Mrs. Piozzi was not much interested by Scott's earlier productions. Mangin notes that she thought Rob Roy a dull book; but adds that "no one could be more ready than she to applaud the unknown author as a man of Genius." Her admiration was excited mainly by his poetry, on which the Commonplace Book contains some verses which end as follows:
So may posterity bestow the praises which to thee we owe,
And never be the Lay forgot of our Last Minstrel, Walter Scott.
Geoffrey Crayon was the pseudonym used by Washington Irving, when he published his Sketch Book in 1820. Lancelot Temple was the nom de plume of John Armstrong, whose Sketches or Essays on Various Subjects appeared in 1758. Wilkes is said to have assisted in their production.
The procession to St. Paul's on November 30 to celebrate the Queen's acquittal, passed off without any serious disturbance. No escort of troops was permitted, but she was received as usual by the city authorities, who accompanied her to the cathedral.
[Dec. 14, 1820.]
My dear Mrs. Pennington says her letters are mere commentaries upon mine. What text shall I find next to excite her eloquent flattery? Lord Kirkwall's death is what most readily presents itself to a woman just twice his age, who little dreamed of living to lament him. Poor dear K! My heart is very heavy at the thought. And when recollection, or retrospection places him before my mind's eye, it is with a pint of curious Constantia wine under his coat, or shooting dress, to please dear Piozzi in his last illness. So kind! Well! sure the people will have done dying some day! Never was sight so wearied as my own is by reading Newspaper lists.
Mrs. Mostyn writes chearfully. Living abroad loosens all old attachments, and gives no opportunity of forming new ones. 'Tis the true mode of keeping the mind free; but then I mean roving from place to place, not being shut in an angle of the world, of which, as a Turk once said, the only merit is that Suspicion herself could not throw any light into corners.
Tell me sometimes about the weather—in the world. Here it is mild, soft, and just now silent; stormy enough at times, but never clear. 'Tis the anger of a puzzle-headed fellow, which elicits no spark of brilliant fire; and the inhabitants of Penzance speak of lightning as a most unusual phenomenon.
I have the comfort to hear my fair daughters praised, even in this odd place. They patronized some poor families, when such philanthropy was less common than now, and are remember'd with grateful tenderness. Such recollections are among the Hot-house plants which bloom in the open air of Penzance. Rough winds break, and heavy snows chill the remembrance of what is merely ornamental, producing, like Oak and Ash, no lasting utility....
I can really bear a good fire with difficulty, but the smoke is scarcely lessen'd by endurance of the cold. The houses here are so constructed that, except in one particular wind, we live smother'd. Coals are however not cheaper than elsewhere; meat and fish bear no price, but we pay for every drop of water—salt or fresh—because it must be carried. The place is replete with objects of curiosity nevertheless, and Lady Keith gained immortal fame here, by descending 35 ladders, of 35 steps each, into a tin mine. Not the most extraordinary of all the tin mines, for there is one under the sea: a submarine residence of many wretched mortals, who seldom see light, (save such as their patron Sir Humphry Davy supplies them with,) but often hear old Ocean roaring over their heads. A wonderful situation surely! and clear of worldly contamination. They are innocent of all that we are saying and doing.
Meanwhile I am glad you have been amused by Matthews. Even I, who naturally hate buffoonery, was much diverted by his story of the Yellow Soap, which dear Sir George Gibbes never wearied himself with repeating. My heart tells me that Matthews has a brother, who wrote a Pamphlet called the Nutcracker, meant as a sort of mathematical puzzle; that he planned the new fine Bedlam Hospital, just off Westminster Bridge, and requested a particular apartment for himself, conscious of his own infirmity; that he actually resides there, much respected and visited by the great Mechanics, who do nothing without consulting him. The Comic Actor calls him cousin, but the relationship is nearer....
Sir Humphry Davy, who was born at Penzance, invented his safety lamp in 1815, and was created a Baronet in 1818. He had just been elected President of the Royal Society.
Charles Matthews the actor was now giving his "At Homes." The Sketch Mrs. Pennington saw was probably that entitled Country Cousins, produced in 1820.