and, on his arrival in Bath, became the guest of Lady Huntingdon, until the period of his departure for Falmouth. In the morning of the day on which he set out from Bath to Falmouth, Lady Huntingdon came into the room, and found him weeping over that passage in Daniel ix. 11, 12, “Daniel, a man greatly beloved,” &c. “You are in tears, Sir,” said Lady Huntingdon. “I am weeping, Madam (answered the Doctor), but they are tears of comfort and joy; I can give up my country, my relations, my friends, into the hands of God; and, as to myself, I can as well go to heaven from Lisbon, as from my own study at Northampton.”
Dr. Oliver, Mr. Allen, Pope, and Dr. Warburton, testified their regard for Dr. Doddridge at this period. Between Warburton and Doddridge long and intimate friendship existed, and much of the correspondence between them has been preserved in Nichols’s “Literary Anecdotes,” and the “Diary and Correspondence of Dr. Doddridge,” lately published. In the last letter which he wrote, that worthy and amiable man, whilst at the Hot-wells for the benefit of the waters, says:--
“Your kind letter gave me, and will give Mr. Allen,[242] great concern; but for ourselves, and not for you, death, whenever it happens, in a life spent like yours, is to be envied, not pitied; and you will have the prayers of your friends, as conquerors have the shouts of the crowd. God preserve you, if he continues you here to go on in his service; if he takes you to himself, to be crowned with glory, be assured the memory of our friendship will be as durable as my life.”
Warburton visited Lady Huntingdon while Dr. Doddridge was her guest, and in the presence of Dr. Oliver and Dr. Hartley, author of “Observations on Man,” rated her Ladyship and Doddridge about enthusiasm. On another occasion, when Lady Huntingdon dined at Prior Park, the subject of conversation happening to turn on Mr. Whitefield, who had just then embarked for America, Dr. Hartley[243] spoke of his abilities with admiration, and of his doctrines with respect. “Of his oratorical powers (said Warburton), and their astonishing influence on the minds of thousands, there can be no doubt--they are of a high order; but with respect to his doctrines, I consider them pernicious and false.” A very animated and interesting debate took place, in the course of which Dr. Hartley ably defended Mr. Whitefield against the unjustifiable aspersions of his unreasonable antagonist, and proved the uniformity of his doctrines with the articles and formularies of the Established Church, and their accordance with the Confessions of Faith of all the Reformed Churches in Christendom. In this sentiment Lady Huntingdon, Dr. Oliver,[244] and Mr. Allen concurred. Warburton’s irascibility and unappeasable malignity to what he denominated Methodism could not endure this, and he hastily left the apartment.
On the 30th of September, Dr. Doddridge embarked at Falmouth, and landed at Lisbon on the 13th of October. A few days after his departure from Bath, Lady Huntingdon writes thus concerning him:--
“Our dear and much-loved Doddridge has left us for Lisbon, and left us without the shadow of a hope of meeting again on this side eternity. May the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ go with him, and abide with him to his journey’s end: and give him at last a triumphant entrance into his kingdom of eternal rest and glory, reserved for the people of his choice, the objects of his redeeming love and boundless mercy!”
Of the serene and happy state of the Doctor’s mind, in the prospect of approaching dissolution, the following extract from one of his letters, written during this solemn season, is a characteristic and instructive proof:--
“I see, indeed, no hope of recovery, yet _my heart rejoiceth_ in my God and in my Saviour; and I can call Him, under this failure of everything else, _its strength_ and everlasting portion. I must now thank you for your heart-reviving letter to strengthen my faith, to comfort my soul, and assist me in _swallowing up death in victory_! God hath indeed been wonderfully good to me; but I am less than the least of his mercies, less than the least hope of his children. Adored be his grace for whatever it hath wrought by me; and blessed be you of the Lord for the strong consolations you have been the instrument of administering. Let me desire you to write again, and to pour out your heart freely with all its strong cordial sentiments of Christianity; nothing will give me greater joy. What a friend you will be in heaven! How glad shall I be to welcome you there, after a long and glorious course of service, to increase the lustre of your crown! May you long shine with your light, warmth, and influence, like a sun upon the earth, when there remains not any united particles of that poor, wasting, sinking frame, which enables this immortal spirit to call itself your friend in everlasting bonds.”
