Chapel at Bath--Pope, the Poet--Warburton, Bishop of
Gloucester--Lady Fanny Shirley--Charles Wesley--John
Wesley--Beau Nash--Anecdote--Mr. Hervey--Methodist
Conference--Mr. Larwood--Potter, Archbishop of Canterbury--Dr.
Doddridge--Hon. Mrs. Scawen--Mr. Cruttenden--Mr. Neal--Dr.
Doddridge visits Bristol--Visits Lady Huntingdon at
Bath--Anecdote--Dr. Oliver--Dr. Hartley--Prior Park--Death
of Dr. Doddridge--Mrs. Grinfield--The Moravians--Count
Zinzendorff--Elizabeth King--Lady Gertrude Hotham--Death of Miss
Hotham--Marriage of Sir Charles Hotham--Death of his Lady--His
own Decease--Death of his Mother, Lady Gertrude--Mr. Theophilus
Lindsay--Mrs. Brewer--Lord Huntingdon and Mr. Grimshaw--Lord
Chesterfield and Mr. Stanhope--Countess of Moira--Mrs. Carteret
and Mrs. Cavendish--Countess Delitz--Lady Chesterfield--Earl of
Bath--Lord Cork--Anecdote of George II.
The frequent visits of Lady Huntingdon to Bath, during a period of
twenty-five years prior to the opening of her chapel in that city,
were attended with the happiest results. Wherever she went she
invariably produced an extraordinary degree of attention to religious
subjects. Her Ladyship’s character[226] was in many respects new.
There was a publicity in her religion which no other, Dissenter,
Puritan, Churchman, or Reformer, had ever displayed, at least since
the Reformation. Wherever she was, and in whatever company, her
conversation was on religion, in which there was this peculiarity, that
she spoke of the sins and errors of her former life, her conversion to
God, the alteration in her heart and conduct; and she plainly said to
all, it was absolutely necessary that the same change should take place
in them, if they would have any hope in death. What an innumerable
multitude will have abundant cause to bless God to all eternity on her
account, as the honoured instrument in his hands of leading them to
a saving acquaintance with the truth as it is in Jesus. The means on
which she chiefly relied in this good work was the erecting of numerous
chapels, where the glad tidings of a free and full salvation, suited to
the wants and necessities of the ruined, the vilest, and most abject
of the human race, have been, and still continue to be, faithfully
proclaimed; whereby many outcasts and wanderers have been brought back
to the fold of the Great Shepherd and Bishop of Souls.
Towards the close of the year 1739, the Earl of Huntingdon, who had
been much indisposed during the summer, had been recommended to use the
Bath waters. One of his friends, the late Mr. Allen, then resided at
Widcombe, where Pope (the poet) and Dr. Warburton (afterwards Bishop of
Gloucester) were on a visit.[227] In the society of these distinguished
men[228] Lady Huntingdon enjoyed many opportunities of advancing the
interests of true religion, which she uniformly embraced with all the
ardour of a newly-awakened convert, and with that energy and talent
which she so remarkably possessed. The bigoted and intolerant Warburton
took every occasion to rally her Ladyship on her newly-adopted
sentiments, and, with his characteristic rudeness, pronounced her an
incurable enthusiast; for with him all personal experience of a divine
witness, by the Spirit of God, in the heart was rank enthusiasm:
and this Lady Huntingdon maintained as the essence of truth and
Christianity. She pleaded for the application and enjoyment of divine
truth in the conscience; Warburton for bishops, priests, and deacons,
and the two sacraments of sacerdotal administration, as essential
to the being of a Christian. Through life this singular man was
strongly prejudiced against, and warmly opposed and censured, both the
principles and people that Lady Huntingdon honoured and respected, and
on numberless occasions manifested an undeviating opposition, contempt
of, and endeavour to suppress, what he was pleased to style Methodism,
which he abhorred, but which her Ladyship loved and vindicated--even
that true, spiritual, experimental religion that is really felt in the
heart, and acknowledged to be the work of the Holy Ghost, illuminating,
converting, and comforting the chosen people of God.
Mr. Charles Wesley was at Bath,[230] but meeting great opposition,
preached only once or twice. Lady Huntingdon, however, attended his
preaching at Bristol, Bradford, and other places, where he was heard
by thousands. The ridicule of Warburton was ever ready to encounter her
Ladyship on her return from these excursions.
In the year 1745 the second Methodist Conference was held in Bristol.
Besides Messrs. John and Charles Wesley, there were present the Rev.
John Hodges, rector of Wenvo, and seven travelling preachers--Thomas
Richards, Samuel Larwood,[231] Thomas Meyrick, James Wheatley,[232]
Richard Moss, John Slocombe,[233] and Herbert Jenkins.[234] Lady
Huntingdon was then at Clifton, and formed an acquaintance with several
of these apostolic labourers, some of whom, particularly Messrs.
