Of Holland House, the last residence of Addison, it would require a long
article to give a fitting idea. This fine old mansion is full of historic
associations. It takes its name from Henry Rich, earl of Holland, whose
portrait is in Bilton. It was built by his father-in-law, Sir Walter Cope,
in 1607, and affords a very good specimen of the architecture of that
period. The general form is that of a half H. The projection in the
center, forming: at once porch and tower, and the two wings supported on
pillars, give great decision of effect to it. The stone quoins worked with
a sort of arabesque figure, remind one of the style of some portions of
Heidelberg Castle, which is what is called on the Continent roccoco. Here
it is deemed Elizabethan; but the plain buildings attached on each side to
the main body of the house, with their shingled and steep-roofed towers,
have a very picturesque and Bohemian look. Altogether, it is a charming
old pile, and the interior corresponds beautifully with the exterior.
There is a fine entrance-hall, a library behind it, and another library
extending the whole length of one of the wings and the house upstairs, one
hundred and five feet in length. The drawing-room over the entrance-hall,
called the Gilt Room, extends from front to back of the house, and
commands views of the gardens both way; those to the back are very
beautiful.
In the house are, of course, many interesting and valuable works of art; a
great portion of them memorials of the distinguished men who have been
accustomed to resort thither. In one room is a portrait of Charles James
Fox, as a child, in a light blue dress, and with a close, reddish, woolen
cap on his head, under which show lace edges. The artist is unknown, but
is supposed to be French. The countenance is full of life and
intelligence, and the "child" in it is, most remarkably, "the father of
the man." The likeness is wonderful. You can imagine how, by time and
circumstance, that child's countenance expanded into what it became in
maturity. There is also a portrait of Addison, which belonged to his
daughter. It represents him as much younger than any other that I have
seen. In the Gilt Room are marble busts of George IV. and William IV. On
the staircase is a bust of Lord Holland, father of the second earl and of
Charles Fox, by Nollekens. This bust, which is massy, and full of power
and expression, is said to have brought Nollekens into his great repute.
The likeness to that of Charles Fox is very striking. By the same artist
there are also the busts of Charles Fox, the late Lord Holland, and the
present earl. That of Frere, by Chantry, is very spirited. There are also,
here, portraits of Lord Lansdowne, Lord John Russell, and family
portraits. There is also a large and very curious painting of a fair, by
Callot, and an Italian print of it.
In the library, downstairs, are portraits of Charles James Fox--a very
fine one; of the late Lord Holland; of Talleyrand, by Ary Scheffer,
perhaps the best in existence, and the only one which he said that he ever
sat for; of Sir Samuel Romilly; Sir James Mackintosh; Lord Erskine, by Sir
Thomas Lawrence; Tierney; Francis Horner, by Raeburn, so like Sir Walter
Scott, by the same artist, that I at first supposed it to be him; Lord
Macartney, by Phillips; Frere, by Shea; Mone, Lord Thanet; Archibald
Hamilton; late Lord Darnley; late Lord King, when young, by Hoppner; and a
very sweet, foreign fancy portrait of the present Lady Holland. We miss,
however, from this haunt of genius, the portraits of Byron, Brougham,
Crabbe, Blanco White, Hallam, Rogers, Lord Jeffrey, and others. In the
left wing is placed the colossal model of the statue of Charles Fox, which
stands in Bloomsbury Square.
In the gardens are various memorials of distinguished men. Among several
very fine cedars, perhaps the finest is said to have been planted by
Charles Fox. In the quaint old garden is an alcove, in which are the
following lines, placed there by the late earl:
"Here Rogers sat--and here for ever dwell
With me, those pleasures which he sang so well."
Beneath these are framed and glazed a copy of verses in honor of the same
poet, by Mr. Luttrell. There is also in the same garden, and opposite this
alcove, a bronze bust of Napoleon, on a granite pillar, with a Greek
inscription from the Odyssey, admirably applying the situation of Ulysses
to that of Napoleon at St. Helena: "In a far-distant isle he remains under
the harsh surveillance of base men."
The fine avenue leading down from the house to the Kensington road is
remarkable for having often been the walking and talking place of Cromwell
and General Lambert. Lambert then occupied Holland House; and Cromwell,
who lived next door, when he came to converse with him on state affairs,
had to speak very loud to him, because he was deaf. To avoid being
overheard, they used to walk in this avenue.
The traditions regarding Addison here are very slight. They are, simply,
that he used to walk, when composing his "Spectators," in the long
library, then a picture gallery, with a bottle of wine at each end, which
he visited as he alternately arrived at them; and that the room in which
he died, tho not positively known, is supposed to be the present
dining-room, being then the state bed-room. The young Earl of Warwick, to
whom he there address the emphatic words, "See in what peace a Christian
can die!" died also, himself, in 1721, but two years afterward. The estate
then devolved to Lord Kensington, descended from Robert Rich, Earl of
Warwick, who sold it, about 1762, to the Right Honorable Henry Fox,
afterward Lord Holland. Here the early days of the great statesman,
Charles James, were passed.
ARUNDEL [Footnote: From "Cathedral Days." By permission of, and by
arrangement with, the publishers, Little, Brown & Co. Copyright, 1887.]