Full text of "The intimate letters of Hester Piozzi and Penelope Pennington, 1788-1821"

HANDBOUND
AT THE

UNIVERSITY OF
TORONTO PRESS

THE INTIMATE LETTERS OF HESTER
PIOZZI & PENELOPE PENNINGTON

1788-1821

BY THE SAME AUTHOR
AN ARTIST'S LOVE STORY

THE INTIMATE LETTERS OF
HESTER PIOZZI AND PENE-
LOPE PENNINGTON 1788-1821

EDITED BY OSWALD G. KNAPP
WITH THIRTY ILLUSTRATIONS

LONDON : JOHN LANE, THE BODLEY HEAD

NEW YORK: JOHN LANE COMPANY
TORONTO: BELL 6f COCKBURN. MCMXIV

Printed by BALLANTYNE, HANSON &* Co.
at the Ballantyne Press, Edinburgh

MY WIFE

THE INTIMATE LETTERS OF HESTER
PIOZZI & PENELOPE PENNINGTON

1788-1821

PREFACE

letters included in this volume have been
printed without alteration, except that some of
Mrs. Piozzi's redundant initial capitals have
been suppressed, and that her somewhat erratic
punctuation has been, to a certain extent, systematised.
Her spelling, save for the correction of obvious slips, which
are very rare, has not been altered. The omitted passages,
which have been indicated wherever they occur, mainly con-
sist of formal " compliments " at the beginning or end of
letters, to which she was much addicted, unsavoury medical
details, or casual allusions to insignificant persons and
trivial events of no interest in themselves, and having no
direct bearing on the story of her life.

For the outline of her career before her second marriage
I have to acknowledge my indebtedness to previous writers,
particularly Hayward and Mangin, and the more recent
works of Mr. Seeley and Messrs. Broadley and Seccombe ;
not forgetting the indispensable Dictionary of National
Biography, for the identification of many persons inci-
dentally mentioned. I have also to express my thanks to
Miss Thrale of Croydon for interesting information re-
specting her family ; and above all to Mr. A. M. Broadley,
not only for his generous permission to make use of
Mrs. Piozzi's unpublished Commonplace Book, now in

vii

viii PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

his possession, but also for allowing me to draw freely
upon his unrivalled collection of prints, &c., relating to
this period, from which the greater part of the illustrations
has been taken.

INWOOD, PARKSTONE,
July 1913.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I

Introductory Mrs. Piozzi and the blue-stockings Penelope
Weston The Salusbury family Early years and education
Marriage to Thrale, 1763 Widowhood Marriage to Piozzi,
1784 Foreign travel Return to England, 1788

CHAPTER II

The Piozzis in Hanover Square Scotch tour, 1789 Visit to
Wales Return to Streatham Park, 1790 Harriet Lee's
romance Nuneham and Mrs. Siddons, 1791 French Revolu-
tion Cecilia's admirers Apprehensions for Cecilia The
September massacres Miss Weston's engagement . . 18

CHAPTER III

Miss Weston marries Wm. Pennington, 1792 Execution of
Louis XVI Reconciliation of Mrs. Piozzi and her daughters,
1793 Irish Rebellion British Synonymy Fleming's pro-
phecies Cecilia's flirtations Residence at Denbigh, 1794
Building of Brynbella 73

CHAPTER IV

x PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

CHAPTER V

Adoption of John Salusbury Piozzi The Canterbury Tales Bath
Riots, 1800 Chancery suit with Miss Thrale Bachygraig
restored Retrospection published, 1801 The Blagdon con-
troversyPolitical epigram 169

CHAPTER VI

Attacks by reviewers The Peace, 1 80 1 Visit to LondonSouth
Wales Mrs. Pennington's troubles Bath again Breach
with Mrs. Pennington, 1804 218

CHAPTER VII

Renewal of friendship, 1819 Weston-super-Mare W. A. Conway
Birthday fete, 1820 Con way's love affair Penzance
The Queen's trial More law Land's End Return to Clifton
and death, 1821 Mrs. Pennington's obituary notice Her
relations with the daughters and the executors Epitaph . 270

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

MRS. PIOZZI (Photogravure) Frontispiece

By Meyer, after Jackson, 1811, from the Collection of A. M.
Broadley, Esq.

TO FACE PAGE

CATHERINE OF BERAIN 7

By W. Bond, after J. Allen, 1798.

SIR RICHARD CLOUGH 8

By Basire, after M. Griffith.

DR. JOHNSON'S BIOGRAPHERS (MRS. PIOZZI, CAREY ?, AND

BOSWELL) 16

From a caricature, 1 786, in the Collection of A. M. Broadley, Esq.

STREATHAM PARK 28

By J. Landseer, after S. Prout, from the Collection of A. M.
Broadley, Esq.

ANNA SEWARD . 34

By W. Ridley, after Romney, 1 797, from a print in the British
Museum.

HELEN MARIA WILLIAMS 44

From an engraving by J. Singleton, in the British Museum.

MRS. THRALE AT THE AGE OF FORTY 58

From the original picture by Sir Joshua Reynolds, about 1781.

MRS. SIDDONS 70

By R. J. Lane, after Sir Thos. Lawrence.

MARIA SIDDONS 80

By G. Clent, after Sir Thos. Lawrence.

SARAH MARTHA SIDDONS 89

By R. J. Lane, after Sir Thos. Lawrence.

MRS. PIOZZI 95

From an engraving by Dance, 1793, from the Collection of
A. M. Broadley, Esq.

xii PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

TO FACE PAGE

ARTHUR MURPHY 107

From a print in ths Collection of A. M. Broadley, Esq.

CECILIA MOSTYN 126

From the Collection of A. M. Broadley, Esq.

ELIZA (FARREN) COUNTESS OF DERBY, 1797 . . .141

From a print in the British Museum.

CECILIA SIDDONS 144

By R. J. Lane, after Sir Thos. Lawrence.

JOSEPH GEORGE HOLMAN 150

By W. Angus, after Dodd, 1784, from a print in the British
Museum.

SOPHIA LEE 160

By Ridley, after Sir Thomas Lawrence, 1 809, from the Collection
of A. M. Broadley, Esq.

MRS. PIOZZI (ABOUT 1900) 180

By M. Bovi, after P. Violet, 1800, from the Collection of A. M.
Broadley, Esq.

BACHYGRAIG HOUSE IN 1776 199

By Godfrey, after J. Hooper, 1776.

HANNAH MORE ......... 228

By Scriven, after Slater, 1813, from the Collection of A. M.
Broadley, Esq.

MRS. PIOZZI (ABOUT 1808) 250

By J. Bate, after a medallion by Henning, 1808, from the
Collection of A. M. Broadley, Esq.

WILLIAM AUGUSTUS CONWAY AS HENRY V .... 280
By Rivers, after De Wilde, 1814, from the Collection of A. M.
Broadley, Esq.

THE LOWER (KINGSTON) ROOMS, BATH .... 296
By W. J. White, after H. O. Neill, from the Collection of A. M.
Broadley, Esq.

PROGRAMME OF MRS. PIOZZI'S CONCERT, 1820, WITH MS.
NOTES. By Mrs. Pennington and Maria Brown . . . 299

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xiii

TO FACE PAGE

Miss FELLOWES AS HERB STREWER AT THE CORONATION

OF GEO. IV, 1821 314

By M. Gauci, after Mrs. Baker, from the Collection of A. M.
Broadley, Esq.

" FRYING SPRATS " AND " TOASTING MUFFINS " . . . 342
Front a caricature by Gillray, 1791, in the Collection of A.M.
Broadley, Esq.

TICKET FOR MRS. PIOZZI'S FETE 355

THE BURNING OF THE KINGSTON ROOMS . . . .355
From a ball ticket, 1 82 1 , in the Collection of A.M. Broadley, Esq.

THOMAS SEDGWICK WHALLEY, D.D 376

By J. Brown, after Sir Joshua Reynolds, from a print in the
Collection of A. M. Broadley, Esq.

THE INTIMATE LETTERS OF HESTER
PIOZZI & PENELOPE PENNINGTON

c-
CHAPTER I

Introductory Mrs. Piozzi and the blue-stockings Penelope Weston
The Salusbury family Early years and education Marriage to
Thrale, 1763 Widowhood Marriage to Piozzi, 1784 Foreign
travel Return to England, 1788.

2 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

the writer of the following letters. Of the literary society
in which she mnvprl ^p yrag an arjffl pledged flneeiL who
oardly yieldecf precedence on her own ground to Mrs.
Montagu herself. Indeed Wraxall was of opinion that she
possessed " at least as much information, a mind as culti-
vated, and even more brilliancy of intellect " ; while Madame
D'Arblay thought that her conversation was " more bland
and more gleeful " than that of either Mrs. Montagu or
Mrs. Vesey. '^JEaJhggrygi^^ (before their

great quarrel), { ^is to hea^W^dpni, to sge^youjs_to^ee_
J/'ir.tue.JI It may be said that this was merely the partiality
of friendship, or an example of the mutual admiration
which was rather characteristic of the coterie. But Anna
Seward, who roundly condemned her literary style, declared
Thatcher conversation was " the bright wine of intellect,
"wBlCJT has no lees " ; and 'tKe" great Lexicographer himself,
who was not wont to be unduly lavish of his praises, vouch-
safed on one occasion to tell her that she had " as much wit,
and more talent /^thapjiny wnman h^ krp,w ^n^TwrlaTls
still more remarkable, her power of pleasing continued,
with but little diminution, to the end of her long life. Sir
William Pepys, who had known her for many years, writing
after her death, says he had ^ never met_any human being
who possessed the talent of conversation t

And rriofe'easily than in the case of most of her con-
temporaries, the charm ofjier conversation jari bp gathered
from her letters. To it Fanny Burney's criticism seems to
apply as fitly as to the record of her Italian tour, of which
it was originally written : " How like herself, how char-
acteristic is every line! wild, entertaining, flighty, incon-
sistent, and clever ! " The spontaneity and freshness of
her style is the more remarkable when we remember the
taste of the circle in which she moved/ and

letters udib^ the laboured andformal productions* of her
friend Anjr^Seward, the much-aSmired "jw^rro|ljcl5ield/^

and particularly when we recall her intimate relations with

MRS. PIOZZTS LETTERS 3

Johnson for a period of nearly^twenty years. The fact is
" that he tauncTner mind already formed, ancTthough it was
for a time " swallowed up and lost," as she says, in his vast
intellect, it was not absorbed, but emerged later on,
strengthened and clarified indeed, but with its original
characteristics little changed.

A good many of her letters have already seen the light.
Those written to Dr. Johnson she herself published after
his death. Her friend, the Rev. Edward Mangin, included
about thirty, written for the most part to himself, in his
Piozziana ; while Hayward, in the so-called Autobiography,
gives about a hundred and forty, of which a few were written
to the brothers Lysons, and nearly all the remainder to Sir
James Fellowes. But these differ in some important
respects from those in the present volume. They were
nearly all written to men, and though they may possibly
be somewhat more brilliant, and make rather a greater
show of learning, they are hardly so frank and unaffected,
and do not reveal the personality of the writer so clearly
as those which she wrote to an intimate friend of her own
sex ; in whose case she had no temptation to pose, even
unconsciously, nor any lurking thought of a reputation
as a wit to be kept up.

Their recipient was fully alive to their importance, and
in a letter in Mr. Broadley's collection, dated 1821, quotes
her as saying that she had " a larger and perhaps better
collection of dear Mrs. Piozzi's letters than any other
correspondent." And she backs her opinion by that of
Dr. Whalley, who had probably seen most of them, to the
effect that " was any publication intended, they would be
a most rich and valuable addition, and altogether form a
collection of letters more eagerly sought after, and more
agreeable to the general public than any that have been
ever published."

The letters in question, some two hundred in number,
begin in 1788, not long after Mrs. Piozzi's second marriage,

4 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

and continue (though with a break of fifteen years) to
within a few days of her death in 1821. The friend to whom
they were written first appears on the scene as Penelope
Sophia Weston, a friend of Mrs. Siddons, Helen Williams,
and Anna Seward, whose published letters contain many
addressed to " the graceful and elegant Miss Weston," who
was then the leading spirit of " a knot of ingenious and
charming females at Ludlow in Shropshire," where Anna
paid her a visit in 1787. She was then living with her
widowed mother, who had not much in common with the
literary proclivities of her daughter. She writes in 1782 :
" My mother is a very good woman, but our minds are,
unfortunately, cast in such different moulds our pursuits
and ideas on every occasion are likewise so that it is of
very little moment our speaking the same language. Indeed
I see very little of her ; for she is either busied in domestic
matters, praying, gardening, or gossiping most part of
the day ; while I sit moping over the fire with a book or
pen in my hand, without stirring (if the weather is un-
favourable), for weeks together. . . . Remember me to
your charming Mrs. Siddons." This passage appears in
the published correspondence of her " dear cousin Tom,"
the Rev. T. S. Whalley, D.D., who was not, strictly speak-
ing, related to her at all, but had married her first cousin,
Miss Jones of Longford. As he had a house at Bath he
may have been the means of making her acquainted with
Mrs. Piozzi.

It does not fall within the scope of this work to give a
detailed account of Mrs. Piozzi's life : this has been done,
though in a somewhat piecemeal manner, by A. Hay ward, 1
and more recently by Mr. H. B. Seeley. 2 But for the better
understanding of the letters it will be necessary to give a

1 Autobiography, Letters, and Literary Remains of Mrs. Piozzi, 2 vols.,
1861.

2 Mrs. Piozzi : a Sketch of her Life, and Passages from her Diaries,
Letters, &c., 1891.

THE SALUSBURY FAMILY 5

brief outline of her career up to the date at which they
begin ; and this may fitly be preceded by some account of
her family, a matter in which she was keenly interested, and
to which she frequently recurs in her correspondence.

Mrs. Piozzi was the last of an old knightly Welsh family,
Welsh by long residence, if not by blood, called in the early
records Salbri or Salsbri, and Englished as Salesbury or
Salisbury, and in more recent times as Salusbury. It
produced a goodly number of soldiers, scholars, and divines ;
the latter chiefly in a younger branch seated at Rug in
Merioneth in the sixteenth century. Among these were
William Salesbury, " the best scholar among the Welsh-
men," who compiled a Welsh dictionary, and made the
first translation of the New Testament into that language ;
Henry Salesbury, a noted doctor and grammarian, and
John Salesbury, a Jesuit, Superior of the English Province.
In the same century the elder or Llewenny line boasted of
John Salesbury, a Benedictine monk who forsook his vows
and married, but was made by Queen Elizabeth Bishop of
Sodor and Man ; Foulke Salesbury, first Dean of St. Asaph,
and Thomas Salesbury, who was executed for his share in
Babington's Plot.

In the course of centuries a goodly number of romantic
legends had attached themselves to the earlier generations,
particularly in connection with their armorial bearings, in
which Mrs. Piozzi was an enthusiastic believer. As far
back as the sixteenth century the Salesburys had claimed
as their eponymous ancestor a certain Adam, believed to
be a younger son of Alexander, Duke of Bavaria, hence
known as Adam de Saltzburg, who made his way to England,
and was appointed by Henry II Captain of the castle of

(Denbigh. Another and less probable version of the story,
favoured by Mrs. Piozzi, makes him a follower of William
the Conqueror, and gives him a fair estate in Lancashire,
on which he built a seat called Saltsbury or Salisbury Court.
Of her descent from this Adam she says : "I showed an

6 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

abstract to the Heralds in Office at Saltzburg, when there,
and they acknowledged me a true descendant of their house,
offering me all possible honours, to the triumphant delight
of dear Piozzi, for whose amusement alone I pulled out the
Schedule." This may be satisfactory evidence for the
existence of Adam, but of course the Heralds had to
take the descent on trust. The fact appears to be
that Adam of Llewenny was an Englishman who settled
in Wales after its conquest at the end of the thirteenth
century, and was a member of the family of Salesbury
of Salesbury, co. Lanes. Adam's descendant, Sir Henry
Salesbury "the Black," "having taken three noble
Saracens with his own hand on the first Crusade, Cceur de
Lion knighted him on the field of battle, and to the old
Bavarian lion which adorned his shield added three
crescents." This Henry is supposed to have built Llewenny
Hall. The name of another Henry, who fought in the Wars
of the Roses, " stood recorded on a little obelisk, or rather
cippus, by the roadside at Barnet, ... so long that I
remember my father taking me out of the carriage to read
it, when I was quite a child. He had shown mercy to an
enemy on that occasion, who, looking on his device . . .
flung himself at his feet with these words ' SAT EST
PROSTRASSE LEONi.' Our family have used that Leggenda
as motto to the coat armour ever since." The arms of
the present Piozzi-Salusbury family are : Gules, a lion
rampant argent, ducally crowned or, between three crescents
of the last, a canton ermine, with motto as above.

We are on firmer ground when we arrive at Sir John
Salesbury of Llewenny, Kt, M.P. for Denbigh in the
sixteenth century, and his family of fourteen children, of
whom the eldest and youngest sons were the ancestors of
Mrs. Piozzi on the maternal and paternal side respectively.
John, the eldest, married Catherine of Berain, a lady who
deserves a paragraph to herself. Their grandson, Sir Henry
Salusbury of Llewenny, was created a Baronet by James I,

CATHERINE OF BERAIN
By Jf. Bond after J. Allen, ij

CATHERINE OF BERAIN 7

but this line came to an end with his granddaughter Hester,
who married Sir Robert Cotton of Combermere Abbey,
co. Chester, Bart., ancester of Lord Combermere. Their
granddaughter, Hester Maria Cotton, was Mrs. Piozzi's
mother.

Catherine of Berain above mentioned, called from her
numerous descendants Mam y Cymry, or Mam Gwalia,
"Mother of Wales," was a great-granddaughter of Fychan
Tudor of Berain, a personage claimed by Mrs. Piozzi,
though not acknowledged by the genealogists, as a younger
son of Sir Owen Tudor, Kt, by Queen Catherine, widow
of Henry V. That the Mother of Wales (who would, on
this hypothesis, be a cousin of Queen Elizabeth) was a
lady of great attractions, both in person and in purse, may
be gathered from the story of her four matrimonial ventures,
which cannot be better told than in the words of Pennant,
the historian and naturalist, who was himself one of her
descendants. " The tradition goes that at the funeral of
her beloved spouse (Sir John Salesbury), she was led to
Church by Sir Richard (Clough), and from Church by
Morris Wynn of Gwydyr, who whispered to her his wish of
being her second. She refused him with great civility,
informing him that she had accepted the proposal of Sir
Richard on her way to Church ; but assured him and was
as good as her word that in case she performed the same
sad duty, which she was then about, to the Knight, he might
depend on being her third. As soon as she had composed
this gentleman, to show that she had no superstition about
the number three, she concluded with Edward Thelwall of
Plas y Ward, Esq., departed this life Aug. 27, and was
interred at Llanivydd on the ist of Sep. 1591."

For the paternal ancestry of Mrs. Piozzi we must return
to Roger, the youngest son of Sir John Salesbury, M.P.
He married Anne, one of the daughters of Catherine of
Berain by her second husband, Sir Richard Clough, Kt.,
another picturesque figure who deserves a separate mention.

8 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

He was the youngest son of a Denbigh glover, who became a
prosperous merchant, and was a partner of Sir Thomas
Gresham, whom he assisted to found the Royal Exchange,
and whose continental business he superintended. This
necessitated a residence at Antwerp, where he also acted
as a kind of unofficial agent of the English Government.
His mercantile pursuits were not, however, so absorbing
but that he could make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, where
he was made a Knight of the Holy Sepulchre, and thereafter
bore the five crosses of Jerusalem in his arms. During one
of his brief visits to England, about 1567, he married, as we
have seen, Catherine of Berain, then widow of Sir John
Salesbury of Llewenny, and began building two mansion-
houses, one called Plas Clough and the other Bachygraig ,
both in Flintshire, and both in the Dutch style, perhaps by
means of imported workmen. The former was inherited
by his son Richard, by a former wife, an Antwerp lady
named Van Mildurt, whose descendants still possess it.
The latter he bequeathed to Anne Salesbury, one of his
daughters by Catherine of Berain. It thus became the
seat of the younger line of the family down to the time of
John Salusbury, Mrs. Piozzi's father, and came to her on
the death of her parents.

Mrs. Piozzi herself was born i6th January 1740 (Old
Style), or 27th January 1741 (New Style), at Bodvel, near
Pwllheli, and was christened Hester Lynch, the names being
derived from her mother,;Hester Maria Cotton (granddaughter
of Hester Salusbury, the last of the elder line), and from her
maternal grandmother, Philadelphia, daughter of Sir Thomas
Lynch. Her father, John Salusbury of Bachygraig, left an
orphan at four years old, was high-spirited and attractive,
but careless and extravagant, and even before his marriage
had succeeded in heavily encumbering his property. His
wife's fortune of 10,000 barely sufficed to pay his debts
and to provide a modest cottage in which to start house-
keeping. Before long she and her only child found a

SIR RICHARD Cl.<>f<;il
/>> />W;r after .!/. Griffith

CHILDHOOD AND EDUCATION

more comfortable abode at Llewenny Hall with her eldest
brother, Sir Robert Salusbury Cotton, who took a great
liking for little Hester, and being himself childless, promised
to provide for her ; but his sudden death before he had
carried out his intention left them in great straits. John
Salusbury had been sent out by Lord Halifax to assist in
re-settling the colony of Nova Scotia, but it was not a
lucrative employment, and his wife sought a home for her
child first at East Hyde, Beds., with her own mother,
Philadelphia, then the widow of Captain King, and
afterwards at Offley Hall, Herts., the seat of her
brother-in-law, Sir Thomas Salusbury, Judge of the
Admiralty Court.

So far Hester's education had been of a very desultory
kind, though she had been well grounded in French by her
parents from a very early age. At East Hyde she learnt
to love and manage horses, startling, and somewhat shock-
ing her grandmother, by driving two of the " ramping
warhorses " who drew the family coach round the courtyard.
But her first systematic instruction she received at Offley,
where she learnt Italian and Spanish, apparently from her
uncle's wife, Anna, daughter of Sir Henry Penrice, and
" Latin, Logic, Rhetoric, &c. " from a Doctor Collier, for
whom she had a warm regard, and who did more, she con-
sidered, to form her mind than anyone with whom she
afterwards came in contact, Johnson not excepted. Greek
she did not learn from him, for she laments her ignorance
of it some years later, when, in the course of her Italian
tour, she was unable to read an inscription in that language
which was shown to her. So Mangin was no doubt un-
consciously exaggerating when he wrote that she had " for
more than sixty years . . . studied the Scriptures ... in
the original languages." But it seems fairly certain that
she acquired some knowledge of Greek, and possibly also
of Hebrew, in later life, though she makes no parade of her
acquirements. The stray words in these languages which

io PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

are found in her letters are not conclusive evidence, as
they may have been merely copied from some work which
she had been reading. But in her Commonplace Book, now
in the possession of Mr. A. M. Broadley, and written only
for her own amusement, occur several Greek phrases, and
an epigram of some length, with a translation, apparently
her own. And it is noteworthy that the Greek is written
with the breathings and accents, in the clear, firm hand of
one well used to the script, very unlike the tentative efforts
of a beginner.

By this time suitors for the hand of the prospective
heiress began to arrive, among whom was Henry Thrale,
proprietor of a lucrative brewery in South wark, who com-
mended himself to the uncle as being a " thorough sports-
man," and to the mother by his assiduous attentions to
herself. But he does not appear to have taken the trouble
to be more than barely civil to the bride elect, who naturally
resented his attitude, and heartily disliked the idea of a
marriage with him. She appealed to her father, who had
now returned from America, having no aptitude or liking
for a colonial career, and who sympathised with her feelings,
but his sudden death in 1762 put an end to any hope of
intervention on his part. Her mother and uncle pressed on
what they considered a desirable match, and she was married
to Thrale, nth October 1763.

At this period, at any rate, Henry Thrale was by no means
the dull, heavy, self-indulgent being that some accounts of
him in later life might seem to suggest. His father, Ralph
Thrale, a shrewd, self-made man, used the fortune he had
amassed at the Old Anchor Brewery to give his son the
best education the period could afford. Much of his boy-
hood he spent at Stowe in Buckinghamshire, where his
associates belonged to a group of great county families ;
for Ralph Thrale's cousin, Ann Halsey, had married Sir
Richard Temple of Stowe, created Viscount Cobham, whose
sisters had married into the families of Grenville and

MARRIAGE TO THRALE

1 1

,yttelton. As some of them were indebted to the father,
lotives of policy may have had something to do with their
friendship for the son. At the age of fifteen he was sent
to Oxford, which he left without taking a degree, though
he was afterwards created a D.C.L. Then he was sent
on the grand tour, on an allowance of 1000 a year, with
William Henry Lyttelton, afterwards Lord Westcote and
Lyttelton, whose expenses were also paid by the elder
Thrale, and at the time of his marriage he was a finished
"man about town." His artistic and literary tastes are
indicated by the gallery of portraits by Reynolds which he
formed at Streatham Park, and by the literary society he
loved to entertain there, from Johnson downwards. The
latter spoke of him as " a real scholar," and said that " if he
would talk more, his manner would be very completely
that of a perfect gentleman " ; and he had, what Johnson
entirely lacked, a keen appreciation of natural scenery.
His religious and moral principles might be expected to be
those of his associates, who at the time of his marriage, with
the exception of one Romanist, all seemed to his wife to be
professed infidels. But his outward conduct was at least
lecorous, and she remarks that his conversation was wholly
je from all oaths, ribaldry, and profaneness. In 1779
le wrote in Thraliana (her private diary) : " Few people
re in such a state of preparation for eternity, I think, as
ly dear Master has done since I have been connected with
regular in his public and private devotions, constant
it the Sacrament, temperate in his appetites, moderate in
passions, he has less to apprehend from a sudden
immons than any man I have known who was young and
ty, and high in health and fortune."

Their usual residence was a pleasant country house
town as Streatham Park, standing in grounds of about
hundred acres, but in winter she was expected to live at
business premises in Deadman's Lane, South wark, a
:ipulation which had put an end to several of Thrale 's

12 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

previous matrimonial negotiations. Her acceptance of it
she believed to have been the determining factor in his
final choice of a wife. He possessed also a hunting-box
near Croydon, where he kept a pack of hounds, and a house
in West Street, Brighton. But with all the comfort, and
even luxury of her surroundings, she enjoyed no confidence
and little sympathy from her husband. He required a
wife to do the honours of his table and to bear his children ;
other forms of activity were frowned upon or banned.
Riding to hounds was too masculine to be tolerated ; she
was not permitted to have any voice in the management of
her household, and she did not even know what there was
for dinner till it appeared on the table. She was not allowed
to know anything of his business affairs till a serious crisis
occurred, when she saved the situation by her promptitude
in raising some 20,000 from relatives and friends to meet
pressing demands. This, and her energetic canvassing
of Southwark when Thrale was standing for Parliament,
seems to have convinced her husband of her capabilities,
and to have generated in him a certain amount of respect,
if not of affection.

The sphere of her activities being thus restricted, and
having no taste for gay society, she was driven to occupy
herself with her books and her children, of whom she had
twelve, though only four survived their childhood. While
still in her teens she had contributed verses anonymously
to the St. James' Chronicle, but at this period she probably
had little opportunity and no encouragement to practise
composition. Thrale, however, was interested in men of
letters, and the introduction of Johnson to Streatham Park
in 1764 helped to make it a meeting-place for many literary
and artistic celebrities, such as Murphy, Reynolds, the
Burneys, the Sewards, and others. Johnson himself came
to be looked upon as one of the family, having a room
reserved for him at Streatham and Southwark, and accom-
panying them as a matter of course on their visits to Bath

THEIR CHILDREN 13

d Brighton, and on longer expeditions to Wales in 1774
and to Paris the following year.

Thrale retired from Parliament in 1780, and died
4th April 1781, of apoplexy, largely the result of over-
indulgence at table, to which in his later years he had be-
come addicted. Both his sons had predeceased him, Henry,
the elder, in 1766, and Ralph in 1775 ; and his widow
was left with five daughters, all under age. Harriet, the
youngest of these, died at school in 1783, shortly before
Mrs. Thrale's second marriage ; the four survivors were as
follows.

Hester Maria, born 1762, known in her childhood as
Queeny, a name given her by Dr. Johnson, who supervised
her education, and with whom she was a great favourite.
She inherited much of her father's strong, but cold and
reserved character, and was never on very affectionate or
sympathetic terms with her mother. She married at Rams-
gate, loth January 1808, Admiral Lord Keith, G.C.B., then
a widower, son of the tenth Lord Elphinstone, and who was
created Viscount Keith in 1814. She died at no Piccadilly,
3ist March 1857, leaving an only daughter, the Hon. Augusta
Henrietta Elphinstone, who married twice, but left no
issue.

Susannah Arabella, born 1770 ; who died unmarried at
Ashgrove, Knockholt, 5th November 1858, and was buried
at Streatham.

Sophia, born 23rd July 1771 ; who married, I3th August
1807, Henry Merrick Hoare, son of Sir Richard Hoare of
Barn Elms, Bart. She died at Sandgate, 8th November
1824, leaving no issue, and was buried at Streatham.

Cecilia Margaretta, born 1777. She married, 1795, John
Meredith Mostyn of Segrwyd, who died igth May 1807.

e survived him half a century, dying at Sillwood House,

ighton, ist May 1857. They had three sons, of whom
the eldest was christened John Salusbury, but all died
unmarried.

14 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

Her widowhood, 1781-4, was the most stormy period of
Mrs. Piozzi's life. Her first anxiety was to dispose of the
brewery, which neither she nor the executors felt com-
petent to carry on. After some negotiation it was pur-
chased by the Barclays for 135,000, and so provided a
respectable portion for each of the girls. Bachygraig, her
ancestral abode, had come to her on the death of her
mother, and Thrale had left her Streatham Park for life,
but the one was ruinous and the other expensive, and on
the score of economy she determined to let Streatham and
live at Bath. This course also had the advantage in her
eyes at least of removing her somewhat farther from
Johnson's sphere of influence. His eccentric habits and
domineering temper had for many years been somewhat of
a trial to her, though delight in his conversation, admiration
for his talents, and regard for his character had hitherto
induced her to bear them with patience. She was anxious
to avoid a rupture with him, but it was more than probable
that, both as an old friend and as one of her husband's
executors, he would strongly disapprove of the second
marriage which she was now beginning to contemplate with
Signor Gabriel Piozzi, an Italian musician and singer.

He had been recommended to her in 1780 as a man
" likely to lighten the burden of life to her, and just a man
to her natural taste," by Fanny Burney ; but it is recorded
that on the first occasion on which they met in company,
when he played and sang at Dr. Burney's in 1777, Mrs.
Thrale stood behind him as he sat at the piano, and mimicked
his gestures and manner, to the mingled amusement and
embarrassment of the company. From this unpromising
beginning grew a friendship which gradually ripened into
love, and in 1783 it was apparent that Piozzi was seriously
courting the widow, and that she was not ill-disposed to
his suit. Then the storm burst. Mrs. Thrale was in no
sense a public character, but she was violently attacked in
the public prints, which had previously amused themselves

SECOND MARRIAGE 15

by announcing her engagement to Crutchley, to Seward,
and even to Johnson himself. Her friends were horror-
struck, and remonstrated each after their kind. Johnson
went so far at last as to charge her with abandoning her
children and her religion, and with forfeiting both her fame
and her country. Rut, as might be expected, her worst
foes were those of her own household, and the opposition
of her children, and more particularly of Hester, was the
hardest thing she had to bear. It is somewhat difficult
for us who are so far removed from the controversy to grasp
the reason of all this outcry. But it must be remembered
that Piozzi was a Papist, a foreigner, and a singer, a com-
bination which to the average Englishman of the eighteenth
century meant an untrustworthy and contemptible mounte-
bank. The irony of the situation was that Piozzi met with
similar objections from his own family, who were scandalised
at his proposed alliance with a heretic, and could not
conceive that a brewer's widow could be a lady, or a fit
mate for a member of an old and well-connected family.
r ears afterwards, when Cecilia was travelling on the
Continent, she made the acquaintance of the Piozzis, and
rote that she " liked them above all people, if only they
ire not so proud of their family." " Would not that make
one laugh two hours before one's death ? " is her mother's
comment in 1818.

For some time she held out, but at last the combined
opposition was too much for her ; Piozzi was dismissed,
gave up her letters, and went abroad. But the strain was
too great, her health gave way, and her physician, con-
sidering her condition serious, recommended that Piozzi
should be recalled, as the only hope of saving her life.
liss Thrale reluctantly acquiesced, and they were shortly
Fterwards married in London, according to the Roman
ite, on 23rd July, and in St. James' Church, Bath, on 25th
uly, 1784. From this date her worst troubles were over,
she entered on what she describes as twenty years of

16 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

unalloyed happiness. Having made what she considered
suitable arrangements for her daughters, by providing a
trustworthy companion for Miss Thrale, and placing the
younger ones in a school at Streatham, she started, with
her husband, on a long-projected Italian tour. Hayward
says that Cecilia accompanied them, but this is contra-
dicted by Mrs. Piozzi's own statements in the Autobiography.
They had not long left England when Miss Thrale removed
her sisters to another school, dismissed her companion,
and retired with an old nurse to the Brighton house, where
she shut herself up and spent her time in the study of
Hebrew and mathematics. Shortly afterwards, on coming
of age, she rented a house in town, and took her younger
sisters to live with her.

Meantime the Piozzis travelled via Paris, Lyons, Turin,
and Genoa to Milan, where they wintered, being every-
where well received both by Italian friends and by the
English colony, including the Duke and Duchess of Cumber-
land ; a fact which probably had a good deal to do with
the attitude of society at home on their return to England.
The following summer they spent at Florence in the com-
pany of Merry, Greatheed, and the other Delia Cruscans,
to whose Florence Miscellany, published in 1785, she con-
tributed some verses. Her literary instincts, long re-
pressed, were at last encouraged, and Johnson being now
dead she compiled at Leghorn in 1786 her Anecdotes of Dr.
Johnson during the last twenty years of his Life ; much to
the annoyance of Boswell, who regarded everything relating
to his hero as his own peculiar preserve, and resented her
refusal to add her reminiscences to Johnson's Pyramid,
as he styled his own great work. The book, for which she
got 300, was well received, the whole edition being sold
out in three days, and four editions appeared the same
year ; but Boswell's strictures on her alleged inaccuracy
led to a lively " Bozzy and Piozzi " controversy, with
accompanying caricatures, which amused the town, and

DR. JOHNSON'S KKKIRAI-HKRS (MRS. i-io/./i, CARKY? AND KOSWKI.I.)

From a caricature, /jSt), in (hi- Collection, of A. M. Hnnuilcv, Esq.

FOREIGN TRAVEL 17

doubtless helped to keep the author in the public eye. The
Piozzis returned to England through Germany in 1787,
and lived for a time in Hanover Square with Cecilia, the
elder daughters at first keeping aloof, though they often
met in public. But society had forgiven her if her children
had not, and sooner or later the old friends who had pro-
tested most loudly took the opportunity of making their
peace.

About this time, as it would seem, she made the ac-
quaintance of Miss Weston, now about thirty-six years of
age, who had moved with her mother from Ludlow to
London, and was living with a relative in Queen Square,
Westminster, and therefore not far from the Piozzis. A
letter she wrote to Dr. Whalley in 1789 shows that she was
then in charge of a young pupil, with whom she had but
little in common, as the girl was interested in nothing but
dress. She adds that the kindness of dear Mrs. Piozzi
towards her, on all occasions, exceeds all expression.

CHAPTER II

The Piozzis in Hanover Square Scotch tour, 1789 Visit to Wales-
Return to Streatham Park, 1790 Harriet Lee's romance -
Nuneham and Mrs. Siddons, 1791 French Revolution Cecilia's
admirers Apprehensions for Cecilia The September massacres
Miss Weston's engagement.

IN July 1788 the Piozzis took rooms at Exmouth, from
which they had views " of sea and land, Lord Court-
ney's fine seat and Lord Lisburne's pretty grounds all
facing us." But though there was " a very pretty
little snug society " there, Mrs. Piozzi votes it " a dull place,"
where "if one is idle, one is lost." Idleness, however, was
not one of her failings. Early in the year she had published
her Letters to and from the late Samuel Johnson, LL.D., which
made 500, and had a large sale. Some allusions in the
correspondence, more truthful than complimentary, to
Joseph Baretti, who had at one time acted as tutor to Miss
Thrale at Streatham, roused him to make a coarse and
violent attack upon her in the European Magazine, which
caused her much pain. He also satirised her in a farce
entitled The Sentimental Mother, in which she figures as
Lady Fantasma Tunskull, and her husband as Signor
Squalici. Yet she forgave him, and when he died in the
following year, sent a kindly notice of him to the World. This
year too, as she records in her Commonplace Book, she
wrote a dramatic masque called The Fountains, which was
much admired by Miss Farren, and which Sheridan and
Kemble " pretended to like exceedingly," but contrived to
lose the copy. She adds : " It has often been in my head
to publish it with other poems but 'tis better let that
alone." About this time she must have been engaged on

HOME AGAIN 19

a more ambitious task, the record of her continental tour,
which appeared in 1789 under the title of A Journey
through France, Italy, and Germany. This was well re-
ceived by the general public, though some of the Blue-
Stockings objected to its colloquial style. Anna Seward,
for instance, gently reproved " the pupil of Dr. Johnson "
for " polluting with the vulgarisms of unpolished conversa-
tion her animated pages," and wrote as follows to Miss
Weston, who defended her : " You say Mrs. Piozzi's style,
in conversation, is exactly that of her travels. Our inter-
views were only two ; no vulgarness of idiom or phrase,
no ungrammatic inelegance struck me then as escaping,
amidst the fascination of her wit, and the gaiety of her
spirit ; but inaccuracies and ungraceful expressions often
pass unnoticed in the quick commerce of verbal society,
that are very disgusting after their deliberate passage through
the pen." The critics found fault with her matter as well
as her manner, as did Gifford in the often quoted lines :

" See Thrale's grey widow with a satchel roam,
And bring in pomp laborious nothings home."

But she bore him no malice, and took her revenge by ob-
taining an invitation to a house where he was dining, to
his obvious embarrassment, from which she relieved him
by proposing " a glass of wine to their future good-fellow-
ship."

As long as the Piozzis and Westons were living close
together in town, there was naturally little occasion for
letters, but they recommence in 1789 when Sophia had
gone to Bath after an illness. On isth April Mrs. Piozzi
writes from Hanover Square, after a visit to Drury Lane :
" I have scarcely slept since for the strong agitation into
which Sothern and Siddons threw me last night in Isabella " ;
while her husband adds a P.S. : "I assure you I cried oil
(sic) the Tragedy." This was no doubt Sothern's Fatal

20 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

Marriage, in which Mrs. Siddons took the part of the heroine
Isabella, a character in which she was painted by William
Hamilton. Mrs. Piozzi was much interested in the thanks-
giving for the King's recovery after his first illness, " the
most joyful occasion ever known in England " ; for which
she wrote an Ode, which was printed (with emendations
that greatly annoyed her) in the Public Advertiser. For
the State procession to St. Paul's on 23rd April, Miss Weston
had secured them places in a balcony, " which, if it tumbles
down with our weight, why we fall in a good cause, but I
wish the day were over."

This summer the Piozzis went northwards, intending, as
it would seem, to emulate Johnson's Highland tour. On
nth July she writes from Scarborough : " We like our journey
so far exceeding well, but 'tis as cold as October, and just
that wintry feel upon the air ; a Northern Summer is cold
sport to be sure, but Castle Howard is a fine place, and the
sea bathing at this town particularly good. What difference
between Scarbro' and Exmouth ! yet is this bay by no
means without its beauties, but they are more of Features
than Complexion." They made their way north as far as
Edinburgh, but the projected Highland tour was given
up ; the biographers say on account of Cecilia's delicacy,
but in a letter in Mr. Broadley's collection, written from
Glasgow, 26th July, she says : " Our weather has been so
very unfavourable here, and my own health so whimsical,
I fear Mr. Piozzi will not venture far into the Highlands."
The first letter of sufficient interest to be quoted at length is
written from the Capital.

EDINBURGH, 10 Jul. 1789.

And so you will not write again no, that you will not,
Dear Miss Weston, with all your mock Humility ! till
Mrs. Piozzi answers the last letter, and begs another.
Well ! so she does then : I never was good at pouting
when a Miss ; and after fifteen years are gone, one should

SCOTCH TOUR

know the value of Life better than to pout any part of it
away. Write me a pretty Letter then directly, like a good
girl, and tell me all the News. The emptier London is,
the more figure a little News will make, as a short Woman
shows best at Ranelagh when there is not much company.
Echoes are best heard too when there are few People to
break the sound, you know, so let the Travelling Trunks,
Hat Boxes, and Imperials that pass over Westminster
Bridge every Day at this time of the Year, be no excuse
for your not writing. We have had a good Journey, and
the Weather cannot be finer ; a Northern Latitude is
charming in July, and the long Days here at Edinburgh
delightful but no Days are long enough to admire its
Situation or new Buildings, the symmetrical beauties of
which last quite exceed my expectations, while the Romantic
Magnificence of the first is such as gives no notion at all of
the other. So I like Scotland vastly ; and as we have
Engagements for every Day, one should be ungrateful
not to like the Scotch too. But for that my heart was
always equally disposed. ... I am much flattered with
finding my Book read here, and everybody talks about
Zeluco, but I hope no one more than myself, or with more
true esteem of its Author. . . .

The full title of the work just mentioned was Zeluco,
various views of Human Nature, taken from Life and Manners,
Foreign and Domestic, its object being " to trace the windings
of vice, and delineate the disgusting features of villany."
Its author, John Moore, M.D., an army physician, tutor to
Douglas, eighth Duke of Hamilton, and father of General
Sir John Moore, is frequently mentioned in the letters. He
was in Paris during the massacres of the Revolution, and
published the Journal kept during his residence there in

I793-

The Piozzis returned southward by Glasgow and the
Lake District to Liverpool.

22 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

LIVERPOOL, Sat. 22d Aug.

So dear Miss Weston, and her Hanover Square friends,
have shared all the delights that Water can give this hot
weather, while

" A River or a Sea
Was to us a Dish of Tea," &c.

Meantime I do not tell you 'twas judiciously managed to
run from Lago Maggiore to Loch Lomond, and finish with
the Cumberland Meres, any more than it would be wisely
done to put Milton into the hands of a young beginner;
and when good taste was obtained, lay Thomson's charm-
ing Seasons on the desk ; then make your Pupil close his
studies with Waller's poem on the Summer Islands.

Beg of Major Barry to make my peace with his country-
men ; some one told me the other day they were offended
at a passage in y e Journey through Italy, and 1 should be
very sorry on one side my head, and much flattered on
the other, that they should think it worth their while. . . .

We spent a sweet day at Drumphillin, near Glasgow,
in consequence of Dr. Moore's attentive kindness, and even
from that charming spot continued to see the majestic
mountain which attracted all my admiration, and which
still keeps possession of my heart. I took my last leave
of it from the Duke of Hamilton's Summer House, but at
a distance of seventy or eighty miles it may be discerned.
If you ask me what single object has most impressed my
mind in this journey of 800 miles round the Island, I shall
reply BEN LOMOND. . . .

If I promised you an account of Glasgow, I did a foolish
thing ; what account can one give of a very fine, old-
fashioned, regularly-built, continental-looking town ? full
as Naples, yet solemn as Ferrara : after Glasgow too, every-
thing looks so little.

I think Mr. Piozzi must write the account of this town,

VISIT TO WALES 23

he is all day upon the Docks, and all night at the Theatre ;
both are crowded, yet both are clean : the streets embellished
with showy shops all day, and lighted up like Oxford Road
all night ; a Harbour full of ships, a chearful, opulent, com-
modious city. Have you had enough for a dose ? and will
you give all our compliments to all our friends, and will
you love my husband and Cecilia ?

The Major Barry above mentioned, apparently a member
of an Irish family, is frequently referred to in the letters.
He became a Colonel in 1790, and acted as A.D.C. to Lord
Rawdon (afterwards Marquess of Hastings) in the American
War, in which capacity he sent home " the best despatches
ever written." Retiring from the Army in 1794, he settled
in Bath, where he was a prominent figure in literary and
scientific circles till his death, which occurred shortly after
that of Mrs. Piozzi.

From Liverpool they went to inspect Mrs. Piozzi's Welsh
property, and the next letter gives the first hint of the
idea of building a house on it, which was carried out later
on. Perhaps the postscript was hardly meant seriously,
as no steps were taken in the matter for some years, and
Mrs. Piozzi herself states that the suggestion was made by
the Marquis Trotti, who does not appear upon the scene
till 1791.

DENBIGH, Tuesday i Sep.

DEAR Miss WESTON, I thank you for your invitation
to pretty Ludlow, and shall let you know when we are likely
to arrive there, that all possible advantage may be taken
of your friendly hints. Mr. Knight is an old acquaintance
of my Husband by the description you give of his taste
and elegant conversation ; at least it would be strange
should there be two such men of any English name. Scotch
and Welsh families are disposed in a different manner :
we have but so many names, and all who bear those names

24 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

are related to each other. I find a great resemblance
between the two nations, in a hundred little peculiarities,
and the Erse sounded so like my own native tongue that I
wished for erudition to prove the original affinity between
them.

The French nation was never a favourite of mine, and
I see little done to encrease one's esteem of them as a
nation. Their low people are very ignorant, their high
ones very self-sufficient : you now read in every Paper the
effects of that self-sufficiency acting upon that ignorance.
Fermentation however will, after much turbulence, at length
produce a clear spirit, though probably 'twill be a coarse
one. They will know in a dozen years what they would
have, and I fancy that will be once more an Absolute
Monarchy. . . .

Mr. Piozzi adds a P.S. " In a few days I intend go to
see our little estate, and choose the place to building a little
Cottage, and a little room for our dear friend Miss West on.
. . . G. P."

In her remarks on surnames Mrs. Piozzi does not display
her usual acumen. There is hardly any English name of
which it can safely be predicated that all the individuals
who bear it are related to each other, and assuredly this
is not the case with a name like Knight. She shows more
penetration in her estimate of the trend of events in France,
where the mutterings of the coming storm were already
making themselves heard. The States-General had assembled
in May, in June the Commons had constituted themselves
the National Assembly, the Bastille had fallen on I4th July,
and on 4th August the nobles had relinquished their heredi-
tary privileges. Well within the twelve years which she
postulates, the Revolution of Brumaire (1799) had practically
put the supreme power in the hands of Bonaparte as First
Consul, though he was not proclaimed Emperor till 1804.

STAY AT BATH 25

From North Wales they went, by way of Ludlow, to
Bath, probably for the benefit of Piozzi, who was already
beginning to suffer from the attacks of gout which finally
proved fatal. *

BATH, 2 Nov. 1789.

DEAR Miss WESTON, Not one letter do I owe you, nor
three nor four, but forty if they would make compensation
for your kind ones to Ludlow, where Miss Powell's polite-
ness made the time pass very agreeably indeed, spight of
tin, which, however provoking, could not conceal the
jauty of its elegant environs, even from an eye made
Fastidious by the recent sight of richer and more splendid
mery.

Mrs. Byron read me the kind words for which Mr. Piozzi
id I owe you so many thanks : she gains strength daily,
id will be quite restored if kept clear from vexation, and
idulged in her favourite exercises of riding and the Cold
lath. My husband and she have many an amicable spar
ibout Bell's Oracle, on account of his savage treatment of
lear Siddons, whose present state of health demands ten-
less, while her general merit must enforce respect. I
Bonder, for my own part, what rage possesses the people
o wish to see, or delight in seeing, virtue insulted. Let
not learn to tear characters in England, as persons are
torne in France, and drink the intellectual life of our neigh-
irs warm in our Lemonade.

Major Barry has written me a charming letter, Do tell
dm that he shall find my acknowledgements at Lichfield ;
mean to write a reference to Miss Seward, about a critical
lispute we had here at Bath some evenings ago, concerning
the two new novels, which I find are set up in opposition
to each other, and people take sides. You will easily
imagine that Zeluco and Hayley's Young Widow are the
competitors.

Give my kind love to Miss Williams when you see her,

26 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

and tell her that she is one of the persons I please myself
with hoping to see a great deal of this winter.

We are all going to the Milkwoman's Tragedy to-morrow ;
I fear with much ill will towards its success. Her ingrati-
tude to Miss More deserves rough censure, but hissing the
play will not mend her morals.

Miss Wallis is to play Belvidera next Saturday. She is
scarcely more of a woman than Cecilia Thrale, and quite
as young looking ; very ladylike though, and a pretty
behaved girl in a room. I advised Dimond in sport to act
Douglas to her Lady Randolph, as a still more suitable
part than Belvidera. Here's nonsense enough for one
pacquet. 'Tis time to say how much I am dear Miss
Weston's affect 6 servant H. L. P.

Mrs. Byron, whose name frequently recurs in the letters,
was a daughter of John Trevannion, who married, "pour
ses peches," as Mrs. Piozzi elsewhere remarks, Admiral the
Hon. John Byron, known in the Service as Foulweather
Jack, the grandfather of the poet.

The attack on Mrs. Siddons in Bell's Oracle was one of
the rare exceptions to the general chorus of praise she
commonly evoked from the Press ; it seems to have been
quite undeserved, and her reputation was far too firmly
established to be shaken by it.

Zeluco has already been referred to. Its competitor,
The Young Widow, or a History of Cornelia Sudley, was the
work of William Hayley, the poet, of whom Southey said :
"Everything about that man is good, except his poetry."
Yet it hit the popular taste, and he was even offered the
Laureateship in succession to Warton.

The Milkwoman, Anna Maria Yearsley, otherwise
" Lactilla," was a rustic genius discovered by Hannah More,
who brought out a volume of her poems, for which she
wrote a preface. But her action in investing the proceeds
for the benefit of the authoress, without giving the latter

NOVELS AND PLAYS 27

any control of the money, produced a rupture between them,
and the quarrel was carried on in the Press " to a disgusting
excess," as their contemporaries thought. Besides her play
of Earl Godwin, she wrote a novel called The Royal Cap-
tives, which met with some success, so that she was enabled
to set up a Circulating Library at the Hot Wells, Clifton.

Miss Wallis, whose career began in the Smock Alley
Theatre, Dublin, had just made her first appearance in
England at Covent Garden, where she played Belvidera (in
Otway's Venice Preserved) and other leading parts, with
some success. But she seems to have found provincial
audiences more appreciative, and played regularly at Bath
and Bristol for five years.

In 1814, several years after his death, Mrs. Piozzi writes
in her Commonplace Book : " Dimond the Bath Actor was,
of all common mortals I have known, completely the best.
So honourable that he left no debts unpaid, so prudent
that he never overran his Income, Pious in his family,
pleasant among his friends. Temperate in his appetites,
and courageous to conquer the passion which no man could
have felt more strongly."

With the return of the Piozzis to Town the letters cease
until the summer of 1790, when the tenant vacated
Streatham Park, and Mrs. Piozzi found herself again estab-
lished there, but under happier auspices. In May and June
she scribbles hasty notes of invitation to Miss Weston,
explaining that " the Hay is carrying, the Weather changing,
and even the Master of the House going to Town on horse-
back, because Jacob must not be disturbed." The special
attraction held out was the presence of Mrs. Siddons, but
illness prevented Miss Weston from coming till it was too
late to meet her. Mrs. Siddons was herself suffering from

tsome trouble, apparently rather mental than physical, for
she adds at the end of one of Mrs. Piozzi 's notes : "I fear
my heart will fail me when / fail to receive the comfort
and consolation of our dear Mrs. P. There are many

28 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

disposed to comfort one, but no one knows so rationally
or effectually how to do it as that unwearied spirit of
kindness."

STREATHAM, 12 Oct. 1790.

I am watching the Moon's increase with more attentive
and more interested care than ever I recollect to have
watched it since your project of coming hither with the
Colonel has depended on her getting fat. I am glad he is
much at Lord Sydney's, and hope it bodes well for us all,
and that he will soon have his orders to fight these hateful
French, whose pretended love of England and English
Liberty in good time ! ends at last in real attachment
to Spain, and to the ratification of old Family Compacts.
I never expected better for my own part, and long for you
to come and tell me all the harm of them you know. My
Master looks better, and gains strength every day. . . .

The Colonel here referred to was Colonel Barry, who had
recently obtained promotion, and was hoping for active
service. His patron was Thomas Townshend, second
Viscount Sydney, who was Paymaster-General 1767, and
Secretary for War 1782.

STREATHAM, 10 Nov. 1790.

Dear Miss Weston is always partial to me, but I think
she now extends her kind thoughts, very charitably indeed,
to the whole race of Authors, when a finely written book
so convinces her of his virtue who wrote it. I do believe
however that Mr. Burke has, in the glorious Pamphlet you
so justly admire, given us his own true and genuine senti-
ments ; and 'tis on such occasions that a writer shines,
like the Sun, with his own native and unborrowed fire.
This book will be a most extensively useful production at
such a moment ! and from such a man ! Tell me what
charming Miss Seward thinks of it. ...

STREATHAM PARK 29

The Pamphlet was, of course, Edmund Burke's Reflec-
tions on the Revolution in France, published this year, which
ran through many editions, and was translated into several
foreign languages.

Anna Seward, though a constant correspondent of Miss
Weston's, was never very intimate with Mrs. Piozzi, whose
literary style, as previously mentioned, she detested,
though she admired her wit. This year she lost her father,
Canon of Lichfield, who had long been an invalid, but

continued to live at the Palace, which he had for many
rears occupied.

For the first half of 1791 only two letters are preserved,
ic first being written just as the Piozzis had decided to

out on a visit to Bath.

Tuesday, n Jan. 1791.

My dear Miss Weston did not use to be so silent, I hope
it is not illness or ill-humour keeps her from writing. Here
ive been more storms, and very rough ones, since you
Et us ; Lady Deerhurst apprehends the end of the World,
>ut I think her own dissolution, poor dear, is likeliest to
ippen, for she is neither old nor tough like that, but very
>;ht and feeble. . . .

Peggy, Lady Deerhurst, was the daughter of a neighbour
the Piozzis at Streatham, Sir Abraham Pitches, Kt,
and became the second wife of George William, then Lord
Deerhurst, and afterwards seventh Earl Coventry. In spite
>f her feeble health she outlived her husband, and the
dissolution which Mrs. Piozzi anticipates did not happen
for near half a century.

Early in February the Piozzis went to Bath, from which
place the next letter is written.

ii Feb. 1791, Fry day.

My dear Miss Weston must be among the very first to
whom I give an Acct. of our safe arrival at a comfortable

30 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

House, corner of Saville Row, Alfred Street. We . . . ran
hither in one day from Reading, but I found a strange
Giddiness in my Head that was not allay 'd by the noisy
concourse of young Gamesters, Rakes, &c., at York House,
where we staid till this Lodging was empty : and here I
have good Air and good Water, and good Company and
at last good Nights ; so that I mean to be among the
merriest immediately. The Place is full, and the pretty
girls kind, as my Master says, so you must write pretty
eloquent letters to hold his heart fast. . . .

Miss Hotham's accounts of our sweet Siddons are better
than common, so when things are at worst they mend, you
see. Mr. Kemble's illness, gain'd only by shining too
brightly, and wasting the Oyl in the Lamp, while here at
Bath, is recovered by now I hope, and his spirits properly
recruited. . . .

Cecilia was fourteen years old three days ago, and all
the ffolks say how she is grown, &c. . . .

The letters cease after their return to Streatham, until
Miss Weston in her turn went to stay with friends at Bath.
Those which follow are full of an incipient romance which
appealed strongly to Mrs. Piozzi, inasmuch as it bore a
strong resemblance to her own. An acquaintance of her
husband's, a certain Lorenzini, Marquis Trotti, their guest
at Streatham, had been struck by the charms of Harriet
Lee (afterwards joint authoress of the Canterbury Tales),
who was now helping her sister Sophia in the school at
Belvidere House. But considerations of worldly prudence,
which had so far held him back from an actual declaration,
seem finally to have prevailed, in spite of Mrs. Piozzi's well-
meant encouragement. The final act of the drama is
somewhat obscure, but from hints let fall in subsequent
letters Harriet Lee would appear to have had rather a
fortunate escape.

MARQUIS TROTTI 31

STREATHAM PARK, Thursday, 28 Jul.

MY DEAR Miss WESTON, I was happy to find the Pre-
scription, which, after all, I did not find, but made little
Kitchen copy. Do not forget Streatham, nor remit of your
kindness towards me, or towards those I love, dear Harriet
in particular : I hope you will contrive to see her very
often.

Marquis Trotti is sensible of your partiality, and deserves
all your esteem. His behaviour is such that were he my
son I should kiss him, were he my brother I should be
proud of him, and as he is only my good friend, I pity and
respect him. There is much tenderness, joined with due
manliness, in his character ; he is a very fine young fellow.
. . . But as Hermione says in the Midsummer Night's
Dream :

" I never read in Tale or History
That course of true Love ever did run smooth,
But either it was crossed in Degree," &C. 1

Well ! if 'tis of the right sort, opposition will but encrease
it, and as Marquis Trotti said to Buchetti in my company
yesterday, " The time is approaching when aristocratic
notions about marriage will fall to ground, and then those
who have sacrifized their happiness to such folly will look
but like Fools themselves."

Show this letter to our lovely and much beloved Har-
riet ; she is, I think, the object of a very honourable and
a very tender passion, and to a mind like hers that ought
to be a very great comfort. . . .

Write to me only in general, not particular terms. Write
very soon tho', or I shall be gone to Mrs. Siddons's.

The great actress was seeking retirement and country
air at Nuneham Courtney, on the banks of the Thames

1 Midsummer Night's Dream, I. i, 134.

32 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

below Oxford, and thither all the Streatham household
shortly betook themselves.

Buchetti, whom Mrs. Piozzi had known for some years,
was evidently a friend of Trotti, but seems, in spite of his
Italian name, to have been a Frenchman. There is a
letter from him in Mr. Broadley's collection, dated Paris,
nth June 1789, written in English, and signed Abbe de
Buchetti, telling Mrs. Piozzi that he had written to her
from Cadiz in October 1788, giving an account of his travels
in Andalusia, &c. He goes on to mention the forthcoming
meeting of the French Estates to debate on the new Con-
stitution, which he expects will be very interesting, and at
which he hopes to be present. He adds compliments from
Trotti.

The following lines by Mrs. Piozzi, dated Streatham,
6th July 1791, occur on a loose sheet among the letters :

" By Friend Howard instructed our Virtue t' advance,
The difference is found 'twixt Great Britain and France ;
Old England her Prisoners to Palaces brings,
While the Palace in France makes a Prison for Kings."

RECTORY HOUSE, NUNEHAM,
6 Aug. Saturday.

I promised my dear Miss Weston a long Letter from
sweet Siddons's fairy Habitation, but had not an Idea of
finding as elegant a Thing as it is. England can boast no
happier Situation ; a Hill scattered over with fragrance
makes the Stand for our lovely little Cottage, while Isis
rolls at his foot, and Oxford terminates our view. Ld.
Harcourt's rich Wood covers a rising Ground that conceals
the flat Country on the Left, and leaves no Spot unoccupied
by cultivated, and I may say peculiar Beauty. How I
should love to range these Walks with my own dear Streat-
ham Coterie ! but now it is all broken up. The Marquis
and my Master with M. Buchetti left us this Morning in
search of Sublimer Scenes : I have given them a Tour into

NUNEHAM COURTNEY

Wales Cecilia and myself sit and look here for their
Return that is for my Husband's unless Miss Owen's
summons or Signal of distress lures me to Shrewsbury,
where I could wait for him and be nearer. They will reach
Worcester tonight, and visit Hagley tomorrow I trow.
Never did mortal Nymph speed her polish'd Arrow more
surely than has our Harriet done : never did stricken Deer
struggle more ineffectually against the Shaft which has
fix'd itself firm in his Heart than does her noble Lover.
He has however no Mind, I fancy, to give up without an
Effort but no one better knows than I do the difficulty,
up to impossibility, of such an Operation. She too feels,
and feels sincerely, I'm sure; these are the true lasting
Passions ; when a serpentine Walk leads they know not
whither : for in Love, as in Taste, I see

" He best succeeds who pleasingly confounds ;
Surprizes, varies, and conceals the Bounds."

Console and sooth her, do, my charming Friend, she will
find these five or six Weeks as many Years but by then
she will have her Admirer at the Hot Wells, where he may
drink the Water to advantage. He is already much altered
in countenance, but so interesting ! . . .

There is nothing like living near a Nobleman's house
for making a Democrate of one : here has been such a deal
of Ceremony and Diddle Daddle to get these Letters frank'd
as would make a plain Body mad and I see not that you
or Harriet will get them either quicker or cheaper for all
the Ado we have made at last, but now I am out of Parlia-
ment myself I will beg no more Free Cost directions. Oh !
would you believe the Gypsies have told Truth to Marquis
Trotti ? They said he would have a great Influx of Money
soon Yellow Boys you know they called them : and he
said what stuff that was, because his Fortune could not easily
admit of Increase, as it was already an entail'd Estate

34 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

and all his expectations well known to himself. But a few
days ago a Letter from Italy informed him of unclaimed
Dividends found in the Bank of Genoa, which might be his
for asking. He will not go over to ask for them however ;
but sent his Father word he was indifferent about the
Matter he had enough &c. he is of Aspasia's mind en-
tirely

" Love be our Wealth, and our Distinction Virtue."

His Income can be in no Danger though, do what he will :
at least a very considerable one, of which I am glad : he
is a deserving Character indeed, and will, I hope, lose very
little by his Sentiments of Dignity and Sensibility of Heart.
Let our Harriet read all this, I had no room for another
Word in that I sent her. How beautiful a bit of writing
did she send me upon leaving Streatham ! I wish, when
her Hand's in, some clever verses would but drop from it :
tell her I say so : this is Inspiration's favourite Hour.
How pleased it would make me if I were but addressed in
them ! Her Talents have really made a glorious Conquest,
and she ought to cherish them. I long for the sight of her
dear pale Ink, that I do. ...

It appears so strange and so shocking to put up my
Letter without speaking of Miss Seward, that I can't bear
it ; nobody has such a notion of her Talents as I have,
though all the world has talked so loudly about them.
Her Mental and indeed her Personal Charms, when I last
saw them, united the three grand Characteristics of Female
Excellence to very great Perfection : I mean Majesty,
Vivacity, and Sweetness.

Well ! you may speak as ill of Bath as you please, but
I wish I was there, and never look at old White Horse Hill,
which one sees from the Terrace, without sighing to pass
it on the Road but Fate calls to Shrewsbury and thither
I shall hie me on the 20 of this Month. And now remember
Missey, that to kindle and keep up a Man's Love so as to

ANNA SKWAKD
7>r // ". Riiilcv afttT Roinncv^ ifO~. /';</// n frint hi the Hritish Mtts

ARRIET LEE 35

make him ardent enough for the overleaping Objections, is
the true duty of prudent Friendship ; not to make him
talk of those very Objections which we know already, and
which will only strengthen by talking of. So God bless
you all, and love your H. L. P.

The Aspasia here quoted appears to be the heroine of
Beaumont and Fletcher's Maid's Tragedy.

Harriet Lee, as desired by Mrs. Piozzi, wrote the verses
on Streatham Park which are given below.

VERSES TO MRS. PIOZZI,
10 Aug. 1791.

(Bv HARRIET LEE)

From the bright West the orb of Day
Far hence his dazzling fires removes ;

While Twilight brings, in sober grey,
The pensive hour that Sorrow loves.

Tho' the dim Landscape mock my Eye,
Mine Eye its fading charm pursues :

Ah ! tell me, busy Fancy, why
Thro' the lone Eve thou still would 'st muse ?

More rich perfume does Flora yield ?

Blows the light breeze a softer Gale ?
Do fresher dews revive the Field ?

Does sweeter music fill the Vale ?

No, idle Wand'rer, no ! in vain

For thee they blend their sweetest Powers ;
Thine ear persues a distant Strain,

Thy gaze still courts far distant Bowers.

36 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

To that loved Roof where Friendship's fires

With pure and generous ardor burn,
Lost to whate'er this Scene inspires,

Thy fond affections still return.

E'en now I tread the velvet plain
That spreads its graceful curve around ;

Where Pleasure bade her fairy train
With magic influence bless the ground.

Now, on that more than Syren song,
Where Nature lends her grace to Art,

My Sense delighted hovers long,
And hails the language of my Heart.

And thou, much loved, whose cultured mind

Each Muse and every Virtue crown,
If aught to charm in mine thou find,

Ah, justly deem that charm thine own !

From thee I learnt that grace to seize
Whose varying tints can gild each hour ;

From thee that warm desire to please,
Which only could bestow the power.

Then let me court pale Fancy still,

Still bid her bright delusions last,
The present hour she best can fill

That kindly can recall the past.

And oh ! that past ! fond heart forbear !
Nor dim the Vision with a Tear !

Having successfully invoked her friend's muse, Mrs.
Piozzi herself felt inspired to pay a poetical tribute to
the absent Piozzi and Trotti ; both poems, as it happened,

VERSE MAKING 37

being composed on the same day. It will be noticed that
her fourth stanza contains a pretty pointed allusion to the
marriage she hoped to bring about between the Marquis
and Harriet Lee.

STANZAS TO THE TRAVELLERS
(Marquis Trotti and Mr. Piozzi)

Written at the Rectory \ Nuneham^ 10 Aug. 1791

While you your wandering footsteps bear
To harsher climes and colder air,

Nor once our absence feel ;
Here still beneath the shady tree
We sip our solitary Tea,

Or turn the pensive Wheel.

Yet oft our thoughts recur to you
As the rich landscape lies in view,

And spreads its beauties wide ;
Such beauties once were found, we cry,
In our loved Friends' society,

By us 'ere while enjoyed.

In the pure current as we gaze,
Where I sis through the valley strays,

Far from her silvery source ;
From Pride and Prejudice as clear,
We read our noble Traveller,

Refining in his course.

38 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

Like him she haunts the rural shade,
Nor loves the clam'rous, proud Cascade,

Loudest in stormy weather :
Nor scorns to mix her ancient Name
With honest, artless, British Thame,

And seek the Seas together.

But if around we turn our eyes
Where Learning's lofty turrets rise,

Dropping their classick Manna ;
How swift does fancy back reflect
The hours devoted to collect

Our fav'rite Buchettiana !

When Cynthia swells with silver light,
Lending new lustre to the night,

If Philomel we hear,
Pouring her wood-notes o'er the plain,
How does our Piozzi's sweeter strain

Still vibrate in our ear.

Too empty then your projects prove,
To run from Friendship and from Love,

And call it Separation ;
Reason admits of many a cheat,
But never yet was found deceit

Cou'd trick the Imagination.

With regard to her own compositions she writes in her
Commonplace Book : " Grave verses have seldom, I think,
dropt from my pen. Poor dear Jane Hamilton, afterwards

HARRIET LEE'S ROMANCE 39

Holman, used to say she was at a loss to decide whether
the ground work of my character was seriousness embellished
with gaiety ; or a blythe, pleasant temper, shaded with
very serious, and not seldom melancholy, reflexions."

The next letter, though undated, was evidently written
before that dated i8th August, and within a few days of
receiving Harriet Lee's verses.

I know not, my dear Girl, whether the great Dictionary
is a good incentive to Love or no, but if agreable letters
produce it the Gypsie prophecy towards you will not surely
be long in completing. I never read any Book so interesting
or entertaining, therefore recommend no Novels, but write
again, and that directly. . . .

Dear, lovely, sweet Siddons is better ; and at last toler-
ably reconciled to parting with me for the relief of those
whose anguish is of the soul, while hers, I thank God, is
confined wholly to the beautiful clay that fits it so neatly
with its truly well suited inclosure. . . .

And now my beloved friends do not think me wanting
in my duty about our Lorenzini ; I never was remiss in
bringing the subject forward, never lost sight on't but from
thinking it prudent so to do ; as Adriana says,

"It was a Copy of our Conference,
Alone it was the subject of our Theme,
In company I often glanc'd at it,
Still did I place it in his constant view."

The verses I dispatched after them to Denbigh, which they
cannot yet have reached, a proof I never shrunk one instant
from the cause, and as this moment has brought me a cold,
stiff letter from him, dated Shrewsbury, this moment shall
carry one back from me to tell him / think it such. Mean-
time you know I never said that it was likely he should
marry in this manner unless from irresistible impulse ; the
1 Comedy of Errors, V. i, 62.

40 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

obstacles I know to be all but, if not wholly insurmountable.
Only my notion of his Love is stronger than yours can be,
who have seen so little of him ; and proportionable power
will vanquish proportionable, or rather disproportionable
resistance. If Gunpowder enough is put under Mont Blanc
it must give way. Such was my reasoning always, and
I still think it just. The last evening he spent here, crying
over Piozzi's Song, and applying every word on't, as I
could see, mentally to his own situation ; looking all the
while like very Death, and never sleeping in the night, but
employing himself in penning his Journal forsooth, which
consisted only of tender sallies at the sight of the Bath
Road ; at thoughts of leaving Streatham ; &c., till his very
heart was breaking with passion, apparently increased
instead of diminished by absence. Vindicate my hopes and
even belief that he will relieve his anguish, when become
totally insupportable, by a union which every natural
friend he has in the world will certainly disapprove. As to
the letters which he brought down to the Library in his
hand the morning we left Streatham, they were letters he
had himself written, not received : I suppose to say that he
was resolved on remaining another year in England. They
had, as he confes't, cost him even tortures to write them.
O my sweet Sophy ! I know most fatally from experience
every pang that poor young man is feeling ; yet I was an
Englishwoman ! of a country where no such aristocratic
notions are acknowledged as taint his hotter soil; and
yet three years did I languish in agony, absence, and linger-
ing expectation. "If fortune," said he to me one day,
(dancing to the tune in his own head, for I had not men-
tioned fortune,) " If fortune were the only obstacle, I hate
it, I despise it ; I have been offered fortunes enough, the
first in Lombardy I may say ; but I abhor them all." " One
may see," was the reply, " you have no such mean notions."
"My Father pleased himself," said he, "I made no ob-
jections. If people were generous! but " "But what,

t ARISTOCRATIC PREJUDICES 41

y Lord ? " quoth I. He put his handkerchief to his eyes,
and changed the conversation. Who would have pressed
him further to tell that which I know already, and which
no power on earth can cure ; the difference of Birth, Re-
ligion, and Country ? If however he has but love enough,
all those three things which would drown him if he tried
to swim across, may be leaped over ; and I, who have
taken the jump before him, never cease to show him how
well I feel myself after it. For the rest, he is now in bad
company for our cause to be sure ; but I shall have another
sight of him at Shrewsbury, before he gets to Bath, and
send thither all the particulars. . . .

NUNEHAM, Thurs. iS Aug. 1791.

One more long letter, dearest Miss Weston, and then
away to Shrewsbury, whither direct your next. This last
has been just as long reaching Oxford, whence I almost
see myself within five hours of you, as a letter yesterday
received from Marquis Trotti at Wrexham, a place not less,
surely, than 140 miles off. They make a mighty slow pro-
gress, which tires my spirits to follow ; and seem exceed-
ingly well amused, a thing I was not absolutely dying to
hear. Meantime, what he has written, tho' cold, has pen-
sive passages in it which keep my hopes alive ; and 'tis
not cold neither, but guarded. Now I tho't it my duty to
keep Harriet ignorant of nothing I knew, and as I have
told her every good and desirable symptom, so have I left
in no doubt his present disposition, for the first letter I
copied for her, and this last I enclosed.

Was there ever such a storm seen in England as this
last dreadful one of the I5th ? Our December lightning
that frighted you so was nothing to it. Where was my
poor Husband then, I wonder ? Perhaps on Snowdon, in-
cumber'd with a horse no less confounded than himself.
We were all here much alarm'd indeed, though Mrs. Siddons
has mended ever since, I think. . . .

42 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

Now for more public concerns, of which your last letter
but one gives me the best information. It does really
appear, contrary to my predictions, that all Europe will
joyn to re-instate a descendant of that House of Bourbon,
which, when represented by his ancestor Louis Quatorze,
all Europe united to humble : but this should be considered
as justice, not caprice. That last mentioned Prince sought
openly to seize the rights of others, while his wretched
successor has been cruelly deprived of his own ; and the
world will not look on, it seems, while the Crown of France
is trampled on, though none stir'd a step even when the
Sacred head of an English monarch was sever 'd from his
body by the Democrats of that day.

Helena Williams is a courageous damsel, and will, I
hope, never be a distressed one in consequence of that
conduct, which, if anything happens but good to her, will
be condemned as rashness ; and if she returns safe will
be applauded as curiosity after the great objects in life,
while we are listening only to hear how go the small ones.
I find that fierce doings are expected, and I am much de-
lighted with your nine thousand men : 'tis an admirable
anecdote of old Marshal Saxe, and to me a new one. It
will, may be, divert you to hear that he married a Lady he
did not much like, merely because her name was Victoria,
and that when he died, one of the female French wits said,
what a pity it was that no De Profundis should be said for
him who had so often made France sing Te Deum. He
was a Lutheran, you know.

You never sent me word you liked my Verses, and they
were really ingenious ones too ; did Harriet ever shew them
to you ? If much applause ensues, I shall be tempted to
copy over some stanzas made for pretty Siddons's little red
book, where she keeps everything y l has been ever said or
sung in her praise, unprinted. . . .

I expect a letter from my Travellers before I send this :
meantime Heaven forefend that I should meet the Marquis

HELEN WILLIAMS 43

at Shrewsbury. He will quit my Master at Denbigh, sure,
and go thro' S. Wales to Bristol. Say everything that
expresses esteem, love, and gratitude, to Mr. and Mrs.
Whalley, and tell Miss Seward how valuable her health is
even to me, who see so little of her : if she neglects it, she
is doing public injury, and is worse than a Democrate. . . .

French affairs, as reported in England at this juncture,
were no doubt very confusing. The King's attempt to
leave Paris in July had been frustrated, but he had been
making overtures to most of the crowned heads in Europe,
and intervention on the part of some of them must have
appeared imminent.

It seems likely that Mrs. Piozzi made the acquaintance
of Helen Maria Williams through their common friend,
Dr. Moore. She was a girl of great natural ability, but of
scanty education ; for though born in London, she was
brought up at Berwick-on-Tweed. She returned to town
with her mother in 1781, being then about twenty years
of age, bringing with her a romantic poem, " Edwin and
Eltruda," which, like several subsequent works, met with
considerable success. In 1788 she went with her mother
to France, on a visit to a sister who had married a Swiss
Protestant minister ; and having enthusiastically adopted
the principles of the Revolution, she made that country
her home, and wrote a good deal on French politics, as will
be noticed later. These proceedings, and her intimacy
with J. H. Stone, who had been separated from his wife,
provoked a good deal of hostile comment, both among her
acquaintances, and in the papers like the Anti- Jacobin,

I of which she was not aware till much later. It was cur-
rently reported that she was living under Stone's protec-
tion, a view accepted in the Dictionary of National Bio-
graphy. But it is not quite fair to judge her conduct solely
on such ex-parte evidence, though perhaps it was all her
biographer had to go upon. Her own letters, written to

44 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

Mrs. Pennington, put a somewhat different complexion on
the case. In the first of these, dated 2nd July 1803, she
mentions that she is taking charge of the orphan children
of her sister, who had died suddenly. She lives with her
mother and another relative, Mrs. Persis Williams, whom
she has never quitted for three days together since she
left England, except for her journey to Switzerland, which
was undertaken to save her neck. Stone procured her pass-
port, but she travelled, not with him alone, as had been
represented, but with three other gentlemen, one of whom
was an English M.P., and on her arrival was placed under
the charge of her brother-in-law's relatives. In 1811 she
writes that her mother is dead, but that she is still living
with Mrs. Persis Williams and her nephew. In another
letter, dated 26th January 1819, after Stone's death, she
mentions that his matrimonial troubles had begun before
she knew him, and that it was his wife, " an odious woman,"
who provided herself with gallants in Paris, and then,
seizing on the new Law of Divorce, " in spite of all our
counsels," separated herself from her husband, who had
by this time lost his fortune. After this they took Stone
in, and he lived for twenty-five years as a member of the
household.

Mrs. Piozzi, who abhorred her books, though she never
quite lost her affection for their author, writes in her Common-
place Book: "I think Helen Williams turned wholly
foreigner, and considered England only a place to get
money from." Though her poems, novels, and politics
may alike be forgotten, she has a certain claim on the
gratitude of generations of play-goers, for it was her tale
of Perourou the Bellows Mender that the first Lord Lytton
adapted for the Stage as the Lady of Lyons.

SHREWSBURY, 29 Aug. Monday.

You are a noble girl yourself, dearest Miss Weston, and
a true friend ; if to be an elegant letter writer was praise

IIKI.KN \I.\KI \ \\-II.I.I.\M.s
/'rout an i-ngi-'iving h I . Singlt-tvH in f/if liritish Museum

HEART STEALING 45

fit to mix with this, I think you the best in England. Both
the sweet Epistles came safe ; the first pleases me best tho',
because most natural. But if the thing is credible, believe
it, they have been come a little bit, and no enquiries has
he made ; but he treats me with a haughty reserve, in
consequence perhaps of my verses, or I dream so : for when
Buchetti praised 'em, he said nothing. We are none of us
going through S. Wales to Bath and Bristol. He has
business in London, he says, and God knows we have little
pleasure here ; so we all set out on Thursday morning
together. You will be sadly hurt at all this, but 'tis true.
No more does he follow me fondly about, as at Streatham

r the Rectory, but I think apparently avoids me. Bad
symptoms these ; while poor Miss Owen, polite by habit,
and desirous of keeping her own anguish down by hos-
pitable attentions in which the mind has no share, though
the kind heart wishes it had, leaves me not an instant to
myself or to him.

Oh ! but I have caught my Spark at last. He began
talking to me of the Assizes, "Where," said I, "Marquis
Trotti shall be indicted on a new Statute, for Heart-stealing
without intentions of payment." He coloured, laughed, and

tared, well he might, but asked my proofs, and I pro-
duced your letter. We should have made a good picture
enough. "And what," says I, "is to be the end of all
this ? " "A ride to Bath," replied he. " I have begged
Jacob to buy me a horse, and I will go, and go alone ; and
I will see S. Wales and all. As to the letter, Miss Weston
is charming, but, I hope, has embellished a good deal. And
who is going to sea-bathe?" "Only her sister-in-law,"
answered I. " Oh ! that sea-bathing frighted me ! " We
were interrupted, but I find by Mr. Piozzi that this matter
has been discussed among them, and my husband thinks
now that there is somewhat in it. But he is always right

tndly and charming, and says just what he ought, but
ties our Harriet well too, and is reading your letter now.

46 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

No description can tell what I have suffered in another
friend's cause since I came here ; but my death is not
catched, and my leg is not broken, so I'll say as little as
possible on a subject of more horror than one can express
in words, though dear Miss Weston chose them. . . .

From the next letter it appears that all the party had
returned to Streatham Park.

Monday 5 Sep.

Kind ! charming Miss Weston ! your letter was a sweet
cordial after the journey, for I did get home very tired and
fatigued and latish on Saturday evening, after suffering
something, sure enough, in the cause of friendship. . . .

The Marquis is making Jacob buy him a horse, to ride
over South Wales, and Mr. Davies tells him that Bath and
Bristol is the nearest way thither ; sure he will never ride
that way, however earnest to rid himself of his companion's
good advice, which his head probably applauded while his
heart resists it. There is a cold reserve about the man,
mixed with fine qualities too, but he has only a half confi-
dence in me certainly ; and seems, odd enough ! to like
teizing my curiosity with conjecture about his intentions
towards Harriet, which I have not yet penetrated. He waits
in this neighbourhood for his servant from Paris, whither
he has sent him to fetch all his goods away. So far looks
well, and runs as he told me long ago, when he said " I can
at least give you that satisfaction, that I do not leave Eng-
land this year." For my own part he puzzles me com-
pletely, and so confounds my conjectures, that were I to
hear within a month that Harriet was Marchioness Trotti,
or were I to hear he had informed her that such an event
was impossible, I should in neither case be surprised. He
is gone to London this morning, under promise to return o'
Thursday, and says his servant will not be here before
the end of the week. So much for Lorenzo.

RETURN TO STREATHAM 47

My own health has been shaken, but will tie up again
with use of the tub, or perhaps we may try the Sea too.
But I feel so glad to get home that scarcely will pleasure
or profit tempt me out again in a hurry. Harriet talks of
going to Weymouth or Southampton : if he should go to
find Belvidere House without his favourite Bird, how would
he feel ? Yet will I not tell him the project, lest he should
make that an excuse for not going : let him go, and hear,
perhaps see that she is ill, from those whom he will believe.
Better so ; she may change her mind too, and I hope she
will ; but I only give her information always, not advice.
I have this day acquainted her with all he says and does,
'tis she must act accordingly. My dear Master is pleased to
find me at Streatham Park once more in a whole skin ; the
danger will be better to talk than write about, and we shall
eet again some time, I trust, and exchange minds. . . .

Dear, charming Siddons is better ; we stopt at her
village, not at her house, returning, and heard y 1 Sheridan
nd Kemble were with her ; on business no doubt, so we
would not go in, but sent com ts . They may see I do not
want any favours they have to bestow.

Adieu ! my charming friend ! Poor Harriet laments
your loss most pathetically, and I am very, very sorry for
her : yet let us remember 'tis not now above six or seven
weeks suspense. I should, from the first, have thought
it very fortunate if she had not to count by months at least,
if not years. Adieu and love your H. L. P.

John Kemble, Mrs. Siddons's brother, became manager
for Sheridan at Drury Lane in 1788. His sister's retirement
during the season of 1788-9, though mainly due to ill-health,
was not altogether unconnected with the difficulty of ex-
tracting her salary from the brilliant but unbusinesslike
Sheridan.

At this date Miss Weston was staying at Corston, near
Bath, with the Rev. F. Randolph, D.D., Canon of Bristol,

48 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

who afterwards acted as Domestic Chaplain and English
Instructor to the Duchess of Kent in the little Court at
Amorbach, shortly before the birth of the Princess Victoria.
The Rev. Reynold Davies, M.A., of Streatham, who is
frequently referred to in the later letters, was much esteemed
by Mrs. Piozzi, who entrusted him with the education of
John Salusbury Piozzi for some years after he was brought
to England. In the Oxford Matriculation Registers he is
described in the usual way as Reynold Davies, son of David,
&c. ; but on the monument he erected to his parents it is
stated that he was the son of David Powell of Bodwiggied
in Penderyn, co. Brecknock, an unusually late instance of
the old Welsh system of nomenclature, by which the father's
Christian name was taken as a surname by the son.

Tues. 28 Sep. '91.

Your letters, my lovely friend, are like the places they
describe, cultivated, rich, and various : the prominent
feature elegance, but always some sublimity in hope and
prospect. . . .

Our Italian Friends are still with us ; the Marquis talks
seldomer than ever of his intended tour through S. Wales
to Bath, yet may mean it ne'er the less ; and I dare say
he will go and refresh his passion. Make Harriet Lee tell
you Cecilia's saucy trick ; it will divert her to tell it, and
I won't take the tale out of her hands : her spirits mend,
I see, as to her heart, it scarce can receive improvement ;
and the strong sense she posesses, with such variety of
resources too, will guard those passes where tenderness
prevails over prudent apathy. . . .

My Master went last night to Town with good old Mr.
Jones, to see what sport the transmigration of Old Drury
can afford. We hear that all goes well, and that the Town
accepts Kemble's new terms willingly and generously. . . .

During 1791-2 Drury Lane Theatre was rebuilding, and

V^*

THE MARQUIS GROWS COOL 49

emble and his company were acting at the Haymarket
until the new house was ready for occupation.

" Good old Mr. Jones " was a connection by marriage of
rs. Piozzi's, having married a daughter of Sir William
Fowler, her mother's cousin. He was instrumental in
bringing about the public reconciliation between Mrs.
zzi and her daughters, as narrated later on.

inu:

he.

STREATHAM PARK, Sat. 1 5 Oct.

My dear Miss Weston's letter contain'd more agreeable
escriptions of the places I love, than of the people. I
must hear better accounts of our sweet Harriet before my
rt is easy, yet I doubt not her command over a passion
which no longer appears to disturb the tranquility of her
ce half-frantic Admirer ; who told my Master, in confi-
ce no, was his expression to me, but in common dis-
urse, that if he married a woman of inferior birth, such
e his peculiar circumstances, that exactly one half of
estates would be forfeited. He remains constantly with
, but the world seems a blank to him : he takes no plea-
, as I can observe, and either feels no pain, or pretends
feel none. If he ever does marry an Italian lady he
will be a very miserable man however, from being haunted
our Harriet's form, adorned with talents, and radiant
th excellence. Should he renew his attachment to her,
sacrifice half his fortune to his love, every child she
will seemingly reproach him for lessening an ancient
patrimony. Such is life.

Mrs. Siddons is at Harrogate, and, we hope, mending,
r Sir Charles Hotham is going to change the Scene, I
hear : his state of existence, so far as relates to this world,
draws to an end. Yet though the Physicians send him to
ath, he and Lady Dorothy resolve, it seems, to see the
Drury Lane Hay Market before their curtain falls,
o says there is no ruling passion ? It appears to me that
y passion, or even inclination, nursed up carefully, will

Poo

50 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

rule the rest, tho' naturally larger and stronger ; as our
little Flo lords it over the out-door dogs, merely on the
strength of being his Mistress' favourite.

Chevalier Pindemonte has written me a long letter. He
sends particular compliments to all our Friends and Coterie
almost, and says a vast deal about dear Siddons. " What,"
cries Mr. Buchetti, " does he say of Helena Williams ? "
" Oh ! not a word/' replied I, " men never speak at all of
the woman whom they really like." A painter would have
enjoyed Marquis Trotti's countenance at this conversation.
Meantime our little democratic friend is not doing a foolish
thing at last by leaving England, I do believe. Such is
the advantage of exchange between London and Orleans,
that they say the very difference may make it worth her
while ; nor is that position a weak one, if it be true that a
British Guinea is worth thirty-two French Shillings ; and
it was a man just arrived who told it me for a fact. . . .

Delia Crusca has married a Woman of elegant person and
address, and who will bring him perhaps 500 o' year, with
an unblemished character, as people tell me : the husband
meantime will congratulate himself charmingly on his own
superiority, no small pleasure to some minds ; and the
world will always be on his side in every dispute, tho' he
had neither character nor fortune when they met. His
family, I hear, are very angry.

The Kembles get money apace. Mr. Chappelow says he
is sure that the Pit alone pays every night's expence, and
people in general seem highly satisfied. Here's a long letter
from your ever affectionate H. L. P.

Sir Charles Hotham lived long enough to see the new
theatre after all : his curtain did not actually fall till 1794.

It was during her Italian tour that Mrs. Piozzi had met
Mr. Chappelow, who remained her firm friend till his death.
Her connection with Robert Merry (" Delia Crusca ") at
Florence has been mentioned in the Introduction. He

ITALIAN FRIENDS 51

returned to England in 1787, and published some rather
turgid poems of a sentimental character, which were satirised
y Gifford in the Baviad. At some time in the course of
this year he was in Paris, being, like Helena Williams, an
dent sympathiser with the Revolution.

STREATHAM PARK, Tues. 8 Nov.

My dearest Miss Weston would readily forgive my long
silence, if she knew how heavily my hours are passing, and
ow happy a moment I think even this that I have stolen
to write at last. Poor Mr. Piozzi has been, and is as ill
with the Gout as I do believe a man can possibly be. Knees,
ds, feet, crippled in all, and unable even at this hour
turn in the bed. . . .

Marquis Trotti and Mr. Buchetti have both been exces-
ively kind indeed, and I shall feel eternally obliged by
eir attentive friendship. The Marquis has delayed his
ourney till he sees our Master on his legs again, and Mr.
uchetti keeps his courage up, as nobody but a country-
can do in a strange land. . . .

I rejoice in our dear Harriet's recovery, which you say
roceeds from her fate's being decided, a position I never
eved, yet cannot contradict, for to me he never names
her ; notwithstanding I am confident he thinks of her still,
nor would I bet a large wager he does not yet marry her ;
but it was not an event ever likely to happen in three months,
and in three years she may, for aught I see, still be his,
tho' I never more will tell her so.

Agitation of spirits is the worst illness, of which my
present situation is a proof, and too much love is good for
nothing, as I see, except to make one wretched. Mr.
Piozzi has had Gout upon his throat, his voice, all that
could agitate and terrine me, but now Safe's the word, and
I care little for his pain, poor soul, if we can but keep away
er. ,

52 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

STREATHAM PARK, Sat. 20 Nov.

My dear Miss Weston deserves twenty letters, yet can
I scarce write her one somehow. That all have their vexa-
tions is very true, and perhaps my share has been hitherto
not quite equal to my neighbours'. Notwithstanding they
would make no inconsiderable figure if prettily dressed up,
I mean my own. Poor Piozzi gets on as the Crabs do, he
says, backward. Yesterday no creature could bear to see
his agony, and tho' we all dined in the Library, we wished
ourselves back a'bed. . . .

I have had a letter from sweet Helena [Williams] this
very post, telling how she is got safe to Orleans ; 'tis how-
ever written in a strain less triumphant than tender, I
think ; and if as she purposes, we may hope to see her next
Summer, I shall have few fears of her return to France.