The melancholy intelligence of his death was communicated by Dr. Stonhouse to Lady Huntingdon, than whom, in the extensive circle of his acquaintance, few had a warmer friendship for the Doctor, or more sincerely mourned his removal in the height of vigour, usefulness, and honour:--
“The death of my dear lamented Doddridge has affected my heart in a very uncommon manner, and I am often melted into tears when I reflect upon his unspeakable loss to the Church and the world. But all my murmurings are silenced by the voice of Him, in whose hands are the issues of life and death, and who hath said--‘_Shall I not do what I will with my own?_’ With my hand on my mouth, and my mouth in the dust, I desire to acquiesce in this divine prerogative to take and leave as seemeth good to him, crying from my heart, ‘_Thy righteous will be done!_’”
The remains of Dr. Doddridge were interred in the burying ground belonging to the British Factory at Lisbon; and a handsome monument was afterwards erected to his memory at Northampton, at the expense of the congregation, and an epitaph inscribed upon it, drawn up by his much-esteemed friend, Gilbert West, Esq., Clerk of the Privy Council, and nephew of Lord Viscount Cobham.
The latter end of May, 1752, found Lady Huntingdon again at Bath.
“May the waters (writes Mr. Whitefield) be abundantly blessed to the restoring of your bodily health, and may the comforts of the ever-living, ever-lovely Jesus fill and refresh your soul! I hope to see your Ladyship about the 24th of this month. Next week, God willing, I go to Portsmouth, and from thence to Bath. My body is much enfeebled, but the joy of the Lord is my strength. Hoping shortly to see your Ladyship prospering, both in soul and body, and begging a continual interest in your Ladyship’s prayers, I subscribe myself,” &c.
On the 22nd of June, Mr. Whitefield arrived in Bath, and continued with Lady Huntingdon about three weeks, preaching every evening to great numbers of the nobility. Here he first became acquainted with the late Mrs. Grinfield,[245] a lady who attended on Queen Caroline:--“One of Cæsar’s household (writes Mr. Whitefield) hath been lately awakened through her Ladyship’s instrumentality, and I hope others will meet with the like blessing.”
The dangerous illness of Mrs. Charles Wesley obliging Lady Huntingdon to remove to Bristol, Mrs. Grinfield returned to London to attend her duties at Court, and Mr. Whitefield to his usual occupation. In a few days he writes thus:--
“Yesterday morning I obeyed your Ladyship’s commands, and carried the enclosed to Mrs. Grinfield, at St. James’s palace. I was much satisfied with my visit, and am rejoiced to find that she seems resolved to show out at once. The Court, I believe, rings of her, and if she stands, I trust she will make a glorious martyr for her blessed Lord.”
In another letter he says:--
“Till Mrs. Grinfield can meet with company that is really in earnest, I think the closer she keeps to her God and her book the better. The Lord strengthen, stablish, and settle her in his ways and will!”
Now was the period of the Moravian controversy, to which we have alluded, and the result of which was to draw Mrs. Grinfield,[246] with Mr. Cennick and others, over to the Church of the United Brethren.
Mr. Whitefield wrote his remonstrance to the Count, Bishop of the United Church in England, and the Countess of Huntingdon’s part in the affair may be related in her own words. Count Zinzendorff paid her Ladyship a visit, and was received with the hospitality, dignity, and politeness due to a person of high distinction. Her Ladyship, with mingled tenderness and fidelity, remonstrated with the Count on the farrago of superstitious fopperies and shocking offences introduced by the leading brethren in London and other places, whereby hundreds of honest-hearted Christians were deluded and involved in unspeakable distress and anguish of mind.
“He heard my remonstrance with patience (says the Countess), and seemed much troubled when I mentioned the cases of those persons who have been involved in utter ruin by means of the brethren. I entered at some length into the superstitious horrors acted at Hatton-garden, and the evident impropriety of usurping an authority over the consciences and properties of the people. Our conference was long, and, as the Count honoured me with his company for a few days, was resumed at intervals, always closing with a solemn scriptural prayer to our great and glorious Head for the illuminating influences of his Spirit to guide us into all truth. We parted with the utmost cordiality. Dear Mr. Whitefield’s letter has much grieved the Count. But his remonstrance is faithful, and the awful exposures he has reluctantly been forced to make may be productive of the highest good in opening the eyes of many to the miserable delusions under which they lie.”
