The journal of Elizabeth Lady Holland (1791-1811) Volume 2 (of 2)

by Lady Elizabeth Vassall Fox Holland

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Sir George Lyttelton (1709–1773), created Baron Lyttelton in 1756. He married, first, in 1742, Lucy, daughter of Hugh Fortescue, Esq., of Filleigh, co. Devon; and secondly, in 1749, Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Robert Rich, Bart. His son, Thomas, born in 1744, succeeded his father, but died without issue in 1779, when the peerage expired. It was, however, re-created in 1794 in favour of a cousin, from whom the present owner of Hagley, Viscount Cobham, is directly descended.

[2] These trees were sent as a present to Queen Mary by a Dutch merchant. The vessel in which they were placed was wrecked, and its contents were claimed by the Lord of the Manor, the owner of Margam. He afterwards offered to restore them, but was given them as a present by the King.

[3] Thomas Mansel Talbot married, in 1794, Lady Mary Lucy Fox-Strangways, second daughter of Henry Thomas, second Earl of Ilchester, and his first wife Mary Theresa, daughter of Standish O’Grady, Esq. After Mr. Talbot’s death Lady Mary married, in 1815, Sir Christopher Cole. She died in 1855. Margam belonged originally to the Mansel family, and came to the Talbots by marriage. The female line of the Mansels became extinct in 1750.

[4] Lord Plymouth died the preceding June, and their son, Other Archer, who succeeded as sixth Earl, was at this time a boy of ten.

[5] Edward, fifth Earl of Oxford of that creation (1773–1848), who succeeded his cousin in 1790. He married, in 1794, Jane Elizabeth, daughter of Rev. James Scott, rector of Itchen, Hants. She died in 1824, at the age of fifty-one. Their eldest son, born in 1800, was drowned in a shipwreck off Jersey in 1828, and the peerage became extinct after their second son’s death. He succeeded his father in 1848.

[6] Richard Payne Knight (1750–1824), son of Rev. Thomas Knight, Rector of Bewdley, Worcestershire. He inherited Downton Castle from his grandfather, Richard Knight, about 1764, but spent many years in Italy, where he laid the foundations of his collection of coins, bronzes, and marbles. These he left at his death to the British Museum. He sat in the House of Commons from 1780 until 1806, and was looked upon as a recognised authority on the customs and arts of ancient times.

[7] Charles, eleventh Duke of Norfolk (1746–1815), who succeeded his father in 1786. He married, first, in 1767, Marian, daughter of John Coppinger, Esq. She died the following year, and, in 1771, he married Frances, only child of Charles Fitzroy Scudamore, of Holme Lacy, co. Hereford. On the Duke’s death in 1815 he was succeeded by his cousin. When the Duchess died in 1820, her property devolved on the heirs-at-law of her grandfather, the descendants of his sister Mary, wife of Sir Giles Brydges. The Duke was a firm supporter of the Whigs, and was dismissed by George III. from the Lord-Lieutenancy of Sussex in 1798, for an injudicious speech. See ante, i. 177.

[8] Edward Bolton Clive, a connection of Lord Clive, and sometime M.P. for Hereford. He was eldest son of George Clive and Sydney, daughter of Thomas Bolton, Esq. He married, in 1790, Harriet, daughter of Andrew, second Lord Archer.

[9] Captain Charles Morris was born in 1745. He entered the cavalry and exchanged into the Life Guards. He was an intimate associate of the Whigs, and many of his songs were directed against their political opponents. A constant guest at Carlton House, he was subsequently given a pension by the Prince of Wales, and lived for many years near Dorking previous to his death in 1838, in his ninety-third year.

[10] After the departure of Macdonald and the French from Naples, the town was seized by the Royalist bands and only two or three isolated fortresses garrisoned by Frenchmen and Neapolitan rebels held out. The sequence of subsequent affairs is most complicated. It appears a capitulation under terms was arranged, but was disallowed by Nelson until the sanction was obtained of the King, who was expected in the course of a few days. The result was to hand over to the popular fury many of those who had surrendered on the understanding that their lives were safe.

[11] A landing was effected near the Helder on August 27, and three days later the Dutch fleet, consisting of twelve ships of the line, obeyed Admiral Michell’s summons to surrender. The seamen were inclined to the Royal cause and forced their officers to take this course. Until the arrival of the Russians a fortnight later the English remained on the defensive, then an advance was commenced which proved unsuccessful. Various small engagements took place with varied result, but by the middle of October it was found impossible for the allies to win their way from the islands on which they were encamped. Retreat was therefore necessary, and a capitulation was arranged.

[12] Sherborne was granted in 1616 to Sir John Digby, first Earl of Bristol, his father. It now belongs to Mr. Frederick Wingfield Digby.

[13] Sir Richard Colt Hoare, second Baronet (1758–1838), only son of Sir Richard Hoare, of Barn Elms, by his first wife, Anne, daughter of Henry Hoare, Esq., of Stourhead. The first Baronet had also a large family by his second wife, Frances Ann, daughter of Richard Acland, Esq.

[14] John, eleventh Earl of Westmorland (1759–1841). He succeeded his father in 1774, and married, against the wishes of her family, in 1782, Sarah Ann, only daughter of Robert Child, Esq., of Osterley Park. Her death took place in 1793, and Lord Westmorland married, in 1800, Jane, daughter of R. H. Saunders, Esq., M.D. He was Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland from 1790 to 1795, and Lord Privy Seal from 1798 until 1827, with a short interval in 1806–7.

[15] William Wingfield Baker, son of George Wingfield, of Cotham, co. Durham, and Mary, niece of George Sparrow, Esq. He married Charlotte Marie, daughter and sole heiress of Henry, first Earl Digby, in 1796. She died in 1807, and Mr. Wingfield married, in 1813, Elizabeth, daughter of William Miles, Esq., of Bisterne, Hants. He assumed the name of Baker by royal licence in 1849, and died in 1858.

[16] Lord Archibald’s father succeeded his nephew in August 1799, as ninth Duke of Hamilton, and sixth Duke of Brandon.

[17] Thomas Chaplin, of Riseholme, Lincolnshire, second son of Charles Chaplin and Elizabeth Thornton. He married Elizabeth, Sir Godfrey Webster’s sister, and was appointed guardian to the Webster children after Sir Godfrey’s death.

[18] He did not obtain this post, but was appointed Advocate-General in Bengal, through Lord Lansdown’s influence, in 1803.

[19] Sherborne.

[20] A yellow and white spaniel.

[21] Lord Henry Spencer.

[22] Colonel the Hon. Thomas Onslow (1755–1827), eldest son of George Lord Onslow, who was created Earl of Onslow in 1801. He sat in Parliament for Rye from 1775 to 1784, and for Guildford from 1784 till 1806. He succeeded his father as second Earl in 1814.

[23] Sir John Frederick, of Burwood Park, Surrey, fifth Baronet (1749–1825); for some years M.P. for Surrey.

[24] Lieut.-Colonel George Montagu (1751–1815), son of James Montagu, of Lackham, Wilts, a connection of the Earls of Manchester. He served in the American war, and commanded the Wiltshire Militia for many years. He was an authority on natural history, and published an Ornithological History of British Birds in 1802. His collection of birds was purchased by the British Museum.

[25] Edward Adolphus, eleventh Duke of Somerset (1775–1855) eldest son of Webb, tenth Duke of Somerset, and Anna Maria, daughter of John Bonnel, Esq., of Stanton Harcourt, Oxford. He succeeded his father in 1793, and married, first, in 1800, Charlotte, daughter of Archibald, ninth Duke of Hamilton. His wife died in 1827, after a long illness. He married, secondly, in 1836, Margaret, daughter of Sir Michael Shaw Stewart, Bart. The Duke of Somerset’s Devonshire residence was Berry Pomeroy, near Totnes.

[26] Lord Webb John Seymour, born in 1777, and died unmarried in 1819. Lord Cockburn in his Memorials says, ‘His special associate was Playfair. They used to be called husband and wife, and in congeniality and affection no union could be more complete. Geology was their favourite pursuit.’

[27] John Playfair (1748–1819), Professor of Mathematics, and later of Natural Philosophy, in the Edinburgh University.

[28] Jérôme Marie Champion de Cicé (1735–1810), appointed Archbishop of Bordeaux in 1781. He sided with the popular party, and his appointment to a post in the Ministry by Louis XVI., after Necker’s return, was well received. He was accused, however, of favouring the reactionaries, and resigned his office and Bishopric in 1790. He remained abroad until the establishment of the Consulate.

[29] Dugald Stewart (1753–1828), son of Matthew Stewart, Professor of Mathematics at Edinburgh University. He assisted his father in his later years with his mathematical classes, and in 1785 was appointed to the chair of Moral Philosophy. His lectures were eagerly attended, and many of the young men of the great Whig families were sent to Edinburgh to benefit by them. He married, first, in 1783, Helen, daughter of Neil Bannatyne, by whom he had one son. She died in 1787, and he married in 1790, Helen, daughter of Hon. George Cranstoun—the ‘Ivy’ of the letters, recently published, from John William Ward (afterwards Earl of Dudley), who had been placed under her husband’s care. She died in 1838.

[30] Sir Ralph Abercromby, his second-in-command.

[31] Alexander (1767–1852), who succeeded his father, as tenth Duke of Hamilton in 1819. The difficulty was solved by styling him Marquess of Douglas and Clydesdale.

James, sixth Duke of Hamilton (1724–58), the husband of the beautiful Elizabeth Gunning, left two sons and one daughter, Elizabeth, who married Edward, twelfth Earl of Derby. The two sons succeeded successively as seventh and eighth Dukes, and on the latter’s death in 1799 the titles reverted to Lord Archibald Hamilton’s father—the half-brother of the sixth Duke.

[32] Copley.

[33] Lord Holland’s uncle, the Hon. Henry Edward Fox (1755–1811), youngest son of Henry, first Lord Holland, and Caroline, daughter of Charles, second Duke of Richmond. He entered the army at the age of fifteen, and served in America throughout the war. On his return in 1783 he was appointed aide-de-camp to George III., and especially distinguished himself in command of an infantry brigade in Flanders (1793–95). He was appointed Lieut.-General in 1799, and received successively the appointments of General in the Mediterranean (1801), Commander-in-Chief in Ireland (1803), Lieut.-Governor of Gibraltar (1804). In 1806 he was given command of the forces in Sicily, and appointed Ambassador to the Court of Naples, but was recalled on the fall of the Ministry the following year and made Governor of Portsmouth. He married, in 1786, Marianne, daughter of William Clayton, Esq.

[34] The treaties were originally drawn up with the object of prevailing on the King of Prussia to join against the common foe. These efforts, however, failed, and England and Russia decided that a joint attack on the French in Holland was the most likely step to annoy. A second treaty was therefore concluded to this effect. After the ultimate failure of the expedition the Russians were quartered for the winter in Jersey and Guernsey.

[35] Evan Nepean (1751–1822), created a Baronet in 1802. He was Secretary to the Admiralty from 1795 until 1804, when he became Secretary of State for Ireland.

[36] General Sir Charles Grey, K.B. (1729–1807), afterwards created Earl Grey. He was at this time in command of the Southern district in England.

[37] Peter, seventh Lord King (1776–1833), eldest son of Peter, sixth Lord King, and Charlotte, daughter of Edward Tredcroft, Esq., of Horsham. He succeeded his father in 1793, and married, in 1804, Lady Hester Fortescue, daughter of Hugh, first Earl Fortescue. His eldest son was created Earl of Lovelace in 1838. He made his maiden speech in the House of Lords on the above subject two months later, but seldom took part in the debates. He became, however, a recognised authority on questions of finance and currency.

[38] Joseph Hager, born at Milan in 1757. A German by birth, he was educated at Vienna, and after obtaining a thorough knowledge of European languages turned his attention to those of the East. He wrote several books on the Chinese tongue, by which he obtained celebrity, and was appointed Professor of Oriental Languages at Pavia in 1809. When this post was abolished, he became Keeper of the Milan Library. He died in 1818.

