I fear Madame de Staël's arrival may be put off till after we leave
town. The Edinburgh review of her book has well prepared all the world
for her. The first persons who came to see us were Sir Humphry and Lady
Davy, who have been uniformly and zealously kind and attentive to us. We
have been frequently at their dinners and parties, and I should fill a
roll as long as that genealogy Foote unrolled across the stage, if I
were to give you a list of the names of all the people we have met at
their house. Of Lord Byron I can tell you only that his appearance is
nothing that you would remark. The Miss Berrys are all that you have
heard of them from people of various tastes; consequently you know that
they are well bred, and have nice tact in conversation. Miss Catharine
Fanshaw I particularly like; she has delightful talents. Her drawings
have charmed my mother, full of invention as well as taste; her "Village
School" and "Village Children at Play" are beautiful compositions, and
her drawings for the Bath Guide are full of humour and character.
Lady Crewe has still the remains of much beauty. Except her dress, which
happened to be blue, there appeared to be nothing else _blue_ about her.
The contrast between her really fashionable air and manners and that of
the _strugglers_ and imitators struck me much: Lady Elizabeth Whitbread
is, in one word, delightful. Miss Fox very agreeable--converses at once,
without preface or commonplace: Lady Charlotte Lindsay ditto: Lady
Darnley has been very polite in her attentions: both Lord and Lady
Hardwicke peculiarly gracious. Lord Somerville I cannot help being
charmed with, for he says he is charmed with Lady Delacour and Lady
Geraldine, whom he pronounces to be perfect women of fashion, and says
they are in high repute in the equerry's room at Court. He was quite
indignant against certain pretenders to fashion. I told him the remark
of a friend of ours, that a gentleman or gentlewoman cannot be made
under two generations. "In less than _five_, madam, I think it scarcely
possible," said he.
Lady Lansdowne, taking in beauty, character, conversation, talents, and
manners, I think superior to any woman I have seen; perfectly natural,
daring to be herself, gentle, sprightly, amiable, and engaging. Lydia
Whyte has been very kind to us, and eager to bring together people who
would suit and please us: very agreeable dinner at her house; she
conducts these _bel esprit_ parties well; her vivacity breaks through
the constraint of those who stand upon great reputations, and are afraid
of committing themselves.
Charming, amiable Lady Wellington! As she truly said of herself, she is
always "Kitty Pakenham to her friends." After comparison with crowds of
others, _beaux esprits_, fine ladies and fashionable _scramblers_ for
notoriety, her dignified graceful simplicity rises in one's opinion, and
we feel it with more conviction of its superiority. She showed us her
delightful children. Lord Longford, just come to town, met us yesterday
at the Exhibition of Sir Joshua Reynolds's pictures. Some of these are
excellent: his children, from the sublime Samuel to the arch Gipsy, are
admirable.
We hope to see Mrs. Siddons act on the 25th; it was thought impossible
to get a box, but the moment my father pronounced the name Edgeworth,
Mr. Brandon, the box-keeper, said he should have one. Lady Charleville,
who is a very clever woman, goes with us with her daughter and Lord
Tullamore. We have been to a grand night at Mrs. Hope's--the rooms
really deserve the French epithet of _superbe_--all of beauty, rank, and
fashion that London can assemble, I may say, in the newspaper style,
were there. The Prince Regent stood one-third of the night holding
converse with Lady Elizabeth Monk, she leaning gracefully on a bronze
ornament in the centre of the room, in the midst of the sacred but very
small circle etiquette could keep round them. About 900 people were at
this assembly; the crowd of carriages were so great, that after sitting
waiting in ours for an hour, the coachman told us there was no chance of
our reaching the door unless we got out and walked. Another good-natured
coachman backed his horses, and we bravely crossed the line and got into
the house and up the staircase, but no power of ours could have got us
on, but for the gloriously large body and the good-natured politeness of
the Archbishop of Tuam, who fortunately met us at the door, recognised
us just as he would have done at Mrs. Bourke's, in the county of
Longford, and made way for us through the crowd, and, in the wake of his
greatness, we sailed on prosperously, and never stopped till he
presented us to his beautiful daughter, who received us with a winning
smile. I asked Mr. Hope who some one was? "I really don't know; I don't
know half the people here, nor do they know me or Mrs. Hope even by
sight. Just now I was behind a lady who was making her _speech_, as she
thought, to Mrs. Hope, but she was addressing a stranger." Among the old
beauties the Duchess of Rutland held her pre-eminence and looked the
youngest.