As to our dear Harriet, you know how much I love her,
but old Barba Jove and I have a vile trick of laughing
at Lovers' resolutions. No matter, my heart wishes her
sincerely well, and I have too many obligations to Marquis
Trotti's politeness and attention while Mr. Piozzi was ill,
not to wish and desire all good for him which he can desire
for himself. . . .

Owing, no doubt, to Miss Weston's return from Bath
to Westminster, there are no letters for the next three
months ; the next, though as usual, undated, is shown
by the postmark to have been written from Bath in 1792.

Monday 5 May. No. 1 5 Milsom Street.

My dearest Miss Weston will not wonder I write so
little while my hands are full of engagements, my heart
with anxiety, and my head, as old Cymbeline says,
amazed with too much matter. 1 Harriet will have let you
into a great deal of my story, and you will be surprised less
at the behaviour of a man who, it seems, had no birth nor

1 Cymbeline, IV. iii. 28.

END OF THE ROMANCE

education to found good manners upon. The only difficulty
whether we shall tell the lady what we know, or suppress
it. I am for the latter, because like Zara she may care little

! whether he is Osmyn or Alphonzo, for aught I know. But
my Master, ever steady to the care of his own honour, says
she shall be told that which we have heard, because 'tis our
duty to speak as much as hers to listen. Send me some
ood counsel, and continue to love your H. L. P.

So ends Harriet Lee's romance. No clue is given as to
what had been heard to Trotti's prejudice, but it must
ive been something serious, and as Harriet had met him,

a friend of the family, at Mr. Piozzi's house, the latter
felt bound to clear himself of any suspicion of collusion.
The Marquis, if not altogether an impostor, was clearly not
what he seemed ; the curious thing is that the Piozzis had
not had their suspicions aroused sooner.

The characters alluded to by Mrs. Piozzi occur in Con-
greve's Mourning Bride, in which Osmyn, otherwise
Alphonzo, son of the King of Valentia, is wrecked on the
coast of Africa, where Queen Zara falls in love with him.

The next letter, undated, but bearing the postmark of
July '92, alludes to a pecuniary loss Mrs. Weston had sus-
tained, apparently through the fault of her son. Perhaps
as the result of this they left the house in Queen Square,
and till September the Westons took up their abode at
Lewisham.

I would not, dearest Miss Weston, for the World, add
to your torments. Comfort your poor Mother, and present
her my cordial good wishes and compliments. Tell her
that I say one good child out of only two is a good pro-
portion, and I am sure God Almighty will not forsake her

the World does. While I have a house you command
an apartment ; consider it as your own, and come when
it suits you. Cecilia will get her arm again, but 'twas a

54 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

dreadful accident ; that Girl is always saved from the brink
of a precipice somehow : nothing could be more painful
or more dangerous, she must wear it in a sling for a week
at least. . . . Could not Mr. Vandercorn be useful ? he
would make a point of serving you, I'm sure ; but I fear,
I fear the poor 1000 is irretrievably gone. Despair not of
Fortune however, she is never long in a mind, and will not
be always so cross, I am sure she will not. . . .

Marquis Trotti was here yesterday, to my amazement,
who concluded him gone abroad ; he brought Zenobio,
Merlini, and Buchetti with him, and we had no manner of
talk : he looks very well, says he leaves London for Paris
next Wednesday, I will not tell Harriet for fear of keeping
her away. Would he had never come ! We wanted him
not, Heaven knows. . . .

No sooner is one romance ended than another begins,
destined, like the last, to give Mrs. Piozzi a good deal of
anxiety to equally little purpose. Cecilia's first admirer
appears upon the scene, in the person of a Mr. Drummond,
and prosecutes his suit with an ardour which for a time
carries all before him.

Whatever faults the Marquis may have committed, he
did not consider himself in any way cut off from intercourse
with the Piozzis, or feel any difficulty about keeping up a
correspondence after he left England, which he did just in
time to be present at Paris during the September massacres.

STREATHAM PARK, Tues. 17 Jul.

Mr. Piozzi has so many things to call and to hurry him
he can only come on Monday next to fetch his dear Miss
Weston and mine. Be ready then kind creature and come
away. . . .

I am wholly of your Mother's opinion, that 'tis best be
near the spot : and if she is contented with her situation,
what need you care to change it ? ... My vote is for doing

CECILIA'S ADMIRER 55

nothing, it commonly is you know, if one stirs, 'tis always
to hurt oneself, I think, literally and figuratively and all. ...

No news has been heard of the Federation, but all is
supposed to be quiet in France, as an effect of the late
coalition between the King and Jacobins. We shall see
how matters end ; I wonder one has no letter from Marquis
Trotti.

Mr. James Drummond has pranced over the Common
now with comical effect enough ; for he half frighted a
quiet old Gentleman of our Village here by stopping him
on his ride, and telling his tender tale to most unwilling
ears, as no man could like a love story less : and he had
no claim to his confidence, for he could not guess who he
might be. Mr. Thomas a man you have heard Mr. Davies
call his Oracle was the person so unwillingly trusted, and
while they were together, Drummond called to Miss Lees,
who were walking on the lawn, and renewed his acquaintance
with them : he likewise halload to Jacob in a gay tone.
Such Geniuses are entertaining and comical as Larks, but
I like them not about my house, and shall feel uneasy on
the 25th lest some frisk may be performed.

The elder daughter of Mrs. Siddons, Sarah Martha,
known among her friends as Sally, was just now staying
with the Piozzis, as a companion for Cecilia, who was her
junior by about two years.

STREATHAM PARK, Sun. 9 Sep. 1792.

My dearest Miss Weston, this is my last letter from
home ; we go to morrow, and I am now so glad we are
going, because Kitchen looks and talks as if Cecilia's cold
had fastened seriously upon her breast and lungs. She
certainly does breathe with less freedom, and the cough,
though the slightest possible, is not removed. Lord ! Lord !
what an agony does it give me to think on possibilities !
But change of air is the first thing in the world for such

56 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

disorders, and she must have Asses' milk now, instead of
Sally Siddons, who grows fat and merry. Be happy if you
can, sweet friend, 'tis a hard task, even with all / have
to make me so : but let us never provoke God's judgements
by repining even at his mercies. Accept the present offer
as such, if you do accept it ; and carry this kind hearted
man a chearful countenance, for that he has deserved.
What does Mrs. Weston say ? Write me all, and write me
soon, remembering how truly I am yours H. L. P.

This letter gives the first hint of Miss Weston's ap-
proaching change of condition. That it had not occurred
before was not due to any lack of admirers. In 1779 she
was indulging in a semi- Platonic friendship for the half-
genius, half-charlatan, and wholly egotist, long patronised
by the Whalleys, who signed himself Courtney Melmoth ; who
wrote to her from Longford Court letters of seven foolscap
sheets, filled with rhapsodies about his charmer, or rather
about his own feelings for her, in which he seems to have
been much more interested. This extraordinary being, who
in real life was named Samuel Jackson Pratt, was a man
of good family and education, being a graduate of Cam-
bridge, and son of a High Sheriff of Huntingdon, had in
his life already played many parts, having been by turns
priest, actor, fortune-teller, bookseller, playwright, poet,
and essayist. He was a thoroughly untrustworthy person,
as Sophia seems to have discovered in time, though he was
the only one of her admirers whose letters she was at pains
to preserve. William Siddons had reason to believe that
he was the original author of the anonymous attacks on
his wife, previously alluded to, and the Swan of Lichfield
was convinced of similar duplicity on his part towards
herself. It is from her letters to Sophia that we get some
information as to the latter's more serious admirers.

Of these the first was Major Cathcart Taylor, who evi-
dently made some impression on her heart, but proved

WILLIAM PENNINGTON 57

himself "unworthy," and was dismissed before 1784.
Later on a strong mutual attachment grew up between
her and Mr. W. Davenport ; but the engagement was
broken off by what Anna Seward terms " the rascality of a
parent." The last of the series, who made the Swan his
confidante, and whom she calls " the gentle Wickens," had
a " little temple of the Arts " at Lichfield. But " prudence
laid a cold hand upon his hopes " ; the lady was far above
him, and he gave her up for her own sake. " He admires
the brightness of the Star, but will not draw it from its
habitual sphere."

The match she was now contemplating was not brilliant,
or even romantic, and probably her head was much more
concerned in the decision than her heart. But the suitor,
in spite of a somewhat scandalous story retailed to Sophia
by her cousin Mrs. Whalley, was evidently an honourable
man, and certainly his suit was not prompted by mer-
cenary motives. William Pennington probably belonged
o a Bristol family, for a merchant of these names was
living there earlier in the century ; but he himself, accord-
ing to the editor of Whalley 's correspondence, was a loyal
colonist ruined by the American War of Independence.
This account goes on to relate how, on the way home, he
made the acquaintance of another colonist returning to
find relations in the Old Country with whom he had long
lost touch. The latter fell ill on the voyage, and, in spite
of all Pennington's care, died before they reached England ;
but not before he had made a will leaving everything to his
new friend. Pennington's first care on landing was to
seek out the dead man's relations, and then, having torn
up the will, to put them in the way of obtaining the property.
This must have been before 1783, as in January of that
ear Sophia, writing to Whalley, incidentally mentions
that Mr. Pennington is sharing a house with *' cousin
Somers." In 1785 we find him acting as Master of the
Ceremonies at the Clifton Hot Wells. A contemporary

;

58 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

Guide Book informs us that he was " inducted " to this
important office " under the patronage of the Archbishop
of Tuam, and the Bishop of Cloyne, and with the unanimous
voice of a numerous circle of nobility and gentry." Here,
"distinguished by a medallion and ribbon," he presided
over the Assemblies, and legislated for the better preserva-
tion of their dignity, ordaining, inter alia : " That no Gentle-
man appear with a sword or with spurs in these rooms, or,
on a ball night, in boots. That the Subscription Balls will
begin as soon as possible after seven o'clock, and conclude
at eleven, on account of the health of the Company." He
continued to officiate as M.C. for twenty-eight years.

CROWN INN, DENBIGH, 1 5 Sep. Sat.

I make haste to assure my kind friend that all appre-
hensions for Cecilia are at an end. The change of air re-
lieved her oppression the first day, and carried off what
remained of cold, or cough, or whatever it was, the second.
But soon as arrived here, after the rainy est journey ever
seen, I suppose, poor Sally Siddons was taken ill of an
excessive sickness and pain, and our whole night has been
spent as yours was, when I was just as ill at Streatham
Park. . . . She is now risen and better, and eating Chicken
Broth. I am very sorry to think you have been suffering
the same torture, but do make haste and get well, and take
Bark ; it is the best thing after all for you who have, I
think, few complaints except what proceed from irritated
nerves and perpetual anxiety of heart. A decided situation
will tranquillize every sensation, and calm the tossing of
the waves, which keep on their turbulent motion very often
long after the storm is over. Yours is surely past, and so
Dear Coz, (as Cecilia says to Rosalind,) Sweet Coz, be
merry. 1 Your Mother is right, I daresay, about going to
London, Lewisham is a dull place, it were better live here
at Denbigh. We have Coals at lod. per C. and they say

1 " Sweet my Coz, be merry." As You Like It, I. ii. i.

PORTRAIT OK MRS. THRALE AT Till: AUK (>K 40
w// the original picture />v Sir fos/iitn Keviifl-.ts about 17X1, in
ssession of Mrs. Hugh l\rkins oj Fulwoott Park, Liverpool

7//V 7.VIX- /list al'out tlif time <>/ lu-r first meet ing with 1'iozzi

77//V

SALLY SIDDONS 59

how dear it all is ! and Chickens is. a couple, and such a
prospect ! Well ! I do think my own poor Country a very
retty one, that I do : and cheap, for though we are called
he Squire and his Lady, who live upon the best, and pay
for the best, they cannot for shame ask more than seven
Guineas o' week for our lodging and boarding and linnen
and china and all included ; four people and three servants,
and we have one very long staring room and clean beds.

So much for Wales, meantime our letters from France
will come slowly, for though they boast their brisk intelli-
gence, I believe the Duke of Brunswick may be in quiet
possession of Paris, or beaten back to Coblentz, before we
shall hear a bit about the matter, as this town lies in the high
road to no town, and smaller events than the deposition or

t oration of Sovereigns make much ado here. We shall
be quiet to morrow, and go to Funnen Vaino on Monday,
if Sally recovers quite well, and I doubt not her doing so ;
our Medical Man here is very kind and comfortable.

Helena Williams should mind who she keeps company
with ; so indeed should Hester Piozzi : that fine man she
brought to our house lives in no Emigrants' Hotel at Paris,
but a common Lodging, in a place where numbers lodge.
He carried no wife over with him, nor no children ; they are

I left at Hackney I am told. Her mother and sister are at
Montreuil. . . .
P.5. (by Mr. Piozzi.)
Dear friend, we are arrived at Denbigh very safe ; the
Crown Inn is prety comfortable, and I've got a very fine
room for Company ; next Monday morning we'll go all
togheter to see our place for the new House, and I hope in
two years she should be finisd to receive our selves, and our
dear friend ; be merry and comfortable if you can, and
believe me for alway your G. P.

If letters from France came slowly, yet they did arrive.
Mr. Broadley's collection contains two written from Paris by

60 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

the Marquis Trotti, who found himself in the thick of the
September massacres, of which he speaks in guarded terms.
In the first, dated 3rd September, he says : " I did not run any
risk in the terrible bloodshed of yesterday. It was an horrid
havock : but I forbear to come into any detail, as it would
very likely prevent your receiving this letter. The King
and Queen are still living. ... I am a Traveller, and never
meddled in anything, and as such I trust to come out safe."
He writes again on isth September : " So it is, Madam, I long
to be in some peaceful, retired place, where people are happy
and free without such violent exertions to be so. What I saw
lately in Paris is quite enough for me, and I would hate
myself if I was to grow familiar to such horrid scenes.
Slaughter in cold blood, and murder without provocation,
bring us straight back to the state of a brute, which would
be ten thousand times worse, living as we do now in populous
cities, than as we did formerly in forests. . . . O how often
shall I remember the sweet tranquillity of Streatham Park,
and the circumstances which will always endear it to me."

He goes on to allude to the project of building a house
in Wales, and assuming the role of Prophet, foretells the
founding and growth of a " New Salisbury " around
Brynbella, greater and more imposing than the old one, with
a monument to the " Illustrious Lady " erected in its great
square.

The constituent Assembly, having framed the new Con-
stitution, had dissolved itself, and left Louis to work it with
the aid of the Girondins, who declared war on Austria in
April, but were soon dismissed by the King. A threatening
manifesto by the Duke of Brunswick helped to bring the
Jacobins into power, who deprived the King of what little
authority he possessed, while the new Assembly was suc-
ceeded by the Convention. These changes were speedily
followed by the imprisonment of the Royal family, and the
massacres by the Paris Commune in August and September ;
but of these Mrs. Piozzi had evidently not yet heard.

THE SEPTEMBER MASSACRES 61

Helena Williams' friend was evidently John Hurford
Stone, whose name occurs several times in the succeeding
letters. He was a Unitarian, and originally a coal-merchant
in London, and a prominent member of the Society of Friends
of the Revolution. He had thus brought himself to the
notice of Fox and Sheridan in England, and had made the
acquaintance of Talleyrand and Madame de Genlis in France.
He was now paying a visit to Paris from which he returned
early in 1793, but soon took up his permanent abode in
France, where, on the outbreak of the war, he was imprisoned
as an Englishman, In 1794 he was divorced from his wife,
and thereafter lived with Helena Williams. His tombstone
in Pre Lachaise styles him an " enlightened champion of
Religion and Liberty."

The idea of building a residence on Mrs. Piozzi's Welsh
property, first mooted in 1789, was now taking shape. The
old mansion of Bachygraig, besides being inconvenient and
ruinous, occupied a low and rather damp situation on the
banks of the Clwyd, so a higher and drier site was chosen
for the new house.

Sally Siddons soon recovered, but in a few days Cecilia
had a serious relapse.

Sat. 29 Sep. [1792].

My head full of opium, my heart of anguish, I will write
to my valuable friend about her affairs, my own I cannot
trust the pen with ; dear Sally must write them for me.
Mr. Whalley is angelick, you should be happy to call him
cousin, sure ; and the sweet, artless, hoping man's letter
enclosed, that quotes my verses in good Time ! and gives
the lye to all old maxims which say that we lose our Lovers
when we lose our fortune. How can you be so cold to him ?
But 'tis illness makes you so ; be well, sweet friend, and
reject not Heaven's offer of temporal happiness in its natural
form : that of a good husband. Every hour shows me
there is no other comfort in this world but what we receive

62 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

from indissoluble union with a soul somewhat like one's own.
Even in my case I feel consolation in my Husband's dis-
interested goodness. Your Husband, I am sure, has a
heart in which meanness will not make its abode. Then
why should you scruple to honour or obey him ? I honour
him from my heart. Have him ! Have him ! and try not
to disappoint his romantic expectations of felicity never to
be found. Cecilia mends hourly, or I could not write thus
much ; yes, hourly ! and yet, Sally takes the pen. Show
Sir Lucas Pepys this letter ; if mortal pow'rs can save her,
his will ; he saved her once, why was he out of Town ?

Ah ! dear Miss Weston, what affliction have we all been in !
what anxious days and sleepless nights has poor Mrs. Piozzi
pass'd! Cecilia has been ill, very ill, a Physician from
Chester has been call'd ; we now hope to God she will re-
cover, sure, almost, that there is no immediate danger.
Not immediate, but dearest Miss Weston, how afflicted will
you be to hear that Dr. Hagarth indicated but too plainly
that Cecilia, whom we thought so strong, so free from every
complaint, will fall into a consumption. Dear Mrs. Piozzi
has fear'd this since the first day Cecilia ail'd any thing,
which was last Sunday, when she directly sent for Mr. Moore
the Apothecary of Denbigh. He said nothing was the matter
but cold ; she cough'd and complain'd of a pain in her
shoulder and side, Monday she was worse, Tuesday and
Wednesday she still got worse, Thursday she kept her bed,
and Dr. H. was sent for. That day she spit a good deal of
blood and was bled. Dr. Hagarth and Mr. Moore differ 'd
in opinion concerning what part the blood came from. Dr.
Hagarth feared it was from the lungs, and that was a bad
symptom, they let her blood again at night. Yesterday
Dr. Hagarth left us, and Cecy, after a good night was sur-
prisingly better ; she was in better spirits, sat up some time,
and was very well disposed to talk and laugh, but she is
ordered not to do either. To-day she is still much better,
and we hope soon to see her well. In the meantime dear

CECILIA'S ILLNESS 63

Mrs. Piozzi through anxiety and grief has caught a violent
cold, to-day she seems better. Oh, my kind friend, how
would your tender heart have bled for her ! Mine was
ready to burst, in the midst of her affliction on Cecilia's
account, to see her compose herself, and assure Mr. Piozzi
that for his sake she would bear all patiently, and take care
of her own health : indeed, indeed, it was a heart breaking
sight. Cecilia does not in the least suspect her complaint,
she was only fright en 'd when she spit the blood. Tho' to
be a spectator of such affliction is a sad thing, yet am I
happy in being here. Cecilia is pleas 'd to have me near her ;
she turned everyone but me out of the room when she was
bled, and me she held fast and close to her. I think I am
a small comfort to poor Mrs. Piozzi too, at least she told
me so. What melancholy reflections does Cecy's illness
bring into one's mind ; that one who yesterday was young,
healthy, strong, prosperous in her fortunes, belov'd by her
Parent and friends, in short, with every thing conspiring to
render her happy, should to-day be within an inch of death,
and quitting for ever all these blessings, is a sad and striking
lesson. To make things still more vexatious, poor Jacob has
had a terrible fever and sore throat ; he is to-day mending.
Mr. Piozzi is all tenderness ; he is, you may easily conceive,
low spirited enough. Let us pray to God that Dr. Hagarth
has been deceiv'd, or at least, if he has not, that the com-
plaint may be got the better of. I am sorry indeed to hear
how ill you have been, do, dear Creature, get well, and
accept of the comfortable independence which is offer'd you
by so amiable a person. Will it not in some measure soften
the affliction the former part of my letter must have given
you, to tell you that my belov'd Mother is at length cur'd
of her complaint, and quite an alter'd woman ? What a
happy being was I when I received this charming news from
herself, in her own handwriting ! The intended journey to
Guy's Cliff must, I fear, be given up, I will hope that when
dear Cecy is recover'd, we shall yet pass some happy days

64 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

there together. The weather has prevented our enjoying
this lovely country sufficiently ; I have seen enough to
make me never forget the beautiful Vale of Clwydd. The
new house is to be call'd the Belvedere. Yours sincerely,

S. SIDDONS.

This letter is addressed to 14 James Street, Westminster,
where Mrs. Weston had taken rooms, and where she remained
at any rate till her daughter's marriage. Sir Lucas Pepys,
in whom Mrs. Piozzi reposed so much confidence, was the
leading physician of the day. He had been created a
Baronet in 1784, was President of the Royal College of
Physicians, and attended the King in several of his illnesses.

The suggested name of Belvedere for the new house was
not adhered to. The one finally chosen was a hybrid
Cambro-Italian form, Bryn-bella, meaning the Beautiful
Bank, or Brink.

CROWN INN, DENBIGH, is/ Oct. Monday.

I write myself now, kindest Miss Weston, and I write
with steadier fingers. The cough has yielded to repeated
bleedings, and she mends as rapidly as she grew ill. Dr.
Haygarth it was who threw me in that agony, by pronouncing
Cecilia in serious danger from the blood spit up, which he
said came from the lungs ; and never did twenty Guineas
purchase as much affliction at one dose, I do believe, as
those we gave to him. Dear Mr. Moore, an agreeable Practi-
tioner settled here as Accoucheur, Surgeon, &c., who cured
Sally Siddons, had repeatedly assured me that it was not
from the lungs. . . . Her quick recovery gives great reason
to think him right ; and he so smiles, and so rejoyces, yet
insists on my telling nobody that he differs from Dr. Hay-
garth, who is a man of very high reputation, and in earnest
a very pleasing Physician skilful too I dare say and fully
perswaded of his own opinion, which is supported by Science,
as the other's by Experience.

1111

CECILIA ORDERED SOUTH 65

Dear Cecy's recovery will, if complete, prove the old

,ge that an Ounce of Mother is worth a Pound of Clergy ;
meaning that good Common Sense, or Mother Wit as we
call it, beats learning out of doors.

So may it prove ! I will now pluck up courage and
write to Sir Lucas myself. Doctor Haygarth recommended
us to take Cecilia to a warmer climate, and that instantly :
at the same time he said she must not be hurried, or even
suffered to talk much, or move. Naples was the first place
that occurred : but how should we get to Naples ? Thro'
France ? They would refuse Passports, perhaps hurry her
into worse apartments than these we are in : a prison, and
resent her with the sight of heads streaming with blood.

ro' Germany ? Through marching armies into miserable
towns, where want of horses to get forward would detain us in
a climate worse than that of Great Britain ; a German inn
to escape catching cold at is a good joke to be sure. Tis
a residence for Pigs only, not delicate Damsels, sure.

Let it be Lisbon then ! Very well, Lisbon be it ; but
now do not you open your lips, or black one bit of paper
with this intelligence, for if she really ails nothing which
Mr. Moore says will very soon appear to be the case all
ese phantoms vanish, and poor Mr. Piozzi and I are not
to be driven forcibly, expensively, dangerously, and suddenly
from all our comforts, all our friends, present enjoyments,
and future projects. The little Belvedere may yet go forward
at Funnen Vaino, and we may yet be merry with you in
many a beautiful spot, but none like the Vale of Llwydd.
My health, tho' horribly shaken, may tye up again, and I
may kiss my pretty black Cock and Hen (that I forgot to
thank you for,) at poor old Streatham Park. They are
of the Polish breed ; we will call them the King and Queen
f Poland, there will never be any other, I fancy. . . .

Jacob's dangerous sore throat and fever has been a great
addition to my agony, but he will live, poor fellow, I thank

God ; and so the favourite horses got lamed with neglect

66 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

while he was sick, and Phillis came to evil, and all went
consistently. I expect my poor Husband to get a fit of the
gout every day, and that would do for me. I should remind
myself of the Welch Parson's letter saying

" Dear Sir, as I was passing the heights of Snowdon last
week, with Mrs. Jones behind me, I got in much distress,
for night came on, my horse tired, and my Wife fell in
labour. . ."

Of Sally Siddons I say, like as Imogen says of Pisanio,
" thou art all the comfort the gods will diet me with." 1 Her
mother's recovery is however one solid and certain felicity
to us all. I do thank God for that : she is an invaluable
Creature.

Thursday 4 Oct. DENBIGH.

Well 1 My dearest Miss Weston, you are a true friend
if ever any one had a true friend, and you will think of nobody
but me, and of nothing but my miseries ; from some part
of which however charming Sir Lucas's letter and yours
together have relieved me. I write to him to-day, and I
beg'd Dr. Haygarth to write. His will doubtless be a de-
spairing letter, he despair'd even of Jacob, who, Mr. Moore
protested, was never in actual danger. No matter now tho',
for he certainly is recovering ; and I earnestly hope I did
not neglect my duty to him, while my heart was full of
everything else in the world.

Indeed, indeed, Cecilia has, between her lovers and her
illness, worked my poor heart very hard this year. I marvel
Drummond is not come down yet, for he knows all that
happened, but the same avarice which prompted his original
pursuit of her restrains him from spending seven Guineas to
follow her, and fret me. Some certain comfort every state
affords, you know. Cecilia does mend to be sure as fast as
ever anybody did mend : ay, and as fast as she grew worse,
which was with a rapidity I never before was witness to. . . .
1 Cywbeline, III. iv. 183.

P CECILIA MENDS 67

Dear Piozzi does not get the gout, so we shall surely move
hence o' Monday, but Haygarth is very good, that he is, and
comes at a call very quickly too. He has made two visits,
and kind Mr. Moore nurses, and sends his wife to nurse, and
help sit up, and everything, that is, he did do so when
wanted, as if he were one's oldest and sincerest friend.
He never thought her in danger, and is now the happiest
person, except myself, in the Town of Denbigh. The neigh-
bouring Gentlemen send in baskets of fruit and sallads,
and all they think she can want : so if she does hate Wales,
which I do believe she does most heartily, the People could
do no more to make her love it.

Remember, that tho' the Dr. came twice, she spit blood
but once ; remember too that I did not wait till she spit
blood before I sent for him, that agony was while he was
coming hither, this day sennight, and Mr. Moore had just
bled her as he walked in. The state of her blood however,
and of her case, made Haygarth order the operation to be
repeated ; and 'tis to bleeding alone that I impute her
cure. . . .

She was as well, as lively, and as handsome as ever you
saw her just before this attack : she lost the cold you had
observed by the time she reached Meriden. I remember her
running up and down the garden slopes like a school-girl ;
so she ran up and down the Castle Hill here, to fright me
and Sally Siddons at the heights she shew'd herself from,
for mere sport and frolick. The disease was sudden and
violent. She had caught the cold when Jacob caught his,
riding in the rain to the Belvedere, and then coming home
in the chaise with us, her habit wet thro'. She would
ride that day tho' it was showry when she set out, but
the roads are so bad for a carriage that every body will
ride that can; and she is not used to mind a cold, poor
soul. . . .

This is, I think, my most rational letter yet. . . . Sally
Siddons is my darling daughter, and so affectionate. Fare-

68 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

well ; beg dear Mr. Whalley's prayers for me, and write to
Chester to yours gratefully, H. L. P.

Sat. 6 Oct. 1792.

My dearest, truest, kindest Miss West on 's sympathizing
letter makes a nice contrast to cruel Doctor Haygarth's,
this moment received, wherein he bids me not relax my
caution, for that diseases of these kinds are peculiarly in-
sidious ; says Miss Thrale ought to be watched with the most
sedulous attention, &c., and brought to him, if able to move,
next Monday, to Chester, where however he despairs again
of finding us any comfortable accommodations.

How can dear Sir Lucas Pepys love a man so unlike him-
self ? and how can a creature who witness'd my anguish
suspect, or pretend to suspect, my care of a child whose
welfare precludes every other thought and consideration ?

Well ! Cecilia has no sweats, no febrile heat, no chills,
no pain in the breast at all. She sleeps uninteruptedly
seven hours at a time, and coughs only now and then, as we
say, but it certainly is not cured. This morning we try her
with an airing, but I'm forced to send my letter away, be-
cause our Posts come and go very slowly, as you see. Sally
Siddons scolds me for crying over Haygarth's letter, because
she says she sees Cecy mend every moment.

The remaining page and a half is filled up by Sally,
who enlarges on this text in great detail, and with much
common sense. She seems to have converted Mrs. Piozzi
to her opinion, for the next letter, instead of being written
at Chester, is dated from Guy's Cliffe, near Warwick, then
the seat of the Greatheeds. Mrs. Piozzi had become intimate
with Bertie Greatheed at Florence, and wrote the Epilogue
for his blank-verse tragedy, The Regent, which was per-
formed at Drury Lane in 1788. It was not a great success,
in spite of the acting of John Kemble and Mrs. Siddons.
Here the object, though not the nature, of Mrs. Piozzi's

GUY'S CLIFFE 69

anxiety suffered a change ; for Sally had a bad attack of the
spasmodic asthma from which she suffered all her life, and
of which she eventually died.

GUY'S CLIFFE, Sunday 14 Oct. 1792.

Never, my dearest Miss West on, never try to oppose the
immediate dictates of Heaven. I was miserable, yes
miserable at coming to this sweet hospitable house, because
I wanted to be at home with Cecilia, to see and embrace
my kind, my true friend and to endeavour at sleep in
my own bed for from every other it has long been flown.
On the road hither however, for we came softly, not to hurry
poor Cecy, only 44 miles o' day, Sally Siddons was taken
illish. I hop'd it was the Influenza, for cold she could not
have catch'd, and I have kept her at all possible distance
from my own girl ever since she threw up blood at Denbigh.
Here however was she seized yesterday with such a paroxysm
of Asthma, cough, spasm, every thing, as you nor I ever
saw her attack'd by. ... But as God never leaves one
deserted, here most providentially was found Mr. Rich'd
Greatheed, who you know practised physick many years
in the West Indies ; and under his care we are now existing,
not living. He is very charming, and so is his dear sister,
who desires her love to you, and all possible happiness. I
told her my infinite obligations to your generous friendship,
and she says how good, and clever, and how much admired
you always were. Sally in her bed begs to be remembered
to you, who have so often watched her bedside. She has
reason to adore Mrs. Greatheed though, who ransacks the
country for relief to the dear creature, and we expect her
mother every instant to add to our agony.

Meantime Cecilia^ remains just the same as when Haygarth
pronounced her well ; but she is not well, no nor ill neither. . . .
Well, her sisters had the best of my flesh and of my purse ;
poor Cecilia can but pick the skeleton of either, and she is
welcome to that.

70 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

I knew from the Lloyds that Drummond was acquainted
with all ; he doubtless attributes her illness to disappointed
love of him. I knew it from them, but they did not tell me
so, mind : oh, had I never known anything of Drummond
but what I had been told, my information had been very
shallow, sure.

Adieu ! if no new affliction arises we shall be at Streatham
Park on Thursday night, 18, and you shall see what yet
remains of your poor H. L. PIOZZI.

Mrs. Siddons was no stranger at Guy's Cliffe. More
than twenty years before, when her parents were trying
to break off her engagement to William Siddons, she had
lived there for two years, nominally as lady's-maid, though
it is said that her chief employment was to read poetry to
the then master of the house, Mr. Samuel Greatheed. After
her marriage in 1773 she often stayed there as a friend of
the family.

STREATHAM PARK, Wensday, 7 Nov. 1792.

I am truly delighted, dearest friend, with your charming
pacquet. . . .

We are all in the right to love Mr. Pennington, 'tis for all
our credit to love him, and will be ever so to yours. Never
were so many knowing ones taken in at once as would be
if he proved worthless. You will follow him soon, and the
moment we have half a crown in hand we will follow you.
Let mine be the first letter sign'd P. S. P. Siddons says you
must say nothing from her, but you may tell Mr. Whalley
from me, that I think her as yet neither well nor happy, soon
to be so however, as we all hope; that's enough, she will
always do right, we are sure of her principles, unbending as
her best admirer said they were.

So you are a widow when this reaches you, and your true
love is gone away, What mistakes he will be guilty of till
you come, I am thinking ; for he, poor soul ! dreams only

MRS. SIDDONS
/>r A'. /. I.nnc after Sir 77tos. Lawrenc

MISS WESTON'S ENGAGEMENT 71

his Sophia. May your Mother end her days peaceably
under his protection and your care, and quite forget she ever
had any other son ! 'Tis best.

My Master will call some day, if he can, that is. Mr. Ray
has given him tickets for Lord Mayor's Feast, so he is to see
London's Glory, in good time ; he has seen the Apparitions,
which he greatly approves.

Helena Williams should not be sick now all goes her own
way ; Is this a time, brave Caius, to wear a Kerchief ? &C., 1
as Brutus says. I will write to her some of these days. . . .

In France the Prussians had been driven back, the
National Convention had abolished Royalty, proclaimed
the Republic, and were now preparing to try the King,
though it is not likely that the last item of news had yet
reached Mrs. Piozzi. The Republic at once took up the
offensive, and its troops occupied Savoy and Nice, which
no doubt gave rise to the expectation of an attack on Rome,
as mentioned in the next letter.

STREATHAM PARK, Wensday 21.

My dear Miss Weston's kind letter came safe to my hand,
'tis the last I shall read with that signature. Do pray tell
me whether your Brother knows how matters go, and when
he found it out. Does good Mamma set out at the same time
you do ? Yes, I dare say. Give my truest regards to
charming Mr. Whalley, and your real cousin, his amiable
Lady, and tell my Harriet Lee how I expect her, and long
to see her, and tell all my tales of sorrow and of joy about
poor Cecilia, whose kind and wise Physician came here out
of pure good will two days ago, and signed a good Bill of
Health for all the family, honest Jacob included ; and
said moreover that sweet Siddons would recover in due

1 " Oh what a time have you chose out, brave Caius," &c. Julius
Casar, II. i. 315.

72 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

time, and that time not distant. He is one of us her
adorers. . . .

How happy Mr. Pennington must be in Mrs. Tryon's
admiration of his Sophia's fine qualities. These are the
bright moments, the lucid spots of life, which those who
never marry never see. Mr. Whalley's is really a lucky
house, I seldom have seen it without a courting scene upon
the fore-ground. Tell him, (if you can remember,) that
his democratic friend, Count Andriani, asked for him the
other day, tho' I perfectly recollect his turning quite pale
with passion while they disputed about politics. Meantime
the French are expected hourly at Rome, and at Loretto,
to pay their troops with the rich spoils of Palaces and
Churches. Some Italian noblemen dined here last week,
and actually wept with reflexions upon past terror and
apprehended injuries. Excellenza Pisani in particular, at
whose throat, and at those of his little girls, ten and eleven
years old, they held knives and pikes for the space of four
hours, surrounding his coach as he came away, and loading
him with the bitterest curses ; adding Rogue and Rascal, etc.,
till his daughters' Gouvernante, in perpetual fits, seem'd
wholly dead from fright, and his Steward came out in a
spotted fever with the agony. I never heard anything so
dreadful. Little Lady Caterina says she thought they would
kill Papa every minute. Remember that Pisani is one of
the first families in Europe, and that his person ought to
have been sacred as Ambassador from one of the first Re-
publics in it.

Poor Marquis Spinola has the same tale to tell ; but he
had lived twenty years in France, and acquired kindness
enough for the Nation to be sorry for them. Well ! we will
now think of nothing but private happiness, and rejoice that
'tis still within our reach. May you, my kind friend, long
remain a proof and pattern of it, prays your truly affec-
tionate and obliged H. L. PIOZZI.

CHAPTER III

Miss Weston marries Wm. Pennington, 1792 Execution of Louis XVI
Reconciliation of Mrs. Piozzi and her daughters, 1793 Irish
Rebellion "British Synonymy" Fleming's prophecies Cecilia's
flirtations Residence at Denbigh, 1794 Building of Brynbella.

By the time the next letter was written Miss Weston
had become Mrs. Pennington, and had taken up
her abode at the Hot Wells, in a house in
Dowry Square. It points to a serious estrange-
ment between Mrs. Siddons and her husband, though
nothing is said as to the cause. Mr. Siddons, like
Mr. Thrale, seems to have been reserved, and somewhat
lacking in sympathy for, if not actually jealous of, his
brilliant wife ; but so far as one can judge, his conduct as a
husband was outwardly quite correct, and even exemplary.
Mrs. Piozzi's Commonplace Book, now in the possession
of Mr. Broadley, contains a note on Count Andriani, whom
she describes as "a Milanese nobleman, a bold dashing
fellow, who went up in an air-balloon about 1781-2, when
such exploits were rare." She goes on to relate how his
outspoken preference for Killarney as compared with Loch
Lomond offended Helen Williams, who, though born in
London, chose to consider Scotland her native country, on
the strength of having been brought up at Berwick-on-
Tweed. \

My dear sweet friend rates my little tokens of goodwill
too high. . . . But let us talk of nothing but your happiness,
and my comfort in the thought of it. Dear Mr. Pennington
is already sensible of your worth, and will be more so, when
he knows you as I do ! He has won all our hearts here, and

74 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

his charming wife will do the same with his friends wherever
they are. . . .

Poor Siddons pities my very soul to see her : an indignant
melancholy sits on her fine face, and care corrodes her very
vitals, I do think. God only can comfort her, and His grace
alone support her, for she is all resentment ; and that beauty,
fame, and fortune she has now so long posess'd, add to her
misery, not take from it. I am sincerely afflicted for her
suffering virtue, never did I see a purer mind, but it is now
sullied by the thoughts that she has washed her hands in
innocence in vain ! How shall I do to endure the sight of
her odious husband ? I suppose he comes tomorrow.

STREATHAM PARK, Thursday, 10 Jan. 1793.

Who is silent and sullen now of these two scribbling
Mrs. P.P.'s ? not Mrs. Piozzi, sure. No, nor her poor
Husband, who, tho' now laid up with the gout worse than
ever I knew him, thinks of you often, and added a Postscript
to my last letter with the Ballad in it. Oh, but the Church
and King Ballad is a great deal better than mine ; 'tis really
a sweet copy of verses, and you will cry over it. Enquire
and get it to read. I doubt not of its being the production
of some very capital hand.

Our Master is too bad to be diverted by anything : 50
hours has that unhappy Mortal lain on an actual rack of
torment, nor ever dozed once except for 7 or 8 minutes, not
ten. Tis truly a dismal life, and Mrs. Siddons has called
home Sally, and Mr. Davies is making holyday at Bright-
helmston, and there is nobody to make out Whist with good
old Mr. Jones. I just had a peep of the Lees and Greatheeds,
it was however but a peep. We went to Town one night and
saw Euphrasia, and caught a cold which Piozzi attributes
to the Kanquroo, etc., that we carried the children to look
at next morning. " Ah ! those Ferocious Beasts are been
my Ruin " quoth he. ...

Marquis Trotti writes from Vienna, where he is retired,

BUILDING OF BRYNBELLA 75

like Isabinda in The Wonder, to avoid matrimony, as the
Italians here tell me ; and they fancy him attached to Miss
Hamilton, who, they say, is highly accomplished, tho' plain,
and a prodigiously well known and admired authour. When
we talk of people's affairs, I hope and suppose we always
make just such wise assertions, for who at last really knows
the affairs and thoughts of another ? You are however
ignorant of nothing belonging to my family concerns, you'll
say ; 'tis true ; but one reason may be there is nothing I
wish to conceal. We have no money for Bath this year,
Brynbella drains all away ; and Cecy prefers a week's flash
in London to a month at Bath, she says. And she perhaps
knows why better than she will tell to you, or to yours
ever, H. L. P.

Say you are alive, and well, and happy, and tell Mr.
Pennington how much we all wish him so. Adieu ! My
Master's bell rings, I run. Farewell.

By " Euphrasia " she probably meant to designate
Murphy's play, usually known as The Grecian Daughter, in
which the heroine Euphrasia, daughter of Evander, saves
her father's life in prison by suckling him. In her reference
to Isabinda she seems to have suffered from a momentary
(and unusual) lapse of memory. The name of the heroine
in The Wonder, otherwise A Woman keeps a Secret, by
Mrs. Centlivre, is Isabella ; Isabinda is a character in

(The Busybody, by the same writer.
The Miss Hamilton here referred to seems to have been
Eliza, sister of Captain Charles Hamilton, a member of the
Woodhall family, who was living in London shortly before
this date ; but her most successful work, the Letters of a
Hindoo Rajah, was not published till 1796.

Mr. Broadley's collection contains a letter written this
year to Mrs. Piozzi by Harriet Lee, which shows that the
latter had not quite banished Trotti from her thoughts,
though she does profess her determination to live and die

76 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

an old maid. " Should you have any letter from Vienna,
and I know not why, but am disposed to believe you have
had the last, pray be so good as to ask in your answer
whether he knows anything of the fate of Gen. de Paoli,
and if he is really dead. You may, if you please, add
that I begg'd you to make the enquiry."

Just at this time Mrs. Pennington fell ill, and Mrs. Piozzi
writes an anxious letter of enquiry, but of no particular
interest, to her husband on I4th January ; but by the time
it reached him, the invalid was sufficiently recovered to
answer for herself.

STREATHAM PARK, 17 Jan. 1793.

Oh what pleasure did the sight of your handwriting give
us all, my ever kind, my ever partial friend ! Poor Mr.
Piozzi really suffered for you in the midst of his own pains,
and they have been great and serious. He is now just trying
to crawl, and that very miserably indeed, and his hands, etc.,
so entirely useless for a whole week he could not even use
the pocket handkerchief for himself. Are not you very
sorry ? Tis my fear that it will be long before he can ever
play the Pastorale, etc.

Here is bitter weather too, and that retards both his and
your recovery, and sweet Siddons has relapsed, and Sally
is with her, as bad as bad can be, and Pepys attending them
both. I'm told London has a violent Influenza in it, and
will keep my Miss out while I can, but one's arms do so ache
with pulling at an unbroken Filly that longs to hurt herself
by skipping into some mischief or other, that, like the old
Vicar in Goldsmith's Novel, I get weary of being wise, and
resolve to see people once happy in almost any way.

Meantime Harriet Lee quits London, after making me
only one pityful visit or two. I gave her the elegant verses
called a Ballad for Church and King, she may copy them
for you ; I fancy them written by Bishop Porteous, without
knowing very well why. Poor Louis' fate was decided on

CONTINENTAL POLITICS 77

last Monday, but we know not yet what that fate is. Your
anecdote is very interesting, I shall read it to all the
Democrates. Meantime 'tis supposed that a plague is begun
in Austria. Long live the Turnep Cart, say you. If things
go on so rapidly I shall become a list'ner. The King of
Naples has really behaved very paltrily, and poor Pius
Sextus is forced to solicit help from his excluded and ex-
communicated brother Martin at last. I suppose we shall
send a fleet into the Mediterranean for protection of Italy ;
they will all be contented to see us pay the expence of a war
they have not spirit to fight for themselves. Fye on 'em
all ! Tutti Compagni, says yours, H. L. P.

Dr. Beilby Porteous was now Bishop of London, to which
he had been translated from Chester in 1787. He had
greater reputation as a preacher than as an author, but
was said to have had some share in Hannah More's
' celebs in Search of a Wife.

Hugues Basse ville, an envoy of the French Republic,
laving been murdered at the foot of Trajan's Column in
Rome on I3th January, Pius VI was charged with complicity,
and so was driven in self-defence to join the League of the
irmanic States against France. Martin, as typifying the
-utherans, is as old as Dryden's Hind and Panther, and
stands for Luther himself in Swift's Tale of a Tub, but
[rs. Piozzi probably had in her mind its use by Dr.
Arbuthnot in his History of John Bull.

Ferdinand I, King of Naples, was at first disposed to
empathise with the Revolution, but the execution of
lis drove him to join the league of Austria and England
against the Republic.

STREATHAM PARK, 24 Jan. 1793.

MY DEAR FRIEND, It is very vexatious that we cannot
come to Bath this year, and I am excessively grieved at it
for a thousand reasons.

78 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

I hope we shall make a point of showing our attachment
to Royalty and Loyalty by wearing black for the poor King
of France, whose murder is meant only as prelude to still
more extensive ruin and destruction of all things most dear
and sacred in the eyes of Christian and civilised nations :
destruction to the Arts, the Altar, and the Throne. Have
you seen the large spot upon the Sun's disk, discernible to
a naked eye, and large as a button on a man's coat ? None
was ever seen without a telescope till now ; and last Sunday,
when London's caliginous atmosphere had stript old Titan
of his rays, and render'd his face as 3^ou have often seen
it, red and round, like a piece of iron heated in the fire, a
considerable crowd gathered about St. Paul's, and viewed
the phenomenon distinctly. So at least Mr. Greatheed
informed us, who was himself among the starers. . . .

Piozzi continues immovable ; he says " I advance
towards recovery indeed like the Lobsters I go backward.
Tell so to Mrs. Pennington." You see I have not changed
his mode of expression. Sweet Siddons has been here to
careen and refit after her terrible cold. She returns to duty
this moment, and carries this letter to the Post Office, only
waiting while I assure you of the continued affection of your
ever faithful and affect 6 H. L. P.

Mr. Pennington 's turn came next ; for it appears that
an attack of gout had prevented his directing some special
entertainment, perhaps in the nature of a benefit, at the
Hot Wells.

STREATHAM PARK, 30 Jan. 1793.

Poor, dear, kind Mrs. Pennington t

I am glad and sorry and all in a breath from what
your letter tells me : had we been at Bath, matters would
have gone just the same. . . .

Why does not that hapless Queen of France dye of grief
at once, and spare Frenchmen the crime of murdering an

FRENCH REVOLUTION 79

Emperor of Austria's daughter, whom they have already
reduced to the disgrace of begging a black gown of his
murderers, to wear for her Consort's death ? I never heard
anything so horrible as the account of the King's execution,
and I fear there is no war to be made upon the wretches
neither. Mrs. Mackay gives us to understand that Rome
is ripe for rebellion, and Ireland is half under arms. All
private concerns seem lost in public amazement somehow.
But dear Miss Owen's brother has got a large windfall, it
seems, by his crazy cousin of Porkington's burning himself
to death, airing his shirt : and that nasty Mr. Stone, that
we all hate so, is come away from France ; I'm glad of
that too. . . .

Marquis Trotti is safe at Vienna. I want a letter from
him concerning the plot there. Mrs. Siddons is in her
business, and Sally with her ; Maria coming home. Major
Semple was one of the active men, I find, at Louis XVI's
execution. His wife returns to England with her little

ock, on pretence of broils in France, but I suppose in order
to avoid her husband. I have read the 5th edition of Village
Politics, but I had seen another thing written before that,

ailed Liberty and Equality, prettier still in the same way,
and fancy it the production of Mr. Graves of Claverton.
Tis in his style, and very interesting and very clever
indeed. . . .

James George Semple wrote his autobiography in Tothill
Fields Prison in 1790, from which it appears that his wife
was a daughter of Elizabeth, the " amazing " Duchess of
Kingston, that he had served in America and on the Con-
tinent, and being then on General Berruyer's staff, had
witnessed the execution of Louis XVI. But this was the
more respectable side of his career, against which must be
set the fact that he had found it convenient on certain
occasions to pass under four or five different aliases, and
that he had been twice sentenced for fraud, and once to

8o PIOZZ1-PENNINGTON LETTERS

transportation, which he narrowly escaped. So his wife
may have had good reasons for putting the Channel between
them.

" Village Politics, by Will Chip," was the work of Hannah
More, published in 1792, which was thought so highly of
that it was distributed gratis, not only by patriotic societies,
but even by the Government. The proceeds of its sale
enabled her to begin her series of Cheap Repository Tracts.
The Rev. Richard Graves, who held the living of Claverton,
near Bath, till he was nearly ninety, had been a prolific
writer of poetry, but was best known as the author of a
novel, The Spiritual Quixote.

Maria, the second daughter of Mrs. Siddons, now about
fourteen years old, had been educated at a boarding-school in
Calais. She, like her sister Sally, was beautiful but delicate,
and was carried off by consumption a few years later.

Thursday, 7 Feb. 1793.

And so your kind heart beats still for those helpless
ladies in the prison at Paris : so does Mr. Piozzi's ; he cannot
rest for thinking on the accounts (I hope greatly exag-
gerated,) of insults offered to their persons, the young
Princess Royal's in particular. Can such things be, and
no lightning fall yet ? The Sun may well hide his head. . . .

Dear, charming Siddons goes on as usual, and another
fair daughter is come home to give her something more to
do ; and an old Tragedy, written ages ago by Mr. Murphy,
is coming out at last, a mythological play of the dark days,
Theseus and Adriadne, and that old ware. I guess not how
it will be liked. Meantime we hear no more news than you
do. You know that the King and Nation cry War ! War !
glorious War ! while Opposition longs for Peace and dull
Delay, and an Ambassador to the Fish- women of Paris.
You know that Mr. Grey would not wear black for the
King of France ; and you know the story of the Dauphin
running out and crying " I'll go, and beg, and kneel to them

M \KI \ S
A'v (',. Clt-nt nftcr Sir V/ios. I. awn- nee

EXECUTION OF LOUIS 81

to send home my Papa alive " ; and the brutal centinel
catching up the child, and thrusting him in with " Get back,
you troublesome Bastard, he's no Papa of yours." The
insulted Sovreign only said " Too much! too much! " and
stept into the coach. This anecdote from Mr. Ray, who
had it in a private letter from a friend at Paris : I call that
good authority. Everyone knows he rode backward in the
coach : two impudent Officers of the National Guard sitting
in the front seat ; and how oddly they must feel the while,
methinks ! Well ! if we live we shall see some signal
vengeance overtake these gallants, that I do believe ; and
in the meantime war is hourly expected by all, desired by
the Court no doubt, and wished for by the bulk of mankind
in general. It will be good sport for Naples, Spain, etc.,
to see France humbled, and England impoverished, and
their dastardly selves sitting snug ; but I believe Holland
will be lost if we don't stir, and those things must not be.
Dumourier has promised to plant his tree in Amsterdam on
the 1 7th, and none but ourselves can hinder it. Venice
has been overflowed with a high tide, so has Rotterdam;
" the sea and the waves roaring, men's hearts failing them
for fear, and for looking on those things that shall come
upon the earth." What says dear Mr. Whalley ? Miss
More has written very sweetly, and is applauded by all the
world for her nice Village Politics. Tis more read than
that little Pamphlet I like so, called Liberty and Equality ;
but the more of those things go about the better ; if one
misses, another may hit. My stuff will please perhaps :
I sent a sheet to the Crown and Anchor for distribution this
morning, a threepenny touch, but you shall not be told
till you find out which is mine. Mr. Greatheed being asked
which side Mrs. Piozzi was of quickened my zeal. I hope
it cannot be ever asked again.

Farewell, dear Friend ; wish my rheumatism well,
if it is rheumatism, I take James' Analeptic Pills for
it, they cannot hurt me, and while I remain above

82 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

ground, most gratefully and affectionately shall I ever
be yours, H. L. P.

The "old Tragedy " was that of the Rival Sisters, writ-
ten in 1786, but not acted till i8th March 1793, when it was
staged for the benefit of Mrs. Siddons, who took the part
of Ariadne. Its author had in his own life played many
parts, having at one time or other been a bank clerk, an
actor, an author, a barrister, and a commissioner in bank-
ruptcy. He was an old friend of Thrale, who was indebted
to him for the introduction of Johnson to his circle ; and
about this time he was the means of making the Piozzis
acquainted with Samuel Rogers the poet.

Though Mrs. Piozzi does not seem aware of it, the French
had declared war on England on ist February; but just
then the Republic was more engaged on the regeneration of
Holland by means of the army of Dumouriez, which, after
the defeat of the Austrians, had occupied Belgium.

LONDON, 12 Mar. 1793.

Do not despond so, dear Friend, all will be well. I saw
Mr. Parsons lately, who was full of your praise, and said
how that conduct which always did please the World, now
pleased it more.

Public matters have at length taken the wished for turn,
and France must soon be humbled. No longer will our
worthless Democrates boast the friendship of a powerful
and victorious Republic, as they called her: she will be
tatter'd and torne in pieces now very soon, I doubt not.

Meantime here are we, amusing ourselves, and the weeks
do fly so heavily, compared with what I find them in the
Country, while Flo barks, and the Parrot takes him off.
Well! but I really have neither been sullen nor sick. I
have covered Cecy with finery, and sate up till morning at
every place without repining, while she was diverted, I
hope. Drummond took no notice of her at the only Public

FAMILY RECONCILIATION 83

Place we saw him at, so I trust that foolery is finished, and
nine days more shall see me counting my Poultry, and
kissing my Canes at home, where Spring pours out all her
sweets to tempt us back, and there will I finish this letter.

STREATHAM PARK THEN, 20 Mar. 1793.

Here we are again, and in new characters somehow,
or else old ones revived. Last Saturday, at Mr. Jones's,
Piozzi received a Billet from Miss Thrale, requesting to see
him next morning. He attended her summons while I
went to Church, and heard, at my return, her intention of
coming to see me the day following, at my own hour, with
her Sisters. I appointed 12, and she promised for the other
Ladies and herself. My Master saw only the eldest, but our
good hospitable Landlord, rejoicing in this new and strange
event, (which gives every one's curiosity an air of tender
interest that it would be ill manners in me to repress,) spread
his finest tablecloths, and invited them to breakfast at ten,
an hour they appeared eagerly to catch at, and coming to
their appointment, sate down with us and Mr. Rich'd Great-
heed, and Baron Dillon, who came in by chance ; while each,
thinking I trust on everything else in the world, agreed to
converse only on popular topics. Susanna felt nervous,
however, and left the room with Cecy for a moment, but
Miss Thrale and I stood our ground admirably, and I beg'd
Mr. Rich d Greatheed to tell dear Siddons how well (like
Rosalind,) I had counterfeited. Night carried me to her
Benefit, and Company crowded round all day, so that my
spirits were so oddly kept afloat that, upon my honest word,
I have never been sleepy since Saturday that Piozzi received
the letter, and this is Wednesday morning.

Well ! we returned the visit, and invited the Ladies here
on Easter Monday to Dinner. All the Town would buy
tickets I'm sure, with pleasure, could they procure 'em,
and pass through danger itself willingly, to see the sight. I
told my Master it would have been best to take the little

84 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

Theatre, and give them the whole show at once. Nothing
does revolt me so as that true British spirit of tearing out
every private transaction for public discussion and amuse-
ment : it makes one's feelings appear affected if indulged,
and annihilated if they are repressed. But this luxurious
Nation longs to learn what cannot be known, and see what
its own very light renders incapable of being clearly discerned.
For when they have stared in our faces on such an occasion,
how much do they find out of our hearts ?

Farewell ! and do write to me : I can talk of nothing
but this, and will talk no more about that, so Adieu, and
love your true friend H. L. PIOZZI.

Easter Tuesday.

My dear Mrs. Pennington has often seen people talked
into misery, 'tis the way now to talk me into happiness ; but
I am content to be happy the way other people please, and
I am sure they are right. I returned the visit I told you of
next day, and they all din'd and supped here last Monday,
oh ! yesterday after an interval of fourteen days, in which
I saw nothing of them. However all is vastly well, they
are contented to take me up, as they set me down, without
alledging a reason ; and I am contented to be taken and
left by them without reasoning on the matter at all. We
had a brilliant day, with feast, and dance, and song, and
broke not up till four o'clock in the morning. Our elastic
house pulled out to embrace them, and the Hamiltons, kind
and sweet, the Greatheeds, Miss Owen, dear old Mr. Jones,
and all the Siddons family. One of my delights was to
see Cecilia dancing with Mr. Richard Greatheed, who, when
he felt her pulse at Guy's Cliffe, I feared would never have
made Allemande with her. Everybody seemed pleased
however, and we all were pleased. Our acquaintance will
henceforth be theirs, and things will shake naturally into
their proper places. Nothing could exceed the kindness
of our common friends, except my sensibility of it. The

MOTHER AND DAUGHTERS 85

Girls seemed less shy of Mr. Piozzi than of me, comical
enough ! But he is so good, and so attentive to them !
How you would love him ! And public concerns were
prohibited the conversation, so Mr. Greatheed was quite
charming. The dear Broadheads could not come, their
uncle is dead, and has disinherited them, leaving 50,000
to a little Currier's boy, who as I say will jump out of his
skin for joy I suppose, while they fret as I once did on a
like occasion. . . .

The reconciliation thus unexpectedly brought about
was perhaps a little too formal to be permanent, being the
result of policy rather than affection. The daughters seem
to have inherited a large share of their father's cold and
reserved nature, and never to have been sufficiently in
sympathy with their mother to understand her impulsive
disposition. There was never any open rupture, but as
causes of friction arose, chiefly in connection with business
matters, they drifted gradually apart ; more rapidly after
Piozzi's death, when his widow found another and more
absorbing interest in the career of their adopted son. She,
on her side, does not appear to have made any sustained
effort to keep in touch with them, and at the close of her
life she was almost a stranger to her own children, who
seldom wrote she mentions Lady Keith's " annual letter "
on ist January 1818 and never visited her at Bath.

STREATHAM PARK, 21 Apr. 1793.

I am truly sorry, dear Friend, that things go no better,
but 'tis a sad world, and so we always knew it was : kind
Piozzi is quite grieved for Mr. Pennington's long continued
illness.

Joe George, the sick labourer, was turning the earth over
this morning among the clumps, and saw me feeding your
black cock ; " And pray, Madam " (said he,) "what is be-
come of Miss Weston ? I never see her now, and so good

86 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

she was ! " " Didn't you know, George, that Miss Weston
was married, and lived at Bristol ? " " No, Madam, because
they never tell poor folks anything, and I am as glad as the
best of them, and I'll drink her health." You may guess
how the dialogue ended.

We are to dine in Town and meet charming Siddons at
Mr. Greatheed's on Fryday next ; our own Ladies too
alias Titmice will be there. Nothing serves them but
fagging me out, that we may show ourselves together in
public, Susanna says ; so out I march, and do not laugh nor
cry, though under perpetual temptations to both, for why
did we not always do so ? or what has happened to make us
do so now ? My comprehension reaches not these wonders.
Cecilia thinks 'tis a merry life, and when she is in a calm,
as mine Hostess Quickly says by Doll Tearsheet, she is sick. 1

Drummond follows us about with his baffled countenance,
making my words good, who told him the Girl would never
be nearer marrying him than she was that day, when I had
the honour of predicting how I should see them pass each
other in public, saying to their separate parties, " That's
the man who was troublesome to me," and ''That's
the girl who jilted me.' 1 Just so was it at Yaniwitz's
Benefit. . . .

Your favourites in the Temple tower are yet alive, but
help is further off than we thought for. Dumourier's army
were not of his mind, you see ; France will not yet be quiet
under kingly government, her convulsions must be yet
stronger before the crisis comes on, and this frenzy fever
abates. Madame Elizabeth's character rises upon one
every day ; had you heard Mr. Stretton, who saw it all,
tell the tale of the 22 d of June, I think you would have cry'd
till now ; so sweet yet so steady a creature ! Sure, she
will not yet be sent after the brother she alone can ever
resemble.

Adieu dear soul ! My arms ach with putting the Library

1 " An they be once in a calm, they are sick." 2 Henry IV, II. iv. 40.

DRUMMOND DISMISSED 87

to rights. The old work, say you, and I would I had my
old assistant, says your faithful H. L. P.

The allusion to Dumouriez recalls a curious episode in
the history of the Revolution. That general had for some
time been distrusted by the Jacobins, and after a defeat
at Neerwinden he made terms with the Austrians, by which
he agreed to abandon Belgium. This of course meant ruin,
if not death, and as a last desperate resource he started to
lead his army on Paris, hoping, with the aid of the Gironde,
to overthrow the Jacobins, as a preliminary to setting up
a constitutional monarch in the person of the Due de
Chartres. But the Girondists were not prepared to adopt
such a scheme, which only served to throw more power into
the hands of the Jacobins, who proposed the creation of the
Committee of Public Safety to deal with the situation, and
summoned Dumouriez to give an account of himself before
the Convention. At this critical moment his army failed
him ; his old troops might have followed him, but the new
Jacobin Volunteers mutinied, and he was driven to take
refuge, with the Orleans princes, in the Austrian camp.

STREATHAM PARK, Fry day 26 Apr. 1793.

I hasten to thank dear Mrs. Pennington for her kind
letters. We have got a man, and his name is Goodluck,
and I hope it will be ominous. . . . You know the state
of my heart pretty exactly, how then can you say that you
are ignorant of my political opinions. God forbid that,
among Christian people, there should be two opinions con-
cerning the impiety of these French rebels, who trample
under feet every sentiment of honour and virtue, everything
sacred and everything respectable.

Lady Inchiquin, who met us at Mr. Macnamara's yester-
day, has seen a letter from Miss Edgeworth, sister to the
late King of France's Confessor.' Her brother told her that
the poor injured Sovreign said, when they drowned his

88 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

voice on his attempt to harangue his subjects from the
scaffold, " They will not listen, well ! I shall be heard in
Heaven," and so to prayers ; where Mr. Edgeworth, kneeling
down and endeavouring to collect his thoughts, felt himself
suddenly covered with the royal blood, so speedy was the
execution of their guilty sentence. We see however divine
vengeance overtaking them daily ; and 'tis my belief that
no men are to have the punishing of these crimes, but that
the perpetrators of them will fall by their own or their
companions' hands, or perish by famine, storm, or other
dreadful judgements. You see we take no ships, yet all
their fleets are ruined. The combined armies gain few
signal victories, yet their forces moulder away.

Lady Inchiquin told a tale of the poor victims in the
Tower, not exactly, but much like yours ; and if 'tis sure
that they are to be seen for sixpence thus, everybody will
have a tale to tell, and we shall hear as many false as true.
Mr. Stretton said he was shown them ; but I had not, when
he said so, a notion of the sight being a thing paid for. . . .

Harriet [Lee] says in her last letter that the fellow who
stole an heiress, Miss Clarke, from a Boarding School in
Bristol, is afraid the girl will hang him after all ; a pretty
youth he must be to have obtained no more tender interest
than hanging in a lady's heart of thirteen or fourteen years
old all this while, for no one but she can hang him, that's sure.
Do send me some particulars, I forgot to bid Harriet write
concerning it. Bristol has always some wonder to exhibit,
an impostor, or a poet, or a devil, or some strange creature. . .

The Lady Inchiquin here referred to must have been the
wife of Murrough, fifth Earl of Inchiquin, afterwards created
Marquess of Thomond, who married in 1792, Mary, daughter
of John Palmer of Torrington, and niece of Sir Joshua
Reynolds. Abb6 (Henry Essex) Edgeworth de Firmont, who
belonged to a junior branch of the Edgeworthstown family,
was confessor to the Princess Elizabeth, and to Louis XVI

SARAH MARTHA SIDDONS
By K. J. Lane after Sir Thos. Lawrence

A BRISTOL KLOPEMENT 89

on the scaffold, and after the restoration became chaplain
to Louis XVIII. He was granted a pension by Pitt, and
died in 1807 of a fever contracted while ministering to the
French prisoners.

Wensday, 22 May.

I am always ready to converse with my dear Mrs.
Pennington, and always ready so is Mr. Piozzi to love
your excellent Husband. ... I re Joyce Mrs. Weston is so
appy, and hope her good son will lure away all her affection
and even remembrance from the bad son.

We were all together at Ranelagh two nights ago, and
staid till morning, Mrs. Greatheed and the young Siddonses
with us ; Sally quite outlooked her sister by the bye, and
was very finely drest. Of our Misses, Susanna is ever most
admired, but I think the eldest and youngest very pretty
dears too.

Meantime the young King of France is dying, poysoned
I suppose ; but to quiet the peoples' minds about him, he
and his mother are removed to a better place than the
Temple, the Palace de Luxembourg. Well ! and we none
of us hear a word from Helena Williams since I wrote last.
Dr. Moore got 800 for his book, so we cannot doubt its
excellence. I wish I could give you just such a proof of the
merits of our poor Synonymes. Streatham Park does look
beautiful, my Master has new gravelled the walks, and your
Lilac is in such beauty.

Sweet Siddons will be quite well. Farquhar, like a wise
fellow, goes to Sir Lucas to ask how he shah 1 manage her ; let
a Scotchman alone for doing nothing, and yet keeping every
one pleased. That man knows the mind's anatomy nicely,
whether he is skilled in the body's or no.

Brynbella goes on ; the water surrounds the house in
a full stream ten feet deep, and the maids may catch the
Trout in the frying pan, Mead says, without more ado ; while
the men may cart home the coals from a pit two miles off.

me men

9 o PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

If Cecilia would marry and take Streatham from us, I
should like to hie home, and dye, like a Hare, upon the old
form, near the place I was kindled at. We should be as near
you there as here. Cecy is very naughty ; runs bills of 40
at Bague the Milliner's, and hides the dresses she sends
home, hashing them about, and spoiling the look and appear-
ance of them that we may not know. Silly little Titmouse !
Always in a secret, and always in a scrape, and no Miss
Weston to preach her over. Oh dear ! . . .

Adieu ! I shall be very happy to receive Harriet Lee.
You will be all of one mind, and ask that fellow to supper at
last, as I said you would. If the girl is contented no one
alive has a right to call his conduct in question, after she
comes of age and acknowledges him, which I never doubted
her doing. . . .

Dr. Moore's successful book must have been his
" Journal during a residence in France, from the
beginning of August to the middle of December, 1792,"
containing an account of the massacres, a work which is
often quoted by Carlyle.

Mrs. Piozzi was just now bringing out a somewhat am-
bitious work in two volumes, under the title of " British
Synonymy, or an attempt to regulate the Choice of Words
in familiar Conversation." It was a chatty, discursive
book, "entertaining rather than scientific," as the British
Critic said, its chief interest lying in the store of anecdotes
introduced as illustrations ; but it contained some rather
acute distinctions and clever analysis. Her old adversary
Gifford and others again fell foul of her style, charging her
with bringing to her task " a jargon long since proverbial for
its vulgarity, an incapability of defining a single term in the
language, and just so much Latin, from a child's Syntax,
as suffices to expose the ignorance she so anxiously labours
to conceal."

"BRITISH SYNONYMY" 91

Tuesday, 10 June.

My dear Mrs. Pennington's accidents and afflictions have
really given us very serious concern. . . . Mrs. Siddons is
handsomer and more charming than ever. Lady Randolph
took leave of the stage last Fryday, and I saw the exertions
she made with some little anxiety ; but here she is, as well
and as chearful as can be. Mr. Murphy too is now almost
perpetually in our society, and my own Lasses beat up our
quarters whenever London affords little of that tumultuous
amusement which delights the first 30 years of life. Mrs.
Greatheed has not yet done delighting in them however ;
Susan Thrale says they two are the last in every publick
place, the last in every great Assembly. Well ! I tried a
little raking myself this year, but it does not suit me some-
how, I can make too little sport out on't, and the people tell
me nothing which I did not know before, and that is what /
want from company always.

Mr. Stone at Paris, the man who went over with dear
Helena Williams, is guillotined. Tis now said he ruined
a good wife, who brought him 20,000, and did a hundred
shocking things, I know not how truly ; but his worthy
brother here is a horrible fellow, and will soon make a most
dishonourable exit, I am told. You must read a Pamphlet,
translated from the French, a very short one, called Dangers
which threaten Europe. I have seen nothing as wise a long
time, always excepting my own stupendous performances,
of course. Apropos, the European Magazine speaks very
kindly of my little Synonymes, very kindly indeed, and
selects the Adieu and Farewell as a specimen. Harriet
Lee never writes to me hardly, and her Marquis, who used
to be punctual at Whitsuntide and Christmas, supposing
her here, has failed these holydays. How all the Foreigners
must wonder at the fate of their heroe, Home Tooke ! That
fellow was a great seducer, I am happy he is out of the way.
Farewell and Adieu, dear Friend.

92 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

The report of Stone's execution was unfounded ; he lived,
as stated above, till 1818. His brother William justified
Mrs. Piozzi's prognostications, being tried for high treason
along with Jackson in 1796. Home Tooke is best known,
apart from the stormy politics in which he was immersed,
as the opponent of Junius, and author of The Diversions oj
Purley. The son of a poulterer named Home, he took the
name of Tooke in compliance with the terms of a will in
1782. He was educated at Cambridge, and entered as a
student at the Inner Temple, but relinquished law to take
holy orders, though he soon abandoned both the dress and
duties of his office. A friend of Wilkes, he was drawn into
politics, became a member of the Corresponding Society,
and founded another known as the Society for Constitutional
Reform. His republican and revolutionary views brought
him under the notice of the Government, who decided to make
an example of him. He was accordingly arrested on a charge
of high treason by a warrant from the Secretary of State,
and brought to trial, but was acquitted in 1794.

STREATHAM PARK, 16 Jun. 1793.

Every letter I receive from you, my dear Friend, not
only convinces me most unnecessarily of the loss I sustain
in wanting your conversation, but shows me that we do not
understand each other half as well at a distance. What
could I ever have hinted to make you suppose I consider'd
the diminution of your just dislike of Mr. Drummond as
possible ? He looked like a baffled Blockhead at Yaniewitz's
concert ; and if he had any memory might recollect what I
said to him early in the business, when my tongue pro-
nounced his fate precisely as it happened that night. " Sir, "
said I, " the child is but a child, and knows not what love
is : she may be amused with having a Lover for aught
I can tell, but in two years I shall see you pass each
other in a Public Place, she saying to her friends ' that's
the man that was troublesome to me,' you saying to

ANACHARSIS CLOOTS 9 3

yours ' that's the girl that jilted me ? ' " And so the
matter ended. . . .

The dear Siddons left me yesterday. She has charming
daughters now, and so have I, so we can see little of each
other. The currents of life draw those who delight in
utual and friendly chat apart from one another, without
fault or blame of anyone's,

But busy, busy still art thou
To join the joyless, luckless vow ;
The heart from pleasure to delude,
And join the gentle to the rude. . . .

Sally is exceedingly well, and just as pretty as every pretty
girl of the same age, and prettier than Maria, because her
face looks cleaner.

You are lucky in Lady AsgilTs friendship, the Miss I
count little upon. A conversible companion of six and

J thirty years old is a good thing, and an infant under seven
a delightful thing ; but a Miss of 17 can charm nothing,
as I should think, but a Master of 27. I grow too old for
either, but the last is far most agreeable. . . .
Do not you enjoy the thoughts of our late discovery
that this famous Anacharsis Cloots, so well known in the
National Convention for forwarding the cause of apostacy
and rebellion, is no greater nor no less a man at last than
Dignum, our thief, who worked on the Justitia Hulk about
15 years ago, and people used to go and see how daintily
he fingered the wheelbarrow, I remember. Well ! this is

W f he hero of modern Democracy, the legislator of France,
he renouncer of his baptismal vow, the champion of
Atheism, and orator of the human race. Mr. Lysons came
over from Putney late one evening o' purpose to tell it me,
and is it not a capital anecdote ? . . . .

Not a word of poor Helena in all this long letter ; that's a
shame, yet I think her much more sincere than Dr. Moore,
who, while he condemns every fact, justifies (you may

94 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

observe,) every principle on which the facts were com-
mitted.

The identification of the English thief with the French
orator, though doubtless a "capital anecdote," seems to
be of the ben trovato rather than of the vero order. The
individual in question was the Baron Jean Baptiste Clootz,
who assumed the prenomen of Anacharsis to suggest his
resemblance to the character of Anacharsis the Scythian
in the Abbe Barthelemy's Romance.

The Lady Asgill here referred to would seem to be the
wife of Sir Charles Asgill, who succeeded to the Baronetcy
in 1788, and in the same year married Sophia, daughter of
Admiral Sir Charles Ogle.

Fry day 19 Jul.

My dear Mrs. Pennington is a good Girl to write as often
as she does while so many avocations call her : may the
Ball turn out everything she wishes, and far away fly the
Gout ! Dear Siddons has had an alarm for her husband and
Maria, who were overturned somewhere, and a little hurt ;
she keeps well herself however, and Mr. Gray, (who has
been there to see,) says that she and Sally are as charming
as ever. . . .

The French are in a sad plight, but you may observe that
God Almighty resolves to punish them without our meddling.
The offences were certainly greater towards Him than to-
wards us, and I perceive as yet that the combined armies
have done France nothing but good. All the union they
have shown among themselves has been occasioned by the
Princes who invade them. Meantime it was meet, right,
and our bounden duty, to oppose their principles and prac-
tice ; I only mean that they will at length (as it appears,)
fall by their own swords, not ours.

Mr. Este, more democrate than ever, is going to Italy,
and asked me for letters. You may be sure I refused them,

MRS. PIOZZI
I-'roui an engraving by Dance, /7&?, in the Collection oj A. M. Broad Icy, Esq.

IRISH DISTURBANCES 95

ho' so much obliged to him, and so full of personal good
wishes for his welfare as an individual. It hurt me at the
moment, but

Beyond or love, or friendship 's sacred band,
Beyond myself, I prize my native land.

And so I refused letters of recommendation to a man whose
only business and pleasure is the dissemination of principles
abhor, and who goes out of England only to return with
those principles more firmly adhering to him. He was a
delightful creature before ever he went to France, and
Abate Font ana will not mend his notions in Italy. Mr.
Dance the profilist is making a collection of celebrated
heads ; I have sate, but nobody knows me, they say, so
I am to sit again. Lysons runs about with great zeal on
the occasion, and I fancy they will go down to Nuneham. . . .
Poor Barron Dillon has had his Daughter in law killed,
and his house in Ireland torne down by the rabble who call
hemselves Defenders I am exceeding sorry. Piozzi talks
bout going down with Mr. Ray, or Mr. Chappelow, or both,
to see Brinbella, and come back without delay ; how dull
we shall be the while ! Cecilia without her sisters, they
gone to Southampton, and I shall have lost Harriet
e. . . .

Here is rain at last, we were all burn'd up till it came,
and I really found London, when we dined there and took
leave of our fair Daughters three nights ago, as cool, and
almost as green as poor Streatham Park. No fruit, no after-
pasture, no milk have we had this long time, and shall
actually kill and eat the fatted calf on our wedding day next
Thursday, because nobody would buy it to feed. . . .

Baron Dillon " was Sir John Dillon, M.P., who had a
free Barony of the Holy Roman Empire conferred upon him
in 1782 by the Emperor Joseph II, which title he was
authorised to bear in this country. He was created a

96 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

Baronet in 1801. His murdered daughter-in-law was
Charlotte, daughter of John Hamilton, who had married
his eldest son, Charles Drake Dillon. The " Defenders "
were the Roman associations corresponding to the Protestant
" Peep o' Day Boys " : both were now beginning to be
merged in the " United Irishmen."

The Rev. Charles Este, Reader at Whitehall Chapel,
published in 1785, A Journey through Flanders, Brabant,
and Germany, to Switzerland, which the British Critic
describes as "chatty, and brightly written." He was
subsequently proprietor of the Morning Post, the World,
and the Telegraph.

STREATHAM PARK, Sat. 10 Aug. 1793.

MY DEAREST MRS. PENNINGTON, Nothing was ever so
well or so truly said as your observation concerning public
notions in France, except what you said likewise about
private notions in England, and my Husband and your
Husband's true taste for an elegant Knick-Knack.

I have had a letter from an old acquaintance, Helen
Williams, my eyes could scarce believe it ; but she says it
was with difficulty she found means to get it over, and
certain is the case, it came hither by Penny Post. No
tenderness was ever so seducing as her tenderness, no
lamentation ever so pathetic ; begging and intreating to
know how we all do, and whether we still recollect her with
kindness, etc. Many sweet words to Harriet, many to
Mrs. Siddons, with enquiry if she remains still upon the
Stage, "for not even her fame can reach me now at this sad
distance," is the expression. Poor soul ! she adverts to
our felicity at Streatham Park, and says how happy we all
are here, (I think so truly,) while she listens only to the
sound of the Tocsin, in which " more is meant than meets the
ear." Such is her quotation, and it impresses me strongly,
for on this very day, the loth of August, my heart tells me
dreadful deeds will be performed in that theatre of massacre

PATRIOTISM 97

and madness Paris. God keep her in personal safety !
Meantime I will not write to her : she has given me directions,
but as I told dear Mr. Este the other day, who put me to
similar pain by begging letters for Italy, I will not help those
forward who are doing, or trying to do, mischief,

Beyond or love, or friendship's sacred band,
Beyond myself, I prize my Native Land.

And our sweet Master, whom the King has lately been
graciously pleased to make an Englishman, in act and effect,
as well as in true heart and firm loyalty, says I am in the
right. . . .

I shall scold Mr. Pennington if he suffers moody and
still pensiveness to petrify your active qualifications, and
I understand even the situation of your affairs requires a
chearful carriage, and gay manners. Assume them, and
they will cling to you. Miss Farren tries that trick, and it
succeeds too, notwithstanding her real health and looks are
much impaired, but I hope bathing in the sea may in some
measure restore them. We hear that Miss Burney has a
Tragedy acted, accepted I mean, and to be acted by
Sheridan's Company, who are all delighted with it. We
hear too that she is married to a foreigner of fashion ; and
we did hear her brother was dead at Bath, but he contradicts
the report himself in the Newspapers ; so, perhaps will his
sister tomorrow. Adieu. . . .

Elizabeth Farren was the daughter of George Farren, a
surgeon of Cork, who joined a strolling company of players.
After acting at Bath and elsewhere in the provinces, she
appeared at the Haymarket and Drury Lane, where she
played leading parts till her marriage with Lord Derby.

Fanny Burney had married M. D'Arblay, a French
refugee officer, 3ist July and ist August 1793. Her tragedy
of Edwy and Elgiva was not acted till 1795, when Mrs. Siddons

v< jowury

98 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

and her brother assisted at its production. The breach
between her and Mrs. Piozzi, which dated from the latter's
second marriage, was not healed for many years. The re-
conciliation is thus recorded in the Commonplace Book.
" Madame D'Arblay, always smooth, always alluring, passed
two or three hours with me to-day. My perfect forgiveness
of Faimable Traitresse was not the act of Duty, but the
impulsion of Pleasure, rationally sought for, where it was at
all times sure of being found in her conversation."

STREATHAM PARK, 19 Sep. 1793.

My dear Friend, and your letter says I must call you
my old Friend too. " Ma'am I'm sorry." . . .

Helena Williams's situation is a strange one, but though
my affection and esteem is all for her, my compassion leans
towards the poor Mother and Sister whom she has dragged
into this Hornets' nest. Mr. Chappelow is of your mind,
that they will never come out on't. . . .

Your namesake was always scrupulously steady never
to wear rouge, so that may account for her ill looks,

Though Rouge can never find the way
To stop the progress of decay,
Or mend a ruined face.

Miss Farren alters terribly too, and dear Siddons, after all
her lamentations about ill health, looks incomparably hand-
some, I am told . . .

Those [events] which occur in this part of the world are
not exceedingly important ; the best thing I know is dear
Siddons's return to it, though for so short a time ; the worst
is her setting off for Ireland in this stormy season, but it
will answer to her husband and family, she has fame and
fortune enough without running further hazards. All will
go well however, I doubt not, and if they ask why she tears

herself

DEATH OF MARIE ANTOINETTE 99

herself to pieces so, she must say with Abigail in the
Drummer,

I '11 clap my hand upon my purse, and tell 'em
Twas for a thousand Pounds and Mr. Vellum.

More news from the Continent. Now if the Royal
Family can 'scape their murderous pursuers but a few
months more, one may pronounce them safe, I think, and
they may be permitted to dye in their beds by the effect of
past terrors and ill-usage, instead of expiring by the hand
of sudden and immediate massacre. . . .

The "namesake" who abjured rouge (which Mrs.
Piozzi always used) was very likely Sophia Lee. The
Drummer was a play by Addison, otherwise known as The
Haunted House.

STREATHAM PARK, 4 of Nov. Monday, 1793.
My dear Mrs. Pennington's handwriting always gives
me pleasure. . . . We shall surely come to you, at least I
doubt it not, the end of next Autumn, and shall visit the
Cottage, and see how like Streatham Park is to Longford
Court, etc. . . We shall by then, I fear, have to talk of poor
Helen Williams in a way that shocks me. She said here
she could dye with pleasure for French Liberty, but she will
fall by French Tyranny at last. I verily think when those
wretches have spilt all the Blood Royal, they will call out
our Country Folks to feed the popular fury and turn the
current of it from themselves. . . . The Queen's murder
has some circumstances of horror belonging to it which I
fancy you have not heard, and which I will not be the first
to tell. I gained them by conversing with the foreigners.
My imagination often leads me to think that matters are
tending forward towards some great event, interesting to
all the Christian world, which is almost in serious danger

TOO PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

now by the Turk's preparation for assisting these Atheists
to destroy us. ...

You will have my Book soon, Mr. Robinson and I are
bargaining for it now, but they shall pay me a just price ;
I have enlarged it considerably. Dear Marquis Trotti will
come home to his English friends again ; I am glad on't. He
is at Warsaw this moment by what appears, and after a
Polar winter will find Bath a nice warm place, and old
Belvedere House will look so pretty after Petersburg, and
he and Harriet may read my Synonymes of Love and Friend-
ship together. I told you he had the arrow fast in his heart.
I told you so. ...

All the neighbourhood borrow Helen's last publication
from me, so that I scarce have read it, but 'tis as you say.
Come what will, dear Friend, let you and I hold fast by our
Christian principles, assuring ourselves that this is not the
world for remuneration, but for tryal ; and satisfied that
happiness will, in the next state of things, be consequent
upon Virtue. Let every misfortune it meets with here,
strengthen our assurance that there it will be finally and
lastingly rewarded. I verily and from my soul believe that
admirable girl will lose her life by violence among those cruel
creatures. They have abolished Sunday now, and every
sign and form of worship in France is at an end. In that
frantic Nation chaos is come again. . . .

It is not quite clear what work by Helen Williams is
here referred to. She does not seem to have written any-
thing of importance since her Letters written in France in
the summer of 1790, which were published the same year,
and would probably have reached Mrs. Piozzi long before
this date.

STREATHAM PARK, 2 Dec. 1793.

MY DEAR FRIEND, Having got a Frank by chance, I
sit by Mr. Piozzi 's bedside, and tell you, for my own amuse-

GAIETIES 101

ment, how ill he is. Lame, hand and foot, with Gout, and
torne with spasms beside, which we know not exactly on
what account to place. . . . You can probably give me as
good and chearful a history of your Husband's case, possibly
too, from the same cause a Ball. Our Royal Surrey
Bowmen gave a grand one at Richmond, where Cecilia
danced till five o'clock in the morning, and whence, of
course, we came not home till seven. A member of that
Club being also a member of some other Club, we had another
invitation for Fryday in the same week, and were at home
by six, which I believe we thought too late, and Cecy too
early. So differs the appearance of things between Spring
and Autumn.

Well ! we have had a crazy man in our neighbourhood
lately, who imitates Goldfinch in the Road to Ruin : talks
precisely his dialect, and drives four thoroughbred horses
of different colours in hand, with six lamps to the Phaeton.
He is a Welch Baronet of good family ; we dined with him
at my Lord Deerhurst's, and whilst all the world was in-
teresting themselves about the present state of Europe, he
raved about his Phaeton, and talked of the Tipee, the Stare,
the Go, and a heap of jargon such as one never heard.

How like you Madame D'Arblay's Book ? Pray tell
what is said of it. Mine is in good forwardness, I am only
afraid the title may prove a millstone round its neck : no
one will think of looking for Politics in a volume entitled
British Synonymy.

Can you figure to yourself a more execrable triumph
than that of the Convention in this forced disgrace put upon
the old House of Bourbon by connecting the last Princess of
it with a brutal soldier, and proclaiming her pregnancy-
poor child ! amidst the hootings of the Jacobins. Has
not her aunt, the virtuous and hapless Elizabeth, now lived
too long, and do you not wish her dismission to the brother
she so justly loved ? We are all gasping with hope of
charming Lord Moyra's Expedition. I think he will bring

102 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

the rogues to terms by cutting off internal communication
with their Provinces through means of the Seine, and when
they are starving, submit they must. . . .

Lord and Lady William Russell make us pretty neigh-
bours enough, but Mr. Chappelow is always in Norfolk, and
we have no Whist Players. . . .

The Road to Ruin, by Thomas Holcroft, who shared
Home Tooke's prosecution, appeared in 1792. Its hero,
Goldfinch, thus describes himself : " Father was a Sugar
Baker, Grandfather a Slop Seller, and I'm a Gentleman."

Madame D'Arblay's " Book," which would be more
correctly described as a Pamphlet, was on the subject of
the French emigrant clergy.

Francis Rawdon Hastings, who had recently succeeded to
the title as second Earl of Moira, was sent in December to
Brittany, in charge of a force designed to co-operate with
the Royalists, but had to return without effecting anything.

Lord William Russell was the posthumous son of Francis,
Marquess of Tavistock, and grandson of John, fourth Duke
of Bedford, his wife being Charlotte, daughter of the Earl
of Jersey.

STREATHAM PARK, Sunday Morning 15.

Dear Mrs. Pennington is exactly in the case I concluded
she was. Mr. Piozzi tried to be well three or four days ago,
and came downstairs, but has relapsed, and the Gout has
laid fast hold of him again in both feet. He is in bed now
again, incapable of motion, and pierced through with pain.
We had begun to call the croud about us too ; so here is Miss
Hamilton, and here is a new man from Italy that sings
divinely, and here is Cecilia's new Flirt, who draws cari-
caturas, and here is poor Dr. Perney for the benefit of them
all ; and here am I in one perpetual fever with fretfulness,
and Mr. Murphy coming to talk upon business, about Cator,
and his Answer to our Bill in good time ! with Mr. Piozzi,

FLEMING'S PROPHECIES 103

who is scarce in his wits for very agony. But these are
always my months of misery. Don't you remember what
a winter I pass'd with that Drummond ? It was just the
same season of the year.

Well ! public affairs do yet claim some attention, tho'
private ones be never so pressing. You are an odd Girl
to talk of Fleming's famous Sermon now for a newish thing.
Were we not all raving about it last winter ? And have
not I mentioned it in my Synonymes ? And did not I read
you the passage ? Or did all that I allude to pass between
me and dear Mrs. Siddons ? I thought it was with you.
Michael Fleming was a Calvinistical preacher, and in the
year 1701, when Louis XIV was in the plenitude of his
power, did most ingeniously, from his skill in calculating,
predict the downfall of the French Monarchy, and ruin of
that nation, before the end of the year 1794. The Sermon in
which this odd menace was made some of his hearers pre-
served, for its rare confidence and uncommon predictions,
little thinking they would ever come to pass ; and a few
copies being printed, the discourse was kept in Sion College
Library, and Sir George Young likewise had it in his. They
have now reprinted it with remarks, induced, no doubt, by
the striking situation of affairs upon the Continent.
Fleming however did not pretend to prophecy what has
followed, as claiming any peculiar insight into the schemes
of Providence. He explained a passage in the Revelations
of St. John, and by dint of mere calculation predicted what
is now very nearly fulfilled.

Enquire, do, what went with that extraordinary story
of a poor fellow of Bristol, one George Lukins, who made
the people believe, (perhaps himself too,) that he had Devils

inside him. I remember some pamphlets upon the subject,
and how Mr. Easterbrook, a Clergyman, but not of the
Anglican Church, exorcised and cured him. What was all
that stuff ? Was the man cured at last, or did he ever ail
anything, or was it all an imposture ? You live near the

104 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

spot, and might glean me out the truth by diligent search,
and it would divert you besides. The affair was some time
in the year 1788, as I recollect. We were in Devonshire.

Nothing was ever heard of equal to the atrocities com-
mitted, and blasphemies pronounced, by our horrible neigh-
bours the French. There is to be one more grand effort
made for subduing them this New Year, which brings down
100,000 Austrians, 50,000 Russians, 50,000 Prussians, and
30,000 English, all new-raised troops, beside what are
already in the field. And if, upon this proof, with all that
Spain can do beside, we find them invulnerable, the project
will be given up, and they will be considered as having
gained their invulnerability by dipping in Hell's best river,
as Achilles did. They are a dreadful race. Mr. Rogers tells
me Helena Williams would not come away. She is trans-
lating Marmontel. Mr. Stone is expected to make use of the
times, I find, and be a free man. If his wife gets guillotined
he will be so ; but we will hope sweet Helen would not have
him, were he so freed to-morrow. She is not in prison, only
under arrest, with a Grenadier at the door of her apartment,
relieved every six hours. . . .

Mrs. Siddons is doing delightfully in Ireland, and when
she returns is to shine out in Sophia Lee's new Tragedy.

Robert Fleming, who died in 1716, was a minister of the
Presbyterian congregations at Leyden and Rotterdam, and
afterwards in Lothbury, where he published in 1701 the
sermon entitled " The Apocalyptical Key, an extraordinary
discourse on the Rise and Fall of the Papacy." In this he
fixes the close of the period of the fourth Vial of the Revela-
tion about the year 1794, and supposes that " the French
monarchy may begin to be considerably humbled about
this time." The fifth Vial he expected to end about 1848,
and this date coinciding with the widespread revolutionary
movements on the Continent, caused another extensive
reprinting of his work at this period. His other predictions,

SAMUEL ROGERS 105

relating to the "drying up of the Euphrates," which he
interpreted to mean the destruction of the Turkish Empire
between 1848 and 1900, have not had quite so remarkably
accurate a fulfilment ; though the war now in progress in
the Balkans certainly suggests that the process has begun.

