Chapter 6: 1786-1791 the Closing Century (3)

(1790, Aug. 12,) one o'clock, Richmond.--I have been at Isleworth. I found Car very well, and at her painting, with the Italico Anglico artiste of Mr. Campbell's, and Mr. Lewis. Mr. C(ampbell) was gone to London. They were asked to dine to-day at Fulham Field, that is, I think, the name of the Attorney Gen(era)l's(290) place. I am not sure if she told me that they intended to go. Lord Barrymore danced the pas Russe with Delpini, and then performed Scaramouche in the petite piece. I asked how he danced; Mr. Lewis said very ill. How did he perform the other part? execrably bad. "Do you think," I said, "that he would have known how to snuff the candles?" "I rather think not," says Mr. Lewis. Mie Mie is more satisfied with his talents; she thought him an excellent Escaramouche; ce seroit quelque chose au moins. But I am more disposed to think that Mr. Lewis is in the right, and I hope, for the young nobleman's own sake, that toutes les fois qu'il s'avise de se donner en spectacle, et faire de pareilles folies, il aura manque a sa vocation. Sa mere ne jouoit pas un beau role, mais elle y a mieux reussi.

But enough at present of this. No harm of any sort has come from it, but Mie Mie tells me that Mr. Campbell's anxiety the whole time was excessive. After all, she was not in the places which I had provided for the greater security, but went into those which were originally intended for her. The Prince was there, but not the Duke of York, or my friend the Duke of Q.

Now a d'autres choses. I have in my last fright forgot one where there were better grounds for it. The day I wrote to you last, as you know, I was at Isleworth. Coming from thence, and when I landed, the first thing I heard was that people with guns were in pursuit of a mad dog, that he had run into the Duke's garden. Mie Mie came the first naturally into my thoughts; she is there sometimes by herself reading. My impatience to get home, and uneasiness till I found that she was safe and in her room, n'est pas a concevoir. The dog bit several other dogs, a blue-coat boy, and two children, before he was destroyed. John St. John, who dined with me, had met him in a narrow lane, near Mrs. Boverie's, him and his pursuers. John had for his defence a stick, with a heavy handle. He struck him with this, and for the moment got clear of him; il l'a culbute. It is really dreadful; for ten days to come we shall be in a terror, not knowing what dogs may have been bitten. Some now may have le cerveau qui commence a se troubler.

John(291) has a legacy from Lord Guilford(292) of 200 pounds a year, the General(293) one of a thousand pounds; Mr. Keene has a hundred. He has left in legacies about 16,000 pounds, as Mr. Williams tells me, but not much ready money besides. His estate was about 2 or 3,000 per annum. It is to be a Peer, I hear, who shall succeed him. I will write no more to-day. I will send you the extract from Lady Sutherland's(294) letter in my next. The President has told me this morning that Mr. Neckar(295) a faille d'etre pendu. Il voulut tirer son epingle du jeu; il fut sur le point de partir; on ne pousse pas la Liberte a ce point en France; il n'avait pas demande permission a la Populace; ainsi, sans autre forme de proces, on voulut le conduire du Controle a la Lanterne. I am glad to hear that the brats are well. You set off, I understand, on Tuesday; so this will find you in your Chateau antique et romanesque. J'en respecte meme les murailles; tout y a un air si respectable.

I will write to my Lord in a few days, and when I hope to have seen the Dean, but from what his neighbour Mr. Woodcock told me yesterday, I shall have nothing very comfortable to tell him touchant la sante de son bon precepteur, ni sur la mienne; elle exige un management et une regime que je n'ai pas encore observee avec la rigueur necessaire.

Now I expect a troupe of French people whom I met in a boat, as I came this morning from Isleworth--le M. de Choiseul, Me de Choiseul, &c. I have engaged myself to go with them to Mr. Ellis's, because it belonged to Mr. Pope. I said I must go home to finish mes depeches, but I expect them every minute. Je sers d'entreprete entre le M. de Choiseul et Me sa femme.

My love to George. I hope that le Chateau de ses ancetres a pour lui des charmes. I read a great deal of the Howards in Pennant's(296) book. It is the only part that gives me pleasure; such an absurd superficial pretender to learning I never met with, and after all of what learning! Then he tries to copy Mr. Walpole's style in his Book of Antient Authors; le tout est pitoyable. Adieu, dear Lady Carlisle; si vous pouvez supporter tout ce bavardage, cest parce que vous aimez votre fille, qui en est en partie la cause.

(290) Sir Archibald Macdonald, afterward Chief Baron of the Exchequer.

(291) John St. John.

(292) Francis North, Earl of Guildford (1704-1790), father of the statesman.

(293) Henry St. John.

(294) Wife of William, seventeenth and last Earl of Sutherland.

(295) Jacques Necker (1732-1804), the famous financier. He married Mdlle. Curchod, Gibbon's one attachment. Their only child became the celebrated Mme. de Stael. In 1790 he finally was forced to retire from office as Director-General of Finance.

(296) Thomas Pennant (1726-1798), the naturalist and traveller, author of several "Tours" in the British Isles which have become classics. His energy in travelling and scientific spirit and capacity of observation made him too modern for Selwyn and his friends: Walpole said that, Penaant picked up his knowledge as he rode.

(1790,) Aug. 22, Sunday, Richmond.--.. . I have nothing (more) to tell you of Caroline, than that we saw her yesterday in the afternoon, en passant, that is, in her boat, which was full of the company she had had at dinner, and which, as Mie Mie told me, were the Greggs, but ayant la vue courte, I could not distinguish, myself, who they were.

My garden was as full as it could hold of foreigners and their children--Warenzow's boy and girl, and the Marquis de Cinque minutes, who, of all the infants I ever saw, is the most completely spoiled for the present. His roars and screams, if he has not everything which he wants, and in an instant, are enough to split your head. His menace is, "Maman, je veux etre bien mechant ce soir, je vous le promets."