[39] At the opening of the session, on September 24.

[40] In a series of engagements centring round Zurich Masséna forced the Russian General Korsakoff to retreat to Constance, and inflicted on him great loss. The Annual Register puts the loss of the Allies, arrived at ‘by a most ingenious and accurate computation,’ from September 25 to October 9, at 15,000 men, and that of the French at 9000. Suvarroff, however, was not ‘totally defeated.’ On finding what had occurred, he decided to move his army straight across Switzerland, and after an adventurous march, complicated by continual fighting, effected a junction with Korsakoff early in October. Suvarroff retired to Russia shortly after this, and died in retirement.

[41] The castle of Aboukir had been stormed and captured on July 15 by the Turkish army under Mustapha Pasha. It fell again into the hands of the French on August 2, after eight days’ fighting.

[42] William Cusac Smith (1766–1836), eldest son of Sir Michael Smith, Bart., who died in 1808. He was called to the Irish Bar in 1788, and became a King’s Counsel seven years later. Though a follower of Burke, he sided with the Government, and was a strong supporter of their policy of the Union. He was appointed Solicitor-General in 1800, and a Baron of the Exchequer the following year.

[43] The position of the British and Russian troops in Holland had become so unsatisfactory and precarious owing to the inclemency of the weather and various other circumstances, that the Duke of York decided early in October to withdraw his advance posts and report the whole matter to the home Government. The enemy made one determined attack on the British during their retirement, but were repulsed with loss. On October 17 a truce was agreed to between the combatants, and it was arranged as a set-off to permission to the British to re-embark without molestation that 8000 of the Batavian and French seamen, prisoners in England, should be given up to the French.

[44] John Philpot Curran (1750–1817), the Irish lawyer and patriot. He was on most occasions distinguished for his wit and the brilliancy of his conversation.

[45] George Ponsonby (1755–1817), third son of John Ponsonby, and brother of William, first Lord Ponsonby. After many years in the Irish Parliament, he took his seat at Westminster in 1801, as member for Wicklow. He was appointed Lord Chancellor of Ireland in 1806, but after the fall of the Ministry returned to the House of Commons. From 1808 until his death he was recognised as the official leader of the Opposition in that House.

[46] Bonaparte left Egypt on August 24 ‘in consequence of news from Europe,’ as he stated in his general declaration to the Army. He landed at Fréjus on October 7, and at once set off for Paris.

[47] William Young was not Fielding’s tutor, but an intimate friend, who collaborated with him in several of his works.

[48] Etienne Charles Loménie de Brienne (1727–1794), who was appointed to succeed Calonne as Finance Minister in 1787. Louis XVI. appointed him Archbishop of Sens the following year, when he had proved himself no greater success as Minister than his predecessor. He was replaced by Necker.

[49] James Scarlett (1769–1844), second son of Robert Scarlett, Esq., of Jamaica. He was called to the Bar in 1791, and became a King’s Counsel in 1816. After an unsuccessful attempt in 1812 he entered Parliament as a Whig in 1819, and was made Attorney-General by Canning in 1827. He resigned this post the following year, but considering himself ill-used by his party in 1830, joined the Tories, and was by them appointed Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer in 1834. He retained the post until the time of his death. He was created Lord Abinger in 1835. He married, first, in 1792, Louisa Henrietta, daughter of Peter Campbell, Esq., of Kilmory, co. Argyll; and secondly, in 1843, Elizabeth, daughter of Lee Steere, Esq., and widow of Rev. Henry John Ridley.

[50] Harvey Christian Combe, Lord Mayor of London for year ending November 9, 1800.

[51] Probably William, second son of Hon. George Dalrymple, of Dalmahoy, who became a general officer and Lieut.-Governor of Chelsea Hospital. He died in 1807, and left a son who succeeded as seventh Earl of Stair.

[52] Sir Gilbert Affleck’s house, near Newmarket.

[53] See Annual Register for 1800, State Papers, p. 203.

[54] St. Leon, a novel.

[55] Duchess of Leinster.

[56] William Gifford (1756–1826), a friend of Canning and editor of the Anti-Jacobin or Weekly Examiner. He was subsequently editor of the Quarterly Review from its commencement in 1809 until 1824.

[57] Charles Nevison, Viscount Andover (1775–1800), eldest son of John, fifteenth Earl of Suffolk. He married, in 1796, Jane Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas William Coke, afterwards created Earl of Leicester.

[58] Lords Morpeth, Granville Leveson-Gower, Boringdon, Duke of Bedford.

[59] Don Raymond della Massa.

[60] Hon. Charles Kinnaird (1780–1826), eldest son of George, seventh Baron Kinnaird. He succeeded his father in 1805, and married the following year Lady Olivia Fitzgerald, youngest daughter of William Robert, second Duke of Leinster. He sat in the House of Commons for Leominster from 1802 to 1805.

[61] The subject of this correspondence was a remark of Lord Kenyon in June 1799, when in dealing with a case, Host v. Whalley, he mentioned that General Fitzpatrick had lost 400l. or 500l. in a gaming house, which he refused to pay, and animadverted somewhat severely on his conduct. General Fitzpatrick, in his first letter, dated August 27, 1799, denied that these were the true facts. He stated his reasons for refusing to discharge his debt for the present to Mr. Martindale, an undischarged bankrupt, and informed him that he had the latter’s sanction to the course he was taking. He said he hoped, therefore, that Lord Kenyon would take an early opportunity of correcting his statement, but as he did not do so, he wrote again, on January 20, that his only course was to publish his letters. These appeared in the True Briton, March 5, 1800.

[62] Sir Archibald Macdonald, Chief Baron of the Exchequer.

[63] Sylvester Douglas (1743–1823), created Lord Glenbervie in 1800.

[64] Jacques Etienne Macdonald (1765–1840), one of Napoleon’s generals; made a Marshal, and created Duke of Tarento, after Wagram.

[65] Benedetto Menzini (1646–1704), Italian poet and satirist.

[66] Louis Léon de Brancas, Duc de Lauragais (1733–1824), French savant and writer.

[67] The island was captured by the English in 1655.

[68] The Royal Institution, founded in March 1799 by Count Rumford, Sir Joseph Banks, and others. It was incorporated January 13, 1800, by royal charter.

[69] Horne Tooke opposed Fox and Sir Alan Gardner at Westminster in the election of 1796, and was returned at the bottom of the poll. He was ordained in 1760, at his father’s bidding, but did very little clerical duty. After he obtained a seat in Parliament for Old Sarum in 1801, a bill was brought in by Addington declaring the ineligibility of clergy. This was passed, but Tooke was allowed to retain his seat until the end of that Parliament.

[70] Charles François de Riffardeau, Marquis de Rivière (1763–1828). He left France with the Comte d’Artois, but returning was implicated in the Cadoudal conspiracy in 1804, and was condemned to death. The sentence was commuted by Napoleon to perpetual imprisonment, and it was not until the Restoration that he regained his liberty. He was Ambassador at Constantinople from 1816 to 1820.

[71] Sir Benjamin Hobhouse (1757–1831), son of John Hobhouse, of Bristol, and father of John Cam Hobhouse, created Lord Broughton. He sat in Parliament from 1797 until 1818, and was made a Baronet in 1812.

[72] The Duc de la Rochefoucauld was killed in 1792 by the revolutionaries at Gisors. The Duc de Liancourt was his first cousin.

[73] Claude Carloman de Rulhière (1735–1791), a French writer, was aide-de-camp to the Maréchal de Richelieu for some years.

[74] His History of James II., which was published, after his death, in 1808, with a preface by Lord Holland. Lord Brougham, in his Statesmen of the time of George III., says of his writings, ‘The practice of composition seems never to have been familiar to Mr. Fox.... His History shows the same want of expertness in composition. The style is pure and correct, but cold and lifeless; it is even somewhat abrupt and discontinuous, so little does it flow naturally or with ease.’

[75] Rev. Francis North (1772–1861), afterwards sixth Earl of Guilford. He was eldest son of the Hon. Brownlow North and Henrietta Maria, daughter of John Bannister. His father held successively the sees of Lichfield (1771), Worcester (1774), and Winchester (1781), and died in 1820. Mr. North married, in 1798, Esther, daughter of Rev. John Harrison, who died childless in 1823. He married, secondly, in 1826, Harriet, daughter of Lieut.-General Sir Henry Warde, G.C.B. On the death of his cousin Frederick, fifth Earl of Guilford, in 1827, who never married, he succeeded to the earldom.

[76] John Courtenay (1741–1816), son of William Courtenay. He was private secretary to Lord Townshend in Ireland, and was returned by him in 1780 for Tamworth, for which place he sat until 1796. From that year until 1807 he was member for Appleby.

[77] The Royal Institution.

[78] Joseph Stock (1740–1813), appointed Bishop of Killala in 1798, and transferred to Waterford and Lismore in 1810. Lord Holland, in his Memoirs of the Whig Party, states that this pamphlet was supposed to have interfered with his chances of promotion.

[79] Holland House.

[80] Henry Rich (1590–1649), second son of Robert, Earl of Warwick, and his wife Penelope Rich (the ‘Stella’ of Sir Philip Sidney). A favourite with James I., he was, in 1623, created Baron Kensington, having married Isabel, daughter and heiress of Sir Walter Cope, who had built what was then called Cope Castle in 1607. There was probably a house near, if not on the same site, but this was removed in order to make way for Sir Walter’s mansion, erected from designs of John Thorpe. Rich was raised to an earldom in 1624. Lady Holland has somewhat exaggerated his intimacy with the Queen, but he certainly owed his rapid advancement at Court greatly to her favour after James’ death.

[81] Sir James Mackintosh, in a fragment of a History of Holland House, preserved among the MSS., says that Van Dyke lived there for about two years. He produces no authority, however, for this statement, nor is the fact referred to in any recent biography of the great painter.

[82] This picture, as well as that of his brother, Robert, Earl of Warwick, now belongs to the Hon. Mrs. Baillie Hamilton, a granddaughter of the first Marquess of Breadalbane, at Langton, Duns. Lady Mary Rich, daughter of Lord Holland, married, in 1657, Sir John Campbell, of Glenorchy, who was created Earl of Breadalbane and Holland in 1681. Lady Holland is, however, mistaken in her description of the picture. Lord Warwick is in court dress, while Lord Holland wears the leather doublet and steel breast-plate of the period.

[83] These passages are not from Clarendon. They both are quoted in Faulkner’s History of Kensington, published in 1820. The latter of them is there said to be taken from a journal of the time, the Perfect Diurnal.

[84] Henry, Earl of Holland’s elder brother, Robert, became second Earl of Warwick in 1618. On his death in 1658 the title passed in succession to his sons Robert and Charles. The latter died in 1673, and leaving no male issue the earldom passed to his cousin Robert, second Earl of Holland, who had succeeded his father in 1649. He died two years later, and both titles passed to his son Edward, who married Charlotte, daughter of Sir Thomas Middleton (afterwards wife of Addison), while his daughter married Francis Edwardes of Haverfordwest. Edward, Earl of Holland and Warwick, died in 1701, and was succeeded by his only son Edward Henry, above mentioned. On his death, unmarried, in 1721, the properties passed to William Edwardes, his first cousin, who was created Baron Kensington in 1776, while the earldoms reverted to a distant cousin, at whose death the titles became extinct.

[85] Horace Walpole, in a letter to George Montagu (May 16, 1759), writes, ‘Unluckily, he died of brandy.’

[86] ‘In 1749 it was let on lease, at a rent of 182l. 16s. 9d., to Henry Fox, first Lord Holland, who bought it in 1767’ (Princess Liechtenstein’s Holland House).

[87] Lady Georgina Caroline Fox, created Baroness Holland in 1762, was Charles, second Duke of Richmond’s eldest daughter. She died in 1774, twenty-three days after her husband’s death.

