excellent.[309] Ld. Grenville said it was the best he ever made, and
one or two traced a resemblance to his uncle’s manner. There is no
doubt that if he were to apply himself to a regular attendance in the
H. of Lords, he would distinguish himself as a first-rate speaker.
His power of mind is fully equal to excellence, but he is indolent,
and wants method in his arrangement; arguments crowd upon him whilst
speaking, and an overstock of matter makes him confused. On the 19th,
Sr. Lionel, Mr. Add., Murray, and Mr. Dumont dined with me. Ld. H.
dined with Mr. Wm. Smith. Yesterday (21st), Drew and I alone; Lord
H., House of Lords. About 8 Tierney came from the H. of Commons (with
Mr. Add.) after having made an excellent speech upon the state of the
finances of the country; it was so good that Pitt deferred replying
till Friday next, and ordered his statements to be printed. Canning
is desirous of bringing Add. into Parliament as a Treasury member,
and is now urging him to accept a seat for 1200_l._, to which he
will be recommended as a Ministerial man; the price is rather lower
than the common market traffic, but Add. judges the thing well, and
is disinclined to come in with a pledge of always voting their way.
He is not decided yet. A good post in India has not corrupted him;
he is young enough in politics to think he may long continue open
to conviction. The feeling is honest, but not durable. Canning will
be glad to attach him to himself, for tho’ he is the great decrier
of party, yet imperceptibly he is forming one of his own, Ellis’,
Freres,[310] Sturges, _Microcosm_ Smith,[311] Leveson, and one or
two more, most of whom he has brought in himself.
Ld. Wycombe asked Tierney, ‘If he had heard the romance of _our_
friend at H. House.’ The story is very much talked of, but as it is
sure to be misrepresented, I had rather hear nothing of the fables
engrafted on it. I only feel I have renounced a darling child, and
my heart aches afresh when I think of the separation. She is so
captivating. With her I feel amused, with my others I feel gratified at
seeing them healthy and intelligent, but her winning manners convert
the duty of maternal attention into a positive enjoyment. I delight
in being with her, and think her society sufficient. Would to God I
were allowed to bring her up! To-day Ld. Digby and Ly. Bessbro’ dined.
We went into the garden after; stayed late. Adderley came to pass the
evening and sleep. He ought for his own comfort to go to Ireland--at
least, away, as he looks ill and is unhappy. I have been to blame. I
delay from awkwardness, and not knowing how to check the inclination.
I myself was _checked_ from the dread of appearing to consider
the matter in serious light, and it has become more so to him than I
could have suspected. When not here he shuts himself up alone at home,
and reflects upon the foolishness of his own feelings, for foolish and
hopeless must any love to me be, circumstanced as I am, loving and
being beloved by the most delightful of men. I fear in my conduct I may
be accused of trifling with his feelings, but I solemnly protest I had
no such wish.
[Sidenote: GENERAL FITZPATRICK]
_23rd June._--On Saturday Mr. Adderley took leave of us, previous
to his departure for Ireland. I was really touched at saying adieu. We
came afterwards to this place--Sunning Hill, a charming little spot in
Windsor Forest, which belongs to General Fitzpatrick; we remain till
to-morrow. Yesterday (Sunday) Ld. H. and ye General went to St. Anne’s;
Drew and myself stayed here reading and talking. Little Charles[312] is
come. This is the first excursion he ever made out of his nursery; he
is very tractable and happy.
To the tranquillity of this pretty retreat we owe many of those correct
and beautiful verses which the General has written. It is much to be
lamented that there is no collection made, as in point of wit and real
taste they are unequalled. His epigrams are excellent; the one upon Ld.
Carlisle’s subscribing 4000_l._ to the voluntary subscription[313]
just after he had distributed a political pamphlet for sixpence is
truly witty:--
My Lord subscribes four thousand pounds
Produced from rich domains,
While he for sixpence deals around
The produce of his brains.
Thus we the just proportion hit
Between his fortune and his wit.
On Pitt saying what he did not intend in the H. of Commons, being
drunk:--
The lying tongue, which t’other day
Proved Billy Pitt’s disaster,
Was so accustomed to betray,
That it betrayed its master.
On Hayley’s _Triumphs of Temper_[314]:--
Your nymph her temper keeps six cantos thro’,
By G--d that’s more than half your readers do.