The Duke was in the best humour the whole day I ever saw him, who you know has been at times as gate as the other. He said that my dinner was perfect, and so it was dans son genre. The ladies were much pleased with their reception, and the Duke took such a fancy to them, and to the place, that he believes that he shall be more here than anywhere, and he went to town intending to send down all preparatives for residence. Me de Bouflers told me que je m etois menage une tres jolie retraite, and indeed at this time it is particularly comfortable to me, and the circumstance of Caroline having a house so near is not by any means the least of its agremens. . . .

Monday.--Yesterday was a fine day, but neither news or event; on the Thames une bourgeoisie assez nombreuse, and in the Gardens. I saw our friends at Isleworth in the morning, before they went out in their phaeton. They were going to Lord Guilford's, and to-day dine at Mr. Ellis's. I believe that Madame de Roncherolles dines at Mr. Walpole's, for she has sent to me to carry her. I do not dine there myself, but shall go to fix with Mr. Walpole a day for Caroline and Mr. C(ampbell) to see Strawberry Hall. Her journey to Lady Egremont's is put off for a week. To-morrow I go to Fulham, and from thence to London, from whence I return on Wednesday. Mie Mie and I dine at Isleworth when I return. Mr. Grevil is to be with them this week.

Bunbury is returned from Portsmouth; his news to me were, that the emigration from France thither increases every day, and that in the provinces, as these people say, who are come last from France, the revolt increases, and a desire for the old Constitution. In Britany and Normandy the party is very formidable. M. de Pontcarre, President of the Parlement de Rouen, is in London; so there is another President for me, if I choose it. The young French people and their wives dined yesterday, as they usually do, at the Castle. . . .

(1790 Aug. 23?) Monday night, 11 o'clock, Richmond.--I wrote to you this morning, reserving to myself the liberty of lengthening my letter, after I shall have seen Caroline for the last time before her return from Cliveden, where it was her intention to go to-morrow for a week or ten days, c'est selon; but I must begin this appendix tonight, late as it is. I am still waiting till these French Ladies come with Mie Mie from the play. It is Mr. Parson's benefit, and was expected to be very full. The evening is cold, that is something, but I must see Mie Mie before she goes to bed.

We were to-day at dinner ten, besides the Duke; Madame de Boufflers, the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, M. de Calonne, The Fish, Thomas,(297) Mie Mie and myself. I had liked (sic) to have forgot Lady E. Forster, que l'on n'oublie pas souvent, dans cette partie au moins; but now on sonne deja; le reste donc sera pour demain, et pour quand j'aurai ete l'autre cote de la Riviere; so, for the present, I wish you a good night, my dear Lady Carlisle.

Tuesday morning, Isleworth.--Now, to begin my letter properly, and in course, it would be to say "Good morrow" to you, or, as they say in Ireland, "Good morrow morning" to you, my dear Madam.

I hastened my coming here lest they should be gone, but they do not set out till after dinner. Caroline is well enough to take a much longer journey than from hence to Cliveden. I came with a commission from the Duke to invite them to dinner, to meet the Princess Chatterriski, whom I suppose you know; I find that she is no favourite of Lady C(aroline), nor is her friend D'Oraison of mine, but he comes to. The Duke left me to go and invite the Boufflers, but whether they will come or not I do not know.

Calonne would have entertained yesterday. You never in your life saw any man so inveterate as he was against M. de la Fayette, and, to say the truth, he had reason, if all was true which he imputed'to him, as I believe it was. But what diverted me the most was, that Fayette had seriously proposed to make him, Calonne, King of Madagascar. Surely there never was, since the Earl of Warwick's time, such a king-maker. I would to God that he had accepted of the diadem, but then perhaps he would not have dined with us yesterday. Il en contait a Madame la Duchesse, and sat at dinner between her and Lady E. Forster, avec qui je faisois la conversation; the Duke over against us on the other side of the table, comme la Statue dans le Festin de Pierre, never changing a muscle of his face. The Marquis was above, and there Me la Duchesse lui donna a diner. I was determined upon an audience, and found l'heure du berger. He received me avec un sourire le plus gracieux du monde, and I was obliged to present my address of compliments. But I think that the Nurse is a bad physiognomiste if she did not see that what I said, and what I thought, were not d'accord. He is like the Duke if he is like anything, but a more uninteresting countenance I never saw-- fair, white, fate, sans charactere. In short, on a beau faire, on a beau dire. If un enfant ne vous tient d'une maniere ou d'autre, I cannot admire it as I am expected to do; and what a difference that makes will be seen two months hence. Toutes mes affections parlent due meme principe. The Duchess offended me much by coming with a couronne civique, which is a chaplet of oak leaves. In England they are a symbol of loyalty. Il n'en (est) pas de meme en France. I asked if she wore it before the Queen; I was told yes. Je ne comprens rien a cela.

The whole behaviour of the Queen, in her present wretched, humiliated state, is touchante et interessante au dernier point. Elle ne rit, que quand elle ne songe pas a ses malheurs. At other times she is, as Polinitz says of K(ing) James's Queen, when he saw her after the Revolution, une Arethuse. M. le M(arquis) de la Fayette comes to the Tuilleries, and although he be really no more or less than the jailer, he is received with graciousness.

But now, four les Evangiles du jour. I had a letter from Warner this morning before I left Richmond, dated last Thursday night. Your brother's courier did not, however, leave Paris till the morning of Friday. Warner's words are these:--"The courier goes to carry the news of the Decree, of fitting out 25 ships of the line, and adhering to the Family Compact in the defensive Articles, which looks so like a war that it frightens us with the apprehension of being sent packing home to you, or rather without packing."

If the consequence of a war is your brother's return to this country, I do not think it a misfortune to him, and I wish, no other may happen to us, than the expense at which we must be to support one campaign against these United Powers. Still I am of opinion that peace will follow immediately these preparations. But Calonne alarmed me yesterday, when he said, that he thought that the National Assembly would draw them into a war with us. He had not then received his dispatches. I shall hear a great deal of it to-day, true or false, from D'Oraison.

Mrs. Bartho is already gone to Lady Lewisham. Caroline stayed to dine in town, and they returned here about six. I think that Mr. C(ampbell) seems to-day not determined to stay so long at Cliveden as he thought to do. I shall wish them to return, be it only that I may have the more to say to you, and the better security for my letters being well accepted.