[88] Sister of Sir Lionel Copley and of Lord Abercorn’s first wife, who died in 1791. Her second brother, Joseph, who succeeded to the baronetcy on Sir Lionel’s death in 1806, ran away with and married Lord Abercorn’s second wife.

[89] Lady Ann’s brother, who succeeded his father in 1809 as third Earl of Arran (1761–1837).

[90] Lord Archibald Hamilton’s sister, and eldest daughter of Archibald, ninth Duke of Hamilton. The marriage took place on June 24. She died in 1827. Her youngest sister, Susan, married, in 1803, George, fifth Earl of Dunmore.

[91] Lord Auckland was Chief Secretary in Ireland under Lord Carlisle, but was included in Lord Shelburne’s Government of 1783, and went out of office with Pitt, to whom he attached himself.

[92] The treaty of El Arish was concluded in January. By it the French troops were to be allowed to return to France, without any stipulation as to their non-employment in the future. This was directly contrary to the instructions of the British Government, which only reached Sir Sidney Smith after the conclusion of the peace. The Ministers, however, on hearing that his word was pledged, assented to the Articles, but meanwhile the French victory at Heliopolis over the Turks made them disinclined to accept terms, and the fighting was renewed.

[93] Charles, Lord Whitworth (1752–1825), Minister Extraordinary at St. Petersburg from 1788 till 1800. He was raised to the peerage at Paul’s own special request, but before the news of the honour arrived the Czar had quarrelled with him and dismissed him from his dominions.

[94] Paul’s views on the European question underwent a radical change soon after Napoleon’s accession to the Consulate. He conceived a great admiration for the conqueror of Italy, and this feeling was fostered by the latter’s action in restoring him 7000 Russian soldiers, clothed in new uniforms, whom the English had refused to include in a cartel of exchange. Instead of the ally he suddenly became the active opponent of England and Austria, seized all British ships in his ports, and ordered Lord Whitworth to retire to Riga.

[95] Grey in his speech disclaimed the fact that the object of his motion was the reform of Parliament, though he owned he wished it was so. As, however, this was impracticable he wished only to try to keep Parliament in its present state.

[96] John Gale Jones (1769–1838), a Radical politician of the advanced school, though by profession a surgeon.

[97] Fox, in a letter to Lord Holland, dated March 1798 (Memorials and Correspondence), says: ‘With regard to secession (that is declared secession) I confess I do not like it as a measure, but I believe the Duke of Bedford does. I should dislike to a degree I cannot express to attend again myself: ... but I am so far from wishing others to do the same, that I even wish for occasions when you and others may have opportunity of attending.’ Again, on October 21, he writes: ‘The Duke of Bedford, who is here, confirms what you say of Grey’s intention to attend occasionally, and I shall not be at all sorry to find myself the sole seceder.’

[98] Lord Holland points out in the Memoirs of the Whig Party that this was the first motion in the House of Lords on a subject which finally received the assent of Parliament in 1829. The motion was not directly negatived, but the debate was concluded by Lord Boringdon, who moved the previous question.

[99] A bill on this subject was brought in by Lord Auckland in April, but was dropped after passing the second reading. The same gentleman introduced a new Bill on May 16, which passed through the House of Lords, though on third reading the figures were only 77 to 69. It was also read twice in the House of Commons, but was thrown out on a motion that it should be considered in Committee. The first was to prohibit the intermarriage of the offending parties. The second contained an additional clause making the offenders liable to imprisonment and fine.

[100]

From every latent foe,

From the assassin’s blow,

God save the King!

O’er him thine arm extend,

For Britain’s sake defend

Our father, prince, and friend,

God save the King!

[101] Mr. William Fawkener, clerk to the Privy Council, and eldest son of Sir Everard Fawkener, a London merchant.

[102] Philip, fifth Earl of Chesterfield (1755–1815), son of Arthur Stanhope, Esq., of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, succeeded his relation and godfather, the celebrated politician and wit, in 1773. His former tutor, Dr. William Dodd (1729–1777), whom he appointed to the living of Wing, forged his name in 1777 for a bond of 4200l. Dodd was arrested, and notwithstanding great efforts made to save him, he suffered the supreme penalty of the law.

[103] Duke of Sussex. He had married Lady Augusta Murray secretly in 1793.

[104] He was acquitted, upon the grounds of insanity, and was ordered to be confined for the remainder of his life.

[105] J. D. Carlyle (1759–1804), appointed Chancellor of Carlisle in 1793. He accompanied Lord Elgin’s mission to Constantinople as chaplain.

[106] Masséna was forced to capitulate on June 4, but the delay had given Bonaparte necessary time to cross the passes while Melas and his Austrians were still busily engaged at Genoa. Part of the French army of the Rhine was also liberated by Moreau’s successes over Knay, near Ulm, and French reinforcements poured into Italy by the Simplon and St. Gothard. Melas, probably unaware of the new arrivals, turned to defend himself against Bonaparte, but was signally defeated on June 14 at Marengo.

[107] Count Semen Vorontzoff was appointed Russian Ambassador in London, 1784, and remained there until 1806. He obtained permission from his Government to continue to reside there after his official connection with England had ceased, and died in 1832 at the age of eighty-nine.

[108] The Duke of Clarence used these quotations in a speech in the House of Lords on the Divorce Bill. The sermon referred to was delivered in 1795 by Samuel Horsley, Bishop of Rochester. The reason for the Duke’s reference was to oppose the arguments which the Bishop used on that occasion to his statements made on the Bill. Samuel Horsley (1733–1806) was appointed Bishop of St. David’s in 1788, was transferred to the see of Rochester in 1793, and to that of St. Asaph in 1802.

[109] Georgina Elizabeth, second daughter of George, fourth Viscount Torrington, who married Lord John Russell (afterwards sixth Duke of Bedford) in 1786, and died in 1801, leaving three sons, one of whom was the celebrated statesman, Lord John Russell. Her husband succeeded his brother in the dukedom in 1802. He was born in 1766, and married, secondly, in 1803, Georgina, daughter of Alexander, fourth Duke of Gordon. He held the post of Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, 1806–7, and died in 1839.

[110] Lady Georgina Dorothy Cavendish, eldest daughter of William, fifth Duke of Devonshire, and Georgina, daughter of John, Earl Spencer. She married Lord Morpeth in 1801, and died in 1858.

[111] Sir William Scott (1745–1836), created Lord Stowell in 1821. He practised in the Admiralty and Ecclesiastical Courts, and was appointed Judge of the Consistory Court in 1788, Master of the Faculties in 1790, and Judge of the High Court of Admiralty in 1798.

[112] Grey married, in 1794, Mary Elizabeth, only daughter of William Brabazon, first Baron Ponsonby, of Imokilly. She died in 1861. His eldest sister, Elizabeth, married Samuel Whitbread in 1789. The latter (1758–1815) was only son of Samuel Whitbread, of Southill, Beds. He was elected as member for Bedford in 1790, and sat in Parliament until his death by his own hand in 1815.

[113] Magistrate at Bow Street. He retired on a pension the following year.

[114] Charles Abbot (1757–1829). He first entered Parliament in 1795, and was made Speaker in 1802. He retired in 1816, and was then created Baron Colchester.

The Bill was the result of a Committee appointed by Pitt in 1797, with Abbot as chairman. It was designed to put an end to the habit, prevalent in the preceding century, of persons in high office placing the public moneys to their own account and appropriating to their own use the interest which thus accrued. It was not even considered necessary to refund the capital sum at the expiration of their term of office, when the accounts were closed, and the matter was allowed to drag on, as in the Hollands’ case, until it was found convenient to pay off the whole.

The monies were outstanding from Lord Holland’s grandfather’s (Henry Fox, first Lord Holland) Paymastership. The practice was looked on as a right, though certain statesmen of the time—the Pitts and others—refused to benefit by it, and thereby obtained the praise and increased confidence of the public. The retrospective clauses were not finally included in the Bill.

[115] George O’Brien, third Earl of Egremont (1751–1837), the well-known connoisseur and patron of the fine arts, who succeeded to the title in 1763.

[116] By her grandfather Florentius Vassall’s will the property was to be equally divided among all her sons at her death.

[117] John Lens (1756–1825), became a Serjeant-at-law in 1799, and King’s Serjeant in 1806.

[118] On him and his share in the quarrel between Lord Carlisle and Lord Kenyon.

[119] He was appointed Louis XV.’s doctor in 1731.

[120] Joan, daughter and co-heiress of Major-General Scott, of Balcomie, co. Fife. She was created Viscountess Canning in 1828, after her husband’s death, and died in 1837.

[121] John Millar (1735–1801). He accepted a professorship in law at Glasgow in 1761. His lectures on civil law and jurisprudence were renowned. He was strongly inclined to Whiggism, and favoured the principles of the French Revolution, though detesting the excesses which afterwards arose in that country.

[122] Mr. Fox, writing of Lord Henry in 1802, says, ‘I never did see a young man I liked half so much. Whatever disappointments Lansdown may have had in public life, and of a still more sensible kind in Lord Wycombe, he must be very unreasonable if he does not consider them all compensated in Lord Henry.’

[123] Mme. de Staël mentions Bonaparte’s visit to her father in her Considérations sur la Révolution française, but does not allude to having seen him herself. Bourrienne quotes Napoleon’s opinion of her: ‘I do not like women who make men of themselves, any more than I like effeminate men.... I cannot endure that woman: for one reason, that I cannot bear women who make a set at me, and God knows how often she has tried to cajole me!’

[124] Charles, third Earl Stanhope (1753–1816), an outspoken admirer of the doctrines of the French Revolution, and a social reformer of a most advanced type.

[125] Mrs. Warren Hastings, the divorced wife of Baron Imhoff. She married Hastings in 1777.

[126] Edward Law (1750–1818), created Lord Chief Justice and Baron Ellenborough in 1802.

[127] John, sixth Earl of Stair (1749–1821), only son of John, fifth Earl of Stair, and Miss Middleton, daughter of George Middleton, Esq. He succeeded his father in the earldom in 1789. He was Minister Plenipotentiary in Poland, 1782, and to Berlin, 1785.

[128] Sheridan’s second wife, whom he married in 1795—Esther Jane, daughter of Newton Ogle, Dean of Winchester.

[129] A note in the Annual Register for 1800, dated May 7, states that the Duke, having disposed of the materials of Bedford House, ordered a sale of the contents. A list of the most valuable of these is given.

Russell and Bloomsbury Squares, connected by Bedford Place, were erected on the site of the house and gardens. The idea of a statue of Lord Russell was not carried out, but in Russell Square a statue of the Duke himself, by Sir Richard Westmacott, erected in 1809, now stands facing Bedford Place. At the other end, in Bloomsbury Square, is a bronze one of Charles James Fox by the same sculptor.

[130] William V., the last Stadtholder, who left Holland in 1795 when the Batavian Republic was declared, and died in 1806. His son was restored as King in 1813.

[131] Henry Webster, her son.

[132] Sir Thomas Maitland (d. 1824) a brother of Lord Lauderdale. He was in command of the troops in this expedition, with local rank of major-general, while the naval force was under Sir Edward Pellew. The peninsula of Quiberon was attacked and forts on it captured, but nothing decisive was achieved.

[133] John William, Viscount Duncannon (1781–1847), eldest son of Frederick, third Earl of Bessborough, and Henrietta, daughter of John, Earl Spencer. He succeeded to the titles on his father’s death in 1844.

[134] Jean François Bourgoing (1748–1811), appointed Minister at Copenhagen in 1799.

[135] As soon as Napper Tandy took refuge at Hamburg in 1798, Lord Grenville summoned the Senate to hand him over to the British representative on the charge of high treason. After some delay he was sent to England, and was tried early in 1800. He was acquitted on one charge, but was condemned to death on a second. The sentence was never carried out, and he was released in 1802. His surrender, however, cost the Senate dear, for Bonaparte fined the city four and a half million francs, for their action in handing over an individual who claimed to be a French subject.

