EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT
 
 ^/ 
 
 ^s^r 
 
 EIGHT FRIENDS 
 
 OF 
 
 THE GREAT 
 
 BY 
 
 WILLIAM PRIDEAUX COURTNEY 
 
 LONDON 
 CONSTABLE & COMPANY LTD 
 
 1910
 
 C83e 
 
 PREFACE 
 
 The desire for information on the lives of our fellow- 
 countrymen has grown apace during recent years. The 
 pji announcement in the daily papers of the death of a con- 
 : temporary known in any circle of life is at once followed by 
 j£> a much longer description of his career than would have been 
 ^ the case fifty years since. Famous Englishmen in all ages 
 are chronicled in the pages of Sir George Murray Smith's 
 costly Dictionary of national biography, and Mr. Frederic 
 is, Boase in his noble volumes of Modem English biography has 
 
 CO 
 
 I summarised, with patient and protracted labour, the lives of 
 everyone of any importance who passed away in the half- 
 century beginning with 1850. But even after this vast 
 e increase in the biographical literature of our country many 
 persons conspicuous in their time still want a chronicler. 
 
 Biographical details of such men as David Garrick can be 
 found in a score of separate memoirs and in the general 
 dictionaries of the literature or the biography of our king- 
 od dom, but information on the career of the poetaster whose 
 lines were engraved on Garrick's monument in Westminster 
 Abbey can be looked for with certainty in one authority only. 
 It is in the memoirs of the more obscure of our countrymen 
 that the value of our great biographical dictionary lies, and 
 even within its ample folds five out of the eight lives 
 described in these pages are not to be found. 
 
 The three lives which are described in the pages of that 
 Dictionary are those of bishop Rundle, Dr. Warner and 
 John Taylor. In a work of such magnitude the memoirs are 
 necessarily of limited compass and to each of them I have 

 
 vi PREFACE 
 
 been able to add many additional details of interest. This 
 will be apparent by a reference to the memoir of Dr. Warner. 
 Though his career has been set out, both in the dictionary 
 and in several other publications, by writers of exceptional 
 skill, it has been reserved for me to make the first mention of 
 many, and not the least important, circumstances in his life. 
 His translation of a novel from the Spanish, the various 
 descriptions of his style of preaching, his appointment to 
 the vicarage of Scrivelsby, his acts of charity with Penneck 
 and others, his friendship with Miss Seward, Dr. Gem, and 
 William Huskisson, the dinner at Mont Rouge with Mercier, 
 the quarrel with T. J. Mathias, the names of the scholars 
 who appreciated his Metronariston, his communications with 
 George Cumberland, his gifts to John Home Tooke and 
 friendship with the leading Reformers, the cause of his 
 death, his adoption of a youth afterwards a K.C., these are 
 some of the points which have been reserved for my 
 narration. 
 
 The omissions in our great dictionary are Philip Metcalfe, 
 Scrope Davies, lord Webb Seymour, Lydia White, and lord 
 John Townshend. The reader, after a perusal of the 
 succeeding narratives, will not hesitate, I hope, to corrobo- 
 rate my assertion that each of these eight memoirs contains 
 many incidents of general interest and that all of these 
 neglected persons lived lives which are worthy of description 
 in detail. 
 
 Rundle was the central figure of a theological contest 
 which raged as fiercely as the battle fought a century later 
 over the appointment of Doctor Hampden to an English 
 bishopric and the energies of Pope and Swift were enlisted 
 on his behalf. Metcalfe was the companion of Johnson in 
 his rambles at home and of Sir Joshua Reynolds in his art- 
 travels through the Low-countries. He took a leading part 
 in the differences which broke out over the erection of
 
 PREFACE vii 
 
 Johnson's monument and as the executor of Reynolds, was 
 one of those responsible for his funeral at St. Paul's and for 
 the sale of his pictures. Dr. Warner was for many years 
 associated with the pleasures as well as with the serious 
 business of George Selwyn and he endeavoured after his 
 friend's death to remove from the public mind the belief 
 that the wit took an inordinate pleasure in witnessing the 
 executions of conspicuous criminals. He was the first to 
 start and the chief person to carry into effect, the proposal, 
 that a statue of Howard, the philanthropist, should be 
 placed in London's cathedral. 
 
 The mention of Scrope Davies recalls the life of Byron. 
 They were friends in college days and in the fashionable life 
 of their early manhood. Byron borrowed from him large 
 sums of money, and showed the warmth of his friendship by 
 the efforts which he made to repay them, as well as by the 
 public dedication to Davies of one of his chief poems. Like 
 many another conspicuous gambler during the Regency, 
 the declining days of the life of Davies were passed in 
 banishment from England. " Jack" Taylor knew everyone. 
 With Sheridan and the theatrical circle which surrounded 
 him he was closely intimate. He was the companion of 
 Boswell in his hours of gaiety in the city when his song, 
 repeated over and over again, threw the stiff form of Pitt 
 into convulsions of laughter. In the busy haunt of Fleet 
 Street and amid the jostling of the crowd which thronged 
 that thoroughfare, Boswell submitted to him the proof sheets 
 of the title-page of his immortal volumes and adopted the 
 word which his critical friend suggested. Taylor corre- 
 sponded with Byron and one of the poet's letters is for the 
 first time given to the world in its entirety in these pages. 
 
 Scrope Davies was a student in classical literature until 
 he had earned, when barely out of his teens, the wages 
 sufficient to keep him in idleness for the rest of his existence.
 
 viii PREFACE 
 
 On the other hand patient study and the acquisition of 
 knowledge were the keynotes of the life of Lord Webb 
 Seymour, a well known figure in Edinburgh life during its 
 palmy days in literature and science. Sydney Smith 
 dedicated to him in terms of warm feeling the first editions 
 of his sermons. 
 
 Lydia White was for many years the leading lady in 
 London to entertain the " lions " of the day. She visited 
 Walter Scott at Ashestiel, was remembered by Tom Moore 
 when he was in Italy, and Sydney Smith drew from her the 
 jest with which her name is still associated. Lord John 
 Townshend desired no other epitaph than a record of his 
 life-long friendship with Charles Fox. It was for that 
 statesman's sake that he contested the representation of 
 the university of Cambridge and the city of Westminster, 
 and satirised Pitt and his followers in the Rolliad. 
 
 I have now introduced the reader to the acquaintance of 
 these eight persons. It rests with him to settle whether 
 further knowledge of them shall draw him into friendship. 
 
 W. P. COURTNEY. 
 
 Reform Club Chambers, 
 November, 1909.
 
 MEMOIRS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Rt. Rev. Thomas Rundle, bishop of Derry (friend 
 
 of Pope and Swift) i 
 
 Philip Metcalfe, M.P. (friend of Johnson and 
 
 Reynolds) ......... 14 
 
 Rev. John Warner, D.D. (friend of George Selvvyn) 35 
 
 " Jack " Taylor of the Sun (friend of Sheridan) . 71 
 
 Scrope Davies (friend of Lord Byron) . . . 101 
 
 Lord Webb Seymour (friend of Sydney Smith and 
 
 John Playfair) 124 
 
 Lydia White (friend of Tom Moore and Sir Walter 
 
 Scott) 149 
 
 Lord John Townshend, M.P. (friend of Charles Fox) 172
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 Dr. Thomas Rundle, friend of Pope and Swift. 
 
 Mr. Gladstone and the conge d'elire — the bishop's family and Devon- 
 shire — His praise of Exeter — Rundle at Oxford — his character — 
 Rundle and Whiston — A " cheese-cake " entertainment — Rundle's 
 preferments — Speaker Onslow — Bishop Talbot— Rundle's friendship 
 with Jemmy Thomson — Rundle's dinners — Rundle and the see of 
 Gloucester — clerical opposition— His "splendid banishment" — Rundle, 
 Pope and Swift — His library — His ailments and death . . pp. i — 13 
 
 Philip Metcalfe, M.P., friend of Johnson and Reynolds. 
 
 His descent and parentage — his connection with Hawstead, near 
 Bury St. Edmunds — prosperous distiller at West Ham — Philip Metcalfe 
 in social life — signs the "round robin" to Dr. Johnson on the Latin 
 epitaph to Goldsmith — at Brighton and in Sussex with Johnson — 
 Johnson's dying gift to him — Metcalfe as trustee for Johnson's servant 
 — as treasurer of the fund for the proposed monument of Johnson — 
 Metcalfe's visit with Reynolds to the art galleries of the Low-countries 
 — proposed dedication to him by Reynolds of the contemplated volume 
 on this tour — Metcalfe as executor with Burke and Malone to Reynolds's 
 will — their letter in French to the empress of Russia — the sale of 
 Reynolds's pictures — the funeral of Reynolds — Metcalfe and the 
 Dilettanti Society — Metcalfe in parliament — Metcalfe abroad — visits of 
 Malone and others to him at Brighton — Metcalfe and Jeremy Bentham 
 — Metcalfe and the refugee French clergy — his almshouses at Hawstead 
 — his death, burial, and vast fortune ... pp. 14 — 34 
 
 The Rev. John Warner, D.D., friend of George Selwyn. 
 
 His character and parentage — his father's works — his education at 
 St. Paul's school and Trinity college, Cambridge — Warner as vicar of 
 West Ham — his translation of a Spanish romance — his sermons as a
 
 xii CONTENTS 
 
 popular preacher in a proprietary chapel — abroad with George Selwyn 
 — John Howard the philanthropist — Warner in his " cabin " — his love of 
 cards and dinners — his ride to Scrivelsby — his kindness to distressed 
 friends — lines on " Mie Mie " — abroad as a "spy" for the earl of 
 Carlisle — his free letters — Selwyn's desire to obtain preferment for him 
 and his disappointment — the statue to John Howard — Warner's friend- 
 ship with Anna Seward, William Hayley, and George Romney — Warner 
 in Sussex — Warner and his friends in Paris — Warner and William 
 Huskisson — Warner and Selwyn's love of executions — his detention in 
 France — his quarrel with Mathias — his dissertation on the pronuncia- 
 tion of Latin — the views of English scholars on it — fresh attack from 
 Mathias — Warner on English ladies and French dinners — his portrait 
 by Meyer — his letters to George Cumberland — his friendship with 
 Home Tooke and the other reformers — His death and will — the youth 
 whom he adopted — his career and rise to be K.C. . . pp. 35 — 70 
 
 "Jack" Taylor of the "Sun," friend of Sheridan. 
 
 His friendship with theatrical stars — his grandfather, the Chevalier 
 and oculist — the Chevalier's surprising career — the strange memoirs 
 of him — Taylor's father, also an oculist — John Taylor himself, an 
 oculist — his education — Writes for the press — Taylor and the " Morning 
 Post "—Taylor and the " True Briton "—Taylor and the " Sun "—his 
 differences with William Jerdan — their rival advertisements in the paper 
 — eulogy, followed by satire on lord Byron — Byron's letter to Taylor — 
 Jerdan bought out— Taylor's writings for the stage and his poems — his 
 connection with the "Monthly Mirror" — his poem of "Monsieur 
 Tonson " — anecdotes of him by Crabb Robinson, William Hazlitt and 
 Tom Moore — Taylor and the clubs of the day — his " records of my 
 life " and its anecdotes on " everybody " — Boswell triumphs over Pitt's 
 stolidity— Boswell and the proof-sheet of the title-page of his life of 
 Johnson — Taylor's death pp. 71 — 100 
 
 Scrope Davies, friend of Lord Byron. 
 
 Byron's friends at Cambridge— descent of Scrope Davies — his 
 parentage and family— educated at Eton and King's college, Cambridge 
 — Davies and Byron at the university — two of the jests of Davies — 
 Gronow's estimate of him — his winnings as a gambler — Davies and 
 drink — Davies and Byron in London — Byron dedicates " Parisina" to 
 him — Davies and Hobhouse with Byron on his leaving England — 
 Davies and "gentleman" Jackson, the pugilist— Davies and "beau"
 
 CONTENTS xiii 
 
 Brummell, their correspondence — Davies and Hobhouse visit Byron in 
 Switzerland — Davies and his quarrel with George Lamb — some jests by 
 Davies — Moore and he as guests of Sir Francis Burdett — his quarrel 
 with Hobhouse — Davies cuts his throat six times — his exile — life in 
 Belgium — his projected life of Byron — Davies in France with Tom 
 Raikes and Ball Hughes — his praise of the table d'hote at Rouen — his 
 death at Paris — the supposed relics of Byron —More of the sayings of 
 Davies — errors and omissions about him .... pp. 101 — 123 
 
 Lord Webb Seymour, friend of Sydney Smith and John Playfair. 
 
 Life at Edinburgh about 1790 — Dugald Stewart and his classes — 
 Seymour's education — his meeting with Anna Seward while calling on 
 the "Maids of Llangollen" — Henry Cockburn's description of him — 
 Seymour and the scientific societies of Edinburgh and London — 
 Seymour and Henry Mackenzie's parties — Seymour studies with 
 Francis Horner — Seymour's travels with Playfair in Scotland and 
 among the Lakes — Seymour and bishop Watson — Seymour in Derby- 
 shire and Cheshire— his visit to Henry Hallam — Seymour in Hampshire 
 — Sydney Smith dedicates his sermons to him — More travels with Play- 
 fair — Seymour as a military man — his friendship with Miss Berry — his 
 discovery at the seaside by Ward, lord Dudley — his purchase of a 
 Scotch property — his friendship with the Minto family — His note in Sir 
 Walter Scott's " Rokeby " — his friendship for Thomas Campbell, sir 
 Charles Bell, Washington Irving and others — his decline and death — 
 his character as depicted by his friends — forgotten for many years 
 
 pp. 124—148 
 
 Lydia White, friend of Tom Moore and Sir Walter Scott. 
 
