[156] Lord Elgin had been sent to Berlin as Envoy Extraordinary in 1795.
[157] The Pitt diamond was bought by Mr. Pitt, Governor of Madras in 1702, for about 20,000l. He resold it in 1717 to the Duc d’Orleans, for Louis XV., for 130,000l. It was sent at this time to Berlin, but appeared a few years later in the hilt of Napoleon’s sword of state.
[158] Sir Gilbert Affleck was Lady Holland’s stepfather; he married her mother, Mrs. Vassall, in 1796. He succeeded his uncle as second Baronet in 1788, and died in 1808 at the age of sixty-seven.
[159] The Treaty of Campo Formio, concluded between France and Austria, embodying the preliminaries of Leoben, was signed on October 18, but at the same time the negotiations between England and France were broken off.
[160] At the battle of Camperdown.
[161] Mr. Fox married Mrs. Armstead in September 1795 at Wyton, near Huntingdon, but the fact was not announced till 1802. She died in 1842, at the age of ninety-two. Lord Minto, writing in 1805, says of her: ‘She has grown fat, and not younger, nor softer flavoured, but her manner is pleasing and gentlewomanlike. I perceive that Lady Holland does not admire her, and would willingly indulge herself now and then with a fling at her.’ And again: ‘Mr. Fox has been shopping with Mrs. Fox, an amusement they say he is very fond of; they had been buying china—cheap china, I mean, for they seem great economists.’ Miss Fox’s (Lord Holland’s sister) account of Mrs. Fox’s conduct in 1806, written to Lord Ossory, is also interesting, to show the bias of Lady Holland’s description. ‘Mrs. Fox’s patient fortitude, her gentle piety, endear her to me every minute, and loving her as I do for his sake, still I must do so for her own, for she deserves it.’
[162] La Fayette remained in Europe and took up his residence at Wittmold, in Holstein. After the coup d’état of 1799 he returned to France, but lived in retirement on his property until 1814.
[163] François Claude Amour, Marquis de Bouillé (1739–1800). He distinguished himself against the English in the Antilles during the War of Independence, and after Louis XVI.’s arrest at Varennes left France and went to England, where he died.
[164] See ante, p. 92.
[165] Lord Malmesbury had been sent to Lille in July to negotiate for peace. His efforts were fruitless owing to the ascendancy of the Jacobin party in France, and he left for home on September 18.