Volume 1 — JOURNAL OF ELIZABETH LADY HOLLAND (continued 5)

S. was to have dined here on Sunday, but did not; probably to avoid meeting Tierney and Grey, as he hates the former, and is displeased at not being supported by the latter. His motion very nearly failed, as nobody seconded it for full 10 minutes, and then an obscure man jumped up and did it. All their squabbles are diverting, for as to any good they can do, it is a farce to suppose any can be done. This Union, they say, is to be carried at all risks. Ld. H. is gone this morning to arrange with Ld. Fitzwilliam, but the subject is so tiresome, and I have heard so much of it, that I cannot enter into the merits or demerits of the case.

LEWIS’ VERSES

The ‘Monk’ Lewis consulted me whether he should dedicate his translation of the 13th Satire of Juvenal to Mr. Fox. I said he would take it as a compliment. It was published yesterday, but is not so good as most of his other verses; 28 of the best lines are by Wm. Lamb,[243] a rising genius, who is to dine here for the first time to-day. Those imitations of Juvenal[244] by Ld. H. crept into the newspapers. I was extremely frightened and got Mr. Hare, Tierney, etc., to exert themselves to get the remainder suppressed, as I really feared Ld. Minto’s being wrong-headed.

24th Feb.—I have contented myself with skimming carelessly enough over Lewis’ paraphrase. The undertaking seems above his means, and was done, as I understand, at the request of his father, who was anxious that he should give a classical turn to his literary reputation, as he laments his ballad and green-room tastes. Several of the lines are wofully bad:—

but enough of what I have really found too dull to read through.

I thought young Lamb pleasant, though supercilious, as he shut himself up in his own thoughts as soon as he saw Ld. G., Morpeth, Boringdon. He affects to hold them cheap for being Anti-Jacobins, an affectation he has caught from ye D. of Bedford. On the following Sunday we had many of the same party, with ye addition of the Bessboroughs, Canning, and Frere. Wycombe, being present, annoyed Canning, and put him out of his natural bias of ease and pleasantry. In the course of this week we had several numerous parties of the Bessboroughs, Fish Crawfurd,[245] etc., etc., Hare, Fitzpatrick.

Sunday, 3rd March.—Jekyll, Hare, Tierney, and Fitzpatrick are now in the house. They dined here. The latter has lost such a great portion of his ill-gotten pelf in the same way as he acquired it, viz., at the gaming-table. There is no one poison in the human breast that operates so powerfully to the exclusion of every good feeling, as that of gambling. It produces misanthropy, meanness, and avarice, and I do not know a real amateur and practitioner of the vice in favour of whom an exception can be made. Hare has genuine, quick feelings, and his sensibility has not been totally blunted; but I can hardly admit as an apology for his inveterate pursuit of fortune at the Hazard table his necessities. But I am perhaps illiberally intolerant; the example in Ld. H.’s family, and the scandalous expedients a certain Duchess has, to my knowledge, been able to bring herself to resort to, have inspired me with horror and contempt for the class.

The news arrived to-day of Mr. Grenville’s safety.[246] The frigate is lost, and 15 persons, but he and his suite got over the ice. As no mails are come (14 now are due), the particulars are not known. It will be highly gratifying when he hears how universal and sincere the sorrow has been.

LORD LAUDERDALE

5th March,’99.—Mr. Fox is come here to-day to dine at the Whig Club; he returns to sleep. Ld. Lauderdale is so much better that he walks about. He told the D. of Bedford that, being kept awake one night from pain, he diverted himself by composing a speech and a reply for him upon the Union. ‘I can understand,’ said the Duke, ‘that you may write a man’s speech for him, but how you can make a reply which must notice points in the debate I cannot guess.’ ‘Why, the speech I intend you shall make is calculated to put old Grenville into a rage; he will get up and abuse you, and lug in France, French principles, localities, and all the old story. Then you must answer him, and begin by an apology to the House for the long speech you have been the occasion of their hearing, as you know it must be very disagreeable to the House; but that, for yourself, it is of no consequence, as you are used to noise, for in your agricultural pursuits you are accustomed to the bellowing of beasts.’ This is what Ld. L. calls excellent raillery, and I only note it down as a specimen of his talents in that line; no one so excellent as he is at a coarse joke, but polished wit he not only cannot furnish, but is incapable of relishing. Sheridan said, ‘Don’t tell Lauderdale, for a joke in his mouth is no laughing matter.’

10th.—Mr. Fox dined at the Whig Club; in the speech he made he did not supply materials for fresh attacks. We sat up very late with him; his conversation is always instructive and entertaining. He shuns politics as much as I could wish. Criticism, literature, and observations upon character are ye chief topics. It is astonishing what a storehouse of knowledge his mind is of every sort, from a fairy tale up to a system of philosophy. A novel was mentioned, upon which he launched forth upon a discussion on the different merits of the novelists, in which he displayed as great a range of reading as a miss who reads from a circulating library could do. He knows, in short, every production of the sort that has appeared. He professed liking fairy tales, romances, novels, etc. The only sort he admitted were dull are the old French ones of Mlle. Scudéri—Le Grand Cyrus, etc.—tho’ he made a few exceptions, especially for ye Princesse de Cleves,[247] as well he might, for that is very pretty. He set off early the next morning. Mrs. Armstead disapproves of his absence being extended beyond the time she fixes.

On the 6th we dined at Lansdown House. Ld. L. received me with cordiality. I hope his terrors of my machinations are dissipated. Ld. Wycombe is gone to Ireland. Thursday.—Dined with Mrs. Wyndham. Friday.—Lds. Bor. and Digby, Mr. Adderley and General Fitzpatrick dined. Saturday.—Mrs. W.

Ld. and Ly. Macartney called this morn. It is the first time I have seen him since his return from the Cape. He looks well, tho’ he says he is confiscated. The climate of the Cape, he says, is unfavourable to a gouty habit. He told me the people at the Cape look upon Vaillant[248] as a vagrant, lying sort of a gentleman, who undertook to describe places he never saw, and boast of friends he never had: his secretary is going to publish his travels, and has annexed an accurate map he made himself to the work.

LORD MACARTNEY

Ld. M. is remarkable for a retentive memory. He remembers the minutest circumstance, tho’ I half-suspect he plays tricks, and frequently makes his recollection dwell upon strange objects, that as you find he remembers them, you may give him credit for knowing the commonest. When he went Minister to Russia, Mr. Grenville, in giving him instructions upon commercial arrangements, advised him to take the Navigation Act, as it might be of service to him. ‘To avoid encumbering myself, as I knew its use, I have learnt it by heart,’ and true it was he could say every tittle. Louis XVIII. is remarkable for a strong memory; when Ld. M. went to Verona, somebody said, ‘Ah! quels assauts de mémoire il y aura entre eux.’

14th March.—Sunday. Dumont[249] came and slept. He has all the good, and none of the bad qualities of a Génevois. A sarcastic person might ask, ‘What are the good qualities of a Génevois?’ To be candid, I protest I know of none but their enthusiastic admiration of Rousseau, and when I made that éloge of Dumont by giving them to him, I meant in truth to say he was a Frenchman; for all the agréments I bestow on him are the due of an amiable, enlightened, polished homme de lettres of Paris.