[Sidenote: SIR PHILIP FRANCIS]
_26th._--Yesterday, 25th, we left Sunning Hill; Ld. H. went round
by St. Anne’s. Mr. Secretary Windham invited him to dinner, where he
went, and met Charles Sheridan.[315] Mr. Francis dined with me. He was
pleased at being confidentially treated, as he called it. He is soured
against Mr. Fox for various reasons. Notwithstanding he boasts that
the violence of his temper prevents his being vindictive, because he
‘expectorates’ his bile at the moment; he yet retains a very settled
resentment against him. One of his griefs is that he was not summoned
to the meeting previous to the measure of secession. ‘_Secession_,
did I say, Madam? _Dispersion_ I mean.’ Of Fox’s disposition, he
says he is a man of great ‘facility,’ but no ‘cordiality.’ Perhaps
the remark is not without point and justice. It is impossible to deny
Francis’s great cleverness. His vivacity and fine sense survived the
rolling over of many years and tens of years. His temper is irritable
to madness; indeed, he is more or less always in a passion, for if he
begins temperately the ardour of his imagination works him to rage
before his sentence closes. He has a remarkable facility in writing
all State Papers, Protests, Petitions, etc., etc. It was the desire
of displaying that talent that made him advise Ld. Thanet to write to
the King; at least, so those say who disapproved of the proceeding.
His great intimacy with Burke enabled him to judge of the motives that
actuated him to quarrel with Fox; he assured me the arrow was sped
long before the French principles became the test of morality and
virtue. They were a popular ground for attack, and upon them that venom
burst, which had been rankling in his breast since the Regency; for
at that period, in the partition of offices, etc., it appears Burke
asked something, either for himself or son, which Fox denied him. From
thence the enmity sprung, and was constantly fomented by a jealousy of
Sheridan and various other trivial occurrences that would have passed
unnoticed between sound friends, but were treasured up: ‘All his faults
observed, set in a note book, learn’d and conn’d by rote, to cast into
_his_ (my) teeth.’
_27th._--Instead of going to Cork, I found Add. still remaining;
he came Tuesday eve., and yesterday to dinner, and very imprudently did
not go to Eden Farm fête. This morning I went to the Tower; Ld. H. made
a visit to Ld. Thanet, whilst Drew and I saw the sights. Of the latter
none are worthy of notice, except the beasts, and those are very fine.
Ld. Thanet came down to the court to see me. He looks very well; the
confinement will be of service to his health, as he is perforce obliged
to live regularly with regard to hours and drinking, for the gates
shut at eleven. He is allowed to see whom he pleases and do precisely
as he likes, but not quit the precincts of the Tower. He has always
some company with him. It is very amiable in the D. of Bedford being so
attentive to him. He scarcely stays a week out of town on purpose that
he may visit him; there cannot be a better natured man.
_27th._--To-day D. of Bedford and Ld. Boringdon dined here; stayed
late in the garden. Ld. B. stayed cozing with me very late. The Duke
has half a mind to attend the H. of Lords, but _secession_ hangs
round his neck like a dead weight. He and Grey are the _two_ who
repent the most; but as they were the two who urged Mr. Fox to it, a
dereliction from it in them would come with a bad grace. Indeed, in
Grey it would be suspicious, as it might be inferred he had got Fox out
of the way to make room for himself as leader. That D. of B. should be
unpopular is not marvellous. His manner to _all_ is rude, and to
acquaintances must be intolerable; but exterior polish is immaterial
when the foundation is good, and with him it is respectable: no man
so just, so generous, so true.[316] The first may at times amount to
harshness, but the second never to ostentation, for with the slur of
penuriousness it may be asserted that his donations to friends and
family are unequalled by those reputed highly liberal. His veracity is
quite remarkable; to the most minute occurrence he applies a degree of
accuracy that is prolix: one would take upon trust what he convinces
you by proof is true. His understanding is good, and so is his
judgment, but he has given the latter into Ld. Lauderdale’s keeping too
much. It is notorious that the _secession_ never would have been
dreamt of unless Ld. L. had not lost his election as one of the sixteen
Scotch peers, and he, being out of Parliament, determined to make those
who _were in_ as null as himself.
