Note 77 — Chapter XXVIII

[This sounds strange, but it was believed by those who were acquainted with the chronique scandaleuse of a former generation, in the last century, that William Lamb and Lady Cowper (afterwards Lady Palmerston) were not the children of their putative father, the Lord Melbourne of that day, but of Lord Egremont, who never married, but had numerous illegitimate offspring. William, Lord Melbourne, whose death is here recorded, was the husband of Lady Caroline, a daughter of the Earl of Bessborough, the authoress of 'Glenarvon,' celebrated for her passion for Lord Byron and her subsequent quarrel with him.]