have seen nothing of the book but the motto from my “Corsair”:—
“He left a name to all succeeding times
Linked with one virtue and a thousand crimes.”
If such be the posy, what must the ring be?—the generous moment
selected for the publication! I have not a guess at the contents.’ A
little while after, Madame de Staël lent him the book, when he went to
see her at Coppet. ‘It seems to me that if the author had told the
truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, the romance would
not only have been more romantic, but more interesting. The likeness
is not good; _I did not sit long enough_.’
Besides her novels, Lady Caroline sent contributions to Annuals and
Magazines, breathing eternal love and dire remorse:—
“Weep for what thou’st lost, love,
Weep for what thou’st won,
Weep for what thou didst not do,
And more for what thou’st done.”
She often amused herself by setting her own compositions to music very
prettily.
We are not told in what manner Lady Caroline received the tidings of
Byron’s death, but we have a detailed account of her driving one
summer’s day on the Great North Road, not far from Brocket, in an open
carriage, accompanied by her husband, when, at a turn in the road,
they came upon a long and melancholy procession. It proved to be the
funeral of a peer, from the fact that the hearse was preceded by a
horseman bearing a coronet on a cushion. The lady stopped her carriage
and asked the question whose funeral it was. ‘We are taking Lord Byron
to Newstead to be buried,’ was the reply. The shock was terrible. Lady
Caroline reached home, more dead than alive, and fell into a species
of trance, from which the waking was slow and tedious. She would sit
for hours with her hands clasped on her lap, silent and listless; and
it was long before she could be prevailed on to resume her usual
occupations, or busy herself with her books, music, or drawing. When
the invalid was a little better, change of air and scene was
prescribed, and she was sent abroad. She wrote from Paris to Lady
Morgan, asking her to look in a cabinet, in a certain room at
Melbourne House, where she would find a miniature[5] of Lord Byron:
‘Pray send it me without delay.’ Coming back to England, she again
took up her abode at Brocket, where her husband often visited her,
although his official and Parliamentary duties were a sufficient
reason for his residing mostly in London. When he went over to Ireland
as Chief Secretary, he kept up a regular correspondence with his wife
(now a confirmed invalid), and with those to whose care she was
consigned. In Dublin he was a frequent visitor at the house of Lady
Morgan, who was much attached to Lady Caroline, to give her news of
his wife’s health, or show her some of the letters he received from
Brocket,—such, for instance, as, ‘My dearest William,—Since I wrote
last I have been a great sufferer. Tapping is a dreadful sensation, it
turns me so deadly cold and sick.... But everybody is so good to me.
All the members of both our families, Emily, and Caroline have been to
see me, and the whole county has called to inquire. My dear brother,
too, has been with me, and is coming again. He reads to me, which is
so soothing; but what pleased me most of all was your dear letter, in
which you said you loved me and forgave me.’
Footnote 5:
Lady Caroline Lamb bequeathed this portrait to Lady Morgan, at whose
death it was sold by auction.
In proportion as her bodily health failed, so did the sufferer become
more and more gentle, patient, and grateful for kindness. The evil
spirit had been cast out. She grew so much worse that it was deemed
advisable to remove her to London for the benefit of medical advice.
On the 26th of January 1828, Lady Morgan received a letter from Mr.
William Ponsonby (afterwards Lord De Mauley), to announce his sister’s
death. ‘From the beginning of her illness,’ he says, ‘she had no
expectation of recovery, and only felt anxious to live long enough to
see Mr. Lamb once again. In this she was gratified, and was still able
to converse with him, and enjoy his society. But for the past three
days it was apparent that her strength was rapidly declining, and on
Sunday night, at about nine o’clock, she expired without a struggle. A
kinder or more tender heart never ceased to beat, and it was a great
consolation to her and to us that her mind was fully prepared and
reconciled to the awful change. She viewed the near approach of death
with calmness, and during her long and severe sufferings her patience
never forsook her, or her affectionate consideration for those around
her. Mr. Lamb has felt and acted as I knew he would on this sad
occasion.’
