CHAPTER 2. 1767-1769 THE CORRESPONDENCE COMMENCES.

Frederick, fifth Earl of Carlisle--Lady Sarah Bunbury--The Duke of

Grafton--Carlisle, Charles Fox, and the Hollands abroad--Current

events--Card-playing--A dinner at Crawford's--Lady Bolingbroke

--Almack's--The Duke of Bedford--Lord Clive--The Nabobs--Corporation

of Oxford sell the representation of the borough--Madame du Deffand

--Publication of Horace Walpole's "Historic Doubts on Richard the

Third"--Newmarket--London Society--Gambling at the Clubs--A post

promised to Selwyn--Elections--A purchase of wine--Vauxhall.

IN the chapter which contains the earliest of Selwyn's letters to

Frederick, Earl of Carlisle,* something must be said of the

correspondence itself. It was begun in 1767, and most of the letters

which Selwyn wrote to Lord and Lady Carlisle from that date to his

death have been preserved at Castle Howard. The collection is in

many respects unique. It records a great number of facts, many no

doubt small and in themselves unimportant, which, however, in the

aggregate form a lifelike picture of English society in the

eighteenth century. The letters are written in the bright and

unaffected manner which Madame de Sevigne, whose style Selwyn so

much admired, had introduced in France. Filled with human interest

and easily expressed, they differ materially from Walpole's letters

in that they are characterised by a greater simplicity, and a less

egotistical tone. They show a keener interest in his correspondent.

There is in them a delightful frankness, an unconventional

freshness. Walpole's correspondence, invaluable as it is, always

bears traces of the preparation which we know that it received. But

Selwyn, with a light touch, wrote the thoughts and impassions of the

moment, never for effect. Walpole was often thinking of posterity,

Selwyn always of his friends, who were numberless and who were in

their time frequently his correspondents. How numerous Selwyn's

letters must have been we know from the number to him which have

been published; but with the exception of those which have

fortunately been preserved at Castle Howard, his appear to have

perished.

* FREDERICK, FIFTH EARL OF CARLISLE.

1748. Born.

1769. Married Lady Caroline, daughter of Lord Gower.

1777. Treasurer of Household.

1778. Commissioner to America.

1779. Lord of Trade and Plantations.

1780. Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.

1782. Lord Steward.

1783. Lord Privy Seal.

1825. Died.

The frequent French interpolations with which his letters are

interspersed now strike us as affectations. They were, however, a

fashion of the day; nor should we forget that Selwyn spent so much

of his life in Paris that the language came to him as easily as his

own.

In 1767 Selwyn and Carlisle had not long been friends. "Don't lead

your new favourite Carlisle into a scrape," wrote Gilly Williams to

Selwyn in the previous year. The words were written without serious

intent, but they are noticeable because they are so opposite to the

whole course of the rising friendship. The relations of the two men

were remarkable.

It has been well said of Selwyn by a statesman of to-day that he was

a good friend, a fact never better exemplified than in his

friendship with Carlisle. In his affairs he took a greater interest

than would be expected of the nearest of relatives, and with this he

united a singularly warm and open-hearted affection not only for

Carlisle but for his family. It lasted to the day of his death.

There was between them, as Pitt said of his relations with

Wilberforce, a tie of affection and friendship--simple and ingenuous

and unbreakable.

The nobleman who has been referred to simply as Lord Carlisle had

many of the qualities that mark a leader of men. He did not attain,

however, to the eminence as a statesman, man of letters, or in

society which had once been expected of him.

He succeeded to the earldom when ten years of age, following a

father who had shown no disposition for any activities beyond those

of a respectable country gentleman. His grandfather, Charles, third

Earl of Carlisle, had, however, filled an important place in his

day. His local influence in the North was great, and he' was a man

of sufficient capacity and ambition to become a personage of some

position in politics and at court.

There was never a time in English history when the possession of an

ancient name and wide estates gave greater opportunities for taking

a large share in public affairs than when the fifth Earl attained

his majority. It was natural, therefore, that a young man who was

recognised by his friends as above the average should be regarded as

a person of unusual political promise.

In 1775 an offer was made to him of the sinecure post of Lord of the

Bedchamber. He declined it, on the openly declared ground that the

position of an official at Court was such as "damps all views of

ambition which might arise from that quarter." But in 1778 there

came an opportunity of satisfying his public spirit and ambition by

crossing the Atlantic as a peace commissioner to America.

It is a curious historical fact that this mission appears to have

been partially, if not entirely, originated by Carlisle himself. The

story of its inception and the outlines of its progress are told by

Carlisle in a letter preserved at Castle Howard, which he addressed

to his friend and former tutor, Mr. Ekins. It is doubtful if the

King ever really hoped or intended that Carlisle's mission should

have a successful issue. It ended, as history has told, in absolute

failure. Carlisle returned home with the barren honour of good

intentions.

The trying work which he had undertaken entitled Carlisle, however,

to posts of importance at home, and he subsequently filled the high

office of Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, under the administration of

Lord North. When on the resignation of Lord Shelburne, in the year

1783 the memorable and short-lived coalition between Fox and North

was formed, Carlisle became one of the Cabinet as Lord Privy Seal.

With the fall of the Ministry on Fox's India Bill in the same year,

Carlisle's official life ended. No public man who attains to Cabinet

rank can be regarded as a failure, and it may be that he was

satisfied with what he had achieved by the age of five-and-thirty.

With a versatility and serenity rare among those who have once felt

the pleasure and excitement of political power and responsibility,

he turned to literature, and at Castle Howard and Naworth he

produced poems and dramas which, in spite of Byron's sharp attack,

who thus avenged himself for the inattention of his guardian on his

entrance to public life,* though they have had no posthumous fame,

gave him a reputation in his day as a man of letters, which was

probably a higher satisfaction than would have been the rewards of a

political career alone. And it threw him into closer connection with

men of literary and artistic tastes and aims. Of his writings the

poem addressed to Reynolds on his resignation of the Presidency of

the Royal Academy is perhaps that which is best worth recollecting.

Carlisle's cultivated mind made him always a liberal patron, and at

the sale of the celebrated Orleans collection of paintings he bought

the greater part.

* Carlisle and Byron were not only guardian and ward, but were

nearly related; it is a singular fact that Carlisle declined to

introduce him in the house of Lords.

Selwyn's letters open with the departure of Lord Carlisle for the

Continent. The young peer was then not quite twenty, but had fallen

desperately in love with Lady Sarah Bunbury. This beautiful and

attractive woman had half London at her feet, including the King.

For obvious constitutional reasons it was impossible for him to

marry her, but day after day the town told how he used to ride to

and fro in front of Holland House to catch a glimpse of Lady Sarah.

At the drawing room after the royal marriage, at which, by the wish

of the King, she was first bridesmaid, Lord Westmoreland, who was an

adherent of the Stuarts, knelt to Lady Sarah, mistaking her for the

Queen. Selwyn said "the lady in waiting should [must] have told him

that she was the Pretender."*

* "Memoirs of third Duke of Grafton," p. 33.

Paris was no more able to resist her than London. "Votre milady

Sarah a en un succes prodigieux; toute notre belle jeunesse en a eu

la tete tournee, sans la trouver fort jolie, toutes les principantes

et les divinites du temple l'ont recherchee avec une grande

emulation. Je ne l'ai point vue assez de suite pour avoir pu bien

demeler ce qu'on doit pensez d'elle; je la trouve aimable, elle est

douce, vive et polie. Dans notre nation elle passerait pour etre

coquette. Je ne crois pas qu'elle le soit; elle aime a se divertir;

elle a pu etre flattee de tous les empressements qu'on lui a

marquees, et je soupconne qu'elle s'y est livree plus pour

l'apparence que par un gout veritable. Je lui ai soupconne quelques

motifs cachees, et je lui crois assez d'esprit pour avoir trouve nos

jeunes gens bien sots. Si vous etes de ses amies, elle vous dira ce

qui en est."*

* "Correspondance complete du Mme. du Deffand," vol. i. P87.

The letters for the succeeding year contain frequent references to

Carlisle's youthful passion. Lord Holland had taken his family

abroad, and Charles James Fox, whose brilliant public career

Carlisle had foretold in verse at Eton, was a congenial companion

during a part of his continental travels.

Carlisle at this epoch of his life is an interesting study. Here is

a boy of nineteen voluntarily leaving home because of a fascinating

woman; he is anxiously awaiting the delayed green ribbon, and his

investiture by the King of Sardinia. He is in close association with

the foremost men of that and a later day. For three days he is

crossing the Alps, a journey filled with as many hopes or fears of

adventure as could have befallen one a century earlier.

At the time when the correspondence begins, Selwyn's friend, the

third Duke of Grafton, was virtually Prime Minister, or as it was

then termed, "principal Minister," for the personal ministerial

responsibility of the head of the Government was, in the days of

Chatham, Grafton, and North, less distinct and less recognised than

in the nineteenth century. Chatham still held the office of Lord

Privy Seal, which he had accepted on the formation of his Ministry

in 1766. But by this time ill-health had rendered him unable to take

any part in public affairs. In October, 1768, Chatham resigned

office, and Grafton became the recognised head of a Ministry the

policy of which he was incapable either of formulating or directing;

and when in January, 1770, Grafton resigned office and handed over

the Ministry to Lord North, it released him from a trying and

irksome position.

Kindly and shrewd in worldly affairs, and well intentioned as a

politician, but wholly lacking in strength of purpose, the third

Duke of Grafton was a man who obtained the goodwill and lost the

respect of his contemporaries. Between Selwyn and him there existed

a cordial friendship, of which there are many evidences in these

letters.

It is time, however, to let the correspondence speak for itself; as

has been already said, Carlisle was now at Nice.

[1767,] Dec. 29, Tuesday, de mon Chateau de Tonderdentronk.(1)--I

received your letter of the 8th and 10th, that is, one part wrote at

Antibes, the other at Nice, here yesterday, which gave me every

degree of pleasure and satisfaction that a letter can give; it could

never have come more seasonably, than when I cannot possibly, from

the snow without doors, and the Aldermen(2) within, have any other

pleasure.

