In 1762, Henry Fox, Secretary of State (afterwards Lord Holland), inhabited, and shortly after purchased this house.[86] During his life it was frequently the resort of the great politicians. Sir Robert Walpole, unless he died before, was certainly a frequent visitor, at least he was a friend; Lds. Bute and Chatham, etc. Lady Sarah Lennox resided with her sister Ly. H.[87] at the period of the present King’s love, a love that might have elevated her to the throne, but for her levity and total disregard for appearances. Both Ld. and Ly. Holland died here. During his long illness he one day forbade admittance to all his friends who might call, with the exception only of George Selwyn, ‘For if I am alive I shall be very happy to see him, and if I am dead he will be very glad to see me,’ alluding to George Selwyn’s extraordinary passion for beholding death in any shape. He rarely missed the sight of an execution. He was supposed to have incensed George II. extremely by having indulged this curiosity about Queen Caroline, to obtain a sight of whose corpse he concealed himself under the bed, and during the absence at night of the attendants examined the body. George II. had such an aversion to him that he always called him ‘That rascal George.’ Selwyn once overheard him and exclaimed, ‘What can that mean? Rascal! Oh! I forgot that it was a hereditary title of the Georges.’ The King (George III.) the year after he had been at G. Selwyn’s house at Matson (famous in history for the escape of Charles I.) went mad. G. Selwyn upon this observed, ‘that it was odd enough that the only two Kings that had visited Matson had both lost their heads.’
LORD ABERCORN’S MARRIAGE
This singular marriage of Lady Ann’s is going on rapidly, nay, the nuptials are to take place in the course of this week; but till the holy knot is tied, I confess such mystery hangs upon the affair that I shall continue withholding my full belief. He consults Ly. B. about the equipages, fêtes that are to be given upon the occasion, etc., and yet insists upon her keeping her promise of secrecy, and even goes so far as to beg she will contradict the report if she hears it. He was always supposed to be a little cracked, and his pride is beyond belief. When travelling in Italy during the life of his uncle and he was only Mr. Hamilton, to distinguish himself he left upon his cards, ‘D’Hamilton, Comte Héréditaire d’Abercorn.’ His language is so outré from the manners of common life that it would appear caricatured and chargé’d even upon the stage. Should the union really take place, the first step will be a rupture between Ly. Ann, his daughters, and Miss Copley their aunt, as Ly. A. is both violent and peevish, and little disposed to submit to the gêne of bienséance with regard to them.
I hear from my dear Webby frequently. The others I know are well, but poor Harriet is placed in a cheap school, and will be educated among people and with ideas that certainly are not adapted to her way of life I hope and trust in future.
17th April, 1800.—Abbé de Lille to-day shone. He aimed not at proving himself a political prophet: he contented himself with being a pleasant companion and a poet unique. In conversation he was very amusing; he told several stories about Voltaire, with whom he had been intimate in the early part of his life. The Collège de Montaigne was remarkable for its filthiness; the régent of it, when the écoliers were to act a play, was puzzled at their choice. It was Mérope. The female name offended him, and he altered it to Méropus: upon which Voltaire said it was in compliment of the place to call it Mère au puce, it being the foyer of dirt. Necker’s conduct in France, he said, was exactly like that of a Curé, who at a jovial dinner heard the bell ringing to Vespers, upon which he immediately chanted the Psalm of Deus in adjutorium meum intende, etc.; the people made the response Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui sancto; a man next to the Curé gave him a soufflet, saying if he had not begun the people would not have sung. The application to Necker was that he first sounded the alarm and roused the people of France. At the beginning of the Revolution, when things that now seem insignificant were looked upon as of great importance, two men were overheard talking of the calamities of the country in the Thuileries. One said, ‘Ah! bon Dieu, c’est la fin du monde.’ ‘Bah! bah!’ replied the other, ‘Comment donc, Monsr., il y a des exemples?’
He recited his translation of the fourth book of the Aeneid; the tender passages prove his ignorance of the sentiment he expresses. The famous tirade is admirably rendered.
LORD ABERCORN’S MARRIAGE
Lord Abercorn’s singular union has at length taken place contrary to every plausible speculation. A few days before it was declared he confided to a friend his intended marriage, without naming the lady. ‘The world will be surprised, do not contradict the report, nor deny it.’ As soon as the event was public the Queen sent Ly. Ely to Miss Copley[88] to desire her to come to Buckingham House. ‘I hear that in consequence of this business, that you intend quitting Ld. A.’s house; remember, Miss Copley, that the worse the affair is, the stronger is the necessity of continuing with your nieces, and remember you have my advice and sanction.’ This maternal, majestic speech had its effect. Sir Lionel Copley told me both of these anecdotes.
The day of the marriage Ly. A. was sitting with Ly. Bess. talking of the event that was fixed for 8 o’clock in the ensuing eve., when their conversation was interrupted by the entrance of the porter to inform them, ‘That Lord Abercorn had just called and left word that Ly. Ann must make haste, as she was to be married at 4.’ This intelligence so communicated surprised them, but compliance and punctuality are indispensable qualities where Ld. A. is concerned, therefore they obeyed. As soon as the ceremony was over, which was performed at Lord Sudley’s,[89] Ld. A. made the Marchioness a low bow, handed his eldest daughter out to his carriage, and went and dined with his own family, whilst the Marchioness went and dined in Cavendish Square. He came with a cavalcade of servants and flambeaux to bear off his prize to the Priory.
He is haughty and capricious, with enough of vanity to make him do a generous action, and with a dash of madness to make him do a lively one. Ly. Bess. went down for a few days; she described an evening between the new married pair, which was an exact reproduction of a scene in The Taming of the Shrew. To cure a headache he made her play blindman’s buff, and the more she complained the more violent he made the sport. A person remarked the livery, which is the same as the younger branches of the Royal Family, and said, ‘I suppose your family took it from them.’ ‘My family took it from them? No, it was the livery of the Hamiltons before the House of Brunswick had a servant to put it on.’ When he told the Dowager Lady Warwick that Sir Wm. Hamilton (her brother) was to marry Mrs. Hart, and that he should give her away, she said it was a disgrace to the family, but if done by any of them the deed was fitted to the one who had the blot in his escutcheon and a crack in his skull.