 The salons of the literary ladies — literary interest of Claudius Clear 
 and C. K. S. in Lydia White — her parentage — Samuel Rogers meets 
 her at Brighton — Lydia White in Ireland and at Tunbridge Wells — her 
 visits to Sir Walter Scott— " nineteen times nine dyed blue" — her 
 sketches— the Irishman's attempt to impose upon Scott — Lydia White 
 in private theatricals— her friendship with Sir Roderick Murchison and 
 Sir Henry Holland — William Spencer and the authors of the Rejected 
 addresses — Lydia White in Italy — Tom Moore and her parties — 
 descriptions of her by lady Charlotte Bury and the rev. William 
 Harness — her parties as described by lady Charlotte— Lydia White 
 and the chief literary ladies, Mrs. Somerville, Mrs. Marcet and Miss 
 Edgeworth— Lydia White and the poets lord Byron and Bulwer Lytton 
 — her fight against death — She entertains to the last — her death and
 
 xiv CONTENTS 
 
 her will — commemorated by Lytton in " Pelham " — her jests — kindly 
 estimate of her by lady Charlotte Bury and Sir Walter Scott 
 
 pp. 149— 171 
 
 Lord John Townshend, M.P., friend of Charles Fox. 
 
 The great families of East Anglia in the eighteenth century — 
 parentage and birth of Townshend — A Whig he contests the repre- 
 sentation of the university of Cambridge — is defeated, returned, and 
 defeated again — his friendship with Fox — Tickell addresses a poem to 
 him — his triumphant return for Westminster — M.P. for Knaresborough 
 — A mimic and a poet — The Rolliad — Jekyll a political eclogue — his verses 
 in Brummell's note-book — his life in society — his wife and family — his 
 death and his epitaph . pp. 172—183
 
 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE 
 GREAT 
 
 A HERETIC IRISH BISHOP 
 
 A week or two after the return in 1880 of the Liberal party 
 
 to power, one of its most influential supporters, the son of a 
 
 bishop, introduced into the House of Commons a bill for "the 
 
 abolition of the conge d'elire and for the appointment to the 
 
 episcopal bench direct by letters patent under the great seal." 
 
 An interesting debate ensued and the bill was opposed on 
 
 behalf of the government by the then Mr. Arthur Peel. At 
 
 a later period in the discussion Mr. Gladstone intervened 
 
 with his accustomed interest in ecclesiastical affairs. He 
 
 urged that the existence of the conge acted as a moral check 
 
 upon the prerogative of the crown and supported his argument 
 
 by a reference to a case which occurred in the time of Sir 
 
 Robert Walpole. That minister wished " to appoint a certain 
 
 Dr. Rundle to a bishopric" but on account of his doctrines 
 
 opposition in the chapter of the see to which it was intended 
 
 to send him was threatened by his theological opponents. 
 
 Sir Robert thereupon "transferred him to Ireland" where 
 
 the absence of a conge d'elire permitted him to carry out his 
 
 desires without any restraint. Ireland was then and for long 
 
 years afterwards the dumping ground of the parson and the 
 
 placeman. It was a country in which the presence of a 
 
 heretic on the episcopal bench was a matter of no consequence ; 
 
 F.G. B
 
 Z EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 a country where in the words of Sir James Mackintosh " any- 
 body might be anything." 
 
 This heretic bishop Thomas Rundle, the diocesan of Derry, 
 came from Devonshire, and is said to have been born at 
 Milton Abbot about 1686. Members of his family had lived 
 there and in the adjoining parish of Lamerton for several 
 generations, but his father, also Thomas Rundle, was the son 
 of a resident in Tavistock, the county town of those parishes. 
 In 1691 he succeeded to the rectory of Whimple, a few miles 
 from Exeter, and in 1697 was installed as prebendary of 
 Exeter. The boy naturally went to the grammar-school of 
 that city where the head-master was John Reynolds, whose 
 portrait by his nephew Sir Joshua Reynolds hangs in the 
 provost's lodge at Eton. When over 50 years old (1740) 
 Rundle wrote to Alured Clarke, who had just been elevated 
 to the deanery, that Exeter still continued the delight of his 
 imagination. It was " by far the finest climate and most 
 agreeable place of residence in England." He dwelt on " the 
 variety of public walks round the town, the beauty of the 
 landscapes, and the warmth of the air. The trees there 
 shoot with a more luxuriant verdure, the flowers glow with 
 warmer colours and the fruits ripen to a richer flavour . . . 
 the fig and the grape scarce desire better skies." Had he 
 lived in the twentieth century, he would have added to these 
 praises the ease with which a resident within its walls can 
 escape by rail or motor to sea or moor. 
 
 Like most other west-country youths, Rundle entered at 
 Exeter college, Oxford, matriculating on 5 April, 1704. His 
 technical description in the college was that of sojourner, 
 and he remained there until 3 Dec. 1712 when he left with 
 the degree of B.C.L. On 5th of July, 1723 he proceeded 
 to the degree of LL.D. Thomas Rennell, another 
 Devonian, and the bearer of a name which became famous 
 among the leading preachers in the English church a
 
 Dr. THOMAS RUNDLE 3 
 
 century later, acted as his tutor. While at Oxford a fellow 
 collegian from the west, Joseph Taylor, afterwards member 
 of parliament for Petersfield and Ashburton, introduced him 
 o Edward Talbot of Oriel college, second son of the prelate 
 who was successively bishop of Oxford, Salisbury and Durham. 
 Through this friendship Rundle became intimate with Joseph 
 Butler and Thomas Seeker, and, as the friends of bishop 
 Talbot's son, all three of them obtained preferment from the 
 father. Complaint was made that Rundle adopted his friends 
 precipitately and dropped them abruptly, and some years 
 later George Stubbes, an old fellow of Exeter college, who 
 was numbered among the small poets of the period, ridiculed 
 this propensity in a poem called " fickle friendship." A very 
 sprightly lady, Mary Lepel, lady Hervey commented on 
 another fault. She acknowledged that lord chancellor 
 Talbot, the bishop's eldest son had parts, but asserted that 
 " the flatter}^ and indulgence of Rundle has been his ruin. 
 . . . Rundle was the greatest flatterer and the greatest 
 talker I ever met with in my life." But whatever his motives 
 or his failings may have been, these great divines, Butler and 
 Seeker, remained his fast friends all his life. 
 
 Towards the close of Rundle's college life the sincere but 
 whimsical Whiston paid a visit to Oxford to further a scheme 
 " for promoting primitive Christianity." Rundle and Rennell 
 sought the acquaintance of the reformer and as they were 
 " sensible of modern errors and corruptions " were ready to 
 give their support to him, but doubted whether any more 
 recruits would be enlisted at the university. Rundle, after 
 leaving the university, became an inmate of the house of 
 John Cater of Kempston, near Bedford, as the tutor of his 
 only son, and Whiston was asked by the head of the family 
 to visit them. The tutor proved " so ready in the fathers 
 and ecclesiastical history and indeed, so learned in all science 
 but ... so strictly sober, serious, conscientious (what shall 
 
 b 2
 
 4 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 I say ?) so daringly good and honest in principle" that their 
 guest believed himself to be amongst the primitive christians 
 in the first century. The colours of this halcyon picture soon 
 faded away. 
 
 The weakness of Rundle revealed itself to the critical eye 
 of Thomas Emlyn, the first unitarian minister in England. 
 He was not so temperate and abstemious as a confessor for 
 the faith ought to be, and Emlyn was not long in remarking 
 that he " did not seem cut out for such sufferings as counsellors 
 are to expect." The truth forced itself upon poor Whiston 
 with even more directness. He was invited to " eat a cheese- 
 cake " with Talbot and Rundle, but when the innocent heretic 
 went he found " such a collation of wine and sweet-meats 
 prepared as little corresponded to the terms of the invitation." 
 The secret of the repast was soon disclosed. They announced 
 their intention to sign the 39 articles and to take preferment 
 in the church. Whiston broke out into bitter reproaches 
 and continued his sarcasms in after years. Some time after- 
 wards, on being told that Rundle attributed the " apostolical 
 constitutions " to the fourth century, he threw out the sarcasm 
 " make him dean of Durham and they will not be written till 
 the fifth." 
 
 The good offices of his friend's father William Talbot, 
 then bishop of Salisbury, were quickly exercised. Rundle 
 was ordained deacon on 29 July, 1716, and priest a week 
 later. He was at once appointed the bishop's domestic 
 chaplain and before the year ran out was made prebendary 
 of the cathedral church. In July of the following year he 
 was promoted to a better prebendal stall, in April 1720 he 
 became archdeacon of Wilts and in January 172 1 he suc- 
 ceeded his friend, Talbot, in the treasurership of the cathedral. 
 These preferments did not exhaust the bishop's good will, for 
 he gave him in 1719 the vicarage of Inglesham and in 1720 
 the rectory of Poulshot, both of them in Wiltshire.
 
 Dr. THOMAS RUNDLE 5 
 
 Edward Talbot died young in December, 1720, leaving a 
 widow and child in poor circumstances. Rundle and he 
 had lived together for ten years "in the most tender and 
 endeared friendship." Their life in college and in the church 
 promoted their social intercourse, " when absent our letters 
 were the pictures of our souls and every post we conversed." 
 Widow and daughter — the "dearest Kitty" of Rundle's 
 letters, who afterwards became well-known as the friend and 
 correspondent of Elizabeth Carter — lived as members of 
 Seeker's household until his death in 1768 when they 
 inherited from him a fortune of £13,000. 
 
 Bishop Talbot was translated to Durham in October 1721 
 and Rundle accompanied him as his domestic chaplain, 
 retaining the archdeaconry and the treasurership in his old 
 diocese of Salisbury. In his new situation he was even more 
 amply rewarded. One of its well-endowed canonries was 
 conferred upon him in January 1722 and a still better stall 
 was bestowed upon him in November of that year. From 
 1722 he enjoyed the emoluments of the fat benefice of 
 Sedgefield, and if he resigned that living in 1728 it was to 
 succeed as master of Sherburn hospital, a desirable post in 
 value and position, for it was situated less than two miles 
 from the city of Durham. Hearne in his collections 
 (viii., 100), calls him "a divine of 1500 libs per annum prefer- 
 ment w r ho hath done or is about doing very honourably for 
 Exeter college, having founded or being about to found and 
 endow two Lectures there, viz., 1 in Natural Philosophy and 
 1 in Greek, each to be 50 libs per annum," but this rumour 
 does not seem to have ended in fact. 
 
 During these years of quiet prosperity Rundle retained his 
 old friendships and made fresh accessions to the list. Arthur 
 Onslow, the famous speaker of the House of Commons, had 
 sought his friendship " on the account of a public dispute he 
 had against Tindal and Collins at the Grecian coffee-house
 
 6 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 in defence of Christianity." Berkeley became acquainted 
 with him about 1721 and in 1725 received from him the 
 munificent sum of ;£ioo in support of his charitable works 
 at Bermuda. His interest in the American colonies was 
 further shown by his acting as a clerical trustee for the 
 establishment of the colony of Georgia. 
 
 There are several competitors for the distinction of 
 having been the first person to detect the beauties of 
 James Thomson's poem of " Winter," and Rundle is one 
 of them. After its publication, he recommended the poet to 
 the patronage of Charles Talbot, who rose to the position 
 of lord chancellor and through his influence Thomson went 
 in 1730-1 on the continent as "bear-leader" to the chan- 
 cellor's eldest son, Charles Richard Talbot. The young man 
 died in September 1733 and Thomson opened the first part 
 of his poem " Liberty 1735 " with some lines in his praise. 
 Thomson, in the poem which he printed in June 1737 on the 
 chancellor, apostrophised Rundle as " thou darling friend ! 
 thou brother of his soul ! " and as straying " on the pebbled 
 shore, pensive " near Derry, driven from his " native sun- 
 shine " and his friends " the sunshine of the soul, by 
 slanderous zeal and politics infirm." Thomson on Rundle's 
 suggestion began a play on the story of Socrates but was 
 dissuaded by three of his friends, Pitt, Lyttelton and 
 Gilbert West, from continuing it. 
 
 Talbot's enormous income as bishop of Durham never 
 sufficed for his profuse expenditure. To play the part of 
 prince-bishop was congenial to him and he enjoyed appear- 
 ing on horseback at all the reviews which the King attended. 
 His domestic chaplain Rundle partook of his lavishness ; 
 he was throughout life fond of the pleasures of the table, 
 and his "cheesecake" parties gradually expanded into more 
 profuse entertainments. Though he took no pleasure in " the 
 murders and assassinations of innocent hares and rabbits "
 
 Dr. THOMAS RUNDLE 7 
 
 he did not scruple to partake of them as food. Some 
 of his special dishes are recorded in Stukeley's diary, 
 " bp Rundle is famous for candyed carrot, pea-capons, 
 peeper pye, i.e., young new-hatched turkeys put into a 
 pye, taken out by spoonfuls, 6 veal burrs stuffed with the 
 ropes of 50 woodcocks. He calls a sirloin of beef clumsy 
 plenty. Young hares fed with brocoli. By this means 
 he treated himself into /4000 p. ann." No wonder that if 
 he often partook of these dishes he found himself a vale- 
 tudinarian before he was 45 years old, and that in the 
 winter of 1733-4 he was dangerously ill ! 
 
 A torrent of passionate controversy burst over Rundle in 
 December, 1733 and continued to flow all the next year. 
 The see of Gloucester had become vacant and Talbot, the 
 lord chancellor, urged the promotion of his friend. " Codex " 
 Gibson, the bishop of London who for many years of 
 Walpole's administration ruled over matters ecclesiastical, 
 protested against the appointment, urging that Rundle was 
 a deist. His enemies gave out that his "warm fancy and 
 brilliant conversation " had led him into serious indiscretions 
 of speech. " I am an open talkative man " he allowed, but 
 he coupled with it a warm denial that he had expressed at 
 any time a disbelief in the christian religion. 
 
