Chichester (1756–1826), son of Thomas, Lord Pelham, of Stanmer (who was
created Earl of Chichester in 1801). He married, in 1801, Lady Mary
Osborne, daughter of Francis, fifth Duke of Leeds; and was Secretary
to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, 1783–4 and 1795–8, and Secretary of
State for the Home Department, 1801–1803.
[4] _Zaïre_ was written in Paris, not in Switzerland.
[5] John Baker Holroyd (1735–1821), created Baron Sheffield in 1781,
and advanced to an earldom in 1816. He married, in 1767, Abigail, only
daughter of Lewis Way. She died in 1793, and Lord Sheffield married,
the following year, Lady Lucy Pelham, daughter of Thomas, first Earl of
Chichester. He married, thirdly, in 1798, Lady Anne North, daughter of
Frederick, second Earl of Guilford.
[6] Comte Bonnières de Souastres, Duc de Guines (1735–1806), Ambassador
in London from 1770 to 1776. On the outbreak of the French Revolution
he left France, and did not return until Napoleon became Consul.
[7] Simon Tissot (1728–1797), a celebrated Swiss doctor. He died at
Lausanne.
[8] Miss Holroyd’s description of Lady Webster on this expedition is
amusing: ‘If anybody ever offends you so grievously that you do not
recollect any punishment bad enough for them, only wish them on a party
of pleasure with Lady Webster! The ceremony began with irresolution
in the extreme whether they should or should not go! How and which
way they should go? And everything that was proposed she decidedly
determined on a contrary scheme, and as regularly altered her mind in a
few hours’ (_Girlhood of Maria Josepha Holroyd_, p. 65).
[9] Sir Godfrey Webster had returned to England late in 1791.
[10] Frederick, Viscount Duncannon (1758–1844), who succeeded his
father as third Earl of Bessborough in 1793. He married, in 1780,
Henrietta, daughter of John, first Earl Spencer, and Margaret
Georgiana, daughter of the Right Hon. Stephen Poyntz. Her sister, Lady
Georgiana, married, in 1774, William, fifth Duke of Devonshire.
[11] Charles Rose Ellis (1771–1845), son of John Ellis, a large landed
proprietor in Jamaica. He was created Lord Seaford in 1826.
[12] John Hampden Trevor (1749–1824), who succeeded his elder brother
as third Baron Hampden in 1824, a month before his own death. He was
Minister at Turin from 1783 until 1798. He married, in 1773, Harriot,
only child of the Rev. Daniel Burton, Canon of Christ Church.
[13] The Prince of Piedmont (1751–1819) succeeded his father as King of
Sardinia in 1796 under the name of Charles Emmanuel IV., but abdicated
in 1802 in favour of his brother. He married, in 1775, Marie-Therèse de
Bourbon, sister of Louis XVI.
[14] Josephine-Louise, Comtesse de Balbi (1763–1836), a favourite of
the Comte de Provence (Louis XVIII.) and lady-in-waiting to his wife
for some years.
[15] Harriet Mary, daughter of Sir George Amyand, Bart. She married
James, first Earl of Malmesbury in 1777, and died in 1830.
[16] George Ellis (1753–1815), miscellaneous writer. A joint founder
with Canning of the _Anti-Jacobin_. He was the only son of George
Ellis, member of the House of Assembly in Grenada.
[17] Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex (1773–1843), sixth son of
George III. He married at Rome, in 1793, Lady Augusta Murray, daughter
of John, fourth Earl of Dunmore. The marriage was annulled the
following year, as it violated the Royal Marriage Act.
[18] Lazaro Spallanzani (1729–1799). Director of the museum at Pavia.
[19] Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count von Rumford (1753–1814), was born at
North Woburn, Massachusetts. After suffering imprisonment in 1774, for
lukewarmness in the cause of liberty, he sailed for England. He became
Under-Secretary for the Colonies in 1780, and also served in America
against his fellow-countrymen. On his return he entered the service
of the Elector of Bavaria, and received the honour of knighthood from
George III. He came back to England in 1795, and devoted the remainder
of his life to scientific research. His experiments for the improvement
of fireplaces and chimneys have proved of lasting benefit to mankind.
