UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO
!S73
HOLLAND HOUSE.
PHINCESS DEARIE LIECHTENSTEIN.
il XUMEllOUH ILLUSTRATIONS.
VOLUME I.
MACMILLAN AND CO.
1874.
[The Bight of Translation and Reproduction is reserved.
-
DcbiratcD to tbc ffltmorn
OF
HKNRY EDWARD. FOURTH LORD HOLLAND.
VOL. I.
PREFACE.
UNPRETENDING as I intend this book to be, I
cannot yet send it before the world without an
acknowledgment to those who have helped me,
not only by collecting information, but by harder
and drier work. When 1 thought the book well-
nigh completed, 1 found it was necessary that
many historical facts and ([notations should be
verified or checked.
Going abroad made this double task almost
hopeless, and I do not know what I should have
done without the kind and valuable aid of my
friends, Miss Probyn and Sir James Lacaita, and
Mr. Taylor, of the British Museum.
Nor can I close these few words of Preface
without acknowledging the embellishments my book
b 2
HOLLAND HOUSE.
I'liKKACE.
has received from the assistance of the artists,
Mr. Philip De la Motte and Mr. Jeens, whose
taste and talents on the present occasion speak
for themselves.
M A RI E LIECHTENSTEIN.
VIENNA, Octo/ni- 187:!.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
EARLY TIMKS OF HOLLAND IIOl'SK .
CHAPTER 111.
OHARLKS JAMES FOX
CHAPTER IV.
THE THIRD, AND THE FOURTH LORD HOLLAND
PAGE
1- CONTKNTS.
CHAPTER II.
SIR STEPHEN FOX AND THE FIRST LORD HOLLAND 32
80
134
CHAPTER V.
THE GROUNDS 166
CONTENTS.
HOLLAND HOUSE.
CHAPTER VI.
PLAN i >F THE GROUND-FLOOR
PAGE
197
CHAPTER VII.
ENTRANCE HALL. INNER HALL, S.MOKINf! ROOM, AND
STAIKCASK 2d. r >
CHAPTER VIII.
THE HREAKKAST ROOM .
C1IAITKU IX.
CHAPTER X.
FIRST WEST ROOM, OR MAI' ROOM
CIIAPTEE XL
\VKST ROOM, o|; ricTn;F. ROOM
CHAPTER XH.
THIRD WEST ROOM, OR PRINT ROOM
CHAPTER XIII.
FOt'KTH WEST ROOM
. -24-2
CONTENTS.
CHAPTEE XIV.
ALLEN'S ROOM
VAUE
267
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XV.
THE JOURNAL ItOOM
277
CHAPTER XVI.
THE WHITE 1'AHLOUl!
287
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
STEEL PLATES, LITHOGEAPHS, -VXD PHOTOGRAPHS.
HENRY KD\VAKD, FOURTH LO|!D HOLLAND . . . Frniitixji/nr
VIGNETTE: MARY AUGUSTA, LADY HOLLAND .... Till/'
SOUTH VIEW (IF HOUSE, FROM DRIVE . . . T<> fui'f jiftf/i' li
HOLLAND IIOUSF, SOl'Tll SIIIF. '.I
GEXF.UAI, VIEW OF HOLLAND HOUSE, SOUTH SIDE. . . 10
LOWER TEUIIACJE, SOUTH SIDE 17<l
1'IEKS BY INIOO .IOXF.S, LEADING TO I'l.EASl'KE (1 ROUNDS IT'I
THE OLD CEDAR TREE 17:1
DUTCH GARDEN 17;")
DUTCH GARDEN, FROM AONT1IER I'OIXT 1 7-~>
BALL-ROOM IN DUTCH GARDEN . . . .' 1 "l'>
DUTCH GARDEN, ANOTHER PART .... . . 176
CLOISTER OVER ARCADE LEADING FROM BALL-ROOM To
UPPER TERRACE 177
I. LUSTRA-
TIONS
VOL. I.
C
HOLLAND HOUSE.
l.l.l'STKA- UI'PEU TKHUACE ON S.\V. SI UK, SHOWING LOWER
TIONS.
ARCADE . To face pn(j< 177
ARCADE I.EADINi; I-'KO.M I!AI.!,-IH i()M 17!)
VIEW THI;OUI:II i!Ai,i,-KonM WINDOW 181
l.oCERS'ri SEAT IN' DUTCH (JAKDEX 183
C'iNSEKYATOI.'Y I.EADINi; FKO.M I'.A 1. 1.- KOI >M 184
<;REEN I.ANI: 11 n
I'AIlT ill' Till: NnliTII SIDE nE MnrsE. AND KNTKANCE
TIP DI'TCII CAIIDEN . I'.l.'i
l'\l:T u| THE X'll.TII SIDE HI' lluI'SE 1 '.l.'i
WEST WINii AND ul.li EN T1JANCE, l'l;ii\l WINDOW uF
EAST WINIi .... .... '2U'i
IIENIIV (V. HI-' Fl; \N"CF. . . .207
ni.ii FONT r,v STAIKCASE IN INNI:I; IIAI.I. . . . . 211
EAM WIND, FI.'uM WINDOW uF I'L'I NT-IM it iM .... 1':!.",
FACSIMILE ill WH.I.IAM Ilui ; ANTIl's Al rmlKAril . l'.",8
K'tO.M A I'liTFIIE liY l'AH|| . 2('i'2
WHITE 1'AKEnl K SlluWINC 1,'Ei'F.ss i.'S7
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
WOOD ENGKAVIKGS.
HEAD-PIECE : MONOGRAM, HH
HOLLAND HOUSE, SOUTH SIDE 7
HENRY RICH, FIRST EARL OF HOLLAND, AND BARON
KENSINGTON 10
TAIL-PIECE: BOAT :>1
HEAD-PIECE: CHELSEA HOSI'ITAI ?>'2
SIR STEPHEN FOX "''
TAIL-PIECE : ARMS 7'J
HEAD-PIECE: DESl'ATCII IN FLAMES 80
CHARLES JAMES FOX, AFTER SIR .1. REYNOLDS . . . . 11.")
TAIL-PIECE: SEAL OF C. .1. FOX 1 :> > :> >
HEAD-PIECE: MONOGRAM WITH CORONET 134
TAIL-PIECE: MEDALLION OF NAPOLEON 105
HEAD-PIECE: ENTRANCE GATES 100
SOUTH VIEW OF HOUSE, FROM DRIVE 107
LOWER TERRACE, SOUTH SIDE 109
PIEES BY INIGO JONES, LEADING TO PLEASURE GROUNDS
ON NORTH SIDE 171
c 2
PACK
1 ILLUSTRA-
TIONS.
HOLLAND HOUSE.
H.l.rSTHA- , 1L D CKMAIJ TRKK .... 172
TIOXS.
DUTCH OAHDKX . 174
MITCH (1AIIHKX, ANOTIIFU PART 170
I:\LI. ROOM IX MITCH CARMKN . . 177
ARCAMK I.KAMINi; FL'nM C< iNSKIl VAToIIY . . 178
VIL\V TIIRon;il KALI, i;iii)M \VIMiu\V . . . 18(1
KIH;F.|;S'.S SKAT IN MFTCII CARMKN ] gvj
I:I;I:KX LAM: . UKi
PART i IF TIII: XORTII sun: i- imrsi-: . . ];i4
I \IL-PIKiK: HAIN.IA IX'I'linMI'CKM INTu KN'ilL\\l) |;y
I.AI'V l|n|.L\.N!' ISll-t . |( M ;
IIKAM-PIF.CK : CHINA FISH FL'dM STAIIJCASK . );i7
PLAN ill' Clidl'Mi STuIJY |i)(|
TMI.-PIKCK : FI.UKKNTIXF KXnCKF.l; \T IKH.I.AXM llul'SF. L'lM
IIKAD-PIKCK: Mss.
'ii.ii FUXT I;Y STAIIICASK UK INNKI; MALI. ^\
liRKAT >TAIKCASF AS SFFX I'ltu.M INNKI; HALL J]
TA1L-P1L.K: MKSICX KIM.M s\\u|;M .IF PKCUKNCK ANM
\VAI.KINC-STICK UK C. .1. KII\
IIKAD-PIKCK : cnltdXKT
liliKAKFAST ROOM, KAST K.ND
TAII.-PIKCK -. NAPOLEON'S ARMS
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
241
L'-i-l'
HEAD-PIECE: GROUP OF SfcVKES CHINA . .
TAIL-PIECE: OLD CHELSEA CHINA
HEAD-PIECE: HEAD OF CANOVA
TAIL-PIECE : MAP
HEAD-PIECE: EASEL. ETC., ETC
EAST WING BY MOONLIGHT, FROM PKTl'RE-ROnM WINDOW
TAIL-PIECE : PALETTE
HEAD-PIECE: PART OF PRINT ROOM
TAIL-PIECE: GRAYF.R AND ETCHING NEEDLE, ETC. ETC. .
HEAD-PIECE: STEPHEN, LORD HOLLAND
FROM A PiriTRF. I1Y PATCH
TAIL-PIECE: RICHARD, LORD HOLLAND
HEAD-PIECE: HOOKS . . .
TAIL-PIECE : INKSTAND . . .
HEAD-PIECE: DESIGN FROM .lOCR.NAI. ROOM .
TAIL-PIECE: CREST AND MONOGRAM
WHITE PARLOI'R, SHOWING RECESS . ... 2Sli
HEAD-PIECE: FROM CHIMNEY-PIECE IN WHITE PARI.oU! 2.S7
TAIL-PIECE: FROM CHIMNEY-PIECE IN WHITE P.'-.RI.nri; I'S'.I
U.I'STRA-
TIONS.
HOLLAND HOUSE.
HOLLAND HOUSE.
EARLY TIMKS OK
LLAM> HOUSi:.
IT may be desirable to precede GUI- account of
Holland House |>y a few words about the ground
upon which it stands and about .some of its earlier
inhabitants. 1'ossililv \vc >hall thus recall to the
reader's mind personages and facts alre'ady familial' :
but brought into contact with Holland House, thev
may appear in a new ludit, and, in any ea^e, a men-
tion of them attaches itself naturally to our subject,
as the oft-told anecdote of KJIIJJ Alfred and the
burnt cakes attaches itself to a history of England.
Holland House is situated in the parish of Ken-
sington, called in the Domesday Book Ohenesiton
VOL. I. i:
HOLLAND HOUSE.
town, or parish, (for this, rather than the modern
idea of a number of grouped houses, would be the
meaning of the termination "ton" or 'tun,"), of
Chenesi. Hut there arc other etymologies to choose
from. According to J. M. Kemble, a high autho-
rity on such matters, Kensington would be the
"tun" <>r parish of the Cenesingas. It also appears
as Kenesitune, ( licnsnctuna, Kensitnne, Kinsintuua,
X-c. Any of these might have been corrupted into
Kensington as easilv as Knutting-barnes into Netting
Hill, and more easilv. ]ierha]is, than Kmitc d" Roi
into Rotten Ko\v.
Kensington, it is hardlv necessary to say, begins
at about a mile and a half from Hyde Park Cornel',
and extends, in different directions, towards Hammer-
smith. Nntting Hill, and Chelsea. It has been the
site of more than one historical house, and is con-
sequently the scene of many historical lives. But
to enlarge upon these facts would be to digress
from the matter in hand.
When the Saxons first established themselves in
England (A.D. 450), much of the conquered land was
taken to reward the victorious army, and was par-
eelled out into hereditary possessions for different pro-
prietors. But the Norman Conquest (A.D. 106G), with
accidental, if not intentional, retribution, somewhat
KENSINGTON. VERES.
displaced the allodial proprietors, who ceded their
lands to the king or to some great nobleman, and
only re-secured protected possession of them on the
condition of feudal service.
Alluding to Kensington, Faulkner says : " In the
distribution made by William the Conqueror, this
manor was allotted to the Bishop of Constance, and
appears, by the record of Domesday, to have been
held of him by Aubrey de Wre, another of the
chieftains, who came over with that monarch." 1
But Faulkner is wrong. A learned critic has
convinced us that Faulkner's Bishop of ('(instance
was Geoffrey de Montbray, Bishop of < Ymtaiicc.s.
The mistake has doubtless arisen from a similarity
between the names in Latin. But as it is a mistake
which we were on the point of adopting, we notice
it with humility rather than triumph.
It is curious to mark the difference between the
value of this land in the eleventh century and in
the nineteenth. Kensington, as held by the Bishop,
is thus described in Domesday Book :
" Land of Aubrey de Vere. Osulvestane l/nndrc<L
Manor. Aubrey dc Yere holds of the Bishop of
Coutances, Kensington. It defends itself (does
service or pays taxes) for 10 hides. The land
1 Faulkner, History and Antiquities of Kensington, chap. ii.
B 2
CHAl'TKK
[.
HOLLAND HOUSE.
(aral)le) is 10 plough-lands. There are there 4
plough-lands in the demesne ; and the villeins have
."> plough-lands, and <> can be made. There are 12
villeins there, each with a virgatc ; and G villeins
with .'] virgates. The priest has half a virgate ; and
there arc 7 serfs. The meadow-land is 2 plough-lands.
Pasture for the cattle of the vill. Wood for 200 hogs ;
and :i acres of vine. In all the value is 10 pounds;
when (the owner) received it, (i pounds ; in the time of
Kdward, King, 10 pounds. This manor Edwin thane
of King Ivl ward held, and had the power of sale." 1
The following value of Holland House Estate in
the fifth year of Edward 111. (A.I). K531-2) may
serve as a companion picture to the preceding:
t. <>.
The capital messuage with dove-house .... 3 4
< >ne windmill worth yearly 13 4
.'{<>(( acres of arable, land 00(1
I ', acres of meadow 090
I'd ac-res of several pasture I (I
140 acres of wood L'
Rents of free tenants 11910
Ilents and works of customary tenants 7 10
I "leas and perquisites of courts 0100
i'l'O f> f,
1 1 >omesday Book, vol. i. f. 1 30, b : " Terra Albcrici do Yer.
Osulvestane Ilund. M. Albericus de ver tenfet] de ep[iscop]o Con-
stantiensi Chcnesit[im]. p[ro] x. hi.lfis] se def[en]d[it]. Terra est
x. car[ucatae]. Ibi in do[mi]nio sunt iiij. car[ucata>] & vill[an]i
OLD ABBEY LANDS.
Allusion is made in one account of Holland House
to the old abbey of Kensington, the lands of which
are said to have consisted of ten hides and a. virgate
of demesne lands. Much has been written as to the
quantities of land represented by a hide and a vir-
gate. It seems certain that these quantities varied
considerably in different parts of England ; and as
each authority lias apparently felt almost satisfied
when he has shown that the calculations of other
writers have been erroneous, we shall offer no opinion
upon the subject, but content ourselves with refer-
ring the curious to Kemble's " Saxons in England "
and Sir H. Ellis's " Introduction to the Domesday
Book." We do not, however, find much light thrown
upon the Abbey itself. The dissolution of monasteries
swept it away in the common lot, and this Abbev
land became vested, like the others, in the Crown.
The Manor of Kensington was held I)}- the DC
Veres, a family whose pedigree Leland deduces from
h[abe]nt v. car[uoatas] it vj. pot[erunt] lieri. Ibi xij. vill[an]i,
q[u]isq[ue] i. viig[atam] & vj. vill[an|i dr iij. virg[ati,sj. P[ivs]-
b[yte]r dim[idiam] virg[atam] ,t vij. sorvi. P[r]atii[ni] ij.
car[ucatee]. Past[ur]a ad pccim[iain] villa;. Silva cc. porc[is] it
iij. Arpi'nji[(e] vineas. In totis valen[tia] valfot] x. lib[ris] ;
Q[uan]do rccop[it], vj. lib[ris] ; T[cmpor]e R[egis| Efdwardi] x.
lib[ris]. Hoc M[anerium] tcnuit Eduuin[us] teign[us] rogis E[d-
wardi] & vend[er]e potuit." Domesday Book (Record Commis-
sion). Edited by Sir H. Ellis.
CHA1TE1!
I.
HOLLAND HOUSE.
(ii.MTKi; Noah!! 1 In comparatively modern days, a De
Von- was created Earl of Oxford ; and in the reign
of Elizabeth, Edward De Vere, seventeenth Earl of
Oxford, is said to have wasted his inheritance out of
sjiite to his wife, because her father, Lord Burleigh,
failed to obtain the pardon of the Duke of Norfolk,
to whom Edward was affectionately attached. The
last DC Vere, Karl of Oxford, died in the reign
of Queen Anne. It was, however, at the death of
I that De Vere known as "Little John of Campos"
(A.I). l.")i>(l). that the De Veres' reign in Kensington
ceased ; for then the Manor, descending through
Little John's sisters, passed sometimes entirely, some-
limes in a divided form, into the. families of
Neville, Wing-field, and Cornwallis. Sir William
and Lady Cornwallis held the whole Manor for a
\\hile: but it came into the possession of Archibald,
seventh Karl of Argyll, on his marriage with their
1
daughter Anne. This was the Karl of Argyll who
O o>/
returned to the faith of his fathers, and joined
Catholic Spain against Protestant Holland.
In KjlU the Manor became the property of Sir
Walter Cope, a Gentleman of the Bedchamber to
1 " A'tprtit ijfiius a Xoe. JJeiiu/c <t Tideo Gni'co. ///,/.; n
Veru nubiiiss. Itoinaiio. Postremo a Miloue comite de Genny, ulins
Ui.sney." LICLAXD'S Itinerary: Hfurne, vol. vi. p. 39.
I
SOI TH VIKVV OF MOI'SK FUOM DHIVK
f far t
SIR WALTER COPI
James I., whose wife, Dorothy, was daughter of
Richard Grenville of Wotton, ancestor of the Duke
of Buckingham, and who himself was Master of the
Court of Wards to the King, and one of the
Chamberlains of the Kxcheipier.
At this juncture, the historical mist somewhat
clears away; the particular hist./ry of the House
detaching itself from the general outline ;md claim-
ing individuality ; so that with the interest in our
subject increases our knowledge of it. Sir Walter
Cope, before acquiring the Manor, had laid the
foundation ol ('ope Castle, now Holland House, and
built the centre and turrets, jn l(i(>7. The accom-
panying illustration, though made <[Uiie recently, and
giving more than the original extent of the house,
may yet furnish some idea of its earlv appearance.
As for the ancient Manor House even its site is
unknown: and Sir Walter Cope not mentioning
such a habitation in his will, we may conclude, that
it was destroyed before the present house was built:
in the building of which, indeed, some of its mate-
rials were perhaps used.
The first, stone is often lost sight of beneath what
follows; so the name of Cope is superseded by that
of Holland and, Cope Castle by Holland House. Ihit
it may be now time to say with Vidocij : Troui'o
voi,. i. c
C11AITKR
1.
10 HOLLAND HOUSE.
moi la femme. We find her in Sir Walter
Cope's daughter and heiress, Isabel, who married
Sir lleruy Rich, created in 1622 Baron Kensington,
sent to Spain by James I. to assist in negotiating
a marriage between Prince Charles and the Infanta,
mid made Earl of Holland in 1624. He it was
who added to the building its wings and arcades ;
and, more than this, he employed the best artists
of the time in decorating the interior.
In those days, the family of Rich was not very
ancient. Richard Rich, an opulent mercer in the
time of Henry VI., was great-grandfather to Lord
Chancellor Rich under Edward VI. It was Rich
who, at the trial of Sir Thomas More, witnessed
against him as to a pretended conversation in the
TWer. 1 Hut Sir Henry Rich, his great-grandson,
the second son of Robert Rich, Earl of Warwick,
and of Penelope, daughter of Walter Devereux,
Earl of Essex, began life as a soldier ; then com-
bining the weight of arms with the glitter of a
Court, he became Captain of the King's Guard, and
took rank as Knight of the Bath. On the death
of his patron. Henry, Prince of Wales, son of
lames I., he entered the service of Prince Charles :
and, with what might be considered more success
1 Hurke's Extinct Pcenim-s.
..*'
HENRY RICH, EARL OF HOLLAND.
than credit, went on a mission of courtship for his
master to Henrietta of France. He was a very hand-
some man and a fop, and a favourite of the Duke of
Buckingham, as well as of the Court generally. The
details of his sundry political adhesions, which were
nearly as variable as the political events of his clay,
take up a good deal of room in the history of his
times. Here they need only be briefly enumerated.
After the death of Buckingham, in 1G2S, he stood
high in the favour and estimation of the Queen.
He was entrusted with the command of the Horse
in the Armv raised against the Scottish Covenanters
SO. 1 But by his retreat from Dunce he probably
n
CHAPTER
I.
shook the confidence which had been reposed in him.
His " Declaration made to the Kingdoms ' : has been
called a bad apology for bad conduct, and a meet-
ing between the disaffected members of Parliament
and Fairfax, at Holland House, forced Charles to
believe in his disloyalty. This meeting is mentioned
in the Perfect Diurnal (1647) as follows:
"Friday, August 6. This morning the members
of Parliament which were driven away by tumults
from Westminster met the Generall at the Earle of
1 Clarendon's Hist, of the Eebellion. Oxford, 1820. Vol. i., book ii.
~ A Declaration mado to the Kiugdonie, by Henry Earle of
Holland. London, 1643. (King's Library, British Museum.)
C 2
HOLLAND HOUSE.
Hollands house at Kensington, and subscribed the
Declaration of the Army, and a further Declaration
of their approving and joyning \vitli the Army in
their last proceedings, making null all acts passed
by the Members at \Vesiiniiister since J'nlij the 1>(J
laM. Afterwards his Kxcellciicy with the Lords, the
Speaker of t lie hou-c of ( 'oinnions, with the Members
of tin- s.dd house, and many other ( ientry. marched
toward Westminster, a (luard of smildieix :> deep
-taiidini:' from that place to the Forts I . . .
IK |i;is ln> returned to the Koval'sts. and appeared
in arms I'or thcin at Kingston-. m-Thames. But lieinjr
iivrrpowerrd and afh'rxN'ards c.ip'ured at St. N'eot s,
he was imprisoncil in \Vai'wic-l< Castle, which hulongvd
to his own Brother. I Itimately he \vas condemned
i,, de.-iih ]p\- a in-\v 1 1 ii_'-h Court of .Justice, appointed
fur the trial i if himself and several others, and his
petition for his life was rejected in the ('ominous l>v
On tlu' Hth of .March, I/54S-!), he was beheaded
in Palace Yard, \\estinin-ter, expiating hi.s waverings
with his blond, and respect was so far shown to
his remains that the next day they were buried at
KcnsiiiLituii.
Although social Miccess \veighs but li^'htlv in the
' Clilicn.le;,', Ili.-t. ot'tll" I.'cln-lliiin. Oxf'nnl. IS'.'H. V,,I. vL li.mk XI.
BASSOMP:ERRE.
balance against decapitation, \ve should remember
Hc-niy Uich received ;ill that was cle\'( r and fashion
able at Holland House ; not confining himself to his
own <;ountrvni"ii. Bassoiupierre, \vlio came over to
England for the purpose of settling' some difficulty
arisen out of th" dismissal of Queen Henrietta's
French attendants, records the fact, of having dined
at the Ivirl of Holland's a S'/i/fin/nn. says he;
distorting our Knidish n.-mies as easilv as our o\vn
dear countrvnieii distort names <m the other side of
the Channel; and, with all respect to charity, this
is saving a n'lvat deal.
Clarendon does the Karl of Holland's social quali-
fication < justice, describing him as ''a very handsome
man. of a lovely and winning' presence, and gentle
conversation : ' and gives him a higher tribute in
saying that he was never suspected to want courage,
although he may have IM-CII wanting in alacrity. lie
deserved the tribute of courage by dvin^- well, and
perhaps proved his want of alacrity by letting a
little ot his ancient foppery cling to him even in
his last hour. He appeared on the scaffold dressed
in a white satin \\aistcuat and a \vhite satin cap
with silver lace."'
1 Clarendon's Hist, of I lit- Kclicllinii. Oxford, isi'd. \\-l. i.. book i.
- PeiiVrt Diuriuil. l'nd;iv. .M;uvh !. (104S-!t)
HOLLAND HOUSE.
According to Walker, in his " History of Indepen-
dency," after having made a speech on the scaffold,
" .... he prayed for a good space of time : after
which by the instigation of Mr. Bolton, he said :
That he was the less troubled with his violent death,
when he remembered how his Saviour suffered for
him ; and again, when lie considered the King his
.Master not long before passed the same way ; with
others at this time with himself, with a. serious and
pithy justification of his said Master the late Kings
Majesty, a short recapitulation of his first speech
concerning his Actions, Religion, breeding and
sufferings. After all, wholly casting himself, on
the merits and mercies of Jesus Christ, foroivino-
his Enemies, praying for peace, and that their blood
might be the last, which was shed strangely, the
tryall being as extraordinary as anything in the Kino--
dom : but he owned it as (Jods hand: then havino-
O>
some divine conference with .Mr. Boltou for neer a
ip-iarter of an hour, and spoken to a Souldier that
took him prisoner and others, he embraced Liev-
tenant Collonel Bcecfici; and took his leave of him.
After which he came to Mr. Bolton, and having
embraced him, and returned him many thanks
for his great pains and affection to his soul, he
prepared himself to the block : whereupon turning
INDEPENDENCY" WALKER. 15
to the Executioner, he said ; here my friend,
let my Cloaths and my body alone, there ts ten
pounds for thee, that in better than my cloaths, I
am sure of it. And when you take up my head, (Jo
not take off' my cop : then taking his farewell of his
Servants, he kneeled down and prayed, for a pretty
space, with much earnestness.
"Then going to the front of the Scaffold, he said
to the People, <id Mexs you all, God give a/1
happiiit'n* to this Kingdom, to tit is People, to this
Xatinn. Then laying himself down, he seemed to
pray with much affection for a short space, and then
lifting up his head (seeing the Hxecutioner by him)
lie said, sfai/ vltiJe I (/ire fJtc si<jne and presently
after stretching out his hand, and saying, now, now ;
just as the words were coining out of his mouth, the
Executioner at one blow severed his head from his
body." '
Such was the end of Henry .Rich, first Earl of
Holland, who owed Holland House to his wife, and
to whom Holland House owes its name. The por-
trait we wive of him on the next page is from an old
O
print, and may excite more interest than admiration.
The first Earl of Holland left a large family ;
' but on his death it was, according to Faulkner,
1 History of Independency. London, 1660. Part IV.
16
HOLLAND HOUSE.
(ieneral Fairfax who inhabited Holland House; and
Lysons says that, in July Ki-li), Central Lambert
fixed his head-quarters there.' Nor are these the
onlv Puritan names associated with the place.
Cromwell himself is said to have discussed with
Ireton. in a fidd lielonging to Holland ] louse, the
importiinl events which had contributed 1, agitato
England, choo.-ing this open spot on aceount of
Iretoiis deafness, which made a secret no secret at
all when rontidrd incautiously to his ear. Even-
^ c are oursdvi-s nr.t convinced that these statements arc
stiictly accurate.
SUPPRESSION OF THE STAGE.
tually, however, the widowed Countess of Holland
was allowed to live once more in her own home ;
and if devotion to a late husband can be proved
by opposition to his enemies, Lady Holland was a
devoted widow, for she encouraged acting in Holland
House when theatres were shut by the Puritans.
There are not many particulars known about the
history of the drama during this period ; indeed,
how can there be many particulars known about
that of which suppression is the chief feature ?
According to J\Iurphy, one may reckon four estates
in England ; the King, the Lords, the Commons,
and the Tfieatres. 1 But, according to the Puritans,
the first and last of these estates were superfluities ;
for they dispensed with the King, and the theatres
they suppressed. Early in the year 1G47, an ordi-
nance, mentioned by Cobbett, 2 was issued to the
effect that " Whereas the acting of Stage Plays, In-
terludes, and common Plays, condemned by antient
Heathens, and much less to be tolerated amongst
professors of the Christian Religion, is the occasion
of many and sundry great vices and disorders, . . .
all Stage Players, Players of Interludes, and common
Players, shall be taken to be Rogues, and punishable
1 Eogers's Table Talk.
2 Parliamentary History of England, vol. iii. p. 84C.
CHAPTKi;
I.
VOL. I.
D
HOLLAND HOUSE.
within the Statutes of the 39th Eliz. and the
7th James, . . ." By this ordinance, also, it appears
from Cobbett, that the Lord Mayor and several other
functionaries were authorized to pull down all stage
galleries, seats, and boxes used for the aeting of
Stage Plays or Interludes within their several
jurisdictions ; all such common players and actors
were to be proceeded against as Rogues, if they
still persisted to act ; and each convicted spectator
was to be fined 5,v. for the poor of the parish. 1
But notwithstanding all this, it would seem that
a dramatic ghost still haunted the metropolis and its
neighbourhood. Once in the winter of 1648, a few
surviving histrionic Royalists, trying to act privately,
were surprised by a party of foot-soldiers at the
Cockpit when they were performing the tragedy of
" The Bloody Brother," with Lowin as Aubrey,
Taylor as Hollo, Pollard as the cook, Burt as
La-tnrch, and Hart (probably) as Otto. They were
carried off to prison, and only set at liberty after
being plundered of their clothes.'
Persecution, therefore, making fine attire and
theatrical ornaments dangerous, players were excused
for a want of such, and painted cloth became a
1 Parliamentary History of Kngland, vol. iii. pp. 846-7.
2 Geneste, History of the Stage. Bath, 1832. Vol. i. p. 23.
THEATRICALS AT HOLLAND HOUSE.
19
substitute for many deficiencies. In Oliver's time,
private acting \vent on as it had done at the time
of the first suppression, three or four miles out of
town, in various noblemen's houses, and particularly
at Holland House, where the nobility and gentry
used to get subscriptions for the players, and "Alex-
ander Goffe, the woman actor at Black-friers (who had
made himself known to persons of quality) used to be
the jackall, and give notice of time and place. . . ." '
We may represent somewhat to our mind's eye the
state of things alluded to in an old book, printed in
1673, which, as set forth upon the title-page in a
whimsical arrangement (that we do not attempt to
reproduce) of old type, is called : " The Wits, or,
Sport upon Sport. Being a Curious Collection of
several Drols and Farces, Presented and Shewn for
the Merriment and Delight of Wise Men, and the
Ignorant : As they have been sundry times Acted in
Publique, and Private, in London at Bartholomew, in
the Countrey at other Faires. In Halls and Taverns.
On several Mountebancks Stages, at Charing Cross,
Lincoln's-Inn-Fields, and other places. By several
Stroking Players, Fools, and Fidlers, and the
Mountebancks Zanies. With loud Laughter, and
O
1 A Select Collection of Old Plays. Second Edition, with notes
by Isaac Reed. London, 1780. Vol. xii. (Historia Histrionica. )
D 2
CHAPTKH
I.
20
HOLLAND HOUSE.
niAiTKi: great Applause. Written I know not when, by
several Persons, I know not who ; but now newly
Collected by your Old Friend, to please you, Francis
Kirkman." We can somewhat imagine the state
of things when, according to the Preface, " the pub'
/i</>.ie Theatres ire re shut n/>, and the Actors far-
hidden to />r<'sent us with an;/ of their Tragedies,
liccav.se n-c had enotiah of that tit earnest ; and
Comedies, because the Vices of the Aae were too lively
ni/d smartly represented ; . . ." And in this state of
things we can imagine various authors and actors de-
lighting an audience by stealth at Holland House.
The dramatic name of the period which has most
impressed us is that of Robert Cox, an excellent come-
dian, who, when the theatres were suppressed, took
to making drolls or farces, and got them performed
under the sanction of rope-dancing at the Pied P>ull
[day-house, and in country towns at wakes and fairs.
Talking of Cox, Kirkman, in his preface to the afore-
mentioned work, says: "... . lime have I heard
hnn cn/c'l ii[> for his .John Swabber, and Simpleton
the Smith ? . . . . And so XatnraU// did lie Act
the Smith* part, that, bcimj at a Fair in a Countrey
Town, ami tliat Farce 1 hein.y presented, the only
Master Smith, of the Town came to him, sayinrj,
1 Robert Cox's Autxon and Diana.
CROMWELL AS AN ACTOR.
' well, although your Father speaks so ill of you,
yet ivlien the Fair is done, if you will come and
work with me, I will give you twelve pence a week
more than I give any other Journey -man.' . . . ."
Certainly it would have been difficult for the more
select audience of Holland House to pay him so
delicate a tribute.
It is not the business of these pages to discuss
Puritanism : \ve do not even intend to take a royal
licence, and say, as Charles II. did, that Prcsby-
terianism /.s . wliijioit not fit for gentleman.
But there is food for reflection in the report, men-
tioned by Winstanley, 1 that " Lingua," representing
a contention among the Five Senses for a crown, being
once performed at Cambridge, Cromwell had therein
the part of Tactus, and thence imbibed his ambitious
sentiments, without which he might never have
been in a position to suppress the stage. If we were
inclined to moralize, we could take two chapters from
Cromwell's life : his acting, and his actions ; and,
moralizing, we might wish he had not deserted the
one for the other.
To return to the proprietors of Holland House.
Robert, son of the first Earl of Holland, who
CHAPTER
I.
1 Lives of English Poets. London, 1G87.
'-' Probably written by Anthony Brewer.
HOLLAND HOUSE.
HAITKK became second Earl of Holland, and afterwards,
succeeding his cousin, became, in 1673, fifth Earl
of Warwick, made Holland House his principal resi-
dence. Edward, his son and successor, married
Charlotte, daughter of Sir Thomas Middleton, of
Chirk Castle, and she was the Countess of Warwick
who, on August 2nd, 1710, married Addison.
She had been a widow since 1701, and had devoted
herself to the education of her young son, the Earl
of Warwick. It is a disputed point whether or not
Addison was his tutor, but it is no disputed point
thai he became the boy's stepfather.
Living at Chelsea, he was a country neighbour,
which circumstance naturally facilitated his court-
ship, while Arcadian accompaniments may have graced
it. The marriage was announced in " The Political
State of Great Britain," for August, 1716, as
follows :
' A 1 tout the Beginning of A iiyuxt, Joseph Addison,
Esq ; famous for many excellent Works, both in
A'crse and Prose, was married to the Eight Honour-
able CJiai-lotte, Countess of Warwick, Edict of Ed-
ward late Earl of Wanrick, who died in 1701, and
Mother to the present Earl, a Minor."
More interesting, though less matter of fact, are
Eowe's Stanzas to Lady Warwick on Mr. Addison 's
THE COUNTESS OF WARWICK.
to Ireland. In the course of the piece she is
*
called " Chloe " and he " Lycidas." But we will only
give our readers one stanza, the fourth, which cer-
tainly contains good advice :
" And since his Love does thine alone pursue,
In Arts unpractis'd and unus'd to range :
I charge thee be by his Example true,
And shun thy Sex's Inclination, Change.' 1
Johnson, who supposes but there is good reason
to think erroneously that Addison wished to marry
Lady Warwick from the first moment lie was made
known to the family, said of the event :
4i This year (171G) he married the Countess
Dowager of Warwick, whom he had solicited by
a very long and imxious courtship, perhaps with
behaviour not very unlike that of Sir Roger to his
disdainful widow ; and who, I am afraid, diverted
herself often by playing with his passion. . . .
His advances at first were certainly timorous, but
grew bolder as his reputation and influence in-
creased ; till at last the lady was persuaded to
marry him, on terms much like those on which a
Turkish pi'inccss is espoused, to whom the Sultan
is reported to pronounce, ' Daughter, I give thee this
man for thy slave.' . . ."
1 Lives of the Poets. (Addison.)
CHAITKK
I.
HOLLAND HOUSE.
CHAPTER
I.
That Acldison and Lady Warwick did not lead
a very comfortable life together is well known,
;md it has been tersely written : " Holland House,
although a large house, could not contain Mr.
Addison, the Countess of Warwick, and one guest,
Peace." Ft is probable that the ill terms on which
they lived hastened the end of Addison, who died
<if asthma and dropsy, at Holland House, on the
I 7th of June, 1719.
It must, however, be remembered that he left his
fortune, at the disposal of Lady Warwick, which we,
like Sir James Mackintosh, consider " a proof either
that they lived on friendly terms or that he was too
generous to remember their differences." l At any
rate, if he was not a devoted husband, he was a gallant
man. Swift said of him that he was accustomed to
"fair sex it," in allusion to his always taking into
his view of everything the mode in which it affected
the fair sex.
Addison left behind him a daughter, who died
unmarried in his house at Bilton, in 1797. Although
her name does not play a prominent part in the
history of Holland House, yet as she was Addison's
daughter, her very existence is interesting ; and
although her story is not an uncommon one, a men-
1 Holland House MSS.
ADDISON'S DAUGHTER.
tellino- me that Mr. K
person is
disagreeable
tion of it here may not be misplaced. Like many | CHAPTI.I;
another poor gentlewoman she died a spinster, and,
like many another poor spinster, she was one against
her will ; at least, we infer as much from a letter
we found at the, British Museum, signed by [Mrs.
