here; Ld. H. was detained at the H. of Lds. Fortunately I had Francis,
and the day went off pleasantly. We talked of Mr. Fox’s history, to
which he has written the introduction. It was lamented that instead
of taking the period of which he could say so much from personal
knowledge, he should go to one distant and well known. The Duke said
his reason was extreme indignation against Hume, whom he had been
reading last autumn; who very artfully pleads the cause of the House
of Stuart, and in a way to interest his reader about the private
virtues of Charles I., ‘Who, by-the-bye,’ added he, ‘is a most amiable
man when viewed in his domestic capacity.’ Upon this Francis, with
his usual impetuous vivacity, burst forth against him, denying him
every qualification that constitutes a gentleman or a man of feeling.
He quoted two stories out of Carte’s _Life of ye D. of Ormond_,
a writer who is allowed to have a strong bias to the Stuarts. One
was, that in the Palace at Whitehall there were etiquettes, ‘similar
to those established by that _fop Louis XIV._,’ about certain
apartments, which could only be entered by men of distinguished
quality. Hampden, by accident, and through ignorance of these courtly
rules, got into one. Suddenly a noise announced the entrance of the
King; to conceal himself he sculked behind a screen. His friends
with whom he was conversing were in a bustle; the King upon entering
perceived their disorder, and insisted upon knowing the cause. He
explored behind the screen, and upon finding Hampden, he shook his
cane over his head, and threatened to beat him and worse, if he ever
broke through bounds again. The other was, his receiving a petition
on horseback, which was presented to him by Sir T. Fairfax and a
deputation kneeling; he made his horse curvet, kicked the knight, and
endangered his life. Clarendon’s style, he said, was _grave and
slow_. He told Dr. Parr here at dinner the other day that Swift’s
style was _clear and shallow, perfectly pellucid_. The fact is he
admires no style but his own, and that is worthy of admiration, as it
is much the best now.
[Sidenote: NEW BILLS]
D. of B. means to go down about this new Divorce Bill; he is very
eager against it. He says it will reverse the present system, for if
a circumstance of the sort occurs to a husband who is high-spirited,
he generally fights the lover, whereas the lover will now threaten the
husband by saying, ‘If you make an _éclat_ and get me whipped at
the cart’s tail, by G----, I will kill you.’
A Bill is to be brought forward in the H. of Commons by Sir H. Mildmay
to check the increase of Catholicism, by preventing the nuns at
Winchester from giving the veil. An attempt to make a proselyte will
become penal. Mr. Fox, when he heard of these Bills, the one against
celibacy and the other, said, ‘Aye, the poor women, they will not let
them do one thing or the other.’
_11th May._--Parr entertained us uncommonly; he was in full
force. We gratified him highly by going into the room into which he
retreated to smoke. His vanity is such that the slightest attention
elates him, and more particularly, when it comes from a person whom
he would denominate a woman of quality. Mr. Knight’s love of pedantry
got him too frequently upon verbal criticism, and when they did fall
upon a doubtful Greek word, they pulled at it like hungry curs. When
they returned to the library he talked upon literature. His praise
of Middleton’s style was that a man of strong feelings and vigorous
conceptions ought to study it to abate the ardour and rigidity of
style, and he recommended it to Bobus. He asserted that Middleton was
an unbeliever in Christianity, and read several passages, which put
it out of all doubt, from his _Defence of the Free Enquiry_. Of
Warburton he expressed the utmost admiration; his opponents, he said,
who had attacked him, were snarling hounds; ‘mine was the froth of a
mastiff.’ He said of Burke’s first book upon the French Revolution that
it was ‘the effervescence of rage’; the second was ‘the bitter sediment
of malignity.’
On Tuesday I went to Money Hill; Miss Fox, Drew, and Charles went with
us. I returned on Friday. The two mornings I passed there we drove
about in the sociable to see the country.
We drove through Cassiobury, Lord Essex’s; to The Grove, Ld.
Clarendon’s, and so on to Russell Farm, the Ladies’ Capel. Pretty
ground and fertile country. Ld. H. fished, and caught a few trout.
Beauclerk did not articulate ten words; he seems happy, but it is the
bliss of torpor. She resides reluctantly in the dignified solitude of
a _guinguette_ in the skirts of a petty town. From Beauclerk’s
practice one should think his precept was that conversation spoilt
society; he rarely incurs that _risque_. It is to be regretted,
as he has a most acute perception, and an uncommon degree of subtilty
in his argument. No person is clearer on the _obscure_ subject
of abstract metaphysics; his definitions are ingenious and brilliant.