 The most serious of the accusations against him came 
 from Richard Venn a man of high character beneficed in 
 the diocese of London, whose sense of duty led him, though 
 a Devonian like Rundle, to interpose in the fray. He stated 
 that on one occasion when in company with Rundle and 
 Robert Cannon, a dean who spoke in a jocular way on 
 serious matters, the former had said, that were he a "justice 
 of the peace when Abraham purposed to offer up his son 
 Isaac he should have thought it his duty to have laid 
 Abraham by the heels, as a knave or a madman," and he 
 threatened to oppose Rundle at his confirmation in Bow
 
 8 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 church. Attempts were made to dissuade him from this act 
 but all efforts were futile. Whiston whose honesty is above 
 suspicion made personal enquiries, as a friend of both parties, 
 into the truth of the allegation and came to the conclusion 
 that the charge was made in error. 
 
 An emissary from the lord chancellor called at Venn's 
 rectory and hinted that the deanery of Wells would soon be 
 vacant. " Let the chancellor know that I scorn his bribe" 
 was the response. The interviewer then changed his tone 
 with the prophecy that Venn's action would prove his ruin. 
 The rector having obtained from his wife the assurance that 
 she could support them with her needle and from his son 
 the expression that he would like to be a waterman, calmly 
 dismissed the agent with the words " there, sir, report what 
 you have heard to the chancellor and tell him I defy him." 
 The incident calls to mind the interview of Andrew Marvell 
 with the emissary from Charles II. Venn with his wonted 
 openness spoke shortly afterwards in a bookseller's shop of 
 Conyers Middleton as an " apostate priest." Conyers with 
 more vigour than usual, retaliated with the sentence " should 
 I .chance to describe a certain priest by the title of the 
 Accuser, there is scarce a man in England who would not 
 
 think on Mr. V ." 
 
 The see of Gloucester was unfilled for more than a year, 
 throughout which period rumour after rumour prevailed in 
 political circles, and pamphlet after pamphlet issued from 
 the press. Sir Thomas Robinson, the " long Sir Thomas," 
 wrote to lord Carlisle that the lord Chancellor having been 
 told that his nominee was never to be a bishop had declared 
 that should the cong6 d'elire be issued for the election of any 
 other person he would give up the seals. Sixteen pamphlets, 
 most of them with titles of portentous length, are entered 
 under Rundle's name in the catalogue of the British Museum 
 library as dealing with this protracted controversy and among
 
 Dr. THOMAS RUNDLE 9 
 
 the clerical disputants were Maddox afterwards bishop of 
 Worcester and Arthur Ashley Sykes, who wrote under the 
 disguise of " a gentleman of the Temple." 
 
 Two less reputable controversialists afterwards enlisted 
 themselves in the struggle. One of them was Arnall the hack- 
 writer in Walpole's pay. The second was Richard Savage, a 
 man inspired by hatred to "the claims of ecclesiastical power," 
 and by friendship for Rundle's friend, " Jamie Thomson." 
 He produced a poem with the innocent title of " the pro- 
 gress of a divine," tracing the career of a profligate priest to 
 the highest preferments in the church and amiably insinuating 
 that such a man was sure to be under the patronage of 
 bishop Gibson. This was too much for the clergy and 
 Savage was brought before the court of King's bench on a 
 charge of obscenity. The defence consisted of the usual 
 plea that the poem had been written for the promotion of 
 decency in public life, and lord Hardwicke, after lauding the 
 purity and excellence of the writings of the accused dismissed 
 the information. 
 
 Mawson, who died bishop of Ely refused the see of 
 Gloucester because he thought that Rundle had been 
 improperly set aside. Martin Benson, who had married the 
 sister of Seeker was with difficulty induced to accept it. The 
 see of Derry opportunely became vacant and Seeker wrote 
 that it might be filled in such a manner as to vacate a good 
 deanery in England for Rundle, a preferment which would 
 be thoroughly in accordance with his wishes. The deanery 
 of Durham was suggested as fitting for him. But this 
 scheme fell through and Rundle was sent to what he more 
 than once calls his " splendid banishment " in Ireland, 
 being consecrated as bishop on 3 August 1735. 
 
 The wits of England were enthusiastic in his praise. Pope 
 in his letters to Swift declared that he " never saw a man so 
 seldom whom I liked so much " and protested in his poems
 
 io EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 that " Rundle has a heart." Swift a month after the 
 consecration, had dined thrice in his company and had found 
 out his only fault, " he drinks no wine and I drink nothing 
 else." A third friend, Lyttleton, in his Persian letters dwelt 
 on his christian virtues, " if the visible mark of your religion 
 be meekness, or charity, or justice or temperance or piety all 
 these are most conspicuous in the doctor." The truest of 
 all was no doubt the estimate of Pulteney. " Rundle is far 
 from being the great and learned man his friends would have 
 the world believe him and much farther yet from the bad 
 man his enemies represent him." A year after the appoint- 
 ment Swift still dwelt on his good qualities and the affection 
 in which he was held. " He is a most excessive Whig but 
 without any appearing rancour, . . . besides, £3000 a year is 
 an invincible sweetness." 
 
 Rundle crossed to Ireland with the determination of ruling 
 his diocese in a manner acceptable to his clergy. He took 
 with him an Irish clergyman as his chaplain, which was, 
 says Swift, " a very wise and popular action," and he was 
 resolved to " prefer those educated in the country, with 
 regard only to their merit and learning." One exception to 
 this rule he contemplated. This was Thomas Birch the 
 antiquary and biographer to whom he had hoped, these were 
 his words in May 1738, to have been in a position ere this to 
 settle in Ireland. The gift offered at first might be small, 
 but if life lasted a more lucrative preferment should be his 
 reward. His diocese contained " 35 beneficed clergymen 
 . . . and they are all regular, decent and neighbourly ; each 
 hath considerable and commendable general learning but not 
 one is eminent for any particular branch of knowledge," an 
 estimate which will remind the reader of Dr. Johnson's 
 comment on Scotch learning. The curates were more 
 troublesome, for not infrequently they were " fathers of 8 or 
 10 children, without any thing but an allowance of £40 a year
 
 Dr. THOMAS RUNDLE u 
 
 to support them." Three of them had been discarded from 
 the diocese, but " though refused certificates by me and my 
 clergy have obtained good livings in America and found room 
 for repentance." 
 
 Very soon after his arrival at his see Rundle began 
 rebuilding a house at Dublin. In January 1738-9 six weeks 
 would suffice for its completion. The whole of it was 
 handsome but only the room in which he had lodged his 
 books was magnificent. Many critics had censured him for 
 building a house " too splendid for me in my station " and 
 too elegant for an Irish prelate. He had better have locked 
 his money in a chest or " sent to France for social claret,"' 
 which was more in accordance with Irish custom at that 
 time, but the bishop preferred to spend it among Irish 
 workmen so as to provide " beef and potatoes for their 
 hungry families." 
 
 The glory of the structure was the library. It was 64 feet 
 long, 20 feet wide and only 16 high. At the west side was 
 the chimney, " formed in the best taste, of an Irish marble of 
 an excellent polish " over which he purposed placing 
 memorials of those members of the Talbot family who were 
 dearest to his heart and to whom he owed his rise in life. 
 The entablature of the Ionic order which was round the 
 whole room was supported by 32 three quarters columns on 
 a pedestal and the " frieze was enriched with the Vitruvian 
 scroll adorned with its proper foliages." A bow window at 
 the east commanded a view of the mountains in Wales and 
 the highest hills in Ireland ; " the ocean with its islands, a 
 large river, a harbour rich with ships, a city . . . woods 
 and meadows are mingled together in the most amusing 
 contrast." Three windows on the south supplied a view 
 of ° nursery gardens and meadows ever verdant." His 
 chief pleasure was to collect his friends around him in this 
 room. " Gentlemen and ladies, old and young, rich and
 
 12 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 poor, soldiers and bishops meet together often in my 
 library." 
 
 The bishop, one April, described his health as like the 
 season, one hour sunshine, the next clouds. Lord Orrery 
 wrote to old Tom Southerne (January 1735-6) that doctor 
 Rundle's condition " mends apace, at which wine-bibbers are 
 offended and water-bibbers rejoice." He was in England in 
 the spring of 1737 and active in the interests of his friends. 
 He was eager for the wedding of John Talbot to Miss Decker 
 and on 21 May he officiated at the marriage of " Leonidas " 
 Glover to " the handsomest woman in England, worth all the 
 nine muses." In January 1738-9 the winter had its influence on 
 his " crazy constitution " but the " noble cordial ipecacuanha, 
 frequently taken, undoes all the mischiefs of the weather." 
 At Dublin the winters were the finest and the summers the 
 dreariest that could be imagined. It was his design in Sept. 
 1740 to spend the winter and spring in London at John 
 Talbot's in Red Lion Square and when summer came and 
 he had visited some other friends to return to Ireland " for 
 ever." He had grown too old and inactive for any further 
 expeditions but the health and spirits which he had recovered 
 led him to anticipate further happiness " talking in an 
 elbow chair." 
 
 Slowly it came home to the valetudinarian that the 
 remaining days of his life were few in number. In March 
 1742-3 he wrote to Archdeacon S., " Adieu, for ever . . . 
 believe me, my friend, there is no comfort in this world, but 
 a life of virtue and piety ... I have lived to be conviva Satur, 
 passed through good report and evil report, have not been 
 injured more than outwardly by the last and solidly benefitted 
 by the former." He died at his house in William Street, 
 Dublin on 15 April 1743 and was buried in St Peter's church- 
 vard, where a handsome monument was erected to his 
 memory. The bulk of his fortune, £20,000 was left to John
 
 Dr. THOMAS RUNDLE 13 
 
 Talbot. In person he was slender and "not inelegantly 
 formed " ; his portrait was in the collection of Seeker when 
 bishop of Oxford. 
 
 The sermons of Rundle have passed into the limbo of 
 forgetfulness. His " anticipation of the posthumous character 
 of sir Richard Steele " has long ceased to influence the opinion 
 of the literary world. But his letters to Mrs Barbara Sandys, 
 the daughter of a Kyrle who claimed kinship with " the man 
 of Ross " and the wife of a Gloucestershire squire, are still 
 worthy of perusal. They were edited by the rev. James 
 Dallaway who asked for information about Rundle and 
 obtained some particulars {Gait. Mag. 1789, p. 206) of 
 him from Thomas Taylor, of Denbury near Ashburton, the 
 son of his old friend and the owner of many letters by him, 
 which have probably now perished. The bishop sends her 
 books and periodicals, discourses amiably on literary and 
 theological questions, and occasionally mentions a personal 
 incident in the career of a man once prominent in life. His 
 letters show him sympathetic in disposition and grateful for 
 past acts of kindness. He was far from being the least 
 worthy member of the episcopal bench in Ireland.
 
 A FRIEND OF Dr. JOHNSON AND SIR JOSHUA 
 REYNOLDS 
 
 The name of Philip Metcalfe is associated with the lives 
 of the leading man of letters and the chief artist during the 
 early years of the third George's reign. He gladdened Dr. 
 Johnson's declining days with his society at Brighton and 
 in London. He accompanied sir Joshua Reynolds on his 
 travels abroad and was a welcome guest at his social enter- 
 tainments in Leicester Square. His name flits across many 
 a memoir of the personages of that period but these were 
 his two especial friends and no man could desire better. 
 
 The family was for many generations connected with 
 Yorkshire and remained in obedience to the Church of Rome. 
 Their means enabled them to acquire from Sir Richard Le 
 Scrope about 1416 the estate of Nappa in Wensleydale. The 
 ancient house, a hall facing south between two embattled 
 towers, was built by them about 1459. A view of it " half 
 a century ago" is in Speight's volume on "romantic 
 Richmondshire" (1897). 
 
 The more immediate ancestors of Philip Metcalfe settled 
 at the hamlet of Tanton in the large parish of Stokesley-in- 
 Cleveland. His grandfather, Gilbert Metcalfe of that place, 
 had two sons, the younger one, Roger Metcalfe [born 1680, 
 died 5 Jany 1744-5] settling as a surgeon in Brownlow Street, 
 now Betterton Street, Drury Lane, London. He is supposed 
 to have been educated at St. Omer, then and for many years 
 later one of the chief training places of the English members 
 of the Roman Church. He was apprenticed to his uncle a 
 member of the company of Barber surgeons in May 1698 but
 
 PHILIP METCALFE, M.P. 15 
 
 was not admitted until 25 May 1710. His date of entry 
 into the livery of the company was the 29 August 1719. 
 
 Many of the members of his faith had settled in the 
 neighbourhood of Drury Lane and Roger Metcalfe, first as 
 apothecary and then as " collegiate physician " practised 
 among them during the whole of his life-time. He was an 
 intimate friend of Dryden and when James Radcliffe, third 
 earl of Derwentwater was executed at Tower Hill for his 
 share in the rebellion of 1715, the body wrapped in black 
 baize was conveyed by his friends to Metcalfe's house and 
 embalmed by him. Late in life, it was in 1731, when he was 
 51 years old, he married Jemima, the elder daughter of sir 
 Philip Astley, of Melton Constable, baronet, a lady 23 years 
 younger than himself. They had three sons, Christopher, 
 Philip and Roger. 
 