[20] Lord Henry Spencer (1770–1795), second son of George, third
Duke of Marlborough. He died at Berlin, to which court he had
been accredited as Envoy-Extraordinary. Lord Holland, in his
_Miscellaneous Reminiscences_, says of him: ‘Notwithstanding his
constitutional shyness and reserve, he would have distinguished himself
by his wit and ingenuity, but died at the early age of twenty-four,
when employed on a mission to Berlin.’
[21] Hugh Elliot (1752–1830), brother of Gilbert, first Earl of Minto.
Minister at the Court of Saxony from 1791 until 1803.
[22] An Eton publication, which first appeared about 1786. Canning,
Frere, and ‘Bobus’ Smith were among the chief contributors.
[23] The Duke of Brunswick’s Manifesto, issued on July 25 in the joint
names of the Emperor and King of Prussia, was very unlikely, under the
circumstances of the case, to assist the French Royal Family. Paris was
ordered to submit to the King, under penalty of instant attack, and all
popular leaders were to suffer for their misdeeds with their lives.
[24] The Association was formed largely to promote Parliamentary
Reform, a subject which was brought forward by Grey in that session
of Parliament. It was originated at a dinner at the house of Lord
Porchester, who refused to join as it was not sufficiently Republican.
A few months later he termed it a seditious movement, and was raised
to an earldom. Lord Holland relates that Mr. Fox said upon this that
Lord Porchester was right in saying that the Association was not
as Republican as he wished, otherwise he would probably have got a
marquisate.
[25] Mr. Thomas Pelham, in a letter to Lady Webster, dated June 15,
1792 (_Holland House MSS._), recounts a conversation he had with
Mr. Fox about the Association:--‘He told me (what I knew to be the
truth, notwithstanding what is _now_ said) that he had never been
consulted about it, and that, on the contrary, the Associators seemed
determined _not to have any advice_, and particularly not to
_have his_. This I know to be true, for Lauderdale told me that
they were determined not to consult Fox until they saw the probability
of success, in order that he might not be involved if they failed.’
[26] Henry, second Viscount Palmerston (1739–1802), who succeeded his
grandfather in 1757. He was twice married, his second wife, whom he
married in 1783, being Mary, daughter of Benjamin Mee, Esq. She died
1805. The celebrated statesman was her son.
[27] Under La Touche Tréville. Their unwelcome presence was due to
the recent dismissal of the French Minister, Mackau. The Court were
ignominiously compelled to allow him to return.
[28] Russian Secretary of Legation at Naples, and afterwards Minister
there. He was Minister at Constantinople for some years.
[29] Roger Joseph Boscovitch (1711–1787), mathematician and astronomer.
[30] Sarah, daughter of Andrew, Lord Archer. She married Other Hickman,
fifth Earl of Plymouth, in 1778, and after his death in 1799, William
Pitt, first Earl Amherst. She died in 1838.
[31] Marie Caroline (1753–1814), daughter of Empress Marie Thérèse of
Austria, and sister of Queen Marie Antoinette. She married Ferdinand
IV., King of Naples, in 1768. One of her sixteen children was married
to her nephew, Francis, who had succeeded his father, Leopold, as
Emperor during the preceding year. He proclaimed himself Emperor of
Austria in 1804 under the title of Francis I., and resigned the Empire
of Germany altogether, two years later.
[32] One of the patron saints of Naples, more especially of the
Lazzaroni. The yearly liquefaction of the Saint’s blood was said to
propitiate Vesuvius. Mr. Sichel, in his _Emma, Lady Hamilton_,
states that the Saint was accused of Jacobinism at the outbreak of the
French Revolution, and that his statue was condemned in court.
[33] The King’s hunting box, near Caserta.