[Sidenote: NATURE OF THE SOUL]
_30th June._--On Friday, 28th, Ld. H. went to the Slave business.[317]
I dined at home with Drew and Mr. Adderley. When Ld. H. returned
they fell into a long metaphysical disquisition upon the nature
of the soul. Add. has applied himself to the examination of that
inquiry, and can reason fluently and technically upon those abstract,
incomprehensible points. He has adopted the Platonician doctrine of
spirit and matter, and conceives that spirit is a quality endued with
faculties indefinable, that it is a particle of celestial origin, and
secures to us immortality. The other two supported the old Epicurean
tenet (for after all those old fellows were the first who started the
systems which our modern philosophers appropriate to themselves) of
materialism, that life and intelligence were carried on by material
objects only, matter acting upon matter; in short, that to a fortuitous
concourse of atoms we owed _being_ as we are. I have not the capacity
to follow thro’ a labyrinth of metaphysical sophisms; the very little
I could ever understand I had no sooner been convinced was right than
a new system proved to me it was fallacious, and this having happened
above once, I have determined not to trouble myself with endless
speculations that neither make one wiser nor happier.
Ld. Wycombe has neglected an eruption. He is under the care of Adair
and Hawkins, and is quite a cripple. This disease gives him an
opportunity of moralising upon the want of moral justice among mankind.
A pampered debauchee writhing under the gout, a malady brought on
by his own excesses, is an object of general pity; all hearts are in
union with his pangs and sympathetic with every twinge, whereas he says
a temperate, unoffending person who acquires accidentally a disease
conveyed by harmless, innocent contact, is shunned and treated with
disgust and contumely.
The D. of Bedford told a story of Ld. Lauderdale’s delight at reading
a passage in Arthur Young, who says the cattle, especially the sheep,
in Lincolnshire, are affected with a cutaneous disease upon their nose.
This, he says, is owing to their rubbing their snouts upon thistles.
‘Aye, to be sure,’ cried Ld. L., ‘we pull the thistles in Scotland
between our fingers, so we catch the itch.’
On Saturday I went to town and did many duties in the visiting way.
T. has made his wife low-spirited and unhappy by his foolish whimsies
about me. Ld. G. Leveson came to dinner accidentally on his way from
Winchester races; Mr. Adderley dined also. In the evening the Smiths
came. She looked, as usual, cold and starch. Nothing very interesting
in the conversation.
_4th July._--Sunday, 30th June, Lds. Ossory and Macartney came;
the latter stayed 3 hours and 3 quarters. We drove up and down the
Green Lane in the whisky all the time; he declares that he has closed
his peregrinations, that he always said he would at 60. Mr. Richard
Penn[318] called to see me upon the score of an old acquaintance.
[Sidenote: A FOOLISH SECRET]
We had to dinner General Fitzpatrick, Mr. Charles Sheridan, Tierney,
Lord Ossulston,[319] Amherst, Mr. Weld, the Smiths, Hamilton. Adderley
came in the eve. for a little time. On Monday alone; went for a short
time to the play, sat with Mrs. Wyndham. On Tuesday Marsh arrived;
dined at Lord Digby’s, went in the evening to see Ld. Morpeth. On
Wednesday went to Boyle Farm to stay the day for the christening of
Lord Henry’s[320] youngest son. Lord Holland is his godfather; he is
christened Edward. Returned at night. To-day, July 4th, Adderley called
for a few minutes in ye morning. Marsh and I drove in the whisky after
dining alone with Ingenhousz.[321] Ld. H. at the House of Lords, from
which he is just returned, and is now at dinner with Lds. Bessbro’ and
Digby.
So many unpleasant observations have been made upon the frequency of
a person’s visits to this house, and the self-reproach I have felt
at having anything mysterious or hidden from Ld. H. was so great,
that I resolved to unburthen the foolish secret I had participated in
concealing (by allowing it to go on) by telling the whole affair to Ld.
H. A confidence in him is never misplaced; his head is so right, and
his heart, where I am concerned, so peculiarly indulgent that, delicate
as the nature of the subject is, I felt very little apprehension in
disclosing the whole. He considered the affair in a proper light,
by feeling more compassion than resentment. The circumstance that
brought the noticing it among Adderley’s friends to a crisis was the
following. Canning proposed to bring A. in for a Treasury Borough, and
he told me of the proposal that was made. I inadvertently deprecated
the patronage of Canning, alleging (by way of conversation, not for
_influence_) all the mortifying objections I conceived to subsist
against such dependence. Thus, what I said became a rule of conduct; he
rejected the offer. Canning, who is full of intrigue, was surprised,
and immediately conjectured that the refusal was from counter-movement,
and went so far as to hint something about Holland House politics, and
even particularising the quarter. Hence I, without caring five straws
for the business, was involved into the thick of it. Unluckily enough,
Tierney proposed a seat to him at Coventry, which he may be secure of
provided the Treasury won’t oppose, to ascertain which Canning was
consulted. Thus this last measure will confirm _his_ opinion
of my interference. I also told Ld. H. of Tierney’s persecution; we
jointly laughed at his vain presumption, and imputed it to his opinion
of the depravity and corruption he believes exists among women of
fashion. I confess I feel sorry that Add. should allow a romantic love
to interfere with his happiness, for I sincerely credit it has done
so, tho’ I hope and believe it is rapidly abating. Be it as it may,
my mind is easier since I have shaken off all reserve about it with
Ld. H., for I have a superstitious dread of keeping a secret from
him. Mystery between those who love is dangerous; it may begin upon a
trifle, another trifle that may depend upon that may grow to involve
so much that one can never too soon prevent the possibilities of such
difficulties.