Richards, Meyrick, and Moss, she invited to Bath, whither she went for
a short period. The preaching of these men of God was attended by a
divine power, and many in the middling and inferior classes of society,
as well as some in the more refined circles, became the “seals of their
apostleship in the Lord.”[235]
In 1747, Lady Huntingdon again visited Bath, for the benefit of
her health. Previous to her Ladyship leaving London she called on
Dr. Potter, Archbishop of Canterbury; and as he was then in his
seventy-fifth year, and in a declining state, her Ladyship, with the
utmost tenderness and fidelity, spoke of the near approach of that last
solemn event which would terminate all earthly friendships. He appeared
sensibly affected, and at parting, took her Ladyship’s hand, and said,
with great earnestness, “May the Lord God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of
Jacob bless thee!” For many years she enjoyed the friendship of this
learned divine, who succeeded Dr. Wake in the see of Canterbury, which
high and important office he supported with much dignity for a period
of ten years. When Bishop of Oxford he had an opportunity of witnessing
the rise of Methodism in the University; and afterwards ordained the
Messrs. Wesley, Ingham, Hervey, Broughton, Clayton, Kinchin, &c.,
the first members of that society. On one occasion he treated Mr.
Charles Wesley with great severity; but towards the close of life his
sentiments respecting the Methodists seem to have undergone a more
favourable change; his long intimacy with Lady Huntingdon may have
contributed to this end. On the death of Lord Huntingdon, he visited
her frequently, and always treated her with parental tenderness. Not
long after her Ladyship left London for Bath, his Grace was seized with
an alarming illness, from which he never entirely recovered. The last
act of his life was writing the following note to her Ladyship, on the
10th of October, 1747:--
“Dear Madam--I have been very well since I last saw you. I hope
soon to hear from you, that your health is better for your
being at Bath. Continue to pray for me until we meet in that
place where our joy shall be complete. I am, as ever, your
affectionate friend,
“JOHN CANTUAR.”
After his Grace had written the above, he was walking with it to his
scrutoire, and (as his son, Mr. Potter, acquainted Lady Huntingdon),
being seized with a sudden syncope, dropped upon the floor, and expired
with the letter in his hand!
Lady Huntingdon was again in Bath in 1750. At this period she was
extremely ill, and serious apprehensions were entertained for her life.
At the close of a letter from Mr. Hervey to the Rev. Moses Browne,
afterwards vicar of Olney, dated December 22, 1750, he enquires--
“What account can you give of Lady Huntingdon’s health? Never,
never will the physician’s skill be employed for the lengthening
of a more valuable life. May Almighty goodness bless those
prescriptions, and command her constitution and our zeal to
flourish!”
Dr. Doddridge, in a letter to his correspondent, the Rev. Mr. Wood, of
Norwich, dated about the same time, says--“Dear Lady Huntingdon is in
a very declining way. Pray devoutly for her important life.”[236] From
a letter written by the Duchess of Somerset, better known to the world
as the Countess of Hertford, to the Rev. Theophilus Lindsay, dated
Percy Lodge, July 9th, 1751, we learn that Lady Huntingdon’s health had
by that time considerably improved--“I have had no letter from Lady
Huntingdon (says the Duchess), but I hear she is at Cheltenham, and
pretty well.” In a subsequent letter from the Duchess of Somerset we
find Lady Huntingdon had returned to Bath in the month of August, or
beginning of September. Her Grace writes--
“I have had a very agreeable letter last week from Dr.
Oliver, who tells me that Lady Huntingdon is pretty well, and
much employed in attending Dr. Doddridge, who is in a deep
consumption at Bath, but is to set out in a few days, in order
to embark at Falmouth, for Lisbon, from whence, it is Dr.
Oliver’s opinion, he will never return.”[237]
The consumptive disease under which Dr. Doddridge had long suffered now
began to make more rapid progress. His health declined so fast that
his excellent physician, Dr. Stonhouse,[238] recommended him a voyage
to Lisbon. He had been at Shrewsbury for some time, for the benefit
of air, exercise, and an entire cessation from business and company.
From thence he proceeded to Bristol, where he remained several weeks,
during which period he received numerous letters of condolence from his
friends, filled with anxious enquiries after the state of his health.
The letters of Lady Huntingdon, the Honourable Mrs. Scawen,[239] Robert
Cruttenden, Esq.,[240] Nathaniel Neale, Esq.,[241] and Lord Lyttleton,
were peculiarly interesting and affectionate, from the friendship
expressed in them, and the divine consolations which they administered.
The worthy Doctor hesitated to take the journey to Portugal, lest the
necessary expense should injure his family; but Lady Huntingdon, with
that noble generosity which so distinguished her character, contributed
the sum of one hundred pounds; and her liberality did not stop here,
for with the assistance of Lady Chesterfield, Lady Fanny Shirley,
Lord Lyttleton, Lord Bath, and a few others amongst the nobility, she
gathered a sum of about three hundred pounds, which she placed in the
hands of Mrs. Doddridge.
“Words (says her Ladyship) cannot express the gratitude and
thankfulness with which dear Mrs. Doddridge accepted the
contributions which I was enabled to collect. I felt grateful to
God that he enabled me thus, in a trifling degree, to administer
to the external comfort of one of his dear servants. Less than
the least, I feel humbled before him for this instance of his
goodness, in making me instrumental of any benefit to the saints
that are upon the earth. The Lord disposed my heart to add one
hundred pounds to the benefactions of dear Lady Chesterfield,
Lady Fanny, Lord Lyttleton, and Lord Bath, making a total
of nearly three hundred; which, with that Mr. Neale and his
friends amongst the Dissenters may collect, will, I hope, be
of essential service in procuring him every comfort which his
almost helpless state requires.”