About this period the illness of one of her daughters obliged Lady Gertrude Hotham to remove to Bath. In the summer of 1755, Mr. Whitefield again visited that city, and preached frequently at the residence of Lady Gertrude. Lord Chesterfield and Mr. Stanhope, who had just then returned from the continent after a long absence, were on a visit to Lady Gertrude. Mrs. Bevan[247] and Mrs. Grinfield were also of the party; but the most interesting member of this remarkable circle was the young lady whose illness had brought Lady Gertrude and her friends to Bath. She was the eldest daughter, and had all her mother’s piety. When Lady Gertrude opened her house to the preaching of the Gospel, and when the house of Lady Huntingdon was a temple, at which the great were not ashamed to worship Christ, this young lady had been heartily awakened by the preaching of Mr. Whitefield.[248] Before the period of which we write she had long seemed to be preparing for that inheritance which was reserved for her in the courts above; but her friends had little expectation of the calm splendour of that closing scene which rendered her an example to the Church. A few days before her departure Mr. Whitefield visited her, at the particular request of Lady Gertrude. She had been prayed for very earnestly two days before at the administration of the sacrament at Lady Huntingdon’s, the preceding day at the administration of the same ordinance at Lady Fanny Shirley’s, and likewise, previous to his interview, in Lady Gertrude’s drawing-room, on which occasion her Ladyship, Sir Charles Hotham, the Misses Melisina and Gertrude Hotham, the Countess Delitz, Lady Fanny Shirley, and the attending domestics, were much affected with the awful and impressive solemnity of the scene. When Mr. Whitefield approached her bed-side, she seemed glad to see him, but requested he would speak and pray as softly as he could. She desired to keep her lying posture; “but I can rise to take physic (she exclaimed); why not to pray?” He conversed with her a little, during which she dropped some strong expressions about the depravity of her heart, the vanity of the world, and the littleness of every thing out of Christ. She appeared to speak out of the abundance of her heart, from a feeling sense of her own vileness. After prayer she seemed as though she felt things unutterable. Those about her wept for joy. A short time before her dissolution she declared to those around her dying bed, her peace and hope, and bore the strongest testimony to the faithfulness and love of God to her soul at that solemn season. She knew in whom she had believed; and her hope of eternal life, founded on the Rock of Ages, was an anchor to her soul, “both sure and steadfast.” Before the final struggle she affectionately embraced her whole family, and, with almost her last breath, assured her afflicted parent that she was quite free from pain or fear. In this peaceful state she took her leave of earthly scenes and entered into the joy of her Lord.[249]
In December, 1757, Lady Gertrude had the happiness of seeing her son, Sir Charles Hotham, married to an amiable and accomplished young lady, Miss Clara Anne Clutterbuck, daughter and heiress of Thos. Clutterbuck, Esq., of Mill-green, in Essex. Their union was but of short duration. In June, 1759, Lady Hotham was suddenly seized with a violent fever, which, in the course of a few days, terminated in death. This severe affliction, however, was the appointed means of leading Sir Charles to a deeper knowledge and experience of the truth as it is in Jesus. He had frequently heard Mr. Whitefield and other eminent ministers at his mother’s house in London and Bath, and had not drunk the poison of his uncle, Lord Chesterfield; yet he was not a decided character until he became a lonely widower. From that time he defied all the sneers of the Court, and dared to be “singularly good.”