I hope that George was amused at the York races. I have seen this morning in Lizy's letter that he was there. Vixen is sitting for his picture, and this is all the news of Isleworth. I may have more to tell Lord C(arlisle) when I write to him, which I shall do by the next post. My love to them all, you know whom I mean.

What does Lord C. mean by calling himself alone? Peut-on etre mieux qu'au sein de sa famille? That was part of an ariette which M. de la Fayette's music played the day the K(ing) went to the Hotel de Ville, as I have been informed by a pamphlet, wrote to abuse Mr. Neckar, and which is incomparably well wrote. I will get it for George if he desires it, and will promise to read it. I am afraid that he is too much of (a) Democrate, but as a lover of justice, and of mankind, and of order and good government, he would not be so long, s'il vouloit se rendre a mes raisons; mais il croit que je n'en ai pas, et que je me retranche a dire des invectives, sans avoir des argumens pour soutenir mon systeme; en cela il se trompe. God bless him; je l'aime de tout mon coeur, et je l'estime aussi, qui est encore davantage.

(297) Thomas Townshend.

(1790,) Sept. 4, Saturday m(orning), Richmond.--. . . My larder is rich from Mr. C(ampbell's) chasse. I had some game the day after the first hostilities against the partridges commenced. . . . Our foreign connections here increase; le Comte de Suffren and his family are going to establish themselves here in a house above the Bridge, and on the banks of the River. He came to the Duke's(298) yesterday, where we dined, and stayed with us the whole evening. He is an aristocrate, and a great sufferer by the troubles in France, but he is a very sober, moderate man, and intelligent. The Duke liked his company very much.

I am loaded now with pamphlets upon this great and extraordinary event; some entertain me, some not. I like much what I have just been reading, which is the opinion of the Abbe Maury,(299) delivered in the National Assembly, upon the executif and legislatif power, in regard to declaring war, and concluding treaties of commerce and alliance. There is a great deal of good sense in it, and comes the nearest to my own opinion of what has passed. I suppose that Lord C. has read it. I hope that George will read it too. If I was sure that the speech was not at Castle H. I would transcribe some passages out of it, a sa consideration.

I desire very much to be of his mind about everything, but, if he is a Republican, I have done with him. If he will in his Republican system throw in a little royal authority as ballast, we shall soon come to an agreement. I wish him to come neuf to all those great and important questions, and examine them sans l'esprit de systeme, without prejudice and strong inclination to be of either side, but to investigate the truth, and adopt it. Il est fait pour raisonner; il commence etre d'un age ou le jugement acquerera tous les jours de la maturite. My love to him, I beg.

I think Lady Derby mends in appearance; the Duke and I go often to her. I would cross the water and make the Duchess a visit, but that I think it right to forbear going in a carriage as long as I can; and then, perhaps, I may go with safety to London, from time to time to see Caroline, when she removes thither. . . .

(298) Queensberry.

(299) Jean Siffren Maury, abbe, the eloquent supporter of the monarchical cause.

(1790,) September 7, Tuesday, 8 o'clock, Richmond.--. . . . I was surprised in the evening with a visit from Mr. Campbell. We were au dessert, that is, the party which dined here after they returned from Egham. . . . His visit put out of my head, in a minute, all the pretty French phrases which I was brewing. . . . Mr. C. stayed to converse with the Welch heiress, to talk with Me de Choiseul upon Greece and the Archipele, and of his uncle's voyage pittoresque, and he spoke a great while in Italian with Me la Comtesse de Suffren. I long to hear, as I shall this morning, his opinion of the party. I asked them (a) few questions about their day's sport; it was a novelty with which I know that they would be pleased.

So Me de Choiseul has obtained leave of her husband, I believe without much difficulty, to stay here one day more. I shall, for my part, make no efforts to detain them. Me de R. has explained to me sufficiently en quoi consiste la mauvaise conduite du Marquis. But young people ne regardent que le surface. The Duke did not return; I believe that he dined and lay at Oatlands. His horse had a violent fall; but I heard of no other event. I suppose he may have lost by that accident.

I know as yet no more of Mr. C(ampbell's) motions than that he and Lady C. go to town this morning, but return to dinner. We shall dine with them, when these Races are over; they finish to-morrow.

I sat yesterday morning a great while with the Fish's friend, Me de Roncherolles. Entre nous, I like her much more than any of the whole set. She has neither du brillant dans son esprit, ni une infinite de grace dans ses manieres, je l'avoue, mais, elle est sans pretensions, et avec beaucoup de bon sens, meme de la solidite, et elle est instruite suffisamment. Mr. Walpole ne lui donne pas la preference. He must have something de l'esprit de l'Academie, &c., something of a charactere marque. Je ne cherche rien de tout cela; je suis content du naturel, et de trouver une personne raisonnable, honnete, et de bonne conversation. She is going to-day for a week or more to Lady Spencer's at St. Alban's. I am sure that it is not there, que je trouverois cette simplicite qui me plait. But this, till it is time to embark for Isleworth, when I shall have something more interesting to talk of than the perfections of Me de Roncherolles. . . .

(1790, Nov.?) Thursday, Richmond.--You are so good, when you do not see me or hear of me, to be desirous of having some information of my state of health and existence. Now I must let you know that I have at this moment every distress, negative and positive, that I can have, et les voici. My negative one is, being for the moment in an impossibility of going to town to see you, Caroline, and the bambino, and that is enough, for it would be a great pleasure to me, as you must imagine. Then, I am, in a manner, here with one single servant. Pierre has left this house to go to his own, where he is very well looked after by his wife, and is (as) comfortably lodged as it is possible to be; but he is, as Mr. Dundas tells me, in a very perilous situation, and yet, by excessive care, may recover.

He has been my doctor lately instead of his own, and given me, daily, powders which he said were the bark, and which I was to take. No such thing; they were powders of a different sort, which, it is fortunate, have done me no mischief. They were in the drawer, and so brought to me as bark. Dundas thought I neglected myself, and rejected the prescription. I maintained that I had missed taking the bark but one day. He knew the contrary from his shop book, and to-day only the mystery was cleared up.