[34] Alexandre Sauveur, who in a letter to Wilhelmine, Comtesse de
Lichtenau (1796), says that he retired from the world owing to his
unspoken love for Princess F----. (He was engaged in Berlin to instruct
the latter in the Italian language.)
[35] Probably Jacob Philipp Hackert (1737–1807), a Prussian landscape
painter, who with his brother entered the service of the King of Naples
in 1782.
[36] Among Marie Caroline’s favourite schemes for the social and
mental improvement of her people was the foundation of an ideal colony
of San Leucio, near Caserta. The inhabitants were subjected to a
most rigid code of laws and regulations for religious and domestic
observance. A copy of these ordinances, given to Lady Hamilton on this
very occasion by the King, with the names of the party present in her
own handwriting, is now in the British Museum (Sichel’s _Emma, Lady
Hamilton_).
[37] Thomas Noel, second Lord Berwick, of Attingham (1770–1832). He
married, in 1812, Sophia, daughter of John James Dubochet.
[38] Margaret, daughter of Sir John Stuart, Bart., of Allonbank,
Berwickshire, and first wife of John Coxe Hippisley, whom she married
in Rome in 1780. She died in 1799. Mr. Hippisley resided in Italy from
1792 to 1796, and was engaged in negotiations between the Vatican and
the English Government. He was made a Baronet in 1796, for his services
in connection with the marriage of the Duke of Würtemberg with the
Princess Royal of England. He died in 1825.
[39] Thomas Jenkins, the principal English banker in Rome at this time.
He died in 1798.
[40] William George Browne (1768–1813), who published his description
of these journeys in 1800. He was murdered, in 1813, in Persia while on
his way to Teheran. Whishaw was approached in 1817 on the question of
editing his papers, but the publication did not take place.
[41] The Princess Santa Croce was one of the most celebrated of the
Roman ladies of her day. Her intrigue with Cardinal Bernis does not
seem to have attracted any attention, though well known to all.
[42] There is certainly a decided likeness in both these cases to Lady
Webster’s picture, painted by Fagan in 1793.
[43] Clement XIII.
[44] François Joachim de Pierre de Bernis (1715–94), poet and
statesman. Taken up by Madame de Pompadour in Paris, he was made
Foreign Secretary by her influence. He only held the post for one
year (1757–8), and on his retirement became a Cardinal. He was French
Ambassador in Rome for many years, and was deprived of that post
for his refusal to take the oath of allegiance to the Revolutionary
Government. He spent the remainder of his days there.
[45] Daughter of Louis XV. She was born in 1733, and leaving France
early in 1791, remained abroad until her death at Trieste in 1799.
[46] The Duke of Sussex and Lady Augusta Murray were married in Rome by
a Protestant Minister in April 1793; and again at St. George’s, Hanover
Square, in December.
[47] Phillipina Deane, wife of Admiral Sir Joseph Knight, and mother of
Miss Cornelia Knight, Princess Charlotte’s companion. A volume of her
letters from Italy, 1776–95, was published in 1905.
[48] Now called Ponte Molle, a contraction of the original name.
[49] Compare Byron’s _Childe Harold_, Canto iv. lxix.--lxxii.
The roar of waters! From the headlong height
Velino cleaves the wave-worn precipice; etc.
[50] Curius Dentatus, the Conqueror of the Sabines.
[51] The Prince of Wales’s friend.
[52] Trasimene.
[53] _Gil Blas’_ uncle, ‘three and a half feet high, with his head
sunk well between his shoulders.’
[54] The celebrated Italian tenor (1750–1830).
[55] Gustavus Maurice, Baron d’Armfeldt (1757–1814). After Gustavus IV.
reached his majority he was appointed Ambassador at Vienna. He retired
to Finland in 1810, and held office under the Russians.
[56] Gustavus III. (1748–1792). He was assassinated at the instigation
of certain nobles, who considered that he was interfering with the
rights of their order. Gustavus IV., his son, was only fourteen years
old at the time, and until 1796 the government was carried on by his
uncle, the Duke of Sudermania.