A few days after we came to town we were told by Mr. Wakefield that
there was to be at the Freemasons' tavern a meeting on the Lancasterian
schools, at which the reports of the Irish Education Committee were to
be alluded to, and that the Dukes of Kent and Sussex, Lord Lansdowne,
Sir James Macintosh, and Mr. Whitbread were all to speak. We went; fine
large hall, ranged with green benches like a lecture room: raised
platform at one end for the _performers_: arm-chairs for the Royal
Dukes, and common chairs for common men. Waited an hour, and were
introduced to various people, among others, to Mr. Allen, who is famous
for his generous benevolence, living most economically and giving
thousands as easily as others would give pence. Dumont came and seated
himself between my mother and me, and the hour's waiting was so filled
with conversation that it seemed but five minutes.
Enter, on the platform, the Royal Dukes preceded by stewards with white
staves; gentlemen of the Committee ranged at the back of the theatre,
one row in front on each side of the Dukes, Lord Lansdowne, Mr.
Whitbread, Mr. Lancaster, two or three others, and Mr. Edgeworth. The
object of the meeting was to effect a junction between the Bell and
Lancasterian parties. It had been previously agreed that Lancaster
should have his debts paid, and should retire and give up his schools.
Lord Lansdowne spoke extremely well, matter and manner; when he adverted
to the Board of Education he turned to my father and called upon him to
support his assertion, that the dignified clergy in Ireland among those
commissioners had acted with liberality. It had been previously arranged
that my father was to move the vote of thanks to the ladies, but of this
we knew nothing; and when he rose and when I heard the Duke of Kent in
his sonorous voice say "Mr. Edgeworth," I was so frightened I dared not
look up, but I was soon reassured. My father's speaking was, next to
Lord Lansdowne's, the best I heard, and loud plaudits convinced me that
I was not singular in this opinion. The Duke of Kent speaks well and
makes an excellent chairman.
Yesterday my father was invited to a Lancasterian dinner; for an account
of it I refer you to Lord Fingal, next to whom my father sat, but as you
may not see him immediately I must tell you that my father's health was
drunk, and that when his name was mentioned, loud applause ensued, and
the Duke of Bedford, after speaking of the fourteenth report of the
Irish Board of Education, pronounced a eulogium on "the excellent letter
which is appended to that report, full of liberality and good sense, on
which indeed the best part of the report seems founded. I mean the
letter by Mr. Edgeworth, to whom this country as well as Ireland is so
much indebted."
Yesterday I had a good hour in comfort to write to you before breakfast,
which was scarcely ended when Mr. Wakefield came in with a letter from
the Duke of Bedford, who is anxious to see my father's experiments on
the draft of wheel-carriages tried. Then came Lord Somerville, who sat
and talked and invited us to his country-house, but all this did not
forward my letter. Then came Lady Darnley; and then my father walked off
with Lord Somerville, and we gave orders no one should be let in; so we
only heard vain thunders at the door, and I got on half a page, but then
came poor Peggy Langan, [Footnote: Grand-daughter to the original of
Thady, in _Castle Rackrent._ Her sister was the original of Simple
Susan.] and her we admitted; she is in an excellent place, with Mrs.
Haldimand, Mrs. Marcet's sister-in-law, and she, Peggy, sat and talked
and told of how happy she was, and how good her mistress was, and we
liked her simplicity and goodness of heart, but as I said before, all
this did not forward my letter. Coach at the door. "Put on your hat,
Maria, and come out and pay visits."
To save myself trouble, I send a list of the visits we made just as my
mother marked them on the card by which we steered. GOD knows how I
should steer without her. The crosses mark the three places where we
were let in. Lady Milbanke is very agreeable, and has a charming
well-informed daughter. Mrs. Weddell is a perfectly well-bred, most
agreeable old lady, sister to Lady Rockingham, who lived in the Sir
Joshua Reynolds set: tells anecdotes of Burke, Fox, and
Windham--magnificent house--fine pictures. We spoke of having just seen
the exhibition of Sir Joshua Reynolds's pictures. "Perhaps if you are
fond of paintings you would take the trouble of walking into the next
room, and I will show you what gives me a particular interest in Sir
Joshua Reynolds's pictures." Large folding-doors opened--large room full
of admirable copies from Sir Joshua Reynolds in crayons, done by Mrs.