As I am well furnished with maps, I had recourse to them to follow

you in your travels, and had besides the pleasure of hearing that

you were well, and knowing exactly where you are, which was an

occupation for the whole morning. The Antiquities of France have

furnished me with the knowledge of some places through which you

have passed. Mme de Sevigne(3) did, long ago, bring me acquainted

with others; and sure I am that when she was at Rochers, she could

not think more of the Pont de Garde than I should have done, if I

had known of your being there.

If you do me the honour to give me in future letters so much detail,

I shall be infinitely happy. You may be assured that I shall not

communicate a letter of yours to any one, not even to L(ady)

S(arah),(4) who hinted to me she wanted to see your last, without

your leave; but as for burning them directly, I cannot in your

absence resolve upon that; je les conserverai pretieusement till

your return, and that is all I can promise without your very express

commands.

The accident that had like to have happened to you and Charles(5) ma

fait glacer le sang. I hope it was not Robert that was so heedless.

But that, the wild boars, the Alps, precipices, felouques, changes

of climate, are all to me such things as, besides that they

grossissent de loin, that if I allowed my imagination its full

scope, I should not have a moment's peace.

I shall think no more of anything that may happen unfortunately

either to you or me for the next twelve months, than I do in passing

from Dover to Calais of the one-inch plank that is between me and

Eternity. I have assured myself that as long as the time will appear

in passing now, I shall think some time hence its progress not so

slow, and I will not add imaginary to real evils, by supposing it

possible that I shall not meet you again.

I came down here on this day sevennight, and could I have walked

Out--but the deep snow has prevented that--I should have passed my

time among my workmen tolerably well.

Lord Lisbourne(6) and Williams(7) were to have come with me, but

disappointed me. His lordship was hunting a mare's nest, as they

say, and fancied he should be this week nominated either of the

Admiralty or Board of Trade. He is fututo de, and Lord Ch[arle]s

Spencer(8) is of the first, and no vacancy in the other.

Vernon(9) has Fanshaw's place at the Green Cloth, and this Greasy

Cook dismissed with a sop, but of what sort I know not; however, he

thinks himself happy that a dish-clout was not pinned to his tail.

March(10) is passing Xmas between Lord Spencer's and the Duke of

Grafton's.(11) There is no Oubourn;(12) that family has been

occupied, and is now, between recovering a little of his Grace's

sight, and niggling themselves into Administration.

I believe I told you of Crawfurd's(13) preferment in my

letter of last Friday sevennight. I shall return to London the end

of this week, and go in search of further news for your

entertainment. The journal which you suppose me to keep is no other

than minutes I make of what I hear. When you come back from your

travels my office of journalist will cease.

I have no one with me but Raton,(14) but he is in great health and

beauty. I'm sorry that you told me nothing of poor Rover; pray bring

him back if you can, and don't let a Cardinal or any other dog stick

it into him.

I find my affairs here, which you are so good as to enquire after,

much as I expected them. The needy and tumultuous part of my

constituents are daily employed more and more, as the time of

election approaches, to find me a competitor, and put me, if they

cannot, to a needless expense, but I believe their schemes will be

abortive as to the main design; and as to money, I must expect to

see a great deal of it liquified and in streams about the streets of

the neighbouring city.

Morpeth I hope will be settled to your satisfaction for this time by

the help of the Duke of Grafton, and in all future times by no means

but what are in your hands. I hope as soon as I come to town to find

the St. Andrew(15) ready to be sent, and shall by this post send a

quickner to Hemmins; if a courier goes before I come, I hope he will

carry it. Lady Carlisle(16) was to go and see it. I take it for

granted that Sir W. Musgrave(17) will have an eye to the courier's

going. I believe, at least the papers say so, the other two Ribbands

are given away; so yours must be dispatched, of course. What would I

not give to see your Investiture! What indeed would I not give to be

with you on more occasions than that! I know nobody but Charles that

I should not envy that pleasure, but il en est tres digne by knowing

the value of it.

I shall be in pain till I hear again concerning Lord Holland(18); il

fait une belle defense, mais il en demeure la a ce qu'il me paroit;

I see nothing like a re-establishment. Ses jours sont comptes au

pied de la lettre. I beg my best and kindest compliments to him,

Lady Holland,(19) and to Charles, to whom I wrote by the last post.

I desired him to do me the favour to stick a pen now and then into

your hand, that I might hear often from you. I shall be extremely

glad to have some of your observations upon the places to which you

go; but if that takes up too much time, I shall be contented to know

that you are not any more within pistol-shot.

Lord Beauchamp(20) trains on well, as they say, but il n'a pas le

moyen de plaire. Lord Holl[an]d's criticism upon Beauc[hamp] is not

just; he will get nine daughters if he goes on as he does, before

me; and I thought once it was a hard-run thing between us.

Poor Lady Bol(ingbroke),(21) quelle triste perspective pour elle!

J'en suis veritablement touche. Adieu, my dear Lord, pour

aujourd'hui. God preserve you from boars of any kind, but one, which

is the writer of a long letter; for mine to you cannot be short, or

ever long enough to tell you how sincerely and affectionately I am

your Lordship's.

(1) Writing from Matson.

(2) Of Gloucester.

(3) Selwyn rivalled Walpole as an ardent admirer of Mme. de Sevigne

(1626-1696) through her "Letters"; he read them assiduously, and

passionately collected any information relating to her; prizing the

smallest object that had once been hers as a precious relic.

(4) Lady Sarah Bunbury (1745-1826), youngest daughter of Charles

Lennox, second Duke of Richmond; great granddaughter of Charles II.;

sister to Lady Holland, Lady Louisa Conolly, and Lady Emily,

Duchess of Leinster; divorced from her first husband, Sir Charles

Bunbury, the well-known racing baronet, in 1776; married, for the

second time, George Napier, sixth son of Francis, fifth Lord Napier,

in 1702; mother of the distinguished soldiers, Sir Charles James

Napier, Sir George Thomas Napier, and Sir William Francis Napier,

the historian of the Peninsular War. Constitutional reasons alone

prevented George III. from marrying her; he settled 1,000 pounds a

year on her at Napier's death in 1807. She was quite blind when she

died.

(5) Charles, whenever the name occurs, refers to Charles James Fox

(1749-1806). He entered Parliament at nineteen; at twenty was made a

Lord of the Admiralty; in 1773 a Commissioner of the Treasury; in

1782 Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in the Rockingham

Ministry; in 1783 he became again Secretary of State in the

memorable Coalition Ministry formed by himself and Lord North

under the nominal premiership of the Duke of Portland. When the

Whigs at length returned to power in 1806 he was again Secretary for

Foreign Affairs in Lord Grenville's Ministry of all the Talents, and

died in office. No statesman so little in office ever obtained so

great influence in Parliament and in the country.

(6) Wilmot, fourth Viscount Lisbourne.

(7) George James Williams, commonly known as Gilly Williams

(1716-1805), son of William Peere Williams, an eminent lawyer; uncle

by marriage to Lord North; appointed Receiver-General of Excise in

1774. It was he of whom it was said that he was wittiest among the

witty and gayest among the gay, and his society was much sought

after. He and Edgecumbe, with Selwyn, met at Strawberry Hill at

stated periods, forming the famous group--Walpole's "out-of-town

party."

(8) Lord Charles Spencer (1740-1820); second son of third Duke of

Marlborough; M.P. for Oxfordshire 1761-1784, and again 1796-1801;

filled from time to time several minor political offices.

(9) Richard Vernon (1726-1800), termed father of the turf. He was a

captain in the army and a Member of Parliament; it was as a sporting

man, however, that he was best known. One of the original members of

the Jockey Club, he had a racing partnership with Lord March, and

rode in races. His skill at cards and on the turf afforded the means

for extravagant living. He married the youngest daughter of the

first Earl Gower.

(10) William Douglas (1725-1810), third Earl of March and fourth

Duke of Queensberry, in his later years called "Old Q." He was

appointed a Lord of the Bedchamber on the accession of George III.,

and in 1767 made Vice-Admiral of Scotland. Pleasure in all its forms

was the sole object of his life, regardless of public opinion; he

was good-natured and shrewd, and not without interest in politics

and literature. At the time of the King's madness, in 1788, he

openly declared for the Prince of Wales, and voted for the regency;

he entertained the princes and Fox with reckless prodigality until

the King regained his reason, when he lost his place at Court, and

prudently retired to Scotland for a time. Among Selwyn's many

friends the Duke of Queensberry held the first place. "Hors son

milord March, il n'amie rien," writes Mme. du Deffand, in her

portrait of Selwyn, whose unentailed property was left to the Duke

of Queensberry, and who survived his friend by nineteen years.

(11) Augustus Henry, third Duke of Grafton (1735-1811). In 1766 he

became First Lord of the Treasury in Lord Chatham's Ministry,

resigning in January, 1770; and in 1771 Lord Privy Seal in Lord

North's Government, stipulating at the same time that he should not

be "summoned to any Cabinet." He resigned in 1775, but joined the

Rockingham Ministry in 1782 as Lord Privy Seal. On the formation of

the Coalition Ministry of North and Fox, in 1783, Grafton left

office for the last time.

(12) Woburn.

(13) James Crawford of Auchinames, Renfrewshire. He belonged to the

group of fashionable young men who frequented the clubs and played

heavily. He was a Member of Parliament. In 1769 he accompanied

Charles Fox abroad, and the following year visited Voltaire at

Ferney. He was a correspondent of David Hume and of Mme. du Deffand,

who always referred to him affectionately as "Mon petit Crauford";

in a letter in which she urges her desire that he should become more

intimate with Horace Walpole, she writes, "Vous etes melancholique,

et lui est gai; tout l'amuse et tout vous ennuie." Crawford was

called the Fish at Eton, a name which clung to him throughout life.