Finance is also a branch of political economy he is profound in, and
had he entered Parliament he would have distinguished himself. At
present he is lost; shyness, indolence, and a sort of content deprive
society of his exertions and his friends of his company.
[Sidenote: THE KING SHOT AT]
The papers on Friday announced a singular accident which happened to
the King at the Review on Thursday in Hyde Park; a musket ball wounded
a Mr. Ongley standing near him. The question was whether it was from
design or chance--the chance of an unloaded musket. When I came home,
the first question I asked the porter in getting out of my carriage
was whether there was anything new; he replied with eager alarm that
the King had been shot at from a pistol at the play. I thought this
story an exaggeration of the former one, but to my surprise found
that the evening of the day on which he had escaped the bullet, he
was deliberately aimed at from the pit. The ball lodged in the upper
boxes, and the King escaped unhurt. His behaviour was like that of a
hero of antiquity; he was in full possession of all his faculties,
and was cool enough to tell the Queen, who was not in the box when
the pistol was fired, that the report was from a squib. He remained
on during the play with the utmost sang-froid. He told a person that
he observed the fiddlers expected another shot as they covered their
heads with their cremonas. The enthusiasm was boundless; additional
verses were added by Sheridan to _God Save the King_.[100] The
King was so delighted with Sheridan’s behaviour to the Princesses, for
he prevented them going into their box by saying that a pickpocket
was taken in the pit which made a riot and his presence was required,
and begged their R.H. to wait in the room. He shall feel gratitude to
the latest hour of his life, he says, to him for this sensibility.
Sheridan, Mrs. S., and Tom are all to go to Court, both to-morrow and
Thursday. Mr. Fawkener[101] dined with us on Friday; he had attended
the examination of the man at the Privy Council, and he said he was
certainly mad. He was dismissed the army for insanity a few months ago,
and he has since worked as a silver-smith; his name is Hadfield. I was
vexed at not being present. I never much liked Money Hill, but this has
disgusted me, for had I been at home I should have gone in my own box,
from where I should have seen the whole _representation_, and with
safety.
Ld. Morpeth was to have come to Money Hill on Wednesday; he came to
tell me on Saturday that his carriage was at the door at one o’clock
to convey him thither, but that he was at White’s, not returned from
_Tuesday evening’s_ occupation; he owned to losing two thousand
pounds. He will grow a decided gambler.
My old friend and admirer, Ld. Berkeley, gave Lord Chesterfield a
reproving repartee. Ld. B. has killed two or three highwaymen, and
it is known that he is distressed when the occurrence is alluded to.
Ld. C., meaning to annoy him, asked him ‘When he had last killed a
highwayman?’ ‘It was, my Lord, as well as I can recollect, just at the
time when you hung your tutor,’ alluding to the unfeeling and wicked
transaction about Dr. Dodd, who, though deserving of punishment, should
not have met with it from his pupil, who from youth and gratitude ought
to have felt more indulgence for the errors of Dodd.[102]
The Prince of Wales has notified his Royal pleasure of dining here. He
grew quite angry at not being invited; he even spoke to my mother about
it. He comes on Saturday, and Prince Augustus.[103] The latter came
home to England without the knowledge and against the consent of their
Majesties. He arrived at the house of Lady Augusta.
[Sidenote: MRS. FITZHERBERT]
I went last night to the Opera. The Princess of Wales glanced many an
inquiring look towards Mrs. Fitzherbert’s box, in which the Prince was
as usual. This old amour is revived. The opinion of the world is so
whimsical. Every prude, dowager, and maiden visited Mrs. F. before, and
the decline of her favour scarcely reduced her visitors; but now they
all cry out shame for doing that which she did notoriously five years
ago. There is a sort of morality I can never comprehend.
Ld. H. took a fancy for about a week to write me some verses every
night after he went to undress; I complained of his keeping me up late,
he wrote immediately:--
That his labours have set you asleep, is allowed
The severest reproach to a bard you can make.
Have not I then great cause to be proud--
Your objection to mine is they keep you awake.
Ld. H. went to the Levée on Wednesday with Ld. Ossory to congratulate
the King upon his escape; he went also on Thursday to the Drawing Room,
and on Friday he went in a cap and gown with the Oxford Address. Mr.