Accordingly, on the 17th of September, Dr. Doddridge left Bristol, and,
on his arrival in Bath, became the guest of Lady Huntingdon, until the
period of his departure for Falmouth. In the morning of the day on
which he set out from Bath to Falmouth, Lady Huntingdon came into the
room, and found him weeping over that passage in Daniel ix. 11, 12,
“Daniel, a man greatly beloved,” &c. “You are in tears, Sir,” said Lady
Huntingdon. “I am weeping, Madam (answered the Doctor), but they are
tears of comfort and joy; I can give up my country, my relations, my
friends, into the hands of God; and, as to myself, I can as well go to
heaven from Lisbon, as from my own study at Northampton.”
Dr. Oliver, Mr. Allen, Pope, and Dr. Warburton, testified their regard
for Dr. Doddridge at this period. Between Warburton and Doddridge long
and intimate friendship existed, and much of the correspondence between
them has been preserved in Nichols’s “Literary Anecdotes,” and the
“Diary and Correspondence of Dr. Doddridge,” lately published. In the
last letter which he wrote, that worthy and amiable man, whilst at the
Hot-wells for the benefit of the waters, says:--
“Your kind letter gave me, and will give Mr. Allen,[242] great
concern; but for ourselves, and not for you, death, whenever
it happens, in a life spent like yours, is to be envied, not
pitied; and you will have the prayers of your friends, as
conquerors have the shouts of the crowd. God preserve you, if he
continues you here to go on in his service; if he takes you to
himself, to be crowned with glory, be assured the memory of our
friendship will be as durable as my life.”
Warburton visited Lady Huntingdon while Dr. Doddridge was her
guest, and in the presence of Dr. Oliver and Dr. Hartley, author
of “Observations on Man,” rated her Ladyship and Doddridge about
enthusiasm. On another occasion, when Lady Huntingdon dined at Prior
Park, the subject of conversation happening to turn on Mr. Whitefield,
who had just then embarked for America, Dr. Hartley[243] spoke of his
abilities with admiration, and of his doctrines with respect. “Of his
oratorical powers (said Warburton), and their astonishing influence
on the minds of thousands, there can be no doubt--they are of a high
order; but with respect to his doctrines, I consider them pernicious
and false.” A very animated and interesting debate took place, in the
course of which Dr. Hartley ably defended Mr. Whitefield against the
unjustifiable aspersions of his unreasonable antagonist, and proved
the uniformity of his doctrines with the articles and formularies of
the Established Church, and their accordance with the Confessions of
Faith of all the Reformed Churches in Christendom. In this sentiment
Lady Huntingdon, Dr. Oliver,[244] and Mr. Allen concurred. Warburton’s
irascibility and unappeasable malignity to what he denominated
Methodism could not endure this, and he hastily left the apartment.
On the 30th of September, Dr. Doddridge embarked at Falmouth, and
landed at Lisbon on the 13th of October. A few days after his departure
from Bath, Lady Huntingdon writes thus concerning him:--
“Our dear and much-loved Doddridge has left us for Lisbon, and
left us without the shadow of a hope of meeting again on this
side eternity. May the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
go with him, and abide with him to his journey’s end: and give
him at last a triumphant entrance into his kingdom of eternal
rest and glory, reserved for the people of his choice, the
objects of his redeeming love and boundless mercy!”
Of the serene and happy state of the Doctor’s mind, in the prospect of
approaching dissolution, the following extract from one of his letters,
written during this solemn season, is a characteristic and instructive
proof:--
“I see, indeed, no hope of recovery, yet _my heart
rejoiceth_ in my God and in my Saviour; and I can call Him,
under this failure of everything else, _its strength_
and everlasting portion. I must now thank you for your
heart-reviving letter to strengthen my faith, to comfort my
soul, and assist me in _swallowing up death in victory_!
God hath indeed been wonderfully good to me; but I am less
than the least of his mercies, less than the least hope of his
children. Adored be his grace for whatever it hath wrought by
me; and blessed be you of the Lord for the strong consolations
you have been the instrument of administering. Let me desire you
to write again, and to pour out your heart freely with all its
strong cordial sentiments of Christianity; nothing will give me
greater joy. What a friend you will be in heaven! How glad shall
I be to welcome you there, after a long and glorious course of
service, to increase the lustre of your crown! May you long
shine with your light, warmth, and influence, like a sun upon
the earth, when there remains not any united particles of that
poor, wasting, sinking frame, which enables this immortal spirit
to call itself your friend in everlasting bonds.”
The melancholy intelligence of his death was communicated by Dr.
Stonhouse to Lady Huntingdon, than whom, in the extensive circle of
his acquaintance, few had a warmer friendship for the Doctor, or more
sincerely mourned his removal in the height of vigour, usefulness, and
honour:--
“The death of my dear lamented Doddridge has affected my heart
in a very uncommon manner, and I am often melted into tears
when I reflect upon his unspeakable loss to the Church and
the world. But all my murmurings are silenced by the voice of
Him, in whose hands are the issues of life and death, and who
hath said--‘_Shall I not do what I will with my own?_’
With my hand on my mouth, and my mouth in the dust, I desire
to acquiesce in this divine prerogative to take and leave as
seemeth good to him, crying from my heart, ‘_Thy righteous
will be done!_’”
The remains of Dr. Doddridge were interred in the burying ground
belonging to the British Factory at Lisbon; and a handsome monument
was afterwards erected to his memory at Northampton, at the expense of
the congregation, and an epitaph inscribed upon it, drawn up by his
much-esteemed friend, Gilbert West, Esq., Clerk of the Privy Council,
and nephew of Lord Viscount Cobham.