He had wit and vivacity, but the reputation of being affected,

insincere, and jealous. Much of his life was passed abroad. He died

in London in 1814.

(14) Raton was a present from Lady Coventry, and Selwyn was much

attached to him. Sir Joshua Reynolds introduced him in his portrait

of Selwyn and Lord Carlisle which is at Castle Howard.

(15) The Order of the Thistle had just been conferred on Carlisle.

(16) Isabella, Countess of Carlisle (1721-1795); daughter of fourth

Lord Byron. In 1743 she became the second wife of the fourth Earl of

Carlisle, who died in 1758, and was the mother of the fifth Earl. In

1759 she married Sir William Musgrave.

(17) Sir William Musgrave (died 1800), of Hayton Castle, Cumberland.

Commissioner of Customs and a well-known personage in London

Society. He was Vice-President of the Royal Society, and filled many

useful offices.

(18) Henry Fox, first Baron Holland (1705-1774); Secretary for War,

1746; Secretary of State, 1735 Paymaster General, 1757; Leader of

the House of Commons, 1762; created Baron Holland, 1763. He had at

this time gone abroad for his health.

(19) Lady Holland (1723-1774); eldest daughter of Charles, second

Duke of Richmond. Her runaway marriage to Lord Holland, then Mr.

Fox, which, however, proved very happy, created much talk at the

time.

(20) Francis Seymour (1743-1822); son of Francis, Earl of Hertford,

afterwards second Marquis of Hertford.

(21) Lady Diana Bolingbroke (1734-1808); eldest daughter of second

Duke of Marlborough; sister to Lady Pembroke. She was celebrated for

her high character, beauty, and accomplishments. Two days after her

unhappy marriage with Lord Bolingbroke was dissolved she married

Topham Beauclerk.

1768, Jan. 5, Tuesday morning, Chesterfield Street.--Many and many

happy new years to you, some of which I hope to have the pleasure of

being a witness of. When I came to town yesterday from

Gloucestershire, I received, to my surprise and great satisfaction,

your letter of the 16th of last month, for this is now the second

which I have had within a week beyond my expectation.

My answer to the first is now on the road to you, and will, I hope,

reach you some time next week. I don't recollect in any which I have

wrote that there was any expression of formality, which you seem to

have observed, and which I certainly did not intend, because I know

it would not be acceptable to you; and therefore don't interpret

that to be formality, which can be nothing but that respect, which

no degree of familiarity can ever make me lose in my commerce with

you.

I was surprised to find that Sir Ch[arle]s and Lady Sarah [Bunbury]

were in town, and had not been out of it. The weather has been and

is so cold there is no stirring from one's fireside, and so they

changed their mind. I dine with them to-day, when I hope I shall see

Harry; I have not seen him yet. I have been absent, it is now above

a fortnight. I shall not seal up my letter till I have been in Privy

Garden. I was asked to dine at Lord George's(22) to-day, but am glad

that, it being postday, I can dine where I may be able to pick up

something that will be interesting to you. I don't wish to add fuel,

but it is natural to wish that one's letters are made as acceptable

as possible.

I have had a message to-day from Sir W. Musgrave, who desires to see

me to-morrow; I will endeavour to see him to-day, as the post goes

out; I don't know particularly what he has to say. I have sent to

Hemmins this morning, but he is not yet come to me.

Lord W. Gordon(23) says he thinks his brother will ask for the other

Ribband. I long to see the Duke of Buccleugh(24) in his. I can tell

you no more at present of Brereton's(25) affair than that he is to

be prosecuted. I send you his advertisement, which came out a

fortnight ago. I think some answer should have been made to it;

although I think the controversy very unequal, and a paper war with

such a low fellow very disagreeable. But the assertions in this

advertisement will gain him credit. As I live with but one set of

people, I do not hear all the animadversions that are made upon this

affair, but I believe there is a certain monde where my two friends

pass but for very scrubby people; a bold assertion, and a great deal

of dirt thrown, although by a very mean hand, must inevitably have a

disagreeable effect.

The night robberies are very frequent. Polly Jones, my neighbour,

was a few nights ago stopped, when the chair was set down at

Bully's(26) door, and she robbed of 12 guineas.

Lady Bolingbroke has sent her resignation to the Queen, who wrote

her a very gracious letter upon it. Bully kisses hand[s] to-morrow;

the others soon after. Lord Gower(27) is the only one who has kissed

hands as yet. Fanshaw is not to be in Parliament, so there is so

much money saved to him, and his pension consequently in greater

security.

I am glad that there is so much care taken of Rover. I think, if he

has the good fortune to survive Alps, &c., and ever come to Castle

Howard, that he has an establishment for life, and may be a

toad-eater of Stumpy's.

I had a letter yesterday from Sir J. Lambert,(28) who says he can

contrive to send the Badge safely. I hope he sends my letters

regularly. March is still at Lord Spencer's, where he amuses

himself, as he tells me, excessively.

I will write more after dinner, when I hope to be more amusing to

you. I am glad for your sake and mine that they are still in town. I

shall not forget to faire valoir tous vos beaux sentiment. I'm

persuaded that I shall not be thought borish upon that subject.

Lord March's election at the Old(29) is to be to-night, if you can

call a constant ejectment an election. I thank you for your offer of

a Circassian in case you travel into Greece; you must suppose me to

be like the Glastonbury Thorn, to receive any benefit by it.

I am also much obliged to you for your hint about Hazard. Foolish,

very foolish it is I grant you, and if anything was prevalent enough

with me to relinquish so old and pernicious a practice, it would be

your condemnation of it. Heureusement pour moi, the occasion fails

me more than my prudence would serve me, if that offered. The rage

there is for Quinze is my great security. Can you forgive these

borish letters; can you excuse my leaving you to go and sup with Sir

Ch[arle]s in Privy Garden?

My dear Lord, you have been very kind in writing so often to me; the

only mischief of it to me will be, that you will have accustomed me

to that which I cannot expect, when you are no longer in that state

of retreat and indolence in which you have been at Nice. I owe much

to your friendship and great complaisance on all occasions, but I

cannot expect to interfere with what will occupy you in those places

with so much reason. However, whatever you are, I hope I may have

leave to assure you from time to time how truly and affectionately I

am, and ever shall be yours.

I should be glad to know if all my letters have come to your hands.

(22) George Sackville Germaine (1716-1785); known from 1720 to

1770 as Lord George Sackville, from 1770 to 1782 as Lord George

Germaine; son of the seventh Earl and first Duke of Dorset. A Member

of Parliament and a soldier, he became in 1775 Secretary of State

for the Colonies in Lord North's Administration until the fall of

his chief. His rise to the peerage in 1782 as Viscount Sackville

gave cause to some acrimonious debates, which are referred to later,

see Chapter 5. The Letters of Junius have often been ascribed to

Sackville's pen.

(23) Lord William Gordon; brother of the fourth Duke of Gordon and

of Lord George of the Gordon Riots fame. He was Ranger of Windsor

Park.

(24) Henry, third Duke of Buccleugh (1746-1812); eulogised in Lord

Carlisle's well-known verses on his Eton schoolfellows. He succeeded

as fifth Duke of Queensberry in 1810.

(25) Colonel Brereton on leaving the army had become a gambler of

doubtful reputation.

(26) Frederick St. John, second Viscount Bolingbroke (1734-1787);

known among his friends as "Bully." He succeeded his uncle, the

famous Henry St. John, in 1751, and married in 1757 Lady Diana

Spencer, daughter of the third Duke of Marlborough; the marriage was

dissolved in 1768. He married secondly, in 1793, Arabella, daughter

of the sixth Lord Craven.

(27) Granville, second Earl Gower, first Marquis of Stafford

(1721-1803). Appointed a Lord of the Admiralty in 1749, and resigned

in 1751; having filled various court offices he became in 1767

President of the Council. He resigned in 1779. Upon Pitt's accession

to power in 1783 he became again Lord President of the Council; in

1784 left this office and was appointed Lord Privy Seal; in 1786

created Marquis of Stafford; in 1794 resigned the office of Privy

Seal. At first opposed to America's independence, he later declared

against the war. He was the father of Lady Carlisle.

(28) English banker in Paris.

(29) A club at White's Coffee House in St. James's Street was formed

in 1730. About 1745 so many gentlemen were waiting for admission to

its membership, that a second club, known as The Young Club at

White's, was established. It had the same rules and was in the same

house as the Old Club, the members of which were usually selected

from the younger society. In 1781 the Old and Young Club: were

united, and have since been known as White's Club.

[1768,] Jan. 12, Tuesday morning.--I went to White's to enquire

after your ticket, and found The Button with a letter in his hand,

which he desired me to direct to you. It was only to tell you that

your ticket was a blank: it came up the 2nd instant.

Mr. Walpole's book(30) will not be out this month; I will send it by

the first opportunity I can find. Pray let me know if you have

received Hume's Hist[ory],(31) that Lord Pembroke(32) was to carry

for you to Sir J. Lamb[er]t. The apology for Lord B., that is, Lord

Baltimore,(33) I sent for, but it contained nothing to the purpose,

and it was a title formed to draw people in.

I dined at Crawfurd's on Saturday; there were Robinson, Sackville,

and R[ichar]d Fitzpatrick,(34) who a la suite d'une heure, has been

attacked with the rheumatism, and looks wretchedly, and quite

decrepid. I went afterwards and sat an hour with poor Lady

Bol[ingbroke]; she was very easy and cheerful, et avec une

insensibilite qui m'en donneroit pour elle; but that cannot be. She

told me she had a favour to ask of me, which was, that I would use

my endeavours that she might see her children. Bully is at present

out of town, but to be sure, I shall have no difficulty in that

negotiation. I have supped at Lady S. several times, and last night

went home with her and Miss B. from the play. Je profite de certains

momens pour vous rappeller a son souvenir, if that was necessary;

they are to dine here, but have not fixed the day. Little Harry and

his French friend are at Mrs. Blake's in the country. Sir C. will

make him write to you when he returns. Lady Hertford(35) is actually

(as Lady S. told me last night) Lady of the B[edchamber].