T. Corbet, and dated, " Burlington Street, May y 1 '
first, 1739." Mr. Kyet, a gentleman of embarrassed
means, was an aspirant to Miss Addison's hand :
and Mrs. Corbet says: '".... 1 doubt Miss
A 's temper will either give her self, or the
Trustees, or both, some further uneasiness, for I
take her earnestness tor this match to proceed
chiefly from her desire of marrying, she every day
to her, and she cannot be, happy but with a Man
whom she thinks handsome and is in Love witii
.... she says her full determination is to let y'
Match go on. and if upon .Mr. Kyet's visiting In-r
at Bilton she cannot get rid of her aversion to
his person, she will then give him her linal |
denyal ...."' What a, pity that so much valour
should have remained unrewarded ; what a pity i
i
that so much similar valour in the present day
1
remains unrewarded still !
Macaulay, in a touching picture of Addison on his
1 Egerton MS. No. 1'JTt, f. 135.
VOL. I. E
HOLLAND HOUSE.
CHAITKR
I
death-bed, quotes the fact that he sent for Gay, and
implored his forgiveness. For what ? Gay could only
conjecture. And Dr. Young, on Tickell's authority,
has related how Addison sent for the youthful Lord
Warwick to his bed-side and said, "See in what
peace a Christian can die ! " And Walpole has
written : " unluckily, he died of brandy."' But we
would like to believe Dr. Young, and to think that
the youth learnt such a solemn lesson ; for he was
early called upon to practise it ; he died in 1721.
Justice to his memory should, however, make us
add that authorities do not all concur in thinking
o
lie specially needed the warning.
His cousin, William Edwardes, inherited the estates
of the Eich family, 1 ' and was raised to the Irish Peer-
age, in 177(5, as Baron Kensington. But before that
date Holland House passed into other hands. In
1749 it was let on lease, at a rent of 182/. \Gs. 9r/.,
to Henry Fox, first Lord Holland, who bought it
in 17(!7.
From about the time of the Restoration until the
middle of the eighteenth century, Holland House
appears to have been occasionally let ; and some of
1 Miss Aikin's Life, of Addison. London, 1843. Vol. ii. chap. xiv.
'-' Letter to George Montagu, May 1C, 1759.
:l Burke's Peerage and Baronetage.
PENN. CHARDIN.
its tenants gave as much lustre to it as did some of
its owners.
First in interest, probably, comes William Peuri,
who, according to a MS. by Sir James Mackintosh
in Holland House, relates of himself that, during his
residence here in James II.'s reign, he could scarcely
make his way down the front steps of the house
through the crowds of suitors who besought him to
use his good offices with the King for their advan-
tage, and probably still oftener for their relief. 1
Holland House had previously been inhabited
by Sir John Chardin, the Persian traveller. Hi;i
father was a French jeweller, but he himself
attained to a high literary reputation. He verified
the influence of climate upon man, and was the
author of Le Conronnement de Soliman II., roi de
Perse, ct cc qid s'ent pftse de phis memorable dans
les deux premieres Annies dc son Rcgnc, and of
the Journal du Voijaye de Chardin en Perse, et an.x
Indcs orientales par la Mer Noire, et par la Colchide.
His style was admirably simple. Charles II. knighted
him, and the day on which he received a title from
the king, he shared it with a wife. We do not kno w
the duration of his occupancy ; but it must have
immediately preceded Penn's, as there is an entry
1 Holland House MSS.
E 2
27
CHAPTER
I.
HOLLAND HOUSE.
in the Parish Register to the effect that Elizabeth,
daughter of Sir John Chardin and Lady Esther his
wife, was born at Holland House on the 19th of
September, IfiS.j. Sir John Chardin died at Turnha.ni
(ireen, Chiswick, and a monument was erected to his
memory in Westminster Abbey.
Atterhury the zealous Protestant, Dean of West-
minster, afterwards Bishop of Rochester, had a link
with Holland House, through his daughter, Mrs.
~ D
Moriee. who inhabited it for a time, after the. death
ol Lord Warwick. 1 She used to write to Attcrhurv
from Holland House, and kept a room for him there,
which it docs not seem certain he ever occupied. But
his library, we know, was at Holland House. Mrs.
Moriee seems to have been a. devoted daughter, for
when Atterhury was sent into exile, she, like Ruth,
saying, ''Thy people shall be my people, and thy
(!od my Cod," followed him. At Calais, ascertaining
thai Bolingbroke had just arrived there, and was
preparing to embark for England, he exclaimed.
'Then 1 am exchanged!'' Another link he had
with Holland House: as Addison's old schoolfellow
and warm friend, to him was awarded the sad
1 Holland Hoiisr MSS.
J Memoirs and Correspondence of Bishop Atterbury, by Folke-
stone Williams. London, 184'J. Vol. i. chap. xiv.
SHIPPEN. LECHMERE.
29
privilege of performing the funeral service over the
great man.
And we must not forget to mention Shippen,
the Jacobite and honest man, of whom Pope
says
" I love to pour out all myself, as plain,
As downright SHIPPEN, or as oLl Montaigne :
In them, as certain to be loved as seen,
The soul stood forth, nor kept a thought within ; " :
and to whom Sir Ilobert Walpole contributes, it
possible, a higher meed of praise by asserting that
he would not say who was corrupted, but he would
say who \vas nut corruptible, and that man was
Shippen.
Lechmere, the eminent Whig lawyer, afterwards
Lord Lechmere, who, by a curious coincidence, took
a part in the proceedings against Sacheverell and
Atterbury, also, according to Sir James Mackintosh,
inhabited Holland House.
Leigh Hunt and other authors mention other
names ; and there is doubtful evidence of one very
illustrious occupant. According to the MS. of Sir
James Mackintosh, from which we have already
quoted, Van Dyck resided at Holland House for
about two years, where he probably painted the fine
1 Imitations of Horace.
rH.M'TKK
I.
,10
HOLLAND HOUSE.
CIIAITKR
!.
portraits of the Earls of Warwick and Holland, which
were, at the time Mackintosh wrote, in the possession
of Lord Breadalbaue at Taymouth. The verification
of this point would be interesting, not only in the
history of Holland I louse, but also in that of Van
Dyck ; and with, we fear, great trouble to friends
and uven strangers, we tried to verify it. But Car-
penter, in his Life of Van Dyck, does not mention the
fact, and the authorities at the British Museum made
energetic but fruitless researches. Meagre support to
Sir James Mackintosh was to be found in Smith's
Gttaloi/ui' rdixuinif, to the effect that the portrait of
Henry llich, Karl of Holland, now in the possession of
the Duke of Buceleucli, was painted at Holland House,
about the year 1 (J:*5 ; and we hoped to find some
writing on the canvas itself. The picture, by kind per-
mission, was taken down, and examined carefully
by the Director of the National Portrait Gallery, Mr.
Scharf. But all to no purpose. No writino- was to be
found either on back or front. AVe may assume, if we
like, that A r an Dyck was received as an honoured
guest at Holland House while he painted the portrait,
Otherwise, we must leave the question obscure as we
found it, but not without an acknowledgment to all
who have aided us in our vain researches.
Some people in life attribute to themselves more
VAN DYCK. WILLIAM III.
credit for what they might have been than for what
they are ; and invest themselves with greater glory
by hypothesis than they would ever have gained
by any reality. In 1089, William III. came to
look at Holland House with a view to making it
his palace ; but he preferred the house of the Earl
of Nottingham. Thus it will be seen that Holland
House had a narrow escape <.f becoming a royal
residence, but it probably would not have derived
more renown from such a circumstance than it has
deserved without it.
CHAl'TEU
I.
CHAPTER II.
SIR STKI'HKX FOX AM) THE K1KST J.OU1) HOI. I AM).
THE portrait here given represents tin- founder of the
Fox family, Sir Stephen Fox, father of the first E;irl
of llchester and of the first Baron Holland. Stephen
Fox, who was born in 1(]-27, is said to have belonged
to the children's choir in Salisbury Cathedral. He
was endowed, even in his youthful days, with a
certain amount of that inexplicable power called
charm, which attracted the notice, and thus gained
him the protection of Bishop l)uppa. His next
patron was the Earl of Northumberland's brother,
Henry, Lord Percy, who entertained him in Paris
after the battle of Worcester. Lord Percy was at
that time Chamberlain of Charles's household ;
CROMWELL'S DEATH.
3:1
and through him Stephen became known to the
exiled king, after whom he named one of his sons,
and in whose service he discharged various financial
and confidential commissions. Indeed, he was the
first person to announce the death of Cromwell to
Charles II. We take the following from the
r Stephen Fux.
" Memoirs of the Life of Sir Stephen Fox," in the
Grenville Library of the British Museum :
"... Mr. Fox received the News of that .Monster's
Death, six Hours before any Express reach 'd Bnissclx ;
and while the King was playing at Tennis with the
Archduke Leopold, Don John, and other Spanish
Grandees, he very dutifully accosted his Majesty, upon
the Knee, with the grateful Message ; and leyd leare
VOL. I. F
CHAPTKK
34 HOLLAND HOUSE.
CHATTEI; to call him really King of Great Britain, &c. since he
if.
that had caus'd him to be only Titularly so, was no
longer to be number d among the Living ; which so
ingratiated him afresh with that Prince, who received
him with an Air of Pleasantry, that from thence-
forward he was admitted into the King's most secret
Thoughts, and was advised with more like a Privy
Counsellor, than a servant of an inferior Rank."
Slo\vly and surely, Stephen Fox found his way
into royal confidence. On the settlement of the
King's household, he was made First Clerk of the
(liven Cloth; he was soon afterwards appointed
Paymaster to two newly raised regiments, and
soon after that he was constituted Paymaster-
General of all his Majesty's forces in England. 1
He is said by Evelyn, in whose quaint old diary
he is very frequently mentioned, to have made
a great fortune, "honestly got and unenvied ; which
is next to a miracle.''' 1 AVc may indeed echo the
last sentiment ; next to a miracle it certainly is for
any one to pass unmolested by the monster Envy,
on to any eminence whatsoever. Be it fortune, be it
intelligence, be it virtue, hardly anything is high
enough to be above Envy's reach.
1 Collins's Peerage, by Sir E. Brydges. London, 181 i. Vol. iv.
I'. 531. '-' September Gil), 1680.
EVELYN'S DIARY.
35
The fire-ordeal of a good heart, as well as of true
friendship, is prosperity ; and Stephen seems to have
passed through prosperity unscathed, Evelyn remark-
ing that his fortunes had not changed him, for he
continued to be " as humble and ready to do a
courtesy as ever he was.''' 1
In 1GG5 he was knighted, and in 1(579 constituted
one of the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury
and First Commissioner in the office of Master of
the Horse. 2 Evelyn describing him says, " He is
generous, and lives very honourably, of a sweet
nature, well-spoken, well-bred, and is so highly in
his Majesty's esteem, and so useful, that being long
since made a knight, he is also advanced to be one
of the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury, and has
the reversion of the Cofferer's place after Harry
Brounckcr. He has married his eldest daughter to
my Lord Cormvallis, and gave her 12,000, and
restored that entangled family besides, lie matched
his son to Mrs. Trollop, who brings with her (be-
sides a great sum) near, if not altogether, 2,000
per annum. Sir Stephen's lady (an excellent woman)
is sister to Mr. Whittle, one of the King's chirurgeons,
1 September Gth, 1080.
2 Collins's Peerage, by Sir E. Brydges. London, 1812. Vol. iv.
p. 533.
F 2
CHAPTKU
II.
HOLLAND HOUSE.
In a word, never was man more fortunate than Sir
Stephen ; lie is a handsome person, virtuous, and
very religious." '
Evelyn, from the many entries made in his diary of
din in"- with Sir Stephen, must have been a constant
O A
frequenter of hi.s house ; hut the following particular
entry proved that he was also a confidential friend and
trusted adviser : KiSl, J/^y Ultlt. " Came my Lady
Suiiderhmd, to desire that 1 would propose a match to
Sir Stephen Fox for her son, Lord Spencer, to marry
Mrs. .lane, Sir Stephen's daughter. I excused myself
all I was aide : for the truth is, 1 was afraid he would
prove an extravagant man : for, though a youth of
extraordinary parts, and had an excellent education
to render him a worthy man, yet his early inclinations
to extravagance made me apprehensive, that I should
not serve Sir Stephen hy proposing it, like a friend ;
this being now his only daughter, well bred, and likely
to receive a large share of her father's opulence. . . .
However, so earnest and importunate was the Countess,
that I did mention it to Sir Stephen, who said that it
was too great an honour, that his daughter was very
young as well as my Lord, and he was resolved never
to marry her without the parties' mutual liking ; with
other objections which I neither would nor could con-
' .September Oth, 1GSO.
CHELSEA HOSPITAL.
tradict. He desired me to express to the Countess the CHAHT.R
great sense he had of the honour done him, that his
daughter and her son were too young ; that he would
do nothing without her liking, which he did not
think her capable of expressing judiciously, till she
was sixteen or seventeen years of age, of which she
now wanted four years, and that I would put it off
as civilly as I could."
But, amidst allusions to domestic events, which
gain their interest by belonging to a public man, we
must not lose sight of those greater actions which
made him such.
He was one of the earliest projectors of Chelsea
Hospital, having first purchased some grounds near
the old college at Chelsea which had escheated to
the Crown in the reign of King James I., and which
that monarch intended for the residence and main-
tenance of Protestant divines. But the following
extracts tell their tale in Evelyn's own words :
1681, September l-ith. "Dined with Sir Stephen
Fox, who proposed to me the purchasing of Chelsea
College, which his Majesty had sometime since
given to our Society, and would now purchase it
again to build an hospital ; or infirmary for soldiers
there, in which he desired my assistance as one of
the Council of the Royal Society."
3S HOLLAND HOUSE.
1681-2, January 27th. "This evening, Sir Stephen
Fox acquainted me again with his Majesty's re-
solution of proceeding in the erection of a Royal
Hospital for cmerited soldiers on that spot of ground
which the Royal Society had sold to his Majesty
for i:]()0, and that he would settle .5000 per
annum on it, and build to the value of ,20,000,
for the relief and reception of four companies, viz.
400 men, to l>e as in a college, or monastery. I was
therefore desiied by Sir Stephen (who had riot only
the whole managing of this, but was, as I perceived,
himself to be a grand benefactor, as well it became
him who had gotten so vast an estate by the soldiers)
to assist him, and consult what method to cast it in,
as to the government "
It was thus that one philanthropic man materially
aided in founding a magnificent institution, which has
now grown into a monument of national gratitude.
The reason Sir Stephen assigned for his labours
in this work was that he could -not beat- to see the
common soldiers, who had spent tlicir strength in our
Ncr-vicc, to bey at our doors. 1
Whatever excuse he found for this splendid action,
it is reasonable to suppose that he was generally
1 Collins's Peerage, liy Sir E. Brydges. London, 1812. Vol. iv.
p. 532.
SIR STEPHEN FOX'S CAREER.
39
inclined to do good towards his neighbours, for
Chelsea Hospital is by no means his only noble
achievement. He founded almshouses, built hospitals
and places of worship, and embarked in many good
works, as may be seen by a reference to Collins's
Peerage. 1 It is edifying to look upon a picture of
real philanthropy, especially when, as in the case of
Sir Stephen, it is not allowed to interfere witli the
discharge of public duties.
Sir Stephen's political career extended through
several reigns. He held office under Charles II.,
.lames II., William III., and Queen Anne. He was
one of those whom, in 1GD2, King James exceptcd
by name from his proffered pardon. 1 le sat in
several Parliaments, and, notwithstanding Court
pressure, voted against the impeachment of the
Earl of Clarendon. He died in 1710 at his villa at
Chiswick. Ninety years later, his grandson, Charles
James Fox, died in the same place.
Sir Stephen was twice married, and left nine
sons and three daughters. We may here draw
attention to the fact that when he married his
second wife, in 1703, he was seventy-six years
old. Two of the children by this marriage were
respectively created Earl of Ilchester and Baron
1 By Sir E. Brydges. London, 1812. Vol. iv. p. 531.
CHAPTKIi
II.
40
HOLLAND HOUSE.
CHAPTER
II.
Holland. The latter title was chosen by the first
Fox proprietor of Holland House, which will account
for a Baron Holland appearing in the place cf an
Earl of Holland without any relationship existing
between the families of Eich and Fox. But it is
a curious coincidence that upon Sir Stephen Fox,
who had nothing to do with Holland House, was
bestowed one of the bearings of the Rich's a flmr
</r //.s' in a canton ". . . . in consideration of his
good and faithful services, 1 Sir Edward Walker, then
Carter, principal King of Arms, by his Majesty's com-
mand, granted to him, and his heirs, an honourable
augmentation to his arms out of the royal ensigns
and devices, viz. in a canton Azure, a Fleur tie Lis,
Or; as by a special instrument, under his hand and
seal, appearetli, dated at Brussels, November 23 d ,
IG.jS."' Perhaps, indeed, the person Avho traced
the original heraldic employment of ermine to the
coats of skins given by the Creator to our first
parents, would have found more than a mere coin-
cidence in this fact.
The following advice from Lady Fox (widow of
1 According to tradition, it appears that the " good and faithful
services " wore a loan of 5,000, which was never repaid.
- Collins's Peerage of England, by Sir E. Brydges. London,
1812. Vol. iv. p. 530.
LADY FOX TO HER CHILDREN.
Sir Stephen) to her children is recorded by Henry
Fox in a quaintly written memorandum :
MEMOEANDUM. 1
My dear Mamma died on y e 21st of February,
17 IT and a fortnight afore she died, calling us all
about her, with a mild air, she said My Dears will
ye be good ? I am now a going to leave you, and
entreat you to serve and be constant in your Duty
towards him. Then taking off all that mildness, she
assumed a more than ordinary majestick air, and direct-
ing her discourse chiefly to my Brother said, I don't
only desire you, but command you to be good, serve
God, never let slip the least opportunity of doing any
good to your fellow Creatures, for although you arc
bless'd with a good Estate, yet never carry yourself
haughtily to, or think yourself above others. Don't
be a Fop, don't be a Hake, mind on your name Stephen
[
Fox, that I hope will keep you from being wicked,
Think on your name, t'will even riy in your face, and
say did your father do so ? Think on all his virtues
and follow y m . Love your Brother I charge you,
1 Taken from a copy, at Holland House, of a document in the
possession of Lord Ilchester. In quoting from old Looks or MSS.,
we have generally retained the eccentric orthography and punctua-
tion of the originals.
VOL. I. G
CHAPTER
II.
HOLLAND HOUSE.
CHAPTEU Stcplicn. I charge you all love one another. You
have Enemy's enough make not one another so. You
will have too many Stephen that will flock about
you, court you fawn upon you, these are your worst
Enemy's take care of y m . You Harry having a
less fortune won't be subject to so many temptations,
but withstand those you have when you grow up,
take care and avoid ill company, if you don't you are
gone, for by y ( many young men arc ruin'd, from
thence come all y" vices y l Youth is apt to fall into.
Then you 11 learn to swear, to drink to rake about, to
game, and at last l>c ruined by those, you unhappily
think your Friends. Don't affect, or think it genteel
or a pretty thing to be a liake, for if you are wicked
what will your Estate signifye, you'd be the most
despicable tiling, to all but y 1 " who are either such
Rogues as to flatter you in it, or HO vile themselves
as to approve it. lie humble, obliging and obey your
Trustees and tho' they may have failings never laugh
at them, take their advice in everything, mind what
they say to you, whilst you are at school, tho' you
may find a great many inconveniences bear with y" 1 .
A\ " you come of age don't be conceited or self sufli-
cient, don't think yourself above advice, for y n you'd
want it most. If as I believe you will you lodge
with Mr. Fcnn submit your judgement to his, obey
HENRY FOX.
43
him. Now I have said all I can think of now.
Let me only tell you when I am gone, it will show
your Love or hate to me, as you obey or disobey
these my instructions.
H. Fox.
Of Stephen, the son who is first separately ad-
dressed in the foregoing memorandum, and who
subsequently became Earl of Ilchcstcr, we need not
just now speak, he never having owned the house
which forms the subject of the present work, and
not having even been brought up in it. Our con-
cern is with his younger brother, Henry, ultimately
Lord Holland, but familiarly known in tho3e days as
" Harry Fox." He was the first of his name who
owned Holland House.
Henry Fox was born in 1705, and was educated
at Eton with Pitt, afterwards Earl of Chatham. In
those days, as in these, companionship at school was
often a prelude to rivalry in the State ; men in their
boyhood learning together how to outwit each other.
Fox and Pitt were early rivals ; their point in
common was their classical knowledge ; everything
else was a point in contrast. But the most peculiar
feature in their rivalry is that it descended to a
later generation.
G 2
CHAPTEli
II.
HOLLAND HOUSE.
fHAI'TEU
II.
Henry Fox entered his parliamentary career as
member for Hendon (Wilts) in 1735; and, at the
beginning of his political life, was partisan of Sir
Robert Walpole, whom he idolized. He filled several
offices more or less important. In 1737 he was
Surveyor-General of his Majesty's Board of Works ;
in the Parliament summoned to meet June '25, 1741,
he represented Windsor; and in 1743 he was made
one of the Commissioners of the Treasury. In
174(! he became Secretary at War, and we may
here mention that he held the appointment until
175(1, when he was succeeded by his old school-
fellow. Pitt.
An interesting episode in his parliamentary career
is his violent opposition to the Marriage Act in 1753.
The Marriage Act was directed against clandestine
marriages, and Henry Fox's opposition was natural ;
for, had the Act passed, his own marriage would have
been annulled.
The task of drawing the Bill had fallen to Lord
Ilardwieki-, the Chancellor ; and Charles Yorke, his
son (we learn from Horace AValpole 1 ), blamed the
violence of Fox's attacks upon Lord Hardwicke,
exclaiming, " It is new in parliament, it is new in
1 Memoirs of the last Ten Years of George the Second. London,
1822. Vol. i. p. 290.
MARRIAGE BILL.
45
polities, it is new in ambition ;".... Fox replied ',
" Is it new in Parliament to be conscientious ? T
hope not ! Is it new in politics ? I am afraid it
is ! Is it new in ambition ? it certainly is, to attack
such authority ! "
Coxe 1 says that in the course of his harangue,
he held up a copy of the Bill, in which he had
marked the alterations with red ink ; and on the
observation of the Attorney-General, " How bloody
it looks ! " he retorted : " Thou canst not say / did
it. Look what a rent the learned Casca made;"
(pointing to the Attorney-General). "Through this,
the well-beloved Brutus stabbed," (alluding to Mr.
Pelham).
In 1755 Henry Fox was appointed Secretary of
State, the Duke of Newcastle being First Lord of
the Treasury. But they disagreed, and Fox asked
the King's permission to resign, which he was
allowed to do. There had been considerable dis-
cussion as to Fox's position. The following letters
show that it was not intended he should have the
actual management of affairs in the House of Com-
mons, and that he did not care for merely nominal
power.
C'HAPTK.K
1 Memoirs of the Pelham Administration. London, 1829.
Vol. ii. p. 266.
HOLLAND HOUSE.
CHA1TKK
II.
Mr. Fox to the Duke of Newcastle, March the
14th, 1754 :'-
"My LORD DUKE,
"As Your Grace is to wait upon His Majesty
this Morning, I must lose no time to desire Your
Grace would not Acquaint the King that I have
Accepted of the Office of Secretary of State. But
if His Majesty has already been Acquainted of my
Acceptance of it, Your Grace will, I hope, tell His
Majesty that I purpose with the Utmost Submis-
sion to beg His Majesty's Leave to decline it.
"It is impossible that His Majesty could think of
raising me to so exalted a Station but with a design
that I should with and Under Your Grace, have the
Management of His Affairs in the House of Commons.
o
This was the whole Tenor of Your Grace's Messages
to me by Lord Hartington, which Your Grace's
Conferences with Lord Hartington and me Yester-
day morning, and with Lord Hartington last night,
have totally Contradicted. Unable therefore to
answer what I dare say is His Majesty's Expec-
tations, (tho' Your Grace has frankly dcclar'd it
not to be Yours) that I should be answerable for
His Majesty's Affairs in the House of Commons,
1 Holland House MSS.
HENRY FOX TO THE KING.
I beg leave to Remain where I am, heartily wishing
Success to His Majesty's Affairs, and Contributing
all that shall be in the Power of a single Man
towards it. ..."
[An endorsement on the foregoing letter states tliat Lord Ilartinr/ton
saw it before, it went, said there was not a word too muck, and tJmt
he would justify it everywhere ; also that Mr. Fox asked nothing, the
messages ami promises to him were voluntary.]
Letter from II. Fox, delivered to the King by
Lord Waldegrave, Tuesday, Dor-, 10, 1754:-
" SIR,
" Infinitely thankfull for Your Majesty'^
Command receiv'd by L' 1 "Waldegrave to explain
myself in writing ; I must begin bv humbly asking
Pardon for having mistaken Your Majesty. I now
unclerstand Your Majesty do's not intend to have
any Leader in the House of Commons and I re-
ceive Your Majesty's Pleasure on this head with
all that Duty and Submission that becomes me.
What Your Majesty requires, I understand, is that
on all occasions as well not relative as relative
to the Army, I should act with Spirit in support
of Your Majesty's Service in the H. of Commons ;
And, Your Majesty bids me put in writing what
will enable me to obey these y r Commands.
CHAPTER
II.
HOLLAND HOUSE.
CHAPTER
II.
" Thinking then no more of taking the Lead ;
but of obeying Your Majesty's Commands only, I
answer That, in the present State of the H. of
Commons, I desire 110 Change of Employment, no
pecuniary Advantage, but some such Mark only
of Your .Majesty's Favour as may enable me to
speak like one well iuform'd and honour'd with
Your Majesty's Confidence in regard to the Matters
I may be speaking of. This then, Sir, is what I
desire, and can desire for no other purpose than
to enable me to attempt what You command, con-
fining myself to Your Majesty's own Views, and
to the very manner Your Majesty shall command
me to pursue them in.
"I am, &c. &c. &C." 1
"December 12th, 1754.
"It is the King's Pleasure, that Lord Waldegrave
should acquaint Mr. Fox, that His Majesty is gra-
ciously pleased to condescend to His Request of
being admitted into His Cabinet Council : But that,
in order to avoid future Difficulties, and Incon-
veniences, His Lordship should acquaint Mr. Fox,
that this Advancement to the Cabinet Council, is
not intended by the King, in the least, to interfere
1 Holland House MSS.
HENRY FOX TO PETER COLLINSON.
49
with, or derogate from, the Priority, belonging to
His Majesty's Secretary of State in the House of
Commons ; And that It is not His Majesty's Inten-
tion, to confer any Power, or Confidence, indepen-
dent of such Ministers, as His Majesty shall think
fit to entrust with the conduct of His Affairs." '
Fox gives an interesting account of his position
after his resignation in the following letter to his
O O
friend Peter (Jollinson :
"HOLLAND HOUSK, AW 1 . 24, 1750.
' FRIEND PETER,
" I certainly did not resign with any view to
make confusion and disturbance, and very great People
know that before I did resign, if confusion was to lie
the consequence, I had promis'd to go on one sessions
more with the Duke of Newcastle but it was not
thought worth while to ask me, nor \vas 1 ever ask'd.
" 1 will now support all public measures and
use my best endeavours to procure a quiet sessions.
I will strenuously defend the late ministry, even
where I have not been concern'd with them. And
whatever else my Enemies may say they shall own
I am an honest Man. You will hear it complain d
of that I chuse an honest friend of mine, against
1 Holland House MSS.
VOL. I. H
CHAPTER
II.
50 HOLLAND HOUSE.
II.
a dishonest friend of Legge's at Stockbrige. But
surely this is no hurt to the publick, and will do
good if it abates the too great pride of these new
Ministers. I shall be very glad to see you in the
meantime, but I go to Town on Tuesday.
" Y rs ever,
"H. Fox." 1
In 17.37, the Duke of Newcastle and Pitt coa-
lescing, Fox was appointed Paymaster of the Forces,
and held the office until 1765. Meanwhile he had
been made Clerk of the Pells, in Ireland, the appoint-
ment being granted for his own life and that of
his t\vo sons. He acquired a considerable fortune as
Paymaster of the Forces, and was denounced in an
address of the citizens of London as the defaulter
of unaccounted millions. More humorously, if less
practically, was he attacked in the New Foundling
Hospital for Wit, at the time of Wolfe's death :
"All conqu'ring cruel death, more hard than rocks,
Thou should'st have spar'd the Wolfe and took the Fox." 2
The fault of one may not excuse the delinquency
of another, but when a fault is common to very many,
it is perhaps the less to be noticed in the individual.
1 British Museum. Add. MS. 28558. I.
5 Notes and Queries, May 5, 18GO.
HENRY FOX FALLS ILL.
In fact, identity loses itself in repetition. Without
libelling any particular names, we may say that
public accounts in those days were kept with a very
slack hand. And, supposing Henry Fox was singled
out as a worshipper of money, it may have been
for the sake of contrasting him with Chatham, who
had no regard for it. But if we must believe
all we read, avarice was not Fox's only fault. Lord
Chesterfield accuses him of having no fixed principles
of religion or morality, and of being imprudent enough
to expose this deficiency, which, however, may not
have been a more just accusation than that of
avarice : an accusation oddly coupled with the fact
that he was charitable !
In 17G4 Fox, by that time Lord Holland, went to
Paris, where he fell ill. He never wholly recovered ;
and friendship consoled itself in anticipation for his
loss by speculating upon his successor. Gilly Williams
writes to George Selwyn on Friday, January 4, 17G.3 :
" . . . . We dine to-morrow at Charles Towns-
hend's. What he is now I know not, but the last
time we saw him he had no acrimony in him, but
seemed rather looking towards the Pay Office, which,
I suppose, Lord Holland will soon quit, either by a
natural or political death "
1 J. H. Jesse : George Selwyn and his Contemporaries.
H 2
CHAl'TEK
II.
HOLLAND HOUSE.
CHAITKH
II.
On resigning the Pay Office, which he was forced
to do by the Grenville Ministry, 1 lie went abroad,
spending some time in France and Italy, and re-
turning to England in 1768, where his health
gradually declined.
As a public man he was exposed to enmity, but
he himself was a true friend. If suspected, he was
at least unsuspicious. And here we can give him
our pity as well as our admiration, for, like many
other unsuspicious people, he was more than once
taken in. Witness, for instance, his so-called friend
.Mr. Rigby, whose conduct elicited from Fox a.
versified rebuke, in the .sentiment of Cfesar's Et ta,
Hrtit<> ?
White-livcr'd (irenville, and self-loving Gower
Shall never cause one peevish moment more ;
Xot that t/n-ii- spite required I should repair
To southern climates and a warmer air,
Slight was the pain tint/ gave, and short it's date,
I found I could not botli despise and hate.
But, Rigby what did I for tltee endure 1
Thy serpent's tooth admitted of no cure ;
Lost converse never thought of without tears !
Lost promised hope of my declining years ! . . . "
(L'ird II all and returning from Italy.'
1 Russell's Life and Times of C. J. Fox. Vol. i. chap. i.
- Small collection of Poems by the 1st Lord Holland, Holland
House Library.
HENRY FOX AS A POET.
53
He had his poet's corner in the Annual Register;
hut probably his poetical excellence lay in his Vers <le
Societe.
Here is a sample, contained in a letter to George
Selwyii from Naples on the 17th of March, 17G7 :
" . . . .As soon as I read the news of Lord
Carlisle's arrival in England, the Ode in Horace
beginning Lydia, die per omnea, came into my
head. I send you my imitation of it, which this
post carries to Lady Sarah. Pray show it Mr.
Walpole, and, with Lord Carlisle's leave, to anybody.
Indeed, I do not expect compliments, but I am not.
ashamed of it, for consider it is wrote by a sick old
woman near her grand climacteric ; for such indeed
is your faithful and forgotten friend,
" HOLLAND.
IMITATION OF AN ODE IN HOKA
" ' Lydia, die per oiinies,' iVc.
" I'n Lady Sai'/ili Jimiltury.
CHA1TKK
II.
; ' Sail}', Sail}', don't deny,
But, for God's sake, tell me why
You have flirted so, to spoil
That once lively youth, Carlisle 1
He used to mount while it was dark,
Now he lies in bed till noun ;
.And you not meeting in the park,
Thinks that he got up too soon.
HOLLAND HOUSE.
"UAl'TKK
II.
" Manly exercise and sport,
Hunting and the tennis-court,
And riding-school no more divert :
Newmarket does, for there you flirt !
But why docs he no longer dream
Of yellow Tyber and its shore ;
Of his friend Charles's favourite scheme,
i >n waking, think no more 1
in.
" Why does lie dislike an inn 1
Hale post-chaises, and begin
To think 'twill be enough to know
His way from Almack's to Soho 1
Achilles thus kept out of sight
For a long time ; but this dear boy
(If, Sally, you and I guess right,)
Will never get to Troy." '
That ho was epigrammatic, may be seen by some of
his verses ; that he was ready, may be known from
some of his extempore prose. An answer of his to
Lord Bute is admirable. Lord Bute had fixed upon
Fox as the ablest leader lie could find to defend
the Peace of Paris ; and, deserting the Duke of
Cumberland, with whom he was then connected,
Fox again became Secretary of State. After he had
stipulated for an earldom as the reward of his suc-
cess, and a barony only was given him, he rc-
1 .1. II. Jesse: George Sehvjn and his Contemporaries.
HENRY FOX'S MARRIAGE.
preached Lord Bute for such a breach of faith. CHAPTEI;
" It was only a pious fraud," said Lord Bute. Said
Fox : " I perceive the fraud, my Lord, but not the
piety." 1
According to Chesterfield, Fox was, as a debater,
singularly inelegant and even disagreeable ; but he
had wonderful tact, by which he could discern when
to press a question, and when to yield it. More
than tact, however, he possessed heart : and while
his genial flow of animal spirits enlivened his
friends, his affectionate disposition endeared him to
his family.
As we arc upon the subject of his family, some-
thing should be said about his marriage, which
was probably a nine days' wonder to the world. A
mutual love existed between him and Lady Caroline
Lennox, eldest daughter of Charles, second Duke of
Richmond. Of course, his addresses were rejected by
the parents, whose virtuous indignation we can picture
to ourselves being vented in " Who is this Harry
Fox ?" How the fashionable matrons must have whis-
pered and tittered! How the loungers about town
1 Russell's Life and Times of C. .F. Fox. Vol. i. chap. i.
Walpole (Memoirs of the Keigri of George III., chap, xvii.)
and Stanhope (History of England, from the Peace of Utrecht,
chap, xli.) give the lion mot in almost the same words, but intro-
duce it under somewhat different circumstances.
HOLLAND HOUSE.
CHAITKI: must have speculated upon the reports ! How the
worldly girl.s must have looked on and wondered,
perhaps with a secret joy at the prospect of getting
rid of a formidable competitor ! And, amidst the
disposal of them by the public, the young people,
acting upon their o\vn counsel, were secretly married
in the beginning of May 1744!
/
Lady ('aniline's father, thinking, perhaps upon the
principle <>f that simple abstract property of matter
called impenetrability, that a desirable suitor mi flit
displace the undesirable one, had arranged for such
an one to be formally introduced to her; but she.
with more vvilfulness than vanity, took a step to
frustrate the intended result of the interview, if not
to frighten her father entirely out of trying her with
it. liefore the hour appointed, she had cut off her
eyebrows! In such a state of things, half a loaf, or
even a far larger proportion of the measure, could
scarcely be called better than no bread : it was
more desirable for her not to be seen at all, than to
be seen short of her eyebrows. So she was left to
herself: and she utilized her solitude to facilitate
her elopement.
According to the custom of the world, the announce-
ment of a marriage calls forth letters of congratulation.
After the announcement of this one, however, the
CONDOLENCE! MR. PELHAM.
57
nolens volens father-in-law became the recipient of
sundry letters of condolence, the originals of which
letters are at Holland House. Foremost in interest,
we choose one from Mr. Pelham :
" ARLINGTON STREET, Tuesday, 8 o'clock.
[8th May, 1744.]
" MY DEAR LORD,
" When the Duke of Newcastle told me at
the House of Lords, what had happen'd in your
family, I was as much surpris'd and concern'd as
the nearest friend or relation you have in the
world. I could not let you go into the country
without telling you so ; Be assured, nothing that
belongs to me shall ever countenance, what you
so justly call the highest disobedience. 1 have
too much of the Father not to feel for you, and
too much of the friend, to dwell long upon a subject
that must give you the greatest uneasiness for whom,
My Dear Lord Duke, no one can have a more
sincere friendship love and Regard than your
faithfull and affectionate
"H. PELHAM."
A letter from Lord Lincoln, exculpating his sister
and himself from having taken any part in the affair,
is also worthy of notice :
VOL. r. r
C'HAl'TKK
II.
58
HOLLAND HOUSE.
CHAPTER
II.
" WHITEHALL, May 12, 1744.
" MY LORD,
" As I have heard with y 6 greatest uneasiness
and concern imaginable, y' y r Grace and my
I/ Dutchess have had some suspicion of my sister
and myself being in some degree concerned in y e
unhappy affair y 1 has lately happen'd ; I thought it
both incumbent upon me for y e regard I have to my
own character, for y c hopes of y e continuance of y 1
Grace's friendship and for y 1 ' love I have to my sister,
to give you y l trouble, in order to remove any mis-
taken notions y 1 may have been falsly and villanously
reported to y 1 ' Grace. AVhat ! my Lord, cou'd you
have so much as a thought, cou'd you think me so
forgetful of every obligation 1 own I have to you,
so totally abandon'd, as to break through all y e
ties of friendship's honour, which I must inevitably
have done, had I in any ways been accessory to y 1
unfortunate imprudent marriage ; it hurts me more
y" I can express to have y" Duke of Richmond
even suspect me, I must suppose (for it can be
nothing else) y 1 my intimacy with Mr. Fox has been
y occasion of my being suspected, y 1 I have been
very intimate with Mr. Fox my Lord is most
certainly true, that he has talked to me of w* all
y e world saw is as true, and y 1 I have all ways
LORD LINCOLN.