Mrs. Piozzi was not so fortunate in her forecast of coming
events. The great combination which she anticipates,
against the French, never came off. Prussia abandoned
the cause of the Allies, Spain and the German States followed
her example, and England and Austria alone remained in
the field against the Republic.

Sophia Lee's new tragedy was Almeyda, but it was not
actually produced on the stage till 1796.

The Bill here alluded to was in connection with the
Chancery suit between Lady Cotton and herself, respecting
her interest in the Welsh estates.

There is a brief allusion in the Commonplace Book to
" that poor innocent " whom Cecy Thrale and Sally Siddons
taught the Streatham parrot to call "Sweet Dr. Perney,"
which was called forth by the news of his having been seized
by an apoplectic fit in 1814.

;

STREATHAM PARK, Tuesday 14 Jan.

Dear Mrs. Pennington asks what is become of Mrs.
Mackay ? ... You ask too who is Cecy's new Flirt ? I
answer, every man who comes to the house ; he who franks
this letter is the Gentleman I alluded to, but he makes no
proposal of marriage, because he has no pretensions in
point of fortune. Mr. Rogers, whose father's death has left
him, in the City phrase, a warm man, does make proposals,
and Cecy makes of him Caricaturas.

So we go on, and I am almost weary of keeping an ex-
pensive house and table to entertain Lovers who glide by
like Figures in a Magic Lanthorn. Mr. Murphy, having
found his way to the old house, likes it, and comes often, and
stays long. Dear Siddons is yet in Ireland. Miss Farren

j\.a.ys iui

io6 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

was here last week, sadly altered. . . . Davies has taken
a trip to Bath, and expected some attention from my fair
Daughters there, who, T fancy, shut the door in his face.
Doctor Perney supplied his place here, read, and preached,
and played on his long neck. Young Bartolozzi, and
Cimad'oro too, made us some sweet musick for two or three
days, but Mr. Piozzi said no young man of his Country
should have the entree here, for obvious reasons ; so there's
an end of them.

So much for domestic felicity, and the happiness of
individuals in this workyday world, 1 as Rosalind calls it.
Public affairs go on much worse than they, and the fog
thickens round us both literally and figuratively. Beating
the French is kicking at a woolsack ; 'tis elastic, and rises
against every pressure, but perhaps emptying the bag may
cure it of this elasticity : the captures of St. Domingo and
Pondicherry are the only real advantages the Allies have
had yet.

Lord Moyra and Col. Barry get no opportunity of shewing
their prowess, on which I should however make no small
reliance, could they once get footing in the Country ; but
seeing how hard it is to effect an invasion with ships, should
cure us of fearing one from the French who have no ships :
altho' I am perswaded that the hand of God is in all, and
that these people come forth to scourge all Europe with his
permission. Why does nobody quote a more immediate
prophecy and less equivocal than any which have been
mentioned, at least which you have mentioned ? " And
the second Angel sounded, and as it were a great MOUNTAIN
burning with fire was cast into the Sea, and the third part
of the Sea became Blood " : etc. etc. etc. This prophecy
is to be found in three passages of the Holy Scripture, but
I can recollect only that in the 8th chapter of S. John's
Apocalypse. Mr. Greg showed it me in the old Testament, 2

1 As You Like It, I. iii. 12.

Jer. li. 25 ; Ezek. xxxviii. 20.

ARTHUR MURPHY
/'nun a firint in the Collection of A. M. RroadUy, Esq.

PROPHECY FULFILLED 107

I have forgot where : but every one seems to think strange
times are coming. There is a report of the Jews in Holland
having sent circular letters to the learned of their Nation in
every Country, to collate the evidences of our Saviour's
mission, and to examine them against the prophecies con-
tained in the Bible, spoken by his acknowledged precursors.
Such a measure would prepare them for conversion, the
moment God shall be pleased to remove the film which has
been so long before their eyes. . . .

The subject of Cecilia's caricatures was evidently no
other than Samuel Rogers, the poet, best known as the
author of Italy. He was now about thirty years of age, and
had published in 1792 his Pleasures of Memory, which was
probably his passport into the Streatham circle. But as
a possible husband for Cecilia, Mrs. Piozzi evidently attached
more importance to the fact that he was a partner in a
flourishing London bank.

She notes in her Commonplace Book that Murphy was
the only man among the Wits I foster'd who did not fly
from his colours, unless prevented by death." And so his
portrait was the only portrait she saved when Streatham
was broken up, and the Reynolds Gallery sold.

c ~

[Post Mark, Feb. '94.]

I hope Mr. Piozzi is recovering, dear Friend, that he is
already recover'd, cannot yet be said. With regard to

ilia, she does lead a life much like that of Sweet Anne
Page in the Merry Wives of Windsor, but I suppose she likes
it. Did I tell you Mr. Rogers had made formal proposals,
or that Count Zenobio offered himself to her, before he was
seized by Bailiffs, or dismissed by Ministry. I expect a
man (as handsome as neither, nor as rich,) to ask her every
day.

We go to Town however once o' week, to our once clean
house in Hanover Square, now the dirtiest lodging in London,

io8 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

and dine with friends who will ask us ; but make no return,
as 'tis too odious to do anything but sleep in, and 'tis the
present plan to go up on Tuesdays, and come home, as I
call dear Streatham Park, on Saturdays. Those who I
leave in care of it the while, do not give us any reason they
can help to make it pleasant. For in my last four days
absence they lost me two Asses, one in foal, twenty beautiful
Ducks, one Guinea Fowl, one favourite Cock and Hen ; so
you see domestick cares and vexations prey upon everybody.
They serve meantime to keep one from thinking on calamities
which threaten us all, nor shall the Infidels have it to say
that they had no warning of approaching confusion, while,
in Dr. Johnson's phrase, used by Demetrius,

A thousand horrid prodigies foretold it.

Among the agreeable and consolatory events however,
let Christians congratulate each other on the resolution
taken by the Jews to examine into our evidences of Messiah's
birth and passion. They have called a solemn Assembly at
Amsterdam, and sent circular letters among all their brethren.
Conversion will soon follow, and the other Tribes will hear
it, and be found.

My Book is at the Press, and I correct the sheets very
diligently, it will probably be devour'd, among other Lambs,
about Easter. I may then run to Brinbella myself, for if
Sansculottism prevails here, my neck will be one of the first
to exercise the new Guillotine upon. Before that time ccmes,
do you read the Articles Symbol, Device, etc., likewise Name,
Nominal, Distinction, etc., with care, and you will see my
sentiments completely. There are two or three more on
which your favourite subjects are touched, but I forget 'em.
I shall send you the first set that comes out.

Mrs. Siddons looks healthier and handsomer than
ever. Her purse is heavy and her heart relieved. . . .
Her daughters spent this last Saturday and Sunday
with Cecy. . . .

"BRITISH SYNONYMY' PUBLISHED 109

(P.S. by Mr. Piozzi.)

I am a live still now, but, dear Friend, I cannot recover
lyself, the Gout never will go away, and so I am rather
>w spirits. God bless you, and remember me. Adieu.

"My Book " was the work on British Synonyms, pre-
viously referred to, which made its appearance before the
next letter was written.

STREATHAM PARK, Sat. 26 Apr. 1794.

My dear Mrs. Pennington's two kind letters came to-
ther. I am delighted that you like my Book, if Mr.
lley should not praise it, spare me the mortification
of hearing so.

One would think the honest Lazzaroni at Naples, when
ey rescued their Monarch from that nest of noble traytors
e was falling into, had resolved upon realizing my notions
iv'n just in the Article so much your favourite, Seditions,
roubles, Disturbances. Briareus came in there, sure
ough, with his hundred hands, and unloosed the knot.
Mrs. Montagu is an enemy to my Synonymes after all, a
declared one, and I wonder at it somehow, but they have
any gallant friends.

Has not the young Emperor won your heart ? He is
really a fine fellow, and I sincerely hope will set his little
nephew on the throne of France yet, his first cousin I
mean. Strange and dreadful events flow in upon us, (at
least the current reports of them,) now every hour : and
the rapidity with which this tide of Democracy rolls forward,
shows the down-hill of regal and aristocratic days to per-
fection. I think all Europe is at length in arms, and my
heart tells me that some great battle, siege, or massacre
will distinguish this Summer beyond all the rest, and take
p the attention of mankind from observing that first of
wonders, the Jews' Restoration ; which otherwise would so
alarm our whole Christian world, that much mute expecta-

U.ld.1111 \t\t

no PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

tion of Messiah's coming would pervade their minds, and
in some degree militate against the suddenness of his appear-
ance and the end of the world being, as he himself expressly
tells us, totally unprepared for and instantaneous, like a
thief in the night.

Meanwhile I had like to have been made a speedy end
of, Thursday last week, by a bone in my throat, which
called Surgeons and Doctors round me, and all in vain, for
three long hours. Poor Miss Farren, who was with me,
seemed half killed by the fright, but all is safe and well
again.

Since then we have had Easter friends as usual ; the
dear Hamiltons, who are going to Clifton this Summer
full of friendly dispositions towards you, the three Thrales,
kind Kitty Beavor, with occasional Beaux and Belles, and
as the Parrot now says, Sweet Doctor Perney. All of them
left us today, contented with their entertainment I hope,
and with the weather certainly. Never was so celestial a
Spring. . . .

The Emperor Leopold, brother of Queen Marie
Antoinette, had been succeeded in 1792 by his son
Francis II, who was therefore first cousin to the Dauphin.
When Mrs. Piozzi wrote, a combined force of Austrians,
Dutch, English, and Hanoverians was operating against
the French in the Netherlands, at first with some
measure of success.

It is remarkable that while Ferdinand himself had
been cured of his incipient republicanism by the execu-
tion of Louis, revolutionary principles continued to
spread among the Neapolitan nobility. The Lazzaroni,
however, who were devoted to the King on account of
his easy and familiar manners, were ready to give active
support to the Dynasty against the plots of the
aristocratic party.

REVOLUTION AT NAPLES in

STREATHAM PARK, Fryday 16 May, 1794.
Dear Mrs. Pennington will believe me sincerely afflicted
for her accident and terror, the circumstances of which, so
r as I am yet acquainted with them, we had from Harriet
Will your Mother be well again soon ? I hope and
trust she may. My Grandmother broke her arm at 73
years old, and recovered so as to go out and enjoy herself
again in three weeks time ; tho' it was set by a common
airier in the country, when surgery was less studied there
han now.

The good news from our Armies on the Continent, and
hopes of success by sea, will contribute to keep up your
yal spirits to enjoy them : and I verily hope our mad
emocrates will be so crush 'd by these late detections of
their folly, as to attempt the sale of themselves to either the
vil or the French no more, when they find hanging their
t payment, and contempt from the very People they
if ess to serve, their just and sole reward.
Were not my Synonymes right, when they said that our
enlightened populace wanted no such friends or friendship ?
And have not the Neapolitan Lazaroni, (dear creatures,)
come in like Briareus to unloose the knot in which some
rebellious nobles would willingly have held their honest,
single-hearted, well-intention'd King ; who was always as
much an object of my esteem as he appears to be of Dr.
Moore's contempt. But he loves a more subtle character
than I do.

Farewell, the guns are firing for some new successes;
od continue them to this yet favour'd nation, and grant
us gratitude, 'tis all we have to pray for. . . .

Mrs. Piozzi's somewhat misplaced admiration for
erdinand of Naples dates from her Italian tour, when she
was much struck by the easy bonhomie he showed in his
tercourse with the poorest of his subjects.

ii2 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

STREATHAM PARK, Fryday u Jul.

MY DEAR MRS. PENNINGTON, I was glad to see your
handwriting, tho' it tells me little good. Be chearful, and
a hoper, like myself. Things are never so bad but one may
bear them ; your Mother will get well, I fancy, had anything
power to kill her, would she, nay could she have recovered
that overturn ? I hear of your pleasing everybody, and I
hear it even from people whom I should scarce expect to
have taste of your accomplishments. Be pleased yourself
then ; whilst one is liked there is always somewhat worth
living for. What would your dear Husband wish me to say
in your praise that I am not most cordially willing to join
in ? How few people are there in this world of whom I
think more highly ? . . . .

Miss Mores told you no more than all our Town have
told one another for these many months. Stone escaped,
they say, from fear of jealous rage, more than from conscious-
ness of any injury done to the charming Constitution of
France, which he was very fond of. Much good may it do
both himself and fair Helena, whose love to Paris will, I
trow, prove fatal to her at last. But she has proved her
partiality in a variety of ways, and it repays her at present
with a splendid situation, I am told, for her family as well
as for herself. . . .

Direct your next to Denbigh, N. Wales ; my Master
says we go about this day sennight. He sends his love, etc.
with Cecilia's.

The " splendid situation " of Helen Williams seems to
be explained in a letter written by her to Mrs. Pennington
in 1819. From this it appears that a friend in power put
in the way of Stone and herself " an easy and honourable
means of obtaining a fortune, and an ample fortune was
soon obtained. We had a fine Hotel in Paris, and a delicious
Country House in the English Taste." But they had not
reckoned on two occupations of Paris by the Allies, which,

IS AND HELEN 113

nth the knavery of some one they trusted, dissipated the
Fortune as rapidly as it had been acquired. Litigation was
then pending, but she expected to lose everything, and
)me dependent on her nephews.

DENBIGH, 4 Aug. 1794.

How glad was I to see your handwriting here, my good
riend ! It was like saying " Dear Mrs. Pennington, wel-
me to Wales ! " Not to Brinbella tho' ; we are not got
e yet, but in a temporary residence here at Denbigh, in
t of the House, and perhaps little further from it than
wry Square is from Rodney Place.
I am glad Mrs. Hamilton keeps so well, very glad indeed ;
hot Summer has been good for her, however it has been
bad for many things. No water in Thames to float away
the ships at the great fire ; no sluices with which to inundate
the frontiers of Holland, I understand, and poor Sabrina's
een hair all burn'd and dryed away. Shrewsbury Quarry
looked over an empty ditch when I was there, to the amaze-
ment of all its inhabitants. But rain is coming forward in
plenty, much more than Cecy likes, for riding is her only
chance for amusement here, and if wet weather hinders that,
what will become of her ? Mr. Piozzi's Fortepiano is now
as near us as Chester, I think we shall all be out of our wits
for joy when it arrives. Would I could hear Miss Hamilton
sing La Dolce Campagna to it, as I often have done with
rapture.

Here is very little society indeed, half a dozen people,
I believe, that like reading, not more, and they suffer sad
intellectual famine. I reproach myself daily that I forgot
to bring them down The Mysteries of Udolpho : it would
have had such an effect read by owl-light among the old
arcades of our ruined Castle here. Truth is Mrs. Radclyffe
might find scenes to describe in this part of the world without
rambling thro' the Pyrenees. Many detached parts of the
valley of Llangollen are exceedingly fine indeed, very like

tn<

gn
lor

;

ii 4 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

Savoy ; and from the rock above Brinbella, heavy with the
gather'd winters of a hundred years, is seen Snowdon frown-
ing in sullen majesty, like the Gros St. Bernard, but not over
as rich a foreground. Ours is however admirably diversified ;
we have Cathedral, and Castle, and Country Seats, and Sea,
which last is inestimable, and one can contemplate that yet,
and say 'tis a Subject of England.

I feel sincerely grieved for the state of Europe, and must
needs say that altho' it is the fashion to reproach our Allies
without any mercy, they seem much greater sufferers on
the whole than ourselves, who have gained both East and
West Indies, and six ships of war in the scuffle ; while the
poor Emperor sees his coffers exhausting, his dominions
diminishing, and his whole family upon the very verge of
utter extinction. Our brave cousin Stadtholder too will
soon, as it appears, have no states to hold, and has, for aught
I see, a fair chance to outlive the celebrated name of Nassau.
An event so improbable twenty years ago, that whoever
had predicted it must have been accounted deranged in his
understanding. I am sorry the Bristol people are so sullenly
resolved to wish for peace with these spoilers, they are mis-
taken in thinking it better than war; it is worse than war,
because peace will bring over full tides of Jacobinical prin-
ciples, to the ruin of their interest, and destruction of their
property. War at least keeps that infection at a distance.
So much for politics.

Our dear Master did well to build a house in Flintshire ;
he never looked so well since I knew him as since we came
here, I think, never had so good an appetite certainly, and
provisions are excellent in their kinds, particularly fish. . . .

Can you tell aught of Harriet Lee ? Our correspondence
is cool somehow, and unfrequent. What wonder ? The
old topick is lost, nor can I guess what is become of it, no
new one can be interesting to her, and I feel as if ashamed,
without any cause, God knows.

Mrs. Siddons' little Cecilia will, I hope, inherit her

THE STATE OF EUROPE 115

mother's beauty ; virtue will, I fancy, be quite out of fashion
before she can possess any. Sweet Helena's defection from
the right path hurts all her friends exceedingly ; but parents
never appear to love children the worse for any ill behaviour.
I suppose Mrs. W[illiams] sees nothing in her daughter's
conduct that does not deserve admiration.

You are very good indeed in feeling for me about the
little Spaniel. Immortal Phyllis, to the astonishment of
physicians, friends, and nurses, now promises to be once
more her own dog again. I never did see so surprising a
recovery. The fall was above four yards perpendicular
height.

Mrs. Radcliffe, ne'e Ward, was an old acquaintance of
Mrs. Piozzi's. For the Mysteries, which was just published,
and made a great sensation, she received 500.

The state of Europe was indeed sufficiently gloomy as
viewed by English eyes. We had, it is true, scored some
successes. Howe's victory on " the glorious first of June "
was to be the prelude to many others, and we took Ceylon
and the Cape from the Dutch. But in France the " Great
Terror " was at its height, and the news of its collapse after
the death of Robespierre, at the end of July, had not yet
reached Denbigh. The French generals acting against the
Continental Powers were almost uniformly successful. In
Holland, at the beginning of the year, under the eyes of the
Emperor Francis himself, there had been a concentration
of English, Hanoverian, and Austrian troops, with a view to
check the French advance, but they were hampered by
disaffection in the country itself. The Stadtholder William,
with his English leanings, had never been popular with his
own subjects, and indeed had only retained his authority
in 1787 by the help of Prussian troops. Though the first
Republican expedition under Dumouriez had failed, the new
one under Pichegru was a brilliant success. Amsterdam
was occupied by the French, and the Batavian Republic

n6 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

proclaimed. The Stadholder fled to England, not to be
recalled till 1813, and he was soon followed by the
remnant of the now useless English force under the
Duke of York.

DENBIGH, Thursday, n Sept. 1794.

I had not a notion that our correspondence was grown
languid, dear Friend, and am now rather disposed to think
a letter has been lost. . . .

Marquis Trotti has written, he forgets no one old
Streatham acquaintance, but enquires very particularly
for you. His own affairs at home go no better for these
disturbances upon the Continent, yet will he not be drawn
thither to see how they stand. The direction we are now
using towards him is Hamburgh.

Kitty Beavor marries Dr. Gillies, and sets out for
Scotland next week. I said to her once that all my single
lady friends found husbands, and so I lost them. " OA,"
says she, " you will keep Kitty Beavor tho 1 ', for I shall never
change my condition." But so the world wags, and the
old way is the best road too.

Meanwhile, as you say, love seems banished from the
novels, where terror (as in the Convention,) becomes the
order of the day. Miss (sic) Radcliffe however plays that
game best which all are striving to play well. I am often
weary of her descriptions, but she possesses great power
over the fancy. Her tricks used to fright Mrs. Siddons and
me very much ; but when somebody said her book was like
Macbeth, " Ay," replied H. L. P., " about as like as Pepper-
mint Water is to good French Brandy.

I have written a Ballad for the Blackguards to bawl
about the streets, imitated from Newberry's well known
Chapter of Kings ; written at first to teach Babies the
English History, but lately set and sung at Catch Clubs,
Bow Meetings, etc.

Here is the Chapter of King Killers.

-THE KING KILLERS" 117

The nine stanzas which follow, though doubtless good
enough for the purpose which the writer suggests, are hardly
worth preserving. One verse will probably satisfy the
reader's curiosity.

" When France, mad for Freedom, her King controll'd,
At first she was awed by Fayette the bold,
Then came the Assemble Nationale,
And then she was governed by nothing at all.
But after all pother of this, and t'other,
They all lose their heads in their turn."

DENBIGH, 19 Sep. 1794.

Be not alarmed for me, kind Friend, I shall do as well
as my neighbours, perhaps better, but nothing shall make
me tell fibs, I am not well. ...

Doubt not meantime that my old iron constitution will
get thro' this business very stoutly. Think of your own
affairs, and get thro' them, and we will be old friends twenty
years hence. For look you, my dear, whether we think so
or not, I, when my health shall be gone, and you, when your
money shall be spent, are happier than half the human race
collectively ; and I know not how we have deserved the
preference. We might have been born savages in America,
condemned to hunt, and fish, and dress our game when
caught, sick or well. Or we might have been some of those
Begums, that Burke says were insulted and plundered by
English Harpies in the East. Or we might have been
African Blacks, stow'd in a slave ship. Or we might have
been Mrs. Brown, or Lady Ann Fitzroy. I think we are
very well off, with each of us a good husband, and safe in the
only country where rational liberty prevails, true religion
resides unmolested, and talents are valued according to
desert.

What becomes of poor Helen Williams, I wonder !
There is a strong rumour of Barrere's having followed his
old colleague. . . .

n8 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

Marquis Trotti began travelling so early that he will
now, perhaps, never leave it off. You may find some sage
and grave reflexions upon that subject at the close of a
famous fine book, called Piozzi's Observations made in Italy
and Germany. I'm glad you like my Ballad. The worthy
French are making the words of it good as fast as ever they
can. . . .

My maid fell from a horse two nights ago, scampering
to see Brinbella, that at least was the excuse, and has dis-
abled herself in a terrible manner ; bruised and strained
her wrist, etc. ...

DENBIGH, 20 Nov.

MY DEAR FRIEND, So .completely was I engaged, it
seems, nursing my sick Husband, that even writing to you
was forgotten. Mr. Piozzi's annual fit of Gout has caught
him here, and will prevent all further journeys of business
or of pleasure, save that which leads home the nearest way,
when he shall be able to travel. . . .

The times wear a very threatening aspect, indeed they
do ; and here are storms ready to blow my Lord Howe's
ships to pieces, when they shall have been damaged by
engagement with an enemy hourly increasing in ferocity
and force.

Home Tooke's tryal is a most curious and interesting
business ; when Piozzi can listen, I translate him the passages
which must, I think, arrest attention, even from pain and
anguish.

Cecilia is toujours gaie, and helps to keep up all our spirits ;
she is young ; so is no longer dear Mrs. Pennington's sincere
friend and Faithful servant H. L. PIOZZI.

Lord Howe's fleet was cruising between Ushant and the
Scilly Isles from August till the end of October, when he
was driven into Torbay by stress of weather. He put out
to sea on Qth November, but was again driven back for
shelter on igth November.

EXPENSIVE HOUSEKEEPING 119

Home Tooke, Thelwall, and Hardy were arrested in
November on a charge of high treason, for having issued
invitations to a " National Convention," designed to bring
about serious constitutional changes in the government of
England. Though it was clear that they had been coquetting
with treasonable practices, the jury did not consider their
action justified a conviction which must have resulted in
the penalty of death, and returned a verdict of " not guilty."

DENBIGH, 17 Feb. 1795.

What puts it in dear Mrs. Pennington's head that I wish
to forget her ? My only reason for writing nothing was
that I had nothing to write. Mr. Piozzi had a long fit of
gout certainly, and a sharp fit, but without one bad symptom,
thank God ; and his recovery was better than ever. Among
other comforts, Denbigh possesses that of an excellent
Physician.

All you say of public matters is more than true, but we
are still further removed here from the talking world than
you are, and what little we have heard of London and its
environs in these late months, only contributed to keep us
away, while many people suspect a tendency to sickness
in the Metropolis, not of any one contagious distemper, but
a disposition towards mortality in general. This may be
exaggerated evil, but Beef and Mutton at Sd. o' pound is a
real one, so is Bread at qd. the quartern loaf, with coals at
six, or at best, four Guineas the Chaldron. Strange allure-
ments these to housekeeping with 18 or 20 servants at
Streatham Park. At Easter however we must begin. You
and I have often said that such times would come, and
worse ; our predictions are only verifying, others foretell
fearful things indeed, but we are sure that neither they
nor we know anything about the matter. . . .

The rival Wits say that Helen Williams is turn'd to Stone,
and tho' she was once second to nobody, she is now second
to his wife ; who it seems was not guillotined, as once was

120 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

reported, but remains a living spectatress of these political
and im-po\itic revolutions.

Kemble's advertisement, so like that of a penitent
Hackney Coachman under the threatened Lash of a sharp
prosecution, excites much notice, I understand ; but am
shocked to find his offence, though actionable, considered
by the fashionists more as a jest than as an enormity.
Harriet Lee seems to fancy her Sister has a play coming out,
which Madame D'Arblaye's, late Fanny Burney's, Tragedy
retards. . . Dear Siddons is sick again, but of a complaint
common to many, as her family tell me : she must have
been hurt by her brother's frolick I should suppose. She
loved the girl, and thought her, as she proved, most ex-
cellent. . . .

Cecilia is young, and gay, and frisky, and flighty, and
so is her horse : I wish they were come safe home from a
long ride to their and your H. L. P.

P.S. Dear Mrs. Pennington, don't forget your best
friend, and come to see us at Streatham Park in the
Spring. G. P.

John Kemble's trouble arose from his having made
advances to Miss Maria Theresa de Camp, afterwards wife
of his brother Charles, who was acting with him at this
date. For this he had to make a public apology in the
newspapers.

CHAPTER IV

Cecilia's engagement and marriage to Mostyn, 1795 Her dangerous
illness Friction with the Mostyns Disturbances in Italy and
Ireland Death of Maria Siddons Visit to Bath, 1798.

HILE the Piozzis were staying at Denbigh,
and superintending the building of Bryn-
bella, Cecilia, still in her teens, met her
future husband, John Meredith Mostyn.

DENBIGH, March 24, 1795.

My dear Mrs. Pennington will excuse her old Friend if,
having long forborne to write because she had nothing to
say, she continued that forbearance lately because she had
too much. My heart has been very full : Cecilia seems to
have seen the man she likes at last, and thinking about them
occupies very, very much of my mind. As my Countryman is
no Lord, nor no Wit, nor no Beau, nor no man of monstrous
Fortune, I know not how the connection will be relished by
London Friends, or by Cecy's Sisters, Guardians, the Chan-
cellor, etc. But that she should pitch upon a youth of
ancient and respectable family in my own neighbourhood,
grandson to an old intimate of my own Father, with
a clear estate of 2000 pr. Ann. ; independent in mind,
manners, and fortune, with a beautiful person, and character
highly esteem 'd, cannot chuse but be agreeable to me.
Meantime the World is so wicked, and one is so terrified
at the thoughts of what may happen in it to two creatures,
neither of them quite 20 years old, that I live in a fever. . . .
Write soon directly if you can ; we don't go to
Streatham till the i4th of April. Adieu ! I cannot make
my pen obey me, it will neither stop nor run. Cecilia is

122 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

out on horseback with her Sweetheart, but she bid me tell
you all. And now I have forgot to add his name 'tis John
Meredith Mostyn of Segroid. We call the people by the
names of their country seats, as in Scotland, 'tis necessary
where there are so many old aristocrate families branch'd
out into many separate houses and establishments.

Once more Adieu ! Give my best regards to your
Husband, and pray for a good one to Cecy, or what will
become of your H. L. P. ?

Mr. Piozzi is out at Brinbella. Building and planting,
marrying and giving in marriage, you see we do go on till the
very end of the world, undeterred by false Prophets which
precede it.

This rascal Brothers will be seriously list en 'd to, if the
Prince of Wales's match goes off. He rested the truth of
his mission upon that event, but we are expressly told that
some of them will do signs and wonders ; yet are we com-
manded strictly not to go forth after them, as I find many do.

The Mostyns of Segroid (now of Llewesog, co. Denbigh)
were a branch of the Mostyns of Mostyn, Barts., who claimed
descent from Tudor Trevor. In previous generations they
had intermarried with the Salusburys and Pennants, and
J. M. Mostyn's sister Maria married Colonel Salusbury of
Galtfynan. His grandfather, John Mostyn, was of Capel
Gwyddelwern, co. Monmouth, and died 1731.

Richard Brothers was originally a Lieutenant R.N., but
retired from the service, and set up as a prophet in London
about 1787. His vegetarian diet, and conscientious objec-
tion to oaths, helped to bring him into notoriety, while his
scruples about drawing his pay brought him into the work-
house. But he soon found admirers and supporters, and was
enabled to publish his " Revealed Knowledge of Prophecies
and Times, wrote under the direction of the Lord God," in
1794. Some of his predictions had a remarkable fulfilment :
e.g. in 1792 he foretold violent deaths for the King of Sweden

CECILIA'S ENGAGEMENT 123

and Louis XVI, but others, such as the destruction of London
by fire, were less successful. He now developed megalo-
mania of a religious type, styling himself " Nephew of God "
(explained as in virtue of descent from one of the " Brethren
of the Lord ") and the " Prince of the Hebrews " who was
to lead the Jews back to Palestine. Some wild political
utterances led to an examination before the Privy Council
on suspicion of treason, but the fitting result was his con-
finement, not in a gaol, but in a lunatic asylum.

STREATHAM PARK, Tuesday, 5 May.

My dear Friend will, I am sure, be pleased to hear that
we are safe arrived here, and our children about us : Mr.
Mostyn grows every day dearer to me, and the connection
with him more desired as we make closer acquaintance.
Cecilia seems to resist, for his sake, all temptations from her
Sisters to a London Spring ; and Mr. Piozzi, in return, treats
us all with frequent excursions for amusement, so as to
render a week's stay in Town less necessary to her happiness.
What a Town 'tis ! And what strange events occur in it
every hour ! Prophets, Traitors, Lunatic Ladies who elope
from their husbands, even without Gallants to seduce, or
even feigned ill-usage to impell them. They run to Bristol
however, you know I say that all the Wonder-doers, Con-
jurors, Poets, Impostors, every one have something to do
with Bristol. . . . Mr. Jackson, tho' guilty, is recommended
to mercy I perceive, but his condemnation will, in a certain
manner, implicate Mr. Stone. Apropos, Helen Williams
finds a defender in Col. Barry, who is as amiable, as clever,
and as eccentrick as possible. Lovely Siddons is set out for
Scotland in this moment, she will have cheated herself of
Summer completely. . . .

Whilst I am writing come my three Daughters, two of
them at least, from Town, and bring the news of Jackson's
suicide. What astonishing times are these ! and the World,
tho 1 wicked, is so enraged against my Lady Jersey, that

124 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

people expect her to be hissed in her carriage, or at the
theatres. Our new Princess's popularity daily encreases,
I think, and if she should bring us a little boy the World
would really be quite charmed with her. Is it not astonish-
ing that she never learned English, when that study is
grown even fashionable upon the Continent ?

This is one of those days which Brothers pitched on for
the Earthquake. Do you take any interest in his abettors
and their pamphlets, Wright, Bryan, Halhead ? . . .

William Jackson was an Irish clergyman, who had held
a curacy in London, and acted as chaplain to the " amazing "
Duchess of Kingston : afterwards, taking up journalism,
he was editor of the Public Ledger and the Morning Post.
Espousing the cause of the United Irishmen, he went over
to France as their envoy, with a view to procure assistance
for the projected Irish rising. Being brought to trial and
convicted, he took poison, and died in the dock while sen-
tence was being pronounced. His suicide was perhaps
designed to save his property, which would have been for-
feited to the Crown on conviction for high treason.

Frances, daughter of Dr. Philip Twysden, Bishop of
Raphoe, and wife of George Bussy, fourth Earl of Jersey, had
created considerable scandal, even in that lax age, by her
relations with the Prince of Wales, afterwards George IV.
The shameless way in which he forced her into the household
of the Princess, was no doubt largely responsible for the
sympathy so widely felt for the erring but injured wife.
The Prince's marriage took place in April 1795, but the
only child, born in 1796, was the Princess Charlotte, who
married Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg, afterwards King
of the Belgians.

Nathaniel Brassey Halhead, M.P. for Lymington, was a
man of considerable attainments, as shown by his Bengali
Grammar and " Gentoo Code of Laws " ; but his learning
did not save him from becoming the disciple, not to say

LADY JERSEY 125

dupe, of the mad prophet, under whose influence he wrote

13, treatise on the rnillenium, and a- " Testimony to the
Authenticity of the Prophecies of R. Brothers."

STREATHAM PARK, Monday, n May 1795.

;

Mrs. Siddons is gone to work her brother out of a gaol at
Edinburgh, and was forced to leave her husband, who,
being security for him, is most deeply interested in his success,
a cripple upon crutches. Such stuff is this world made of,
and 'tis time to look sharp about money matters now, when
a common fowl is paid seven shillings for in Carnaby Market,
d a leg o' mutton at the same place eight pence o' pound.
For these uncommon misfortunes I refused to take common
report ; so left the carriage in Marlborough Street, and
walked in my black bonnet and cloke all over that eminently
cheap and plentiful market myself, in order to ascertain
the real truth, and I now write down what I saw and heard
in letters, not figures, to prevent the possibility even of
supposed mistake. What however most amazes me is,
that our Batchelor Friends say the prices are not raised yet
in eating-house or tavern, nor are the dinners worse ; and
Virgo the poulterer told me he never sold more articles than
since they have been at this unexampled price. Make these
facts agree as you can.

With regard to Spring, all order and gradation seem as
completely abolished as if the Elements had experienced a
Revolution. The Walnut is now contemporary with the
Primrose, a thing I never saw before, and all our Oaks are
in broad leaf, before the Pear trees have shed their blossoms,
a circumstance wholly new to me. Not a Blackbird is seen
or heard in our desolated shrubbery, which, as you know,
used to resound with them : and nobody but myself (who
am ever on the watch,) has seen any Swallows. I observed
six yesterday. But what strange times are these, with our
false Christs too, and false Prophets ! Mercy on me ! but

126 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

I do think Cecilia is beginning the World just in the last
Act of it. May she at least play her part well ! Mostyn
and she are trying to get married, if possible, before he
comes of age, and so they will amuse the time till he is of
age, I suppose. . . .

Apparently the Chancellor proved obdurate in the matter
of the marriage of the legal "infants," so the impatient
Cecilia indulged in one more characteristic escapade by
eloping to Gretna Green ; an unnecessary proceeding which
must have been very annoying for Mrs. Piozzi, though she
makes no allusion to it in the letters. Their married life
was but short, as Mostyn died igth May 1807. His widow
survived him just half a century, and died at Silwood
House, Brighton, ist May 1857, set. eighty.

Mrs. Siddons' brother, Stephen Kemble, had taken the
Theatre Royal, Edinburgh, in 1789, but from the first was
involved in disputes with his intended partner and an un-
successful competitor. He tried to escape from these by
opening the New Theatre in 1793, only to find that the
legitimate drama was altogether prohibited there, as in-
fringing the rights of the Theatre Royal. He returned to
the latter in the following year, but disputes and litigation
still continued, so that in spite of his sister's assistance it
could not have proved a very profitable situation : but he
did not resign till 1800.

STREATHAM PARK, Sat. 13 Jun. 1795.

My dear Mrs. Pennington will be pleased to hear that
our Cecilia is married, and happy, and gone down with her
very amiable husband to Llewesog Lodge, near Denbigh,
N. Wales, the seat of his mother, Mrs. Wynne. A letter
from you, so directed, will be a pleasure to her. We cannot
get down as early as we wish, tho' things here are so high-
prized, that circumstance alone might drive one if one's heart
were not, as much of mine now is, in the country with Mrs.

CKCII.IA M<>STY\

From tkg Collection of A. M. l->n>a<fJ,-\', Ks

CECILIA'S MARRIAGE 127

Mostyn. These really are sad times, are they not ? A
cessation of hostilities without any peace, a pause somehow
more shocking than war, like the pause in a pulse lately
hurried on by fever, now stopt by a symptom more dreadful
than the fever itself.

The elements too are really very severe of late ; the
Park is converted into what farmers call a Lay our Park ;
it will not pay the haymaking. It is a new sight to me, and
a mournful one, and the weather is like a cold October.

What becomes of our friends the Whalleys ? I never
hear of them, and what do they say to these terrifying
moments ? They will be sorry for those who are starving.
My daughters tell me that the little sheds about St. George's
Fields are full of Emigree French dying of actual want ;
having exhausted the Charity so much indeed so justly
admired in our beneficent nation. Poor things ! They
expire quietly now, and say nothing ; but stirring up Oat-
meal and Cold water together, live on that while they can
get it, and then perish. Countesses and children of high
quality in France, thus lost amidst the crowds of thieves
and blackguards that infest the environs of London. How
very dreadful ! How very poignant the reflexion ! . . .

Charming Siddons is somewhere in the North, setting up
the individuals of her family, like Ninepins, for Fortune to
bowl at, and knock down again. She meantime secures
glorious immortality in both worlds. . . .

STREATHAM PARK, Fryday 26 Jun.

My dear Mrs. Pennington may assure herself I know no
more of Helen Williams 's actual situation than I do of
Colonel Barry's address. I have seen him but for five
minutes since I saw you, and 'twas his diversion then, (in
his clever way,) to make out her defence against some of the
company who sported the reports you mention.

Mr. James, whom you have heard me speak of, died in a
French prison, poor fellow ! His widow and children are

i 2 8 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

returned ; they have suffered greatly, but the pressure is
nearly general, and these last riots truly tremendous. If
we do not catch the Corn Fleet going from America to France
the Lord have mercy upon us !

Turning towards individuals is the likeliest method to
find some happiness, yet you, my dear Friend, complain, and
poor Mr. Whalley's sufferings will be too great, if his wife
really should die in consequence of his Niece's naughtiness.
Oh surely I hope that will never be. Can any beside parents
feel mortal anxiety ? I hoped not.

Sweet Cecy is loaded with comforts and pleasures ; the
family she falls into adores her, and the peasants take off
the horses and draw her about in triumph. Her sisters too
are now contented, and express their approbation, etc., in
bridal presents. May she but be sensible of her felicity !
The lot she has drawn is indeed a very great one ; personal
beauty, birth, unblemished character, and gentle manners
in one man united, is no common prize. . . .

My Girls always say how they wish for your acquaintance.
I will not yet despair of seeing you next Spring, for we have
a project, but I must not mention it yet.

Mr. James was a portrait painter at Bath, who was
elected A.R.A. in 1770. He was imprisoned during the
Terror, but was apparently released after the fall of Robe-
spierre, as he actually died at Boulogne.

Lord Howe had put out in the spring to find the French
fleet, but returned on hearing that it had been damaged by
a storm, and had put into Brest to refit. Though in failing
health he remained in nominal command, but the English
fleet was actually led by Alexander Hood, Lord Bridport,
who, three days before Mrs. Piozzi wrote, gained a notable
victory, with a much inferior force, over the French Fleet
of twenty-two ships off L'Orient.

A letter of thanks from Cecilia for Mrs. Pennington's
congratulations follows. Her condolences on Mrs. Whalley's

BRYNBELLA OCCUPIED 129

supposed death were somewhat premature. Subsequent
letters show that she made a satisfactory recovery from the
effects of her niece's " naughtiness," whatever it may have
been.

LLEWESOG LODGE, July the 2d.

MY DEAR MRS. PENNINGTON, I am extremely obliged
to you and Mr. Pennington for your kind congratulations,
and should have written to thank you sooner had I been
quite well. Now the correspondence has begun, may I
hope it will continue, for I have now not the same means
of knowing how you all go on. I am not likely to see my
dear Mother for at least two months, as their house goes
on very slowly here. Wasn't there a talk once of your
coming into Wales ? Sure it would be a good as well as an
agreeable plan. How glad we should all be to see you. Do
let me know if there are any hopes of such a thing ; or to
have a pretty little cottage how nice it would be. Any
body may live here without money almost, every thing is
so cheap.

I have this moment heard of poor Mrs. Whalley's death.
How grieved you must be, and poor Mr. Whalley ; indeed
I am very sorry. That dreadful Mrs. Mullins was, I suppose,
the cause ; do you know what is become of her ? . . .
Ever yours, CECILIA MOSTYN.

By the autumn the Piozzis were established in their own
house, which Mrs. Piozzi for some time continues to write
as Brinbella. Though commenced only as a " cottage,"
Mrs. Piozzi states in her Commonplace Book that the total
cost was over 20,000.

BRINBELLA, Wednesday 21 Oct. 1795.

My Master is just recovered from a fit of gout, which,
coming at so very untoward a moment, left me no leisure
for thinking at the time of any thing else : but now I am
glad that 'tis over.

130 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

We were scarce warm in our house before he was laid up,
and 'twas cruel to have him disturb'd at such an hour by
Workmens' hammers. To them the less disagreeable noise
of pretty ladies' prattle has at length happily succeeded ;
and Mr. Piozzi gallants his wife's four daughters to Holywell
Assembly tomorrow. Meantime Mrs. Mostyn is settled at
her husband's old Family Seat at Segroid, near Denbigh ;
his Mama lives with her husband, Major Wynne, at Llewesog
Lodge, about four miles from them, I think we at Brinbella
measure eight or nine. Mr. Mostyn means to build another
summer, but resides in the old Mansion while that work is
going on. I hear no talk of any young ones coming as yet,
but we need not despair. Harriet Lee's hour of felicity will
come to me, I doubt not ; she says, you know, that no
human being is truly happy but a Grandmother.

Marquis Trotti is married, and Annette is gone to Man-
chester. I think the latter a lucky incident, she will have
no one to talk the other event over to, and it will fade away
the sooner from her memory. Friendship has its thorns
like any other rose ; a person to whom you can speak freely
is a perpetual reflector of your own sensations, and if they
are not agreeable, serves to double the pain. The younger
sister too may make conquests in a new place, where her
accomplishments are likely to strike as rareties. Such
companions as our lovely Nancy will not easily be found in
a trading town.

My young ladies mean to spend the winter at Clifton, I
understand, but all seasons begin late now, and we shall of
course endeavour to detain them here as long as possible.
They have been prospect-hunting ever since June, and
confess these environs very beautiful notwithstanding
that Mount Edgecumbe and Penfield have been taken
into their tour. They have heard much of dear Mrs.
Pennington, and I dare say you will like one another
exceedingly ; the Siddonses and they are grown quite
intimate.

THE THRALES AT BATH 131

The public news is dismal indeed, but my Master says
"'twill mend.

The dowager Mrs. Mostyn took for her second husband
Edward Watkin Wynne, of Llwyn, co. Denbigh, the re-
presentative of a younger branch of the Wynnes of Gwydir.

BRINBELLA, 24 Nov. 1795.

My dear Mrs. Pennington will receive this letter from an
old Friend by the hand of her Daughters ; they will be
pleased with your acquaintance, and you will have it in
your power to shew them some attentions.

Streatham Park will serve as a common theme for the
beginning of conversation, tho' Heaven knows the present
times afford ample scope for talk which can scarcely avoid
interesting us all. Meantime Miss Thrale has seen so much
beautiful scenery in the Western Counties of our Island,
England and Wales, that you will delight in making her
recapitulate their peculiarities of excellence. Nobody I ever
knew, who loved London society with your degree of fond-
ness, continued to possess so strong a taste of Nature and
her solitary charms ; but I know not whether Clifton Hill
makes you any amends yet for loss of Hanover Square.

I heard that poor Mrs. Whalley was dead, but 'tis not
true, I hope ; if anything will make dear Siddons sit down
to write a letter, it must be asking her that question. . . .

BRYNBELLA, Monday 7.

My dear Mrs. Pennington does me wrong in thinking I
forget her ; but though we live an apparently retired life,
being far distant both from Bath and from the Capital, I
do not perceive that more time to be disposed of falls to
one's share* here than at Streatham Park. Our walks, being
more varied, are pleasanter, and tempt us out much more.
So many improvements too, with Chickens to peck, and
Pidgeons to flee, as the Fool said to Mr. Whalley ; I am, I

i 3 2 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

think, quite tired by 10 o' clock at night always, and yet
impatient for another day, that something may get forward.
We have a way too of going to dinner with our neighbours
here perpetually, and of sleeping at each other's houses in
good familiarity, which takes up some not disagreeable
moments. Of London acquaintance we cannot be supposed
to see many, but Miss Thrales and Mr. Chappelow, who have
been among us, will, I flatter myself, make a good report.
For conversation we talk of peace, and war, and fashions,
with great success ; and the price provisions bear, prin-
cipally corn, is a matter of serious moment, to us. Strange
to me how 'tis endured in the Metropolis, and stranger how
the evil will be cured.

You had more need write to me, dear Friend, than think
of letters from one who, for all topics of thought or talk,
depends upon distant intelligence, and I depend upon good
forage in the Bristol quarter. There is always somewhat
going forward there. . . . Send me a yard-long letter. . . .

The " Fool," whose sayings are several times referred
to, was doubtless the "famous mechanic, Merlin," of whom
Mrs. Piozzi relates in her Commonplace Book that, hearing
a discussion on the possibility of stopping the expected
French army of invasion, he inquired, " Could they not
stop them at the Turnpikes ? "

BRYNBELLA, Fvyday 18 Dec. '95.

Well the changes and chances of this world are many
and various, and sometimes happen for the better, as they
do now upon the Continent. The French run very well
indeed ; I told you that vengeance awaited them, and 'tis
coming at last.

Meantime you must do me a favour. You must enquire
me a Housekeeper such as you know will suit us ; a good
country housewife, who can salt Bacon, cure Hams, see

WANTED, A HOUSEKEEPER 133

also to the baking, etc., and be an active manager of and for
a dozen troublesome servants : in a word, Abbiss without
her faults. The London women of this profession hate to
leave the Capital ; I should hope better from a rough in-
habitant of Bristol or Liverpool, where the people keep good
houses, and good order in their houses, and give excellent
dinners, be the times scarce or plentiful.

You see Helen Williams advertises a new Book ; her
friends are uppermost in Paris now, but if these foreign
affairs run counter so, I much doubt their ability to stand
when general enthusiasm begins to fall.

Adieu, my kind friend, and do look me out a servant such
as I have described ; the torment these people cause me here
at such a distance is intolerable ; fetching and carrying them
is as expensive as can be, and then the others won't live
with them, and there is no end of their worrying one.
Ask your good Mother if she knows one likely to do.

Helen Williams about this time published Letters con-
taining a Sketch of the Politics of France, 1793-4 ; she had
also employed herself in making a translation of Paul et
Virginie while in prison under Robespierre. After his fall,
the party of the Gironde to which she belonged framed the
new Constitution, which came into force 28th October 1795.
The Convention dissolved itself to make way for the Direc-
tory, which served as a stepping-stone for Napoleon's rise
to power.

Wednesday, 20 [Apr. 1796], BRINBELLA.

What a world it is, dear Mrs. Pennington ! But the
amiable Whalleys have found better than they expected
in it. Everybody will be glad, they are people I think
particularly beloved : and since Mrs. Mullins has scamper'd
off so, I hope you will be the only favourite, and then good
will come out of evil.

Cecilia and her husband are gone to London. I am sorry

i 3 4 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

for it ; but she felt very tired of Wales, and he felt disposed
not to indulge but to obey her. I am sorry for that too,
a little bridle is not amiss for a young Filly Foal like her.
If she had been bringing a pretty Boy, instead of driving to
Town in a dangerous Curricle, I should have liked it better,
but they think of themselves, not of us.

I congratulate you upon the new Tax : there will be
many dogs the fewer for it. Do you remember saying upon
Streatham Hill, one day when I thought my neighbour's
favourite Spaniel in danger from old Browney, " Let him
alone ; if he kills it there will at worst be one dog less
in the world " ?

The dear Lees will, I hope, be all well and happy in the
success which is expected to attend Almeyda. Sweet
Siddons does not write as if she was encumbered with either
health or happiness, but things will mend sometime, sure.
I wish she had done with her profession, and could buy a
pretty little house and farm just by us here, that I do :
she would like this place better than you would. Mr.
Chappelow came and spent three weeks with us, and said
how beautiful the country was, and the people how agree-
able. But I caught him at last rejoicing in the sight of
a man that had seen Wandsworth ; and when I observed
he was a knowing fellow in his way, " Why, yes," says
he, " you may perceive he has English notions ; he was
bred at Wandsworth, etc." . . .

You must direct your next to me at Dr. Wynn's House,
Beaumaris, Anglesey. A dip in our Irish Channel will do
me good, and I shall see some waves that have been at
Bristol. If we can either get or save half a crown, we will
visit you next year, but these sweet grounds round the new
house take up all our money. They are beautiful, however,
and I do not grudge it. If we live, it will repay us in
pleasure certainly, perhaps in profit. Mr. Piozzi mends
the estate every day. I wish you could but see it. Miss
Thrales like Streatham better, of course. . . .

THE DOG TAX 135

Nobody ever writes me word whether Marquis Trotti
has perpetuated his family by marrying this pretty young
Countess, and he has done corresponding with me now. So
melt away our quondam society, my dear Mrs. Pennington,
and so melt we away ourselves, none of us quite what we
were I believe, but none less changed, (tho* not well neither,)
than your ever equally faithful H. L. P.

The above letter is franked, a very unusual circumstance
in Mrs. Piozzi's correspondence, by " R. W. Wynne," prob-
ably her neighbour Colonel Robert William Wynne of
Garthwin, who was High Sheriff for the county.

BRYNBELLA, i August, 1796.

Well ! dear Mrs. Pennington ! this next winter, if we all
live so long, will we shake hands, and tell old tales of other
times over a fire together. Our dear Master has had a fit
of Gout in Anglesey, and he has a fancy to have the next
at Bath, and will go thither if it please God on the ist of
Jany 1797. How many things, foreign and domestic, shall
we find to chat about ! How many odd and new incidents
have claim 'd attention since we parted ! And how com-
fortable will it be to talk all matters over in the old
way ! . . .

Cecilia and her husband were in London this Spring with
their sisters, but as they went without taking leave of us,
so they returned without taking any notice. These are
some of the odd things.

Some of the odder still are that Mr. and Mrs. Mostyn
went to Streatham Park, when tired of Town, called their
friends about them there, and nobody said or wrote a word
to Mr. Piozzi or me about the matter, except Miss Thrale,
who beg'd permission for Susan and Sophy. Since then
Lord and Lady William Russell have wished us to let it,
and Lord and Lady Clonmel have wished us to lend it. My
Master says he'll go next Spring and live awhile in it to

136 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

spite 'em. I shall be glad when we return, for dear Bryn-
bella has full possession of her heart who is ever faithfully
yours, H. L. P.

BRYNBELLA, 17 Aug. 1796.

MY DEAR FRIEND, This very post brought me your
kind letter ; see then, if I am slow in answering it, though
every day makes me hate writing more than the last day did.
What can one write freely ? Not about one's children,
unless they were good as mine are, and giving no cause of
complaint. Nor about one's friends certainly, for if they
did wrong, or disgraced expectation of right, they are the
very people one would not blame. Enemies less still ; for
in that blame some envy or some ill-nature would very
likely be mingled, and more be suspected at all times. Of
the French, and the French only, may one write freely, and
blame liberally ; for though all fear, I think all (even the
maddest,) begin to abhor them. Tis too late however, and
unless some decisive blow be soon struck in Italy, (of which
I am not wholly without hope, ) all must go, and then politics
will cease to be, as now, an extraneous subject, to keep us
from talking of what truly interests our heart or purse, it
will be what most immediately touches our nearest and
dearest concerns. May the great battle likely to take place
before beautiful Verona's gates avert, by the success of General
Wurmser, at least defer, that very dreadful moment ! But
there are other hopes. We may take Leghorn ourselves.
The old Empress may think y e time come when she ought to
rouze from her Northern torpor, that keeps all animals asleep
till late in the season by its cold, and the whole human race
may unite against that portion of it which so seeks the utter
ruin of the rest. Any of these will do ; and if nothing of
y s should happen, we must revere and acknowledge the
visible finger of God, and prepare for what's to follow. So
much for public matters. . . .

I fancy Madam D'Arblaye lives much with foreigners.

MADAM D'ARBLAY 137

She talks of demanding and according in a way English
people never talk ; and of descending to breakfast, and says
one sister aided another to rise, or lye down, as English
people never do. We say ask, and grant, and help, and go
down stairs, you know ; the other words are French. The
characters however of Mrs. Arlberry and Mrs. Berlington
are surely well contrasted, and both likely enough to strike
a young creature of Camilla's cast. Mrs. Mittin too has
much of my applause, and Bellamy frighted me with his
feigned character and his false friendship, and his pouncing
upon Eugenia, so like " one Hawk with one Pidgeon," do
you remember ?

Cecilia is very well, and looks prettier than she used to
do. ... She has been to see us since I wrote, both with and
without her Husband. They are going into Westmoreland
on a shooting party, and propose visiting my oldest friend,
Mrs. Strickland. Her sisters are at Tunbridge.

Helen Williams 's conduct seems to astound Harriet Lee,
whose own sweetness hindered her from seeing what led to it
long ago, but we must yet suspend our judgments. I expect
some Harlequin escape from censure will yet be performed
for our delight and her benefit.

Dr. Moore battles the Ladies on their own ground, I see.
Mr. Cumberland and he come forward with novels contesting
the palm against very formidable antagonists. I never saw
Henry, but have heard many commend it, and from Edward
I really expect a good deal.

The epilogue to Almeyda pleased me more than even
the prologue, some lines of which are however exquisite.
The play itself half broke my heart in reading, 'twas so
tender, and somehow I had expected terror more than pity
would have been produced by Sophia Lee. Like yourself,
I was all for Orasmyn. When will these dear creatures cease
their combinations of calamity ? There is so much in the
real living world at present, 'tis surprising how one can find
tears for nothing so, and for nobody.

138 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

Charming Siddons has been silent ever since I refused
running after her from Beaumaris to Liverpool, but such an
expedition was more impracticable than she dreamt on.
Mr. Pott, who I met in Anglesey, said she had lost much of
health and something of good looks. Oh ! for those two
things, if true, / am really and sincerely sorry. . . .

Mrs. Piozzi's hopes of successes against the French were
doomed to disappointment. The command in Italy had
now been entrusted to Bonaparte, who won the battle of
Lodi and entered Milan in May. His opponent, General
Wurmser, though at the head of 10,000 Austrians, and aided
by the disaffection of the States newly subjugated by France,
was driven out of Italy in a week ; and on attempting to
retrieve his fortunes by a second campaign, was shut up in
Mantua, and compelled to capitulate. Nor had the English
forces fared any better, having been driven out of Leghorn
and Corsica in the course of the summer.

Madame D'Arblay's new novel, Camilla, which had just
been published, proved highly successful. Besides noo sub-
scribers at a guinea, 3500 copies were sold in three months.
The contemporary reviewer in the British Critic was struck
by the genius required to bring together such a number of
distinctly characterised persons, and make them act con-
sistently, and singled out, like Mrs. Piozzi, the character of
Mrs. Arlberry as one of the most highly finished portraits.

The scope of Dr. Moore's work is sufficiently shown by
its title Edward; various views of human nature, taken
from life and manners, chiefly in England. This, being
devoted to the better side of human nature, was considered
much less thrilling than Zeluco. His third venture, Mor-
daunt y published in 1803, was tamer still, being the con-
ventional story of a workhouse foundling, recognised by his
parents through the happy accident of a strawberry-mark.

Dr. Richard Cumberland, son of the Bishop of Clogher and
Killaloe, and a grandson of Dr. Richard Bentley, professedly

THE NEW LOAN 139

modelled his Henry (published 1795) on the style of Fielding.
His work was fairly well received by the public, but his
peculiar temper made him unpopular with his fellow authors,
of whom Goldsmith drew his portrait in Retaliation, while
Sheridan in The Critic caricatured him unmercifully as Sir
Fretful Plagiary.

BRYNBELLA, Shortest day, 1796.

How, my dear Mrs. Pennington, shall I begin a letter
which is sure to be so truly disagreeable to us both ? How
shall I tell you that we are not coming either to Bath or
Bristol ? Harriet has a commission from us now to un-
order the lodgings we meant to take.

Business, and that of a mortifying nature, drags not draws
us to the neighbourhood of London ; it is Cecy's business
chiefly, but must not be neglected. There are now but thir-
teen short months to her coming of age, and those who are
most earnest that she should be taken care of, call to us for
that assistance, which, at any rate, we are anxious to give.
She has never called here, or I fancy thought of such an
exertion these nine or ten weeks ; but if she does not know
her duty, we know ours, and will endeavour to do it : but
let us talk of something, of anything else.

The pleasant est subject is the new Loan : whilst the
Metropolis can subscribe half a million an hour she will fear
no invasion I suppose, although such treasures might tempt
plunder from less unprincipled robbers than the French.
People make comfort out of the pecuniary distresses of our
enemy too ; but a wolf becomes more formidable from being
hungry. I am not among the warm hopers yet. . . . My
Master and I are nearly as much rusticated as you consider
yourself to be : we shall open our eyes and ears and hope to
bring both back full.

The Rebellion at the Hot Wells was a vexatious circum-
stance, did you conquer or compromise at last ? The days
of obedience are over ; old Nash was the last who governed,

140 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

like Elizabeth, by nicely blending love and fear together,
and by so exalting the force of influence that I believe they
mistook it for power of authority, and their subjects would
not undeceive them.

Have you read all these new Romances ? The Knights of
the Swan for example, the terrific Lenore, and a Ballad of
Alonzo the Brave ? I think a great change has been made
in taste of popular literature, or rather, popular reading,
since we parted. People were tired of Master Jacky and
Miss Jenny I suppose, and flew from insipid diet of water-
gruel and chicken broth to Caviare and Cayenne, and Pepper-
mint water for drink. The other extreme was wholesomer,
and 'tis better be studying stories of little Eugenia tumbling
off the plank, out from old simple Sir Hugh's arms, than
follow the frightful Monk to his precipice. Send me word
what your Mother says when you read these horrible tales
to her. Sure we shall see Colonel Barry again sometime ; it
seems to me long since I enjoyed his conversation, his
criticism is always ingenious, and commonly exact, and by
perpetually filling and continually emptying his mind, it
acquires peculiar clearness, like a cold bath where the stream
runs through. . . .

To meet the expected French invasion, the Government
raised a loan of eighteen millions, which was all subscribed
before the close of the second day. The price of issue was
112, which at the time was considered low.

Beau Nash had been dead for more than thirty years when
Mrs. Piozzi wrote. His reign at Bath, which made the re-
putation of that town as a fashionable resort, lasted for over
half a century ; but though his prestige suffered little diminu-
tion, he fell on evil days, and towards the close of his life
lived on a pension voted by the grateful Corporation, who
also accorded him a public funeral in the Abbey.

The Knights of the Swan, a romance of the Court of
Charlemagne, was translated from the French of Madame

ELIZA (FARREN), COUNTESS OF DERBY, 1797

From a print in the British Museum

tNEW ROMANCES 141

le Genlis by the Rev. Mr. Beresford in 1796. In the same
fear appeared some half-dozen English versions of August
Burgher's Lcnore ; those by Stanley, Pye, and Spencer are
reviewed in the British Critic. The poem of "Alonzo the
Brave " occurs in the romance of The Monk, by Matthew
regory Lewis, commonly known as " Monk " Lewis, and
:rved as a basis for the play of Alonzo and Imogene.

STREATHAM PARK, Wed. 26 April 1797.

I have long promised myself the pleasure of sitting down
to send dear Mlrs. Pennington a long letter, but long things
and little people ill agree, and I never oquld find time till
to-night. . . .

Of charming Siddons every Paper can inform you. I
really never saw her so charming ; but she has a mind to
exhibit age, avarice, and bitter disappointment instigating
the most horrible crimes, for her Benefit, when Lillo's Fatal
Curiosity will be acted. Miss Farren is bride-expectant, and
everybody appears to applaud Lord Derby's choice. The
Greatheeds are going to Germany next Summer on their son's
account ; Buonaparte is there already on his own. His
Banditti have committed dreadful ravages in the Venetian
State, and among the rest of their exploits, have frighted
Mr. Piozzi's good old Father out of what remained of life at
fourscore years of age. Dreadful deeds I must confess, and
horrible times in every sense of the word. But as we were
speaking of individuals, I must add that Helen Williams is
given up here by her most steady adherents. I am
sorry. . . .

I have been told that Cecilia Mostyn and her husband
are at Bath, but since she wrote Mr. Piozzi a letter with
heavy charges against me in it, we have ceased corresponding.
If you meet with her, tell me how she looks, and if there are
hopes of a child ; it would be the likeliest means of assuring
her domestick happiness. My husband is more hurt than I
am at her accusations of him for setting her horse to plough,

142 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

and of her mother for wearing her clothes, and charging them
as accountable to herself, besides a general charge of
penurious niggardliness observed in her education, which
one knows not how to contradict but by a general appeal to
her own accomplishments, and to her own high-bred horse,
most incapable of being set to plough. Mothers and
daughters remind one of poor Lady Pitches, who dropt down
dead in earnest conversation with one of her young ladies'
sweethearts, or the father of one of them, the other day. I
did not do so with Drummond, tho' very near it I do think
in Milsom Street, Bath. So you see I am better off than
some of my neighbours. The Three Thrales are at Bright-
helmstone, refreshing from the fatigues of a gay winter by
sea-bathing. Sophia hinted that they should like a country
house near Town for summer residence, and Mr. Piozzi has
requested them to accept ours, which he could have easily
have let, I trust, for 500 o' year ; but generously as I think
preferred the future possessors as present inhabitants
of old Streatham Park, which will not now look melancholy
because we live in Wales. And when all debts are paid we
may perhaps return ; but my own heart being fixed on my
own Country, I shall never more wish to leave it, except for
a short visit to Bath and Hot Wells, a happiness I still keep
in sight for a motive to go forward.

As this is a letter of all fact and no sentiment, I will tell
you that poor old Flo died since we came hither, and lies
buried under the tree that has a seat round it. Not only
a dog the fewer as jou used to say, but in his tomb lie my
affections buried ; I feel that I shall never fondle dogs again.
Belle went to live with Mrs. Mostyn long ago, old Loup is
dead, and Brown Fox struck by the palsy ; Phyllis alone
remains, and is no more a parlour favourite. So fade away
one's pleasures and one's plagues ; but Mr. Piozzi still retains
his gout, and so I dare say does Mr. Pennington.

My health is much as usual, and 'tis the speech to say
that I look very well. Let me hear good from you ; from

FRICTION WITH THE MOSTYNS 143

individuals we may yet hope to find some, public calamities
go on increasing in velocity and strength, like a wheel down-
hill. A stone or hillock may stop it for a moment, but to
the bottom it must go at last.

The Lord Derby here referred to was Edward, the twelfth
Earl, who created considerable sensation in fashionable
society by marrying, within two months of his first wife's
death, the popular actress Eliza Farren.

By this time Bonaparte had accomplished his invasion
of Austria from Italy, and the Emperor, seeing his capital
threatened by French troops, was compelled to cede Belgium
and the left bank of the Rhine. On his return to Italy an
insurrection in Venice gave him a pretext for replacing the
ruling oligarchy by a republican form of government, while
the territory of Genoa was transformed into the Ligurian
Republic. It was no doubt the confusion consequent on
these changes which hastened the end of Mr. Piozzi's aged
father.

STREATHAM PARK, i June 1797.

MY DEAR MRS. PENNINGTON, I feel your good-natured
expressions very sensibly, and so does our poor dear Master ;
he is grown a sad invalid, always having the Gout, and crying
out with pain. But the sick people live, whilst the well
people dye, you know ; so sings the sublime Mrs. Piozzi in
her Journey to Italy, and so experience teaches.

Your Brother came here one morning last week, and
brought some gentlemen with him to see the pictures in our
Library. He is not altered in person, perhaps not in any-
thing. I think character never changes ; the Acorn becomes
an Oak, which is very little like an Acorn to be sure, but it
never becomes an Ash : and if Mrs. Mostyn is, as Miss Lees
say, the same Cecilia, I may add that that same Cecilia never
cared a pin for me nor my husband, and cares not now. I

fve not done caring for her however ; somebody says she

144 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

is at Bristol, tell me if 'tis for health or pleasure she goes
there, and how she looks, .... and whether her husband is
with her or no, and how they live together. I can trust your
information and your friendship. . . .

I have been to the Exhibition. Lawrence is the Painter
of the day ; and to prove that he can shine equally in describ-
ing a rising and a fallen Angel, he has seated Mrs. Siddons at
Lucifer's feet. There is a little thing of somebody's, I forget
who, representing Cassandra predicting the fall of Troy,
which few admire as I do, but it bears the true marks of
genius and of taste. The next best thing I saw was a draw-
ing of Pellegrini's, and no inelegant or worthless portrait of
the Queen for la Duchesse de Wirtemberg.

Mr. Piozzi's state of health has hindered my waiting upon
Lady Derby, but we met her in a Phaeton one day, and she
stopt and spoke very prettily and kindly indeed. All the
world seems pleased with her good fortune, and Lord Deer-
hurst's, to whom an old, distant relation has left no less than
80,000. It came at a nice moment to comfort them, for
Lady Pitches, who I perhaps never told you, dropt down
dead as she was stirring the fire, about six or eight weeks
ago, and the breaking up of that house was a sad thing upon
all her children. . . .

When we go hence, Miss Thrales will enliven the spot,
they are to succeed us in old Streatham Park. Whenever a
loose half-crown lies in our pockets, it pays a mile's Postage
towards the Hot Wells, you may assure yourself. Mrs.
Siddons will see you first however, for Sally says her plan is
to meet her husband and children at Mr. Whalley's, when
she has been at two or three places alone. The little Baby
Cecilia is the most extraordinary of all living babies ; many
have I seen, but none of such premature intellect. It is a
wonderful infant, seriously. . . .

George William Coventry, then Lord Deerhurst, after-
wards seventh Earl of Coventry, married in 1783 Peggy,

CKCII.IA SII)I>ON>
/')' A'. /. Lane after Sir Thos. Lwrcncc

LAWRENCE'S SATAN 145

daughter of Sir Abraham Pitches, Knt, a neighbour of the
Piozzis at Streatham. The Lady Pitches here mentioned
is therefore his mother-in-law.

Lawrence's great picture of Satan summoning his Legions,
exhibited this year, is now the property of the Royal
icademy. Contemporary opinions differed widely as to
its merits. His admirers pronounced it sublime, but Pasquin
lescribed it as "a mad Sugar Baker dancing naked in a con-
lagration of his own treacle." Fuseli branded it as "a
med thing certainly, but not the Devil " ; but Lawrence
:urned the laugh against him by proving, from his sketch-
)k, that the idea of Satan was taken from Fuseli himself,
while posing on a rock near Bristol. Nearly thirty years
Eterwards Mrs. Pennington saw it exhibited at Bristol,
mt it failed to impress her. "It is only monstrous in
ly mind," she writes, "it gives no idea of Lucifer son of
le morning."

Mrs. Piozzi's interest in the " Baby Cecilia " is, to some
:tent, accounted for by the fact that she was her godchild ;
it her portrait by Lawrence, drawn this year, certainly
mggests a remarkable and precocious infant. She was the
ly one of Mrs. Siddons' daughters to survive her mother.

BRYNBELLA, 10 Jan. 1798.

Before the long threatened Blister is put upon my right
, I will use it once more to assure my very tenderly re-
embered friend that she has never been a moment for gotten.
ut I wrote so exceeding long a letter to Harriet Lee a great
hile ago, upon the odious subject of self and family affairs,
and she answered me so coldly and drily, that I thought
nobody would like a correspondence of that kind ; and felt
unable to try at others more entertaining. Desire to see
our place and our acquaintance brought us hither for three
months' amusement on the loth of Oct r , I mean of August
last, and the first thing we heard was that Mrs. Mostyn had
[returned home] no doubt, said I, that she may be attended

i 4 6 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

by Mr. Moore, who was so comfortable and attentive when
she was in the same country confined by illness seven years
ago, and dear Miss Weston offered to go with us to Lisbon
upon Haygarth's saying her health required Continental air.
We sent, and went, and were received civilly, and not un-
kindly ; so I thought we were upon terms, as 'tis called, and
a servant was daily dispatched to know how she went on.
Miss Thrale, who was with her, always returned for answer
y* all was going as well as possible. So we went out as usual
to visit our neighbours, and at one Lady's house heard
suddenly, and accidentally, not only of her illness, but her
extream danger. Mr. Moore was in the room where we
heard it ; she was attended by people from Chester and
Ruthyn whom neither she nor I had ever seen, but tho' so
oddly thrown aside, Mr. Moore, to calm my inquietude, ran
away to learn particulars, and I sate in agony at bottom of
Denbigh Town, while the footman galloped forward to re-
quest my admission. It was refused. Disastrous scenes . . .
followed ; and Mr. Piozzi shed tears at the account of her
severe sufferings. In due time I was admitted, and warned
to make my visit short, and so I did. The visit was coldly,
but not uncivilly, in course of 3 months, returned, and all
passed off quietly. The Litigation for recovery of money
spent on Cecilia while she remained with us went on of course ;
and the other day almost, the Master made Report against
Mr. Piozzi, who, he said, could compel no payment, but y 4
Mostyn must be a strange man (was his expression,) to en-
deavour so at squeezing his wife's necessary expenses out of
a Father-in-law's pocket; and added " I can tell you,
gentlemen, that had you come to me as John Wilmot, not
as Master in Chancery, I should have decided very differently
indeed." The Counsellors on both sides beg'd him even yet
to stand between us and y e Chancellor, and act as Referee.
" If your clients please," replied he, " so I will." Mr. Piozzi
wrote to express his consent, but when we asked Miss Thrale
concerning her brother and sister's determination, she said
it was a subject that had never employed their minds even for

CHANCERY PROCEEDINGS 147

a moment. I requested her to remind 'em of it, and at night
came a Billet with " Proper Com 3 ; Mr. Mostyn will take
time for deliberation." And so he does, for that's a fort-
night ago.

So much for the superiority with which your poor
mortified and severely humbled friend has been treated ;
now for domestic comforts. On the 20th of October my
Master went to bed with a raging fit of Gout in breast, side,
back, and collar bone, but soon fixing in one heel and one
toe, it tore them open into the most frightful ulcers I or poor
Mr. Moore ever did behold. There has the Gout gnawed
and bitten for 12 entire weeks, during which time has the
truly wretched patient suffered torments inexpressible, and
I believe rarely endured : his letters from Italy irritating
even that anguish by narrations of what brothers, sisters,
friends, etc. endure from the rapacity of these vile French,
false as they are cruel, and insolent as they are successful.
His own particular Town has been the immediate scene of
distress, and all these are completely and inevitably ruined.
Let us thank God they have not yet been called hither, they
will do us no harm till they are called. J Tis our own traytrous
Vipers I am afraid of, not the French : and of the taxes I
am not afraid, except as it gives a handle for abuse to those
who object to everything proposed, and propose nothing
themselves.

We are in a leaky ship, we must pump or drown, and
those are the greatest enemies to general safety who cry,
"Oh, don't fatigue the poor men at the pumps with such
hard work ; see how cruel you are to urge them thus beyond
their strength ! " Not at all cruel ; let us pump now with
spirit, and the vessel may yet get into harbour, but 'tis no
moment this for general relaxation.

\\ hen I was going over the Alps with Mr. Piozzi, the
sight of a dreadful precipice made me afraid, and I said I
would walk : it was very late in a fine summer evening.
" Sit still," cried my Master. " I cannot sit still," replied

148 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

I, " stop, stop ! " ' You disturb the drivers, you will make
them overturn us, pray sit still." No, I would not sit still,
I would walk. " Well, walk away then," said Mr. Piozzi,
" if you will walk ; there are troops of wolves ranging the
mountains now, I was told so at the last inn ; they will find
their prey out in an instant." Oh you can't imagine after
that how still and quiet I sate in the carriage. Britannia,
in a similar situation, must act like H. L. P. She must let
the driver alone, and he will avoid the precipice ; she must
not expose herself to this troop of wolves.

But my rheumatic arm aches with even thus much writing,
and my heart aches for my own mental, and my husband's
corporeal sufferings ; my loyal soul too aches for the general
pressure upon our brave King and skilful Minister ; but
tho' Cecilia does refuse to repay the 1400 she owes Mr.
Piozzi, I will not grudge the taxes nor will he try to evade
them. We raised two puppies I meant to drown, that they
likewise might be entered.

Mr. Mostyn's Mother, not much better treated by our
haughty Cecy than I have been, has sold one of her estates
for 10,000, and given the money to her daughter. She is
gone to live at Bath, I'm told. . . .

When Mr. Piozzi recovers our meaning is to go to
Streatham Park, and wind up our affairs, and come back
hither, and live snug, and save money enough to pay our just
debts, and bury us. If we could live 3 years more, we should
have our income clear of every incumbrance, and I should
publish another Jest Book : but both our healths are visibly
declining. Love us, and pray for us, and write again
soon. . . .

The friendly Master in Chancery was John Wilmot of
Berkswell Hall, F.R.S., M.P. for Tiverton and for Coventry,
who assumed the additional surname of Eardley in 1812,
and was ancestor of the present Sir John Eardley- Wilmot,
Bart.

THE LADIES OF LLANGOLLEN 149

The " skilful Minister " was of course Pitt, who had been
driven into the war against his convictions, and though
carrying it on to the best of his ability, lost no opportunity
of working for peace. This, however, now appeared to be
farther off than ever by reason of the general dread and
hatred inspired by the projected French invasion.

STREATHAM PARK, 27 Feb. 1798.

My dear Mrs. Pennington will like to see a letter dated
from old Streatham Park. We got there on Fryday, after
a journey made pleasant by repeated visits on the way. . . .
Two days were delightfully disposed of with the Recluses
at Llangollen Cottage, where you would, I think, leave your
heart a willing prisoner. They conquer and keep in their
enchanted Castle all travellers passing that particular road
at least all those for whom they spread their nets. Harriet
Lee escaped by some poetical chance, but they like her book.
We were hungry for pleasure after so long a fast, and enjoyed
everything with double delight.

My nerves are however terribly shaken, and I do believe
we must and shall return home to Wales through Bath and
Bristol, and embrace our dear Mrs. Pennington. . . . But
we will not talk of declining health. Individuals are now
of less consequence than ever, while the Nation, the Con-
tinent, the World itself, seems in its last convulsions. Can
too many efforts be made to keep these marauders out, these
pests of Society, who have shaken such a fabric to its founda-
tions ? I think no efforts great enough, though our Ministers
and Soldiers and Sailors do set a sublime example, sure ; and
we must all follow at distance.

We have advertised Streatham Park to be let for three
years : if Miss Thrales would have accepted it rent-free, only
paying the taxes, they should have had if for nothing ; but
some Grandee, who is reducing his establishment, shall pay
us 500 o' year. I thought Mr. Piozzi most paternally kind
in his offer of it to the young ladies, but they refused with

150 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

disdain. They are used to refuse good offers, as people
tell me.

Mr. Mostyn's Lady is of age now, and in possession of
40,000, but nothing can we get from them except bills of
tradesmen, from whom Cecy took up articles without our
knowledge or consent, whilst in our house ; and those bills
Mostyn meanly refuses to pay, because, as minor's debts,
the people cannot arrest him. So runs the world, need one
wonder if God Almighty is tired of it ? I am nearly tired
of it myself.

The weather however is charming. You mistake in
fancying Brynbella a cold spot . The Gardener brought me in
two pots of the finest Carnations I ever saw in my life upon
my birthday, 27 Jan., this year ; and we have no hothouse.
The side of our hill is particularly warm, quite a cote-rotie. . . .
Surrey looks marvellous dull and dreary compared to the
brilliant scenery fromjour parlours and bed-chamber windows
in Wales. But the bustle here amuses me, and I like the
sight of London, looking like an Ant-hill suddenly stirred
with a stick, well enough.

I have not seen dear Siddons yet, but rejoice sincerely in
what I hear of her happiness. Being a lucky darling of
Fortune, we got her to buy us a Lottery Ticket this year, and
chuse us the number. Joy will come well in such a needful
time, 1 as Juliet says. And apropos to Juliet, Miss Hamilton
seems perfectly happy with her Romeo. Nothing was ever
so kind as her parents have been. They gave her away, and
they strip themselves to furnish her house, and they now add
to their excessive fondness for her, their adoration of Mr.
Holman, who, I really believe, will behave most sweetly and
honourably to all. . . .

A curious account of discoveries made in the interior
parts of Africa, where large Cities and Civilised Nations are
now supposed to have long resided, attracts my attention

1 "And joy comes well in such a needy time." Romeo and Juliet,
III. v. 1 06.

JOSKI'H (IKDKt.K HOI. MAN
/>V //'. Angus after DttU, /7$J. h'roin a f>rint in the Hritish M

MRS. MOSTYN COMES OF AGE 151

forcibly ; and much chat will we have together when we
meet upon these subjects and a thousand more. . .

The celebrated ladies of Llangollen were Lady Eleanor
Butler, sister of John, seventeenth Earl of Ormonde, who had
retired from society about twenty years previously with her
friend Sarah, daughter of Chambre Brabazon Ponsonby, a
cousin of the Earl of Bessborough. They took a cottage at
Plasnewydd in the Vale of Llangollen, where they lived for
half a century, and were visited by most of the celebrities of
the time. About two years before this date Anna Seward
wrote her poem of "Llangollen Vale" in their honour.
Lady Eleanor died in 1829 and her friend in 1831.

Joseph George Holman, a member of Queen's College,
Oxford, though he never took a degree, made his de"but on
the stage in 1784 at Covent Garden, where he acted till 1800.
His wife, so frequently referred to in the letters, was Jane,
daughter of the Rev. the Hon. Frederick Hamilton, a scion
of the Duke of Hamilton's family.

In 1795 Mungo Park started from Gambia to explore
the course of the Niger, and subsequently visited the States
on the southern edge of the Great Sahara, returning, via
America, in 1797. An account of his expedition was drawn
up for the African Association in 1798, which is probably
what Mrs. Piozzi had seen, but his own detailed account was
not finished till 1799.

STREATHAM PARK, Tuesday. 27 Mar. 1798.

My dearest Mrs. Pennington is too good a woman to wish
me to make promises I cannot keep, and too kind a friend
not to be sorry that I have no certainty of one day after
another. If we let this house as we hope to do, we may
possibly, and I hope we shall be able to spend next Winter
or Spring at Bath, Bristol, and its environs ; perhaps we
shall be able to coax you away with us to pretty Brinbella,
where our final and favourite residence seems to be fixed.

152 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

But everything is so uncertain. England, Europe, the whole
World seems so convulsed, and so incapable of judging its
own destiny for 3 or 4 years to come, that I absolutely con-
sider it as presumption next to madness to promise anything
about coming here or going there. We must all do what
suits us at the time I fancy.

Dear Mr. Whalley above all people verifies the prophecy
that " a man shall seek to go into a city, and shall not be
able." He himself proposed setting out for Ireland as this
very day, in company of Sir Walter James ; but they will
neither of them go now, I trust, when whole families are
flocking from thence to Wales, etc. for refuge. We dined in
his and Mrs. Whalley 's company at Mrs. Siddons's last week,
and went with them at night to the Eidouranion, a pretty
Astronomical Show. Maria dined in the room, and looked
(to me) as usual, yet everybody says she is ill, and in fact
she was bled that very evening, while we were at the Lecture.
Shutting a young half-consumptive girl up in one unchanged
air for 3 or 4 months, would make any of them ill, and ill-
humoured too, I should think. But 'tis the new way to make
them breathe their own infected breath over and over again
now, in defiance of old books, old experience, and good old
common sense. Ah, my dear friend, there are many new
ways, and a dreadful place do they lead to. You should
read Robinson's book, and I should translate and abridge
Barruel's, if I did my duty to the Public, but I really have not
time. My own long, heavy work, in which I am engaged,
takes every moment that can be spared from family concerns.
Mr. and Mrs. Mostyn however give me no trouble, I have
neither seen nor heard anything from them these many
months. . . .

I wonder if the pretty Misses go in self coloured drawers
and stockings, and Brutus Heads with you as they do here.
It is a horrible sight : but no one in this part of the world is
considered as ridiculous, except the Bishops and Lords who
commanded the Opera Dancers to put their clothes on again,

MARIA SIDDONS 153

or leave the Country. My fair Daughters have made a
league with the House of Siddons, which I feel rather cooler
to me than usual. Never mind ! Those who know the
World wonder at nothing : those who do not, must learn the
World, or leave it. My ever kind Mrs. Pennington is of the
Old School still, and remembers the precept given by old
Father Homer 3 or 4000 years ago, saying that

A gen'rous friendship no cold medium knows,
Burns with one love, with one resentment glows ;
The same our views, our int 'rests still should be,
My friend must hate the man that injures me.

But we will talk of public calamity, if you please, it
swallows, or ought to swallow up private concerns com-
pletely. I wish you to read the True Briton of March 8.
There is a letter from Venice in it which we know but too well
to be genuine. I translated and printed it myself, that none
might remain ignorant of the manner in which France treats
those who never offended her. What are we to expect from
French generosity ? Let us, like the Swiss, sell our lives as
dear as we can. They oppose, and are cut to pieces. Italy
complies, is pillaged and undone ; like what Pope says of the
famous Duchess of Marlborough,

Who breaks with her provokes revenge from Hell,
But he's a bolder man who dares be well.

I wish they would put their armament in motion ; 'tis
possible that God Almighty may permit us to destroy it,
and then the Continent may be delivered from y s dreadful
scourge. Their Italian and Dutch subjects would soon
rebell, and they would be driven about finely. Distress
at home would follow ill success abroad, and they would end
like one of their own air-balloons, set on fire, and blazing,
and burning out, and falling to ground. This is our only
chancethe only hope of yours ever affect^ H. L. P.

154 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

The exodus from Ireland was due to the apprehended
rising of the United Irishmen, which was then preparing.
The principal conspirators had just been arrested when Mrs.
Piozzi wrote, and martial law was proclaimed shortly after-
wards.

Mrs. Piozzi's apprehensions about Maria Siddons proved
but too well founded. A change of treatment was tried soon
afterwards, and she was sent to Clifton in June, in the hope
that a change of air and a course of " the Waters " might
benefit her complaint. For a time she obtained relief, and
as her mother was unable to be with her, Mrs. Pennington
undertook the charge. But the disease had progressed too
far, and four months later she died, tended to the end by
her sister Sally and Mrs. Pennington.

John Robinson, secretary to the Royal Society of Edin-
burgh, and Professor of Natural Philosophy in the University,
was an important contributor to the third edition of the
Encyclopedia Britannica. The work alluded to was pub-
lished in 1797 under the title of " Proofs of a Conspiracy
against all the Religions and Governments of Europe, carried
on in the secret meetings of Freemasons, Illuminati, and
Reading Societies, collected from good Authorities." The
book, which contemporary critics describe as " a hasty pro-
duction," was chiefly concerned with French and German
societies.

The Abbe" Barruel, Almoner to the Princess of Conti, had
written in 1794 a history of the clergy during the French
Revolution. In 1797 he published his M&moires pour
servir d VHistoire du JacoUnisme, designed to show that
the Revolution was the work of Voltaire and his friends, and
was aimed primarily at religion, and only secondarily at
the Government. An English edition, of which Mrs. Piozzi
does not seem to have heard, appeared about the same time.

The brothers Montgolfier had discovered the principle of
the fire balloon in 1783, and in the same year the brothers
Robert (also Frenchmen) inflated a balloon with hydrogen

THE THREE WARNINGS 155

gas. What Mrs. Piozzi no doubt had in her mind was the
tragic fate of Pilatre de Rozier (the first human being to
entrust himself to the air), who in 1785 attempted to combine
the two systems, with disastrous results. The balloon took
fire, and he and his companion lost their lives.

Having humbled Austria, Bonaparte had turned his
attention to England. An army was raised and marched to
the Channel, to await a convenient moment for crossing,
when sufficient transport had been collected. But larger
schemes of an Eastern campaign were now occupying his
mind, and the project of invasion was not vigorously pushed
forward. Indeed it may have been designed rather to
draw off attention from the preparations for his Egyptian
expedition.

STREATHAM PARK, last Sunday in April 1798.

Well, dearest Mrs. Pennington 1 we have been to London
since I had your last kind letter. And what did we see in
London ? Why we saw some pictures, the spoil of Italy
and Flanders, which the French sell to those who bid highest ;
and we saw charming Siddons, the boast of our own
Country, more admirable than ever in this new play of the
Stranger. She is not cold to her old friends, Heaven knows,
yet there is an iciness in the house that I cannot describe.
One reason may be that as everybody takes sides now, and
many go there that are not on your side and mine, it must
be as it is ; and I always meet Mr. Twiss there, a fierce man
who married her sister, with a brown Brutus Head, I feel
afraid of all the men that wear it.

Have you seen my Three Warnings made political use of
in a new Pamphlet ? It will soon be at Bristol, no doubt, as
it seems a favourite with the Public.

Mr. Whalley will soon leave these busy scenes for his
Cottage, and we shall soon get home to Brynbella, I hope.
My poor Master is too lame to march in the King's service,
but he is a good loyalist, and a better hoper than his wife,

156 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

though I really do think things are mending. People seem
aw'd by the times, without being afraid of the French : and
that is exactly the spirit I would have them show. Our
sailors and soldiers are true to the cause, and an armed nation
(tho' small,) is irresistible. If it should please God that the
descent should be made now, and fail, England would be
happier, and I fear, prouder than ever ; for there is no other
place left for France to conquer, and Lord Bridport promises
to defend us bravely.

Mr. and Mrs. Mostyn were invited to meet us for a short
dinner at Miss Thrale's the day we were all engaged to dear
Siddons's Benefit. So we curtsied, and smiled, and drank
each others good health, and ran to our separate Boxes at the
Theatre, and 'scaped all explanations; and that did nicely. . . .
Lady Derby is so altered you would not know her, grown
so immensely fat, and white, and her hair changed, but not
her sweet character and pleasing manners, which remain still
superiorly lovely. Mrs. Holman is grown actually handsome,
and seems happiest of human beings ; so here are Braave
Alter aations, as the Fool said to Mr. Whalley. Mr. Holman
is a very pleasing, and very unaffectedly agreeable
man. . . . Your old acquaintance Mr. Rogers remains
single yet. . . .

Helen Williams's last Book is beautiful, but she is a
wicked little Democrate, and I'm told, lives publickly with
Mr. Stone, whose wife is still alive. Nobody tells me any-
thing of Dr. Moore, but Cumberland keeps on writing plays
and romances ; and I'm in the middle of a big book, Heav'n
send it may not for y* reason be a dull one ; but I will be a
good hoper myself. Harriet Lee never sent me the Heirship
of Roselva, tell her I say so. When come out the next
Canterbury Tales ? People surprize me by turning their
heads so to fancy compositions I never could do it.

Adieu ! We have let this place for 550 per annum for
3 years ; and if we beat the French away, and things begin
to right again, as the Seaman's phrase is, we will come to

I
I

MRS. MOSTYN RECONCILED 157

Bath and Bristol the very first months of the next New
Year. ,

:
I

The Stranger was a spectacular drama adapted from
a tragedy by Kotzebue, dealing with the Spaniards and
Indians in America, which had a great vogue in England

wing to its patriotic sentiments, which were interpreted
as bearing on current history. No less than four English
translations, one by " Monk " Lewis, appeared in the course

f this year. Sheridan's adaptation was not published till
1799.

Francis Twiss, son of an English merchant in Holland,
married in 1786 Frances (Fanny), second daughter of Roger
Kemble, and sister of Mrs. Siddons, who then retired from
the stage and, assisted by her husband, kept a girls' school
at Bath. She is described after her marriage as being " big
as a house " ; while her husband, who took " absolute clouds
of snuff," was thin, pale, and stooping, but very dogmatic.

e compiled in 1805 the earliest concordance to Shakespeare.
The political version of Mrs. Piozzi's poem was entitled

Three Warnings to John Bull before he dies, by an old

.cquaintance of the Public," wherein John is exhorted to
" a unanimous spirit in assisting Government, a just

d manly regard for our Established Religion, and an im-

ediate amendment of Manners." The authorship does

ot seem to have been disclosed.
Helen Williams' latest work was " A Tour in Switzerland,

r a view of the present state of the Governments and

anners of those Cantons, with Comparative Sketches of
the present state of Paris." The tour was taken in company
with Stone, who had been sent thither on a mission by the
French Government.

In The Mysterious Marriage, or the Heir ship of
Rosalva, Harriet Lee introduced what she claimed as an
original feature, viz. a female ghost ; but this does not help

e plot, which the British Critic dismisses as " ordinary,"

i 5 8 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

while the characters, whether angelical or diabolical, were
but commonplace, and the verses were the worst part of the
performance. The Critic allowed, however, that The Canter-
bury Tales for 1797, published this year, showed much in-
genuity and fancy, and expressed a hope for more.

Cumberland's five-act play, False Impressions, ap-
peared in 1797 at Co vent Garden, and had a moderate
success. The British Critic sums it up as " only a sketch,
but a sketch by a master, which might have been worked
up into something much better."

Mrs. Piozzi herself had evidently now embarked on
Retrospection, her most ambitious, and probably her least
successful work, which was not completed till 1801.