 Christopher the eldest son, was born in 1732 and died at 
 Hawstead near Bury St. Edmunds on 24 June 1794. This 
 estate, which originally consisted of a house known as the 
 " Walnut Tree " adjoining Fillet's manor on the parish green 
 and some lands, came to him through his marriage with 
 Ellen, the only child of Christopher Barton of West Ham 
 and Bromley St. Leonard, who had purchased it from Mr. 
 Pytches and other small owners in the parish. He greatly 
 improved, almost rebuilding in 1783 with the white-brick 
 made at Woolpit in Suffolk, the old house to which he gave 
 the new name of " Hawstead farm " and he also added to 
 the landed property. His wife died on the 6th March 1775, 
 aged 41 on which day her newly-born son, Philip was 
 christened (he died 1809), but her mother, Margaret Barton, 
 survived until 19 June 1780 aged 88. Four of the daughters 
 of Christopher Metcalfe died before him ; another Frederica 
 Sophia, baptised 20 Nov. 1763 married James Mure of Great 
 Saxham, Suffolk on 8 Nov. 1790. His eldest son, Christopher 
 Barton Metcalfe, distiller at West Ham, died on 15 August
 
 16 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 1801 aged 42, having devised the estate to his wife who in 
 1809 sold it to her husband's uncle, Philip Metcalfe. He in 
 his turn bought more land and gave the house the higher- 
 sounding appellation of " Hawstead House." At his death the 
 estate consisted of nearly 600 acres. Views of this house 
 and of the almshouses which he established in the parish are 
 in H. R. Barker's illustrated volume on West Suffolk. 
 
 This Philip Metcalfe, the second son of Roger Metcalfe, and 
 the younger brother of Christopher, was born on 29 August 
 I 733> a t six o'clock in the afternoon, probably in Brownlow 
 Street, christened the same day and named Philip after his 
 grandfather Philip Astley. Like many another j^ounger son he 
 went into trade and in May 1756 was described as merchant 
 in the city of London. In 1763 he and his younger brother, 
 Roger, became partners for a term of 14 years in the old 
 established firm of Bisson and Son, malt distillers of West 
 Ham. About 1773 Roger retired from the firm which was 
 then known as Bissons and Metcalfe and Philip ultimately 
 became the sole owner of the business, carrying it on with 
 great pecuniary advantage until his death. Jeremy Bentham 
 used to repeat the dictum by Metcalfe that "the profit of 
 distillation was only in the distilling duties." It was probably 
 through the association of the Metcalfes of Hawstead with the 
 family of Bisson that the clerical antiquary, sir John Cullum, 
 the historian of Hawstead, became known to, and married 
 at West Ham on the nth July 1765, Peggy the only daughter 
 of Daniel Bisson of that place. 
 
 With this great accession of means Philip Metcalfe became 
 a prominent figure in the social life of London, and of London- 
 upon-sea. His town house was at first in Savile Row ; 
 about 1798 he acquired a long lease of 32, afterwards 15, 
 Hill Street and moved into that house. At Brighton he lived 
 at the Old Steyne, in a house not numbered in his day but 
 afterwards known as No. 3. At both places he delighted in
 
 PHILIP METCALFE, M.P. 17 
 
 company and in entertaining his friends. His name first 
 appears in connection with Dr. Johnson in 1776. A distin- 
 guished company of men, all described with the single 
 exception of Sir William Forbes, as " friends and acquain- 
 tances of Dr. Goldsmith" met at dinner at the house of Sir 
 Joshua Reynolds. The Latin epitaph which Johnson had 
 written for poor Goldsmith was the subject of their conver- 
 sation. General regret was expressed that it was in Latin 
 and some expressions in it were said to be " not delineated 
 with all the exactness " which the author was capable of 
 expressing. As no one dared to appear as the leader of the 
 opposition, the remonstrance was drawn up as is well-known 
 in the form of a round-robin and among the signatures was 
 that of P. Metcalfe, placed between those of R. B. Sheridan 
 and E. Gibbon. On one or two of the names such as Joseph 
 Warton and Edmund Burke, the doctor made a severe com- 
 ment. But that of Metcalfe passed without observation. 
 At that date he was not prominent enough in Johnson's 
 estimate for a growl. 
 
 Johnson and the Thrales were at Brighton in the autumn 
 of 1782 and much with Metcalfe, who had taken, says Miss 
 Burney "an unaccountable dislike to Mrs. Thrale, to whom he 
 never speaks." He declared " aloud and around his aversion 
 to literary ladies " but as he was dry and Fanny was shy "very 
 little has passed between us though he showed a keen desire 
 to converse with me." Fanny pronounced him " a shrewd, 
 sensible, keen and very clever man." Johnson was pleased, 
 to use the words of Boswell, with Metcalfe's " excellent table 
 and animated conversation." Mutual civilities passed 
 between them. One offered the use of his carriage whenever 
 the other liked. The other replied in courtier-like phrase 
 that he had no desire to use it "except when he can 
 have the pleasure of Mr. Metcalfe's company." Metcalfe 
 often took Johnson out for an airing, indeed he was 
 
 f.g. c
 
 18 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 after " single speech " Hamilton had left, " the only person 
 out of the Thrale's house that voluntarily communicates with 
 him." The gruff old doctor, who was more than ordinarily 
 out of humour at this time, liked Metcalfe, and Miss Burney 
 adds the observation that Metcalfe is " very clever and 
 entertaining when he pleases." 
 
 Johnson asked him for his company in a trip to Chichester 
 to see the cathedral and they also visited Petworth and 
 Cowdray " the venerable seat of the lords Montacute. 
 Sir, said Dr. Johnson to him, I should like to stay here 
 four and twenty hours. We see here how our ancestors 
 lived." Metcalfe found so many places of curiosity in the 
 district that Johnson was detained in the country longer than 
 he anticipated and had to write a letter of apology to Mrs. 
 Thrale for his delay in finding his way back to London. It 
 was during this visit to Brighton that Johnson repeated to him 
 the verses from the collection entitled Pope's Miscellany (II., 
 1727, p. 237) which contained a prophetic anticipation of the 
 changes in religion of Gibbon as " now Protestant and Papist 
 now," and then " infidel or atheist." It was probably through 
 the closer intimacy brought about by this prolonged stay " at 
 Brighthelmstone " that Johnson was encouraged to ask him 
 not infrequently for money for the relief of those in distress. 
 When Metcalfe offered what Johnson thought was too much 
 the comment on taking less than was proffered was the phrase 
 " no, no, sir, we must not pamper them." 
 
 Johnson wrote to Mrs. Thrale in October of the following 
 year that Metcalfe had taken him out for an airing and in 
 April 1784 that two of their friends Metcalfe and Crutchley 
 " without knowing each other are both members of parlia- 
 ment for Horsham." He was one of the mourners who 
 attended Johnson's funeral at Westminster Abbey on 
 20 December 1784 and his name has been suggested as 
 that of the friend who filled up the blanks of the doctor's
 
 PHILIP METCALFE, M.P. 19 
 
 will. Mr. Walter C. Metcalfe, his great grand-nephew 
 possessed a copy of an old edition of South's sermons with 
 the following note on the fly-leaf : 
 
 "The gift of Dr. Samuel Johnson as a kind token of affection and 
 remembrance eight and forty hours before he died, Sat. nth Xber, 1784, 
 when we tog. executed the deed making me his trustee for an annuity 
 to his serv r - Fran. Barber of 70 1. per annum. P. Metcalfe." 
 
 The annuity was secured by a deed of that date, between 
 Bennet Langton and Philip Metcalfe of Savile Row, with 
 George Stubbs of Suffolk Street Charing Cross, solicitor. 
 Langton received £757 10 o as the consideration money 
 and payment of the annuity was secured, by a deed of even 
 date on certain profits arising from the navigation of the 
 river Wey, in Surrey. 
 
 Metcalfe was one of the company which met at dinner at 
 the house of Sir Joshua Reynolds on the evening of Johnson's 
 funeral. Burke and Windham were among the guests and 
 it was no doubt at this entertainment that the proposal for 
 a statue to the memory of their departed friend was first 
 mooted. A committee of six, Metcalfe being a member of it, 
 was appointed to collect subscriptions and to make the 
 necessary arrangements for the statue. Four days later 
 Windham met him at dinner in the hallowed rooms of the 
 Mitre, when some distinguished men of science, such as 
 bishop Horsley and Maskelyne, were present. Nearly five 
 years passed away and Windham records in his diary that 
 most of Johnson's chief friends and Metcalfe among them 
 met at dinner at Malone's (29 Nov. 1789) to discuss the 
 proposed monument. In the same month Boswell describes 
 a dinner at sir Joshua's house, with Metcalfe among the 
 guests, to "settle as to effectual measures" about it. A 
 whole-length statue by Bacon would cost £600. Sir Joshua 
 and sir Wm. Scott the executors of their departed friend 
 
 c 2
 
 20 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 were to send out circular letters. "Several of us" writes 
 Boswell " subscribed five guineas each ; Sir Joshua and 
 Metcalfe ten guineas each ; Courtenay and young Burke 
 two guineas each. Will you not be one of us, were it but 
 for one guinea" is his plaintive appeal to Temple. The 
 delay in its erection had become a scandal. Subscrip- 
 tions had not poured in on a flood tide and the members 
 of the committee were split into two factions over the 
 selection of the ecclesiastical edifice in which it should be 
 placed. 
 
 Further particulars are set out in an article, based on the 
 papers of sir Joseph Banks, now at Sydney, by Prof. Edward 
 E. Morris in Longman's Magazine for May 1900, and in 
 the balance sheet of Metcalfe which was kindly communi- 
 cated to me by the late Mr. R. J. Mure of Lincoln's Inn. 
 A meeting of Johnson's friends was held at Thomas's hotel, 
 then in Dover Street, on 5 January 1790 and it was resolved 
 to continue with the scheme for erecting a monument in 
 Westminster Abbey to his memory. Six hundred pounds 
 were necessary but only a third had been subscribed. The 
 surviving executors, with Banks, Windham, Burke, Malone, 
 Metcalfe and Boswell were appointed a committee to collect 
 the funds. 
 
 The committee met twice in March 1791 and a fierce 
 warfare took place between the rival merits of the Abbey 
 and St. Paul's. Burke and Sir Joshua were for St. Paul's 
 and Windham, although originally against it, wrote that on 
 reconsideration he did not see why that building should not 
 be selected. Metcalfe was in favour of the Abbey and Banks 
 vehemently argued for its selection. Malone was asked by 
 letter for his opinion. Next month the committee met 
 again. Reynolds, who for years had been in favour of 
 ornamenting St. Paul's with statues to the illustrious dead, 
 undertook, if sufficient money was not subscribed to defray
 
 PHILIP METCALFE, M.P. 21 
 
 the increased expense of erecting a monument in St. Paul's, 
 to provide the balance and Bacon was content to erect it on 
 the faith of this promise. This settled the question. The 
 statue was placed in St. Paul's, near one of the central 
 pillars under the dome. 
 
 The total amount received was £957 13 o. The balance 
 sheet begins on 16 April 1790 with " cash received from 
 sundries £569 13 o." Through the influence of Reynolds a 
 contribution of /"ioo was voted by the council of the Royal 
 Academy on 25 June 1791 towards the erection of the 
 monument but the vote was subsequently disallowed by 
 George III. The actual subscriptions in 1791 included £42 
 through Samuel Whitbread, {5 5 o from lord Eliot, £100 
 from Cadell the publisher, £550 from Barnard the bishop 
 of Killaloe, £21 through sir W. Scott and ten guineas from 
 Adey, a relative no doubt of Johnson's women-friends at 
 Lichfield. A subscription of £5 5 o was paid by sir William 
 Forbes through Boswell in 1792 & £10 10 o apiece came 
 from Percy, the bishop of Dromore, and George Steevens. 
 In 1796 Whitbread paid in a further sum of £50 & so did 
 the Thrale girls. The sum of £5 5 o was contributed by 
 Mrs. Burke in 1798 and Bacon himself gave four subscrip- 
 tions, amounting to £35 15 o in 1799. 
 
 The payments to Bacon amounted in all to £927 13 o and 
 £30 was swallowed up in expenses and in the deduction of 
 two subscriptions of £2 2 o each, one twice entered, the 
 other marked as returned. The whole story shows the 
 difficulties and differences which may be connected with 
 the erection of a memorial to the illustrious dead if the 
 matter is not pushed to a conclusion at the moment of his 
 death. 
 
 For 38 years Metcalfe and Reynolds were on terms of the 
 closest friendship. They dined together at home and else- 
 where and Metcalfe used to be one of the guests of sir Joshua,
 
 22 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 as the president, at the dinners of the royal academy. He 
 was a friend to men of letters and a liberal patron of the 
 arts and it was through the advice of Reynolds that he 
 bought many of the pictures which formed his collection. 
 
 The two friends went for an art tour on the continent in 
 the summer of 1781. Their movements are chronicled by 
 many hands. They left London for Margate in a post chaise 
 at 8 o'clock on the morning of Tuesday 24 July, shipped 
 for Ostend at 4 p.m. on Thursday, and after visiting Ghent 
 arrived at Brussels at 12 on the night of 29 July. Two days 
 later they dined at Mr. Fitzherbert's " with the duke of 
 Richmond and Mr. Lennox and we all behaved very well " 
 but Reynolds left that city with the impression that their 
 host could have done more for them. They supped at lady 
 Torrington's on Wednesday, August 1st and next day they 
 left for Malines ; after one night the two went to Antwerp, 
 where they passed several days. Metcalfe informed Malone 
 that Sir Joshua spent several hours in the churches at Antwerp 
 in seeing and examining the works of Rubens, " returning to 
 them again and again." 
 
 On parting from those attractive pictures they visited 
 Dordrecht, Rotterdam, the Hague, Leyden and Amsterdam, 
 where they saw many collections, and entered Germany by 
 crossing the Rhine near Dusseldorf. In its gallery, then pro- 
 bably the best collection in Europe, John Thomas Stanley 
 the future baron Stanley of Alderley, a boy of about 15 years 
 old travelling with a tutor, caught a glimpse of them together 
 and recorded the fact for posterity, " Sir Joshua Reynolds 
 being with Mr. Metcalfe, a friend of my father's, and sir 
 Joshua sitting close to a window, pointing out a picture for 
 Mr. Metcalfe to look at." To this gallery they paid frequent 
 visits and Reynolds bears printed testimony to the services 
 rendered by Lambert Kraye, the president of the academy, 
 to the students copying in its rooms. The other places
 
 PHILIP METCALFE, M.P. 23 
 
 which they visited were Cologne, Aix la Chapelle, Spa and 
 Liege, and they returned by the same route to England 
 passing through Brussels, Ostend, and Margate and arriving 
 at London at 7 o'clock on the evening of Sunday the 
 16th September. A little touch at Brussels on the return 
 journey showed Metcalfe's keen observation and sarcastic 
 humour. He remarked that M. Orion was " almost the only 
 gentleman who showed his own pictures, who did not pester 
 us by prating about their merit." From this connoisseur 
 sir Joshua bought Rubens's sketches for the ends of the 
 ceiling of the Whitehall banqueting-house. 
 
