'Loyalty was still the same
Whether it won or lost the game;
True as the dial to the sun,
Altho' it be not shone upon;'
and truly might he have exclaimed, whilst in exile and poverty paying
the penalty of his loyal attachment to the House of Stuart, in the
words of one of the Roxburgh Ballads:
'Then hang up sorrow and care,
It never shall make me rue;
What though my back goes bare?
I'm ragged and torn and TRUE.'
He wrote to his elder brother--the Earl of Bath--a reproachful letter,
in November, 1689, wherein he says, evidently hoping against hope,
that nothing 'shall convince him that it is possible for one descended
from his dear loyall father Sir Bevill Grenville to dye a rebell;'
but I confess that the sentiment of Dean Grenville's which I prefer
treasuring in my own memory, is the noble and tolerant one with which
he concludes his 'Third Speech' to his clergy:
'My fourth and last counsell is, to be just to all men, both to
the Romanist and Dissenter. That your aversion to the doctrine of
any party (tho' never soe contrary to your owne) should not, in
any manner, exceed youer love and concerne for the Religion you
profess.'[41]
To one more only of the Grenvilles does it seem necessary to refer,
as with him the connexion of that illustrious family with Cornwall
ceases: viz., to George Baron Lansdowne, the poet, who was a nephew
of the Dean and a grandson of Sir Bevill. His father's as well as his
brother's name was Bernard. It is true that he did not live at Stow,
which, as we have seen, was no longer the family mansion; but he comes
within our scope: for, in a defence of his grand-uncle, Sir Richard
('Skellum') against some anonymous author who took the side of the
Parliament, I find him writing thus: '_Like an old staunch Cornishman_
I tell you that we, who had before beaten two of your generals into
the sea, might as well have beaten the third:' and again, in a letter,
in 1718, to his 'dearest niece,' Mrs. Delany, he calls Cornwall 'his
country.'
He was entered at Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1667, and was about
the Court of James II., much smitten, it was said, with the charms of
his Queen, Mary of Modena--the Myra, in all probability, of some of
his amatory lines. He wrote both poems and plays, many passages in
which are of a somewhat licentious character: amongst the plays are the
'British Enchanters' (for which Addison wrote the Epilogue); the 'She
Gallants, or once a Lover always a Lover;' and the 'Jew of Venice,'
imitated from Shakespeare. He was Member of Parliament successively for
Fowey, Lostwithiel, Helston, and finally for the county of Cornwall
itself; and was at length made by Queen Anne a Privy Councillor, and
Treasurer of the Household, but, on some silly suspicion of plotting
against the Government, was, in 1715, committed to the Tower, from
which place of confinement, however, he was shortly released. In 1722,
his affairs becoming embarrassed through his somewhat extravagant mode
of life, he went abroad to retrench his expenses; and, returning to
England, died at his house in Hanover Square on the 30th January, 1735.
He had married the widow of Thomas Thynne,[42] and was celebrated for
his tender devotion to his family.
A curious story about his remains is told in Lady Llanover's 'Life
of Mrs. Delany.' No tomb or tablet of any kind marks (in St. Clement
Danes Church) the site of their sepulchre; and when inquiries on this
point were made in 1859, it was found that a short time previous
to that date an order to close a vault under the Church had been
put in force. The coffins in the vault were placed in the centre of
the chamber, a quantity of quicklime was thrown in, and the whole
then filled with rubbish. There were two bodies in the vault which
had always been called 'My Lord and my Lady,' and which were in
extraordinary preservation. They were not skeletons, although the
skin was much dried, and they were very light; they were set upright
against the wall, and it had always been the custom whenever a new
clerk was appointed, to take him down into the vault and introduce him
to 'My Lord and my Lady.' It seems not at all improbable that these
were the corpses of Lord and Lady Lansdowne; and that their remarkable
preservation was due to their having been embalmed. Lord Lansdowne's
portrait may be seen in the 'Life of Mrs. Delany,' vol. i., p. 418. She
says of him: 'No man had more the art of winning the affections where
he wished to oblige ... he was magnificent in his nature, and valued no
expense that would gratify it, which in the end hurt him and his family
extremely.'
Of his character, as a man and as a poet, Anderson thus writes in his
'Poets of Great Britain:'
'The character of Granville seems to have been amiable and respectable.
His good nature and politeness have been celebrated by Pope, and many
other poets of the first eminence. The lustre of his rank no doubt
procured him more incense than the force of his genius would otherwise
have attracted; but he appears not to have been destitute of fine
parts, which were, however, rather elegantly polished than great in
themselves.
'There is perhaps nothing more interesting in his character than the
veneration he had for some, and the tenderness he had for all of
his family. Of the former his historical performances afford some
pleasing proof; of the latter, there are extant two letters, one to his
cousin, the last Earl of Bath, and the other to his cousin, Mr. Bevil
Granville, on his entering into holy orders, written with a tenderness,
a freedom, and an honesty which render them invaluable.
'The general character of his poetry is elegance, sprightliness and
dignity. He is seldom tender, and very rarely sublime. In his smaller
pieces he endeavours to be gay, in his larger to be great. Of his airy
and light productions the chief source is gallantry, and the chief
defect a superabundance of sentiment and illustrations from mythology.
He seldom fetches an amorous sentiment from the depth of science. His
thoughts are such as a liberal conversation and large acquaintance with
life would easily supply. His diction is chaste and elegant, and his
versification, which he borrowed from Waller, is rather smooth than
strong.
'Mr. Granville,' says Dr. Felton, 'is the poetical son of Waller. We
observe with pleasure, similitude of wit in the difference of years,
and with Granville do meet at once the fire of his father's youth, and
judgment of his age. He hath rivalled him in his finest address, and
is as happy as ever he was in raising modern compliments upon ancient
story, and setting off the British valour and the English beauty with
the old gods and goddesses!'
'Granville,' says Lord Orford, 'imitated Waller, but as that poet has
been much excelled since, a faint copy of a faint master must strike
still less.'
The estimate of his poetical character, given by Dr. Johnson, is, in
some respects, less favourable:
'Granville,' says the Doctor, 'was a man illustrious by his birth, and
therefore attracted notice; since he is by Pope styled "the polite," he
must be supposed elegant in his manner, and generally loved; he was in
times of contest and turbulence steady to his party, and obtained that
esteem which is always conferred upon firmness and consistency. With
these advantages, having learned the art of versifying, he declared
himself a poet, and his claim to the laurel was allowed.'
Pope, in a courtier-like passage in his 'Windsor Forest'--a poem which
he dedicated to Lord Granville--says of him:
'Here his first lays majestic Denham sung;
Here the last numbers flowed from Cowley's tongue.
* * * * * *
Since fate relentless stopped their heavenly voice
No more the forest rings, or groves rejoice;
Who now shall charm the shades where Cowley strung
His living harp, and lofty Denham sung?
But hark! the groves rejoice, the forest rings--
Are these reviv'd? or is it GRANVILLE sings?'
adding,
'The thoughts of gods let GRANVILLE'S verse recite,
And bring the scenes of opening fate to light.'
With one more extract from the praises of his contemporaries, and this
the weightiest and most poetic of them all, we will conclude.