[Sidenote: CHARLES SHERIDAN]
Charles Sheridan is Sheridan’s elder brother; he was Secretary in
Sweden at the time of the revolution made by the late King in favour of
the people against the nobles. His history of that period is reckoned
very good and correct. The General told me that in coming here he
spoke strongly and freely with regard to the Union between Ireland
and this country, adding that he rejoiced at having an opportunity
of telling him his sentiments, as he did not like speaking openly in
mixed companies. This sounded cautious; but before dinner was over he
got into a long argument with Bobus, in which he not only displayed his
own opinion, but told that of all whom he had consulted with. He told
Bobus he would make an excellent lawyer, as he was _disputatious_.
He appears animated, and inclined to embellish his narrative by
imagination where dry facts would not bear him out.
Lord Ossulston is insignificant and diminutive in his appearance, and
aims at thinking and judging for himself. How far his understanding
warrants the attempt I cannot yet judge; I am rather disposed to think
favourably of him for the effort, as it is without arrogance.
I got into correspondence with Maurice,[322] the author of _Indian
Antiquities_, from reading his preface. I thought him poor and
neglected, and was willing by way of subscription to do something
for him; I did, and obtained him a few subscribers. His language
is diffuse, and his style unconnected, but the book is curious, as
it assembles curious facts from prolix, voluminous writers, which
otherwise I should never have got at.
_6th July._--Ld. H. is said to have made a most excellent speech
on Thursday night on the Forfeiture Bill.[323] Last night he spoke on
the Slave business, but the Limitation Bill was rejected. Add. came and
dined. I bathed in ye evening; when I returned to the library after ye
bath he made me some compliments upon my person, freshness, etc. Being
previously resolved to say something upon the continuance of his love,
I thought the opportunity these observations offered as good as any.
I represented to him the impropriety of allowing himself to indulge
an inclination that could only end in vexation and annoyance; that to
him it had already been productive of unhappiness, by unsettling his
plans and inducing him to shun his friends; that to me, in a worldly
point of view, it was materially injurious, but _that_ was a
secondary consideration compared to the effect that might be produced
upon Ld. H.’s mind, were any officious person to suggest to him that
_his_ visits did not proceed from friendship to him, but from love
to me. I coloured as highly as I could the statement of the deplorable
consequences that might ensue if Ld. H. should become suspicious of
me--of _me_, I who owed him everything, more than a long life of
tenderness and acquiescence can repay. I diminished the possibility of
Ld. H.’s supposing it possible I could ever feel an abatement of love
for him, but noted the uneasiness he would suffer, first, at finding
his friend was acting ungenerously, and, 2ndly, at the possibility of
the world’s supposing I could encourage it; for, idolising me as he
does, he would think me incapable of deceiving him. He was agitated,
and absented himself sulkily till yesterday.
On Saturday Ld. Morpeth dined. Tierney came in ye eve.; he asked to
have a run for his horses, as the soil seemed likely to suit their
feet. Drew looked comical, and whispered me that it would suit him for
an excuse to come and see after them. On Sunday Ld. Digby dined and
stayed till ¼ past 12. He is a man who has not yet been fairly judged
by the world; he passes for a fool, but, if I have any discernment,
_bien s’en faut_. He has sound good sense, great shrewdness in his
understanding, tho’ downright in his manner, and I would as soon abide
by his opinion of a character or event as by that of a more refined
person. On Monday, yesterday, Add. dined; he is less annoyed, and
begins to see the advice I gave him as just and reasonable; he goes
the end of the week.
[Sidenote: LORD DARNLEY]
_10th July._--Tuesday, 9th, Ld. Morpeth, G. Leveson, Digby,
Canning dined. Ld. H. brought Ld. Darnley[324] from the H. of Lords.