My next grievance is, that je peris de froid; j'en mis penetre au pied de la lettre, and the reason is plain, but why I did not discover it myself is hardly to be conceived. I have no clothes; my stockings are of a fine thin thread, half of them full of holes; I have no flannel waistcoat, which everybody else wears; in short, I have been shivering in the warmest room sans scavoir pourquoi. But yesterday there was a committee at the Duke's upon my drapery, and to-day a tailor is sent for. I am to be flannelled and cottoned, and kept alive if possible; but if that cannot be done, I must be embalmed, with my face, mummy like, only bare, to converse through my cerements. Then, my other footman, the Bruiser, is that, and all things bad besides; he is not an hour in the day at home, and is gaming at alehouses till 12 at night; so the moment that I can get any servant that is tolerable to supply his place I shall send him out of the house, sans autre forme de proces; but, till he is gone, my whole family lives in terror of him.

It is amazing to what a degree I am become helpless; nothing can account for it but extreme dotage, or extreme infancy. I wish Barthow had left Lady Caroline, and was here only to dress me in warmer clothes, but she goes from here, I hear, to Lady Ailesford, so that I must not think of lying in and being nursed for some time. . . .

(1790,) Dec. 8, Wednesday, Richmond.--You have bean at C(astle) H(oward) ever since Monday sevennight, and not one single word have you received from your humble slave and beadsman. . . . Here is now come a snip-snap letter of reproach from Lady Ossory for not having answered her letter of compliments upon Lady Caroline's delivery. I received yours on Sunday. That was no post day, so I resolved to answer it in Berkley Square on Monday. But I did not set out till three o'clock, lost all the fine part of the morning, and did not get to town till five in the afternoon--dragged for two hours, two whole hours, through mud, and cold, and mist, till I was perishing; so that when I had eat some dinner I was fit for nothing but to go to bed, and therefore did not go to Berkley Square till yesterday at noon. . . . I saw Caroline and her bambino. . . . The christening is to be, as I understand, to-morrow. I hope in God that I shall be well enough to assist, and name the child, and eat cake, and go through all the functions of a good gossip. If I am obliged to give up that which seems to have been my vocation, c'est fait de moi; I must declare myself good for nothing. I carried yesterday the regalia. The cup has been new boiled, and looks quite royal.

Sir L. Pepys was with me in the morning, and thought my pulse very quiet, which could only have been from the fatigue of the day before--juste Dieu! fatigue, of going 8 or 9 miles, my legs on the foreseat, and reposing my head on Jones's shoulder. The Duke would make her go, and everybody. He thinks that I am now the most helpless creature in the world, when, from infirmity, I want ten times more aid than I ever did. Sir Lucas pronounced no immediate end of myself, but that I should continue to bark, with hemlock. I'll do anything for some time longer, but my patience will, I see, after a certain time, be exhausted. As to poor Pierre, it is over with him. Sir Lucas says the disorder is past all remedy. This is a most distressful story to me, and how to supply his place I do not know.

With this letter a correspondence, unique and delightful, extending over many years, ends. At its close we may well recall Lord Carlisle's words written fourteen years before, "I shall always be grateful to fortune," he said, ". . . for having linked me in so close a friendship with yourself, in spite of disparity of years and pursuits." Selwyn returned to London shortly before Christmas, and died on the 25th of January, 1791. On this very day Walpole, with a touching simplicity and truth, wrote to Miss Berry, "I am on the point of losing, or have lost, my oldest acquaintance and friend, George Selwyn, who was yesterday at the extremity. These misfortunes, tho' they can be so but for a short time, are very sensible to the old; but him I really loved not only for his infinite wit, but for a thousand good qualities."

INDEX

A

Abergavenny, Lord Abingdon, Lord Adams, John Ailesbury, Lady Albemarle, Lady Almack's Assembly Rooms, King Street, St. James'; masquerade at; masquerade stopped by bishops; extinct. Almack's Club, Pall Mall; events at; thriving; Selwyn and Fox at supper at; Selwyn's "bureau;" Selwyn avoids; house occupied by. Alston, Tommy Althorp, Lord Amelia, Princess America--Lord Carlisle, peace commissioner to; Gower, Lord, on independence of; Fitzpatrick in; colonies, bad news from; question of; Storer, with Carlisle in; news from; colonies in; His Majesty's subjects in; Prohibitory Bill; Selwyn on the war in; letter-writing between England and; Selwyn regarding politics in; want of interest in society concerning; Fox's motion to conclude peace with; public interest in; motion as to; President of Congress. Amhurst, Lord Andre, Major Androche, Marshal Argyle, fifth Duke of Arnold, Benedict Ascough, Mr. Ashburnham, second Earl of Ashburton, Lord, see Dunning Ashton, Thomas Ashton, Mr. Assembly of Notables, National Astley, Mr. Aston, Sir W. Auckland, First Lord, see Eden Aylesford (Ailsford) Lord; Lord of the Bedchamber

B

Baker, Dr. Balbi, Comtesse de Balliol College Baltimore, Lord Bampton Lectures (Dr. White's) "Baptist," the, see Henry St. John Barbot's Lottery Barker, Mr. Barrington, Lord Barry, Mme. Du "Anecdotes of" Barry, Richard, sixth Earl of Barrymore, Barry, Richard, seventh Earl of Barrymore Barry, Mr. Barrymore, Lady Barrymore, Lord, see Barry Barth, Mrs. Basilico Bath Beauchamp, Lord Beauclerk, Topham; married to Lady Bolingbroke Beaufort, Duke of Beckford, Alderman Beckford, William, son of Alderman Beckford, author and collector Bedford, fourth Duke of Bedford, fifth Duke of Bedford, Duchess of Bedford faction Bedford House; parties at Belgiojoso Berkeley, Lord Berry, Agnes Berry, Mary Bertie, Lord Besbborough, Lord "Betty, Lady," see Howard, Lady Elizabeth Biron, Duchesse de Biron, Admiral, see Byron Biron, Mrs. Biron, Duc de Blake, Miss Blake, Mr. Blake, Mrs. Blandford, Lord Blaquiere, Sir John Blenheim Bloomsbury Gang Bohn, Comte de Boisgelin, Comte de Bolingbroke, Lady Bolingbroke, Lord "Bully," Boon, Charles Boothby, Mrs. Boothby, Sir Brooke Boston, Lady Boston, Frederick, second Baron Bouverie, Mr. Bouverie, Mrs. Boufflers, Comtesse de; Queen of the emigres; at Richmond Boufflers, Emilie, Comtesse de; at Richmond Brereton, Col. Bristol, Earl of Brodrick (Broderick), Colonel Henry Brooke, Earl of Brooks, Mr. Brooks's Club, politics and gambling at; fortunes lost at; card-room at; macaronis at; Fox and Fitzpatrick at; gossip at; Selwyn at; American question discussed at; supper at; ill attended; political discussion at; in opposition to; Fox closeted every instant at; a place of amusement, speculation, and curiosity; Whigs at, in 1781; Fox gives audiences at Brudenell, Lord Buccleugh, Duchess of Buccleugh, third Duke of