I expect Sir W. Musgrave to call upon me at three to take measures

about the courier, and Hemmins has promised to bring me the Badge at

two. I shall then have more to say upon those points. Parker(36)

gave us a great dinner, but the company was not numerous. I dine

to-morrow at Lord Harrington's,(37) and, I am told, with the new

Ministers.(38) I had a little supper at Lady Harrington's(39) on

Sunday, en famille; Lord and Lady Barrymore(40) were there. She goes

on with her pregnancy.

I found Beauc. sitting with his future,(41) en habit de gala; he

soon went away to the Opera, so I had a tete a tete. Mr. Radclif(42)

is still talked of for Lady F., but I have not asked Sir Will[ia]m

Mus[grave] if it is true. He is very well spoke of, et le nom est

assez beau.

Quinze goes on vigorously at Almack's.(43) Lady S. says

that you have fixed your coming of age as an epoque for leaving off

that and all kind of play whatsoever. My dear Lord, vive hodie;

don't nurse any passion that gathers strength by time, and may be

easier broke of at first. I am in hopes indeed that when you are

maitre de vos biens, as the French say, you will not invite Scot,

Parker, or Shafto(44) to partake it with you. Your condition of

life, and the necessary expenses of it, will not allow that

coalition. I never kept so long from play yet, but I frankly own I

have not much virtue to boast of by that continency. I know of no

good opportunity which I have resisted. St. John(45) told me at the

play last night that you was to go and return from Turin alone. I

hope that is not so; I shall be very angry with Robert, if he does

not take great care both of you and Rover. I will finish the rest

when I have seen Sir William.

Tuesday night.--Sir W[illia]m sent me word he did not call upon me

to-day because he could not settle with the courier till Thursday;

and Hemmins did call, and assured me that on Thursday the Badge

should be ready. I scolded till I was in a fever; I believe he will

not venture to put me off any longer.

(30) "Historic Doubts on Richard the Third."

(31) The best English history that had been written up to that time,

and the first that made any attempt to literary merit. The first

edition was published at intervals from 1754 to 1761. A second

edition had been issued in 1762.

(32) Henry, tenth Earl of Pembroke (1734-1794). He married in

1756 Elizabeth, second daughter of the third Duke of Marlborough.

(33) Lord Baltimore had been acquitted of the charge of abduction

which had been brought against him, but the prosecution brought

forward facts sufficient to justify the public indignation that was

raised. He soon after went abroad, and died in Naples in 1771.

(34) Richard Fitzpatrick (1747-1813); second son of John, first

Earl of Upper Ossory and Lady Evelyn Leveson Gower, daughter of

second Earl Gower. His sister, Lady Mary Fitzpatrick, married

Charles James Fox's elder brother, Stephen, afterward second Lord

Holland. Fitzpatrick is one of the best known names in the history

of the social life of the last half of the eighteenth century--the

Duke of Queensberry left him a legacy in recognition of his fine

manners. He was the talented and accomplished friend of Fox, whose

excesses in gaming and in all the fashionable follies of the day he

rivalled. He served with credit in the American war; in 1780 was

returned to Parliament; in 1782 appointed secretary to the Duke of

Portland, then Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland; in 1783 made Secretary at

War. At his death he was a Privy Councillor, a general in the army,

and colonel of the Forty-seventh Regiment of Foot.

(35) Lady Isabella Fitzroy, youngest daughter of Charles, second

Duke of Grafton. She married in 1741 Francis, first Marquis of

Hertford.

(36) George Lane Parker(1724-1791), second son of George, second

Earl of Macclesfield. He became a general and a Member of

Parliament.

(37) William Wildman, second Viscount Barrington (1717-1793). He

filled various high official and court offices; he was a Chancellor

of the Exchequer in 1761, and subsequently Secretary at War.

(38) The Bedford faction effected a junction with the Government at

the end of 1767, and Lord Sandwich, and Lord Weymouth, and Rigby

entered the Ministry.

(39)5 Caroline Fitzroy, eldest daughter of the second Duke of

Grafton. She married Lord Petersham, second Earl of Harrington in

1746.

(40) Richard Barry (1745-1773) succeeded as sixth Earl of Barrymore

at six years of age. He married Lady Stanhope, daughter of William,

Earl of Harrington. He was notorious as a skilful gambler. He is

said to have been an excellent officer, holding a captain's

commission at the time of his death.

(41) Alice Elizabeth, youngest daughter and co-heir of Herbert,

second Viscount Windsor. She married Lord Beauchamp that year.

(42) John Radcliffc married Lady Frances Howard, Lord Carlisle's

sister.

(43) Almack's Club was established by Macall in 1764. It was

subsequently taken over by a wine merchant named Brooks and was

thenceforward known as Brooks's. This club was primarily formed for

the purpose of high play; one of the rules reads: "Every person

playing at the new quinze table shall keep fifty guineas before

him." At play it was the fashion to wear a great coat, sometimes

turned inside out for luck; the lace ruffles were covered by a

leathern bib. Broadbrimmed high hats, trimmed with ribbon and

flowers, completed a proper gaming costume.

(44) Robert Shafto of Whitworth, M.P. for Durham--fond of racing and

betting.

(45) Henry St. John, called "the Baptist," was a brother of "Bully,"

second Viscount Bolingbroke. Horace Walpole writes of them as Lord

Corydon and Captain Corydon. He was a Groom of the Bedchamber, a

Member of Parliament, and a colonel in the army. He was a man of

wit, universally popular.

[1768,] Jan. 15, Friday morning.--We are at this moment in some

alarm about you, which I hope to find has been given without any

foundation; however, en tous cas, I hope this will find you at Nice,

and not at Turin, where Lady Carlisle has been told there is a

contagious disorder. You are near enough that place to have better

intelligence than we.

I dine(d) with the Duke of Grafton the day before yesterday at Lord

Barrington's, who assured me the death of Mr. Shirley would not

occasion any delay in regard to you. Sir W[illiam] M[usgrave] and I

have been contriving how to save you the price of the courier,

which, for going and coming, is above 150 pounds. I shall apply to

Lord Clive(46) through his former secretary, my neighbour Mr. Walsh.

Lord Clive is going to Nice, although I suppose by a slow progress,

and can supply this courier's place, a pas de tortue, that will not

be inconvenient if you don't leave Nice immediately; if you do, a

more expeditious method may be thought of. But I am very desirous of

adding no more expense to that which this Order will cost you.

Almack's was last night very full; Lady Anne and Lady Betty(47) were

there with Lady Carlisle. The Duke of Cumb[erlan]d(48) sat between

Lady Betty and Lady Sarah, who was his partner. Lady Sarah, your

sister, and His R[oyal] H[ighness] did nothing but dance cotillons

in the new blue damask room, which by the way was intended for

cards. The Duchess of Gordon(49) made her first appearance there,

who is very handsome; so the beauty of the former night, Lady

Almeria Carpenter,(50) was the less regarded. We will follow, if you

please, the veteris vestigia flamme.

There has (sic) been no events this week that I know of, except his

Grace of Bedford's(51) appearance at Court. His eyes are a ghastly

object. He seems blind himself, and makes every [one] else so that

looks at him. They have no speculation in them, as Shakespear says;

what should be white is red, and there is no sight or crystal, only

a black spot. It alters his countenance, and he looks like a man in

a tragedy, as in K[ing] Lear, that has had his eyes put out with a

fer rouge.

I dined yesterday at Lady Sarah's with Mr. and Mrs. Garrick.(52) I

say as much as I can of Lady Sarah, and her name shall be in every

other line, if it will excuse the borishness of my letters in other

particulars.

March leaves Lord Spencer's to-day. He and Varcy like [lie] to-night

at St. Alban's, and are to be in town to-morrow. The Northampton

Election will cost God knows what. I dine to-day at Ossory's.(53)

Lady Sarah, Miss Blake, Sir Ch[arles], &c., Sec., dine here on

Tuesday. I chose that, being a post day.

I believe that the best thing I can do is to ask Lord Shelbourne(54)

for the courier's place. I should be glad of it, if it was tenable

with my seat in Parliament. Sir G. Mac sat last night at supper

between Lady Bute(55) and his future, who by the way is laide a

faire peur. I was asking Lady Carlisle which was the most likely,

some years ago, to have a Blue Ribband, du beau-pere et du gendre.

Little Harry is not come to town. Sir Charles goes down into the

country next week, but not Lady Sarah that I know of. I expect

Hemmins every hour with the St. Andrew. He has so much abuse from me

every day, that I believe he wishes that I had been crucified

instead of St. Andrew. He swears that one man left the work in the

middle of it, and said he would not have his eyes put out in placing

those small diamonds that compose the motto.

Mr. Brereton is returned to the Bath, and the street robbers seem

dispersed. The hard weather is gone for the present, so that London

will be pleasanter than it has been, for the Jockeys and

Macaronis.(56) Garrick criticised your picture of mine, which he saw

at Humphry's; he has that and Sir Charles's; it is like, but not so

good and spirited a likeness as Reynolds's(57) certainly. But I am

much obliged to you for it. If you sit to Pompeio I shall hope to

have a better, and with your Order.

The Duke of Cumb[erlan]d attacked the Duke of Buccleugh last night

for wearing his under his coat; son Altesse R. a une bovardise fort

intiressante il faut lui rendre justice.

I should not have troubled you so soon if this alarm from Turin, and

the courier, &c., had not filled my head. My best compliments to

Lord and Lady Holland and my love to Charles and Harry.(58) Charles

is in my debt a letter; I shall be glad to hear from him. Crawfurd

desired me to make his (ex)cuses to you, that he has not answered

your last; he gains no ground; I think he is immaigri, et d'une

inquietude perpetuelle qui porte sur rien.

The Duke of N[ewcast]le(59) seems to have gained strength and life

since that manly resolution which he took last week of being no

longer a Minister of this country. Let what would happen, he has

given a conge to his friends to do what they will, and it shall not

be looked upon as desertion. That is undoubtedly the most capital

simpleton that ever the caprice of fortune placed in the high

offices which he filled, and for so long a time.