[57] John Augustus, Lord Hervey (1757–1796), son of Frederick Augustus,
fourth Earl of Bristol. He served in the navy, and was Ambassador at
Florence from 1787 to 1794. He married, in 1776, Elizabeth, daughter
of Colin Drummond, of Megginch Castle, Perthshire. Lord Holland in his
_Memoirs of the Whig Party_ (i. 56) states that he was recalled
for violently and indecorously insisting on the dismissal of La Flotte,
the French Minister, and thereby causing the Grand Duke to commit a
breach of neutrality. Lord Holland mentions that common report in
Florence suggested that Lord Hervey’s enmity to his colleague was not
entirely based on public grounds.
[58] Thomas Pelham, afterwards second Earl of Chichester.
[59] The Princess Royal of Sweden, who was travelling incognito as the
Princess of Wasa.
[60] Louise de Stolberg-Goedern (1753–1824). She married Prince Charles
Edward in 1772, but after eight years of unhappiness left him, and went
to Florence. There she became the mistress of Alfieri, and remained
with him until his death in 1803. She subsequently formed an attachment
for Fabre, a young French painter, and possibly married him.
[61] One of the insurrectionist leaders in La Vendée, formerly a
hairdresser. He was killed at Saint-Gervois towards the latter end of
1793.
[62] Prime Minister of Tuscany. Originally tutor to the sons of Grand
Duke Leopold, he accompanied the latter to Vienna on his elevation to
the Imperial throne. He returned as Minister to Archduke Ferdinand, and
continued in the same position in the Duchy of Würtzburg, which the
Archduke received from Napoleon as compensation for the loss of Tuscany.
[63] Ferdinand III. (1769–1824) became Grand Duke of Tuscany in 1790
when his father succeeded as Emperor. He was ejected in 1801, receiving
the Grand Duchy of Würtzburg in 1805, but finally returned to Florence
after the battle of Waterloo. His wife was Luigia Amalia, daughter of
the King and Queen of Naples.
[64] Felix Fontana (1730–1805), originally Professor at the University
of Pisa. He was appointed director of the museum at Florence by the
Grand Duke Leopold.
[65] The war between Austria and France broke out on the Netherlands
frontier in April 1792, and success in turn favoured each of the
combatants. Dumouriez’s treachery in March 1793 allowed the Austrians
to pass the French frontier, and the scene of action was removed to
that country. England declared war against France in February, and
despatched a force under the Duke of York to assist the Austrians.
[66] The Opera House of Florence.
[67] Lady Ann Hatton. Daughter of Arthur, second Earl of Arran,
she married first, in 1783, Henry Hatton, of Clonard, co. Wexford;
secondly, in 1800, John, first Marquess of Abercorn. She died in 1827.
[68] King Sebastian (1554–1578), who succeeded to the throne of
Portugal at the age of three, and was killed fighting the Moors in
Morocco.
[69] Count Rumford.
[70] Lord Henry Spencer.
[71] An old French measure. A toise is just over six feet.
[72] He took part in the trial and condemnation of Charles I.
[73] Armand-Louis de Gontaut Biron (1747–1793). He was guillotined in
December.
[74] Francis, afterwards second Marquess of Hertford; at this time
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Berlin and Vienna.
[75] George, Lord Morpeth (1773–1848), eldest son of Frederick, fifth
Earl of Carlisle, and Margaret, daughter of Granville, first Marquess
of Stafford. He married, in 1801, Georgina, eldest daughter of William,
fifth Duke of Devonshire, and succeeded to the titles on his father’s
death in 1825.
[76] George James, fourth Earl of Cholmondeley (1749–1827), who was
created Marquess of Cholmondeley in 1815. He married, in 1791, Georgina
Charlotte (1764–1838), daughter of Peregrine, third Duke of Ancaster.
