I have had very little time for reading: I have, however, contrived to read something, half Bernier’s Travels into Hindostan, and about as much of Pennant’s Hindostan, a part of a great work called Outlines of the Globe.
LORD HOBART
12th April.—Mimi left us yesterday. Dumont dined with me, a remarkable lively pleasant dinner. I reproached myself for being so cheerful without Ld. H., for I never am completely so if he is away. He went to the House of Lords; intended speaking, but was unwell. He entered a protest, which stands a good chance of being erased, as Ld. Auckland has found out that a sentence in it reflects upon the H. of Lords.[266] I went in the evening to Dss. of L., and Ly. Bess. To-day I had fifty visitors, among them Ld. Hobart.[267] He is pleasing, sensible, and well-looking, the finest teeth possible. He exhibited his high sense of a point d’honneur in marrying Mrs. Adderley. When her husband died Ld. H. fulfilled the promise made in the warmth of his heart, tho’ she was old, ugly, and vulgar. The heats of Madras released him of his burdensome duty. About a year since she died. He is very kind to her son, Mr. Adderley.
Ly. Bess., Morpeth, and Bor., dined here, very cheerful and comfortable. The Hambro [sic] mail confirms the report of Jourdan’s being beaten by the Austrians.[268] The Austrian troops are very much attached to the Arch-Duke. Their cry is ‘Live Charles and Francis!’ I had the happiness of seeing Webby three times, but by stealth, at my mother’s; she insisted upon my hazarding an interview. He was very affectionate. He seems clever, but is not handsome. He is cold in his disposition, and taught by his father to be a boaster. He is at Harrow. From my window I see the church; often do I sigh to be nearer to him.
16th April, ’99.—On Saturday, ye 15th, I dined with Mrs. W., and in the evening went to the Opera with Mde. de Coigny.[269] On Sunday Ld. H. dined with Ld. Thanet. Ld. Granville and Mr. Hamilton dined with me, a pleasantish day. Monday, dined with my mother, went to the play; Canning, etc.; very pleasant. To-day Ld. and Ly. Bess. dined, Ld. John Townshend,[270] Ld. Morpeth, Mr. Adderley. Hare was ill, and could not come. The General said it was impossible—his constant reply when he refuses. Ld. John married Mrs. Fawkener. He is one of the wittiest men there is; his verses are excellent. Like the rest of his family he is mad; never enough to be confined, but often very flighty. He is admirable at mimicking, not only of a person’s manner, but invents a subject, and talks upon it as they would. He did not shine particularly to-day. This morning I had a prodigious levée; among the many were two new ones, Ld. Brooke[271] and Sr. Watkin. The first is rather handsome, talkative, like his father, but less tiresome, tho’ he promises a fair rivality. A few years of baronial retirement at Warwick Castle, with the benefit of his father’s loquacious society, will secure his inheritance of the taste. Sr. Watkin[272] is a Grenville in person and manner all over him; his tongue is immensely too big for his mouth, and his utterance is so impeded by it that what he attempts to articulate is generally unintelligible.
LORD MORPETH
Ld. Morpeth is perfect in person and manner; he has the air noble without haughtiness, and his mirth is cheerful, not boisterous. What Ld. Wycombe said of him is very descriptive, ‘He is an excellent specimen of aristocracy.’ He has inherited a considerable portion of his father’s love of fashion, but as it does not run away with him, I see no fault in it, tho’ he sometimes allows his judgment to be guided by it. His understanding is excellent; he is fond of literature, and is reckoned a good scholar. He has rather too much diffidence of his own abilities, and will frequently be silent, tho’ he has a strong opinion upon the subject discussed, unless he has some established authority to support him. What he says is always well expressed, with great neatness and precision. He seldom enters into an argument at length, but his observations are invariably correct and judicious. He is a chaste poet, and has written many very pretty things. His passions are not strong; he can never enjoy the extreme of delight, or suffer excess of sorrow. Not that he is deficient of right feelings; he can be angry, but not vindictive. Lately he has given in to a love of play, by which his temper is at times irritated. He is exemplary as a son, and has such strong principles of honour that he will excel in every station. He is very much attached to Ld. H.
Canning was very entertaining, he can be extremely so. I made him repeat his parody upon Lewis’s Alonzo and Imogene. It is comical, and goes very well with the music:—[273]
A Parson so grave and a Baron so bold
Conversed as the coach drove along;