Tuesday, we dined with Mrs. W. and went to the play: I found Lewis in my box. Mrs. W. in her quaint manner asked him, ‘How he could have such a horrid imagination with such a comical face?’ Thursday, Dr. Ash and Mr. Moore dined here. To-day, the weather has been horrible, and we have not seen a soul, but have stayed snugly alone at home. I read two acts of Buonarotti’s Tancia. It is very difficult, and to a foreigner has no merit but simplicity and poetry. Its wit and truth are lost where the language and allusions are unknown, and the names ideal; for the vera lingua Fiorentina, as spoken by the peasants, is a distinct idiom from the common Italian, and the proverbs are local, nor is it possible for a foreigner resident in the country to obtain so exact a notion of the rustic manners of the contadini, as to be able to judge of the justness of the picture. I have been reading several of Hurd’s[250] Dialogues; his style is frigid, and, though correct, insipid. It was of him and Warburton that Dr. Parr said, ‘He has blundered into sublimity; you have refined into littleness.’

22nd March.—On Friday, 15th, we had an uncommonly pleasant party—Mrs. W., Lds. Mor., Bor., Thanet, General Fitz., Lord Robert, Mr. Hare, and (by chance) little Lewis.

25th March,’99.—On Sunday, 17th, Ld. H. dined with Mr. Francis. Mr. Marsh and Hamilton[251] dined here with me. At Francis’s they drank a good deal of wine. The joke was to exhaust his cellar. It succeeded, much to the mirth of Ld. Thanet, who is the promoter of all fun and mischief. On Monday Ld. Bor., Misses Fox and Vernon came to sleep, and some others.

DEBATE ON THE UNION

On Tuesday the House of Lds.; Miss Fox and I dined at home with Hodges only. Ld. H. and Marsh went to the H. of Lds. The debate was upon the Union. It was conducted, as Ld. Carlisle said, in a very gentlemanlike manner, which in plainer language means dully. Ld. L. spoke. The tenor of his speech was ambiguous, and none could judge how he would have voted had the question come to a division. He deprecated the principle of confiscation, and urged strongly the injustice of the Fitzgerald Attainder Bill. He illustrated his argument by several political cases, one of which the world say he intended for his own situation; but he certainly did not. He said any of their Lordships might be cursed with a Republican son, and by this system of confiscation their grandchildren would be beggars. Ld. H. spoke, but out of good nature he let the others speak before him, so that he was obliged to curtail his arguments on account of the lateness of the hour. We did not get to bed until 6 o’clock.

The next day we dined at Mr. Crawfurd’s. He had all our own friends to meet us, Ld. and Ly. B., Mr. Canning, Ld. Mor., Bor., Amherst, Ossory, and M. de Calonne.[252] The dinner was pleasant and cheerful; the Fish said something slighting of Ld. Fitzwilliam,[253] which made Ld. Bessborough redden, and Canning in his flippant way took it up, but à force of winks, shrugs, and nods, we made them shift the subject. ’ Canning had on that day left the Foreign Department for a sinecure under Dundas in the Board of Control. I called on Ld. L. for five minutes, then went to ye Dss. of Leinster, and afterwards supped at Ld. Bessborough’s. On Thursday we dined alone. On Friday Ld. Robert,[254] Ld. Granville, Sir Lionel Copley,[255] and Sir Gilbert[256] dined. Sr. Lionel was, as usual, Jacobinical and tiresome. His only merit in conversation (for in conduct he has many) is that he surprises his audience by the extreme accuracy of his knowledge of all the epochs in the Revolution, the stations of the armies, and the names of the members of the different councils.

On Saturday (23rd) we had a very numerous party, and one person who never came before, who diverted us all by his manner. I invited him, as I knew him to be good-natured, and, therefore, likely to be of service about my seeing my children. I knew him at the period of my solitary confinement in Sussex: his name is Fuller. His vulgar bluntness excited much mirth; he thought the laugh was raised by his waggery, so was delighted. The others were Boringdon, G. Leveson, Lorne, Amherst, Digby, Mr. Cornewall Lewis, Hamilton, Adderley, Marsh, and little Lewis. The day went off extremely well. On Sunday we had Ld. Mor., Bor., G. Leveson, and some strange people, Don Roberto Gordon, Baron de Baje, Mr. Hodges, American Smith,[257] etc., etc. Dr. Drew came to stay; in the evening Ly. B. came. On Monday I was 28 years old!!! Alas! Alas!

LORD LORNE

The Dss. of Leinster and family came yesterday to stay some days. She is in very tolerable spirits and health. Mimi[258] is ill, but is to come to-day. I was vexed at her not being here yesterday, because Beauclerk is come on purpose to see her. I abhor the character of a meddler, but I should be delighted at succeeding in bringing two such delightful persons together. Ld. Lorne is a very old acquaintance of mine. He is very handsome, well-made, and like a gentleman; his manner is remarkably simple and unaffected, and tho’ his abilities are not of the most brilliant order, yet he does not appear in the least deficient. He has in his disposition an uncommon share of indifference, almost to apathy, and tho’ in the possession of every requisite for happiness, it does not appear that he enjoys anything.

26th March,’99.—Ld. Thanet[259] is in great alarm at the approaching trial. He is indicted with Mr. Denis O’Brien, Fergusson,[260] and Brown,[261] for attempting to rescue Arthur O’Connor in the court at Maidstone. He is apprehensive of imprisonment, and, indeed, it is generally thought he will be condemned to it. I really do not believe he was at all riotous. The only strong fact against him is his having said, when Judge Buller expressed surprise at such an idle attempt being made, ‘Oh, he may as well have a run for it!’

Poor Ld. Edward’s little boy is here.[262] He is a remarkable child; I cannot look at him without feeling strongly. His pretty manner and liveliness saved the poor Dss.’s life; her whole mind is occupied with him. When he was two years old, after eating heartily, he asked for more. His maid told him he had had enough. ‘No, no, Eddy does not like enough; Eddy likes too much,’ a sentiment he inherited from his poor father, I fancy.

Mr. Dumont told us of a trick his friend Chauvet played a German Baron at Geneva. The German came from the heart of Germany, ‘To adore,’ he said, ‘le grand homme,’ and had brought letters of recommendation. It struck Chauvet that it would be a good joke to make the Baron go away without seeing Voltaire. Chauvet told him that the philosopher was so pestered with visitors that, unless they were introduced by some of his own friends, he did not receive them cordially. To make the story short, he personated Voltaire, and put many ridiculous questions to the Baron. One was, ‘M. le Baron, avez-vous lu mon histoire par Rollin?’ ‘Avec le plus grand plaisir, Monsr.’