[77] Valenciennes was invested by the allied troops under the Duke of
York, and capitulated after a siege lasting forty-three days.
[78] La Fayette had broken his connection with the Jacobins after the
execution of Louis XVI., and was forced to take refuge in neutral
territories at Liège. He was there taken prisoner by the Austrians, and
was kept in confinement at various places for five years.
[79] Charles François Dumouriez (1739–1823). At the outbreak of the
Revolution he was closely connected with the Girondist faction, and
held for short periods the offices of Foreign Minister and Minister for
War. He was appointed to the army of the north as Lieut.-General, and
inflicted a severe rebuff to the allies at Valmy in 1792. After the
execution of Louis XVI., however, he became lukewarm in the cause, and
when defeated by the Austrians at Neerwinden he seized the opportunity
of joining the Austrians, with a small portion of his army. He lived at
Hamburg for some years, but finally settled in England in 1804, and was
granted a pension of 1200_l._ by Government.
[80] Spencer, eighth Earl of Northampton (1738–1796). He was twice
married, and died at Berne. The _Gentleman’s Magazine_ records
that he originally retired to Switzerland to recover from the expenses
of a Parliamentary contest at Northampton, for which he sat 1762–63. He
succeeded to the peerage in the latter year.
[81] It was sold in 1830 for 20,000_l._ to the Emperor of Russia,
and is now in England.
[82] Lenzburg.
[83] Custine was placed in charge of the northern army after
Dumouriez’s defection, but found it in such a state of disorganisation
that he was unable to cope with the enemy. Condé and Valenciennes fell
without him being able to give them any assistance. His ill success
cost him his life.
[84] Charles Eugène (1728–1793) who succeeded his father as Duke
of Würtemberg in 1737. He was twice married, his second wife being
Franziscka de Bernardin, Comtesse de Hohenheim.
[85] Ludwigsburg.
[86] Lionel Robert Tollemache, grandson of Lionel, fourth Earl of
Dysart, and son of the Hon. John Tollemache and Bridget, daughter of
Robert, first Earl of Northington. He was in his nineteenth year.
[87] They were not to serve against the allies for a year. This
condition, however, left them free to serve against the insurgents in
La Vendée, and there they were sent.
[88] Dormagen (?).
[89] The collection was removed for safety in 1805 to Munich by
Maxmilian Joseph, King of Bavaria, and was never returned.
[90] Lord H. Spencer.
[91] Thomas, seventh Earl of Elgin and eleventh of Kincardine
(1766–1841), the collector of the ‘Elgin Marbles.’ He was at Brussels
from 1792 till 1795.
[92] Three of these were fired from covered mines, and the assault was
delivered at the same moment, during the confusion caused by them.
[93] Lady Webster’s spaniel.
[94] The English army was engaged at Dunkirk, while the Imperial force
besieged Quesnoy. A very large force was also required to preserve the
communications between them.
[95] Charles, third Duke of Richmond (1735–1806), Master-General of
the Ordnance 1783–1795. ‘The Duke of Richmond quitted the Ordnance,
ascribing the failure to the Duke of York, and the Duke of York, or at
least his friends, insinuated that it had arisen from the neglect or
the malicious delay of the Ordnance’ (Lord Holland’s _Memoirs of the
Whig Party_, i. 68).
[96] It is interesting to compare a letter of Mr. Elliot, of Wells,
quoted in Lady Minto’s _Life of Sir Gilbert Elliot_, and written
on Nov. 2, from Tournay, after a visit to the Duke’s headquarters.
‘Almost all the persons immediately about the Duke are very young men,
and as they live at headquarters, they fill his table and prevent
him from inviting the general officers and colonels of regiments as
frequently as it is usual for a Commander-in-Chief to do. This is
one source of disgust. The youth of the circle which surrounds him
occasions also a levity of manners at headquarters, hence arises a
lamentable deficiency of discipline among the officers. The Duke feels
this, and sometimes _expresses_ himself hardily, when he ought to
_act_ with severity.’