59
advis'd him against it is true upon my word ; but
indeed my Lord, I can't help saying, y* he has given
me a stronger proof of his friendship, in never pro-
posing anything to me, which he knew in honour 1
cou'd riot comply with, y D y r Grace has, in thinking
me capable of doing, what he, tho' his own interest
was so much at stake, thought me incapable of.
In regard to my sister my Lord, she has assured
me over and over y* she was entirely ignorant of.
y 1 ' whole transaction, y l Lady Caroline indeed had
often talk'd to her upon y c subject, but trusted her
with nothing, and never so much as ever hinted of
doing anything without y r Grace and my I/Dutchess's
consent, she has been very much and justly concernd,
at L y Caroline's coming immediately to her when she
left y r Grace's house, for fear y' such a step as y 1 ,
might make y r Grace imagine y' she was in y 1 ' secret,
when in her own conscience she knew she was inno-
cent : y' she is so, I do believe from y e bottom of my
heart, that I am so, 1 hope y r Grace will do me justice
to believe. I am with y e greatest truth and sincerity
y r Grace's most obedient and humble servant
" LIXCOLX."
CHAI'TKli
II.
And there is a letter from Lord Ilchester,
brother of the delinquent, also exculpating him-
i 2
CO HOLLAND HOUSE.
|
Ai'TKi; self from having taken any part in the mar-
riage ; and, thinking he has not said enough,
he adds : " What I say of myself is equally true
I
with regard to Lady Ilchester ; she has been in
no consultations nor in any degree privy to this
affair, pray my Lord Duke, assure my Lady Duchess
of this truth, and of my utmost respects."
It is the old story, human nature trying to
shield itself; and if La Rochefoucauld is right in
saying that we have all strength enough to bear
our friends' misfortunes, the friends who on this
occasion hid their strength beneath the cloak of
i
sympathy, perhaps added hypocrisy to their other
characteristics. In fact, the collection from Avhich
we have quoted contains much food for the satirist.
Fortunately, there is another and a happier side
to the picture, Charles Hanlmry Williams was a
wit, a statesman, a diplomatist. But, more than
ail that, he was a true friend, and the two follow-
ing letters from him may be read not only for the
amusement they afford, but also for the heartiness
they show :
" WEDNESDAY, [May 9, 1744.]
" Ever since we parted 1 have thought of nothing
but you. I wish you and Lady Caroline all the
happiness Love and Friendship have to give. For
CHARLES HANBURY WILLIAMS. 61
believe me, Dear Fox, nobody, but Lady Caroline CHAITKI;
11.
can love you better than I do.
" I went to the Opera last night. And from the
box I was in saw the news of your match run
along the front boxes exactly like fire in a train
of Gunpowder. Dayrolle set fire to it with tears
in his eyes. And I must do Lady Caroline
Fitzroy the justice to say she look'd the most
pleas'd with it of any body Tin' no teiitjnts erit.
" The Duke of Richmond has put off the Ball
that was to have been there to night and He
and the Duchess go this morning to Goodwood.
The Rage of His and Her Grace is very high and
I hear intend making a point that nobody that
visits them sliou'd visit you. And 1 know that hr
has already sent to Mr. lYlham, and insisted that
neither Miss Pelham nor Lady Lucy Clinton should
see I/ Caroline. They are in great distress at this
message, at this unreasonable message. For why
should Mr. Pelham ehuse his Party between two
people he loves in an affair in which lie can be
no way conccrnd.
" I could tell you much more. The}' are very
angry with the D : of Marl : and me. I was spoke
to about it, and said, whatever I had done was in
consequence of our friendship which was the thing
HOLLAND HOUSE.
in the world I was proudest of. And that nothing
should ever make me repent doing what you desir'd
me, Because you could not ask me to do any-
thing wrong.
" Horace Walpole came up into the Box where
I was at the Opera, and told me he had heard the
news and that He understood twas made a point of
by the D : and D ss for their friends not to visit
you and that therefore he desir'd to know the first
moment He might pay his compliments to L y
Caroline and yourself and that He wou'd do it.
"Great endeavours are us'd to make ]VIr. Pelham
angry. 1 never advise, but had you not better come
to town for an hour and see him. I find Blood
Royal has the greatest weight against your match
I send this By Daniel And all I desire is to
know how you and L y Caroline do. And whether
you'd have me write whatever I hear. I am to
you and her,
" A most sincere and faithfull servant,
" C. HANBURY WILLIAMS."
[May 15, 1744.]
"Mv DEAR Fox,
" Time that overcomes, eats up, or buries,
all things Has not as yet made the least impres-
sion upon the Story of the Loves of Henry Fox
"THIS MOST UNFORTUNATE AFFAIR"!
G3
and Caroline. It still lives grows and flourishes
under the Patronage of their Graces of Newcastle
and Grafton, and Mr. Pelham. But in spite of them
the Town grows cool and will take the tender
Lovers' parts.
" L d Carteret diverts himself with this. He says
he was call'd up by the Duke of Newcastle to
him by the D : of Dorset, as he was going thro'
the rooms at Kensington, and told that they two
were talking upon this most unfortunate affair, and
that they shou'd make no secret of it to him, that
they were both greatly affected with it. Upon this
says Carteret : I thought our fleets or our armys were
beat, or Mons betray 'd into the hands of the French.
At last it came out that Harry Fox was married,
which 1 knew before. This says He was the Un-
fortunate affair. This was what lie was concernd
about. Two people to neither of which he was any
relation were married against their Parents' consent.
And this Man is Secretary of State !
" This Story L' 1 Carteret told I,' 1 Orford who ha &
told it everybody ! and Winnington also scatters it-
much. There is not a soul that does not laugh at it.
" There was a warm dispute about it at White's
two days ago between the Dukes of Grafton and
Devonshire, where the former was a Tearing the
CHA1TKU
n.
HOLLAND HOUSE.
whole to pieces, and the latter defending it, par-
ticularly your part and mine in it.
" But nobody has done Lady Caroline more jus-
tice than Miss Pelham. She says she is her friend
and cant give her up. She speaks well of her and
you to those that dont like it. Answers all their
objections ; and particularly upon its being said you
was no Gentleman, She, rcply'd thus, ' Upon that
' head I will appeal to the company whether if Lord
' Ilcliester had been unmarried and had offer'd him-
' self to the 1) : of R -'s daughter the D : and
' D M wou'd not have jump'd at the Match and How
' Mr. Fox comes to be a worse Gentleman than
1 I/ 1 llchester 1 cant tell.'
"As to Dayrolles I can get nothing out of Lincoln
but that he is extremely concerned and wears a
Countenance more of Sorrow than of an^er and
O "
hopes and wishes things may be made up.
''The Duke of Marlbro' still continues to be
violently attack'd and the King violently angry. I
wish when you come to town on Thursday morning
you wou'd come a little earlier than you intended and
call here for half an hour before you see Mr. Pelham.
"Tis incredible how full Mr. Pelham still continues
to be of this affair. He was at Lord Orford's to talk
it all over again to a very inattentive Hearer, H
MISS PELHAM.
talked with great warmth and the Other Listened
with great coldness and cant comprehend that this
nation is undone because Lady Caroline Lenox is
married to Mr. Fox, but Mr. Pelham was so full
of it that coming out of Lord Orford's Room he
met Lady Mary and took her by the hand and
cry'd out (as if he was never to have seen her
again) God bless you child God preserve you. I
suppose he meant from Harry Legge. Now as
Wilmington says what is all this ?
" I forgot to say that among other things Miss
Pelham said at the end of her discourse I am now
in other Peoples power and must obey them but 1
shall soon be my own mistress and then I'll please
myself. 'Twould have been injustice to have left
this out. I am glad she said it, and I think Lady
Caroline will be glad to hear it, and that I shall
be more glad of.
" I have no mind to begin another sheet, but
promise you I wont say much more, and should
not write on If twas not to tell you that after two
days carefull intuition and observation, I do think,
If happiness Is a blessing on Earth you have made
a very prudent Choice I repeat it again in defiance'
of all the World a very prudent Choice. And again
I say Lady Caroline has more Propriety about her
VOL. I. K
65
CHAPTKU
66
HOLLAND HOUSE.
HAPTEK ; than any Woman I ever saw, I have read as a Maxim
somewhere that Every Man has just as much Vanity
as He wants of understanding. I would subjoin
another to it of the Females, and Say Every Woman
has just as much affectation as She wants of Pro-
priety. Your Good sense and your Good nature (its
true) will be well employd for life, You have the
properest object for 'em in your arms who had
Sense enough to distinguish your merit and Love
enough to prefferr it to all things and all people.
1 am so satisfy 'd (and believe and dont think me
impertinent when I say I thought myself much
concernd in your marriage) ....
" I beg once more I may see you before you
see Mr. Pelham, tis necessary for us both. . . ."
We may conclude that whatever steps Henry Fox
took in the matter last referred to, they were right
steps. For Mr. Pelham, who according to MSS.
in Holland House had in 1743 addressed him as
"Dear S'," and "Dear Fox," before the end of
1744 calls him "Dear Harry."
"CLAREMONT, Sept. 2nd [174-t].
: 'DEAR HARRY,
"You should not have had the trouble
of a second letter, if I had receiv'd your former,
MR. PELHAM AGAIN.
67
time enough to have answerd it by y e post, but
in reality I had not that, which you directed
to London, above an hour before the last,
which I receive! by a messenger. I am always
glad to hear you are happy, tho' idle, a quality
I can never disapprove of, it being so agreeable
to my own nature. I heartily wish you good
sport and entertainment att Lord llchester's, to
whom I desire my best respects, and for whom I
have a most sincere regard. Now : I will own to
you, I was a little surpris'd at neither seeing you
the day we adjourn'd, nor the day we met, and
as our Brothers Compton and Gybbon were also
absent, it had not a clear look, but that is over,
and they will both be in town the next February
day. I am in too great a hurry here to discharge
my political budget, you will see Wilmington, who
will tell you all I know, and pretty much what 1
think, for I have been frank enough to him, 1 hope
he will tell you also all he knows, as to what he
thinks, I am not sure he can, but upon the whole,
he talks well to me, I suppose he does so to others,
for he has many opportunity's. I will detain you no
longer but to tell you your friend L is
well, he pretends to be much in haste, I hope he
wont be overtaken, but probably by the time you
K 2
fHAPTKU
II.
68
HOLLAND HOUSE.
t-HAPTER come to London, he will be in Vinculis. I am,
Dear Harry your most affectionate and faith full
scrvt,
H. PELHAM.'
As for Lady Caroline's parents, they did at last
what they ought to have done at first : forgave.
Hut they only did it in 1748, after the birth of
Stephen, Lady Caroline's eldest son.
A letter to Lady Caroline, signed by the Duke
and Duchess of Richmond, may not unworthily close
the little romance. In spite of its sternness, it has
a touching pathos ; and a quaint freshness in spite
of its old-fashioned guise :
' \VIIITEIIALL, Saturday, 2G March [1748].
" -Mv DKAR CAIIOIJNK,
" Altho' the same reason for my displeasure
with you, exists now, as much, as it did the
day you offended me, and that the forgiving you
is a bad example to my other Children, yett they
are so young, that was I to stay till they were
setled the consequence might in all likelyhood be
that wee should never see you so long as wee lived,
which thoughts our hearts could not bear. So the
conflict between reason and nature is over, and the
DUKE AND DUCHESS OF RICHMOND.
tenderness of parents has gott the better, and your
Dear Mother and I have determin'd to see and
forgive both you and Mr. Fox. This change is not
sudden, but has been long growing in her breast
and myne. And I must fairly own to you, she eon-
quer'd her resentment sooner than I could myne, for
tis not easy to bring oneself to forgive the almost
greatest injury that could have been done to one-,
however love for a child may bring that to bear
which nothing else can. I dont mean by this that
I have any more difficulty in forgiving Mr. Fox,
for in your situation I must forgive both, or
neither, butt 1 mean that this proof of our affec-
tion to you two, should never bring us into any
connection with those base vile people that have
been the abettors of your undutifullncss to us. For
I shall ever look upon them in the most despi-
cable light, and make no more secret now than 1
have heretofore of my thoughts upon them. I must
now tell you that since your offence, the Decency
of your behaviour, and Mr. Fox's, has in general!
pleas'd us, and particularly in not employing
medling and officious people that have nothing to
do in our familly affairs, to intercede for you. Yett
I believe you have attempted two ways neither of
them do 1 blame you for. One was by my Lady
ClIAl'TKU
ii.
70
HOLLAND HOUSE.
rllAl'TKIi
Dowager Caclogan, who is the only person living, I
allow to have the least pretence of authority over us in
familly concerns. Notwithstanding which / would
not at first listen to what she very earnestly asked
of us in your favour. 1 own the highest respect
and even duty to her is due from me, butt I could
not thinko she had any more right to tell me
how far I was to carry my resentment to my chil-
dren, than I should have to tell Mr. Fox how he
should behave in the like circumstances to his, which
I should never thiukc I had the least right to do.
However 1 am very far from blameiug you as I have
already say'd for trying to be reconciled to us by
her means, as it was the most decent as well as the
most likely way to succeed, and your Dear mother's
duty and love, to my Lady Cadogan was constantly
the first and strongest argument that work'd upon
her. and made her wish to oblige her Mother in a
thing she had so much at heart, and only waited
for my aprobation of it. Butt T shall now plainly
tell you that the other way that was attempted
instead of bringing on the reconciliation very much
retarded it, from the manner twas done in, and
the arguments used upon it. I own it raised in-
dignation, and entirely stifled the inclination I then
had to forgive. And this from two people as near, and
FORGIVENESS.
at least as dear to me as yourself. I meau my
Lord and Lady Kildare, 1 who instead of makcing
entreatys. were pleas'd to tell your mother that
wee ought to forgive you, and were blamed by the
world, and by themselves for not doing it, which
was a language I would hear from nobody, and
indeed when they saw how it was received, they
did not thinke fitt to repeat it. And I assure you
my reconcilement to you has been defer'd upon this
account, for I will have both them and yourselves
know that it proceeds from the tenderness arising
in our own breasts for you, and not from their mi.s-
judg'd aplication. And if you My Dear Caroline,
and Mr. Fox look upon it as an obligation, tis to
your Mother and me, and in some degree to my
Lady Cadogan, but to no mortall else that you owe
it. One thing more of the greatest consequence to
the future hapiness of my familly I must mention
and recomcnd to you, which is that I trust to Mr.
Fox's honor, probity, and good sense, as well as to
yours, that your conversation ever hereafter with
any of my children espetially with my dear March
may be such as not to lead them to thinke children
independent of their parents. Wee long to see your
dear inocent Child, and that has not a little contri-
1 The Duke of liichmond's son-in-law and daughter.
CIIAl'Tl-.K
II.
HOLLAND HOUSE.
buted to our present tenderness for you. I chose
to write this long letter that you might be fully
inform'd of my mind before I saw you, and that
when wee have that pleasure there may not be any
talke or Altercation whatever upon past events,
which would be infinitely disagreeable to us all,
instead of which, when wee meet let our affection
le mutual, and you may be sure that our seeing
you is a proof of the sincerity of ours. So My
Dear child, You and .Mr. Fox may come here at
the time that shall be setled by yourselves with
my Lord llchester, and be both received in the
arms of an affectionate father and mother.
" RICHMOND ; &c.
"SA: RICHMOND &c."
At any rate, the, rebellious daughter was not a
resentful one. After the death of the Duke and
Duchess of Richmond, she, with what we would call
filial piety, acted like a second mother to her fourth
sister, the beautiful Lady Sarah Lennox ; and it was
at Holland IIou.su that her youngest sister, Lady
Cecilia Lennox, died of consumption.
Lady Caroline Fox was created Baroness Holland
in 17(52, and in 17G3 Mr. Fox was raised to the
peerage as Baron Holland, of Foxley, Wilts. His
DEATH OF HENRY FOX.
73
wish to be made a peer is expressed in a letter
to George Selwyn, written from Aubigny, and dated
October 5, 17G3: ". . . I sent Betty a present by
Lord Bateman, which he tells me she received very
graciously indeed. She advised me against going into
the House of Lords, and so did you ; and vcry
wisely, if I retained any further views of ambi-
tion. But it was to cut up that by the root, and
with that intention, and, after deliberation with that
intention, that I did it ; and Lady Caroline and I
find great reason now to be glad that it was
done. . . .'"
It may be as well to explain that the " Betty "
Lord Holland here speaks of was Lady Elizabeth
Howard, sister of the Earl of Carlisle.
The true love of Lord Holland and his wife, eon-
ducted in a somewhat unusual way, was prolonged
to a somewhat unusual length : Lord Holland died
at Holland House, on the 1st of July, 1774,
at the age of sixty-nine, and his widow only
survived him twenty-three days. She was born
in 1723.
Lord Holland's dying injunction about Selwyn
" If Mr. Selwyn calls again, let him in ; if I am
alive, I shall be very glad to see him, and if I
1 J. H. Jesse : George Selwyn and his Contemporaries.
VOL. I. L
CHAPTKk
II.
HOLLAND HOUSE.
( IIAITKi;
am dead, lie will be very glad to see me," 1 is as
authentic as it is widely spread. And it certainly
is not his only acknowledgment of Selwyn's mortuary
tastes, as may be seen by the following at the end
of a letter addressed to his witty friend from Lyons
on the 2nd of .May, 1 770 :
"... Yorke was very ugly whilst he lived ; how
did he look when lie was dead ? Yours ever,
" HOLLAND. "-'
Hut lia\int!' mentioned the name of Georee Selwvn
o
more than once during the course of this chapter, we
must dedicate a few lines especially to himself to
the George Selwyn who formed a, link in the chain of
wits beginning from the days of Charles II., and who,
according to the wits of tin; day, was Receiver-
General of waif and stray jokes.
J tt
Like many another clever man he sparkled with
contradictions, for while on the one hand he was
curiously interested in the details of human sutfeiiny,
tond of executions, corpses, and coffins ; on the other,
he was sociable, good-humoured, kind-hearted, and
passionate!}' fond of children. But his genial charac-
teristics have been rather overlooked in favour of his
1 Russell's Life and Times of C. J. Fox. Vol. i. cliap. i.
- J. II. Jesse : George Selwyn and liis Contemporaries.
GEORGE SELWYN.
75
morbid propensities, and some of his wittiest sayings
transmitted to the public testify to the less pleasant
side of his nature. Walpole says : " George never
thinks but a la tetc Iranclicc : he came to town
t'other day to have a tooth drawn, and told the
man that he would drop his handkerchief for the
signal." '
Being bantered by some ladies on his want of
feeling in attending to see Lord Lovat's head cut off',
he said: "Why! 1 made amends by coin" to the
/ J O O
undertaker's to see it sewn on again."" A great deal
of the effect of his wit was owing to the gravity with
which he expressed it. His wit, however, formed part
and parcel of himself, sometimes too much so : he was
obliged to leave Hertford College, Oxford, for an
irrevcrend jest. But he died penitent, and, during
his last illness, at his own request the Bible was
frequently read to him.' 1
Selwyn held various subordinate offices, but in
the annals of his country he may chiefly be remem-
bered as having sat in Parliament for nearly half
a century, representing the city of Gloucester for
more than thirty years ; while in the social history
of his times, he is biographically interesting as having
1 J. H. Jesse : George Selwyn and his Contemporaries.
Ibid. 3 Ibid.
L 2
CHAI'TKl!
76
HOLLAND HOUSE.
rllAl'TKI!
II.
introduced Madame du Dcffand to Horace Walpole.
In these pages, he must appear as the friend of
Lord Holland Lord Holland who, even when he
retired from political life and asserted that he no
longer took an interest in the political vicissitudes
of the day, .still seemed to care for news from
Selwyn ; which will be found proved in his own
words :
" Aiif/usf 1, 1760.
' Pi: vi: SKI.WVN,
'' What, no letter from you ? This serves only to
tell you, that within these two or three days whatever
you'll send to my house in town will be brought here
by express. Adieu !
'' Yours evei-,
' HOLLAND." '
" XICK, .]/',/,, Kith, 17 <><*.
"... . 1 call your loiifjcr letter a most entertain-
ing, your shorter a most kind letter, and most heartily
thank you for both. Do not put your writing upon
'if II "' .f ui 'l (uvjthuuj w n-lh communicating;' but
be assured tliat to see your handwriting (though it
is by no means good) gives me great pleasure, and
1 J. II. Jesse : George Selwyn and his Contemporaries.
CHARACTER OF HENRY FOX.
obliges me ; and I have met with too much ingrati-
tude to be ungrateful myself. Because I am not so,
I again beg to hear from you some, and I hope good,
news of Lady Townshend. . . ."
In closing our notice of the first Lord Holland we
borrow from Coxe what seems an impartial account of
his character: "lie was equally a man of pleasure
and business, formed for social and convivial inter-
course ; of an unruffled temper and frank disposition,
Xo statesman acquired more adherents, not merely
from political motives, but swayed by his agreeable
manners, and attached to him from personal friend-
ship, which he fully merited by his xeal in pro-
moting their interests. He is justly characterized,
even by Lord Chesterfield, ' as having no fixed prin-
ciples of religion or morality, and as too unwary in
ridiculing and exposing them.' As a parliamentary
orator, he was occasionally hesitating and perplexed;
but, when warmed with his subject, he spoke with
an animation and rapidity which appeared more
striking from hi.s former hesitation. His speeches
were not crowded with flowers of rhetoric, or dis-
tinguished by brilliancy of diction ; but were replete
with sterling sense and sound argument. He was
' J. II. Jesse : George Selvvyn and his Contemporaries.
niAl'TKU
II.
HOLLAND HOUSE.
HAi'TF.K quick in reply, keen in repartee, and skilful in
discerning the temper of the house. He wrote
without effort or affectation ; his public despatches
were manly and perspicuous, and his private letters
easy and animated. Though of an ambitious spirit,
he. regarded money as a principal object, and
power onlv as a secondary concern." 1
An anonymous writer in "Lord Chesterfield '
Characters Reviewed,"' says that he was "an excel-
lent husband, a most indulgent father, a kind
master, a courteous neighbour ; and ... a man
whose c/Htri/icx demonstrated that he possessed in
abundance tic milk of human kindness."
Lord Holland left four sons: Stephen, the suc-
cessor to his title and estates, who only survived
him six months ; Henry, who did not live to grow
up; Charles James, the orator and statesman; and
Henry Edward, who died a general in the army.
Stephen married Ladv Mary Fitzpatrick, daughter
of John, first Earl of Upper Ossory. To the cir-
cumstance of his short life, may perhaps be attributed
the fact that the second Lord Holland does not
figure in history. It has been insinuated that he
1 Memoirs of Horatio, Lord "VValpole, by William Coxe.'
I/ melon, 1808. Vol. ii. chap, xxxvii.
- London. 1777.
STEPHEN, SECOND LORD HOLLAND.
liked a, good table. We may be certain that he
kept a pleasant one. For he was good-natured and
brilliant a rare combination and his memory is
still dear to descendants born long after his death.
During the minority of his son, the third Lord
Holland, Holland House was let to Lord Rosebery
and to Mr. Bearcroft, and the land to various
persons.
n.
CflARLKS JAMES
IF the second Lord Holland appear rather as a
passive holder of the name than as an active orna-
ment of his family, in a very different light figures
his younger brother.
Charles James Fox earned for himself sueh a
reputation in the annals of English history, that,
notwithstanding he was only a. younger son, he is
perhaps by some looked upon as the head of his
family; while others, forgetful of his father's and
grandfather's services, may be excused even for
considering him as the first of his name. In the
same spirit, we would give him a prominent position
on these pages, although he was never a proprietor
C. J. FOX A SPOILT CHILD.
of Holland House, and although Holland House
was not even his birthplace.
He was born on January 24th, 1749 (N.S.), in
Conduit Street ; but during much of his early life
Holland House was his home. There we know that
he joined in the private theatricals, when the part
of Jane Shore was played by the beautiful Lady
kSarah Lennox, with whom he is there also asso-
ciated in a painting by Sir Joshua Eeynokls. ' There
too occurred the well-known incident of the wall,
which incident, well known as it is, must ever find
its place in an account of Charles James Fox's youth.
A wall was condemned, and Lord Holland had
promised young Charles James that he should witness
its demolition. By some accident, however, the boy
was not present when the wall was knocked down ;
but Lord Holland, acting up to the principle of
keeping faith even with a child, had the wall built
up again, in order that it might be demolished
before his eyes.
Although this would help to prove that the child
was a spoilt one, it would seem a pity to draw an
unfavourable inference from a story Avhich at least
suggests the father's sense of honour, more especially
as there are many other stories illustrative of Lord
1 See chap. xx.
VOL. I. M
CHAI'TKK
III.
HOLLAND HOUSE.
Holland's indulgence without having for excuse the
keeping of a promise.
Once the enfant terrible wished to break a watch.
" Well ! " said the father, " if you must, I suppose
you must.''
At another time, Lord Holland, as Secretary of
State, was preparing some important papers, when
Charles, going into the study, read, criticized, and
burnt a despatch which was ready to be sealed.
The father, without even reprimanding his boy,
calmly got ready another copy of the despatch from
the oflicial draft.
diaries .lames in his childhood does not seem
to have shown his mother much more deference
than he .showed his father. One day he heard her
make a mistake in Roman history, and, asking her,
with utter contempt, what site knew about the
Romans, he went on to explain how she was wrong.
It will thus bo seen that the great statesman,
being early allowed the use of his fingers and
tongue, began life as a spoilt child ; and it has been
insinuated that he was one all his days. His educa-
tion, if not desultory, was at least disconnected,
the even course of his studies being more than
once broken in upon by trips to the Continent.
But such was his quickness, that what would simply
AT SCHOOL. ON THE CONTINENT.
83
have unsettled some boys, probably enlarged his
mind.
He was sent early to a private school at Wands-
worth, kept by a Mr. Pampelonne. In his ninth year
he went to Eton, for which place he ever retained a
fond regard. Lord Carlisle and Lord Fitzwilliam
were amongst his contemporaries there ; and their
portraits, as also that of Fox himself by Reynolds,
are still to be seen at Eton in the Provost's Lodge.
Dr. Francis, translator of Horace, better known
perhaps as father of Sir Philip Francis, assisted him
in his .studies, in which circumstance some, who be-
lieve Sir Philip and " Junins " to be the same person,
find a reason for the leniency with which Lord Hol-
land is treated in the renowned anonymous work.
Before Charles James was fourteen, Lord Holland
took him to Paris and Spa, an event which may
be considered of disastrous importance to his life, as
during the trip were sown the seeds of his future
taste for gambling ; and this by his father ! Poor
Lord Holland became, too late, alarmed at the effects
of his guilty imprudence.
After his return from the Continent, the boy
remained about a year at Eton; and in 17G4 was
entered at Hertford College, Oxford. 1 There he may
1 Russell's Life and Times of C. J. Fox. Vol. i. chap. i.
M 2
CHAPTER
III.
84 HOLLAND HOUSE.
have indulged in the follies of youth, but there, by
his devotion to classical literature, he greatly con-
tributed to form the future brilliant orator. He
remained less than two years at College, and then
went again abroad for two years, spending a winter
at Naples with his father, and seeing Voltaire at
Forney. The visit to Forney is described in a
letter to Rogers'* friend, the late E. H. Barker,
from Uvcdale Price : l
"... From (Jeneva Fox and I went to Voltaire
at Forney, having obtained a permission then seldom
granted. It is an event in one's life to have seen
and heard that extraordinary man : he was old and
infirm, and, in answer to Fox's note and request,
said that the name of Fox was sufficient, and that
ho could not refuse seeing us, ' mais que HOH.S
venions pour I'cytarfcr.' He conversed in a lively
manner, walking with us to and fro in a sort of
alley ; and at parting gave us a list of some of his
works, adding, ' Ce sont des livres de quoi il faut
se murtir,' they were such as would fortify our
young minds against religious prejudices. Fox
quitted us at Geneva, w T cnt to England, and com-
menced his political career "
1 Quoted in a note to Rogers's "Table Talk."
C. J. FOX IN PARLIAMENT; IN OFFICE.
Let us picture to ourselves the worn-out philosopher CHAI'TKK
with the experience of his threescore years and ten,
and by his side, not yet twenty, the embryo states-
man, with the promise of future glory ; then, in
fancy bridging over the period between the birth
of the one and the death of the other, what events
in history may we not recall !
By the influence of Lord Holland, who wished
his son to occupy a high place in the country, Fox
was returned for Midhurst in the parliament which
met on the 10th -May, 17(iS. He was then little
more than nineteen years old ; though, as he was
still abroad, he did not take his seat until the
following November. But even as it was, he sat
and spoke before he was of age.
His first speech, an unimportant one on a question
of order, seems to have been made on the !)th of
March, 17G9. His second, made on the 14th of
April, was in support of the expulsion of Wilkes ;
and his third, on the 8th of May, was on the peti-
tion against the return of Colonel Luttrell for
Middlesex. 1
In 1770 he first took office, as a Junior Lord of the
Admiralty, under the Administration of Lord North ;
1 Russell's Memorials and Correspondence of C. J. Fox.
Book ii.
HOLLAND HOUSE.
but in 1772, chiefly on account of his opposition
to the lloyal Marriage I Jill, he resigned. Within a
year, however, he was appointed one of the Lords
of the Treasury ; his sudden dismissal from which
office, in February 1774, occurred thus:
There had been a, coolness between Fox and the
Premier, Lord North, when a motion was made in
the House of Commons that Mr. Woodfall, printer
of the Public Advertiser, in consequence of some-
thing which had appeared in that paper about the
Speaker, be taken into custody by the Serjeant-at-
Ann>. Fox did not think such a. punishment suffi-
cient, and, without consulting Lord North, moved an
amendment for -Mr. Wood/all to be committed to
Newgate. Lord North, rightly or wrongly supporting
his subordinate, found himself, in the division, with
a minority, and punished the cause of his defeat by
the following note, which Fox received a few days
afterwards, as he was sitting in the House of Com-
mons on the Ministerial bench:
"Jit* iit< '/c.^f i/ lias thought proper to order a new
i-iiiiiiittxstoi, of (]te. treasury to be made out, in ivliicli
T da not j>erceit'C //</; name.
"North." l
" To tl> If,,,,. C. J. /',,:"
1 Fells Memoirs of C. J. Fox. London, 1808. P. 24.
C. J. FOX NORTH SHELBURNE.
Very soon after this, Fox was in the Opposition ;
but, to save him from the charge of being actuated
by any petty feeling, it must be remembered that,
even as a Ministerialist, he had voted against his
own colleagues; that Burke had already begun to
influence him ; that his father, who was chiefly tin-
means of bringing him into the Ministry, and whose
politics he had begun by following, died in 1774 ; and
that the great question of American taxation, upon
which Fox's oratory made itself conspicuous, was
brought forward after lie had lei't the ^Ministry.
To follow the Ministerial windings of that period
would entail a history of the American AYar ; it will
be enough here to say that Fox first deprecated
the measures which led to the war, and afterwards
sought to diminish the expense of it.
In the o-ciieral election which followed the disso-
O
lution of 17SO he was chosen member for Wusr-
minster. In February 1782, the Ministers were
defeated upon the question of the continuance of l In-
war, and in March thev left office. Lord Rockinsham
J ~
became Prime Minister, and Fox, who had contributed
greatly to the downfall of the previous Ministry.
was made Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs,
and speedily commenced negotiations for peace. But
on account of the serious differences which existed
CHAI-TKI;
in.
HOLLAND HOUSE.
between himself and Lord Shelburne, Fox, upon the
death of Lord Rockingham, and the consequent ap-
pointment of Lord Shelburne to the Premiership,
resigned.
The Shelburne Ministry was a modification of Lord
Roekingham's, and included, besides several old sup-
pnrters of the \var, one who had been united with
Fox in opposing it : William Pitt.
It excluded, however, Lord North as well as Fox ;
and thus it was that the two antagonists of eight
years' standing were found side by side in opposition,
and that once the question of peace or war, which
had divided them, was exchanged for the question
of how peace should be made, a coalition between
them was effected. Some notion of the estimation
in which Fox was held at this time may be gleaned
from the following extracts. The first is out of a
letter from Horace Walpole to the Countess of
< >ssory, written from Strawberry Hill, and dated
Nov. :5, 1 7S:2 : -
". . . . All Mrs. Siddons did, good sense or good
instruction might give. 1 dare to say, that were I
one-and-twenty, I should have thought her marvellous ;
but, alas ! I remember Mrs. Porter and the Dumesnil
and remember every accent of the former in the
very same part. Yet this is not entirely prejudice :
LORD OSSORY ON C. J. FOX.
don't I equally recollect the whole progress of Lord
Chatham and Charles Townshend, and does it hinder
my thinking Mr. Fox a prodigy ? Pray don't send
him this paragraph too. I am not laying a courtly
I
trap, nor at sixty-five projecting, like the old Duke of
Newcastle, to be in favour in the next reign. . . ." '
The other extract is part of a character of Fox
written by Lord Ossory :
" . . . . He was much caressed by the then
Ministry, and appointed a Lord of the Admiralty,
and soon promoted to the Treasury. Lord North
(which he must ever since have repented) was
inclined to turn him out upon some trivial occasion
or difference ; and soon afterwards the fatal quarrel
with America commenced, Mr. Fox constantly op-
posing the absurd measures of Administration, and
rising by degrees to be the first man the House of
Commons ever saw. His opposition continued from
1773 to 1782, when the Administration was fairly
overturned by his powers ; for even the great weight
of ability, property, and influence that composed the
opposition, could never have effected that great work,
if he had not acquired the absolute possession and
influence of the House of Commons. He certainly
deserved their confidence, for his political conduct
1 Horace Walpole : Letters to the Countess of Ossory.
VOL. I. N
CHAI'TKU
III.
HOLLAND HOUSE.
u.m'KR ' lias boon fair, open, honest, and decided, against
the system so fatally adopted by the Court. He
resisted every temptation to be brought over by
that system, however flattering to his ambition, for
he must soon have been at the head of everything.
But 1 do not know whether his abilities are not the
least extraordinary part about him. Perhaps that is
saying too much ; but he is full of good nature, good
temper, and facility of disposition, disinterestedness
with regard to himself, at the same time that his mind
is fraught with the most noble sentiments and ideas
upon all possible .subjects. Ifis understanding has
the greatest scope 1 can form an idea of, his memory
the must wonderful, his judgment the most true his
J O
reasoning the most profound and acute, his eloquence
the most rapid and persuasive." '
Soon after the coalition between Lord North and
Fox, the latter, boasting of the advantageous peace
with France, said he had at length prevailed on the
Court of Versailles to relinquish all pretensions to
the gum-trade in favour of Great Britain. George
Selwyn, who seemed asleep, but who never lost an
opportunity for making a pun, said : "That, Charles,
I am not at all surprised at, for, having permitted
' Horace Walpolc : Letters to the Countess of Ossory. (From
a foot-note to letter dated July 7, 1782.)
FOX AND PITT.
91
the French to draw your teeth, they would be indeed
d d fools to quarrel with you about your gums."
The Opposition, having in February 1783 carried
a resolution censuring the terms of the Peace with
America, a new Ministry was formed, with the Duke
of Portland as Premier, in which Lord North and
Fox took office as Secretaries of State. But this
Administration was short-lived. In December of the
same year, it was defeated upon a measure known
as Fox's East India Bill, which went to vest the
Indian Government in a way the King considered
calculated to diminish the influence of the Crown.
The Bill passed the House of Commons, but, owing
to the King's influence, was defeated by the Lords.
Pitt succeeded, and then 1 was a violent Opposition,
of which Fox was the head.
Now commenced a long and formidable contest
between the two great men. Fox was the author of
a representation to the Crown, pointing out fully
and forcibly the evils of a, Ministry at variance with
the people's voice. But Pitt remained in office until
1801.
Meanwhile, Fox was perpetually under public
notice one way or another. In 1784 occurred his
celebrated election for Westminster, when the poll
1 J. II. Jesse : George Selwyn and his Contemporaries.
N 2
CH A IT Kit
III.
HOLLAND HOUSE.
rilAITKU
III.
was kept open for forty days. 1 The validity of the
election was disputed, but the matter was ultimately
settled in his favour.
Ladies canvassed for him, and during the contest,
the Duchess of Devonshire having bought a butcher's
vote with a kiss, the following epigram obtained
circulation :
Array 'tl in matchless beauty, Devon's fair?
In Fox's favour takes a zealous part '?
Hut, Oh I where'er the pilferer comes beware !
.She supplicates a vote, and steals a heart/' ' J
Pending the result of the scrutiny, Fox appeared
in Parliament as member for the Scotch boroughs of
Dingwall and Kirkwall, :; and took an active part in
the impeachment of Warren Hastings.
He was paid the local compliment of being, from
17(59 to 1774 (as before him his father had been),
Steward of the Borough of Malmesbury. 4 In 1788,
worn out with the excitement of his labours, he went
to the Continent and spent a fe\v days with Gibbon
at Lausanne. The visit is alluded to in Rogers's
"Table Talk "as follows :-
1 liussell's Life and Times of C. J, Fox. Vol. ii. chap. xx.