The last paragraph of this letter can scarcely belong to this date,

for the Duke of Newcastle was not in Chatham's Ministry, which was

formed on the fall of the first Rockingham Administration in July,

1766.

(46) Lord Clive had recently returned from India in bad health. He

lived, however, till 1774.

(47) Sisters of Lord Carlisle.

(48) Henry Frederick, younger brother of George III.; notorious for

his dissipation.

(49) Jane Maxwell, Duchess of Gordon, wife of Alexander, fourth

Duke. She was a social leader of the Tory party, and a confidante of

Pitt. Horace Walpole called her "one of the empresses of fashion."

(50) Lady Almeria Carpenter was famous for her beauty. She was

lady-in-waiting to the Duchess of Gloucester and mistress to the

Duke. "The Duchess remained indeed its nominal mistress, but Lady

Almeria constituted its ornament and its pride." (Wraxall, vol. v.

p. 201).

(51) John Russell, fourth Duke of Bedford (1710-71), died 1756. He

was appointed Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland in 1762; he went as

Ambassador to Paris, where he negotiated the unpopular Treaty of

Paris. He was at the head of the place-seeking politicians called

the Bloomsbury Gang, from his town house in Bloomsbury Square; and

when, in 1767, his faction came into power, the Duke of Bedford,

who was worthy of better clients, made a feeble effort to arrive at

an understanding with Lord Rockingham about a common policy; but he

could not keep his followers for five minutes together off the

subject that was next their hearts. Rigby bade the two noblemen take

the Court Calendar and give their friends one, two, and three

thousand a year all round ("The Early History of Charles James Fox,"

p. 132). An overbearing manner and the character of his followers

made him unpopular. In 1731 he married Lady Diana Spencer, daughter

of the third Earl of Sunderland, and sister of the third Duke of

Marlborough. He married for the second time, in 1737, Gertrude,

eldest daughter of the first Earl Gower. At the death of their only

son, Lord Tavistock, in 1767, the Duke and Duchess of Bedford were

harshly charged with want of respect for his memory.

(52) David Garrick (1717-79). In 1749 he married Eva Marie Violette,

of Vienna, a dancer who had been received in the best houses in

England. "I think I never saw such perfect affection and harmony as

existed between them" (Dr. Beattie). Selwyn criticised disparagingly

his Othello.

(53) John, second Earl of Upper Ossory (1745-1818). He was the

brother of Richard Fitzpatrick and of Mary Fitzpatrick, wife of the

second Lord Holland. He was educated at Eton and Oxford. "The man I

have liked the best in Paris is an Englishman, Lord Ossory, who is

the most sensible young man I ever saw" ("Walpole's Letters," vol.

iv. p. 426). He married Annie, daughter of Lord Ravensworth, shortly

after her divorce from the Duke of Grafton.

(54) William Petty, second Earl of Shelburne (1737-1805); created

Marquis of Lansdowne, 1784; he became Secretary of State in

Chatham's second Administration, 1766, and resigned office on

October 20, 1768, almost simultaneously with Lord Chatham on the

fall of Lord North. In 1782 he again became Secretary of State in

Lord Rockingham's Ministry, and First Lord of the Treasury on the

death of Rockingham. His Government came to an end on the coalition

of Fox and North in 1783. He was the most liberal statesman of his

time, "one of the earliest, ablest, and most earnest of English

freetraders," but he was at the same time one of the most unpopular,

a supposed insincerity being the cause of it.

(55) Lady Bute was the daughter of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu.

(56) A society of exquisites drawn from the younger men at Brooks's,

noted for their affectation in dress and manner; travel abroad was

necessary for admission to their society.

(57) Sir Joshua Reynolds(1723-1782). Selwyn was his patron and

friend. When it was reported that Reynolds would stand as a

candidate for the Borough of Plympton, and all the town was laughing

at him, Selwyn remarked that he might very well succeed, "for Sir

Joshua is the ablest man I know on a canvass."

(58) Henry Edward Fox, youngest son of Lord Holland.

(59) Thomas Pelham-Holles, Duke of Newcastle (1693-1768). For half a

century in the front of English political life. In 1724 he became

Secretary of State in Walpole's Administration, and continued in

office until 1756, having on the death of his brother, Henry Pelham,

in 1754, become First Lord of the Treasury. In 1757 he returned as

Prime Minister to office with the elder Pitt, resigning again in

1762. In Lord Rockingham's Ministry, 1765 to 1766, he was Lord Privy

Seal. Newcastle is a remarkable instance of a man of apparently

ordinary capacity holding high office in the State for many years.

Jan. 17, Sunday morning.--We received your Badge at last yesterday.

Sir W. Musgrave and I deliberated a great while about the method of

sending it, and at last went together to Lord Clive, who sets out

for Paris to-morrow, and will take charge of it, as the surest

conveyance. The courier was rejected as too expensive, and Mr. Ward

as too uncertain. I have enclosed a schedule of what the packet

delivered to Lord Clive contains. It is addressed to Sir J. Lambert

and Mr. Ward. If he goes to Paris to-day, as he intended, [he] will

carry a letter from me to Sir J. L[ambert] with directions for the

safest and speediest conveyance of this to you; I shall write to him

again upon the subject on Tuesday.

I wish somebody had received a letter from you by Friday's post, to

satisfy us where you was. This idea of an epidemical disorder at

Turin has alarmed Lady Carlisle, and I have caught some of the

fright of her. March returned yesterday from Lord Spencer's, and the

usual company supped at the Duke of Grafton's.

Mrs. Horton(60) sets out for Nice with a toad-eater and an upper

servant of the Duke's this next week. The night robbers prove to be

soldiers in the Foot Guards, which I suspected; we have not

recovered our terrors, and still go home, as they travel in the

Eastern countries, waiting for convoys; it ruins me in flambeaux's.

Lord Clive will not I think live to go to Nice, but I hope he will

get safe to Paris, and then Sir J. Lambert will take care of all the

rest. The Badge is pretty, excepting that the shape of it is too

long, and the whole seems too large for a young person. But that was

the fault of the sardonyx.

The Duchess of Bucc[leugh](61) is very far gone with child; but I

believe I told you so in my last. I will write the rest when Lady

Sarah is gone from my house Tuesday after dinner.

Tuesday night.--My dear Lord, I have waited till my foreign letters

came in before I would finish this, always in hopes of one from you.

I have received one by this post from Charles of the 6th of this

month; and he says you was answering one which you had just had from

me. This gives me hope that I shall hear from you on Friday.

Lady Sarah dined with me, Miss Blake, Sir Charles, Lord March, Lady

Bolingbroke, and Crawfurd. Lady S[arah], &c. went to the Play soon.

She received a long letter from Lady Holland while we were at

dinner, but only said that Lord H[ollan]d was well, which I was glad

to hear. We were 16 yesterday at the Duke of Gr[afton's], a very

mixed company. He enquired very kindly after you.

I think I shall have both trouble and expense at Gloucester, as I

have had heretofore, but that is all I apprehend, and that I have

been prepared for a great while, by expectation. I am in great hopes

from Charles's letter that you are still at Nice. Not that I think

but, being so near Turin, if there was anything to be feared from

the distemper, you would certainly hear it, and not go. Perhaps

there are letters from you in Cleveland Court; I shall send to Sir

Wm.(62) to enquire.

The great event at Almack's is that Scott has left off play; he is,

I suppose, the plena cruons hirundo. I am not quite satisfied that

Sir J. Lambert is punctual in forwarding my letters; pray let me

know it. Those who have been to see me think your picture very like,

but not a good likeness is agreed on all hands; but such as it is, I

am very much obliged to you for it.

I am extremely glad to find that you are applying to Italian, but to

anything is useful. You will find the benefit of it your whole life.

There are lacunes to be filled up in every stage, which nothing can

supply so well as reading, I am persuaded.

I find the last of mine that you had received when Charles wrote his

was a month ago; that makes me afraid Sir J. L[ambert] keeps them.

There [they] are no more worth his keeping than your receiving, but

they give me the pleasure of assuring you, which I can, with great

truth, that I am ever most truly and most affectionately yours.

(60) The Duke of Grafton made no secret of his relations with Mrs.

Horton.

(61) Elizabeth, Duchess of Buccleugh, daughter of George, Duke of

Montagu. She was married in 1767.

(62) Sir William Musgrave.

Intermixed with the personal news which fills the next letter there

are allusions to some social and political incidents very

characteristic of the time. The Indian nabob, or millionaire as we

should now call him, had begun to desire a seat in Parliament for

his own purposes, just as the sinecurist did for his, and he was

able to outbid the home purchaser. The jealousy with which the Court

party regarded the encroachments of these returned Anglo-Indians in

their preserves is amusing, especially when we recollect that so

great was the venality of the age that a respectable corporation

such as that of Oxford did not hesitate to offer the representation

of their borough for sale for a fixed sum.

1768, January 26, Tuesday night, at Almack's.--I received last night

yours of the 9th of this month, for which I thank you most heartily.

It is really so much pleasure to me to have a letter from you, that

it makes me wish away five days out of seven, and at my age that is

too great an abatement. I intended to have called to-day upon Sir

W[illiam] Musgrave in consequence of it, but neither he [n]or Lady

Carlisle having received any letters (if they are come, he might not

have received them), that (sic) he prevented me, and called upon me

at three o'clock to know if I had had any account of you.

Mr. Ward did not set out the Sunday he intended, that is the 17th

inst., but he gave the letter which he was to carry to Sir J.

L[ambert] to Mr. Hobart,(63) who was to set out for Paris the day

after, that is, the 18th.

Lord Clive did not sail, as Sir W[illiam] M[usgrave] tells me, till

last Sunday, so the Ribband and Badge, &c., will not arrive at Paris

till next Saturday, or Sunday probably; but Sir J. L[ambert] will be

prepared to have sent these things, by a safe hand to you either at

Turin, or Nice. I shall write to him to-night again with a full

explanation of all, that no time may be lost.