[97] Mrs. Wyndham’s house.
[98] Better known as Lady Hertford. Isabella Anne, second wife of
Francis, Lord Yarmouth, who succeeded his father as second Marquess of
Hertford in 1794. The first Marquess, whose stepmother was a daughter
of Lawrence Hyde, Earl of Rochester, was created Viscount Beauchamp and
Earl of Hertford in 1750, and was raised to a Marquisate in 1793. Lady
Beauchamp was daughter of Charles Ingram, Viscount Irvine, and married
in 1776. She died in 1834, at the age of seventy-four.
[99] Madame de Walmoden, George II.’s mistress, was created Countess of
Yarmouth.
[100] Lord Sheffield married Miss Pelham, Thomas Pelham’s sister, in
December 1794. She died early in 1797.
[101] Elizabeth, only daughter of Sir Ralph Milbanke. She married
Peniston, first Viscount Melbourne, in 1769, and died in 1818. Her
second son, William, succeeded to the titles, and became Prime Minister.
[102] Afterwards first Earl of Minto. As a follower of the Duke of
Portland he had ceased to co-operate with the Opposition when his
leader joined the Ministry.
[103] Toulon was handed over by its inhabitants to Lord Hood on the
condition that it should be held in trust for Louis XVII., and given
back to the Royalists on the restoration of the monarchy. It was soon
afterwards besieged by the Republicans under General Cartaux, who
appeared before the walls on August 30. Large reinforcements swelled
his force to over 30,000 men, while the numbers of the allies never
exceeded 12,000. After several sorties, in one of which General O’Hara,
the commander of the land forces, was taken prisoner, it was decided to
evacuate the town, and the design was successfully carried out after
burning the majority of the stores and ships in the harbour.
[104] Sir Charles Grey, a distinguished general officer and K.B.
(1783), was created Baron Grey of Howick in 1801. He was raised
to an earldom in 1806, but died the following year at the age of
seventy-eight. His elder brother, Sir Henry Grey, died unmarried in
1808, and the baronetcy devolved on Charles, second Earl Grey, the
commencement of whose political career Lady Webster here relates.
[105] Pitt brought forward his plan for reform in 1785.
[106] Lord Hervey’s brother, who survived him, and became fifth Earl of
Bristol upon his father’s death in 1803.
[107] Duchess of Ancaster.
[108] James Harris (1746–1820), created Baron Malmesbury in 1788, and
raised to an earldom in 1800. He was originally a friend of Fox and the
Whigs, but severed his connection with that party in 1792. He was at
this time on a special mission to King Frederick William at Berlin.
[109] John, fourth Earl of Darnley (1767–1831). He married, in 1791,
Elizabeth, daughter of the Right Hon. William Brownlow, of Lurgan.
[110] He was appointed to command the expeditionary force sent to
assist the Royalist insurgents in La Vendée. The undertaking was a
failure, and the troops returned without effecting anything decisive.
[111] Ambassador at St. Petersburg and afterwards Louis XVI.’s Minister
for the Home Department. He emigrated at the time of the Revolution,
but returned under the Empire.
[112] George Augustus, afterwards eleventh Earl of Pembroke
(1759–1827). He was at this time in command of the 2nd Dragoon Guards,
but returned home on the death of his father in 1794.
[113] Ehrenbreitstein.
[114] Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford. See _ante_, p. 12.
[115] General O’Hara was wounded and taken prisoner in the attack on
Fort Mulgrave. He was taken to Paris, and imprisoned in the Luxembourg
until his exchange for General Rochambeau in August 1795.
[116] Louis Eugène, brother of the preceding Duke. He only lived until
1796, when he was succeeded by a third brother, Frederick Eugène.
[117] Lord Henry Fitzgerald (1761–1829), fourth son of James, first
Duke of Leinster. He married, in 1791, Charlotte, Baroness de Ros in
her own right.
[118] See _ante_, pp. 47, 55.