The friendship of the brothers-in-law had never been interrupted.
Although fully prepared for a great change in his wife’s appearance,
William Lamb was more shocked than he expected to be. The short time
that intervened between his return and her death was marked by
tenderness on his part and affection on hers; and in after years the
widower always spoke of ‘Caroline’ with gentleness and forbearance.
Lady Morgan thus describes her friend’s appearance: ‘A slight tall
figure, dark lustrous eyes, with fair hair and complexion; a charming
voice, sweet, low, caressing, which exercised a wonderful influence
over most people. She was eloquent also, but had only one
subject—herself. She was the slave of imagination and of impulse.’
------------------
_No. 18._
NATHANIEL CLIFFORD.
_Brown coat. White cravat._
He was a man of letters, a friend of Lord Chancellor Cowper.
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_No. 19._
THREE BROTHERS OF THE HOUSE OF NASSAU.
_Two in armour. One in a velvet coat._
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SMOKING-ROOM.
-------
THE WITCHES ROUND THE CAULDRON.
BEING PORTRAITS OF LADY MELBOURNE, THE DUCHESS OF DEVONSHIRE, AND MRS.
DAWSON DAMER.
BY ANNE SEYMOUR DAWSON DAMER.
IN the notice of Lady Melbourne we have alluded to that lady’s taste
for private theatricals, _tableaux vivants_, and other dramatic
entertainments, and to the merry meetings on those festive occasions.
This sketch is an interesting record of one such. Lady Melbourne knew
where to select talent and beauty: the Duchess of Devonshire, daughter
of the first Earl Spencer, by Georgina, daughter of Stephen Poyntz,
Esq. of Midgham, near Newbury, was a beauty, a wit, and, above all, a
politician. A tribute was once paid to her charms, to our mind, better
worth remembering than the widespread story, so often told, so often
delineated, in the caricatures of the day, of how her Grace bartered a
kiss to a butcher, in exchange for his vote in favour of the fair
Whig’s political idol, Charles James Fox. The anecdote to which we
give the preference is as follows: One day, when proceeding to the
poll, the crowd was so dense, and the mob pressed so heavily against
the coach panels, that her Grace, usually so fearless, became alarmed,
and, stretching out her fair head, she requested a rough and shabby
member of the community to keep back a little, and induce the others
to do the same. The man, an undoubted Irishman, stared at the charming
vision for a moment, with his short pipe suspended between his
fingers, and then burst forth, ‘God bless yer, and that I shall, and
anything else in life, so as I may light my pipe at your eyes.’
Lady Melbourne was also a beauty, as her many portraits show, without
the testimony of posthumous fame, and her features were decidedly more
regular than those of her captivating friend. Mrs. Damer was also much
admired, and in such circumstances we can easily imagine what prettily
turned compliments were paid, what flattering contrasts drawn, between
these three bewitching witches, who met, and met again, not on a
‘blasted heath,’ but in the sylvan shades of Brocket, and the midnight
hags whom Shakespeare drew, ‘so wizen, and so wild in their attire’!
The artist, Anne Seymour, was the daughter of the Hon. Hugh Seymour
Conway, brother of the Marquis of Hertford. She married, in 1767, the
Hon. John Damer, eldest son of the first Lord Milton. The union was
far from happy, and in 1776 the eccentric and restless-minded husband
shot himself. Mrs. Damer, who had no children to engross her time and
thoughts, now gave herself up to the study and enjoyment of art, for
which purpose she travelled in Italy, France, and Spain, mastering the
languages of the countries through which she passed; and, benefiting
by the treasures of painting and sculpture which they afforded her,
she became a proficient with her brush and her chisel, and executed
many admirable works, too numerous to be mentioned, being a frequent
exhibitor at the Royal Academy. In politics Mrs. Damer emulated her
friends, Lady Melbourne and the Duchess of Devonshire, being a staunch
Whig, while on the boards of Brocket and White Hall she displayed much
talent as an actress. When her cousin and friend, Lord Orford, died,
he bequeathed Strawberry Hill to her, with a handsome annual sum for
its maintenance, and there she lived for some years. In 1828 she died
at her house in Upper Brook Street, and, by her own desire, was buried
at Sundridge. Her sculptor’s tools and apron, together with the ashes
of a favourite dog, were placed with her in her coffin.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Illustration]
PICTURES NOT PLACED.