I conclude you came to Turin last Saturday, according to the letter

which I received yesterday, unless Lady Carlisle's letter about the

epidemical disorder prevented you, which was wrote the 5th inst.,

upon seeing Monsieur Viri(64) at the Princess Dow[age]r's Drawing

Room. According to the usual course of the post you must then have

received that the 19th, the evening of your intended departure, and

whether it prevented you or not, is still for me a scavoir. I hope

it did, all things considered. But if you really went to Turin last

Wednesday, then you will have been there perhaps near three weeks

before your Investiture. I hope no part of this delay will be

imputed to me. You will not have passed your time, I should think,

ill at a Court, where you was so announced, and to receive that

distinction. I am sure, if any time had been lost by my means, I

should be very sorry, when you tell me that the going so soon to

Turin will accelerate your return hither. For to tell you the truth,

I begin to think the time long already, and it is too soon to begin

counting the months.

I am extremely glad to find that you had the Marquis(65) with you. I

did not like the idea of your travelling alone. Your application to

Italian, or to anything, is what will certainly turn to account,

because, if I am not much mistaken, yours is the very age of

improvement; but your growing fat must be owing to more indolence

than can be salutary to you, and I hope you will take care that that

is not too habitual. The inconveniences of it you may not find

immediately, but they are certain, and very great, of which I could

enumerate very remarkable instances; but they do not interest me as

that does which concerns yourself. I find by Sir W[illiam] that you

have already heard all that your family knows of Lady Fr.; your

great good nature makes me not surprised at your anxiety, but there

is no occasion for it, if I am rightly informed. Your monk's

disinterest[ed]ness is a mare's nest; you will find he expects some

gratuity that will amount to more than a certain stipend; there is

no such thing in nature as an Eccle[si]astic doing anything for

nothing.

As to Morpeth, the best that can be done at present is done. I'm

persuaded what can be done in future times will depend upon

yourself, as I hope and suppose. I do not wonder that Lady Carl,

prefers Reynolds' picture, but I am not sorry to have that which I

have neither. It is a great likeness, though not a good one.

Your seal you will receive with the other things. You ask me about

Lord Tho[mon]d(66) and Will: all [the] party is so broke up at

present that they are au desespoir. The Bedfords are in

extraordinary good humour; that elevation of spirit does them no

more credit than their precedent abasement; the equus animus seems a

stranger to them. G. Greenv.(67) is certainly [befouled] as a

Minister, but he is so well manured in other respects that he cannot

be an object of great compassion certainly.

I hear you was alarmed in the night by a violent squabble in your

retinue. I hope Robert behaves well; as a native of Castle Howard I

have the most partiality to him, although I really believe Louis to

be a very good servant. I shall be glad to know if Rover is still in

being; he shall have his picture at the dilitanti (sic'), if he

returns.

I hope you will not travel Eastward but upon the map. L'appetit

vient en mangeant, but pray let me not find that in respect to your

travelling; I cannot be so selfish as not to be glad that you make

the tour of Italy, but I can carry my disinterestedness no further I

confess; more than 18 months' quarantine will be too much for me.

Lord March is much obliged to you for your kind and constant mention

of him; he is extremely well, and' not plagued with Zamparini's(68)

or anything that I know of. The Duchess of North[umberlan]d(69)

according to her present arrangement sets out for Paris, or some

place or places abroad, next week. If she is not constantly wagging,

as I'm told, she is in danger of a lethargy. Mrs. Horton sets out

for Nice on Friday.

There has been a very long debate in the House of Commons to-day

upon a motion of Ald. Beckford's(70) concerning a Bill he intends to

bring in for the more effectual prevention of bribery and keeping

out nabobs, commissaries, and agents of the House of Commons, or at

least from their encroachments upon the claims of persons

established in towns and boroughs, by descent, family interest, and

long enjoyed property; the principle of his scheme is certainly

good.

The Mayor and Corporation of Oxford are to appear at the Bar in

defence of themselves, for having offered themselves to sale for

7,500 pounds. They had the honnetete to offer the refusal to their

old members, who told them in answer to their modest proposal that

as they had no intention to sell them, so they could not afford to

buy them. I was not at the House, but this is likely to make a great

noise. Bully's petition has been presented by Lord Sandw.,(71) and

will probably be carried through this Session. Some of the Bishops

intend to make speeches against it, as I hear.

Charles Boon has married a squint-eyed, chitten-face citizen with

about 5,000 pounds fortune. Sir G. Mac(72) wedding will be about

Monday or Tuesday next. They consummate at Comb, Vernon's house. Sir

Ch[arles] is returned from Barton, and Lady Sarah gone to the Opera.

You may be sure that we do not pass an hour without mention of you,

but, shall I tell you mind (sic), when Lady Carlisle tells you that

she has seen her at Chapel, and when I tell you that I have dined

with her, we certainly mean to please you; but do we not help to

keep up a flame that, in as much as that is the proper description

of it, had better be extinguished? Crescit indulgent isti. I am sure

I shall never say anything to lessen the just and natural esteem

which you have for her, but when there is grafted on that what may

make you uneasy, I must be an enemy to that or to yourself, and you

know, I am sure, how incapable I am of that. I have a long letter

almost every week from my flame also, Me du Deffand,(73) but these

are passions which non in seria ducunt. She is very importunate with

me to return to Paris, by which (?), if there is any sentiment, it

must be all of her side. I should not be sorry to make another

sejour there; but if I did, and it was with you, I should not throw

away with old women and old Presidents,(74) which is the same thing,

some of those hours which I regret very much at this instant. You

may assure Lord Kildare that I will do my best about his election at

the young club.(75)

(63) George Hobart, third Earl of Buckinghamshire (1732-1804). He

was returned to Parliament in 1761, 1768, and 1774, and he was

manager of the Opera for a time. In 1762 he was made Secretary to

the Embassy at St. Petersburg, where his half-brother John, second

Earl of Buckinghamshire, was Ambassador; in 1793 he succeeded him.

He married, in 1757, Albinia, eldest daughter of Lord Vere Bertie.

(64) The Count de Viry, Sardinian Minister to England.

(65) William Robert, Marquis of Kildare (1748-1805). He succeeded as

third Duke of Leinster in 1773.

(66) Percy Windham O'Brien, Baron of Stricheh and Earl of Thomond,

brother of Lord Egremont and of Mrs. George Grenville. He was a

Member of Parliament for Mmehead, Lord-Lieutenant of the county of

Somerset, and a member of the Privy Council.

(67) George Grenville (1712-1770). Prime Minister and Chancellor of

the Exchequer in 1763. The author of the Stamp Act. See his

Character, Lecky, "History of England," vol. III. p. 64.

(68) A dancing girl of fifteen and her family, at the moment the

object of Lord March's attention.

(69) Lady Elizabeth Seymour, Duchess of Northumberland, generally

called Lady Betty. In 1740 she married Sir Hugh Smithson, against

the will of her grandfather, the Duke of Somerset, who disliked this

marriage for the heiress of the Percys, but there was no power of

depriving her of the property, and Smithson succeeded to the title

in 1750; from this time they both figured prominently in society and

politics, and the Duchess's entertainments, where the best musicians

performed, were famous.

(70) William Beckford (1709-1770). Alderman and Lord Mayor of

London, and Member of Parliament for the City of London. The friend

and supporter of Wilkes, he was an upholder of popular rights at a

time when men of wealth were usually supporters of the King.

(71) John George Montagu, fourth Earl of Sandwich (1718-1792); was a

party politician whose term of office as First Lord of the Admiralty

brought him into general opprobrium; in private life he was even

more severely condemned. With the Earl of March, Sir Francis

Dashwood, and others, he was associated with Wilkes in the infamous

brotherhood of Medmenham, and later, when they made public the

secrets of the club against Wilkes, popular feeling rose high

against Sandwich, and he was characterised as Jemmy Twitcher, from a

play then running; the theatre rose to the words "That Jemmy

Twitcher should peach me I own surprised me."

(72) Sir George, afterward Lord Macartney (1737-1800). An ambitious

young Irishman; a tutor and friend of Charles James Fox, he had been

assisted in his career by Lord Holland. In 1764 he had been

appointed Envoy Extraordinary to Russia, and later held appointments

as Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, President of Madras,

Governor of the Cape of Good Hope, and Ambassador to China. He

married Lord Bute's second and favourite daughter, Lady Jane.

(73) Marie de Vichy Chamroud, Marquise du Deffand (1697-1780). She

married, in 1718, the Marquis du Deffand, from whom she soon

separated, and lived the life of pleasure so common in the period.

At the age of sixty-two she became totally blind. This misfortune

but made her the more celebrated and sought after. In 1764 occurred

the quarrel with Mlle. Lespinasse, which divided her salon and left

her quite alone with her faithful secretary, Wiart. With the

exception of her correspondence with the Duchesse de Choiseul, she

bequeathed all her letters to Horace Walpole. She was seventy and

Walpole fifty when they met and their famous attachment and

correspondence began.

(74) President Henault (1685-1770). He was President of the

Parliament, a member of the Academy, and author of "L'abrege

Chronologique de l'Histoire de France." His devotion to Mme. du

Deffand lasted until his death, which preceded hers by ten years.

(75) At White's.

(1768) Feb. 2, Tuesday Morning.--Yesterday Sir T. Stapleton and Mr.

Lee, the members for the town of Oxford, read in their places, by

order of the House, the letter which they had received a year and a

half ago from the Mayor, Bailiffs, and Council of Oxford to offer

them a quiet election, and absolute sale of themselves, for 5,670

pounds sterling; the sum which the Corporation is indebted, and

otherwise as they declare unable to pay. Eleven sign, of which

[whom] one is since dead; all the rest are ordered to attend at our

Bar on Friday with the Mace Bearer, &c. Their Regalia has been

pawned for their high living. The House was excessively crow[d]ed;

Thurloe and Rigby,(76) for the Duke of Marl(borough's) sake, made

weak efforts to bring them off. Some of these people are fled to

Calais, as it is said, to avoid Newgate; it may be that none of them

will appear who signed.