Marsh came to town as a delegate; he arrived on Thursday and stayed
till this morning.
The Ministers have not attempted to convert this mad freak of
Hadfield’s into a Jacobinical plot; they let the affair stand plainly
as it is. When Erskine heard of the shot from a man in the pit, he
said, ‘I thought the _Pitt-ites_ would do the King mischief at
last.’ Should the poor lunatic be condemned, I think the King will feel
a qualm at signing the warrant, as it is proved that the man was only
insane in consequence of a severe wound in his head received while
fighting in the King’s cause.[104] As a confirmation of the opinion of
the man’s acting without any concert with other people, what happened
to Mr. Tierney will acquit the soldier who fired in the Park. On
Thursday, riding from hence through the Park, he went by some soldiers
who were reviewing, and a musket ball whizzed close by his ear. He told
the story to Ford, the justice, and it is clear that the cartridges
have been made improperly, that those which used to be for exercising
with powder only, and in a particular coloured paper, are now loaded
with ball.
The Prince of Wales, Prince Augustus, and a very numerous party dined
here on Saturday; it went off very pleasantly. Prince Augustus is much
altered from what he was at Rome; his mind and body are thickened.
The Divorce Bill, with the abominable clause, has passed the H. of
Lords, the purport of which is to prevent the woman marrying the
man on whose account the divorce takes place, and in addition to
pecuniary damages to the husband, the offence is to be treated as a
_misdemeanour_, and the punishment of fine and imprisonment rests
_solely_ with the judge.
Some persons were boasting before Mr. Fox of the excellence of the
English laws, which he said certainly were excellent, but that there
were objections at present. ‘How?’ replied the other person. ‘The law
is equally open to the peasant and the peer.’ ‘Yes,’ said Fox, ‘so is
the London tavern,’ meaning that to benefit by them one must pay dearly.
[Sidenote: MR. FOX]
The following quotation from Carlyle’s[105] translation of Arabic
poetry has been very happily applied by General Fitzpatrick to Mr.
Fox, who is the life and soul of the Whig party, both from the opinion
entertained by them of his ability, and the esteem and friendship they
bear to his person:--
With conscious pride I view the band
Of faithful friends that round me stand,
With pride exult that I alone
Can join these scattered gems in one;
For they’re a wreath of pearls, and I
The silken cord on which they lie.
’Tis mine their inmost souls to see,
Unlocked is every heart to me,
To me they cling, on me they rest,
And I’ve a place in every breast;
For they’re a wreath of pearls, and I
The silken cord on which they lie.
Lord Wycombe has never passed the threshold of our doors since the day
he saw his father drive into the gates, whilst he was in the porch.
Whether he imagined the _rencontre_ was the effect of design or
that he chooses to have the air of appearing to think so, I cannot
guess; but the effect, from some cause or other, has been his absence.
The campaign does not advance as swimmingly as was expected by the
allies. Melas, when he took the Bocchetta, expected Genoa could not
hold out long after the loss of that important pass, but Masséna is
determined to maintain himself till the last gasp, and now he is
certain of being relieved, as Bonaparte has taken the command in person
of the army of Italy.[106]
_30th May._--The last date of his dispatch was ye 18th of May
at Martigny, but Berthier with the advanced division has crossed
the Mt. of St. Bernard, and has reached Aost. The French have a
_pied-à-terre_ only at Genoa and Savona; Mantua, Milan, etc., are
at present in the possession of the Austrians. Melas has taken Nice,
but must quit it immediately to meet Bonaparte in Piedmont. Moreau
has advanced to within a short distance of Ulm. Knay, the Austrian
commander, is very obstinate, and strongly addicted to the old system
of carrying on war by _posts_.
The Emperor Paul is grown quite mad. The French have made a caricature
of him with _order_ in one hand, _counter-order_ in the other, and on
his head _dis_order. Sir Charles Whitworth will feel happy when fairly
off his territory, as he is capable of proceeding to personal violence
against those with whom he is incensed. The English who inhabit
Petersburg are detained as hostages for his 15,000 men in Jersey
and Guernsey. Woronzow,[107] the Russian Minister, who has resided
in this country many years, is suddenly recalled, as his dispatches
have not been sufficiently abusive of this Government to please the
Imperial taste; he is quite wretched, for besides breaking up all his
old habits, he is not without apprehension of some punishment being
inflicted upon him when he returns.