[Illustration]
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PICTURES NOT PLACED.
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PENSIONARY JOHN DE WITT.
_Black velvet gown. Long hair._
------------------
ADMIRAL CORNELIUS DE WITT.
_Leather jerkin. Own hair. Holds a truncheon. One arm akimbo._
JOHN DE WITT was born at Dort in 1625. He was educated in the Latin
School of Dort, was at Leyden for four years with his brother
Cornelius, two years older than himself, travelled with him in France
and England, and in 1648 went to study law and mathematics at the
Hague.
It may be as well to begin by briefly depicting the political
situation of the Dutch Provinces at this period.
They had for some time been divided into two parties. One was headed
by the Prince of Orange, composed of the old nobility and of the lower
orders both in town and country, and supported by the bulk of the
clergy. The other consisted mainly of the higher classes in the large
towns. The differences between the two parties were numerous, but may
chiefly be described as having reference to War, Trade, and Religion.
The House of Orange, by the line it had taken at a critical moment
against Philip II., by the indomitable constancy of its Princes, and
by their vast political and military talents, had been the principal
instrument of the liberation of the Netherlands from the dominion of
Spain; but their enemies accused them of continuing the war for the
sake of their own aggrandisement much longer than was necessary, and
of thus squandering the resources and weakening the energies of the
State. They complained of the heavy burdens laid upon commerce, and of
the losses sustained by the mercantile interest, owing to the insecure
condition of the seas. As to religion, the wealthier burgesses
belonged for the most part to the Arminian, or what we may perhaps
call the Broad Church party, and were ardently in favour of
toleration, while their opponents leaned strongly for support upon the
rigid and persecuting Calvinists. In addition to the causes of
disagreement which I have mentioned, was the conflict between the
authority of the Union, on the one hand, and, on the other, the
individual rights of each particular Province. These provincial rights
were more especially insisted upon by those who opposed the House of
Orange in the Province of Holland itself, for they complained that
though Holland paid more towards sustaining the public burdens than
all the other Provinces put together, she was constantly outvoted and
overruled on the most important subjects of public policy.
This is as full an account as our limits will permit of the subjects
of dispute between the party of the House of Orange and the
Opposition. The Opposition, we must bear in mind, derived its chief
strength from the rich merchants and the magistrates of the large
towns. These magistrates were elected by close corporations, and were
chosen in each town, generation after generation, from a small number
of select families. It was to one of the most considerable of these
families in the town of Dort that John de Witt belonged; he had thus
the advantages and the disadvantages of having his political party
already decided for him by the accident of his birth, and the less
doubtful good fortune of finding an open access to public life.
It was while De Witt was studying at the Hague that the struggle
between the two parties in the State was brought to a crisis. Peace
had at last been made with Spain; but it was expected that the young
Prince of Orange, William II., who had just succeeded to his father,
would soon break it. Fearing this, the Provincial Government of
Holland, which was in the hands of the burgess oligarchy, refused to
pay its share of the expenses of the troops, and directed certain
numbers to be disbanded. The Prince obtained an order from the
States-General of the United Provinces to go with a deputation to the
different towns of Holland and forbid the local authorities from
obeying the directions of the Provincial Government. At Dort, which
was the first place he visited, he was thwarted by Jacob de Witt,
John’s father, ex-burgomaster, and one of the principal men in the
town. On returning to the Hague, he summoned Jacob de Witt and five or
six others of the leading deputies, and put them in prison. Meanwhile,
he attempted to seize Amsterdam. The attempt failed; but the
municipality of that city, in order to avert a civil war, agreed to
abandon all further opposition to the Prince, who was now
all-powerful; but at the moment of his triumph he fell ill of the
small-pox and died. His only son was not born till a week afterwards.