[136] Perhaps the adventurer, James George Semple, alias Semple Lisle, the son of an exciseman, who lived an adventurous life on the Continent and in England, where he was several times sentenced to imprisonment for fraudulent transactions. It is stated in the Dictionary of National Biography that the last thing known of him is in 1799, when he was still in confinement in Tothill Fields prison.

[137] Thomas Holcroft (1745–1809), the dramatist and novelist. His best play, The Road to Ruin, was first performed at Covent Garden in 1792. He was indicted of high treason in 1794, but was acquitted. He left England in 1799, owing to want of money, but only stayed in Hamburg a short time. He then went to Paris for two years, and died in England.

[138] Charles Maclean, writer on politics and on medical subjects. He spent the best years of his life in India in the service of the East India Company.

[139] Henriette de Sercey, Mme. de Genlis’ niece (‘A Circe,’ according to Miss Burney), and companion on her visit to England in 1791, married M. Mathiessen at Hamburg in 1795 or 1796.

[140] Lady Edward Fitzgerald.

[141] Prince Adolphus Frederick, Duke of Cambridge (1774–1850), and father of the late Duke of Cambridge. He was educated at Göttingen, and served in the Hanoverian army until 1804.

[142] Ahlden.

[143] The heiress was Lady Elizabeth Percy, daughter of the eleventh Earl of Northumberland. She was married at the age of eleven to the Earl of Ogle, son of the Duke of Newcastle, who died the following year. When fourteen her mother married her to Mr. Thynne, of Longleat, in order to preserve her from Königsmark, who was trying to marry her. As Thynne refused to fight a duel with a friend of Königsmark, who was put up to pick a quarrel with him, his assassination, while driving in Pall Mall, was arranged and duly carried out. In the ensuing trial Königsmark was acquitted of complicity, but had to fly the country.

[144] Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. He was born in 1735, and married, in 1764, Princess Augusta, sister of George III. He was killed at the battle of Auerstadt in 1806. Their daughter, Caroline, married George IV. The Duchess returned to England in 1807, after the death of her husband, and died in 1813.

[145] John Joshua, first Earl of Carysfort (1751–1828), only son of Sir John Proby, first Baron Carysfort. He succeeded to the title on his father’s death in 1772, and was raised to an earldom in 1789. He married, first, in 1774, Elizabeth, daughter of the Right Hon. Sir John Osborne; and, secondly, in 1787, Elizabeth, daughter of the Right Hon. George Grenville. He held the post of Minister Plenipotentiary in Berlin from 1800 until 1802.

[146] Prince Ferdinand Augustus of Prussia (1730–1813), youngest brother of Frederick the Great.

[147] Frederick William III. married, in 1793, Louise, daughter of Duke Charles of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. She was born in 1776, and died in 1810. Frederick William, who was son of Frederick William II. and his second wife, Princess Louise of Hesse Darmstadt, became King of Prussia in 1797.

[148] Prince Henry of Prussia (1726–1802), another brother of Frederick the Great.

[149] Hugh Elliot, British Minister in Dresden until 1803, when he was transferred to Naples.

[150] Strict regulations were at this time in force against any voluntary visit to places in the French dominions or under the rule of the Republic. Lord Holland mentions in his Memoirs of the Whig Party, that to obviate this he applied for a special permit, but received no answer. As they had, however, passports from Bournonville and La Valette, the French Ministers at Berlin and Dresden, and having read a letter from Lord Grenville to Lord Carysfort saying that all would be well if they did not visit Paris, they decided to go on. This was fortunate, he says, for the Duke’s letter, which he did not receive until his return to England, gave no decided permission, while as it was they had no difficulty, on reaching Dover, in obtaining leave to land.

[151] Duchess Amalia of Saxe-Weimar, a Princess of Brunswick. She married Ernest Augustus, Duke of Saxe-Weimar, who died in 1758, and acted as guardian to her infant son, Charles Augustus, who lived until 1828.

[152] James Henry Lawrence (1773–1840), miscellaneous writer, son of Richard James Lawrence, Esq., of Jamaica. His essay on the customs of native caste in Malabar was inserted by Wieland in his Merkur, and he later published a romance on the same subject. In later life he asserted that he was a Knight of Malta, and called himself Sir James Lawrence.

[153] Stephen, born January 18, 1799.

[154] ‘The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, otherwise called the Imperial Parliament, was opened, by commission, on the 22nd of January, 1801.’... The King, however, did not meet Parliament till the 2nd of February (Annual Register).

[155] His medical attendant.

[156] William, fourth Earl Fitzwilliam (1748–1833), Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland in 1795.

[157] The attempt to blow up Bonaparte on the way to the Opera took place on December 24, 1800. The plot was hatched by three Chouans—Limoëlan, Saint-Réjant, and Carbon. The two latter were taken and executed; but the first-named escaped to America. An extract from Lord Wycombe’s diary relating to the atrocity appears on p. 142.

[158] Hon. William Stuart (1755–1822), fifth son of Lord Bute. Appointed Bishop of St. David’s, 1793, and Archbishop of Armagh in 1800.

[159] Hon. Mary Elizabeth Nugent, daughter of Robert, Viscount Clare (afterwards Earl Nugent). She married, in 1775, George Grenville, second son of the Right Hon. George Grenville. He succeeded his uncle as second Earl Temple in 1779, and was created Marquess of Buckingham in 1784. He was twice Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, 1782–3, 1787–9: and died in 1813. Lady Buckingham was created Baroness Nugent in 1800, with remainder to her second son, George, at whose death in 1850 the title became extinct.

[160] Charles, afterwards second and last Marquess Cornwallis (1774–1823).

[161] John Fitzgibbon, appointed Lord Chancellor of Ireland in 1789, and raised to an earldom in 1795, as Earl of Clare. He married, in 1786, Anne, daughter of Richard Whaley, Esq.

[162] This of course was not the case. The King recovered sufficiently to permit of the necessary arrangements being made.

[163] Lord St. Vincent became First Lord of the Admiralty in Addington’s Government, giving up the Channel Fleet.

[164] Admiral the Hon. William Cornwallis (1744–1819), Marquess Cornwallis’ brother, when proceeding as commander-in-chief to the West Indies in 1796, put back owing to damage to his ship. He was ordered to start again at once in a small frigate, but declined to do so on the grounds of health. For this he was brought to a Court martial, but though practically acquitted, he resigned his command.

[165] Margaret Georgina, eldest daughter of the Right Hon. Stephen Poyntz. She married John, first Earl Spencer, in 1755, and died in 1814.

[166] This is not true. E.V.H., November 1801.

[167] Grey’s wife was George Ponsonby’s niece. Ponsonby was the leader of the Whigs in the House of Commons from 1808 till 1817.

[168] Sir Walter Farquhar (1738–1819), the well-known doctor: physician in ordinary to the Prince of Wales, and created a Baronet in 1796.

[169] Deaf and Dumb, first acted on February 24. It was a free translation of a play of Kotzebue.

[170] See ante, ii. 74. The general impression in the minds of Fox’s followers all through this vexed question of secession appears to have been that those who did attend, and especially Tierney, were not really anxious for Fox’s return to active political life, and preferred to make the most of their own opportunities. Hence the somewhat biassed feelings with which Lady Holland approaches the subject. Fox himself was perfectly ready and willing that anyone should attend who wished to do so, but there was an uneasy feeling which rankled in the hearts of his friends, that interested and insidious motives underlay the professions of goodwill towards him in certain quarters.

[171] The letter is printed in the Memorials and Correspondence of C. J. Fox, iii. 189. In it he states that he thinks he will go to town no more that year. If he can be of service to the public or the party he would do so, but he can see no chance of doing any good.

[172] This was a second protest against the Bill. Lord Clare moved on March 31 to have it expunged, and carried his point by ninety-two votes to twenty. The first protest remains on the Journals. It was signed by the same four Lords, and in addition by Lord Ponsonby.

[173] The attempt to blow up Bonaparte on December 24 (3 Nivôse) 1800, referred to previously, ii. 127.

[174] The first performance in Paris of Haydn’s Creation.

[175] Fouché.

[176] Horne Tooke stood against Charles Fox for Westminster in 1790 and in 1796, but was each time rejected by a large majority. Fox, however, strongly opposed the Bill, aimed at Horne Tooke, forbidding clergymen to sit in Parliament.

[177] Lord Grenville refused to continue to support the Government, because of the utterly inadequate terms on which he considered peace had been obtained, and wrote to Addington, on October 14, informing him of his reasons.

[178] Lady Holland’s old friend Thomas Pelham, now Lord Pelham. His father was created Earl of Chichester in June 1801.

[179] Afterwards fourth Lord Holland. He was born on March 7, 1802.

[180] Hugues Bernard Maret (1763–1839), created Duc de Bassano in 1809. Appointed Secretary of State, after the coup d’état of 18 Brumaire, he succeeded Bourrienne as the Emperor’s secretary in 1804. Minister for Foreign Affairs in 1811.

[181] The horses, which were taken from Venice in 1797 and were restored in 1815, stood on the triumphal arch in the Carrousel.

[182] General Fitzpatrick.

[183] Lord Robert Spencer.

[184] Hon. Frederick Ponsonby (1785–1837), second son of Frederick, third Earl of Bessborough. He became a Major-General and K.C.B., and was Governor of Malta from 1826 till 1835. He married, in 1825, Emily, daughter of the third Earl Bathurst.

[185] John Bernard Trotter (1775–1818), who accompanied Fox to assist him in transcribing certain material for his History of the Reign of James II. He became his private secretary in 1806, and published Memoirs of the later years of his chief’s life in 1811, including an account of this visit to Paris.

[186] Washington George Louis, Marquis de la Fayette (1779–1849), Washington’s godson, and a French deputy. La Fayette’s son-in-law, De Lasteyrie, had finally to leave the army on account of the treatment he received.

[187] Antoine François, Count Andréossy (1761–1828), grandson of the maker of the Languedoc Canal. He was appointed Ambassador to England early in 1802, but left upon the recommencement of war. He was successively Ambassador at Vienna (1809), and at Constantinople (1812).

[188] Charles Ambroise de Caffarelli (1758–1826), born at Falga. Originally a priest, he left the Church on the outbreak of the Revolution, and after suffering imprisonment held several posts under Napoleon. After the Restoration he again took up his ecclesiastical duties. His brother, Louis, was a distinguished general, and had already lost a leg when he joined the Egyptian expedition.

[189] Cyrus-Marie de Timburne-Timbronne, Comte de Valence (1757–1822). He served under Dumouriez, but did not desert the French cause for the Austrian. He sent in his resignation, however, shortly after, and came to England. He returned to France after 18 Brumaire, and commanded a division in Spain and Russia. He married a daughter of Madame de Genlis.

[190] Amédée-Bretagne-Malo de Durfort, Duc de Duras (1771–1838). He was attached to the suite of Louis XVIII. when in exile, but returned to France during the Consulate. He married Claire de Kersaint (1779–1828), the well-known writer and friend of Chateaubriand.

[191] Trophime Gérard, Comte de Lally-Tollendal (1751–1830), the legitimate son of Lally, of Indian fame, and Félicité Crafton. At the outbreak of the Revolution he sided with the Third Estate, but disgusted with excesses he went over to the Court party and was obliged to fly to England. He returned to France after 18 Brumaire, and was made a peer by Louis XVIII.

[192] Adélaïde Marie Filleul (1761–1836). She married the Comte de Flahaut, who was more than three times her age, when eighteen. She went abroad at the commencement of the Revolution, and after the Count’s death on the scaffold, supported herself and her son by her pen. She returned to France in 1798, and married, in 1802, the Portuguese Minister in Paris, the Marquis de Souza-Botelho. Her novels are well known, among the most celebrated being Adèle de Sénanges and Emilie et Alphonse.

Her son, Auguste Charles Joseph (1785–1870), served with distinction in Napoleon’s wars, and resided outside France from 1815 to 1830. Returning after the Revolution he held various high diplomatic posts, and was Ambassador to England from 1860 to 1862. He married, in 1817, Baroness Keith and Nairn, and one of his daughters married the fourth Marquess of Lansdowne.