" History of the Westminster Election, by Lovers of Truth and
Justice. London, 1784.
" Fells Memoirs of C. .1. Fox. London, 1808. P. 213.
4 Xichols's Collectanea.
VISIT TO GIBBON.
" It is well known that Fox visited Gibbon at
Lausanne ; and he was much gratified by the visit.
Gibbon, he said, talked a great deal, walking up
and down the room, and generally ending his sen-
tences with a genitive case ; every now and then, too,
casting a look of complacency on his own portrait
by Sir Joshua Reynolds, which hung over the
chimney-piece, that wonderful portrait, in which,
while the oddness and vulgarity of the features are
refined away, the likeness is perfectly preserved. Fox
used to say that Gibbon's History was immortal,
because nobody could do without it, nobody, without
vast expense of time and labour, could get elsewhere
the information which it contains."
Speaking of this tour, Gibbon .says :".... Mr.
Fox gave me two days of free and private society.
He seemed to feel, and even to envy, the happiness
of my situation ; while I admired the powers of a
superior man, as they are blended in his attractive
character with the softness and simplicity of a child.
Perhaps no human being was ever more perfectly
exempt from the taint of malevolence, vanity, or
falsehood."
Charles James Fox even reached Italy, but the
CHAl'TKI!
III.
1 Gibbon's Miscellaneous Works, with Occasional Notes and
Xarrative, by John, Lord Sheffield. Dublin, 1796. Vol. i. p. 168.
94
HOLLAND HOUSE.
rilAPTKl!
King's illness forced him to return to his parlia-
mentary vocations, and, a Regency being necessary,
he maintained that to the Prince of Wales the
Regency belonged by right, and without limitation,
thus opposing the course pursued by Pitt.
In 17M) Fox supported Mr. Beaufoy's motion for
the repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts, and a
year later he himself introduced a motion for the same
purpose. 1 Jle certainly was in advance of his times.
In the general election of 1790 he was returned
for Westminster at the head of the poll, and it was
in this Parliament that, through his action with Pitt
and (iivnville as well as with Burke, the attempt
made to annul \Varren Hastings' impeachment, on the
ground that the dissolution had put an end to it,
was defeated. Jle thus helped finally to settle the
great constitutional question whether an impeach-
ment was or was not terminated by a dissolution, a
question on which the House of Lords had in 1679
and 1GS.~> pronounced two famous but diametrically
opposite decisions.
The year 171)1 is a sad year in Fox's life, as
then occurred his quarrel with his friend Burke,
between whom and himself had existed, for five-and-
twenty years, a brotherly affection. Great political
1 Cobbett's Parliamentary Hist. Vol. xxviii. pp. 27 38, 387 403.
QUARREL BETWEEN FOX AND BURKK.
95
success is mere toil compared to the secure repose of
real friendship ; and evidently Fox saw the matter
in this light. They had had, early in 1790, a
difference of opinion during a discussion on the
Army Estimates, but it was upon the subject of the
Quebec Government Bill that the actual quarrel
broke out. Burke was making a violent diatribe
against the French Revolution, and, having been in
vain called to order, a motion was made by Lord
Sheffield and seconded by Fox, to the effect that
dissertations on the French Constitution were not
regular or orderly on the question that the clauses
of the Quebec Bill be read a second time, paragraph
by paragraph. Burke, who was evidently in an ex-
cited state, took causeless offence at sonic remarks
of Fox in supporting the motion, and in his reply
complained bitterly that he had not been treated by
Fox as one friend should be treated by another.
Moreover, he persisted in the offence which had
given rise to the motion, and, in violent language,
resumed his abuse of the French Constitution. Fox
whispered that there was no loss of friendship.
Burke replied, Yes, there u-as he knew the -price of
his conduct he had done his duty at the price of
his friend their friendship wets at an end. 1
1 Eussell's Life and Times of C. J. Fox. Vol. ii. chap. xxx.
CIIAI'TF.K
III.
HOLLAND HOUSE.
Although Fox appealed, with tears in his eyes,
to the memory of their friendship, although Burke
shortly afterwards acknowledged that Fox was a
man made to bo, loved, Burke never allowed the
wound to be healed. Horace Walpole, in a letter to
the Countess of Ossory, written from Strawberry
Hill, and dated August 22, 1791, renders justice to
Fox in the following manner :
"... As to Mi'. Fox, I own I think the tears he
shed for having hurt Mr. Burke, were an infinitely
nobler peace-offering than a recantation could have
been. Who weeps for his friends, feels ; who retracts
his opinion, may be convinced, or from art or interest
may pretend he is convinced ; and that recantation
may be due to the public, without being due to his
friend, as no friendship binds one to think exactly
like one's friend on general topics ; and therefore
to shed tears for having disagreed, was a greater
sacrifice than retractation : and in that lio-ht I
admire Mr. Fox's temper more than Mr. Burke's.
This is being very impartial ; for though with Mr.
Fox I admire the destruction of despotism, I agree
with Mr. Burke in abhorring the violence, cruelty,
injustice, and absurdity of the National Assembly,
who have destroyed regal tyranny for a short time,
and exercise ten times greater themselves ; and I
EFFORTS FOR PEACE AND HUMANITY. <J7
fear, have ruined liberty for ages ; for what country
will venture to purchase a chance of freedom at
the price of the ruin that lias boon brought on
France by this outrageous experiment ? . . ." ]
In 1791 and in 1792 Fox distinguished himself
by opposing the Ministerial project of an armament
against Russia," and, what is more to his glory, by
supporting Mr. Wilberforce's motion for the abolition
of the slave trade. Humanity seems to us to have
been Fox's besetting virtue. iNot only did he make
himself conspicuous in trying to put an end to that
disgraceful tndlic by which man is sold to his
fellow-man, and then too often oppressed by him,
but also he had vehemently opposed the American
War, and worked to bring about peace. And as lie
had done by the American War, so he did by tin-
war with France. Having striven in vain to bring
it to an end, undaunted by his friends' desertion, he
straightforwardly pursued his philanthropic course.
His efforts were not, however, restricted to these
specially memorable achievements. Lord llrougham
seems to have held him in almost as great esteem
for supporting Lord Crskine's amendment of the
1 Horace \Valpole : Letters to tho Countess of Ossory.
2 Stanhope's Life of Pitt. Vol. ii. chaps, xv. xvi.
3 Statesmen of tho Time of George III. Series I. Vol. i.
VOL. I.
HOLLAND HOUSE.
law of libel as for his services towards the abolition
of the slave trade. But as it is not our object to
write a record of all his deeds, we must content
ourselves by briefly enumerating some of those which
we consider the most conspicuous. In 1793 he sup-
ported Mr. (afterwards Earl) Grey's motion for Par-
liamentary Reform. 1 In 1794 he defended the cause
of the Scottish martyrs, Muir and Palmer.' 2 In
17!).; he opposed the Seditious Meetings' Bill, and
the Treasonable Practices Bill. 3 the repeal of which he
moved in 1797. In 179 7 also he nobly distinguished
himself in the cause of true liberty by drawing at-
tention to the state of Ireland and to the injustices
heaped upon Irish Catholics.
Thus did In- maintain a sentiment he expressed
when in office in 1782, that for "his part, he had
rather see Ireland totally separated from the crown
of England, than kept in obedience only by force.
Unwilling subjects were little better than enemies." 4
Later in 1797, he retired for a while from public-
life, to which he did not return until nearly the
end of 1801. Mist of the intervening period lie-
spent at St. Anne's Hill.
1 Cobbett's Parliamentary History. Vol. xxx. pp. 908925.
Ibid. pp. 15C2 1572.
3 Ibid. Vol. xxxii. pp. 270283, 371377.
4 Ibid. Vol. xxiii. p. 23.
HISTORY OF JAMES II.
09
Like some Romans of old, and, by the bye, like CIIAITKI;
his father, the first Lord Holland, who was very
fond of horticulture, he devoted himself to ho-.nely
pursuits when he was not engaged in public
duties. It is pleasant to picture him, during this
parenthesis in his existence, engaged with rural occu-
pations and enjoying domestic ties. But in his
leisure he employed himself intellectually also. It
was then that he formed the plan of his " History
of James the Second." Even after resuming his
attendance in Parliament, in July 1802, lie went
to Paris with the view of consulting certain docu-
ments in the Depot des Aff'airex Etrangeres and
in the Scotch College. Amongst the former, he was
especially pleased with Barillon s letters, writing of
them to his nephew as " , . , worth their weight in
gold;" ' from amongst the latter, the MSS. of King-
James II. had disappeared. P>ut as during his visit
he made Napoleon's acquaintance, and as his history
of the rei<ni of James II. did not make any great
o / O
impression, it may be supposed that the intended
object of his journey was the smallest result of it.
The work itself was published in 1808, after the
author's death, with a preface by the third Lord
Holland. Sydney Smith said that Fox wrote drop
1 See Lord Holland's Preface to C. J. Fox's History of James II.
2
I no HOLLAND HOUSE.
]>y drop ; and Grattan that every sentence of his
came rolling like a wave of the Atlantic three thou-
sand miles long. But, fortunately for him, his repu-
tation docs not depend upon his pen ; for, true child
of impulse, this fragment of history, like most of
the few speeches which he prepared, is a compara-
tive failure. Brougham says: " The style is pure
and correct, hut cold and lifeless : it is even some-
what ahrupt and discontinuous ; so little does it flow
naturally or with ease." Uogers, however, said that
it had hcen greatly undervalued, but that it would
he properly estimated in future ages.
At. St. Anne's I fill also Fox contemplated another
work, and a much greater one. In a summer-house
ill the garden belonging to that small Surrey shoot-
ing-box for such was St. Anne's Hill at the time
-were discussed the preliminaries of the Treaty of
Amiens. And if we wonder, reflecting upon the
modest spot to which the project set its historical
seal, surely we ma}- also wonder, reflecting upon
the vast space over which the results of that pro-
ject travelled, securing, if only for a short time, the
blessing of peace.
In liSOl, I'itt was succeeded by Mr. Addington,
whose negotiations for peace with France tempted
' Statesmen of the Time of George III. Series I. Vol. i.
C. J. FOX IN PARIS.
101
Fox from Ins retirement. His constituents were as
devoted to him as if he had been a regular attendant
at the House, and, in the general election of 1802,
again returned him for Westminster at the head of
the poll. It was, as we have already mentioned,
in the July of the same year that he went to Paris.
There he was feted by the rich and visited by the
great. Once at the theatre, the audience recognized
him, rose, and made him quite an ovation ; while,
with a modesty which might have, been mistaken
for boorishness, he failed to acknowledge the com-
pliment even by a gesture of thanks.'
Some idea of the sensation he created in the gay
capital will be found in the following extract :
' To ape Mr. Fox," says a late writer, quoted
in the Georgian Era, " was now the fashion at
Paris : his dress, his mode of speaking, nay, his
very dinners, were imitated. It was the fashion to
be a thinking man, to think like Fox. At the
opera, he attracted every eye, and was followed as
a spectacle through the streets. His picture was exhi-
bited in every window ; and no medallions had such
a ready sale, as those which bore the head of Fox.
The artists alone were displeased, as he refused to sit
for his portrait, A famous statuary sent his respects
1 See Trotter's Memoirs of Fox. Chap. vii.
HOLLAND HOUSE.
rllAl'TKI!
to him, saying, that being anxious to partake of his
immortality, he wished to execute a statue of him,
and would call the next day, when he flattered him-
self ]\Ir. Fox would have no objection to sit half an
hour in his shirt, while he took the exact contour
of his body." We loarn from the same source that
among the fashionables of Paris, who were particularly
attentive to him, was Madame liucamier. She called
for him one day in her carriage ; but Fox. hesi-
tating to accompany her, "Come," said the lady, "I
must keep my promise, and show you on tin; pro-
menade. JU'fore you came, I was the fashion ; it is
a point of honour, therefore, that I should not seem
jealous of you. Soon after, an ode appeared, in
which Fox and Madame Keeamier were transformed
into Jupiter and Venus. 1
When at a gnat levee. Fox was announced bv
the English Ambassador, Buonaparte, according to
Trotter, 2 whom Lord Russell" quotes, indicated con-
siderable emotiuii, and said very rapidly: "Ah!
Mr. Fox ! 1 have heard with pleasure of your
arrival 1 have desired much to see you I have
long admired in you the orator and friend of his
1 Georgian Era, l.y "U". Chirk. London, 1832. Vol. i. p. .335.
Memoirs of Fox. Chap. xi.
'' Life and Times of C. J. Fox. Vol. iii. chap. Ixi.
C. J. FOX WITH NAPOLEON. ic:t
country, who, in constantly raising his voice for
peace, consulted that country's best interests those
of Europe and of the human race. The two great
nations of Europe require peace ; they have nothing
to fear ; they ought to understand and value one
another. In you, Mr. Fox, I see, with much satis-
faction, that great statesman who recommended
Peace, because there was no just object of war :
who saw Europe desolated to no purpose, and
who struggled for its relief."
Eox subsequently dined with the genius hero, and
had several hours' conversation with him.
Little, during the conversation with Charles James
Fox, did Buonaparte think that it was reserved for
himself, after being courted by all, to be betrayed
by the nation in which he had most confided, and
that, when thus betrayed, Charles James Fox's
nephew would be foremost and almost alone in
defending his cause.
In the autumn of lSOi2 Fox took his place in the
new Parliament, and presently he began to doubt
the intention of Ministers to maintain peace. Mr.
Addington, having accomplished the feat of putting
himself against both Fox and Pitt, was unequal to
the other feat of remaining in office, and in 1804 he
resigned. Pitt succeeded ; but as George III. would
104
HOLLAND HOUSE.
not then have Fox in office, and as Lord Gren-
ville and others of importance would not serve
without him, the Ministry Avas a weak one, and
did not succeed in making peace.
In 1S05 Fox \vas great upon the Catholic ques-
tion ; and Brougham talks in high terms of his open-
ing speech : "It was a noble performance, instinct with
sound principle ; full of broad and striking views
of policv : abounding in magnanimous appeals to
justice : and bold assertions of right, in one passage
touching and pathetic. the description of a Catholic
soldier's feelings on reviewing some field where he had
shared the dangers of the fight, yet repined to think
that lie could .never taste the glories of command. '
On the :!:ird of January, 1.80G, Pitt died, and
Lord (ircnville. becoming Prime Minister, Fox was
made Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and
leader in the House of Commons.
But Ins days were numbered. "At a very early
period of the Administration," says Lord Holland, in
his Memoirs of the Whig Party," "he had told me that
he looked forward some time or other to retire from
the office; which he held : that, in the event of peace,
the tiresome and unimportant duties annexed to it
1 Statesmen of the Time of George III. Series I. Vol. i.
2 Vo'. i.
GRENVILLE MINISTRY.
lOa
would increase, that lie would then take some less
active situation, or remain in Cabinet without any,
and give me the seals of the Foreign Office, as lie
could, in that case, without indelicacy, superintend
all matters of importance, and make opportunities of
talking them over, when he was so inclined, or avoid
them, when he had a fancy for literature or any other
pursuit. This scheme, he observed, would inure me
to business; and with that contented tone of voice
which always accompanied his kindness, he added :
' ft will be nice too, for it will secure my seeing you at
St. Anne's when 1 am there.' Of these projects, though
made for some distant time, he had probably spoken to
others ; for when his disorder assumed a more alarm-
ing appearance, his colleagues offered some arrange-
ment of the sort. Lord Howiek (Grey) came to him
with a proposal, which included a Peerage, if he liked
it, to save him from the yet more laborious duty of
the House of Commons. Mrs. Fox was in the room
when this suggestion was made. At the mention of
the Peerage, he looked at her significantly, with a
reference to his secret but early determination never
to be created a Peer ; and, after a short pause, he said :
' No, not yet, I think not yet.' On the same even-
ing, as I sat by his bedside, he said to me : ' If this
continues (and though I don't fear any immediate
VOL. I. P
OHAPTEK
111.
106 HOLLAND HOUSE.
CHAITEI; I danger, I begin to see it is a longer and more
serious business than I apprehended), I must have
more quiet than with my place I ought to have, and
put the plan I spoke to you about, sooner in execution
than I intended. But don't think me selfish, young
one. The Slave Trade and Peace are two such
glorious things, I can't give them up, even to you. If
I can manage them, I will then retire.' He then
talked over sonic arrangements connected with that
scheme, and his own situation in the Cabinet without
office, and added : ' The peerage, to be sure, seems
the natural way, but that cannot be. I have an oath
in heaven against it ; I will not close my politics in
that foolish way, as so many have done before me.' . . .
" Soon after the serious nature of his disorder had
been ascertained, Lord Yarmouth abruptly and un-
advisedly produced his full powers at Paris ; the
Cabinet, in consequence, named Lord Lauderdale to
conduct the negotiation. My uncle's intention had,
at one time, been to send me or General Fitzpatrick.
In his then state of health, I should certainly have
declined it ; but I own that I was weak enough to
feel two minutes' mortification, on Lord Howick's
(Lord Grey) not giving me the option. I felt this
more sensibly when, on approaching my uncle's bed-
side after he had heard of, and sanctioned, Lord
C. J. FOX'S ILLNESS.
107
Lauderdale's appointment, he said, with a melancholy
smile of affection that I can never forget ' So you
would not leave me, young one, to go to Paris, but
liked staying with me better there's a kind boy.'
He thus gave me credit for refusing what had never
been offered to me, and I did not like to explain the
circumstances for fear he might misinterpret my ex-
planation into an expression of disappointment at not
going. I answered : ' Why, I hope I may be useful to
you here ; and I am sure, if you like my being here,
it would be very odd if I did not prefer staying.'
" From this period, in addition to frequent calls
iu the morning, I regularly attended his bedside for
an hour or two every night after his visitors and
secretaries had retired. Mr. Trotter, Mrs. Fox, or my
sister, generally read to him during the day. The
books he chose were chiefly novels. When he wished
to hear anything else, he expressed that wish while
it was my sister's turn, with whose reading he was
very naturally delighted, or he reserved it till the
evening for me. ' For ' (said he) ' I like your read-
ing, young one, but I liked it better before I had
heard your sister's. That is better than yours, I can
tell you.' I noticed that he was growing to love his
niece more and more every day. Various accidents
had prevented his seeing much of her till the year
p 2
CIIAPTK.I:
in.
IDS
HOLLAND HOUSE.
CHAl'TKi;
1803. All her excellent qualities, both of head and
heart, came upon him at once, and endeared her,
as well they might, most sincerely to her uncle.
" I read the whole of Crabbe's ' Parish Register '
over to him in MS. Some parts he made me read
twice ; he remarked several passages as exquisitely
beautiful, and objected to some few, which I men-
tioned to the author, and which he, in almost every
instance, altered before publication
" Numbers of letters were written from every
quarter of the kingdom to suggest the means of pre-
serving his life. The warmth and eagerness with
which they were urged, expressive of the public in-
terest taken in his recovery, were gratifying in the
extreme 1 [e had, at an earlier stage of his
illness, exacted from me a promise to apprise him
of any approach of danger, and added with emotion,
' We are neither of us children, and it would be
ridiculous to conceal anything : ' he then resumed
his gaiety, and added, ' I don't mean to die though,
young one ; and above all not to give the thing up,
as my father did.' ....
" To return to my narrative : I told him about an
hour before the first operation was performed, that
there was neither pain nor immediate danger to be
apprehended, but that great quiet of mind and body
SOLICITUDE FOR MRS. FOX. :09
was deemed necessary to give the operation all its ni.U'TF.u
beneficial consequences ; thab the efforts of the con-
stitution to support the frame after a large portion
of water was suddenly drawn off, required the very
utmost repose ; and that any exertion, mental or
bodily, soon afterwards, would impede the endeavour
of the constitution to resume its tone. He under-
stood me. He gave me directions to find his Will.
The situation and feelings of Mrs. Fox seemed to be
the chief, and indeed the only, occupation of his
mind on that occasion, and on every other where he
spoke of the probability of his disease terminating
fatally. He could speak of nothing regarding her
without strong and sensible emotion. He contrived,
however, to explain his wishes and expectations about
a provision for her after his death. They were as
nearly fulfilled as the state of the pension laws would
admit. He had hardly finished what he had to say
on that painful subject, when he abruptly said, : Xow
change the conversation, or read me the 8th Book
of Virgil.' I did so. He made me read the finest
verses twice over, spoke of their merits, and com-
pared them with passages in other poets, with all his
usual acuteness, taste, memory, and vivacity. . . .
" For some few days he seemed to revive. With
the propensity to deceive ourselves, which seems to
HOLLAND HOUSE.
haunt a sick room, we began to entertain some faint
hopes that the medicines and treatment might ward
off the necessity of a second operation. In this in-
terval, he took, if I mistake not, one or two airings ;
and in a few days he was removed to Chiswick. The
weather was fine, and the garden through which he
was wheeled, and the pictures, and large apartments
of that magnificent villa, seemed to refresh his spirits.
A remark of Bacon quoted in the Spectator, that
poetry, sculpture, painting, and all the arts of imita-
tion, relieve and soothe the mind in sickness, while
other occupations fatigue and harass it, struck him
exceedingly. He applied it, no doubt, to his own
situation, and after some reflection, he observed, that
lie could not see the reason, but acknowledged the
truth of it
" In the morning of the 7th of September, he grew
much worse, and Mrs. Fox sent for me over to Chis-
wick, which I did not quit till after the termination
of his illness. One day he sent for me, and reminded
me of my promise, not to conceal the truth. I told
him that we had been much alarmed, but that he
was better. I added, however, that he was in a very
precarious state, and that I must acknowledge his
danger, though I perhaps overstated it from a fear of
allowing myself to deceive him after the promise I
LAST DAYS OF FOX.
111
had given. He then repeated the injunctions he had i CH.M'TI.I
given me before, and said once or twice, ' You have
done quite right you will not forget poor Liz : what
will become of her ! ' As he had now been twice
apprised of his danger, and seemed to me to have
said all that he wished, I henceforth endeavoured to
encourage his hopes as much as I could, and infinitely
beyond my own judgment of his situation. He was,
however, somewhat stronger and easier that night ;
he conversed more than he had done for some time :
seeing his servant in the room, lie spoke to me in
French, and his thoughts still dwelt exclusively on
Mrs. Fox. ' Je crains pour ellc,' said he ; ' a-t-ellc
la moindre idee de mon danger ? si non, quello
souffrance pour elle ! ' I answered him (what was
indeed the truth) that she was sufficiently aware of
his danger to prevent the worse termination of his
illness being a surprise ; but that she had not been so
desponding that morning as my sister, General Fitz
Patrick, and others ; and I ventured to add, ' et a
cette heure vous voycz qu'elle avait raison ; for, in
spite of what I then said to you, dabit Deus bis
quoque finem.' ' Aye,' said he, with a faint smile,
' but^/mem, young one, may have two senses.'
" Such was our last conversation. He spoke, in-
deed, frequently in the course of the next thirty-six
HOLLAND HOUSE.
hours, and he evidently retained his faculties unim-
paired ; but he was too restless at one time, and too
lethargick at others, to keep up any conversation after
that evening, which I think was the 1 1th of September.
About this period of his illness, Mrs. Fox, who had
a strong sense of religion, consulted some of us on
the means of persuading Mr. Fox to hear prayers
read by his bedside. 1 own that I had some appre-
hensions lest any clergyman called in might think it
a good opportunity for displaying his religious zeal,
and acquiring celebrity by some exhibition to which
Mi\ Fox's principles and taste would have been
equally averse. 1 . When, however, Mr. Bouverie, a
young man of excellent character, without pretension
or hypocrisy, was in the house, I seconded her request,
in the full persuasion that by so doing I promoted
what would have been the wishes of Mr. Fox him-
self. His chief object throughout was to soothe and
satisfy her. Yet repugnance was felt, and to some
degree urged, even to this, by Mr. Trotter, who soon
afterwards thought fit to describe with great fervour
the devotion it inspired, and to build upon it many
conjectures of his own on the religious tenets and
principles of Mr. Fox. Mr. Bouverie stood behind
the curtain of the bed, and in a faint but audible
voice read the service. Mr. Fox remained unusually
RELIGIOUS EXERCISES.
quiet. Towards the end, Mrs. Fox knelt on the bed
and joined his hands, which he seemed faintly to close
with a smile of ineffable goodness, such as can never
he forgotten by those who witnessed it. Whatever it
betokened, it was a smile of serenity and goodness,
such as could have proceeded at that moment only
from a disinterested and benevolent heart, from a
being loving and beloved by all that surrounded and
by all that approached him. From that period, and
not till that period, Mrs. Fox bore her situation and
apprehensions with some fortitude ; and 1 have no
doubt that her confidence in religion alone enabled
her to bear the scene which she was doomed so soon
to undergo.
"During the whole of the loth of September, no
hopes could be entertained. For the last two hour.-
of his existence his articulation was so painful and
indistinct, that we could only occasionally catch hb :
words, and then very few at a tune. The small
room in which he lay has two doors, one into the
large saloon, the other into a room, equally small.
adjoining. In the latter Mrs. Fox, during the last
ten days, constantly sat or lay down without un-
dressing. Her bed was within hearing, and indeed
within a very few feet of that of Mr. Fox. The
doors were always open, for the weather was extremely
VOL. I. Q
CHAPTER
HOLLAND HOUSE.
rii. \ITKI: hot. Of those who had access to him during the
last melancholy days, it was at any one moment
a mere accident who were actually in the bed-
chamber with him, who were pacing the adjoining
rooms, or giving vent to their grief in the distant
corners of the apartments. Each was actually by
his bedside during some part of the day, and all,
of at least, seven or eight persons, were constantly
within call of the room in which he lay, or in
attendance upon him. The impression, therefore,
given, (whether intentionally or not, I cannot say,)
with respect to the persons present at his death, in
.Mr. Trotter's book is quite incorrect. The last words
which he uttered with any distinctness were, ' I die
happy ; ' and ' Li/,' the affectionate abbreviation in
which he usually addressed his wife. He attempted
indeed to articulate something more, but we none of
us could accurately distinguish the sounds. In very
few minutes after this fruitless endeavour to speak,
in the evening of the 13th of September, 1806, he
expired without a groan, and with a serene and
placid countenance, which seemed even after death
to represent the benevolent spirit which had ani-
mated it."
Whilst the scene thus described by Lord Holland
is being enacted, Lady Holland appears to those who
C. J. FOX'S PHYSIOGNOMY.
115
are waiting near the chamber of death, and answers
their breathless inquiries by walking through the
room with her apron thrown over her head ! In
.such a manner did this eccentric woman choose to
announce what was a public as well as a private
calamity. And the nation honoured Fox's clay by
burying it in AVestminster Abbey.
CIIAI'TF.I!
III.
The above woodcut, from a portrait by Sir Joshua
Reynolds, gives, we hope, a fair representation of
his face ; and the following physiognomy of him by
Livater will convey perhaps an impartial idea of
his mind, as seen through his features. It appears
with a letter, dated November 1st, 17SS, from
Q -
lie HOLLAND HOUSE.
III.
Sir Ralph Payne, afterwards Lord Lavington, to Sir
Robert Murray Keith, in which the writer says :
" When I was at Zurich, where I stayed a couple
of days, I paid a visit to, and spent two or three
hours each day with Lavater ; and I will annex a
memorandum which I copied from his note-book,
on Charles Fox's physiognomy, which he had an
opportunity of examining about a couple of mouths
ago, at Berne, where he met him accidentally. . . .
" front Inepuisaljlc ; plus do richesse d'idees, et d'images, que
je ii'ai jamais vu point sur aucune phi/siognomie <tu monde.
Smiri-ih Supcrbes, regnants, dominants.
3'e.r Mt'dioere.
Li'a Yeux Remplis de genie, percans, fascinants, magiques.
Lex Jones Sensuels.
Jinnrhi 1'k'ine d'une volubilito surprenante et agreuble ; et lo
Las du visage doux, ail'able, sociable. (LAVATER pinxit.) " '
Certainly Lavater is not so great in French
Grammar as in physiognomy !
The child is father to the man, and with Fox the
extraordinary child was father to the extraordinary
man. The indulgence lavished upon him during his
childhood influenced his whole life, and strengthened
his bad as well as his good qualities.
We have seen him almost in his babyhood taking
1 Memoirs and Correspondence of Sir Robert Murray Keith,
edited by Mrs. Gillespie Smyth, London, 1849. Vol. ii. p. 200.
DEBTS OF HONOUR. 117
his mother to task for a mistake in Eoman history, ni.vn
and destroying his father's papers ; we read of him
on his road from Oxford to Holland House leaving
his watch in pawn for a pot of porter with the
alehouse-keeper at Nettlebed ; and later on we find
him a dissolute man as well as a confirmed gambler.
Hut the good predominated over the bad, and the
bad was often an occasion for developing the good.
The following occurs in Rogers's " Table Talk : "
He once won about eight thousand pounds ; and one
of his bond-creditors, who soon heard of his good
luck, presented himself, and asked for payment. " Im-
possible, sir," replied Fox ; " I must first discharge my
debts of honour." The bond-creditor remonstrated.
" Well, sir, give me your bond." It was delivered
to Fox, who tore it in pieces and threw them into
the fire. " Now, sir," said Fox, " my debt to you
is a debt of honour ; " and immediately paid him.
Undoubtedly in him the bad served to develop
the good. How many other traits, equally charac-
teristic, prove, that, amidst the gambler's excitement,
he could maintain the generous equanimity of a
great mind !
Having one night lost an immense sum, his friend
Topham Bcauclcrk the next morning paid him a
visit, expecting to find him in a state requiring
in HOLLAND HOUSE.
consolation. Great, however, was the gambler's
philosophy ; great, too, was his friend's astonish-
ment to find him quietly reading Herodotus. Fox
accounted for his calmness by a reason which another
might have given for despair. " What would you
have me do, when I have lost ray last shilling ? "
Once he is said to have gambled for twenty-two
hours at a time, losing .OOO/. an hour.
The habit of gambling paralyzed in him some
of those qualities which mi'jlit have made him
superior to Pitt, and greatly diminished the number
of his laurels. I hit he liked play even as an art,
as is proved by his eagerness for chess. Kogers
mice heard him say that he had not been able to
sleep for thinking of some particular move. Had he
confined his play to chess, he might have excluded
bailiffs from his sneietv. Imt even with them he
could afford to be witty at his own expense. Once.
after a dissolution of Parliament, he was with Hare.
who, as well as himself, was expecting to be arrested.
Two bailiffs suddenly made their appearance, and
Fox accosted them with an appropriate joke : "Well,
gentlemen, are you Hare hunting or Fox hunting?"
A bare fact, simply recorded in a foot-note to
Fell's Memoirs, 1 may here add weight to our opinion
1 Memoirs of C. -I. Fox. P. 229.
C. J. FOX AS A DANDY!
IIS
that his carelessness was accompanied by a genuine
liberality, which lent an amiable side to his ex-
tra valance. After the settlement of the West-
O
minster Petition, he got 2,000 damages, which sum
he made over to the Public Charities of Westminster.
This action coming as it did after his success, can
scarcely, even by his enemies, be looked upon in
the light of a bribe.
Although weak even to self-indulgence in the
O O
ordinary affairs of life, he had within him an immense
power of self-control. And this, patriotism, honour,
or gratitude .served to draw forth : when in office, he
never touched a card : and when his political friends
paid his debts, he left otf playing entirely.
There is scarcely a great .social question of those
times upon which (Jeorge Selwyii has not left his
mark a pun. When Fox's friends were discussing
amongst themselves concerning a subscription they
had raised for him, and, talking of the delicacy of
the subject, were wondering how he would take it,
Selwyn interrupted : " Take it \ why, quarterly, to
be sure." ]
As a youth, Fox was fond of gaudy clothing, and
evidently shared his taste with his schoolfellow,
Lord Carlisle ; for they travelled once from Paris to
1 J. II. Jesse : George Selwyn and his Contemporaries.
cn.M'TKi;
HOLLAND HOUSE.
Lyons with the express purpose of buying waist-
coats ; and these, the object of their journey, were
naturally the subject of their conversation. The result,
however, was not so satisfactory as might have been
hoped. AVe know indeed iiothing about the waist-
coats themselves, or whether any were bought, but
we believe that Fox appeared in England wearing
a little odd French hat, and shoes with red heels.
Travestied thus externally, who would have guessed
what he had within him ? In his case, the apparel
did not proclaim the man.
Afterwards he took to the opposite extreme, and
became as slovenly as he had been foppish. One day,
carried away by the charm of conversation, he forgot,
until it was too late to change his dress, that he
ought to make his appearance at George the Third's
levee. So he rushed off, accoutred as he was ; and
upon some one remarking that his attire was not
exactly the proper one to appear in at Court, he
answered: "No matter; he [the King] is so blind
that he can't distinguish what I have on."
Of more importance, however, than his taste in
dress is his taste in literature. His just appreciation
of the beautiful in poetry may be inferred from
the fact that he read Homer through once every
year. Although he did not consider the " Odyssey "
LITERARY PREFERENCES.
121
so fine a poem as the " Iliad," he thought it a
pleasanter one to read. As a rule, notwithstanding
that he was a constant reader of Virgil, he pre-
ferred Greek writers to Latin ones, and he said that
the Greek historians generally told nothing but truth,
while the Latin historians generally told nothing but
lies. Correct as may have been his literary taste, he
so far evinecd an appreciation for nonsense as to say
that no one could be an ill-tempered man who wrote
so much nonsense as Swift did ; and one might quarrel
with him for pronouncing Dryden's imitations of
Horace better than the originals. He never neglected
O O
poetry, which he liked to study in living as well as
dead languages. He was especially fond of Italian.
But the man who revelled in Dante's " Divine
Comedy '*' could hardly be expected to have a taste
for the school to which Wordsworth belonged, and he
did not feign any such taste even when he came in
contact with the poet himself. Seeing him at a ball
given by Mrs. Fox, he expressed pleasure at making
his acquaintance, but expressed no admiration of
his works. Said he, " I am very glad to see you,
Mr. Wordsworth, though I am not of your faction.''
Fox, however, went further in his exclusivcness :
he used to say that he could not forgive Milton for
having occasioned him the trouble of reading through
VOL. I. I!
122
HOLLAND HOUSE.
" Paradise Lost," three parts of which he considered
not worth reading. But it is fair to add that later
on he became more just to the epic poem of England.
The four compositions of the century to which he
gave the palm were Metastasio'a " Isaacco," Pope's
"Eloisa to Abelard," Voltaire's "Zaire," and Gray's
" Elegy."
From the intellectual food which he preferred, let
us turn to the intellectual food which he dispensed.
As an orator, he has been likened to Demosthenes ;
but whilst Demosthenes carefully prepared his ora-
tions, Fox, with all his eloquence, rough, ready, and
witty, seldom succeeded in a prepared speech. One
of the worst speeches, if not the worst he ever
made, was that upon Francis, Duke of Bedford,
which was almost the only one he had ever much
prepared, and the only one he ever corrected for the
press. 1 What he excelled in was reply ; and it must
necessarily have been so. Fox was essentially gifted
with a quick perception of his adversaries' weak
points, and had a particular facility in turning their
faults to account : like the caricaturist who makes
the personal defects of his subject contribute to the
success of his likeness.
1 Brougham. Statesmen of the Time of George III. Series I.
Vol. i.
AS AN ORATOR.
Lord Brougham writes : l '' It has been said of him
[Fox], we believe by Mr. Frere, that he was the
wittiest speaker of his times ; and they were the
times of Sheridan and of Windham. This was Mr.
Canning's opinion, and it was also Mr. Pitt's." Lord
Brougham moreover considers that it is ridiculous
to doubt Fox was a far closer reasoncr and a much
more argumentative speaker than Demosthenes ;
though he thinks Demosthenes might have sur-
passed Fox had he lived in our times and had to
address an English House of Commons. According
to him, Fox was ever best in reply : his opening
speeches were almost always unsuccessful : the one
in 1805 upon the Catholic Question (already referred
to") being a great exception. But, be it matter of
opening speeches or of speeches in reply, as Lord
Erskine, quoted by Lord Russell, 3 says, "in the most
imperfect relics of Fox's speeches, the lone* of n
giant, are to lie discovered." Burke, also quoted
by Lord Russell, 4 says he was " the most bril-
liant and accomplished debater that the world ever
saw." To the eloquence and fire of his expressions
he added a fine pronunciation of English, which
' Statesmen of the Time of George III. Series I. Vol. i.
- See p. 104.
" Russell's Life and Times of C. J. Fox. Vol. iii. chap. Ixx.
4 Ibid.
J! 2
, I'HAl'TKl!
III.
t2l HOLLAND HOUSE.
language be used in all its beauty and richness
without borrowing from any other. And his voice,
though of small compass and almost shrill, was
.sometimes sweet and even powerful. His greatest
speeches were probably those in 1791 on the Rus-
sian armament, on Parliamentary Reform in 1797,
t.nd on the renewal of the war in 1803. He him-
self preferred the last. '
Whether or not people arc enthusiastic about Fox's
eloquence, he is held up to students of oratory as a
model, and Brougham recommends Macanlay to
p<>re over the beginning of the speech on the West-
minster Scrutiny till he has it by heart. His
^ j
speeches, so much admired tit the time, so little read
nn\v, would appear to have partaken of his own treat-
ment of the future ; for, characteristically with his
extravagance, he seems never to have looked beyond
the age in \vhieh he lived.