The rich middle-class oligarchical party now found itself raised by
fortune from complete prostration to the supreme direction of affairs.
Whether they could maintain their position might well have been
doubted. They had many difficulties to contend with; they had against
them the large circle of personal adherents of the House of Orange,
all the distinguished soldiers, many of the distinguished admirals,
the ancient nobility, and the mass of the common people. They were few
in number, and none of them had yet shown any particular ability. It
is in circumstances like these that the appearance of a remarkable man
affects the current of history. Such a man appeared at this moment in
John de Witt, who had just received his first official appointment as
Pensionary of Dort. Born, as we have seen, in the very centre of the
faction which was now dominant, he obtained at once, and without an
effort, their full confidence. On the other hand, his just and
impartial nature, conspicuous from the very first, the consummate
ability which he gradually developed, and, above all, his commanding
resolution, raised and sustained the weak party to which he belonged.
His influence extended far beyond its narrow circle, and his name is
associated with one of the most prosperous times in the history of his
country.
It was not, however, for some years that De Witt filled more than a
subordinate position. Meanwhile the new Government proved itself both
feeble and unfortunate. It was compelled by the fundamental principles
of the party to push provincial independence to an extreme that almost
disintegrated the Union. The office of Captain-General, which had
largely contributed towards holding the Union together, was abolished,
for it would assuredly have fallen into the hands of the House of
Orange. The provincial office of Stadtholder remained vacant for the
same reason. Business had never been rapidly conducted by the Dutch;
but now it could hardly be conducted at all. The first result of this
state of things was drifting into a war with England, against the
wishes and interests of both nations, particularly of the Dutch. Nor
was the war carried on in a manner creditable to the authorities at
home. The ships were ill-fitted and ill-provisioned, the instructions
were confused, and nothing but the genius and conduct of the admirals,
Van Tromp and De Ruyter, saved the country from overwhelming
calamities. In spite of the most desperate fighting that ever took
place at sea, and of some brilliant victories by the Dutch, they were
overmatched, blockaded, and very nearly reduced to starvation. The
ablest men in the country had for some time seen the folly of the war
and the necessity for putting an end to it. But the breakdown in the
machinery of government, which made it difficult to carry on the war
with vigour, made it almost impossible to conclude a peace. It was now
that De Witt, appointed Grand-Pensionary of Holland, began to play a
leading part. On the one hand, he commenced building a new fleet of
larger and better ships; on the other, he started negotiations with
Cromwell, at this time Lord Protector of England. The difficulties in
his way, both in prosecuting the war and in making peace, were almost
inconceivable. He had no actual power in his hands; nothing but moral
influence. Every measure had to be debated in each of the Assemblies
of the Seven Provinces. It was then brought before the States-General,
whose members had no authority to decide any new point without
referring it back to their constituents; even when the States-General
had come to a decision, there was no means of binding the dissentient
minority. It is an under-statement of the case to say that no
diplomacy ever exercised throughout Europe by Cardinal Richelieu, by
William III. of England, by Metternich, or by Talleyrand, was vaster
or more intricate than that required by De Witt to bring about the end
he had in view. His difficulties were the greater that the bulk of the
nation thoroughly detested the new Government. The Orange party among
the lower classes were almost as violent now as they became later in
1672, and De Witt went about in danger of his life. At last, by
incredible exertion and dogged resolution, joined with admirable tact
and temper, by impenetrable secrecy, and, it must be confessed, by a
certain amount of duplicity, he attained his objects. The new fleet
was begun, and shortly afterwards peace was concluded on better terms
than might have been expected.
