The following letter may perhaps have some interest in itself; but I send
it for insertion in the pages of "N. & Q." in the hope of obtaining some
information about the pictures which it mentions. It is addressed on the
back, "The Reverend the Provost and Fellows, Dublin College;" and in the
corner, "Pr. Favour of The Right Hon. Lord Viscount Molesworth;" and does
not appear to have ever passed through the post.
Reverend Sir, and Gentlemen,
My late dear Husband, the Rev. Dr. Berkeley, Prebendary of Canterbury,
son of the late Lord Bishop of Cloyne, having most generously appointed
me sole executrix of his will, and having bequeathed to me all his fine
collection of pictures, &c., I trouble you with this to beg to know
whether a very remarkably fine, universally admired portrait of Bishop
Berkeley, in his lawn sleeves, &c., painted by that famous artist
Vanderbank, which, together with its frame (now much broken by frequent
removals), cost five hundred pounds: the back-ground, the frontispiece
to his Lordship's _Minute Philosopher_, and the broken cisterns from
the Prophet Jeremiah: "They have hewn them out broken cisterns." The
late Archbishop of Canterbury was perpetually entreating Dr. Berkeley
to present it to the Gallery of Lambeth Palace, where there is already
a very good portrait of Bishop B.--But _justice_ to my dear excellent
son, then living, as Dr. B. told his Grace, precluded a _possibility_
of his complying with his request.
If this picture will be an acceptable present to the Rev. the Provost,
and the Gentlemen Fellows of the University of Dublin, it is now
offered for their acceptance, as a most grateful acknowledgment for the
_very high_ honour[1], they were pleased {429} so graciously to confer
on his Lordship's only descendant, the late learned accomplished George
Monk Berkeley, Esq. (Gentleman Commoner of Magdalene Hall, in the
University of Oxon., and student of the Inner Temple, London), from his
very sincerely grateful mother.
Some time after the death of his son, Dr. Berkeley told me that at my
death he wished the wonderfully fine portrait of his father to be
presented to some place of _consequence_. I immediately replied, "_To
Dublin College_." He said, "They have one already; perhaps it would be
well to leave it as an heir-loom to the Episcopal Palace at Cloyne." I
said perhaps the gentlemen of Dublin College would prefer this,
esteemed one of the very finest pieces of painting in Europe. The face
certainly looks more like a fine cast in wax, than a painting on
canvas, as numbers of the best judges have always exclaimed on seeing
it.
I request Dr. Berkeley's noble relation, the excellent Lord Molesworth,
now on a visit in Ireland, to deliver this, and to learn from the
Provost and Gentlemen of the University of Dublin, whether it would be
agreeable to them to receive this, and transfer the one they at present
have to Dr. Berkeley's highly respected friend, the _present_ Bishop of
Cloyne, for the Palace. Lord Molesworth will have the goodness to
receive and transmit the answer of the Provost and Gentlemen to her who
has the honour to subscribe herself, with the most perfect respect,
their
Very sincerely grateful and
(Thro' her unspeakably dear excellent Son)
_Most highly_ obliged,
ELIZA BERKELEY.
Chertsey, Surrey, England.
The 18th of Feb., 1797.
I cannot find any evidence to prove that this letter was ever so much as
received by the University. It came into my possession amongst the papers
of a private friend, a late distinguished ornament of the University, whose
death has been an irreparable loss to the public, to the Church of England,
and to a large circle of friends. No notice of such a letter, or of so
liberal a donation, is to be found in the Register of the University, nor
is there such a picture in our possession. I have made inquiry also, and
find that it is not at Cloyne. The conclusion therefore is, either that
Mrs. Berkeley changed her mind, or that from some accident the letter never
was presented: at all events, it is certain that the picture of Bishop
Berkeley, to which it relates, was never in the possession of the
University for whose halls it was intended.
Can any one tell me where it now is; and what was the fate of "the fine
collection of pictures" which was the property of Dr. Berkeley of
Canterbury, and bequeathed by him to his widow, the writer of the above
letter?