10th April,’99.—The good Dss., Mr. Ogilvie, and Eddy stayed exactly a fortnight, Mimi and Ly. Lucy[263] till to-day. Mimi, indeed, is still here till to-morrow. My wishes have succeeded. Mimi’s beauty and charming character have captivated Beau. He has obtained consent. The settlements are drawing, and their union will soon take place. Their dispositions suit exactly, and I never saw a fairer prospect of happiness than they have before them. She is uncommonly sensible, her temper is mild, and her manner serene; altho’ cheerful, her turn is rather serious. Her person is lovely, her complexion a clear brown, black eyes, white teeth, and a very small head, a fine-shaped throat and neck, pretty hands and feet, and, altogether, she is as beautiful and fascinating as a woman can be. A very favourable proof of the goodness of her understanding and temper is her being so beloved by a numerous family, the interests of which must oftentimes jar. The first week they were here we had a great deal of company, but as soon as the love began, we confined our society to those in the house, and then it was pretty large—Hamilton, Beau., Drew, Marsh, Miss Fox, Mr. Adderley.[264]

A CHRISTENING PARTY

On Saturday, 30th March, we had the baby christened; an immense party to dinner, Ld. and Ly. B., Ld. Duncannon, Ld. Ossory, G. Leveson, Sr. Gilbert and my mother, ye Duke of Bedford, Miss Vernon, and all those in the house. My mother, D. of B., and Lord Ossory stood for him. To comply with the Dss. of L.’s wish he was called Stephen, so we have now a Ste. Fox in the family. Marsh performed the ceremony; it was his first clerical function. He is to come up for Beau.’s marriage. Ly. Lucy is very clever, naturally very lively, but the loss of her brother has affected her spirits; she is enthusiastic, and her affection for him was worked up to a most romantic pitch. She was in his confidence, and knew how deeply he was involved in that fatal business in Ireland; any reference to the affair agitates her violently. At the time of O’Connor’s trial at Maidstone (a few months after Ld. E.’s death) she was at Goodwood; he being but too intimately connected with Ld. E., made her, of course, anxious about his fate: in short, she was ill. Ye Duke of Richmond[265] worked up his imagination, and fancied her grief arose from fear for O’Connor’s safety, she being in love with him. He went to her in the most affectionate manner, and proposed, if she would confide in him, to obtain O’Connor’s release, and assist their marriage. She assured him she only felt the regard due to him as a friend of her own and her brother’s. He is a strange, odd man. His conduct to Ly. E. Foster is very unaccountable. He is always talking and writing as if he intended to marry her, and yet the marriage is not more advanced than it was two years ago. She came here the other morning. As soon as ye Dss. of L. heard she was here, she immediately begged to see her in her room, a thing that very much flattered Ly. E., and added to her hopes.

I have had very little time for reading: I have, however, contrived to read something, half Bernier’s Travels into Hindostan, and about as much of Pennant’s Hindostan, a part of a great work called Outlines of the Globe.

LORD HOBART

12th April.—Mimi left us yesterday. Dumont dined with me, a remarkable lively pleasant dinner. I reproached myself for being so cheerful without Ld. H., for I never am completely so if he is away. He went to the House of Lords; intended speaking, but was unwell. He entered a protest, which stands a good chance of being erased, as Ld. Auckland has found out that a sentence in it reflects upon the H. of Lords.[266] I went in the evening to Dss. of L., and Ly. Bess. To-day I had fifty visitors, among them Ld. Hobart.[267] He is pleasing, sensible, and well-looking, the finest teeth possible. He exhibited his high sense of a point d’honneur in marrying Mrs. Adderley. When her husband died Ld. H. fulfilled the promise made in the warmth of his heart, tho’ she was old, ugly, and vulgar. The heats of Madras released him of his burdensome duty. About a year since she died. He is very kind to her son, Mr. Adderley.

Ly. Bess., Morpeth, and Bor., dined here, very cheerful and comfortable. The Hambro [sic] mail confirms the report of Jourdan’s being beaten by the Austrians.[268] The Austrian troops are very much attached to the Arch-Duke. Their cry is ‘Live Charles and Francis!’ I had the happiness of seeing Webby three times, but by stealth, at my mother’s; she insisted upon my hazarding an interview. He was very affectionate. He seems clever, but is not handsome. He is cold in his disposition, and taught by his father to be a boaster. He is at Harrow. From my window I see the church; often do I sigh to be nearer to him.

16th April, ’99.—On Saturday, ye 15th, I dined with Mrs. W., and in the evening went to the Opera with Mde. de Coigny.[269] On Sunday Ld. H. dined with Ld. Thanet. Ld. Granville and Mr. Hamilton dined with me, a pleasantish day. Monday, dined with my mother, went to the play; Canning, etc.; very pleasant. To-day Ld. and Ly. Bess. dined, Ld. John Townshend,[270] Ld. Morpeth, Mr. Adderley. Hare was ill, and could not come. The General said it was impossible—his constant reply when he refuses. Ld. John married Mrs. Fawkener. He is one of the wittiest men there is; his verses are excellent. Like the rest of his family he is mad; never enough to be confined, but often very flighty. He is admirable at mimicking, not only of a person’s manner, but invents a subject, and talks upon it as they would. He did not shine particularly to-day. This morning I had a prodigious levée; among the many were two new ones, Ld. Brooke[271] and Sr. Watkin. The first is rather handsome, talkative, like his father, but less tiresome, tho’ he promises a fair rivality. A few years of baronial retirement at Warwick Castle, with the benefit of his father’s loquacious society, will secure his inheritance of the taste. Sr. Watkin[272] is a Grenville in person and manner all over him; his tongue is immensely too big for his mouth, and his utterance is so impeded by it that what he attempts to articulate is generally unintelligible.

LORD MORPETH

Ld. Morpeth is perfect in person and manner; he has the air noble without haughtiness, and his mirth is cheerful, not boisterous. What Ld. Wycombe said of him is very descriptive, ‘He is an excellent specimen of aristocracy.’ He has inherited a considerable portion of his father’s love of fashion, but as it does not run away with him, I see no fault in it, tho’ he sometimes allows his judgment to be guided by it. His understanding is excellent; he is fond of literature, and is reckoned a good scholar. He has rather too much diffidence of his own abilities, and will frequently be silent, tho’ he has a strong opinion upon the subject discussed, unless he has some established authority to support him. What he says is always well expressed, with great neatness and precision. He seldom enters into an argument at length, but his observations are invariably correct and judicious. He is a chaste poet, and has written many very pretty things. His passions are not strong; he can never enjoy the extreme of delight, or suffer excess of sorrow. Not that he is deficient of right feelings; he can be angry, but not vindictive. Lately he has given in to a love of play, by which his temper is at times irritated. He is exemplary as a son, and has such strong principles of honour that he will excel in every station. He is very much attached to Ld. H.

Canning was very entertaining, he can be extremely so. I made him repeat his parody upon Lewis’s Alonzo and Imogene. It is comical, and goes very well with the music:—[273]

There is more, but I forget it.

Ld. Lansdown came to see me yesterday. He looked very well, and appeared more cordial to me than he has done since Ld. W.’s affairs have worried him. There is certainly something very whimsical in my situation with respect to him and Ld. W.; each suspect I prefer the other, and both have taken an aversion to me on that account, for Ld. W. is really so displeased with me that in his letters he never names me, or does he write, as he used to do, frequently to me. Arduous would be the attempt to decipher Ld. W.’s character. The most predominant feature is the love of singularity. His success in that aim is most favourably aided by his possessing innately a large portion of it. He endeavours more to surprise than to please. His sarcastic humour is excellent, the gravity of his manner sets off his wit. It is difficult to ascertain whether he is in joke or earnest, and he frequently begins seriously a conversation which his love of persiflage makes him end ironically.