SHREWSBURY, Thursday, rejoycing day, 1798.

MY VERY DEAR FRIEND, Your sweet cordial letter should
have had earlier thanks, tho' warmer I possess not, but I
really dreaded having it to say we could not come ; so many
vexations and combinations happened which often and often
did I think would hinder us. We are however so far on our
road. . . . My Master's heel is very poorly, but we shall
come hopping; and Mr. Pennington is most excessively
kind in giving us so generous an invitation. You shall do
whatever you please with us for one whole week, and then
we will get, if possible into a nice house at Bath, where you
shall return the visit for a month.

And now, that things may look, may really look as they
used to do, Allen is returned to my Service. . . . We have
neither of us been well settled or happy since we parted, so
we are come together again. The Maid who succeeded Allen
in my place was a Lady of good family and agreeable accom-
plishments ; but I believe neither she liked me much, nor
I her. To my much amazement and distraction, three days
before we left home, a fortnight ago, the Lady married our
Welsh Gardener. . . . This moment however I have the
comfort of seeing myself once more with my old Attendant,

BACK TO WALES 159

who, after living seven years in my house, hated every other.
... She will rejoice to see Dear Miss Weston again, but whose
joy can be like mine ? Tis seven years now since I was in
Somersetshire, and six years since we embraced our dear
Sophia. May God give us a happy meeting ! but my poor
Master is as lame as a tree. . . .

[P.M. " DENBIGH "]

I will write a very long letter to dear Mrs. Pennington
this ist of August 1798, in defiance of Miss Owen, who says
she came hither for my company, and will lose none of it.
She must lose some however, for I will not part with old
Friends for want of pen and ink conversation. If it should
please God that we might meet this next year, we would have
much chat, and I will not despair. ... I do think we shall
meet and talk over the false and fading hopes which we see
people entertain of Europe's peaceful re-establishment after
all these commotions. . . .

Of my heavy work I can give a better account by word
than letter ; you shall see it if we come to the West. But
with regard to translating Barruel, my heart has wished to
do it twenty times, only that some one has always stept
in before me somehow ; and rendered my trouble un-
necessary.

You have Robinson's book, no doubt, and the strange
coincidence between that and the French one must neces-
sarily convince the whole world of those dreadful truths
which they both assert. People should stand upon their
guard at such times of enormous wickedness. Have you
read Mr. Godwin's life of his deceased Lady ? There's a
morality worthy the new lights of philosophical religion :
pray read it.

Helen Williams's Book is not without its danger. She
infuses her venom in such sweetness of style, and in such
moderate quantities ; I think no corruption has a better
chance to spread.

The two Emilys are delightful. Ever on the verge of

i6o PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

impossibility, Sophia's charming pen leads one to read on,
and to persuade oneself for a moment, from line to line, that
a woman made completely ugly should be able to inspire the
tenderest passion, and have power beside to keep a man from
enjoyment of all those pleasures his rank, and that of their
children, entitles him to. This may be so, but Lothayre's
story of the skeleton is nearer to my credence. A wonder
for ten minutes one's heart revolts not from, be it ever so
contrary to nature and experience, a wonder for ten
years is a wonder indeed. The denouement however
is exquisitely managed, and that return to y e subject,
as Musicians call it, which marks all the last pages,
bringing back the first to your remembrance, appears to
me a chef d'ceuvre of art and skill. Tis a very beautiful
book.

I think Miss Seward never writes now. The Recluse
Ladies at Llangollen, who pick up every rarety in literature,
are much her admirers. Are you in correspondence with
her now ?

Here is my paper exhausted, and not a word of politics.
But what does it signify ? There are but two ways. Either
you must creep to the French, as other nations do, or you
must spend all your money to oppose them. I should not
hesitate for myself ; I had rather be taxed till I was forced
to dig Potatoes and boil them, than I would see the Abbe
Sieyes in our King's Drawing Room : and I hope His
Majesty would rather be killed fighting at the head of his
true subjects against these Atheists, than receive them
into his confidence who are unworthy to stand in his sight.
He alone, except the King of Naples, refused to be an
Illumine. You shall see they will last longest. . . .

The correspondence with Anna Seward had ceased in 1791
or 1792, when the " Swan" felt it her duty to write to Mrs.
Pennington, as she tells Mrs. Powys, " with an ingenuousness
on my part which I thought necessary to her welfare, but

SOPHIA I.EE

/>> Ri t 1l t y 'after Sir Titos. Lawrence, iS^Q
1-nnn t/u- Collection of A. M. Broadly, Esq.

MRS. SIDDONS 161

which her spirit was too high to brook." The breach in their
friendship was not healed till 1804.

William Godwin, author of An Inquiry concerning
Political Justice, made the acquaintance of Mary Wollstone-
craft, after she had been deserted by Imlay, in 1796, and in
March 1797 they were married, though the ceremony was
incompatible with the opinions they both professed. She
died in September the same year, shortly after the birth of
their only child Mary, the second wife of Percy Bysshe
Shelley. The Memoirs of the Author of The Vindication of
the Rights of Woman were published by her husband in 1798,
as were also her own posthumous works. He afterwards
proposed to Harriet Lee, but was rejected.

Emanuel Joseph, Comte Sieyes, Canon of Treguier,
having adopted the principles of the Revolution, became
Deputy for Paris, assisted to form the National Assembly,
and was one of those who voted for the King's death. He
declined a seat on the Directory in 1797, but accepted it two
years later, and along with Bonaparte plotted the Revolution
of Brumaire.

BRYNBELLA, Fryday 24 Sep. 1798.

My dear Mrs. Pennington was very kind in thinking of
old friends, when so much present matter, and so important
too, was filling up both mind and time. May all end for
the best !

I can no more guess where Mrs. Siddons actually is than
where Buonaparte is. The Papers announce her at Drury
Lane, acting for Palmer's family. A letter from a friend at
Brighthelmstone tells how she is playing Mrs. Beverley for
the amusement of the Prince of Wales, Lady Jersey, Lady
Deerhurst, and Lady Lade ; and how she lives there in a
house I often inhabited before I had the pleasure of knowing
her. What you say induces me to believe her at the Hot
Wells. Wherever she is, there is the best assemblage of
beauty, talents, and discretion that ever graced a single

i6 2 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

female character. She will have much to suffer I'm afraid,
but she will suffer with gentleness and submission, propriety
and patience. You, my dear Friend, will have your con-
sciousness of well-doing to support you thro' the trying
scene : but my heart bleeds for you, and my best comfort
lies in the hope that we shall meet soon after Christmas. . . .

Meanwhile 'tis nearly miraculous that 400 sail should
thus have slipt unperceived away from Admiral Nelson and
his fleet of observation. The Bishop of S. Asaph says that
while we are gazing after them in the Levant, tidings will
arrive that they are on the coast of Ireland. He may be
right for aught I know ; things happen so very wide of all
expectation. You remember the meeting at Tyre, where
he who first saw the rising sun was to be saluted King. All
stared towards the East, of course, except one man, and he,
with his back to the rest, first discerned the rays shooting
upward against a high tower, in the contrary and opposite
direction. We will salute our Bishop wisest of conjecturers
if Buonaparte attempts the Sister Kingdom ; but I shall not
account the Invaders wise in delaying their invasion so long.
They would now give Lord Cornwallis a complete triumph,
and give us an opportunity of showing the world that France
makes no impression upon King George the 3rd's dominions.

Did you read Mr. Siddons's incomparable Ballad upon the
Great Nation ? 'Tis really excellent in its kind. . . .

If you are all tolerably tranquil at Dowry Square, do ask
what became of an agreeable Mr. Crampton, in whose com-
pany I supped last Spring in Great Marlbro' Street, who said
he was going thither, and gave me the first idea how matters
really stood. I concluded him a Lover of one of the young
Ladies. Pray present me to them both, if with you, and
assure them of my sincerest wishes and prayers, (they are
old-fashioned things ;) and do, my dear Mrs. Pennington,
keep up your own spirits, if possible, for your Mother and
your Husband's sake, and a little for the sake of your ever
faithful H. L. PIOZZI.

ILLNESS OF MARIA SIDDONS 163

It is clear that Mrs. Pennington had informed Mrs. Piozzi
of the grave condition of Maria Siddons, and had let her see
something of the anxiety she was suffering ; but regarding
the principal cause of this anxiety, and the tragedy which
was being enacted before her eyes, she evidently maintained
a strict silence even to her most intimate friend or some
mention must have been made in the course of the corre-
spondence of Thomas Lawrence. That artistic but erratic
genius, after having been for some time the accepted lover
of Sally Siddons, suddenly transferred his affections to Maria,
not long before her fatal illness, and what is most remarkable,
obtained the consent of all parties concerned. But while
Maria was at Clifton he began to realise that he had made a
mistake that his heart was Sally's after all, and the fear
that Maria might exact a death-bed promise from Sally (as
indeed actually happened) that she would never marry him,
for the time being almost overturned his reason. His
agitated letters, and still more agitating interviews, did much
to add to Mrs. Pennington's anxieties during this trying
period. The whole tragedy, as revealed in the letters of the
persons most nearly concerned, has been told by the present
editor in An Artist's Love Story.

John Palmer, a son of the doorkeeper at Drury Lane,
was an actor of some repute. His sudden death in August
1797 while acting at Liverpool in The Stranger, aroused
much sympathy for his family, and benefits were arranged
for them at Liverpool, the Haymarket, and Drury Lane, at
the latter of which Mrs. Siddons seems to have assisted.
Sally's letters show that Maria's condition had caused her
to abandon her professional engagements and hasten to her
daughter's bedside.

The Lady Lade who is included among the Prince's
entourage was Thrale's sister, who in the crisis of his
affairs, as mentioned in the Introduction, had lent him
5000 to help him to tide over his difficulties. Fanny
Burney describes her as having been " very handsome, but

164 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

now I think getting quite ugly, at least she has the sort of
face I like not."

The explanation of the French fleet's escape from Nelson's
watchful eye is that it went to the north of Candia, while he
took the more direct course to the south of the island, and
so arrived first at Alexandria, which he left in pursuit of the
French only two days before they arrived.

Lewis Bagot, Bishop of St. Asaph, more successful as a
divine than as a prophet, was one of the two whom Cowper
(in the Tirocinium) excepts from his scathing condemnation
of the episcopal bench.

" For Providence, that seems concerned t' exempt
The hallowed bench from absolute contempt,
In spite of all the wrigglers into place
Still keeps a seat or two for worth and grace ;
And therefore 'tis that, though the sight be rare,
We sometimes see a Lowth or Bagot there."

BRYNBELLA, Oct. 4, 1798.

Your letter, dearest Mrs. Pennington, came three days
before the public prints announced the fatal tydings. I can
give no consolation certainly ; that which I receive is from
the consciousness of the charming parent's perfect resigna-
tion to his almighty will who disposes everything for the best ;
who snatches Palmer from the stage of life, by means which
most impress mankind, in order y l general compassion
may be excited for his offspring, which, had he dyed in any
other manner, would have been wholly forgotten by the
world, although not a whit less distressed than now. That
Pow'r which in a short time after steals by slow degrees the
long-sinking life of Maria Siddons from her friends, by means
best calculated to fatigue their feelings, and blunt that acute
grief which is ever caused by the sufferings of a youthful
patient. I am quite confident that if Admiral Nelson by his
prodigious victory could purchase peace for Europe, he

mi^ht ii

DEATH OF MARIA SIDDONS 165

might in four years time die in his own house, and not be
half as much regretted as is the lovely object of your late
attention. Every letter I receive from every creature is
filled with her praise, and breathes an unfeigned sorrow for
her loss. Virtue well tried through many a refining fire,
Learning lost to the world she illuminated, and Courage
taken from the Island protected by her arms, excites not as
much sorrow as Maria Siddons, represented to every imagina-
tion as sweet, and gentle, and soothing ; as young in short,
for in youth lies every charm.

When will mankind have done hoping and expecting
from a generation not yet mature that excellence which
cannot be found among our own contemporaries : at least
not found but with drawbacks so heavy the character can
hardly carry them ? Never. When Harriet Lee says no
state is so enviable as that of a Grandmother, she means that
life will not last long enough to disappoint expectation of
happiness to the object of attention. But poor Mrs. Hamil-
ton can tell another tale. She is grandmother to a Lady
whose husband is a frolicker ; rides round his own Billiard
Table on his own poney, and performs a thousand feats that
may delight his own grandmother for aught I know, (if he
has one,) but frightens his wife's ancestress out of her wits.

Well ! we shall meet some time I do think, and talk all
matters over, merry and sad. In the mean time tell dear
Mrs. Siddons how truly I love and pity her, and accept my
venerating regard for that prodigious friendship you have
evinced, thro' the scenes I can easily imagine. . . .

The reference to Nelson's " prodigious victory " shows
that the news of the battle of the Nile, fought on ist August,
must have penetrated to Wales when Mrs. Piozzi wrote,
though Nelson's despatch dated 3rd August was not pub-
lished in the London Gazette till 3rd October.

The next letter was doubtless a reply to one giving a
more detailed account of Maria's last moments, such as

1 66 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

Mrs. Pennington sent to several of her correspondents, and
in which she dwelt at some length on the courage and resig-
nation shown by Maria in the last days of her life.

BRYNBELLA, 22 Oct. 1798.

I was exceedingly glad, dearest Mrs. Pennington, when I
heard you were released. Such fatigues fall very heavy on
such feelings, but the consciousness of what you condemned
yourself to suffer for the sake of a friend will act as a cordial
through your whole life, a long one, I hope and pray,
and at its end, will return warm and consolatory to your
own tender heart.

Meanwhile I would not wish your indulgence of a fancy
which, if not erroneous, is at least liable to gross error :
and my dear Sophia should be wise, and prefer dry wisdom
to brilliant imagination. There is no real inference to be
drawn from peoples' behaviour in their last moments to
the character they would sustain in life, was their recovery
permitted. No inference at all. The great Duke of Marl-
borough was known to show pusillanimity at the parting
hour, and people are not yet weary of saying how Samuel
Johnson was afraid of death. I read in the Medical Trans-
actions one day the account of a Mr. Bellamy, Mercer in
Co vent Garden, his extraordinary illness, and composed
resignation, which would have done honour to a Saint, a
Scholar, or a Hero. Yet was dear Mr. Bellamy quite a com-
mon man, like the next man, and had he recovered, would
undoubtedly have returned to the same undistinguished
mediocrity in which he had already lived 30 years. But his
complaint itself tended by some means to remove the cloud
from that celestial spark which dwells in all ; whilst those
disorders of which the Warrior and the Man of Knowledge
died contributed to keep that spark from being seen. Had
Heaven restor'd all three to pristine vigour, they would once
more have shone as soldiers and instructors, men who pro-
tect and benefit their species, the other would once more

I DEATH-BED SCENES 167

have stood behind a counter and sold silks by the yard.
We will not rate the dignity even of Bodies, much less of
Souls, by the figure they make at their departure : nothing
goes out, as we call it, more brightly than a fire of deal-
shavings.

Now let me request you my kind, generous friend, not
to suppose me deficient in concern, either for lost Maria, or
her surviving admirers. The Father's sensation of loss will
not abate so readily as that of our transcendant and now
doubly -dear Mrs. Siddons. She must return to the duties
and cares of life, and in them, as in her own pure heart, will
find a med'cine for her grief. But his expectations from a
daughter's beauty, his purposed pride in those charms
which 'tis now clear that she posess'd, are blasted in the
most incurable manner. I am sorry for Mr. Siddons from

>my very soul.
Let us now take some leisure to re Joyce in the triumphs
of our own Country, and the just punishment of those per-
fidious enemies who, having sown the seeds of misery in
every Nation, will soon see all united against them, and
owing their internal safety to their outward exertions for
destroying them ; like poyson'd Princes in a Tragedy,
who just live long enough to make the Tyrant fall, and end

I the Drama by a proper catastrophe. The moment we have
crushed these odious French, and obtained a general peace,
in that moment will the venom they have disseminated
begin its work, and set a Revolution going in every
kingdom. But I do think that they will be destroyed
first . . .

I cried over your charming letter for an hour, notwith-
standing I answer it so coldly, but Truth is always cold,
from being naked perhaps, and what I have said is the truest,
though not the prettiest thing you have heard upon the
melancholy subject. . . .

168 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

BRYNBELLA, Sunday nth Nov. 1798.

MY DEAREST MRS. PENNINGTON, I have got your sweet
letter, and do now verily and indeed hope, trust, and be-
lieve that I shall embrace the kind writer on, or very nearly
about the 6th day of December next. There is our plan
told clear, as my Master says, and bids me scrivere una
Lettera, (don't you remember ? ) and tell our true friend
that we are coming.

Thus 'tis. I am appointed Queen of our County As-
sembly, with Lord Kirkwall who is King Consort. We take
it by Quarters here, and our Quarter expires next Thursday
sennight the full moon, 'tis our third and last night, and
I shall come home at five in the morning, change my dress
and drink my Coffee, and set out for the famous Cottage of
Llangollen Vale, where dwell the fair and noble Recluses of
whom you have heard so much, Lady Eleanor Butler, and
Miss Ponsonby. . . . Well ! we spend two days with them,
and then away to dear Miss Owen at Shrewsbury. . . . On
the 3rd therefore we start from her to you, from Shrews-
bury to Bristol, and I suppose Wednesday or Thursday will
see our meeting, hitherto deferred for six long years. . . .
We must stay a week, no more, for I really want Bath Waters.
... I hope you will come to Bath, and that sweet Siddons
will meet us there ; her husband gives me hopes of it, and
that will be too much felicity : to see her where I saw her
first with admiration, and now to see her again, with beauty
unimpaired, talents improved ; see her in your company
at Bath, and call her Friend ! ! ! Oh, then I should say the
tide was changed, of private as of public affairs . . .

I can talk of nothing else, so will not try.

Call up the Chaises then, make no delay,
Accessible is none but Bristol Way. . . .

CHAPTER V

Adoption of John Salusbury Piozzi The Canterbury Tales Bath
Riots, 1800 Chancery suit with Miss Thrale Bachygraig
restored Retrospection published, 1801 The Blagdon con-
troversy Political epigram.

see

r
I

Piozzis were at Bath on Christmas Day,
when she invites Mrs. Pennington to their
lodgings for the New Year. The date of the
next letter indicates that their visit lasted
about four months.

BRYNBELLA, Sunday, Mar. 10, 1799.

First of friends in every sense of the word, dear and kind
Mrs. Pennington ! what a charming letter have you written
me ! and how consoling it was to receive such a compensa-
tion although a small one for the converse I have so great
reason to regret.

Our journey was excellent, and mended on us ev'ry Stage,
till the sun lighted up our lovely Vale of Clwydd, and never
seen before ascending the last hill, has smiled upon us ever
ce.

I shall not begin work till after Easter, we have enough
to employ us now in surveying our sweet place, and
recounting the Braave alternations, as the Fool said to
Mr.Whalley. . . .

Are not you sorry for the poor tricked and betrayed, but
ver courageous Neapolitans ; of which those were happiest
who left their dead bodies in the street, defending their
lovely city to the last ? Vesuvius seems to have half a

mind to save further disgrace on that country, and will

169

i;o PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

perhaps swallow it up, from the French, or with the French ;
who knows ?

Well ! I got dear Dr. Randolph's blessing, and a kind
squeeze by the hand of his amiable Lady, before we left
Bath : and then I resolved to mind my own business, and
let the Public think of its own affairs. They mingle so with
mine however, that I cannot separate them, as Siddons does.
Her little girl seemed bent upon shewing me, that day we
dined at Miss Lee's, and made our Partenza, how well you
were versed in the knowledge of her family character. She
is sure enough no common child, no healthy child, and no
good-humoured child. If she remains at Belvedere House,
she will not long be a spoiled child ; for those Ladies have
the way, and will make her a charming creature. We parents
meantime seldom think our nestlings can be improved. It
is therefore very seldom, (never I think,) that we feel obliged
to those who bring our Babies into what the world calls
good order. I should think it happiness for Cecilia to
remain where she is, and felicity for Miss Lees to return her
safe home again in April. . . .

Mrs. Mostyn sent the old Nurse I told you of, over here
in a Post Chaise, to see Brynbella while we were away.
" What a place ! " exclaimed she, " and what fools the
builders to plan a thing it is impossible they should live to
finish. But they have an heir now, come from Italy I find."
This is the only domestic news which could interest you ;
and I know Mr. Pennington is kind enough to care about
whatever concerns us and our little boy. . . .

As far back as October 1798 King Ferdinand of Naples
had raised an army to act under the Austrian General Mack,
for the expulsion of the French . Nelson's arrival in December
encouraged him to make an expedition against Rome which
was, for the moment, successful ; but in a short time the
French retook it, and marched on Naples, which they occu-
pied in January, after sixty-four hours street fighting with

JOHN SALUSBURY PIOZZI 171

he Lazzaroni, the regular troops being away. The King took
fuge on Nelson's ship and escaped to Palermo, General
ack and the army had to surrender, and the territory
became, for a short time, the Parthenopean Republic.

The Rev. Francis Randolph, D.D., Prebendary of Bristol,
and afterwards Vicar of Ban well, was a preacher of some
note, and for some time acted as chaplain and tutor in
English to the Duchess of Kent, at the little Court of Amor-
bach, shortly before the birth of the Princess Victoria.

One result of the disturbances in Italy was the bringing
over to England and adoption of a son of Mr. Piozzi's brother
Gianbatista, merchant of Brescia, born in 1783, and chris-
tened John Salusbury. He assumed the additional surname
of Salusbury in 1813, and was knighted while High Sheriff
of Denbigh a few years later. On his marriage Mrs. Piozzi
gave him Brynbella and her Welsh estate, a proceeding
which probably completed the estrangement of her daughters,
though they had been well provided for by their father's
will, and Miss Thrale had declined the offer of it as a dowry
r herself.

BRYNBELLA, 5 Apr. 1799.

My dear Mrs. Pennington's letters are always delightful,
d the little gleam of sunshine given by the Archduke's
ictory strikes across the middle of your last so prettily I
like the darling brightness that illuminates our valley
just now, with gloom and gathering storm all round it. ...
You see [Mrs. Jackson's] conjectures about the Play
were right after all. Mrs. Radcliffe owns herself Author,
Susan Thrale writes me word, and Jane de Montfort will
come out immediately. She says not a syllable of Mr.
Whalley's performance. Lord bless me, my dear ! His
unfortunate niece, cydevant Fanny Sage, sent to me yester-
y for 20 ; and said she was detained, (for debt I trow,)
our poor, petty town of St. Asaph, two miles off. A tall,
ill-looking man on horseback brought the letter, but will not,

Ull

172 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

I hope, revenge my refusal of his Lady's request, when
Dumouriez shall have set all the wild Irish at full liberty.
I was half afraid, sure enough, yet little disposed to give
what would make 40 honest cottagers happy, to a gay lass
whom I never liked in her best days, and who never had any
claims on my friendship , which she now talks so loudly of.

Well ! and your little favourite John Salusbury ! Sus-
anna Thrale has been to Streatham on purpose, I fancy, to
gratify hers and her family's curiosity. So she saw a little
boy with my name, and my husband's face ; and I know
not which was the greatest recommendation of the two
to her. . . .

With regard to public affairs, our domestic traytors
terrify me most ; but if French valour should, by this late
victory, get into discredit abroad, perhaps it would not be
so much the Ton to imitate their proceedings here at home,
and we should remember Hannah More's prediction of the
Crane-neck-turn. If they can be made to run they will find
no place that will receive them I believe. All honest men,
and women too, are their natural enemies : and a Grison
girl said to a gentleman I know something of " Why, dear
Sir, what should we sit still for, like figures made of Papier-
mache'e, till our houses are burned down, our parents mangled
and our free will violated ? Better go out with the troops,
and sell our lives at least at as high a price as we can."
The same gentleman wrote his sister word that the high roads
were covered _with female corpses, which he gallop 'd over.
These are, far as my reading goes, new notions, and new
occurrences . . .

The victory was no doubt that won against Jourdan
and the French army of the Rhine, by a vastly superior
force under the Archduke Charles, at Stockach. His de-
spatch is dated 25th March, but the full account did not
reach England till April.

Miss Thrale's information about the new play was not

A CRANE-NECK TURN 173

quite accurate. De Montfort, a Tragedy of Hate, was
one of a series of Plays on the Passions by Joanna Baillie,
but it was published anonymously, and several well-known
writers, including Sir Walter Scott, were suspected of its
authorship. There is a note about it in Mrs. Piozzi's Com-
monplace Book as follows : " I remember a knot of Literary
Characters met at Miss Lees' House in Bath, deciding
contrary to my own judgement that a learned man must
have been the author ; and I, chiefly to put the Company in
a good humour, maintained it was a woman. Merely, said
I, because both the heroines are Dames Passees, and a man
has no notion of mentioning a female after she is five and
twenty. What a goose Joanna must have been to reveal
her sex and name ! Spite and malice have pursued her
ever since. . . . She is a Zebra devoured by African Ants
the Termites Bellicosus.

Wensday 29 May 1799.

Not one Oak in Leaf.

On the very evening of the day I receive your last kind
letter, dear Friend, I write to acknowledge both. The
home post will tell you nothing you like tho', except that
our accounts of little Salusbury are all good : but poor
Uncle is always having a bad foot, and as you say, if it
were not for the comfortable news from Italy, he would
be low enough.

This blowing, blighting weather ruins us all ; my poor
cottagers are sick, with Agues chiefly, and Dropsies ; with
broken hearts too, poor things, when their horses drop
under even empty carts, for full ones they cannot drag.
Our Hay here has been at one Penny o' pound, our Beef at
ten Pence. This approaches very near to famine, but may
justly be termed scarcity ; and the same dreadful wind
which retards the growth of all vegetation, and restrains
the hand of industry in our own Island, has driven our pro-
tecting fleet from Cadiz harbour, and let the French and
Spaniards form a junction.

174 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

Meanwhile charming Hannah More was right in her
conversation, as in her book ; there has been a Crane-neck-
turn, as she expressed it, and things are certainly mending
on the Continent. If Ireland should come to her senses,
and unite with us in abhorrence of French principles and
French seducers, who could promise them assistance and
never carry it, but go on another scheme, while the rebels
there were waiting the Fleet's arrival it might be lucky that
Lord Bridport did let them escape. Poor fellow ! how you
do hate that man ! Very comically, and very unreason-
ably indeed ; for when we saw him he was, as the phrase
is, out of his element, and looked to be sure something like
a fish out of water. But I never heard anything amiss of him
in my life, and believe he will not be found, at the critical
moment, to carry " Two Faces under a Hood."

Have you seen Dr. and Mrs. Randolph lately ? What
do they say about these Riflers of Sweets that we hear so
much of ? Bath has been a scene of odd robberies by gay
Lotharios, " who scorn to ask the lordly owners' leave."
It makes me only laugh, but I trust Hannah More would say,
like Benvolio, "No, Coz, I rather weep." 1 Glorious crea-
ture ! How she writes ! Finding new reasons to enforce
old Virtues, and adorning her sacred sentiments with bril-
liancy that throws rays round all her periods. It would be
doing her too much wrong to suppose her capable of regard-
ing the nonsense talked against her by Misses mad to see
their Mammas reading the new book with approbation, and
looking at them over their spectacles at every interesting
passage. She must be invulnerable to wounds from such
weak hands, sure. The old heroes in Homer,

By Pallas guarded thro' the dreadful field,
Saw swords beside them innocently play,
While darts were bid to turn their points away.

1 Romeo and Juliet, I. i. 189.

All fh^w <

HANNAH MORE 175

;

All they can say and do only contributes to shew how greatly
such a book was wanted. Mr. Whalley's thinking he has
ontributed to Siddons's fame is pretty enough; she thinks
her contribution useful to him, no doubt. The writer of
Pizarro is censured for giving her part to Mrs. Jordan. . . .

The intelligence concerning Mrs. Radcliffe's having written
that play on hatred seems to have been premature. Oh,
ow your account of Mrs. Jackson's domestic situation
esses Hannah More's book upon one's heart ! The Ital-

s have a proverb to say that there are only three things
worth caring about, La Salute, 1'Anima, and la Borsa ;
one's Soul, one's Health, and one's Purse. We risque all
ree to make our fair daughters accomplish 'd. Doctor
Johnson said that whoever found their mothers admired
and reverenced by that circle which forms a little silk-worm
world round every individual, would add their admiration
and reverence, merely because they saw other people pay
them theirs. " I cared," says he, " nothing for my parents,
because nobody cared for them." Mrs. Jackson's children
cannot make that their excuse. She has been a woman
since I have known her particularly petted by her friends,
and those friends have been people eminent for good taste
and good sense.

Are the Canterbury Tales come out yet ? Nobody has
sent them me, and I will not write again to Harriet Lee till
I have read them. Sophia is in town with her little protegee,
who, if she cannot conjure down

The pale moon from the sapphire sky,
May draw Endymion from the moon,

;;:

perhaps ; and I really wish her good luck. Tickell's
/Ether ial Spirit is a new med'cine much in fashion, it is so
finely dephlegmated, the Apothecaries say. I think there is
much pure spirit, and as little phlegm about the tiny
Bath Belle as can be imagined. Some rich man may take
her, I hope.

i;6 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

Have you felt an interest in these African discoveries ?
They are things of prodigious curiosity, rate them at the
lowest. I think very seriously about them for my own part,
but none of my correspondents seem caring much concern-
ing that subject, unless 'tis Miss Thrale, from whom I get
about 4 or 5 letters in a year, and she has been ill this
Spring. So has everybody. I watch the weathercock all
day, but the cold blight continues. The leaves which try
to come out look like fry'd Parsley round a dish of
Soles. . . .

In April 1797, when it was expected that the Spanish
and French fleets would effect a junction, Lord St. Vincent
was ordered to blockade the former at Cadiz. He held his
post under many difficulties, caused by the mutinous spirit
which had spread from the Nore and Spithead, through 1798,
but broke down under the strain, and in June 1799 resigned
his command to Baron, afterwards Viscount Keith, and
husband of Hester Thrale. Meanwhile the French fleet was
blockaded in Brest by Lord Bridport, now Commander-in-
Chief of the Channel Squadron, but in April the French
slipped out and sailed for the Mediterranean, while Bridport
went to look for them off the coast of Ireland.

Mr. Whalley's play was a five-act tragedy called The
Castle of Montval, performed " with universal applause "
at Drury Lane. The British Critic reviewer, though he had
not seen the performance, thought it interesting enough to
deserve a permanent place on the stage. But the measure
of success it obtained was due to the acting of Mrs. Siddons
as the Countess, which the author acknowledged by dedi-
cating the second edition to her.

Elizabeth Anne Tickell, the pupil whom Sophia Lee
evidently expected to make a sensation in London society,
was the daughter of Richard Tickell the dramatist and Mary
Linley, the sister of Mrs. Sheridan, who had died in 1787.
With regard to her beauty there was little difference of

Eoo

"THE CANTERBURY TALES" 177

opinion, but Sally Siddons, who knew her well, describes her
as an " every-day character," without talent or originality,
d " never heard anything so tiresome " as her singing,
he was never " taken," but died unmarried in 1860.

The " Ethereal Anodyne Spirit " was a quack medicine
vented by William Tickell, a surgeon, who also lived at
Bath, and may have been a relation of Richard

BRYNBELLA, Wensday 17 Jul. 1799.

Your letter, dearest Mrs. Pennington, is like yourself,
full of true friendship, honest loyalty and sound criticism.
Freedom from prejudices, as principals are called now o'
ys, we must not come to you for. ... I do believe you
were right in that unjustifiable conjecture of yours concern-
ing the death of those Deputies at Rastadt. . . . But
Retrospect of past ages can shew no perfidy beyond that, if
it should prove upon investigation. The Archduke now
ems to act with his hands untied, and co-operates with
uwarrow in everything, yet I suspect something behind
e curtain still. The Emperor is willing enough to see
taly freed, but does not want Louis Dixhuit on his throne

J[, I suppose ; whereas the Russians and English are
g to accomplish y* purpose with all their might, and no
ig peace can be obtained but by his restoration. We
1 see how 'twill end.

You are droll indeed in your account of the New Canter-
ury Tales, I have not read them yet. . . . When Romances
rst were written they went by the name of Incredibilities ;
ut people soon found out that Fiction looks best the more
e endeavour to resemble Truth. It grows however a
mighty tedious thing, after a certain age, to keep filling one's
head with flitting dreams so, turning one's mind into a
Magic Lanthorn for Shadows and Ombres Chinoises to pass
over. If incredibilities are desirable, we can hear enough
of Mr. and Mrs. Mostyn. As that Lady told you at some

burj
first

178 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

place that Mrs. Moyston, as she called her, made all the talk,
and so she does, God knows.

Well, any nonsense but dishonourable nonsense, dis-
graceful folly such as Honoria Gubbins has exhibited. You
know I always said she looked like a Bacchante Girl, but
she admired nothing except Siddons I remember. In good
time. Dear, charming Siddons ! How triumphantly must
she have looked in the first and last scene of Pizarro ! And
what a happy contrast Sheridan has made between her
artificial character, and Cora's natural one ! Yet I cannot
seriously approve of a Heroic Tragedy in prose. Domestic
Tragedy, George Barnwell, or the Gamester, or the
Stranger, would lose the interest they now gain in our hearts,
if they spoke any but colloquial and domestic language.
Poetry is made on purpose to adorn the lofty sentiments of
Rolla, and Cora's song is the sweetest thing in the whole
play, only because 'tis verse.

Poor Cora ! She is not of your mind, that love is of no
consequence compared with a hundred other things ; and
that she should have completely no other idea present to
her mind, makes her so natural, so interesting, and so ador-
able. What is stranger than love itself, and love is strange
enough too, is that one should never have done admiring
that selfish passion when represented in works of fancy.
I remember an old Alderman of London, who, when there
was loud talk of invasion 20 years ago or more, said among
a dozen people once at my house : " Well ! I care not, for
my part, if the Island was devoured to-morrow, so as my wife
and child were safe, and I had enough to keep them with."
This patriotic sentiment met with no approbation at all from
an old Alderman in real life ; yet this is the sentiment that
Cora expresses all through five acts, and not only her auditors
in the Pit and Boxes, but Rolla himself likes her the better
for it. So you see Fiction may resemble Truth in some
things, while if Truth resembles Fiction we hiss her out of
doors.

MRS. SIDDONS IN "PIZARRO" 179

Poor dear old Mr. Jones is very bad, and like to die, or
has been like to die, and I am very sorry indeed ; for though
there's but little poetry or criticism about old Mr. Jones, he
is a good friend and a valuable member of society, and
wishes well to my Master and to me. . . .

Mrs. Siddons goes to Edinburgh, I hear, but by what you
say of Sally, I trust she cannot be of the party. Miss Thrale
is in Scotland, and will have the pleasure of seeing her, as I
saw her at Bath. No letter have I ever received from
Marlbro' Street but one, and that was from the Master of the
Mansion. . . .

The little boy comes next week, next month I mean,
with Davies.

Austria, having signed the Treaty of Campo Formio,
and received unexpectedly favourable terms from Napoleon,
agreed to hold a conference at Rastadt, and (by secret articles)
to induce the German States to cede the left bank of the
Rhine to France. While the conference was proceeding
the Directory had occupied Switzerland, though Massena,
Jourdan, and Scherer had all suffered defeats. The French
envoys were ordered to leave the town, and were murdered
on the road by Austrian hussars. The Emperor expressed
deep abhorrence of a crime which aroused general indigna-
tion, and helped the Directory to fill up their depleted
armies.

Alexander Vasilievitch Suvoroff or Suwarrow, a Russian
general, had been sent to help the Austrians. He took
command of the army in Italy, where he beat Moreau,
Macdonald, and Joubert, but owing to jealousy he was
transferred to Switzerland, and believing himself betrayed
by the Austrians, he retired to Russia, and died in disgrace.

BRYNBELLA, 21 Aug. 1799.

MY DEAR FRIEND, Your letter is like yourself, wise and
kind, and I am willing to join in your wish for early meeting

i8o PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

this year, but not for an early winter. Oh ! little do you Towns
folk know how prejudicial is this weather to Country Farmers,
Labourers, etc. The Shoemaker and his apprentice at Bristol
make so many more boots and clogs, and some Bath Chairmen
get a few shillings extra : but my honest neighbours have but
just barely bread, in the strictest sense ; mere bread, and that
made of Barley too, for their families, during such winters as
this cruel summer will infallibly produce. Mr. Piozzi and I
shall scarce be suffered to get thro' the Village, they will so
cling and cry round us, and beg we will stay another month,
another week, etc.

When the Gardener came yesterday, scratching his head,
and saying there would be no wall-fruit this year, I could
hardly answer him civilly ; but I did say, " For God's sake,
think about the hay and corn, and hang the fine people and
their wall-fruit." The produce of whole meadows may be
seen swimming down our over-flooded River to the sea this
moment, and carrying with it the subsistence of hundreds
of innocents.

May this fine Expedition make amends for all ! It will,
if peace and abatement of necessary exertion be its con-
sequences. English pride will be bravely swelled, that's
certain, if we can thus give law and order and happiness to
Europe. Are such blessings within hope ? People say they
are almost within grasp. Meanwhile let us try to live that
we may see these good days. Mrs. Bagot, the Bishop's wife's
death has affected my spirits strangely. I got a pain in my
stomach on the instant Allen told me the news, and it has
never wholly left me since. She din'd here in high spirits on
our Wedding day, three weeks ago, and expired on Saturday
morning. The Ton men and Ton women bear these things
without concern, and prove that fashion can do more than
philosophy towards hardening one's heart, but my nervous
fingers shake while I write about it. ...

To divert thought I took up the Canterbury Tales which
Mr. Gillon had just brought me. Harriet's management

MRS. NM//.I (AKOIT l8oO)

A'v .]/. /in?-; after /'. I'iolft, /.**>. Prom the Collection of A. M. Broadity

MR. CONANTS STORY 181

the pretty Mamma making the man miserable so uncon-
sciously is very good, and in this age, scarcely violates prob-
ability. The other story is too romantic, and the ghost part
too in-artificial, one sees it could be only Carey. For love,
it abounds but little with that, I think. Julia keeps her
passion very quiet ; one is most interested about Agnes and
Carey.

Real life meanwhile affords stranger occurrences than
any novel can show. Mr. Conant, the London Magistrate,
told Mr. Gillon, who told us, the following tale not a fortnight
ago. Some little London shopkeepers sent out their girl
of eleven years old, with a baby 8 months old in her arms,
upon some errand, I forget what, but no further off than the
short street's end. A young woman, genteely dress'd, stop't
the girl, and beg'd her to cross over and ask the price of a
gay Coloured handkerchief hanging at a window, promising
that she would hold the infant till his sister returned. When
she came back however, both little boy and young woman
were vanish 'd ; and the girl ran back, half wild, to her
parents, and told the story. They flew from the Counter in
search of the thief, and desperate with rage and terror, ex-
hibited to the neighbours a certainty that the shop might be
easily plundered while their distress employed every thought.
Accordingly the man returning home at night, found his poor
dwelling robbed of many valuable articles, while the girl,
to whom all this confusion was owing, had hid herself under
the bed for fear of a beating, and the father was persuaded
she too was lost. The mother, parting from her husband,
who had wandered over six parishes, swore she would never
see home again without her baby, and remained out the
whole day and the whole night in search. Morning found
her, much exhausted, at a chandler's shop door in Edgeware
Road, and when it opened she went in to buy a bit of cheese.
A little wench went in with her, and the mistress of the house,
seeing her anguish, kindly asked the cause. " I've lost my
child," said she, " my dear little boy." " My mammy has

182 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

found one," says the wench, " and don't know what to do
with it." They ran together to a Green-stall, and found
Baby safe in that woman's possession, who said a young
gentlewoman had pretended to buy Sellery of her, and while
she went backwards to look for some, threw down the infant,
and was seen no more. Mr. Conant was applied to, and
found a cause for all. The- well dress'd lady was a Chamber-
maid, who had a child for whose maintenance she was paid,
altho' it died during the first week ; and the father had re-
solved, that hapless day, to see his son. Molly had nothing
for it but to borrow one, and when the purpose was served,
to rid her hands on't, and no Novel can bring to a reader's
fancy more perfect distress than these poor parents suffered.
Their girl, however, who lay concealed till mother and brother
returned, told her tale so well that a subscription was raised,
and all went better than before in the little shop in Silver
Street, Carnaby Market.

So instead of our best com 3 to Dr. and Mrs. Randolph,
instead of affec* e regards to Mr. Pennington, or Bon Mots of
our little John Salusbury, here's a page from y e Romance
of Real Life, unadorned by your true friend H. L. Piozzi,
and for this you will pay 8d.

BRYNBELLA, 17 Oct. 1799.

Do you know, dear Mrs. Pennington, that Mrs. Randolph
and I are in correspondence ? We are indeed, and 'tis all
about Bath, and Laura Place, and No. i, and Christmas
Holidays, and our dear Friend from Dowry Square : and
not a word of the dismal, the more than dismal gloom, which
these last accounts from abroad have thickened round us
once again on approach of foggy November. . . .

We are at this instant trembling from apprehension that
the French will fall upon Milan, and make an example of
those that called in their enemies. I'm glad my little boy
is far away from them all. I think you will find him im-
proved, unless he falls off this half-year, and begins to change

MRS. SIDDONS SECEDES 183

his nice little teeth, etc. ... All the Jacobins will be up
now, and happy I suppose ; but let them remember we have
taken Surinam in one Continent, and Seringapatam in
another. The money is ours, and the Commodities (which
their friends the French must buy,) are all ours ; and the
very warehouses in every port are too little to hold our
riches. Few of them are thinkers deep enough to know that
wealth, at such a moment as this, is a mere invitation to
plunder ; and I wish not to remind them of so fatal a truth,
tho' I scruple not to tell it to you. While it can purchase
Russians to find them in employment, the money is useful
however, and well bestow'd : and I would rather hire foreign
troops with it than send out our own, who will be necessary
when the war draws nearer. And I feel sorry the Ministers
did not make more bustle in London about the capture of
Surinam, for it is undoubtedly fair to rejoyce when we reap
solid advantages from a war whence no other Country, not
even that of the Victors, gains any advantages at all. Said
I well and wisely ?

Mrs. Siddons's situation does not please me, for her
sake ; for my own 'tis well enough, for we are the more
likely to meet at Bath. Being at Doncaster so late in the
year is a dull thing indeed. I wish she had some method
of getting paid at Drury Lane, because seceders, if they are
not called back to their seats, only look silly : and when
Mr. Garrick left London for his health one year, when in the
fulness of public favour, I remember he was disgusted at
his return, to find the receipts of the theatre had suffered
nothing at all, during an absence he thought would have
broken all our hearts. . . .

The bad news from abroad doubtless related to the Dutch
expedition, in which the English troops had suffered a good
deal. On loth October the Duke of York reported the
conclusion of an armistice with the French, on the condi-
tions of withdrawing the English and Russian troops, sur-

1 84 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

rendering the fortress of Helder, and restoring the French
prisoners.

Seringapatam had been taken in the spring by General
Harris, under whom Colonel Arthur Wellesley was
serving, and Tippoo Sahib was slain. The despatch
giving the details, dated 7th May, appeared in the Gazette
of i4th September.

Sheridan's habitual unpunctuality in the matter of pay-
ments had at last driven Mrs. Siddons to revolt. She writes
on i8th September: "I have just received a letter, in the usual
easy style, from Mr. Sheridan, who, I fancy, thinks he has only
to issue his Sublime Commands, and that they will of course
be obeyed. This time I believe, however, he will find himself
mistaken, for Sid [her husband,] does at last seem resolutely
determined not to let me play till he has sufficient satis-
faction, at least for the money which is my due ; and unless
something is immediately done to that end, I shall go to
Doncaster to play at the Races they begin the 24th of this
month." This decisive step soon brought Sheridan to
reason ; there was only one Siddons, and before long she
was back again, practically on her own terms.

[P.M. BATH.] Saturday Night. [Dec. 1799.]
I shall expect and prepare for my dear Mrs. Pennington,
to begin what her company will make it, a happy commence-
ment of 1800. ... I shall feel glad this year to see December
close upon me, which for some time has carried with it a
sensation more awful than pleasing. When the sand was
high in the hour-glass, I well remember longing for a New
Year as if it had been a new gown ; and there was a gloss
on every ist January then, that seem'd as if all misfortune
would slip over and not stain it. ...

We leave our little boy with Davies because he himself
(Mr. Davies,) said that staying at Streatham in holyday
time, when he could attend and tutor him with personal
and undivided care, would bring him forward, and I call that

VISIT TO BATH 185

true regard : but everybody must be allowed to love their
own babies their own way. . . .

With regard to the people in power, I firmly believe
they do their best, neither interest nor ambition can be grati-
fied by failure ; and tho' a dapper Postilion may injure
those in the chaise by driving to an inch, for a wager or for a
frolic, I'll trust a Coachman, because he runs equal risque
with myself. . . .

I wish this embargo on Levantine goods was over tho',
for people bring none from Turkey now : true Mocha coffee
sells for I2S. the pound, it was at 35. three years ago. . . .

The expected meeting was for a time deferred on account
of Mrs. Pennington's ill-health. Save for one or two notes
of no particular interest, the correspondence ceases till the
Piozzis return to Wales.

IBRYNBELLA, Sunday 9 Mar. 1800.
I hasten to fulfil my promise to dear Mrs. Pennington.
We came home but last night, and I write to say that we are
come home well, and find our Household well too, and truly
glad of our safe and early return.

I The time past at Shrewsbury was full of amusement ;
Miss Owen feasted and fondled us, and called all the people
round to feast us and fondle us, and detain us till Thursday,
which had been long bespoke, and Fryday beside, by the
charming Cottagers in Llangollen Vale. They asked me
much after that Mrs. Pennington who writes such beautiful
k letters, and insisted on my describing your person to them,
and said they knew Miss Seward esteemed you highly, though
all intimacy between you was at an end. The unaccountable
knowledge those Recluses have of all living books and people
and things is like magic ; one can mention no one of whom
the private history is unknown to them. . . .

Let me therefore talk of Mr. Pennington, and ask how
he does. You may be certain how I do, and what I do.

i86 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

Looking out my books, setting my places to rights, ladling
out the soup to 30 families round, feeding the dogs with
what they leave, mixed up with Potatoe peelings and so forth,
is mine and my Master's and Abbiss's employment ; whilst
Allen blows her nose in consequence of cold catch'd in a
damp bed at Worcester and thanks God the evil ends
there.

The little three-legged cur jumps into my lap, licks my
face, and runs to his Master to tell the good news, how the
family is come home to the Hall, and everybody and every-
thing looks pleased to see us ... I have had a civil letter
from Susan Thrale, who bids me direct to Cumberland Street,
and makes commonplace lamentations concerning the times,
but nothing further, nothing I mean tending towards con-
fidence or communication.

We broke our chaise between Llangollen and Ruthyn,
no wonder ! Such roads ! Tis really frightful : but neither
Mr. Piozzi nor I were hurt.

Here are no Members of Parliament, no Franks of course,
so I shall write very seldom ; for the joke is a good one two
or three times o' year, but no oftener, when i^d. is to pay
for 44 lines about nothing : and friendship is a fine thing,
but so is fourteen Pence. . . .

There is a Lady at Shrewsbury, born the last day of 1699,
and she is very well, and plays upon the Piano e forte, as you
describe Mr. Whalley's mother to do ; but poor Mrs. Mon-
tague's sun is setting apace I hear. She has left her fine
house, and retired into a smaller, giving up the grandeur to
her Nephew, and Lady Oakley said, the estate too, but I hope
she has had more wit than that. Lady Oakley is very agree-
able. ... I saw her in a robe embroider 'd (as she said,)
with the wings of an Indian Fly ; there is no describing its
beauty or lustre. . . .

Mrs. Montagu does not appear to have left Montagu
House permanently, for she died there the following August.

THE EARTHQUAKE 187

Lady Oakley was the wife of Charles Oakley, Governor of
Madras, who was created a Baronet in 1790.

Needless to say Mrs. Piozzi's economical fit in the matter
of letters did not last long, the correspondence continues
much as usual ; but as a matter of fact the letters from
Wales to Bristol only cost the recipient 8d., not is. 2d.

There is no date or post-mark to the next letter, but
Mrs. Pennington assigns it to April 1800.

What in the world, dear Mrs Pennington, has been doing
at Bath ? I wrote to Dr. Randolph about a book of his which
I wanted, and his letter in return has affected me very deeply.
Yours gave a hint of something like a riot, but nobody seems
sensible that we live out of the world here, and know nothing
of what passes in it. The newspaper we take, though it
swelled and raved so about Mr. King's fire, said nothing of
this, or so little we quite disregarded it : and yet Dr. Ran-
dolph says that our quarter of the Town was saved by miracle
from being even now a heap of cinders.

Thank God we were come home. The slight shock of
earthquake that usher'd in our Fast Day here, and frighted
many of our neighbours, not us, is a light matter compared
with mobs and insurrections. Let us, as King David said
of old, fall into the hands of God, and not into the hands of
men. The noise accompanying even this trifle of a concussion
was such as to alarm Mrs. Griffiths exceedingly. She said
it was like a hundred carts of lime stone overturned close by
her bed. Mr. Piozzi and I never waked to hear or feel it.

Miss Thrale had not then (as now,) kept our eyes wholly
sleepless by a new and violent attack on our feelings and
property : sending, without notice or introduction, to our
Oxfordshire Tenant, a requisition to pay her the rent I have
hitherto received for 19 years since my first husband's
death, in consequence of the Marriage Settlement signed by
him in 1763, confirmed again by Will in 1781, and claim'd
now, A.D. 1800, with threats (to our afflicted friend Mr.

i88 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

Gillon,) of making me refund all I have unjustly taken from
my daughters. It will be soon refunded. No ass, as Moses
says, of theirs did I ever take, nor no present at their hands
for bribe. How cruel 'tis to sit down and accuse me so ! Miss
Thrale says Streatham was given me to make up 400 o' year,
but that Crowmarsh is not liable. Now it will turn out upon
examination that Crowmarsh is first liable, and that if my
due from that estate is not paid me, I have a right to make
forcible entry, and take it, without impeachment of waste.
This, being provided in the Marriage Settlement, I under-
stand must be secure, so do not you nor dear Mr. Pennington
be uneasy ; we shall lose nothing but appetite and sleep.
And I was so well after the Bath waters ! and proposed
being so diligent at the Book : and now nothing but law,
and letters, and Chancery suits, and false accusations and
every evil plague.

No news from abroad yet that we can depend upon.
Will it be good when it arrives ? The times, as Dr. Randolph
says, are signally aweful, and I verily think that Daemons
are roaming about among us, with enlarged permission both
to tempt and terrify. God preserve us ! even from our
own bad passions, He only can. Mine are sometimes ready
to run away with me now, for Welsh blood heats over a fire
of sharp thorns thus, till it boyls again. Oh dear ! how
dreadful are these days ! A Lady in this neighbourhood
made a grand entertainment on the Fast appointed by
Government, by way of spiting that Government. They
must leave off appointing such solemnities : the time is over
when they did any good. . . .

I wish Miss Case would tell me what they have suffer'd
at Bath, and what they have escaped, for I cannot now make
it clearly out. If harm comes to Hannah More we are all
undone, her health is a public concern. . . .

This earthquake was not so slight a thing as I thought it ;
some houses at Con way and Caernarvon were much injured,
and it spread a general alarm from the unfrequency of

LAWSUIT WITH MISS THRALE 189

the thing. Yet to people who have lived much in Italy,
an earthquake that did not wake one seems laughable
enough. . . .

Much may, and probably much will happen this summer,
to give us a little further insight into what's coming in earnest.
The best is our seasonable and salutary change of weather ;
had we corn to sow, the ground will be in fine order for putting
it in. I am glad Buonaparte sends us no corn, I was afraid
of contagion in the sacks ; and the thought of an expedition
to Egypt and Syria frights me, lest some pestilential disease
should be brought home from places so constantly
infected. . . .

BRYNBELLA, is* May 1800.

My dear Mrs. Pennington is too apt to be right. You do
not, I perceive, think us safe from this new attack upon our
property, and we are not safe. . . .

Thus it stands. If we litigate, such is the dubious posi-
tion of Mr. Thrale's words in my old Marriage Settlement,
that years will roll away, and Empires be overthrown,
before the affair can be decided, and in the meantime
Crowmarsh rents will be retained till the decision. A
circumstance very unpleasing to us for every reason ; the
strongest of all, because to Miss Thrale the estate must go at
my death, so that unless my life is prolonged beyond the
usual limits of humanity, Mr. Piozzi can hope for nothing
from a law dispute, except Attorney's Bills to pay with a
diminished income. Of all this our fair enemy cannot be
ignorant, and does not profess to desire anything but profit
from the contest ; so we may be sure she will make great
terms for herself. The parley of eloquence on Mr. Gillon's
side, supported by Butler's Opinion concerning our Case,
is held today I think. The best thing is that Mr. Thrale
confirmed his Marriage Settlement by his Will, adding the
bequests in that Will to what formerly was provided in the
other Instrument ; but nothing has been worded so as to

190 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

preclude discussion among eager disputants, diligent to catch
and cavil, and endowed with Marianne's powers and delight
in wrangling. We are in a Wasps' nest, and must make
haste out, and be stung as little as we can. Resistance is
vain, and will be impolitic, in my mind. . . .

That people are quiet, and the fires accidental, I would
willingly perswade myself, but cannot. That your friend
Paul, Emperor of all the Russias, is a true friend and firm
ally, may now reasonably enough be doubted. He wants
an excuse for falling upon Turkey, and takes that of quarrel-
ling with Great Britain. It is exceedingly offensive to be
forced into submission to his caprices ; but I suppose
George the III at close of life will not find new enemies a
good thing any more than poor H. L. P. does, or will be able,
any better than H. L. P., to find supplies for a new contest
which, like her's, can terminate in no advantage, and will
be attended with certain loss abroad, increase of poverty,
and of course ill-humour, at home. You may see how spite-
ful the people are, even by their opposition to his private
conveniency in making a new road to Windsor from London.
No want of spite in this world, I'll warrant, either to princes
or to people ; my Book will have proved that new and wise
remark by this time next year. If we go to London with it,
I shall vote for an apartment in the Adelphi Hotel ; such
a place will do well enough for November, and our income
must be reduced, and I will not suffer my business or pleasures
to retard my husband's long projected happiness of not
having a debt in the world. The very journey is expense
enough. We shall be near Mr. Gillon there, and I shall not
have an acquaintance in London but Mrs. Siddons and Mrs.
Holman, perhaps not the first even of those, as the seasons
seem to change so ; everybody makes it Summer till after
Christmas, and Winter to July.

There is great talk of a new book written by Hannah
More, The Progress of Pilgrim Good-intent through the Land
of Jacobinism ; have you read it ? and is it charming ? . . .

THRALE'S MARRIAGE SETTLEMENT 191

The Rheumatism has caught my shoulder before Gout
seized my Master's toe this year. I was to have gone in the
Cold Bath this morning, but the pain prevents me. . . .

After the battle of the Nile, England, Russia, and Turkey
had entered into an alliance against France. But the
Emperor Paul, annoyed at his treatment by Austria, and
accusing the allies of treachery, came to terms with Bona-
parte, with whom he concerted a plan for a joint invasion
of India.

Sat. 1 6 May, BRYN BELLA.

My last letter was a wretch : how could you, dearest
Friend, commend it so ? If I remember anything about it,
it was low, cold, and flat. The usage I had received sunk
my nerves down, they were not irritated. Use of the cold
bath, meant to strengthen them, threw me all out in nettle-
stings. And now, for crowning of all, my poor Master's
torment, villainous Gout, has, as you once observed of Mr.
Pennington's, watched the due time, and thrown in his

istance to the fair Ladies' cause. Their cause is cold
though, and notwithstanding our defenders cannot bring
matters to a decision yet, they give us hopes that little will
be lost, except the arrears, worth, Mr. Gillon says, 1000.
He has behaved divinely to be sure, arid deserves all your
generous praises of him. Nobody applauds Miss Thrale's
proceedings I think. Mrs. Holman and you inveigh loudest
against her, and it was a cruel thing to fly so upon that
estate, which her Father would never have left her at all,
had I not so requested him, because I thought it was unfair
that, from accumulation of fortune after they lost him, the
youngest daughter would be richer than the eldest : but
I meant her to have Crowmarsh after my death, and so he
meant it too. Well ! one has always heard some nonsense
how two negatives make an affirmative, so I suppose in
Law, when a man gives a thing twice over, it turns out no

192 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

gift at all. Mr. Thrale tried three times to secure his Oxford-
shire property for me, and if I miss it at last, no blame can
attach to him. The flaw was in the Settlement you see,
and the Will confirms the Settlement, so God knows how
'twill end at last. The Mr. Butler employed on our
side has a high character in his profession as Chamber
Council, etc. Being a Roman Catholic he cannot reach
the honours of his calling, but rests contented with the
profits. . . .

Here's much to do with Hate and more with Love, 1 as
Juliet says in Shakespear. Apropos to Hatred, I am de-
lighted that we know the author of De Montfort : she must
be a fine creature, and will excite no small share of the hatred
she describes. I felt it was a woman's writing, no man makes
female characters respectable no man of the present day I
mean, they only make them lovely. We must except Dr.
Moore : his Mrs. Barnett and his Laura Sedlitz are all that
women ought to wish to be.

Don't you admire at my sitting here to criticize Plays and
Novels, like Miss Seward, while my Husband is lame, my
fortune is crippled, and my favourite dog has but three legs ?

Farewell, dear Friend, . . . 'tis five o'clock in the morn-
ing, I was up at four, shall call the men and maids at six,
send away this scrawl at seven, jump into the bath at 8,
breakfast at 9, work at the book till I, walk till 3,
have dined by 4, fret over Gillon's dispatches and Piozzi's
misery all the rest of the day : a pretty biographical sketch
of your literally poor H. L. P.

Charles Butler, Mrs. Piozzi's counsel, was a brother of
the Rev. Alban Butler, the hagiologist. As Roman Catho-
lics were not permitted to be called to the Bar when he
began his professional career, he took up conveyancing
business, and helped to edit Coke upon Littleton. Taking

1 " Here's much to do with hate, but more with love." Romeo and
Juliet, I. i. 181.

THE LAWSUIT COLLAPSES 193

idvantage of the Enabling Act, he became a Barrister in
i7Qi, and took silk in 1832.

b4 /MM. I800.
. . The Book goes on, lamely perhaps, now my better
half has the Gout, but it does go. My Master mends too,
and everything mends. Miss Thrale withdraws (somewhat
disgracefully,) the claim she could not substantiate : a
tedious suit against this never-dying Mother would have
eaten up all the profits of her hoped-for estate, and nobody
would have benefited but the Lawyers. Her friends were
therefore persuaded by our friends to give in, as the Boxers
say, and so the battle ends ; and on the last of May she
writes to the Oxfordshire Tenant to pay 400 to us as usual,
that very 400 which, on the first of March, she wrote
the same man word was incontestably her own. . . .

Miss Bayley, a Lady who lives with Mrs. John Hunter,
and is related to her, has at length modestly owned herself
Author of a Drama that every one would have been most
happy to have written : but Mr. Chappelow (no bad mirror
of the fashionable world,) says people think it too solemn,
they are not amused. I say they are like old Polonius : see
Hamlet's character of him as a Critic. 1

Kemble is in high favour with the Beau Monde, I am
told, and his Sister declines ; but she will pick up some more
guineas, and then no matter. I reckon her as having only
one daughter to portion out ; Sally will never marry, I
suppose, if half oi what I have heard of her ill health be true.
Mr. Siddons will be a long-lived man, as sick as he is always
said to be ; nothing runs on like a life subject to one chronic
and regular complaint, Gout, or Rheumatism. Siddons
will repeat over to two or three generations the lamenting
strains I heard him recite in 1788, and his Daughter will
think herself young when everybody else sees her grown old,
because she has a father to nurse. There was a Mrs. Shelley

1 " He's for a jig, or a tale of bawdry, or he sleeps." Hamlet, II. ii.

i 9 4 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

in Sussex, her sneering neighbours called her Epistle and
Gospel, who had two maiden daughters. One broke her
leg, and died at about 40 years old, but the other departed
not till 5 years ago. The Doctors informed her Mama
there was no hope, and she piously resigned to the loss.
" But tell me at least," cried she, " what ails my poor child,
and of what can she possibly be dying ? " "Of age, dear
Madam/' answered her Physician. "Miss Shelley was
never strong, and 76 years have nearly worne her out."
" Oh dear ! Is she really ? Why I am but 94 myself, and
I am not dying of age ! " She spoke true, and outlived
her little girl, as she called her, six years.

Adieu, dear Mrs. Pennington, and tell my old Friend
this story. . . .

The asthmatic complaint from which Sally Siddons had
suffered, almost from childhood, proved fatal in 1803, and
she died, as Mrs. Piozzi anticipated, unmarried. Though
her heart was given to Lawrence, the promise made to her
dying sister, and her own strong common sense and know-
ledge of his character, prevented her from giving her hand.
The prognostication respecting her father proved very wide
of the mark, as he died at Bath only two years later.

13 June 1800, BRYNBELLA.

My dear Mrs. Pennington is a true friend, and has acute
feelings of friendship and of Injury. All is over between
me and my beautiful and deserving Daughters those were
Mr. Ray's epithets. . . . With regard to our cause , mark
me ! Mr. Gillon, dear creature as he is, did not stop its
proceedings by perswasion ; it was carried by law, though
not by litigation. Mr. Cator and Mr. Richards on Miss
Thrale's part, and Mr. Gillon and Mr. Butler on our parts,
talked the matter over ; and they really withdrew the claim
they could not substantiate, or make creditable to carry
into a Court of Judicature.

Gillor

1U1

;

RETROSPECTION " DECLINED 195

Gillon tells a laughable story of Miss Thrale's standing
hard for 10 which he advanced her, of his own money, to
stop further absurdity. And now let's hear no more on't,
and do not, Sweet Soul ! make me in love with resentment ;
for except in a friend's cause like your own, 'tis an unpleas-
quality, and productive of nothing but evil. We
must quote our own Book of Knowledge after all, and

the Article "Forgiveness," as I think, you read these
ords. " A wise man will make haste to forgive, because
anger is a painful sensation, and he wishes to be rid on't.
A great man will pardon easily, because he finds few things
worthy his resentment ; and a good man will never resent

all, knowing how much he has himself to be forgiven."
wrote to the girls by yesterday's post, exactly as if no
such transactions had passed among us : so long live
British Synonymy !

Well ! Robinson refuses my labour'd Work. He has
been at Bath and Bristol, and cannot recover his health
sufficiently to enter upon new engagements : he is going to
leave off business, and cannot prevail upon himself to under-
take so large a book, he says. Did you see or hear of him ?
r did he pass any time at Belvidere House ? And does

undertake any smaller works, I wonder ? Lesser is a
word I will not use, but it would gratify me to know. I
sent him a letter to put him in better spirits, if possible,
and better humour : for tho' I despair not of selh'ng my
stuff, I shall hate hawking it about London, which will at
t be the case. . . .

The incomparable Coterie you mention as loving and
remembering us with kindness, will make me rich amends
in their society if I can wind up my little matters, and
come to Bath in Spring. But here is a degree of
scarcity and dearness, both present and expected, that
worries my Master and his House Book horribly.
. . . Everything costs double, besides double Taxes,
uble necessity of expence, and so forth. London will

196 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

be much my terror indeed, but I hope our stay will be a
short one.

Oh ! what would have become of my wretched nerves,
had I been in the Theatre that awfully impressive night ?
What would have become of your nerves ? of dear Mrs.
de Luc's ? The tryal would have been too great. Susan
and Sophy were there ; so was Mr. Gillon. It will go hard
with the Tray tor, I am told, if the Jury do not find him
guilty. The King's Guardian Angel must appear in person
to protect him next time, because it will be such encourage-
ment to the Jacobins to attempt his life, that nothing less
can save him. . . 8

George Robinson, the " King of Booksellers," who had a
villa at Streatham, was born in Cumberland, and coming to
London in 1755, began his career in the house of Rivington.
He set up for himself in Paternoster Row in 1764, and died
in 1801. It is somewhat remarkable that Mrs. Piozzi's
principles allowed her to patronize him, seeing that he had
been fined, not many years before, for selling Tom Paine 's
Rights of Man.

The King was shot at in his box at Drury Lane on
15 th May, but the assailant, James Hatfield, proved to be a
lunatic, and the attempt had no political importance.

[July 1800.]

... I am sorry Mr. and Mrs. Whalley are declining so ;
their pretty cottage will be a shady retreat for them this
hot weather. We are roasting here on the sunny side of a
high hill, but never was such hay made before ; 40 acres
cut and carried in 12 days is really curious, and without one
shower. Did you observe the odd Phenomenon exhibited
on Trinity Sunday in the evening ? It alarmed those who
did observe it, and our Caernarvonshire and Anglesea
neighbours, who understand not how many tricks
Electricity can play, were frighted to see the sun

WEDDING ANNIVERSARY 197

pparently go back when he set, no fewer than three
diameters of himself.

Mr. Lloyd of Wickwar, whom you have heard me mention
an astronomer, and a man well known at Sir Joseph
anks's, etc., said it was a surprizing thing, and, for what
had observed, wholly new : he attributed it to the state
f atmosphere. The same appearance was noticed likewise
at Shrewsbury. I saw it not ; I was not looking. . . .

What is this story of Harry Siddons ? Is he really to
marry Miss Scott, the great fortune of the North ? If he
es, the Sun may set in the East if it will, without attracting
ur charming Friend's attention I suppose, and no wonder,
iss Lees say nothing, perhaps think the more. What a
hing it would be !

My Book must go to the public market and take its chance
October. Buonaparte will possibly finish it for me, and
troy the Empire as he did the Papacy. Our Ministry
keep feeding Francis with money, for which he will sell, not
his birthright, like Esau, but all except his birthright, and
ontent himself with the old Crowns of Bohemia and Hun-
gary, resigning even the name of King of the Romans to
those Gauls who invaded 'em 2000 years ago, and have never
st sight of a hope so late to be accomplished as poor Rome's
tter destruction. The sun may well be seen to shew signs
and wonders when such occurrences are coming forward.

Meanwhile what say you to Bishop Horsley's denouncing
the Schools of impiety and sedition ? Did even our dear
Dr. Randolph think that London was so far advanced in
wickedness? or even Hannah More? It is truly dreadful. . . .
Mr. Piozzi and I have been married now 16 years, and
we are used to keep our anniversary, but it happened at a
perverse time of y e week and month this year. And so
instead of feeding the rich, we fed the poor, and every one
of our 35 Haymakers had a good noggin of soup, and a lump
of beef in it, and a suet dumpling ; and they were like the
people in The Deserter, who sing " Joy, joy to the Duchess

198 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

wherever she goes." And my Master's health was sincerely
drank, though not very copiously : for bread and beer are
yet considered as luxuries in our poor skin and bone Country ;
while the Lords and Ladies round the Capital are paying
five guineas for a Peach, etc., and Daughters of Liverpool
spend, in one entertainment, what frighted all France when
requested for a frolick of poor Antoinette, Daughter of the
Caesars.

Well ! Mr. Piozzi has gone to a little not a very little-
expense, in repairing old Bachygraig for the new tenant.
Our neighbours advised him to tumble the venerable ruin
quite down, and build a snug farmhouse with the materials ;
but he would not. And so, poking about, we found some
very curious bricks with stories on them, composed in 1500,
and one large one with Catherine de Berayne's arms, derived
from Charlemagne. Twas she whose husband built y e
house, you know, (Sir Richard Clough see Pennant ; ) and
being descended immediately from fair Catherine of France,
whom Shakespear makes us familiar with, and who married
Owen Tudor after her first husband's death, heroic Harry
the Vth, drew her descent by the Mother's side from Charle-
magne. I have set her achievement in front now, and a
stone to say the Mansion was repaired and beautified by
Gabriel Piozzi Esq. in the year 1800. It will last to the
World's end now, I believe.

The dear little boy whom you used to love has spent his
vacation time at Streatham again. He will, I hope, be wiser
in proportion -as he is less happy, and less spoiled : safer
he certainly is, and we hear a good character of his scholar-
ship. . . .

The report of Henry Siddons' engagement to Miss Scott
seems to have been mere gossip, as he married Miss Murray
in 1802.

The account of the surrender of his titles by the Emperor
Francis also seems to have been somewhat premature. He

BACHYGRAIG RESTORED 199

proclaimed himself hereditary Emperor of Austria in 1804,
and it was not till 1806, after the formation of the Confedera-
tion of the Rhine, that he formally resigned the imperial
crown, and so brought to a close the Holy Roman Empire,
founded by Charlemagne, and the Kingdom of Germany.
Bonaparte, however, had anticipated his resignation, and
had himself appointed Emperor by decree of the Senate
in 1804.

Samuel Horsley, Bishop successively of St. David's,
Rochester, and St. Asaph, was the great opponent of Priestly
and the Unitarians, against whom several of his charges
were directed.

Pennant's account of the home of Mrs. Piozzi's ancestors
runs thus (Tour in Wales, vol. ii. p. 22). " In the bottom
[of the Clwyd Valley] lies, half buried in the woods, the
singular house of Bachegraig. It consists of a mansion, and
three sides, enclosing a square court. The first consists of a
vast hall and parlour ; the rest of it rises into six wonderful
stories, including the cupola, and forms from the second floor
the figure of a pyramid : the rooms small and inconvenient.
The bricks are admirable, and appear to have been made in
Holland ; and the model of the house was probably brought
from Flanders, where this species of building was not un-
frequent. The country people say that it was built by the
Devil in one night, and that the Architect still preserves an
apartment in it ; but Sir Richard Clough, an eminent mer-
chant of Queen Elizabeth's reign, seems to have a better
title to the honour. The initials of his name are in iron on
the front, with the date 1567, and on the gateway that of
1569." It is stated in Piozziana that the vane bore the
date 1537. An account of Sir Richard Clough and Catherine
of Berayne has been given in the Introduction, to which the
reader is referred.

200 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

BRYNBELLA, Sat. night, 6 or 7 oj Sept. 1800.
Dear Mrs. Penning! on's eyes yet serve her, I find, to
write the very charmingest letters in the world, and Dr.
Randolph is of the same opinion ; that to the travellers
was admirable, and my own, just received, most excellent.
They left Wales yesterday, and have carried ugly weather
home with them ; but I hope and think that the bright
sun illuminated their last glimpse of Denbighshire, from
the heights round romantic Llangollen. I never saw
people so well, or so happy, or so good humoured, on
a journey where inconveniences must necessarily arise,
such as would teize many tempers accustomed to home
life. . . .

What the meaning can be of bread rising is past my power
to divine. Wheat falls, and grass grows, and these rains
have put out the fires which injured the hilly grounds.
Nothing is truer than your observation on men's counter-
acting Providence in all they can, but of late times some
permission seems to have been given them that it should
be counteracted. Victory bestows honour on our arms,
but produces no good to our nation. Plenty creates no
peace, and opulence no wealth among us : I cannot fathom
it. We seem upon the eve of a general pacification thro'
all Europe, but I scarce expect quiet in any Country, much
less our own, to be the consequence of such extensive
treaties. . . .

Poor dear Jane Holman complains of the Greatheeds
that they were too fine to visit her in London. She is re-
covering from her severe illness, and will, I hope, be happy,
though the world was all displeased at her connection.
Mrs. Siddons will have a cruel loss if her husband dies, though
he was no professed wit, nor beau, nor Damon, and tho'
I doubt me much if he was even the very prudent man folks
take him for. Yet will he be a loss, and " Seldom comes a
better " is no bad proverb. Her son was expected to make

VISITORS TO BRYNBELLA 201

his fortune among the fair at one time, but I now hear no
more on't.

Mrs. Wynne, Cecilia's Mother-in-law, is come home to
Wales ten years younger than she left it, and infinitely
handsomer of course. I do not think that will be my case
when I leave home next ; but selling my Book advantage-
ously will, I suppose, heighten my bloom. We must have
things as they are, as Baretti used to say, when he threw ill
at Backgammon. My Master's capital health must keep
mine up. I never saw him in better looks, and Mrs. Ran-
dolph will tell you how smart he has made old Bach-y-graig,
the name of which they both forgot, I'm sure, before two
miles were past ; and Lord Mount joy only saw Lleweny.

Whenever Lady Hesketh crosses your walks, say to her
how much I respect her, and how glad I feel that the sweet
little Princess is to be happy in virtuous and wise attendants
on her infancy, Lady Elgin and Miss Hunt.

" Never harm, nor spell, nor charm
Will come that Faery's pillow nigh,
While they sing her lullaby."

Brynbella is the fashion. We have people coming to
take views from it, and travellers out of number, Tourists,
as the silly word is. Miss Thrales are among the Lakes, I
believe these are modish places now for summer, as for
winter modish Streets. Comical enough ! Yet the general
face of things must be confessed very gloomy, though Stocks
rise, and that comforts many who look superficially, or never
look at all beyond Finsbury Square and Hyde Park Corner.
My fear is lest Mr. Pitt may be one of those : if such the
case, he will be amazed whenever the evil moment comes,
which would only give grief, not amaze, yours

H. L. P.

John, fourth Earl of Bute, son of the Minister, was

202 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

made Viscount Mount joy, Earl of Windsor, and Marquess
of Bute in 1796.

The Lady Hesketh here mentioned seems to have been
Harriet, daughter and coheir of Ashley Cowper, who married
Thomas Hesketh of Rufford, afterwards created a Baronet.
She was the cousin and favourite correspondent of Cowper
the poet, and died at Clifton 1807. Lady Elgin, the other
attendant of the little Princess of Wales, was the wife of
Thomas the seventh Earl, best known as the collector of
the Elgin Marbles.

The prospect of a general peace proved fallacious. After
the battle of Marengo in June, operations were suspended
by the armistice of Alessandria, but peace was not concluded,
and Austria, urged on by England, recommenced hostilities
at the end of the year.

STREATHAM PARK, 6 Nov. 1800.

Dear Mrs. Pennington will like a letter with this date,
though it tells her nothing except that we are not at home
here ; it is however exceedingly difficult for us to find that
truth out from our good Tenant's behaviour to us, or that
of his servants. They are all wonderfully kind and civil,
and I fancy we shall go on as we have done ; nothing is as
yet finally settled, but we have every pleasing expectation
in prospect. Retrospect is already disposed of, and you will
be pleased that 'tis launched from a good aristocratic House.
How does Col. Barry excuse himself to himself, I wonder,
for his so long and so wide deviation from the train of opin-
ions he seemed as if well rooted in, when we were first ac-
quainted ? An agreeable talker is a great loss to the good
cause, and I shall be happier when you tell me that he is
tired of the bad one.

We have been but once in Town yet, and that for two hours
only, one spent with Stockdale, and one with Siddons, who
is lean and nerve-shaken, but lovely as ever, and was pre-
paring to shine in Elvira the evening of our visit. Her

THE PRICE OF A SHAKESPEARE 203

husband walked in with his two sticks, and chatted cheat-
fully ; her eldest daughter appeared to me in high health
and spirits, and Miss Lee, who was there, made a good report
of the youngest. . . .

We live among the Commercial men here, not the pro-
fessed wits, yet more love and esteem for literature it would
be hard to find. Perhaps familiarity, even with that, lessens
regard. Here has Mr. Giles laid out a Thousand Pounds (no
less,) in books for our Library ; and Mr. Gillon grieves when
a second-hand Shakespear slips from his hand at an auction
for want of courage to give beyond 20 Guineas for it. Who
says money is not plenty ? Truth is England contains more
money than meat just now, I mean in proportion, but corn
is coming in, and rice, from every quarter of the world ; and
I hope people will forbear to fly out, and increase their own
distresses. The Coachman will get them through every bog,
and safely by every precipice, I think, if they will but let the
check-string alone, and not hinder him from saving them and
himself, who runs more than an equal risque with all of us,
and is in haste to find the carriage clear of embarrassments
as we are. If we believe our eyes, all will be well ; if our
ears, all will be dismal. Offers of peace are talked of, and no
wonder. France is afraid of being driven from Egypt,
whence she means to fright our East India Company, if
incapable to injure it. I hate their insidious offers, resemb-
ling those magical deceptions we used to talk about, where
a friendly hand appeared as if presenting a nosegay,
but no sooner was it reached at than a dagger started
forward in its place. Remember that all our journey
has been thro' loyal places ; Sir Rich. Hill's fine seat,
Lord Bradford's, and the old abiding place of virtue and
learning, Oxford.

Two days the first of these sweet scenes delay 'd us, and
Mr. Piozzi clambered thro' the Grotto. Three days were
given to the hospitalities and comforts of Weston Park,
and Mr. Gray was unwilling to let me leave their curiosities

204 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

unexamined ; so kept us three days more among the
Museums etc. of far fam'd Rhedycina. . . .

Will it raise your spirits to hear that I expect release
early in January ? After business must come pleasure,
and for that our eyes turn naturally to Bath. Till then a
Hotel and Tavern must be dear Mr. Piozzi's residence, in
order to accommodate his wife by living close to the Book-
seller's, who assures us that if we will come to Jermyn Street
and mind our work closely, it may be launched with the New
Year, and 8 weeks of confinement finish all. Wish it success
kind Friend, and make Miss Powell and Mr. Pennington
ay and good Mother too, drink a glass to the health of the
two Quarto Vols. you saw advertised this morning under the
name of your H. L. P.

Though Stockdale's publications may have had aristo-
cratic tendencies, the publisher himself was of humble origin
and rough manners. Like Robinson he was a Cumberland
man, and is reputed to have been originally a blacksmith.
In London he worked his way up from the position of a
publisher's porter to that of the head of a successful
business. It may have been a recommendation to
Mrs. Piozzi that he had printed, and partly edited,
Dr. Johnson's works.

Hawkestone, near Shrewsbury, was the seat of Sir
Richard Hill, Bart., M.P. for Salop, who was the elder
brother of the Rev. Rowland Hill, the celebrated preacher.
Lord Bradford's seat was Weston Park, near Shifnall. Its
then owner was Orlando (Bridgeman), Baron, and after-
wards Earl of Bradford.

Mrs. Piozzi's cicerone at Oxford was, in all probability,
the Rev. Robert Gray, D.D., of St. Mary Hall, Bampton
Lecturer in 1796, who was afterwards Prebendary of
Durham, and appointed Bishop of Bristol in 1827.

PROSPECTS OF PEACE 205

STREATHAM PARK, Monday Morng. Dec. (8) 1800.
(Franked " E. Russell.")

I received, my dear Friend, your melancholy letter, and
am sorry to agree with you in that croaking duet which we
have long kept up together, both by letter and conversation.
Things do go on very shiningly, and even brilliantly, but
like the ice-island you liked so in my book, there is an unseen
thaw below, and we shall topple over when 'tis least expected.
Be perswaded however of England's comparative happiness.
Every other nation suffers more than we do, more than
perhaps the deepest croaker amongst us gives him leave to
apprehend ; and so singular is the state of Europe just now,
that sudden peace would accelerate the ruin of France, of
Germany, of Russia, and of the Britannic Islands. The
first would then be repaid her ravages over poor dear Italy,
by seeing her own hungry and desperate plunderers come
home clamourous for rewards they never can receive, and
food which the neglected lands could not produce for them.
The second would inevitably split into divisions produc-
tive of certain annihilation to the Empire, leaving Francis
King only in Hungary, Bohemia, etc. ; while Russia, left
the theatre of Paul's caprices, would heat itself into re-
bellion soon, and throw the North of Europe into confusions
much worse than those consequent on the present war.
Great Britain would feel herself restrained in her commerce,
cut off from power of adding to that wealth for which she is
now envy'd by all mankind. Nor could cessation of hostili-
ties benefit any of the belligerent powers, except Rome and
Turkey : and they, poor things ! fated to fall, and falling,
expiate their predecessor's crimes and follies, continue to
foment those troubles to which, whoever conquers, they
are sure to be the destined victims. I think you recollect
Mr. Lanzoni ; his accounts of Italian distress, public and
private, would half break your heart. . . .

Dear Siddons' story is a tragical one, but the ending has

206 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

been happy, she will now, I flatter myself, be no more tor-
mented. [Having undergone a painful operation] she is
now thin as a lath, and light as air, but safe, as every body
thinks. Her behaviour angelic creature was on this
tryal as on all her tryals, exemplary ; firm but unostenta-
tious. Sir James said she was a real Heroine, and no Actress
on the occasion.

Lysons called at the Hotel, and got me a sight of some
manuscripts kept in the British Museum, which I wanted
for my work ; but he is gone to Bath now. The work is
coming quick to a conclusion, and will have a print of the
Authour on its first page. My heart delights not in the notion
of being Bookseller so, as well as Bookmaker ; but one cannot
have all as one likes, and I hope people will buy away. Those
friends who mean to serve me in earnest write to Stockdale
even now, desiring to be "put down for an early copy."
I shall present you with one, but do canvass your rich friends,
and get them to purchase for honour, and for profit's sake,
and all. The darling Randolphs have done me all possible
kindness in that way, so has Mr. Chappelow ; and Stockdale
shows his numerous orders as nest-eggs or decoys. . . .

Meanwhile Miss Thrales drove thro' London to Brighton,
the seat of gayety till Town revels commence. We dined
together, and parted at the lodgings of the Show Woman
called a Nyctalope or Albina, with red eyes like a white
Rabbet, very curious ! . . .

The prospect of sudden peace was the result of further
French successes. Moreau and Ney had beaten the Austrians
at Hohenlinden on 2nd December and an armistice was signed
at Steyer ceding the fortresses of the Tyrol, &c. Another
was signed in Italy, as the result of further victories there,
ceding the North Italian ports. And when Murat threatened
Naples, a third armistice, closing the Neapolitan ports to
England, practically ended the war.

VJl

1>U

; =

RETROSPECTION" FINISHED 207

STREATHAM PARK, Sat. 10 Jan. 1801.

My dear Mrs. Pennington's two charming letters waited
y arrival at old Streatham Park, whence a variety of things
etained us, but people are certainly never so busy as when
ey have nothing at all to do. My Book, once written,
was not a bit more off my hands, for Stockdale and I are
partners in the property, and if he is an honest man so
much the better for your H. L. P.

Of all active, and diligent, and highly successful friends,
he first must be acknowledged to wear the name of John
Gillon. That extraordinary man brought a list of private
ders from people of his own particular acquaintance to
our business dinner upon New Year's day, and the list took
away Stockdale's breath, much more mine. It consisted
of 80 gentlemen, to which ten have been added since.
Not content with that, he made a little feast for drinking suc-

;s to it at the London Tavern, and set the people all wild
Retrospection. This is good news, is not it ? And the
isequence will be great, for I shall expect a letter before
the first of February to say that the first edition is wholly
run off. That day will probably rise on us at Bath, if my
Master keeps clear of Gout, and our plans are not broken in
upon by vexations unforseen. . . .

Things are never as good as one is led to hope, but they
seldom as bad as we are impelled to fear. The bread
at its dearest, the Enemy is arrived at its utmost pitch of
insolence. France is less dangerous to Britain, altho' more
formidable to other countries, than she has been. Buona-
parte will not long outlive the peace, let him make it how
and when he pleases. No Buonaparte can satisfy his troops
when they return into the bosom of their native country,
pamper 'd by promises, and flushed with conquest. A
furious outbreak at Paris must necessarily ensue, and you
y rely on my prediction being verified.
Pretty Siddons told me about Hannah More, but I never

208 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

understood the merits of the cause clearly till your letter
explained it ; my [heart] grieves lest it should affect her
health. Our charming friend in Great Marlborough Street
has never been so free from complaint since I have known
her ; and her appearance in the character of Constance
transcends all which the stage ever shew'd me. The dress
is so appropriate, and so becoming, that its first impression
is prodigious, and would be disadvantageous to one who
could not keep up the interest it excites. Kemble seems
much out of health this winter, and has a slowness upon his
manner which I do not like ; but the public is in high good
humour with him. . . .

Adieu, dear Friend, send me another pretty kind letter,
and a true account of what people say to my Book. . . .

Hannah More's trouble arose through a Sunday school
which she had opened at Blagdon in 1795, at the request of
Bere, the curate, who soon afterwards complained that the
master she had appointed was holding a Conventicle. This
was stopped, but fresh complaints in 1800 led to an inquiry
by the Chancellor and Rector, and Hannah closed the school
in November. The Rector, however, thinking his curate
had been too officious, tried to dismiss him, and the school
was reopened in January 1801. But the curate declined
to resign, and the school was again closed. When a new
Bishop (Beadon) was appointed to Bath and Wells, Hannah
applied to him for direction, and obtained his sympathy
and support : and so after she had been, as she said, " bat-
tered, hacked, scalped, and tomahawked for three years,"
the unedifying controversy came to an end.

Wensday Night, READING, 21 Jan. 1801.

We are coming, dear Mrs. Pennington, as your good
husband says, but very tardily, and much like the journey
of Catherine and Petruchio ; so dirty are the ways, and so
many our crosses, when travelling with Rat and Mole driven

THE BLAGDON CONTROVERSY 209

by a sick coachman, who makes himself a little more sick
at every stage by doing more than he is able, and by crying
lest we should at length be provoked to leave him on the
road. He is in no danger, poor soul ! Mr. Piozzi has just
sent him our chicken broth, and we wait here a day for Miss
Allen to go kiss her father and mother, an errand so few
folks want to go upon. ... I think the beds will be aired
at least, for never were so many people crowding from one
city to another as now from Bath to London.

How it rejoyces my heart to hear you really like the book !
and that Miss Jane Powell approves of the contrasted char-
acter visible in those excellent Roman Emperors. The
other volume will be most read, and the igth chapter of
that will perhaps be most liked. I will correct the typo-
graphical errors in your book with my own hand, if you will
bring it with you to Bath. . . . Stockdale was hurrying
to drive out a new edition before we left London, and I
was forced to hold him in. We shall hear all our faults,
and the printer's too, when the Reviews make their appear-
ce. . . . Charming Hannah More will tranquillize her
ind soon, and only dislike the Established Church a little
ore than usual, for this ill-timed bustle some individuals
ave made against one of the most valuable members of

iety. For as Dr. Johnson says of Watts, Such she was
that every Christian Communion must have been proud of
her.

Do not fear the Northern combination : we can hurt
those fellows more than they can hurt us. And as to a French
invasion, it was, in my mind, never less likely, nor ever less
to be feared. That Europe is running to ruin I see plain
enough, and we must go after the rest, but it will be after
a good many of them are gone, I think. . . .

The combination of the Northern Powers, Russia, Sweden,
and Denmark, organised by the Emperor Paul against

C, was the result of the irritation caused by our in-
'

210 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

sisting on the right to search even neutral vessels for enemies'
goods ; but was soon broken up by the battle of Copen-
hagen and the death of Paul.

[P.M. BATH] 31 Jan. 1801.

My dear Mrs. Pennington's is indeed a dismal letter, and
our Master is truly sorry, and so am I. The amusement I
get at Bath, when without your conversation, is feeling
myself benefited by these darling waters, and hearing the
Circulating Library men say that the book sells very well.
Stockdale tells me of praises bestowed on it by the Briton,
Times, and Porcupine, but I have never seen any. . .

Miss Jane Powell must be left, I think, to cut out her
own happiness. She is very sensible, and very charming,
but you may remember that Dr. Johnson says in his tale of
The Fountains, " You may be lovely, but 'tis not a necessary
consequence that you should therefore be beloved." We
must hope she will not fling so much merit and beauty away :
but if she does, let us remember she could not have been
happy without changing her mode of life ; and those who
enter on family cares now, have need of strong affection on
one side or the other, to support them thro' so rough a
journey as what is left of life's road is likely to afford them.
The people who are indifferent now are truly unwise to
marry.

We shall look to your coming home for much chat on
all subjects, and principally the book which has so long
plagued your H. L. P.

[P.M. BATH] Tuesday, 10 Feb. 1801.

... To your enquiries how things are going here, my
reply is, never so bad. Fish, flesh, and fowl, all are double
price, and tho' we live as retired as 'tis possible, the little
red book you remember of marketing expences goes on worse
and worse. Even Laura Chapel is raised one third, and the
journey hither cost double what it used to do. These are

THE COST OF LIVING

acts. It is equally true indeed, that the waters do my
health good, but 'tis a heavy charge, this same health, upon

ne's husband, though he may not say or even think so.

achelors live at immense costs however. Mr. Roaoh or
Roche told us yesterday that he and his son paid 200 for
weeks eating and sleeping at York House : his servants

t board wages all the while. Tea alone stood them in six
shillings o' day. Fine times ! And Mrs. Mores, our next
neighbours, tell me Mr. Pitt has already quitted the helm,
and old Britannia is left to weather the storm how she can,
without pilot, rudder, or compass ; and tow a troublesome
sister after her besides. God send her safe to port ! He
only can. . . .

My own book, though much diffused, and rapidly sold,
has not yet brought me a shilling, and it was upon that I
fully depended for our reimbursement of these few weeks'
charges here in Bath. Six only of those weeks yet remain :
some of them I still flatter myself we shall still pass
together. . . .

After the union with Ireland, Pitt had become convinced
that it was necessary to carry a measure of Catholic Eman-
cipation ; but as the King felt scruples about breaking, as
he believed, his Coronation Oath, by giving his assent to
such a Bill, Pitt resigned, much to George's distress, and
was succeeded by Addington.