In concluding the subject of Fox's eloquence, how
can we do better than cite part of Lord Russell's
quotation from Lord Erskine ?
' This extraordinary person [Fox], then, in rising
generally to speak, had evidently no more premedi-
tated the particular language he should employ, nor
1 Brougham, Statesmen of the Time of George III. Series I.
Vol. i.
LORD ERSKINE'S OPINION.
frequently the illustrations and images by which he I'HAVTEK
should discuss and enforce his subject, than he had
contemplated the hour he was to die ; and his ex-
alted merit as a debater in Parliament did not,
therefore, consist in the length, variety, or roundness
of his periods, but in the truth and vigour of his
conceptions ; in the depth and extent of his in-
formation ; in the retentive powers of his memory
which enabled him to keep in constant view not
only all he had formerly read and reflected on, but
everything said at the. moment, and even at other
times, by the various persons whose arguments he
was to answer ; in the faculty of spreading out his
matter so clearly to the grasp of his own mind
as to render it impossible he should ever fail in the
utmost clearness and distinctness to others ; in the
exuberant fertility of his invention, which sponta-
neously brought forth his ideas at the moment in
every possible shape, by which the. understanding
might sit in the most accurate judgment upon
them ; whilst, instead of seeking afterwards to
enforce them by cold premeditated illustrations or
by episodes which, however beautiful, only dis-
tract attention, he was accustomed to rcpass
his subject, not methodically, but in the most
unforeseen and fascinating review, enlightening
HOLLAND HOUSE.
Ai'TKH every part of it, and binding even his adversaries
in a kind of spell, for the moment, of involuntary
assent "
It will perhaps sound like a paradox, but Fox's
mind was too large to have room for pettiness ; and
as envy is the pettiest of passions, so it never
entered into his organization. He gave his rival,
Pitt, the admiration that was due to him, and spoke
of a speech, made by the latter during the debates
on a war witli France, as of one that would have
excited the envy and admiration of Demosthenes.
In this particular, each great man proved himself
worthy of the other ; for Pitt, like all Fox's political
opponents, ever entertained a high respect towards
him. He once shortly answered a member of the
House who was abusing a speech of Fox : " Don't dis-
parage it ; nobody could have made it but himself! "
The sense of impartiality by which Fox rendered
justice to his great rival was derived from the ex-
treme love of truth which was an essential point
in his character. True to himself as to others, he
showed himself such as he was; affectation and he
were totally at variance ; and who does not know the
charm that nature imparts to everyday life ? "With
him it was not only exemplified in public, but also
' Russell's Life and Times of C. J. Fox. Vol. iii. chap. Ixx.
UNSUSPICIOUS BENEVOLENCE. 127
in private ; for, unlike those who keep their best CHAPTER
dresses and their best behaviour for strangers or bare
acquaintances, he carried the simplicity of his manner,
the perfection of his sense, and the charm of his wit,
into the society of his most intimate friends, and even
of his home-circle.
A pleasing trait in his character was his unsus-
picious benevolence. One day he had gone with
his brother, General Fox, to witness Lunardi make
his first balloon ascent in England. As a matter of
course the crowd was a field for pickpockets. Fox
happening to put his hand upon his watch, found
somebody else similarly occupied, with a loss legitimate
right. From the hand he looked to the face, and said
kindly, "My friend, you have; chosen an occupation
which will be your ruin at last." The answer was
enouo-h to change his ovntlc reproof into substantial
) O O -L
sympathy : " 0, Mr. Fox, forgive me, and let me go !
I have been driven to this course by necessity alone :
my wife and children are starving at home." Fox's
reply was a guinea, which he placed in the thief's
hand. But generosity is not always reciprocal; and
after the sight was over, when Fox once more
wished to know what o'clock it was, he discovered
that the man had made the present complete by
adding the watch to the guinea. Fox's surprise found
HOLLAND HOUSE.
vent in words: "flood God, my watch is gone!''
"Yes," coolly answered General Fox, " I know it is;
1 saw your friend take it." " Saw him take it ! and
you made no attempt to stop him ?" "Really, you
and he appeared to he on such good terms with each
other, that I did not choose to interfere."
It may he said that he countenanced duelling in
much the same way as he countenanced theft. Mr.
Adam (M.P. for flutton, Surrey) taking offence at
something Fox had said, and not receiving the
explanation demanded, a duel ensued ; but rather a
one-sided duel : Fox, desired by Mr. Adam to fire,
answered, "Sir, 1 have no quarrel with you; do
you lire. ' Mr. Adam fired and wounded Fox, pro-
bably without knowing he had done so, and Fox
Iired without effect. l!ut Mr. Adam still demanded
reparation, which Fox still refused. So shots wen'
again exchanged. This time Fox fired his pistol in
the air, and followed the act by declaring that, which.
had he declared it in the first instance, might have
prevented the duel. Mr. Adam said, " Sir, you have
behaved like a man of honour." '
It would be, however, erroneous to say that Fox's
morals were unexceptionable ; although it might be
added, with more justice than charity, that in those
1 Annual Register, Xov. 30, 1779.
DOMESTIC WIT.
129
days, rigid morality amongst men was rather the
exception than the rule. What we prefer here to
mention is, that he became a devoted husband ;
and, as we know from a holy source that love earns
forgiveness, so we feel sure that the errors to which
he long yielded were condoned iu virtue of the
tenderness which to the last he showed his wife.
On the day upon which he completed his fiftieth
year, he addressed the following verses to her. Let
us hope they were as sincere as they are well
turned :
' Of years I have now half a century past,
And none of the fifty so blest as the last.
How it happens my troubles thus daily should cease,
And my happiness thus with my years should increase,
This defiance of Nature's more general laws,
You alone can explain, who alone are the cause." !
And at the board where there was sentiment,
there could also lie drv wit. One day, accusing
*s J '
himself of being a had carver, and ^Irs. Fox con-
firming the accusation, he <|iiietly replied, " Yes,
my dear, I thought you'd agree with me." Mrs.
Fox said that the only fault she could find with
him was his aversion to music. The utmost she
could say for him was that he could read Homer
whilst she played and sang to herself. But whatever
1 Russell's Life and Times of C. J. Fox. Vol. iii. chap. Ivi.
VOL. I. S
CHAPTER
130 HOLLAND HOUSE.
may have been their dissimilarity of tastes, she was
an attentive almost too attentive wife to him.
In the Diaries and Letters of Sir George Jackson,
recently published, there is mention of a visit which
Sir George, then Mr., Jackson, on the 7th of
September, 1SOG, paid Charles James Fox, in order
to receive the instructions of the great Foreign
Secretary before proceeding on a mission abroad.
Mr. Jackson says :
" He received me at ten o'clock the next morning
in his bedroom, and though looking wretchedly ill,
conversed more cheerfully and freely than I had
expected ; but I fear I was far less impressed by the
seriousness of his illness than I otherwise should have
been from the ludicrous turn given to our interview
by Mrs. Fox, who, on my arrival, as I afterwards dis-
covered, had slipped into a closet, en deshabille.
Either she feared that the subject of our conversation,
on which Mr. Fox spoke with much earnestness, and
at times even with animation, was leading him on to
exertion his strength was unequal to, or she soon grew
very weary of it ; for I had not long been in the room
when she began, and kept up, a continuous sotto
voce coughing and hemming. This passed unheeded
by Mr. Fox ; but just as I was about to take leave
of him, Mrs. Fox had become so impatient that,
SIMPLE TASTES.
131
unable to bear her imprisonment any longer, she
rapped on the door, and in a piping, complaining
tone called out, ' Mr. Fox, Mr. Fox, my dear, the
young man's gone, I think ? Can't I come out,
my dear \ I'm so very, very cold.' He looked at
me with a languid smile ; bade me good-bye, and,
in the kindest manner, wished me a prosperous
journey and success through life." '
As we have already mentioned, some of Fox's
later years were spent in retirement at St. Anne's
Hill, where he divided his time between rural
occupations and study. The freshness of mind
shown by the great statesman in his declining years
would be a fit lesson for the young people of our
day, who, tired by excitement, and despising sim-
plicity, profess themselves disgusted with life before
they have tasted of half its enjoyments. We would
advise them to study the intimate country-life of
Fox, to hear him greet the return of the familiar
landscape, exclaiming with childish eagerness, after
he had watched a thick mist gradually disperse from
over the Chertsey hills : " Good morning to you ! I
am glad to see you again."
He admired nature, and loved children. But he
1 Diaries and Letters of Sir George Jackson, K.C.II. London,
1873. Vol. ii. pp. 3, J-.
s -2
CHAPTER
III.
132
HOLLAND HOUSE.
CHAPTEIl
III.
could enjoy the beautiful in art, even if, while con-
templating a fine canvas, his thoughts recurred to
a living landscape. Traversing one day with Rogers
the Picture Gallery in the Louvre, he suddenly
turned and looked out of the window, remarking
regretfully. " This hot sun will burn up my turnips
at St. Anne's Hill."
He had a touching devotion for his old haunts,
and Burke justly remarked of him, " Yes, he is like
a cat, lie is fond of the house, though the family be
gone." Shortly before he died, he went to Holland
House and walked over all the grounds, looking
tenderly at each familiar spot, as if he wished to
carry through the gates of death the impressions
engraved on his soul during his childhood. A man
uniting as he did simplicity of mind with brilliancy
of intellect, calm indifference with determinate
energy, large-minded generosity with acute sharp-
ness, and sparkling wit with solid wisdom, was
not only, as the same Burke, his enemy and
quondam friend, said, "a man made to be loved,"
but also to be admired.
JMany years after his death, a fete was given
at Chiswick House. Two of his friends, Samuel
Rogers and Robert Adair, were sauntering through
the apartments, and Adair said to Rogers, " In
C. J. FOX'S MEMORY REVERED.
which room did Fox expire ? " " In this very room."
And Adair burst into a vehement flood of tears.
If it is a blessing that, in joyful moments, we
cannot foretell sorrows which may come and over-
shadow the very scenes of our joy, it is often also
a blessing, in moments of light-heartedness, not to
know the heart-rendings of which the very spot we
are in has been the scene. And yet, thus, while
we stand between the mist of the future and the
gulf of the past, we constantly overlook that of
which alone we fan make sure, ever drifting though
it be the ground of the present.'
1 Many of the anecdotes concerning Fox in this chapter will be
found corroborated in Jtogers's "Table Talk " (Dyce), a book now,
unfortunately, out of print.
CHAl'TKU
III.
l or C. J. F..X.
CHAPTER IV.
TIIK THIRD, AND THK KOUKTH LOUD HOLLAND.
" Xeplicw of Fox, and friend of Grev.
Enough my meed of fame
If those who deign'd to observe me say
I injured neither name."
TIIK above lines were found on the third Lord Hol-
land's dressing-table after his death, written in his
handwriting a short time before ; and the aspiration
in them was well expressed as it was well founded.
( Vrtainly, far from sullying the name of his unele or
his friend, he proved himself worthy of both.
Henry Pilchard, third Lord Holland, was born at
Winterslow House (Wilts) on the 21st of November,
1 773, and narrowly escaped being burnt with the
house a few months afterwards. His father dying
EARLY EDUCATION.
135
when he was only thirteen months old, he laboured
under the immense disadvantage of never sitting in
the House of Commons ; of this disadvantage, how-
ever, the ill effects were greatly counteracted by his
political education. Trained by Fox, he turned the
faults of his predecessors into so many warnings to
himself, and rose to great distinction. Like Fox,
he had an (.'.special quickness of perception for the
unsound part of an adversary's argument, and thus,
like Fox, his chief excellence lay in reply rather
than in statement. While with the rapidity of light-
ning he struck weak points, In; became entangled
in the very abundance of his ideas, and sometimes
paused over the choice of his expressions. Thus,
hesitation which in many arises from poverty, in him
was produced by richness, lie was a born debater,
and had a love for discussion as Thomas Diafoirus
had a love for dissection.
On first entering the House of Lords, he had but
little opportunity for cultivating this taste : debate
there had already become a mere form, as even on
important nights the minority often mustered only
six or seven peers in a house of only some eighty
or ninety. On the occasion of his first speech he
was one of a minority of six against a majority of
seventy-three.
CHAPTKI;
IV.
HOLLAND HOUSE.
IIAITKI; Lord Holland's political career is an open book,
IV.
the pages of which \ve can always turn over without
ever finding a Mot. During forty years, sincere and
consistent with himself as with others, he was the
constant protector of the oppressed and the inde-
fatigable champion of true liberty, whilst neither
prejudice nor interest could ever make him deviate
from integrity's straight path : and even those who
politically disagree with him, must admire his
consistency.
With regard t" his official life, it need only he
mentioned that Lord Holland was for some time
Lord Privy Seal in the Administration of All tin-
Talents : and that he was three times (Chancellor of
the Duciiv of Lancaster: onee under Lord Grey and
J
twice under Lord Melbourne. Politically, he was an
earnest and per.--venng advocate for Parliamentary
Reform. In April IMM'I, he made a motion, unsuc-
e. .-.-fully, with the view of abrogating the Catholic
disabilities. In May of the same year lie opposed
the I nioii of Great llritain and Ireland. In August
1SOG, he was sworn of the Privy Council and ap-
pointed one of the plenipotentiaries for settling the
various matters in dispute between Great Britain and
the United States. In 181 1 he successfully opposed
the Dissenters' P>ill introduced by Lord Sidmouth.
POLITICAL LIFE.
137
He protested against England's course at the Con- i CHAITEII
IV.
gress of Verona (1822); and when, in 1825, the
Catholic Association agitated with formidable effect
for emancipation, and the Tories tried to remove
the effect without suppressing the cause, the view
he took and the opinions he expressed were con-
sistent with liberty in constitution and liberality
in religion. Consistent too with these was his aid
in 1828 to the abolition of the Test and Corpora-
tion Acts.
But the pre-eminent distinction of his political
life was his steadfast and almost single-handed
defence of Napoleon. An incidental mention in a
single instance by Lanfrey may explain vividly
enough Lord Holland's course in the debate
(Jan. 28, 1800) on the King's message respecting
the celebrated overture for Peace made by Napo-
leon to him : " L'ardente philippique cle Grenville
entraina 1'Assemblee a Fimmense majorite de 92 voix
contre G, en depit di. j s protestations du due de-
Bedford, et de lord Holland qui excita le rire de la
Chambre en se portent garant de la sinctriti de
Bonaparte." 1 Always opposing any measure of the
House which he considered either unjust or unge-
nerous, Lord Holland remained constant to Napoleon
1 Lanfrey : XapoltJon I. Vol. ii. chap. ii.
VOL. I. T
138 HOLLAND HOUSE.
after fortune had deserted him, and he violently re-
sisted that which, in defiance of good faith, consigned
the great man to a living grave. The unbounded
and life-long admiration which Lord Holland enter-
tained for him is but one additional proof of the
spell which Napoleon possessed, and of which he
made so unjustifiable a use in his relations towards
I'ius VI 1. Of Lord Holland's private friendship and
consideration for Napoleon there will be proof in
another part of this work, which treats of the Napo-
leonic mementoes in Holland House.
Lord Holland was passionately fond of litera-
ture, and having, on more than one occasion, spent
a considerable time in Spain, he not only be-
came deeply interested in Spanish politics, but
also cultivated Spanish authors. He said he had
been induced to learn Spanish by what Hayley had
written concerning the poet Krcilla. Lord Holland
has been called the best informed and most elegant
o
of our writers on the subject of the Spanish
Theatre, and his love for Spanish literature is proved
by the great collection of Spanish authors he left
in Holland House, as well as by the Spanish plays
hi; translated, and by the memoir ho wrote of
Lope de Vega. This work, originally published in
lsO(t, was republished in 1817, accompanied by a
AS AN AUTHOR.
life of Guillen de Castro. It has been deservedly
praised for its classical purity, and is calculated to
develop, as it sets forth, good taste.
Lord Holland has also left : " Foreign Kemi-
niscences," in which his great admiration for
Napoleon is conspicuous, but which perhaps in other
respects rather prove his readiness than his careful
writing ; " Memoirs of the Whig Party," from which
we have so freely quoted ; and a biographical sketch
of Sheridan. Of his " Political Opinions " Macaulay
speaks in the following terms:". . . it is a book
which, even if it had been the work of a 'ess
distinguished man, or had appeared under circum-
stances less interesting, would have well repaid an
attentive perusal. It is valuable, both as a record
of principles and as a model of composition. We
find in it all the great maxims which, during more
than forty years, guided Lord Holland's public con-
duct, and the chief reasons on which those maxims
rest, condensed into the smallest possible space, and
set forth with admirable perspicuity, dignity, and
precision." 1
His taste for versification showed itself rather pre-
cociously. Here is what Horace Walpole says of his
verses in a letter to the Countess of Ossory :
1 Macaulay's Essays.
T 2
140
HOLLAND HOUSE.
CHAPTER
IV.
"BERKELEY SQUARE, Dec. 30, 1789.
"Though I have nothing but thanks for Lord
Holland's verses to send you, madam, I must send
them. I am extremely pleased with his variety
of metres, and, if I may decide, prefer his heroics.
If I may criticise, his trochaics are not always
perfect, now and then wanting a syllable, as in
' I resolve to perform whatever's my duty/ and
the next, and in one or two others. I do not
delight in that measure, but at least it should be
complete to the ear. He is excellent in rhymes, and
so is Lord Ossory, too, whose poetry I am very glad
to have gained, by the by. It is refreshing to read
natural easy poetry, full of sense and humour, in-
stead of that unmeaning, laboured, painted style,
now in fashion, of the Delia Cruscas and Co., of
which it is impossible ever to retain a couplet,
no more than one could remember how a string of
emeralds and rubies were placed in a necklace.
Poetry has great merit, if it is the vehicle and pre-
servative of sense, but it is not to be taken in
change for it.
" I do not, certainly, mean to pay Lord Holland
for his verses, by sending him my fourth volume,
which, though in prose, is no work of sense ; it is
merely to complete his set of a register ; and he
AS A POET.
141
shall have it, if your ladyship will be so good as to
tell me how to convey it.
" A knock at the door saves your ladyship and
me from adding any nonsense to my letter." ]
This is encouraging : but, from verses of his
found in Holland House, he would seem later to
have excelled less in poetry than in prose ; and as
lie himself used to say that the sign of the true poet
consists in being able to read from impression, it
is not unnatural to think that his poetical zenith
was in his most impressionable age.
The following sonnet of his was sent to the Time*
by Sir R. Wilson (November If), 1S27), and appa-
rently not accepted :
" May sudden ruin and all woo betide
The shallow statesmen and the seeming wise,
"\Vho dread in other nations' liberties
Some distant mischief to their country's pride.
And view reviving ( Ireece with jealous eyes.
Ill do they judge of Kngland, ill would guide
Her state, who falsely deem her power allied
To widespread wrongs and miscreant dynamics.
But sager she hath taught her virtuous sons
Of late, such mongrel wisdom to disdain.
Man's welfare must be hers through every vein
In this large world where freedom's current runs,
Her heart draws vigor, and her commerce gain ;
She joys with rescued Greece, she droops with fallen Spain." -
CHAl'TKU
IV.
Horace "\Valpole, Letters to the Countess of Ussory.
i and Queries. Xov. 18, 1871.
14:!
HOLLAND HOUSE.
I'llAI'TEl!
IV.
Lord Holland had one characteristic in common
with every true poet : breadth. Unlike some of our
stolid John Bulls, who, even travelling, carry about
as a perpetual standard of reference the dimensions
of their own narrow circle; unlike also those who
fly into the opposite extreme, and, for a standard
of reference, carrying about shame of their country,
with English habits vainly ape foreign manners
Lord Holland enjoyed the Continent, and, when he
left it, was all the more tit for his own home. After
enjoying, and profiting by, his travels, he returned
to England in 171)0, and restored Holland House.
lie, restored it in two ways: he restored it prac-
tically, under Mr. Saunders, fitting it up at great
expense for his own habitation ; and he restored it
intellectually bv brintnno- together those wits and
J / O tJ
geniuses who invested it with greater brilliancy than
it had enjoyed even in the days of Addison.
The c'l'cle of Holland House was a cosmopolitan
one, and Holland House was among houses what
England is amongst nations a common ground,
where all opinions could freely breathe.
Much as people are wont to regret the number of
their years, who would not gladly now be half a
century older to have formed part of that circle,
and heard the brilliant passages of wit and intellect
THIRD LORD HOLLAND'S "SALON."
which passed, and too often passed away, within
those walls ! A list furnished by Elizabeth, Lady
Holland, to Sir James Mackintosh, helps us in
enumerating some of the names which have thus
immortalized the house :
Macaulay, who, much in the same spirit that he
talks, in his review on llanke, of the New Zealander
taking his stand on a broken arch of London Bridge
to sketch the ruins of St. Paul's, alludes in rather
a cold-blooded manner to the possibility of Holland
House disappearing beneath railways and squares.
But, thank Heaven, such an eventuality is not likely
during its present mistress's tenure. Macaulay
painted a brilliant picture of the society at Holland
House, and from the picture excluded the artist :
let this poor tribute to his work humbly indicate
what he omitted.
Sheridan, the wit, the genius, whose faults have
been described as almost all of a poetical character
the excesses of generous virtues.
Sir Philip Francis, whose supposed authorship of
" Junius " places him in historical interest on a level
with the wearer of the iron mask.
Blanco White, the Spanish renegade priest, who,
under the pseudonym of Don Leucndo Doblado, was
the author of " Doblado's Letters" written in 182:5,
CHAI'TKl;
IV.
144
HOLLAND HOUSE.
I'HAPTKl!
IV.
three of which in his own handwriting figure among
the autographs of Holland House.
Doctor Parr, whose attainments and Whig prin-
ciples gave him fame, and whose horror of the east
wind was such that Tom Sheridan once kept him in
the house for a fortnight ly fixing the weathercock
in an easterly direction. His admiration for Charles
lames Fox, of whom he published " Characters,"
entitles him to special mention here. Amongst his
friends, lie was a sort of despot ; but he was a friend
\vorth having. One day, Mackintosh having vexed
him by calling O'Coigly "a rascal," Parr immediately
rejoined: "Yes, Jimmy, but he might have been
worse ; lie was an Irishman, and he might have
been a Scotchman ; he was a priest, and he might
have been a lawyer ; he was a rebel, and he might
have been an apostate.
Byron, who dedicated to Lord Holland the "Bride of
Abydos. ' Before that, he had written of Lord Holland:
" Illustrious Holland ! hard would be his lot,
His hirelings mention'd, and himself forgot !
Holland, with Henry Petty at his back,
The whipper-in and huntsman of the pack.
Blest be the banquets spread at Holland House,
Where Scotchmen feed, and critics may carouse !
Long, long beneath that hospitable roof
Shall Grub-street dine, while duns are kept aloof." 1
English Bards and Scotch lieviewers.
THIRD LORD HOLLAND'S "SALON."
H5
This he afterwards regretted, as is evident from a
paragraph iu his journal (Nov. 17, 1813) :
"... I did think at the time that my cause of
enmity proceeded from Holland House, and am glad
I was wrong, and wish I had not been in such a
hurry with that confounded Satire, of which I would
suppress even the memory ; . . ."
George Ellis, of the Anti-Jacobin, the writer who
changed his politics, and was right for what he did,
if conviction guided him.
\Vollaston, the scientific physician.
Mr. Cruufnrd, who, after his return from the
East, resided chiefly in France, and published several
works in French and in English : " Melanyes de
Lit ten it urc" "Researches concerning the La ws, The-
ology, Learning, Commerce, of ancient and modern
India ;" &c.
Edwards, the opponent of \Vilberforee, and his-
torian of the West Indies.
Lord Jeffrey, of the Edinlniryh Review.
Lewis, called after his famous book, Monk
Lewis.
Payne Knight, the great scholar and antiquary,
who left his splendid collection of antique art to
the British Museum.
1 Given as a note to " English Bards and Scotch Eeviewers."
VOL. I. U
CHAPTER
IV.
Hfi HOLLAND HOUSE.
I
iAi'TKi; Sir John Newport, the Irish M.P., Privy Coun-
cillor, and Chancellor of Exchequer.
j Dumont, the publicist, the friend and helper of
Mirabeau and of Jeremy Bentham, the latter of
whom quarrelled with him about a trifle. Dumont
made rather a good epigram after Scott had published
his " Life of Napoleon " :
" Muuvais roiuiincier quand il iWit 1'liistoire,
Habile historian quand il fait <les romans,
S'il invcnte, il faut le croire,
S'il raconte, mcfiez-vous en." '
Four great Lord Chancellors : Thurlow, who died
the same year as Pitt and Fox. Eldon, celebrated
for his prosecution of Queen Caroline. Brougham,
equally celebrated for her defence. And Lyndlmrst,
who belongs to the old world and to the new, as
he does to the last century and to the present ;
and whose name, if even in one sense extinct, must
still last for all time.
Sir Humphry Davy, the great chemist who has
left us works and discoveries, and whose name is
perpetuated in the miners' safety-lamp.
Count Rumford (Sir Benjamin Thompson), the
scientific philanthropist, and, we might almost add,
cosmopolitan. Certainly he was a very universal
1 Furnished to us orally, l>y a friend.
THIRD LORD HOLLAND'S "SALON." 117
man. An American by birth, an English knight,
and a Count of the Holy Eoman Empire ; though
his greatest political position may have been in
Bavaria, he has a valid claim to celebrity in
England as one of the founders of the Royal
Institution.
Lord Aberdeen :
"The travell'd Thane, Athenian Aberdeen.'' 1
Lord Moira, whose fluent speaking Curran called
' airing his vocabulary ;" and who was afterwards
Governor-General of India and Marquis of Hastings.
Mr. Frere (the Plight Honourable John Hookham
Frerc), for some time, during the early part of
the present century, British Minister in Spain.
Like his host, he was an accomplished translator of
Spanish, lint his most popular claim to literary
renown will probably be his joint authorship with
Canning of " The Needy Knife-grinder," more so than
his character of Whistlecraft, Lord Byron's confessed
immediate model for " Beppo."
AA hitbread, the distinguished politician and ad-
herent of Charles James Fox.
Lord Macartney, who made an embassy to China.
He is one of the people of whom it is said that,
1 Byron : English Bards and Scotch Reviewers.
U 2
148
HOLLAND HOUSE.
C-HAPTEK | taking a bint from the King, he learnt Spanish, and
IV.
informing his Majesty of the fact, was answered,
that he would now be able to read Don Quixote
in the original.
The Duke of Richmond, a very Conservative name
in a very Whig circle.
Charles James Fox, of course.
Hare, who, coming after Fox, recalls the latter 's
pun to the bailiffs, mentioned in the preceding
chapter. 1
Fitzpatrick and Lord Ossory, whom we might
call part of the family.
Grattan, who, though he looked upon office as
slavery, was a most distinguished Irish statesman
during a most important part of Irish history. lie
was so full of true courtesy that he made a point
even of returning the bow of a child ; and was so
fond of walking with Rogers, that Mrs. Grattan once
said to him rather angrily, " You'll be taken for
Mr. Rogers's shadow."
Cm-ran, the embodiment of Irish wit and humour.
Whishaw, whose sense made his opinions valuable
to have and also difficult to obtain.
Sir Thomas Maitland, Lord High Commissioner
for the affairs of India ; he, was deemed a despot,
1 See ]iage 1 18.
THIRD LORD HOLLAND'S "SALON."
149
and nicknamed " King Tom. " And bis relation
" Citizen Maitland," Earl of Lauderdale, who, from
being a Red Republican, became a red-hot Tory.
Windham, the great orator and statesman, and
friend of Burke.
Sir Gilbert Elliot, first Lord Minto, Governor-
General of India and Viceroy of Corsica.
The last Lord Egremont.
Sir Samuel Romilly, Master of the Rolls, whose
name will rather be transmitted to posterity as the
great reformer of English jurisprudence.
Sir William Grant, also Master of the Rolls.
Sir John Leach, the Vice-Chancellor.
Sir Arthur Pigott, Attorney-General.
Monroe, afterwards President of the United States.
Washington Irving, the American author and
diplomatist.
Pictet, the gifted Geuevese.
Francis d'lvernois, his contemporary and country-
man.
Ingenhouz, the Dutch physicist.
Calonne, whose literary efforts in England were
probably more successful than his administration of
finance in his own country ; and whose dying words
to his physician, written when he could no longer
speak, are worthy of being recorded : " Tu m'as assas-
CHAITEI:
IV.
KO HOLLAND HOUSE.
.sine, ct si tu os honnote homme, tu renonceras a la
mddeeine pour jamais."
Palmella, the Portuguese politician.
Count Mole, the French statesman and author.
Pozzo di Borgo, the Corsican ; or shall we say
Frenchman 1
Prince and Princess Licvcn. We shall talk of the
latter further on, in connection with her portrait.
Count de Creptowitcb, the Puissian diplomatist.
Montholon and Bertram!, the staunch friends of
Xapolcon, who were faithful to him in his mis-
fortunes as in his triumphs. Montholon, who, in
pursuance with the great exile's wish, closed his
eyes after death. And Bertrand, whose devotion
to his master was equalled by his obedience to his
wife ; so great was this, that Napoleon said of him,
" Bertrand est un parfait honnete hommc, mais il a
un caractere de vache."
Lally Tullendal, the Frenchman of Irish origin,
early distinguished by his successful efforts to
rehabilitate the memory of his unjustly executed
father !
The two llumboldts, whose researches, far from
unfitting them for pleasant company, enabled them
to make pleasant company pleasanter. William
Humboldt perhaps did not talk much Chinese at
THIRD LORD HOLLAND'S "SALON.' 1
151
Kensington, and it is possible that his brother
Alexander did not there make many scientific dis-
coveries ; but we may safely infer they did not
waste their time when they came in contact with
the wisdom and learning of Holland House.
Talleyrand, tin; diplomatic wit and witty diplo-
matist, who cared not which party he supported,
provided it was the stronger.
The Duke of Clarence (William the Fourth).
The Due d'Orleans, afterwards Louis Philippe.
The Due de Montpensier.
The Marquis de Riviere.
Prince Bariatktsky.
The Duchesse do Guicho, and her brother, Prince
Jules de Polignac.
Georgiana, the beautiful Duchess of Devonshire.
Metternich, the great statesman of the past
generation.
Canova, the sculptor.
Tom Moore, the poet.
The two Erskincs, Henry and Thomas.
Monseigneur de Cice, Archbishop of Bordeaux.
Bannister and Kemble, of the boards.
Madame de Stael, who in graceful French painted
Italy, and in solid French digested German literature.
We have given a long list, but far from a com-
152
HOLLAND HOUSE.
CHAITKK plete one. For from 1799 till 1840 there \vas hardly
in England a distinguished man in politics, science,
or literature who had not been a guest at Holland
House. In fact, beginning the list with C. J. Fox
and Lewis, and ending it with Lord John Russell,
Lord Melbourne, and Monckton Milues, now Lord
Iloughton, we shall have the goodly company all
in a net.
And the brilliancy of the salon did not throw
into shade the intimate home-circle ; indeed, this
was as a concentration of that. There was Rogers,
o
\vhose exquisite taste, quiet fun, and extensive
information made intercourse with him so pleasant ;
while his sense of integrity, his kind heart, and his
good character made friendship with him so safe.
Perhaps even more conspicuous was Sydney
Smith, with his ponderous figure and his ever-ready
jokes, which latter his unflagging spirits followed
up by an unsophisticated laugh. His wit was inex-
haustible. According to tradition, even the hand of
death did not disturb it. The nurse who tended him
in his last illness, confessing to have given him a
bottle of ink instead of a bottle of physic, Sydney
Smith is reported to have said, " Then bring me all
the blotting-paper there is in the house." It has
with truth been said: "The great peculiarity of
INTIMATE FRIENDS.
153
his works is their singular blending of the beautiful
with the ludicrous, and this is the source of his
refinement." l He was a good writer, a good talker,
a good friend, and a good man.
Sydney Smith introduced Dr. John Allen, author
of " The Royal Prerogative," into the circle a circle
which Allen helped to keep in health and spirits
by his science and good humour. More of him here-
after. He, however, fulfilled the doctor's practice in
surviving his patient. After Lord Holland's death,
ho lived on at Holland House, loved and respected,
and he died regretted by all the family.
Then there was Luttrell, whose idea of the English
climate was, "On a fine day, like looking up a
chimney ; on a rainy day, like looking down it."
Luttrell, the epicure, who once, marvellous to relate,
let the side-dishes pass by ; but it was in order to
contemplate a man who had failed to laugh at
Sydney Smith's jokes. 3 He himself, too, had plenty
of original wit : he expressed a dislike for monkeys
because they reminded him so of poor relations ;
and upon being asked whether a well-known bore
1 From a quotation in Memoir of Sydney Smith, by liis
daughter. Chap. ii.
2 Russell : Memoirs, Journal, and Correspondence of Thomas
Moore. (May 22, 1828.)
3 Memoir of Sydney Smith, by his daughter. Chap. ix.
VOL. I. X
CHAPTKK
IV.
154 HOLLAND HOUSE.
CHAPTER had made himself very disagreeable, he answered,
musingly : " Why, he was as disagreeable as the
occasion would permit." !
There was also Horner, " the knight of the shaggy
eyebrows," the young lawyer of promise ; " the first
man," Lord Campbell says, " who ever made the
doctrines of political economy intelligible to the
I Louse of Commons;"" who, had he lived, would,
according to the same author, in all probability
have been Prime Minister. He was associated with
Brougham in his early studies, and wrote contem-
poraneously with him in the Edinburgh Review.
The two must have met constantly at Holland
House, where they both were on intimate terms.
Brougham was said to be jealous of him ; but the
knight of the shaggy eyebrows proved no formidable
rival, for he filled an early grave.
And we must not forget Mackintosh, one of the
few great talkers worth listening to, though Coleridge
did not do him justice, and he probably did not do
justice to himself. In the Holland House circle he
is to us as a key-stone ; for he contemplated, and
indeed began, an account of Holland House, from the
1 Memoir of Smith, by his daughter. Chap. xi.
Campbell's Lives of the Chancellors. (Lord Chancellor
Brougham.) Chap. ii.
FAMILY CIRCLE.
15.5
manuscript of which, as our readers will have seen,
we have already borrowed, as we have also done
from papers at Holland House proving that he
corresponded with Lady Holland upon the subject
of his intended work.
The family circle of Holland House in those days
should be painted from a pallet loaded with ricli
colours, and from that pallet we would take the
most delicate hues, the tenderest tints, and try to
delineate an angel in the circle. True to her angelic
mission, she brought gladness and shed peace ; while,
not unmindful of human duties, she shared her
friend's joys and \vept at their sorrows. Her heart
was a refuge for the desolate : with instinctive tact,
she would seek out sufferers, attract them to herself,
and comfort them. Her understanding was a safe
O
guide for the perplexed : with fine perception, she
would enter into a friend's difficulty, make it her
own, and lighten it. Simplicity and purity of heart
were hers ; her very contact imparted goodness ; her
presence, sunshine. A woman in the best sense of
the word ; such was the dear " Aunty " of that
family, Miss Fox.
Not very unlike her, in goodness and kindliness,
was her brother, the master of Holland House.
Devoted to literature and art, he welcomed authors
x 2
CHAlTKi:
IV.
I5C
HOLLAND HOUSE.
rHAl'TKK
IV.
and artists with cordial affability. Well versed in the
politics of Europe, he entertained statesmen and
diplomatists of all nations with cosmopolitan fairness.
Himself a wit and a humourist, he greeted with
fellow-feeling the most brilliant men of the day.
l>ut while he enjoyed and preferred the society of
choice spirits, while with him absence could not
extinguish friendship, his benevolence and courtesy
made him extend a kind reception to all who came
to Holland House.
His genial, yet thoughtful, face, uniting good
humour with intellect, bore upon it a pleasant,
though not monotonous, smile ; from beneath his
ample forehead and massive brow, a clear eye
shone forth in testimony to mental power ; while,
from out his kindly mouth, came words which reas-
sured the most timid, without disturbing the dignity
of the most formal.
In a very different way did Lady Holland
\vield her sceptre. Beautiful, clever, and well in-
formed, she exercised a natural authority over those
around her. But a habit of contradiction which,
it is fair to add, she did not mind being recipro-
cated upon herself occasionally lent animation, not
to say animosity, to the arguments in which she
engaged. It is easy for some natures to say a
ELIZABETH, LADY HOLLAND.
157
disagreeable thing, but it is not always easy to
carry a disagreeable thing off cleverly. This Lady
Holland could do.
It must have been curious to see her coolly order
about the clever men of the day who were accus-
tomed to being courted by others. In the midst of
some of Macaulay's interesting anecdotes, she would
tap on the table with her fan, and say, " Now,
Macaulay, we have had enough of this, give us
something else." She would issue commands to
Sydney Smith ; but once he retorted. Said she,
"Sydney, ring the bell." He answered, "Oh yes!
and shall I sweep the room T'
She was not always encouraging to literary stars.
One or two must have winced beneath her remarks.
Tom Moore was writing a book which he fondly
thought would be lively and amusing. When he.
was dining at Holland House and sitting next Lady
Holland, she said to him, " This will be a dull
book of yours, this ' Sheridan,' I fear." Moore
tried to defend his work ; but we imagine that
Lady Holland, like most women on such occasions,
had the best, or, at all events, the last, of it.