Soon after the death of his lady, Sir Charles Hotham became Groom of the Bedchamber to George III., through the interest of his uncle, Lord Chesterfield; owing to his increased ill health, and being ordered change of air, he went to Germany in 1767, and in the same year died there, at a village near the Spa. This last stroke was a severe one to Lady Gertrude. She had already lost her hopes, and now her Isaac was called for, but in the trial she showed an Abraham’s faith and patience. The very evening after she received the intelligence of her melancholy loss, being alone and reading, she set fire to her ruffles, and the linen about her neck and head burnt so rapidly, that for fifteen days she was under means for her recovery. She would not suffer her friends to lament the accident, blamed herself for having been desirous of a speedy flight, or marking out the way to God. While Mr. Adair dressed her wounds, which daily occupied an hour and a half, she would speak of God’s mercies to her. The surgeon would say that her good life had merited heaven; but she, in holy indignation, would rouse her fainting spirits to reply, that there was no merit but in Christ Jesus, and that in his blood and righteousness were all her hopes. She called on her friends to bless God for her accident, and suffered the means of recovery to be taken with her only in the spirit of submission, lest it should be God’s will that she should live. For every nourishment afforded, she gave peculiar thanks, and on being directed to take some wine, she could not speak of its restoring influence without remembering that on his cross her Saviour was denied the kind indulgence then afforded her. A few minutes before her death her friends put some liquid in her mouth, and she, who had spoken little for three days, said, “Enough--happy--happy!” and one sigh set her spirit at liberty![250]
Sir Charles Hotham had been the intimate companion of the young Earl of Huntingdon, upon whom he had exerted some good influence, at least for a time. Mr. Whitefield, in a letter to Lady Fanny Shirley, says, in reference to the friendship of Sir Charles and her nephew, the Earl of Huntingdon--
“It will be pleasant to see Sir Charles and the Earl striving who shall go fastest to heaven. Your Ladyship will scorn to be outstripped by any. The Almighty God approves the ambition, and angels look down with pleasure to see the event. Blessed be God, that is certain. All believers here do run, and all hereafter shall obtain the prize.”
Unfortunately, the Earl of Huntingdon was not a Sir Charles Hotham. Little has ever been made known relative to this accomplished nobleman, the eldest and only surviving son of Lady Huntingdon. He was born in 1729, the memorable year in which Methodism took its rise at Oxford.
We have already spoken of his tour to France, and his introduction from his adopted father, Lord Chesterfield, formerly ambassador to that Court, to the celebrated Lady Hervey, mother of the excellent Lady Mary Fitzgerald, the friend and correspondent of Lady Huntingdon, Mr. Venn, Mr. Fletcher, and Mr. Wesley. When young, the public expectation was raised very high regarding him; and an ode was addressed to him by Dr. Mark Akenside, who, as the reader knows, had settled as a physician at Northampton, and was patronized by the Huntingdon family.
In November 1756, he was appointed Master of the Horse to George III., then Prince of Wales, who, succeeding to the crown October 25, 1760, continued his Lordship in that office, and nominated him one of the Privy Council in December following. His Lordship carried the Sword of State at his Majesty’s coronation, in 1761; and December 29th, the following year, was appointed Lord Lieutenant and Custos Rotulorum of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and of the city of York and county of the same. At the baptism of Prince Frederick, his Majesty’s second son, on Wednesday evening, September 14, 1763, the Earl of Huntingdon, being then Groom of the Stole (which office he resigned in January, 1770), stood proxy for the Duke of York, one of the sponsors. His Lordship was also enrolled among the members of the Royal Society. He is said to have left his place at Court, and given up all employment, offended at being refused the Dukedom of Clarence, which he had claimed by hereditary right. Although his manners were much more like those of a foreigner than an Englishman (speaking French, Italian, and Spanish perfectly, with all the elegance of a foreign courtier), yet he never made a display of anything like superiority. It was impossible to be in his society without obtaining information, and he was equally polite to the wise and to the ignorant. His venerable mother, however, through a long life, had to mourn over the infidelity of her child, and the baseness of those principles which he had imbibed from Lord Chesterfield and Lord Bolingbroke.[251]
When Lady Huntingdon was in Yorkshire, Mr. Grimshaw, rector of Haworth, used to be much with her Ladyship, and had frequent arguments with Lord Huntingdon on the internal evidence of the Christian religion. On one occasion, after a discussion of this nature, Mr. Grimshaw, with the openness and frankness so characteristic of that apostolic labourer, told his Lordship “that the fault was not so much in his head as in his heart.” His Lordship was so much affected with this remark that he never encountered that antagonist again. So true it is that the most insurmountable, as well as the most usual, obstacle to our belief, arises from our passions, appetites, and interests; for faith being an act of the will as much as of the understanding, we more often disbelieve for want of inclination than for want of evidence.
Lord Huntingdon died before his venerable parent, October 2, 1789. He was unmarried, but left a natural son, Lieutenant-General Sir Charles Hastings, Bart. The barony of Hastings devolved on his sister, the Countess of Moira, but the Earldom remained unclaimed till January 14, 1819, when Hans Francis Hastings, son of Lieutenant-Colonel George Hastings, who had been educated at the sole expense of Theophilus, Earl of Huntingdon, was confirmed in his claim to the Earldom, and took his seat in the House of Peers as _twelfth_ Earl of Huntingdon.
