[66] “His Majesty spoke slightingly of Lord Hawkesbury. ‘He has no head for business, no method, no punctuality,’ said the king.”—Diaries and Correspondence of the Earl of Malmesbury.
[67] Speaking of Canning’s speech whilst Addington was minister in 1802, when, on the 25th of November, he defended Mr. Pitt’s administration, Mr. Pitt said: “Private regard gave Canning no right to assert opinions and doctrines in his name.”—Diaries and Correspondence of the Earl of Malmesbury.
[68] Mr. Canning says: “It was devised by Lord Grenville to tie up Pitt’s tongue alone, who is suspected of communicating with other persons. I am not sure that he did not suspect him farther of sounding the public sentiment through the newspapers.”—Letter from Mr. Canning to Lord Malmesbury, dated 20th July, 1797.
In this accusation of Mr. Pitt’s infidelity to the secrecy of Cabinet Councils, Mr. C. retorts the very charge that Lady Hester makes against him—which was the culprit?
At page 428, Lord Malmesbury seems to reject the inference Mr. Canning had come to: for he says, “I am a little influenced by the circumstances of the paragraphs which have lately appeared in our papers: and, although it would be most unfair to say I could fix a shadow of suspicion on the fidelity of any of the king’s messengers,” &c., whereby it would seem that he did not suspect Mr. Pitt, but did the messengers.—Diaries and Correspondence of the Earl of Malmesbury, v. iii. p. 416.
[69] I afterwards sent them to her from Marseilles.
CHAPTER X.
Mrs. ——’s unwillingness to remain at Abra after Signora L.’s death—Beyrout fixed on as a residence—Lady H.’s account of her debts—Necessities to which she was reduced—Another version of her debts—Her extensive charities—Anecdote of Shaykh Omar-ed-dyn—Usurious discount on Lady H.’s bills of exchange—Loss from the fluctuating value of money in the East—Estates supposed to have been bequeathed to Lady H.—Letters from Lady H. to M. Guys—She employs Sir Francis Burdett to inquire into the nature of the supposed bequests—Her opinion of Sir Francis—Letter to him—Lady H.’s diatribes on women—Mr. C.—Letter to Miss —— —Letter to the Author.
Again the necessity occurs of introducing my personal affairs, in order to keep up the thread of our story. Madame L.’s melancholy disorder, and its fatal termination, had left such awful impressions on the females of my family, that they expressed an earnest wish to remove from a scene where every object excited some melancholy reflection. It was in vain they were told there was no other house in the country in which they could live so comfortably. Their answer was, that day and night they were haunted with the cries and frantic laugh of poor Madame L., and that they would prefer even the most wretched peasant’s cottage to remaining where they were. They represented also the forlorn state in which they were left during my absence at Lady Hester Stanhope’s for a week and a fortnight together, having nobody near them for a protector but General Loustaunau, a man now eighty-two years of age, impaired in intellect, and sinking into imbecility.
But Lady Hester had no consideration for all these womanish weaknesses. Her former animosity against Mrs. —— had not abated one jot. She held to our agreement, that my family was to be considered as strangers, with whom she had nothing to do; for, as I had brought them contrary to her wishes, I must look to them myself, without expecting any sympathy from her. I observed to her how much more convenient it would be for all parties if she would only lend me one of the cottages she had empty in the village of Jôon, which I could fit up for our temporary dwelling, and which, from its proximity, would save me so many journeys to and fro: but, as Cabôor had foretold, there was no reconciling these conflicting interests. At last she proposed an arrangement, to which I acceded much against my will, as I knew it would put her to great inconvenience. No news having yet arrived from England respecting the property supposed to have been bequeathed to her, she suggested that I should set off with my family to Beyrout or Cyprus, and live there until she had certain advice that money was forthcoming sufficient to pay her debts; when I could easily return and execute those services for her which she required of me. This plan was settled, as it appeared, finally.