Mr. Walpole's(77) book(78) came out yesterday, but I got it from him

on Saturday, and my (?) Lord Molyneux carried it for me that morning

to Sir John Lamb[er]t to be forwarded to your Lordship immediately.

I'm confident that it will entertain you much, and, what is more

extraordinary, convince you; because I have that good opinion of

your understanding as not to think that ages and numbers can

sanctify falsehood, and that such is your love of truth as to be

glad to find it, although at the expense of quitting the prejudice

of your whole precedent life. I will not forestall your judgment by

saying anything more of this book, but only wish it may afford as

much entertainment as it has me. This historic doubter dined with me

yesterday, Williams, Lord March, Cadogan, and Fanshaw, qui m'a

demande a diner, at the House.

Horry seemed mightily pleased with the success which his new book

has met with; nobody cavils at anything, but here and there an

expression; his hypothesis is approved of from the most reasonable

conjectures, and the most indisputable authorities. I would have had

Bully [to] have dined with us, but he was engaged to his brother,

qui donne a diner fort souvent. I told him, that if he would pay his

court to Horry he might give him a lick of his vernis, that would do

his repu[ta]tion no harm. He is in high spirits; his divorce is

making a rapid progress through your House.

Beauclerck looks wretchedly, and has been very ill. Our

Minister,(79) as you call him, goes on very well, but he is now a

widower a second time; his Lady set out for Paris last Saturday. I

hope he will not be undermined. The King will never have a servant

that will please the public more. I dine with him often a petit

convert at March's. I am not desirous that my friends should become

ministers; but if they are ministers, it is fair to wish they may

become one's friends. He is yours very cordially, I'm persuaded. He

always asks very kindly after you, and seems uneasy that the Order

has not yet reached you. He said the other day at dinner, aun ton

tres patetique, "I shall be much disappointed if in four or five

years Lord Carlisle does not give a very good account of himself."

Ministre, ou non ministre, qui tient des propos pareils, n'aura pas

grande difficulte a me contenter sur le reste. I have abandoned him

to-day for Lady Sarah, at which you will be neither surprised, [n]or

offended. He dines at March's, and I in the Privy Garden.

The D[uke] and D[uches]s of Rich[mon]d are in town. A young man

whose name I cannot recollect asked me very kindly after you

yesterday, at the H[ouse] of C[ommons]; he used to sit by your

bedside of a morning in King Street; he is tall and thin.

Dr. Musgrave, the Provost of Oriel College in Oxf[or]d, cut his

throat in bed the other day; he was ill, but he had taken to heart a

mistake which he had madeabout a letter of Sir J. Dolben's, who is

to be member for the University the remainder of this Parliament. A

dispute with the Fellows, as they tell me, arose in consequence of

it, and this seized the poor man's brains. He was reckoned very

passionate, but d'ailleurs a good kind of man. I knew his person and

his elder brother, Sir Philip, formerly very well. There is a

stagnation of news just at this moment, but as soon as any

preferments, peerages, or changes of any kind are known for certain,

I will send you word of them.

I dined at the D[uchess]'s or Duke's, which you please, of

Northumberland's(80) on Saturday; you are a great favourite of her

Grace's. She told me of I don't know how many sheets which you had

wrote to Lady Carlisle, giving an account of your travels. All the

company almost were of Yorkshire, or of the North; Lord and Lady

Ravensw[orth], Sir M. Ridley and his father, the Punch Delaval, Lord

Tankerville, &c. Her Grace goes soon to Paris, but has as yet fixed

no day.

A disagreeable report has prevailed lately, but I believe without

the least foundation, that Crew has lost a monstrous sum to Menil.

Almack's thrives, but no great events there. I have ordered the

M[arquis] of Kildare to be put up at the young club, at White's. If

little Harry is come to town, he shall write to you; others should

write to you if I could make them, but I am afraid those wishes are

more of a courtier than a friend. I should be sorry and ashamed, by

endeavouring to flatter your inclination, if I lost your good

opinion, which without flattery I value much.

I sat the other morning with Miss Blake; Lady S[arah], and Sir

Ch[arle]s were rode out, and I did not see them. She told me a

letter was come from Charles, and there is a rendezvous she said,

somewhere, but she could not recollect where. She thought you

intended to meet Charles and their family at Spa the end of the

summer; if so, I shall not despair of seeing you many months sooner

than I can otherwise expect it. I shall know to-day at dinner more

particularly about it. Lord March thanks you for your frequent and

kind mention of him.

My new chaise comes home the week after next. I shall defer making a

chariot for some time. I may, perhaps, ask your opinion about a

friensh [French?] equipage. March's great room is gilding, and when

finished he is to give a dinner to Lady Sarah, and a concert to a

great many more. I will finish this au sortir de table.

Tuesday night.--I dined at Sir Charles's. Harry came to town this

morning with his French friend and Academist. He has promised me to

write to you next post. Lady Sarah says that if you are not

satisfied about the St. Andrew, Hemmins is to blame, not her. She

could not get him to come near her; and the day it was finished,

which was the day before it went away, she never saw it.

Charles, I find, is to meet you in April at Rome; and Lady Sarah the

latter end of the summer to meet him at Spa. You do not return to

Nice. I do not count much upon hearing from you, but by accident,

when you proceed further into Italy.

Sir R. Rich died last night only, so I can know nothing of his

preferments yet. Dr. Smith, the Master of Trinity, is also dead, and

Dr. Hinchliff asks for his Headship. Lady Sarah was melancholy about

Stee (81); she hears that his lethargy increases, and thinks it

probable her sister may lose both her husband and son in a very

short time; that is a disagreeable perspective. They all desired to

be remembered to you. Adieu, my dear Lord, pour aujourd'hui. I have

no chance of hearing from you by this post, the letters having come

yesterday; so God bless you. I am ever most sincerely and

affectionately yours.

(76) Richard Rigby (1722-1788). A prominent politician, he was for

many years Paymaster of the Forces; but was a coarse, hard-drinking

place-man.

(77) Horace Walpole (1717-1797) was the fourth and youngest son of

Sir Robert Walpole. He was Selwyn's lifelong friend. His biographers

place him at Eton with Selwyn, the two Conways, George and Charles

Montagu, the poet Gray, Richard West, and Thomas Ashton. On leaving

Cambridge he made the continental tour with Gray, but after two

years of travel together they disagreed and separated for the

homeward journey. In 1747 he bought Strawberry Hill, which he

transformed into his Gothic Castle, ornamenting the interior with

objects of beauty or curiosity. In 1757 he set up his private

printing press, where he brought out Gray's poems and other

interesting English and French publications, beside his own

productions, which culminated in "The Castle of Otranto," a

departure in fiction beginning the modern romantic revival. In 1765

he visited Paris, where he went much into society, and when his

celebrated friendship with Mme. du Deffand began. He helped to

embitter Rousseau against Hume by the mock letter from Frederick the

Great offering him an asylum in Germany. In 1789, nine years after

Mme. du Deffand's death, he met the two sisters, Agnes and Mary

Berry, who came to live near him at little Strawberry, which he left

them at his death. He succeeded his nephew as fourth Lord Orford in

1791, but he preferred the name which he had made more widely known,

and signed himself "Horace Walpole, uncle of the late Earl of

Orford." The celebrated letters begin as early as 1735 and extend to

1797. Walpole never married.

(78) "Historic Doubts on Richard the Third."

(79) The Duke of Grafton.

(80) Hugh, second Duke of Northumberland (1742-1817).

(81) Stephen Fox.

[1768,] Feb. 16, Tuesday morning, Newmarket.--I have just finished a

long letter, which, when I came to sand, I have, par distraction,

covered all over with ink. I came down here on Saturday with March

to meet the Duke of Grafton, who by the by only stayed here that

night, and then went to Bury, so that I have scarce seen him.

We are at Vernon's house, that is, dinner and supper; which he has

bought of Lord Godolphin(82) [for] 4000. Here has been Sir J. More,

Bully, and Polly Jones, Vernon's Polly, Mr. Stoneheir,(83) who came

with the D[uke] of G[rafton], Sir Charles Bunbury and little Harry,

and Mr. Richmond has been here also to lay out Vernon's gardens. Sir

Charles has held us a Pharo bank of a night which has cost him 200

pound, a sum, I imagine, not so easily spared at this juncture by

him.

March promised that I should be in London again today, but you know

his irresolution, and the little opposition which I can give to what

he desires; but it is a great sacrifice for me, for you have been so

good in writing to me since I left you, that there is not a week

that I am absolutely without my hopes of hearing from you, although,

when I left you, I should have been glad to have compounded for once

a month; and I'm the more impatient to know what accounts are come

by Monday night's post, from what you told me of the gripe, and that

you could not go to the French Amb[assado]r's Ball. Harry tells me

that he wrote to you, as you ordered him.

Lady S[arah] is in town, and I suppose very happy with the thoughts

of a Mascarade which we are to have at Almack's next Monday

sevennight, unless in the interim some violent opposition comes from

the Bishops. Harry has had here with him a son of Lord

Carysfort's(84) from Cambridge. Bully's affair ends with the

Session; as soon as that is concluded, he will be in respect of

matrimony absolutely evinculated.

There has been an Almack since I wrote, but no events.

At the other shop, a great deal of deep play, where I believe Ossory

has been a great sufferer; the D[uke] of Roxb[urgh](85) is become a

very deep player also, and at Hazard. I have been, as you justly

call it, foolish, but very moderately so, and rather a winner, for

which I'm not certainly less foolish. But my caution at present

arises from being at the eve of an expense probably for which an

opposition at the Hazard table is but a bad preparatif. However, all

things are quiet as yet, and my own private affairs en bon train,

according to the present appearances.