[193] René Louis, Marquis de Girardin (1735–1808), who distinguished himself in the Seven Years’ War, and afterwards settled at Ermenonville. There he gave an asylum to Rousseau, who died in his house. He was fortunate in saving his life in the Terror, and left France to return after the troubles were over.

[194] Jean Antoine Gallois (1761–1828), the friend of Cabanis. He was made President of the Tribunate in 1802. He took but little part in politics after 1814.

[195] André Morellet (1727–1819), French writer. Made a Senator in 1808.

[196] Louis Mathieu, Comte de Molé (1781–1855), who was imprisoned with his father in 1794, but escaped death owing to his youth, and came to England. He held various offices under Napoleon, and was continued in his employment by Louis XVIII. He continued to take a leading part in politics until 1851, and held several important posts.

[197] Giuseppe Acerbi (1773–1846), an Italian naturalist. His book was first published in English. He was Austrian Consul-General in Egypt, 1826–36.

[198] Louis, Comte de Narbonne (1755–1813). He was son of one of Princess Elizabeth’s ladies, possibly by Louis XV. At any rate he was educated at the Court, and given a position in Madame Adélaïde’s suite. He escorted the Princesses to Rome in 1791. After his return he was made War Minister by Madame de Staël’s influence, but only held the post three months. He fled abroad soon after, and did not return till after 18 Brumaire. He offered his services to Napoleon, and was variously employed by him until his death of typhus at Torgau.

[199] Octave Gabriel, Comte de Ségur (1778–1818), son of Louis Philippe, Comte de Ségur, and Antoinette d’Aguesseau. He married his first cousin, daughter of Henri Cardin d’Aguesseau. He showed great literary promise, but drowned himself in the Seine in 1818.

His brother, Philippe Paul (1780–1873), gained much distinction by his military services, and became a recognised writer on military history.

[200] Arnail François, Marquis de Jaucourt (1757–1852), born of a Protestant family. He escaped death during the Terror and left France in 1793. After his return in 1800 he became a Tribune and a Senator, and later held several offices under Louis XVIII.

[201] Giambattista Casti (1721–1803). Born at Montefiasconi, he entered the Church, but gave up a canonry at his native town to travel. He is best known by his poems, and became Poet Laureate of Austria after the death of Metastasio.

[202] Jean Baptiste Chevalier (1752–1836), secretary to the Ambassador to Turkey, Comte de Choiseul-Gouffier, with whom he travelled in Asia Minor in 1784–. He remained abroad during the Revolution, and on his return was made keeper of the Sainte-Geneviève library.

[203] Casimir, Comte de Montrond (1768–1843). He was incarcerated during the Terror, and met in prison Mlle. de Coigny (Duchesse de Fleury), the Jeune Captive of André Chénier, whom he soon afterwards married. After his divorce he became the bosom friend of Talleyrand, and was one of the best known men in French society until obliged to fly the country in 1812 on account of intrigues against Napoleon.

[204] Arcadi Ivanovitch Markoff, the favourite of Catherine II. He was appointed Ambassador to Paris in 1801, but was recalled ere long at the instance of Napoleon, who feared his diplomatic skill and finesse. He held several other diplomatic posts, and died at a great age.

[205] Perhaps Pierre Marie, Marquis de Grave (1755–1823), successor to Narbonne as War Minister. He only held the post a few months, as he was obliged to leave the country on account of his devotion to Louis. Trotter says Madame Roland describes him in one of her works as ‘a good-natured little man, unfit for an ordinary situation—rolling his blue eyes and falling asleep over his coffee.’

[206] Edouard Dillon, son of Robert Dillon, and his second wife, Miss Dicconson; one of a family of thirteen.

[207] Joseph François Talma (1763–1826), the friend of David. He was educated as a dentist, and first went on the stage in 1787. He quite overcame a certain thickness of speech and stiffness of manner, and was later justly celebrated for the purity of his accent.

[208] Roch Amboise Sicard (1742–1822), the head of the Deaf and Dumb Asylum in Paris initiated by the Abbé de l’Épée. The objective of this institution, which still exists, has been to educate the inmates so as to fit them to go out into the world and earn their own living.

[209] Possibly Antoine Henri Bertrand the sculptor. He worked for some years in Italy with Canova.

[210] Charles de Noailles, afterwards Duc de Mouchy (1771–1834), eldest son of Philippe de Noailles, Prince de Poix. He left France in 1792 and came to England, where he remained till the Consulate. On his return he continued his career in the army, and became Field-Marshal in 1815. He was the bearer of the message from the Provisional Government in 1814 asking Louis XVIII. to return to France.

[211] With the battle of Austerlitz, late in 1805, ended all hope of a successful European coalition against Napoleon. The wavering counsels of the Prussian Cabinet were decided once and for all by the action of their envoy, Haugwitz, who concluded a treaty with Napoleon upon receipt of news of the battle. The Austrians had to take the best terms they could obtain, and by the Treaty of Presburg, in December, retired from the struggle bereft of their fairest provinces. Napoleon, who had given the kingdom of Naples to his brother, Joseph, now turned to make peace with England. He found Fox, the new Foreign Minister, less pliant than he had hoped. The restitution of Hanover, which had been handed over to Prussia a few months before, was insisted upon, as well as the maintenance in Sicily of Ferdinand. To the former demand Napoleon agreed, and seemed inclined to accede to the latter request, until he found that the Russian envoy, d’Oubril, was prepared to throw over England, and sign a separate treaty. He then changed his tone and demanded the cession of Sicily to Joseph; but by so doing lost the opportunity for peace with both countries, for the Czar repudiated the preliminaries signed by d’Oubril, and Fox recalled his envoy from Paris. The failure of these negotiations put an end for the moment to Napoleon’s designs on Portugal. A large portion of the French army never actually reached Bayonne, but was elsewhere employed against the Prussians. Lord St. Vincent remained with his fleet at Lisbon until it was evident that the danger of an invasion of Portugal was past; and a large force of troops, under Lord Rosslyn, who had been assembled at Plymouth to await eventualities, was at the same time disbanded.

[212] Three months (Annual Register for 1806, Chapter ix.).

[213] Francis Charles, Earl of Yarmouth (1777–1842), eldest son of Francis, second Marquess of Hertford, whom he succeeded in the titles in 1822. He married, in 1798, Maria Fagniani. He had been one of those English who were detained in France after the rupture of the peace of Amiens. He was released early in June owing to Fox’s personal intervention, and was a bearer of a verbal message from Talleyrand to him on the subject of peace. As it was necessary to keep these communications secret, and as Lord Yarmouth’s return to his family in France would not in any way excite attention, Fox sent him back to Paris with orders to conduct the subsequent negotiations with the French Government.

[214] Talleyrand first offered the Hanse Towns.

[215] Adam Georges Czartoriski (1770–1861). He was first brought to Petersburg as a hostage, but gained the Emperor’s friendship, and was made Foreign Minister at his accession. The views he held were liberal and enlightened, and every influence he possessed over his master was for the best. Despairing, however, of carrying out his schemes he resigned in 1807, but still retained the Emperor’s ear.

[216] James, second Earl of Rosslyn (1762–1837), nephew of the Lord Chancellor, whom he succeeded in 1805. He had already served in Portugal, 1796–9, as second-in-command to Sir Charles Stuart.

[217] The Russian Ambassador in England.

[218] Lord Holland in the Memoirs of the Whig Party maintained his entire disbelief in these rumours.

[219] Henri Jacques Guillaume Clarke (1765–1818), afterwards created Duc de Feltre. He was War Minister 1807–13, and held the same post under Louis XVIII. in 1815. It was said of him, ‘C’est l’homme d’épée qui doit le plus à sa plume.’

[220] The town of Gaeta was besieged by the French under Masséna, and capitulated before the Neapolitan and English forces, fresh from their victory at Maida, were able to intervene. By this capture, Masséna’s army of 18,000 was freed to make common cause with Regnier against the Calabrians, and as all hope of success in that quarter was thereby removed, Sir John Stuart withdrew his troops to Sicily.

[221] Manuel de Godoy (1767–1851), Prime Minister of Spain. He obtained this title from having concluded the peace with France in 1795.

[222] Spanish Ambassador in Paris.

[223] Lord Howick was First Lord of the Admiralty, and Lord Henry Petty Chancellor of the Exchequer.

[224] Ali Pacha, vizier of Janina (1744–1822), son of an Albanian chief. He made his name by cruelty and brigandage, and was appointed Governor of Trikala by the Turks for his assistance against Russia. He allied himself to Napoleon in 1797, and again in 1807, but went over to the English after the treaty of Tilsit. He made himself practically independent of the Turks, who decided to rid themselves of him, and having taken him prisoner, treacherously put him to death.

[225] Two important points were at issue between England and the United States, and popular excitement had risen to such a pitch in the latter country that a non-importation order had been issued against British goods, to take effect on November 15. The first ground of complaint was the right claimed by England of searching and taking deserters out of American ships; the second, the practice of seizing ships engaged in the carrying trade between France and her colonies, although they had touched at a neutral port.

[226] James Monroe (1758–1831) who took a leading part in the war of Secession and sat in the United States Senate from 1790 to 1794. He was then sent as Ambassador to Paris, but was recalled two years later. He was again sent there in 1802, and was employed for some years in London and Madrid. He returned to America after the refusal of Jefferson to ratify this treaty. He was appointed Secretary of State in 1811, and was elected President in 1816, a post which he retained until he retired from public life in 1825. He was the author of the message to Congress in 1823, embodying the principles known as the ‘Monroe doctrine.’

[227] William Pinkney (1764–1822), an Englishman by birth, who gained distinction in the legal profession. He was first sent to London in 1796 by Washington and added diplomacy to his other employments. Going back to America in 1804 he returned to England two years later, and remained as Minister till 1811. He was Attorney-General of the United States for three years, and was Minister to Russia for a short time.

[228] The latter was taken ill on the journey, returned immediately to England, and died a few days after his arrival.

[229] The correspondence relating to these negotiations is given in the Annual Register for 1806.

[230] ‘His tenacity about the uti possidetis, and his frequent recurrence to that phrase, led Napoleon to reproach him with an adherence to “des formules Latines,” which to those well acquainted with the nature of Lauderdale’s acquirements in classical phraseology was diverting enough.’ (Memoirs of the Whig Party).

[231] Comte de Montrond. See ante, ii. 159.

[232] Baron André Jakovlevitch Budberg (1750–1812).

[233] Ambassador to Russia, 1804–06, and again in 1807.

[234] Jerome Bonaparte’s ship, the Veteran, was one of Admiral Villaumez’s fleet, now France’s sole hope on the high seas. Originally detailed for the Cape of Good Hope, Villaumez had crossed over to the West Indies on hearing of the capture of the African settlement by the English. He was unable to elude the vigilance of Sir Thomas Cochrane, and three squadrons under the command respectively of Sir John Borlase Warren, Sir Richard Strachan, and Admiral Louis were despatched to confront him. Villaumez seeing that his fleet could not hope to escape en masse, gave the order for his ships to separate. Only one however, was successful in regaining France safely, and Jerome was only able to save his crew and guns by running his ship ashore on the coast of France. Sir John Warren’s fleet was despatched with exemplary haste, but lost several days at Spithead owing to contrary winds. To this delay Mr. Allen, in the Annual Register for 1806, attributes the escape of Villaumez’s squadron.

Sir John Borlase Warren (1753–1822), son of John Borlase Warren, of Stapleford, Nottinghamshire. He entered the Navy in 1771, and saw much service. He became Rear Admiral in 1799, and was sent to Russia in 1802 to compliment Alexander on his accession.

[235] Mr. Fox had been lent Chiswick House by the Duke of Devonshire, and was moved there at the end of July.

[236] Near Malmesbury, in Wilts.

