Chaste! surely yes.--The Managers admit
None but chaste Ladies, in their virtuous set;
Besides, if any one a slip hath made,
A _Title_ hides it with oblivion's shade."
125.
_To J. B. Holroyd, Esq._
Boodle's, Saturday night, Feb. 8, 1772.
*Though it is very late and the bell tells me that I have
not above ten minutes left, I employ them with pleasure in
congratulating you on the late Victory of our Dear Mamma the
Church of England.[158] She had last Thursday 71 rebellious sons,
who pretended to set aside her will on account of insanity:
but 217 Worthy Champions, headed by Lord North, _Burke_, Hans
Stanley, Charles Fox, Godfrey Clarke, &c., though they allowed
the thirty-nine clauses of her Testament were absurd and
unreasonable, supported the validity of it with infinite humour.
By the by, C. F. prepared himself for that holy war, by passing
twenty-two hours in the pious exercise of Hazard; his devotions
cost him only about £500 per hour--in all £11,000. Gaby lost
£5000. This is from the best authority. I hear, too, but will not
warrant it, that Will Hanger,[159] by way of paying his court to
L. C., has lost this winter £12,000. How I long to be ruined!
There are two county contests, Sir Thomas Egerton and Colonel
Townley in Lancashire,[160] after the county had for some time
gone a-begging. In Salop, Sir Watkin, supported by Lord Gower,
happened by a punctilio to disoblige Lord Craven, who told us
last night, that he had not quite £9000 a-year in that county,
and who has set up Pigot against him. You may suppose we all wish
for Got Almighty,[161] against that Black Devil.
I am sorry your journey is deferred. No news from Fleet Street.
What shall I do? Compliments to Datch. As he is now in Durance,
great minds forgive their enemies, and I hope he may be released
by this time.----Coming, sir. Adieu.
You see the P[rincess] of W[ales] is gone. Hans Stanley says, it
is believed the Empress Queen[162] has taken the same journey.*
[158] Parliament met January 21, 1772. On February 6, Sir
W. Meredith presented a petition from the "Feathers Tavern
Association," signed by two hundred and fifty clergymen, lawyers,
and physicians, praying that their professions might be relieved
from the necessity of subscription to the XXXIX. Articles. The
House decided, by 217 to 71, not to receive the petition.
[159] Afterwards the third Lord Coleraine.
[160] Lord Archibald Hamilton, M.P. for Lancashire, accepted the
stewardship of the Manor of East Hendred, January, 1772. Sir T.
Egerton was elected in his place.
[161] An allusion to the Welsh opinion that Sir Watkin Williams
Wynn was as great a person. On the death of Sir John Astley, M.P.
for Shropshire, Sir Watkin was elected.
[162] Maria Theresa did not die till November, 1780.
[Sidenote: GOSSIP OF THE TOWN.]
126.
_To J. B. Holroyd, Esq._
London, Feb. 13, 1772.
Dear H.,
The principal object of my writing to-night is to acquaint you, that
the old Anabaptist has escaped Damnation by sending in his papers,
&c., on the 10th Instant, the destined day of judgement. *They
arrived safe in town last night, and will be in your hands in their
intact virgin State in a day or two. Consider them at leisure, if
that word is known in the Rural life. Unite, divide, but above all
_raise_. Bring them to London with you: I wait your orders; nor shall
I, for fear of tumbling, take a single step till your arrival, which,
on many accounts, I hope will not be long deferred.* No news from
Fleet Street! What is their surveyor about?
*Clouds still hover over the Horizon of Denmark. The public
circumstances of the Revolution are related, and, I understand,
very exactly, in the foreign Papers. The secret springs of it still
remain unknown. The town, indeed, seems at present quite tired of
the subject. The Princess's death,[163] her Character, and what she
left, engross the Conversation. She died without a will; and as her
savings were generally disposed of in Charity, the small remains of
her personal fortune will make a trifling object when divided among
her Children. Her favourite, the P[rincess] of B[runswick][164]
very properly insisted on the K.'s immediately sealing up all the
papers, to secure her from the Idle reports which would be so readily
swallowed by the great English Monster. The business of L. and Lady
Grosvenor[165] is finally compromised, by the arbitration of the
Chancellor[166] and Lord Cambden. He gives her £1200 a year separate
maintenance, and £1500 to set out with; but, as her Ladyship is now a
new face, her Husband, who has already bestowed on the public seventy
young Beauties, has conceived a violent but hopeless passion for his
chaste Moiety.* Her brother Vernon told me, that he has now in his
hands a counter-affidavit of Countess Denhoff, in which she declares
that she received a sum of money to swear the former, the contents
of which are totally false. Such infamous conduct may blast her,
but can never acquit the other; any more than another allegation of
her friends, which must be only whispered to Mrs. H[orton], viz.
that though the D[uke] of C[umberland] possessed the inclination, he
wanted the power to injure _any_ husband. Poor Mrs. H.! Yet why do
I say poor?--*Lord Chesterfield is dying.[167] County Oppositions
subside.* Adieu. _Je me recommande._ Entirely yours.
[163] _i.e._ The Princess of Wales.
[164] Her eldest child, Augusta (1737-1813), married, in 1764,
the Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel.
[165] Henrietta Vernon, married to Lord Grosvenor in July, 1764,
was seduced by the Duke of Cumberland. Lord Grosvenor brought an
action against the duke for criminal conversation, July 5, 1770,
and recovered damages in the sum of £10,000. Lady Grosvenor, who
was separated, not divorced, married, in 1802, General Porter,
M.P. for Stockbridge.
[166] Lord Apsley.
[167] Lord Chesterfield died March 24, 1773.
127.
_To his Stepmother._
Pall Mall, Feb. 17th, 1772.