The latter end of May, 1752, found Lady Huntingdon again at Bath.
“May the waters (writes Mr. Whitefield) be abundantly blessed
to the restoring of your bodily health, and may the comforts
of the ever-living, ever-lovely Jesus fill and refresh your
soul! I hope to see your Ladyship about the 24th of this month.
Next week, God willing, I go to Portsmouth, and from thence to
Bath. My body is much enfeebled, but the joy of the Lord is
my strength. Hoping shortly to see your Ladyship prospering,
both in soul and body, and begging a continual interest in your
Ladyship’s prayers, I subscribe myself,” &c.
On the 22nd of June, Mr. Whitefield arrived in Bath, and continued with
Lady Huntingdon about three weeks, preaching every evening to great
numbers of the nobility. Here he first became acquainted with the late
Mrs. Grinfield,[245] a lady who attended on Queen Caroline:--“One of
Cæsar’s household (writes Mr. Whitefield) hath been lately awakened
through her Ladyship’s instrumentality, and I hope others will meet
with the like blessing.”
The dangerous illness of Mrs. Charles Wesley obliging Lady Huntingdon
to remove to Bristol, Mrs. Grinfield returned to London to attend her
duties at Court, and Mr. Whitefield to his usual occupation. In a few
days he writes thus:--
“Yesterday morning I obeyed your Ladyship’s commands, and
carried the enclosed to Mrs. Grinfield, at St. James’s palace. I
was much satisfied with my visit, and am rejoiced to find that
she seems resolved to show out at once. The Court, I believe,
rings of her, and if she stands, I trust she will make a
glorious martyr for her blessed Lord.”
In another letter he says:--
“Till Mrs. Grinfield can meet with company that is really in
earnest, I think the closer she keeps to her God and her book
the better. The Lord strengthen, stablish, and settle her in his
ways and will!”
Now was the period of the Moravian controversy, to which we have
alluded, and the result of which was to draw Mrs. Grinfield,[246] with
Mr. Cennick and others, over to the Church of the United Brethren.
Mr. Whitefield wrote his remonstrance to the Count, Bishop of the
United Church in England, and the Countess of Huntingdon’s part in the
affair may be related in her own words. Count Zinzendorff paid her
Ladyship a visit, and was received with the hospitality, dignity, and
politeness due to a person of high distinction. Her Ladyship, with
mingled tenderness and fidelity, remonstrated with the Count on the
farrago of superstitious fopperies and shocking offences introduced
by the leading brethren in London and other places, whereby hundreds
of honest-hearted Christians were deluded and involved in unspeakable
distress and anguish of mind.
“He heard my remonstrance with patience (says the Countess),
and seemed much troubled when I mentioned the cases of those
persons who have been involved in utter ruin by means of the
brethren. I entered at some length into the superstitious
horrors acted at Hatton-garden, and the evident impropriety of
usurping an authority over the consciences and properties of
the people. Our conference was long, and, as the Count honoured
me with his company for a few days, was resumed at intervals,
always closing with a solemn scriptural prayer to our great and
glorious Head for the illuminating influences of his Spirit to
guide us into all truth. We parted with the utmost cordiality.
Dear Mr. Whitefield’s letter has much grieved the Count. But
his remonstrance is faithful, and the awful exposures he has
reluctantly been forced to make may be productive of the highest
good in opening the eyes of many to the miserable delusions
under which they lie.”
About this period the illness of one of her daughters obliged Lady
Gertrude Hotham to remove to Bath. In the summer of 1755, Mr.