BRYNBELLA, 5 April, 1801.

My dear Mrs. Pennington will be delighted to hear that
we are got home safe, in spite of my nose, which is restor'd
to its original size, colour, and shape : having transmitted
all ill humour to the shoulder, more fit for carriage of a
urden so oppressive.

Some heaviness has reached my heart tho', and some
ight hangs on my spirits. The first intelligence that
struck us upon the very confines of our Principality, smiling

all

212 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

as it seemed with hope of future plenty, was the death of a
friend. You have, I am sure, heard me mention as an agree-
able acquaintance and excellent preacher, a Mr. John Mostyn,
Curate of Denbigh. He perished, it seems, poor soul, in the
hard weather which succeeded that day on which we dined
with Dr. Randolph, walking home from his Father's house
to his own : perish 'd of cold ! and was buried in drifts of
snow,

How sunk his soul !

What black despair ! What horrors filPd his heart,
When round him night resistless closing fast,
And o'er his inmost vitals creeping cold,
Lay'd him on the wild Heath a stiff en 'd corpse,
Far from the track and blest abode of Man.

[Thompson.]

These verses have almost haunted me ever since ; so has
his figure, chearful and gay, not 38 years old. But we will
change the subject and the side of paper.

Tell dearest Siddons, when you see her, that "her picture
was the first thing we unpacked, and her handkerchief the
finest thing I appeared in while at Bath : the only thing I
shall wear here till till what ? I can't answer that
question.

Poor Harriet Lee's lowness, the day we dined at Mrs.
Stratton's, affected everybody present, and she ran home,
unable to bear company. Can you tell whether the con-
versation of approving, nay admiring friends, has been yet
able to reconcile her to past vexations, for they scarce can
be accounted calamities.

We have contagion even at St. Asaph, but 'tis occasioned
by want of wholesome food. When the plenty I still predict
shall once arrive, there will be no distemper but ill-humour.
Meanwhile some cause for that does doubtless exist, when
the ports are filled with grain, and the poor perishing of
hunger. Our Bishop, detained in London by illness, is much

TIME OF DEARTH

213

in.

j-i

nted, and we came home too late to save our old favourite
bourer, Edward Davies, who expired eight hours before our
val ; saying that if we made haste he yet should live,
use we should send him something nice from our own
laics, as we did when he was sick once before. When such
tilings present themselves to one's mind, how vain must be
e hope of Reviewers and Critics to draw it on their empty
abuse ! I would there were no worse afflictions to lament
than those created by buzzers and stingers like them. Never-
tin less pray tell me how Hannah More supports her torrent
f scurrility. She was a kind soul, and came to see
for five minutes before we got into the Chaise at
Laura Place, looking very well, thank God ! apparently
>t worse for her long illness and confinement. Her
sister is too right tho' concerning the general distress for
victuals. . . .

I carry this letter with me to S. Asaph Cathedral, Easter
Sunday, and put it in the Post Office there after service. The
Ladies at Llangollen enquired much for you. They have
more news and more stories than one could dream of. Their
however is concerning their own old Maid Mary, from
hose character one would think Sophia Lee had pourtray'd
that of Connor in her tale of the Two Emilys. Mary, seeing
er Ladies' eyes fix'd, one fine night lately, upon the stars,
id to Miss Ponsonby, " Ah ! Madam, you once showed
e a fine sight in the heavens, the Belt of 0' Bryan ; but I
suppose we shall see it no more now, since the Union." To

ris nothing, sure, can be added.
(P.M. DENBIGH), 26 Apr. 1801.
What a letter ! What a pleasure to have such a Corre-
spondent ! You really can scarce imagine, my dear Friend,
LOW completely your kind Frank-full set before my eyes the
mes I was so wishing to have witness'd. Peace and plenty
coming, and dear Dr. Randolph's first sermon after the
r ictory at Copenhaguen, must have given a foretaste of all

1UU1

who

214 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

the felicities in their train to his enraptur'd auditors, I doubt
not.

The effect of national fervour and national happiness
upon Sweet Siddons charmed me ; and it was so nicely
accompanied too by her maternal exultation. The child in
your account had suffered scarce anything from y e alarming
symptoms which so frighted the whole house of Belvidere. . .

Why, you have had a nice Holyday time indeed ! And
you, like the dear King, will recover by dint of good news.
My rheumatism has mended ever since you said how Mr.
Whalley liked Retrospection, and a kind letter from Mr. Gray,
saying it was well thought of at Oxford, made me throw off
a little fur tippet, which, till to-day's post, I wore to ward off
these early winds. Ods Blushes and Blooms ! The poor
Cherry trees have dropt their pretty flow'rs in one night. A
sturdy Pear tree or two resist all Northern Combinations
against them : but Peaches and Nectarines we shall have
none of this Summer, content to see wheat falling, Stocks
rising, and damaged Rice coming in by shiploads to feed
those Pigs which my friends on the South Parade so talked of.

Meantime it was well done of the wise and good men to
go out and harangue the rioters ; they will go underground
again now, and give their instigators fresh trouble to find
fresh arguments to set them on fresh mischief in due time.
Well ! God save great George our King ! While he lives
many a Laurel bush will be used to decorate our doors. . . .
By the time this reaches your Hot Wells, good accounts may
possibly arrive from Egypt. The death of Paul will sit
heavy on the soul of Abdallah Menou, like the Ghost in
Shakespeare's Richard, and fall his edgeless sword. 1 May
he but hear that news before the battle, /'// answer for its
success.

Great credit ought really to be given to that amiable
creature, the Duchess of York, for being able to make every-
body love her, while they naturally and necessarily abhor

1 Rich. Ill, V. iii, 135.

COMPLIMENTS FROM OXFORD 215

her brother. And it was pretty of her husband to cry at the
tragedy : they very seldom do cry.

When you write tell me how Sotherby's play went off ;
our Newspaper never names the Theatre, so Mrs. Siddons's
name reaches me only through your letters. When our
Bishop returns I shall get free'd covers, and write oftener,
for the sake of goading your pen to an answer. . . . With
regard to Mr. Pennington, he hardly can come to any real
harm. The complaints of gouty men are sure to end, how-
ever they may begin, in a fit of Gout ; and better assurance of
long life is granted to no living mortal. He will quarrel with
the man, and vex about the maid, and they will leave him,
and then he will get others ; all will lead uneasy lives, but
no lives will be shorten'd, except your own, by fretting con-
cerning what can neither be helped nor mended. . .

Success had attended English efforts abroad in more than
one direction. The Northern Confederation having adopted
an attitude of " armed neutrality," and laid an embargo on
British goods, a fleet was sent to Copenhagen under Sir Hyde
Parker, with Nelson as second in command. The latter
grew impatient of the cautious tactics of his chief, and his
daring attack on the Danish forts and fleet on April i, re-
sulted in the capture of the latter, and the detachment of
Denmark from the League. In Russia the assassination of
the Emperor Paul on March 24 (which Buonaparte in the
Moniteur ascribed to the machinations of England) placed
Alexander on the throne, who at once reversed his pre-
decessor's policy, and so the Confederation collapsed. In
Egypt General Menou had succeeded Kleber in command
of the French army, which was unable to prevent the landing
of Sir Ralph Abercromby's expedition on March 2 : and
though the English General fell at the battle of Alexandria,
that city and Cairo fell into our hands, and it became evident
that the French could not maintain their hold on the
country.

216 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

The shock of Pitt's resignation, and the prospect of
Roman Catholic emancipation, had again unhinged the King's
mind. But the attack was a brief one, and by March 14
he was sufficiently recovered to accept the formal resignation
of his ministers.

Frederick, Duke of York, had married in 1791 Frederica,
Princess Royal of Prussia, a state whose partitions of Poland
and timid attitude of neutrality to France during two reigns,
were not calculated to render its rulers popular in England.

BRYNBELLA, 22 May 1801.

My dear and valued Friend now receives a letter of busi-
ness from Brynbella. The trunk with all our clothes, books,
papers, everything, which Hodgkins saw booked. . . .
upon the 22d of March, is never arrived yet, and this is the
22d of May. I have heard of it just now, though, and in an
odd manner. A man who says he signs for some Mr. Lye,
the date, Bristol, tells me it is gone by sea to Liverpool.
What madness ! It was meant for Chester Waggon, the old
conveyance by which Mr. Wiltshire has regularly sent it
these three years. Could you be kind enough to enquire
about it ? ...

And now do, dear Friend, find me out another thing.
We are told Miss Thrale is at Bath for her health ; and the
idea keeps me very uneasy, the more as she never writes.
You saw the last letter I ever received from any of them. I
dare say Dr. Parry is her Physician, and you could know
from him, without any immediate enquiry as if / wished to
hear, which she would consider as if intrusive and inquisitive,
and would say it was affectation. . .

Let us thank God for the happy change in public affairs
at least, peace and plenty are not far off.

From Egypt old Rome in the days of Domitian
To make her tyrannical Emperor smile,

Fresh roses brought over, for Winter provision,
That bloom 'd on the Tyber as once on the Nile.

GOOD NEWS FROM EGYPT 217

But bold Abercrombie, whom Britons confide in,
His Flora sent home with far different spoil ;

The invincible army of Frenchmen deriding,
Their standards he seiz'd on the banks of the Nile.

Thus end the exploits of renown'd Buonaparte,
Who fell upon Egypt with force and with guile,

Throwing dust in the eyes of each Mussulman hearty,
Dust pregnant with plagues on the banks of the Nile.

Of warriors ill-fated if England must tell soon,
Her losses, though deep, she'll repair in a while ;

With Moore, Smith, and Berry, Ball, Trowbridge, and

Nelson,
A hero we'll count for each mouth of the Nile.

Mr. Pennington will see an allusion to an Epigram of
Martial * in the first stanza ; but never mind, 'tis a good
Ballad to roar at a club, and the tune, Rural Felicity, or
Ellen o' Roon. But what fellows those old Romans were
after all ! ! Fetching (as they actually did) Oysters from
England and Roses from Egypt for one winter evening's
entertainment. . .

1 Martial, Epig. vi. 80 : Ad Caesarem de rosis hibernis.

CHAPTER VI

Attacks by reviewers The Peace, 1801 Visit to London South
Wales Mrs. Pennington's troubles Bath again Breach with
Mrs. Pennington, 1804.

next letter is directed to " Longford
Cottage, the Seat of the Rev. Thomas Sedgwick
Whalley, near Bristol," where Mrs. Pennington
was staying for a few weeks.

BRYNBELLA, 3 June 1801.

.... I do assure you that between your own house and
this no greater anxiety has been felt for Mr. Whalley ; he
is our very true friend, and we have sense enough to know it.
He is so much Miss Hannah More's friend that I am con-
vinced of his fretting at Sir Abraham Elton's officiousness.
Will you have proof how wrong those things are ? I am
frequently asked after celebrated characters when we return
home to so remote a neighbourhood as this is : and to the
questions asked about these exemplary Ladies I made such
replies as a friend is expected to make. Some of our neigh-
bours, however, within these three months, have had a fancy
to take in a Bath newspaper, and " Oh ! " says one now,
and " Ah, ah ! " says another, " why you never told us,
Mrs. Piozzi, concerning this paper war between Miss Mores
and Mr. What's his name ! As good as you say they are,
those who live in the world see spots in the sun, we find,"
etc. etc. Now would it not have been better far to have left
these dear creatures round Brynbella nothing to talk about
but the going off of Lord KirkwalTs marriage with Miss
Ormsby, the coming on of Mr. Piozzi 's gout, just at Laburnum
season, the hopes of famous news from Egypt, and, blessed

218

DRYING OF THE EUPHRATES 219

be God, the near certainty of immense crops to feed our poor,
and damaged rice from India to feed our pigs ? Would it
not have been better ? But we will talk of something else,
if you please.

The trunk is not come, but coming, and it was kind in
you to let me know how I might look after it. I had no
thought of its taking such a voyage. The comical preference,
shown in your letter, of a trunk to a Lady, is more than
classical. In Homer's time they preferred a tripod to the
fairest : when the tripod was chas'd, though, and the damsel
a slave.

I have had a civil letter from Miss Thrale now. She is
retired to a friend's Country Seat, I understand. . . The
noise and racket of London was grown painful to her, and
she longed for sight and smell of green fields. I wrote her
word that if chance should bring you and her together, it
would be very pleasant to you both, who have many ideas,
and many expressions too, in common. I would the love
of H. L. P. lived in her heart as in yours, but of that, as
Sciolto says, " as of a gem long lost, think we no more."

Do you recollect that agreeable morning dear Mr. Whalley
gave us at Laura Place this Spring ? and how he talked of
the River Euphrates, and said it would be one day literally
dried up for the Jews' return ? And do you remember what
you said, after he was gone, upon the subject ? and how I
exclaimed " Why, you are talking just like Miss Thrale ? "
Well ! and I begin since he open'd my own mind, to think
that it may be so ; ay, and without contradiction of your
humourous asperity against the talkers and hearers either.
Beg of Mr. Whalley, when he is better, and can amuse himself
with such stuff, to look in Plutarch's Life of Lucullus, 'tis
an early life, first volume, I think, and if my memory fails
me not, he will find something like a confirmation of his own
opinion, and of yours. Now please to observe that I have
no Plutarch here, nor have seen one since I saw you. In
such an act of mere reminiscence, therefore, the mind may

220 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

be mistaken, but my heart tells me that Lucullus perceived
some property in the River Euphrates, some quality rather,
which would (he observed) make it fordable upon a future
day, altho' so deep when he was wishing to pass over. 1 All
this seventy years before our Saviour's appearance in the
flesh.

I am always ready you know for a bit of old Stilton, as
Dr. Johnson called profane History. " Thou dost love,"
said he, " my dear, to play the part of Swift's Vanessa, who

Nam'd the ancient heroes round,
Explain'd for what they were renown'd, etc.

and I have as steadily resisted that mode of conversation ;
now pray, pray let's have no more of it." In obedience to
his commands, as well remember'd, sure, as Plutarch's lives,
I leave this, and begin saying a good word of Mr. Murphy's
book, and feel delighted that you take an interest in it too.
There was some danger lest it pleased me merely by bringing
old scenes to view, but I will trust your criticism. The work
has more merit as Garrick and he certainly never loved each
other, and you may see his praises of the man he celebrates
are dictated by duty, while those bestowed on Barry spring
from fondness. I had rather he had been kinder to sweet
Siddons. What a thing it is that her husband cannot at
least count and keep together the money she gets for him.
That man has, I fear, some rage for speculation ; a dangerous
game. The prudent people are, for aught I observe, no
better calculators than we open-pursed fools, who are cheated
out of 2os. perhaps, by Bett Lewis the vagrant ; while they
lose 200 sterling in the management of a puppet-show that
takes fire, or sink three times as much in a Canal that lets out
water, or some nonsense.

We have had an earthquake here, as they say, for I felt
it not, tho' I am confident I was wide awake at two o'clock

1 Vol. iii, p. 258 of dough's translation.

MURPHY'S "LIFE OF GARRICK" 221

Monday morning. Lady Orkney's Canary Birds fell from
their perch however, and some of our Denbigh friends fancy
they heard a noise. I was thinking about my master's
Bavanda, and he was thinking how thirsty the gouty pains
made him ; so Brynbella was unconscious of the shock.

Buonaparte is supposed to be all this time under the in-
fluence of poyson administered three months ago, but I
believe that as I do the earthquake. Poor Selim's death of
the Continental Apoplexy is less improbable ; so is young
Constantine's hope of restoring the Greek Empire. No
matter ! Live our own dear King, I care for none of them.
Here is his 63d birthday, and the value of his life is increased
63 times since it began. But y 6 grand climacteric passed
over, I count him safe, and would rather have an annuity
upon him than on the dangerous dame we fear so justly.

Oh ! I forgot to tell you, Stockdale sends word we have
a wicked enemy at Bath, who injures the sale of Retrospection
by spiteful and ingenious censures. Who is it, I wonder / . . .

Swarms of pamphlets on the " Blagdon Controversy "
were making their appearance about this time. Those which
Mrs. Piozzi had in view were probably " A Letter to the
Rev. Thomas Bere. . . . occasioned by his late unwarrant-
able attack on Mrs. H. More," by the Rev. Sir Abraham
Elton, Bart. ; which was answered by "An Appeal to the
Public in the Controversy between H. More, the Curate of
Blagdon, and the Rev. Sir A. Elton," by the Rev. Thomas
Bere.

Murphy had just published his Life of David Garrick in
two volumes, which was not very well received by the con-
temporary critics, who found fault with its clumsy arrange-
ment, and its excessive padding with prologues, epilogues,
etc. Mrs. (Ann Spranger) Barry, who died this year, was a
popular actress in London and the Provinces, and was con-
sidered by the critics to equal, if not to surpass Peg
Woffington and Mrs. Cibber.

222 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

Sultan Selim did not die of apoplexy, but lived to be
deposed in 1807. The Empress Catherine of Russia had
conceived the idea of extinguishing the Turkish power in
Europe, and placing one of her own family on the throne of
the restored Greek Empire. For this purpose she chose the
second son of her own son Paul, had him christened Con-
stantine to fulfil the prophecy that a Constantine should
again rule at Constantinople, and educated him to carry out
her plan. There seemed to be some chance of its success
when the Emperor Joseph gave it his support in 1788 ; but
Turkey was saved by Pitt's triple alliance of England,
Prussia, and Holland, to restore the Balance of Power.
About this period Constantine had gained some distinction
as commander-in-chief in Poland.

[Dated, by Mrs. Pennington, Jul. 1801.]

Dr. Randolph is a wise man for not caring what these
foolish fellows say, and Mrs. Randolph is a sweet lady for
caring. On the like principle H. L. P. is a dunce for being
angry, and dear Pennington is a kind friend for being enraged
at these odious Critical Reviewers. Those who say my book
is merely good for nothing cannot be answer'd. The book
says something like that of itself, but its worthlessness
consists in telling people what they knew before, not in telling
what is false, for that is the charge that offends me. Much
of this obloquy might have been avoided certainly, by
quoting authorities, but they would add more to the work's
weight than its value, were the deed done to-morrow : and
I thought it a mere insult to the Public sitting gravely to
inform them of what they may read in the 7th Period of the
3rd Chapter of the ist Part of Mosheim's Ecclesiastical
History, edited by our friend Macleane, who, in a note, con-
firms the fact of Tiberius desiring the Roman Senate to deify
our Saviour. One would really wonder at a man's assurance
who, like our Critical Reviewer, boldly asserts that " this
is an exploded fiction." It stood on the testimony of

THE CRITICAL REVIEWERS 223

Eusebius and Tertullian for sixteen centuries before it was
disputed : and M. Iselin, with Hase the Hebraist, and
numbers more since the year 1700, have proved its truth
beyond all power of denial. I saw Miss Case with Macleane's
Mosheim in her hand when I last visited her. She need not
be deceived, she can enquire and see the truth of my position.
When I wrote to Mr. Gillon expressing my uneasiness under
a charge of ignorance ill-deserved, he said my antagonist
was a man of immense abilities, and I had better let him
alone. But Robson the Bookseller, who sent me down the
Review, liked my refutation so well that he requested leave
to print my angry letter to him on the occasion. I suppose
it resembles that I wrote to you, and you will see it in the
Gentleman's Magazine for July.

I am sorry about Hannah More : these things are, upon
the whole, very mortifying, and injure the cause of Religion,
Virtue, and sound Literature too much, at a moment when
enemies to all three are ready and keen to take every
possible advantage.

I have a cold and reproachful letter brought me just
now from Harriet Lee, accusing my heart of alienation
because I made no enquiry concerning her state of mind,
altho' I saw, she says, that it was an uneasy one. How
unreasonable the people all are ! I thought myself acting
delicately to make no enquiries, where nothing was avow'd
as capable of being construed into more than a past vexa-
tion about the children's sickness. . . . Nothing would be
less pleasing to me than the thought of having offended
any of the house of Belvidere. Never did I say a slight
word, or write a peevish one, about them. Never did I
fail to express my just admiration of their talents, or even
suffer myself to be provoked to more than sorrow not
anger when I had reason for believing that Robinson was
better disposed to y e purchase of my book before his visit
to Bath, than he was afterwards.

I hope she will write kindly and make all up. I am

224 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

ready. If she does not we must sing Ralph's song in the
Maid of the Mill, I think.

Nothing's tough enough to bind her,
Then agog when once you find her,

Let her, let her go, let her go, never mind her, etc.

Poor dear pretty Siddons ! What has she been doing
to her mouth ? Picking it, my master says, as I do my
fingers, which, he threatens me, are one day to resemble
poor Mr. Pennington's toes. But in earnest and true sad-
ness, what can be the matter with her lips ? Lips that
never were equalled in enunciation of tenderness or sub-
limity ! Lips that spoke so kindly to me and of me ! Dear
soul ! what can ail her ? She dreamed once that all her
teeth came out upon the stage I remember ; I told her
she would go on acting till age had bereft her of them ;
but God forbid that she should lose them now. Her husband
will mend at Bath. . . . Sally's death will be no loss to
her dear mother, altho' a very poignant affliction without
doubt ; and Cecilia will be her delight I dare say : but
Sally and her Father both will yet last many years I am
confident. Shall we have a Bath Winter all together and
be comfortable ? Or will they pay her, and lure her back
to Drury Lane ? You must get her mouth in good order,
that she may look like my little miniature of the greatest
and only unrivalled female this century last expired has
pretended to produce. When her lips close, what good
will our ears do open ? Yes, yes, they will hear Randolph
preach, Piozzi sing, and Pennington converse. Comfort the
charming creature all you can tho', and get her into her
accustomed beauty, and tell her how she is beloved at
pretty Brynbella. . . .

P.S. by Mr. Piozzi.

. . . Well ! I think it time to forget the Critical Review,
and Mrs. P. she is persuade to do so. The writer is a poor

MRS. PIOZZI RETORTS 225

miserable wretch wanting bread, and so sufficit. Belvidere
people they can write, but they cannot understand Retro-
spection. Next week Little John we expect him at
rynbella. . . .

James Robson, like Robinson and Stockdale, was a
Cumberland man, and began his career in the shop of
Brindley, whom he succeeded.

Bickerstaffe's opera, The Maid of the Mill, was based on
Richardson's Pamela. Ralph was the son of Fairfield the
Miller.

Mrs. Siddons's trouble seems to have been erysipelas,
om which she suffered a good deal in later life.

[Dated, by Mrs. Pennington, Jul. 1801.]

ou are a dear Friend, and a wise Lady, and
onscience " (says I) " you counsel ill " : and " Pen-
nington " (says I) " you counsel well." * See the learned
Lancelot Gobbo. But my heart tells me that the Gentle-
man's Magazine will exhibit a letter of more anger than
good sense at least, being written on the spur of the
moment, the very day I read my antagonist's spiteful
accusations. 'Tis most likely, for it never entered my head
that Robson would print what came to him in form of
complaint, just as I wrote it to you. Yet when he asked
leave to show it up before the public, and said several
friends in his shop advised the measure, I would not shrink
from it.

Harriet Lee has sent me a making up Epistle ; so we
make up, but it is a cold and flat paste we make on't at
last, and as little George Siddons said of his brother's
friends, whom he had been half afraid of, "I know what
they are now." I know what she is, too ; and worded my
answer accordingly. She lamented the ill nature of the
Critical Review to me with due and proper pathos. I replied

1 " ' Conscience,' says I, ' you counsel well.' " Mer. of Ven., II. ii. 21.

226 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

lightly that they were not half as ill-natured as they were
ill-informed, and that if charming Hannah More valued
such abuse as little as H. L. P. did, she would live long a
champion of religion's cause, and not dye, as they wished
her to do, a martyr to't. The truth is her controversy
gets very stale now, and like her torment Beer (Bere)

Though stale, not ripe, tho' thin, yet never clear.

I will hasten to expose my Gentlemen's ignorance, and then
release people to think and care about matters more worth
their attention.

The loss of those two fine ships was vexatious enough,
but we must have a few knocks. Hannibal lost one eye
early in life you know : so these fellows came on the blind
side of him, that^s all. Our cutting the Corvette from
Camaret Bay was an exploit worthy to be preserved in
History till Time shall be no more. But nothing ever
equalled the hardihood of Naval Officers shown in course
of this war. It is a tissue of heroism, and to attempt
shores so guarded would seem frenzy, had one not to recol-
lect apparent impossibilities conquered by Buonaparte :
particularly his passing Mount St. Gothard in winter, never
relaxed ; which however did yield (God only knows how)
to the French Artillery, suffer'd to cross that Mountain for
the sake of gaining a decisive battle at Marengo. We must
have more sense, if they do land, than fight any battle at
all with such troops ; our business is to harrass them and
thin their numbers, not easily repair'd; and attacking
them only by night, assure to ourselves the advantages
accrueing from our own knowledge and their ignorance of
the country. Mr. Pennington will tell you I am quite
right, and it was for want of knowing as much in old times
that Harold foolishly set his Island on the hazard of one
grand battle, which he lost at Hastings.

Our Secret Society men who buy up the corn and fling

NAVAL GALLANTRY 227

[it] by night into the river or sea, are far more dangerous
enemies ; and will,, if matters ripen into reality of bustle,
be less afraid of acting openly. Their present intentions
tow'rds irritating our lower ranks, and making them willing
to rebel, are happily counteracted by the enormous quantity
of corn in the field, and ports, and harbours. They too are
known, and people see into their machinations pretty
clearly.

Bath is a well-judged place for the King during times
of apprehended turbulence, and the waters may do him
good, as they do me. . . . Tis a nice place beside, for a
man of his open character and manners to attach indi-
viduals, and delight common folks with his familiar way.
I am glad he will see Captain Dimond play Lothario at
three score years old, to our lovely friend's inimitable
Callista. . . .

We have got a dear Member of Parl 1 now close by us
in Denbigh Town ; so Heaven have mercy on the corre-
spondents of your H. L. P.

The loss of two ships here mentioned seems to relate
to the vessels which grounded at the commencement of
Nelson's engagement at Copenhagen. On his return home
he was set to watch the French armament collecting for
the invasion of England, under the protection of the fortified
camps at Boulogne, Brest, &c. There was no opportunity
for any decisive action, but Camaret Bay, near Brest, was
the scene of one of the numerous cutting-out engagements
in which the British commanders distinguished themselves
at this period.

The " gallant, gay Lothario " was a character in Rowe's
Fair Penitent, his victim, Callista, being one of Mrs. Siddons's
favourite impersonations.

Mrs. Piozzi does not seem to have made much use of
her " dear Member," for this is the only letter this year
which he can have franked.

228 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

BRYNBELLA, August 1801.

Be in better spirits, dear Friend, or at least in the best
spirits that you can : things will draw cross sometimes, we
know they will :

We know that all must fortune try,
And bear our evils, wet or dry.

My master's misfortunes are few, but dry ones ; he has
now a chalk-stone on his ear, but Siddons's mouth is a more
important ailment by half. . .

What is the meaning of Hannah More's marriage being
thus gravely announced in every newspaper, and resound-
ing here in N. Wales from every mouth, while you say not
one word upon the subject ? . . . Give me an answer to
the thousand enquiries buzzing round me, and give it quickly
that the talk may end. . . .

Our little boy is blithe as a bird, almost as wild ; a
model of gayety and good-humour.

With smiling cheeks, and roving eyes,
Causeless mirth, and vain surprise,

as Hawkesworth describes childhood, such is he : may he
get safety thro' the next stage !

I have not yet seen Harriet's tale, and without your
information should never have heard about Belinda. These
soft'ning books greatly encrease the dissolution of manners,
tho' each, unexceptionable in itself, cannot be complained
of. The youth of our present day however read nothing
else, and how they should escape such melting relaxers,
added to their own feelings in the warm season of life, I
guess not. Literary arrogance and early ambition are the
only antidotes which this world will supply.

Education is a mere word now for a theme or subject
on which to display the eloquence of teachers, and the

HANNAH MitORK
/>> ,S< rh'cn nftcr Slater, /$/j. l-'nnn the Collection of A. M, Hroaillfv. Esq.

THE NOVELISTS 229

teachers themselves Miss More perhaps excepted, are
drawing boys and girls into Love's labyrinth with one hand,
while they are pointing to distant Wisdom and Virtue
with the other.

The Curate and Barber who burned Don Quixote's
Library of large romances * would have been frighted to
see them thus epitomized into the power of a school boy
to purchase, as India's fragrance is happily compress 'd into
a Guinea phial of Odour of Roses.

Our Novel-writers have a right to hate me, who set my
face so against fiction, and who have endeavoured (tho'
fruitlessly) to make truth palatable. But when they boast
that my book is liked only by the old Heads of Houses at
Oxford and Cambridge, and chained up in the Bodleian or
All Souls, 'tis such a vaunt as the French make when they
chain their ships ashore.

It is in the meantime very surprising that Nelson should
try again after seeing that he attempts impossibilities. I
think he has play'd double or quits too often, and tempts
good fortune too far. Egypt is our own at last, and will
bring its plagues with it. For how should we garrison such
distant possessions, which the French may disturb whenever
they are disposed to rid themselves of a troublesome
General and 40,000 open mouths ? I wish the East Indians,
for whose sake we drove these fellows out, would be pleased
to keep them away now they are gone.

So my Lord de Blaquiere is run away to make drawings
beyond Snowdonia, and the Bishop is in Anglesey, and no
Frank, for love or money, can I get. ... I hear Mrs.
Mostyn has a son Arthur. He will, I hope, fill his round
table with Knights, and revive the spirit of Chivalry. M[ark]
L[ane] is the great Dragon which devours us all, and 'tis
said there is a train laid to rid the Kingdom of a com-
bination so strong, that relying upon its force, a Gentleman
offer 'd yesterday to bet a wager that Corn would be as

1 Don Quixote, Bk. I. chap. vi.

230 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

high priz'd next November as it was last January. But
this is croaking worse than Mrs. Pennington, and I believe
that the Gentleman will lose. . . .

This month Nelson had made an attempt to cut out
the French flotilla at Boulogne by a boat attack, which
failed owing to the fact that the French had chained their
vessels together, and were able to defend them by a heavy
musketry fire from the shore.

Lt.-Col. John de Blaquiere, son of an Emigre, who had
been M.P. for several English and Irish constituencies, and
Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, was created a Baronet in 1704,
and advanced to the Peerage in 1800.

BRYNBELLA [6] Sep. 1801.
(Franked " de Blaquiere")

.... Our Barometer begins rising while I write, and
the plantations drink their fill from the Horn of future
Plenty. Ploughing and preparing ground for next year's
crop will now be all done by Michaelmass, and the dwellers
in Mark Lane may pray for their own safety : it will be in
more danger than our purses and stomachs. God Almighty
will send victuals, and the may take care of the Cooks.

I know not how you gather'd from my letter that I be-
lieved in Hannah More's change of condition, tho' my neigh-
bours did. Yet never having heard that Dr. Grossman was
a married or a single man, and seeing no jokes accompany
the intelligence, which came in the regular list of weddings
for the week, I own myself stagger'd, and now the Papers
are filling with epigrammatic nonsense which will confirm
people in their credence, if no contradiction is given.

With regard to our dear charming friend, her tormentors
must be private ones. The Public would not suffer their
truly deserving favourite to be insulted ; and she should
run to, not from the Theatre, for protection. I guess not

ATTACK ON MRS. SIDDONS 231

what character it was in which, you say, she will appear no
more. Tell me, and tell me what she thinks of the enclosed.
Oh ! how you and I must for ever hold abhorred of our whole
souls, the human creature who can thus delight in torturing
a heart like hers ! Have I ever seen him, think you ? Has
he made advances to her, and been refused ? Or does he
protect a rival Actress rising into fame ? Or what inspires
such horrible malignity ? I pretend not to trace, as Fanny
Burney and as Harriet Lee can do, vile passions to their
source, but such characters prove the Play of Hatred and
feelings of de Mont fort not out of nature. . . .

My packet of macaroni came down without the book in
it, so I still remain ignorant of all but what you tell me. ...
Well ! I shall read it some time, and will learn (even without
its assistance) to give my esteem where confidence would
be ill bestowed. I wish all the Lees very well, notwith-
standing what has passed in my own mind concerning their
conduct towards me. We must take people as they are, and
such people are, at any rate, extremely difficult to meet with.

Our little Boy left us yesterday, and for Mr. Davies's
credit and his own, left us chearfully. A sweeter temper 'd
creature lives not, nor one better disposed to smooth down
life's asperities before him, either by well applied strength,
or by a power happier still, of rolling over them, and suffering
little hurt.

Miss Thrale has written to me very civilly from Lowe-
st offe. We have the whole island between us ; for Mr.
Piozzi promises me a dip in our Irish Channel next week,
and we go on Thursday next to a Bathing Place called
Prestatyn, about 14 miles off. Now do not exclaim " What !
are you 14 miles from the sea ? " because we are scarcely
4 miles ; but from any conveniences we are at least fourteen.
The invasion seems to keep nobody inland, and by the King's
giving up Bath entirely I gather the Ministers no longer feel
apprehensions. If French chicanery cannot raise a famine
or a sedition among us, and if " even-handed Justice does

232 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

indeed return the ingredients of that poyson'd chalice to
themselves," and set on foot a mutiny among their own
soldiers, peace must follow. I told you it was coming, and
plenty too ; and what I told you then my heart adheres to
still. . . .

Dr. Grossman, to whom the newspapers had married
Hannah More, was rector of Blagdon, the parish in which
her controversy with Bere, the curate, arose.

BRYNBELLA, Fry day Oct. 9, 1801.

Well! my dear, tardy Friend ! your letter is come at last,
and a nice letter it is. I have one too this post from Mr.
Whalley, so kind ! He has had enough to do with his Lady
Writers, but he loves both Hannah More and myself, and the
least we can do in return is to be merry, love our friends,
forgive our enemies, forget offenders and offences, and light
up our windows for the Peace. The terms are certainly in
no sense disgraceful, and since we have all been saying so
repeatedly, " Let us heal our own wounds, limit our own
expences, and care no longer for Allies who, 'tis sure, care
not for us; 99 I pronounce our Ministers fully justified to
this Country for quitting their post, and leaving every other
Country to the fate they would none of them resist. While
France, having enlarged her own territory beyond the
proudest hope of their own proudest Monarch, has prudently
bought us off from fighting Europe's battles, with two
eminently rich, useful, and valuable Islands : well knowing
that an Englishman will always be quiet while his palate is
pleased and his pockets full.

The Gold, and Silver, and Rubies, and Rice from Ceylon,
sweeten'd by Sugar from Trinidad, will keep Great Britain
in perfect good humour, and the Commercial Treaty will
keep her employ'd ; and in the meantime Alexander and
Buonaparte mean to divide the Globe. Such is apparently
their project for 1801 ; how and by what means God

THE PEACE 233

Almighty will render it abortive remains to be seen. The
internal politics of our United Kingdoms here at home offer
a fair shew certainly, for if people are not pleas'd with seeing
their ports filPd with foreign corn, and their stack-yards
groaning under the weight of our own harvests, what will
please them ? Not the price of Mutton in the markets I
trow ; for between the inclosing commons, and improving
the breed of sheep in Counties where such large animals
cannot find pasture, with many other reasons, their flesh
will sell for 6d. an ounce next year, and we shall have
more mouths to feed after the War is over, unless the
mortality at Liverpool goes on. Ah ! dear Friend ! I
told you how it would be, and true did I tell you, but
no matter,

For other thoughts mild Heav'n a time ordains,
And disapproves that care, tho' wise in show,
That with superfluous burden loads the day ;
And when God sends a chearful hour, refrains.
Let us light up our windows and be merry. . . .

Little did I dream seven years ago of seeing peace pro-
claimed between Great Britain and the Consular State of
France. Little could I ever have dreamed that I should
see Venice annihilated, Genoa forgotten, Piedmont's Alpine
barrier insufficient to keep out invasion, even in the depth
of winter ; and old Rome, divided against herself, dropping
into her enemy's mouth almost without invitation. The
world, as it appears, consenting to all this, and even happy
to think things have gone no worse. We shall see more yet,
but shall not see all. All ! no, nor half. . . .

I wrote Harriet Lee word how much her tale impress 'd
me. Tis a characteristic of this age, I think, to shew what
forcible impression may be made by setting only our mean
passions to work, avarice, fraud, and fear ; instead of
generosity, love, and valour. What she has done, however,

234 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

is very striking ; and every one I lend the book to is amazed
to find Conrade the murderer of Stralenheim. ...

The long-expected Peace, which gave us Trinidad and
Ceylon, was not finally arranged till March, but preliminaries
were signed October i.

BRYNBELLA, 30 Nov. 1801.

No, thank you, my dear anxious Friend ; we are pretty
well, and pretty happy, as health and happiness in this world
go. I have had more than my share of both, blessed be God.
My master has an addition to his torments, St. Anthony's
fire, in and out, but much less afflicting than troublesome.
It keeps him from going to neighbours' houses, and without
that, there is no hope of Autumnal society at Brynbella : it
will keep him from going to yours, and then he must learn
to swear of dear Mr. Pennington. Lord de Blaquiere, who
used to free my covers, is gone to London, and my prudence
(for the first time in my life) overbalanced my tenderness,
and so I made you uneasy : and so I 'm glad you were uneasy,
and there's an end.

We have written about the house to Mrs. Garrart and to
Harriet Lee both. They say my Lord Kenmare is in now,
and will be out on the i2th Jan. That time will do nicely,
and the poor folks round here are glad he does not quit sooner,
tho' Mr. Piozzi has given a dozen of them good warm winter
jackets, and a petticoat each to the wife : and barley, which
last year was at 32$., they may have now at i8s., and good
wheat at a guinea. So I shall leave them with less regret
this year than last for all those reasons ; and we employ a
vast many hands in planting. . . .

Something is the matter at Belvidere House, I do think.
Harriet says she has the Black Dog upon her back, and
writes as if wishing to be courted out of the secret. Instead
of doing which, I wrote her a rhodomontading letter, all mirth
and no matter x (as Beatrice says) to turn the course of her

1 Much Ado, II. i. 344.

iHpp<?

AGGRANDISEMENT OF FRANCE 235

ideas : for I wish not confidence where real kindness has
ceased to reside : and if these novel-writing Ladies fancy
that they, and they alone, can read the human mind, 'tis
a mistake. Your imagination is bound by the Juggler who
rattles and talks while he ties a knot in your pocket-hand-
kerchief, as surely as by the sly Thief that steals it, only the
intention is more honorable. . .

Oh do tell the Doctor that Lord Kirkwall did not marry
Miss Ormsby, and that everybody says it was because he
felt that he liked Miss Blaquiere better ; certain it is the first
match went off ; and if this second does not come on, I shall
wonder.

You were always more sanguine about the benefits of
peace than I was, but tranquillity is the best consequence it
can have ; let's not therefore disturb that by putting mono-
poly in people's heads, or in their mouths. Such talk leads
to nothing but riot. If there is no scarcity there will be no
monopoly : the people can monopolise nothing that is not
already scarce. A peace which leaves unresisted France
mistress of more territory than was ever hoped for by her
proudest Monarch in his proudest day ; which annihilates
before her grasp principalities and powers, and leaves her
tributary Republics secur'd to her services by the cheap
garrison, Opinion, cannot be viewed without horror by the
mere writer of Retrospection. Tho' such were the miseries
of war, and such the acquisitions by treaty to Great Britain,
that peace has a right, not only to please, but to console,
and even delight a true English subject. . .

BRYNBELLA, Tuesday Night, 15 Dec. 1801.

.... Well ! Time passes away, and so do torments,
and poor Mrs. Whalley will have no more in this world. I
shall have that of telling you that there will not be any
habitable Brynbella this Summer, that is coming. We shall
be thrown on the wide world ourselves, and mean to pass the
early part of it at Streatham Park, on a visit, the latter end

236 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

in Caernarvonshire, where my lease of a little estate is out,
and then call here for a month or two in our way back to
Winter Quarters. . . . On this hope of real comfort let us
live till then, and pass some chearful hours together at dear
Bath, where I would I were this moment ! Mr. Piozzi play-
ing on the Piano e forte to Mrs. De Luc, you and I listening,
and hoarding up chat for the half hour after he and his
auditress are abed and asleep. . . .

I cannot yet rid myself of this Bristol quarrel, If the
Mores are, and have been always Sectaries, why do they
deny it ? Where's the harm done ? I had rather they were
good High Church folks like you, and like myself, but the
religion that was good enough for Isaac Watts need not be
shrunk from. What are they afraid of ? ...

Mrs. Hamilton tells me sweet Siddons is alive, but I
fancy she is on no stage now. Poor Mrs. Whalley's death
will grieve her unaffectedly. I was never intimate enough
to feel her loss, but she was no common character, that's
certain. Half a dozen Gentlemen who lived much together
abroad were so sincerely vex'd when she left presiding at
their public table, that they quitted the house ; a surprizing
testimony to the conversation talents of one so wanting in
youth or beauty. . . .

[P.M. BATH.]

My dear Mrs. Pennington's friends will learn to hate
poor H. L. P.'s name, and that of her family, I fear, when I
have told her how my little John Salusbury and his Pre-
ceptor, Mr. Davies, are coming for ten days in the middle of
January, to occupy our only apartment, and that, as you
know, a bad one. The time is past when he was Piccolino
and slept with Allen, and play'd with the men and maids ;
he is a great boy now, and I would not trust him out of my
own sight, except with his Tutor, for all the territory of
Venice.

And now let us talk of sweet Siddons, who, next to

AN ASTROLOGER'S PREDICTION 237

immediate home concerns, is dear to you and me. Here
is her letter back, and truly sorry am I for her. Be per-
swaded now, and remain convinced that neither fame nor
fortune can make happiness. . . .

How people do study to prolong their own existence in
this world, and their own enjoyment o/this world, through
their offspring, may be learned by the strange tale, now
revived, of Hugh Capet's being told by an Astrologer that
his descendants should reign over France not quite 800 years.
" Will it," he said, " add to their time of sitting on this throne
if I do not reign at all ? " " Oh ! yes," replies the man,
" your dynasty will then continue 806 years." Hugh Capet
, for that reason, never crowned. And if you will add

:hose 806 years to A.D. 987, when he asked the question,
they will make 1793, when his last descendant was deposed
and murder 'd. This story now comes in peoples' heads
because of the surprising Labrador stone dug up in Russia,
id containing Louis XVPs profile delineated upon it by

:he hand of nature. Miss Thrale has seen it, and there is a
facsimile handed about this town ; yet many think it an
imposition, and those who think otherwise are ashamed to
say they think so. I wish to look at it in your company,
which always adds to every intellectual gratification be-
stow'd on yours truly, H. L. P.

Accept our Christmas Wishes, and hope of a happy
New Year.

Sat. 22 May 1802,
GEORGE ST., MANCHESTER SQUARE, LONDON, No. 5.

My dear Mrs. Pennington will begin to expect accounts,
and I think the first thing to give account of is our house ;
wherein was no bed, no fire, and no spit, upon our first
arrival. Here, therefore, none save a negative inventory
of felicities can be given ; but we hire, and we croud, and
we dine out, and we endure the inconveniences with the

238 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

more philosophy as neither house, nor lodgings, nor room
even in a Hotel can be got nearer to Christian dwellings
than Cecil Street in y e Strand, where Governor Bruce has
housed himself. So much for residence.

The cards of visitors and inviters, however, cover our
little table, and we have already pass'd three pleasant
evenings enough ! The first at dear Siddons's, where Lady
Percival, Mrs. Barrington, Mrs. FitzHugh, and Mr. Whalley
all met us ; and we talked of you, and everyone talked as
you would have wished to hear ; but Mrs. Siddons dis-
claims letter writing, and says her friends must be contented
without being her correspondents. Among them they per-
swaded us to push for places at the Theatre next night,
where Hermione's statue was exhibited for the last time.
I never did see anything so admirable, or so much like a
statue of our lovely Actress, for it really did seem stone ;
and the whole was got up with such taste and splendour
that I wished for Garrick to witness the magnificence of
modern Drury Lane. He would have wonder 'd tho' what
was become of his old Florizel and Perdita Barry and
Mrs. Cibber. Eemble played Leontes better than I ever
saw him do anything since the Regent. Apropos to which,
here is the Author ; looking as well as ever, handsome, gay,
and brilliant. Mrs. Greatheed alters, and becomes very fat.
Their habitation is said to be fixed at Guy's Cliffe, though
they are hastening to Paris as I understand, where Helen
Maria Williams and the famous Polish hero Koschiusko
attract general notice. Buonaparte is consider 'd as tott'ring
on an unfix'd seat of pow'r ; if he can once convert it into
a throne it will perhaps stand firmer.

We dined with Miss Thrales yesterday, the party par-
ticularly agreeable, and very good talkers in it. We women
retired to Coffee as the clock struck nine ; the men followed
in less than an hour, and when tea was taken away at
ii o'clock, we came home to sleep, and the rest went out to
various parties for y e evening.

A VISIT TO TOWN 239

Fryday was pass'd at Streatham ; little Salusbury seems
much improved. I heard his whole class say their lesson,
and made observations like those of Mrs. Quickly in the
Merry Wives of Windsor. It was in those characters
Susanna and Sophia shone, it seems, at the last Masquerade,
dress'd exactly alike, for Mrs. Ford and Mrs. Page. I wish
my rich tenant Mr. Giles would get a wife, that one might
with better grace accept his kind invitations to Streatham
Park, which never was so fine before. . . .

Charles Edward Bruce, Governor of Prince Edward's
Island, was third son of Charles, fifth Earl of Elgin, and
brother of the seventh Earl, who collected the Elgin Marbles.

Susanna Maria Cibber, a daughter of Mr. Arne, first
made her mark as a singer, Handel's contralto solos in the
Messiah and Samson being written for her. She obtained
even greater reputation as an actress, and played with
Spranger Barry at Drury Lane in 1748, and at Covent
Garden in 1750.

Tadeusz Kosciusko, after having been educated in
France, had a chequered military career in America, where
he fought for the Colonists, and at home. After the second
partition of his country he formed a Provisional Govern-
ment, but was soon after captured by his enemies. On his
release he visited England and America, but finally settled
in France, where, about this time, he was forming an estate
near Fontainebleau.

No. 5 GEORGE ST., MANCHESTER SQUARE.
Wensday, 2 Jun. 1802.

My dear Mrs. Pennington's beautiful letter is the picture
of her mind, a mind which only this vast Town can fill :
and she starves at pretty Bristol, as I call it, like a large fish
put in a small pond, pining for more space, and more of
something to occupy that space. My taste is different. I
really feel more confounded than amused at every public

2 4 o PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

place, more stunned than informed by every conversation,
and more generally perplex'd than pleased with the multi-
tude of faces, voices, and caprices that surround me. Banti
and Billington sang three nights ago at Viganoni's Benefit,
we heard them, not a duet, two separate songs of the
same class, Italian Airs, and both of them Bravura. When
they had done, " I am a Bantist," says one Critic. " Ah !
long live Billington ! " exclaims another, " Her's is the only
straight road to fortune and to fame." All appeared quite
distracted with the delight they had enjoyed, yet none
seemed satisfied ; for scarce a female in the room except
myself went home to bed at midnight. But some at Rane-
lagh, some at my Lady Pomfret's, disposed of the hours
once consecrate to sleep : while many filled the back rooms
of Fancy Dress Makers, who this year keep houses open all
night for various purposes. The ostensible one, (and that
rational enough too,) is that the women may chuse Habits
unobserved by each other for these innumerable Masquer-
ades, where two or three different characters are supported
every evening by Ladies of y e Haut Ton ; increasing ex-
pence, and facilitating intrigue in a manner hitherto un-
exampled. One consequence of all this is our paying half
a guinea for chickens, the couple I mean, and 9^. o' pound
for what I should have termed soup-meat at Bath Market.

Another happier consequence to Country Rustics like
us will be reconcilement to quieter scenes and far more
tranquil pleasures. I grow very much to resemble the
ill-bred fellow you and I used to laugh about, who, when
Lord Mount Edgecumbe showed him the glories of our
grandest sea view, from our most cultivated spot of earth
in Devonshire, commanding the exits and entrances of fleets,
armies, commerce, etc. from Plymouth Sound and Dock,
declared that he had been exceeding happy at The Leasowes,
for that he liked inland prospects, (for his part,) and river
fish. In no unsimilar ill-humour do I vaunt the comforts
of Bath society and a Sedan Chair, when the pole of some

MRS. PIOZZI'S CONQUESTS 241

gay carriage runs into our pannel, or when, to avoid that,
I take a run in the rain, and wet my feet upon their wide

Irottoirs.
Apropos to Bath conquests made, it appears I have
etained but one. Gen 1 . Smith is faithless, and has so com-
>letely forgotten us he never has left a card. Mr. Simmons
3 a fav'rite among the Great, and we humble Lodgers are
not likely to be remember'd while suites of splendid apart-
ments in every grand street and square are open to talents
of whatever kind. Edmund Charlton alone is true. I have
a letter from him signed my very duty/ul and affectionate
friend, and saying he is less unhappy now than when he wrote
his Mama word he was miserable. . . . Our own Titmouse
bids fair to possess abilities for bustle, and by y e time he
comes into y e world, it will be a mad world enough.

Well ! I can yet make new conquests. Lord Stanhope
professes himself my admirer, and the admirer of my books.
dy Corke call'd him and about 300 people more round her
last night, on the spur of a moment, because Mr. Piozzi, who
had met her in Cumberland Street, had promised to sing at
a very private party for her Ladyship's amusement : and there
was H. L. P. caressed by all the Liberty -Lovers : sweet Lady
Derby more lovely than them all, and protesting that my
husband never looked younger nor sung better. There was
a Mr. Moore, a new favourite with the public, who makes
his own music and poetry, and pleases people very much,
a sort of English Improvisatore, and there were the
Abrahams, and there was everybody : and all our talk was
the terrors and riots of a Mask'd Ball held the night before
at Cumberland House, now the Union Club. Many women
were hurt, and many frighted. My Susan Thrale came off
with a black eye, but her fingers were well, and she played
on y 6 harp at Lady Cork and Orrery's. Sophia went for a
Comic Muse, but said the end was very nearly tragical ;
those who fainted from fear were trode upon. Lady Derby
stood still and cried, and succeeded better in obtaining com-

242 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

passion. The men's brutality, Mr. Andrews protests, was
quite unexampled in a civilised country : but Mrs. Great-
heed, a jocund young Shepherdess, went thro' the whole
unhurt, under the protection of such a husband and such a
son as are rarely seen, and both striving which shall most
pet and most adore her. They are now all of them repairing
their charms for Mrs. Drummond Smith's Assembly, and
Beedle's grand Ranelagh Fete to be held next Fryday. So
much for flash intelligence. . . .

Political matters do not run quite so even. Buona-
parte tho' is likely as we hear to be made all he wishes ; and
if he lives to coin the money, Apollion Buonaparte Dei
Gratia Imperator Gallorum, it will be very curious indeed. . . .

Elizabeth Billington, considered to be the finest singer
England ever produced, was engaged both at DruryLane
and Co vent Garden. This year she sang in Italian opera at
the King's Theatre for Banti's farewell.

Lord Stanhope must have been Charles, third, Earl
Stanhope, the scientist, who married Lady Hester Pitt.

The English Improvisatore was, of course, Thomas Moore,
who had lately come into notice by his translations of
Anacreon. The British Critic described him as " a young
man of elegant and lively, though not sufficiently regulated
imagination " ; and predicted that if he applied himself to
" more important subjects, and of a more moral tendency,
few poets of the present day will equal, and perhaps scarcely
any excel him."

After the Peace of Amiens the Senate proposed to appoint
Bonaparte First Consul for ten years. He artfully referred
the question to the people, but in the form of a consulship
for life, which was adopted gth May.

No. 5 GEORGE ST., MANCHESTER SQUARE.
Sat. 19 June 1802.

. . . Cecy Mostyn indeed is no steady intelligencer ;
she says but little, and that little speaks good of but few. I

MARA AND BILLINGTON 243

could not dig from her one word, good or bad, concerning
you, tho' Mr. Piozzi and I both mentioned Mrs. Pennington's
name on various occasions, while we were all enjoying Mr.
Giles's kind hospitalities together at old Streatham Park.

We are returned now like Stella, to Small Beer, a Herring,
and the Dean. Apropos to Deans, we have lost our Bishop
at S. Asaph, and the learned Dr. Horsley is expected to reign
in his stead. But you had rather hear about Mara and
Billington. We were at the grand Concert and Benefit when
they sung a Duet with immoderate applause, tolerably im-
partial too, because Mara shone there with her low notes.
Agitata however went off very coldly, under visible tremors
of jealous anxiety. I could have cried almost to see 60
struggling so against six and thirty, with so little hope of
success in a professional contest ; whilst in all those where
merit is not look'd to, the Filly loses every heat. Our gay
Prince of Wales, gayer than ever, shines the charm of society,
his charmer by his side. When his fair cousin does appear
in public, she retires thence unnoticed except for her beauty
and dress, which is always singularly rich and grand.
Pretty women are common, as far [as] I observe, who think
so very little about them, but I see none strikingly hand-
some.

Sophia Streatfield is much alter'd in person, but her
manner, little changed, secures to her, even yet, some pow'rs
of fascination. At her request, we visit ; odd enough ! But
as Callista says, " It is no matter ; she can no more betray,
r 1 beruin'd. ..."

Well ! I am really haunted by black shadows. Men of
colour in the rank of gentlemen ; a black Lady, cover'd
with finery, in the Pit at the Opera, and tawny children
playing in the Squares, the gardens of the Squares I mean,

I -with their Nurses, afford ample proofs of Hannah More
nd Mr. Wilberforce's success towards breaking down the
mil of separation. Oh ! how it falls on every side ! and
preads its tumbling ruins on the world ! leaving all ranks,

244 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

all customs, all colours, all religions jumbled together, till like
the old craters of an exhausted volcano, Time closes and
covers with fallacious green each ancient breach of distinc-
tion ; preparing us for the moment when we shall be made
one fold under one Shepherd, fulfilling the voice of prophecy.

One of the things most worthy of remark here is the sur-
prizing increase in population. You would be astonish'd
to see the Town as much fuller (in all appearance,) as 'tis
larger. On an evening when common people come forth
for amusement, all these new streets leading up almost to
Hampstead, are thronged like Cheapside upon a busy day :
and when I enquire if Westminster and South wark suffer
from the change of fashion, as I deemed it, the reply is that
rents never were so high in both places, and that fresh outlets
are daily forming, and ground contended for on building
lease. . . .

Mr Piozzi says the Music Carts are a proof of all I say.
They are so numerous now it makes one wonder. Yet he
dislikes the style in which that art is carried on ; and though
Vinci is a pleasing singer, she is no favourite for want of
striking airs to shew her voice. Mr. Braham sang " Every
Valley " so as to remind me of old Johnny Beard the manner
I mean quite exactly, and you will trust my remembrance
of a performer I liked so much. . . .

On the death of Bishop Bagot, as Mrs. Piozzi antici-
pated, Samuel Horsley, who had previously been Bishop
of St. David's, was translated from Rochester to St. Asaph.

As Mara was born in 1749 she was not really much over
fifty. She is said to have made over 1000 by her fare-
well benefit this year, after which she retired to Russia, and
lived at Moscow till it was burnt during the French invasion.

Sophia Streatfield was one of those women who are
not only irresistibly attractive to the other sex when they
choose to exercise their powers, but seem impelled to
exercise them on every man with whom they are brought

i GROWTH OF LONDON 245

in contact. Thrale had fallen a victim to her fascinations,
and the undisguised admiration he showed for her had
caused his wife much heart-burning many years before, as
she describes in her Autobiography.

John Braham, the tenor, son of a German Jew, had been
singing at Drury Lane and the Festivals of the Three

f Choirs for about six years. His predecessor, John Beard,
born about ninety years before, began as a singer in the chapel
of the Duke of Chandos at Cannons. He made his reputa-
tion in Acis and Galatea, and appeared at Drury Lane in
1737. His first wife was Lady Henrietta Herbert, daughter
of James, Earl Waldegrave, and widow of William, Marquess
of Powis.

LONDON, 16 July 1802.

You will wonder, dear Friend, what has delayed us here
so long. I will tell you now that we are delayed no longer.
In the first place our letters from Wales tell us hourly
of the impropriety impossibility I might call it of being
comfortable at Brynbella. In the next place we are paying
only 4 guineas o' week here for a whole house, such as it is,
so I see not where we could be cheaper, and many Friends
that leave this Town very late, have made it agreeable to
us by letting us live in our house very few days in every
week. Mr. Piozzi says we have dined from home no fewer
than 30 times. . . .

England seems quite on fire with these odious and foolish
elections. The scenes exhibited in my young days by
Johnny Wilkes could alone equal the raging uproars at
Brentford during this last week. Mr. Bradford dare not
go through the place to Henley on his necessary business,
and the Sans-Culotte Candidate at Covent Garden keeps
Westminster all in a ferment. An intelligent acquaint-

Iance newly returned from France describes that Country
very differently. The people's spirit is totally broken down,
[ie says, and any government is welcome to them that will

246 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

leave quiet individuals in peaceable posession of their lives.
Not a Country Gentleman's seat is left standing, he tells
me, between Calais and Paris, nor any place of worship,
except what is filled with shops, raree-shows, etc. Buona-
parte's declaration, that he will absolutely hear a Military
Mass four times per annum, has made them clear out one
church in the Capital : but force will be found necessary
to oblige his subjects to marry, as they have learn'd to live
without conjugal shackles, till the gross licentiousness of
French behaviour is deemed positively dangerous to popu-
lation. Our Streatham neighbour, a wealthy and well
accomplished friend of Mr. Giles, hasten'd to bring back
again his wife and daughter : tho' when they were come
home he protested that no modest woman was left.

What else shall I tell to amuse you ? Our talk is only
how unfavourable the weather is for Vauxhall : I got more
rational converse at our own good Tenant's table last Sunday
than I have heard now for some time. . . . Something is
however always going forward at London, and Mons r
Garnerin's Balloon called all its inhabitants into the fields
here one day, when such an exhibition of umbrellas dar-
ken'd the air as I could not have conceived without seeing.
Our country servants' amazement at the numbers flocking
round contributed exceedingly to my diversion. Little
Betty was half out of her wits with wonder, and even Tom
takes interest in the appearance of five or six hundred
soldiers on a field-day in Hyde Park. They are going back
to Brynbella immediately. . . . Mr. Piozzi has bought a
nice cart here, and a horse which draws them down in it,
whilst we proceed to Tenby through Oxford and Chelten-
ham. . . .

The Brentford election riots were the result of the
candidature of Sir F. Burdett, who had attacked the New
House of Correction in Coldbath Fields as the " English
Bastille," giving rise to the following squib :

BRENTFORD ELECTION

247

" Ho ! Ho ! " cries the Devil, " come, bring me my boots !
Here's a kettle of fish that my appetite suits,

To Brentford an airing I'll take ; 'tis past bearing
That my friends should be fettered by Justice Mainwaring.
But young B tt I like ; and will form a connection

To abolish jail, gibbet, and House of Correction."

Andre Jacques Garnerin made the first successful descent
by a parachute. He demonstrated his invention in Paris
in 1797, and this year came to London, where he ascended
from North Audley Street, and descended from a height
of about 8000 feet, near St. Pancras.

TENBY, S.W., Tuesday, 3 Aug. 1802.

What can be the matter, dear Mrs. Pennington ? When
you do not write something must be the matter I am afraid.
We were so near you at Cheltenham ; I expected letters
there from all the living world, but nobody's pen stir'd, and
after having drank water for a whole week, without any of
the usual effects from it, we drove on through South Wales
to the Sea, which always looks homeish to a subject of Great
Britain. The beauties of Brecknockshire never seem to have
been praised half enough. . . . Our little salt water cup
here is the prettiest \hing possible, a caricatura in miniature
of the Bay of Naples and I hope Lord Nelson will be struck
with the resemblance if he comes hither with the Hamiltons
next Thursday, as w; expect. Four thousand people col-
lected in a trice to give him welcome at Caermarthen, and
sung the Conquering Hero as he past. It was the greater
proof of their gratitude because a temporary frenzy had
seized all the inhabitants, who were battling an Election
contest with fury unexampled, till he arrived, who united
Reds and Blues in a momentary procession, accompanying
and applauding the warrior who, by his prowess, had
purchased them leisure to display their folly. The dis-

248 PIOZZI-PENN1NGTON LETTERS

graceful scenes exhibited at Brentford and Nottingham
are however of a far different complexion. . . .

I dined among profess'd Democrates just before we left
London, but it seemed to me as if their fondness for Paris
was rather diminished than increased by their last visit to
that Metropolis, where they described Buonaparte as living
in a Camp rather than a Court, and with a careful brow
receiving, not enjoying, the homage paid him. By their
talk I gather'd that Helen Williams lives in the same Hotel
with Stone ; but that no scandal or idea of connection
subsists for that reason ; that Koschieffsky, the Polish
chieftain, is her hero, much as Miss Lee venerates General
Paoli ; and that her house (Helen's) is the resort of a
Literary Coterie, all malecontents, who tell those that get
into their circle what a short duration the present order of
things will be granted, and what happy days await France
when the next change takes place. Was noi Lord Lyttleton
right enough when, walking round Ranelagh, he observed
that pleasure was always in the next Box ?

Miss Hamilton is said to be writing somewhat very
entertaining in a cottage near some of the Lakes. Miss
Edgeworth makes everybody laugh but ine, with her Essay
on Irish Bulls. Hannah More is suffering from her Pamphlet
Fever still. And they tell me Helen Williams thinks of
nothing with real delight except London Society, and an
unsullied reputation for female honour. Her mother, yet
alive, curses the atheistical notions that surround her,
teaches Cecilia's Babies Dr. Watts 's Hymns and our Church
Catechism, prays for King George the Third morning, noon,
and night, and centres all her wishes in that one of seeing
old England (forsooth,) once again. ' Why upon earth did
they leave it ? ...

Pasquale de Paoli had been elected Generalissimo of
Corsica in 1755, and held the post till the Genoese sold the
island to France in 1768, when he escaped to England, and

NEWS FROM FRANCE 249

was granted a pension. He accepted the Governorship at
the Revolution, but being disgusted at the proceedings of
the Convention, organised a revolt, and was again elected
Generalissimo. Finding himself unable to maintain the
independence of his country, he agreed to hand it over to
England, and when we evacuated the island, retired to
London, where he died in 1807. His remains were con-
veyed to Corsica in 1889.

Miss Hamilton's " something amusing " would appear
to be her Letters on Education, published 1801-2. The
Essay on Irish Bulls was the joint work of Richard Lovell
and Maria Edge worth. The British Critic deemed it " a
kind of peace-offering to the Irish nation for the harmless
satire of Castle Rackrent"

TENBY, Friday, August 6, 1802.

This is indeed a dismal end to the long silence of poor
dear Mrs. Pennington. Your letter kept us both awake
last night, yet I have fixed on no mode of consolation to
be offer'd you in the morning. Should it please God that
you were to become once more a Single Woman, I hope we
should always be able and willing to afford you shelter.
In the mean time it is your duty to be careful of your health,
your Husband, and your Mother, who, of the three, is really
most to be pitied. There is always some brighter part
than the rest, of every cloudy sky ; and that part gets more
luminous as one fixes one's eyes upon it. ...

Be pers waded to anticipate possible, though distant,
good ; you will not believe in ills till they are near indeed.
My croaking with regard to public matters you rejected,
as disturbing your rejoycing in the peace, and the plenty,
and the taking away of the Income Tax : but what I said
then might now be seen, if we were not blind : it will shortly
be felt, for feeling is a sense that will remain long after the
others are blunted.

If the Parliament, by finding Sir Francis Burdett's

250 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

votes illegal, make the Westminster election void, who will
stand forward to oppose him ? Mainwaring ? And if he
does, will that be very advantageous, (think you,) towards
the peace of the Country and our Sovereign Lord the King ?
Or will his next opponent, if Mr. Mainwaring be weary, have
any better success ? And will you give the Democrates a
fresh triumph, because this last is not sufficient ? If he is
outed at a stroke, and Mr. Mainwaring called in, the con-
sequent violence will be great indeed, and the uproar
deafening. It was an ill-managed business. . . .

What you have lost, could not, I suppose, have been
saved ; what Government loses, they do not much struggle
to keep. Everything is done in a new way, and we who
lived in former times do not much like it. But as Baretti
said, when losing at Backgammon, " These are bad dice,
but we must play them as they are." . . .

Sea bathing is beautifully pleasant in this little place,
fertile in fish beside, but seeing no fruit makes one feel as
if summer was quite over. . . . Mr. Piozzi waits here very
good humourdly till Brynbella has made her toilette.
What a mercy 'tis that Gout has not yet laid hold on
him ! . . .

Mrs. Pennington's troubles were of a financial descrip-
tion, and seem to have been brought about, for the second
time, by her scape-grace brother.

BRYNBELLA, 30 Aug. 1802.
(Franked " Kirkwall.")

Sick or well, sorry or glad, nobody sure does write such
letters as our dear Mrs. Pennington. It is because nobody
else writes from the heart, I suppose. . . . Mr. Pennington
was always an honourable character, and since you are to
be a dependent wife, be thankful your dependence is upon
a Gentleman who, while he deems himself such, will never
desert you. Be thankful too, that you have no young

MRS. 1'10/XI ( Annl'T
ttv I . AVi/,- n,~ti-r 11 /t-(ta!t/ti l>y I laming,
'l-'nun tlit' Collection <>/' ./. M. BroadUy,

I
I

WELSH SCENERY 251

family. You cannot now I think, be parent of two children,
and live to see the one rob the other and run away. These
are sins against Nature ! My heart recoils from thought of
them. Poor Mrs. West on ! ! I, who am a mother, must
feel for her !

After long wanderings and washings, like the Lady in
Hannah More's Village Politics, with hot water and cold
water, salt water and fresh water, here am I returned to
Brynbella, and if I thought it would divert you for a
moment, I would tell you how sublime and beautiful a
journey we had across this Principality from South to North.
Fine Alpine scenery between Machynlleth and Bala, vary-
ing at every step ; and presenting now a rough, high,
uncultivated rock, and now clusters of small corn fields
round a tiny village, that for aught I see need, not be so poor,
because the grass and grain are really plentiful. Small
lakes among volcanic fragments are perpetually occurring,
and our guide showed us one which had literally no bottom.
From Bala Pool indeed the River Dee takes its source, and
winds about with very elegant bends till it reaches Chester ;
but Kader Idris is the chief feature of the whole Country,
and tho' far smaller than Snowdon, it is much more im-
pressive. Our weather likewise on that day was gloomy ;

The winds were high, the clouds low-hung,
And drag'd their sweepy trains along
The shaggy mountain's side.

Apropos to Verses, you must read the British Critic for
last April, and what he says of Retrospection : it has en-
tertained rite exceedingly, and will amuse Gen 1 . Smith and
Dr. Randolph. I hope those two friends will join to console
you ; what talents and literature can do, they are, above all
men I know, capable of administering : but it is a grievous
thing to think how very little can be done by either talents
or literature. Piety and business will effect in a month

252 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

what the other two could not perform in a year. Fly to
those, dear Sophia, and be not solitary or idle for an instant.
Your situation is happy in that too it forces you on Com-
pany. Nor is it wise at any time to be fastidious ; you
may receive from very plain people very good hints, and
one comes away having learn'd something where 'tis least
to be expected, much oftener in this life than you would
think for. . . .

Sir Francis Burdett, a friend of Home Tooke, had been
elected for Middlesex by a large majority over Main waring,
a magistrate who had opposed the inquiry into prison
abuses. He sat for two years, when the election was de-
clared void, but litigation went on, at an enormous expense,
till 1806, when Burdett resolved not to contest another
election.

The British Critic describes Retrospection as a work
" perfectly singular, a Universal History from the be-
ginning of the Christian Era, translated into chit-chat
language, alternating with passages in an elevated style " ;
and inclines to think that it was originally written in blank
verse, but disjointed by the printer or the author, e.g.
(P- 76) :

" Chased many Vandals from their ancient seats,
And so increased his wild and wide domain,
Soon to be called after his name, their founder,
That all the Northern districts of the Empire
Felt justly fearful of these gathering storms."

" Many, like M. Jourdain, have talked prose half their lives
without knowing it, but few have written half a large book
in harmonious heroics, when they meant to write mere
prose. If we might advise, the ingenious Author should
turn the whole into blank verse, and republish it."

TOURISTS 253

BRYNBELLA, Thursday 7 Oct. 1802.

en a Member of Parliament says to me, " Shall I
give you a Frank ? " " Oh yes ! " I always reply, " for
Mrs. Pennington." Lord Kirk wall's generosity is the cause
of this letter, because in these hard times one likes, you see,
to get a little chat gratis. The next thing to be considered
is, what shall I ask ? and what shall I tell ? That my
aster has had a smart fit of gout in his hands, and that I
xpect him to have one in his feet, may be told with truth.
That the Countess of Cork and Orrery drove up to our door
while he was confined, may be told with some degree of
xation, because I knew not how on earth to amuse her,
but she was good humoured, and gave little trouble, and
ter a fortnight's visit went away. What she related
of her adventures among the crags of Kader Idris, her
admiration of that wild mountain scenery, and the contrast
r gay prospect afforded her, will, I suppose, be served up
in many a London Assembly next May.

Ladies appear now to travel all Autumn upon a foraging
Ian of gleaning talk for their Spring parties. They who
pend June and July in London can never perswade me that
ey are really in search of rural pleasures the remaining
part of the year in our cold climate, or that rural pleasure
is really to be found where deformity is sought. Miss
Thrales have been looking for both, as I understand, among
he Western Islands, described by every traveller as barren,
bleak, and dangerous. Had Mr. Piozzi and I known that
they were navigating the stormy Sound of Mull when we
heard the wind roar so a fortnight ago, irritated by Equi-
noctial Gales, we should have been in pain for them, not
for the furniture expected from Mayhew and Ince to de-
corate pretty Brynbella.

All is safe however. Mrs. Bagot used to say it was
superfluous to wish anybody a good journey, because, said
she, everybody has a good journey. " Ah ! dear Friend 1 "

254 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

I hear you exclaim, " many have a good journey through
life too ; yet is it not superfluous to wish their neighbours
one likewise ; for surely mine has been a very bad one."
Come, courage ! The next stages will be smoother, for
you shall not predict of your own fortune with that un-
lucky acuteness you show in discerning the future lot of
others. . . .

Sweet Siddons . . . writes me word from Belfast that
she will call here in her hurrying journey back to our
Metropolis. . . .

The next letter was written the same day, and was
evidently called forth by the announcement of an unex-
pected visit from Mrs. Pennington ; but neither this, nor
that of Mrs. Siddons, ever came off.

BRYNBELLA, Thursday 7 Oct. 1802.

My dear Mrs. Pennington will have the sincerest welcome
possible, but she will have nothing else. My volunteer
letter, franked by Lord Kirkwall, will shew you that we
have no curtains, and no blinds up, no anything but, as
Buchetti used to say of a Spanish Posada, " Four walls !
no more." Those walls will however resound with joy
at your arrival, and dear Siddons's. How good and
charming she is ! I have a letter three lines long from
her too. . . .

The next is written while on the way to pay their winter
visit to Bath.

GLOUCESTER, Sat. night 4 Dec. 1802.

And so I lose Hannah More, and so I lose Mrs. Siddons,
and so I lose dear Mrs. Pennington, and so I lose my fav'rite
house at Bath.

Still drops some joy from with 'ring life away !

BATH AGAIN 255

But 'tis all Jor their good, as the children say, and I resign to
:y fate. Let us hope at least that increase of health and
fortune may make them happy. My Master comes better
from Brynbella this year than I scarce ever saw him. . . .

You caution'd me, dear Friend, not to tell of your
arrangements. Assure yourself I am incapable of any such
breach of trust. If one lets the Maid comb one's own
secrets out of one's head, (and I have none in,) those confided
o me are in a safer place, lodged in my heart. I hope your
new projects will answer, and that you will tell me so on
New Year's Day, after dinner. . . .

No. 5 HENRIETTA STREET,
Thursday 16 Dec. 1802.

Dear Mrs. Pennington is always right, the letter was
a mere nothing. Such will, I hope, prove the more ration-
ally alarming report of Constantinople's sudden and un-
looked for destruction. Be that as it may, our charming
>r. Randolph took occasion to draw thence a most beautiful
and impressive sermon last Sunday, when he preached better
than ever I heard him, to a heterogeneous congregation,
which attracted my notice as much as the discourse did :
Mr. Pitt, Dr. Maclean, the Duchess of York, and Bishop
of West Meath. . . .

Harriet Bowdler is a sad loss to me, and so are the
Mores. Bath is scarce Bath this year somehow : were it
not for Laura Chapel and Pump, I should regret leaving
solitude and Brynbella ; but then Laura and Pump are
two good things for soul and body, and what is all the
>t ? . . .

The Mores removed this year from Bath to a new house
icy had built at Barley Wood, in the parish of Wrington,
and which became their permanent home. It would seem
that a similar move was responsible for the loss of Harriet,
(properly Henrietta Maria) Bowdler, sister of the editor of

256 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

the Family Shakespeare. She herself was a writer of
poems and essays, and also of a volume of sermons, pub-
lished anonymously, which were so good that Bishop
Porteous is said to have offered preferment to the un-
known author.

Pitt, who was now living in retirement at Walmer
Castle, was much harassed by debts, and in October
visited Bath for his health. It was for his birthday dinner
this year that Canning wrote the song, " The Pilot that
weathered the Storm/'

The Bishop of Meath, Thos. Lewis O'Beirne, had been
educated for the priesthood in the Roman Church, but
received English Orders and was made Bishop successively
of Ossory and Meath. He appears to have been an ex-
cellent prelate, reviving the office of Rural Dean, and care-
fully examining his Ordination candidates.

Tuesday, 21 Dec. 1802.

Well, well ! as Sir George Colebrooke says, if we must
not meet we may write, I suppose ; and I really will try
to rejoice if my absent friends are happy. Dear Siddons's
letter was of more real value than you seem to think. All
our News Papers and News Talkers have been telling how
she was hissed in Dublin, and how ill it had made her. . . .
But all is well, and so that wise man Mr. Twiss, with his
clear, straightforward understanding, said it would be ;
and February will bring her home with all her money safe
I hope. . . .

Our weather here is wondrous mild and soft, good for
Brynbella planting, and very good for the very poor people,
who cannot keep themselves and their one cow alive in
hard frost. . . .

The hostile reception of Mrs. Siddons at Dublin was the
result of an unfounded report that she had refused to act
for a local charity. It appears that she gave her assent

MRS. SIDDONS IN IRELAND 257

when the manager suggested it, but the latter, for some
reason, failed to arrange for the performance.

The remaining letters from Bath have no particular
interest, but it appears that just before her departure Mrs.
Piozzi had rather a sharp attack of illness, apparently
influenza.

Thursday, 14 Ap. 1803.
. . . Dr. Parry and Mr. Bowen both called yesterday
to bid me go out at noon this memorable Thursday. So I
went, but found no enjoyment, except in returning without
any apparent harm, or fresh access of Fever, which they
had all so imbued my mind with, that I felt nothing while
from home but fears of a relapse. It does not appear how-
ever that such an accident has happen 'd to me as yet :
and perhaps God Almighty will permit us to see Brynbella
once again.

Sunday, 17 Apr. 1803.

. . . We shall set out, if it please God, to morrow sen-
night, and sleep at Fleece Inn, Rodborough. . . .

My airing in the carriage did me good, and the knocking
knees took a walk with me yesterday, up Pulteney Street
and down again, no more. Today I will go twice up
and down, and so season myself by degrees. . . .

BRYNBELLA, 19 Jun. 1803.

Assure yourself, dear Mrs. Pennington, that my thoughts
towards you are in no wise changed : and if I always
thought you the best letter writer in our King's dominions,
(before they were contracted by loss of Hanover,) how
much more do I think so since your last arrived, full as it
is of pungent and tender reproaches. . . .

There are two Bishops and one Dean dead, you
see, and their families left low in the world ; yet the
Democrates keep on stripping clergymen of every reason

258 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

for becoming such ; and tear away tythes etc. without
mercy. . . .

Sweet Siddons is at Cheltenham healing her honourable
heart I hope, and washing away its cares. Mr. Whalley is
happy, it is a cordial to hear of somebody being happy.
You are too nervous as the phrase is ; meaning that your
nerves are too irritable to be placidly content ; and that is
the best state to be in. ...

The next letter is addressed to Miss Hannah More's
house, Barley Wood, but has been re-directed to Hotwells.

BRYNBELLA, 31 July 1803.

Such is the present situation of everybody and every-
thing, that even your lovely description of Nature and her
beauties, in some place which you, dear Mrs. Pennington,
call Bower Ashton but of which I never heard in my life
before fail to detain my mind from events in prospect,
and near prospect now, of enormous importance indeed.

Poor Jane Holman, cydevant Honourable Miss Hamilton,
is running hither for refuge from murder and massacre.
She has written to-day to bid us expect her every moment ;
and though the ground is covered with wavy corn, and the
trees are loaded with apples, pears, and all useful fruitage,
my heart at this instant feels more bent on their defence
than on their admiration.

I defer'd writing till the time that your letter gives me
leave to suppose you are under the half sacred roof of a
Lady, to whom, if we direct in Europe, it will find the des-
tined way. Present me with truly respectful attention
where I wish so sincerely never to be forgotten ; and in
return I will enclose you some Impromptu verses, which
I threw across the table to Mr. Piozzi last Monday. We
had no company . . . only one friend from Denbigh,
and the Parson of the Parish, who translates Miss More's
admirable stories into Welsh, for benefit of his poor and

THE TWENTIETH WEDDING DAY 259

ignorant parishioners. But here are the lines to Gabriel
Piozzi, 25 Jul. 1803.

Accept, my Love, this honest Lay,

Upon your twentieth Wedding Day.

I little hoped that life would stay

To hail the twentieth Wedding Day.

If you're grown gouty, I grown gray,

Upon our twentieth Wedding Day,

Tis no great wonder ; Friends must say

Why 'twas their twentieth Wedding Day

Perhaps there's few feel less decay

Upon a twentieth Wedding Day :

And many of those who used to pay

Their court upon our Wedding Day,

Have melted off, and died away

Before the twentieth Wedding Day.

Those places too, which, once so gay,

Bore witness to our Wedding Day,

Florence and Milan, blythe as May,

Marauding French have made their prey.

If then of gratitude one ray

Illuminates our Wedding Day,

Think, midst the wars and wild affray

That rage around this Wedding Day,

What mercy 'tis we are spared to say

" We have seen our twentieth W T edding Day."

If Helen Williams, ever lovely, and once so beloved ! is
looking towards England now in preference to France, it
is a great testimony to our Island's felicity and honour.
For such suffrage is not mean, and Helena has had experi-
ence of both nations, since she published that little book in
which she charged our Londoners with harshness, avarice,
and want of feeling, because they suffer'd some Monsieur
de Fosse to wear straw boots. The Londoners' behaviour

260 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

now does them vast credit in the opinion of all thinking
people, and Mr. Bosanquet's speech will doubtless be
handed down to posterity as giving [a] great example.
Should not you be struck with the sight of a Metropolis
you lived so long in, fortified against hostile force ? It
would to me bear an extremely awful appearance. . . .

Mrs. Mostyn is said to meditate her return to the rustics
of N. Wales, who will receive her as if she came to confer
on us both benefit and honour. Such is the consequence
of that lofty conduct which forces people into their places,
as the Ton Ladies call treating their humble servants with
distant and scarce lukewarm civility. Well ! those who take
the other way are worse used in this world, and I suppose
will stand no better in the next for directing to Miss White
instead of plain Sarah. I cure every day of some prejudice
or other. . . .

The short-lived peace had come to an end, the English
Ambassador quitting Paris on I2th May, and the old scare
of invasion was at once revived. Mrs. Holman was flying
from Ireland, always a likely landing-place for a French
expedition. After a quarrel with the management of
Covent Garden, her husband had, for a time, transferred
himself to the Dublin Theatre, and subsequently took up
farming

The verses, at any rate as to their form, are modelled
on those written by Dr. Johnson to celebrate her own
thirty-fifth birthday, and which will be found in Hay ward's
Autobiography, i. 31-2.

The reference to Helen Williams was evidently occa-
sioned by Mrs. Pennington having communicated the con-
tents of a letter received from her early in the month, in
which Helen justifies her journey to Switzerland in company
with Stone, as previously mentioned. After expressing her
regret at hearing of the death of Maria Siddons, and offering
condolences to the afflicted father and mother, she proceeds :

ROYALTIES 261

kl Mrs. Piozzi's heart is then changed towards me ! I am
afflicted to hear it, because I cannot cease to love her. If
she could look into my heart she would be very sorry for
her error : she would not, I am sure, be willingly unjust to
any one. Vet I should have conjectured, I own, that
having suffered so much from calumny herself, she would
have been slow to believe ill of others ! "

Saturday, 5 Nov. 1803.

(Franked " Kirkwall.")

Our correspondence has languished miserably of late,
dear Mrs. Pennington, but though your letters may be
unacknowledged, they cannot be forgotten. . . .

I have heard . . . how much notice you attracted from
the Duke of Cumberland, while he was remaining in or near
Bristol, and heard it with a great deal of pleasure. Indeed
/ ever thought it a consolatory circumstance to live where
a Royal Family is established, and posessing a large stake
in the country one inhabits. They are the most likely
people to be active in protecting it ; and the present situa-
tion of affairs in England, added to the exemplary conduct
of our British Princes, makes me cling closer to my old
opinions.

We have had the Duke of Gloucester's son in this Country;
he spent some time at Llewenny Hall, and Lady Orkney
came here herself to insist on my dining with him there.
But Mrs. Holman was just come from Ireland, and I would
not leave an old friend for a young Prince, you may be
sure. His behaviour was much admired wherever he
appeared.

The festivities that have since taken place on account
of Lord Kirkwall 's birthday, and his Baby's christening,
had us for sincere admirers. It was a pretty sight to see
the four generations of an ancient and noble family all in
one room so : the Marquis of Thomond kissing his great
grandson, and dancing himself at the Ball.

262 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

I hope Buonaparte will not disturb our happiness in
this Country, which never looked more beautiful. . . .

We have got a Clergyman to our mind besides, and Mr.
Piozzi has permitted me to pick up all my poor old Ancestors'
bones, and place them in a new vault under the church,
which he kindly repairs, and floors, and beautifies at no
small expence. So here is a fair given account of my long
silence.

Ernest Augustus, fifth son of George III, afterwards
King of Hanover, had been created Duke of Cumberland
1799 ; he was now in command of the Severn District.
The Duke of Gloucester was William Henry, third son of
Frederick, Prince of Wales. His son, William Frederick,
known as Prince William of Gloucester, Colonel of the ist
Regiment of Guards, was appointed Lieutenant-General in
1799.

The four generations at Llewenny Hall were : (i) Mur-
rough (O'Bryen), Earl of Inchiquin and first Marquis of
Thomond, who had married Mary, Countess of Orkney.

(2) Their daughter and heir, Mary, now Countess of Orkney,
who married the Hon. Thomas Fitzmaurice of Llewenny.

(3) Their eldest son John, Viscount Kirkwall, who married,
1802, the Hon. Anna Maria de Blaquiere. (4) Their infant
son, born 1803, Thomas John Hamilton, afterwards fifth
Earl of Orkney.

BRYNBELLA, 3 December 1803.

When other things go pretty well, let us not, dear Mrs.
Pennington, despair of the Commonwealth. If the Ministry
cannot or will not take care of us, we must take care of the
Ministry : and sure I am that hitherto History affords no
example of a nation enslaved, whose inhabitants resolved
to be free.

For the rest, I am ready enough to confess that un-
precedented occurrences are, in these strange times, to be

THE FRENCH ARMADA 263

wit ness 'd every day, and God only knows what may happen ;
I do surely hope and trust old England will never dis-
grace herself. . . . This famous Armada however, and
its Xerxes, do not seem in haste to try the courage of their
only opponents, tho' backed with the assistance of our old
Allies, and gilt with the trappings torne from our
Sovreign's immediate family and possessions. He will be
right to say as Macduff does, " Within my sword's length
set him," * etc. . . . Mrs. Holman staid with us 8 weeks
exactly, no more. . . . Her husband is writing for the
Stage. . . .

The Colonel's old Papa seems likely to outlive all he ever
heard of in his youth, I think ; the monarchy of France, the
haughtiness of Spain, the papacy of Rome, the riches of
Holland, the independence of Switzerland, and the prosperity
of Great Britain. While one general pulse however keeps
beating, my hopes will live, and beat too. Buonaparte's
fate draws towards a dreadful Crisis, let him but come out,
and our Admirals will give good account of him. Miss
Thrales are at Broadstairs under Lord Keith's protection,
who fears them not ; they row out to sea for purpose of look-
ing at the Wolves over the Water, and say it is an enormous
preparation sure enough, but our sailors have no doubts of
the event, and Mr. Gillon's letters are encouraging. He
likes what has been doing in West India very well. Oh !
how it must provoke the Tyrant of Europe to think he
cannot likewise tyrannise in America.

The seizure of Alexandria too, proves the active secresy
of our Government ; and I remember Ministers who would
have [been] much praised for such a step. Once more
adieu, and do not despair of the Commonwealth.

Our plans must wait permission from above. If these
Marauders come, home is the proper place to be found in :
I)- sides that my Master must see some weeks over before
he becomes portable, and in those weeks ! ! ! Oh Heavens !
Macbeth, IV. iii. 234.

264 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

what is there dreadful in this world that may not happen
before the ist January 1804 ?

God preserve you, dear Mrs. Pennington, and have
mercy on the anxious heart of your H. L. P.

Though the much-talked-of invasion still hung fire, the
French were able to inflict some loss on England by the
occupation of Hanover this year. On the other hand,
many of the French and Dutch colonies in the West Indies
fell into our hands, mainly through the energy of Sir Samuel
Hood, who helped to capture St. Lucia and Tobago, with
Demerara and other places on the mainland.

BRYNBELLA, Thursday 5 Jan. 1804.
(Franked " Kirkwall.")

Enjoy your Ball, dear Mrs. Pennington, and be assured
that all is at least as well with your particular Friendships
as with that one great public Family to which we all belong.
. . . Mr. Piozzi has weather'd this fit, and is come down
stairs once again. . . . My own health will do all that is
wanted from it, and as to wishing myself at Bath, / do not.
Dr. Thackeray gallop'd over from Chester, and what he did
afforded more immediate and visible relief than anything
I could hope, more than I ever saw done either by London
or Bath Physicians. There is besides one comfort in a
country Doctor one can never have from a town one. They
stay and sleep at your house, and have time to observe
the progress of your complaint, and the power of their own
medicines over it. ...

Shew Dr. Grey this letter. ... I am all of his mind
that England can be no better prepared for defence, or
France for attack. 'Tis a grand Tournament, on the de-
cision of which the world waits as composedly as it did
2000 years ago, when the plains of Pharsalia determined
the names of their sovreigns. The issue of this contest
will settle what Nation the others are to serve. I do

MRS. PIOZZI'S LITTLE BAG 265

eally wish the crisis was come now ; for after the Dinner
is once ready you know, be it little or much, it gets worse
for waiting. Our Volunteers will make themselves work,
if Buonaparte finds them none of the right sort. Let
him once appear and we know who to turn our swords
upon. . . .

No. ii HOLLES ST., Tuesday, 6 March, 1804.

So many things have occur'd since I received your last
letter, dear Mrs. Pennington, that this will of course be a
long one. The King's illness and recovery, the continued
talk of invasion, the widowhood of your fair friend, cydevant
Honoria Gubbins, the correspondence of those French Noble-
men so fete and so admired in Bath and Bristol, and these
present conjectures concerning Sir Sydney Smith, fill every
mouth, and render me still more enraged when toothach
hinders my list'ning to such interesting circumstances.

Never was there a moment more favourable for rusticated
folks like myself to pick up opinions, facts, etc., and fill my
little bag. But Lord St. Vincent's ill-timed ill health is
among the things I should like to fling out of it.

Dear Mrs. Siddons is in great beauty this year : her
Zara was never more passionately admired. The Kembles
look happy too, and so do Miss Lees ; but when I was intro-
duced to Mr. Cumberland at Lord Deerhurst's dinner yester-
day, I did not know him, nor he me. The public will not
however fail to recognize him, I suppose ; he tries

them in a new Play very soon. Poor Holman is poor

Holman ! ! ! and everybody seems grieved at his double
dis appoint men t .

Miss Thrales are well and gay ; Mrs. Mostyn plump and
pretty, so are her sturdy little boys. . . . Oxford will be
rendered a fine amusing place for the gay fellows by Mrs.
Lee's accusation of the Gordons : it was always a good place
for those who liked looking over books, conversing with
scholars, etc. We staid two days there on our journey to

266 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

London, for me to make my respects to the Eleusinian Ceres ;
but she, alas ! was gone to the other House, as the Players
say, Lord Elgin, who sent her over, being a Cambridge Man.
The weather has been very odd this year. We enjoyed
Spring at Brynbella, where birds were singing, and trees
coming out, every day before we came to Town for the Winter.
It has snowed and blow'd, and hail'd and rained, ever since,
I think ; and the Thames looked all in a storm to-day from
dear Lady Orkney's beautiful apartments at Chelsea. . . .

The King had a slight return of his malady in January.
On his recovery Addington, who had lost his majority,
resigned, and Peel succeeded to the Premiership in May.