The D[uke] of G[rafton] tells me that he wishes to recommend for

Luggershall, Lord Garlics,(86) and a son of Sir M. Lamb's. I wish

Morpeth(87) could have waited till you come of age. But I hope that

in future times everything will be done there and elsewhere which

your family consequence entitles you to wish may be done.

The Corporation of Oxford was dismissed on Wednesday last with a

reprimand that is to be printed; un discours assez plat, as I have

heard. That affair has raised up many others, and a multitude of

attorneys, who have been hawking about people's boroughs, have been

sent for. It is high time to put a stop to such practices, and to

check the proceedings of nabobs, commissaries, and agents.

Very luckily for you I cannot find many materials here for detaining

you long, so God bless you, my dear Lord. I wish I may be able to

contrive some means of abridging the time and distance which seems

determined to separate me from you. I am constantly regretting that

which I gave up to old women and presidents. But il est de nos

attachemens comme de la sante; nous n'en sentons pas tout le prix

que quand nous l'avons perdue. I beg my compliments to the Marquis

of Kildare; I am happy to know that you have a companion, and that

it is him.

(82) Francis Godolphin Osborne, Marquis of Carmarthen, fifth Duke

of Leeds. In 1773 he married Amelia, daughter of Robert d'Arcy, Earl

of Holdernesse. He was Secretary for Foreign Affairs 1783-91.

(83) Richard Stonehewer, the Duke of Grafton's private secretary. He

was a friend of Gray, the poet, and of Horace Walpole.

(84) Sir John Proby (1720-1772). He was created Baron Carysfort in

1752, and appointed one of the Lords of the Admiralty in 1757.

(85) John, third Duke of Roxburghe (1740-1804). In society he was

regarded as one of the most agreeable and handsome men of his day,

but he is now chiefly recollected as a book collector. The sale of

his library in 1812 occupied forty-five days. The Roxburghe Club was

inaugurated at the time of the sale.

(86) John Lord Garlics (1735-1806), seventh Earl of Galloway.

(87) The parliamentary representation of.

[1768, Feb. 26]. . . .The Bishops have, as I apprehended that they

would, put a stop to our Masquerade, for which I am sorry,

principally upon Lady Sarah's account. I shall go this morning and

condole with her upon it. . . . March is very pressing to know if I

do him justice in my letters to you; he is not very fond of writing,

and therefore deposits with me all his best and kindest compliments

to you.

I thank you for saying that you would have me a few hours gazing at

amphitheatres, and you for the same time gazing here at something

more modern. That would not answer my purpose. I never carried my

love of antiquity and literary researches to that point. I should be

glad to have a view of Italy, but with you; and if you should take a

trip here for a few days, pray don't insist on my being at that time

in contemplation of the mazures de nos ancetres. The last letter

which you mention to have received from me was of the 15th of last

month, and you did not receive it till the 3rd of this. I hope my

letters come to you, since you permit the writing of them. I shall

always hereafter put them myself into the post. . . .

A match is much talked of between Lord Spencer Hamilton and Miss

Beauclerk, the Maid of Honour. I hope it will not take place. There

is not as much as I have sometimes lost of a night at Hazard between

them both, either at present or in expectation, and the number of

beggars is increased to an enormous degree. . . .

1768, February 28, Sunday morning, Chest(erfield) Str(eet).--I wrote

to you on Friday morning, and at night, just before the post was

going, received the pleasure of yours of the 10th; so that what I

wrote afterwards was much in haste, and from the impetuosity of my

temper to make my acknowledgments to you. I was yesterday at Lady

Carlisle's door, to enquire for Sir W(illiam), but he was not at

home. I asked if they had had any letters from you, and being told

they had not, I took the liberty to leave word that I had received

one of the 10th, and that you was then very well.

I believe all the apprehensions which Me Viri had filled us with,

are now dispersed, and not fearing anything from cold, I hope that I

shall not be so foolish as to be thinking of the consequences of

heat; cela ne finit point. I saw Viri at Lady Hertford's at night;

he was unacquainted with the particulars of the courier, &c., but

only said that the King, his master, had assured him that he should

invest you with that order, as his Brother(88) had desired he would,

and that it should be done avec toute la pompe et eclat dont la

chose fut susceptible. He is a stupid animal in appearance, this

Viri.

I had yesterday morning my conference with the D(uke) of G(rafton);

he has assured me that I should have the place of Treasurer to the

Queen, added to that which I already have (without any kind of

pension), as soon as ever one could be found out for Mr. Stone, but

he having been the King's Preceptor there will be some management

with him, but the Duke said, if he would not acquiesce, he

insinuated force. The two places together, if I am not mistaken in

the estimate, will be near 2,300 pounds per annum. I'm much obliged

to the D(uke) for his liberal and kind manner of treating with me. I

have succeeded better, I find, in negotiating for myself, than when

I employed another; but I have this time had to deal with a person

who seemed willing to comply with anything which I could propose in

reason, and has even gone beyond my proposals; and I have reason to

flatter myself that his Majesty has not that reluctance to oblige

me, which his grandfather had, and has certainly a much better

opinion of me. Then, if this Election goes off without an enormous

expense, I shall be enabled to pay off much the greatest part of my

debt; but my imprudences have been beyond conception. I hope that

that Providence which has preserved me from the usual effects of

them will be kind enough to let me enjoy some few years of ease, and

to pass them with your Lordship. I will not then complain of my lot

here, which, were the cards to be shuffled again, I might mend in

some particulars, without perhaps adding anything to the general

felicity of my life.

I went from the D(uke) of G(rafton's) to a little concert at

March's, where was Sir C(harles) and Lady S(arah). She and I went up

into the rooms above, which are now gilding and repairing, and I

communicated to her such parts of your letter as I thought would

please her, and which I thought you would be pleased that I should

repeat to her. . . .

Monday morning.--Miss Blake(89) did not leave them till yesterday.

She went with Lady S(arah) to Court, and then Sir Ch(arles) and Lady

S(rah)dined at Mr. Blake's and left her there. I saw Lady

S(rah)afterwards at the D(che)s of Hamilton's.(90) Assembly is there

at present; Lady Harrington has not been able to see company for

some time.

There is now no talk but of Elections. Lord Thom(n) is thrown out at

Taunton, and opposed at Winchelsea, and so it goes on. This is the

week I am in most apprehension of, because I think next, as the

Judges will be then in the town (loucester) there can be no treating

nor bustle; but as yet I know of no opponent. Sackville sticks close

to . . . (sic). I was with her Grace most part of yesterday morning,

with Lord W. Gordon. Harry St. John asks me if you have mentioned a

Me Chateau Dauphin; all Italian news interests him much. . . .

(88) George III.

(89) Carlisle in a letter refers to her as Selwyn's ward.

(90) Elizabeth Gunning, Duchess of Hamilton and Argyll (1734-1790);

a sister of the equally beautiful and famous Maria Gunning, Lady

Coventry, who died in 1760. The Duchess of Argyll, who married the

second time the year following the death of the Duke of Hamilton,

was generally known as the Duchess of Hamilton, and in 1776 was

created Baroness Hamilton in her own right. This untitled daughter

of a poor Irish gentleman was the wife of two dukes and the mother

of four.

(1769,) July 4, Tuesday night.--I have sent to-day for you 45

bottles of the vin de Grave and six bottles of Neuilly, and the same

quantity is ready to be packed up and sent when I have your further

commands. The reason why I did not send the whole at once, was the

consideration of the weather, etc.; when this comes safe, the rest

shall follow directly, and then according to my cellar-book you will

have had in all ten dozen, that is seven dozen and a half now and

two dozen and a half before, of that particular wine, and about a

dozen of Burgundy. It goes by sea to Hull. The Knight cutter, Thomas

Savil, master, Hull, at the custom-house quay. That custom-house

quay may mean at London. However, this is the method prescribed by

your porter, for I have been at your house to enquire, as well as my

servant.

I have wrote to Frances about the tricote, and will send you an

account of it by next post. I have regulated the papers to-day, for

upon enquiry at the house, I found two were sent you from thence,

and the three besides from Jolliffe, which you ordered; so I bid

Jolliffe look to that.

I was at Vauxhall last night with Lady Harrington, Lady Barrimore,

Mrs. Damer,(91) Lady Harriot, March, Frances, and Barker. Very fine

music, and a reckoning of thirty-six shillings; fine doings. I had

rather have heard Walters play upon his hump for nothing. I dined

to-day at James's with Boothby, Harry St. John, March, and Panton.

To-morrow Lord Digby and I dine at Holland H(ouse), and on Thursday

Harry and I dine at Beckford's with Sir W(illiam) M(usgrave). Rigby

gave a dinner to-day to the Duke and Duchess of Grafton.

(91) Anne, only daughter of General Conway. She ultimately became

possessed of Strawberry Hill. She devoted herself to sculpture; the

heads that ornament the bridge at Henley-on-Thames are her work.

The Newmarket people go the beginning of next week. I shall then go

into Kent, and the beginning of the week after I shall set out for

Castle Howard. I long to see you dans votre beau Chateau. But where

is it that I do not wish to see you? If anything is published that

is not a mere catch-penny, as it is called, I shall send it

directly. I believe the account of the D(uke) of G(rafton) and Nancy

is of that sort, but I know no more than the advertisement.

Almack's is extinct. I am writing from White's, which I have long

wished was so too.

Bad news from the Colonies. The P(rince) of Brunswick has another

son. The people are come from the Installation at Cambridge, but I

know no more of what has passed there than you see in the papers.

Harry pursues the Bladen, and March will be talked of for Lady

Harriot till he does or does not marry her. I wish it decided one

way or other. I own I have his happiness too much at heart not to be

anxious about it, and hate to have it in suspense.

Lord Farnham has distributed four hogshead of some vin de Grave,

which he had, among his friends, and they prefer it to that which

Wion (?) furnishes us with. I cannot help that, all things are good

and great and small, &c., by comparison. God bless you, my dear

Lord; I will come, as you have given me leave, as soon as my affairs

here will possibly permit it.

I write to-night for ten dozen more of vin de Grave.