[237] The funeral was fixed for October 10, by a curious coincidence the anniversary of his first election for Westminster.

[238] The new appointments were, Lord Howick, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs; Mr. T. Grenville, Admiralty, in place of Lord Howick; Mr. Tierney, President of Board of Control, in succession to Mr. Grenville; Lord Sidmouth, President of the Council, in place of Lord Fitzwilliam; and Lord Holland, Lord Privy Seal, in place of Lord Sidmouth.

[239] Lord Holland states fully his reasons for accepting office in a letter to Lord Lauderdale, dated September 22. It is published in Memoirs of the Whig Party, ii. 53.

[240] Early in March Murat was given the Duchy of Berg and Cleves, ceded to Napoleon by Bavaria, and other territories claimed by Prussia were occupied by French troops a month later—this without any communication to the Prussian Cabinet.

These and other arbitrary actions, following closely on the formation of the Confederation of the Rhine, opened the eyes of the Prussians to the true policy of the French Emperor, but the final blow to their amour propre was the discovery of their Ambassador in France, Lucchesini, that Napoleon had cheated them over Hanover, by his willingness to restore it to England, and that he threw no obstacles in the way of the immediate re-establishment of the Kingdom of Poland.

[241] Prince Louis Ferdinand, nephew of Frederick the Great, was born in 1772. He served with distinction against Napoleon and was killed at Saalfeld in 1806 in command of the advance guard.

[242] ‘They want ordnance, and yet would begin by spiking one of their great guns.’ Lord Holland relates this as another remark of Windham’s upon the proposal.

[243] Sir Home Popham’s expedition to South America, where he effected the capture of Buenos Ayres on June 28. He had been originally despatched to the Cape of Good Hope, where he met with complete success and annexed that colony to the British Empire. Fired with this triumph he made his way to the Rio Plate, without any instructions from Government, who on hearing of his destination took steps to stop him, but their orders arrived too late. Buenos Ayres remained in his hands until August 4, when it was retaken by the Spaniards, with severe loss to the British.

[244] Lord Morpeth was sent to Berlin to offer the assistance of England conditionally upon the immediate restoration of Hanover. He arrived at headquarters two days before the battle of Jena, and found Haugwitz, with whom he was to negotiate, unwilling to meet him in any way. The intriguing Prussian still hoped to retain Hanover, and expected after the battle to be able to say so. The result, however, was contrary to his expectations, and as no diplomatic negotiations were possible in the confusion after the battle Lord Morpeth returned to London.

[245] Bartholomew Frere (1778–1851), a younger brother of John Hockham Frere, and son of John Frere, M.P. for Norwich. He was Secretary of Legation to his brother in Spain and held various minor diplomatic posts.

[246] M. Jacobi, the Prussian Minister, had left England when diplomatic relations between the two countries were broken off in the spring. He passed Lord Morpeth on the sea, and reached England early in October.

[247] In the interval which elapsed since Lady Holland’s last entry in her journal the whole position of Europe had again changed. The Prussian army, decimated in one day at Jena and Auerstadt, had practically ceased to exist; Frederick William was a fugitive at the eastern end of his dominions in Königsberg. Napoleon had occupied Berlin, and in two months had become master of many of the Prussian fortresses, which it should have taken him years to reduce. Lucchesini in the course of his negotiations for peace in Berlin was even ready to give up those strongholds which had not surrendered, but the patriotic party were too strong to allow the King to consent to further ignominy. Russia was prepared to give her assistance, and this nerved Frederick William to continue the war. Haugwitz resigned, but the King rendered this lucky event ineffective by also dismissing Count Stein, the only really able man in his councils.

[248] War was formally declared between Russia and the Porte towards the end of December.

[249] Gustavus IV. succeeded, at the age of fourteen, to the crown of Sweden after his father’s assassination in 1792. His hatred of Napoleon and inclination towards an English alliance were the leading features of his reign—features to which he so obstinately adhered as to cause his country much unrest and suffering, and his own downfall. He was deposed in 1809 in favour of his uncle.

[250] The dissolution took place in October, and the new Parliament met on December 15. Tierney was defeated at Southwark by Sir Thomas Turton. He obtained a seat, however, at Athlone.

[251] Sir Samuel Auchmuty (1756–1822), born in New York, of Scotch descent. He served the crown in America as a volunteer, obtaining a commission. He went to India, where he saw much service. He took Monte Video, and showed considerable skill on this expedition until superseded by General Whitelocke, who arrived with further reinforcements. He later returned to India, and was also employed in the East Indian islands.

Sir Home Popham, who was court-martialled in March, and reprimanded for his share in the unauthorised expedition to Buenos Ayres, remained with his fleet off the Rio Plate after the loss of the town. The Government were much disconcerted by the whole affair, but the enthusiasm of the public forced them to send reinforcements instead of orders of recall. Three thousand men were despatched with Sir Samuel.

[252] General Robert Craufurd (1764–1812). He served under Lord Cornwallis in India, and was Quartermaster-General in Ireland during the insurrection of 1798. His force was joined to General Whitelocke’s. He commanded a light brigade in the Peninsula and was killed at the storming of Ciudad Rodrigo. This expedition was intended for the conquest of Chili, but was diverted to Buenos Ayres.

[253] Aaron Burr’s (1756–1836) conspiracy was a sequel to his defeat for the Presidency of the United States by Jefferson in 1801. This was mainly brought about by General Hamilton’s influence, which was again brought to bear against him in 1804 when he stood for the Governorship of New York. A duel took place in which General Hamilton was shot dead. Burr after this went to the West and established himself on the Mississippi. He gained over General Wilkinson, the commander of the United States army at New Orleans, to assist him in his schemes, though nobody appeared to know their exact trend. Jefferson, however, grew alarmed, Wilkinson recanted, Burr was arrested, and the whole plot fell to the ground. Burr was acquitted of actual treason, and went to Europe. There he remained, first in one country, then in another, till 1812, when he returned to America. He took no further active part in politics, and died in extreme poverty.

[254] Lord Mulgrave was Secretary for Foreign Affairs, 1805–6.

[255] Preparations for this expedition ceased with the fall of the Ministry. Their successors again took the project into consideration, but the troops destined to take part in it under Sir Arthur Wellesley were sent instead to Portugal.

[256] Charles, third Duke of Richmond; born in 1735, died on December 29, 1806. He was succeeded by his nephew, Colonel Lennox.

[257] The charges of immorality raised against the Princess of Wales by Sir John and Lady Douglas were laid before a Committee of the Cabinet in 1806 for investigation. It was composed of four members, the Lord Chancellor, the Lord Chief Justice (Lord Ellenborough), and Lords Grenville and Spencer, with Sir Samuel Romilly, the Solicitor-General, as legal adviser. Their report acquitted her of the more serious charges, but animadverted with severity on the levity of her conduct. The Princess replied with a letter to the King ‘the joint composition of Lord Eldon, Mr. Perceval, and Mr. Plomer; the first furnishing the law, the second the argument, and the third the prolixity. It concluded with a request to be restored to the comfort and honour of his Majesty’s royal presence’ (Memoirs of the Whig Party, ii. 151). This the King referred to the Cabinet, and after many deliberations, with the exception of Mr. Windham, they concurred in the report.

It is curious that Lord Eldon, who it is here suggested was the secret adviser of George III., was also the confidential adviser of George IV. at the time of the trial in 1820.

[258] This incident is fully described in Coke of Norfolk, ii. 69–73. Mrs. Berney and her friend were in the habit of parading the town every day in a carriage decked in Colonel Wodehouse’s (the Tory candidate) colours. One day, however, the Whigs produced a carriage arranged to closely resemble theirs in every particular, but flaunting the rival hue. A riot ensued, for which the Berney family held Coke and Windham responsible, though they had in no way countenanced the trick. All three candidates were convicted of treating, but as no petition was brought against Colonel Wodehouse, he retained the seat. Mr. Coke’s brother, Edward Coke, resigned his seat for Derby, for which the former was elected; while the latter took the vacant seat at Norwich. Mr. Windham was returned for Higham Ferrers by Lord Fitzwilliam.

[259] ‘A clear and precise rule was laid down for the regulation of the circuitous trade by the enemy to the colonies, which defined the difference between a continuous and intercepted voyage’ (Alison, History of Europe, v. 677). The discussion of the question of impressment of seamen was postponed till some future occasion, owing to the difficulties which surrounded it. The British Government pledged themselves in the meantime to use their powers with the utmost moderation. President Jefferson, however, refused to ratify the treaty.

[260] At the rupture of the Treaty of Amiens.

[261] Lord Minto had been appointed Governor-General of India. He at first refused to accept office, and only did so at the earnest desire of Lord Grenville. That he was loath to do so is shown by letters, published in vol. iii. of his Life and Letters, to Lady Minto, who on the score of health was precluded from accompanying him. Fox first offered the appointment to Lord Lauderdale, but the Court of Directors refused to receive him. He therefore consented to waive his claim to the dignity.

[262] In answer to Lord Howick Mr. Perceval explained that the word ‘attached’ was taken from a letter of Mr. Fox to Talleyrand published in the Correspondence, in which he had ‘subscribed himself “with the most perfect attachment”’ (Hansard).

[263] William Roscoe (1753–1831), the author of the Lives of Lorenzo de’ Medici and Leo X. He was elected in the Whig interest as member for Liverpool in 1806, but was defeated at the succeeding election.

[264] William Frederick, second Duke of Gloucester (1776–1834), son of William Henry, Duke of Gloucester, and Maria, Countess of Waldegrave. He married, in 1816, Princess Mary, George III.’s daughter.

[265] Adolphus Frederick, Duke of Cambridge (1774–1850), seventh son of George III.

[266] This is probably the paper printed in Memorials and Correspondence of C. J. Fox, ii. 340, &c. It was to be delivered to the King in 1789, with the memorial, also drawn up by Minto and Burke, containing a justification of the Prince’s and Duke of York’s conduct during their father’s illness. Both documents were discussed at a meeting of the Whig leaders held at Carlton House, and it was decided not to present the memorial with this paper, but to accompany it only with a short explanatory letter.

[267] Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland.

When the Grenville Ministry first took office on Mr. Pitt’s death no stipulation was made to the King regarding the Catholic question. The Irish Catholics, seeing Ministers in power most of whom they knew to be favourably inclined to their claims, began at once to agitate for the removal of disadvantages under which they laboured. The greatest anomaly was, that by the Act of 1793 Irish Catholics could become officers in the army there (though still unable to rise to certain staff appointments), but could not hold that rank in England. A promise, however, had been made at the time that matters would be speedily readjusted. This and other points were brought to Mr. Fox’s notice soon after he had taken office, but he advised a postponement of the suggested petition to Parliament, as likely for the present to be of no permanent advantage. He stated, however, that he was quite willing to risk a dissolution of the Ministry on the question, if they so wished it. Better counsels prevailed; but after Mr. Fox’s death the matter again came to the front. Ministers were in a dilemma. On one side they risked the King’s displeasure, on the other they would be obliged to proclaim certain parts of Ireland where agitation was breaking out, on a question with which they themselves sympathised. The former evil was considered the least, and it was decided by a clause in the Mutiny Act to allow Irish Catholics and Dissenters to serve in the English army. To this the King was agreeable; but Ministers desired to go further. It was found easier to bring forward the matter in the form of a Bill, and one was drafted which opened the staff appointments to the Catholics, and also allowed English Dissenters to serve in the army and navy. Lord Howick thought he had received the King’s consent to this, but subsequently the latter flatly refused to confirm it. The Bill was dropped, but the Ministers reserved for themselves the right to bring forward the question again, should circumstances so demand. This the King requested them to withdraw; they refused, and were at once dismissed.

The Correspondence and Minutes of the Cabinet, referred to here and subsequently, are printed in the Appendix to Lord Holland’s Memoirs of the Whig Party.