Sir Sydney Smith had been appointed in 1803 to a small
squadron acting under Lord Keith off the coasts of Flanders
and Holland. He now seems to have been watching the
French preparations for invasion. Lord St. Vincent's
suffering was probably more mental than physical. His
exposure of the gross corruption prevalent in the Naval
Administration had drawn down upon him a storm of abuse
and misrepresentation, in which even Pitt joined.

HOLLES ST., Monday Ap. 16, 1804.

Dear Mrs. Pennington's beautiful letters shall lie no
longer unacknowledged. Mr. Parsons brought me the first.
. . . Dr. Gray came to see us since that, for the first time,
but his appearance spoke happiness, and his conversation
unaltered friendship to you and to ourselves. He is a good
man, and he liked our little Boy, who was at home just then
for Easter Holidays. ... As to dear Lady Orkney, she
takes her lodgings on a Milestone, I believe, for there is no
catching her, Town or Country. . . . Lady Hesketh will
be amused to hear that the people who have seen her cousin
Cooper's snuff-box, or the seat his favourite Mary sate in,
cry " Touch me, touch me, that you may say you have
touched the person who sate in Mrs. Un win's chair, or

BONAPARTE'S BLUNDER 267

andled Cooper's snuff-box." This is all good, is it not ?
r Mr. Hay ley.

Cumberland's Play keeps the stage, in spite of younger
its who wanted people to laugh at the Author instead of
he Comedy ; but Mrs. Abingdon and I, veterans like
himself, are glad that he succeeds ; for as she expresses it,
'He has a graceful mind."

Miss Lees and we have met twice or thrice, but either
e Life of a Lover, Sophia's new novel, is not out, or I have
ot seen it. Holcroft's Paris, and Miss Edgeworth's Popular
ales are the only books found in windows, on toilettes, etc.
No tales of wonder, and such are not hers, can equal the
th of Le Due D'Enghien, or the apprehensions seriously
tertained at present for Mr. Drake, British Ambassador in
varia, and our good friend, as you remember. . . . He
arried Miss Mackworth, and now we expect him to be
ed, as he surely will be, poor Fellow ! if Buonaparte
tches hold of him. These are novelties at least, though
ot novels ; yet few romances would have ventured such
incident. . . .

Mrs. Mostyn is full in feather, and high in song, as the
Ik say who keep Canary Birds, and her immense Aviary
ut me in mind of the phrase. She has three very sturdy
ys beside. De Blaquieres, Kirk walls, all Holies Street
believe, dined with her yesterday, and among the rest my
ay Master, and his and your H. L. P.

Harriet, wife of Sir Thomas Hesketh, was a daughter of
>hley Cowper, the uncle of the poet. The latter died in
:8oo, and his biography by his friend William Hayley was
published 1803.

In 1803 Sophia Lee gave up the school at Belvidere House,
and devoted herself to writing. Her first important work,
published the following year, took the shape of six volumes
of letters, entitled The Life of a Lover.

Thomas Holcroft, shoemaker, actor, and dramatist, had

268 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

been living for five years on the Continent to escape his
creditors. On his return he published in 1804 his Travels
from Hamburg through Westphalia, Holland, and the Nether-
lands, to Paris, in 2 vols. 410.

It was apparently with the idea of arousing prejudice
against England that Bonaparte brought an unfounded
charge of plotting his assassination against Mr. Drake and
Mr. Spencer Smith, our envoys at Munich and Stuttgard,
and procured their expulsion by the courts of Bavaria and
Wiirtemburg.

The treacherous seizure of the Due d'Enghien in March
in the neutral territory of Baden, his condemnation by a
court-martial on no specific charges, and hurried execution,
was a tragedy which shocked all Europe. It was this in-
explicable incident in the career of Bonaparte which gave
rise to the well-known mot of Fouche, " It was worse than
a crime, it was a blunder."

BRYNBELLA, Sunday Morng, 19 Aug. 1804.

I am the wretchedest Quarreller on earth, dear Mrs.
Pennington, and not the most ingenious Reconciler. Like
mine Hostess Quickly, I am the worse when one says
quarrel * : nor did ever the Country Gentleman in Ben
Jonson need London instructions in the art of angry re-
ciprocation more than I do. Let us leave a subject I
really understand so little, and lament that the universal
Quarreller, Death, has been so busy among our common
acquaintance since we parted.

How senseless, not to say offensive, must yours and my
Master's mutual complaints appear in the eyes of poor Mrs.
Dimond just now ! Such a son ! the parents' just pride
and joy so snatched ! And that unhappy Mrs. Adams
who, you may remember, said she had heard the bell ring
for her own execution ; she has lost the daughter she alone

1 "By my troth, I am the worse when one says Swagger."
2 Henry IV t II. iv. 113.

THE RIFT IN THE LUTE

269

esired to live for. Few people find the way of being happy,
d those who throw little Hedgehogs in one another's
paths, like the rioters, to make them stumble and roll about,
uvc none of my approbation. . . .

You will not be talked to (you say), of the Cat, and the
Dog, and the times, and the weather ; tho' really the first
f these subjects is not amiss for you quarrelling disciples,
nd I will not, like Grumio, talk to you of how bad my poor
aster was when your letter came to him, and in what a
ocking situation his fingers have been placed by the last
t of gout, no nor what a loss we have sustained in poor
odgkins, nor what a successor we picked up for him.
t all these wonders, as old Shakespeare says, shall now
buried in oblivion, 1 as shall all my true expressions of
miration at your letters, which still exceed every one the
t received. Farewell then, and be merry, and believe
e with every possible good wish, your ancient Jigg-
aker, H. L. P.

1 "Things of worthy memory which now shall die in oblivion."
Darning of the Shrew., IV. i. 85.

CHAPTER VII

Renewal of friendship, 1819 Weston-super-Mare W. A. Conway
Birthday fete, 1820 Conway's love affair Penzance The
Queen's trial More law Land's End Return to Clifton and
death, 1821 Mrs. Pennington's obituary notice Her relations
with the daughters and the executors Epitaph.

f ""^HE last letter shows the appearance of the
little rift in the lute of friendship, which was
destined to silence its tones for so many years.

-^- Its origin remains obscure. If Mrs. Pennington
received no letters between April and July, she doubtless
had some reason to feel aggrieved, but the reference
to the " mutual complaints " of Mr. Piozzi and Mr.
Pennington suggests that they had met in the interval,
and that some disagreement had arisen, which had been
taken up by their respective wives, and it is probable that
some letters during this period may have been destroyed.
Mrs. Piozzi clearly had no desire to keep up the quarrel,
whatever it was ; but it may be that her attempt at recon-
ciliation was not worded in a way which would commend
itself to the sensitive mind of Mrs. Pennington, smarting
from some real or fancied slight to her husband or herself.
And so the correspondence was not resumed for fifteen
years.

Meantime much had happened. In 1807 Sophia Thrale
married Henry Merrick, third son of Sir Richard Colt Hoare,
Bart., of Stourhead ; and in the following year her elder
sister, Hester, became the second wife of Viscount Keith.
The marriages seem to have brought mother and daughters
more closely together, for they paid a visit to Brynbella

this year. In 1809, the gout from which he had suffered

270

HIATUS IN THE LETTERS 271

;o long and so severely proved fatal to Mr. Piozzi. He had
for some years conformed to the English Church, and in
his last illness received the sacrament at the hands of a
clergyman at Bath. He was buried 26th March, in the vault
he had constructed in what Mrs. Piozzi calls Dymerchion,
low Tremeirchion Church. She began her Commonplace
Book the same year.

The " little boy," John Salusbury Piozzi, had finished
lis education at Oxford, and having grown to man's estate,
md assumed the additional surname of Salusbury, married
1814, Harriet Maria, daughter of Edward Pemberton of
tyton Grove, Salop. In 1816 he was appointed High
leriff of Flint, and was knighted in the following year,
'o provide for the young couple, Mrs. Piozzi made over to
tern Brynbella and her Welsh estate, and retired to her
beloved Bath, to live on the income from the English
property settled on her by Thrale, and some 6000
which Piozzi's careful management had saved from their
icome. She had therefore on paper something like
a year, but her generosity to her adopted son, and
to her daughters in the re-fronting and fencing of Streatham
J ark, added to her love of entertaining, and a carelessness
money matters perhaps inherited from her father, left
icr in continual monetary difficulties.

Living so near Mrs. Pennington, and with so many
common friends, it was hardly possible that they should not
brought together again, though there is no evidence as
to how the reconciliation was effected. The correspond-
ice was resumed in July 1819, but letters written by Mrs.
Vnnington somewhat later show that it was equally desired
md equally genuine on both sides.

On Mrs. Pennington's side the rupture of one old friend-
ship almost coincided with the renewal of another. On
i8th October 1804, Anna Seward wrote to Mrs. Powys that
slh had been staying at Mendip Lodge, and that Dr.
\\halley had undertaken to bring about a reconciliation

>\ ucuicy

272 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

with Mrs. Penning! on, after twelve years of estrangement.
" She received me with tears of returning love, and our re-
concilement was perfect. She made me promise to stay
with her a few days on my way back."

Her husband had a serious illness in 1813, as the result
of which he resigned the office of M.C. at the Hot Wells,
which he had held for nearly thirty years, in an address
which "powerfully affected the feelings of all present."
But his successor turned out to be quite unfitted for the
post, and as Pennington's health had been improved by a
stay at Wey mouth, he was induced to take up the work
again for a short time. Not long afterwards Mrs. Penning-
ton's mother died at the age of ninety-seven. She had lost
nearly all her faculties, and had been for some time unable
to recognise even her daughter.

Mrs. Pennington to Maria Brown

WESTON-SUPER-MARE, 9 Oct. 1819.

... I shall not be sorry to return, tho' I leave dear
Mrs. Piozzi behind, with whom I have passed some hours
of every day, and our evenings always together, in the most
perfect harmony. We seem entirely to have regained our
former footing, and to revert to past times, persons, and
anecdotes with mutual pleasure. She has sought no other,
indeed sedulously avoided all other society since we have
been here, and is happy and chearful when with us, as I
ever saw her. It is not however with me exactly the same
thing. I was Prima Donna, I now feel that many new
friends and new connexions, with new interests and novel
attractions, occupy the ground that / exclusively possessed ;
and I can only expect, in future, to be one of this larger
groupe. I think the character of her mind was always
rather kindness than attachment. I know not whether you
admit the distinction ; I feel it, and that I must henceforth

RENEWAL OF FRIENDSHIP 273

satisfied with such general proofs of this sentiment as
opportunity may throw in our way.

The friend to whom this was written came to occupy
uch the same position with regard to Mrs. Pennington as
the latter had done to Mrs. Piozzi. After Mrs. Pennington's
death, the whole of her carefully treasured correspondence
(1 into her hands, including, besides the present series
f letters, those relating to the Siddons-Lawrence tragedy,
hich were published in An Artist's Love Story, and others
from Anna Seward, Helen Williams, the Randolphs, and
Wh alleys, and others of her correspondents.

In a letter to Miss Brown's mother, dated 28th February
1820, she pursues the same theme. " You judge," she
writes, " very correctly of my feelings respecting my dear
restored friend. It gives an interest to my life that nothing
else could, and what is better, it seems to be felt mutually.
We never are so happy as when together, and her letters,
which come twice or thrice a week, are a perpetual source
amusement."

WESTON-SUPER-MARE, July 1819.

Sick or well, dear Mrs. Pennington is ever kind and
bliging, but why empty her veins at such a rough rate ?
ere they bursting with heat ? A Bath friend writes me
rd that the people there do feel themselves heavily
oppress 'd by a weight of atmospheric air, and walk about,
* says, like somnambulists, with salmon-coloured faces.
e have sea-breezes here that refresh our spirits, and
nd us out at night to stare after the Comet, which
>ked very pale last evening I saw it, but not, I hope,
r anger.

There are other fiery fellows in the North, more danger-
is by far, of whom I feel more afraid ; but the Regent went
tfely, and was applauded it is said, and the Reformers will
r ork no reformation at Smithfield under Mr. Hunt's guid-

274 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

ance. He tried in vain to make the Basket Women at Bath
hate Sinecures ; tho' one of them said she knew he meant
the Signing Curs, kept by Ministers to sign whatever they
bid them, comical enough !

If all goes on regularly and well, I shall certainly call on
you, dear Madam, in my return. When that will be, how-
ever, is hard to say, for I have just hired myself a clean
Cottage, the Hotel is very noisy, and surprisingly expen-
sive, and since the Bathing agrees, I mean to try another
tide or two by the way of making myself young, or making
myself believe that I am younger than my neighbours of
the same standing. . .

People are visiting-mad here, as everywhere else. Do
you remember Mr. Pennington saying he hoped there were
no Evening Parties in Heaven ? He will not escape them
till he gets thither, nor shall, without the utmost difficulty
his and your ever faithful and obliged

H. L. PIOZZI.

I saw Miss Williams spreading the Bread Fruit with
butter, and eating it at her tea, ten days before I left Bath,
but it was kind in you to send me some.

The comet of July 1819 was that now known by the
name of Winnecke, who, in 1858, identified it with one
previously observed by Encke.

Henry Hunt had for many years been associated with
the leading agitators of the time. He made the acquaint-
ance of Home Tooke in 1800, shared imprisonment with
Cobbett in 1810, and allied himself with Thistlewood and
his friends in 1816. He took part in the Spa Fields meeting,
presided at the Reform meeting at Smithfield which took
place on July 21, and at the "Peterloo" meeting, held on
August 1 6 this year.

WESTON-SUPER-MARE 275

\V KSTON-SUPER-MARE,
Saturday Night, 4 Sep. 1819.

Dear Mrs. Pennington's letter came late last night ;
our poor Postman cannot get his walk finished, how should
he ? till near 12 o'clock, which is one of the discomforts
incident to our fav'rite Weston. This morning the Grin-
fields of Laura Chapel, Bath, left us, and you may have
half their house for two guineas and a half o' week. They
paid five for the whole, and had 7 or 8 Babies inhabiting it,
with a proportionate number of nurses, etc. But send an
immediate answer, or it will be gone. ... If you come
quite alone, our Baker, Mr. Cooper, will accommodate you
with one chamber up a ladder-like staircase, and one sitting
room : but such a lodging too nearly resembles that in
Coleman's Broad Grins ; one guinea and a half is, I think,
too much for that, though 'tis struggled for !! ...

Oh ! what heavenly weather here is ! And oh ! what
fools is it flung away upon ! who will not gather up the har-
vest, but run about reforming errors in the State. They
have got a wiser head now, who is better qualified to do
mischief, and accordingly we read that yesterday's meet-
ing passed off without any mad frolics on which to fix the
stigma of treason or insanity : two things so difficult to

ve they oblige us to adopt Elbow's method in Measure
for Measure, who says, " they must continue in their courses
till we can tell what they are." l . . .

WESTON-SUPER-MARE,
Tuesday, 7 Sept. 1819.

Your letter came too late last night, dear Mrs. Pen-
nington, for me to take any measures concerning the House.
.... You will have it, as a favour, for three Pounds o'
eek ; cheaper than mine certainly.
The list of things wanted is just everything: knives,

" Let him continue in his courses till thou knowest what they are."
Measure for Measure, III. i. 196.

276 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

forks, spoons, plate, linnen : Weston affords only beds,
tables, and chairs. Yes, yes, they do give us crockery,
and there were two books in the town when I came, a Bible
and a Paradise Lost. They were the best you know.

I am no better pleased with the complexion of the times
than you are, but feel much more sympathy with the Mob
than with their Galvanizers, who mean to give just the
portion of excitement they choose, in order to deplace,
^'splace I mean, one set of Ministers, and put up another
set in which they take deeper interest. In this virtuous
cause they care not what lives, or whose peace they endanger.
But let them be cautious, or the Mob will make them their
tools, to help break down the gates which, when thrown
back as those of Hell in Milton, they will start to see

Before their eyes in sudden view appear

The secrets of the hoary deep, a dark

Illimitable Ocean without bound,

Without dimension : where length, breadth, and height,

And time and place are lost. 1

Noblemen and Gentlemen are of necessity Aristocrates in
earnest : and the numbers who now stand aloof, looking
how it will end, and being as we used to say of dear S'iddons
no -crates at all, will even die with terror, and the conscious
certainty that the great folk who assisted in the work at
first, broke open, but to shut excelled their power. An
ambitious Sovreign meanwhile, might while his army con-
tinues true to him, make them all his tools ; suffering them
so to destroy the House of Commons that he could reign in
future without a Parliament, only just cajoling the Re-
formers between to-day and the year 1820. And such
madmen are those who wish the overturn of constituted
authorities. . . .

Poor dear Mrs. Lambart can hardly hear these strange

1 Paradise Lost, ii. 890.

THE CARD TABLE RIDDLE 277

tales, I believe ; she is at least seven years older than myself,
but does not like, it seems, to tell her age. My Register,
clearly written, as Bishop Majendie says, points out 1740.

On September 12 Mrs. Pennington writes to Miss Brown
that she is going to Weston. " Dear Mrs. Piozzi is there,
we shall be within two or three doors of her. She has been
as active and anxious to serve us in this particular as she
could have been at any former period. ... If the air of
that place, the fine weather we seem likely to have, and her
charming society, does not restore me to something like
health and spirits, I shall give up the point altogether."

The Card Table Riddle, which appears in the next
letter, is taken from Mrs. Piozzi's Commonplace Book;
where she remarks that " it has been plundered, and played
tricks with, and published in Pocket Books, &c., but these
are the genuine verses."

Sat. Oct. 17, 1819.

My dear Mrs. Pennington charged me to send her the
Riddle, and Miss Camplin asking for commands, I thought
it a good opportunity, therefore

A place I here describe, how gay the scene !
Fresh, bright, and vivid with perpetual green.
Verdure attractive to the ravished sight,
Perennial joys, and ever new delight,
Charming at noon, more charming still at night,
Fair Pools, where Fish in forms pellucid play,
Smooth lies the lawn, swift glide the hours away.
The Banks with shells and minerals are crown'd,
Hope keeps her court, and Beauty smiles around.
No mean dependance here on Summer skies,
This spot rough Winter's roughest blast defies.
Yet here the Government is curst with change,
Knaves openly on either Party range ;

278 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

Assault their Monarch, and avow the deed,

While Honour fails, and Tricks alone succeed.

For bold Decemvirs here usurp the sway,

Now all some single Demagogue obey,

False Lights prefer, and curse th' intrusive day.

Oh ! shun the tempting shore, the dangerous coast,

Health, Fame, and Fortune, stranded here, are lost.

This Riddle I gave Salusbury when he was a boy, " But
what *s it, Aunt ? What can it be ? " " Why, replied I,
can't you perceive that

A Card-table's green is perpetual and bright,

A Card-tablQ charms men from morning till night ;

Where, angling with skill for some innocent fool,

Their thoughts are still fixed on the Fish and the Pool ;

While Guineas and Counters, promiscuously heap'd,

With hope fills those pockets whence pelf has escap'd.

Thro' Winter and Summer and demi-saison,

This occupies Ladies and Lords de Bon Ton.

For Knaves are successful at Limited Loo,

At Whist the odd Trick makes all Honours look blue.

The Ten, at Casino, Decemvir we call,

And Aces, at Commerce, take tribute from all.

Wax Candles superior to Sunshine they boast,

While Time, Fame, and Fortune for ever are lost."

BATH, 29 Oct. 1819.

I certainly do not remember a word about Siddons, and
probably I did not get dear Mrs. Pennington's letter. It
is no joke that my feelings grow torpid ; I have had so much
of the torture in my life that it is really a natural consequence,
and if some odd things (kindness is one) do keep me awake
this year, I shall certainly sleep out the next. . . .

Conway's name is on the Posts as having renew'd his
engagements, but he possesses many perfections, and leaves

\rrifincr 1

LORD BYRON'S POEMS 279

writing letters to you and me. Cecy Mostyn is a most en-
tertaining correspondent. She is at Florence now, making
good sport of her Cavaliere Servente, the Marchese Garzoni,
but remembers your Mother still, and says I must mind and
keep as bright as she did to 90 years old.

All you say of these horrid Blasphemers is said with
truth and wisdom, but Dr. Gibbes and Mr. Mangin both
protest to me, and they are no strait-laced moralists, that
Carlisle and all his crew are white to Lord Byron ; whose
book is so seducing, so amusing, and so cheap, it will soon
be in every hand that can hold one. Upham sent it me,
thinking of course it could not hurt an old woman ; but I
held my crutches fast, for 'tis no fun to have them kicked
from under one at fourscore and the Scriptures are my
crutches. If these gay fellows delight in obliterating the
direction posts for Youth in the journey through life, they
some of them may get into the road again ; but as Carter
said, my religion is my freehold estate, and whoever tries
to shake my title to it is an enemy.

Dr. and Mrs. Whalley seem to have been giving la
Comedie gratis here while the Theatres were shut up.
Incidents are certainly not wanting, and the Catastrophe
kept quite out of sight, as Bayes recommends, for purpose
of elevating and surprizing. Those who come to hear what
/ say on the subject, go home disappointed, for I say nothing,
and have indeed nothing to say. . . .

Helen's sinking into oblivion is no proof of the people's
good taste, for she is a clever creature, though no one less
approved of her Classical Elopement Helen to Paris than
I did. Is Mr. [Stone] dead, or only his wife ? He was a
Radical before they had taken root. . . .

Lady Baynton has not improved her beauty by living
in France : her son however does surprize me. A Titmouse
scarce out of the egg when last we met, a Boy now of elegant
carriage and behaviour ; not a little maniere, perhaps too
much so for rough England. . . .

2 8o PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

In this letter occurs the first mention of William Augustus
Conway, who engrossed such a large share of Mrs. Piozzi's
interest, and even affection, at this period of her life ;
filling, it may be, to some extent, the place formerly occupied
by her adopted son, now launched on an independent career.
That she felt a great admiration and real affection for the
handsome young actor is obvious, and she set herself to
forward his interests with as much assiduity and enthusiasm
as if he had been her son. It has been suggested that her
feelings towards him were quite other than maternal, and
certain " Love Letters," purporting to be written by her,
have been adduced in support of this theory. But the way
he is spoken of in this and other genuine correspondence of
hers should be sufficient to disprove the suggestion. It
must be admitted that her admiration led her to credit
him with talents which were not obvious to other eyes. He
was a man of striking appearance, of gentlemanly and
attractive manners, and a tolerably good actor, but gave
little indication of the genius which she discerned in him.
He had acted with some success at Dublin and Covent
Garden before he came to Bath in 1817, where he acted in
tragedy and comedy for some three years. Only a few
days before her death, according to Macready, she sent him
a cheque for 100, but this he returned to the executors.
The same year (1821) he left the stage, on account of an
attack attributed to Theodore Hook, and sailed for America.
He played again at New York in 1824, but seems to have
intended to devote himself to the ministry. For some un-
explained reason he threw himself overboard, while on a
voyage to Charleston, in 1828, but the seven " Love Letters "
above referred to were not published till 1843. They are,
in the main, undoubtedly from the pen of Mrs. Piozzi,
though possibly touched up in places to make them a little
more sensational. But, taken by themselves, and without
any reference to the circumstances under which they were
written, they might easily be misunderstood as it was

WILLIAM AUGUSTUS CONWAY I \*< MKNKY V)
liy AVrrry n 'to- <{, II 'il<f<: />'//. //>/// ///. Crflfction of A. M.

, AVy.

W. A. CONWAY 281

perhaps intended they should be. For the editor was
either unaware of, or ignored the facts which appear plainly
enough in the present correspondence ; that Conway was
at the time engaged to a lady at Bath ; that Mrs. Piozzi
was deeply interested in this little romance, and promoted
it to the best of her power ; and that the most emotional
of the letters was written to console him at the moment
when the engagement had been broken off. Her attitude
all through is that of an anxious mother, seeking to ensure
the happiness of a dearly loved son.

Doctor, afterwards Sir George Smith Gibbes, physician
to Queen Charlotte, and author of a Treatise on the Bath
Waters, was one of the first explorers of the Bone Caves of
the Mcndips. He attended Mrs. Piozzi on her death-bed,
as described by Mangin.

The Rev. Edward Mangin, who had been a naval
chaplain, and Prebendary of Killaloe and St. Patrick's, was
a notable dramatic critic, and at this time a recognised
leader of the literary coterie of Bath. He was thus brought
into close touch with Mrs. Piozzi, and the result of their inti-
macy was his Piozziana, published anonymously in 1833,
now rather a scarce book, which contains many of her letters
as well as his personal recollections of her later years.

Carlisle was the publisher of Tom Paine 's Age of Reason,
and other works of a like character.

Dr. Whalley's first wife had died in 1801, and two years
afterwards he married a Miss Heathcote, who died in 1803.
In 1813, when nearly seventy, he made a third venture by
marrying the widow of General Horneck. The lady was
of extravagant habits, and came to him in debt to the extent
of some thousands, for which he found himself responsible.
Mutual recriminations followed, and in 1814 he went to
France, leaving his wife behind. A formal separation took
place in 1819, after which he again went abroad, and died
at La Fleche, 1828.

Of Byron she remarks in her Commonplace Book : " My

282 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

own idea is that he resembles the Dead Man's skull animated
by a Toad, and made to hop, in such a manner that it at-
tracted notice from the Lord Chief Justice Willes, enabling
him to detect a murder."

Sat. Night, 6 Nov. 1819.

Dear Mrs. Pennington will believe the torpor when I
confess the Siddons' story not new to me, and it is quite in
his character who once quoted Cowley's verses to me in
conversation as descriptive of his wife's person.

Merab with spacious beauty fills the sight,
But too much awe chastis'd the bold delight :
Like a calm sea, which to the enlarged view
Gives pleasure, but gives fear and reverence too.

" Too grand a thing" I hope some one will take your
Grand Thing off your hands. We shall be wondrous rich
if seven's the main. Your friend's fancies about seven are
few in comparison with mine. Why seven is the perfect
number, and the word implies and expresses perfection in
Hebrew. Everything indeed goes by septenaries among
us all day long. At seven years old the Baby becomes a
Boy, changes his teeth, and his evidence is taken in a Court
of Justice. Two sevens produce the change from Child-
hood to Youth, and the third emancipates the Minor.
Don't ask me to go on ; my conjectures would take 7 days
writing, and all would not be finished this day seven-night.
I enclose a Pound Note, and for the seven shillings it will be
good luck to wait.

One would be frighted at your prognostics if you were a
seventh son instead of an only daughter, so sadly have the
Rogers family justified your odd predictions. . . . Con way,
poor fellow ! will sure enough come to the case you assign
for him : work, and die nobly, or starve, and pine away.
Old Bartolozzi, a veteran servant of our English Public,

THE WALTZ 283

censured for leaving us in the last years of his life. " It
because I know them," he replied. " Whilst I can work
for them, and do what no one else can do, they will pay rne
liberally, and when my eyes fail, I may retreat to an Hospital
erected for the Indigent Blind. I will," continued he, " go
to Portugal, and accept a moderate annuity from the
Sovreign." So he did, and died there, out of an Hospital :
but Waltzing is better sport ; so

The three black Graces, Law, Physic, and Divinity,

hand in hand along the Strand, and hum la Poule.
Tade quits his Compter, Alma Mater her Latinity,
Proud and vain with Mr. Paine to go to School.
Should you want advice in Law, you'll little gain by asking it,
Your Lawyer's not at Westminster, he's busy Pas-de-

Basqu'ing it :

D'ye want to lose a tooth, and run to Waite for drawing it ?
He cannot sure attend, he's Demi-queue-de-Chating it.
Run, neighbours, run ; all London is Quadrilling it,
While Order and Sobriety dance Dos-a-dos.

Brackley or Brockley Combe I know by heart, and very
pretty 'tis, and Cheddar Cliffs : more like good genuine
tountains than most British imitations are. For your
complaints, I do pronounce them the effect of shocks upon
te nerves, and sorry am I that the sea air did you so little
;ood. / certainly liked it, and found Weston very agreable,
id 'tis the true Ton to say how the place agreed with Mrs.
iozzi. So it will now become the fashionable retreat for
>ld-age and haggardism, a new word of my own making.

Mi. Ston< was a raging Democrate, an Enrage ; so he is
not wanted, we have enough such. I fear Helen deserves
some whipping, but so we do all : as Hamlet says, " Give
us our deserts, and who shall escape whipping ? " 1

" Use every man after his desert, and who should 'scape whipping ? "
Hamlet, III. ii. 556.

284 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

What, I wonder, put me in mind of poor old long-dead
Demosthenes Taylor, a Doctor in the Commons ? The
torpor, I suppose, for I can tell but one story of him, who
told no stories at all. Johnson said once, " That man
had credit for knowledge, perhaps he possess'd it, but I
have dined six times in his company, and never heard him
utter but one word, and that word was Richard."

My story must necessarily be this. He lived a Scholar's
life, you may conclude, threescore years ago at Amen Corner,
near St. PauPs Churchyard ; studying Greek books and
collating manuscripts all morning ; smoking his pipe at
night, and indulging in a game at All Fours with a distant
and dependant relation, a young Surgeon in the neighbour-
hood. One evening they were at play together. " Doctor,"
exclaims old Taylor, " I have got the Belly-ache so bad,
we won't above finish this game." " Right, Sir," was the
reply, " take something very hot, and go to bed. If
you are worse, call me. If not, I shan't come till Wed-
nesday, for very good reasons." "Ay, ay, my lad ; mind
thy business," was the monitory answer ; and they parted
at 10 o'clock Monday night. On Wednesday young Stevens
came, according to custom. The pipe was smoked, and the
game played, and " Doctor ! " exclaims our old Demos-
thenes, " dost remember how bad my Belly ached o' Monday
night ? " " Yes, sure, Sir ; and I beg'd you to take some-
thing hot, and go to bed." " Why so I did, a great rummer-
full of hot Brandy." " Heavens ! " cried the Surgeon,
laughing, " I did not mean so." " Well, young man, it
cured me. I went to sleep, and lay very late in the morning,
and have no feeling in my Belly now at all : none in the
least." " Lord ! Sir, how you alarm me ! No feeling ? "
" No, on my honour." " Good God ! Let me look at it
directly." So he did. The mortification had spread
rapidly, and good old Taylor was a corpse in four and twenty
hours.

Dr. Whalley has seen me at last, and told his tale. The

DEMOSTHENES TAYLOR

285

loss of Mrs. Lutwyche's good opinion hurts him ; as to mine,
it is nothing impair 'd. What astonished me was his saying
that he was annoyed by Creditors when we were at Mendip
in the year 1813 ; living like the Dukes of Bedford or
Marlborough. Mr. Arnold or Almond, his fine Man, shewed
Bessy and me twenty Pounds worth, not 20 Ibs. weight of
meat in the Larder one day, designed, he said, for the stew-
pan. Is it not time to beg and pray for torpor ? Sensi-
bility would drive one distracted, sure. So good night,
and give my true regards to those you love best ; believing
me your fast-asleep Friend,

H. L. P.

Francesco Bartolozzi came to London from Florence in
1764, as engraver to the King, and was one of the Founda-
tion Members of the Royal Academy. He left England to
take charge of the National Academy at Lisbon, where he
died 1815.

The Rev. John Taylor, LL.D., F.R.S., and F.A.S., was
the son of a barber at Shrewsbury. He gained a Fellowship
at St. John's, Cambridge, and became Chancellor of Lincoln,
Archdeacon of Buckingham, and Canon of St. Paul's. His
great work, from which he gained his sobriquet, was what was
intended to be a complete edition of Demosthenes, published
between 1748 and 1757.

The origin of Dr. Whalley's matrimonial troubles has
already been explained : it was about this period that the
final rupture took place. In the first of the so-called " Love
Letters," written ist September 1819 from Weston, to
Conway at Birmingham, she alludes to the recent scandal of
" old Mr. Whalley's wife running away from him, and settling
in Freshford."

The reference to Helen Williams is no doubt connected
with a letter written by her to Mrs. Pennington, dated
26th June 1819, mentioning that Stone was " now reposing
in his grave," and giving an account of her life and connection

286 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

with him, as previously quoted. She then proceeds to refer
to the reconciliation of the long-parted friends. " How
much in contrast with my sad details is your brilliant account
of Mrs. Piozzi ; what a privileged mortal ! But really you
seem to me to love her much better than she deserves ; what
excuses the 16 years of separation ? The fault must have
been hers : she always seemed to me kind and warm-hearted,
but with no deep sensibilities."

The lines on dancing are quoted from her Commonplace
Book, where she assigns them, on the authority of Mrs.
Hoare, to " Smith, author of Rejected Addresses"

4 Dec. 1819.

To no one else in the world would I have written, dearest
Mrs. Pennington ; but you are so good and so partial. Other
friends can find signs enough of torpor. Miss Williams's
Beau, as we call him, Mr. Wickens, found me fast asleep
on the sopha ; he is a good creature and was sorry : said
the world was now coming to an end most surely, when such
symptoms attacked, in the middle of the day, your H. L. P.
If it goes on, my favourites must contrive to do without me.
Our old King came into the world but a short time before
his dutyful subject who writes this, and who hopes to get
away in his train if possible.

I have little thought to bestow on Dramatick Exhibitions ;
but Mr. Mangin, who is a classical Scholar, and has leisure
to amuse himself with those who provide pastime for the
rich and idle, said, when Conway acted Coriolanus here,
that he had never seen the Roman Toga worne so gracefully.
He has not yet left London. Macready was a fine promising
Actor when I saw him last, three or four years ago : a very
gentlemanly man too. We dined together at dear Dr.
Gibbes's.

Mr. Pennington has, I hope, taken a new lease. Gout
is a pledge of long life, if long life be indeed desirable. I
begin to find it very burthensome to myself and my attend-

SEVENTEEN HUNDRED AND SIXTY 287

ants, out of whose power it is to alleviate anything I feel.
Dr. Whalley will do well enough among nieces and nephews,
devoted to him of course, if he has retained any thing to
divide among them at the hour of dissolution.

The Dipper at Weston super Mare came here on a visit
yesterday, bringing me Fish and Poultry ; how good
natured ! But I hear of a still cheaper and more charming
place along the Cornish Coast, where chickens for 6d. each
may yet be had, and Fish for almost nothing.

Meanwhile the Great are not exempt from ill-health or
cares, any more than we. A general mourning will come,
consequent on the Duchess of Gloster's death as on that
of the King, and both will alike ruin my wretched Fete ;
a foolish promise ! but I must keep it now, and it will be
the last folly.

With regard to Politics, they go very ill no doubt. My
long life can call up but one year in which the machine went
so as to please everybody : and there was printed at the
beginning of the new Almanacks these words, observed
perhaps by no one but myself,

In seventeen hundred and sixty tis written,

All strife and contention shall cease in Great Britain.

In effect there was but this dispute in Parliament, whether
our Success was the cause of our Unanimity, or our Un-
animity the cause of our Success. And Garrick's song ending
every stanza with

Cheer up, my Lads, with one heart let us sing
Our Soldiers, our Sailors, our Statesmen, and King,

shews the same spirit. I believe they were never so praised en
masse but that one time, which nobody recollects except
Yours and Mr. Pennington's H. L. P.

In 1760, the year of George the Third's accession, Pitt's
vigorous administration had, for the moment, annihilated

288 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

party feeling. Wolfe's victory at Quebec had terminated
the French rule in Canada ; the battle of Plassey had given
us Bengal ; the French power in Southern India was broken
by Coote ; the engagement in Quiberon Bay testified to our
power at sea ; and England stood forth as the first maritime
and colonial power in the world.

Tuesday, 7 Dec. 1819.

Threatening me as you do, dear, nervous Mrs. Pen-
nington, I will, I must write directly. But surely we are
neither of us such younglings as to fancy things at 80 years old
can go on as they did at 40. We might then be shown for
a show. It would be silly to believe my inside possessed
its pristine strength, and the want of that strength leads
to various uneasinesses, ill-described in a letter. We will
do as well as we can.

Meanwhile assure yourself that one wonder does wait
upon your newly-restored friend. At four-score years old
her outside is the best of her. Dr. Gibbes is too wise a man
to wish to attend much ; he knows there is nothing to be
done, and what would you have him do ? Mr. Cam the
Baby Catcher would have suited me better to-day. The
late Duke of Glo'ster kept one in the house the last six
weeks of his wretched life's wretched end.

Weston did me nothing but service ; gave a power to
the unelastic nerves, and consoled body and mind. All is
as it should be, though I do not think Con way's all-expressing
countenance showed him contented with the looks of his
Patroness yesterday, when he dropped in among other
morning callers. I will mind Mr. Pennington's good advice
and yours, and not disappoint the Boys and Girls of their
Gala.

Salusbury and his wife will soon be here, I hope you
will like them. . . .

There is a pretty Book come out, very pretty indeed,
against the Blasphemers ; but I will not put my feeble hand

CONWAY AS CORIOLANUS 289

to the Ark, assure yourself. That women should keep
silence in the Church is a good injunction, and should be
obeyed now more than ever. . . .

BATH, 10 Dec. 1819.

Well now, dearest Mrs. Pennington, I have got a com-
plaint I can talk of, or write about a sore throat ! tho'
never out of this warm room since Sunday. I fancy it is
caused by relaxation, talking about you to Mr. Con way,
who saw your charming letter. . . . Tho' I did say, in a
prudent humour, that he should see as little as possible
either of your letters or yourself. . . .

How is your fortune going forward ? Smilingly I hope ;
and how will my Gala get forward if I do nothing but write
funny letters to Mrs. Pennington, instead of calling names
over to fill up the Cards with, or sit and chat with dear
Con way concerning past sorrows and future prospects. He
says he is come to act Master Slender : and thin he is most
certainly : but so young-looking, never. I hope we shall
make a full house to witness his first performance in Corio-
lanus next Monday. Can't you come over anyhow without
serious risque ? It would be pity to miss such an exhi-
bition, and your retentive memory has Kemble's mode of
acting it well impress'd. Mine reflects back only one Scene,
I think, and he never saw Emperor John in his short life.

The Salusburys come next Tuesday sennight, and where
shall I get them lodgings ? I am all in a/wss, as the Ladies
say ; and wish you were helping me to do the nothings I
busy myself about.

The world looks white, but it is not the robe of innocence ;
gilt and gloom lie under, and will burst out upon the thaw.
Conway's account of Carlisle's tryal froze me with
horror. . . .

tThe last appearance of John Philip Kemble was at his
lefit at Covent Garden in 1817, so there is no reason why

2 9 o PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

Conway should not have seen him, though perhaps not in
the part of Coriolanus.

Fry day night, 17 Dec. 1819.

.... On Wednesday Conway acts lachimo to Warde's
Posthumus. They neither of 'em ever performed the char-
acters, and it will be a pleasure worthy of Mrs. Pennington.
How will you manage ? Better make business subservient
to enjoyment, and come. The Coriolanus electrified us all ;
and my amiable friend gets admirers and invitations every
day. We spent our last evening at the Fellowes's. The
Hon. Mr. Burrell there promised to introduce him to some
Club of Gentlemen, who will all attend when Benefit time
comes on, and will, I hope, compensate him in some
measure for his past sufferings. . . .

I suppose [the Salusburys] will just come time enough
for my Foolery, which plagues me to death already.
" Would it were night, Hal ! and all well ! " l

John Prescott, who assumed the additional stage-name
of Warde, had appeared at Bath in 1813, and till shortly
before this date had been acting at the Haymarket. Mrs.
Piozzi had a great admiration for his talents, and had helped
to organise a Benefit for him in March.

Monday, 20 Dec. 1819.

Well, dearest Friend, I sent your letter to Conway, who
is already in love with you, and wishes the impression he has
already made not to be taken off by lachimo. His wishes
of being presented to you are most warm and cordial ; he
thinks you love his little Patroness, and / feel happy in
the fancy that you will one day love each other, and talk
confidentially concerning your poor H. L. P. when she is
supposed to be far out of hearing. . . .

My winter is not tedious for want of engagements. I

am torne to pieces with invitations, and am forced to dine

at Archdeacon Thomas's on Thursday, when I wished to be

1 " I would 'twere bed -time, Hal, and all well." i Henry IV., V. i. 125.

CHARMS MRS. PENNINGTON

291

in the Theatre : but our Friend says we have time before
us. So he has, if it please God, and so have you ; but 80
years of my life are past, and I wish this winter was past
too, that spring might make our intercourse more easy.

My Ball and Supper begin to be a plague to me, but I
somehow hope and fancy that they may be of use to him
whose welfare is really very near the heart of yours faithfully,

H. L. PIOZZI.

In a note written three days afterwards Mrs. Piozzi
announces that she and Con way are hoping to pay Mrs.
Pennington a visit the following week, and then goes on :
" Mrs. Stratton bore true witness to your impatience of our
Separation ; and indeed when the fine Statue we disagreed
about has been pulled down a dozen years ! ! ! 'tis fit the
cobwebs should remain no longer." Can this really have
been the origin of a misunderstanding between two sincerely
attached friends, which lasted for fifteen years ? It seems
almost too ridiculous, but is the nearest approach to an
explanation of the mystery afforded by the letters.

In spite of a snowstorm, the proposed visit was duly
paid, and Mrs. Pennington writes to be assured that Mrs.
Piozzi had taken no harm, and to express her pleasure at
the meeting. "It was an hour of true, intellectual enjoy-
ment, of real happiness." Con way evidently made a very
good impression. " Of your Friend and mine, since so
kindly permitted to use the, to me, always sacred distinction,
I can only say he appears worthy of all the esteem and regard
he has been so fortunate to obtain in your opinion. If that
fine, ingenuous countenance, conciliating voice, and gentle,
elegant demeanour deceive me, I will never trust to those
tokens again. There is a certain something in his appearance
that interests me more strongly in his happiness, than I ever
felt on so short an acquaintance ; and I long for an oppor-
tunity of discussing with you, dearest friend, those points
that are most immediately connected with this object."

292 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

P.M. Dec. 30, 1819.

My dear Mrs. Pennington is a kind and generous friend,
but her anxiety was superfluous. We got home without an
atom of anything resembling alarm, or cause for it ; and
found the way short I speak for myself it was shorten'd
by talking of you. Con way does certainly merit all our care,
and all our admiration ; may he be as happy as deserv-
ing ! ...

How good Mr. Pennington was to us ! and all your
friends : and how far from cold it was going home with that
Eider Down bag that covered us so. I wonder where such
things are to be had ! . . .

The Salusburys will not come this fortnight, the Ladies
God knows when. . . .

In a letter, dated "Friday the last of 1819, "Mrs. Penning-
ton writes : " Remember me kindly to dear Conway, towards
whom I feel disposed to indulge more kindness than I ever
thought to entertain again on so slight an acquaintance. I
hope personal knowledge has not injured the impression your
partial friendship sought to create on my part. On his, the
materials, all in prime keeping, are too excellent and ad-
mirable to admit any doubt on the subject. But we are,
alas! something fallen into 'the sere and yellow leaf/
and cannot cope with these summer blossoms. If however
not downright scarecrows to the young, ' the beautiful, and
brave, ' we may at least be useful land-marks and monitors,
if they will permit us. Pray tell him from me, that in the
experience of more years than I think it necessary at this
moment to enumerate, I never knew either man or woman
compleatly ruined until they were married. Observe, I do
not say nor always so then, and I heartily wish him the best
luck in the world in that fearful and doubtful Lottery.
But I entreat him, by the friendship you have united us in,
that he will not be hasty in chusing his Ticket, and that he

AN EIDER DOWN 293

will endeavour, as coolly and dispassionately as possible,
to examine the Number before he makes his election.

" The Eider Down that was so comfortable to your dear
Friend, I imagine can be procured at any of the capital
Furriers, at least in London, tho' I know Paris is the place
to get them in perfection. A Lady of my acquaintance
purchased a delightful Pillow there, of an immensely large
size, which wrapped about her head, or feet, or served her
as the warmest and lightest coverlid possible. The Custom
House Officers took it from her at one of the Ports, and she
was fearful of not getting it again, or at least not without a
heavy premium ; when, strolling about, she happened to
look into the Custom House to make some enquiries. No
one being there, and seeing her treasure of a Pillow lying
in a corner, she clapped it under her arm, and walked off
with it, fortunately unmolested, on the principle that every
one had a right to their own."

In a postscript she expresses a wish that " my dear, and
pretty Maria Brown . . . was rich enough for our Conway,
I would trust his happiness with her."

2 Jan. 1820.

No proof more perfect can be given or received, dear Mrs.
Pennington, of our hearts being well united once again, than
your sudden as surprising impression in favour of our
common Friend's happiness. I have studied nothing else
since I knew him : yet must confess his power of raising
such real interest is a singular one. . . .

I passed yesterday at Mrs. Lutwyche's, and missed the
Comus my heart was set upon, but Sir James Fellowes dropt
in while I was writing this letter, and said it was inimitable.
"Ay," replied I, "the Scholar's correctness, levigated by
the Wit's elegant hiliarity." The answer was that Conway
should have a patent for acting, and I should have one for
praising him. . . .

294 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

A few days later Mrs. Pennington paid a visit to Bath,
and on her return was escorted home by Con way. She
gives her impressions in a letter dated January 17 :

" We had as pleasant a ride as it was possible to have
on a road that carried me 12 miles from you. So interesting
was our conversation that we felt no cold, and were surprised
when we reached the end of our little journey. You may
easily guess our subjects ; but I am sorry to say that in
the discussion of certain points, I cannot find reason to think
our dear and amiable Friend so near the goal as your ardent
and benevolent spirit is disposed to believe. The fair lady
is, I have no doubt, as amiable as he conceives her ; but the
timidity and diffidence which renders her more lovely in
his eyes, creates obstacles and difficulties that demand a
bolder spirit, and more self-confidence than she possesses,
to overcome. Love, all powerful love, which sees in the
object the ultimatum of all its wishes, and overlooks all
contingent and subordinate circumstances, only can do this.
We shall see whether such is hers. Such only, in my
opinion, can deserve the man who gains, every hour that I
see more of him, such an increasing interest in my regard,
that my anxiety for his happiness is become painful. My
dear Husband is highly taken with his fine manners and
intelligent conversation. He says he has seen no such man
since the prime days of his friend, Governor Tryon, who
was reckoned the handsomest man and finest gentleman
of his time.

" Oh ! no Lady need fear she can lose consequence by the
side of such a man, who will always cast a lustre about
whatever profession he may follow. Perhaps it is the very
circumstance of holding the power of decision wholly in
her own hands, that renders her so cautious, lest others
should suppose she has not used the responsibility wisely.
Oh ! love, real love, knows no such reasoning as this ! you
know, dearest friend, it does not.

"I am on very ill terms with myself respecting the silly

THE SILVER TEA POT 295

speech I made about your pretty Silver Tea Pot. You have
shown me you cannot leave it me, and I will not deprive you
of the use of it. That would be foolish indeed ; for / want
no remembrancer of you, and have many : besides I do verily
believe I am not likely ever to receive it on the terms I
asked it. Sincerely and fervently do I pray and believe
you have many more years before you, than I have any
right, from constitution and the present state of my feel-
ings, to reckon upon. And it would be worse than absurd
to rob you of an article of daily use, to throw it into the
hands of other people. All I can consent to therefore is,
that you continue to use it, dear Friend. Long may you
do so, and should the most fatal deprivation I can now ever
feel (but one) befall me, desire Betsey to deposit that with
dear Conway's watch, and I will drink my tea from it for
the rest of my life, and mingle my tears with the fragrant
libation."

The teapot was destined to be a source of much heart-
burning, as will be seen later on.

Tuesday, 18 Jan. 1820.

Well, dearest Mrs. Pennington, you sent home our
favourite Friend ready to cry : he ! whose business it is
to make us all cry. But he swears you were so pathetic,
and your kindness so kind ! His spirits required spurring
for the evening at Mrs. Pennell's. I have not seen him since,
save on the Stage. . . .

If the Salusburys are not snow'd up upon the road,
they will be here to-night : how shall I thaw them ? We
will make them a little no Party for the 20th. . . .

Conway surpassed himself in Pierre last night ; he has
long left all others behind. It would grieve me should he
meet mortification where he looks for happiness ; though
such things do befall the wise, the witty, and the beautiful.
I wish he would stand prepared for endurance of an evil
'tis possible may be hanging over him. 7 have no guess

296 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

how matters stand but as he tells me ; and to-day his not
calling, added to your letter, gives me apprehension.

Adieu ! I have been to the cold Rooms arranging my
supper, etc. Oh Heavens ! what a foolery ! It will utterly
ruin your poor

H. L. P.

Something appears to have gone wrong with this letter,
as Mrs. Pennington writes on January 20 in an agitated
strain to enquire whether Mrs. Piozzi's silence is due to
" a return of those frightful Cramps," or some other ailment.
" Keep me not [in] suspense," she continues, "it is not
wise to indulge so intense an interest as that I feel for you,
and aJl that relates to you. I live on your letters, and
literally think of nothing but you, and our common Friend.
Would to God he was as deeply seated in the heart of his
Beloved as he is in ours ! But is it reasonable to expect that
a mere girl should be able properly to appreciate the rich
treasure of his love. No, it requires something more,
rather more mature in judgement, discrimination and feel-
ing. I was willing to be sceptical as long as I could, as to
the nature of his attachment, and its extent ; but I am
convinced it is ardent, pure, and deep-seated. . . . She cannot
know the value of such love by the objections she makes, and
the indecision of her conduct. She thinks perhaps that the
next Lover will love as well ; but if she lets him go she will
lose an unique, a noble fellow, and find too late that such
love is seldom any woman's lot, and never more than once.

" I cannot think what has created such an interest in my
mind ; yes, I can, it is you, who have been, and are almost
(I must not for shame say more) everything to me. . . .
Give my love to the Chevalier [Conway]. Did he tell you
that after all the confidence reciprocated in our pleasant
ride, I sealed the bond of friendship we have sworn with a
kiss (as chaste as Dian ever gave) at parting, which he was
to leave on your dear hand ? "

ICONWAY'S LOVE AFFAIR 297

Mrs. Piozzi's letter, written on Tuesday, did not reach
lifton till Friday, January 21, when Mrs. Pennington
writes complaining of the bad management of the Bath
Post Office, and then touches on the subject of Mrs. Piozzi's
great Birthday Fete.

" I begin to feel considerable uneasiness on the subject
of your Gala. I fear indeed, dear Friend, you will be run
to an enormous expence. ... I have enquired, and know
that the thing was done at Clifton, and very handsomely,
at half a Guinea per head, wine included : for after all there
is very little drank at a Supper where women are the half,
or larger proportion of the company." She then returns
to Con way's affairs. " Entre nous, I cannot persuade
myself the girl has spirit or stamina to set her above, and
carry her through those disadvantages which others (called
the World) would see and condemn in such a connexion.
If she insists on his giving up his profession, he is shorn of
half his beams ; more especially as her fortune will not supply
that independent respectability which would be some com-
pensation for the loss of the eclat he cannot fail of deriving
from the exertion of his talents. If she cannot make up her
mind to take him as he is, I verily think she does not deserve
him. The objections she lays stress upon are not to be
found in Love's Calendar. ..."

Fry day, Jan. 21, 1820.

.... Don't be alarmed. Our Chevalier will do well ;
I hope in every sense of the word. But happy or unhappy,
he will do right I am sure, and more than well. James
Harris says, you know, nothing can happen that shall pre-
vent a wise man from behaving wisely, an honourable man
from behaving honourably ; and for his conduct I will
stake my life.

He must be diligent to-day, for he is to act Mark Antony
to-morrow, and you will not see him, which will mortify us
both, but he had no notice till this morning. . . .

298 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

I am sick of my Foolery before it begins, very sick indeed,
tho' people send me kind encouragement too. . . .

James Harris, M.P. for Christchurch, whom Johnson set
down as " a prig, and a bad prig," is best known as the
author of Hermes, of which he gave Mrs. Piozzi an inter-
leaved copy before her first marriage.

Monday 24.

My dearest Mrs. Pennington must stay over Saturday ;
our Chevalier comes out in a new character, and seems to
like it. His Mark Antony transcended all I ever saw of
scenic perfection, dramatic rather. The tender pathos
with which he said, " Oh ! pardon me, thou bleeding piece
of earth," l was beyond all praise, and Lady Salusbury liked
it. Sir John seems to consider Con way as much inferior
to Warde in beauty, voice, and action : and the Chevalier's
bright eyes, seeing how opinion goes, drop when he enters
the room. They have dined but once together indeed, but
both can see into a mill stone as far as most men. We meet
at Bourdois' and Burney's to-morrow, and he acts Moranges
on Wednesday. He will be introduced to the Masonic
Honours on Thursday ; and then give you, whom he justly
adores, the meeting at my Concert. If he does not dance
with the proper Partner, it will vex you and me both : but
he will surely he will. Meanwhile here's a flood to fright
one. He, and all the people at the bottom of our town are
in real danger. . .

The weather hurts everybody, and the applications to
me for cards make me, like Othello, perplex 'd in the extreme?
Here comes a tempest of visitants ; no gloomy sky keeps
them away. . . .

On the following day Mrs. Pennington replies :
. . . This weather will thin your room and lessen
your expences, notwithstanding the unreasonable demands

1 Julius Ccesar, III. i. 254. * Othello, V. ii. 346.

KINGSTON ROOMS.

Of Vocal and Instrumental MUSIC.

Leader, - Mr. LODER.

Piano-Forte, - Mr. VINER.

Siofonia. HAYDN.

Gipley Glee, from Guy Manna-ing, Mif.SHARp,
Mift WOOD, Mcffrs. A. LODER and ROLLE.

THE chough and crow to rooft are gone,
1 The owl liu on the tree i
The hulVd winds wail with feeble moan,
Like infant Charity:

"Z?%ti'X^

%&&ssr a * ti *~'

Both nurfc and child are fatt afleep.

And clos'd it eVry flow'rj
And winking tapers faintly peep

High fron? milady's (.
BewiTder'd hinds, with fhonen'd ken.

Shrink on their murky way :

Up,roufeye,tbn,fcc.
Nor board, nor gamer, own we now,

Nor roof, nor latchet door ;
Nor kind mate, bound by holy tow.

Song, Mr. LEONI LEE. EMDI

THE fun at noon day will be darknefs to roe,
If tlx hope of my foul be not nigh.

Where wander, the fair one I languid to fce,
The Maid with a lore-beaming eye (

Quartette con Coro, Mift SHARP, Mift WOOD,
Tvlift CAMPLIN. Mift COWARD, Mrffrs.
GARBETT, A. LODER, ROLLE, and LtoNi
LEE. WIKTER.

IN si bel gionvo, aMarte intorno.
Grazie fcherxale, fcherzate arnori,
E celebrate della <ua Venere,
Le 6amme tencre, e i dolci onoti.

Paftoral Song, Mrs. WINDSOR. HAYDN.

Tie

ie up my fleetes with ribbands rare,

And bee my boddice blue.
For why, (he cm* fit ft.ll and weep

WhUe others dance and play f
\la.l I t.-.irce can go or creep,

While Lubio is away.
Tis fad to think the days t gone.

When thofc we

n this

SivtaT

Glee, Mift WO
A. LODR

, MMi COWARD, Mrfri.

Aria, Mil's SHAD

TRINTO.

Seftetto, Mn. WINDSOR, Mifi WOOD, Mift

CAMPLIN, Meflrs. A. LODER, LEONI LEE,

id ROLLI. STORAGE.

xsit

Egad the joke we'll humour.
With all ray heart, fay 1 ;
Who for fuccefs can do more,

Hcr^o^ra^fitcrs.'niatk'hcr eyes,
See from htrch-^k ifctcolOW Hi,->;

Ah I me, my boafted fpirit's gone.
AUs! .hydidfttbou, happy maid,
By lilly vanity betray'd,
Eipofc thy peace of mind, to gain
Ap-izcthou nerercan'st obtain.

holdtheCllyma
pr,de xnd .aniry betr

an Dialogue. (M
Mr. LSONI LEE

By pride nd nniiybmay-di
Her peace of mind IS loft, to gais>
A prue be oem can oboio.

(MS.) Mifi SHARP and
EtlDIN.

SWEET lady, gratk lady, bid the lorn bold.
Oft in th, dear lady, my fad tale I'te told ;
(i,, c a,.,J look, dea. lady, conttancy lhall proie,
Lake Ti'let flow'r, by lint's bright pow'r, tree en

I beliere. dear loier, all you tondly (wear.
B.t bethink thee, lor, and in thought be wrfe.
The fun', bright pow'r ouy feorchThe fcw'r that
wsthtrs, droops,_ and o*es.

But like tnTSow'r Uial duels the tWr, ay heart mall

My heart, dear youth, u only thioe.
GI,Mif>SHA.P.MiftWoOD,MifsCAMPLlN,

Mift COWARD, and Mr*. WINDSOR. Mcffrs.
A. LODER and UONI LEEJ Harp Obligato,
Mr. VINEH. BUHOP.

HARK I Apollo ftrikes tbe lyre,
' ABdloudlvfcuod. the golden wire.

PROGRAMME OF MRS. PIOZZl's CONCERT, l82O
WITH MS. NOTES BY MRS. PENNINGTON AND MARIA BROWN

THE BIRTHDAY FETE 299

upon you for additional cards of admission. One half of the
people originally invited will be laid up in their beds, as my
dear Husband is at this moment with the Gout. . . . There
is not now a chance of his being able to move by Thursday . . .
I am more than sorry, I am grieved I I feel nobody amongst
numbers without my Husband. He will not however hear
of my staying at home. He says I must have the satisfaction
of seeing you in your glory, surrounded by all those who
best love, and most admire you. . . .

Every tribute paid to the dear Chevalier delights me. . . .
I am perfectly up to the preference given to Warde's talents
and beauty. / foretold it. Our favourite is so very superior
that he is much more likely to excite envy than admiration
from his own sex. In this instance it is indeed Hyperion
to a Satyr. . . .

Ah ! I am just informed of the sad news. The Duke of
Kent is no more ! What heavy afflictions fall on the House
of Coburg ! That poor Lady, left a stranger in the land,
is much to be pitied ! They were happier, as married people,
than those of their rank can in general boast of being. . . .

Her great fete to celebrate her eightieth birthday passed
off most successfully. The concert, ball, and supper drew
a crowd of over 600 people to the Assembly Rooms on
J anuary 27. Her health was proposed by Admiral Sir J ames
Saumarez, and received by the company with three times
three. She opened the ball with Sir John Salusbury, danc-
ing, as Mangin remarks, " with astonishing elasticity," but
in spite of her exertions the callers next day found her as
well, and as mirthful and witty as usual.

Conway was present among the crowd, but in such a
state of suffering, mental and physical, as prevented him
from enjoying the entertainment himself, or contributing
to the enjoyment of others. A letter from Mrs. Pennington
dated Sunday, January 30, gives an account of a visit she
lad paid him the previous day, just before her return to

300 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

Clifton, when she found him "like ' mobled Hecuba,' 1
hooded up in handkerchiefs and bandages," suffering from
what she calls a tumour.

Sunday, 30 Jan. 1820.

My dearest Mrs. Pennington's sweet silver tongue has
done our noble blooded, noble minded Friend more good
than all my written wisdom. He promises me now explicitly,
(and Conway will keep his word,) that he will in all things
take your advice. " Kind, charming Lady ! " is his ex-
pression, " she has bound me to her with ribs of steel." . . .

What a world it is ! and you, and I, and he all proud of
our talents, if we would confess it. Fine folly !

Is it of intellectual powers,

Which time developes, time devours,

Which forty years we may call ours,

That Man is vain ?
Of such the Infant shows no sign,
And Childhood dreads the dazzling shine
Of knowledge, bright with rays divine,

As mental pain.

Worse still, when passions bear the sway,
Unbridled Youth brooks no delay,
He drives dull Reason far away,

With scorn avow'd.
For forty years she reigns at most,
Labour and study pay the cost ;
Just to be raised, is all our boast,

Above the crowd.
Sickness then fills th' uneasy chair,
Sorrow succeeds, with Pain and Care,
While Faith just keeps us from despair,

Wishing to die.

1 Hamlet, II. ii.

INTELLECTUAL POWERS 301

Till the Farce ends as it began,
Reason deserts the dying man,
And leaves, to encounter as he can
Eternity.

. . Bessy's increasing illness grieves me. Dr. Gibbes
tries to save her from Consumption. We could not call him
sooner. She is now cover'd with Blisters, after which come
Leeches and James's Powder, with orders to eat nothing at
all but Milk.

The noble blood attributed to Conway evidently refers
to a story, mentioned later by Mrs. Pennington, that he was
a natural son of one of the Marquis of Hertford's family. He
appears to have made an attempt to obtain some acknow-
ledgment of his relationship from his putative father,
but without much success ; and the failure may have had
something to do with his determination to leave England.

King George III died on January 29, six days after the
Duke of Kent, and the new king, who was too ill to be
present at his father's deathbed, nearly followed him to the
grave. He had caught a severe chill, and to relieve the in-
flammation his medical advisers saw fit to relieve him of
130 ounces of blood, which all but killed him. Yet he was
convalescent by February 6.

On February 2 Mrs. Pennington writes : " Your verses,
my beloved Friend, are above all praise, for yours they must
be, as no one else can delineate such profound thinking
with the same ease and perspicuity. The late events do
indeed give a grave and solemn tone to one's reflections,
and these awful death-bells sounding from every quarter
in one's ears, fill me with trembling apprehension for every-
thing that is near and dear to me. I rejoice that George IV
was not proclaimed on the anniversary of the Martyrdom
of Charles the 1st. To my easily alarmed mind it would
have seemed frightfully ominous ! . . .

302 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

" I do not wish [Conway] to be in too much haste to renew
his visits in Camden Place. I would strongly recommend
him to play a back game, and see how absence, and some
degree of solicitude, which surely his illness must excite,
operates there. It is of the first consequence to his and to
her future peace and happiness, that she should be able to
appreciate, and he to ascertain, the degree of affection ex-
isting on her part. If she has mistaken the sentiment, I
think she will now be able to detect the mistake ; as nothing
is more likely to bring out the truth, than any real or im-
aginary danger respecting the object. And if the same
futile objections remain, depend upon it she has mistaken
the feeling, whether she knows it or not, and she would do
better to put an end at once to all suspense on the
subject. ..."

3 Feb. 1820.

I am glad dear Mrs. Pennington approved my Verses,
your taste is so good. They are like lines written in 1712,
not at all of a modern sort. You have seen our Chevalier
since I did ; he keeps close, and Bessy, whom I sent to
comfort him in his illness, brings me no good accounts.
She is bad enough herself, poor girl, but pities him : I wish
they were both at Clifton under your care. . . .

Death is near us all, and after death, judgment. Poor
Mr. Eckersall has had a stroke of Apoplexy or Palsy, but
the family seem little aware o'nt : and I was seized with
such a lethargic stupor after dinner yesterday at Dorset
Fellowes's, I was forced to play Loo to keep myself awake,
and lost four shillings. . . .

This Recess, shocking as the cause may be, is fortunate
for our Chevalier ; and I hope he will shine out and dazzle
all beholders at his Benefit. Don't you remember Siddons
saying she never acted so well as once when her heart was
heavy concerning the loss of a child ?

I break"oftfto*say the present King is dying. God's judg-

ILLNESS OF GEORGE IV 303

ments are abroad. Write to dear Conway, and with your
sweet eloquence persuade him to sink all thought of his
wn calamities in those of the Nation he is an honour to. ...

On February 5 Mrs. Pennington replies. " Your letter,
dearest Friend, nearly paralysed me. Poor Bessy ill !
Dear Conway no better ! Everybody sick or dying ! I
am absolutely ill with terror and solicitude ! I was quite
afraid to enquire for the Papers today but, thank God !
the accounts of the King are more favourable. . . . The
irst impressions I had of perfect manly grace, and princely
lignity, were drawn from the fine form and gracious
lanners of our present Sovereign. Early impressions are
Iways the most lasting. Never have I seen, but in our
tvourite, dear Conway, anything to compare with him,
lor ever shall I see his equal again ; and I feel that my
iffliction would be almost personal grief, should anything
ital happen to him at this time. . . . God, of his mercy,
ivert this great additional calamity from us, I most heartily

"Everybody was pleased with the respectful and affec-
tionate attention [of Sir John Salusbury] at the Ball. ... I
was surprised at some hints dropped at the chagrin he felt
on the subject of your increased acquaintance ; and could
not help telling him, tho' in perfect good humour, that my
claims in that line were prior to his own. I was sorry I did
not recollect to observe to him, that it was a maxim of Dr.
Johnson's, whose wisdom no one could question, ' that we
should renew, and keep our acquaintance and our friends in
repair, as we did our wardrobes, because they would wear
out: "

BATH, Sunday 6 Feb. 1820.

Bessy is safe, dearest Mrs. Pennington, by dint of bleed-
ing, starving, blistering. Bessy is safe, . . . and our
noble-minded, tender-hearted friend ... is better too ; I

3 o 4 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

shall not outlive all that love me. It is a trying time, and
some affliction falls on every family, the Royal Family
worst.

As if Misfortune made the Throne her seat,
And none could be unhappy, but the Great.

Of the present Sovereign I know nothing personally. From
the old King I got a kiss when presented, and the late
Regent made application thro' Murphy, for my acquaint-
ance 20 years ago. But as Mr. Thrale's daughters were
then upon a visit to Streatham Park, and not their own
Father master of the house, I declined all such honours :
and therein acted wisely, which I seldom do. . . .

What you say of an exacting, authoritative friend is
most true. One thinks immediately of Marmontel, " Je
baisse les liens de 1'amitie, j'en redoute la chaine." I'm
willing still to kiss the links of friendship, but from the chain
I fly. Those / have never found me exacting, or (without
request,) interfering. Friendship is far more delicate than
love. Quarrels and fretful complaints are attractive in
the last, offensive in the first. And the very things which
heap fewel on the fire of ardent passion, choke and extin-
guish sober and true regard. On the other hand, time,
which is sure to destroy that love of which half certainly
depends upon desire, is as sure to increase a friendship
founded on talents, warm with esteem, and ambitious of
success for the object of it. Such feelings depend on the
merit of the man or woman that excites them, and can be
dull'd only by their conduct.

So here's a fine heap of wise nothings, as you call your
own preachments, which I hope our dear Chevalier will
thank you for.

The King is safe, as well as Bessy. Equal in the sight
of Him who created and redeem'd them : very unequal in
importance to those who look up to them for support and
assistance.

CONWAY REJECTED 305

They live however, and so for awhile does dear Mrs.
Pennington's poor old Friend
H. L. P.

Mrs. Pennington replies in a long letter dated February 9,
from which it appears that Con way's love-affair had come to
the conclusion she had anticipated. Miss S[tratton] could
not stoop to the position of an actor's wife, and insisted on his
abandoning his profession, if he was to aspire to her hand,
a step which he could not bring himself to take. While
full of sympathy for the suffering this decision had caused
him, she is quite convinced that, as far as his career is con-
cerned, it is all for the best, and concludes thus :

" I shall hate a Miss something more to the end of my
life for his sake, and what is worse, notwithstanding the
just and high regard he entertains for you, and his new liking
for me, I fear he will contract a hatred for Bath, and I shall
see little more of him for the rest of my life : and then what
a silly thing have I done to interest myself thus deeply in
his concerns ! The most astonishing thing of all is the power
he possesses of creating so strong and pure an interest in his
favour, especially with me, who have long since ceased to
feel the influence of that sort of enthusiasm, and am become
fastidious from disappointment. In very few instances
have I ever experienced the attachment I feel to him ! It
seems as if that Girl alone was exempt from the power of
the magic he bears about him. Well, let her go ! sit down
at ease with a Country Squire, ' suckle fools, and chronicle
small Beer.' . . . But as you say, while we do right, and
honourably, and wisely, (and when he has recovered the
proper use of his reason I am sure he will do,) all will
ultimately go well, and better than if it had gone our way,
depend upon it."

two " Love Letters," so called, written to Conway
r ebruary 2 and 3, when read in connection with those

306 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

to Mrs. Pennington, show not Mrs. Piozzi's doting fondness
for the handsome actor (as the Editor evidently desired to
insinuate), but her deep concern for his welfare, and her
anxiety lest he should damage his professional prospects by
giving way to despondency or despair as the result of his
rejection. In the first she subscribes herself " your more
than Mother, as you kindly call your H. L. P." In the
second she mentions having receiveda call from the Strattons,
and that she could not bring herself to touch the hand of
Mrs. S., whom she evidently held responsible for the rupture.
She refers to them in her Commonplace Book, in a passage
evidently written about this date. " Strattons, a family
here, pretended passionate love [for Conway,] and I thought
them in earnest, .... dined with me yesterday, and said
all was over, because the girl's friends would not agree to the
connection." The words in brackets have been carefully
obliterated, but there is little doubt about them, as Conway's
name has been similarly treated in several other places. The
last of the " Love Letters " is dated February 28.

Thursday Evening, 10 Feb. 1820.

My dear Mrs. Pennington 's prognostics are always wise,
lucky, and fulfilled ; and I doubt not but we shall lose our
accomplished Chevalier, after this Season, for ever. Let
us get him a good Benefit first, and send him down the wind,
with fav'ring gales. I will leave, in the vulgar phrase, no
stone unturned to serve him. Meanwhile he is in London,
escaping our wise letters of good advice ; of which, if now
weary, he will on a future day be proud. The world is full
of incident, and some good ones may illuminate his Drama.

Yesterday's post brought word that Lady Salusbury's
Father was most alarmingly ill. To-day's post said he was
dying. Yesterday at dinner Salusbury broke one of his
fine teeth. To-day it was drawn, and they are gone to
Shropshire. So runs the world away. Jealous of Aunt's
favour, and glad to carry little Wifey far from that widely

SIR JOHN'S JEALOUSY 307

spreading influence which, as you say, throws an attractive
halo round us all : which she feels among the rest, for who can
'scape ? Sir John's chagrin won't kill him : and he says
he will perhaps come again by himself but he will find
enough to do at home.

Our Benefit will probably take place towards the end of
this month. Conway comes back to open the Theatre with
a swarthy face on the i8th, in a new Play written by Mr.
Dimond; St. Clara's Eve. That young man's brother,
Charles Dimond, who I used to say resembled a Thames
Smelt, and who has long been settled in London, marries
a girl with 10,000, and pretty besides, a Miss Wood. Leoni
Lee too has found a maid with the love-beaming eye ; he took
her to St. James's Church yesterday.

The King's calling to his bedside the Duke of Sussex is
a pretty and a tender anecdote. " My Father and my
Brother are lying dead now," said he, " your life, my dear
Augustus, is very precarious, my own saved almost by a
miracle. Let us not quarrel more with each other, while
Death is at hand so to quarrel with us all." Everybody
says that Prince's amiable son will marry a daughter of the
Duke of Montrose.

I hope you will begin the next month with me, under
St. Taffy's influence : and if you invite me early in the Spring,
when our tall Beau is gone, or going, I will come to Clifton,
and escape visitors. My door never rests here, and when
once out of town, they may knock in vain. But till the
Theatre is shut, or the great Light of it extinguished, the
halo hangs round me, and I shall neither be willing nor able
to stir. The less indeed, because persuaded that his return
hither, (unless either the Gentleman or Lady is married,)
is very unlikely, and would perhaps be imprudent. I mean
his professional return, as now, in the character of principal
performer.

Adieu, dear Mrs. Pennington, continue to him your
regard ; do not willingly lose sight of him ; your value is

3 o8 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

by him duly appreciated, and I depend on living long in
both your memories. You will often talk together of yours
and his true friend and faithful servant H. L. P.

The " amiable son " of the Duke of Sussex, Augustus
Frederick, born 1794, who took the name of d'Este, died
unmarried.

On February 15 Mrs. Pennington replies in two closely-
written sheets, full of indignation at the girl who, she is
convinced, could never have felt any real love for Conway,
or she could not have dismissed him without " one word of
sympathy, one token of pity, or sentence of consolation."
. . . "It was most silly and illiberal to tell him ' she could
not support the idea of being sunk in her rank of life,
and looked down, on/ etc." . . . "I trust, as Dr. Johnson
would have said, he will never think of hunting down a
Kitten again."

She goes on to refer to the story of his being the son of
William Conway, an old college friend of Sir Walter James,
who had remarked on the likeness between them. His
reputed father must therefore have been Lord William
Seymour Conway, sixth son of Francis, first Marquess of
Hertford.

Sir Walter " said of his acting, that he was the best
Pierre he ever saw, though he had a perfect recollection of
Holland, who was thought perfection in the character.
That he would advise him by all means to keep clear of the
London Theatres for two or three years, and then burst
upon them, a finished actor. He said it was remarkable
they never received an Actor as such, whatever his merits,
so young, or so young-looking, as Conway, until more
matured by experience and knowledge of the business ;
and instanced Mrs. Siddons's failure in early life, Mr. Young's,
etc. It was some years before Kemble made his way to the
popularity he at last attained. ... Sir Walter says your

CONWAY'S BENEFIT 309

verses are the best he has seen of modern verses, and like
those sterling things of 50 years back. . . .

" I wonder what the generality of people would think
if they were to pick up our letters ? "

1 6 Feb. 1820.

Thank you kindly, dear Mrs. Pennington, for your kind
letters. Our Chevalier longed to see them whilst in London,
and I disappointed him by not sending them forward. It
was the first pain I ever put him to, and it shall be the last.
Our business is to soothe and solace, not to chide him, or
add a particle to what he suffers. If female friendship is
worth anything, let us benefit and please him all we can.
Your part must be to advise, mine to console ; and both
of us will try to get him a blazing night, when once the time
is appointed. . . . Sir Walter James is very unwell, and I
am sorry for it. He always instinctively loved our friend
Con way ; and the last time we changed a word about him,
his expression to me was, " I think that young fellow is all
that a man ought to be." . . .

Sir Walter James Head, of Langley Hall, Berks, who
assumed the name of James, and was created a Baronet
1791, was the great-grandfather of the present Lord
Northbourne.

On February 18 Mrs. Pennington writes : " I begin
now to get very anxious on the subject of our Benefit. I
know, by experience, that only general and simultaneous
impulse will fill a Theatre or a Ball Room. The Pit and
Galleries are prime objects, a showy play is the best attrac-
tion there. The boxes there can be no doubt about, and
Bessy must exert all her influence with your tradespeople,
not only to take Tickets for the other parts of the House,
but to dispose of as many as they can. Not a word how-
ever about these sordid matters to our high-minded Friend,

310 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

whose feelings 7 would not hurt in any way, intentionally,
for the world. . . .

' ' The King was saved to a minute ! Dr. Tierney had
the courage to do what others durst not hazard ; but
his worst sufferings, I fear, are yet to come with that bad
woman, and what mischief have not such women effected ?
The Duke of Bern's assassination has congealed us all with
horror ! It is plain that unfortunate family is to have no
successor."

Another letter follows, dated February 22, written
in much the same strain, and giving an account of
a visit from Conway, who acted as the bearer of
Mrs. Piozzi's last.

On the 24th Mrs. Piozzi writes a note to say that the
Benefit is fixed for March n, and to arrange for Mrs.
Pennington's visit on the ist. She concludes : "I hate
such short letters, but my goose-quill, poor old Goosey !
is moulting as it appears. The Pens and Paper are worse
than ever I remember. Yours at Bristol are better perhaps,
I'm sure it seems so."

Mrs. Pennington replies the next day : " What will the
S ns do on the Night ? If they absent themselves, known
and marked as they [have] been, as dear Conway's staunch
and particular Friends, surely it will excite remark ? And
yet how can they be there ? At any rate, if they are, I
trust it will be in a situation not to meet his eyes ; I should
dread the consequences, at least I know I shall feel it for
him in every Nerve. You talk, (with little reason,) of Bath
stationery ! I cannot get a sheet of paper that is not greasy
and full of hairs, nor a pen that will pass over them without
blotting, and when I look at your beautiful writing, I think
my own letters only fit to bolster up candles, or for the
Pastry Cook's use."

As Mrs. Pennington was staying at Bath, there are no
letters to give an account of the Benefit, but there is not
much doubt that Mrs. Piozzi made it a success. She evi-

SOPHIA LEE 311

dently returned with Mrs. Pennington to Clifton, and the
next letter is written immediately after her return home.

Begun Thursday Night, 24 Mar. 1820.

Dearest Mrs. Pennington will be glad to hear that four
horses, and three able-bodied men, brought my little person
safe home ... at 9 o'clock last night. Had I died, like
Mrs. Luxmore, of cough and strangulation, I should not
have seen our tall Beau for 5 minutes after breakfast : a
morning call. He looked in high health and good spirits,
said your eloquent praises had produced others, which Miss
Williams sends me this moment, and I really think them very
good indeed ; he does deserve all praise in every situation,
in all situations of life, and his adoring mother says
he was from infancy the best boy upon [earth]. We had
no time to talk of plans, present or future, [he] will go
to London next week, whether to return again I know
not. . . .

Captain Marshall has got what he wished and wanted.
How long will he be happy in the Prize he has so contended
for ? Mr. Mangin said to me once, that if he were to go to
Heaven, (unlikely enough, added he,) it would be disagree-
able to him for a week at least, the first week, but he
should grow reconciled to it. Would not that speech make
a good note to some of the observations in Johnson's Prince
of Abyssinia? It would at least do well for Sophia Lee,
whose misanthropism I reverence, while others ridicule it.
Why should she let the people in to visit her, as it is called ?
She knows they come for curiosity, not from affection ;
and I suppose her means of doing good have been curtailed
by accident, her powers of pleasing by infirmity and age.
Why should she then exhibit the Skeleton of Wit ? or

I Beauty, if she ever possessed it ? Is there no time when
one may be permitted to die in a corner [after] arranging
our little matters for the Journey ? Lord ! I [shall have]
to expire in a Curtsey and a Compliment, and request the

3 i2 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

Spectators [to] honour me with their commands to the next
World. ...

Mrs. Pennington writes on March 26 : "I was indeed
glad to get your letter, dearest Friend, for tho' I entertained
no fears for your personal safety, I was anxious lest the even-
ing air should increase the choaking, and in great dread of
dear Bessy's everlasting displeasure for suffering you to
depart at half past 5 o'clock, without anything to sustain
you on the way. There was more danger of your dying
from inanition than suffocation. Poor Mrs. Luxmore was,
I believe, a full liver. You and I shall not hasten the end of
life that way. However we certainly carried the starving
system to excess the day you honoured Dowry Square
with your presence ; for if we had had the common sense
to have sat down to Dinner an hour sooner, you would have
been tempted, from mere good humoured compliance with
our wishes, to have taken something and a glass of wine to
have supported you. But I was sick at heart, and could
feel only regret at parting from you, and the rest of the party
lost all their useful recollections in the pleasure of listening
to you, and looking at you. They declared they would
have gone without dinner for a week to have prolonged
the gratification.

" Maria [Brown] is a paintress, and a really good amateur
artist ; she says she cannot take her attention from your
forehead and eyes, the unfurrowed smoothness of the one,
and the lucid, sweet, and bright lustre of those blue orbs, giv-
ing a youthful expression that might pass for 20 ! It is this
that Jagher has hit off so happily, and that Roche could not
touch. I must have a copy of that picture some day or
other, if I sell my silver spoons, for my Tea Pot I will never
part with ; but mind, I am not begging, nor whining. I
will never have it from your purse." . . .

At the close of a long letter she returns to the subject of
Conway. " Dare you hint to him before you part our only

A WARNING TO CONWAY 313

fear ? and venture to tell him that your, and his saucy
Friend says that if he goes to that odious Ireland, and pours
much wine down his throat as his strong head will bear,
a few years he will look like a moving steeple, with a
>lazing Beacon at the top ? Oh ! if he ever Carbuncles
it beautiful nose, or heightens the natural colouring of
tat charming face, I will never give him another kiss. A
imendous threat, to be sure, considering the time I am
>king forward to, especially as I am getting fast to poor
[iss Wren's ashey tint : but I intend to be beautiful again
le of these days. Ninon was charming at a much more
Ivanced age, and wore spectacles as we do.

" I have been told I have a cast of her in my character,
dth a total exception, I beg leave to be understood, as to
physical and constitutional propensities, (as also to her
idition,) but that she was fair and gentle, with my
iture and carriage ; often serious ; generally rather
snder, interesting, and amusing, than brilliant, tho' some-
ies gay and sprightly,

' From grave to gay, from lively to severe.'

I wonder how all this nonsense came into my head ? . . .
If our dear Chevalier mars what God has made so exquisitely
well, and stamped so clearly an impress of the Divinity
upon, it will be a great sm."

28 March, 1820.

My dear Mrs. Pennington's gratuitous letter gives me the
best certainty of her returning health and spirits. This
answer to it will cost no more.

My health has little to do, at 81 years old, with cramming
or starving, and if I am to be blest, as you seem to think it,
with " second childishness and mere oblivion ; " * to sit, like
old Elspet in her wicker-chair, turned over by kind in-
quirers, like a last year's Almanack : why, be it so ! This

1 As You Like It, II. vi. 165.

314 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

is a week of mortification and resignation, and I will en-
deavour to endure the degrading idea. . . .

The loss of his company and talents will be a great
privation to me, but on his account my heart feels no fears.
Conway's virtues are not, I trust, what Johnson would call
ambulatory, meaning dependant upon climate and company.
He will come home to you I hope, in seven years time, two
or three little children at his side, his own incomparable
soul unsullied, his merits unmolested, his beauty unim-
pair'd. . . .

Mr. Hunt's being elected into Parliament is another
tub for the whale ; so if old Britannia, like her daughters,
must live to be sick and superannuated, why, Henry Hunt
and Horace Twiss may hold the smelling bottle to her
nose.

I have at last seen a man who profess'd himself happy.
It was Captain Marshall. But as he left me, and dress'd
for the Member's Dinner, to which he went in a Sedan, a
wagon overset his little vehicle, ran over his Chairman,
breaking both his thighs, and brought him to the Hall
too late for Dinner.

Those who converse with the Great expect our King to
be crowned on his birthday, the i2th of August. My divi-
dends will be come in by then, and Salusbury may have
his promised 100, to see the Coronation. I hate being
worse than my word. Our friend Fellie may not perhaps
find her Grandees so scrupulous. But she has had many
assurances of the Herb-woman's place in the Procession,
which I have heard was 400 or 500 o' year for life. She
is a sweet Lady, but ladies are charming creatures, of course ;
yours most particularly so surely, when they think it fit to
fling so much flattery away upon your poor affection 6
Friend, H. L. P.

Hunt was tried for his share in the Peterloo meeting
this year, and sentenced to two years imprisonment. He

MISS 1 1.1 I >\\ |.;> AS IIKKH-M KK\\ KR Al Till-. CORONATION >K *:K>. I V
/>'v .!/. litiHi'i after Mrs. Baker. I r< in ///, Ct'tln'tft n >]f .-I. .!/. / ;< ^/<;.'< r.

THE CORONATION

however, actually returned to Parliament for Preston
1830, in which capacity he presented the first petition in
ivour of W T omen's Rights.

The actual date of the coronation was iQth July 1821,
rtien " Fellie," otherwise Miss Anne Fellowes, the sister of
[rs. Piozzi's friend and executor, Sir James Fellowes, did
iciate as Herb-\Voman.

Monday, 10 Apr. 1820.

My dear Mrs. Pennington is but too kind in excusing
my peevishness, but this sharp weather freezes all my
faculties : it is as cold as January ought to be. You will
have a sad loss in Maria Browne, and I have a sad loss in
dear Conway ; and his steady resolution never to write is
such a bad trick. Siddons has the same you know : and
Dr. Johnson used to complain, I remember, of David Garrick.
" One would believe," said he, " that the little Dog loved
me, if it was only by conversation one knew him : but
out of sight, out of mind,' is an old proverb, and they have

of them so much to do."

If my coming to Clifton depended on my being weary
of Bath, you would see me soon indeed : but till July
dividends I have no money for move-about. Lord bless
me ! I wonder how other people's Bank Notes hold out.
Mine melt away like butter in the sun. Tis a great mercy
that the Stocks hold firm with a well organised rebellion in
the Island. In my time, had such a state of things existed,
people would have laid down knife and fork, and fallen to
praying : those I mean who did not fight either on the one
side or the other. We do not now lay down even our Cards.
My friend Dr. Gray however, whom you do, or you do not
remember at Streatham Park, has taken serious fright, and
led to London with his family, from Durham ; wishing to
:hange his valuable living for one, even half as profitable,

the South. Altho' Miss Normans told me on Saturday,
it Mrs. Pierrepoint's or Mrs. Courtenay's Assembly, that

316 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

the Bishops were insulted going to Dinner with some of our
Ministers of State, last week ; and the circumstance created
some alarm.

Mr. Eckersall says the Comte d'Artois' life has been
attempted, and that it was gave the King of France gout in
his stomach. Our gracious Queen's arrival may possibly
produce a like effect in the stomach of Louis Dixhuit's
personal friend.

. . . Miss Wroughton, in her zeal for Mr. and Mrs. Ashe,
asked half a dozen amateur Gentlemen to mount the
Balcony, and sing for their Benefit, because the Theatre
supported by Mr. Young took all their best musicians
away ; just as her friends the Ashes, took away Mr. Windsor,
etc. if you recollect from my Fete on the 27th of January.
And so some laugh, and some are angry, but Miss Wroughton,
tho' she cross'd me at every turn this Winter, begs me to
take Tickets now for Mr. Ashe ! ! ! I really wonder how
she can think of such a thing.

Clifton must be a charming place, sure, where there is
no such gossiping nonsense ; and all the Devonshire coast
too is so quiet, and Penzance in Cornwall will soon be
fashionable ; it is so cheap, they say, and so warm. . . .

You do not care much, I think, about these ridiculous
reports concerning Queen Caroline ; how she is coming
so she is to do wonders unheard of till now : and Buona-
parte ! how he's to be let out, a Bag Fox, for all Europe
to hunt again. People find torpor worse than torture 'tis
plain. They long for War, a property-tax and a battle in
every Newspaper : rebellion and assassination are not hot
enough. As Mr. Leo was constrained at last to warm
his brandy with Cayenne Pepper before his stomach could
feel any effect.

BATH, April 22, 1820.

Dear Mrs. Pennington will be glad to see the spring
coming forward so sweetly. She will be glad, too, to hear

QUEEN CAROLINE EXPECTED 317

at her true friends are well ; the Little Old Woman, and
e Tall Young Beau. She will be glad that the Parties
>w hot and disagreeable, and that I feel longing for
Clifton and the loth of June. Whether we are to be glad
the recovery of the Great Lady I know not, for tho' her
e does much good, her death poor Dear ! would have
ne no harm. Do you remember an impudent Comic
ctor on our Bath Stage ? A Mr. Edwin, and we said he
mbled Dr. Randolph in the face : and how when he
as addressing the audience in an epilogue upon his own
ight, he suddenly turned to her Stage Box, singing

And the Duchess, who now sits so smiling here
Shall come to our Benefits every year.
Tol ol derol, Lol, etc.

never saw any fair Female so confounded in my life. You
fere with me.

How the ground and the trees do sigh and pine for rain !
id what a haze this odious North East wind sheds over all
ly prospect ! The people are right enough that go abroad,
would go myself, but that I have an appointment to keep
dth dear Piozzi, who I brought out of his own sweet Country,
lie in the vault he made for me and my Ancestors at
lerchion ; where I am most willing to keep him com-
ty, when I have performed more than all the promises I
, in any humour, made his Nephew ; and when I have,
Eter paying every debt, saved a silver sixpence or two for
lose who soften and amuse the closing scenes of a life long
drawn out, perhaps for that very purpose. Meanwhile
we have a church building here, for my particular friends,
the Blackguards and tatter'd Belles of Avon Street, and
my Subscription will be soon expected.

Ay, Ay, I see where I shall pass the Winter months
escaping frosts, and keeping clear of expences, in a climate
better than Paris, the Latitude very little higher. But if
you open your lips Adieu ! . . .

3i8 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

Dear - - says his health was never so perfect, and he
uses horse exercise, and sends love to his Friends, and is
a good Boy. I used to bid my children when at distance,
only write three words, safe, well, and happy : his letter
is just like theirs.

You are tired, are you not, of the silly talk concerning
the Queen and the Radicals. They are like the Statues in
the Arabian Nights, who clatter their armour to fright those
who go up the hill : but if you walk steadily forward it
ends in nothing.

We have an Italian Rope Dancer coming, Diavol Antonio,
as they call him. Our shows have been like those in a
Magic Lanthorn ; so the Devil comes at last to end the
whole ado.

Fry day May $th, 1820.

. . . We will see a great deal of each other when Clifton
becomes my place of residence for six pretty weeks. After
them old Ocean. Can aught else compleatly wash away
all recollection of Bath Parties ? That fair assemblage of
glaring lights, empty heads, aking hearts, and false faces ?

Who is it says the conversation of a true friend brightens
the eyes ? I have enjoy'd two chearful hours talk with our
best speaker, best actor, best companion, Conway. You
seem to express yourself as if half sorry you loved him so
much. I am only sorry that I can't love him ten times
more. . . .

Here is lovely weather for frisking up and down, and my
empty pockets will not overload the carriage ; altho' the
whole family of emigrants will be packed in, and on, and upon,
my Post chaise and four. . . .

Salusbury sent me a whimpering letter, and has already
got his 100, which Heaven knows I owed, and much more,
to the estate of Messrs. Callan and Booth, Lodging House
keepers. But if I can get five Guineas o' week for No. 8,
during absence, I shall bring matters round in due time :

CHARLES SHEPHARD 319

ause, as Clarissa says in the Rambler, 'tis well known to
the Beau-Monde that nobody ever dies.