To Lord Porchester, her frankness went still
CHA1TKU
IV.
1 Eussell : Memoirs, Journal, and Correspondence of Thomas
Moore. London. (June 2, 1825.)
15?
CHAl'TKK
IV.
HOLLAND HOUSE.
greater lengths : " I am sorry to bear you are going
to publish a poem. Can't you suppress it?"
But she was a good friend, after all. At least, Tom
Moore, to whom we have seen she was not always
over courteous, says : " There are some fine points
about Lady Holland ; she is a warm and active
friend, and I should think her capable of hiyh-
inindedness upon occasions."
At all events, she must have added a quaint and
original element to the intellectual battery in Holland
House; and even without saying a good thing, she
often provoked one. One day, insisting upon Lord
Alvanley tasting some "cup" which she had made
according to a particular recipe of her own, without
claret or champagne, she asked him what he
thought of it ; and his answer was about as dis-
couraging a one as she herself could have given :
" Kensington nettles."
She was rather fond of crowding her dinner-table.
( hice, when the company was already tightly packed,
an unexpected guest arrived, and she instantly gave
her imperious order: " Luttrell ! make room!" "It
must certainly be made" he answered, "for it docs
not exist!'
1 Russell : Memoirs, Journal, and Correspondence of Thomas
Moore. London. (June 2, 1825.)
SYDNEY SMITH.
159
Hopeless indeed were the task of enumerating here
all the repartees which have been handed down to
vis from her dinner table. Probably, for the greater
proportion we are indebted to Sydney Smith, who,
always ready with his answers and his jokes, kept
even the servants in fits of laughter.
On one occasion, however, at Holland House he
was himself set down by the Prince of Wales, then
Prince llegent. The conversation having taken
1 J O
the turn of discussing who was the wickedest man
that had ever lived, Sydney Smith, addressing
himself to the Prince, said, "The Regent Orleans,
and he was a Prince." The Prince's answer-
was short, quiet, and biting. Ignoring even his
interlocutor's surname, he said, " I should give the
preference to his tutor, the Abbe Dubois, and lie
was a, priest, Mr. Sydney."
It was quite the exception when Sydney Smith had
not the best of it ; and in his remarks, too, he fre-
quently managed to say what was deep as well as
pointed. A man who had for some time been boast-
ing that he believed in nothing, suddenly expressed
enthusiasm at some dish, and asked for another
helping of it. " Ah ! " said Sydney, " I am glad
to see that Mr. - - at all events believes in the
cook."
CHAPTER
IV.
I BO
HOLLAND HOUSE.
CIIAI'TKI!
IV.
Thus wit and wisdom rolled on in an even and
varied course, without being monotonous or mono-
polizing, and not unfrequently conveying instruction.
One day it wa.s Talleyrand who gave the lesson.
He entered the library, where several of the Ministers
were grouped together, whispering mysteriously, and
he spoke thus : " Messieurs, vous parlez a 1'oreille. II
fa ut allcr an Club pour apprendre ce quo vous dites ;"
which, according to Lord Grey, he did successfully.
And so, if even with a sprinkling of bad temper, he
rebuked the common mistake of making a useless
mystery, lie also epigrammatically censured Lady
Holland's dinner-hour (we believe six o'clock, or half-
past), which, without preventing her dinners from
being crowded, seemed to gain universal disappro-
bation. Somebody once trying to learn the cause
of this inconvenience, sought light from Talleyrand's
perspicuity. " I wonder why Lady Holland dines at
such an hour!" And Talleyrand with his nasal
twang solemnly drawled out, "Pour goner tout le
monde ! " Against this verdict there was no appeal.
And in such a lottery of wit, where no one drew
a blank, the master of the house was not behind-
hand ; he had a deep knowledge of human nature
and a strong sense of the ridiculous. In the same
manner that his mimicry was inoffensive, that his wit
EPIGRAM.
161
did not pain, so his subtlety was in all straight-
forwardness.
He sent the following epigram to Moore, who
mentions it as very good, 1 and many would agree
with Moore upon the subject :
"A minister's answer is always so kind !
I starve, and he tells me, he'll keep me in mind.
Half his promise, God knows, would my spirits restore,
Let him keep me, and, faith, I will ask for no more."
With such a host and such a circle, we are not
astonished that Sydney Smith should have heard
" five hundred travelled people assert that there is no
such agreeable house in Europe as Holland House,"'
or that he shared the opinion of the five hundred.
With such a host and such a circle, we are not
astonished either to find that there was an absence of
servility. There was no professional clutjuvtir ; there
was none of that which the French play has so
untranslatably rendered by the word Camaraderie;
no mutual puffing ; no exchanged support. There, a
man was not unanimously applauded because he was
known to be clever, nor was a woman accepted as
clever because she was known to receive clever
1 Russell : Memoirs, Journal, and Correspondence of Thomas
Moore. (August 29, 1840.)
3 Letters of Sydney Smith, edited by Mrs. Austin. (Letter 111.)
VOL. I. Y
CHAPTER
IV.
HOLLAND HOUSE.
HAITI-;]; people. There, praise was not always to be
reckoned upon ; hence it was valued when received.
In short, Holland House was the " proof house "
of the literature of the day, and maintained its
position from first to last.
Lord Holland \va.s as cheerful under the dreadful
sufferings of his last illness as he had ever been in
his most robust health. He died at Holland House
on (lie --211(1 (if October, 1840, deeply and deservedly
lamented; for. apart from the intellectual cord by
which Lord Holland held bound his coterie, there
was that in his heart which secured love. Even
we, who never knew him, cannot think with calm-
ness of the dispersion which must have followed
Ins death ; or ot the void a void which outbursts
of grief could no more fill than sound could replace
substance.
The anguish of despair will often best find its ex-
pression in si/ate' 1 ; and therefore it is perhaps that
Sydney Smith does not seem to have given vent
to his feelings in a profusion of words. Writing
to Mrs. Meyncll, shortly after Lord Holland's death,
he simply says : "... It is indeed a great loss
to me ; but I have learnt to live as a soldier
docs in war, expecting that, on any one moment,
the best and the dearest may be killed before
FOURTH LORD HOLLAND.
1C3
his eyes. . . ." 1 How much simple pathos, how CHAPTKK
much true anguish, lie concealed in that short
sentence !
The third Lord Holland, also called Lord Vassall
Holland, from the name of his wife, was succeeded
by his son. We may not perhaps speak of the fourth
Lord Holland as of a great statesman, as of a great
philosopher; but (we humbly crave pardon of those
whose opinion is otherwise) fame is not the link we
would care to place between ourselves and the loved
ones we have lost. Suffice it for us that we loved
and, alas ! lost him : suffice it for all who had the
happiness of knowing him that they were ever re-
ceived by him with courteous kindness when they
were happy ; with noble generosity and graceful
delicacy when fortune did not favour them. The
ti
memories that attend glory can make our hearts
beat with enthusiasm ; the memories of genius and of
eloquence claim acknowledgment ; but the memories
of love given to one who carried a charm wherever
lie went, are the dearest memories to those who
mourn for him.
The fourth Lord Holland was British ^Minister at
Florence ; but even before his nomination to that
post, his travels had given him a love for Italy which
1 Letters of Sydney Smith, edited by Mrs. Austin. (Letter 4l53.)
Y 2
164
HOLLAND HOUSE.
CHAPTER
IV.
showed itself all his life. His hospitality to political
exiles is still too well remembered to require being
dwelt upon, though too true to be left unmcntioned.
Refugees came to England, where hospitality is be-
stowed without distinction of party, and they came
to Holland House, whore hospitality abounded in
the most intelligent and interesting society.
Mention of the fourth Lord Holland will be found
incidentally made during the course of this work :
at Florence, encouraging art and welcoming artists ;
at Paris, presiding over an intellectual circle ; in
Holland House itself, preserving and improving the
glorious old fabric, for which he had the greatest
affection.
Lord Holland was born on the 7th of March, 1802,
and died on the 18th of December, 1859 ; having
married, in 1M>:$, Lady Mary Augusta Coventry,
daughter of the eighth Earl of Coventry, and of
his wife Mary, who was daughter of the fifth
Uuke of St. Albans. Providence did not grant the
fourth Lord Holland to die in England. He breathed
his last at Naples, where his tomb now stands, in
a pretty chapel raised by the reverential care of
his widow.
To write of the living in terms of especial praise
when our words can be perused by them, would seem
LADY HOLLAND.
but flattery. We shall therefore only say about the
present hostess of Holland House, what so many
know, that she presides in Holland House over a
clever and pleasant wlon, where Englishmen and
foreigners assemble, certain to bo received with equal
grace and amiability.
165
CIIAl'TKli
IV.
CIJAI'TKIl V.
ON the north side of the Kensington Road, at the
end of 1'hilliniore Place, stand the gates of Holland
House. They are usually shut to the public, hut
we will now pass in.
(Mi entering, a tine avenue of elms protects those
visitors who, tired with the rumble of carriages, or
distracted by the crowd of fellow-creatures, rejoice in
being able, even during the, height of a London
-eason, to transport themselves at a minute's notice'
into country ca.lm and space. On the right of the
avenue, and parallel with it, is a lane, the use of
which, in exchange for a right of way at the soutli
of the House, has been ceded to the public. As we
AVENUE AND SOUTH PART, OF HOUSE.
proceed, bits of the House become visible through the
foliage which, at this part of the avenue, picturesquely
veils large masses of the building, and breaks the
monotony of the red brick. What meets the eye,
as those who know the House ma.v recognize from
157
CHAPTER
V.
our illustration, belongs to the south side facing the
road, though scarcely to be seen from it. On this
side used to be the old entrance which the late
Lord Holland changed, building a terrace in front,
168
HOLLAND HOUSE.
CHAPTER
V.
displacing the celebrated stone piers by Inigo Jones,
and making a new entrance on the east.
But before going further, let us pause to observe
that here the wings of the building project from
the centre like more than half of an H. That is
to say, if the wings extended to the other side, a
whole II would be formed by the plan of Holland
House, about as accurately as a gridiron is formed
by that of the Escorial. It has been suggested that
this part of an II, instead of standing for Holland,
(we must remember that an Earl of Holland was
amongst the first proprietors,) was really meant for
an E, which used to be a sign of Elizabethan ar-
chitecture. Whatever the intention, the effect is
charming, and combines some geometrical order with
an artistic defiance of strict regularity.
The cloisters, balconies, and ornaments to the House
and its centre turret on this side are of stone,
which stands out quaintly enough upon a (j round-
work of red bricks.
Two turrets terminate the building; and on the
sides those wings project which, by accident or
design, have so large a share in the letter H. The
cloisters support, on one side, the balcony to Lady
Holland's private rooms; on the other, a balcony
accessible from the Library ; the balustrades of the
i
<
Ifii
TERRACES.
balconies representing a design of flcur dc Us. On
the south of the House there are two terraces ; one
extending only as far as the length of the t\v<>
wings, and enclosed by a balustrade, while the other
the subject of our illustration reached from the
l.uwrr TtTrar*-, South side.
first by a few steps, is lower and much wider, and
finished by a wall. Over this wall we may look down
upon the fields between it and the Kensington Koad.
The architecture of Holland House is not remark-
ably pure, savouring of the later days of Elizabeth
VOL. I. Z
169
CIIAITEU
V.
HOLLAND HOUSE.
and the early ones of James I. But perhaps those
who decline to admire it might be charged with an
uncalled-for severity, and certainly there are not in
England many piles of brick and stone more worthy
of attention.
Leaving to the left a road which goes past the
south of the House, and continuing our course up
the avenue, a few paces bring us before the pre-
sent entrance, which faces east. At right angles
to it, and as if forming one side of an entrance
courtyard, now stands the wall with the two stone
piers of Inigo Jones, Inigo Jones, who was born
in l.")7:2, and died in ir>.V2, to whom England is
indebted for the original idea of AYhitehall, who
was architect to Christian IV. of Denmark, was
found at Copenhagen by James I. of England, and
taken by Queen Anne as her architect to Scotland.'
This Inigo Jones scarcely seems deserving the epithet
bestowed on him by Philip, Earl of Pembroke
'' Iniquity Jones." 1 At any rate, the trace he has
left of himself at Holland House is to be admired,
and the mention of that trace made in Walpole's
Anecdotes of Painting' 1 may here be cited:". . .
Stone, in 1G29, undertook to build for the Earl of
1 Walpole's Anecdotes of Painting. London, 1849. Pp. 402-3.
- Ibid. p. 411. a Ibid. p. 243.
I.NIGO JONES.
171
Holland at Kensington, two piers of good Portland
stone to hang a pair of great wooden gates ; the
estimate of the piers (which were designed by
Inigo Jones, and are still standing at Holland-house,
though removed to greater distance from each
-f.
Giitcway by lni<;o Jones, lending to the Pleasure Grounds.
other) was 10U/." They support the arms of Rich,
according to the text of an old author, " quartering
Bouldry and impaling Cope." The architectural
merit of the piers is not hidden, while their actual
beauty is added to, by venerable ivy, which, unlike;
another clinging-plant woman increases in loveli-
z 2
HOLLAND HOUSE.
ness as it increases in years. The work of Inigo
Jones is reached from the entrance-sweep by a
double flight of steps, on cither side of a fountain
in the wall. These steps lead to the pleasure-
grounds, through which we will now take a walk.
Arriving on the north side of the House, we see in
The old Ccil.-ir Tree.
front a beautiful lawn, which slopes up gradually
into a hill surmounted by an old cedar-tree, many
branches of which have been struck by lightning.
On the same lawn are other cedar-trees, younger
' J ~
and more strong ; but the old cedar-tree crowning
the hill stands there proud of its age, proud of its
mutilations, like the veteran warrior, whose shattered
THF OLD (hl)AK TKEK
Tc fart f, I7J Vcl.l
DUTCH GARDEN.
. /r.'i y, 1 1
TIIK HITCH C.AKUK.N AS S1JKN FKOM TIIK ITALIAN (JAKI)KN.
71 toft p /Z5. Veil.
DUTCH GARDEN. THE DAHLIA. 175
arm and scarred brow command the sympathetic CHAPTKK
enthusiasm of those around him.
About 80 acres of the estate are unbuilt upon, and
fields adjoin the park so effectively that, were it not
for the distant hum which reminds us of town life, we
could not believe ourselves to be almost in London.
But let us walk on by the House, until, turning
to the left, we reach its western and fourth side :
a happy mixture of turrets and t-rraces, to which in
summer-time is added a gigantic bouquet of the
gayest flowers. This the subject of our opposite
plate is the Dutch (quondam Portuguese) (Garden,
laid out in that good old-fashioned way so rarclv
met with now. Flowers, surrounded with a frame-
work of box-edging, form fitful patterns through
which, turning from the House, we walk in zigxao-s.
But there is a straight path for those who prefer
it, which runs parallel with a high wall making an
espalier. Towards the end of this garden is a kind
of evergreen curtain formed by an arcade covered
with ivy. Through this arcade we notice another
flower garden (also Dutch), in which the dahlia
stands the monarch of all it surveys. And has it
not the right to do so here ? For though it owes
its name in botany to Dahl, the Swede, does it not
owe its existence in England to the third Ladv
170
HOLLAND HOUSE.
ciiAi'TKi; Holland ? She brought seeds of it from Spain, and
had them sown in this very garden ; whence it
appears to have spread over our island. 1 The fact
Hutch Oiinlrn. unnthiT part.
is commemorated in the following lines, addressed
to Lady Holland by the third Lord Holland :-
The Dahlia you brought to our ii-lc,
Your praises fur ever shall speak,
'Mid pardons as sweet as your sinili',
And in colours as bright as your cheek."
1 Dahlias wen) lirst introduced into England by Lady Bute in
1789. These having failed, others were brought in 1804 by Lady
Holland. These also failing, an importation was made from France
in 1814. Some of Lady Bute's and Lady Holland's dahlias are
still preserved in the Herbarium at the British Museum.
BALL-ROOM ARCADES.
We have not, however, done with the Arcade. It
has a secret which the ivy is trying to keep, and
which we will disclose. In the third Lord Holland's
time, the stables stood where we are now standing.
They were partly knocked down, and the arches which
form this arcade are the picturesque remains of an
unpicturesque building.
At the end of the arcade, to the left, is a square-
VOi,. [. A A
178
HOLLAND HOUSE.
C'MAITKU
V.
looking edifice surmounted by a terrace, copied from
the Italian loygie, and a turret, from which another
long terrace extends over another arcade, and leads
round again to the House. The square-looking edifice
is a kind of chapel of en so to the Conservatory. It
kS/kife.' '
is technically called the Ball-room, as people used to
dance there, but it is probably better known as the
Refreshment-room, in which capacity it is used at
Lady Holland's breakfasts. In fact, being nearly
empty of furniture and having nothing particular in
it to spoil, for its beautiful painted ceiling and its
VIEW THROUGH BALL-ROOM WINDOW.
\\r\\ i iutorr.li IIAI.I. KOO.M \\i.\no\v.
Tc tag- p .//>'/ I', 1 1
BALL-ROOM WINDOW: VIEW.
181
fine old Venetian chandelier are above ordinary reach,
it could be employed for a lecture or a revel on
the shortest notice, and may be considered, like Mr.
Micawber, always ready for something to turn up.
But always better than most things which could
turn up, is the view from the window over the fire-
place. Seen through a single sheet of glass and
framed by the surrounding wall, it were useless at-
tempting to describe the effect of the foliage, varying
in hue as in distance, while vases on the chimney-
piece mark a foreground of art in htippy contrast
with a background of nature. The plate on the
opposite page, is, considering everything, a suggestive
representation ; though in looking at it our imagina-
tion has a good deal to supply.
We must not leave this part of the grounds with-
out turning back to bestow one look upon the
Summer-house, called " Rogers's Seat." On either
side of it the family name has been playfully illus-
trated by the design of a Fox in Box. The rhyme
here seems inevitable, as also the reason.
An inscription attracts our attention, bidding us
stop on our way, thus :
" Here Kogers sat, and here for ever dwell
With me, those Pleasures that he sings so well.
"V L L. HD. 1818."
18:'
HOLLAND HOUSE.
Here, then, a poet rested ; and as we listen to the
trickling fountain opposite, in the midst of flowers
and trees and calm beauty, we would follow the train
i >f his thoughts and dwell with him in the poetical
world. But our eyes fall upon other lines which
warn us of the difficulties to such a course. They
arc in Lultrcll's handwriting, and run as follows :
I low happily sheltered is IK- \vlio reposes
In this haunt of the Toet, o'ershadowcd with roses,
While the. sun is rejoicing unclouded on high :
And summer's full majesty reigns in the, sky !
Let me in, and he seated. I'll try if, thus placed,
I can cut <;h hut one spark of his feeling and taste,
('an steal a sweet note from his musical strain,
Or a ray of his genius to kindle my bruin.
ROGERS'S SEAT.
183
Well now I am fairly installed in the bower.
How lovely the scene ! How propitious the hour !
The breeze is perfumed by the hawthorn it stirs ;
All is beauty around me but nothing occurs ;
Not a thought, I protest Tho' I'm here, and alone,
Not a line can I hit on that Rogers would own,
Though my senses are ravished, my feelings in tune,
And Holland's my host, and the season is June.
The trial is ended. Nor garden, nor grove,
Though poets amid them may linger or rove,
Not a seat e'n so hallowed as thin can impart
The fancy and fire that must spring from the heart.
So I rise, since the Muses continue to frown,
No more of a poet than when I sat down ;
While Rogers, on whom they look kindl} 7 , can strike
Their lyre at all times, in all places, alikr.
"June ISIS." "IlEXIiY LlTTIiKI.L."
Luttrell thus warns us not to rest in the regions
of poetry, and a bronze bust ' opposite commands a
sudden transition. That head, though now familiar
to us, always invites a look and a. pause, and com-
pels admiration, if not for the character of the man,
at least for his genius and energy. The head is of
the great Napoleon some say by Canova, others
by a pupil of his ; and the verses on the pedestal are
appropriately gleaned from Homer's " Odyssey." '
OY TAP nil TEON1IKEN EF1I XOONI AIDS OAY2ZEY2,
AAA' ETI IlOY ZiiOi KATEPYKETAI EYPEI DONTii
Nil SSI EN AM*IPYTIP XAAEHOI AE MIN AX APES
EXOY2IN.
A.D. CIOIOCCCXVIJ. ' Ofii'ipov 'Ocvaatia.
CHAITKK
V.
1 See plate on page 174.
- Book I. 1. 196.
184
HOLLAND HOUSE.
I'HAITKR
V.
The following translation is said to have been
made by the third Lord Holland :
" He is not dead, he breathes the air
In lands beyond the deep,
Some distant sea-fjirt island where
Harsh men the hero keep."
We now pass again under the first arcade, and,
walking through the so-named Ball-room which joins
the Conservatorv, we descend amidst a square of
orange-trees into what used to lie called the Moats,
situated at the end of the Kitchen-garden, where
formerly stood an old Manor House, pulled down at
the beginning of the present century. There is a
bloody scene to recall on this ground : the duel be-
tween Captain Hest and Lord Camclford. The fact
is well known, so were the circumstances connected
with it ; but as in England duels belong to the past,
a, so to speak, archaeological interest now attaches
to them, and, being on the spot, we feel called
upon to insert a few details from the contemporary
account of this duel in the " Annual Register."
This is based principally upon the Rev. William
Cockburne's " Authentic Account," ' a temperate and
wise little pamphlet of sixteen pages, to which we
have referred, and according to which it appears
1 Printed for J. Hatdiard, 1804.
CAPT. BEST AND LORD CAMELFORD.
185
that regular information had been lodged in ^larl-
borough Street, with a view to stopping the intended
duel ; but that the officers were placed at Lord
Camelford's door too late. To quote now from the
" Annual Eegister : "
"... This very high-spirited young nobleman,
we are sorry to state, fell a victim to his o\vn
impetuosity, by a fatal shot, in one of those
rencontres which the modern svstem of manners
seems unfortunately to encourage ; . . . Lord Camel-
ford was not only inclined to the more enlight-
ened pursuits of literature, but his chymical re-
searches, and his talents as a seaman, were
worthy of the highest admiration. ' Uefore the
fatal meeting, I have been told' (says the rev.
William (Ax/kburne ...),' that several over-
tures were made to Lord Camell'ord to produce a
reconciliation, but they were rejected with some
obduracy.' The fact \vas. his lordship had an idea
that his antagonist (capt. llesl) \vas the best shot
in England, and he \vas therefore extremely fearful
lest his reputation should suiter, if he made anv
concession, however slight, to such a person. This
was the. probable cause of the violent language
which he is reported to have used, and the principal
cause of the lamented meeting. After he fell, he is
VOL. I. B li
t'HAITKK
V.
ISii
HOLLAND HOUSE.
said to have expressed on the spot, what he after-
wards strongly expressed to me, tli.it he forgave his
antagonist ; and to the man who was called by his
second to his support, he repeated several times that
he was himself the sole aggressor. A messenger
came to me about 8 o'clock in the morning of
the 7th, to inform me of the sad issue of the con-
test, and of the spot where his lordship was left.
... 1 hastened towards the place, and found his
lordship already carried into Little Holland-house
by the generous man who owns it [Mr. Ottie]. Mr.
Knight the surgeon, and Captain Jiarry, his lordship's
most intimate friend, were by his lordship's bed-side,
and Mr. Home arriving in a few minutes, we cut off
his cloath.s ; the wound was examined by the sur-
geons, and immediately pronounced to be mortal.
His lordship continued in agonies of pain during
the first day ; towards the evening it pleased God
tn moderate his torture ; . . . He lingered, free from
acute pain, till the evening of Saturday the 10th,
when, about half-past eight, he expired, without a
pang. . . . Before Lord Camelford left his lodgings
on Tuesday night, the Gth inst., ... he inserted the
following paper in his will . . . ' There are many
' other matters which, at another time, I might be
' inclined to mention ; but I will say nothing more
LORD CAMELFORD'S WILL.
187
' at present than that, in the present contest, I am
' fully and entirely the aggressor, as well in the spirit
' as the letter of the word ; should I therefore lose my
' life in a contest of my own seeking, I most solemnly
' forbid any of my friends or relations, let them be
' of whatsoever description they may, from instituting
' any vexatious proceedings against my antagonist ;
' and should, notwithstanding the above declaration
' on my part, the law of the land be put in force
against him, I desire that this part of my will may
' be made known to the king, in order that his royal
' heart may be moved to extend his mercy towards
'him.' . . .
" The day previous to his death, his lordship wrote,
with his own hand, a codicil to his will ; in which, in
the most particular manner, he described the placr
where he wished his body to be buried. . . . He
prefaces his wish by stating, that persons in general
have a strong attachment to the country which
gave them birth, and on their death-bed usually
desire their remains may be conveyed to their native
land, however great the distance, to be interred. . . .
' I wish my body (says he) to be removed as soon
as maybe convenient to a country far distant! to
a spot not near the haunts of men ; but where the
surrounding scenery may smile upon my remains.'
CHAI'TKU
v.
HOLLAND HOUSE.
It is situated on the borders of the Lake of St.
LampiciTc, in the canton of Berne ; and three trees
stand in the particular spot. The centre tree he
desires may be taken up, and his body being there
deposited, immediately replaced. ' Let no monument
or stone be placed over my grave.' At the foot of
this tree, his lordship adds, he formerly passed many
solitary hours, contemplating the mutability of human
affairs. As a compensation to the proprietors of the
spot described, he has left 1,000?. In another part
of his will he desires his relations will not go into
mourning lor him.
And this very spot a, fe\v years ago was the scene of
merry parties, where the Due and Duchesse d'Aumale
used to iish with the, late Lord Holland. Little at
the time did we think that the exiled princess would
die comparatively early after the heartbreaking loss of
one son, and be followed so soon by another, leaving
her husband to mourn, within the short interval of
three years, over the grave of two cherished sons and
of a devoted wife. Little either at the time did
we think that the host who entertained them would
also have left the earth, and that, standing now
on this ground, all remaining to us of those days
gone by would be a mere echo from the grave.
1 Annual Register, March 10, 1804.
TIM-; C.KKKN 1.AM-.
/<' farr /> Ml. lit i.
,,:>./.""& J
THE GREKN UNI!
HIGHLAND GAMES.
191
A pretty little house has been erected over the
scene of the Moats, and amid artificial rocks, and
real flowers, and graceful bridges, those alone
who remember can sigh on looking at so gay a
spot.
Let us now go back, past the gardener's lodge,
past the Kitchen-garden, and, turning to the left,
enter the " green lane," the subject of our opposite
plate. It used to be called " Nightingale Lane,"
before Philomela was forced to desert it for quieter
nooks. And yet it is here more than ever difficult
to imagine that we are almost in London. The
green lane is a long avenue, like an immense
gallery arched with trees and carpeted with grass,
the distant light at the end softening down into
that misty blue so peculiar to dear England. Here
all we have belongs to the country nay, more
to a pretty country. To our left are a few fields
which used to present annually a scene of North
British feats, and of European interest. Waagen,
in his " Treasures of Art," mentioning that he had
dined at Holland House, says in allusion to the
grounds : " . . . Highland games were going on
before a numerous and fashionable company. I had
thus," he adds, "the opportunity of witnessing the
immense power and skill of these mountaineers, as
CIIAITKI;
v.
HOLLAND HOUSE.
tLty perf'.-rmed their feats of strength to the shrill
cry of thr bagpipe. '
"U e Luve. too. a ghost story tu tell : and as we
::g. h may not chime in badly with the
around us. But we will avoid
-- . :_ : ::U2 a ghost story, br
: . :!: :.. vent [ from " Aubrev's Mis-
B u: ."' Fi '. I' lighter to
: ? //.-...--_ - _ in h-_-r
F A-. - to t kf the ::-.-.-?h
.
vita .. : .. A
.. . - in L k i ? -gl 55. A' ;- a Mom
. - f the >m - \ 1 'rii -
-:. - L : Sis: r, :h L iy /- ;" - :l
lik ::.:-:::- - -" ii I. "11 - A
: .:_..-.;;
A tLi: 1 f-isrer. ?>[..- i
E :".::.. .-.:..-
-h !=>. not Ions - _
- . _ n.
An I so tae old 1 :...-. ad whu
i : reniov..- i: E' r.g _ past times.
- V."i..-rn: Tr^iscres ~f Ar: in Greit Erirain. L:ndon. 1>54.
V.I. ii i. 3iO. : Au>T-r\"s Mi;-;ellariit-5. Lonion, 1690.
SPECTRAL TRADITION!
193
it should be respected. But whether we respect tra-
dition or not, it is as a received fact, that when-
ever the mistress of Holland House meets herself,
Death is hovering about her.
We do not know of any more recent ghost story
as happening in the Green Lane ; we do not, however,
doubt that if those trees could speak, they would
reveal many things which have been whispered under
them : many a vow given- perhaps to be broken-
many a question put, on the answer to which de-
pended at least immense momentary happiness ; and
sr.-med to depend, if not really depended, the happi-
ness of whole lives. Xor do we doubt that if wr
knew all the stones of the Green Lane, if we could
see all the visions it has witnessed float past us,
we would learn a moral from each little romance,
and find it difficult to quit the spot without
many a serious thought, many an inquiring return
upon our own hearts. For. contrary to the usual
rendering of an oft-used proverb, should not charity
begin at our neighbour's, and improvement at home '.
And, after all, the work of self-improvement ought
to be easy as well as profitable, inasmuch as vicinity
enables us to command an advantage over our own
premises which we cannot reckon upon with respect
to our neighbour's ! But, with many apologies for
CHAPTEH
v.
VOL. I.
C C
194
HOLLAND HOUSE.
CHAPTEK this digression, we will now leave our questionings
and reasonings, together with the ghost story, and
resume our walk.
Turning abruptly to the right, passing by majestic
trees, and taking a path Avhich runs parallel with
the north side of the House, but at some distance
l':irt of the N'orth Side of House.
from it, we enter the alley Louis Philippe, which
brings us back close to Inigo Jones's piers. This
alley derives its name from the fact of the exiled
king having spent a quiet hour under the shelter
of its trees during a visit he paid Holland House
in 1848.
STATUE OF C. J. FOX.
195
At the end of the alley Louis Philippe, \ve find
ourselves again on the walk which we have already
traversed 011 our way to the Dutch Garden. At
the beginning of this path, and looking down
it, is a cast of the statue of Charles James Fox,
in Bloomsbury Square. It was a present from the
original artist, Westmacott, and has the following
inscription :--
CAR JAC FOX
Cui I'LUIUM.I: COXSEXTIUXT GKNTES
1V)PL'I.I PlUM.UilUM KUISSE VIHUM
(Charles James Fox, whom all nations unite in esteeming to
have been the chief man of the people.)
Now we may bid farewell to the Grounds, and,
descending the steps which we ascended, by the piers,
return to the entrance-sweep before the hall door.
There is une out-door feature which we should
notice before entering : the Holland House gun-
fire at 11 P.M., known like the town clock in
Kensington.
There are at least two versions of its origin. One
to the effect that it was a custom brought from
Spain by the third Lord Holland. According to
another, it would appear to have been instituted by
a Lord Holland whose watchman, having forgotten
c c 2
CHAPTER
V.
196
C'HAl'TKi;
V.
HOLLAND HOUSE.
to load his guii, had been murdered, and who was
anxious that ruffians should for the future be warned,
and he himself satisfied that his servant was properly
armed. These two versions of the past may be
reconciled with each other, and then lost sight of
in the present. For we believe that the gun-fire,
apart from its security, is cherished by the inha-
bitants of Kensington. Did not its temporary sus-
pension occasion a request for its recommencement ?
Was it not said that by it one lady went to bed,
and one gentleman set his watch ? And may we not
hope that, even if thieves were exterminated from
the earth and policemen reigned in their stead, the
Holland House gun-fire would still be received less
as a superfluous noise than as a familiar friendly
sound ?
CHAPTER VI.
I'LAX OF THE GUOrXD-Fl.ooK.
THE finest embroidery ever produced would nut
hold together but for the material on which it is
worked, and those who despise the material had
better make up their minds to dispense with the
embroidery. Such a sentiment may serve as our
apology for giving a rough plan of the ground -
Hoor and first floor respectively before attempting
the description of the ground-floor and first-floor
rooms ; and we hope that the dry particulars thus
evoked will be compensated for by a knowledge
of the House itself. We do not propose inflicting
upon our readers a plan of the basement or of the
attics. The most attractive part about tin. 1 attics
HOLLAND HOUSE.
U I. \lTKi;
VI.
is the view they offer. And as for the basement,
it promised an interesting conclusion, and failed.
It has an oldish arch, which we had hoped might
prove a genuinely old one, and a Servants' Hall
which had about it the appearance of a refectory.
J>ut wisdom and learning came to be consulted,
and, alas ! they found stigmatized by an Eliza-
bethan ,stam}> what \ve had fondly thought might
go bark unto the very Normans! Therefore, dis-
missing vain hopes for plain facts, let us now
proceed to
Till: I'LAX OF T1IK CKOUND-FLOOK.
The KNTUANCK HALL is iifteen feet long by forty
wide. To our left, on entering, is the SMOKING
ROOM, approached by a Lobby, from which a
winding staircase forms one of the inanv communi-
cations with the Entresol above the Entrance Hall.
On the right of the Entrance Hall, a flight of six
steps leads to some servants' rooms. These steps
are on the site of those which formerly led to the
Chapel. The iron gates through which it was
entered, now, denuded of their leaden ornaments,
perform the more humble part of guarding the
entrance from the Front Terrace and Garden to the
West Courtyard and Arcades.
PLAN OF GROUND-FLOOR.
201
Opposite the Hall door, two flights of steps and
two landings take us through the INNER HALL to
a landing on the right, whence rises the Great
Staircase.
From this last landing, a door on our left leads
into the old Entrance Hall, now called the BRKAK-
FAST ROOM.
The BREAKFAST ROOM is twenty feet wide by forty
feet long. A porch on the south leads out on to
the two Terraces already mentioned in the de-
scription of the exterior. 1
On the north side of the Breakfast Room, an
archway, corresponding with that of the Porch,
leads through an alcove into the .JOURNAL ROOM.
A door, opposite that communicating with the
Hall, takes us from the Breakfast Room into an
inner room called the CHINA ROOM, from which
a few steps and a Lobby lead up into the WEST
ROOMS, while at the right of the Lobby is the
AVEST TURRET STAIRCASE.
The WEST ROOMS are four in number. The first
serves, in railway parlance, as a sort of junction,
from which the other three branch out, and is
called the MAP ROOM.
From the south of the MAP ROOM are entered
1 Chap. v. p. IG'J.
VOL. I. D D
CllAlTKl!
VI.
eo:
HOLLAND HOUSE.
CHAPTER
VI.
successively the second and third WEST ROOMS,
called the PICTURE ROOM and the PRINT ROOM.
The first three WEST ROOMS are under part of
the Library ; and the third, or PRINT ROOM, is
connected with the Library by a staircase.
The fourth West Room, called simply the WEST
ROOM, is the last on the West side of the House.
It is entered from the West of the Map Room, and
from it are steps going down into the DUTCH
GARDEN,
With the fourth West Room the plan of the
Ground Floor on one side terminates, and, returning
into the MAL J ROOM, we come to a concealed door,
leading us through the three " PRINCESSES' ROOMS,"
o o
generally given to visitors.
At the end of these rooms is " ALLEN'S ROOM,"
from which a few steps and a short passage bring
us down once more into the JOURNAL ROOM ; whence
we pass into the WHITE PARLOUR ; a door to the
right of which leads back to the landing.
A recess at the East end of the White Parlour,
opposite the door communicating with the Journal
Room, is especially indicated by an ornamental arch.
It was formerly a large Bay window, looking into
the Chapel beyond, above the floor of which it was
raised some steps. In this recess, the family were
VESTIGES OF BYGONE DAYS.
203
enabled to join in the services of their Church
without joining the congregation in the Chapel,
as the occupants of the Royal Closet can, to this
day, do at Windsor.
The Chapel itself, which was destroyed by fire
more than a century ago, used to be approached
(as we have already said) by a flight of steps at
the right-hand side of the present Entrance Hall,
and entered by iron gates. Vestiges of it are still
visible breaking out in this part of the house,
amongst and near some of the servants' rooms, and
holding their own, indifferent to the secular pursuits
carried on around them. In the Valet's Ilooni
are two columns, two pilasters, and a rich frieze,
which would appear to have been at the entrance
of the Chapel. In the Wardrobe Room, and in
the Lady's-maid's Room above (the two stories were
originally only one), there still exists through the
whole thickness of the wall an ancient arch, visible,
even outside from the garden, though partly cut
away in forming the entrcnol. An old arch also
exists close to this other on the West side ; it
probably formed part of a side chapel or sacristy.
But though the vestiges are uumistakeable, they
are few, and can be briefly enumerated : Two
columns, two pilasters, and a frieze ; and two
D u 2
CHAl'TKR
VI.
:'04
HOLLAND HOUSE.
arches ; all in their old quarters. A pair of iron
gates, removed into the vicinity of the stables; and
some stained glass, also removed, \vhich \vc shall
find on the first floor. 1
1 In tin; LIBRARY PASSAGE. See cli;ip. xxiii.
....