LORD MACARTNEY

21st April.—Wednesday, 17th, dined with the Dss. of Leinster; went to the play. Returned here. Thursday, Lds. Digby, Kirkwall,[275] and Mr. Adderley dined. Friday we dined alone, went to the play with Mrs. Smith. Saturday we dined alone; went to the Opera. Smith dined to-day. Lord Macartney came to see me; he has been very ill, seriously so with gout, etc., etc. I asked him his opinion of Hastings, whether, tho’ a tyrant, he administered the Government of India with ability. He said his testimony would be that of an enemy, as they had quarrelled in India upon the subject of the Nabob of Arcot; but his opinion of him was that he was a man of violent passions, who would stop at nothing where his avarice, ambition, and revenge could be satisfied; that, as to his public conduct, had he not been recalled the English settlements would have been ruined. He deprecated politics, and lamented Ld. H.’s decided opposition, and quoted a maxim of Ld. H.’s grandfather’s that no man ought to be in Opposition above six months, just to show what his abilities could do, that he might be justly estimated. This conversation reminded me of Hare’s story of Ld. Macartney’s reason for not adhering to Mr. Fox. Hare asked him how it happened that, connected as he had always been with the Fox family, he never was politically united with them. He said he loved consistency, for if he had once gone into Opposition, he must always have continued so. ‘Why, no,’ replied Hare; ‘if the Opposition got into power, maintaining their principles, you would then not always be in Opposition.’ ‘No, no. Once in Opposition, always in Opposition. I love uniformity.’ This was all the answer he could extract from him.

Gilbert Wakefield pleaded again in person at the King’s Bench in behalf of his pamphlet. He first compared himself to Paul pleading before Festus, and throughout manifested a firm conviction that he was a martyr to his principles, and endeavoured to show the heroism with which he submitted to the persecution. In the course of his speech he named Nero, Tiberius, and Polypheme. Ld. Kenyon, in the summing up, said an English jury would not be browbeaten, notwithstanding all he said about the Three Roman Emperors.

Tierney said he was expected at dinner where he dined, and that the effect was comical when his apology came, giving for excuse his imprisonment. Ld. Thanet is very apprehensive as the day approaches for his trial.

The Dss. of Gordon[276] was laughing at Borino,[277] saying he had sat by her for an hour talking of such strange things—morale and physique, upon which Ld. H. said well enough that he certainly could only comprehend half his discourse. C. Ellis came to see me, the first time since his marriage. I thought there must have been something extraordinary to keep him so long away, and Ly. B. let me into the secret, the origin of which is Ly. Hawkesbury’s extreme prudery. She is shocked at the thoughts of my knowing Mrs. Ellis, and I suppose C. felt an awkward shyness at coming without naming her; but he need not have been under any alarm on my account. It is difficult to affront or mortify me. The first I hope my sense and temper will always avert, and the second I am insensible to, as I know the singularity of my position too well not to be blunted to all occurrences that otherwise might humiliate. Prudery comes with an odd and questionable aspect from a Hervey. Lord Bristol is full of wit and pleasantry. He is a great admirer of Lady Hamilton,[278] and conjured Sr. W. to allow him to call her Emma. That he should admire her beauty and her wonderful attitudes is not singular, but that he should like her society certainly is, as it is impossible to go beyond her in vulgarity and coarseness.[279] So much so, that the Austrian Ambassador’s sarcasm is excellent. After showing her attitudes, which she does by representing the finest statues and pictures, he asked, ‘Et quand est-ce qu’elle fera Miladi?’ Her vulgarity destroyed the illusion when I saw her once. She had worked one’s imagination up to a pitch of enthusiasm in her successive imitations of Niobe, Magdalen, and Cleopatra. Just as she was lying down, with her head reclined upon an Etruscan vase to represent a water-nymph, she exclaimed in her provincial dialect: ‘Doun’t be afeard, Sr. Willum, I’ll not crack your joug.’ I turned away disgusted, and I believe all present shared the sentiment.

LADY HAMILTON

Her extreme beauty attracted the notice of Romney, the painter, in London, who had her to sit as a model. Mr. Greville[280] took her into keeping, and, finding she was tiresome, got rid of her by sending her to Sr. Wm. to put her upon the Opera. Sr. Wm. was old and loving, and, after living a short time with him, she persuaded him into marrying her, which he did; and by so doing cut Mr. Greville out of the inheritance he had long expected.

Sunday, 28th April.—Wednesday 24th, dined with Ly. B.; only Ld. H. and myself; went to the play afterwards. On Thursday, 25th, we had all the Anti-Jacobin wits to dinner, Ld. Hobart for the first time; he is facetious and convivial. I liked him very much. Canning made a good joke upon Borino’s comparing Mr. Adderley to an ostrich, and enumerating the characteristics of that very foolish bird, which did very well at first, but grew tiresome. It is the fault of that set to wear a joke threadbare. We had Frere, the first time since his appointment to Canning’s place.[281] Since favoritism is à l’ordre du jour, I am rather glad he is a sharer, tho’ I think he cannot make a good man of business. He is distrait and poetical, and in lieu of writing a dispatch may be tempted to pen a sonnet. Saturday, Marsh came. Ld. H. dined at the Royal Academy, and I dined at L. House, Ld. L. being very kind and cordial. In ye evening went to ye Dss. of L. On Sunday we had a large party here, Lds. B., M., L. G., Amherst, Adderley, etc., etc., and Bannister,[282] who was very comical and burlesque. It being the eve of Mimi’s marriage, I slept at Ly. Bessborough’s, that I might be ready in time for the wedding. I invited my party to supper; the four gallants, the Dss. of Devonshire came, and the Duke of Bedford. The change in former is painful to see; scarcely has she a vestige of those charms that once attracted all hearts. Her figure is corpulent, her complexion coarse, one eye gone, and her neck immense. How frail is the tenure of beauty! Alas! too true, too trite a saying. The next morning I went to the wedding; all parties behaved with propriety. Ly. Pembroke[283] deemed it incumbent on her to hatch up a whimper during the ceremony, but as it was evidently a homage to her idol—decorum—it was received as such, and affected none. The excellent Dss. felt the awful moment of separation. The event took place in Harley Street, and afterwards the married pair set off to Moneyhill. The whole of the Dss.’s family came here, dined, and slept. Ld. Henry was one of their party; they all went to-day.

30th April.—Marsh made a proposal to Ly. Lucy, which she accepted, but the Dss. rejected, on the score of there not being a competency. In refusing him they know not the excellence they lose. He is in himself a treasure, and his popularity will ensure him high preferment; he is at the moment wretched, and goes to-morrow in consequence of the unpleasantness of the circumstance.

MADAME DE COIGNY

Adderley came and sat with me some time; Ld. G. L. has a nonsensical joke of his being smitten, mais je n’en crois rien. The old compère[284] is quite reconciled to me; he has called twice to see me. Nobody dined here but Mr. Morris, Mrs. Wyndham; and Mde. de Coigny came in the evening.