Lady Elizabeth Hastings, afterwards Countess of Moira, was the eldest daughter of Lady Huntingdon. In early life she was much admired at Court for her elegance of manners, her vivacity, and great abilities. She was appointed Lady of the Bedchamber to the Princesses Amelia and Caroline, sisters to George III., in March 1749, in the room of Lady Anne Montague, who resigned. Her Ladyship held the situation only a few months. Horace Walpole, afterwards Lord Orford, says, “The Queen of the Methodists got her daughter named for Lady of the Bedchamber to the Princesses; but it is all off again, as she will not let her play at cards on Sundays.” Whether this was the real cause we do not pretend to know; but she was shortly succeeded by a daughter of Earl Gower. Lady Elizabeth married, in 1752, John, first Earl of Moira, and on the decease of her brother, Francis, tenth Earl of Huntingdon, in 1789, carried the Baronies, _by writ_, Botreaux, Hungerford, Molines, and Hastings, to that family. Her grandson, George Augustus Francis, present Marquis of Hastings, married Barbara Gray de Ruthyn, heir to the whole blood of the Earls of Pembroke, and the elder branch of the house of Hastings. His infant son is heir to _three_ noble families--namely, the Marquisate of Hastings, the Scotch Earldom of Loudon, and the Barony of Ruthyn. The Earl of Moira was Baron Rawdon at the period of his union with Lady Elizabeth Hastings. He was the cousin-german to Lady Huntingdon, and their marriage appears to have given her considerable satisfaction. Soon after the union, the Countess of Hertford, when writing to a friend, says--
“Lady Rawdon’s marriage has given unmingled satisfaction to all her family and friends, and Lady Huntingdon tells me she is extremely happy and contented. I rejoice at this, not only on her account, but on account of her worthy mother, who has certainly done her duty by her, and fulfilled her trust with the most scrupulous fidelity. Lady Selina (this letter was written before the death of that excellent young lady) is a great comfort to her, and is a most amiable, pious, and affectionate character. What an affliction is Lord Huntingdon’s dislike to religion! And what have not my Lords Chesterfield and Bolingbroke to answer for? But he is most attentive, respectful, and kind to Lady Huntingdon. This is some consolation; and we may hope that, in the course of time, her example, and the excellent advice which he has received, may have their full weight of influence on his character. He is a most interesting, elegant, and accomplished young nobleman, and very likely to make some figure in the world. He was much affected at the death of Miss Hotham, to whom he is said to have been greatly attached; but of this I cannot speak with any certainty, as Lady Huntingdon has never mentioned it to me.”
The writer of these pages was very intimate with Lady Moira after she had passed her seventieth year, and received from her many interesting particulars relative to her venerable mother. Her Ladyship always spoke of Lady Huntingdon with marked respect and affection. She frequently called attention to an original likeness of her Ladyship, which represents the Countess placing her foot on her coronet. This portrait must have been painted prior to the year 1773; for we find Horace Walpole, in one of his letters of that date, mentioning what he terms the “beatific print” of Lady Huntingdon, just then published, which was copied from it. Lady Moira was a great political character; she was a woman of exquisite taste, of extensive literary acquirements, and the patroness of all the literary geniuses of her day. Lord Moira died in 1793, and his Countess survived him till April 12, 1808. She was in her seventy-eighth year.
Among Lady Huntingdon’s visitors at Bath this season were Mrs. Carteret and Mrs. Cavendish, two sisters, allied to two of the noblest and most ancient families in England; they formed part of the great harvest collected at Lady Huntingdon’s house in London, having there first heard and received the Gospel in the light and in the love of it. Being women of rank and fortune, their influence was considerable, and many, by their instrumentality, were induced to attend Mr. Whitefield’s ministry. They united with Lady Huntingdon, Lady Gertrude Hotham, and the other “honourable women,” in their exertions to spread in the region around them the light of the Sun of Righteousness, and very many monuments remained of their successful labours. In the published correspondence of Mr. Fletcher, Mr. Berridge, and others, letters to these excellent women will be found. There is an interesting narrative of their dying experience in a volume of the “Christian Guardian,” in a letter addressed to their very dear and intimate friend, the ever-to-be-revered Lady Mary Fitzgerald, now united to them in glory. In their last illness they were frequently visited by Messrs. Romaine, Newton, Hill, Cecil, Foster, Jones (of Langan), Venn, and other eminent ministers of Christ. Two or three days before Mrs. Carteret’s death, her dear old friend, Mr. Venn, went in to look at her. She took hold of his hand, and prayed most earnestly that the Lord Jesus would blot out every spot of sin in his most precious blood, and clothe her in his most glorious righteousness, that therein her soul might be justified. These prayers she repeated again and again with great earnestness; they were prayers which received and embraced the promises, and, laying hold of them with a sure and certain hope, she rejoiced in a full salvation.