Buckingham, Lady Buckingham, Lord Buckingham House Junto Buckinghamshire, third Earl of Buffon, Mme. "Bully," see Bolingbroke Bunbury, Lady Sarah; charm of; sought after by the king; social successes in Paris; Carlisle's youthful passion fon; at Lord March's Bunbury, Sir Charles Bunker's Hill, Battle of Burgoyne, General Burke, Edmund; bad judgment of in Parliament Burrows, Mr. Bute, Lady Byron, Lord Byron, Lord (the poet) Byron (Biron), Admiral, The Hon. John

C

Cadogan, Lady Calas, Jean Calonne, M. de Cambis, Mme. De Cambridge University; Walpole at Camelford, Lord Campbell, Mr. (first Baron Cawdor) Camden, Earl Carlisle, third Earl of Carlisle, fourth Earl of Carlisle, fifth Earl of, Frederick Howard; in America, letters from Hare and Selwyn; Selwyn's letters to, commence; sketch of life;' Order of Thistle; delay of Ribband and Badge; fears for health at Turin; friendship for Fox; Fox and Carlisle at Eton; anxiety regarding Fox's prodigality; Viceroy of Ireland; Storer to; ill; Peace Commissioner to America; recalled from Ireland; children of; high ideals; thankfulness for Selwyn's friendship. Carlisle, sixth Earl of, see Howard, George, Viscount Morpeth Carlisle, Isabella, Countess Dowager of Carlisle, Lady Caroline Gower, (wife of the fifth Earl) Carmarthen, Lord Carpenter, Lady Almeria Carteret, Harry Carysfort, Lord Castle Howard Castle Inn, Richmond Catherine, Empress of Russia Cavendish, Lord Frederick Cavendish, Lord George Cavendish, Lord John Cawdor, first Lord, see Campbell Chamberlain, Lord "Charles," see Fox Charlotte, Queen, wife of George III. Chartres, Duc de Chatelet, Duc de Chatham, first Earl of Chatham, second Earl of Cholmondeley, Lord Chedworth, Lord Choiseul, Duc de Choiseul, Duchesse de Choiseul, Mons. De Choiseul, Mme. De Chudleigh, Elizabeth, see Kingston, Duchess of Churchill, Lord Clarence, Duke of Clarendon, Lord Clavering, Mr. Clerk of the Irons Clermont, Lady Clermont, Lord Cleveland, Duchess of Clinton, Sir Henry Clive, Lord Club, Young Comb Compton, Lady Compton, Lord Comyns, picture cleaner Congreve, Mr. Conolly, Lady Louisa Conti, Princesse de Conway, General Cooper, Sir Grey Cornwallis, Lady Cornwallis, Lord "Corydon," Lord "Corydon," Captain Coventry, Earl of Coventry, Lady Cowper, Lady Cowper, Lord Craddock, Mr. Craigs, General Craven, Lord Crawford, James, "the Fish," Crawford, Mrs. Crewe, Mr. Crewe, Mrs. Crewe, Mrs. ("Old") Croome (Crome) Cumberland, Duke of Cunningham, Colonel

D

Damer, Mrs. Darell, Mr., of Cambridgeshire Darrels, The, at Richmond Dashwood, Sir Francis Deerhurst, Lord D'Elci, Comte Delme, Peter ("the Czar") Denbigh, Lord D'Eon (the Chevalier) Derby, Earl of Derby, Lady Dering, Sir E. Devonshire, Duchess of Devonshire, fifth Duke of Devonshire House "Diaboliad, The," igby, Dean of Clonfert igby, Lord igby, Miss Digby, Mr. Dlettanti, Society of DOyley (Doiley), Mr. D'Oraison Dorset, Duke of Dolben, Sir J. Douglas, Jack Draper, Sir W. Du Deffand, Mme. Du Deffand, Marquis Dundas, Sir William Dunning, John, first Baron Ashburton Dunmore, Lady

E

Eardley, Sir S. Eden, William, first Lord Auckland Eden, Mrs. Edgcumbe, Dick; one of Strawberry Hill Group Egremont, Lord Ekins, Dr. Jeffrey (tutor to Lord Carlisle, afterwards Dean of Carlisle) Elliot, Mrs. Elliot, Sir Gilbert Ellis, Mr. Ellis, Welbore Ellishere, Mrs. Emigres, the Emly, Edward (Dean of Derry) "Emily," "the little Parson" Emperor of Germany, see Joseph II. Ernham, Lord Essex, Lady Essex, Earl of Eton, Selwyn at; Carlisle at; Crawford at; Carlisle's verses on friends at; Fitzpatrick at; Walpole at; Storer at; Fitzwilliam at; Montem at; Lord Morpeth at Euston, Lord Eyre, Mr. Executions, Selwyn and

F

Fagniani, M. Fagniani, Marchesa, mother of Mie Mie Fagniani, Maria (and see Mie Mie) Falkener, Sir Everard Family compact Fanshaw, Mr.