Mde. de Coigny is remarkably witty; there are many of her bons mots on record. This evening talking of Ly. Pembroke’s having still beauty, she denied it by saying, ‘Apparemment Milord aime les traditions.’ When young she was the rage in Paris; her voice is horrible, worse even than Ly. Malmesbury’s. She said, ‘Je n’ai qu’une voix contre moi, et c’est la mienne,’ an assertion not quite true, as a wit seldom has a friend; at least, they sacrifice any for a repartee. She lost a very intimate friend’s love by a sarcastic joke. The Duchesse de Richelieu was a young, pretty woman, with red hair, and her friend. At a petit souper it was remarked that ye Duchesse was almost the only woman in Paris who had not been accused at least of a galanterie, ‘C’est vrai, mais comme Samson elle trouve ses forces dans ses cheveux.’

Mrs. Fitzherbert has never forgiven the opinion Mde. de C. entertains of a conspicuous part of her person—an opinion she declared in her reply to a person who observed that Mrs. F.’s neck was uncovered ‘et qu’elle avait besoin d’un fichu.’ ‘D’un fichu! Point du tout, c’est une culotte qu’il faudra.’

LORD THANET’S TRIAL

2nd May.—Yesterday little Marsh left us, with a heavy, aching heart. Many visitors in the morning; my mother, Ly. Lucy, etc. to dinner. Adderley, Ly. L. slept. The D. of Bedford and Ld. Thanet called in their way back from St. Anne’s, where they had been to consult with Mr. Fox upon the propriety of the measure suggested by Erskine. The measure was that Ld. Thanet should write a letter to the Attorney-General, declaring upon his honour that he was innocent of the charge against him, etc., etc. Mr. Fox disapproved of that scheme, as it seemed like begging mercy. The evidence was so contradictory that even Kenyon, who is bitter against them, acknowledged in his summing the difficulty of ascertaining exactly the truth. There is no doubt whatever that Ld. T.’s activity was merely defensive, nor is there any more that Sheridan’s evidence got him found guilty. When questioned by Law,[285] S., instead of answering immediately, paused, and then replied satisfactorily to the interrogation, but this silence of several minutes previous to replying sufficed in the minds of the jury, and it is allowed on all hands that their verdict proceeded from their conviction that Sheridan was wavering between falsehood and truth, and that the first triumphed. This was confirmed by Law, in a solemn, impressive manner, repeating, ‘You will recollect, Mr. Sheridan, that you are upon your oath.’ The sentence is to be given to-morrow, and fine and imprisonment is expected, but to what amount and extent depends upon their notion of punishing a peer for example sake. Ld. H. and ye D. of Bedford are to be in court at eight, to give bail, in case the sentence is deferred till next term. Fergusson they talk of dis-barring. Those who were really the stimulators of the enterprise were Sheridan himself and Dennis O’Brien. It is even a doubt whether Fergusson was apprised of the scheme. S. was adroit enough to persuade him to suppress in his defence the truth of a circumstance, that, as it appeared in the charge, made against him. Just before the scuffle F. leaned across the table to whisper to O’Connor; the truth of the whisper was an endeavour to deliver unseen a note from S. to O’Connor, the words of which were as follows: ‘As soon as sentence is passed, leap over the bar, run to the right, and we will manage the rest.’ Had this been stated F. might have escaped, but he was persuaded it would have been unhandsome to invoke an unsuspected person; for so little was S. supposed to have assisted, that in court he received thanks from the Judges for having exerted himself to quell the disturbance. S., since he gained such credit as a witness in the State trials (Horne Tooke’s) by his wit and repartee, can never give a direct answer, and is always more occupied how to gain applause by his reply than how to serve those in favour of whom he is called.

The Brest fleet is out, and the alarm is great.[286]

Mlle. Clairon’s[287] Memoirs are published by herself. She gives a few anecdotes of her own life, suppressing the unfavourable truths of her very private history. Her remarks upon the different parts she has acted are good, and show a great knowledge of the art she professed. Her enthusiasm that it should be perfectioned is entertaining.

8th May.—The Court would not accept any bail for Ld. Thanet. Kenyon implied a reproach upon the Attorney-General for having worded the indictment too favourably. He aggravated the heinousness of the offence, and gave some hints about the specific punishment, which is imprisonment for life, confiscation, and the loss of the right arm. It is said the court have no discretionary power, and that the specific punishment must be given, or one very slight. The first most probably will be given for the disgrace of it, but there is no danger of its being enforced; the King will remit the whole.

Ld. T. is now resident in the King’s Bench Prison. Mme. Bonawitz is with him; his friends all visit him, so his time passes cheerfully. If he has society and bonne chère he does not care much about anything else. Mme. Bonawitz is a woman of whom I heard much when I was at Vienna; she was of the second order of noblesse, and reckoned rather pretty, and very gallant. She eloped with Ld. T. and came to England with him. Gilbert Wakefield is also in ye K. B. till sentence is given. His speech, nominally in mitigation of punishment, but, in fact, as Bobus says, in aggravation of it, will probably have secured him imprisonment for life. He is a singular being, of the most primitive manners and uncouth conversation imaginable.

LORD THANET’S TRIAL

Ld. H. made a very good speech upon the case of a man[288] called up and punished by the H. of Lords for a libel against the Bishop of Llandaff. As soon as he had done speaking, Lord Kenyon came up to him and said, ‘You must give me leave, my Lord, to shake hands with you; I wish I could make a convert of you.’ ‘You would find that rather a tough job,’ replied Ld. H. ‘Aye, I am afraid so, but I should like to launch you from another slip.’

I dined on Saturday at Lansdown H.; Ld. H. dined with Mackintosh. I took Tierney with me. Ld. L. was not offended, but on the contrary seemed very much pleased. I saw Sheridan in the morning, and told him all that was said about his evidence; he was in a great rage. Someone at the theatre ran after him, to ask if algebra was not a language. ’ To be sure, an old language, spoken by an ancient people called the Classics.’

May 18th.—We had a good deal of company in the course of last week; the Bessbro’s dined, Ly. Anne,[289] etc. Lady Lucy came and stayed several days. Mr. Adderley frequently dined and slept. I once went to L. H.; very dull. Nothing very interesting occurred. Been ill myself for 15 days with cold. Inoculated Ste., who has the smallpox very badly, not dangerously, but suffers extremely; still at its height. Misses Fox and Vernon came yesterday. Ld. G. Leveson and Ly. B. came unawares; all parties annoyed at meeting. The French are beaten in Italy; the French deputies to Rastadt murdered either by their escort or the peasants,—a sad violation of good faith in either case.