Whitefield again visited that city, and preached frequently at the
residence of Lady Gertrude. Lord Chesterfield and Mr. Stanhope, who had
just then returned from the continent after a long absence, were on a
visit to Lady Gertrude. Mrs. Bevan[247] and Mrs. Grinfield were also of
the party; but the most interesting member of this remarkable circle
was the young lady whose illness had brought Lady Gertrude and her
friends to Bath. She was the eldest daughter, and had all her mother’s
piety. When Lady Gertrude opened her house to the preaching of the
Gospel, and when the house of Lady Huntingdon was a temple, at which
the great were not ashamed to worship Christ, this young lady had been
heartily awakened by the preaching of Mr. Whitefield.[248] Before the
period of which we write she had long seemed to be preparing for that
inheritance which was reserved for her in the courts above; but her
friends had little expectation of the calm splendour of that closing
scene which rendered her an example to the Church. A few days before
her departure Mr. Whitefield visited her, at the particular request
of Lady Gertrude. She had been prayed for very earnestly two days
before at the administration of the sacrament at Lady Huntingdon’s, the
preceding day at the administration of the same ordinance at Lady Fanny
Shirley’s, and likewise, previous to his interview, in Lady Gertrude’s
drawing-room, on which occasion her Ladyship, Sir Charles Hotham, the
Misses Melisina and Gertrude Hotham, the Countess Delitz, Lady Fanny
Shirley, and the attending domestics, were much affected with the awful
and impressive solemnity of the scene. When Mr. Whitefield approached
her bed-side, she seemed glad to see him, but requested he would
speak and pray as softly as he could. She desired to keep her lying
posture; “but I can rise to take physic (she exclaimed); why not to
pray?” He conversed with her a little, during which she dropped some
strong expressions about the depravity of her heart, the vanity of the
world, and the littleness of every thing out of Christ. She appeared
to speak out of the abundance of her heart, from a feeling sense of
her own vileness. After prayer she seemed as though she felt things
unutterable. Those about her wept for joy. A short time before her
dissolution she declared to those around her dying bed, her peace and
hope, and bore the strongest testimony to the faithfulness and love
of God to her soul at that solemn season. She knew in whom she had
believed; and her hope of eternal life, founded on the Rock of Ages,
was an anchor to her soul, “both sure and steadfast.” Before the final
struggle she affectionately embraced her whole family, and, with almost
her last breath, assured her afflicted parent that she was quite free
from pain or fear. In this peaceful state she took her leave of earthly
scenes and entered into the joy of her Lord.[249]
In December, 1757, Lady Gertrude had the happiness of seeing her son,
Sir Charles Hotham, married to an amiable and accomplished young lady,
Miss Clara Anne Clutterbuck, daughter and heiress of Thos. Clutterbuck,
Esq., of Mill-green, in Essex. Their union was but of short duration.
In June, 1759, Lady Hotham was suddenly seized with a violent fever,
which, in the course of a few days, terminated in death. This severe
affliction, however, was the appointed means of leading Sir Charles to
a deeper knowledge and experience of the truth as it is in Jesus. He
had frequently heard Mr. Whitefield and other eminent ministers at his
mother’s house in London and Bath, and had not drunk the poison of his
uncle, Lord Chesterfield; yet he was not a decided character until he
became a lonely widower. From that time he defied all the sneers of the
Court, and dared to be “singularly good.”
Soon after the death of his lady, Sir Charles Hotham became Groom of
the Bedchamber to George III., through the interest of his uncle, Lord
Chesterfield; owing to his increased ill health, and being ordered
change of air, he went to Germany in 1767, and in the same year died
there, at a village near the Spa. This last stroke was a severe one
to Lady Gertrude. She had already lost her hopes, and now her Isaac
was called for, but in the trial she showed an Abraham’s faith and
patience. The very evening after she received the intelligence of
her melancholy loss, being alone and reading, she set fire to her
ruffles, and the linen about her neck and head burnt so rapidly, that
for fifteen days she was under means for her recovery. She would not
suffer her friends to lament the accident, blamed herself for having
been desirous of a speedy flight, or marking out the way to God. While
Mr. Adair dressed her wounds, which daily occupied an hour and a
half, she would speak of God’s mercies to her. The surgeon would say
that her good life had merited heaven; but she, in holy indignation,
would rouse her fainting spirits to reply, that there was no merit
but in Christ Jesus, and that in his blood and righteousness were all
her hopes. She called on her friends to bless God for her accident,
and suffered the means of recovery to be taken with her only in the
spirit of submission, lest it should be God’s will that she should
live. For every nourishment afforded, she gave peculiar thanks, and on
being directed to take some wine, she could not speak of its restoring
influence without remembering that on his cross her Saviour was denied
the kind indulgence then afforded her. A few minutes before her death
her friends put some liquid in her mouth, and she, who had spoken
little for three days, said, “Enough--happy--happy!” and one sigh set
her spirit at liberty![250]
Sir Charles Hotham had been the intimate companion of the young Earl
of Huntingdon, upon whom he had exerted some good influence, at least
for a time. Mr. Whitefield, in a letter to Lady Fanny Shirley, says, in
reference to the friendship of Sir Charles and her nephew, the Earl of
Huntingdon--
“It will be pleasant to see Sir Charles and the Earl striving
who shall go fastest to heaven. Your Ladyship will scorn to be
outstripped by any. The Almighty God approves the ambition, and
angels look down with pleasure to see the event. Blessed be God,
that is certain. All believers here do run, and all hereafter
shall obtain the prize.”
Unfortunately, the Earl of Huntingdon was not a Sir Charles Hotham.
Little has ever been made known relative to this accomplished nobleman,
the eldest and only surviving son of Lady Huntingdon. He was born in
1729, the memorable year in which Methodism took its rise at Oxford.
We have already spoken of his tour to France, and his introduction from
his adopted father, Lord Chesterfield, formerly ambassador to that
Court, to the celebrated Lady Hervey, mother of the excellent Lady Mary
Fitzgerald, the friend and correspondent of Lady Huntingdon, Mr. Venn,
Mr. Fletcher, and Mr. Wesley. When young, the public expectation was
raised very high regarding him; and an ode was addressed to him by Dr.
Mark Akenside, who, as the reader knows, had settled as a physician at
Northampton, and was patronized by the Huntingdon family.