Mrs. Cavendish said, “It is enough--an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure--this is all my salvation, and all my desire.” Her favourite hymn, during the whole course of her illness, was the one commencing--
“There was a fountain filled,” &c.
They were removed hence within a short time of each other, to meet again in the kingdom of their Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. “They were lovely in their lives, and in their deaths were not divided.”
The Countess Delitz, one of the daughters of the Duchess of Kendal and the sister of Lady Chesterfield, was another gem of the same crown; and many of the letters of Mr. Whitefield to her Ladyship have been preserved in the collection published by his executors. The Countess was particularly intimate with Lady Fanny Shirley, and is frequently mentioned in the correspondence of Mr. Hervey with her Ladyship. She died in Chesterfield-street, May-fair, November 2, 1773.
Such were Mr. Whitefield’s trophies in the Chesterfield family. He won souls in it, upon the right hand and the left of the Earl; thus leaving him without excuse for his wilful blindness and obstinate rejection of divine truth: his Countess made a better choice.
Lady Chesterfield was a natural daughter of George I., and was created Countess of Walsingham and Baroness of Aldborough in her own right. Her mother was Melosina de Schulenberg, Duchess of Kendal, who died in 1743, when her title became extinct. Born to wealth, and allied to a rich and noble house, she was fitted to make a distinguished figure among the great, and to shine at Court. Her various accomplishments attracted general admiration; and she was for many years fascinated with the splendour and allurements of high life, which seemed to absorb all her thoughts and gratify her utmost wishes. But it pleased God to lead her to attend the preaching of Mr. Whitefield, at the Countess of Huntingdon’s house; and to convince her that no situation, however high and elevated, can secure to its possessor uninterrupted felicity; and, at the same time, exhibited to her view the source of true and permanent happiness. Lady Chesterfield knew the world too well not to expect its hatred and reproach for casting her fortune, her honours, and her talents at the foot of his cross. In compliance with the wishes of Lord Chesterfield, her Ladyship sometimes went to Court, and mixed with the gay and thoughtless, but found no pleasure in the fashionable follies of those around her. The last time she visited the royal circle, her plain but elegant dress was of a brown ground with silver flowers, which Lord Chesterfield, a nobleman of undoubted taste, had obtained from the continent at considerable expense. His Majesty, who it seems was well acquainted with the proceedings at Lady Huntingdon’s, coming up to Lady Chesterfield, first smiled, and then forgetting royal decorum, remarked--“I know who chose that gown for you--Mr. Whitefield; and I hear you have attended on him this year and a half.” Lady Chesterfield replied, “Yes, I have, and like him very well;” but after she came to her chair, was grieved she had not said more, when she had so favourable an opportunity.
Lord Chesterfield had been the intimate companion and friend of the Earl of Huntingdon, on whose decease the young Earl became, as we have stated, his adopted son. Hence an extraordinary degree of intimacy subsisted between the families; and he was on all occasions the counsellor and friend of Lady Huntingdon and her children. Notwithstanding his infidel sentiments, he was very constant in his attendance at her Ladyship’s whenever Mr. Whitefield was to preach.
Lady Huntingdon had at times some favourable hopes of Lord Chesterfield. She said to Dr. Doddridge--
“Sometimes I do hope for dear Lord Chesterfield and Lord Bath, Mr. Stanhope, and one of the privy council of Denmark,[252] with a great many ladies and people of fashion, as well as of quality. I know your warm heart will rejoice at this, and your prayers will help with ours for an increase to our blessed Lord’s kingdom, even among them.”