In her next letter Mrs. Piozzi makes arrangements for
the accommodation of herself and her household, consisting
of her man James, her attendant Bessy, and two other
maids at Clifton.

Tuesday, 16 May 1820.

... I can't stir till loth of June. ... I like to be under
Mrs. Rudd's roof, and mean to sleep under it next Saturday
three weeks, the Pretender's birthday, when old Tories in
Wales wore white Roses, the loth day of June. Sunday's
dinner I hope to eat with Mr. and Mrs. Pennington, at their
hospitable board, and we will talk of anything and every-
thing but la Partenza, which cannot be before the same
day of July, as till then I have ne'er a groat. If life is lent
me I will be rich that time twelve-month ; and if it is not
lent me, I shall want no money.

Meanwhile I expect no letters from our favourite Friend,
have written to him tho', and told him that you and I
e his Hephestion and Parmenio ; and if he does not
ugh at his Blue Ladies, we are surely well off.

Do you remember Charles Shephard, I wonder ? and
ow we petted him ? and Piozzi trusted him with all his
affairs, and bid me do so ; and so / did. The envious and
jealous people however, after my husband's death, (people
of our mutual acquaintance,) blew coals up between him
and me, and parted us with acrimony on his side, mental
resentment, very strong, on mine. I express'd none how-
ever ; only said, " God forgive and prosper you, fare-
11." Many reports would have been made afterwards
ncerning his distresses, which I regularly turned a deaf
to ; and for these last 10 years never heard his name,
d scarcely ever pronounced it. Last Fryday brought me
beautiful letter from him, dated West India, congratulat-

320 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

ing me on the gay supper given last January, assuring me
of his continued regard, and bidding me direct back to the
Hon. C. S. etc. because he is a Privy Councillor, Chief
Justice, and Lord knows what besides.

That he retains his confidence in me plainly appears
from the tender enquiries he makes after his favourite
Lady ; of whose attachment to him, and his to her, no
one ever knew but myself. So I have lived long enough to
have old friends restored, and to have made one new one.
I hope dear Conway and he will be acquainted when he
comes home rich and no, not happy, but able to spite the
spiters. If I am removed before then, you will remain and
introduce them to each other. It will be a mutual pleasure,
and you will talk of H. L. P., and Sir John will have my
letters to make money of, and give him some compensation
for my extravagance in the year 1820.

Callan and Booth, the people I take my house from,
have heavy claims on me now ; so I have let it to Mr.
Iveson for a twelvemonth, and mean to be smooth as
Oyl'd Silk by July 1821. . . .

There is much for you to do as my Sentimental Executrix,
so we will hear of no departure but mine for Marasion, just
by Penzance. . . .

George Hammersley has just left me and taken my
Banker's Book to Pallmall to be regulated ; and gives me
great credit for my care and exactness in my Money
Matters : bidding me make no scruple with regard to their
House, etc., very good-naturedly indeed. But as I told him
I never yet overdrew my Banker, and will not (unless
something serious happens,) begin to do so in the year 1820.
One twelve month's short-biting will set all smooth, and
you shall see a merry face once more on the shoulders of
yours and dear Mr. Pennington's affectionate,

H. L. P.

A few days afterwards Mrs. Piozzi was much agitated,

RETRENCHMENT 321

on Conway's account, by the news of the collapse of the
stage of the Birmingham theatre, where it appears he was
going to act ; but it turned out that it was not during
performance, and the only injury done was to one of the
workmen.

BATH, Tuesday 23 May 1820.

. . I shall sleep at your Crescent House, Mrs. Rudd's,
as we agreed long ago on Saturday night, 10 June, if it
pleases God, and go to your Bristol Cathedral on Sunday
morning : dine in Dowry Square, chat with you all the
ivening, and pass a comfortable night, altho' the Queen
coming near enough to put every one in a heat ; if perhaps
le may forbear to light up a fire in our Nation for purpose
)f roasting her own chicken to her own mind.

Public and private villainies on the increase, as Dr.
Randolph used to tell us long ago. He did recommend
Charles Shephard's father for the education of young
lusbury, and the son recommended himself by his useful
talents to dear Piozzi ; by his brilliant ones to me. I am
happy to find he will be rich and prosperous ; happy he
scarcely can be from the nature of his attachment ; but 'tis
happy to feel attachment at all, for when that's over, all's
over. ...

. . . At a wedding breakfast we were invited to yester-
day Dr. Wilkinson harangued in praise of Marazion, and our
friend Mr. Gifford said that when he was a young Officer,
he treated his brothers of the Corps with a dinner ; two
dishes of fish, one ham, three chickens, a pigeon pye, and
a plum pudding ; the cost, 14 shillings. . . .

Meanwhile Sir Wm. Hotham says the Levee was a Bear
Garden. Miss Knight's letter to Mrs. Lutwyche says it
was full of Grocers, Silk Dyers, and Upholsterers. And 7
say it was a Levy- en- Masse.

E^he Bath people must get substitutes for H. L. P. and
^.. C. as they can. I fancy young Roscius will be the
, the woman is yet to be looked for.

322 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

Admiral Sir William Hotham, one of Nelson's officers,
was made aK.C.B. in 1815, and became one of the Gentlemen
in Waiting to the King.

The young Roscius (William Henry West Betty), whose
acting at the age of twelve created such a furore, and whose
popularity for a time eclipsed that of Mrs. Siddons, had
already appeared at Bath in 1812. He retired from the
stage in 1824 and died in 1874.

BATH, Tuesday Night,
6 June, 1820.

.... Mr. Ward has taken leave, and all the Ladies
wept. Such was the croud, I am told, that James my man
could not get in to any place he could stand upon.

The Londoners will have as good food for starers as
Mr. Ward can give the Bath folks. Queen Caroline is said
to be arrived, and is to inhabit Wanstead House. The
rumours and reports are indeed innumerable. . . .

Meanwhile my heart is heavy with affliction at losing
an old, tried, and true friend, Archdeacon Thomas. Poor
man ! and poor Mrs. Thomas ! for whom my heart bleeds.
He was buried in the Abbey, where he was walking with
Dr. Harington, his father-in-law, some few years ago. " Let
us look," said they, " for a place where we may lie." " Ay,
Thomas, so we will, for

These ancient walls, with many a mouldering bust,
But shew how well Bath Waters lay the dust."

repeated the ever-ready Doctor.

How long, dear Mrs. Pennington, am I to live ? How
many valuable companions am I to lose ? These gentlemen
were among the very pleasing ones I have known. . . .
Thank God Salusbury and Conway dear Lads are young,
and likely to last me out. But when they do not write my
foolish heart is fluttering for their safety, naughty children

MRS. PIOZZI AT PENZANCE 323

as they are in neglecting to send me a letter. I have heard
but once from Brynbella since my 100 went there. . .

Mrs. Dimond told [Miss Williams] that Bath would have
a sad loss of Mrs. Piozzi ; but the Queen will put everything
but herself out of everybody's head. The weather is wonder-
fully dull ; so is my letter. . . .

Henry Harington, M.D., Physician to the Duke of York,
was a talented musician, and founder of the Bath Philhar-
monic Society. A letter quoted by Hayward describes him
in 1815 as " listening with delight to his own charming
compositions. The last Catch and Glee are said to be the
best he ever wrote." The incident mentioned above took
>lace the same year. There is a curious little note about
dm in Mrs. Piozzi's Commonplace Book. " Dr. Harrington,
who was then 88 years old, never took any air or exercise
that he could possibly avoid, going constantly to his patients
in a Sedan ; and held a handkerchief before his face to keep
the air away."

Another note, dated June 7, 1820, runs as follows : " Am
I, H. L. P., sorry to leave Bath ? No, but I should be half
sorry to think I never should return, which it is most probable
I never shall ; my age so far advanced. Well, God's will,
not mine, be done."

PENZANCE, Tuesday 25 Jul. 1821.

[clearly a slip for 1820.]

My dearest Mrs. Pennington will be pleased to hear that
we arrived safely at Penzance last night. ... All we are
told about the place seems true. . . . We shall get a good
house, with a sea view . . . upon the Regent's Terrace,
paying 16 o' month, thro' the whole ten, from ist of August
next to ist of June 1821. . .

Our dear Conway's name at length appears in the Morning
Post, summoning his troops to meet in the Green Room of
the new Theatre, Birmingham. If Mrs. Rudd does not
know it, do her the honour to call with the information.

324 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

I wish the ship was come with our Cook, and our books,
and our luggage. A Mr. Paul shew'd me 4 fine Red Mullets
he had just paid a penny each for, this very morning : yet
the Inn gave us a stale Soal yesterday, and will charge a
shilling at least for it. But Honesty is a shrub harder to
raise than Myrtle, which grows here in open air sure enough,
and the people are so fond of it that they plant the beautiful
Bay out of their sight as much as possible, preferring green
trees to blue waves completely.

St. Michael's Mount is a disappointing object, at least
to me ; and as to the country we came thro', nothing ever
looked so poverty-stricken, except the very roughest part
of North Wales in rough days, before they had begun enclos-
ing. Goats browsing wild about the rocks, as in some
districts of Snowdonia, serve the peasants as good substitutes
for cattle, who could not pick a living so as to enable them
to give milk for the innumerable children that crowd the
cottages. Yet Mrs. Hill complains that they grow saucy,
and refuse Barley Bread now, which used to be their regular
sustenance. I have not, however, seen a beggar, and the
shops are splendid, while the streets are odious, too filthy,
too mean to be endured. Bangor and Beaumaris would
be ashamed of them. I might have had a good house for
two Guineas o' week, but could not away with the situation,
coming from Clifton Hill. Peat stacks at every turn shew
what fires they use here in the winter, but till last January
snow had not been seen for many years, and it lasted but
one day. The tide here is like that in the Mediterranean,
just visible the Ebb and Flow ; tho' full moon to-day, no
rise appears to my eyes that are unused to a land-locked bay,
and which, (foolishly enough), expected an open Ocean,
such as the Sussex coast exhibits. But old Neptune here
puts on a quiet aspect, resembling that he wears at Wey-
mouth or at Tenby, No mud however offends the Bathers,
and no Machine assists them.

I saw the Holmes, and pretty Mendip Lodge, as we came

PENZANCE DESCRIBED 325

along, and fancied I could discern Weston super Mare,
whose Sea View Place is just such a row of houses as
Regent's Terrace ; only we have here such magnificent
gardens, and one good house in the middle of the row,
looking down with true contempt on the mouse-holes each
side it : and that Mansion I am in chase of, only suspecting
that, before we knew it was to be had, I entangled myself
in a mouse-hole.

The women here are beautiful. The Lady of Mouse-
trap Hall, with whom I have entangled myself, has eyes
like Garrick's, teeth like Salusbury's, complexion like your
own, but cruel as lovely. I fear she will not let me off ;
and in her house I should regret the ample space of your
house, or mine at Weston super Mare.

I have half a mind not to let this go till I have finally
settled this great affair. Great indeed just now, for as
Goldsmith said

"These little things are great to little men." 1

And on this 26th I shall sit, fret, and dine

In a chair-lumber'd closet, just eight feet by nine.

For I feel myself after all condemned to the Mousehole
for three months certain ; 2, 155. od. per week, with a
view of the sea, and then (if we live to see November), Mr.
Paul's comfortable Mansion at next door.

PENZANCE, Wed. 3 August, 1820.

Charming Mrs. Pennington's beautiful letter was indeed
most welcome, tho' it does put me a little more out of humour
with my runaway frolic than I was before it arrived. . . .

Now for Penzance and its Parties. Mrs. Hill made a

E'idid one, for me I rather think, and my black satten
i (for no other is yet arrived,) was my best garment.
1 The Traveller.

326 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

Bessy lent me a cap of hers, and my youthful looks were
duly appreciated my whist-playing applauded. We had
two tables, one for shillings, one for sixpences ; a profusion
of exquisite refreshments, and music in another room. Oh !
if I escape all temptations to sensuality, I shall live to see
dear Mr. and Mrs. Pennington again, and the Hot Wells,
and Clifton Terrace, where I shall surely jump for very joy.
But these Red Mullets and Dorees for two pence o' piece
will certainly destroy some of us. Poor Bessy has been
seriously, I might say dangerously ill, from indulging in a
Crab ; it made James sick too ; all the family half-killed,
for the small price of a groat the fish, and a Pound to the
Dr. ... a real Physician, thank God, and not a country
Tothecary. . . .

The people know not how to be civil enough, and if my
stomach will reconcile itself to the clouted cream, I shall
come home as fat as the pigs of the country, and such pork
did I never see. Our own garden affords potatoes for us
all, and onions etc., besides the flower plot, perfuming the
very air around with carnations of every hue, Myrtles of
every form, and exotic shrubs with Linnean names innumer-
able. The appearance of our Mansion, pleasure ground, and
kitchen garden, reminds me of Kingsmead Terrace, Bath ;
but James says the houses here are by no means so spacious
as that where your compassion carried you when our in-
comparable Conway was so ill. I hope he has proved
himself irresistible, and what must the heart be over which
he cannot, if he pleases triumph ? ... Oh ! if I possessed
an unappropriated 100 in the world, I would go see him
act once again, that I would. . . . I am glad Mrs. Rudd's
heart seems lighter than when we left her ; the Rogue has
never written to me, no, not a scrap ; but she had an earlier
pretension to his regard, I think it is scarce a truer.

Meanwhile Sophia Hoare has written me a more good-
humour'd letter than usual, and I am so delighted ! Mater-
nal love is the only good thing mankind can not throw away.

THE QUEEN BEE 327

It springs fresh with the least drop of water flung upon it.
She wishes her illustrious Neighbour out of Town I see,
and says wisely that her present residence being so near
the Barracks is unfortunate, because the soldiers' wives
and children are among her every night's applauders. The
Hoares are used to be violent opposers of the Ministry, but
Democrates like to have their property held sacred, as well
as you or I ; and firing houses will make no sport to the
Bankers, I trow.

So now pray accept these not elaborate verses : they will
muse Mr. Pennington's gout.

Around their Queen
Here are seen,

Sharp'ning every sting,
Bees, alarming
By their swarming
People, Peers, and King.

But in their tricks,
Should they fix

On our property ;
They must learn
To discern

That when they sting, they die.

Surely such Cakes, Jellies, etc., as they use here for
refreshments, all new and warm, were never seen at Bath or
London, so various, so profuse. I never touch them,
certainly, but never was so tempted. No Confectioner's
shop visible in the place, all made at home.

With regard to rain, we live in a cloud of soft mist,
rain, if you please to call it so ; certainly a perpetual damp,
warm moisture. Lady Jane James said, you know, that
she never put on a dry chemise at St. Michael's Mount,
and truly did she speak ; but nobody ever told me that

328 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

the sea here is as tame as the country is wild. Wild with-
out sublimity, coarse externally, like other Misers ; its
riches all concealed underground. I saw Hay carried last
night, two months after the environs of Clifton. But I
have wrong'd old Neptune ; he can roar, I hear him now,
thank Heaven. Oh ! how much more delightful is the
music he now makes than that of the pretty Ladies of the
parties, to the rude ears of dearest Mrs. Pennington's
everlastingly obliged and faithful

H. L. P.

Aug 3. Fateful month ! but no clothes, no books, no
Cook, no Con way's portrait yet for poor H. L. P.

Cook, books, and clothes were still in the Port of Bristol,
as Mrs. Pennington writes on the 29th, waiting, as it ap-
peared, for the captain to make up his freight ; and might
then be expected to take from four days to a fortnight-
according to the wind to make Penzance.

The renewed enthusiasm for Queen Caroline was aroused
by the anticipation of the Bill of Pains and Penalties, in-
tended to dissolve the marriage, which was brought in on
August 14, but proved so unpopular, both in and out of
Parliament, that it had to be dropped.

On August 10 Mrs. Pennington is able to announce that
the Happy Return had actually sailed, with Mrs. Piozzi's
belongings, five days before. Conway had been to see his
mother, and had called on herself, rather, she thinks, from
civility than from choice. " There was a polite distance
assumed, evidently for the purpose of repressing enquiry.
... I am persuaded we trouble ourselves much more
about his concerns than he either wishes or likes." She
gathered, however, that he had secured some sort of re-
cognition from his father. She alludes to the letter of
" lovely Mrs. Hoare," whom " I always liked . . . because
I thought her more personally like you than any of the
Ladies."

OYAGE OF THE "HAPPY RETURN" 329

PENZANCE, Sunday August 13, 1820.

Come ! oh come ! dear Mrs. Pennington, I see you half
ong to be here, and what a relief, what a comfort, would
our society afford to your starving H. L. P. ? Here is no
at, no dust, no cold : I daresay it is a very negative place,
1 1 must not have you tell tales out of School. Miss
revenan may justly disapprove my censure on the no
picturesque of her native county : and if you read her my
tters so, I must grow cautious, a la Conway. I have heard
m him, thank God ! The rogue told me nothing tho',
cept how charming you and I were, what admirable letters
wrote, etc. " Yea, and all that did I know before," l
as Juliet says. Quere, whether he has anything to tell ;
unless it be that he has at length calmed his own noble and
too-feeling mind, by conduct which himself approves.

But at the same moment with your kind letter comes
our long-expected ship. Cook says they have been to Wales ;
Swansea in Glamorganshire !

The day you receive this one whole month will have
elapsed since I left the full moon shining in her brightness
on Clifton Terrace. Never have my eyes seen her since.
No, nor a starry night. Yet here is sun enough, and the sea
so beautifully blue and clear, you would be delighted with
it, as one is with a tame Lyon. Will you come ? . . .

Much, meantime, and of much more importance, is craz-
ing all the brain-pans of poor Europe. The revolt at Rome
strikes me as very surprising. The same people who de-
fended their Sovereign as long as they could, poor creatures !
against French aggression, now fly in the face of his not only
Innocent, but innocuous successor : no mortal can guess
why. Ay, ay, you used to laugh when I mounted my turnep
cart and preached the end of the world. But you don't
like witnessing the convulsions that precede it, and which
increase in violence visibly every day. Poor Ithaca ! whence

1 Rom. and Jul., II. v. 47.

330 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

Ulysses was detained, you know, by the gardens of Alcinous,
has been shattered completely to pieces by an earthquake,
under the name of St. Mauro ; and Inspruck, where I spent
a few days, has seen the destruction of her Golden House.

Our Queen Bee, of whom the Radicals have laid hold,
will be the instrument of concussion in our Country ; and
we drones shall suffer, while the stingers go on torturing each
other into madness. The Naturalists, Pennant, Linnaeus,
etc., have long observed that all the Hymenoptera have
stings. Yet I suppose that will not deter the hopers
from marriage. . . .

Mr. Mangin's Intercepted Letter was a little Pamphlet,
censuring some Authors, Actors, etc., commending others;
and I got two kind lines, before we were at all acquainted,
so that brought on Library conversation, and he offered his
services about the Name-Book ; took it to London for me,
where it was rejected, not through any neglect on his part :
and I felt myself much obliged by his attentions, and rejoiced
in his good fortune when he married. . . .

No particulars are forthcoming respecting the " Name
Book," but it was evidently a work on Etymology, written
some years before, which was to have been called Lyford
Redivivus, for which she was unable to find a publisher.
A letter in Mr. Broadley's collection indicates that it
was finished about 1816, when she writes to Sir James
Fellowes, " I wish Mr. Jenkins had taken the Name Book."

PENZANCE, Saturday Night,

26 Aug. 1820.

Dear, kind Mrs. Pennington, I love you for wishing that
you could come, and you ought to love me for agreeing in
the notion that to come would be very foolish. One can
hardly save the expences of such a journey b}' cheap fish,
when the water 'tis boyl'd in must, every drop, be paid for.
And what an ideot was James not to pay the carriage of

ANTARCTIC DISCOVERIES 331

:he Turbot ! When I miss'd it in the weekly account I
uld have cuff'd him.

The heats are equable, not strong or starvy ; but little
be said in praise of the weather. Rain, almost incessant,
ps one at home, and to get at this lovely sea, such stinks
ust be encounter'd as I never knew but at Rome or Naples,
dear Italy ! I did love it however, and hear with
affected sorrow of the pangs that are tearing it to pieces.
France /m?-brands seem the instruments of punishment
m on high. In England one female suffices. If nothing
be done without more help, my Paper says that Buona-
te is to be let loose, and that Prince Esterhazy's business
e was to solicit his liberation. Hissing the Duke of
Wellington is a prelude, a pretty overture to such an Opera.
Opera means piece of work, you know. It makes me more
willing to quit the world certainly, when I see it rolling down-
hill so. But the whole of it must be disco ver'd before it is
destroy 'd, and the little ship William, a trading vessel from
Blythe in Northumberland, has in effect found at last the
great Southern Continent, so long supposed to exist, so
completely forgotten of late years. . .

Did you ever read my verses, which this discovery made
by the William confirms ? " No," is the answer, Well then,
here they are, making part of a long poem composed 35
years ago.

Where slowly turns the Southern Pole,

And distant Constellations roll,

A sea-girt Continent lies hurl'd,

And keeps the balance of the World.

But felter'd fogs, and hoary frost

Defend th' inhospitable coast,

Which, veil'd from sight, eludes the Pilot's care,

And leaves him fix'd in ice, a statue of despair.

I hear no more of Salusbury. I never could get him to
care about these matters : and after all, does not he act as

332 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

all parents wish their children to act, soberly and quietly,
keeping a steady eye to his interest in this world ; not, I
hope and trust, forgetful of the next. One must love the crea-
tures for their valuable, or delight in them for their shining
qualities, no matter whether they love me or no, and in their
way they do love me. Sir James Fellowes has written kindly
and good-humouredly, and my heart has entirely made all
up with his. Nothing, as you say, aiPd him but jealousy ;
and I hold that to be what foolish Merlin, the mechanic,
called a desagreable compliment. . . .

Miss Willoughby has written from St. Anne's Hill. She
says Lord Erskine wishes the illustrious Lady, who causes
so much talk, was in the Liturgy and out of the Country.
After what past at Ephesus, I see not why one should wish
any such thing ; but the aggregate of understanding she is
tried by will decide rightly, I doubt not. . .

Well, God mend all ; and give us a merry meeting on our
Happy Return. < . .

The populace had been exasperated with Wellington
over the Peterloo incident, and he was just now sharing the
unpopularity of the Ministry, of which he was a member,
on account of the Bill of Pains and Penalties designed to
effect the Queen's divorce. The exclusion of her name from
the Church Services had been one of the first objects of the
King on his accession.

Miss Willoughby, who soon afterwards followed Mrs.
Piozzi to Penzance, appears to have been a daughter of
Charles James Fox.

15 Sep. 1820.

I hope my dear Mrs. Pennington is beginning again to
look for an empty letter. Empty it must be of all but good
will, badly express'd, for we are still-life people here, who
see and hear very little, and reflect less upon what is seen
and heard. I think every day more and more with our
old Master Shakespear, that " there is a tide in the affairs

AN EMPTY LETTER 333

men, which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune." 1
oline of Brunswick has surely miss'd her tide. A
mmotion might have been raised the first week : I now
to doubt its possibility on her account. Rebellion
wever is in, as boys say of Cricket and Kite-flying, and
y excuse serves in any country. When what is called a
Spirit of Liberty seizes the swarthy inhabitants of Morocco,
how should their old enemies, the Portuguese, escape ?
"When Afric recovers, Mundus will end," says an old pro-
verb. And as dear Mrs. Pennington says, " no matter how
soon, it should be either ended or mended." The eclipse
however did nothing towards its destruction. I saw it here
beautifully, but there was little apparent obscuration, tho'
the Thermometer sunk two degrees. We shall have an
elegant Eclipse of the Moon on our Equinoctial day, the
22d of September : and our tides become even now a little
stronger in their flux and reflux. Like other quiet temper'd
people, their anger, I understand is dreadful. . . .

Doctor Randolph's state of health grieves me, and the
of Mr. Bayntom ; on whom so many, (and those wise
pie too,) depended with a very firm reliance. I always
nder at such partiality. It has been my lot to love
ree or four Medical Men very sincerely, and like them in
earnest for companions and friends, but would not give
much of preference to any. And 'tis well that such is my
humour, in a place where we send to the Tallow chandler's
if we want drugs : no Apothecary or Chymist residing near
happy Penzance. Fowls we buy in the feathers and
James says every shop in the Town sells Barley to feed
them with. There are no more Poulterers than Milliners
yet everybody is genteelly drest, and I warrant our Michael-
mas goose will be good, and cost us scarce half a crown,
giblets and plumage. I should like to write you a letter
with my own quill. . . .

1 Timon of Ath., IV. iii. 218.

334 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

Well ! now I will go work at your Fly ; but even that
is nonsense, for I cannot frame it, nor line it, nor put it in
a box. There are no frames, no boxes, no linings, at Pen-
zance. I cannot make it worth your acceptance ; and who
dreams of my living till the spring, and bringing it with me
to Clifton, when I shall be going on to 82 years old ? I
must finish, and leave it in charge with Bessy, to save from
the hands of my Executors ; as I will do by Conway's
portrait. . . .

The Harvest here is beautiful and plenteous :

" Far as the circling eye can range around
Unbounded, tossing in a flood of corn,"

as Thomson says. Industry is a rough power surely, but a
kind one ; working that you and I may sit idle, ploughing
that H. L. P. may have leisure to work Butterflies, and
weaving that pretty Mrs. Balhechet may look lovely in her
various dresses.

Charles Shephard has written to me again. He likes the
correspondence I suppose, for we are 4000 miles asunder.
By dint of industry however, he will come home rich ; and
seeing 500 people richer than himself, will find he has ex-
changed honour and distinction for Coffee-house chat and
Drawing-room small talk, the food his fancy now is long-
ing for, but which will grow insipid in six months ; and re-
flection will then inform him that to talk of Rum and Sugar
has more spirit and sweetness than to talk of nothing. He
begs me to write, not newspaper occurrences, he says, but
stuff out of my own head, as they say at Eton School :
the head of an old Haggard, 81 years old ! ! ! But he is
consorting with those who never heard tell about the
gardens of Alcinous. Some one sung a Ballad in which
Lethe was mentioned, not a soul in the company guess 'd
what was meant, till some very clever fellow found it was
a river, running between Leith and Edinburgh. . . .

THE QUEEN'S TRIAL 335

In Morocco, under Soliman, the Christian slaves were

;ing liberated, and piracy suppressed. In Portugal, after
ie flight of John VI to Brazil, the government had been

the hands of a Regency, which included Marshal Beresford,

to organised the army, but used its power despotically.

iring a visit he paid to Rio in 1820, insurrections took
)lace at Lisbon and Oporto, the English Officers were ex-
pelled, and a Constituent Assembly formed.

The Eclipse of Sep. 7, 1820, was an annular one, well
seen over the N. of Europe. Mangin relates how a similar
one occurred in Mrs. Piozzi's girlhood, and an astronomical
friend told her she might live to see another at 80.

On Sep. 21 Mrs. Pennington writes, much disgusted at
the revelations of the Queen's trial, and apprehensive of
their effect on public morals. "Not a Boarding School
Miss, nor a Parish Girl, that can make out the words, but
we see studying these detestable pages, and devouring their
contents as they would a new Novel. . . . The worst part
of the business is the little respect, and less approbation,
felt even by well disposed and moderate persons for a certain
Great Individual. The vices of debauchery offend and dis-
gust more (with many who are not altogether disinclined
to the practice,) than the downright wickedness arising from
the ambition and tyranny of the worst Monarchs that ever
reigned ; and prove that the moral virtues are of more
value than anything. Our late K g lost 13 Provinces,
and supported a war which was unpopular with a great part
of his subjects, and which has ruined the Nation ; yet he
was loved for his moral excellence, and his memory is
revered."

She deprecates precipitancy in the matter of the
Butterfly, and suggests that any Carpenter, with 4 strips
of wood, might make a rough, but efficient, substitute for
the Tambour Frame which she thought Mrs. Piozzi could
not procure.

336 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

PENZANCE, Tuesday, Sep. 26, 1820.

In life's last scenes, what prodigies surprize !
Fears of the brave, and follies of the wise !

SAM. JOHNSON.

Poor dear Dr. Randolph ! Ay, and poor dear Mr. Chap-
pelow too ! The post which brought your letter charming
friend ! brought one from his nephew, son to Soame
Jenyns, saying his uncle was dead, and had left my letters
carefully tied up, which he would send to Bath immediately.
I wrote and beg'd him send the packet to you, where I
shall find it safe if I live till May-day ; and if not, you will
give it to Sir John or Sir James, my Executors. He had
lost his head long before he lost his life, I find. Awful
reflection ! For a pleasant head it was, and a world of
pleasant stories were hatched in it. Would not Mr. Pen-
nington be sorry for such a loss to his true servant H. L. P. ?
I am very sure he would ; and vexations at 81 years old
cannot contribute much towards holding it in its place. . . .

Of the discovery made by the " William," I think very
seriously. It is the last place that has lain concealed, and
when the Gospel has been preached there, Christ does not
say obeyed, "then shall the end come." Distress of
nations with perplexity was never, no never so apparent :
tho' Dorset Fellowes writes me word that they say not a
syllable of their own conspiracy at Paris. . . . You are
right about the tryal ending in smoke. I daresay it will :
but the people, falsely called people in power, are afraid of
its ending in fire, like myself, and will therefore be glad to
compound. It was never a thing of their seeking, and the
French are all for la belle Caroline, of course ; and threaten
their English visitants with the speedy appearance of
Monsieur le Baron Bergami. Meanwhile the fashionable
joke is to say a noble Marquis, much talked of in London,
is like a comb, all back and teeth. Yes, says another wag,
a Horn comb.

THE BUTTERFLY 337

My fret about your Fly was for a frame, a picture frame,

hang it up in your boudoir. The only merit in my work
that it is all done upon the hand ; I do not know how to
se a Tambour. The drawing it is ill executed from re-
presented the Blue-eyed Paris from Chandernagore ; a
Butterfly of much dignity, according to Linnaeus, but you
must accept it cover'd with faults. Lady Williams of
Bodylwyddan had the Ulysses worked reasonably well,
a dozen years ago, and Mrs. Rudd has a Moth. . . .

I never heard Miss Stephens sing, and what is much
stranger, never heard the famous Mrs. Sheridan. But I
have heard old Dr. Burney say she sung " Return, O God of
Hosts " better than anybody except Mrs. Gibber the Actress,
whose manner of delivering that air was absolute perfec-
tion. Miss Sharpe says the Kembles are well and happy
at Lausanne. ... I hear the Twisses are returned to Bath,
meaning Mr. and Mrs. Twiss ; the Girls are out, like good
girls, getting their living. . . . Horace has got into Parlia-
ment safe and snug.

Poor Mrs. Rudd ! I hope she will keep her houses full,
and find me a lodging in some of them next Spring, before
the loth of June, that I may bustle and be busy ; and get
my little things, (as Ladies call everything,) from No. 8 Gay
Street to No. 36 Royal Terrace, Clifton. But how hopeless
and silly all this is at 81 years old, and dear Chappelow
dead of superannuation, six years younger than myself,
in whom hope of living six months would be proof of super-
annuated folly. We must do as well as we can, and wish
we could do better. He was as temperate as I am. . . .
But when sickness comes in consequence of drinking some
stuff that pretended to be smuggled wine, and was a mess
made with sea water in an Alehouse ; why then I do despair
of ever again seeing any place or people that are dear to
your poor

H. L. P.

338 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

Mr. Ray has long left Streatham and its neighbourhood.
His mother died of cold in a rough winter some years ago.
She would go and sort her apples in a loft ; where being
seized with a shivering fit, she was brought down, only to
expire, at 92 years old.

Soame Jenyns, who, according to the Dictionary of
National Biogt;rphy, left no issue by either of his wives, was
the author of the epitaph on Johnson containing the lines

Boswell and Thrale, retailers of his wit,

Will tell you how he wrote, and talk'd, and cough'd, and spit.

The French conspiracy here alluded to was the plot
hatched for the murder of the Due de Berri, son of the Comte
d'Artois.

Bartolomeo Bergami, who just now loomed large through
the cloud of scandal which surrounded the Queen's trial, was
originally engaged by her as a courier, when she retired to
the Continent in 1813. His handsome person so commended
him to his royal mistress that she speedily promoted him
to be her equerry and chamberlain, and treated him as an
intimate friend. Through her influence he was made a
Baron of Sicily, a Knight of Malta, and several other orders,
including one of her own devising, under the patronage of
" Saint Caroline " : while a number of his relatives were
provided with posts in her train. ]

Catherine Stephens was at this date the leading soprano
at Covent Garden, and afterwards sang at Drury Lane, and
in the chief concerts and festivals. In 1838 she married the
fifth Earl of Essex, then over eighty years of age, and died f
in 1882. Though she had not a finished style, she sang airs
like " Angels ever bright and fair " with much pathos and
devotional feeling.

The Mrs. Sheridan here spoken of was the dramatist's
first wife, Eliza Ann Linley, who died 1792. Though she
was the finest singer of her day, her dislike to appearing in

DR. BURNEY

339

iblic had much to do with her run-away match with

icridan.

Of Dr. Burney she writes in her Commonplace Book
that he " died at last, I am told, at 89 years old, and in full
possession of his faculties. They were extremely good ones.
He thought himself my friend once, I believe, whilst he
thought the world was so. When the stream turned
against the poor straw, he helped its progress with his stick
and made his daughter do it with her fingers. The stream
however grew too strong, and forced the little straw forward
in spite of them."

Mrs. Pennington sends a closely-written foolscap sheet
ited October i, largely taken up with the Queen's trial,
a propos of which she says : " We received a comical anec-
dote in a letter from Town. They say it was a common
trick for the little rascally boys, if they could get hold of a
stranger in the mob, to offer to shew them the Queen for
sixpence ! On receiving it they would shout out ; on which
Her Majesty would immediately appear, and smile and
curtesy graciously : and the boy would then add, " /'//
have her out again presently ! "

PENZANCE, Sunday Oct. 15, 1820.

A propos to Kingly residence the best joke is that since
Her Majesty has possessed herself of all the John Bulls, her
husband ran to Cowes by way of retaliation. It would
seem by the Papers now, I think, that the Tryal draws near
to a conclusion. If any poor Italian should be put in the
Pillory, as menaced, he never, no never, would come out
alive. When Mr. Thrale and I lived in Southwark, I pass'd
a poor creature in that situation, upon St. Margaret's Hill,
and could eat no dinner for thinking of his sufferings and
danger. " Madam," exclaimed Dr. Johnson, " give yourself

concern about him. My life for it, he is drunk by now."
hapless Lombards have no such resource, and the man

340 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

I saw died before night. But Miss Willoughby tells of
another joke. One says the Queen must be fatigued to
death sitting in this room so, without refreshment. "No
Sir," is the reply, " the Queen's not nice ; she can take a
chop at the King's Head " ; an Alehouse in the neighbour-
hood.

What you observe concerning public and private virtues
may be true now in 1820 ; in 1760 I remember, when
Wilkes's moral character was objected to by the Loyalists,
the Liberty Boys cried, " What care we whether he be
vicious, or the man he insults be virtuous ? We look to
public, not to private character." In consequence of these
opinions the Town was deluged with verses, of which I can
call to mind one stanza in praise of the then popular Hero.

Tis thus that we are told,
The ^Egyptians of old

Ador'd their still fouler Ichneumon,
Who alone durst engage
The fell Crocodile's rage,

With courage exceeding the human.

I forget whether the crocodile stood for King George III,
or my Lord Mansfield. They equally resembled him, I
believe ; but 'tis plain men thought little of Jack Wilkes's
vartue.

Your Butterfly, which was finished yesterday, is not
less fixed in his flights than popular opinion. When Cardinal
de Retz was followed up and down by an admiring mob,
" Is not this fine ? " said a flatterer, " to see your Eminence
possess 'd of so many friends and followers " " Let anybody
ring a dinner-bell," said he, "and see how many would be
left me then."

Meanwhile the storm continues very grand indeed, but
something very like very dreadful. This bay looks so calm
too! But sweetest wines make the sourest vinegar, and

A STORM 341

anger is so fierce or fatal as that of gentle natures irritated
o frenzy. I begin to wish it was over ; as I did travelling
among the Alps, which at first enraptur'd, but the third
day wearied my very heart. Effect of the true sublime. . . .

[P.M. Nov. 2, 1820.]

This will be a dull letter, dear Mrs. Pennington ; I have
been very ill, ill in good earnest, the pulse 92. There is a

P f ever in the Town, and Sophy, my stout-looking housemaid,
es cover'd with blisters now. . . .

Let us talk of the storm, it is more entertaining, and
tho' death seems, by the describers, to be most dreadful under
the form of white breakers, it comes cleanlier, and less to
my personal disliking, so, than accompanied with gallipots
and all the tribe of sick-bed sorrows ; for which, and the
talk concerning them, my aversion was ever great. . . .

I continue to do what I came hither to perform, eat
cheap fish, and pay old debts. Mr. Pennington will laugh,
so will Dr. Randolph, if you tell them Tully's Offices are
come to the last chapter, and that I shall write FINIS to that
book, if I live the next month through.

Am I, d'ye think, to see the end of 1820 ? If I am, those
who say people of letters are never people of figures, shall
find themselves mistaken in H. L. P. Had I dreamed of
losing 6000 at a stroke so, I would have been more prudent.

Conway was a good boy to send Partridge and pretty
words to dear Clifton : he sends me no such nice things,
knowing that my regard is not a ceremonious one. Mar-
cella's speech to her lovers in Don Quixote, when they tax
her with ingratitude, has the best common sense I ever read.
4 You love me," said she, " because I am young and beautiful
and attractive by talents and graces. When you are so
too I will requite your love, but no gratitude is due for that
attention which you all confess to be involuntary. Get
you gone, and plague me no more. Should I want your
assistance when grown old and ugly, would you give me

342 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

any ? No, I warrant. Then I have nothing to thank
you for." 1 . . .

Dorset [Fellowes] has been surprisingly kind to me ....
for after all, " Age is dark and unlovely, it is like the glimmer-
ing light of the Morn, when she shines thro' broken clouds :
the blast of the North is on the plain, and the Traveller
shrinks on his journey." Well ! the people at Penzance
do endure the dregs of the Piozzi very good naturedly ;
and Miss Willoughby grows much a favourite with
them all.

What is to be seen at Penzance however, is a storm. The
billows most majestic, and the sea spray tossing, foaming,
as if to remind me of Brighthelmstone. For there alone
does the salt water throw its particles into the air, so as to
be carried 9 miles over the Downs to Lewes ; where I have
been warned to strip the Peaches of their downy coat, be-
cause they would taste of the last tempest. The shipwrecks
here are shocking, and very frequent. This is no land of
felicity to any but starvelings. Bessy buys five such fine
Soles as I have partaken of at your table for one shilling,
and they feed the family. We had a Turbot larger than
that I sent to you for half a crown, a while ago. Miss
Willoughby and I dined on the fins. But I scarce believe
all fish is wholesome food, the town is full of Typhus now. . .

My heart tells me that H. L. P. has made her last journey ;
but 'tis no matter, and will be no loss.

A new book called Nicholle's Reflexions, or Recollections,
will amuse you. His opinions of the late King run parallel
with yours. But I, who remember caricatures of Charlotte
toasting the muffin, and George the third reaching the Tea-
kettle, can never be made believe that modern Reformers
sigh for moral Princes. How did Louis i6 ze please the people
with his morality ? Calling his present Majesty Nero, is
to me comical. Carleton House may indeed be termed
Nerot's Hotel, because the Master of it is kept, like the

1 Don Quixote, Bk. II., Chap. xiv.

t I

CARICATURES OF ROYALTY 343

>ple of a bagnio, in hot water. And it seems that's the
le London joke. Adieu. . . .

The 6000, as appears from subsequent letters, had been
to Sir John Salusbury.

The joke about " Tully's Offices " evidently relates to

r paying off the expenses of her birthday fete. The supper

s provided by a celebrated Bath pastrycook named Tully,

d the jest originated with Mrs. Piozzi, who, addressing
her guests, bade them do justice to "Tully's Offices," the
e by which Cicero De Officiis was commonly known

the eighteenth century.

On November 17 Mrs. Pennington, who has herself been
, writes in great agitation about the Typhus, entreating
rs. Piozzi, if she will not return to Clifton, to fly to Torquay.

e Randolphs report it to be a terrestrial Paradise ; the
ery exquisitely beautiful, the air pure, mild, and dry,

e town clean and neat, the living cheap, (the best possible
eat 6d. per lb.,) and no lack of good society. Mrs. Ran-

Iph considered that Mrs. Piozzi might keep a carriage and

e there elegantly within 1000 per annum.

Of the caricatures she remarks that " they were no proofs
of the people not loving George the 3rd as a good man, a
good husband, and good father, but merely the result of
that spirit of persiflage to which the people of this country
are said to be so much addicted. The simultaneous expres-

ns of joy which you and I witnessed in the Streets and

eatres of the Metropolis on his recovery, could only have
been the effects of genuine love and affection. It is in the
failure of these virtues that the present K g has lost the
warm hearts of so many worthy subjects."

PENZANCE, Sunday, 12 Nov. 1820.

I am very sorry, dear Mrs. Pennington, that I said any-
thing about this odious Fever ; it will perhaps hurt the
place, and in no wise benefit me. . . . We are surely in the

344 P1OZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

hands of the same God at Penzance as at Torquay ; and
when he calls, go we must.

I cannot leave my habitation, which I have taken for a
term, and must abide in till the term is over, nor will I go
back without having done what I came hither to do. My
friends are but too, too solicitous. They have all heard of
this nonsensical story, and every day brings me letters full
of pathetic, and I believe, sincere admonitions. ... I wish
you would all be more moderate in your kindnesses. My
establishment is not a little Cloke-bag to put on my shoulder,
and carry away from one place to another. ... Be quiet,
dear Friend, so I say to Miss Williams and Conway, who are
half wild, God bless them ! and their loss would be nothing
to what they fancy it. Yet 'tis all I can do to keep them
from my door.

The world is all unhappy. This vexatious affair of the
Queen has been a Tryal to everybody. I wish to know how
the Bishops of Salisbury, Bangor, and St. Asaph give their
votes. Lord Liverpool's observations are the best. If
there was nothing wrong between the Lady and the Courier,
what was there ? Conversation was difficult, and talents
there were none.

No letter has come from Brynbella this long time, but
I know from Miss Williams there is nothing wrong there ;
meaning as to health and happiness. As to pelf I will be
more prudent in future ; indeed the danger is over when
the money is all gone. . . .

Bessy and I are engaged far differently from trimming
hats for parties. Housework, and nursing, and crying, and
clinging about Dr. Forbes and Mr. Moyle, an intelligent
Surgeon, is all we have been doing a long time. . . . I do
believe there is always Fever of this sort in these low situa-
tions, and when we do move, if it be not to Dymerchion's
burying ground, it shall be to the lofty Crescent at Clifton.
Torquay may do for some of those future years dear
Mrs. Pennington talks of. ...

FEVER IN THE HOUSEHOLD 345

If you like to tell Mrs. Rudd I still hope to come early
in spring, do tell her so. Her son is a good child, and will
ever be an honour and a comfort to her and to your really

obliged and troublesome

H. L. PIOZZI.

small
accon
death

Her anxiety had not been all on account of Sophy the
housemaid. Her attendant Bessy was the mother of a

!l boy named Angelo, a great pet of Mrs. Piozzi's, who
mpanied them, and whom the Fever had brought to
door, but who was now beginning to mend. She
herself had only had a feverish cold.

The Bill of Pains and Penalties, reluctantly introduced
by Lord Liverpool, then Prime Minister, though it passed
the third reading, was abandoned by the Government on
November 10, and the next letter gives a lively picture of
the demonstrations which ensued.

PENZANCE, NOV. 1$, l82O.

[ feel terribly afraid, dear Mrs. Pennington, that my
e of anxiety when I wrote last, betrayed my pen into
e impatience of expression ; . . . and the interest Dr.
Mrs. Randolph were obliging enough to take in my
concerns, deserved more thanks and compliments than I
had, at that moment, leisure to pay. . . . The weather is
changed, and the Fever quenched, . . . and H. L. Piozzi
become less a nuisance to her active Friends. . . .

This town may defy any place of its size, or twice its
size, for a burst of real feeling displayed in honour of the
late event. All the ships in the harbour have flags flying
during day time, lamps blazing thro' most of the long night.
" Queen Caroline for ever " round every head in ribbons,
while Laurel, Myrtle, every blooming shrub, decorates the
mses that would not wish to be pulled down. And no
itle you and I witnessed in 1788, could in any degree
the spread of influence shown on this occasion by

346 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

Britons in love with morality, from Scarborough to Pen-
zance. Popularity may be outlived indeed, as her uncle
learned I trust, when shot at twice in one day, and nearly
torne to pieces on another ; when Cecil Forester, passing
by accident, called up the Guards, and saved George the
third's life, in his own Park, from the fury of a Mob, joined
in deliberate design to murder him. I was in Wales, but
could not doubt a fact so well attested. The State Coach,
in which he had ridden that morning, was demolished, and
he nearly dragged from his own private carriage. My
wonder is he escaped so often, and died in his bed at last.

Our Horse's Mother, (Mr. Pennington remembers the
story,) sent to me to bid me not to be frighted into illumi-
nating my house. The Peuple Souverain say " Light your
windows, or we will break them." My answer is the same
to both. " We will do as our neighbours do."

i6th. Wish'd morning's come. The windows un-
broken. The gay fellows from Newlyn and Mousehole,
(who increased our mob,) all gone home to bed, after drink-
ing " The Queen and Count Bergami for ever," till they
could scarcely reel to their wretched habitations. But St.
Michael's Mount was the beautiful sight to see. Lamps in
a pyramidal form to the top, where Tar Barrels were placed,
and gave a glowing light to the whole scene, resembling the
Bay of Naples.

Well ! the wife of George the second was just dead
when my poor eyes and ears opened on talk and show. She
was a writing and reading woman, who respected herself,
and half ador'd her husband. She died detested of the
people, and derided by the wits. Our next was Charlotte
of Mecklenburg. " Poor ugly Pug ! " cried the populace,
who crowded about her Chair, as she went to the Theatres
on her first arrival. Poor Pug indeed ! when the mob met
her suddenly a few years after, at St. James's Gate, with a
bier and mourning apparatus ; ' Young Allen's body "
written on it. " Young Allen, murder 'd by your husband's

THE QUEEN'S ACQUITTAL 347

soldiers." The Queen fainted, miscarried, and lived thirty
years, when she died. The people swung a Cat about the
Palace, and sung " Old Tabby's departed." This Lady is
a favourite ; but sure the others were not hated on account
of their immorality. I never heard a fault but avarice laid
to their charge, and that has been disproved. . . .

Oh ! these are pretty times in which to be caring for a
lengthened stay : but I have not that folly to answer for.
May you, dearest Mrs. Pennington, be as willing to lay down
the burden of life, when the Angel of release comes to cut
the last thread it hangs by, as is your truly sincere and

faithful

H. L. P.

November 16, 1820, is the last date in her Commonplace
Book which she notes was begun at Brynbella 1809, thrown
aside for some years, begun again at Streatham 1814, and
continued at Bath 1815.

In 1794, a year of great scarcity, as the King went to
open Parliament on October 29, his carriage was surrounded
by a mob crying " Bread," and " Down with George ! " and
stones were thrown through the window. A somewhat
similar attack was made on the Queen's carriage in 1796,
when she herself was hit by a stone.

In a letter dated November 17, Mrs. Pennington replies.
" In an early stage of our acquaintance, speaking of you to
Mr. Greatheed, I recollect his exclaiming, ' Oh ! if you like
her so much now, what will you do when you see her miser-
able. ? She is so comical then, that she is quite too charming.'
And comical you are, sure enough, my dearest Mrs. Piozzi !
You scare one with ugly words, and then are half-angry
that one is frightened. At above 200 miles distance, was
it possible to hear of ' Fever and Typhus ' in the town,
id even in your house, and not be alarmed ? " . . .

"All the Bishops voted for the Bill, (with the exception

the Archbishop of York and the Bishop of Tuam,) tho'

348 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

they divided on the divorce clause. . . . And all (with the
above exceptions,) declared their perfect conviction that her
Majesty was guilty, to the full extent of the charges." . . .

" You remember, I daresay, Mr. Dennam's concluding
sentence, in his address to the Lords, conjuring them to
imitate the beneficent spirit of the Saviour, and to say to
her, ' Go, and sin no more.' A blunder certainly, if he had
taken the proper inference into account, worthy of Paddy
himself, from a man advocating her innocence. The follow-
ing lines are, I think, neat enough on the subject.

Go, Caroline, we thee implore,
And sin, (if it be possible,) no more.
But if that effort be too great,
For God's sake, go at any rate."

PENZANCE, Fryday 24 Nov. 1820.

The oldest friend I have in N. Wales, poor dear Mr. Lloyd
of Pontriffeth, is dying ; and my earliest playfellow and
cousin, Tom Cotton, is dead. We never met, of course,
since my second marriage, and he was saucy. But I am sorry,
for he will be saucy no more. So if my death prevents me
from returning to No. 36, you must not wonder, tho' I will
not say you must not cry. . . . Conway writes the kindest
of letters : but Newton is tardy in his payments, and I am
as low-spirited as a cat.

It would however have made me laugh to see Miss Hudson
illuminating her windows, and it does not make me weep to
observe that the Brynbella people never write. Tom
Cotton's death is a bad thing for Salusbury, his life is in
all our leases. Mr. Thrale had a proper notion of that man's
longevity. He lived 77 years. Lady Keith and I are the
other two. Dearest Piozzi enjoyed the estate and improved
it, and never had a life to renew, never cost him a penny.
Those who do right get a little reward for it, even here ; and

J1V.

ARCTIC EXPLORATION 349

now that my heart feels itself on the brink of eternity, how
aily and nightly do I thank God and my parents that in
y gayest hours I never did forget it. ...

Lieutenant Parry's voyage might supply much food for
thought and chat. He has surrounded the Pole, and found
the seas more open than was expected. I do not under-
stand that we are brought nearer to America, but we are
near enough to them for the love they bear us. Tis pity
he lost sight of the red snow, and the savages who took our
ships for animated creatures, fancying, like the Mexicans
in Dryden's " Indian Emperor," that

They turned their sides, and to each other spoke,
We saw their words break forth in fire and smoke, etc.

It was so pretty to see his fine ideas realised.

Miss Willoughby and your most humble servant have
been at a Penzance Ball, the first, (as we were told,) illumi-
nated by Wax Candles ; and the Ladies led our admiration
to the lustres. They had better have led it to their own
beauty, for we had seen lighter rooms often, seldom such
pretty women ; and all like one another. . . .

I will live, if I can, but every day counts now, aye, and
ery pulse too, and 'twere a folly not to feel it. Were a
dier to sleep sound in a besieged town, Mr. Pennington
uld count him lethargic. But he that sleeps during the
k, can only be compared to that man or woman who
does not prepare for death at 81 years old, but just tries to
keep him out of sight. . . .

It is not because I think better of Mortal Man than you
do, dear friend ; worse probably of men and morals, having
seen more. But then I am contented with less, and ever
thankful when things and people are no worse, surrounded
with temptations as the poor creatures are, and filled with
snares, holes, gins, rotten planks, etc., as we all find the bridge
that carries us from this world to the other. Fools flapping
eir umbrellas in our faces all the way, hiding the light from

350 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

us at every step, and triumphing in slips made by their
neighbours, whilst tottering along themselves, scarce able
to stand or go. Do not be sorry that I have arrived at more
than three-quarters over, but pity those that have many
arches to pass, with broken battlements on either side, enough
to giddy their brains. Salusbury's path seems clearest of
difficulties, but he is in danger of drowsiness ; Conway's
walk is above all men's dangerous. And neither of them,
poor dears ! have, in their early stages, experienced the
advantage of an authorised hand to lead or guide them.
Yet you will see them both good fellows in their way
whether they love me enough or not, I'm sure you will.
Conway certainly, I believe both, do think better than she
deserves of theirs and your H. L. P.

.... I am sitting without a fire, it is so warm and damp,
and soft an atmosphere, we are all relaxed to rags. No sun-
shine.

Thomas Cotton was the fourth of the six sons of Mrs.
Piozzi's maternal uncle, Sir Lynch Salusbury Cotton, Bart.,
and almost the only one of that large family to whom she
ever alludes.

Lieutenant Parry had commanded the Brig Alexander
in the expedition of Captain Ross to the Polar regions in
1818. In 1819 he sailed in command of the Hecla to
discover the N.W. passage, and reached Melville Island.
He returned in the autumn of this year, landing at Peterhead
on October 30, and posted to town. His despatches reached
the Admiralty on November 4, and he was shortly afterwards
promoted to the rank of Commander.

The latter part of the letter is of course based on Steele's
" Vision of Mirza," published in the Spectator, No. 159.

PENZANCE, Thursday, 30 Nov. 1820.

. . . This morning, all agree, is to exhibit a new proces-
sion through the streets of the Metropolis, which, with its

PROCESSION TO S. PAUL'S 351

nsequences, may justly fill thinking people with alarm,
ow much benefit can result from invective meanwhile,
see not. Insult is harder to forgive than injury, and for
best reason, it does the insulter no good. A man may fill
purse by robbing me, while he who flings dirt some-
es forgets that there's a pebble lodg'd within, which
cuts so sharp as to excite lasting hatred ; and all for what ?
Reformation never yet was effected by scurrility. And if

^ Fourth Estate of the Nation, as some Member of Parlia-
t called the newspapers, were less violent on both sides,
r ould be better. Irritating an already much offended
and dangerous enemy is, surely, not prudent. Better get
rid of such a one without submission, but without harsh
language.

If then we fail, the world will only find
Rage has no bounds in slighted womankind.

DRYDEN.

en the Orientals go out Tyger hunting, they try to finish,
to wound the creature. But I am wearied with con-
ture, and must wait the result as I can. . . .

No new book has reached us but the Abbot, an odd novel
enough, but to me a dull one. The Edgeworths have
always humour, and often some good information.

Jeffrey Crayon's Sketch Book is pretty enough. How
oddly the things come round ! There was just such an
out-of-the-way writer entertained the Town about 66 or 67
years ago. He called his book Sketches, and assumed the
name himself of Lancelot Temple. But 'tis strange how
names are left behind, when the books are forgotten that
first used them. John Bull is in every mouth, and every
Pamphlet, yet people do not seem to know who first called
Old England by that very appropriate appellation. Mr.
Pennington, I dare say, well recollects that it was Dean
Swift : when, to reconcile the Nation to Hariey's Peace of

352 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS,

Utrecht, and the loss of their Bonfires for Marlboro's vic-
tories, he and Arbuthnot planned a little work called Law
is a bottomless Pit; in which he represents Great Britain
as engaged in a litigious quarrel with Lewis Baboon, by which
name he designates Louis Quatorze, and shows how we were
cheated by our Allies, Nic : Frog for Holland, my Lord
Strut, for the Emperor of Germany, and so on. Of all this
rubbish, composed of wit and malice and mummery, little
now sticks in any but such memories as mine ; remembering
old stuff better than new. . . .

The invention of the phrase " Fourth Estate " is attri-
buted to Burke, who, referring to the Reporters' Gallery,
said, " Yonder sits the Fourth Estate, more powerful than
them all."

Mrs. Piozzi was not much interested by Scott's earlier
productions. Mangin notes that she thought Rob Roy a
dull book ; but adds that " no one could be more ready
than she to applaud the unknown author as a man of
Genius. ' ' Her admiration was excited mainly by his poetry,
on which the Commonplace Book contains some verses
which end as follows :

So may posterity bestow the praises which to thee we owe,
And never be the Lay forgot of our Last Minstrel, Walter
Scott.

Geoffrey Crayon was the pseudonym used by Washing-
ton Irving, when he published his Sketch Book in 1820.
Lancelot Temple was the nom de plume of John Armstrong,
whose Sketches or Essays on Various Subjects appeared in
1758. Wilkes is said to have assisted in their production.

The procession to St. Paul's on November 30 to celebrate
the Queen's acquittal, passed off without any serious dis-
turbance. No escort of troops was permitted, but she was
received as usual by the city authorities, who accompanied
her to the cathedral.

SIR WALTER SCOTT 353

[Dec. 14, 1820.]

My dear Mrs. Pennington says her letters are mere com-
mentaries upon mine. What text shall I find next to excite
her eloquent flattery ? Lord Kirkwall's death is what most
readily presents itself to a woman just twice his age, who
little dreamed of living to lament him. Poor dear K !
My heart is very heavy at the thought. And when recollec-
tion, or retrospection places him before my mind's eye, it
is with a pint of curious Constantia wine under his coat, or
shooting dress, to please dear Piozzi in his last illness.
So kind ! Well ! sure the people will have done dying
some day ! Never was sight so wearied as my own is by
reading Newspaper lists.

Mrs. Mostyn writes chearfully. Living abroad loosens
all old attachments, and gives no opportunity of forming
new ones. Tis the true mode of keeping the mind free ;
but then I mean roving from place to place, not being shut
in an angle of the world, of which, as a Turk once said, the
only merit is that Suspicion herself could not throw any
light into corners.

Tell me sometimes about the weather in the world.
Here it is mild, soft, and just now silent ; stormy enough
at times, but never clear. Tis the anger of a puzzle-headed
fellow, which elicits no spark of brilliant fire ; and the in-
habitants of Penzance speak of lightning as a most unusual
phenomenon.

I have the comfort to hear my fair daughters praised,
even in this odd place. They patronized some poor families,
when such philanthropy was less common than now, and
are remember'd with grateful tenderness. Such recollec-
tions are among the Hot-house plants which bloom in the
open air of Penzance. Rough winds break, and heavy
snows chill the remembrance of what is merely ornamental,
producing, like Oak and Ash, no lasting utility. . . .

I can really bear a good fire with difficulty, but the smoke

354 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

is scarcely lessen 'd by endurance of the cold. The houses
here are so constructed that, except in one particular wind,
we live smother'd. Coals are however not cheaper than
elsewhere ; meat and fish bear no price, but we pay for every
drop of water salt or fresh because it must be carried.
The place is replete with objects of curiosity nevertheless,
and Lady Keith gained immortal fame here, by descending
35 ladders, of 35 steps each, into a tin mine. Not the most
extraordinary of all the tin mines, for there is one under
the sea : a submarine residence of many wretched mortals,
who seldom see light, (save such as their patron Sir Hum-
phry Davy supplies them with,) but often hear old Ocean
roaring over their heads. A wonderful situation surely !
and clear of worldly contamination. They are innocent of
all that we are saying and doing.

Meanwhile I am glad you have been amused by Matthews.
Even I, who naturally hate buffoonery, was much diverted
by his story of the Yellow Soap, which dear Sir George
Gibbes never wearied himself with repeating. My heart
tells me that Matthews has a brother, who wrote a Pamphlet
called the Nutcracker, meant as a sort of mathematical
puzzle ; that he planned the new fine Bedlam Hospital,
just off Westminster Bridge, and requested a particular
apartment for himself, conscious of his own infirmity;
that he actually resides there, much respected and visited
by the great Mechanics, who do nothing without consulting
him. The Comic Actor calls him cousin, but the relation-
ship is nearer. . . .

Sir Humphry Davy, who was born at Penzance, in-
vented his safety lamp in 1815, and was created a Baronet
in 1818. He had just been elected President of the Royal
Society.

Charles Matthews the actor was now giving his "At
Homes." The Sketch Mrs. Pennington saw was probably
that entitled Country Cousins, produced in 1820.

THE BURNING OF THE KINGSTON ROOMS
From a ball ticket, 1821, in the Collection of A. M. Broadley, Esq.

MRS. Piozzi ? wauctfa tne nonot> ox

comhanu to

*/2 <oZ) // / t/7 , t ~i (X? /? a

a iDonceWj iAJa 9 and ^Junhet } at u o'(DtocfCj

^u iDvemna,

V ff

/ <y? <$/$
at tne c?Cowe't *SLoornd.

Being her 80th Birth-Day.

m anuatu next,.
<7 <j *

TICKET FOR MRS. 1'IOZZIS FETE

THE KINGSTON ROOMS BURNT 355

John, Viscount Kirkwall, born 1778, was the only son of
e Countess of Orkney, who was still living.
On December 23 Mrs. Pennington writes : " As you say,
Abbot is indeed a very dull book. I begin to question
ether a well-known point in History can be a good founda-
n for a Novel. There can be little interest where the
event is more than anticipated, and if extraneous characters
and circumstances are too freely introduced, we quarrel
with them, as interfering with the truth.

S" There is some pretty writing in the first volume of the
ketches, but the second falls off lamentably, and is down-
ht stuff. . . .

" You will be shocked on seeing, in the Bath papers, the
entire destruction of the Kingston Rooms by fire ! ! ! No
one seems to know by what means. Those very rooms in
which, near to the same time last year, you made above
six hundred people so happy ! Everybody, I believe, but
me and Conway, who you certainly desired should have
been most so : but he was wretched, and infected me with
his misery, so perversely does everything go in this world."

PENZANCE, 27 Dec. 1820.

Well ! at 82 years old, and my 8ist Birthday is hard at
hand, one is easily convinced of money's importance to
felicity. No suicide, or comparatively none, is committed
but for lack of pelf. Yet money, if people are stuffed with
it, like a Fillet of Veal, does not keep them alive. Do you
remember a comely Mrs. Taylor, who had married an old
man, and possessed herself of his riches to an immense
amount ? She sent dear Conway 5 for a Benefit Ticket,
tho' being just left a widow she could not go to the Play.
She is dead : a woman about 40 years old, I suppose, ap-
parently strong and healthy.

This is stranger, though not so dreadful, as the fire, of
ch your kind letter gave me the first account. I suppose

356 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

it was occasion' d by some of these new devices to snuff
candles by conjuration, or fill your teapots by steam. They
cook their dinners by stratagem, and assassinate those
whose talents lighten the cares of life, best illuminated by
genius, like that of unfortunate Naldi, charming creature as
he was ! ! and to die such a death ! My heart bleeds for
his handsome wife and pretty daughter, highly accom-
plished both ; and left to starve on the remembrance of his
unrivalled powers.

Cruel reflexion ! But all reflexion is cruel, and so we run
to get rid of it. My own conscience however congratulates
me that I had discharged Upham's long Bill ; so if he had
suffer'd it would not have been by my fault or folly. I have
not lived on fish in a foggy atmosphere and smoky house
for nothing, when comforts like those come smiling to my
heart. . . .

Miss Willoughby is in the highest favour here. She plays
Country Dances, Waltzes, etc. for the boys and girls to
dance, after winning their money or that of their parents
at sixpenny whist ; and she makes riddles and charades
to amuse us all, and is very entertaining.

Adieu ! Here is no room to tell of a shipwreck and a
Parrot, with two other two-legged creatures, saved out of
thirty eight, coming from Surinam. Wretched Sailors!
now begging their way to London, with only what they sold
the bird for in their pockets. . . .

Guiseppe Naldi, who had distinguished himself in Italy
and London as an Actor, Singer, and Musician, had lately
met his death in Paris, by the explosion of a newly invented
Cooking Kettle, which he had been invited to inspect at the
house of a friend.

On January 8, 1821, Mrs. Pennington writes to report
an unexpected visit from Conway, on his way to take up
another engagement at Bath, in spite of the ill-treatment

JAN UNEXPECTED CLAIM 357
:onsidered he had received from the Management of the
Theatre before he left. But he had not fared much better,
pecuniarily, at Birmingham, where he had been a leading
Actor and Stage Manager for four months, but was only
given 106 as his share of his own Benefit. " Detestable
Mechanics ! I hope he will waste no more such powers on
them." This short interview, however, served to reinstate
him in Mrs. Pennington's favour, and she writes of him with
all her old enthusiasm. " Anything so noble ! so manly !
so graceful ! so handsome as his figure at this time I really

PENZANCE, CORNWALL Saturday, 13 Jan. 1821.

'Tis a cordial to hear about Conway. My heart enter-
tains no fears for his reception among old acquaintance, and
I can't cry because his Benefit brought only 106. The
people in London get very little. Mrs. Hoare says she saw
excellent acting to completely empty benches : I forget
at which Theatre. Indeed my mind has been so taken up
by a new attack upon my property, that I have thought on
nothing else. A Mr. Kenrick, of whose name or situation in
life I am totally ignorant, writes to ask me very peremptorily
what I did with the stock of some Mr. Giffard, who died he
tells me, before Mr. Thrale did ! ! Lord ! what should I
do with the man's money ? His name is new to me now,
but he says it stands joined with that of my first husband,
:o whom I am executrix. No sum is specified, but 'tis prob-
ably a large one ; and I am a bad Lawyer, and easily
alarmed. I was so bad a self-carer, that when the death
of my four Coadjutors left me alone to manage the Trust
Money as I pleased, I begged of my Lord and Lady Keith
1:0 name those that should be substituted in their places ;
and I think, but have forgotten, whether Mr. Hoare, Sophia's
husband, is one. Surely they should bear me out harmless,
but God knows whether they will or no ; and you know I

358 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

have parted with my patrimony and my savings to Sir John
Salusbury, who always complains for want of money, and
I daresay justly enough. Mr. Thr ale's estate is doubtless
chargeable with any mistakes of this sort ; but I should
hope the Widow's jointure is guarded from such attacks.
Nevertheless my spirits are flutter'd and affected, and I am
as hoarse with nervousness as if I had caught twenty
colds. . . .

Miss Willoughby dined with me yesterday. She says
Coriolanus is an unfavourable character for Actors to appear
in just now, when insulting language to our Peuple Souverain
will perhaps be treated as it was in Rome. I shall be happier
when I see the Newspaper, and learn how our Friend has
been received ; but do not fright Mrs. Rudd about it, perhaps
she may get good intelligence before the common Prints
of the Day come out. If the Play should be disapproved,
every kind, good-natured acquaintance will inform her. . . .

How is poor dear Mr. Pennington ? Better, I'm sure,
and always kind to me. I used the word Joynture im-
properly ; tell him so : 800 pr. ann. was appointed me by
Marriage Settlement, in return for Ten Thousand Pounds
I brought with me to Southwark. The rest was hard worked
for, and left me by Will, in consideration of my Welsh estate,
enjoyed by Mr. Thrale for 9 years, and offer'd him for ever
had he wanted it. That money may be liable for ought I
know, but I hope not. . . .

Thursday, i Feb. 1821.

I like the Tailpiece best, dear Mrs. Pennington, and feel
deeper interest in Macready's Acting than in Lord Castle-
reagh's. For as Dr. Randolph said to our sweet Siddons once,
coming out of Laura Chapel, " All are Actors " : and I am
most contented to hear the Oppositionists are likely to be
hissed.

But I want you to tell me a truth before we leave Pen-
zance, a truth of a very different taste. Will it be worth

ALL ARE ACTORS 359

r while (says Bessy,) to send half a doz: hams by the
Happy Return," for which we must give seven pence half-
y a Pound here? . . . The Fish would be worth

rying to begin Lent with at the Pope's Court ; but fish

n't carry. Our oysters are better than those Vitellius
sent to Sandwich for ; and such Cod, Mullet, and Flat fish
of all denominations no tongue can enumerate. Our
Crocuses, Primroses, and Honeysuckle leaves, all bursting

w every day, are lovely likewise ; but what wretched
to describe them with !

You are a comical Lady in your fears lest Miss Wil-

ghby should make me a Radical. Salusbury seems, by
letters, to have fears lest she should be hovering over
my death-bed, to his disadvantage. I hope to hold fast both
life and loyalty one little while longer, and cannot believe
she will help hurry either of them away. Poor Miss Wil-
loughby ! were it not for her I should not have known
Milton from Shakespear by this time : for to no other
ture here are those names familiar.

forgive me ! but talking on the subject reminds me
of the days when H. L. P. was young, perhaps agreeable,
and supposed to have interest among the grave and gay.
When I was solicited on behalf of a decayed Gentlewoman,
such as H. L. P. may one day become, for aught I know,

ose friends wish'd to get her into a then famous refuge
or distressed females, Lady Dacre's Workhouse, or rather
Almshouse, I tried, and succeeded ; but beginning to
harangue my Protegee upon the neatness of her new estab-
lishment, the decent society she would be introduced to, etc.,
"Ah! Madam," said she, "but will there be any one there
who ever frequented the Opera ? For I love musick so, I
can talk of nothing but Mingotti." Such a companion in
my retirement has been to me Miss Willoughby.

I think the attack upon my property, made with no
gentle strokes, will at length be parried, so as to fall on none
of us. The dividends remained unclaimed for 25 years,

AU.UI

crea

of
am
Wl
sue

for

3 6o PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

and were often advertised before Mr. Thrale's daughters
ever enquired about them. Mrs. Hoare, your namesake,
kind Sophia, has written to me very good-naturedly ; says
it is impossible I should have to refund money I never
received ; that my name alone was lent for them to receive
it ; and that my letter to the Claimant was the comicallest
thing in the world. But my Correspondent saw no joke in
it, and sent it for their perusal to Mr. Merrik Hoare.

Well ! sure if I do write funny letters from Penzance,
I must borrow the salt from the Sea Tang that they manure
their Strawberry Beds with, in this place. Apropos, how
do those agreeable Brownes do, that I met once in Dowry
Square ? I loved Maria for her non- affectation about read-
ing before Conway or Piozzi. She took her book up and
began so prettily, and so sensibly, where another Miss
would have mimp'd. I valued her.

No Bath news but what the Papers tell. London is in
expectation of a new Miss O'Neill of consummate beauty,
to draw the world off from The Wilson ; whose style of
singing Sophy Hoare says is like that of Billington.
Dear Siddons holds her own I hear. Welcome intelligence !
when every day takes some old acquaintance off the
Stage of Life, leaving sad, and solitary, and desolate
your poor

H. L. P.

Mary Anne Lane made a brilliant debut at Drury Lane
in 1821, as Mandane in Artaxerxes, but going to Italy for
further study, she overtaxed her voice, which never en-
tirely recovered its tone. Regina Mingotti, nee Valentini,
sang with great success in Italy, Germany, France, Spain,
and England. She came to London in 1755.

PENZANCE, February 10, 1821.

Thanks, dearest Mrs. Pennington, for your kind letter,
speaking the words of truth and soberness. We will send

HORACE TWISS 361

is and Bacon by the Happy Return, most certainly,
te Butter here is poyson, whether in pot or pan.
All you can say of poor dear Miss Willoughby is true to
tittle. Sir John is very ill-natured in detesting every-
>dy who contributes to my comfort, and I hope not quite
meet in supposing that neither you, nor she, nor Con way
would endure my company an hour but for interest. Sophia

Hoare's civilities will make him very angry indeed when he

ears me say I delight in them : but he deserves such sort
of vexation.

So you see Horace Twiss is the man at last, who, when
blic Virtue finds herself sick and squeamish, holds the
ccessful smelling bottle to her nose. And are they not
Actors on both sides ? Surely they are. That Tit-
ouse began his literary career by criticising and ridiculing
. L. P. in Magazines, Reviews, etc. ; and afterwards
igged my pardon at a party Mrs. Siddons gave one night
,t West bourne. We shook hands and drank each other's
th, and I wished him the success his audacity deserved.

This world is made for the bold, daring man,

W T ho strikes at all, and catches what he can.

Virtue is nice to take what's not her own,

And while she long debates, the glittering prize is gone.

So sung Johnny Dryden, whose family had every claim to
match even with a Howard. Addison was Secretary of
State, and if his wife was insolent, he needed not to have
cared. Would Mr. Canning care ? But times have changed.
But there is a passage in the Bath Paper that interests,
and ought to interest me much more than Marriages or
Merriment. A woman dying in the act of supplication to
Almighty God ; past 80 years old, found dead at her
prayers ! I used to say that no death ever pleased me, but
here is one at last with which my heart would be content
indeed. Why did she not take me with her ? If however
the next month carries me to Clifton, and treats me with

362 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

a sight of true Jriends, I shall think leaving me behind was
merciful, and feel replete with gratitude. Conway has
written to me very kindly. . . .

If I should live to see a Jeweller's Shop once again, I
would evince my gratitude to Sophy Hoare. What she
wants is out of my power, children to enjoy hers and her
husband's fortune. Salusbury has got a new Baby-
William Edward I like the name, but have made no offer
of Gossiping. Dear Mrs. Pennington is too sharp a discoverer
in the Terra Incognita of human hearts. Mahomet says
there is a black Bean in that of every one ; and that the
Angel of Death plucks it in our last agonies. I am trying
to loosen mine before the dreadful day arrives, that it may
hurt me less at final parting. Poor dear old Cookey !
whom I have so much reason to love ! Cannot Doctors
Dixon or Carrick warm her up again ? It is not wholly for
interest however that I wish her well. She is going my road,
and my heart hopes she will feel it not very rough. . . .

PENZANCE, Sunday 25 Feb. 1821.

My last letter to dear Mrs. Pennington should be a pretty
one, but it will only be dull ; replete with Kitchen-griefs,
and thanks to Heaven that they are my worst afflictions.
Mr. Kenrick's insults have brought me civil letters from
Lord and Lady Keith, kind ones from Mr. and Mrs. Hoare,
and all will end in nothing, as they hope, and as I firmly
believe. Pray do not suffer your good husband, (so much
younger than myself,) to grow old. He and I mean to keep
on this many a day, and we will not shew teeth when biting
is over with us.

Now for the Kitchen-griefs. James has behaved
monstrously ill, " beaten the Maids a row," 1 like the fierce
fellow in Shakespear, and forced reproofs even from my
acquaintance by his out-door conduct. This has been going
on a long while, but I forbore to speak to you about it, till

1 Comedy of Errors, V. i. 170.

I VISIT TO LAND'S END 363

suited me to say do, dear Mrs. Pennington, get me a
>otman. Not a fellow to wear his own clothes ; I must
ve a Livery Servant, who will walk before the Chair, and
xxJe behind the Coach, and be an old-fashioned, tho' not
-looking servant. My little Plate, so small in quantity,
easily clean'd, but clean it must be. For I will not live
a state of disgust when I have a decent mansion over my
ead, and James was too dirty and slovenly, even for a
retched smoky closet like that I inhabit at Penzance :
is a sad fellow. . . .

& now

t me tell you the sights that we have seen. I always like
em better than the tales that we have heard ; and to-day
e tales are truly melancholy. Lord Combermere has
t his only child, a son ; so his honours and titles are gone,
d the estate will fall, I suppose, to Willoughby Cotton,
n of the Admiral, my Uncle's second boy. He had nine.
his young fellow was a Colonel in what Regiment I know
and married Lady Augusta Coventry, who brings
.bies every year : but these are not the sights I meant
to tell you of.

On last Wednesday then, a memorable day, Mr. George
aubuz John undertook to show us the Land's End, and
e did stand upon the last English stone, jutting out from
e Cliffs, 300 feet high, into the Atlantick Ocean, which
y in wild expanse before us, tempting our eyes towards
land Columbus first explor'd, Hispaniola. Dinner at
mean house, affording only Eggs and Bacon, gave us spirits
go, not forward, for we could go no further, but sideways
a tin and copper mine under the sea. Aye ! 112 fathom
from the strange spot of earth we stood on, in a direct line
downwards, where no fewer than three score human beings
toil for my Lord Falmouth in a submarine dungeon, listening
at leisure moments, if they have any, to the still more justly
be pitied Mariner, who is so liable to be wrecked among
horrid rocks, proverbial over all the kingdom, Cornish

364 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

rocks ! ruinous to approach, as difficult to avoid. The men
go up and down in buckets, with two lighted candles each,
into a close path, long and intricate. And should their lights
go out before their arrival in the open space where their
companions work, there they must remain till the hour of
relieving one wretched set by another comes to set them free.
Billows meanwhile roaring over their heads, upon a stormy
day most dreadful, threatening to burst the not very thick
partition of solidity that divides them from the light of
heaven, bestowed on all but Miners. This place is called
Botalloch, whence we drove home our half-broken carriage
but not even half-broken bones ; having refreshed at the
house on which is written " First Inn in England," on one
side the Board, and " Last Inn in England " on the other.
By " us " and " we " I mean Miss Willoughby and H. L. P.,
but we took our two Maids, Bell and Hickford, on the
Dicky, and James rode. Four horses were not too
many for such an exploit, tho' one of them was a Waterloo
warrior. . . .

We will go to Conway's Benefit certainly, if I get home
time enough : Miss Willoughby will wish herself of the
party most truly. But for her I should have pass'd many
a dreary hour. . . .

With regard to Lord Combermere's son, Mrs. Piozzi's
information was evidently mistaken. Field-Marshal Sir
Stapleton Cotton, Bart., G.C.B., Commander-in-Chief in
India, grandson of her uncle, Sir Lynch Cotton, Bart., was
created Viscount Combermere in 1814. He married thrice,
and by his second wife had two daughters and a son,
Wellington Henry, born 1818. The latter did not die
in 1821, but succeeded to the title, and was grand-
father of the present Viscount. His cousin, General
Sir Willoughby Cotton, G.C.B., was Colonel of the 32nd
Regiment of Foot.

THE BOTALLACK MINE 365

Sunday, 4 March 1821.

I swear I think my dear Mrs. Pennington is one of the very
st subjects the King has in his dominions, which contain
ery strange and contradictory people and things. Battling
ow about the tenets of Romanism, when Rome is itself
danger of almost immediate destruction from those who
ow no other tenets but hers. Well ! you know I was
ways mounting a Turnep Cart to predict the end of the
orld, (not, I hope, forgetting my own all the time). It
ill vex me, in the last stage of life, to see the death and
ownfall of the Bourbons, but so it must be, without doubt,
they can live till I get safe to Clifton. Dubious enough,
r Souls ! for the plot thickens apace, and Sovereigns
ve hourly more reason to fear the loss of all that's dear
o them. Authority melted from their grasp long ago, and
uence is sliding down the hill, of course.
Mr. Pennington must try keep up his spirits. So must
e all, but mine often prove false ones, as when I took
eneva for Brandy ; but the people here are such knaves ! . .
The day of our arrival how can I certify ? My hope is to
see you sometime on Tuesday 13 ; but Lord ! I was so ill on
Fryday night I hardly felt anything like certainty of ever
seeing myself out of Penzance alive. Never mind that tho' ;
and say nothing about it ; for the people make such an ado
I dare not confess that anything ails me, like other old women.
It is really troublesome to excess.

We have got Kenilworth among us, everybody admiring
and even extolling it. Your strange book has a rival, Mr.
Pascoe says, in Anastatius, but I have seen neither. Clifton
will be nearer both to books and men. Dr. Randolph must
be careful of his highly valued life. No one respects his
abilities, or would regret the loss of them more sincerely

f fVi an H. L. Piozzi, whose comfort it is, that she is likely soon
escape the truly uneasy sensation of outliving friends
d enemies, and standing alone upon the.Stage of Life, till

3 66 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

hiss'd off for being able to furnish no further amusement.
After having been at home on the Boards, like Matthews
the Buffoon, so many silly years. Bear me however witness,
that [I am] all but weary, and only kept from confessing
myself so because I think it wrong. What however must
this world be that even a Frenchman should leap into
Vesuvius -to get rid on't ; and he did not get rid on't as he
expected ; the very Mountain vomited him back, and re-
proached his unrepented suicide. . . . Everybody seems
to approve my sitting down at Clifton, as neither in the blaze
of Society nor the obscurity of Solitude. We will make out
the close of the Game as chearfully as we can ; and if you
ask me to dinner on Wednesday the I4th, a refusal need not
be apprehended from your poor H. L. P.

The allusion to the danger of Rome appears to relate to
the insurrection in Piedmont, where the King was driven
to abdicate on March 13. Later on other revolts broke out
in Naples and Palermo. In France plots were being hatched
against the life of the Due de Bordeaux (afterwards Comte
de Chambord), posthumous son of the Due de Berry, and
grandson of Charles X.

The Memoirs oj Anastatius, an autobiography of a Greek
renegade, was a novel by Thomas Hope, and was considered
his masterpiece. It appeared in 1819.

PENZANCE, 5 Mar. 1821, Monday.

. . . This is a short letter, but I am on the eve of a long
journey, and the kind friends here require many visits, and
notes, and thanks, and so forth : and some of them have
lent me Kenilworth, so that must be galloped through.
Forgive me therefore, and accept my positive answer by
securing me this good lad, who I like the better for his name,
Sam. I had once a Footman so called, who could not, and
would not be spoiled. He is dead, and poor Hodgkins too,
that said he was going to take places for me, with his last

RETURN TO CLIFTON 367

reath. He was Sam at the first. I shall be glad to see
lem both, and remain meanwhile dear Mrs. Pennington's
id her good husband's ever obliged and faithful

H. L. P.

Mrs. Piozzi evidently left Penzance in the course of the
reek. On Saturday she was at Exeter, and after sitting
ip writing letters till the small hours of the morning, re-
:ired to rest, using a light chair to climb up into the bed,
rhich was a high one. But the chair slipped, and gave
;r a violent blow on the leg, causing a severe bruise and
slight wound. However, she attended the cathedral
jrvice next day, though she could hardly kneel, and
due course reached Clifton ; taking up her quarters at
[0 Sion Row till Mrs. Rudd should be ready to receive
jr at the Crescent. The accident caused some alarm to
friends, but according to Mrs. Pennington's account,
ic wound healed rapidly and no evil consequences en-
led. But internal troubles followed which neither
lysicians nor surgeons could overcome. The few short
totes which follow, mostly undated, were written during
jr illness, of which no one for some time anticipated a
ttal termination.

SION Row, No. 10,

Tuesday, 10 Apr. 1821.

Addressed

Mrs. Pennington, Dowry Square

With 1000 Com 5 Sickly ones from a Taker of Castor
Oyl.

(She encloses a letter from Con way).

I got a letter from Mr. Roberts, the Curate of Dymer-
chion, begging me to make the Parish the present of a
Bier, to carry the dead Poor. So I finished my Epistle to
Salusbury, which you saw, with letting him know the re-
quest ; and " tell Roberts," said I, " the favour is immedi-

3 68 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

ately granted " ; for this is a debt I cannot, surely, be
blamed for ; and if I am, dear Salusbury must at last be
contented to consider me as his unaccountable, no less than
his Affec^ Aunt, H. L. P.

SIGN Row, No. 10,

Thursday, u Apr. 1821.

Tis I shall be made happy, dear Mrs. Pennington. Our
kind and skilful Dickson is just gone. He only waited till
things were in the state they should be, I perceive ; and
to day he brought the tall man again, who performed the
operation, and praised my courageous endurance. This for
your own kind heart's private information. Mine is com-
pletely satisfied of their skill and management.

A thousand respectful compliments await Mr. Davenport,
love to Mr. Pennington, threats of ruin at Cards to Mrs.
Bellhatchet, and humble service to Miss Wren.

All that was done yesterday and to-day, (rough usage
on the whole,) has raised, not lowered the spirits of your

ever obliged and faithful

H. L. P.

Undated, on a Visiting Card.

I have been to the Crescent by the Surgeon's permission,
and now comes the Doctor to insist upon my eating. I
must obey you all, or I should deserve to be neglected by
every living creature ; and so far as I can, I will obey you.

Poor dear Dr. Dickson ! he is as low spirited as myself,
he has been among the Lunatics.

On miniature notepaper.

Dated Tuesday.

Very little better, dearest Friend, but certainly not
worse, and though unmoved by all the new things swallow' d,
dying for a Paper. Can you direct James where to find
one ? Shame and Bessy have struggled all night, and the

DEATH OF MRS. PIOZZI

369

rst gets the better. She cannot go to dear Mrs. Pennington
without me to help her, to words, I suppose.

Mrs. Pennington to Mrs. Brown

3 Jun. 1821.

... I knew you would feel for my loss, an irreparable
one to me, for if twenty years ago I could find nothing to
replace it, I am not likely, in the winter of life, and more
particularly after two years of almost daily intercourse,
which, by the endearing restoration of more than former
kindness and confidence, doubled its value. . . .

At present I can think of nothing, talk of nothing, nor
dream of anything but my lost friend. . . .

My best comfort is that I attended my beloved friend
to the last moment. For three days and nights I never
quitted her bedside, where, at my summons, I had the satis-
faction to see her attended by her three charming daughters,
and more charming women I know not. Oh ! what a sum of
happiness did she throw from her, through the misappre-
hensions, etc., which separated her from them ! But in
this respect Retrospection is both useless and painful. She
was absolutely lost from inanition ! She either could not
eat enough to support nature, or had brought herself to it
from a mistaken system ; till, on a slight disorder, a sudden
prostration of strength took place, and nothing could be
done ! She had her wish, however, which was never to
live to support the mere dregs of life ; and would have made,
I think, rather an impatient invalid, under the suppression,
or deprivation, of those uncommon powers which rendered
her the delight of every one that came near her, to the last.
I hope you saw my character of her in the Papers. I
should not have had the temerity to have attempted it,
but at the earnest request of her daughters, who feared it
might be attempted by some one who did not know her as
well, and might not have written so much to their satis-
faction. It has answered the purpose by silencing all other

370 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

scribblers on the subject, and met with much more general
praise and approbation than it deserves. . . .

Mrs. Pennington to Maria Brown

23 Jun. 1821.

. . . It is a new thing to me, dearest Maria, to feel
reluctance in addressing you. But such is the effect of a
late melancholy event, that I shrink from all exertion. It
has impressed a languor on my spirits more fatal than grief,
and more distressing than positive pain. It was a blow
for which I could not be prepared, if indeed we are ever
prepared for the loss of those we love ; as only ten days
before, she had dined with us in a party of ten or twelve
persons, and was, as usual, the delight and soul of the
company. And the sudden reverse appears to me, even
now, at times, more like a frightful dream than a fact ! I
actually detect myself expecting to see or hear from her,
until the sad reality forces itself upon me, and convinces
me that time does not lessen those regrets, that time only
more clearly and strongly discovers to us the value of what
we have lost. . . .

If twenty years ago I could find no substitute, I am less
likely when two years of almost daily association, with, as
it should seem, increased affection and renewed confidence,
gave additional interest to our connexion. While the
apparent, but deceptive vigour of her corporal powers, held
out a promise of many years of future enjoyment. I firmly
believe she fell a victim to the extreme abstemiousness of her
habits ; actually sunk under inanition ! Attacked by a
slight disease, there was no reaction in the system. She
suffered little and died easy. So far she had her wish,
which was always to escape the tedium and imbecility of
invalidism, and to preserve her faculties unimpaired while
life remained. I had the mournful satisfaction of minister-
ing to her last hours, and of seeing her close those brilliant
eyes in the presence of her children ; their tears I trust

MRS. PIOZZI'S DAUGHTERS

tbalmed, and their affectionate attention soothed her
last moments. But from better acquaintance with these
ladies a new source of regret has opened upon me : that
through some strange misconstruction of circumstances,
and perversion of mind, my beloved friend should have lost
such a sum of happiness, as, but for some most mistaken
conclusions, these daughters (the most charming women I
have almost ever met with,) could not fail to have imparted.
But Retrospection is useless as painful, and it is best to
draw an indulgent veil over the imperfections of poor human
nature on all sides. They remained at Clifton a week,
during which time I was almost constantly with them. It
was only from me, they said, that they could gain any
accurate idea of their departed Mother's habits and con-
nexions. They were never weary of the interesting subject,
and unbounded in their acknowledgments to me for affording
them, by timely information, an opportunity of performing
their last duty to their parent. I have had the kindest
and most flattering letters from them since their return to
Town, with an elegant remembrance, from each sister, of
my dear deceased friend. It was at their earnest request
I had the temerity to give to the Public the last tribute I
could pay, which probably you have seen, as it was copied
into all the London Papers, and has had much more praise
than it deserved. That it answered the end proposed, by
silencing certain writers, who, these Ladies were appre-
hensive, might have given " the Celebrated Mrs. Piozzi's
[Character" in a manner less agreeable to their feelings, is
indeed highly satisfactory to me ; and their warm appro-
bation the best recompense and sweetest incense I could
[receive. . . .