22nd May, ’99.—Many of Ld. Thanet’s friends have recommended that he should write a letter to the King to beg a pardon. Ld. H. is averse to the measure, as is Tierney. I have persuaded the former to keep out of the way, as he will with difficulty restrain himself from delivering his opinion, and should it weigh in Ld. T.’s mind sufficiently to make him regret the proposed scheme and circumstances afterwards turn out harshly, the reflection of having been instrumental in the making him adopt a line of conduct that might be unsuccessful would be distressing. Ld. H. thinks it will be better to allow the business to take its course, as the Attorney-General is almost pledged to drop the prosecution if there is any chance that the specific punishment will be given; as he has already declared his intention in the drawing up of the indictment was to avoid the possibility of that obsolete law being revived. Fergusson is determined against applying for a pardon. He rather seems to enjoy the alarm of Ld. T., as he thinks his Jacobinical associates in the Corresponding Society[290] will admire his heroism and contrast it with Ld. T.’s anxiety; perhaps, in truth, it may be a sort of triumph.

The horrible murder of the French Deputies returning from the Congress of Rastadt to France has made a great sensation in the Republic.[291] Their energy has gone, and nothing could have revived it, but some outrage similar to the one committed. I do not think people here are as much shocked as might have been supposed, which is singular, as such a violation of the faith of nations ought to make a common cause. The French have written an excellent address to all countries. I think it is clear the Austrians sanctioned the robbery for the sake of the papers, and the fury of the soldiers did the murder.

LORD THANET’S TRIAL

23rd May.—A letter from Ld. Thanet just come to say that he has written to His Majesty to interpose against the specific punishment. It has been graciously received, and it will be complied with. He says he had so many intimations that such a step was expected of him, that he thought it impossible not to do it. I sincerely rejoice at his safety. Fergusson, I believe, has not applied; he is left to stand the brunt of all the popular vengeance. I cannot but feel for him. It has lately been told me confidentially that Sr. F. Burdett would have been in the indictment, if Coutts had not availed himself of his secret influence with the King.[292] He certainly was begged off.

On Saturday, 18th May, dined at L. House; afterwards went to the Opera. On Sunday a large party here. Miss Fox and Ly. Lucy in the house. Went to the play with Miss Vernon, Tierney, and Adderley. Tuesday, a dinner at Ld. Robert Spencer’s for the Beaus. Wednesday, dined at the Smiths to meet Mackintosh; afterwards, Ld. B.’s. Thursday, a great dinner here, the Beauclerks, Bessbro’s, young Lords, etc. Went to a masquerade at Mrs. Walker’s after. Friday, yesterday, dined at Ly. B.’s early, to be in time for Sheridan’s play of Pizarro.

26th May.—Mackintosh[293] is the man who wrote a vindication of the French Revolution in the beginning of it. He was then exclaimed against as a furious Jacobin. Nay, two years ago he wished to come here, and I refused seeing him on account of his principles, as I have always dreaded this house becoming a foyer of Jacobinism, and have invariably set my face against receiving all who are suspected of being revolutionists, etc., etc. However, since M. has regained his character, and is become a friend of Canning’s, etc., I admit him; and he yesterday dined here with a numerous party—Ly. B. and Ly. Lucy, ye young Lords, Sturges,[294] Newbolt, Adderley, etc. The conversation was entertaining without great brilliancy. Mackintosh is delivering public lectures at Lincoln’s Inn, upon the law of nature and the law of nations. The objects are, first, to get money, and, nextly, to usher himself into public notice as a man convinced of the fallacy of those doctrines he lately laboured to establish. He manœuvres with dexterity and tacte not too suddenly renouncing them. The lectures are rather Scotch professorships; in his first he attacked with wit and sarcasm Godwin’s metaphysics and all the new system of benevolence and universal philanthropy.

HUSBAND AND WIFE

Jealous people always defeat their object; this was oddly exemplified at the masquerade. The jealousy of a person’s wife suggested a sort of half love, half confidence, that I am almost sure could never have arisen but from that stimulus. I hope the fancy will subside, as I shall lose, if it continues, a cheerful and frequent associate. Another adventure, for which I warmly condemn myself for having allowed to go on, has occupied me lately; half curiosity and half shame have impelled me to continue what I ought to have checked. However, absence will chill more than prudery, and that will take place in a few days. Even that goût, I suspect, originated from the remark of a third person—Ld. G. L. Gratified and blessed as I am in the full possession of my dear husband’s love, these idle affairs afford little or no gratification, and the very little they do proceeds from a sort of vanity to find that his liking is not merely the effect of blind partiality. The mystery I abhor, and my conscience frequently smites me for having a thought, much more an action, unknown to Ld. H. But, every circumstance well considered, I am satisfied by reason that I ought not to disclose goûts passagers that are in themselves of no importance, but become so as soon as communicated; and I have reason to believe that many a woman has smarted from the mistaken point d’honneur of revealing every occurrence without discrimination. The principle is excellent, but ought to be modified with discretion, else the effects may be pernicious to both parties.

I do not think the propriety of restraint is applicable to the husband towards the wife. If I were to say so openly it would excite a smile, and might be construed into licence for myself, tyranny to others; but it is not for that reason. A woman may be so confiding in the affection of her husband, that were he to impart an advance made to him by another, mirth and contempt would be the only passion excited, and if the woman happened to be her nominal friend, why, it would only break the fragile link of female friendship; whereas, so delicate are the feelings of men upon those occasions, that none could listen with composure to the tale of love, his wife the heroine. Hatred and estrangement would ensue, and a friend of some years’ standing would be given up for the fancy of desire and the babbling of a woman.

30th May.—I prevailed upon Ld. H. to go to Court. Ld. Wycombe crossed the street to Mr. Adderley, and said, ‘So Holland has been at Court; that is owing to her Ladyship’s activity.’ Ld. L. went into the country for a few days, and among some other clumsy jokes with Mr. Tierney, such as the disappointment he would feel at my not dining there, his own accommodating spirit in inviting us together, etc., etc., ‘It’s quite strange, one cannot retire for a short time without hearing such strange events. “Lord Holland has gone to Court,” and “Sheridan has written a most loyal speech.”’ If there is anything with regard to the Court remarkable, it is, as General Fitzpatrick says, that Ld. H. had not been before. Miss Fox is, I believe, displeased; it does not accord with her metaphysical, philosophical, pure, philanthropic, etc., system of politics to reverence a Monarch. The abstaining from going, as a measure, is perfectly contemptible. If a man is in Opposition, he opposes the Ministers and Government, not the King personally, and a peer diminishes his own consequence if he does not support the dignity of the throne.

On Sunday we dined at Ld. Boringdon’s, a dinner made for me. The Bessboroughs, ‘the Three,’ Adderley, etc. Jekyll was an interloper, and offended me by his manner of talking of Fergusson’s being disbarred. God knows, I have no liking to F. On the contrary, he is one I never will allow to pass the threshold; but it is disgusting to hear a man in calamity trampled upon, and shows a considerable want of delicacy in Jekyll, one of the profession, discussing before F.’s enemies the utility of expelling him the profession. After dinner I went for a short time to the Duchess of Leinster’s; afterwards supped at Lady B.’s; the Dss. of Devon., Ly. Elizabeth, and her own set.