Weddell herself. My mother says they are quite astonishing. Her
conversation, as good as her painting, passed through many books lightly
with touch-and-go ease. I mentioned a curious anecdote of Madame
d'Arblay: that when she landed at Portsmouth, a few months ago, and saw
on a plate at Admiral Foley's a head of Lord Nelson, and the word
Trafalgar, she asked what Trafalgar meant! She actually, as Lady Spencer
told me, who had the anecdote from Dr. Charles Burney, did not know that
the English had been victorious, or that Lord Nelson was dead! This is
the mixed effect of the recluse life she led, and of the care taken in
France to keep the people ignorant of certain events. I mentioned a
similar instance in Thiebault's _Memoirs_, of the Chevalier Mason,
living at Potsdam, and not knowing anything of the Seven Years' War.
Then Mrs. Weddell went through Thiebault and Madame de Bareith's
_Memoirs_, and asked if I had ever happened to meet with an odd
entertaining book, Madame de Baviere's _Memoirs._ How little I thought,
my dear Aunt Ruxton, when you gave me that book, that it would stand me
_in stead_ at Mrs. Weddell's--we talked it over and had a great deal of
laughing and diversion.
Came home: found my father dressing to go to Sir Samuel Romilly's--we
two were to dine at Lady Levinge's; while we were dressing a long note
from Miss Berry, sent by her own maid, to apologise for a mistake of her
servants who had said "not at home," and to entreat we would look in on
her this evening--much hurried. Lady Levinge's dinner, which was not on
the table till eight o'clock, was very entertaining, because quite a new
set of people. Called in the evening at Miss Berry's--quite like French
society, most agreeable--had a great deal of conversation with Lady
Charlotte Lindsay. Mr. Ward was there, but I did not hear him. Went,
shamefully late, to Mrs. Sneyd's--then home: found my father in
bed--stood at the foot of it, and heard his account of his dinner. Dr.
Parr, Dumont, Malthus, etc., but I have not time to say more. I have
been standing in my dressing-gown writing on the top of a chest of
drawers, and now I must dress for a breakfast at Lady Davy's, where we
are to meet Lord Byron: but I must say, that at the third place where we
were let in yesterday, Lady Wellington's, we spent by far the most
agreeable half-hour of the day.
* * * * *
Mrs. Edgeworth continues:
One day, coming late to dinner at Mr. Horner's, we found Dr. Parr very
angry at our having delayed, and then interrupted dinner, but he ended
by giving Maria his blessing. One of our pleasantest days was a
breakfast at Mr. and Mrs. Carr's, at Hampstead, where we met General and
Mrs. Bentham, just come from Russia, full of interesting information.
Maria also spent a day in the country with Sir Samuel and Lady
Romilly--who was so beautiful and so engaging; and to this day's
happiness Maria often recurred. We met one evening at Lady Charleville's
Mrs. Abington, with whom Maria was much entertained; she recited two
epilogues for us with exquisite wit and grace--she spoke with frankness
and feeling of her career, when often after the triumph of success in
some brilliant character, splendidly dressed, in the blaze of light,
with thunders of applause, she quitted the theatre for her poor little
lonely lodging--and admirably described her disenchanted, dispirited
sensations.
One morning Maria and I went to Westminster Abbey with some friends,
among whom was Sir James Macintosh--only one morning; days might have
been spent without exhausting the information he so easily, and with
such enjoyment to himself, as well as to his hearers, poured forth with
quotations, appropriate anecdotes, and allusions historical, poetical,
and biographical, as we went along.
We unfortunately missed seeing Madame d'Arblay, and we left London
before the arrival of Madame de Staël. We went on the 16th of June to
Clifton, where we spent some days with Mr. and Mrs. King. [Footnote: Mr.
Edgeworth's second daughter Emmeline.]
From Clifton we went to Gloucester, where Maria took up a link of her
former life, paying a visit to Mrs. Chandler, from whom she had received
much kindness at Mr. Day's when her eyes were inflamed. We then went on
to Malvern, where Mrs. Beddoes [Footnote: The third daughter--Anna
Edgeworth.] was then living.
MARIA to MRS. RUXTON.