The Obituary Notice, by Mrs. Pennington, mentioned
>ve, ran as follows :

DEATH OF MRS. PIOZZI. Died at Clifton on Wednesday
it, the 2d of May, in the 8zd year of her age, after a

372 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

few days' illness, HESTER LYNCH PIOZZI, the once cele-
brated Mrs. THRALE, descended both on the paternal
and maternal side from the ancient and respectable families
of the Salisburys and Cottons, baronets in North Wales,
but still more distinguished as the intimate friend and
associate of Doctor Johnson, Burke, Sir Joshua Reynolds,
Garrick, Goldsmith, Murphy, and most of those literary
constellations who formed the Augustan galaxy of the last
century. The world has long known in what estimation
her society was held in that circle where these illustrious
men, with Mrs. Montague, Mrs. Carter, Vesey, Boscawen,
and many others, formed a coterie never surpassed in
talent and acquirement, in this or any other country. The
vivacity of this lamented lady's mind was a never-failing
source of pleasure to all who had the good fortune to enjoy
her society, while the brilliancy of her wit, tempered by
invariable good-humour and general benevolence, delighted
all who approached her, and offended none. Her manners
were highly polished and graceful her erudition, the result
of a regularly classical education, under the learned Dr.
Collyer, was much more profound than those who only
conversed with her superficially were likely to discover ;
for, wisely considering the line usually prescribed in such
pursuits to her sex, she made no display of scholarship, yet
was always ready to give her testimony when properly
called out ; indeed, on those occasions, it was impossible
altogether to conceal the rich and rare acquirements in
various sciences which she possessed. Her writings are
many of them before the public, and if some incline to
condemn a colloquial style, which perhaps she was too
fond of indulging, all must admire the power of genius and
splendour of talent she displayed. She was particularly
happy in jeux d'esprits, numbers of which lie scattered
amongst her friends, and we hope will be collected. Her
Three Warnings have long been enshrined, and held in
universal admiration as a specimen of the precocity of her

OBITUARY NOTICE 373

talents ; on graver subjects, those who knew her best will
say she most excelled. Her religion was pure, free from
all wild speculative notions her faith was built on the
Scriptures that rock of our salvation, the continual perusal
of which was her delight. She knew " in whom she trusted,"
and in the fullest conviction of those sacred truths, she
closed a various life, declaring to a friend, who watched over
her last moments, that she quitted the world in the fear
and trust of God, the love of her Saviour, and in peace and
charity with her neighbours and with all mankind. Her
fine mental faculties remained wholly unimpaired ; her
memory was uncommonly retentive on all subjects ;
enriched by apt quotations, in which she was most happy,
and her letters and conversation to the last had the same
racy spirit that made her the animating principle and orna-
ment of the distinguished society she moved in, at a more
early period of her life. Those who have to regret the loss
of such a friend and companion, though continued to them
beyond the usual date of human existence, will feel per-
suaded that as this admirable Lady was unique in the
acquirements and combinations that formed her character,
so are they sure that they shall never " look upon her like
again."

Mrs. Pennington reverts to the same topic in a letter
written to Miss Brown on December 3, 1821, in which she
regrets that time, and care, and various other circumstances
have dulled her powers to render her correspondence in-
teresting and amusing.

" My dear, lost Friend possessed that talent in a wonder-
ful degree. Her letters, however frequent, never ran into
commonplace, but were always novel, and had the peculiar
tact of always supplying matter for a reply. Never was
there a mind of such varied resource as hers ! The more I
think of it, the more I am astonished that it was not even
more appreciated and valued. Because I am persuaded,

374 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

as Dr. Carrick said, when she lay, an inanimate corpse, before
our eyes, that ' the world had nothing to compare with her.
She had left no equal.' And that having again found her,
she is lost to me for ever, is a subject of regret that no time,
during the short remainder of my pilgrimage, will ever lessen.
Her advanced age was no preparation to me, because wholly
exempt from all those infirmities which usually attend that
stage of our existence, and prepare others, if not ourselves,
to look to the end. Appearing to have as much the advan-
tage of me in vigour of constitution as in intellect, I looked
forward to a few years of cordial and rational enjoyment,
and really expected we should have run our race on nearly
equal terms, happy to think it would be together. The change
was so sudden, that at times I can scarcely persuade myself
it is not a dream ! and the disappointment so severe it seems
to have annihilated all capacity for enjoyment or pleasure
in anything. ..."

Among the friends to whom Mrs. Pennington wrote an
account of Mrs. Piozzi's death, was Helen Williams, who
replied in a letter dated October 28, 1822 : " I read with
warm interest all you wrote of the last scene of Mrs. Piozzi,
and above all, your article, which is admirable ; full of
judgment as well as feeling, neither saying too little nor too
much, in short, worthy of your pen : but I think you are too
indulgent in respect of her daughters. I never could be
satisfied with people who testify their tenderness to their
friends only when they are at the last gasp. Above all,
in the sacred relation which exists between a parent and
a child, I think reconciliation and pardon should precede
the act of dying : and Mrs. Piozzi being eighty years of age,
her daughters must have known there was no time to lose,
even before you summoned them to receive her last breath.
They had reason to be offended at her second marriage, but
life is too short for eternal resentments. Why do you not
become her biographer ? I am sure no one would write

RTHE EXECUTORS 375

r memoirs half so well as yourself. I shall always love
her memory, tho' she never forgave me for coming to France,
and severed me from her affections because we differed in
politics. If she could have known all I have suffered amid
the convulsions of States, her good-natured heart would
have been more disposed to pity than condemn."

Soon after the loss of her friend, Mrs. Pennington came
into collision with her executors, Sir John Salusbury and
Sir James Fellowes. By her will, dated March 29, 1816,
she had left everything to Sir John, except legacies of 100
each to her maid Bessy, her old steward Leak, and his son,
and one of 200 to Sir James. But outside the formal be-
quests of her will, she had intended that certain articles
should be given as memorials to Con way and Mrs. Pennington.
The former was to have her watch, and an annotated copy
of Malone's Shakespeare, and the latter the silver teapot
and stand which she habitually used, and which is referred
to in Mrs. Pennington's letter of I7th January 1820,
quoted above. What became of the watch does not appear,
but letters in Mr. Broadley's collection show that Con way
got his Shakespeare from Sir John, who may have been the
ore inclined to regard his claim with favour if, as is stated,
>n way had just returned the 100 which Mrs. Piozzi
d given him just before her death. Mrs. Pennington
ould offer no such inducement to favourable consideration,
and perhaps her remark at the Bath Fete, that her claims
to Mrs. Piozzi 's friendship were of longer standing than his
own, had not been forgotten or forgiven. It appears from
Mr. Broadley's letters that she had applied in the first in-
stance to Sir J ames Fellowes, urging her right to the teapot
in somewhat strong terms, on the ground that her friend
had actually given it to her, though it had not been handed
over, and that she could produce witnesses to that effect,
whose testimony would be accepted in any Court. Sir
James no doubt referred her to his co-executor, to whom
she next applied, though in a more humble strain, asking

376 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

for it not as a right, but as a favour ; reminding him that
she had a larger collection of dear Mrs. Piozzi's letters than
any other correspondent, and was in fuller possession of her
opinions on all subjects, private, public, and literary, possibly
than any other person in the Kingdom, which she should
carefully preserve. This, she hints, would be practically
indispensable to any intending biographer. But Sir John
was not to be tempted or cajoled, and returned only three
curt lines, declining to discuss the matter at all ; while he
told Sir James that he should hand over any future letter
on the subject to be dealt with by his lawyer. So neither
her long friendship nor her loving care for his aunt were
deemed worthy of even this not very extravagant recog-
nition.

Her relations with the daughters were far more cordial.
In the summer of 1824 sne paid a visit to London, where,
she tells Miss Brown, " I experienced much kindness, and
more attention than I had any right to expect ; chiefly
indeed from my late dear lamented Friend's three charming
daughters, who seemed as if they never could do enough
to prove the sense they entertained of my true friendship
to their mother. In Town they assisted me to see everything
that time and circumstances would permit ; and I spent
ten delightful days at Miss Thrale's beautiful Villa in Kent,
surrounded by Nobleman's Seats, which we visited in our
daily morning drives. Knowle Park, the residence of the
Duchess of Dorset, is the finest specimen, I believe, of
Baronial grandeur in the Kingdom ; and the Park (fourteen
miles in extent) they say has the noblest Timber of any
in England. She kindly carried me to Tunbridge, where
we spent two days very agreeably, and we parted with (I
am persuaded) mutually increased esteem, and sensible
regret."

The following winter Mr. Whalley (as appears from his
published Letters) spent in her house. Writing to him in
October with regard to his proposed visit, she tells him that
she has for some time given up public and private parties.

THOMAS SK1><;\\ ICK \\IIAI.I.KY, D.I).

By J '. Krcnvn nftcr Sir Joshua Ri
/Vow a f>rint in the Collection of A. M. 0nttuU&, /'.*'/.

MRS. PIOZZTS EPITAPH 377

Pennington is tolerably well, " but we are both fallen into
the sere and yellow leaf. I do not find my mind get older
in proportion to my body. I have as keen a relish for in-
tellectual enjoyments as ever I had. My spirits are rising
in anticipation " of the visit and conversations to which
she was looking forward with great pleasure. Her sub-
sequent letters to Maria Brown are full of laments for the
loss of such intellectual enjoyments, owing to the continual
growth of Bristol, and the gradual decay of the Hot Wells
as a health resort. The last of them was written in April
1827, when she had just had a severe illness, and on ist
August she died, aged seventy-five years, as stated on her
mourning ring.

It is somewhat remarkable that neither her children,
who showed so much attention to their mother's oldest
friend, nor her heir, who handsomely acknowledged on paper
his obligations to his aunt, cared to perpetuate Mrs. Piozzi's
memory by any kind of monument. Perhaps they thought
it needed no such artificial aid. It was reserved for the
present century, and for a descendant of her other executor,
to erect a simple white marble slab in Tremeirchion (formerly
Dymerchion) Church, with the following inscription :

NEAR THIS PLACE ARE INTERRED THE REMAINS OF

HESTER LYNCH PIOZZI,
"DOCTOR JOHNSON'S MRS. THRALE."

BORN 1741. DIED l82I.

WITTY, VIVACIOUS AND CHARMING, IN AN AGE OF GENIUS

SHE EVER HELD A FOREMOST PLACE.
THIS TABLET IS ERECTED BY ORLANDO BUTLER FELLOWES,

rNDSON OF SIR JAMES FELLOWES, THE INTIMATE FRIEND
OF MRS. PIOZZI, AND HER EXECUTOR,
ASSISTED BY SUBSCRIPTIONS,
28TH APRIL, IQOQ.

INDEX

Abbot, The, 351, 355
Abercromby, Sir Ralph, 215, 217
Abigail," 99
Abingdon, Mrs., 267
Abrahams, The, 241
Achilles, 104

i, id Galatea, 245
Adams, Mrs., 268
Addington, Henry, 211, 266
Addison, Joseph, 99, 361
Adrlphi Hotel, 190
" Adriana," 39

herial Spirit," 175, 177
African discoveries, 1 50, 1 76
Age of Reason, The, 281
" Agnes," 181
Alcinous, 330, 334
Alessandria, 202
Alexander I, Emperor, 215, 232
Alexander, Duke of Bavaria, 5
Alexandria, 164, 215, 263
" Almeyda," 105, 134, 137
Alonzo and Imogene, 141

~o the Brave, 140-1
" Alphonzo," 53
Alps, The. 147, 341
Amen Corner, 284
Amiens, Peace of, 242
Amorbach, 48, 171
Amsterdam, 81, 108, 115

harsis the Scythian, 94
Anacreon, 242
Andalusia, 32
Andrews, Mr., 242
Andriani, Count, 72-3
Anecdotes of Dr. Johnson, 16
Angelo, 345
Anti-Jacobin, The, 43
Antonio, " Diavol," 318
Antwerp, 8

Apocalyptical Key, The, 104
Appeal to the Public, An, 221
Arabian Nights, The, 318
Arbuthnot, Dr. John, 77, 352
" Ariadne," 80, 82
" Arlberry, Mrs.," 137-8
Armstrong, John, 352
Arne, Mr., 239

Artaxerxes, 360

Artist's Love Story, An, 163, 273

Asgill, Lady, 93-4

- Sir Charles, 94
Ashe, Mr. and Mrs., 316
" Aspasia," 34-5

As You Like It, quoted, 58, 1 06, 313
Autobiography . . . of Mrs. Piozzi,

The, 3-4, 1 6, 245, 260

BABINGTON'S plot, 5

Bachygraig, 14, 61 ; built, 8 ; de-
scribed, 199 ; restored, 198, 201

Baden, 268

Bagot, Mrs., 180, 253

Bagot, Lewis, Bishop of S. Asaph,
162, 164, 212, 215, 229, 242, 244

Bague, , 90

Baillie, Joanna, 173

Bala, 251

Balhetchet, Mrs., 334, 368

Ballad by Mrs. Piozzi, 216-7

Balloons, 153-5, 246-7

Bangor, 324

Bishop of, 344
Banks, Sir Joseph, 197
Banti, , 240, 242
Ban well, 171
Barclays, the, 14

Baretti, Joseph, 18, 201, 250

Barley Wood, 255, 258

Barn Elms, 1 3

Barnet, 6

" Barnett, Mrs.," 192

Barrere, , 117

Barrington, Mrs., 238

Barruel, Abbe, 152, 154, 159

Barry, Major (afterwards Colonel),

22-3, 25, 27, 28, 106, 123, 127,

140, 202

Ann Spranger, 220-1

Spranger, 238-9
Barthelemy, Abbe, 94
Bartolozzi, Francesco, 282, 285

(jun.), 106

Basseville, Hugues, 77
Bath, 4, 12-13, 15. 19. 23, 27, 34.
41. 45, 48, 52, 75, 77-8, 85, 97,

379

380 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

ioo, 1 06, 135-9, 140-2, 148-9,
151, 157-8, 168, 173-5, I 77> 1 80,
1 86, 1 88, 194-5, 2O 4' 206-7, 209-
II, 216, 221, 223-4, 226, 231,
236, 240-1, 256, 264-5, 2 73-4.
280-1, 290, 297, 305, 310, 322,
326-7, 336, 343, 347, 356, 360-1 ;
Mrs. Piozzi at, 24, 25, 29, 52, 169,
179, 182, 184, 210, 236 254-6,
265-6, 271-323

Baviad, The, 51

Bayes, , 279

Bayley, Miss, 193

Bayntom, Mr., 333

Baynton, Lady, 279

Beadon, Bishop, 208

Beard, John, 244-5

" Beatrice," 234

Beaumaris, 134-5, 138, 324

Beaumont and Fletcher, 35

Beavor, Kitty, no, 116

Bedford, John, Duke of, 102

Bedlam Hospital, 354

Beedle, , 242

Belinda, 228

Bellamy, Mr., 166

" Bellamy," 137

Bell's Oracle, 25-6

" Belt of O' Bryan, The," 213

Belvedere, The, 64-5, 67

Belvedere House, Bath, 30, 47, ioo,
170, 195, 223, 225, 234, 267

" Belvidera," 26-7

Bentley, Dr. Richard, 138

" Benvolio," 174

Berain, Catherine of, 6-8, 198-9

Bere, Rev. Thomas, 208, 221, 226

Beresford, Marshal, 335
Rev. , 141

Bergami, Bartolomeo, 336, 344, 346

Berks well, Hall, 148

"Berlington, Mrs.," 137

Berri, Due de, 310, 338, 366

Berruyer, General, 79

Berwick on Tweed, 43, 73

Bessborough, Earl of, 1 5 1

Betty, William Henry West, 321-2

" Beverley, Mrs.," 161

Bible, The, 276, 279

Bickerstaffe, , 225

Billington, Elizabeth, 240, 242-3.
360

Birmingham, 321, 323, 357

Blagdon, 232

Blue-Stockings, The, i, 19

Blythe, 331

Bodvel, 8

Bodylwyddan, 337

Bodwiggied, 48

Bonaparte, Napoleon, 24, 133, 139, I
141, 143, 154, 161-2, 179, 189, 191, I
197, 199, 207, 215, 217, 226, 232, I
238, 242, 246, 248, 262-3, 26 5 I
267-8, 316, 331

Bordeaux, Due de, 366

Bosanquet, Mr., 260

Boscawen, Mrs., 372

Boswell, James, on Mrs. Piozzi, 2 ; I
their quarrel, 16

Botallack Mine, 364

Boulogne, 128, 227, 230

Bourdois, , 298

Bowdler, Henrietta, 255

Bo wen, Mr., 257

Bower Ashton, 258

Bradford, Mr., 245

Orlando, Earl of, 203-4
Braham, John, 244-5
Brentford, 245-6, 248
Brest, 128, 227

Briareus, 109, in

Bridport, Alexander, Viscount, 128, j

156, 174, 176
Brighton (Brighthelmston), 12-13, I

16, 74, 126, 142, 161, 206, 342
Brinbella, v. Brynbella
Brindley, , 225
Bristol, 27, 45, 47, 57, 86, 88, 103, j

114, 123, 132-4, 139, 144-5, 149,

151, 155, 157, 168, 171, 1 80, 187, j

195, 216, 236, 239, 261, 265, 3ioJ

321, 328, 377
British Critic, The, quoted, 90, 96,

138, 141, 157-8, 176, 242, 249,

250, 252
British Synonymy, 89, 99, 100-1.

103, 108-9, in, 194
Briton, The, 210
Brittany, 102
Broad Grins, 275
Broadheads, The, 85
Broadley, A. M., v, 3, 10, 20, 32,

59. 73. 75. 330
Broadstairs, 263
Brockley Combe, 283
" Broth r Martin," 77
Brothers, Richard, 122, 124
Brown, Mrs., 117, 273, 360, 369

Maria, 272-3, 277, 293, 312,

315. 36o, 370, 373. 376-7

Bruce, Charles Edward, 238-9

Brunswick, Duke of, 59, 60

" Brutus," 71

Brutus Heads, 152, 155

Bryan, , 124

Brynbella, (Brinbella), 60, 64, 76,
89,95, 108, 113-4, II8 , 121, 270-
i, 322, 344, 347-8 ; occupied

INDEX

38'

R\
j

by the Piozzis. 129-269 ; given
to Sir J. Salusbury, 271
Buchetti. Abbe de, 31-2, 45, 50-1,

54- 254

" Bull, John," 351
Burdett, Sir Francis, 246-7, 249,

252

Burgher, August, 141
Burke, Edmund, 28-9, 117, 352,

372
Burney, Dr. Charles, 12, 14, 298,

337." 339

- Fanny, 2, 12, 14, 120, 163, 231,
298, v. D'Arblay, Madame

Busybody, The, 75

Bute. John, Earl of, 201-2

Butler, Rev. Alban, 192

Charles, 189, 192, 194

- Lady Eleanor, 151, 168, v.
Llangollen, Ladies of,

Byron, Lord, 26, 279, 281-2

Admiral John, 26

- Mrs. (Sophia), 25-6

CADER Idris, 251, 253

Cadiz, 32, 173, 176

Cairo, 215

Calais, 80, 246

Callan and Booth, 318, 320

"Callista," 227, 243

Cam, Mr., 288

Camaret Bay, 226-7

Cambridge, 266

" Camilla," 137

Camilla, 138

Camplin, Miss, 277

Candia, 164

Canning, George, 256, 361

nnons, 245
anterbury Tales, The, 30, 156. 158,

175. 177. 180

pe of Good Hope, The, 115

.pel Gwyddelwern, 122
Capet, Hugh, 237
" I'arey," 181
Carleton House, 342
Carlile, Richard, 279, 281, 289
Carlyle, Thomas, 90
Carmarthen, 247
Caraaby Market, 125, 182
Carnarvon, 188
Caroline, Queen (of Geo. II), 346

Queen (of Geo, IV.), 310, 316,
3i8, 321-3, 327-8, 330, 332-3,
335-6. 338-40, 344-8, 350-1

Carrick, Dr., 362, 374
Carter, Mrs., 279, 372
Case, Miss, 188, 223
Cassandra, 144

Castle Howard, 20

Castle of Montval, The, 175-6

Castle Rackrent, 249

Castlereagh, Robert, Viscount, 358

" Catherine," 208

Catherine, Empress, 136, 222

Queen (of Henry V), 7, 198

of Berain, v. Berain, Catherine
of

Cator, Mr., 102, 194

" Cecilia," 58

Centlivre, Mrs., 75

Ceylon, 115, 232, 234

Chandcrnagore, 337

Chandos, Duke of, 245

Chappelow, Mr., 50, 95, 98, 102,

132, 134, 193, 206, 236-7
Chapter of King Killers, The, 116-7
Chapter of Kings, The, 116
Charlemagne, Emperor, 140, 198-9
Charles I, King, 301
Charles X, King, 366
Charles, Archduke, 172, 177
Charleston, 280
Charlotte, Queen, 124, 144, 281, 342,

346-7

of Wales, Princess, 201-2
Charlton, Edmund, 241
Chartres, Due de, 87
Cheddar Cliffs, 283
Cheltenham, 246-7

Chester, 62, 68, 77, 113, 146, 251,

264

" Chip, Will," 80
Christchurch, 298
Church and King, Ballad, 74, 76
Cibber, Mrs., 221, 238-9, 337
Cicero, de officiis, 343
Cimad'oro, , 106
" Clarissa," 319
Clarke, Miss, 88, 90
Claverton, 79
Clifton, 154, 163, 202, 297, 300, 302,

307, 311, 315-8, 324. 326-9, 334,

337. 34L 343-4. 361, 365-7. 37L

v. also Hot Wells

Clogher and Killaloe, Bishop of, 1 38
Clonmel, Lord and Lady, 135
Cloots, " Anacharsis," 93-4 "
Clough, Ann, 7

Sir Richard, 7-8, 198-9

Richard (junr.), <8
Cloyne, Bishop of, 58
Clwyd, The, 61, 64-5, 169, 199
Cobbett, William, 274

Cobham, Viscount, v. Temple, Sir

Richard
Coblentz, 59
Ccelebs in Search of a Wife, 77

382 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

Coke upon Littleton, 192
Coldbath Fields Prison, 246
Colebrook, Sir George, 256
Coleman, George, 275
Collier, Dr., 9, 372
Columbus, Christopher, 363
Combermere Abbey, 7
Combermere, Viscount, 7

- Stapleton. Viscount, 363-4

- Wellington, Viscount, 364
Comedy of Errors, quoted, 39, 362
Comet, the, 273-4
Commonplace Book (Mrs. Piozzi's),

quoted v. 10, 18, 38, 39, 44, 73,
98, 105, 107, 132, 173, 271, 277,
281, 285, 323, 339, 347, 352

Comus, 293

Conant, Mr., 181

Congreve, William, 53

" Connor," 213

" Comrade," 234

" Constance," 208

Constantine, Prince, 221-2

Constantinople, 222, 255

Conti, Princess of, 1 54

Con way, 188

William Augustus, 278, 282,
285, 288-9, 291-315, 3i7- 2 3.
326, 328-9, 334, 341, 344-5.
347-8, 350, 356-7. 360-2, 364,
367, 375 ', account of, 280-1 ;
as Coriolanus, 286, 289-90 ; as
lachimo, 290 ; as Pierre, 295 ;
as Mark Antony, 297-8 ; as
Moranges, 298 ; in S. Clara's Eve,
307 ; his love affair, 294-7, 302,
305-8 ; his parentage, 300-1

Conway, Lord William Seymour,

308

Cooper, Mr., 275
Coote, General, 288
Copenhagen, Battle of, 210, 213,

215, 227
" Cora," 178
" Coriolanus," 286, 358
Coriolanus, 289
Cork, 97
Cork and Orrery, Countess of, 241,

253

Cornwallis, Lord, 162
Corresponding Society, the, 92
Corsica, 138, 248-9
Corston, 47
Cotton, Lady, 105

Lady Hester, 7-8

Hester Maria, 7-8

- Sir Lynch Salusbury, 350, 364

Sir Robert, 7

Sir Robert Salusbury, 9

Cotton, Thomas, 348, 350

Sir Willoughby, 363-4
Country Cousins, 354
Courtenay, Mrs., 315

Viscount, 1 8
Covent Garden, 245

Co vent Garden Theatre, 27, 151,
158, 239, 242, 260, 280, 289,

338
Coventry, 148

Lady Augusta, 363
Cowes, 339

Cowley, Abraham, quoted, 282
Cowper, Ashley, 202, 267

William, 164, 202, 266
Crampton, Mr., 162

" Crayon, Geoffrey," (Washington

Irving), 351-2

Critical Review, The, 222, 224-5
Grossman, Rev. Dr., 230, 232
Crowmarsh, 188-9, 191
Croydon, v, 12
Crutchley, Mr., 15
Cumberland, Ernest, Duke of, 16,

261-2

Dr. Richard, 137, 156, 158,
265, 267

Cymbeline, quoted, 52, 66

DACRE, Lady, 359

Dance, George, his portrait of Mrs.
Piozzi, 95

Dangers which threaten Europe, 91

D'Arblay, Madame, 2, 97, 98, 101-2,
1 20, 136, 138 ; reconciled to
Mrs. Piozzi, 98, v. Burney, Fanny

M., 97

D'Artois, Comte, 316, 338
Dauphin, the, 80-1, 89, no
Davenport, Mr., 368

W., 57
David, 187

Davies, Edward, 213, 231, 236

- Rev. Reynold, 46, 55, 74, 106,
179, 184

Davy, Sir Humphry, 354

De Blaquiere, Anna M., 235, 262

- John, Lord, 229-30, 234, 267
De Camp, Maria Theresa, 120
Dee, The, 251

Deerhurst, George William, Lord,

29, 101, 144, 265

- Peggy, Lady, 29, 144, 161
Defenders, the, 95-6
De Fossee, Marquis, 259
De Genlis, Madame, 61, 141
De 1'Enclos, Ninon, 313
" Delia Crusca," v. Merry, Robert

INDEX

383

Delia Cruscan Academy, the, 16

De Luc, Mrs., 196, 236

Demerara, 264

" Demetrius," 108

lontfort, 171-2, 192, 231
isthenes, 285

Denbigh, 6, 8, 23, 39, 59, 62, 64,
66-7, 112-13, 115-9, 121, 126,
130 146, 159, 171, 212-3, 221 ;
Castle, 5, 67, 113

D'Enghien, Due, 267-8

Denman (Dennam), Thomas Lord,

348

De Paoli, General Pasquale, 76, 248
Derby, Edward, Earl of, 97, 141,

H3
Derby, Eliza, Countess of, 141,

143-4, 155, 241, v. Farren, Eliza
De Retz., Cardinal, 340
De Rozier, Pilatre, 155
Deserter, The, 197
D'Este, Augustus, 308
Dickson (Dixon), Dr., 362, 368
Dictionary of National Biography,

The, v, 43, 338
Dignum, ,93
Dillon, Charles Drake, 96

- Charlotte, 96

- Sir John, Baron, 83, 95-6
Dimond, 26, 227, 307 ; his char-
acter 27

- Mrs., 268, 323
- Charles, 307

Diversions of Purley, The, 92
Dogs, Mrs. Piozzi's ; Belle, 142

Browney, 134 ; Brown Fox, 142

Flo, 50, 82, 142 ; Loup, 142

Phyllis, 66, 115, 142
Dog Tax, the, 134, 148
Domitian, Emperor, 216
Don caster, 183-4
Don Quixote, 229, 341
" Douglas," 26
Dowry Square, Clifton, 73, 113,

162, 182, 312, 321, 360, v. Hot

Wells

Drake, Mr., 267-8
Drummer, The, quoted, 99
Drummond, James, his courtship

of Cecilia Thrale, 54-5, 66, 70,

82, 86, 92, 103, 142
Drumphillin, 22
Drury Lane Theatre, 19, 47-9, 68,

97, 161, 163, 176, 183, 196, 224,

r"^-9, 242, 245, 338, 360
2n, John, quoted, 177, 349,
, 361
n, 256 ; Smock Alley Theatre,
260, 280

Dumouriez, General, 81-2, 86-7,

115. 172
Durham, 315
Dymerchion, v. Trcmeirchn n

EARDLEY-WILMOT, Sir John, 148
Earl Godwin, 27
Earthquakes, 187-8, 220-1
East Hyde, 9
Easterbrook, Mr., 103
Eckersall, Mr., 302, 316
Eclipse, the, 333-335
Edgeworth de Firmont, Abbe, 87-8
Edgeworth, Miss, 87

Maria, 248-9, 267, 351

- Richard Lovell, 249, 351
Edgeworthstown, 88
Edinburgh, 125-6, 334; Mrs.

Piozzi at, 20- 1
Edward, 137-8
Edwin, Mr., 317
Edwin and Eltruda, 43
Edwy and Elgiva, 97
Eidouranion, the, 152
" Elbow," 275
Elgin, Charles, Earl of, 239

Mary, Countess of, 201-2

Thomas, Earl of, 202, 238,
266

Marbles, the, 202, 238, 266
Elizabeth, Queen, 5, 7, 140, 199

of France, Madame, 86, 88,
101

Elphinstone, Augusta Henrietta,

Charles, Lord, 13
Elton, Sir Abraham, 218, 221
Emigrees, French, in London, 127
" Emily," 159

Encyclopedia Britannica, The, 1 54

Endymion, 175

Ephesus, 332

Erskine, Thomas, Lord, 332

Esau, 197

Essay on Irish Bulls, An, 248-9

Essex, Earl of, 338

Este, Rev. Charles, 94, 96-7

Esterhazy, Prince, 331

Eton College, 334

" Eugenia," 137, 140

" Euphrasia," 74-5

Euphrates, drying of the, 105, 219-

European Magazine, The, 18, 91
Eusebius, 223
" Evander," 75
Exeter, 367
Exmouth, Mrs. Piozzi at, 18-20

384 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

'' FAIRFIELD," 225
Fair Penitent, The, 227
Falmouth, Viscount, 363
False Impressions, 158
Family Shakespeare, The, 256
Farquhar, Dr., 89
Farren, Eliza, 18, 97-8, 105, no,
141, 143, v. Derby, Countess of

George, 97

Fellowes, Anne (" Fellie "), 314-5
- Dorset, 302, 336, 342

Sir James, 3, 290, 293, 315,
330, 332, 336, 375-6

Ferdinand I of Naples, 77, no-n,

1 60, 170
Ferrara, 22
Fielding, Henry, 139
Fitz Hugh, Mrs., 238
Fitzmaurice, Hon. Thomas, 262
Fitzroy, Lady Anne, 1 1 7
Fleming, Rev. Robert, 103-4
Florence, 16, 50, 279, 285
Florence Miscellany, The, 16
" Florizel," 238
Fontainebleau, 239
Fontana, Abate, 95
Forbes, Dr., 344
" Ford, Mistress," 239
Forester, Cecil, 346
Forte-piano, Piozzi's, 1 1 3
Fouche, Joseph, 268
Fountains, The, 18, 210
Fourth Estate, the, 351-2
Fowler, Sir William, 49
Fox, Charles James, 61, 332
Francis II, Emperor, no, 115, 143,

197-9, 205
Frederica of Prussia, Princess, v.

York, Duchess of
Frederick, Prince of Wales, 262
Freshford, 285
Funnen Vaino, 59, 65
Fuseli, Henry, 145

GALTFYNAN, 122

Gamester, The, 178

Garnerin, Andre Jacques, 246-7

Garrart, Mrs., 234

Garrick, David, 183, 220, 238, 287,

315. 325. 372
Garthwin, 135
Garzoni, Marquis, 279
Genoa, 16, 34, 143, 147, 233
Gentleman's Magazine, The, 223, 225
Gentoo Code of Laws, The, 124
George III, 64, 160, 162, 190, 211,
214, 216, 221, 226, 231, 248, 285,
287, 301, 304, 335, 340; illness
of, 20, 265-6 ; shot at, 196 ;

caricatures of, 342-3 ; mobbed,!

346-7

George, Prince of Wales (George IV),
122, 124, 161, 243, 273

IV, 301-4, 307, 310, 314, 316,

332, 335. 339. 343

Joe, 85
George Barnwell, 178

George Street, Manchester Square,
the Piozzis at, 237, 239, 242, 245

Gibbes (Sir) George Smith, 279,
281, 286, 288, 300, 354

Giffard, Mr., 357

Gifford, Mr., 321

William, 19, 51, 90
Giles, Mr., 203, 239, 243, 246
Gillies, Dr., 116

Kitty, 116

Gillon, Mr., 180-1, 188-92, 194-6,

203, 207, 223, 263
Girondins, the, 60, 87, 133
Glasgow, Mrs. Piozzi at, 20-1 ;

described, 22
Gloucester, 254

Maria, Duchess of, 287

William, Duke of, 261-2, 288
" Gobbo, Lancelot," 225
Godwin, Mary, 161

William, 159, 161
" Goldfinch," 101-2
Goldsmith, Oliver, 76, 139, 325, 372
Graves, Rev. Richard, 79

Gray (Bishop), Robert, 203-4, 214,

264, 266, 315
Greatheed, Bertie, 16, 68, 74, 78,

81, 84-6, 141, 200, 238, 347

Mrs. (Bertie), 69, 89, 91, 238,
242

Richard, 69, 83-4

Samuel, 70

Great Marlborough Street (Mrs.

Siddons at), 162, 179, 208
Grecian Daughter, The, 75
Greg, Mr., 106
Grenvilles, the, 10
Gresham, Sir Thomas, 8
Gretna Green, 126
Grey, Mr., 80, 94
Griffiths, Mrs., 187
Grinfields, the, 275
" Grumio," 269
Gubbins, Honoria, 178, 265
Guy's Cliffe, 238 ; Mrs. Piozzi at,

63, 68-9, 84
Gwydir, 7, 131

HACKNEY, 59

Hagley, 33

Halhead, Nathaniel Brassey, 124

INDEX

Halifax, Earl of, 9
Halsey, Ann, 10
Hamburg. 116

Hamilton, Mrs., 113, 164, 236
- Captain Charles, 75

Douglas, Duke of, 21-2, 151

Eliza, 75, 248-9

Rev. Hon. Frederick, 1 5 1

- Jane, 38-9, 102, 113, 150-1, 258

- John, 96

William, 20
liamiltons, the, 84, no
"Hamlet," 193, 283
Hamlet, 193 ; quoted, 283, 300
Hammersley, George, 320
Handel, George Frederick, 239
Hannibal, 226

Hanover invaded, 257, 263-4
Hanover Square, the Piozzis in,

17, 19, 107
"Happy Return, The," 328, 359,

361

Harcourt, Lord, 32
Hardy, ,119
Harington, Dr. Henry, 322-3
Harley, Robert, (Earl of Oxford),

ilarold, K., 226
Harris, General, 184

- James, 297-8
Harrogate, 49
Hase, , 223
Hastings, Battle of, 226
Hastings, Francis Rawdon, v.

Moira, Earl of
Hatfield, James, 196
Haunted House, The, 99
Hawkeston, 204
Hawkesworth, John, 228
Haygarth, Dr., 62-9, 146
Hayley, William, 25-6, 267
Haymarket Theatre, 49, 97, 163,

290
Hayward, A. H., v. 3-4, 260, 323,

v. Autobiography
Hecuba, 300

Heir ship of Rosalva, The, 1 56-7
Helen and Paris, elopement, 279
Henley on Thames, 245
Henry, 137, 139
Henry II., 5

>y IV., quoted, 86, 268, 290
Henry V., 198
I lephestion, 319
Herbert, Lady Henrietta, 245
Hermes, 298
" Hermione," 31, 238
Hertford, Francis, Marquis of, 301,

Hesketh, Lady Harriet, 201-2,
266-7

Sir Thomas, 202, 267
Hill, Mrs., 324-5

Sir Richard, 203-4

Rev. Rowland, 204
Hind and the Panther, The, 77
History of John Bull, The, 77
Hoare, Henry Merrick, 13, 270, 357,

360, 362

Mrs. (H. M.). 286, 326, 328, 357,
360-2, v. Thrale, Sophia

- Sir Richard, 13, 270
Hohenlinden, Battle of, 206
Holcroft, Thomas, 102, 267
Holman, Joseph George, 150-1,

156, 260, 265

Mrs. (J. G.), 150, 156, r
200, 258, 260-1. 263, v. Hamilton,
Jane

Holywell, 130

Homer, 219 ; quoted, 153, 174
Hood, Admiral Alexander, v. Brid-
port

- Sir Samuel, 264
Hook, Theodore, 280
Hope, Thomas, 366
Horneck, General, 281

Horsley, Bishop Samuel, 197-9,243-

4. 344
Hotham, Miss, 30

Sir Charles, 49-50

Lady Dorothy, 49

Admiral Sir William, 321-2
Hot Wells, the, Clifton, 27, 33

57-8, 139, 142, 144, 161, 214, 272,

326, 377

Howard, John, 32
Howe, Richard, Earl, 115, 118, 128
Hudson, Miss, 348
Hunt, Miss, 201

Henry, 273-4, 314
Hunter, Mrs. John, 193
Hyde Park, 246

IMLAY, Captain Gilbert, 161

" Imogen," 66

Inchiquin, Mary, Countess of, 87-8

Murrough, Earl of, 88, v.
Thomond, Marquis of

Indian Emperor, The, 349

Innspruck, 330

Inquiry concerning Political Justice,

An, 161
Invasion, French, projected, 153-4,

156, 162, 260, 263-4
Ireland, 312 ; troubles in, 79, 95,

152, 154, 258, 260-1
Irving, Washington, 351-2

2 B

3 86 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

" Isabella," 75
" Isabinda," 75
Iselin, Mr., 223
Isis, the, 32
Italy, 107
Ithaca, 329
Iveson, Mr., 320

JACKSON, , 92

Mrs., 171, 175

- Rev. William, 123-4
Jacobins, the, 55, 60, 87, 101, 183,

196
Jagher's portrait of Mrs. Piozzi,

312

James I, 6
James, Mr., 127-8
James' Analeptic Pills, 81
James, Lady Jane, 327

Sir Walter, 152, 308-9
Jenkins, Mr., 330
Jenyns, Soame, 336, 338
Jersey, Frances, Countess of, 123,

124, 161

George, Earl of, 102, 124
Jerusalem, 8

Jest Book, A, 148

Jews, the, and the Messiah, 107-10

John VI of Portugal, 335

John, George Daubuz, 363

Johnson, Dr. Samuel, 3, 9, 11-16,
19, 20, 82, 108, 1 66, 204, 260, 311,
338, 372, ; on Mrs. Piozzi, 2 ;
quoted, 175, 209-10, 220, 284,
303, 308, 3H-5. 336, 339

Jones, Mr., 48-9, 74, 83-4, 179

Mr. and Mrs., 66
Miss, 4

Jonson, Ben, 268

Jordan, Mrs., 175

Joseph II, Emperor, 95, 222

Joubert, General, 179

" Jourdain, M.," 252

Jourdan, General, 172, 179

Journal during a Residence in

France, A, 90
Journey through Flanders, &>c., A,

96
Journey through France, Italy and

Germany, A, 19, 22, 118
Jove, Barba, 52
" Julia," 181
" Juliet," 150, 192, 329
Julius CcBsar, quoted, 71, 298
Junius, 92

KADER Idris, v. Cader Idris
" Kanquroo, The," 74

Keith, Admiral George, Viscount,
13, 176, 263, 266, 270, 357, 362

Hester, Viscountess, 85, 348,
354. 357 3 62 > v. Thrale, Hester

Kemble, Charles, 120

Frances, v. Twiss, Mrs.

John Philip, 18, 30, 47-50,
68, 98,- 120, 193, 208, 238, 265,
289, 308, 337

Roger, 157

Stephen, 125-6
Kenilworth, 365-6
Kenmare, Earl of, 234
Kenrick, Mr., 357, 362

Kent, Edward, Duke of, 299, 301

Victoria, Duchess of, 48, 171,
299

Killarney, Lake of, 73
King, Captain, 9

Mr., 187

King Philadelphia, 9
King's Theatre, the, 242
Kingston, Elizabeth, Duchess of, 79,

124

Kingston Rooms, The, Bath, 355
Kirkwall, John, Viscount, 168, 218,

235. 253-4, 261-2, 267, 353, 355
Kitchen, Mr., 31, 55
Kleber, General, 215
Knight, Miss, 321

Mr., 23

Knights of the Swan, The, 140
Knockholt, 13
Knowle Park, 376
Kosciusko, Tadeuz, 238-9, 248
Kotzebue, A. F. F., 157

"LACTILLA," v. Yearsley, A. M.

Lade, Lady, 161, 163-4

Lady of Lyons, The, 44

La Fayette, Marquis de, 117

La Fleche, 281

Lago Maggiore, 22

Lakes, the, 21-2, 201, 248

Lambart, Mrs., 276

Lane, Mary Ann, 360

Lanzoni, Mr., 205

Laura Chapel, Bath, 210, 255, 275,

358

Law is a Bottomless Pit, the, 352
Lawrence, (Sir) Thomas, 144-5,

163, 194, 273

Lazzaroni, the, 109-11, 169-70
Leak, Mr., 375
Leasowes, the, 240
Lee, Mrs., 265

Harriet, 31, 39, 42, 47-8, 55,
71, 74, 76, 88, 90-1, 95-6, TOO,
in, 114, 120, 130, 134, 137, 143'

INDEX

387

145, 149, 156-7, 161, 164, 170,
!73. J 7S- ^o, -'-' J -\>. 225, 22 8,
231, 233-4. 249, 265-6; her
love affair, 30-1, 33-4, 41, 45-7,
49. 51-4. 75-6. ; verses by, 35
I.eoni. 307

- Sophia, 30, 55, 74, 98-9, 104-7,
143, 160, 170, 173, 175, 203, 213,
265-7,311

Leghorn, 16, 136, 138
Leith, 334

>f, 140-1

Mr., 316
" Leontes," 238
Leopold, Emperor, no

- King of the Belgians, 124
Lethe, R., 334

Letter to Rev. Thomas Bere, A, 221
s containing a Sketch of the
Politics of France, 133

> v of a Hindoo Rajah, 75
Letters on Education, 248-9
Letters to and from Dr. Johnson, 1 8
Letters written in France, 100
Lewes, 342

Lrwis, Matthew Gregory, 141, 157
Lewisham, 58
Leyden, 104

Liberty and Equality, 79, 81
Lichneld, 25, 57
Life of a Lover, The, 267
Life of David Garrick, The, 221
Life ofLucullus, The, 219-20
Linley, Eliza Ann, 338, v. Sheridan,

Mrs.

Linley, Mary, 176
"^innaeus, Carolus, 330, 337
.isbon, 65, 146, 285, 335
-isburne, Earl of, 18
jverpool, 21-2, 133, 163, 198, 216,

233 ; described, 23
'iverpool, Robert, Earl of, 344-5
Jangollen, Vale of, 113, 151, 186,
200; the Ladies of, 149, 151,
160, 168, 185, 213, v. also Butler,
Lady E., and Ponsonby, S.
Llangollen Vale, poem, 151
Llanivydd, 7

Llewenny, 5, 8, ; Hall, 6, 8, 201,
261-2

- Adam of, 6

Llewesog, 122, 126, 129, 130
Lloyd, Mr., 70, 197, 348
Llwydd, Vale of, v. Clywd
Llwyn, 131

Lomond, Ben, 22

- Loch, 22, 73

London, sickness in, 76, 119;
growth of, 244

London Gazette, The, 165, 184

Longford, 4, 56, 99, 218

Loretto, 72

L'Orient, 128

" Lothario," 227

" Lothayre," 160

Louis XIV, 42, 103, 352

Louis XVI, 42, 55, 60, 71, 76-7,

2 37. 342 ; Execution of, 77-9,

81, 86^-9, no, 123, 161
Louis XVIII, 89, 177, 316
Love Letters, The, of Mrs. Piozzi,

280, 285, 305-6
Lowestoft, 231
Lucifer, v. Satan
Ludlow, 4, 17, 23, 25
Lukins, George, 103
Luther, Martin, 77
Lutwyche, Mrs., 285, 293, 321
Luxembourg Palace', The, 89
Luxmore, Mrs., 311-2
Lye, Mr., 216
Lyford Redivivus, 330
Lymington, 124
Lynch, Philadelphia, 8

Sir Thomas, 8
Lyons, 16

Lysons, Mr., 93, 95, 206

Samuel, 3, 93, 95, 206
Lyttelton, William Henry, Lord, 1 1,

248
Lytton, Edward, Lord, 44

Macbeth, quoted, 116, 263

Macdonald, General, 179

" Macdurl," 263

Machynlleth, 251

Mack, General Karl, 170-1

Mackay, Mrs., 79, 105.

Mackworth, Miss, 267

Macleane, Dr., 222, 255

Macnamara, Mr., 87

Macready, William Charles, 280,

286, 358
Mahomet, 362

Maid of the Mill, The, 224-5
Maid's Tragedy, The, 35
Mainwaring, Mr., 247, 250, 252
Majendie, Bishop, 277
Mam Gwalia, and Mam y Cymry,

v. Berain, Catherine of
Manchester, 130
" Mandane," 360
Mangin, Rev. E., 279, 281, 285, 299,

3". 330, 335. 352, v. also

Piozziana

Mansfield, William, Earl of, 340
Mantua, i38f|
Mara, , 243-4

388 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

Marazion, 320-1

" Marcella," 341

Marengo, 202, 226

Marie Antoinette, Queen, 60, 78,

99, no, 198
" Mark Antony," 297
Mark Lane, 229-30
Maryborough, John, Duke of, 166,

352

Sarah, Duchess of, 153
Marmontel, Jean F., 104, 304
Marshall, Captain, 311, 314
Martial, 217
Masquerades, 239-41
Massena, General, 179
Matthews, Charles, 354, 366
Mead, , 89

Measure for Measure, quoted, 275

Melmoth, Courtney, v. Pratt, S/J.

Melville Island, 350

Memoirs of Anastatius, The, 366

Memoirs of the A uthor of the Vindi-
cation of the Rights of Woman, 161

Memoirs pour servir d VHistoire du
Jacobinisme, 154

Mendip Lodge, 271, 324

Menou, Abdallah, 214-5

Merchant of Venice, The, quoted,
225

Meriden, 67

Merlin ("The Fool"), 132, 156,

169^331

Merlini, Signer, 54
Merry, Robert if" Delia Crusca "),

1 6, 50-1
Merry Wives of Windsor, The, 107,

239

Messiah, The, 239
Midsummer Night's Dream, A,

quoted, 31
Milan, 16, 138, 182
Milton, John, 22, 276, 358
Mingotti, Regina, 359-60
" Mittin, Mrs.," 137
Moira, Francis Rawdon, Earl of,

23, 101-2, 106
Moliere, i
Moniteur, Le, 215
Monk, The, 141
Montague, Elizabeth, 2, 109, 186,

372

Montgolfier, the Brothers, 154
Montrose, Duke of, 307
Moore, Mr., 62, 64-7, 146-7

General Sir John, 21

John, M.D., 21-2, 43, 89, 90,
93, in, 137-8, 156, 192

- Thomas, 241-2
M or daunt, 138

More, Hannah, 77, 80-1, 112, 172,
174-5, l8 8, 190, 197, 207, 229,
232, 243, 248, 251, 254-5, 258;
and the Milkwoman, 26 ; the Blag-
don Controversy, 208-10, 213,
218, 221, 223, 226, 236; her
reported marriage, 228, 230

Moreau, General, 179, 206

Morning Post, The, 96, 124

Morocco, 333, 335

Moscow, 244

Mosheim's Ecclesiastical History,
222

Mostyn, 122

Mostyn, Arthur, 229

John, 122

Rev. John, 212

John Meredith, 133, 135, 137,
152, 155, 177; engaged to
Cecilia Thrale, 121-3 ', marriage,
13, 126 ; lawsuit with Piozzi, 139,
141, 144, 146-7

Mrs. J. M., 13, 122, 126-8,
130, 133. 135. i37 139, 148, 150,
152, 155, 170, 177-8, 201, 229,
242, 260, 265, 267, 279, 353 ;
letter by, 129 ; charges against
her mother, 142-3 ; illness, 146 ;
v. also Thrale, Cecilia

John Salusbury, 13
Mount Edgecumbe, 130

, Earl of, 240
Mount joy, Viscount ; v. Bute, Earl

Mourning Bride, The, 53
Mousehole, 346
Moyle, Mr., 344
Much Ado about Nothing, 234
Mull, Sound of, 253
Mullins, Mrs., 129, 133
Munich, 268
Murat, Joachim, 206
Murphy, Arthur, 12, 75, 80, 82. 91,

102, 105, 107, 220-1, 304, 372
Murray, Miss, 198
Mysteries of Udolpho, The, 113, 115
Mysterious Marriage, The, v.

Heirship of Rosalva, The

NALDI, Guiseppe, 356

Naples, 22, 65, 109, 169, 206, 247,

331, 346, 366
Nash, Beau, 139-40
Neerwinden, 87
Nelson, Admiral Horatio, 162, 164-

5, 170, 215, 217, 229-30, 247, 322
Nero, Emperor, 342
Newberry, , 116
Newlyn, 346

INDEX

389

" New Salisbury," 60

New York, 280

Ney, Marshal, 206

Nice, 71

Nicho lie's Reflexions, or Recollec-
tions, 342

Niger. The, 1 5 1

Nile, Battle of the, 165, 191

Nore, The, 176

Norman, Miss, 315

Nottingham, 248

Nova Scotia, 9

Nuneham Courtney, 31, 45, 47, 95 ;
il. scribed, 32 ; Mrs. Piozzi and
Mrs. Siddons at, 32-41

Nutcracker, The, 354

Nyctalope, The, 206

OAKLEY, Lady, 186-7

- Sir Charles, 1 87

O'Beirne, Bishop Thomas Lewis,

255-6

Offley Hall, 9
Ogle, Admiral Sir Charles, 94

- Sophia, 94
Ormsby, Miss, 218, 235
O'Neill, Miss, 360
Oporto, 335

" Orasmyn," 137

Orkney, Mary, Countess of, 221,
261-2, 266, 355

- Thomas, Earl of, 262
Orleans, 50, 52
Ormonde, John, Earl of, 151
" Osmyn," 53

" Othello," 298

Othello, quoted, 298

Otway, Thomas, 27

Owen, Miss, 33, 45. 79. 84. *59. 168,

185
Oxford, ii, 32, 41, 203-4, 214, 246,

265, 271

" PAGE, Sweet Anne," 88, 107

Paine, Tom, 196, 281

Palermo, 171, 366

Palmer, John, 88, 161, 163-4
Mary, 88

Pamela, 225

Paradise Lost, quoted, 276

Paris, 13, 16, 21, 32, 46, 51, 59, 61,
87, 91, 97, 112, 133, 207, 238,
246-7, 293, 317, 336-7; mas-
sacres at, 54, 60, 90

Park, Mungo, 151

Parker, Sir Hyde, 215

" Parmenio," 319

Parry, Dr., 216, 257

Parry, Lieutenant William Edward,

349-50

Parsons, Mr., 82, 266
Pascoe, Mr., 365
Pasquin, 145
Paul, Emperor, 190-1, 205, 209-10,

214-5, 222

Mr., 323-4
Paul et Virginie, 133
Peel, Sir Robert, 266
Peep o' Day Boys, The, 96
Pemberton, Edward, 271

Harriet Maria, 271
Penfteld, 130

Pennant, Thomas, 7, 198-9, 330

Pennell, Mrs., 295

Pennington, William, 61, 70, 72-3,
75. 96-7. 142, 158, 170, 182, 185,
1 88, 204, 217, 222, 224, 226, 234,
250, 268, 270, 274, 286, 288, 292,

294, 319-20, 326, 336, 341, 346,
349, 35L 358, 362, 365, 368, 377;
account of, 57-9 ; gout, 78, 215,
272, 299, 327 ; resigns M. C., 272

Mrs. W., 112, 185, 277, 285 ;
illness, 76, 85, 184, 243 ; nurses
Maria Siddons, 154, 162, 165;
quarrel with A. Seward, 160-1 ;
reconciliation, 271-2 ; at Long-
ford, 218 ; money troubles, 250 ;
breach with Mrs. Piozzi, 270, 285 ;
reconciliation, 271-2 ; meets
Conway, 291 ; at Mrs. Piozzi's
Fete, 299, 303 ; begs her teapot,

2 95. 375 I h er obituary notice of
Mrs. Piozzi, 371 ; visits Miss
Thrale, 376, v. also Weston,
Penelope Sophia

Penrice, Anna, 9

Sir Henry, 9

Penzance, 316, 320; Mrs. Piozzi

at, 323-67
Pepys, Sir Lucas, 62, 64-6, 68, 76,

Sir William, 2
Percival, Lady, 238
" Perdita," 238
Pere Lachaise, 61

Perney, Dr., 102, 105-6, no

Perourou the Bellows Mender, 44

Peterhead, 350

Peterloo, 274, 332

" Petruchio," 208

Pharsalia, 264

Piano e forte, Piozzi's, 236

Piccadilly, 13

Pichegru, General, 1 1 5

" Pierre," 208

Pierrepoint, Mrs., 315

390 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

Pilot that weathered the Storm, The,
256

Pindemonte, Chevalier, 50

Piozzi, Gabriel, 19, 20, 53-4, 80, 83,
85, 89, 96, 106, 113, 123, 130-1,
134-5, 146, 148-9, 155, 171, 1 80,
186-7, l8 9> X 95 I 97~%> 20I >
203-4, 209, 224/231, 234, 236,
244-6, 250, 253-4, 258, 262,
264, 267-8, 270, 317, 319, 321,
348, 353 ; meets Mrs. Thrale,
14; marriage, 15; attacks of
gout, 25, 51-2, 67, 74, 76, 78,
100-2, 109, 1 1 8, 129, 135, 142-3,
147, 158-9, 173, 191-3. 218, 221,
228, 253, 263 ; tour in Wales,
32 ; his singing, 40, 241 ; plans
a cottage in Wales, 59, 61, 64;
builds Brynbella, 75, 89, 95, 114,
1 2 1-2, 129 ; naturalised, 97 ;
death of his father, 141, 143 ;
restores Bachygraig, 198, 201 ;
restores Tremeirchion Church,
262 ; death, 271

Gianbatista, 171

Hester Lynch, v. 2-9, 11-13;
her conversation, 2 ; her letters,
3 ; ancestry, 5 ; birth and child-
hood, 8-9 ; education, 9 ; mar-
riage with Thrale, 10 ; early
verses, 12 ; tours in Wales and
France, 13 ; widowhood, 14-15 ;
meets Piozzi, 14 ; marries Piozzi,
15; Italian Tour, 16-17, 59
contributes to The Florence Mis-
cellany, 1 6 ; writes Anecdotes of
Dr. Johnson ; return to England,
17 ; visit to Exmouth, 18 ;
publishes Letters to and from
Dr. Johnson, 18; attacked by
Baretti, 18 ; writes The Foun-
tains, 1 8 ; publishes A Journey
through France, Italy, and Ger-
many, 19 ; criticised by Gifford,
&c., 19 ; her Ode on the King's
Recovery, 20; Tour in Scotland,
20-2 ; visit to Wales, 23 ; at
Bath, 25 ; return to Streatham
Park, 27 ; at Bath, 29 ; with Mrs.
Siddons at Nuneham, 31-41 ; her
Verses to the Travellers, 57 ; goes
to Shrewsbury, 44 ; at Bath, 52 ;
at Denbigh, 58; at Guy's Cliffe,
69 ; reconciliation with her
daughters, 83 ; writes British
Synonymy, 89-90, 99, 101 ; her
portrait by Dance, 95 ; lawsuit
with Lady Cotton, 102, 105 ;
British Synonymy published, 109 ;

at Denbigh, 113; her Chapter of
King Killers, 1 1 6-7 ; removal
to Brynbella, 129 ; disputes
with the Mostyns, 139, 141-2,
144, 146-7, 150; visit to Strea-
tham, 141 ; reconciled to the
Mostyns, 156; writes Retro-
spection, 156, 158; death of
Maria Siddons, 165, 167 ; adopts
John Salusbury Piozzi, 170-1 ;
at Bath, 184 ; trouble with
Hester Thrale, 187-192 ; visit
to Streatham, 202 ; Retrospec-
tion published, 208 ; criticisms,
222, 225, 251-2 ; at George St.,
Manchester Square, 237; atTen-
by, 246-9 ; at Bath, 255; lines on
her twentieth wedding day, 259 ;
breach with Mrs. Pennington,
270 ; Piozzi's death, 271 ; at
Weston super Mare, 272 ; re-
newal of friendship, 272 ; her
Card Table Riddle, 277 ; relations
with Conway, 280 ; her Birthday
Fete, 287-90, 296-9 ; lines on
Intellectual Powers, 300 ; por-
traits by Jagher and Roche, 312;
at Penzance, 323-67 ; verses on
Queen Caroline, 327 ; lines on the
Antarctic Continent, 331 ; danger
of Typhus, 341-7 ; lines on Scott,
352 ; new claim on her estate,
357-9 > visit to Land's End,
363 ; return to Clifton, 367 ;
death, 369-71 ; obituary notice,
371 ; epitaph, 377 ; cf. Salus-
bury, Hester Lynch

John Salusbury, v. Salusbury,
Sir John Salusbury Piozzi

Piozziana, v, 3, 9, 199, 281, 299,

v. also Mangin, Rev. E.
Pisani, Caterina, 72

Excellenza, 72
" Pisanio," 66
Pitches, Lady, 142, 144-5

Sir Abraham, 29, 145

Peggy, v. Deerhurst, Lady
Pitt, Lady Hester, 242

William, 89, 149, 201, 211,
216, 222, 255-6, 266, 287

Pius VI, Pope, 77

Pizarro, 175, 178

" Plagiary, Sir Fretful," 139

Plas Clough, 8

Plasnewydd, 151

Plassey, 288

Plas y Ward, 7

Pleasures of Memory, The, 107

Plutarch, 219-20

Plymouth, 240

" Polonius," 193

Pomfret, Lady, 240

Pondicherry, 106

Ponsonby, Chambre Brabazon. 151

- Sarah, 151, 168, 213, v. Llan-

gollen, Ladies of
Pontriffeth, 348
Pope, Alexander, 153
Popular Tales, 267
Porcupine, The, 210
Porkington, 79

Porteous, Bishop Beilby, 76, 77, 256
Posthumus, 290
Pott, Mr., 138
Powell, David, 48

- Jane, 25, 204, 209-10
Powis, William, Marquess of, 245
Powys, Mrs., 160, 271
Pratt, Rev. Samuel Jackson, 56
PrScieuses Ridicules, Les, i
Prestatyn, 231
Preston, 315
Priestley, William, 199
Princess Royal of France, The, 80
Progress of Pilgrim Good Intent,

The, 190
Proofs of a Conspiracy against all

Religions, 154
Prophecies, by Fleming, 103-4 I

in the Bible, 106 ; by Brothers,

122

Public Advertiser, The, 20
Public Ledger, The, 124
Putney, 93
Pwllheli, 8

Pye, Henry James, 141
Pyrenees, the, 1 1 3

QUEBEC, 288

Queen Street, Westminster, 17, 52

Quiberon Bay, 288

"Quickly, Mistress," 86, 239 268

RADCLIFFE, Ann, 113, 115-6, 171,

175

" Ralph," 224-5
Rambler, The, quoted, 319
Ramsgate, 13
" Randolph, Lady," 26, 91

Iph, Rev. Francis, D.D., 47,

170-1, 174, 182, 187-8, 197, 200,

206, 222, 224, 251, 255, 341, 343,

345. 358. 365
Randolph, Mrs. (Mary), 170, 174,

182, 201, 206, 212-3, 222, 273,
317. 321, 333, 336, 34L 343
Ranelagh, 21, 89, 240, 242, 248
Raphoe, Bishop of, 124

INDEX

Rasselas, 311

Rastadt, 177-179

Rawdon, Lord, 23, v. Moira, Earl of

Ray, Mr., 71, 81, 95, 194, 338

Reading, 30, 208

Reflections on the Revolution in

France, 28-9
Reformers, the, 273-6
Regent, the, v. George, Prince of

Wales

Regent, The, 68, 238
Rejected Addresses, 286
Repository Tracts, So
Retaliation, 139
Retrospection, 156, 158-9, 177, 197,

201-2, 204, 207-9, 2ii, 214, 225,

251-2
Revealed Knowledge of Prophecies,

122
Revelation, The Book of, quoted,

1 06

Reynolds, Sir Joshua, 1 1-12, 88, 372
Rhedycina, 204
Richard I, 6

Richard III, quoted, 214
Richards, Mr., 194
Richardson, Samuel, 225
Richmond, 101
Riddle, by Mrs. Piozzi, 277
Rights of Man, The, 196
Rio, 335

Riots at Bath, 187
Rival Sisters, The, 82
Rivington, , 196
Road to Ruin, The, 101-2
Robert, the Brothers, 1 54
Roberts, Rev. , 367
Robespierre, 115, 128, 133
Robinson, George, 100, 195, 204,

223, 225

John, 152, 154, 159
Rob Roy, 352
Robson, James, 223, 225
Roche's portrait of Mrs. Piozzi, 312
Roche, or Roach, Mr., 211
Rodborough, 257
Rodney Place, Clifton, 1 1 3
Rogers family, the, 282
Rogers, Samuel, 82, 104-5, 156:

proposes for Cecilia Thrale, 107
"Rolfa," 178
Rome, 71-2, 77, 79, 197. 205, 216,

329, 33i. 358. 364, 3<56
Romeo and Juliet, quoted, 1 50, 1 74,

192, 329

" Rosalind," 58, 83, 106
" Roscius, Young," t;. Betty, W.

H. W.
Ross, Captain, 350

39 2 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

Rotterdam, 81, 104

Rowe, Nicholas, 227

Royal Academy Exhibition, 144

Royal Captives, The, 27

Royal Exchange founded, 8

Royal Surrey Bowmen, the, 101

Rudd, Mrs., 319, 321, 323, 326, 337,

345, 358. 367
Rufford, 202
Rug, 5

Russell, Lady W., 102, 135
Russell, Lord William, 102, 135
Ruthyn, 146, 186
Ryton Grove, 271

S. ANNE'S Hill, 332

S. Asaph, 171, 212 ; Cathedral,

114, 213

S. Bernard, Gros, 114
S. Domingo captured, 106
S. Gothard, Mount, 226
S. James' Chronicle, 12
S. Lucia, 264

S. Michael's Mount, 324, 327, 347
S. Paul's Cathedral, 20, 78, 352
S. Petersburg, 100
S. Vincent, John, Earl, 176, 265-6
Sage, Fanny, 171
Salbri and Salsbri, v. Salesbury
Salesbury, Catherine, v. Berain,

Catherine of
Salesbury, Foulke, 5
Salesbury, Henry 5-6

Sir Henry (the Black), 6

John (Jesuit), 5

John (Benedictine), 5

Sir John, M.P., 6-7

Sir John, 6-8

Roger, 7

Thomas, 5

William. 5
Salisbury, Bishop of, 344
Salisbury (or Saltzbury) Court, 5-6
Saltzburg, 6

Saltzburg, Adam de, 5-6
Salusbury, Arms of, 6
Salusbury, Colonel, 122

Anna, 9

Lady Harriet, 288-9, 2 9> 2 9 2 >
295, 298, 306

Sir Henry, 6

Hester, 7-8

Hester Lynch, 8-10,, v. Piozzi,
Mrs.

Hester Maria, 8, 10

John, 6, 8-10

Sir John Salusbury Piozzi
(formerly John Salusbury Piozzi),
48, 170-3, 179, 182, 184, 198, 225,

228, 231, 236, 239, 241, 266, 271
278, 288-90, 292, 295, 298-9, 303
306-7, 314, 317-8, 320-2, 325
33i, 336, 343, 348, 350, 358-9
361-2, 367-8, 375-6
Salusbury, Sir Thomas, 9-10

William Edward Piozzi, 362
Samson, 239

Sangate, 13

Sandwich, 359

" Satan summoning his Legions,'

144-5

Saumarez, Admiral Sir James, 299
Savoy, 71, 114
Saxe, Marshal, 42
Scarborough, 346 ; Mrs. Piozzi at

Scherer, General, 179
Scilly Isles, the, 118
Sciolto quoted, 219
Scott, Miss, 197

Sir Walter, 173, 352
Seasons, The, 22
Seccombe, -T. H., v.

" Sedlitz, Laura," 192

Seeley, L. B., v, 4

Segrwyd (Segroid), 13, 122, 130

Selim, Sultan, 221-2

Semple, Mrs., 79

Semple, Major George James, 79

Sentimental Mother, The, 1 8

Seringapatam, 183-4

Servants, Mrs. Piozzi's, Abbiss, 133
1 86; Allen, 158, 180, 186, 209
236; Bessy, 285, 295, 301, 304
312, 319, 326, 334, 342, 344-5
359, 364, 375 J Hodgkins, Samuel
216, 269, 366 ; Jacob, 27, 45-6
55, 63, 65-7, 71 ; James, 319
322, 326, 330, 362, 364, 368
Sophy, 341, 345

Severn, the, 113

Seward, , 12, 15, 29

Anna, 25, 28-9, 34, 43, 56-7
151, 185, 192, 273 ; on Mrs
Piozzi, 2, 19 ; quarrel with Mrs
Pennington, 160-1 ; reconcilia
tion, 271

Shakespeare, 198, 203, 269, 359
v. also under Separate Plays

A Concordance to, 157
Sharpe, Miss, 337
Shelley, Miss, 194

Mrs., 193

Percy Bysshe, 161
Shephard, Hon. Charles, 319, 321,

334
Sheridan, Mrs. (Eliza Ann), 176,

337-8

INDEX

393

Sheridan. Richard Brinsley, 18,47,

'7. 139. 157. 178, 184, 338
Shrewsbury, 33-4, 39, 41, 43, 44,

113, 158, 168, 185-6, 197
Siddons Family, the, 84, 89, 130,

Siddons, Cecilia, 114, I44~5. 170.

j 14, 224
George, 225

- Henry, 197-8

- Maria, 79, 80, 89, 93-4, 108 ;
illness of, 152-4, 162-3, ' death,
164-5, l6 7' 26

- Mrs. (Sarah), 4, 30, 39, 41, 47,
49. 50, 53. 63, 66, 68-71, 73-4,
76, 79, 80, 82-3, 86, 89, 94, 96,
103, 108, 116, 120, 134, 145, 150,
152, 155, 157, 161, 163, 165-6,
168, 170, 175, 190, 193, 200, 205,

207, 212, 214, 215, 220, 224-5,

228, 230, 236-8, 276, 282, 302,
308, 315, 322, 358, 360-1 ; as
Isabella in The Fatal Marriage,
19-20 ; painted by Hamilton,
20 ; attacked in Hell's Oracle,
25-6, 56 ; at Streatham Park,
27, 78, 93 ; at Nuneham Rectory,
31-47 ; at Guy's Cliffe, 70 ;
as Lady Randolph, 91 ; in Edwy
and Elgiva, 97-8 ; in Ireland,
98, 104-5 I in Scotland, 123, 125,
127, 179; at Liverpool, 138;
in Fatal Curiosity, 141 ; painted
by Lawrence, 144 ; in The
Stranger, 155 ; as Mrs. Beverley,
161 ; in The Castle of Montval,
1 76 ; in Pizarro, 178; at Don-
caster, 183; on strike, 184;
in Elvira, 202 ; as Constance,
208 ; as Callista, 227 ; as Her-
mione, 238 ; at Belfast, 254 ;
at Dublin, 256 ; at Cheltenham,
258 ; as Zara, 265 ; described
by her husband, 282

- Sarah Martha (Sally), 55-6,
59, 61, 66-8, 74, 79, 80, 89, 93-4,
105, 108, 144, 154, 163, 177,
193-4, 202, 224 ; illness of,
58, 69, 76 ; letter by, 62, 64

- William, 56, 70, 73-4, 94, 125,
162, 167, 179, 184, 193-4, 200,
202, 220, 224, 282

Sieyes, Abbe, 160-1
Simmons, Mr., 241

fa College, 103
Row, Mrs. Piozzi at, 367
tch Book, The, 351, 355
tches or Essays on Various
Subjects, 352

" Slender, Master," 289
Smith, General, 241, 251

Drummond, 242

Spencer, 268

Sir Sydney, 265-6
Smithfield, 273-4
Snowdon, 41, 66, 114

Society for Constitutional Reform,
the, 92

Society of Friends of the Revolu-
tion, the, 6 1

Sodor and Man, John, Bishop of, 5

Solar phenomenon, 196-7

Soliman, Emperor of Morocco, 335

Somers, Mr., 57

Sotherby, ,215

So them, , 19

Southampton, 47, 95

Southey, Robert, 26

Southwark, 339, 358 ; Thrale,
M.P. for, 12 ; Old Anchor
Brewery, 10 ; Deadman's Lane,
ii

Spectator, The, 350

Spencer, , 141

Spinola, Marquis, 72

Spiritual Quixote, The, So

Spithead, 176

" Squalid, Signor," 18

Stanhope, Charles, Earl, 241

Stanley, , 141

Steele, Richard, 350

" Stella," 243

Stephens, Catherine, 337-8

Stevens, , 284

Steyer, 206

Stockach, 172

Stockdale, , 202, 204, 206-7, 209-
10, 221, 225

Stone, John Huriord, 43-4, 59, 71,
91-2, 104, ii2, 119, 123, 156-7,
249, 260, 279, 283, 285 ; account
of, 6 1

- Mrs. (J. H.), 44. 59. 61, 91,
104, 119, 156, 279

William, 91-2
Stourhead, 270
Stowe, 10
Stralenheim, 234

Stranger, The, 155, 157, 163, 178
Stratton, Miss, 305-6, 310

Mrs., 212, 291, 307, 310
Streatneld, Sophia, 243-4
Streatham, 13, 16, 48, 184, 246;

Park, 12, 14, 40, 131, 134-5,
148-9, 151, 155. 172, 188. 235,
239, 243, 271, 315, 347; the
Piozzis reside at, 17-129 ; visits
to, 141-4, 202-8 ; the Reynolds

394 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

Gallery at, n, 107; verses on,

Stretton, Mr., 86-7

Strickland, Mrs., 137

Stutgard, 268

Summer Islands, The, 22

Sunspots, 78

Surinam, 183, 356

Sussex, Augustus, Duke of, 307-8

Suwarrow, General Alexander,
(Suvoroff), 177, 179

Swan of Lichneld, the, 2, 56, v.
Seward, Anna

Swansea, 329

Sweden, King of, 122

Swift, Rev. Jonathan, 77, 220, 351

Sydney, Thomas, Viscount, 28

" Synonymes," v. British Syn-
onymy

Tale of a Tub, A , 77
Talleyrand, 61

Taming of the Shrew, The, 269
Tavistock, Francis, Marquis of, 102
Taylor, Mrs., 355

Major Cathcart, 56-7

Rev. John, 284

" Tearsheet, Doll," 86
Telegraph, The, 96
Temple, the, prisoners in, 86, 89
Temple, Lady Ann, 10
"Temple, Lancelot," 351-2, v.
Armstrong

Sir Richard, (Viscount Cob-
ham), 10

Tenby, 246-7, 249, 324

Tertullian, 223

Testimony to the Authenticity of the

Prophecies of R. Brothers, A, 125
Thackeray, Dr., 264
Thames, the, 113
Thelwall, ,119

- Edward, 7
Theseus, 80

Thistlewood, Arthur, 274
Thomas, Archdeacon, 290, 322

Mr., 55

Thomond, Murrough, Marquis of,

261

Thomson, James, quoted, 212, 334
Thrale, Miss (Beatrice), v.

Cecilia Margaretta, 13, 15-17,
26, 30, 33, 53, 75-6, 82-4, 95, 101,
108, 112-3, IJ 8, 120; accom-
panies her mother to Scotland, 20 ;
her admirers, 54, 66, 82, 86, 92,
102, 105, 107 ; alarming illness,
55, 58, 61-6, 68-9, 71 ; her ex-
travagance, 90 ; engagement to

Mostyn, 121-3; marriage, 126
v. Mostyn, Mrs. J. M.
Thrale, Harriet, 13, no

Henry, M.P., 10, n, 13, 73,
82, 163, 187, 189, 191-2, 245, 271,
339, 348, 357-8

Henry (junr.), 13

Hester Lynch, v. Piozzi, Mrs.

Hester Maria, 13, 15-17 83,
no, 131, 135, 146, 155, 176, 179,
231, 237 ; her action agains
Mrs. Piozzi, 187-9, 190-1, 193-5
216-9 \ ner marriage, 270, v
Keith, Hester

- Ralph, M.P., 10, ii

Ralph (junr.), 13

Sophia, 13, 135, 142, 196
239, 241 ; her marriage, 270
v. Hoare, Mrs.

Susannah Arabella, 13, 83
86, 89, 91, no, 135, 171-2, 186
196, 239, 241, 376

" Thrales, The Miss," no, 130, 132
134, 137, 142, 144, 149, 153, 194
201, 206, 238, 253, 263, 265, 292
304, 353, 36o, 369
Thrali ana, 1 1

Three Warnings, The, 155, 372
Three Warnings to John Bull, 157
Tiberius, Emperor, 223
Tickell, Elizabeth Ann, 175-6

Richard, 176

William, 175, 177
Tierney, Dr., 310
Times, The, 210

Timon of Athens, quoted, 333

Tippop Sahib, 184

Tirocinium, The, 164

Tiverton, 148

Tobago, 264

Tooke, Home, 91, 102, 252, 274;

account of, 92 ; trial of, 188-9
Torbay, 118
Torquay, 343-4
Torrington, 88
Tothill Fields Prison, 79
Tour in Switzerland, A, 157
Tour in Wales, A, 199
Townshend, Thomas, v. Sydney,

Viscount
Travels from Hamburg . . . to

Paris, 267-8
Treguier, 161
Tremeirchion (Dymerchion) Church,

262, 271, 317, 344, 367, 377
Trevannion, John, 26
Trevenan, Miss, 329
Trevor, Tudor, 122
Trinidad, 232, 234

INDEX

395

Trotti, Lorenzini, Marquess, 55.

60, 74, 79, 91, 100, 116, 118;

in love with Harriet Lee, 30-3,

30-7, 39, 40-6, 48-54. 75 ;

marries, 130, 135
Troy, 144

',- Briton, The, 153
I'ryon, Governor, 294
Mrs., 72
Tuam, 58, 347
Tudor, Fychan, of Berain, 7

- Sir Owen, 7, 198
Tally's Offices," 341, 343

Pun bridge, 137, 376

" Tunskull, Lady Fantasma," 18

Turin, 16

Turnep Cart, the, 77, 329, 365
s, Frances, 157, 337

- Francis, 155, 157, 256, 337

- Horace, 314, 337, 361
Two Emilys, The, 213

Tuysden, Frances, v. Jersey,

Countess of

T\v \sden, Bishop Philip, 124
Tyre, 162

124, 154

ULYSSES, 330

United Irishmen, the, 96,

I'nwin, Mrs., 266

Upham, , 279

Ushant, 118

Utrecht, Peace of, 352

VALENTINI, Regina, v. Mingotti
Vandercorn, Mr., 54
" Vanessa," 220
Van Mildurt, 8
Vauxhall, 246

Venice, 81, 141, 143, 153, 233, 236
Venice Preserved, 27
Verona, 136
Vesey, Mrs., 2, 372
vius, 169, 366
> ofWakefield, The, 76
Victoria, Princess, 48, 171
Vienna, 74, 76, 79
Viganoni, , 240
Village Politics, 79-81, 251
Vinci, , 244
Virgo, , 125
Vision of Mir za, The, 350
Vitellius, Emperor, 359
Voltaire, 154

\\AI.DEGRAVE, James, Earl of, 245
Waller, Edmund, 22
Wallis, Miss, 26-7
Walmer Castle, 256
Waltzing, lines on, 283

Wandsworth, 134
Wanstead House, 322
Ward, Miss, v. Radcliffe, Mrs.

- John (Prescott), 290, 298-9,
322

Warsaw, 100

Warton, Rev. Thomas, 26

Watts, Dr. Isaac, 209, 248, 336

Wellesley, Colonel Arthur, 184, v.
Wellington

Wellington, Arthur, Duke of, 331-2

Westcote, Lord, v. Lyttelton, Wil-
liam Henry.

Westminster Bridge, 21 ; election
at, 245, 250

Weston, Mrs., 4, 53-4 58, 64, 71,
89, 1 1 1-2, 133, 140, 204, 249,
251, 272

Weston, Gilbert, 71, 89, 143

Weston, Penelope Sophia, 4, 17,
19, 20, 27, 29, 30, 45, 47, 85-6, 90,
146, 159; her admirers, 56-7;
engagement to Pennington, 56-7,
70-1 ; marriage, 73, v. Pen-
nington, Mrs.

Weston Park, 203

Weston super Mare, 287, 325 ; Mrs.
Piozzi at, 272-7, 283, 285

W^eymouth, 47, 272, 324

Whalley, Mrs., nee Jones, 43, 56-7,
71, 127-9, 133. 152, 196, 236,
273, 281 ; nee Heathcote, 281 ;
formerly Horneck, 279, 281, 285

Rev. Thomas Sedgwick, 3,
1 7> 43' 5 6 ~7 61, 68, 70-2, 81,
109, 127-9, I3L U3. 144, 152,
155, 169, 171, 175-6, 186, 196,
214, 218-19, 232, 235, 238, 258,
271, 273, 287, 376; second and
third marriages, 281 ; matri-
monial troubles, 279, 284-5

Whitehall Chapel, 96
White Horse Hill, 34
Wickens, Mr. (Lichfield), 57

Mr. (Bath), 286
Wickwar, 197
Wilberforce, William, 243
Wilkes, John, 92, 245, 340, 352
Wilkinson, Dr., 321

Willes, John, 282

William of Gloucester, Prince, 261-2
William the Conqueror, 5
William the Stadtholder, 114-16
Williams, Lady, 337

- Miss, 274, 286, 311, 344

Mrs., 115, 248

Cecilia, 248

- Helen Maria, 4, 25-6, 51-2,
7L 73. 89, 93, 96, 98-9, 112, 117,

396 PIOZZI-PENNINGTON LETTERS

123, 127, 238, 248, 273 ; account
of, 43-4 ; goes to France, 42,
50 ; connection with Stone, 59,
61, 91, 115, 119, 137, 141, 156,
279, 283, 285 ; her Apologia,
44, 260-1 ; literary work, 100,
104, 133, 156-7, 159, 259; on
Mrs. Piozzi, 286, 374-5

Williams, Mrs. Persis, 44

Willoughby, Miss, 332, 340, 342,
349, 356, 358-9. 361, 364

Wilmot, John, 146, 148

Windsor, 190
Mr., 316

Woffington, Peg, 221

Wolfe, General James, 288

Wollstonecraft, Mary, 161

Woman keeps a Secret, A, 75

Wonder, The, 75

Wood, Miss, 307

Woodhall, 75

Worcester, 33, 186

World, The, 18, 96

Wraxall, on Mrs. Piozzi, 2

Wren, Miss, 313, 368

Wrexham, 41
Wroughton, Miss, 316
Wurmser, General, 136, 138
Wurtemburg, Duchess of, 144
Wynn, Dr., 134

Edward W r atkin, 130-1

Morris, 7

Wynne, Mrs., 126, 130-1, 148, 201
Wynne, Colonel Robert William, 135

YANIWITZ, , 86, 92
Yearsley, Anna Maria, 26-7
York, Archbishop, of, 347

Frederica, Duchess of, 214,
216, 255

Frederick, Duke of, 116, 183,
216

Young, Mr., 308, 316

Sir George, 103
Young Widow, The, 25-6

" ZARA," 53
Zeluco, 21, 25-6, 138
Zenobio, Count, 54, 107

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Friends and Contemporaries. By EDWARD SMITH, F.R.H.S., Author
of "WILLIAM COBBETT : a Biography," England and America
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% "The greatest living Englishman" was the tribute oi his Continental
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very prominent place in society, but whose name is almost forgotten by the present
generation.

A CATALOGUE OF

NAPOLEON & THE INVASION OF ENGLAND :

The Story of the Great Terror, 1797-1805. By H. F. B.
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DUMOURIEZ AND THE DEFENCE OF

ENGLAND AGAINST NAPOLEON. BY J. HOLLAND
ROSE, Litt.D. (Cantab.), Author of "The Life of Napoleon,"
and A. M. BROADLEY, joint-author of "Napoleon and the Invasion
of England." Illustrated with numerous Portraits, Maps, and
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THE FALL OF NAPOLEON. By OSCAR

BROWNING, M. A., Author of "The Boyhood and Youth of Napoleon."
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Spectator. "Without doubt Mr. Oscar Browning has produced a book which should
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THE BOYHOOD & YOUTH OF NAPOLEON,

1769-1793. Some Chapters on the early life of Bonaparte.
BY OSCAR BROWNING. M.A. With numerous Illustrations, Por-
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Daily News. "Mr. Browning has with patience, labour, careful study, and excellent
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this most fascinating oi human personalities.

THE LOVE AFFAIRS OF NAPOLEON. By

JOSEPH TURQUAN. Translated from the French by JAMES L. MAY.
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THE DUKE OF REICHSTADT(NAPOLEON II.)

By EDWARD DE WERTHEIMER. Translated from the German.
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Times. "A most careful and interesting work which presents the first complete and
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Westminster Gazette. "This book, admirably produced, reinforced by many
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well-applied research."

MEMOIRS, BIOGRAPHIES, ETC.

NAPOLEON'S CONQUEST OF PRUSSIA, 1806.

By F. LORAINE PETRE. With an Introduction by FIELD-
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NAPOLEON'S CAMPAIGN IN POLAND, 1806-

1807. A Military History of Napoleon's First War with Russia,
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NAPOLEON AND THE ARCHDUKE

CHARLES. A History of the Franco-Austrian Campaign in
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RALPH HEATHCOTE. Letters of a Diplomatist

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MEMOIRS OF THE COUNT DE CARTRIE.

A record of the extraordinary events in the life of a French
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io A CATALOGUE OF

THE JOURNAL OF JOHN MAYNE DURING
A TOUR ON THE CONTINENT UPON ITS RE-
OPENING AFTER THE FALL OF NAPOLEON, 1814.

Edited by his Grandson, JOHN MAYNE COLLES. With 16
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WOMEN OF THE SECOND EMPIRE.

Chronicles of the Court of Napoleon III. By FREDERIC LOLIEE.
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MEMOIRS OF MADEMOISELLE DES

ECHEROLLES. Translated from the French by MARIE
CLOTHILDE BALFOUR. With an introduction by G. K. FORTESCUE,
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Liverpool Mercury. ". . . this absorbing book. . . . The work has a very
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GIOVANNI BOCCACCIO: A BIOGRAPHICAL

STUDY. By EDWARD HUTTON. With a Photogravure Frontis-
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THE LIFE OF PETER ILICH TCHAIKOVSKY

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The Titnts. "A most illuminating commentary on Tchaikovsky's music."

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spell ol the Pathetic Symphony will be strongly attracted by what is virtually the
spiritual autobiography of its composer. High praise is due to the translator and
editor for the literary skill with which she has prepared the English version of
this fascinating work. . . There have been few collections of letters published
within recent years that give so vivid a portrait of the writer as that presented to
us in these pages."

;

MEMOIRS, BIOGRAPHIES, ETC. 1 1

THE LIFE OF SIR HALLIDAY MACART-
NEY, K.C.M.G., Commander of Li Hung Chang's trained
force in the Taeping Rebellion, founder of the first Chinese
Arsenal, Secretary to the first Chinese Embassy to Europe.
Secretary and Councillor to the Chinese Legation in London for
thirty years. By DEMETRIUS C. BOULGER, Author of the
" History of China," the " Life of Gordon," etc. With Illus-
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DEVONSHIRE CHARACTERS AND STRANGE

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Daily News. "A fascinating series . . . the whole book is rich in human interest.

is by personal touches, drawn from traditions and memories, that the dead men
rroundedby the cur
Baring-GouloVs pages.'

surrounded by the curious panoply of their time, are made to live again in Mr.
Id's

THE HEART OF GAMBETTA. Translated

from the French of FRANCIS LAUR by VIOLETTE MONTAGU.
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Daily Telegraph. "It is Gambetta pouring out his soul to Leonie Leon, the strange,
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THE LIFE OF JOAN OF ARC. By ANATOLE

FRANCE. A Translation by WINIFRED STEPHENS. With 8 Illus-
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THE DAUGHTER OF LOUIS XVI. Marie-

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WITS, BEAUX, AND BEAUTIES OF THE

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MADAME DE MAINTENON : Her Life and

Times, 1655-1719. By C. C. DYSON. With I Photogravure
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12 A CATALOGUE OF

DR. JOHNSON AND MRS. THRALE. By

A. M. BROADLEY. With an Introductory Chapter by THOMAS
SECCOMBE. With 24 Illustrations from rare originals, including
a reproduction in colours of the Fellowes Miniature of Mrs.
Piozzi by Roche, and a Photogravure of Harding's sepia drawing
of Dr. Johnson. Demy 8vo (9X5! inches). i6s. net.

THE DAYS OF THE DIRECTOIRE. By

ALFRED ALLINSON, M.A. With 48 Full-page Illustrations,
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HUBERT AND JOHN VAN EYCK : Their Life

and Work. By W. H. JAMES WEALE. With 41 Photogravure
and 95 Black and White Reproductions. Royal 410. $ 55. net.

SIR MARTIN CONWAY'S NOTE.

Nearly half a century has passed since Mr. W. H. James Weale, then resident at
Bruges, began that long series of patient investigations into the history of
Netherlandish art which was destined to earn so rich a harvest. When he began
work Memlinc was still called Hemling, and was fabled to have arrived at Bruges
as a wounded soldier. The van Eycks were little more than legendary heroes.
Roger Van der Weyden was little more than a name. Most ofthe other great
Netherlandish artists were either wholly forgotten or named only in connection
with paintings with which they had nothing to do. Mr. Weale discovered Gerard
David, and disentangled his principal works from Memlinc's, with which they were
then confused.

VINCENZO FOPPA OF BRESCIA, FOUNDER OF

THE LOMBARD SCHOOL, His LIFE AND WORK. By CONSTANCE
JOCELYN FFOULKES and MONSIGNOR RODOLFO MAJOCCHI, D.D.,
Rector of the Collegio Borromeo, Pavia. Based on research in the
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MEMOIRS OF THE DUKES OF URBINO.

Illustrating the Arms, Art and Literature of Italy from 1 440 to
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THE DIARY OF A LADY-IN-WAITING. By

LADY CHARLOTTE BURY. Being the Diary Illustrative of the
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persons New edition. Edited, with an Introduction, by A.
FRANCIS STEUART. With numerous portraits. Two Vols.
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MEMOIRS, BIOGRAPHIES, ETC. 13
THE LAST JOURNALS OF HORACE WAL-

POLE. During the Reign of George III from 1771 to 1783.
With Notes by DR. DORAN. Edited with an Introduction by
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JUNIPER HALL : Rendezvous of certain illus-

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JANE AUSTEN : Her Homes and Her Friends.
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THE HOUSE IN ST. MARTIN'S STREET.

Being Chronicles of the Burney Family. By CONSTANCE HILL,
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STORY OF THE PRINCESS DES URSINS IN

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MARIA EDGEWORTH AND HER CIRCLE

IN THE DAYS OF BONAPARTE AND BOURBON.

BY CONSTANCE HILL. Author of " Jane Austen : Her Homes
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CESAR FRANCK : A Study. Translated from the

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MEN AND LETTERS. By HERBERT PAUL, M.P.

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ROBERT BROWNING : Essays and Thoughts.

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14 A CATALOGUE OF

NEW LETTERS OF THOMAS CARLYLE.

Edited and Annotated by ALEXANDAR CARLYLE, with Notes and
an Introduction and numerous Illustrations. In Two Volumes.
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Pall Mall Gazette. "To the portrait of the man, Thomas, these letters do really add
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Literary World. "It is then Carlyle, the nobly filial son, we see in these letters ;
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friend, . . . and above all, Carlyle as a tender and laithful lover of his wife."

Daily Telegraph. "The letters are characteristic enough ot the Carlyle we know : very
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NEW LETTERS AND MEMORIALS OF JANE

WELSH CARLYLE. A Collection of hitherto Unpublished
Letters. Annotated by THOMAS CARLYLE, and Edited by
ALEXANDER CARLYLE, with an Introduction by SIR JAMES CRICHTON
BROWNE, M.D., LLD., F.R.S., numerous Illustrations drawn in Litho-
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Westminister Gazette." Few letters in the language have in such perfection the
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whatever alloy of human infirmity, must endear itself to any reader of
understanding."

World." Throws a deal of new light on the domestic relations of the Sage of Chelsea
They also contain the full text of Mrs. Carlyle's fascinating journal, and her own
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THE LOVE LETTERS OF THOMAS CAR-
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CARLYLE'S FIRST LOVE. Margaret Gordon

Lady Bannerman. An account of her Life, Ancestry and
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EMILE ZOLA : NOVELIST AND REFORMER. An

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MEMOIRS, BIOGRAPHIES, ETC. 15
MEMOIRS OF THE MARTYR KING : being a

detailed record of the last two years of the Reign of His Most
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MEMOIRS OF A VANISHED GENERATION

1811-1855. Edited by MRS. WARRENNE BLAKK. With numerous
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THE KING'S GENERAL IN THE WEST,

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THE LIFE AND LETTERS OF ROBERT

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THE LIFE OF WILLIAM BLAKE. By ALEXANDER

GILCHRIST, Edited with an Introduction by W. GRAHAM ROBERTSON.
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GEORGE MEREDITH : Some Characteristics.

By RICHARD LE GALLIENNE. With a Bibliography (much en-
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A QUEEN OF INDISCRETIONS. The Tragedy

of Caroline of Brunswick, Queen of England. From the Italian
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LETTERS AND JOURNALS OF SAMUEL

GRIDLEY HOWE. Edited by his Daughter LAURA E.
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1 6 MEMOIRS, BIOGRAPHIES, ETC.
GRIEG AND HIS MUSIC. By H. T. FINCK,

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EDWARD A. MACDOWELL : a Biography. By

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THE LIFE OF ST. MARY MAGDALEN.

Translated from the Italian of an unknown Fourteenth-Century
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William Weller Pepys, Bart., Master in Chancery, 1758-1825,
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ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON, AN ELEGY;
AND OTHER POEMS, MAINLY PERSONAL. By
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RUDYARD KIPLING : a Criticism, By RICHARD

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THE LIFE OF W. J. FOX, Public Teacher and

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JOHN LANE, THE BODLEY HEAD, VIGO STREET, LONDON, W.

PR Piozzi, Hester Lynch

3619 (Salusbury) Thrale,
P5M The intimate letters of

19U Hester Piozzi

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