He had never been here before, tho’ I have known him for many years.
His father fancied himself made of glass, and imagined a particular
part of his person essential to sitting the most brittle; besides,
he had various other fancies. Ld. D. has one great merit for a great
man, excessive generosity; he has assisted with large sums, and even
annuities, young men of promising abilities in mean circumstances,
by which means they have got on in life, tho’ as yet he is too young
to see the entire advantage of his benevolence. The Dean of Christ
Church[325] has hurt him in his _own_ judgment, and in that of the
world, by most disproportionate praise; he is himself intoxicated with
vanity, and the world, expecting much and finding but a modicum, have
fallen into the common extreme, and deny him any ability whatever.
Canning asked me whether his suspicions had fallen rightly when he
accused me of advising Add. to accept of the offer for Coventry. I
declared the truth, that I had nothing to do with it, and had only
heard him converse on the subject, but as it was one I felt little
interest about I did not even know the result. Ld. D. told with some
humour a remark of a Mr. W. Bootle or Boodle, who has written several
pamphlets and poems, and said with great naïveté that whatever people
might say of the profits of books, he knew better, as they did not
clear the expense they incurred. His brother used to come a good deal
last year; he had travelled into Arabia, Persia, etc. He looks like a
wild Arab.
On Wednesday, Tierney, Sr. Lionel, Mr. Adderley, and those who are
in the house. The news came on that day of Suwarrow’s victory over
the French.[326] The citadel of Turin seems evidently to have been
surrendered by treachery, as it was besieged but 3 days. If the skill
of Vauban can do no more, a clay fence _à l’abri d’un coup de
main_ would be sufficient. One of the terms of the capitulation is a
tacit acknowledgment of bribery; the Governor who surrenders requires
a safeguard from the Austrians beyond the French posts, and he is to
remain as a hostage--both circumstances that denote fear.
I had a long walk upon the terrace with Tierney. I was in an eloquent
_veine_, and happily conveyed all I intended to express without
the rigorous exterior of forbidding prudery. I think I convinced him
his attentions offended and his hopes insulted me, that I was firmly
attached at home, and tho’ I felt at present no resentment towards
him, yet I should if his pretensions continued. On Thursday Ld. H.
dined at the Tower; Ld. T. is confined by a fit of the gout. Sheridan
was of their party; he is just come from ‘Peruvianising,’ that is from
the country. He is so delighted with _Pizarro_ that his allusions
are taken from it in everything he says. He said ye 10th of July was
so delicious, something in the temperature so bewitching and tempting
to go astray and follow ye dictates of nature, that if he were to sit
in judgment upon a cause of gallantry, if the indictment stated it
as committed on ye 10th of July, he would go into the evidence, but
instantly bring in _Guilty, by the visitation of God_.
[Sidenote: COUNT RUMFORD]
In ye eve. I, Drew, and Marsh went to Astley’s, Ld. B., Ly. E. Foster,
and some of the girls; we had a very comfortable chat. Friday, Add.
and Cornewall and ourselves in ye house. Saturday we were alone;
reading Mr. Browne’s book, _Travels into Africa_. On Sunday Ct.
Rumford, Ld. G. Leveson, Adderley, and ourselves in the house. The
first was entertaining; he gave an account of some experiments going
on in France upon ye tanning matter, by which it is ascertained that
a larger quantity of it is contained in willow and some other aquatic
plants than in oak bark, and that it is even better, as there is less
of ye gallic acid, which consumes ye leather. His manner is soft and
plausible; it rather excites distrust, and perhaps more than his
intentions merit, but there is something suspicious in a kept-down
manner. Ld. G. is going to his regiment at Winchester. He praised me
for my behaviour to Add., approves of keeping friends, but checking the
progress of an attachment. He laughs at women’s dexterity in letting a
man in love down gently. He, Add., goes to Ireland immediately.
END OF THE FIRST VOLUME
PRINTED BY
SPOTTISWOODE AND CO. LTD., NEW-STREET SQUARE
LONDON
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Abbé Maury (1746–1817), one of the most violent members of the
_États Généraux_. He obtained a Cardinal’s hat in 1794.
[2] Hon. William Frederick Wyndham (1763–1828), fourth son of Charles,
second Earl of Egremont. He married, in 1784, Francis Mary Harford,
natural daughter of Frederick, Lord Baltimore. Their son succeeded as
the fourth and last Earl of Egremont.