[268] Lieut.-General Whitelocke (1757–1833). He distinguished himself in St. Domingo in 1793–4, but failed signally before Buenos Ayres. In his attack on the town he showed himself incompetent to deal with an unexpectedly determined resistance, and agreed to a convention whereby the English troops were obliged to withdraw. On his return to England he was tried by court martial and cashiered. Lord Holland states in the Memoirs of the Whig Party that this appointment was due to Windham’s dislike of General Whitelocke (who held the post of Inspector-General) and his desire to appoint someone as his successor who would be more willing to carry out his schemes.

[269] Elizabeth, Countess of Sutherland in her own right, Lord Granville Leveson-Gower’s sister-in-law, only daughter of William, eighteenth Earl of Sutherland. She was born in 1765, and married, in 1785, George Granville, Earl Gower, who succeeded his father as second Marquess of Stafford in 1803, and was raised to a Dukedom in 1833. The Duchess died in 1839.

[270] This was in accordance with the resolution which Mr. Rose says in his Diary he had taken never to say a word or give a vote on the subject. He disapproved not of the abolition of the Slave Trade itself, but of the methods pursued in putting it down, which he considered were unfair to the colonists.

[271] Arthur James, eighth Earl of Fingall (1759–1836), who succeeded his father in the titles in 1793. He was one of the leaders of the Catholic movement at this time.

[272] John, second Baron Ponsonby, of Imokilly (1770?–1855), son of William Brabazon Ponsonby, first Baron Ponsonby, who died in 1806. He was Ambassador in Constantinople and Vienna and was created a viscount in 1839. His only sister married Lord Howick.

[273] William Elliot, of Wells, the Chief Secretary. He died in 1818.

[274] William Conyngham Plunket (1764–1854), created Baron Plunket in 1827. He was appointed Attorney-General for Ireland in 1805 by Pitt, and retained this office under the Whig Government.

[275] Mr. Charles Kendal Bushe.

[276] See ante, ii. 174. Mr. Eden was Secretary to the American Commission and Mr. Allen Assistant-Secretary.

[277] A Committee was appointed on February 10, on the motion of Mr. Biddulph, member for Denbigh Borough, to examine the efficiency of regulations and checks, already introduced, to control public expenditure; to consider what further steps were advisable for the same object, and to diminish ‘the amount of salaries and emoluments without detriment to the public service.’

[278] William Garrow (1760–1840), barrister, who sat in several Parliaments in the Whig interest. He was knighted in 1812; made Attorney-General in 1813, and Baron of the Exchequer 1817–32.

[279] This was the pamphlet drawn up by Perceval, and known as ‘the Book.’ It was never given to the world, for just as the Princess’s friends resolved upon its circulation, the Ministry was dismissed and the Tories returned to power. A few copies escaped from the printers’ hands, and were bought back for large sums by the Government.

[280] Owing to the infraction of treaty obligations in Moldavia and Wallachia by Turkey, largely instigated by Sebastiani the French Ambassador at Constantinople, Russia thought fit to declare war with the Porte late in 1806. Alexander, however, had need of all his forces to meet the French in Central Europe, and he suggested to the English Government that a fleet should be sent to Constantinople to secure their joint interests, and to demand the dismissal of Sebastiani. This was done, and Arbuthnot, the British Minister, was ordered to insist on the latter point, on the pain of instant bombardment. Unfortunately Arbuthnot had to leave owing to ill health, and Sir Thomas Duckworth, the British Admiral, allowed himself to be drawn into fruitless negotiations, and finally withdrew without accomplishing his object.

The force sent to Egypt under General Mackenzie captured Alexandria, but lost a large number of prisoners in an attack on Rosetta. Nothing further was effected, and the troops were removed in the autumn.

[281] John Armstrong (1758–1843), American Minister in France and Spain 1804–10.

[282] The Right Hon. Charles Long (1761–1838), afterwards created Lord Farnborough (1820), Secretary of State for Ireland 1806, and Paymaster of the Forces for many years.

[283] George Rose (1744–1818), a devoted adherent of Pitt. He was for many years Secretary of the Treasury, and held various minor offices under the Tories.

[284] This is amusing and interesting, in light of Lord Malmesbury’s conversation with Canning, which he quotes in his diary as having taken place on March 14. Canning ‘said, what he had told me before, that he had received and rejected overtures from Lord Grenville.... He declared with a threat that he never would sit in the same Cabinet as Addington.’

[285] Sir William Drummond, born about 1770; died in 1828. He was appointed Minister at the Court of Naples in 1801, and again in 1806, and Ambassador to the Porte in 1803.

[286] No action was taken in these matters owing to the fall of the Ministry, and Canning allowed the question to lapse.

[287] Alexander Hamilton, Marquess of Douglas (1767–1852), British Ambassador at St. Petersburg. He succeeded his father as tenth Duke of Hamilton in 1819.

[288] He stated in a letter to Lord Holland, dated April 27, that he wished to attach himself completely to the Prince.

[289] Right Hon. Charles Bragge, who married Lord Sidmouth’s sister, and took the additional surname of Bathurst in 1804. He sat in the House of Commons 1790–1823, and died in 1831.

[290] Philip, third Earl of Hardwicke (1757–1834), son of the Right Hon. Charles Yorke. He succeeded his uncle in 1790, and was Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland from 1801 to 1806.

[291] Lord Hardwicke’s half-brother, Charles Philip Yorke (1764–1834). He was Secretary at War, 1801–3; Home Secretary, 1803–4; and First Lord of the Admiralty, 1810–11.

[292] March 18.

[293] Charles Manners-Sutton (1755–1828), raised to the See of Canterbury in 1805, and father of Viscount Canterbury (for many years Speaker of the House of Commons).

[294] Lord Auckland was President of the Board of Trade. His letter is printed in Lord Auckland’s Journal and Correspondence, iv. 300.

[295] Charles William, Viscount Milton (1786–1857), only son of William, fourth Earl Fitzwilliam, on whose death in 1833 Lord Milton succeeded to the titles. He remained member for Yorkshire until 1831.

[296] The figures were: Wilberforce 11,806, Milton 11,177, Lascelles 10,989, the two first being therefore returned. Wilberforce’s expenses, after many of his supporters had paid their own, amounted to 28,600l., while those of his opponents were reckoned to be 200,000l. (Dictionary of Nat. Biog.).

[297] Mary Elizabeth, born in 1806. She married, in 1830, Thomas Atherton, third Baron Lilford, and died in 1891.

[298] Peter Leopold Louis Francis Nassau, fifth Earl Cowper (1778–1837), who succeeded his brother in 1799. He married, in 1805, Amelia, daughter of Peniston, first Viscount Melbourne. After Lord Cowper’s death she married Lord Palmerston in 1839.

[299] The Hon. Sir Arthur Paget (1771–1840), second son of Henry, first Earl of Uxbridge. He held various diplomatic posts, and was appointed, in 1807, Ambassador to the Porte. He retired from the service two years later.

[300] David Richard Morier (1784–1877), son of Isaac Morier, Consul-General of the Levant Company at Constantinople. Commencing at the age of twenty, he held various diplomatic posts in the East, was secretary to Lord Castlereagh at Châtillon, &c., and was for many years Minister at Berne.

[301] Mr. Adam brought a motion in the House of Commons on July 2, 1807, in defence of the warrant for a pension to the Scotch Judge, Lord Cullen, of 400l. a year, with a reversion of 200l. for life to his wife. He argued that it was fair, if a judge was not sufficiently well off to keep up his position. Lord Cullen was devoting two-thirds of his income to pay his father’s debts.

[302] It was burnt in 1831 by the mob, on account of the opposition of its owner to the Reform Act.

[303] ‘Conversation’ Sharp.

[304] The History of Brazil was the only part published.

[305] George William, sixth Duke of Argyll (1766–1839), who succeeded his father in 1806. He married, in 1810, Caroline Elizabeth, daughter of George, fourth Earl of Jersey, and previously wife of the Earl of Uxbridge (afterwards Marquess of Anglesey), whom she divorced.

[306] Lord John Russell.

[307] Lewis, describing this visit in a letter to his mother, says, ‘I happened to wake about six o’clock, and hearing the billiard balls in motion, I put on my dressing-gown and went into the gallery, from whence looking down into the great hall, I descried Tom Sheridan and Mr. Chester (who had not been to bed all night) playing with great eagerness. Fortunately, Tom was in the act of making a stroke on which the fate of the whole game depended; when I shouted to him over the balustrade, “Shame! Shame! A married man!” on which he started back in a fright, missed his stroke, and lost the game’ (Life and Correspondence of M. G. Lewis, ii. 5).

[308] Hon. Henry Edward Fox (1802–59), afterwards fourth Lord Holland; always a weakly child from birth. He was afflicted with a form of hip disease, which gave him much trouble all his life.

[309] Lord Holland says in the Memoirs of the Whig Party: ‘Mr. Ponsonby was brought into Parliament at the beginning of the session for the purpose of assuming an ascendency over a large, intelligent, and independent body of gentlemen with scarcely twenty of whom he was personally acquainted. A preposterous scheme!’

[310] William Belsham (1752–1827), author of a series of works, which he combined to form a History of Great Britain to the Conclusion of the Peace of Amiens.

[311] Napoleon’s insistence on one of the secret articles of the Treaty of Tilsit, requiring Russia to close her ports against English vessels, was the actual reason for the Czar’s declaration of war against England. Lord Granville Leveson left St. Petersburg early in November 1807.

[312] Prince Stahremberg was Austrian Minister in London. Lord Holland states that he did not consider his information reliable except where it was substantiated by documents. Metternich was Austrian Ambassador at Paris. The declaration of war of both Austria and Prussia was entirely due to Napoleon’s instigation, as one step in his campaign against British commerce. Both countries had the sense to give no reason for their action.

[313] These letters, Mr. Fox asserted in a speech in the House of Commons, were the origin of the rupture of the peace of Amiens. Certainly they were the means of rousing Napoleon’s ire, for Coleridge had to leave Rome in 1806 in all haste, after a friendly warning that the Emperor intended his arrest. He was Secretary to the Governor of Malta, Sir Alexander Ball, 1804–5, a post which was rather the result of a chance visit to the island than an official appointment. He wrote for the Courier for several years at this period of his life.

[314] George, second Lord Kenyon (1776–1855), who succeeded his father in 1802. Lord Kenyon seconded the Address, but his speech was delivered in so low a tone as to be inaudible below the bar (Hansard).

[315] The British expedition to Copenhagen in September 1807, which resulted in the seizure of the Danish fleet and the bombardment of that city. Canning had private information of the secret clauses of the Treaty between Napoleon and Alexander at Tilsit. His refusal to produce papers which would incidentally have brought his secret agent to light, coupled with what they considered his shabby behaviour in joining the Tory Government, caused him much odium amongst the Whigs.

[316] Milnes?

[317] Mr. R. Campbell came over in the Revenge, man-of-war, with the deputies who had arrived to ask for English assistance against the French. Napoleon invaded Spain late in 1807, and set up his brother Joseph on the throne. This was too much for the amour propre of the Spaniards; they rose in arms, and in every town occupied by the invader outbreaks of the most ferocious description took place.

[318] Solano was Governor of Cadiz. The French fleet consisted of five ships of the line and one frigate, which had escaped to that port after Trafalgar, and had lain there ever since. They were forced to surrender a fortnight later to the Spaniards, as they were unable to leave the harbour on account of Lord Collingwood’s fleet, which was waiting for them outside.

[319] Don Gonzalo O’Farrill (1754–1831), Spanish General, who sided with Joseph Bonaparte, and became his War Minister.

[320] At Madrid on May 2 Murat put a large number of people to death without trial for supposed participation in riots which had taken place there that day.

[321] The French General, Count Pierre Dupont, who was in command of the French forces in Andalusia. He was defeated by Castaños at Baylen in July 1808, and forced to lay down his arms with 18,000 men.