MR. SHERIDAN

It has happened comically enough that Lady Lucy, who, by-the-bye, is amorously disposed, has fallen in love with Mr. Adderley. The event of the amour does not promise successfully for her, as he is in no ways inclined to give a favourable ear to her passion, though probably, like all persons beloved, his vanity would so far conquer his natural good nature, that he would not object to her making a fool of herself on his account. He wishes to stay longer than originally intended, but he had better go, and probably will. T. perfectly ridiculous, quite my shadow. Went on Monday to Pizarro, Sheridan and Tierney, Adderley, etc. The first came into my box perpetually to explain whenever there was a failure in the representation. I was surprised at his eagerness, and glad to find that drinking has not so totally absorbed his faculties, and that he is still sensible to fame. About him my reason and impulse always are at variance; reflection convinces me he ought to be despised for his private life and doubted for his political, but whenever I see him, if but for five minutes, a sort of cheerful frankness and pleasant wittiness puts to flight all ye reasonable prejudices that I entertain against him.

Francis[295] diverted me excessively the other morning. I got up unusually late, and, whilst at my toilet, I was told he had been in the library some time. Ld. H. was still in bed, and as he is at times amusing, I sent to say I would receive him as I dressed. He came to my door, and there paused, saying, ‘Are you sure the person you sent for was me? Can such a favour be intended me? What? Will you really admit me into your private room?’ When I repeated the invitation, he was delighted. He is very vain, and any distinction quite turns his head, especially from people he rather calls great folks. Ld. Ossory came soon, and asked what had happened to put Francis into such spirits, as his eyes glistened with delight.

We yesterday dined with the General in his new house, early, that we might be in time to see Pizarro; he is a very severe critic. He censured much, and admired some parts; indeed, the most phlegmatic censor must praise a good deal, however German rhapsody may occasionally burst out. My box was full, Grey, Tierney, Whitbread, Lds. Lorne, Bor., etc., and several who could not gain admittance. There is a report, not very improbable as to truth, about, viz., that Lord Lansdown is to marry Miss Coutts. There is very little doubt that, as far as she and her connections are concerned, the alliance will be anxiously sought for, but whether he will incur the risk and ridicule is more doubtful. As far as my wishes go, I hope neither this nor any other marriage will take place; his marrying will destroy his system of living. The ladies, who now accommodate all their arrangements for his convenience, will become more independent and have more leisure. Love for Ld. H. and curiosity for our society will throw them more constantly with us, and, tho’ I do not approve Ld. Wycombe’s principle to the extent he urges it, that to maintain a good understanding with his father he never will see him, yet I am convinced that to keep well with friends you should not live too much with them; for which reasons I deprecate the probability of long and frequent visits, especially as one half of my male and female intimates are placed at the top of Miss Fox’s black list, such as Ld. G. Leveson, Tierney, Mrs. W., Ly. Bess., Ly. Plymouth, Canning, Frere, etc., etc., without end.

The Beaus. returned to Moneyhill. The only possible chance I foresee in that ménage for disquietude, will be his indolent, shy habits, which will rivet him more strongly to the country. The inclination for retirement will be aided by a half jealousy, a propensity he is too prone to; but children, qualms, and fright will soon diminish her power and inclination to charm. Sr. Lionel[296] came and passed the day here. His brother has married the ci-devant Ly. Abercorn. Ld. A. behaved very shabbily; he chicaned about stocks and pounds sterling. Sr. L. has been kind and friendly; tho’ he is rough and selfish, he is capable of doing good-hearted actions. Ld. Hobart, Mr. Adderley came to tell me, is to be married on Saturday; Miss Eden is the bride. She is handsome and sensible.

AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE

A very old acquaintance called here yesterday: I regretted not seeing him—Bob Markham,[297] a great friend of poor Ld. Henry’s[298] and as much a lover as his friendship for his friend could allow. He is married, and settled in Yorkshire. His chief merits are good-nature and a willingness to oblige; his talents are moderate, for to say the truth he is rather dull, but the strongest symptom I feel of age is a strong partiality for those I have known in earlier days. A long acquaintance is with me a passport to affection. This does not operate to exclusion of new acquaintances, as I seek them with avidity; not so much, however, for my own gratification, as from a notion that mixing with a variety of people is an advantage to Ld. H., because as he, thank God, lives constantly at home, unless I were active in collecting fresh materials for society, he might be too apt to fall into a click [sic], a calamity no abilities can fight against. Ideas get confined, prejudices strong, and the whole mind narrowed to the standard of your own set. Canning is an instance of the badness of that plan; his jokes are local, and unless he ‘gives his little senate laws’ he is silent. Mankind are formed to live together; the more they mix with each other the better able a man is to judge them and conduct himself; otherwise it becomes what a priest once said of the universal truth, ‘Orthodoxy is my doxy.’

The Prince has given up Lady Jersey, and is now trying to renew with Mrs. Fitzherbert. He ought to try and make his peace with heaven if he has any account to settle, as he does not look long for this mortal life.

Gilbert Wakefield was this day condemned to two years’ imprisonment in Dorset jail. The sentence is severe; one cannot but regret severities should fall upon a man of learning. The Editor of The Courier was also sentenced to 6 months’ confinement and 200l. fine, for calling ye Emperor of Russia a tyrant. He seems to have been a fool to have been at the trouble of saying such a platitude; ’tis like knowing that B follows A in the alphabet.

1st June,’99.—Lord Belgrave,[299] in consequence, as Lord King says, of morality and the whole duty of man being the haut ton, has taken up the Sunday newspapers, and on the score of their diverting people from their duty on the Sabbath wants them suppressed. Sheridan, who never lets an opportunity escape where an allusion can be made to Ld. B.’s Greek, finding Lord B. wanted time before the division on the motion, observed that the noble Viscount wanted it put off to the Greek Calends. And of the war, when there came up petitions from the country, Ld. Belgrave said that the signatures were not to be depended upon, as he knew many places where boys at school were made to sign—a scandalous proceeding. ‘Infamous,’ said Sheridan, ‘to take them from their Greek.’

Hare, Fitzpatrick, Francis, Tom Sheridan,[300] Tierney, and, by chance, my mother and Sr. Gilbert, dined here yesterday. Sheridan was to have come, but was detained in the H. of Commons by Palmer’s business. The wits and humourists were in high spirits; nothing could be pleasanter. We were persuaded to go to Ly. Heathcote’s masquerade. Some observations about me, jokes about Tierney and I conspiring together. Ly. Cholmondeley, Dss. of Gordon, very cordial; stayed most of the time by the Dss. Devon., Ly. Bessborough, Ly. Melbourne. Prince there, knew me directly; looking dreadfully ill.

7th June.—On Saturday, 1st June, Canning, Bessbro’s, Ld. Morpeth, Bor., G. Leveson, Adderley, Sturges, G. Ellis, etc., dined; rather pleasant. In the library I had, after dinner, a long conversation with Canning. He expressed great satisfaction at acting in concert with Ld. H. about the Slave Trade, and said, from the pleasure that it gave him, he could judge how great it would be if they always agreed. He talked a good deal of the folly of Whig principles and the great families, etc. I thought I perceived, and that probably arose from some circumstance that I knew of, from his inquiry as to my politics, influence over Ld. H., etc., that he wanted rather a confidential opening from me, but however I may wish, I did not encourage it, as Ld. H. is too firmly attached to the obsolete doctrine of Whiggism to be yet open to persuasion. On Sunday I had persuaded Mr. Fox to come, but as the object was to make him meet Porson,[301] and he was prevented coming, I sent an express to stop his leaving St. Anne’s till Wednesday.