 Reynolds told his friend on their return that " his own 
 pieces seemed to him to want force." His account of this 
 visit is published in his works. " It contains very valuable 
 remarks on the pictures preserved in the various churches and 
 cabinets which he visited, together with a masterly character 
 of Rubens." It was intended for separate publication, and 
 was to have been dedicated to Metcalfe but this intention was 
 never carried into effect. A portion of the dedication was 
 found by Malone among the papers of sir Joshua, and shall 
 in part be reproduced. " I present [these notes] to you as 
 properly your due: for if I had been accompanied by a person 
 of less taste and less politeness they probably would not 
 have been made . . . To whichever of your good qualities 
 I am to attribute your long and patient attendance while I 
 was employed in examining the various works which we saw, it 
 merits my warmest acknowledgments. Nor is it an incon- 
 siderable advantage to see such works in company with one 
 who has a general rectitude of taste and is not a professor of 
 the art. We are too apt to forget that the art is not intended 
 solely for the pleasure of professors. The opinions of others 
 are certainly not to be neglected, for painters, being educated 
 in the same manner, are likely to judge from the same prin- 
 ciples and are liable to the same prejudices."
 
 24 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 Sir Joshua wrote several letters to Burke while on this 
 expedition. Of the collection at Dusseldorf he wrote 
 enthusiastically that " Rubens reigns here and revels." He 
 went abroad for another tour in 1783 or 1785. His object 
 then was two-fold. He wished to examine more closely the 
 works of Rubens and to purchase some of the pictures which 
 the ecclesiastical measures of Joseph II. of Austria against 
 the religious and monastic institutions of the Netherlands 
 were forcing into the market. This second investigation of 
 the works of Rubens drove him to the conviction that he 
 had over-estimated their brilliancy. The pictures which 
 passed under the hammer at Brussels tempted him into an 
 expenditure of over £1000. I know not whether Metcalfe 
 accompanied him on this second jaunt ; probably he 
 did. The pocket-books of sir Joshua for this tour are 
 missing. 
 
 The two friends kept on dining together until the end. 
 They met at dinner at 5 o'clock on Sunday 7 Jany, 1787, 
 when Sir Joshua was due at the reception of Mrs. Vesey at 
 8, and at the same hour in the evening on Sunday 6 Sept. 
 1789. Among the guests at the last dinner-party recorded 
 by Leslie and Taylor in their life of Reynolds was Metcalfe. 
 Reynolds died on 23 Feby, 1792, and appointed his three 
 friends, Burke, Metcalfe and Malone, as his executors. To 
 Malone and Metcalfe, with the addition of Boswell and sir 
 William Scott he left " £200 each, to be laid out, if they should 
 think proper, in the purchase of some picture at the sale of 
 his collection, to be kept for his sake." On 17 Jany 1793 his 
 executors forwarded a communication to the empress of 
 Russia requesting her to settle the price of the chef d'eeuvre 
 which Reynolds had painted for her and offering her the 
 pictures and drawings which he had collected during the 
 previous thirty-five years. The draught of this document 
 is among the manuscripts of Malone which were purchased
 
 PHILIP METCALFE, M.P. 25 
 
 for the Bodleian library in 1878, and as it has never been 
 printed before and everything relating to sir Joshua's life 
 and works never fails to arouse interest, I have inserted it 
 in full. 
 
 Madame, 
 
 Daignez permettre que Nous (les executeurs testamentaires du 
 Chevalier Reynolds) prenions humblement la liberte* de nous adresser 
 a Votre Majeste Imperiale. 
 
 II n'est pas possible Madame, en descendant meme jusqu'aux actions 
 les plus minutieuses de Votre Majeste - Imperiale, (si pourtant il en est 
 qu'on puisse appeller telles,) de lui en rappeller aucune qui ne porte 
 quelques traits de sa propre gloire, et qui dans son ordre ne fasse naitre 
 l'admiration et la reconnaissance du genre humain. 
 
 Votre Majeste* imperiale a fait a la fois, le plus grand honneur a la 
 peinture et a notre pays, en accordant celui de sa protection au feu 
 Chevalier Reynolds qui, de son cote", a fait avec zele, les plus grands 
 efforts pour rendre digne de son auguste Protectrice, et de sa propre 
 reputation, le tableau qu'il fut charge" de peindre pour V : M : imp : 
 C'est sans contrddit le plus grand de ses ouvrages, et son Chef d'ceuvre, 
 au gre denos Connoisseurs ; comme aussi celui qui jusqu' a. ce jour, ait 
 donne* le plus de lustre a l'e'cdle angloise. 
 
 Quant au prix, Madame ; loin d'en fixer aucun, nous prefe"rerions de 
 le laisser absolument a la generosity de Votre Majeste* impenale, 
 quoique nous sachions que le Chevalier eut demande" quinze cent 
 guineas de ce tableau, si n'ayant pas eu la bonheur d'employer son 
 pinceau au Service de V : M : imp : il l'eut peint pour le Cabinet de 
 quelque Seigneur anglois. 
 
 Nous supplions V : M : imp : de vouloir bien pardonner tant de 
 liberte, de notre part ; mais le devoir sacre* que nous impose la con- 
 fiance que le Chevalier Reynolds a reposde en nous, a semble* nous y 
 authoriser. 
 
 Nous nous croyons e"galement obliges, Madame, d' informer V : M : 
 imp : que ce grand homme a laisse" une collection considerable de 
 tableaux et de dessins, fruits de ses recherches pendant trente-cinq ans, 
 dont ses heritiers veuillent disposer. Comme nous pre*sumons d'apres 
 le gout exquis et les connaissances profondes d'un artiste aussi ce"lebre, 
 que cet assemblage forme* a grands fraix, me'rite place dans la riche 
 et superbe galerie de V : M : imp : nous lui en faisons humblement la 
 premiere offre ; Si done elle juge a propos d'en faire l'achat, nous 
 serons prets d'obdir aux ordres qu'il lui plaira de nous envoyer a ce 
 sujet. 
 
 Souffrez, Madame, que nous ayons l'honneur d'offrir nos hommage
 
 26 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 les plus humbles a V : M : imp : et celui de l'assurer que nous sommes 
 avec le plus profond respect, 
 
 Madame, 
 de Votre Majeste" Imperiale, 
 les tres humbles 
 et tres obe'issants Serviteurs 
 
 Edmund Burke. 
 Edmond M alone. 
 Phelipe (sic) Metcalfe. 
 Londres, ce i7 me Janvier, 1793. 
 
 The empress did not avail herself of this offer and Sir 
 Joshua's collection of 411 pictures was sold by Christie in 
 March 1795, when an interesting preface, signed by Burke, 
 Malone and Metcalfe, was prefixed. 
 
 It set out that 
 
 " The Public has here a Collection, of great Extent and great Variety, 
 of the Pictures of the most eminent Artists of former Ages, made by the 
 most eminent Artist of the present Time. He chose these Pictures as 
 Objects at once of Study and of Rivalship. No Person could do more 
 than the great Man we have lately lost from the Funds of his own 
 Genius ; no Person ever endeavoured more to take Advantage of the 
 Labours of others. He considered great Collections of the Works of 
 Art in the Light of great Libraries ; with this. Difference in favour of 
 the former, that whilst they instruct they decorate. Indeed all his 
 Passions, all his Tastes, all his Ideas of Employment, or of Relaxation 
 from Employment, almost all his Accumulation, and all his Expenditure, 
 had a Relation to his Art. In this Collection was vested a large, if not 
 the largest Part of his Fortune ; and he was not likely from Ignorance, 
 Inattention, or want of practical or speculative Judgment, to make great 
 Expences for Things of small or of uncertain Value. 
 
 The Whole of the within Collection were the entire Property of the 
 late Sir Joshua Reynolds, as witness our Hands, 
 
 Edmund Burke v 
 
 Edmond Malone > Executors." 
 
 Philip Metcalfe ' 
 
 When sir Joshua's collection " of ancient drawings, 
 scarce prints and books of prints," were sold by H. Phillips
 
 PHILIP METCALFE, M.P. 27 
 
 in March 1798, the two surviving executors issued the 
 following : — 
 
 " Declaration of the Executors of Sir Joshua Reynolds, 
 deceased. 
 
 Concerning the very rare and valable Collection of Drawings and 
 Prints, now offered to the Public ; it is unnecessary to say more than 
 that it was formed during a long Series of Years, at a very great 
 Expence, with infinite Care, Taste, and Judgment, by that great Master, 
 as well as Judge, of Art, the late much-lamented Sir Joshua Reynolds. 
 His Executors, however, think it their Duty to add, that the Public may 
 be assured that the Whole of the Collection was his intire Property. 
 
 Edmond Malone. j Executors ... 
 
 Philip Metcalfe. J 
 
 There is no record or tradition in the family as to the 
 picture which Metcalfe bought with his legacy. Three pic- 
 tures by sir Joshua were in his collection and the chief of 
 them was the half-length portrait of a boy, familiarly known 
 as " the studious boy," in a red dress leaning forward on a 
 green cushion and holding a pen. This is said to have been 
 exhibited by him at the British Institution in 1813. It was 
 sold at Christie's at the dispersal of the Metcalfe collection 
 on 15 June, 1850, for 162 guineas to James Lenox of 
 New York, and is now a prominent picture in the Lenox 
 gallery. 
 
 The arrangements for the funeral of sir Joshua gave much 
 trouble. The executors wished that the body should be con- 
 veyed to the rooms of the Royal Academy in Somerset 
 House on the evening before the interment and that his 
 friends should proceed to the grave from that place. The 
 council agreed at once but Sir William Chambers, then as 
 before a mar-plot in its deliberations, interposed with the 
 objection that such a proceeding was outside the terms of 
 their tenure of the rooms. Through the intervention of 
 Benjamin West this difficulty was surmounted by the direct 
 order of the King and the procession passed on the 3rd of
 
 28 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 March 1792 from Somerset House to St. Paul's Cathedral in 
 great state and amid general lamentation. 
 
 Metcalfe had asked Bartolozzi to design a card invitation 
 to the ceremony but there was not sufficient time for its 
 preparation. There were 10 pall bearers and 65 armozeen 
 [stout plain silk] black silk scarves, hat bands & silk gloves 
 were provided for the noblemen and other friends. The sum 
 of £6y. 9. o was spent in hat bands and leather gloves for 
 the servants. There was an allowance of is. per head for 
 liquor to 27 coachmen and 6d. each to 87 tenants. The 
 burial fees at St. Paul's amounted to £44. 7. 5 and the total 
 bill came to £588. 14. 6. 
 
 When Burke received from Malone a copy of the first 
 edition of his work on the life and works of sir Joshua, the 
 dying man sent from Bath on 4 May 1797 in reply a long 
 letter, in which he expressed his earnest desire that a monu- 
 ment should be erected to the memory of his friend in the 
 cathedral. This part of his epistle concluded with the 
 remark " You will speak to Mr. Metcalfe about it of course." 
 Many years passed away before these hopes passed into 
 fruition. It was not until 1813 that the monument by 
 Flaxman was erected. 
 
 Metcalfe sat to Reynolds for his portrait in July 1780, Feb. 
 1781 and Feb. 1782. The picture of him which was put up 
 for sale at the dispersal of his pictures on 15 June 1850, was 
 wrongly attributed in the catalogue to Reynolds. It was 
 painted by Battoni at Rome and represents him as a young 
 man in a redcoat, with gold embroidery and a white lace cravat. 
 At the sale it was bought in and is now with many other por- 
 traits of the family at Hawstead House. They are described in 
 Farrer's volume of " portraits in Suffolk houses, west " 1908. 
 
 Some lines said to be the composition of Boswell, were 
 inserted in Notes and Queries for i860. They set out the 
 disgust of several discontented suitors at the marriage of the
 
 PHILIP METCALFE, M.P. 29 
 
 opulent Palmeria, sir Joshua's niece, to an Irish peer, Lord 
 Inchiquin. Metcalfe winds up the effusion with a consolation 
 prize : — 
 
 " Ye boobies, cries Metty, pray what do you mean, 
 Han't you eyes, can't a Star and a Ribbon be seen ? 
 Call on me any morning, and each take a Niece, 
 Fine pleasant good girls and ten thousand a piece." 
 
 Metcalfe's wealth and tastes justified his admission into the 
 ranks of several of the learned societies. At his election as 
 F.R.S. on 4 Nov. 1790 he was described as " conversant in 
 various parts of literature " and his nomination-form was 
 signed by sir Joshua Reynolds, Michael Lort, John Topham, 
 T. G. Cullum and others. When he became a member of 
 the Society of Dilettanti on 5 March 1786 his qualifica- 
 tions for the honour were "amateur and scholar." He was 
 appointed in Jan. 1794 as Secretary to assist sir Joseph 
 Banks, its lord high treasurer " in keeping accounts of for- 
 feitures, dinner-money, etc.," and he held office until Jan. 
 1808. The society's funds then amounted to £10,000 in 
 reduced three per cent, annuities and £46. 9. 9 in cash. In 
 June 1810 he was one of the members instructed with the 
 duty of examining, and arranging for the restoration of, the 
 society's pictures. On some date between 23 April 1793 and 
 the same day in 1794 he was elected F.S.A. 
 