[322] The Duke of Infantado was implicated, as Lady Holland relates, in the supposed plot of Ferdinand, Prince of the Asturias, against his father, Charles IV, in October 1807. The whole conspiracy was looked upon in many quarters as a device of Godoy’s to ruin his rival Escoiquiz. The Duke accompanied Ferdinand to Bayonne the following April, and after his master’s deposition offered his services to Joseph Bonaparte. On the first favourable occasion, however, he turned against him and was given a Spanish command.

[323] The picture was painted in 1763, and is now at Mount Stuart, Lord Bute’s residence in the Isle of Bute.

[324] Second daughter of Alexander, Duke of Gordon, and sister of Charlotte, fourth Duchess of Richmond.

[325] At Baylen.

[326] Afterwards better known as Count Torreno. He was a member of the first Cortes at Cadiz, and had to leave Spain at Ferdinand’s return. He lived in Paris until 1820, when he came back to Spain.

[327] Manuel Freyne (1765–1834), general, who served with distinction throughout the war. He refused employment under Ferdinand.

[328] From Spain, where he went as Ambassador early in 1809. He succeeded Canning as Foreign Secretary.

[329] John, second Marquess of Lansdowne, previously referred to in these pages as Lord Wycombe.

[330] By a former family arrangement Lord Lansdowne was enabled, should his brother die childless, to draw up a deed of appointment as to the disposition of the property.

[331] Georgina Anne, who died in 1819.

[332] George, ninth Earl of Winchilsea, and fourth Earl of Nottingham (1752–1826), who succeeded his uncle in 1769.

[333] Joseph Berington (1746–1827), an Englishman educated at the College of St. Omer. He became a priest, and was one of the first of that persuasion to wear black clothes in England, from which others had up to then refrained for fear of persecution. He was the author of a number of works, historical and philosophical.

[334] Canning’s statement was published in the papers on November 28. It took the form of a letter to Lord Camden laying the blame on him for the misunderstanding with Lord Castlereagh.

[335] Lady Elizabeth Foster married William, fifth Duke of Devonshire, on October 19, 1809.

[336] For the Chancellorship of the University, rendered vacant by the death of the Duke of Portland on October 30. Lord Grenville, Lord Eldon, and the Duke of Beaufort were the rival candidates.

[337] Martin Davy (1763–1839). He was elected Master of Caius in 1803, and held that position until his death. He was a staunch Whig, and was given a living near Cambridge in 1827.

[338] A town in Portugal, one of the sights of which is a magnificent cathedral.

[339] Lady Anne Fitzpatrick, and her father, Lord Upper Ossory.

[340] An amendment to the Address was moved in both Houses, deploring the ill-success of the late expeditions, and demanding an inquiry into the reasons of their failure. Creevey says in his journal (Creevey Papers, i. 123): ‘Notwithstanding Tierney’s calculations and prophecy that we should be in a majority, we were beat by ninety-six.’

[341] The figures were 144 to 92, against the Amendment.

[342] His motion was, ‘To appoint a Committee to inquire into the policy and conduct of the late expedition to the Scheldt.’

[343] William Frederick Eden, eldest son of William, first Lord Auckland. He was born in 1782, and was, at the time of his death, Deputy-Teller of the Exchequer.

[344] Domingo Antonio de Souza, Marquis de Funchal (1765–1832), Portuguese Ambassador in England.

[345] William Windham died on June 4, 1810, from the effects of a severe operation for a tumour on his hip. About a year before he had sustained an injury from some falling woodwork, when engaged in trying to save from fire a valuable library belonging to his friend the Hon. Frederick North, and on this the disease fastened.

Windham’s father, Colonel Windham, married, after his first wife’s death, Sarah Hicks, widow of Robert Lukin, of Dunmow. To a nephew by this connection, Captain (afterwards Admiral) Lukin, Windham left his property on condition he took the family name.

His diary was published by Mrs. Henry Baring in 1866.

[346] As Chancellor of Oxford University.

[347] Henrietta Elizabeth, eldest daughter of the Hon. Edward Bouverie. She married, in 1790, James St. Clair Erskine, second Earl of Rosslyn.

[348] John Clerk, of Eldin (1728–1812), seventh son of Sir John Clerk, of Penicuik. He lived about six miles from Edinburgh. He was the author of An Essay on Naval Tactics, which he claimed had much effect on the warfare of the day.

[349] Queen Mary’s remains were removed to Westminster in 1612.

[350] Holland House.

[351] General Fox was appointed Governor of Portsmouth in 1808, on his return from Sicily, and died there three years later.

[352] General Sir Ronald Craufurd Ferguson (1773–1841), son of William Ferguson, of Raith. He saw much service, and sat for many years as a Whig in the House of Commons. The appointment, which he was obliged to relinquish at Cadiz, was that of second-in-command.

[353] Charles Fox entered the Navy in 1809, but disliked the life so much that he left in 1813, and entered the sister service two years later.

[354] The whole building was restored and remodelled by Street in 1866, and now forms the garrison church.

[355] Captain Graham Moore (1764–1843), afterwards Admiral Sir Graham Moore, G.C.B., third son of Dr. John Moore. He was in command of the English squadron which escorted the Regent of Portugal to Brazil, and was for some years a Lord of the Admiralty.

[356] James Moore (1763–1834), second son of Dr. John Moore. He was a surgeon, and wrote two books on his brother’s life and campaign.

[357] Dom John was appointed Regent of Portugal in 1799, on account of his mother Queen Maria I.’s insanity. In conformance with Napoleon’s orders he proclaimed in November 1807, that he was about to detain all British subjects and property in Lisbon, upon which the British Minister, Lord Strangford, at once went on board the fleet, and broke off diplomatic relations. On consideration, however, the Regent preferred to remain friendly with the English and move the Court to Brazil; consequently Lord Strangford returned, but not till after the Portuguese royal family had already embarked. This is the point here insisted upon, for Lord Strangford was accused of inferring in his despatch that the departure of the Court was chiefly due to his own representations.

[358] Mariano Luis Urquijo (1768–1817), Spanish statesman, who acted in opposition to the Prince of the Peace and was imprisoned by him for two years. After the detention of the Royal family, he gave up hope for Spain, and sided with Joseph, with whom he fled to France.

[359] Admiral Lord Amelius Beauclerk, G.C.B. (1771–1846), third son of Aubrey, fifth Duke of St. Albans, and Catherine, daughter of William, Earl of Bessborough.

[360] Admiral Sir Roger Curtis, Bart. (1746–1816), naval commander-in-chief at Portsmouth.

[361] Ferdinand of Naples withdrew to Sicily in 1805, and there established himself with his Court under British protection.

[362] Lord Amherst was Commander-in-Chief in Sicily.

[363] Attorney-General in Lord Grenville’s Administration.

[364] The French army of 72,000 men under Masséna invaded Portugal early in September. Wellington had only 50,000 men at his disposal; half of whom were Portuguese. He retreated before the invaders, but was able to deliver a severe check to their advance, at Busaco, on September 27, with but little loss to his own force.

[365] The critical state of the King’s mind was adversely affected by the illness of Princess Amelia. After her death, on November 2, he became permanently insane.

[366] Yet Masséna represented to Napoleon some weeks later that the frontal attack on the British position was only a feint, which had developed from over-keenness into a general engagement. His dispatches, however, captured after the action, made no mention of this fact (Sir Herbert Maxwell’s Life of Wellington).

[367] Afterwards Sir Thomas Tyrwhitt, and Black Rod.

[368] George Ponsonby.

[369] It is impossible to trace so extended an interpretation in the report of the speech given in Hansard, though a veiled meaning is possible in some of his carefully worded allusions to the royal power.

[370] The ordinary composition of the Cortes was a three-chamber assembly consisting of clergy, nobility, and commons. The Central Junta, in whom the power of calling together the Cortes rested, decided that as a compromise with the extreme party of reform, only two chambers (the higher clergy and nobility sitting together in one) should be summoned to assemble early in March. The advance of the French, however, postponed the meeting, and the supreme government was placed in the hands of a Regency of five. These took good care to keep the power as long as possible, and when the Cortes was at last found necessary, only one chamber could be elected, and that within the boundaries of Cadiz, for the French were almost at their gates. See Appendix B, p. 297.

[371] General Sir Robert Wilson (1777–1849), author of The History of the British Expedition to Egypt. He served both in the British army and in various continental corps. He was dismissed the service in 1820 for his supposed conduct at Queen Caroline’s funeral, but was reinstated by William IV.

His Lusitanian Legion was amalgamated with the Portuguese army during its reorganisation.

General Drouet joined Masséna with the Ninth corps, forcing Wilson across the Mondego, from fear of being surrounded.

[372] Sir Robert’s affair at Puerto de Baños was an attempt to check Ney, at the head of a large force, with a number of Spanish and Portuguese levies. He lost a thousand men in the attempt.

[373] Huskisson resigned his post at the Treasury in 1809, and followed Canning into retirement. His pamphlet entitled ‘The Depreciation of the Currency’ received much notice.

[374] One of the gentlemen in attendance on the Prince of Wales. ‘That warlike scaramouch Macmahon,’ of Peter Pindar. He died in 1817.

[375] The Committee of the House of Lords was appointed by ballot, each Peer having the right to send in a list of twenty-one names. That of the House of Commons was named by the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

[376] The report of the Bullion Committee, of which Horner was President, was that paper issues were liable to depreciation unless convertible at any time into money.

[377] The appointment was not filled up till 1812, when Lord Hertford accepted the post.

[378] Gustavus IV. (1778–1837), who succeeded his father as King of Sweden in 1792. His tactless and inconsequent behaviour so irritated his people that they deposed him in 1809, and gave the crown to his uncle. After leaving Sweden Gustavus lived chiefly in Switzerland.

[379] Lucien Bonaparte’s second wife was Madame Jouberthon, the widow of a stockbroker. He quarrelled with his brother over this marriage, and after the Duc d’Enghien’s death went to Italy. He attempted to reach America, but was captured by an English ship, and after a detention at Malta, was brought to England. There he remained until 1814.

[380] William, fourth Duke of Queensberry (1724–1810), the celebrated courtier and roué, known as ‘Old Q.’ The larger portion of his money was left to Lord and Lady Yarmouth, the latter being Maria Fagniani, whom the Duke always considered was his daughter. George Selwyn believed that this lady was his child and not the Duke’s, and also left her money.

[381] Henry, Duke of Buccleugh became fifth Duke of Queensberry; Sir Charles Douglas, Marquess of Queensberry; and Lord Wemyss, Earl of March.

[382] The Duke of York had been compelled to resign this post in 1809, owing to the scandalous charges brought against him by Mrs. Clarke.

[383] See Further Memoirs of the Whig Party, p. 39.

[384] Grenville.

[385] Lord William Cavendish Bentinck (1774–1839), second son of William Henry, third Duke of Portland, who saw much service in various parts of the world and rose to the rank of major-general in 1808. He was appointed Envoy and Commander-in-Chief in Sicily in 1811, and for three years was practically governor of the island. His sudden departure, after a stay of only ten days, had the desired effect of alarming the Sicilian Court, which became much more amenable, after his return, to the reforms he proposed to introduce. The King was notoriously incapable of reigning, and the power was in the hands of the Queen, who detested the English, and was intriguing with the French.

[386] They were imprisoned for a protest against the illegal taxation which was being enforced by the Court, but were released and recalled in January 1812.

[387] Hon. Frederick James Lamb (1782–1853), who was created Lord Beauvale in 1839, and succeeded his brother as third and last Viscount Melbourne in 1848.

[388] Afterwards Admiral Sir George Cockburn (1772–1853). He took Napoleon to St. Helena in 1815, and remained there for a year as Governor until relieved by Sir Hudson Lowe.

The Commission was to attempt to mediate between Spain and her American Colonies. The Cortes, however, proved intractable, and the expedition returned to England in August 1812.

[389] See ante, i. 130.

Transcriber’s Notes:
1. Obvious printers’, punctuation and spelling errors have been corrected silently.
2. Where hyphenation is in doubt, it has been retained as in the original.
3. Some hyphenated and non-hyphenated versions of the same words have been retained as in the original.