In November 1756, he was appointed Master of the Horse to George III.,
then Prince of Wales, who, succeeding to the crown October 25, 1760,
continued his Lordship in that office, and nominated him one of the
Privy Council in December following. His Lordship carried the Sword
of State at his Majesty’s coronation, in 1761; and December 29th, the
following year, was appointed Lord Lieutenant and Custos Rotulorum of
the West Riding of Yorkshire, and of the city of York and county of the
same. At the baptism of Prince Frederick, his Majesty’s second son, on
Wednesday evening, September 14, 1763, the Earl of Huntingdon, being
then Groom of the Stole (which office he resigned in January, 1770),
stood proxy for the Duke of York, one of the sponsors. His Lordship
was also enrolled among the members of the Royal Society. He is said
to have left his place at Court, and given up all employment, offended
at being refused the Dukedom of Clarence, which he had claimed by
hereditary right. Although his manners were much more like those of a
foreigner than an Englishman (speaking French, Italian, and Spanish
perfectly, with all the elegance of a foreign courtier), yet he never
made a display of anything like superiority. It was impossible to
be in his society without obtaining information, and he was equally
polite to the wise and to the ignorant. His venerable mother, however,
through a long life, had to mourn over the infidelity of her child,
and the baseness of those principles which he had imbibed from Lord
Chesterfield and Lord Bolingbroke.[251]
When Lady Huntingdon was in Yorkshire, Mr. Grimshaw, rector of Haworth,
used to be much with her Ladyship, and had frequent arguments with Lord
Huntingdon on the internal evidence of the Christian religion. On one
occasion, after a discussion of this nature, Mr. Grimshaw, with the
openness and frankness so characteristic of that apostolic labourer,
told his Lordship “that the fault was not so much in his head as in
his heart.” His Lordship was so much affected with this remark that he
never encountered that antagonist again. So true it is that the most
insurmountable, as well as the most usual, obstacle to our belief,
arises from our passions, appetites, and interests; for faith being
an act of the will as much as of the understanding, we more often
disbelieve for want of inclination than for want of evidence.
Lord Huntingdon died before his venerable parent, October 2, 1789. He
was unmarried, but left a natural son, Lieutenant-General Sir Charles
Hastings, Bart. The barony of Hastings devolved on his sister, the
Countess of Moira, but the Earldom remained unclaimed till January
14, 1819, when Hans Francis Hastings, son of Lieutenant-Colonel George
Hastings, who had been educated at the sole expense of Theophilus, Earl
of Huntingdon, was confirmed in his claim to the Earldom, and took his
seat in the House of Peers as _twelfth_ Earl of Huntingdon.
Lady Elizabeth Hastings, afterwards Countess of Moira, was the eldest
daughter of Lady Huntingdon. In early life she was much admired at
Court for her elegance of manners, her vivacity, and great abilities.
She was appointed Lady of the Bedchamber to the Princesses Amelia and
Caroline, sisters to George III., in March 1749, in the room of Lady
Anne Montague, who resigned. Her Ladyship held the situation only a
few months. Horace Walpole, afterwards Lord Orford, says, “The Queen
of the Methodists got her daughter named for Lady of the Bedchamber
to the Princesses; but it is all off again, as she will not let her
play at cards on Sundays.” Whether this was the real cause we do not
pretend to know; but she was shortly succeeded by a daughter of Earl
Gower. Lady Elizabeth married, in 1752, John, first Earl of Moira,
and on the decease of her brother, Francis, tenth Earl of Huntingdon,
in 1789, carried the Baronies, _by writ_, Botreaux, Hungerford,
Molines, and Hastings, to that family. Her grandson, George Augustus
Francis, present Marquis of Hastings, married Barbara Gray de Ruthyn,
heir to the whole blood of the Earls of Pembroke, and the elder branch
of the house of Hastings. His infant son is heir to _three_ noble
families--namely, the Marquisate of Hastings, the Scotch Earldom of
Loudon, and the Barony of Ruthyn. The Earl of Moira was Baron Rawdon
at the period of his union with Lady Elizabeth Hastings. He was the
cousin-german to Lady Huntingdon, and their marriage appears to have
given her considerable satisfaction. Soon after the union, the Countess
of Hertford, when writing to a friend, says--
“Lady Rawdon’s marriage has given unmingled satisfaction to
all her family and friends, and Lady Huntingdon tells me she
is extremely happy and contented. I rejoice at this, not only
on her account, but on account of her worthy mother, who has
certainly done her duty by her, and fulfilled her trust with
the most scrupulous fidelity. Lady Selina (this letter was
written before the death of that excellent young lady) is
a great comfort to her, and is a most amiable, pious, and
affectionate character. What an affliction is Lord Huntingdon’s
dislike to religion! And what have not my Lords Chesterfield and
Bolingbroke to answer for? But he is most attentive, respectful,
and kind to Lady Huntingdon. This is some consolation; and we
may hope that, in the course of time, her example, and the
excellent advice which he has received, may have their full
weight of influence on his character. He is a most interesting,
elegant, and accomplished young nobleman, and very likely to
make some figure in the world. He was much affected at the
death of Miss Hotham, to whom he is said to have been greatly
attached; but of this I cannot speak with any certainty, as Lady
Huntingdon has never mentioned it to me.”