Farrington, Gen., of Kent Faukener, Lady Faukener, Mr. Fauquiers Ferguson, Sir Adam Ferrers, Washington, fifth Earl; Robert, sixth Earl Fish, the, see Crawford Fitzherbert, Mrs. Fitzpatrick, Richard ("Richard, the Beau Richard"); at Quinze; friendship with Fox; losses at Newmarket; returns from Jamaica; in "The Diaboliad;" wins money at Brooks's; Pharo bank; in his Pharo pulpit; horses taken from his coach; holds a gambling bank; Fox as security for; the Beau Richard; at Brooks's; loses at Hazard; at White's; with the King; elated at change of ministry; provokes Selwyn Fitzroy, Lady Caroline

Fitzwilliam, Lady
Fitzwilliam, second Earl
Fletcher, Mr.
Flood, Henry
Floyd, Lady Mary
Floyd, Miss
Foley, Thomas, second Baron
Foster, Lady
Fort St. John
Fox, Charles James, "Charles,"; chief of group; great qualities;
coalition with Lord North; friendship with Carlisle; gambling
debts; leader of Whig party; fortune destroyed; Selwyn advises
concerning debts; goes to Bath; suggested sueing of, by
Carlisle; money troubles, Selwyn's opinion of; women's opinion
of; frequent story of debts; friendship for Richard
Fitzpatrick; loses money at Newmarket; on the American
Question; in "The Diaboliad;" Selwyn and; speech on economy;
holds Pharo bank; Fitzpatrick with; Jews seize effects; his
furniture sold; enchanted with Pitt's speech; motion concerning
American war; auction at his house; gaming; and Selwyn; has a
cockpit; flattery of; speech; first figure in all places; loses
heavily at races; agreeableness of; Selwyn's admiration of his
talents; arrogance of; the new administration; as Secretary for
Foreign Affairs; takes a house in Pall Mall; coalition with
North; Selwyn, relations with
Fox, Henry Edward, youngest son of first Lord Holland

Fox, Henry Richard Vassall, third Baron Holland Fox, Stephen, second Baron Holland, "Ste" France Franklin, Benjamin Fraser, Mr. Frederick the Great French Revolution

G

Gainsborough; picture of Mie Mie by Galloway, Earl of Garlies, Lord, see Galloway Garrick, David Garrick, Mrs. Gemm, Dr. "George," see Howard, George, Lord Morpeth George III. Germaine, Lord George Sackville Gibbon (historian) Gideon, Sir Sampson Gilbert, Mr. Thomas Glenbervie, Lord, Sylvester Douglas Glendower, Lord Gloucester, Duchess of Gloucester, Duke of Gloucester, monastery of St. Peter at; situation of; city of, Selwyn member for; election at Godolphin, Lord Goostree's (Club) Gore, Mr. Gordon, fourth Duke of Gordon, Duchess of Gordon, Lord George Gordon, Lord William Gower, Lady Gower, Lady Evelyn Leveson Gower, Lady Louisa Leveson (sister-in-law of fifth Earl of Carlisle) Gower, second Earl Grady Mr. Grafton, Duke of Graham, Dr. Graham, Lady Grant, General Grantham, Lord Gray, Thomas, the poet Greenville, Mr. (Grenville) Greenwich's, The Gregg, Francis, succeeded Delme as M.P. for Morpeth Grenville, Mr. George Grenville, G., Lady Grevil Grey, Lord Grieve, Mr. Grosvenor Place Guerchy Guildford, Earl of, see North Guise, Mr. Gunning, Elizabeth (afterwards Duchess of Hamilton) Gunning, Elizabeth

Gunning, Charlotte Margaret Gunning, maria Gunning, Miss Gunning, Sir Robert

H

Hamilton, Duchess of Hamilton, Duke of

Hanger, Will

Harcourt, Lord Hare, James; Losses at Newmarket; at Lady Betty's; at Almack's; letter to; with Fox; at Brooks's; opens Pharo bank; letter on London society; at White's Harridans, the Harrington, Lady Harrington, Lord Harris, Alderman

Hart Hall (Oxford) Hartley, Mr. Hautefort, Marquis de Hawke, Sir S. Hay, Adam, Member for Peebles Henault, President Heneage, Mr. Hertford College, Selwyn at; Charles Fox at Hertford, Lady Hertford, Lord Hervey, second son of Lord Hervey, Lady Hillsborough, Lord Hinchcliff, Dr. Holderness, Earl of Holland, Henry Fox, first Lord Holland Holland, Stephen Fox, second Lord, see Fox Holland, Henry, third Lord Holland Holland, Lady, Georgiana Caroline Gordon, wife of first Lord Holland; death of; funeral of Holland, Lady Mary Holland House. fire at Horton, Mrs. Houghton, sale of pictures at Howard, Frederick, fifth Earl of Carlisle, see Carlisle Howard, George, Viscount Morpeth, afterwards sixth Earl of Carlisle, "George" Howard, Frederick, third son of fifth Earl of Carlisle Howard, William, second son of fifth Earl Howard, Lady Caroline, daughter of fifth Earl of Carlisle (afterwards Lady Cawdor); marriage Howard, Lady Charlotte, daughter of fifth Earl of Carlisle Howard, Lady Elizabeth ("Lizzy"), daughter of the fifth Earl of Carlisle Howard, Lady Gertrude (afterwards Lady G. Sloane Stanley), daughter of the fifth Earl of Carlisle Howard, Lady Anne, sister of the fifth Earl of Carlisle Howard, Lady Elizabeth ("Betty"), sister of the fifth Earl of Carlisle (afterwards Lady Delme) Howard, Lady Frances, sister of the fifth Earl Howard, Lady Mary Howard, Lady Julia, sister of the fifth Earl Howard, George, Lieut.-General Howard, Mr. (afterwards Duke of Norfolk) Hughes, Mr. Hume, David; history Huntingdon, Lord

I

Ilchester, Stephen Fox, first Earl of Ilchester, Henry Thomas, second Earl of, see Stavordale Inchiquin, Lord Intercourse Bill Ireland; Lord Carlisle recalled from Irwin, Sir J.