 Metcalfe was returned to parliament in 1784 for the 
 borough of Horsham. The Duke of Norfolk was the patron 
 and the right of election was vested in the burgage-holders. 
 In the next house (1790 — 96) he sat for the constituency of 
 Plympton. It was the birthplace of Reynolds and it was 
 probably through his medium that Metcalfe was nominated 
 by its ruler, Lord Mount Edgcumbe. At a bye-election on 
 22 Nov. 1796 he re-entered the house of commons as member 
 for Malmesbury. A petition was presented against his return 
 as there had been against the members returned in the
 
 3 o EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 previous May, but the right of election was declared to be 
 vested in the aldermen and twelve capital burgesses, and 
 Metcalfe was reported as duly elected. The patron of this 
 borough was an apothecary called Edmund Wilkins who 
 paid each capital burgess the retaining fee of £30 per annum. 
 In the parliament of 1802 — 1806 Metcalfe again represented 
 Plympton. His political career was inglorious. Once, and 
 once only, do I find his name. This is in the diaries and letters 
 of old George Rose, Pitt's right-hand man in corruption. 
 The statesman reports to the place-giver that Metcalfe had 
 brought him a letter from sir J. Honywood " applying for 
 the receivership of Kent either for himself or for his son a 
 child of five years old." Pitt's reflection was "the latter 
 request is ridiculous. I told Mr. Metcalfe I could say nothing 
 at present to the first." 
 
 Fanny Burney met him at the house of Miss Monckton, 
 afterwards lady Cork, in Charles street, Berkeley square, 
 in December, 1782. He kept chattering with her " with 
 much satire but much entertainment" until Dr. Johnson 
 found her out and ordered him away. The journal of the 
 life in France from 1783 to 1786 of Madame Cradock, the 
 wife of Joseph Cradock, the Leicestershire squire who 
 fluttered in London Society for some years, was printed in 
 1896. They were in Paris in the winter of 1785-86 & 
 among their friends were " M. Metcalf and les dames Lascels 
 chez M. Pattle's." One day he called on madame with " un 
 petit pot de beurre de Bretagne, veritable fiiandise tres 
 renommee a Paris " ; on another he came with lord and lady 
 Sussex and young Keppel Craven to take tea with her and 
 stayed, playing cards dancing and singing until 11 o'clock. 
 The Cradocks left for Holland in April 1786 when Metcalfe, 
 an experienced observer of foreign life "who had travelled 
 with Mr. Wraxall afterwards well-known as Sir Nathaniel 
 Wraxall" informed them that they would " save five pounds
 
 PHILIP METCALFE, M.P. 3^ 
 
 in the hundred in Holland by carrying dollars instead of the 
 depreciated gold coin of France." They followed his advice 
 and on their arrival at Amsterdam found it to be true. 
 
 Windham rode with him and Mrs Lukin round by Cromer 
 in the autumn of 1790 and called on him at Wisbeach on 
 9 May 1807. Metcalfe's house at Brighton provided many 
 of his literary friends in London with the opportunity of an 
 agreeable sojourn by the seaside. Malone one year stayed 
 with him for three weeks and he brought into the circle some 
 of his Irish acquaintances. One of them praised " la cuisine 
 douce " of the establishment and drew an amusing simile 
 from the vehicles in use in his country, by comparing a fellow- 
 guest with his host " as a well-hung double-springed coach to 
 the wheel part of a jaunting car without springs." Metcalfe 
 generally went to lady Jersey's to whist, making a fourth in 
 the rubber " with Mrs. Stratford and lady Heron her only 
 companions." He and Malone dined one day with " some 
 fine folks " — nowadays it would be with " a smart set " — in 
 the house of Sir Godfrey Webster " who is not a bit depressed 
 by the loss of his wife " from whom he had been divorced 
 some months before and who had now become lady Holland. 
 Nor is his gaiety to be wondered at when we remember the 
 differences of temperament and the large sums of money 
 which he had extracted from his separated spouse. Metcalfe's 
 house at No. 3 South Parade was one of those at which the 
 hon. William Hervey records in his voluminous journals that 
 he rested for some days in 1802. The first public breakfast 
 in the new gardens at Brighton took place on Saturday 
 13 July 1793, tickets being priced half a guinea each. It was 
 given in the " promenade grove" between Church Street and 
 North street and Metcalfe was one of the fashionable crowd 
 that attended the festivities. He was present also on the 
 birthday 12 August 1794, of the Prince of Wales, when the 
 gardens were illuminated.
 
 32 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 Jeremy Bentham met many men prominent in public 
 life, at the dinner parties in Metcalfe's house in London and 
 corresponded with him on public affairs. In response to an 
 enquiry from Brighton on the subject of the Panopticon 
 Jeremy sent a doleful answer. It " stands stock still." He 
 had spent £6000 on it and had received less than £2000. " It 
 costs at the rate of more than £2000 a year merely to keep 
 the men together " but some had been discharged and more 
 would follow. Still, " prosperous or unprosperous, sick or 
 well, weeping or exulting, I am dear Phil, ever j^ours " were 
 the concluding words of the serene philosopher. Jeremy 
 was wont, when Metcalfe was M.P., to make use of him to 
 frank documents to Dr. Parr at Hatton. 
 
 Metcalfe, with Burke and John Wilmot, concerted in 
 1792 a plan for the relief of the distressed clergy exiled 
 from France. The address was drawn up by Burke and 
 inserted in all the newspapers. On 20 Sept. 1792 a com- 
 mittee for their relief held its first meeting at the Free- 
 masons' hall. Wilmot, then M.P. for Coventry, was the 
 chairman and on it were five lay peers, two bishops, thirteen 
 members of parliament, including Metcalfe and Burke, and 
 such prominent men as sir William Scott and Henry 
 Thornton. Charles Butler, a roman catholic, was a 
 member with Wilberforce, an ardent evangelical, and 
 differences of religious opinion did not prevent them from 
 uniting in furthering the interests of the refugees. Before 
 Christmas temporary shelter and food had been provided for 
 nearly 4000 of the ecclesiastics. In two years about £70,000 
 was collected through this committee. Metcalfe, with two of 
 his colleagues, had several interviews with Pitt and Dundas 
 and during the following years nearly two millions of money 
 were voted by government for the relief of the exiles. 
 Further information on this point is contained in an inter- 
 esting article in the National Review for November li
 
 PHILIP METCALFE, M.P. 33 
 
 Towards the close of life the thoughts of Metcalfe re- 
 verted to the poor of the parish of Hawstead. In 1811 
 he built, near its church, six almshouses, " after the design 
 of those in the Lewes road, Brighton," which must often 
 have attracted his attention, " as an asylum and for the 
 perpetual maintenance of six persons who having spent 
 an honest and industrious youth and supported them- 
 selves, without assistance from others, should have become 
 through age incapable of continuing in the same course. 
 Thus insuring " says the mural tablet to his memory 
 in the church " to the latest posterity a repetition of 
 acts of rational and useful beneficence, which through 
 life it had been his study to promote." He endowed the 
 institution with £5000 in 3 per cent, consols and printed 
 some rules and regulations for the conduct of its inmates. 
 Each of the six persons dwelling within its walls was to 
 receive £15 a year in money and £5 in firing and clothing, 
 the residue of the income being accumulated to increase the 
 allowances. No one was to sleep away or to omit attending 
 divine Service at the parish church each Sunday, Christmas 
 day and Good Friday, unless ill or excused " by the occupier 
 of the mansion-house of Philip Metcalfe at Hawstead." 
 
 About 1806 Metcalfe's eyesight began to fail and for some 
 years before his death he was totally blind. Full of years 
 and honours he died at Brighton on 18 August 1818, and was 
 buried in the north aisle of the parish church of St Nicholas. 
 The marble tablet to his memory was removed and placed 
 with many others, on the west wall of the tower. Another 
 tablet by Bacon, which was placed on the north side of 
 Hawstead church records his name and his munificent gift to 
 the poor of the parish. A chalk sketch of him at the age of 
 68 was made in 1801 by Edmund Scott, a pupil of Bartolozzi 
 and engraved by William Evans. A copy of his book plate 
 is in the Franks collection at the British Museum. Above 
 
 F.G. I)
 
 34 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 his name is the family's armorial shield of three calves 
 surmounted by a dog. His personalty was sworn as under 
 £400,000, a vast total in those days and his estate at Hawstead 
 was leased in strict settlement upon his great-nephew, Henry 
 Metcalfe. The names of many of his relatives were com- 
 memorated on inscriptions in the church of that parish.
 
 THE REVD. JOHN WARNER, D.D. 
 
 The faults of Dr. Warner lay on the surface. They were 
 open to the gaze of the least curious in his circle and even if 
 he possessed the power, he had not the desire to conceal 
 them. His virtues lay beneath the surface, and only his most 
 intimate friends possessed the means of discovering them. 
 His portrait has been painted by two masters of description 
 who were wont to dwell with especial keenness on the weak- 
 nesses of English nature. By both John Forster and 
 Thackeray he was selected as the type among the clergy 01 
 the easy-going hangers-on of the great, and to the ordinary 
 reader the sentences in which these satirists have pilloried 
 him are the sole recollections of his life which linger in the 
 memory. Warner had a genius for making friends, and early 
 in life attached himself to George Selwyn. For the sake of 
 that wit and his associates poor Warner discharged many 
 duties without receiving any reward for his labours. For 
 many years his means were scanty. Yet through all his 
 days and, in spite of poverty, with undimmed cheerfulness 
 he retained his independence of political judgment, did his 
 duty to his relations and bestowed much kindness on many 
 outside that circle. His tone is on the whole " frank and 
 manly." He does not hesitate at times to express his dis- 
 approval of a good deal that he saw in the fashionable life 
 around him. Still, and especially through Thackeray's 
 genius for satiric portraiture, his name has come down to us 
 as the leading example of the clerical " parasite " under the 
 third George. 
 
 "Jack" Warner was born in London and probably in 
 
 D 2
 
 36 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 1735. His father, a man of some reputation both in the 
 church and in literature, was the Revd. Ferdinando Warner 
 who claimed to be of the same family with bishop Warner of 
 Rochester but is said to have been educated at a " dissenting 
 academy " at Findern, near Derby, which for many years 
 was directed with great reputation by Ebenezer Latham, M.D. 
 He held the vicarage of Ronde in Wiltshire from 1730 to 
 1747, became the rector of the London parish of St. Michael, 
 Queenhythe, in February 1746-7, and, through the gift of 
 the dean and chapter of St. Paul's cathedral, held with it 
 from 1758 the rectory of Barnes. He died on the 3rd of 
 October 1768 aged 64, leaving behind him a reputation 
 for preaching and for ability but nothing more substantial. 
 Many years previously he had published the " scheme 
 of a fund for the better maintenance of the widows and 
 children of the clergy, 1752 " which had more than once 
 been submitted to the Archbishop of Canterbury and had 
 received some alterations from him. He illustrated in his 
 own case the necessity for such a scheme of assistance, for he 
 left his family without any resource save that which they 
 might receive from his son. 
 
 The chief works of Ferdinando Warner in literature related 
 to Ireland. In 1763 he published the first volume, bringing 
 the narrative down to the year 1171, of a history of that 
 country. His preface sets out the assistance which he had 
 received, especially the generous hospitality of Trinity 
 College, when examining the foundation-libraries and the 
 private collections at Dublin. But he was disappointed in 
 his expectations of a grant from the Irish Parliament towards 
 its continuance, and it went no farther. In 1767 he brought 
 out the narrative "of the rebellion and the civil war" which 
 devastated that land. Lecky speaks of this work as " very 
 valuable" and praises him as "a very honest, moderate and 
 painstaking writer." His pen was often in request by the
 
 THE REVD. JOHN WARNER, D.D. 37 
 
 booksellers of his day and it was recognised by that body 
 that the tasks assigned to him were discharged with labour 
 and judgment. The value of his work is corroborated by the 
 testimony of other writers of the present generation. The 
 rev. J. H. Lupton in his edition of Sir Thomas More's 
 Utopia (1895) states that the most noticeable of all the issues 
 of bishop Burnet's translation of that work was the edition 
 appended in 1758 to Warner's memoirs of More. The 
 reprint had been suggested by the bishop's son, the judge 
 of the court of common pleas. Warner was the " reputed 
 author of the Letters of an Uncle to his nephew " a work which 
 I have in vain endeavoured to find. 
 
 Ferdinando Warner had taken leave of the public as a 
 writer, but with the desire of increasing " the happiness of 
 a vast number of fellow sufferers " he signed at Barnes on 
 20 Oct. 1767, the preface to a treatise entitled "a full and plain 
 account of the gout " (1768). His first touch of that disease 
 was at the age of 17, and he had made observations on 
 its ways for above 30 years. Many medical practitioners 
 had been known to him. He was well acquainted with 
 Mead, and he praised sir John Hill as " an ingenious man 
 and an excellent botanist" who did himself honour in with- 
 drawing his advertisement of the " Elixir of Bardana " as a 
 specific. Sir Edward Hulse had described the gout as a 
 disorder beyond his understanding; but Warner claimed 
 that he could mitigate its attacks. Opium produced some 
 relief. The Bath waters were very beneficial and Warner 
 often wished that he lived near them. He recommended 
 the practice of early rising and of riding on horseback, in 
 the summer for two or three hours both morning and 
 evening, and in winter in the middle of the day. About 
 1764 he began to drink whey at dinner and gradually 
 reduced the period during which he was a martyr to the 
 gout from 3 or 4 months to as many weeks. This was 
 
 o-fi <*y.*
 
 38 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 in the autumn of 1767. Next year he was dead, and the 
 comment was that " fate had verified his own observation 
 that arthritic complaints are never to be totally cured." 
 Many letters by him are in the Newcastle correspondence 
 at the British Museum ; two are printed among the corre- 
 spondence of Garrick. His son knew Garrick well and was 
 much attached to the great actor. 
 