I l.in-ntiM, K:i<"-kr: :i1 II,,l!.i!.,l II,. in.
I
CILU'TEH VII.
EXT i; A NCt: HALL, INXK1! HALL, sMolvIMi KooM. AND
STAIRCASE.
Tin: very first step into Holland House otters a
combination of artistic beauty with practical comfort :
ami if the CAVK CAN'K.M at the entrance chulk'ii^vs
tor a moment our onwanl progress, it izives ns an
opportunity <>f looking amuntl.
The EXTIIAXCE HALL, i.-oiitrary to the .stereotyped
entrance hall of a modern London house, is, as we
have seen, much more wide than loiiu'. It is bor-
dered and decorated with Italian tile.s, and peopled
by eight busts which represent a variety in the
realms both of chronology and of character.
We shall for once try to avoid compromising our
knowledge of history and our discernment in art bv
HOLLAND HOUSE.
CHA1TKR
VII.
enumerating these busts simply as they are placed.
Beginning at the right-baud side of the Hall door,
we have :
Francis, Duke of Bedford, by Nollekens (1801),
with the following lines :
" Cui pudor, et justititc soror
Incorrupta Fides, nudaque Veritas,
Quaudo ullum invcniont parom ? "
The Duke of Cumberland, by Michael Rysbraeck
(1754).
Charles James Fox, by Nollekens (1807).
Nollekeus is thought by his biographer, John
Thomas Smith, to have trusted more to the eyes,
nose, and mouth for a likeness, than to the bones of
the head. And in support of this, he points out
that in the two busts Nollekens did of Mr. Fox, the
foreheads are lo\v and rugged, whilst the forehead of
the mask is even, high and prominent, full of dig-
nified grandeur, more so perhaps, with the exception
of Lord Bacon, than that of any other statesman
of equal celebrity. 1 However this may be, we may
congratulate ourselves that the features of Charles
James Fox will have been transmitted to posterity
by more than one sculptor and painter.
1 Nollekens and his Times, l>y John Thomas Smith. London,
1828. Vol. ii. ch. xvi.
HKiVKY T11K IV OF Kli \.XIK
Trtiirrfi. WZIfl.f.
MSS. IN SMOKING ROOM.
The Duke of York, by Prosper!, with the in- \ OHAITKH
VII.
scription :
AYrOYSTO v .JPEAPIKOS UASIAEOS YIOS.
Napoleon.
Henri Quatre.
Henry Richard, third Lord Holland, by Xollekens
(1799).
The Right Honourable John Hookham Frere, by
Chantrey (1817).
But we shall just step out of the Hall for a minute,
to notice the SMOKIXG ROOM. It is not, as may be
supposed, fitted up with low divans and long meer-
schaums. An appropriate subject frescoed on the
ceiling is, apparently, the only feature it possesses
at all appropriate with its name. The SMOKIXG
ROOM is now a receptacle for MSS. and certain
presses locked, and drawers secured, which are strong-
holds for many documents. Some of these are,
doubtless, of no value except to the owners, and
will most pleasantly fulfil their destiny by never
showing their dry dusty details beyond their pre-
sent quarters. Some have been of great use to
us in the compilation of the present work, and
will appear occasionally in black and white as we
proceed. Some are autographic, literary, and his-
268
HOLLAND HOUSE.
ril.UTKK
VII.
toriccil treasures, which deserve a work to themselves.
Mav our words concerning these last one day be
/ J
proved !
.Meanwhile, three relies of ( '. .1. Fox which have
found their way into the room and taken up their
abode on the wall may be mentioned :
His walking-stick, 1 which need only be admired for
his sake !
A case, of fire-arms, consisting of a fowling-piece
and a brace of pistols, ornamented with silver, platina,
and gold, and with agates for flints. Presented by
Catherine of Russia to ('. .1. Fox. [Date 1785.]
A S \vonl of Prudence, 2 which is prudently blunt.
This appears to have been presented to the Rt. Hon.
( " .V Fox, with the wannest respect, by a .Briton
and a lover of his country, and bears the following
distich :
' Consider wellweigh Strictly Uiglit, & AVrong,
liesolve not quick but once Itesolv'd lie Strong."
With which good advice, we return into the
Entrance Hall.
Opposite to the Hall door, the INXKR HALL presents
a pretty vista fitted into the wooden frame of a door
by which the two Halls are separated. The frame,
contrasted with what it seems to enclose, looks solid
1 See tail-piece to this chapter. '' Ibid.
VOL. r.
E E
OLD FONT BY THt SUIRCASL IN THE INNER HALL.
INNER HALL. OLD FONT.
and severe, and sobers, without saddening, the general
effect. A painted arch divides the Inner Hall into
two compartments, while a background of tapestry,
frescoed ceilings, a gaily carpeted floor, china vases
and flowers, form a picture equally pleasant in
summer and winter.
The ceiling of the first compartment is vaulted and
painted with Cupids, which, from their exalted posi-
tion, have some claim to be angels. The ceiling of the
second compartment is flat, and represents an Italian
scene. Both are painted by Watts. To our left, as
we ascend the steps, the Inner Hall is almost entirely
composed of windows, which in bygone times used to
be doors, and which, in the present day, obstruct and
idealize the view through ground and coloured glass.
The accompanying woodcut gives an idea of the
landing with its carved balustrade ; an old sedan-
chair, brilliant in recent restoration ; and less bril-
liant, but certainly not less interesting, an old
bronze font for holy water, supported by a com-
paratively modern bronze tripod. From a description
on a little plaque affixed, this font appears to have
been cast in the year 1484 by Maestro Michele
Garclli. Around it, interspersed by odd old scrip-
tural and armorial devices, is written in Gothic
letters an abbreviated rendering of the well-known
E E 2
CHAPTER
VII.
HOLLAND HOUSE.
CHAPTED passage in the fiftieth Psalm (9th verse) : " Asperges
VII.
me hyssopo, et mundabor ; lavabis me, et super
nivoni dealbabor." Micbcle Garelli, it will be
understood, was the founder or caster, not the
original designer, of the work. Nor was he, as
one might think, an Italian, but a Fleming, whose
real name, Casscl, was Italianized into Garelli. He
was of very great reputation ; and worked, according
to Zani, about the year 1492.
Standing at the foot of the stairs in the Inner
Hall, with our back to the windows, we sec
through the pillars of an oaken screen, the quaintest
view in the house : one which, though it derives
much of its quaintness from its colouring, is still,
we venture to think, executed with surprising faith-
fulness in the annexed plate : neither ceiling nor
floor entirely visible, a background of bronzed and
many-coloured Cordova leather subdued, yet glit-
tering with designs of birds, arabesques, and
flowers. The staircase is furnished with an oaken
balustrade which forms an elbow on the first floor
landing before we lose sight of it ; while an eccle-
siastical looking chandelier, hanging on the left,
and a looking-glass so placed that it seems like an
extension of the staircase rather than what it is,
figure effectively in the general mysteriousness.
VIEW OF THE GREAT STAIRCASE.
It is perhaps to be regretted that the position of
this unique view, although very prominent, should
he such as to make it often overlooked. For often
overlooked it must be. Who, as a rule,- just after
entering a house, or just before quitting it, is likely
to stop on a stairease in the hall and turn side-
ways ? And yet \ve have some hope that our hint
may not be without effect upon future visitors to
Holland House.
Leaving this view, and proceeding up the second
Might of stairs in the Inner Hall, we pass before the
old Tournay tapestry which represents Isaac blessing
Jacob a warning to elder sons and, turning to
the left, enter the Ilreakfast Room.
ClIAI'TKI!
VII.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE BREAKFAST ROOM.
THIS room was converted from the Entrance
Hall into the BREAKFAST ROOM by the late Lord
Holland, and its porch, between two large bay-
windows, leading south out on to the centre
terrace, once a, portico for sedan-chairs, remains as
a vestige of old times. The present arrangement of
the porch, however, is modern, as are the mosaics
with which it is ornamented, and in which are
worked the two mottoes of the family : " V^itani.
impendere vero," and " Faire sans dire."
From the porch we return into the room itself. The
walls are hung with old Genoese silk and velvet bro-
cade, and panelled with four Arazzi, which represent
severally : Bacchus and the Bacchantes, Apollo with
the Muses, Vulcan and Venus, and Vulcan presenting
BREAKFAST ROOM: ARAZZI.
217
Jupiter with the thunderbolts. These Arazzi are
interesting as being after the designs of Francois
Boucher, that French artist of the eighteenth cen-
tury who, from the gaiety of his subjects, was called
the Anacreon of painters. Two of the Arazzi are
above the two chimney-pieces, and on either side
of them is a magnificent strip of silk and gold
embroidery on crimson velvet.
We believe there is some, peculiar interest attached
to these strips of embroidery ; but the researches
which have been kindly made for us upon the subject,
as well as those which we have made for ourselves,
have proved fruitless.
The doorways, four in number, are arched and
hung with silk, the folds of which are gracefully
held together by a fine bit of tapestry, performing
the part of a brooch. The doorways, one on each
side of the room each being opposite that in the
wall facing it when open, give us from the Break-
fast Room, so to speak, double telescopic views ;
and the two bay windows, the sides of which are
fitted with looking-glasses, multiply and complicate
the views in a fanciful and bewildering manner.
We sec to our left, as we enter, the front terrace and
the field beyond it ; to our right, through a small
lobby and the Journal Room, the lawn. In front
VOL. I. F F
ClIAlTKli
VIII.
HOLLAND HOUSE.
CHAPTER
VIII.
of us, but rather far off (through several rooms), at
the end of the west side, the Dutch Garden ;
and, turning round, at the other end we have the
oak staircase under a different aspect from that
which we had of it in the Entrance Hall, but still
quaint and perhaps rather stern, forming a dark
background to the bright Breakfast Room. For, as
may be seen by our illustration, the Breakfast
Room, although it wears an ancient look, is not
sombre ; on the contrary, tapestries, Sevres china,
and Venetian looking-glasses in gilt frames, tend
to give it a gay, if not a brilliant, appearance ;
while such relics as a writing-book with Napoleonic
arms, and a banner screen w T hich has been the
recipient of various heraldic contributions, are less
dingy than historical.
Nor should we here omit to mention a bust of
Charles James Fox, by Nollekcns (1793), some four-
teen years earlier than the bust we have noticed in
the Entrance Hall by the same artist. Four lines,
by II. Fitzpatrick, perpetuated on the marble, add
interest to the work, while they pay a tribute to
him whom it represents :
A Patriot's even course he steer'd,
'Midst Faction's wildest Storms unmov'd,
By all who mark'd his Mind, rever'd,
By all who knew his Heart, belov'd.
REFLECTIONS!
The ceiling of the Breakfast Eoom is panelled > CHAITKI:
VIII.
and ornamented with white and gilded pendants.
The cornice is painted in the same style, and from
the Earl's coronet on it, 1 alternating with an " H,"
testifies to its period that of an Earl of Holland.
The device, which will soon become well known
to us that of the "H" entwined in a Baron's
coronet is of later introduction and a skm of Fox
o
residence.
And standing here, as further on we shall stand
in some other parts of the house, amidst modern
improvements which, being in the character of past
times, tend rather to preserve those times in our
memories than to make us forget them, it would be
impossible for us here, as in some other parts of
the house, not to draw a mental parallel. ''Once
upon a time " sedan-chairs and powder played then-
parts in the scene ; nowadays they may find some
species of successors in Hansoms and chignons.
And from the difference in conveyances and dress,
how far and how easily that perpetual-motion loco-
motive, the train of our thoughts, will carry us on '.
Indeed it would easily carry us too far. For,
before we knew where we found ourselves, it would
carry us out of our present province. Let us close
1 See head-piece to this chapter.
HOLLAND HOUSE.
the chapter with one remark. However punctilious
some of us may be upon the subject of modern
fashions and of modern usages, if we think of the
gay assemblies that meet at Holland Mouse on
manv a summers day, we will not quarrel with
the present or sigh for what people, shocked by
recent inventions rather than benefited by late dis-
coveries, are wont t<> ca
the good old times.''
CHAPTER IX.
T HE CHINA R O M.
THK CHINA ROOM is a contrast to the Breakfast CHAITK
Room, and the two rooms together tend to prove
that attractions in equal degree may exist with
advantages of different kinds.
The Breakfast Room, forty feet long )>y twenty feet
wide, is large enough for a banquet ; and the China
Room, twenty-two feet long by twenty-one feet wide,
is snug enough for a social >le dinner. The Breakfast
Eoom, with its bay-windows and porch projecting
into the sunny south, must see something of the sun
even on most winter days ; and the China Room,
receding from between the centre tower and
western cloisters, is shaded even in the hottest
summer.
HOLLAND HOUSE.
It has a grave-looking old chinaney-picce and a
solemn-looking Venetian chandelier ; and it is
fitted up with glass cases which are furnished
with some beautiful china. The general effect of
the room may lie perhaps something like that of
an old curiosity shop but of an old curiosity
shop in Utopia, tidy, habitable, comfortable. The
walls are hung with Cordova leather, and the floor
has a soft carpet, and the collection of china, is
so disposed that it can easdy be taken out for
use, and, when not used, be useful for ornament.
\Ye were thinking of making the China Room
Chapter rather learned with a disquisition upon
china in general, pvologuing our account of this
china in particular. I>ut we have thought better
of the plan, and spared ourselves from accumu-
lating details which, without thoroughly instructing
the uninitiated, might have thoroughly dissatisfied
the connoisseur. With the above, explanation, rather
than apology, we submit an unadorned list of the
principal china, in the China Room :
A large dinner and dessert service of Sevres,
which belonged to the Earl of Upper Ossory.
A small dessert service of very fine old Sovres,
which belonged to the Countess of Coventry, remark-
able for its beauty ; it is painted in medallions,
CHINA ROOM.
225
with flowers and Cupids round the border, and the ! CIIAPTKK
letters " L.C." in flowers, surmounted by a coronet,
also in flowers, in the centre.
A fine old apple-green Sevres dessert service,
painted with bouquets of flowers.
A large dinner, dessert, and coffee service of
Cabbage-leaf Sevres.
Two services of fine old Dresden china, for
dinner and dessert.
A beautiful dessert service of old open-work
Berlin china,
Two magnificent Chelsea vases decorated with
birds and fruit.
And a small dessert service of old Chelsea,
presented by the Chelsea Company to Dr. Johnson,
who used to work during his leisure hours at the
Chelsea factory. If, from his present abode, the
usually plain-spoken old Doctor can see what has
become of the testimonial, perhaps he is inclined
to say, as he did to Mrs. Montague when she
showed him some plates which had once belonged
to Queen Elizabeth, " that they had no reason to
be ashamed of their present possessor, who was
so little inferior to the first." '
In the China Room, as may be expected, there
1 Madame Piozzi's Anecdotes of l)r. Johnson. London, 1786.
VOL. I. G G
HOLLAND HOUSE.
cHAi'TEi: is more than the china to admin;. But if we
IX.
were to linger over every object of beaut}' in
Holland House, our work would run the risk of
assuming encyclopaedic proportions, unaccompanied,
alas! by encyclopaedic lore!
The CHINA SCUIJ.EUV is attached to the China
Room, and contains three breakfast services of
Dresden, and a Dresden dinner service in common
use, besides a service of beautiful Dresden, painted
in medallions with figures, bought at Stowe.
CHAPTER X.
F1KST WEST KOO.M. OK MAI' ISOOJl.
THE FIKXT \Yi:sT ROOM, called the MAP ROOM, from
the fact that nearly all the maps and atlases in the
house are arranged there, teems with books and
portraits. It has a crimson and gold paper, and
the ceiling is white, panelled with gilt, and decorated
with pendants.
The door by which we entered from the China
Room is like two of those in the Breakfast Room :
the doorway arched ; while the door itself, which
is a sliding one, may be said to illustrate Hamlet's
play within a play by a door within a door. Those
who know Holland House will perhaps alone be able
to understand this arrangement. Hut the doors
r i a 2
22S
HOLLAND HOUSE.
CHAPTER ; especially to be noticed in this room are carved
and gilt (Venetian), with plate glass, opening into
the second and fourth West Rooms.
The MAP KOOM has an antique appearance. But
the present disposition of all the West Rooms is
really modern, and due to the late Lord Holland,
who, from housekeeper's rooms and offices, converted
the first three into what they are, and extended
the fourth upon what used to be a terrace.
A characteristic difference between the mere man of
money and the man of taste is, that in the " improve-
ments " of the one, the old features are recklessly
destroyed, whilst in the improvements of the other
they are studiously preserved. The one heaps up
o-iklino- and modern hideosities, after the fashion of
O O
the foolish woman who dyes her hair and tries to hide
her wrinkles; the other is like the wiser woman, who
looks upon grey hairs as an honourable frame for ad-
vancing years, and adapts the shrine to the relics.
From the imitation of the past in the arrangement
of the first West Room, we turn to actual traces of
bygone davs in some of the portraits which hang
on the walls and artistically crown the bookcases.
It is curious to mark how, without any apparent
labour to bring the right people together, at the
best a difficult task, some of the portraits here are
CHARLES II. HAPPILY PLACED! 229
happily placed : Charles II. between Nell Gwyim i CHAPTER
and the Duchess of Portsmouth, facing the author
ol the " Annus Mirabilis," an appropriate position.
For though
o
" . . . . Dryden tauglit to join
The varying verse, the full resounding line,
The long majestic march, and energy divine," '
yet it must not be forgotten that lie stooped to
flatter his unworthy sovereign. I Jut a close scrutiny
of what seems most perfect is often clouded by
disappointment, and few characters, however great,
will bear the test of pre-Raphaelite painting.
Then we have the first and second Dukes of Ridi-
mond ; Anne and Sarah, Duchesses of Richmond:
and the Duke of Leinster. With these we bid
farewell to Charles and all that concerns him, and,
passing a portrait of Sir Charles Hunbury, turn to
one of Madame Lebrun, painted by herself. I Jut
she has not made such a pretty picture as she did
of the same subject in the well-known portrait at
the Uffi/i in Florence.
AVe now notice the portrait of an artist of a
different kind, the sculptor Canova, with his fine,
expressive Italian face."
1 Pope, "Imitations of Horace," Dook II. Epistle i.
- See head-piece to this chapter.
HOLLAND HOUSE.
We close the list with some portraits by Watts,
one of the greatest, if not the greatest, of contem-
porary English artists. Already when a boy he
exhibited, and we are not sure that he was a
quarter of a century old when, in 1843, he took
ono of the 300/. prizes for his cartoon of Caractacus.
His next successful entry into competition was his
picture of Alfred inciting the Saxons to maritime
enterprise. His entering on that occasion into com-
petition is due to Lord Holland, who urged that,
having once obtained a first prize, he should not
shrink from a second encounter. The picture was
painted in the Villa Cnreggi, Lord Holland's house ;
and its gaining the first prize was, we may easily
imagine, a greater satisfaction to the far-seeing friend
than to the young painter, who cared more for his
art than for the glory it might bring him. We
will not here talk of Watts's St. George and the
Dragon, or attempt to give a list of his many
famous works ; they belong to the history of art ;
and his critical notices of the art of B. K. Haydon
are public property. The privilege we claim is to
say how he became especially connected with Holland
House.
About the year 1843 he arrived in Florence with
a letter of introduction to the late Lord Holland,
WATTS. PANIZZI.
231
then English [Minister at the Court of the Grand
Duke of Tuscany. Lord Holland, ever ready with
kind and generous hospitality, invited the young
artist to stay at the Legation. At first Mr. Watts
only intended to spend a short time in Florence,
but he remained on from day to day for nearly
four years, in an increasing intimacy agreeable to
all parties. To this intimacy we o\ve some of tin-
best portraits and restorations at Holland House.
In the first West Room may lie mentioned por-
traits by him of 'Mr. Edward Cheney, Mr. Cotterell,
and Paniz/i. The two former wen- painted in
Florence about the year 184:5.
The latter, which hangs over the chimney-piece, was
executed some eight or nine years later. It is one of
\Vatts's finest, and is dune very much in the style
of Sir Joshua's Baretti. Panizzi is busily engaged
writing, perhaps putting the last penstroke to his
Essay on the llomantic Poetry of the Italians, or to
his editions of Bojardo or Ariosto, and does not seem
to be sittuu/ fur Ins portrait. Hut a likeness is
achieved, and may be considered not less happily
placed here than on the walls of the British Museum.
In Holland House, Punizzi has claims upon private
affection so long as his friends live ; in the British
Museum, he has a lasting title to public gratitude
CHAl'TKR
X.
HOLLAND HOUSE.
CHAI'TKl!
X.
as the original designer of the far-famed Reading
Room, and as being almost the founder of the
National Library.
The MAP ROOM, as was said at the beginning of
this chapter, teems with books. Of course, to give
a catalogue of them all would be troublesome both
to our readers and to ourselves. Nor is it neces-
sary to say more at present than that there is in
this room one- bookcase especially devoted to valu-
able books and MSS., some of which will be noticed
when we come to deal with the Library.
CHAPTER XI.
SECOND WEST ROOM, OR PICTURE ROOM.
WE come into this room from the Map Room, by
the glass doors in beautiful Venetian frames,
mentioned in our last chapter ; and we go out of
it by similar doors, at the other end. A bay-
window to the left gives us partial views of the
centre of the house and of the east wing, divided
and massively framed by an arch of the west
wing. Our friends who know Holland House will
recognize the view on the next page, and will easily
call to mind this picturesque old fragment of
architecture, with its red brick, and grey stone,
and whimsical decorations ; while here and there
Nature comes to the relief of Art with creepers
VOL. I. H H
ClIAI'TKK
XI.
(11. U'TEl!
XI.
HOLLAND HOUSE.
and flowers. And those who have watched this
view, as we have, l>y moonlight, those who have
lieheld the dark-Line background relieved by silver
lights and varied by mysterious shadows, will, we
K.ist Win- liy Mnnnliglit, fniln 1'ictuiv rci.nii \Vmdo\v.
hope, acknowledge the influence of such a scene
upon the soul of the Poet and of the Christian.
In the year 1862, Lady Holland lent Holland
House for a short time to the Queen of the French,
Marie Ainelio : and it was in this room that the
PARIS "SALON."
235
pious exile had mass daily celebrated. She could
scarcely have chosen a more fitting spot from which
to offer up her prayers. For we hold beauty to
be the source of inspiration, and inspiration the
essence of prayer ; whilst admiration of Nature
may in itself become a prayer without words.
At our right is a chimney-piece in the Eliza-
bethan style, with the old-fashioned fire-dogs for
burning wood; and comfort is combined with taste
in this room by old brocaded silk hangings, while
Art is ably represented on the walls.
To Watts's brush we owe the following por-
traits :
Himself, in armour, painted at the Casa Ferroiii,
then the English Legation, in Florence.
Guizot
Thiers.
Prince Jerome Bonaparte.
The last three portraits were painted in Paris
during the spring of 18.36, and the subjects of them
are as familiar to the writer of these pages as the
portraits themselves ; for they formed part of the
late Lord Holland's Paris salon.
The salon, as an institution, is dying out every-
where. It is to be hoped, however, only to return
to life as the Phoenix from its ashes. But in thus
H H 2
CHAl'TKi;
HOLLAND HOUSE.
r 1 1. \ITK1!
XI.
looking forward to the future a regret may still be
given to the past ; to the time when conversation
was a cultivated art, not restricted to one or two
clever men, but extending to whole societies ; when
these same clever men were not made to stand upon
a social pedestal and declaim to a moderately
interested audience, but when they mixed with
others and yet retained their individuality ; when
grace was blended with wit, and dignity with re-
finement : when men talked of what was interest-
ing to women who cared to listen ; when nothing
was rendered common by too much generality ;
when, in short, there were elements for the for-
mation of interesting circles ; and when there were
people who cared to form them. But the past
need not be a matter of regret to everyone. It
may be even a matter of thankfulness to her whose
earliest memories arc fixed amid all that is cleverest
and pleasantest ; who, when allowed to appear for
a moment amongst the "grown-up people," would
hear the last of a discussion between Thiers and
Guizot, or the first of a lecture from M. de Ville-
main ; or would be given sugar-plums and dolls by
the brother of the great Napoleon, Jerome Bonaparte.
For all these met on neutral territory around the
host who was capable of appreciating genius under
PORTRAITS BY WATTS.
237
its varied forms, and who was the centre of a
charming society wherever he went.
But to recur to Watts's pictures in this room :
Countess Walewska, painted at Florence about the
year 184G-7.
The beautiful Countess Castiglione. This portrait
was unfortunately never finished.
Mary Augusta, Lady Holland, taken in a Nice
hat at Florence, in 1843. This picture is charm-
ingly painted, and gives us the present hostess
of Holland House, presiding, as it were, over one
of its most sociable rooms, with a smile which
lights up her face, as much as the ray of sunshine
lights up the picture.
Mary Fox an old-fashioned picture of an old-
fashioned looking little girl, with a fine Spanish
pointer as big as herself, whose name must be
mentioned, for auld lang syne, " Elia." " Elia "
was a faithful friend and a wise protector. Here
he looks on his best behaviour. But he was as
good as he looks, except on the sad day when he
strayed from home never to return. The canvas
of the original picture is 44 inches by 34. But
we hope that, notwithstanding a great necessary
reduction in size, the present steel engraving does
justice to Watts's work of art.
rHAlTKK
XI.
238 HOLLAND HOUSE.
CHAPTKI; Two portraits by Leslie come next on our list :
The well-known painting of Henry Richard, third
Lord Holland ; ! and that of his daughter, now Lady
Lilford.
One extremely interesting relie in the PICTURE
ROOM is hardly a work of art at all. AVe refer
to a plaster statuette of the first Lord Brougham.
He is here represented in an attitude of legal
declamation, with upraised arm and out-stretched
hand. The out-stretched hand makes us smile ;
it reminds us of Lord Hrougham's responding
to a toast in Edinburgh for "His Majesty's .Minis-
ters": ' My fellow-citizens of Edinburgh, after
having been four years a Minister, thaw /Hinds are
cli'iut!' lie had suited the action to the word by
extending his hands but not the adjective to the
substantive. For, alas ! his hands happened to be
remarkably dirty ! -
Hut we crave pardon of the great man's shade.
If his attitude recalled to us the fact that he once
made an untimely remark, it may also recall to us
the fact that he was "the great Apostle of Educa-
tion, the Emancipator of the Negro, the Restorer of
abused Charities, the Reformer of the Law." Above
1 See tail-piece to Chapter XIII.
'-' Quarterly Review. Vol. cxxvi. pp. 51-2.
LORD BROUGHAM.
all, it recalls to us, what lias been justly termed riiAP r ra;
the turning point in his career, the Queen's trial.
The night before he was to deliver his most im-
portant speech in this most important of trial*, he
slept at Holland House. Lord Holland seeing him
the next morning bu.-ilv occupied writing, naturally
expected to find him copying out the pcromtmn.
I5ut no, he was drawing the clauses of an Educa-
tion I'.iii:
Since the year ISO.; his presence was familiar.
and welcome, at Holland House, amidst the brilliant
politicians and wits assembled on that Whig territory.
Numerous are the puns which have been made upon
his name. It will not lie out of place here to quote
one found at Holland House in the third Lord
Holland's handwritin :
There's a wild man at large doth roam.
A giant wit ! They call him Itrougham
And well methinks the}' may,
lie deals, whene'er he speaks or acts
With friends and foes and laws and facts
In such a fii'ei-jiinij way."
He who wrote the joke and he who gave rise to
it are both now alike hallowed to us by death.
And of them in this room there onlv remain a
portrait and a east. We remember the cast being
240
HOLLAND HOUSE.
cir.u'TEK I brought to Holland House, by Lord Brougham
himself, about a year before he died. It was
curious to mark the contrast between the aged
man and the representation of him in his brilliant
days, a contrast made especially striking by the
juxtaposition. As day by day, in the course
of life, or rather in the course of death, one
makes room for another, it is not unusual for the
bereaved son to offer a valued friend some me"
mento of his father ; perhaps a likeness of him iu
his early years, to which he will point and say,
" That is what my father was." But Lord Brougham
did this for himself; and naturally enough. For
the man who would sanction a premature announce-
ment of bis death, in order to steal from the
world its opinion, was not unlikely to undertake a
premature distribution of mementoes in order to
test the feeling of his friends. Nor is another
trait less in accordance with his character. When
in his later years he came to spend an hour or
two at Holland House, he would often sit moodily
down, and, missing the friendly faces of bygone
days, he has more than once even burst into tears.
Whatever the world may think of the hard lines
which he exteriorly presented, and however in him
grief may have exhausted itself after the death of
CAST OF LORD BROUGHAM.
his beloved daughter Eleanor Louise, there was still
something call it what one will, a touch of tender
O
feelino- or a strong chord of affection there was
o O
still something which lingered on in his inmost heart,
and with which, as he himself drew near the grave,
he often sounded a, funeral dirge to the memory
of a, friend. 1
1 The cast of Lord Brougham mentioned above lias recently
been removed into the Print IJooni.
CHAPTKU
XI.
V0[.. I.
I [
CHAPTER XII.
TIIIUI) WKST ROOM, Olt PRINT ROOM.
Tin-: TMII:I) WJOST ROOM, no\v called the I'ltiNT lioo.M.
once the scene of jams and jellies, where \ve ean
picture to ourselves little children coming and show-
ing- cupboard-love to the housekeeper, is in nearly
the same style as the other West llooms. But it
possesses one feature which they have not a stall--
case. This staircase, 1 wooden in material, stage-like
in appearance, has a long, narrow landing, and to
the left, as we ascend, a window. Higher up the
theatrical illusion is continued by a concealed door
leading into the Library, through which door, how-
ever, we do not now propose to pass.
Sec head-piece to this chapter.
SCHOOLS IN THE PRINT ROOM.
Tin.- Pictures hanging in the Print Room testify
inure or less to the society which from carlv days
to the present time has met at Holland House :
General Fox, as a midshipman.
Lad\' Mary Fox.
Henry, Lord Holland.
Count Fossombroni.
The Karl of Shelburne, afterwards Marquis of
Lansdowne.
( 'omit de Flaliault.
The Karl of Kgremont.
Henry Luttrcll.
Tin- room is amply furnished with luniks. Hut
the volumes oi special interest are those containing
prints, from which, indeed, the room derives its name.
Here we shall scarcely do more than mcnlim;
the mosl important.
The Italian, ( lei-man. Dutch and Flemish, French,
Spanish, and English schools are all represented.
There is a great collection <>f prints after Italian
masters, and the collection from earlv Italian en-
gravers is fair, including, amongst olher specimens by
Marc Antonio Raimoncli, the /,rrr:/c after Raffaello.
It would be difficult, as a matter of comparison,
to say whether greater celebrity attaches itself to
Marc' Antonio amongst engraver.-, or to the Lucreiia
] I 2
244
HOLLAND HOUSE.
i APTKK amongst his works. Horn at Bologna towards the end
of the fifteenth century, accused in Venice of plagia-
rising Albert Diirer, protected in Rome by Raffaello,
thrown into prison, for impropriety of subjects by
Pope Clement VII., liberated at the intercession of
Bandinelli and some of the Cardinals, plundered in
the sacking of the Eternal City by the Spaniards,
and, according to Malvasia, 1 finally nssassinated for a
breach of faith, the life of .Marc' Antonio Eaimondi,
founder of the Rinnan school, \vas certainly an
eventful and important one. And in his life the
Lticr<''.i<i certainly is a landmark, lie engraved it
immediately after arriving in Rome, and Kail'aeilo
was so pleased with its execution as to consider
.Man-' Antonio thenceforward worthy of reproducing
his pictures ; thus, by means of the. Lucrc'.id, he
was appointed engraver to Rafl'aello."
In the Liid'CZM are perceptible Marc' Antonio's
characteristics of pure outline and correct drawing
of the extremities. But the impression in the Print
Room at Holland House is worn out. May, however,
the (ireek inscription on the left remain ineffaceable!
The translation of it would be: ''It is better to die
than to live in dishonour."
' Bryan : Dictionary of Painters and Engravers.
- Bartsch : Le Peintrc Graveur.
ITALIAN SCHOOL. i'45
The specimens of Mare' Antonio's two pupils,
Marco da Eavenna and Giulio Bonasoni, like that
of the Lucrczia, are not of the best. But it should
be remembered that these artists had the honour of
being employed to engrave the works of Eail'aello
and Michel Angelo, and any relic from their gravers
should lie respected accordingly.
Then we would say a few words about the Floren-
tine Stefano della Bella, who lived from Hi 10 to
1CG4, and who shines in this collection. In facility <>f
manipulation he has probably never been surpassed,
while his touch and execution arc charming.
-Jombert says that Stefano \vas in tin- habit of
beginning to draw his figures from the feet, and
working upwards. Whatever the process, the result
is to be admired ; and those critics who remark that
some of his plates are only slightly etched, should
remember that they amounted to more than four-
teen hundred in number. Nor was this so much
sacrificing quality, as detail, to quantity.
Stefano, in Holland House, is especially noticeable
by his Oijti'icci ; the entry of the Polish Ambassador
into Eome in l(j:53 ; a very fine and rare impression
of the Reposoir, and also a very rare etching of
two galleys fighting. But, of course, exceptional
merit is not a necessary consequence of its rareness.
HOLLAND HOUSE.
On the contrary, as a rule, it was when a work
was not liked that only a few impressions were '
made of it, while what was good, being in general
demand, was extensively reproduced. .Collectors,
however, often seem to think otherwise.
]>y iStefano della Delia there are here, also worthy
of mention, a view of the Villa Prato/iiti, near
Florence interesting, certainly, as the villa lias
since been destroyed : and four different views
of the, port of Leghorn, the first one including
the colossal statue of I'Yrdinand 1. These views
belong to the set of six mentioned in Le Blanc's
catalogue, p|>. 1.o:>-!-!).
In (lie Italian school al Holland House. Salvator
Itosa. also, finds his place, bv an almost complete
collection of his soldiers, robbers, and beggars, which
fully coincide with the vivid and brusque character
of his pictures, and with the popular idea of the
haunts he frequented for the purpose of studvinu'
from nature.
Amongst the Germans here the first place belongs
to Albert Diirer, the reformer, if not the founder, of
the Herman school. Good in anatomy and perspec-
tive, though somewhat formal in outline, and wanting
in tint taste which can best be acquired by studying
GERMAN SCHOOL.
the antique, Albert Diirer composed well and executed CHAPTER
well ; and, having surpassed many in other countries,
can scarcely be said to have been surpassed in his
own. In the Holland House collection we have his
Viryiti ti'ith the 3[onkei/. The house in the back-
ground to the right, the original sketch of \vhich is
at the llriti.^h Museum, was one belonging to the
artist. l>y Albert Diirer \ve have also, but, sad to
say, in bad condition, the J\[elancolia and Dnrflt'x
Hoi'se.
Nearly a century and a hall' after Albert Diirer
was born at Nuremberg, Wence>laus Hollar was
born at Prague (1G07). He. was a great artist,
and, to the shame of England, an unfortunate one.
Lord Arundel met him abroad and patronised him
continuously, and both the Charles's employed him.
He formed part of the Ambassador's suite to Fer-
dinand II. in I (:>(.), was taken prisoner with the
Eoyalists in Hi I.;, and, soon after the Restoration,
went to Africa as his Majesty's designer, and made
drawings of the town of Tangier with the fort and
the adjacent country. But lie only received 1 ()()/.
for his work and expenses ; and years afterwards,
when he was dying, bailiffs came to seize his bed,
his last remaining piece of furniture. lie entreated
their forbearance for a short time, as he should
HOLLAND HOUSE.
then have no further need of it ; and earnestly
requested he might not be removed to any other
prison but his grave. 1 Thus it is with melancholy
interest that we look on the few good specimens of
Wenceslaus Hollar which we come across in Holland
House. They are chiefly portraits.
I'nder the head of "Anonymous Prints," \ve find
in tlie Print Room, what are probably contributions to
the early (lerman school by " les petits matt rex." Let
us not confound expressions : these "petit* mditres"
are not the jietitu inaitrex of the nineteenth cen-
tury; they are, literally, "little masters," and were
(lerman jewellers. In those days there was more
universality, more freedom, in art than there is
now. .lust as the artist could be also a sculptor
and an architect, so could the jeweller be an artist.
Albert I Mirer himself, the son of a goldsmith, acquired
the elements of his artistic education from his father :
and how many great Italian engravers, even Marc
Antonio, worked upon the precious metal before
practising art in irs higher regions! The' "petits
uiditrcs" always looked upon Nature in miniature,
and their works possess less beauty for the general
spectator than interest to workers in gold. It was
probably to satisfy themselves rather than the public
J Bryan : Dictionary of Painters and Engravers.
DUTCH AND FLEMISH SCHOOLS.
249
that they used to have a few impressions taken
of their designs. Hence these early works are rare,
and much sought after by amateurs.
We now come to the Dutch and Flemish schools,
which were one until Rembrandt and Rubens gave
to each of them a separate identity and lustre.
Treating them here in their united classification,
there are specimens from Rembrandt, Lucas van
Leyden, and Suyderhoef, as well as engravings after
Rubens.
The Rembrandts, which form perhaps the most
valuable part of the collection, are numerous, not all
in good condition, but always interesting, in the same
way that Rembrandt's works in general arc not all per-
fect but always valuable. For if he was unfortunate
in the choice of his subjects, if he was guilty of
anachronisms in his costumes, if lie failed when he
attempted to depict the sublime, and even if it be true
that he obstinately refused to study from the antique,
he is still a great master ; and instead of spoiling our
pleasure by poring over his defects, we would do well
to improve our taste by imagining what he would
be without them.