J

Jay, John Jersey, Lady Jersey, fourth Earl of Jockey Club Johnson, Samuel, his "Lives of the Poets" Johnston, George Jones, Mrs. Jones, Thomas Joseph II., Emperor of Germany Junius Junto, the blue and buff

K

Kane, Colonel Keene, Mr. Keith, Sir R. Kemble Keppel, Admiral, First Viscount; First Lord of the Admiralty Kildare, William Robert, Marquis of King, The, see George III. Kingston, Duchess of; trial of Kingston, Duke of

L

La Fayette, Marquis de

Lamb, Sir M. Lambert, Sir J. ansdowne, Lord (see Shelburne) Langdales, The Langlois, Mr. Lascells, The two Laurens, Henry, President of the American Congress Lee, Mr. Leeds, Duke of Leinster, Duchess of Leinster, Duke of Lely, Sir Peter Lennox, Charles, third Duke of Richmond L'Espinasse, Mile. Lewis, Mr. Lewisham, Lady Lignonier, Lord Lincoln, Lord Lisbourne, Lord Lothian, Lord Lotteries, Conty's Loughborough, Lord Louis XV. Louis XVI. "Louisa, Lady," see Gower Lucan, Lady Lucan, Lord Ludgershall, borough in Wiltshire Luxembourg, Duc de Lyttleton, Lord Lyttleton, Sir George Lyttleton, Sir Richard

M

Macall Macaronis Macartney, Lady Macartney, Sir George, afterwards Lord Macartney Macclesfield, Lord Macdonald, Sir Archibald Mahon, Lord Maintenon, Mme. De Malden, Viscount Malesherbes, Minister under Louis XVI. Manchester, Duke of Mann, Sir Horace Manners, Jack Mannin's, a macaroni dinner at Mansfield, Lord March, Lord, afterwards fourth Duke of Queensberry, see Queensberry Marchmont, Lord Marie Antoinette Marlborough, Duchess of Marlborough, fourth Duke of Marlborough House Mattesdone, Phillippus de Matson; village, manor house Maury, Abbe Mawbey, Sir Joseph Maynard, Sir William Medmenham Meillor, Mrs. Melbourne, Lady Melbourne, Lord Menil, see Meynell Metham, Sir G. Methuen, Mr. Meynell, Mr. Middletons, The Mie Mie; at Campden House; leaves England, relatives negotiated with for her return; description of; at Richmond; at the Assembly; sitting to Gainsborough; at the Opera Minto, Lord Molyneux, Lord Monson, Lord Montagu, Sir C. Montem Montgomery, Sir William More, Mr. More, Sir J. Morpeth, Lord, afterwards sixth Earl of Carlisle, see Howard, George Morpeth, borough of Musgrave, Dr. Musgrave, Sir William, of Hayton Castle

N

Nabobs, Indian Napier, George Napier, Lord Francis Napier, Sir Charles fames Napier, Sir George Thomas Napier, Sir William Francis Naworth Neasdon, school at Necker, M.; abuse of Nevills, The Newcastle, Duke of Newmarket Nicolson, Mr. Norfolk, Duke of North, Lord, fourth Earl of Guildford; Selwyn's description of; fall of his Ministry North, Frederick, fifth Earl of Guildford North, Mrs. Northington, second Earl of Northumberland, Duchess of Northumberland, second Duke of Norton, Sir Fletcher Nugent, Lord

O

O'Brien (Lord Inchiquin) Offley, Mr. Ogilvy, Mr. Oliver, Mr. Onslow Onslows, The Ord, Maria Orford, third Lord Orford, fourth Lord Oriel College Orleans, Duke of Ossory, John, second Earl of Ossory, Lady Owen, Mr. Oxford, University of; corporation of; Lord Morpeth at

P

Palliser, Sir Hugh Paris; Treaty of Parker, George Lane Payne, Jack Payne, Lady Payne, Sir R. Pelham, Henry Pelham, Lady Frances Pelham, Miss Pembroke, Lady Pembroke, Lord Pennant, Thomas Penthurst (Penshurst) Pepys, Sir Lucas Percys Petersham, Lord Phelippeaux, Jean Frederic, Comte de Maurepas' recognition of the U.S. Phillips, General Pierre, servant of Selwyn's Pigott, Admiral Piozzi, Mme, (Mrs. Thrale) Piquet, La Motte Pitt, Thomas (uncle of William) Pitt, William; personal relations with Wilberforce; Duchess of Gordon confidante of; sudden rise of, first speech; second speech; Selwyn hears him speak; another speech of; his young political friends; expected to join the Cabinet; gives Selwyn a place; remains in office; at Windsor with Lord Thurlow; Selwyn asked to meet him at dinner Plympton Pompadour, Mme. De Pompeio Ponsonby, Mr. Pontcarre, M. de Porten (Portine), Sir Stanier Portland, Duke of Pottinger, Mr. Powell, Mr. Powis, Lady Priestly, Dr. Proby, Sir John Public Advertiser

Q

Queen (of England), see Charlotte, wife of George III. Queensberry, William Douglas, third Earl of March, fourth Duke of Queensberry, "Old Q"; character and life Queensberry, fifth Duke of Queensberry villa

R

Radcliffe, John Raikes, Mr. Ramsden, Sir J. Raton, Selwyn's dog Ravensworth, Lady Ravensworth, Lord Rawdon, Lord Regency, English, question of Regency, French Reynolds, Sir Joshua; Selwyn's joke on Rich, Sir R. "Richard," see Fitzpatrick Richards, Mr. Richelieu, Marechal de Richmond, Charles Lennox, second Duke of Richmond, Duchess of Richmond, Mr. Richmond-on-Thames, a fashionable resort; Duke of York at; theatre Ridley, Sir M. Rigby, Right Hon. Richard Robinson, John, Secretary to the Treasury; Selwyn on Robinson, Mrs. Rockingham, second Marquis of; party meeting at house of; Cabinet; Thurloe's negotiations with; and Shelburne; and King; and Carlisle; first Lord of the Treasury; formation of Ministry Rohan, Cardinal de Roncherolles, Mme. De Rosslyn, Lord Roxburghe, Duke of Rutland, Duchess of Rutland, fourth Duke of