 "Jack" was admitted at St. Paul's School, London, on 
 30 March, 1747, at the age of 11, when his father was 
 living on Bread Street hill, and was a Pauline exhibitioner 
 at the school in 1755. Warner, according to F. [no doubt 
 William Fiend, who suffered for his opinions at the hands 
 of Jesus College, Cambridge] the writer of his memoir in 
 the Monthly Magazine for 1800, pp. 167 — 9, went from 
 school to Lisbon to be trained in commercial life but soon 
 found the life of a city-office uncongenial to his disposition 
 and returned to England. From 1755 to 1760 he was a 
 Perry exhibitioner from the school to Trinity College, 
 Cambridge, where he had been admitted sizar under the 
 tutorship of the rev. Stephen Whisson, on 6 November, 
 1754 his father being then resident at Lewisham. His 
 degrees were B.A. 1758, M.A. 1761, and he proceeded as 
 D.D. in 1773. Between 1758 and 176 1 he was ordained in the 
 English Church. He had the reputation, says Jack Taylor, 
 of being a " good Greek, Latin, and French scholar." 
 
 When the Rev. Dr. James Trail, by his appointment to 
 the bishopric of Down and Connor, resigned his livings of 
 West Ham and Horslydown, Warner was appointed, on 
 10 October 1765 by the crown to the vicarage of West 
 Ham, and his jovial friend, the rev. Richard Penneck of 
 the British Museum, to the rectory of Horslydown. On 
 this Essex benefice he remained until 1775, and in November 
 1768 his mother and sisters came to dwell with him in the 
 parsonage house. A good son and brother he bore, for the
 
 THE REVD. JOHN WARNER, D.D. 39 
 
 sake of those "nearest and dearest to him" many privations, 
 which made subsequent affluence more welcome. To 
 improve his preaching he had studied elocution from 
 Sheridan, the father of Richard Brinsley, though he thought 
 that his tutor could not " exemplify his own very good rules." 
 
 While in this suburban village, for such it then was, his 
 lectures from the pulpit were described as " spirited and 
 fervent, and his manners not less striking. His behaviour 
 appeared quite frank and sociable, and indeed he is generally 
 esteemed by his parishioners." Evidently he was acquiring 
 in Essex the gifts and qualities which were fated to give 
 him distinction in the wider circles of the metropolis. From 
 1776, when the notorious doctor Dodd was appointed to 
 the united rectories of Hockliffe and Chalgrave in Bedford- 
 shire, Warner seems to have done occasional duty at the 
 former parish, and he was residing there in the summer of 
 1779. When he took up his abode at Hockliffe, George 
 Selwyn sent a kindly description of his character to Lord 
 Ossory, which that peer " found true in all particulars." 
 
 Warner's knowledge of Spanish led to his translating for 
 the booksellers one of the leading romances in that language. 
 This was the " history of the famous preacher Friar Gerund 
 de Campazas," the composition of which was declared in 
 the dedication to be the work of Francisco Lobon de Salazar, 
 the name of the parish priest of St. Peter, at Villagarcia. 
 It was in reality written in that town by his friend, Father 
 Jose Francisco de Isla, a Jesuit who, after the expulsion of 
 his order from Spain was exiled to Bologna, and died there 
 in 1 781 at the age of 78. This satire was directed against 
 the popular style of preaching, which aimed at attracting 
 the attention of the congregation at the outset through the 
 quotation of a proverb, a popular jest or some pot-house 
 witticism. From the first this romance was eagerly devoured, 
 and the sobriquet of Friar Gerund was at once given to
 
 4 o EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 anyone who indulged in that form of pulpit oratory. Its 
 plan is said to be a resemblance of Don Quixote ; its style to 
 be a reminiscence of Rabelais. 
 
 The first volume was published in 1758, and eight hundred 
 copies were sold in 24 hours. After two years of uninter- 
 rupted circulation this picaresque story came under the 
 condemnation, perhaps the unwilling condemnation, of the 
 Inquisition. The second volume lingered in manuscript for 
 several years. Baretti, the Italian friend of Dr. Johnson, 
 asserted that it was his property, alleging that de Isla had 
 given him " his only copy of this second volume, partly 
 written by a careful amanuensis and partly with his own 
 hand." When it appeared in print for the first time the 
 title-page bore the imprint of En Campazas, but this was 01 
 course a jest, and Ticknor, the careful chronicler of Spanish 
 literature, adopted, after an examination of the type and the 
 paper, the current conviction that it had been printed in 
 our country. The English translation was published by 
 T. Davies, in two volumes, in 1772 ; another issue of the 
 same date, purported to have been published at Dublin by 
 Thomas Ewing. A copy at the British Museum which 
 formerly belonged to that omnivorous reader, the rev. John 
 Mitford, editor of the Gentleman's Magazine, contains a few 
 notes in his neat handwriting. This anonymous rendering into 
 English is assigned to Warner by Richard Twiss in his travels 
 through Portugal and Spain, 1775, />. 442, by the writer in the 
 European Magazine for 1800, p. 174, by the cataloguer of 
 Archdeacon Wrangham's English library, and by F. in the 
 Monthly magazine, where it is called "a work to be read by 
 everyone who cultivates the eloquence of the pulpit."* 
 
 * It is perhaps worthy ot record that a unique MS. of "Fray 
 Gerundio " is in British Museum Addit. MSS. 5888. It was given to 
 that institution on 10 Jany. 1772 by the rev. Richard Penneck, Warner's 
 boon companion.
 
 THE REVD. JOHN WARNER, D.D. 41 
 
 Warner's opportunity for the full display of that talent in 
 preaching which he had practised in a suburban village of 
 Essex came to him when he acquired the proprietary 
 building of Tavistock chapel, in Broad court off Drury 
 Lane. Many descriptions of his style in oratory have come 
 down to us. One was from his friend, and in some respects 
 his rival, "Jack " Taylor of the Sun, who describes him as 
 taking " two oratorical boxes into the pulpit, one filled with 
 virtues and the other with vices," and avoiding the dry 
 doctrine of the theological controversialist. Another is 
 given in that "diary of a visit to England by an Irishman 
 in 1775 " which was discovered in a " dusty hiding-place in 
 one of the ofhces " of the supreme court of New South 
 Wales, and published at Sydney in 1854. The diarist, the 
 Rev. Doctor Thomas Campbell, on the 26 March 1775, 
 heard from Warner's lips for the first time a good specimen 
 of preaching in England. It was an ideal discourse, 
 delivered in the best possible manner, just such a sermon 
 as his hearer would have given " had it been his lot to be a 
 preacher in any great city." Warner had redeemed in 
 Campbell's eyes the honour of his nation. He did not rely 
 solely on his notes. " He makes excursions and unwritten 
 effusions, which prevail over the warmest, the boldest com- 
 positions ; and then, when he hath exhausted such senti- 
 ments as present themselves, he returns to his notes and 
 takes up the next head, according to his preconceived 
 arrangement. By this discreet conduct he avoids the frozen, 
 beaten track of declamation and keeps clear of the labyrinth 
 of nonsense into which those enthusiasts wander, whose 
 vanity or hypocrisy rejects the clue of composition." 
 
 George Selwyn, the friend whom Warner served with such 
 absolute devotion, testifies to his great congregation at 
 Tavistock chapel and his many admirers. Personally he 
 was not one of them. Warner had preached in his chape
 
 42 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 at Matson, his estate near Gloucester, " and the neighbour- 
 hood flocked to hear him but his style and manner," says 
 Selwyn, " were very different from my ideas of pulpit 
 eloquence. He intended by his intimacy with Garrick to 
 improve them, but it has to my impressions had a very 
 different effect. I love great simplicity in everything, but 
 most in reading and preaching." Richard Warner, of Bath, 
 no relation of our Doctor, narrates in his work describing 
 the chief excursions from that city (1801) that he found 
 the parishioners at Stourton still mindful of his namesake's 
 " impressive pulpit eloquence, his kindness of heart and 
 courtesy of manners." The doctor passed much time at 
 Stourton in the company of sir Richard Colt Hoare, to 
 whom he was indebted for his presentation to the living in 
 1790. He charmed all persons with his society, for few 
 " equalled him in companionable gaiety." It mattered not 
 in what circle he moved. He was the delight of the guests 
 in the dining-room, and after he had taken his "usual" 
 quantity of wine, " he would descend into the servants' hall 
 with his pipe to which he was addicted and pour out with 
 his vigorous puffs the finest strokes or wit and brightest 
 scintillations of conceit." 
 
 " Jack " Warner used to pay frequent visits to Hampshire, 
 dividing his favours between two houses, noted for their 
 hospitality, near Christchurch. One of them, The Priory, 
 belonged to a well-known antiquary called Gustavus 
 Brander. The other, Stourfield House, about three miles 
 from that town had been built for his own abode by Edward 
 Bott, who published in 1771 a " collection of cases relating 
 to the Poor laws." Brander's entertainments were moderate 
 in style and broke up in reasonable time. Those of Bott 
 were protracted far into the night and the wine flowed 
 freely. Warner had consented to preach one Sunday morning 
 at Christchurch and the news spread throughout the parish.
 
 THE REVD. JOHN WARNER, D.D. 43 
 
 It was known that he was stopping with Bott, and the 
 character of his host's parties was common gossip in the 
 neighbourhood. By service time, the fact that a party of the 
 usual character, lasting far into Sunday morning, had been 
 given by Bott, was the open secret of every member of the 
 congregation. But it was concealed from them that Warner 
 had retired " unharmed in decorous time to his apartment." 
 His appearance in the pulpit was therefore eagerly expected. 
 Punctual as clockwork he mounted the stairs and delivered 
 a " beautiful and touching discourse on the story of the 
 Shunamite woman and her son." At the close of the service 
 many of those present crowded around the preacher with 
 expressions of delight on the sermon. But one old dame who 
 had not forgotten the details of the debauch at Bott's 
 muttered, " Ey, ey — the sarmant was a fine one to be zure ; and 
 when I heard un in the pulpit, I thought he wur an angel, 
 but when I hears his rigs out o't, I thinks he is a devil." 
 
 Campbell was astonished to find that " according to the 
 custom of London" a duly-ordained clergyman could by a 
 licence from the bishop perform divine service in a chapel 
 which had been built as a speculation. He erred in the 
 statement that the custom was peculiar to this diocese, for 
 proprietary chapels could be found in other cities where 
 wealthy and fashionable congregations met together, and 
 notably at Bath. The preacher's income would be drawn 
 from the pew-rents, and in Warner's case they would bring 
 " a goodly revenue," for Tavistock chapel was " capacious 
 of the square figure, and well-filled." Campbell afterwards 
 learnt that Warner had sold the building for four thousand 
 five hundred pounds, and he naively pens the reflection, " so 
 these shops for preaching are bought and sold like other 
 warehouses or theatres." It has been said that the purchase 
 was made by the rev. John Glen King, D.D., who had held 
 the position of chaplain at St. Petersburgh, and the date of
 
 44 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 the transaction has been given as 1786. But that year is 
 probably incorrect, for Selwyn, writing in 1781 fixed 
 Warner's income " at about four hundred pounds a year 
 .... the greatest part is the interest of some money in the 
 funds, saved when he was a preacher at Tavistock chapel, 
 which was a very beneficial occupation to him." 
 
 It is with George Selwyn that we chiefly connect the name 
 of our Doctor, and many of the " most agreeable letters " in 
 Jesse's collection of that wit's correspondence were written 
 by him, including one in French to M. Garenne, the landlord 
 of the hotel at Montreuil. They can be supplemented by 
 Selwyn's letters to Lord Carlisle in the appendix, part VI. to 
 the fifteenth report of the historical manuscripts commission. 
 He was Selwyn's junior by about 17 years, and "dear 
 George " was nearing sixty when their friendship is first 
 recorded in print. From Warner's first letter written at Padua 
 in August, 1778, it would seem that Selwyn and he had 
 travelled from London to Milan together, and had just parted. 
 Padua was a delight to him, and Selwyn must join in his joy. 
 True that the " grass grows in the streets," but how much 
 better was that than the noise of the " unruly rabble " of 
 Milan. Later in the month he was at Venice, when he gives 
 an amusing account of John Strange, the British Resident, 
 and from the Grand canal saw the city in all her beauty. 
 
 " Howard, of Bedford, the jail man," whose acquaintance 
 he must have made at Venice, had just left that city, and 
 this passing reference is of some importance in the life of 
 Warner for a few years afterwards he was conspicuous in 
 starting a movement for honouring the career of that philan- 
 thropist. A little later in 1778 Warner is found in Paris, 
 where he was playing the spy in Selwyn's interest upon some 
 lady. There he stayed prattling in his letters to Selwyn on 
 the literature and politics of the day until early in April 
 1779. One of his sisters was with him for we learn that
 
 THE REVD. JOHN WARNER, D.D. 45 
 
 through the arguments of a priest at the church of 
 St. Eustache, she had become a convert to roman 
 Catholicism. Warner was not displeased — " all the portion 
 she asks is only my picture on a snuff box," he says, but he 
 supposes that he " must make a little addition and put some- 
 thing in the box " — for when she took up her abode in a 
 nunnery there would be a larger share of his small means for 
 each of his other sisters and his nephews. That he did not 
 attach much importance to differences in religious observ- 
 ances may be realised from the statement of " Jack" Taylor 
 (records of my life. Vol. L, 177-8) that he was one of 
 the company at dinner with the Rev. Richard Penneck in 
 his rooms at the British Museum, who agreed that a Roman 
 catholic priest might accept from Mr. Townley, himself a 
 Roman catholic, the offer of a " good benefice " in the 
 English church which was in his gift. The priest is said to 
 have been duly instituted, to have become " a favourite 
 preacher with his congregation and to have performed his 
 duties with exemplary zeal and piety." 
 