What we would call the Rubens collection in
Holland House is a volume of engravings after Rubens
CHAPTER
XII.
VOL. I.
K K
HOLLAND HOUSE.
of the pictures in the Luxembourg, published in Paris
(1710).
Lucas van Leydcn, the contemporary and friend of
Albert I Mirer, differed somewhat in style from the great
(lerman master. Bryan, says that he may be regarded
as the patriarch of the Dutch school ; certainly he was
an infant prodiav in it ; for he designed and
*_ / O
engraved at eight years old, and at fourteen he pro-
duced his celebrated Mahomet Uniitk. His plates,
which were as fine in the foreground as in the
distance, did not stand much wear. In engraving,
llie first to come are the best served; and the
f'e\v \vorks of Lucas van Leydeii in this collection
unfortunately do not appear to bo early impres-
sions.
By Suyderhocf there are some 1 exceedingly good
portraits. And while in the Dutch and Flemish
schools, \ve must not omit a tribute to some beautiful
etchings of .lean Chalon, whom we mention all the
more gladly as England can boast of having pos-
se.-M'd him for a while, lie was born at Amsterdam
(1 7:58), and died in London (1 7!)5). We are told that
he etched chiefly after his own designs and after
original drawings by Rembrandt. The specimens
we notice of his works in Holland House would
appear to belong to this latter class.
FRENCH SCHOOL. 251
Of the French school here we think Jacques Callot (/HAI-TEH
the greatest ornament. There is an impression, though
in a bad state, of his best work, the Fieiu dell'
Imprnncta, of which, as we shall see later, there
is a large oil-painting upstairs. The Print Room
also contains, by Gallot, several figures very cleverly
sketched in sepia, probably studies for some of his
Capncci. Then there is a good, though mutilated, set
(specimens) of his Mixeres dc la (itterir, and a com-
plete set of his (ilpsies, which he executed after his
return from Florence. It may be remembered that
Callot, who was born at Nancy in ].")!):>, belonged to
a noble family, and was intended by his parents for
far other pursuits than engraving. J>ut at the a r '-e of
twelve he joined a party of gipsies on their way to
Florence, and during his stay with them he probably
made sketches for these plates. However unfilial
('allot was in his escape from his father's roof, one
must admire his perseverance in clinging to Art.
After being protected at Florence, recognized in
Rome, and induced to return home, he was aoain
opposed in his artistic tastes, and he again eloped.
This time he was found at Turin by his brother
and brought back. At last he was allowed to study,
and went to Rome in the suite of the Envov from
J
the Duke of Lorraine. He went also to Florence,
K K 2
o 52 HOLLAND HOUSE.
CHAPTER and worked there under more dignified auspices, it
may be supposed, than during his former visit.
After his return to France he was employed by
Louis XI If., towards whose Minister, Richelieu, he
exhibited as much independence as he had shown
to his own father. The Cardinal having ordered
him to make a drawing and engrave a plan of the
sieo-e of Nancy, Ins native town, taken by the French
in 1(5:! 1, he refused, on the ground that it would be
celebrating the humiliation of his country. And
when Richelieu said there were means of making
him comply, he answered, " 1 will sooner cut off my
right hand, than employ it in anything derogatory to
the honour of my prince or my country." 1 But
debarring himself from one subject need not have
reduced the number of his works, as he was fertile
in invention, while his perseverance in design may
lie compared to his early perseverance in study, and
his taste and spirit to his youthful choice and
adventures.
Abraham Bosse, who was born at Tours about 1G10,
and who seems to have formed his style by imitating
the least finished plates of Callot, 2 is worthy of men-
tion, lie engraved from his own designs, as well as
from the designs of others, and was the author of
1 Bryan : Dictionary of Painters and Engravers. - Ibid.
SPANISH SCHOOL.
" La maniere de graver cL I'eau forte, et cm Burin."
From his large collection we have a few very good
specimens in pretty fair condition.
In the French school should also be mentioned
a landscape by Claude Lorraine, with ruins on the
left, and cattle in the foreground.
The sole member of the Spanish school here is
Francisco Goya y Lucicntes, an engraver of whom
Spain may be justly proud. Of him there is (we
hope not a spurious impression) that very rare etch-
ing, El (1 rote. By itself, the etching is worth a
whole ordinary collection. The original of it is in
the British Museum.
The English school of engravers, which began
about the early part of the last century, does not
assert itself with great force in this room ; but
in other parts of Holland House there are various
volumes illustrating the works of Hogarth and
other masters.
253
CHAPTKR
XII.
Besides what we have thus briefly enumerated, or
rather hinted at, there is what, for want of better
classification, we would call a miscellaneous assort-
ment. In this are several works of prints after
-54 HOLLAND HOUSE.
masters. For example, by Annibale Caracci : paint-
ings in the Palazzo Farnese at Borne, published
KJo?; also prints after AVatteau, Lancrct, Kigaud, and
Boucher, in good condition ; and a great many French
lithographs, portraits of persons more or less cele-
brated in the beginning of this century. Hut to
O o J
describe all the prints would require volumes : to
enumerate them would be simple cataloguing. So
here \ve leave the Prints and the Print Room. 1
' I cannot send this chapter to pi-ess without a hearty acknow-
ledgment of the immense assistance I have received from Mr. Fagan.
of the I'.ritish Museum, in the preparation of it. M. I,.
CHAPTER X1IJ.
F O U It T JI W E S T It O U M.
TJIE FOUtTii \VicsT ROOM, properly called the \Yi:sT
ROOM, has a ceiling and a paper like those of the
Map Room. Its distinctive feature is that it pre-
sents to our view about as much glass as wall.
T\vo glass doors lead into it from the Map Room;
another to the left opens on a terrace ; and at
the end of the room there is a large ]>o\v win-
dow, out of which a door takes us down a flight of
steps into the Dutch Garden.
Dismissing the subject of the glass with the
assurance to our readers that it does not prevent the
room being very comfortable, we will notice some of
the pictures for which there is space on the walls :
L'56
HOLLAND HOUSE.
CUAI'TKR
XIII.
A sketch, in oils, of a Santa Famiglia, attributed
to Rubens.
A curious old painting of St. James's Park, in
which we sec Piccadilly under a very different aspect
from that which it at present bears.
Two family portraits by Ramsay : (1), of Caroline,
first Lady Holland, with whose rather romantic
story we are already acquainted ; (2), of her sister,
Lady Cecilia Lennox, who died of consumption at
Holland House.
We do not here need the catalogue; to tell us the
name of the artist. The first portrait, especially, is
completely in Ramsay's style no vain striving after
effect, no ambitious shortcomings. Repose, harmony ;
in fact, a natural picture. And could one expect
much less from Ramsay, the son of a, poet, himself
a scholar and a man of letters, the founder at Edin-
burgh of the Select Society l .
Two paintings by Chisolfi.
P>y Hoare, Stephen, second Lord Holland, 1 who
died in 1774.
A sea-view, with figures, by Yernet, The distance
in this picture is charming.
Two drawings of Putti, by Lady Diana Beau-
clerk, who was known familiarly as " my Lady
1 See head-piece to this chapter.
APOTHEOSIS OF STA. CLARA.
257
Bully." She was the eldest daughter of Charles,
Duke of Marlborough, and married in the first
instance Lord Bolingbroke, from whom she was
divorced in 1 7G3. Topham Beauclerk was her
second husband.
A painting by Jan Steen.
A portrait of La Perouse.
A sketch of Holland J louse Lawn, in July 18.31,
from the Journal Room window, by Vivant Beauce.
A sketch in crayons by lloppner: the Apotheosis
of Sta. Clara, pupil of St. Francis. This Saint, it
may be remembered, belonged to Assisa, founded
the Order of the Clare, Nuns, and lived from 1:293
until 13 J3. HoppiK'r'.s sketch is taken from the
beautiful fresco by Murillo, in the cloister of the
Franciscan Convent at Seville, destroyed during
the French invasion.
Now, to admire quite a different school of art, we
come to Hogarth. He has, of course, been surpassed,
in dignity, in poetry, and even in grace as well
as in sublimity. But has his equal ever been
found, in truth, in wit, in character, or, if we may
so speak, in pantomime ? Other artists, truly, have
had higher aims. Raffaello, Guido, Correggio, taught
religion : but Hogarth's aim was practical, and let us
VOL. i. L L
CHA1TKK
XIII.
25S HOLLAND HOUSE.
hope he taught morality by the hideousness of the
immorality lie held up to view. Yes ! Hogarth was
eminently practical. Once he made too true a like-
iiess of a certain nobleman not favoured by physical
beauty, and the nobleman, perhaps upon the principle
that truth is libel, refused to take the picture. Prac-
tical Hogarth, however, made his customer come to
another understanding by the following letter :
o / o
" M'r. Hogarth's dutiful respects to Lord - , .
finding tlmf lie does not ntenn to have the picture
which ii'as drawn for Inn, is informed again of Mr.
Hogarth's necessity for the money; if, therefore, his
Lordship does not send for it in three days, it will be
disposed oj, v//// ///c addition of a tail and some
other little appendages, to Mr. Hare, (lie famous
wdd-beast man ; Mr. Hogarth hariny given that
gentleman a conditional promise of d for an exhi-
bition of pictures, OH his Lordship's refusal." 1
It is evident that the realistic artist had not so
great a difficulty in obtaining his money from Henry
Fox, first Lord Holland, who seems to have treasured
an account for prints in Hogarth's handwriting, which
we reproduce.
There are by Hogarth three pictures in this room :
1 Anecdotes of the celebrated William Hogarth ; with an ex-
planatory description of his works. London, 1811.
A^i
&&%.
HOGARTH'S RANELAGH.
259
(1.) A portrait of Henry, first Lord Holland, given
to Elizabeth, Lady Holland, by General Fox.
(2.) A view of Eanelagli, the very Ranelagh of
which there is such an amusing description in Rogers's
" Table Talk " :-
" General Fitzpatrick remembered the time when
St. James's Street used to be crowded with the
carriages of the ladies and gentlemen who were walk-
ing in the Mall, the ladies with their heads in full
dress, and the gentlemen carrying their hats under
their arms. The proprietors of Ranelagh and Vauxhall
used to send decoy-ducks among them, that is, per-
sons attired in the height of fashion, who every now
and then would exclaim in a very audible tone, 'What
charming weather for Ranelagh' or ' for Vauxhall !'
Ranelagh was a very pleasing place of amusement.
There persons of inferior rank mingled with the
highest nobility of Britain. All was so orderly and
still, that you could hear the 'ii'ltishiny sound of the
ladies' trains, as the immense assembly walked round
and round the room. If you chose, you might have
tea, which was served up in the neatest equipage
possible. The price of admission was lialf-a-crown.
People generally went to Ranelagh between nine
and ten o'clock."
So much for Ranelagh. The picture itself is de-
L L 2
CHAPTER
XIII.
260 HOLLAND HOUSE.
scribed in the Gentleman's Magazine for September
1836, as follows :
" Mr. Tiffin of the Strand has a picture, repre-
senting Hanelagh Grove, leading to Lord Eanelagh's
house and grounds at Chelsea, the spot so celebrated
afterwards as a place of fashionable resort. In the
foreground are several figures setting on two dogs
to fight, painted in a style which reminds one of
lac ' Stages of Cruelty.' Behind which, a little in
the distance, is a chariot ricldy ornamented with
carving and gilding in the taste of the time, contain-
ing a lady and gentleman, drawn by two white horses.
Another carriage is seen on the right, proceeding
towards Chelsea through a lane lined with hio-h trees
D
(now entirely built upon). On the same side of
the picture, in the distance, is a village fair, with a
number of figures beautifully painted, among which
may be recognized the fire-eater, seen in Hogarth's
print of ' Southwark Fair.' On the left a man,
strongly resembling the notorious Colonel Charteris,
is conducting a young lady attended by two maids,
near whom is inscribed the puzzling inscription,
'KEE PONT Hiss IDE' (keep on this side). The
distance is a perspective view of a long row of
trees with houses on each side, then, and to the
present day. called Ranelagh Grove. The picture
HOGARTH'S CONQUEST OF MEXICO.
L'GI
contains above fifty figures, and is altogether painted
with wonderful spirit and truth. It measures 2 ft.
9 in. long, by 3 ft. high, exclusive of frame." '
(3.) The third is a remarkable picture of private
theatricals. The following, taken from the key to
it, published Feb. 1, 1791, and giving a list of the
performers and audience represented in the picture,
may interest some of our readers :
CONQUEST OF MEXICO,
AK performed tit Mr. Conduit's, Musti-r of the Mint, lirfort tin-
Duke of Citmli-r/finJ, <fr.
CHA1TKK
XIII.
Cortex,
IJydnrtii
Almeria
Alibenh
['REFORMERS.
. Lord Lempster.
Lady Caroline Lenox.
Lady Sophia Fermor.
Miss Conduit, afterwards
Lady Lymington.
AUDIENCE.
I Hike of Cumberland.
Princess Mary.
Princess Lousia.
Lady Deloraine and her daughters.
Duchess of Richmond.
Duke of llicVnnond.
Earl of Fomfret.
Duke of Montague.
Tom Hill.
]Jr. Desaguliers.
1 Gentleman's Magazine, September 18.30, under " PAINTINGS BY
HOGARTH."
262
HOLLAND HOUSE.
CHAPTER
XIII.
And can we more appropriately take leave of
Hogarth than in Garrick's own words, which we have
copied from the great artist's tomb at Chiswick ?
Farewel great Painter of Mankind !
Who reach' d the noblest point of Art,
Whose picturd Morals charm the Mind,
And through the Eye, correct the Heart.
If Genius fire tliee, Reader, stay :
If Nature touch thee, drop a Tear ;
If neither move thee, turn away,
For HOGARTH'S honour'd dust lies here.
Lastly, turning to another artist, whose style had
so much in common with that of Hogarth that it
was not always sublime, we notice a caricature
by Patch. It was done at Florence about the year
1 760, and we happen to know that it represents a
comedy in real life.
The scene is a studio at Florence, with a window
opening on to the Arno. The personages are : a rich,
ugly old Jewess, by name Mistress Tabitha Mendes.
.sitting for her portrait in a profusion of jewellery, lace,
and silk ; a maid, who might rival her mistress in per-
sonal attractions, holding a dog ; a man, John, third
Duke of Roxburghe, Mistress Tabitha's suitor, turning
his back upon her, while the artist, Patch himself, en
deshabille, and with something like a curl-paper in his
hair, is pausing in the work and listens with a half-
PATCH. 265
amused look to the dispirited suitor, who, finding him- j CHAPTKK
self unequal to the matrimonial enterprise, whispers in
accents of despair, " She is more than I can stand."
History tells us that the same John, Duke of
Roxburghe, who, liy the bye, was the celebrated
book collector, died unmarried. The trial recorded
by Patch's brush was probably enough, if not too
much, for him.
A\e have taken the foregoing names from a note
at the back of the picture by Lord Ossory, who,
according to a further note by the third Lord Holland,
bought the picture at a broker's, remembered Patch
the painter of it, and was intimate with the Duke
of Roxburghe.
It is curious how little Thomas Patch is known,
and yet Nagler says he is " einer der verdienstvollsten
Kiin.stliT des vorigen Jahrhundcrts." Patch, as his
name proclaims him, an Englishman, was a painter
and engraver, who appears to have flourished about
the year 1770. He deserves to be better known.
Nagler goes on to say : " Er maltc Landschaften mit
Figuren, besonders auch Carrikaturen, hat sich aber
durch diese Dinge bei weitem nicht so viel Dank
erworbcn, als durch seine Stiche nach den Frcsken dcs
Th. Masaccio und anderer Meister in Florenz, und
nach den erhobencn Arbeiten des Lorenzo Ghiberti
VOL. I. M M
HOLLAND HOUSE.
an don Bronzethureri des Battistcrio dasclbst
\Vir beraerken hior nur nodi, class Patch dor orste
ist, \vcldior auf die Mcistcrwerko dor altcn ttoren-
tinischrn Meister aufmorksam maclite." In a later
part of this work we shall have occasion to mention
two landscapes by Patch. Meanwhile we recommend
a stinlv of his works to any of our readers who,
making acquaintance with him over the foregoing
woodcut, think lie would be pleasant company.
1 Nailer : Kunst Lexicon. Munchen, 1841. IKUK! \i.
(,'11 AFTER XIV.
ALLEN S ItOOM.
Tin-: name of Allen is perpetuated in ;i room of
Holland IIou.se, as well as on nx>ie than one row
of houses in Kensington, and Allen himself has
been written of by Lord Brougham thus :
"It would be a very imperfect account of Lord
Holland which should make no mention of the
friend who for the latter and more important part
of his life shared all his thoughts and was never a
day apart from him, Air. John Allen ; or the loss
which in him the world of politics and of science,
but still more, our private circle, has lately had to
deplore another blank which assuredly cannot be
filled up. He was educated at Edinburgh as a
M M -2
HOLLAND HOUSE.
physician, and stood far at the head of all his con-
temporaries as a student of the sciences connected
with the healing art ; but he also cultivated most
successfully all the branches of intellectual philosophy,
and was eminent in that famous school of metaphysics,
for his extensive learning and his unrivalled power
of subtle reasoning. For some years he lectured
most ably on Physiology, but before entering on
practice he accepted an invitation to attend Lord
Holland's family, during the Peace of Amiens, on
their journey first to France, then to Spain, where
they remained till the year 1805. The materials
which he collected in the latter country for a complete
account of it, both historical and statistical, were of
reat extent and value ; and a considerable portion
of the work was completed, when the pleasures of
political discussion, working with the natural indo-
lence of his habits as he advanced in life, occasioned
him to lay it aside ; and of late years he chiefly
confined his labours to some very learned papers
upon the antiquarian lore of the English constitu-
tion in the ' Edinburgh Review.' He also published,
in 1S30, a learned and luminous work upon the
ancient history of that constitution.
" He had originally been a somewhat indiscriminate
admirer of the French Revolution, and was not of the
BROUGHAM UPON ALLEN.
269
number of its eulogists whom the excesses of 1793,
and 1794, alienated from its cause. Even the Direc-
torial tyranny had not opened his eyes to the evils of
its course ; but a larger acquaintance with mankind,
more of what is termed ' knowledge of the world,'
greatly mitigated the strength of his opinions, and
his minute study of the ancient history of our own
constitution completed his emancipation from earlier
prejudices nay, rather cast his opinions into the
opposite scale ; for it is certain that during the last
thirty or forty years of his life, in other words,
during all his political life, far from tolerating
revolutionary courses, or showing any tenderness
towards innovations, he was a reformer on so small
a scale that he could hardly be brought to approve
of any change at all in our Parliamentary constitu-
tion. He held the measure of 1831-32 as all but
revolutionary ; augured ill of its effects on the
structure of the House of Commons ; and regarded
it as having in the result worked great mischief
on the composition of that body, whatever benefit
it might have secured to the Whigs as a party
movement
" If it be asked what was the peculiar merit, the
characteristic excellence of Mr. Allen's understand-
ing, the answer is not difficult to make. It was
O'
CHAPTER
XIV.
270
HOLLAND HOUSE.
CHATTER ' the rare faculty of combining general views with
details of fact, and thus at once availing himself
of all that theory or speculation presents for our
guide, with all that practical experience affords
to correct those results of oencral reasoning
o o
He for whom no theory was too abstract, no
speculation too general, could so far stoop to tin-
details of practical statesmanship as to give a friend,
proceeding for the lirst time on a delicate and im-
portant mission, this sound advice : ' Don't ever
appear anxious about any point, cither in ar<niin-
i.' -L o ,"
to convince those you are treating with, or in trying
to obtain a concession from them. It often may
happen that your indifference will gain a much
readier access to their minds. Earnestness and
anxiety are necessary for one addressing a public
assembly not so for a. negotiator.'
"The character of Mr. Allen was of the highest
order. Ilis integrity was sterling, his honour pure
and untarnished. Xo one had a more lofty disdain
of those mean tricks to which, whether on trifles
or matters of importance, worldly men have too
frequent recourse. . . . His feelings, too, were warm ;
his nature kind and affectionate. Xo man was a
more steady or sincere friend ; and his enmity,
though fierce, was placable.
BROUGHAM UPON ALLEN.
271
"It may naturally be asked how it happened that
one of his great talents, long experience, and many
rare accomplishments, intimately connected as he
\vas with the leading statesmen of his time (the
Ministers of the Crown for the last ten years of his
life), should never have been brought into public
life, nor ever been made in any way available to
the service of the country ? Nor can the answer to
this <}uestion be that lie had no powers of public
speaking, and would, if in Parliament, have been fur
the most part a silent member ; because it would
not be easy to name a move unbroken silence than
was for many long years kept by such leading Whigs
as Mr. Hare, Lord John Townscnd, and General
Eitzpatrick, without whom, nevertheless, it was
always supposed that the Whig phalanx would have
been wanting in its just proportions; and also be-
cause there are many important, many even high
political, offices that can well and usefully be filled
by men wholly unused to the wordy war: yet Mr.
Allen never filled any place except as Secretary, nay
1'nder Secretary, for a few months, to the Commis-
sioners for treating with America in 1SOG. 1 Then
I fear we are driven, in accounting for this strange
1 Lord Holland was one of the plenipotentiaries. See chap. iv.
p. 13G.
: CHAPTER
XIV.
HOLLAND HOUSE.
ciiAiTKi. 1 fact, to the high aristocratic habits of our Govern-
XIV.
inent, if the phrase may be allowed ; and can com-
prehend ]\lr. Allen's entire exclusion from power in
no other way than by considering it as now a fixed
and settled rule that there is in this country a line
drawn between the ruling caste and the rest of the
community not, indeed, that the latter are mere
hewers of wood and drawers of water, but that,
out of a profession like the bar, intimately connected
with politics, or out of the patrician circles them-
selves the monopolists of political preferment, no
such rise is in ordinary cases possible. The wnius
f o
of our system, very far from consulting its stable
endurance, appears thus to apportion its labours
and its enjoyment, separating the two classes of
our citi/ens bv an impassable line, and bestowino-
i i t o
lively upon the one the sweat and the toil, while
it reserves strictly for the other the fruit and the
hi " 1
ade.
The introduction of Allen to Lord Holland was
through Sydney Smith, whose daughter says:
"About this period [1801] Lord Holland, with
whom my father had been slightly acquainted,
wrote to ask if he could recommend any clever
1 Brougham, Statesmen of the Time of George III. Series III.
Vol. ii.
SYDNEY SMITH AND ALLEN.
273
young Scotch medical man to accompany him to
Spain, where he was going. My father had the
pleasure of recommending his friend Mr. Allen,
whose high character and talents were so valued
at Holland House, that he never after left it, but
remained there even after Lord Holland's death,
and died loved, honoured, and respected by the
whole of Lord Holland's family." 1
The year before Allen's death, Sydney Smith
writes to Lady Holland :
" I am sorry to hear Allen is not well : but
the reduction of his legs is a pure and unmixed
<i'ood ; they are enormous, they are clerical ! He
has the creed of a philosopher and the legs of
a clergyman ; 1 never saw such legs, at least,
belonging to a layman." 1
He died at Lady Holland's residence, 33 South
Street, on the 10th of April, 1S43, and Was buried
at Milbrook, the last resting-place also of the third
Lord Holland and of several members of the family.
To Lady Holland he must have been a friendly
factotum. lie almost always attended her on her
drives, was usually invited out with her and Lord
Holland to dinner, and in Holland House sat at
1 Memoir of Sydney Smith, by his daughter. Chap. ii.
- Letters of Sydney Smith, edited by Mrs. Austin. (Letter 480.)
CHAl'TKl;
XIV.
VOL. I.
N
in
HOLLAND HOUSE.
t'MAl'TKl!
XIV.
the bottom of the table and carved. In this per-
formance Lady Holland was apt to fidget him by
giving him directions, and he would assert his
independence by laying down the knife and fork
and telling her she had better do it herself!
The room bearing his name has a bay window
with a window-seat and fine old brocaded curtains.
Filled bookcases at first might testify to the late
occupant's intellectual cultivation ; but the books
are mostly novels, which we suspect have found
their way into Allen's room since Allen left it.
There is, however, in the Library of Holland
House, a literary monument to his memory in the
form of two volumes containing his articles and
reviews, some of them annotated by himself.
We are not about to make a review of Allen's
writings, which comprised history, travels, politics,
science, and what not. But we can safely say that
t/ J
he could discuss and discuss ably other matters
besides those belonging to his profession. His style
was clear and concise, his knowledge extensive, his
general view of things liberal. His article pub-
lished in 1834 upon a letter to the Duke of Wel-
lington on the Propriety and Legality of creating
Peers for Life, would be advanced even for the pre-
sent day : and though a Scotchman and a patriot,
ALLEN IN THE "EDINBURGH."
275
his view of Ireland was almost prophetic, as is
proved by the following sentence, which is the single
quotation we shall here make from his pen :
". . . . She [England] has also added about five
millions to her population by her union with Ireland ;
and would to heaven we could say, that she had
by that measure added in the same proportion to
her strength and security ; and that a blind and
bigotted attachment to ancient prejudices, and a
callous and disgusting indifference to the feelings
and interests of so large a portion of her subjects,
had not converted that which ought to have been
her pride and strength, into her chief source of
weakness and apprehension." '
Surely this, published in 1807, might be read as
a commentary upon recent facts in 1873!
On the walls of ALLEN'S ROOM are some pretty
pictures, some even without names. We would
only mention the following :
Mary, Baroness Holland, in a charming pink
and grey costume.
The Duke of Richmond, Charles the Second's
son, with very little drapery, and holding a bird
by a string.
1 Edinburgh Eeviow (July 1807). Capmany : Qiiestiones
Criticas.
N N 2
CIIAPTKI:
XIV.
276 HOLLAND HOUSE.
The Duchess of Portsmouth.
The Countess of Pembroke, by Gascar.
And Charles, third Duke of Richmond, by the
great Florentine artist, Battoni.
This last picture, the best in the room, is quaint
and excellent ; life-size, not quite full length, with
t\vo dogs introduced on a table : the colouring in
good preservation, the grouping well arranged.
We have passed by the PRINCESSES* ROOMS. Xo.
historical interest, that we are a\vare of, attaches
itself to them. Of course they have been inhabited
by interesting people, which we venture to think
might be said of any visitor's room in Holland
House.
Near ALLKX'S ROOM is a small China Closet,
with a quantity of china. I!ut .... we are not
here making an inventory.
CHAPTER XV.
THE JOURNAL ROOM.
Tuts room derives its name from having been that
in which State papers and journals were kept. Tt
is entered by four different doors, one from the lobhy
out of the I>reakfast Room, one from the AYhite
Parlour, one from " Allen's Room," and one from
the Garden. It is longer than it is wide, and very
fully furnished with 'nooks and pictures. Upon the
books we need not here d \vcll ; they eome under
the head of the Library.
Amongst the pictures are :
By Phillips : Charles, Earl Grey ; and Sir Philip
Francis.
It was the same Charles, Earl Grey, who, when
278
HOLLAND HOUSE.
CHAPTER
XV.
still Lord Howick, distinguished himself in the
House of Commons under Lord Grenville's adminis-
tration by carrying the Act for the abolition of the
Slave Trade, and who later, in 1830, becoming Prime
Minister, announced as the objects of his policy,
Peace, Retrenchment, and Reform. He died in 1845.
Sir Philip Francis was, as we all know, the
supposed author of Junius's Letters ; many having
been the discussions, arguments, and anecdotes con-
cerning the supposed authorship. Without entering
into a province which does not belong to us, and
without here renewing a still vexed question, we
venture to remind the reader of a well-known story
the scene of which is laid in Holland House. We
are indebted for it to Sir James Lacaita, who had
it from Lord Lansdowiic (the third marquis). Sir
Philip Francis, Samuel Rogers, and others, were stay-
ing at Holland House. Sir Philip and Rogers got on
remarkably well together. One evening, after dinner,
they were walking alone in the gallery and discuss-
ing politics and literature. Sir Philip grew more
communicative than usual, and so friendly and con-
fidential towards Rogers, that the latter, much en-
couraged, ventured to say: "Now, Sir Philip, I
should like to ask you a rather delicate question ;
may I ? " Whereupon Sir Philip's manner and tone
ROGERS PUTTING THE QUESTION.
279
were at once altered ; and, suddenly stopping, he
answered in a short and abrupt way, " At your peril,
sir, at your peril." Rogers remained silent, and then
changed the subject of conversation ; but he carried
therefrom a firm belief that Sir Philip was "Junius." 1
By James Ramsay : the Right Hon. Hugh For-
tescue, Viscount Ebrington. He afterwards became
second Earl of Fortescuc. Born 1783; died 1SG1.
Now we come to a great work by a emit master :
J O
The Princess Lieven, by Watts. And we would
excite the reader's interest rather than betray the
artist's confidence when we say that Watts considers
this one of his best portraits.
The canvas measures 4G inches by 36 ; and the
old lady sitting down allows us a three-quarters view
of her face. There are a plant, a flower-pot, and
other accessories ; but these, though capable of in-
spection, still leave the portrait the prominent part
of the picture. And its prominence is as safe as it
is right. Carefully drawn and highly finished, but
idealized neither in age nor in costume, this won-
derful representation is a miracle of art by its truth
to nature.
1 The substance of the above story is given in vol. vi. p. GO of
" Moore's Memoirs, Journal, and Correspondence," (Russell,) with
the addition that Rogers, on leaving Francis, muttered to himself,
" If he is Junius, it must be Junius Brutus."
CHAPTER
XV.
HOLLAND HOUSE.
The Princess Lieven, though born in the eighteenth
century, 1784, having only died in 1857, may be
considered as belonging to our times.
Like a great many clever women, she attracted
about her satellites who were worthy of her charms;
she herself being a star of the first magnitude.
Her name shone, and her fame still shines a
diplomatic and social light of the present century.
Married to the .Russian Ambassador in London, she
acquired an early taste for politics : and \ve cannot
wonder at her acquiring the taste when \ve remember
the position she occnpicd during the period which
preceded the do\vnfall of Xapoleon, during which
period the eyes of Europe watched with breathless
anxiety to see whether the two great powers oi
Russia and England would keep at peace with
each other.
In appearance dignified, in manners simple, with
the intellect of a man and the pliability of a woman ;
well dressed, and always suitably to her years, she
presented in herself a general concentration of charms,
and these, wherever she went, she seemed unwit-
tingly to dispense without self-privation. Her style
in writing harmonized with her other qualities, and
was always in harmony with her subject. She could
be grave, gay, learned, sarcastic. One generally loves
PRINCESS LIEVEN.
281
doing what one does well ; she wrote well and loved
to use her pen. She has been very aptly said to
combine " la raison de La Rochefoucauld avec les
manieres do Madame de Sevigno." But with all this
she had no taste for reading, except the newspapers;
and her ignorance upon some common subjects would
have been marvellous even in a schoolboy.
During her last years in Paris, her salon was
the resort of the great men of the day. Mole,
Montalcmbert, Guizot, Thiers, and others met there
and carried on their fierce discussions under the
pacifying charm of her whose sway they owned.
Her end was touching and dignified. Naturally
nervous about herself, she had dreaded the slightest
indisposition ; but when she heard that her doom
was sealed, she looked death calmly in the face,
and conformed to the last rites of the Protestant
Church. Feeling the supreme moment at hand, she
requested that Guizot and his sou should leave her
bedside, in order that they might be spared the
painful sight of her agony. She had, however, still
strength enough to address Guizot, her old and
devoted friend, tracing in pencil these words :
" Merci dc vingt ans d'amitie ct do bonhcur." '
1 Most of the above particulars of the Princess Lieven are taken
from a MS. in the possession of Lady Holland.
CHAPTER
XV.
VOL. I.
O
HOLLAND HOUSE.
iAiTKi! Watts's portrait of her was executed in Paris, in
1856, the year before her death.
By J. Lonsdale : Lord Archibald Hamilton.
(1822.)
By Arthur Shoe : The Ilitjlit Hon. John Hookham
/ O
Frere, the man of letters and diplomatist, whom
\vc have already seen (by Chantrey) in the Entrance
Hall, and whom we have already mentioned in
the salon of the third Lord Holland.
By Gauffier : Elizabeth, Lady Holland, painted
at Florence in 1795.
By Rathbone : Francis Horncr, of whom we do
not easily tire. Sydney Smith used to say that
lie had the Ten Commandments written on his
face ; in fact, that he looked so virtuous, that he
might commit any crime, and no one would believe
in the possibility of his guilt. 1
By Hoppner : Peter, Lord King. (1805.)
By Kirkup : Lord Dudley Stuart, the great friend
of the Poles. (A portrait in crayons.)
By Lady Diana Bcauclerk : Charles James Fox ;
a clever sketch, given by Miss Fox to the third
Lord Holland, in 1818. The sketch is frao--
O
mentary, and as such we venture to say typifies
the amount of knowledge some people who are
1 Memoir of Sydney Smith, by his daughter. Chap. vi.
PICTURES IN JOURNAL ROOM.
283
supposed to be well educated have of the man it
partly represents. The artist is the same Lady
Diana Beauclerk already mentioned. 1
By Hayter (copied after a picture by Sir Thomas
Lawrence): John, sixth Duke of Bedford (182G),
for a time Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland. This was a
present to the third Lord Holland.
By Jackson and Callcott : Sir James Mackintosh
(after Sir Thomas Lawrence). We like to see Sir
James Mackintosh in Holland House, and wish we
had him by our elbow at this moment !
By Ercole : Prince dc Talleyrand, copied from
the original of Ary Schefl'er, which was left to the
Due d'Aumale by the fourth Lord Holland. The
original went to Twickenham. Talleyrand, the
first diplomatist of his day, and amongst the first,
if not the pleasantcst, of wits, changed his con-
dition and also his politics ; but, in the expression
on the canvas, we very much mistake if he ever
changed his policy.
By Opie : Charles, Earl of Stanhope.
By Fabre : Henry Richard, third Lord Holland.
By Stoddart : Twelve water-colour drawings,
illustrating Byron's Poems.
Many of the foregoing pictures deserve more
1 See pp. 25G-7.
2
CHAPTER
XV.
284
HOLLAND HOUSE.
CHAITKl!
XV.
than the bare record we have given to them. Let
those who would blame our omission congratulate
themselves upon the fact that limited time and
space may exist with limited competency.
CHAPTER XVI.
THE \VHITK PAIILOU1I.
THE WHITE PAKI.OU;, \vitli its o;ik wainscoting,
panelled in white and picked out in gold, has a
high ceiling and tin old-fashioned bay window, and
is rather formal in appearance.
At the end of the room, opposite the entrance from
the Journal Room, is a recess of pious memory. It
forms the subject of the opposite plate, and has been
already mentioned in our plan of the ground-floor.
In its altered condition the recess remains a monu-
ment of mundane transitoriness. People in general
are apt to dilate upon the vicissitudes of human
life, and travellers in particular to talk of their ex-
periences. But plain bricks and stones may be the
scene of very varied events ; and walls that remain
HOLLAND HOUSE.
CHAITF.K
XVI.
on the same spot immoveable, deaf, dumb, blind,
though they be, are often witnesses of stranger com-
binations than hard-working sight-seers would meet
with in a year's journey over the face of the earth.
The AVniTE PARLOUR is now used as an ante-
room, a tea-room, or for any occasional purpose.
It is perhaps more than anything else a small por-
trait gallery, where some few distinguished friends
of the house keep a place on the walls, and where,,
(.vcn if passed out of this life, they still remain
unforgotten.
High up above the wainscot, the pictures hang :
By Phillips : Viscount Grenville (given to the
third Lord Holland).
By Hoppncr : Viscount Barrington (1798). He
was nephew of the second Lord Harrington, who
became Chancellor of the Exchequer in 17(11, and
died towards the end of the last century.
After Sir Thomas Lawrence : The first Marquis
of Anglesea, who lost his leg at Waterloo, and who,
as Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, declared himself in
favour of Catholic Emancipation.
By Slice : Augustus Frederick, Duke of Leinster.
Another by Hoppncr : George, Viscount Morpeth
(1798), afterwards Lord Carlisle, who at Holland
House was indeed a valued friend.
SIR STEPHEN FOX'S MONEY CHESTS.
289
Also by Hoppncr : The Hon. General Fox; Bolms CHAITEI;
Smith (Sydney Smith's brother) ; and Richard
Vassall (1793).
By Hamilton: Lord Edward Fitzgerald (1796).
By ('. Landseer: Lieut.-Gen. C. R. Fox (ISM).
By Mme. de Tott : Lady Affleck.
l>y Battoni : Mary, Lady Holland.
And other portraits, by artists unnamed.
An idea has obtained some circulation that two
chests in the WHITE PARLOUR were Stephen Fox's
money chests. The idea is erroneous. But tin-
chests themselves seem very well known. There-
for.- we shall only add upon the subject that in
them Stephen Fox kept official papers when he
was Paymaster, or head of the War Office.
VOL. i.
p P
DA
687
H7L5
1874
v.l*
Liechtenstein, Marie Henriette
Norberte
Holland house
PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE
CARDS OR SLIPS FROM THIS POCKET
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO LIBRARY