S

Sackville, Viscount, see Lord George Germaine
St. John, Frederick
St. John, John; legacy from Lord Guildford
St. John, Henry; legacy from Lord Guildford
Salisbury, Bishop of
Salisbury, seventh Earl of
Salveyne
Sandwich, John George Montagu, fourth Earl of
"Sarah, Lady," see Bunbury
Sardinia, King of
Sawbridge, Mr.
Scott, General
Scott, Mr.
Seabright, Sir J.
Sefton, Lady
Selwin, Mr., banker in Paris
Selwyn, Albinia (afterwards Lady Sydney), Matson re-entailed on her
descendants
Selwyn family
Selwyn, George Augustus; importance in society, as wit, as beau,
man of fashion, bon mots, jokes fathered on, reputation; a type
of his time, life, ancestry, inheritance of social qualities,
Walpole's "famous George"; possession of Matson, description of
house; to remove gateway of Lantony Priory, schooldays,
sobriquet, holder of sinecure post, illness; recovery, at
Oxford, in Paris, harshly judged at college, no attempt to
renounce pleasure; attends Duchess of Bedford to Paris; member
of Parliament, appointed Paymaster of the Works; life
uneventful, adoption of Mie Mie, anxiety for her; grief at her
departure, at Castle Howard, at Milan; fear of losing Mie Mie,
delight in her companionship, his friends; friend of Fox,
annoyed by his recklessness, lover of the town, journey to
Yorkshire; welcome everywhere; as a politician, Parliamentary
career, personal associations; as a gossip, at executions;
anecdote of George III. and character of, by Mme. du Deffand;
francophile, a favourite in France; secret of charm of; life
comparatively simple, his death a loss to society; commences
corrrespondence with Carlisle; admiration for Mme. de Sevigne,
letters compared with Walpole's, time spent in Paris,
friendship for Carlisle; friendship with Grafton; at Vauxhall;
advises Carlisle regarding Fox's debts; the tie; praise of
Tunbridge; proposed for Royal Society; at Devonshire House;
goes to Lyons; drum at; to Ranelagh; reception in the House of
Commons; six weeks at Streatham; on loss of Minorca and St.
Kitts; deprived of office, appointed Surveyor-General of Crown
Lands; a ministerialist; ill; correspondence with Lady Carlisle
begins; advice to young men; at Richmond; reading Bampton
Lectures; last illness; death
Selwyn, Jasper
Selwyn, John, Colonel
Selwyn, John, elder brother of George
Selwyn, Mary, wife of Colonel John, woman of the bedchamber, mother
of George
Sevigne, Mme. De

Shafto, Robert Shelburne, Lord Sheridan, Richard Brinsley Shirley, Mr. Siddons, Mrs. Smith, Dr., Master of Trinity College Smith, General Smithson, Sir Hugh Somerset, Duke of Sophia, Princess Southwell, Baron Spencer, George John, second Earl Spencer, Lady Diana Spencer, Lord Charles Spencer, Lord Robert, "Bob" Spratt, Bishop Stael, Mme. De Stafford, Marquis of; and see Gower Stanhope, Henry Stanhope, Lady ("Harriot") Henrietta Stanhope, Lord Stanley, Lady Betty Stanley, Lord Stapleton, Sir J. Stavordale, Lord; is a heavy gambler "Ste," second Lord Holland, see Fox Stewart, Keith Stonehewer, Richard Storer, Anthony Morris, the "Bon ton"; belonging to the Fox group; opinion of Selwyn; life of; attachment to Lady Payne; kindness of Carlisle to; description of Pitt's third speech; writes to Carlisle; on East India affairs; loses at play; Lord North's friendship for; at Cockpit; grievances; at White's Stormont, Lord Strawberry Hill Stuarts, The Suffolk, Lord Suffren, Comte de Suffren, Comtesse de Sunderland, Earl of Surveyor of Meltings in the Mint Sussex, Duke of Sutherland, Lady Sydney, Thomas Townshend, first Viscount, see Townshend

T

Talbot, Lord Tankerville, Lord Tavistock, Lord Taunton, Lord Terry, Mrs. Tessier, Mons. (reader to the Queen) Thatched House Tavern Thomas, Sir H. Thomond, Lord; will of Thompson Thornbury Castle Thrale, Mrs. (Mrs. Piozzi) Thurlow, Edward, first Baron Townshend, Charles, Viscount Townshend, John, first Marquis Townshend, Lady Townshend, Thomas, Viscount Sydney Torrington, Lord Trentham, Lord Trinity College Tuesday Night Club Tunbridge, Selwyn's opinion of Turgot Turner, Charles Tynte, Sir C.

V

Valiere, Duchesse de la Vanbrugh, Sir John Vanheck, Mrs. Vanheck, Sir Jos. Varcy Varey Vaupaliere, Mme. de la Vergennes, M. de Vernon, Lady H. Vernon, Richard Viri, Comte de

W

Waldegrave, Captain Waldegrave, Lady Waldegrave, Lord Wales, Prince of (George IV.) Walker, Mr. Wallis, Mr. Walpole, Horace; on illness of Selwyn; his "out-of-town party" at his villa; opinion of men of letters; his life; arrives at Matson; at Richmond; Pennant accused of copying style; mourns death of Selwyn Walpole, Sir Robert Walsingham, Lord Warenzow Warren, Lady Warren, Dr. Richard Warner, Rev. Dr. Washington, George Webb, Mrs. (Selwyn's lady housekeeper) Webster, Mr. Wedderburn, see Loughborough Weltzies (Club) West, Richard Westmoreland, Lord Weymouth, Lord Whately, Mr. Whistler, Sir Godfrey White's Club; Lord North at; Selwyn and Sir J. Irwin at; Selwyn in the card room; Selwyn prefers it to Brooks's; pharo at; Storer at; Hare and Fitzpatrick at Wiart (Mme. de Deffand's secretary) Wilberforce Wilkes, Mr. John (Willes) Williams, George James ("Gilly") Williams, Sir Charles Hanbury Williams, William Peere Willoughby, Sir Ambrose Wills, Mr. Winchelsea, Lord Windham, Percy Woburn Woodcock, Mr. Woodcock, Mrs. Woodfall, Mr. Woodhouse, Mrs. Worcester, Bishop of Worsley, Lady Worsley, Sir Richard Wrottesley, Sir J.

Y

Yarmouth, Earl of, third Marquis of Hertford York, Duke of York, Frederick, Duke of York, Mr. Young, Sir W.

Z

Zamparini, a dancer