On Sunday Ly. Lucy came, Adderley, the Smiths, Hamilton, and Mackintosh. After dinner they had a very metaphysical argument upon infinity, etc., etc. On Monday Ld. H. went to the H. of Lords. Lady Lucy returned home to be with the Duchess, as it was the melancholy anniversary of poor Ld. E.’s death; only Miss Fox, Buonaiuti,[302] Drew, and self at dinner. Tuesday, King’s birthday, a review by him of the London Volunteer corps in the park. Tierney came, sat the whole morn, reading to me. He selected nonsensical passages from old poets applicable he declared to his own situation. I am afraid he will annoy Mrs. T., if he continues his devoirs so obsequiously. Instead of going home to prepare himself for the Budget, which was to come on next day, he returned to dinner here. We had a lively party, Ly. Lucy, Miss Fox, Capt. Murray, Lewis, Mr. Robinson, Drew, etc., Adderley. I had a violent headache. Wednesday, Mr. Fox came, Ld. Robert, and the General came to meet him; the Smiths, etc., stayed. I was obliged to go to the play, as I had promised to meet mother. The King, etc., were there. Tierney, Adderley, Lewis, and Sheridan in my box; came home and found Fox in delightful spirits. He went away the next day early. I dined at two with Drew, and set off to see sights; my shadow came with us. I sent him off to dine with his wife, and went to Covent Garden. To-day, 7th June, Borino dined. I passed great part of the evening and night in the garden; the weather is delicious, and the nightingales in full vigour of song. I have not see any of my own appendages to-day.

HARVEY ASTON

Harvey Aston[303] was killed in duel at Madras; it was the only one out of the number he has fought in which he was in the right. He fought successively with two of his officers, I believe, on the same day. A man to try O’Byrne’s Irishisms asked gravely in which of the duels was he killed, the first or second. ‘Aye, by my faith, I don’t know,’ replied O’Byrne. No man was ever more favoured by the ladies than H. Aston. His figure was fine and manly, but to like him was a sensual taste. Naturally good-humoured, he unfortunately was incessantly fighting; he never was angry, but always provoked others. From what I knew of him I should have described him as a vain, empty fellow; but Mr. Adderley says he knew him at Madras, and occupation brought out his understanding, and he was becoming an able and useful officer and man of business.

The loan has been raised very favourably. Stocks have risen and are expected to get to 60. Wickham’s[304] journey to Switzerland encourages the hope of peace; falsely, I fear, as I collect from my Ministerial friends that the hope of placing a King upon the throne in France is revived with ardour. The Directory are tottering, but their fall will only produce another revolutionary government, perhaps as bloody and horrible as Robespierre’s.

The spring is very tardy, vegetation is now as it was in the first week of May,’98; our garden is delicious. Drew and I have begun our lounging drives in the Green Lane in the garden chair; I have spent many a harmless, cheerful, instructive hour so. I have been out of spirits at the approach of a crisis very painful to my feelings, but my duty and justice compel me to it; I shall soon be obliged to dwell on the particulars. Heaven knows the anguish I undergo; but the less I think, the better armed with resolution shall I be for the event, let it take place as it may.

Ld. Berkeley[305] has entered his pedigree to prove his marriage 14 years ago. He has had a public marriage subsequent to that period, 7 years since. The clergyman who married him is dead; the witness is the lady’s brother, the register torn; in short, the story is dark and, I suspect, fabricated by himself, but I cannot but wish he may substantiate his pretence and prove his marriage.

H. H. 11th June,’99.—Yesterday sentence was given upon Ld. Thanet and Fergusson. Considering the King’s answer to his letter, it appears extraordinary that so harsh a judgment should be pronounced—a year in the Tower, and a fine of 1000l.

On Saturday, 8th June, passed the morning very pleasantly in the garden; many visitors. Dined at Lansdown House, went with my mother to the Opera. Walked most part of the way home; the nightingales delightful, weather serene. On Sunday our usual party of the Smiths; besides them some odd people, such as Sir John Riddell, Mr. Gordon, Mr. Douglas, the Bishop of Salisbury’s son. Also we had Adderley, Ly. Lucy, Cornewall, Hamilton: stayed in the garden past midnight. The harper played under the trees. Monday, my mother and Sr. Gilbert came to stay some days with us. Misses Vernon and Fox came and stayed all night. Ld. H. just gone down to the H. of Lords; the Russian subsidy. A note from Ld. Thanet to say Bob Adair is to come in for Appleby.[306]

HER DAUGHTER HARRIET

19th June, 1799.—On this day my mother left me. During her stay I disclosed an event that has incessantly occupied my mind for now 3 years. I restored to her father my little daughter Harriet,[307] who I had concealed, pretending her dead.

When I left Florence in ’96 my situation was such that a final separation with Sir G. W. was inevitable as soon as I returned to England. The certainty of losing all my children was agonising, and I resolved to keep one in my possession, and I chose that one who, from her age and sex, required the tenderness of a mother. Besides, I was undetermined whether I could bring myself to incur the éclat and anxiety that would arise from my publicly avowing my situation, and among the visionary schemes that passed in my mind there was one I dwelt upon during my dejection with a sort of pleasure. It was to retire and bury myself in some remote corner; what, then, would have been the comfort of possessing such a little partner in my solitude? In short, necessity has compelled me to give her up. Here I will not disguise a feeling, whatever tournure for worldly effect I may give the proceeding—nothing but the dread of discovery and involving Ld. H. in a difficulty on her and my account could have induced me voluntarily to relinquish all the schemes of happiness I had promised myself in educating and possessing her. In short, my mother avowed the whole transaction to Sir G. W., who immediately recollected and acknowledged her; he behaved extremely well. I have dwelt so long upon the subject since I have determined upon the avowal that my mind is wearied, and I shall reserve further details. She was here with my mother for two days, is now gone with her and Henry, and is without exception by far the most lovely I ever beheld. She has all the beauties I had when I was very pretty, and fewer blemishes. Her complexion is fine; she has dimples, fine hair, and thick eyelashes, open chest, flat back.

20th June.—The last week we had company. On Friday the Ladies Fitzpatrick[308] dined here, Lds. Morpeth, Boringdon, Adderley, Tierney, Amherst, and some others. Ld. Plymouth died: a great release to his wife, who will be rewarded by marrying Amherst within the year. His constancy is unparalleled. On Saturday alone; went quietly to the Opera. Sunday, the event took place, and there was a sort of scene at dinner: Smith, Miss Fox, Sydney Smith, Add., Wm. Lamb, Lewis.

LORD HOLLAND’S SPEECH

Ld. Holland’s speech upon the Russian subsidy was reckoned 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 1200l., 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.

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 4000l. to the voluntary subscription[313] just after he had distributed a political pamphlet for sixpence is truly witty:—

On Pitt saying what he did not intend in the H. of Commons, being drunk:—

On Hayley’s Triumphs of Temper[314]:—

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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