The writer of these pages was very intimate with Lady Moira after she
had passed her seventieth year, and received from her many interesting
particulars relative to her venerable mother. Her Ladyship always spoke
of Lady Huntingdon with marked respect and affection. She frequently
called attention to an original likeness of her Ladyship, which
represents the Countess placing her foot on her coronet. This portrait
must have been painted prior to the year 1773; for we find Horace
Walpole, in one of his letters of that date, mentioning what he terms
the “beatific print” of Lady Huntingdon, just then published, which was
copied from it. Lady Moira was a great political character; she was a
woman of exquisite taste, of extensive literary acquirements, and the
patroness of all the literary geniuses of her day. Lord Moira died in
1793, and his Countess survived him till April 12, 1808. She was in her
seventy-eighth year.
Among Lady Huntingdon’s visitors at Bath this season were Mrs. Carteret
and Mrs. Cavendish, two sisters, allied to two of the noblest and most
ancient families in England; they formed part of the great harvest
collected at Lady Huntingdon’s house in London, having there first
heard and received the Gospel in the light and in the love of it. Being
women of rank and fortune, their influence was considerable, and many,
by their instrumentality, were induced to attend Mr. Whitefield’s
ministry. They united with Lady Huntingdon, Lady Gertrude Hotham, and
the other “honourable women,” in their exertions to spread in the
region around them the light of the Sun of Righteousness, and very
many monuments remained of their successful labours. In the published
correspondence of Mr. Fletcher, Mr. Berridge, and others, letters to
these excellent women will be found. There is an interesting narrative
of their dying experience in a volume of the “Christian Guardian,”
in a letter addressed to their very dear and intimate friend, the
ever-to-be-revered Lady Mary Fitzgerald, now united to them in glory.
In their last illness they were frequently visited by Messrs. Romaine,
Newton, Hill, Cecil, Foster, Jones (of Langan), Venn, and other eminent
ministers of Christ. Two or three days before Mrs. Carteret’s death,
her dear old friend, Mr. Venn, went in to look at her. She took hold
of his hand, and prayed most earnestly that the Lord Jesus would blot
out every spot of sin in his most precious blood, and clothe her in his
most glorious righteousness, that therein her soul might be justified.
These prayers she repeated again and again with great earnestness; they
were prayers which received and embraced the promises, and, laying hold
of them with a sure and certain hope, she rejoiced in a full salvation.
Mrs. Cavendish said, “It is enough--an everlasting covenant, ordered
in all things and sure--this is all my salvation, and all my desire.”
Her favourite hymn, during the whole course of her illness, was the one
commencing--
“There was a fountain filled,” &c.
They were removed hence within a short time of each other, to meet
again in the kingdom of their Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. “They were
lovely in their lives, and in their deaths were not divided.”
The Countess Delitz, one of the daughters of the Duchess of Kendal and
the sister of Lady Chesterfield, was another gem of the same crown;
and many of the letters of Mr. Whitefield to her Ladyship have been
preserved in the collection published by his executors. The Countess
was particularly intimate with Lady Fanny Shirley, and is frequently
mentioned in the correspondence of Mr. Hervey with her Ladyship. She
died in Chesterfield-street, May-fair, November 2, 1773.
Such were Mr. Whitefield’s trophies in the Chesterfield family. He won
souls in it, upon the right hand and the left of the Earl; thus leaving
him without excuse for his wilful blindness and obstinate rejection of
divine truth: his Countess made a better choice.
Lady Chesterfield was a natural daughter of George I., and was created
Countess of Walsingham and Baroness of Aldborough in her own right.
Her mother was Melosina de Schulenberg, Duchess of Kendal, who died
in 1743, when her title became extinct. Born to wealth, and allied to
a rich and noble house, she was fitted to make a distinguished figure
among the great, and to shine at Court. Her various accomplishments
attracted general admiration; and she was for many years fascinated
with the splendour and allurements of high life, which seemed to absorb
all her thoughts and gratify her utmost wishes. But it pleased God to
lead her to attend the preaching of Mr. Whitefield, at the Countess
of Huntingdon’s house; and to convince her that no situation, however
high and elevated, can secure to its possessor uninterrupted felicity;
and, at the same time, exhibited to her view the source of true and
permanent happiness. Lady Chesterfield knew the world too well not to
expect its hatred and reproach for casting her fortune, her honours,
and her talents at the foot of his cross. In compliance with the wishes
of Lord Chesterfield, her Ladyship sometimes went to Court, and mixed
with the gay and thoughtless, but found no pleasure in the fashionable
follies of those around her. The last time she visited the royal
circle, her plain but elegant dress was of a brown ground with silver
flowers, which Lord Chesterfield, a nobleman of undoubted taste, had
obtained from the continent at considerable expense. His Majesty, who
it seems was well acquainted with the proceedings at Lady Huntingdon’s,
coming up to Lady Chesterfield, first smiled, and then forgetting royal
decorum, remarked--“I know who chose that gown for you--Mr. Whitefield;
and I hear you have attended on him this year and a half.” Lady
Chesterfield replied, “Yes, I have, and like him very well;” but after
she came to her chair, was grieved she had not said more, when she had
so favourable an opportunity.