Still greater duplicity was shown in carrying out a secret agreement
whereby the State of Holland bound itself to exclude for ever any
members of the House of Orange from the office of Stadtholder. Was
this really forced upon De Witt by Cromwell? Was his own judgment
warped by prejudice? Or was it one of those sacrifices to the passions
of a party, which, in a time of excitement, are occasionally demanded
even from the most upright Minister? It was accomplished in a most
discreditable manner; the storm it raised when it became known shook
the Seven Provinces to their very foundation. Its immediate effect,
when that storm subsided, was to confirm the power of the class which
held the reins of Government; but the measure was pregnant with future
mischief.
By the tact and tenacity shown in these proceedings, De Witt had
raised himself to so high a position that he never again had quite the
same herculean labours to go through in carrying out his measures;
but, in order to judge his abilities fairly, we must always remember
that on every occasion when it was necessary to act, obstacles
somewhat of a similar nature had to be overcome.
A cordial understanding with England lasted till the Restoration in
1660, far more cordial, indeed, than with France.
Up to this time, almost from the commencement of its existence, it had
been the policy of the Dutch Republic to maintain an alliance with
France. But the French had come to consider this alliance so necessary
to the Republic that they had felt themselves able to treat their
allies in a most supercilious manner. Their armed ships had for some
time been in the habit of seizing and plundering Dutch merchantmen. It
had been impossible to obtain redress till, in 1657, Admiral de Ruyter
had orders from his Government to make reprisals, and took two of the
King’s ships. A French envoy was sent to demand satisfaction. A
rupture seemed imminent, but matters were smoothed over, and the
United Provinces came out of the difficulty without loss of credit.
In the meantime much alarm had been created in Holland by the ambition
of Charles Gustavus of Sweden, who had engaged in a successful war
with Poland, and afterwards attacked Denmark. Denmark was in alliance
with the United Provinces, and, moreover, it was necessary for the
trade of Holland in the Baltic, which was very considerable, that the
balance of power in the North should be preserved. After many
negotiations, and an abortive attempt to make a treaty with Sweden,
the Dutch assisted Denmark with a powerful fleet and a small body of
troops. They had an obstinate naval engagement, by which Copenhagen
was saved, and in the following year they destroyed some of the
largest of the Swedish men-of-war, which they succeeded in surprising
and outnumbering. Charles Gustavus died suddenly, and peace was soon
afterwards made.
A desultory war had all this time been going on with Portugal, in
order to obtain compensation for losses sustained by the Dutch in
Brazil, which does not come within our limits to describe. This war
was chiefly carried on in the East Indies, where the Dutch conquered
the rich island of Ceylon. Peace was finally made with Portugal in
1661, Portugal paying a heavy indemnity for the Brazil losses.
In all these matters De Witt had become more and more the principal
mover. As to home affairs, his reputation, and the power which was
derived from it, were not confined to his own province of Holland, for
we find him about this period chosen by the nobility, first of
Friesland, and then of Overyssel, to settle their internal disputes.
The office of Grand-Pensionary was a five years’ appointment. It had
been renewed to De Witt in 1658, and in 1663 it had become such a
matter of course that he should fill it, that even his opponents gave
a tacit consent to his remaining. Having proved himself necessary, it
was impossible that he should not continue to hold the most honourable
place in the Government. Not that his place as Grand-Pensionary gave
him any real power. I have already remarked, and it is important to
bear in mind, that by the strange system now prevailing, no official
whatever possessed more than a moral influence. Whenever anything of
importance was to be done, some person was appointed for that
particular purpose, and this person was now almost always either De
Witt or his brother, generally the former. For instance, there was at
this time a dispute between the Prince of East Friesland and his
subjects, which threatened to be serious. John de Witt was at once
appointed to go at the head of a deputation to mediate between the
contending parties. I need hardly add that his mediation was at once
successful; and there was soon to be a still greater scope for the
display of his abilities, as a war with England was impending.
Charles II. was now on the throne of England, and there was a natural
antagonism between him, as uncle to the Prince of Orange, and the
party which now governed Holland. Besides this, the English nation had
always been jealous of the commercial prosperity of the Dutch, and
they had not yet become sufficiently aware of the extent to which the
power of France was increasing, or the necessity for a Dutch alliance
in order to check it.