Lord Chesterfield, however, deceived her hopes. He called death a “leap in the dark!” but Lady Huntingdon, discussing this subject with him, said--
“The sentence which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall pass upon impenitent sinners at the great day of judgment, will be final and irreversible. It is our unspeakable advantage that we are not left merely to the uncertain light or feeble conjectures of our own unassisted reason in matters of the highest importance. In the revelation which he has given us of himself, he declares, with great solemnity, that it _shall be more tolerable in the day of judgment_ for the most profligate parts of the heathen world, than for those who obstinately reject and abuse his offers of mercy and salvation--‘_This is the condemnation_ (saith the Saviour himself), _that_ light is come _into the world; but men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil_’--and so go on in an obstinate course of aggravated guilt, in opposition to the clearest light and most glorious advantages. Nor is it any impeachment of the wisdom, justice, and equity of the divine government, that obstinate sinners, who now reject his mercy and grace, should never be admitted to that transcendant bliss and glory which he hath of his own free and sovereign goodness promised to the righteous, but be left to perish to their sins, and for ever abide under the stinging reflections of their own guilty consciences.”
His Lordship lived, with increasing infirmities, to the 24th of March, 1773. Not all the efforts of Lady Chesterfield, of his sister, Lady Gertrude Hotham, nor of Lady Huntingdon, could induce the hardened infidel to follow their example.
“I saw my dear and valued friend (says Lady Huntingdon) a short time before his departure. The blackness of darkness, accompanied by every gloomy horror, thickened most awfully round his dying moments. Dear Lady Chesterfield could not be persuaded to leave his room for an instant. What unmitigated anguish has she endured.[253] But her confidential communications I am not at liberty to disclose. The curtain has fallen--his immortal part has passed to another state of existence. Oh! my soul, come not thou unto his end!”[254]
In his will he mentions his servants, “his unfortunate friends, his equals by nature,” and the mother of his natural son; but not one word is said of his excellent lady, who survived him only a few years; but how different was her death-bed.
“I was with her to the last (says Lady Huntingdon), and never saw a soul more humbled in the dust before God, on account of her own vileness and nothingness, but having a sure and steadfast hope in the love and mercy of God in Christ, constantly affirming that his blood cleanseth from all sin. The last audible expressions that fell from her, a few moments before the final struggle, were--‘_Oh! my friend, I have hope--a strong hope--through grace!_’ then taking my hand, and clasping it earnestly between hers, exclaimed with much energy--‘_God be merciful to me a sinner!_’”
Lady Chesterfield died September 16, 1778, without issue, whereby her titles became extinct.
Though Lord Chesterfield seldom exerted his poetical talents except in epigrams and ballads; the few that are known to be his are evidently by the hand of a master; witness his “Fanny, blooming fair,” written on Lady Fanny Shirley, a reigning beauty at Court; “Advice to a Lady in Autumn,” addressed to the same; his epigram on the Duchess of Richmond; and verses written in a lady’s “Sherlock on Death,” &c. No attack of an enemy could have degraded his character so much as the publication of his “Letters to his Son,” which, if they do not deserve the severe reprehension of Dr. Johnson, that they “inculcated the morals of a strumpet with the manners of a dancing-master,” certainly display a relaxation of principle for which no talents can make amends, and which prove him to have been a man in whose mind the applause of the world was the great, and almost the sole, governing principle.
At the same time with Lady Chesterfield, William Pulteney, Earl of Bath, the celebrated statesman, and a person of much notoriety in his day, was deeply impressed under Mr. Whitefield’s ministry. There had been for many years the most intimate friendship between him and Lady Huntingdon, in which Lady Fanny Shirley had no small share. Whatever, therefore, may be thought of his public character, he must have been rather more than _moral_, to have secured their esteem. He is said to have been extremely amiable in his private life, and much beloved by his friends. Lord Chesterfield’s malignity towards him was keen and inveterate. Like his political antagonist, Sir Robert Walpole, Lord Bath could, when
“Uncumbered by the venal tribe, Smile without art, and win without a bribe.”
He attended Tottenham-court chapel regularly for some years, and was very liberal on several occasions, contributing munificently to the establishment of the Orphan-house, in Georgia, and the erection of the Tabernacle at Bristol. He died July 7th, 1764, without surviving issue.[255]