Lord Chesterfield had been the intimate companion and friend of
the Earl of Huntingdon, on whose decease the young Earl became, as
we have stated, his adopted son. Hence an extraordinary degree of
intimacy subsisted between the families; and he was on all occasions
the counsellor and friend of Lady Huntingdon and her children.
Notwithstanding his infidel sentiments, he was very constant in his
attendance at her Ladyship’s whenever Mr. Whitefield was to preach.
Lady Huntingdon had at times some favourable hopes of Lord
Chesterfield. She said to Dr. Doddridge--
“Sometimes I do hope for dear Lord Chesterfield and Lord Bath,
Mr. Stanhope, and one of the privy council of Denmark,[252]
with a great many ladies and people of fashion, as well as of
quality. I know your warm heart will rejoice at this, and your
prayers will help with ours for an increase to our blessed
Lord’s kingdom, even among them.”
Lord Chesterfield, however, deceived her hopes. He called death a “leap
in the dark!” but Lady Huntingdon, discussing this subject with him,
said--
“The sentence which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall pass
upon impenitent sinners at the great day of judgment, will be
final and irreversible. It is our unspeakable advantage that we
are not left merely to the uncertain light or feeble conjectures
of our own unassisted reason in matters of the highest
importance. In the revelation which he has given us of himself,
he declares, with great solemnity, that it _shall be more
tolerable in the day of judgment_ for the most profligate
parts of the heathen world, than for those who obstinately
reject and abuse his offers of mercy and salvation--‘_This is
the condemnation_ (saith the Saviour himself), _that_
light is come _into the world; but men love darkness rather
than light, because their deeds are evil_’--and so go on
in an obstinate course of aggravated guilt, in opposition to
the clearest light and most glorious advantages. Nor is it any
impeachment of the wisdom, justice, and equity of the divine
government, that obstinate sinners, who now reject his mercy
and grace, should never be admitted to that transcendant bliss
and glory which he hath of his own free and sovereign goodness
promised to the righteous, but be left to perish to their sins,
and for ever abide under the stinging reflections of their own
guilty consciences.”
His Lordship lived, with increasing infirmities, to the 24th of March,
1773. Not all the efforts of Lady Chesterfield, of his sister, Lady
Gertrude Hotham, nor of Lady Huntingdon, could induce the hardened
infidel to follow their example.
“I saw my dear and valued friend (says Lady Huntingdon) a
short time before his departure. The blackness of darkness,
accompanied by every gloomy horror, thickened most awfully round
his dying moments. Dear Lady Chesterfield could not be persuaded
to leave his room for an instant. What unmitigated anguish has
she endured.[253] But her confidential communications I am not
at liberty to disclose. The curtain has fallen--his immortal
part has passed to another state of existence. Oh! my soul, come
not thou unto his end!”[254]
In his will he mentions his servants, “his unfortunate friends, his
equals by nature,” and the mother of his natural son; but not one word
is said of his excellent lady, who survived him only a few years; but
how different was her death-bed.
“I was with her to the last (says Lady Huntingdon), and never
saw a soul more humbled in the dust before God, on account
of her own vileness and nothingness, but having a sure and
steadfast hope in the love and mercy of God in Christ,
constantly affirming that his blood cleanseth from all sin.
The last audible expressions that fell from her, a few moments
before the final struggle, were--‘_Oh! my friend, I have
hope--a strong hope--through grace!_’ then taking my hand,
and clasping it earnestly between hers, exclaimed with much
energy--‘_God be merciful to me a sinner!_’”
Lady Chesterfield died September 16, 1778, without issue, whereby her
titles became extinct.
Though Lord Chesterfield seldom exerted his poetical talents except in
epigrams and ballads; the few that are known to be his are evidently by
the hand of a master; witness his “Fanny, blooming fair,” written on
Lady Fanny Shirley, a reigning beauty at Court; “Advice to a Lady in
Autumn,” addressed to the same; his epigram on the Duchess of Richmond;
and verses written in a lady’s “Sherlock on Death,” &c. No attack of
an enemy could have degraded his character so much as the publication
of his “Letters to his Son,” which, if they do not deserve the severe
reprehension of Dr. Johnson, that they “inculcated the morals of a
strumpet with the manners of a dancing-master,” certainly display a
relaxation of principle for which no talents can make amends, and which
prove him to have been a man in whose mind the applause of the world
was the great, and almost the sole, governing principle.
At the same time with Lady Chesterfield, William Pulteney, Earl of
Bath, the celebrated statesman, and a person of much notoriety in his
day, was deeply impressed under Mr. Whitefield’s ministry. There had
been for many years the most intimate friendship between him and Lady
Huntingdon, in which Lady Fanny Shirley had no small share. Whatever,
therefore, may be thought of his public character, he must have been
rather more than _moral_, to have secured their esteem. He is said
to have been extremely amiable in his private life, and much beloved
by his friends. Lord Chesterfield’s malignity towards him was keen and
inveterate. Like his political antagonist, Sir Robert Walpole, Lord
Bath could, when
“Uncumbered by the venal tribe,
Smile without art, and win without a bribe.”
He attended Tottenham-court chapel regularly for some years, and was
very liberal on several occasions, contributing munificently to the
establishment of the Orphan-house, in Georgia, and the erection of
the Tabernacle at Bristol. He died July 7th, 1764, without surviving
issue.[255]