Parr says of the Bishop of Rochester’s sermon, which was quoted so
ludicrously and well by the Duke of Clarence, that it contains ‘the
precepts of the Koran, conveyed in the language of the Stews.’[108] The
sermon was preached at the Magdalen, and Mr. Grey assured me without
any joke that the doctrine and the language are both so extraordinary
that no modest woman would read it, or own to having done so.
[Sidenote: LADY GEORGINA CAVENDISH]
The D. of Bedford has been living here a great deal; he likes Ld. H.
very much, and has grown to vanquish his prejudice against me, enough
almost to like me. He would be ungrateful if he did not in some degree,
as he is one of the very few persons of whom I think thoroughly well:
he is honourable, just, and true. Lady John Russell[109] has been here
several times, and is remarkably gracious. This I owe to the Duke’s
frequent visits, as she is curious to ascertain what object attracts
him here, and politic enough to adapt her taste to his. The probability
is that, without her caution even, he will not marry, unless indeed he
should fix upon Ly. Georgiana Cavendish,[110] an alliance long arranged
for him by the world. Ly. G. is a most charming girl--sensible,
pleasing, full of information and totally without a particle of
affectation, and if she bestows herself upon a man equal to her in
situation, I have no doubt she will make a most delightful wife. Little
Lewis is upon the eve of making himself a great fool about her, and,
as he is not _séduisant_ in person or manner, will not gain her
heart, and a bundle of sonnets in lieu of title deeds will not operate
in his favour with the elders of ye family.
Ld. H. brought Sheridan and Ld. John Russell home from the H. of
Commons to a late dinner here at 8. By some accident Sheridan happened
to be out of the House just at the moment when a division might have
been made with advantage, as Sir Wm. Scott’s[111] speech made so much
impression _against_ the Bill. Sr. Wm. denied the fact asserted in
the preamble to the Bill, as to ye increased frequency of divorces. He,
who is the head of the Ecclesiastical Court, spoke with weight when he
declared that the _crime_ was diminishing, as there had been fewer
suits from ’90 to 1800 than from ’80 to ’90, or from 1770 to 1780. The
whole tenor of his speech was full of tenderness and right feeling
towards women.
I went on Monday evening to Mrs. Walker’s masquerade. I chatted
pleasantly enough with some of my old acquaintances. Mr. Grey
introduced Mrs. Grey to me,[112] as did Mr. Whitbread his wife, Grey’s
sister. Mrs. Grey is pretty and gentle, without looking so; she is
handsome Ponsonby’s sister. Mrs. W. has something pleasing in her
appearance, but ill-health and the hereditary irritability of the Grey
temper gives a certain fractious expression to her countenance: _au
reste_, she is a very worthy, excellent woman.
[Sidenote: THE KING SHOT AT]
Sheridan entertained us with a circumstantial account of the whole
affair at the theatre on the night of the assassination. He was in
the Royal box when the pistol was fired, and saw most plainly the man
take aim. Ld. Chesterfield advised His Majesty to retire to the back
of the box, but the King said, ‘Not an inch, not an inch,’ and upon
the Queen’s entrance he waved his hand to make her keep behind, upon
the pretext of her fear of squibs. S., as soon as the poor wretch was
dragged out of the orchestra, examined him. He declares his answers
were collected and distinct, until Sr. Wm. Addington[113] questioned
him, who was extremely drunk, and suggested to the man ye plea of
insanity by his mode of examining--a plea the man craftily availed
himself of.
When Sheridan went to Court, the King spoke to him upon indifferent
subjects and seemed undecided whether or not he should notice the
occurrence. At length he said how much he was struck with the behaviour
of the audience, which gave S. an opportunity of saying they only
followed His Majesty’s example. After a few such flourishes the King
ended by saying he should despise himself if he had acted otherwise,
for every man ought to feel his duty, and his was to stay quiet and not
add to the alarm.
Mr. Abbot[114] has brought forward a Bill respecting Public Debtors,
which alarmed us until it was explained, but it seems fair in
principle, tho’ ultimately we may be affected to a degree. All who have
balances in hand will hereafter pay interest upon such sums. The debt
from this family now due to Government is 53,000_l._; the assets
are near 46, the odd thousands Ld. H. must supply. The difference of
the Bill taking effect will be that the interest must go to Governt.,
instead of making an accumulating fund, which in a few years would pay
off the whole. Mr. Moore is afraid from rumour that a clause is to be
moved by Mr. Baker to make the operation of the Bill retrospective. In
that case, to the last shilling of Ld. H.’s property must go, as the
amount would be enormous, but it seems so unjust that the alarm is, I
trust, groundless.
[Sidenote: SIR G. WEBSTER’S DEATH]
Early on Wednesday morning last, ye 4th of June, we were roused by a
loud rapping at the bedroom door opening into the drawing-room. My
mother cried out that she had brought great news, that Sir Godfrey
Webster was dead; that he expired the evening before in a fit. He had
been indisposed for some days, which made the event more natural. I
could not hear of his death without emotion, and was for some time
considerably agitated. But, my God! how was I overcome when Drew showed
me a hasty note written to him by Hodges to apprise me of the manner of
his death. He shot himself, he added, in consequence of heavy losses
at play. With him dies all resentment, and, great as my injuries have
been, willingly would I renounce all that may accrue to me from this
dreadful event to restore him again to existence, with the certainty of
his paying the _natural_ debt of nature. Unhappy man! What must
have been the agony of his mind, to rouse him to commit a deed of such
horror. Peace to his soul, and may he find that mercy I would bestow.
His confidential servant gave the following details: that he had
appeared frequently disordered in his mind in the course of the winter,
and that latterly his spirits were gone, and a physician attended him
for a slow fever. But the malady was deeper; it was on his mind. Twice
within the last weeks he had attempted to destroy himself by laudanum,
but each time his man interposed, once by wrenching the phial out of
his hand, and the other by compelling him to swallow an emetic. On
Saturday he despatched his relation, a Mr. Whistler, to fetch from
Sussex titledeeds of some estates, merely a device to get him out of
the way. On Tuesday he went out at nine o’clock, and purchased at Egg’s
a brace of pistols, and after various devices and stratagems to get his
servants out of the way, he but too fatally succeeded, and at half past
four shot himself in his front drawing-room in Tenterden Street. Have
mercy on him, Oh heaven!
Business compelled me to go to town, and my coachman drove me to the
square; the shock of being almost within sight of those mangled remains
was too much, of him, unhappy man, who now lies a melancholy proof of
feelings too acute for existence. I would not have the self-reproach of
having added one particle to the agony he endured, and am thankful that
this sad catastrophe did not arise two years ago, altho’ I should have
been as guiltless a cause as now; but the world and my own readiness
to upbraid myself would have assigned my quitting him as the cause.
Ld. Egremont,[115] with whom he had lately lived in habits of social
intercourse, called at his door just after the perpetration of this
dreadful act; he was excessively shocked, and went three times that
night in great agitation to Ld. Ossory’s. He declared his intention
of sending for the boys from school, and is now gone to Petworth with
Webby. Henry is with my mother. The dear girl remains at school.
Hitherto no will subsequent to that of ’86 has been found; perhaps
upon a strict examination one may be discovered. The funeral went down
this morning to Battle, very privately attended. Mr. Plummer was with
me, and told me he was a creditor to the amount of seventeen thousand
pounds.
_8th June, 1800._--The average produced by my estates is estimated
at seven thousand pr. anm. We shall not touch a stiver for these 18
months, and only till then incur trouble and expense. To recover the
money to fulfil the complement dictated by my grandfather’s will, I
must go to the seizure of his personal property. The sound is at first
repugnant, seize the property to which my son is heir, but, in fact, it
is only ascertaining my right, by which I shall prevent his coming upon
the Holland estates after my death.[116]
I have abstained from seeing company since this horrid business,
chiefly from feeling unfit for society; and, besides that, I would
not that any person should say that I exulted in an acquisition so
obtained, and I think, if I did not feel strongly myself, it would
be judicious to do nothing that might be reported to my children as
offensive. The anxiety about their guardianship is great; it does not
yet appear to whom the charge devolves. I wait quietly till the will
is found, or the one of ’86 acted upon. If none is found, the verbal
injunctions laid upon his family to exclude me from the happiness of
seeing my children will operate but slightly. I shall openly seize
every occasion of making them know how near an object it is to my
heart to be loved by them, and opinion will side with me, however the
Chaplins may act to annoy me. If the will of ’86 is to be in force,
then nothing will be done but by the advice of the executors.
[Sidenote: ‘LEGAL RECLUSES’]