 At the beginning of April, 1779, Warner was once more in 
 England, in his bachelor's den at Barnard's Inn, on the 
 south side of Holborn, and one of his first acts in London 
 was to endeavour to see the corpse of poor Miss Ray at the 
 Shakespeare Tavern, so as to send Selwyn an account of it 
 but he " had no interest with her keepers and could not get 
 admittance for money." He had therefore to content him- 
 self by forwarding some details of Hackman, her murderer. 
 Later on, however, he saw Hackman's dead body a " fine 
 corpse " at Surgeon's Hall, and found him a " genteel, well- 
 made young fellow of four and twenty." 
 
 In his " little cabin," as Warner called his rooms in 
 Barnard's Inn or in his country residence in Bedfordshire, his 
 life ebbed away, in social enjoyment, in preaching, and in the 
 performance of kind acts. He loved good living and his game
 
 46 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 at cards and he did not demur, when he had finished his 
 Sunday duty, to pass to the pleasures of the table and to the 
 rubber at whist with bolted doors, that followed. " Ay sir !" 
 he cries to Selwyn in impassioned language, " that game of 
 whist of an evening, and its events, is a vast thing. Last 
 night, by a lucky deal, I gave myself eight trumps, and my 
 partner the other five. I won the first trick and led a trump, 
 when, upon my adversary on the left hand renouncing, his 
 partner (a grave divine with a large black wig, and a solemn face 
 with a pipe stuck in it), gave with an impetuosity which made 
 him drop his said pipe that had been newly lighted, a ' what ! ' 
 of such sharp, shrill astonishment, that you could not but have 
 laughed at it if present, and have remembered it in future." 
 
 His friends allowed that he was a prodigious smoker and 
 that in his rooms he was rarely seen without a pipe in his 
 mouth. In that pastime they could even claim for him 
 equality with the other whig doctor of divinity, Dr. Parr. 
 But they insisted that he was a gourmet in eating and not 
 given to excess over his wine. Some of the more enthusiastic 
 of his friends went beyond these assertions. The chronicler 
 in the Gentleman's Magazine for January 1800 laid down 
 that Warner was " moderate to an extreme at the table and 
 equally abstemious at the bottle ; a book and a pipe and 
 cheerful conversation (in which he eminently excelled) were 
 his supreme delight." Against this must be set Warner's 
 own account to Selwyn of his dinner with Henry Hoare of 
 the banking family and Philip Champion Crespigny, King's 
 proctor and M.P. for Sudbury, a wit and diner-out. " The 
 whim took them, as it sometimes will, to have a blackguard 
 scheme of dining in my cabin, and ordering their dinner ; 
 and a very good one they had : mackerel, a delicate neck of 
 veal, a piece of Hamborough beef, cabbage and salad, and 
 a gooseberry tart ; and when they had drunk the bottle of 
 white wine, and of port, which accompanied the dinner, and
 
 THE REVD. JOHN WARNER, D.D. 47 
 
 after that the only double bottle of Harry's claret that I had 
 left, I found in an old corner (as they could not again descend 
 to port, or, as the boys at Eton call it, black-strap) one of the 
 two bottles of Burgundy which I took from your cellar when 
 you gave me the key of it ; and, by Jove ! how they did 
 abuse my modesty, finding it so exquisite, that instead of 
 two I did not take two dozen. But having no more, we 
 closed the orifice of the stomach with a pint of Dantzic 
 cherry-brandy, and have just parted in a tolerable state of 
 insensibility to the ills of human life." On another night he 
 dined at Camberwell at the house of sir Claude Crespigny, 
 " Phil's elder brother." His comment was " An immense 
 dinner and an ocean of claret ! " (George Selwyn and his 
 contemporaries, by J. H. Jesse, 1844, IV., pp. 131-2, 365). 
 
 Warner varied such entertainments by trips on horseback 
 into the country. We find him at one time amid the 
 pleasant fields of Warwickshire. At another he was on a 
 visit to his cousin, George Warner, who lived at Milton near 
 Abingdon, and there through " mauvaise honte " he caught a 
 " most terrible cold." Next month (November 1779) when 
 recovered from this illness he went a-hunting, his horse fell 
 into a ditch " and dashed his rider against the opposite 
 bank." So he was again in bed at Milton, with what might 
 be " a broken rib " and with the news that his old uncle, who 
 had predicted his own death for ten years, had died at last 
 and without leaving him " sixpence to buy a stick of the 
 black wax " with which his letter was sealed. On a third 
 occasion he journied to Scrivelsby in Lincolnshire the seat ot 
 Dymoke, England's champion, and with the head of that 
 family he must have been on very friendly terms, as he held 
 from August to November 1777 the vicarage of Scrivelsby. 
 This was the expedition on which " the brilliant and 
 magnificent exploit of leading a lame horse with a pair of 
 panniers an hundred and sixty miles in five days, was
 
 48 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 achieved, — not without some suffering of the hero, or it 
 would not have been worth recording." On that expedition, 
 each night that he stopped at an inn, the landlord, " put me 
 into a common room, with my brethren of the bag, who (as 
 these fellows have all their walks like the cock-robins, and 
 are as jealous of interference,) were presently solicitous to 
 know what I dealt in ; — " a very light commodity," was the 
 answer; which was repeated until it grew stale to myself, 
 and which produced many ingenious guesses : but with the 
 dark saying I was obliged to give the interpretation, and tell 
 them I meant words, which, as they found I was no com- 
 petitor, was a good joke, and we sat down very sociably, and 
 settled the affairs of the nation." He had his joke on his 
 arrival. He came to Scrivelsby on a Friday evening. 
 " Why ! because I know it is a trick of my old friends the 
 neighbouring parsons, to hold a convocation on Saturdays, 
 —as we shall do to-morrow, — and then for whist, back- 
 gammon, and tobacco, till we can't see, hear, or speak ! By 
 this trick of their's hangs a tolerable tale. Roger the servant 
 of one of them, who is not remarkable for the happiest 
 enunciation, asked Humphrey, the servant of another, what 
 the deuce could be the meaning that their masters met so on 
 Saturdays, of all days? "Why! what do'st think, fool," 
 cried Numps, archly, " but to change sarmunts among one 
 
 another ? " " Neay, then," said Roger, " I'm zure as 
 
 how they uses my measter very badly, for he always has the 
 worst." Another visit was to Blundeston in Suffolk, pre- 
 sumably to Blundeston House, at that time occupied by 
 Norton Nicholls, the friend of Gray. Warner would find in 
 him a parson of congenial habits and a fellow-traveller who 
 had seen many cities. The house and grounds formed one of 
 the chief interests in the life of Nicholls, and to their beauti- 
 fying he devoted his time and his money. (George Selwyn and 
 his Contemporaries, by J. H. Jesse, 1844, IV., pp. 244-6.)
 
 THE REVD. JOHN WARNER, D.D. 49 
 
 Warner's deeds of kindness and sympathy were undoubted. 
 He was exerting himself at one period in his life for the 
 benefit of his nephew. At another time he was flying 
 "directly across country" from Hockliffe to Eton to help 
 a friend's son "now in his last year and with a certainty of 
 King's " who had got into a scrape and was threatened with 
 expulsion. He was full of anxiety in an attempt to secure 
 the post of governess in an English family of quality for a 
 poor Frenchwoman aged 50. In October 1787 he sped from 
 Gloucester to Bath to attend the remains of "his poor 
 departed friend, sir Richard Hoare, to their place of rest at 
 Barnes, in Surrey." When he returned to England about 
 1794 and took up his abode in Clerkenwell, he witnessed the 
 distress brought upon that district by the watch tax, and 
 exerted himself to the utmost extent to relieve the necessities 
 of the poor workmen around him. He was one of a small 
 set of four persons, three of them being clergymen, who 
 recognised that individual help by small doles was of no 
 avail, and consequently united their resources in order that 
 they might be able by their collective offerings to render 
 effective help to any worthy person in distress. Many good 
 offices were done by and through their co-operation. Penneck 
 of the British Museum was the survivor of these Samaritans. 
 
 His kindly jocularity broke out in the lines to Mademoiselle 
 Fagnani, the child that Selwyn and some other rakes of the 
 period claimed the parentage of, on her eighth birthday. 
 The opening lines 
 
 " The morn that gave to Mie Mie birth 
 Provokes the dullest son of earth, 
 Provokes a snail, prosaic creature 1 
 To try for once, to crawl in metre " 
 
 are a sufficient specimen of his efforts in poetical compliment. 
 He himself must have thought well of the effusion, for after- 
 wards he signs some of his letters and speaks of himself as 
 
 F.G. E
 
 50 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 the " poor snail," " snail," or " your loving snail." He rushes 
 off to the duke of Queensberry, another of the claimants of 
 the child's being and reads to him Selwyn's letter on Mie 
 Mie. But it was perhaps not the first occasion on which he 
 had wearied " old Q " with such strains, for by his want of 
 interest in the communication the Doctor rushed away in 
 a huff. 
 
 Warner's name crops up repeatedly in the letters of George 
 Selwyn in the Carlisle manuscripts. The peer was very 
 grateful for the services which Warner had rendered to him 
 and Selwyn was very anxious that the doctor should receive 
 some preferment in return for his exertions. The witty 
 George with his great talents and abundant acuteness, had 
 formed a just opinion of his friend's literary style and of his 
 character. He loved " too much ornament in his writing." 
 The letter which he had written to lord Carlisle was so full 
 of compliments that it had been torn up, and conciseness 
 had been recommended. " Parsons, University men and 
 Templars," says Selwyn in his jargon of French and 
 English, " r envoy ent bien loin la simplicity and when they 
 would talk agreeably or write to obtain approbation give you 
 such a hash of all their reading and such quaint compliments 
 as make me sick. But one ought not to be angry with them. 
 Cest le ton du corps and when ycu would set them right you 
 have leur esprit d decroter before you can make them compre- 
 hend that all their attempts to be notable are ridiculous." 
 But Warner was a perfectly honest man, " uncommonly 
 human and friendly and most actively so." He had too 
 great a flow of spirits for his profession; "there is more 
 buckram in that than he can digest or submit to. The 
 archbishop who has been applied to in his favour by the late 
 Mr. Townshend said he was too lively, but it was the worst 
 he could say of him." Lord Bessborough had on one occasion 
 rendered him an essential service and held him in great
 
 THE REVD. JOHN WARNER, D.D. 51 
 
 esteem. The banking family of Hoare, whose head as the 
 squire of Barnes, had known the circumstances of the 
 family for many years, had assisted him and with such 
 help Warner had " been able to support his mother and his 
 nearest relations whom his father, with a great deal of 
 literary merit had left beggars." 
 
 If the doctor could only get a piece of preferment that 
 would add two or three hundred pounds a year to his income 
 he would be of all men the most happy. Ireland existed at 
 this moment for the benefit of impecunious Englishmen and 
 Selwyn suggested that some preferment in that country, 
 which he might afterwards exchange, should be bestowed 
 upon him. If Selwyn's own benefice of Ludgershall were 
 vacant, he would not ask for Carlisle's services. But the 
 present incumbent was his relation, whom he had brought 
 into the church with the hope of preferments from him. 
 Otherwise he would certainly have given Warner that living 
 and have consigned his kinsman to the good offices of Mr. 
 Townshend. 
 
 All this was written in the January and February of 1781. 
 Next month Warner was to set off to Aix to " conduct home 
 the Dowager Countess of Carlisle, a lady of very whimsical 
 character," who was infatuated with an adventurer styling 
 himself a German baron. In June he was with her in 
 France and ere the summer was out had returned to his 
 own land. The letters which he wrote during one of his 
 expeditions to meet that countess were " highly diverting " 
 but were so free in their nature that when the rev. Richard 
 Penneck, the jovial superintendent of the reading-room at 
 the British Museum had read them to "Jack " Taylor after 
 a tete-a-tete dinner they were " successively committed to 
 the flames." 
 
 It would seem that in the late autumn of 1781 Warner was 
 working for peace between France and England. He was to 
 
 e 2
 
 52 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 set out for that country on the 3rd of October, "in company 
 with Messieurs de la Borde and de Comeyras. Lord North 
 was for detaining them longer on account of this experiment. 
 Many" said Warner "have been in treaty for the secret." 
 Late in October Warner was at Versailles, writes Selwyn in 
 his mixture of languages, on " the day of the accouchement de la 
 Reine. They are preparing a great fete pour les relevailles and 
 the shops are filled with things a la Dauphine. They talk 
 much there of peace." 
 
 On the morning of the 13 November 1781 Selwyn received 
 a visit from Warner. It had taken him exactly a week to 
 pass from Paris to London and he had come in high spirits. 
 Selwyn hoped that he would make no more excursions " for 
 although he is more a cosmopolite than any man I ever knew, 
 yet I think as the Mar6chal de Biron once said to me on 
 ri est jamais bien que chez soi." 
 
 Selwyn continued to think of Warner's interests. They 
 dined together in the following February with Fawkener, a 
 son of sir Everard Fawkener, the jolly old postmaster-general, 
 at the house of Crespigny and the dinner was pronounced " a 
 very agreeable one indeed." " You will not forget," continues 
 Selwyn in his accustomed jargon, " Warner, I hope, when 
 the opportunity comes a fin qu'il soit dans le cas d'en tirer de sa 
 propre cave." Next month he again expresses his wish to 
 lord Carlisle that he may not leave office before the " occasion 
 will happen to serve poor Warner." Alas, it was too late ; 
 the time had slipped away. But the doctor bore his mis- 
 fortune like a man. " Poor Warner ! " writes Selwyn in ten 
 lines of English without a word of French " He is very 
 cheerful and declares with great generosity of mind and 
 justice to you [lord Carlisle] that he shall not complain of his 
 lot ; he is persuaded that if you could help him you would, 
 and that there are disappointments which a man must 
 reconcile himself to."
 
 THE REVD. JOHN WARNER, D.D. 53 
 
 " Howard of Bedford, the jail-man " and Warner met 
 again in the streets of Rome in the early spring of 1786. A 
 letter from Warner under the disguise of " Anglus ' J and with 
 the date of 21 May was circulated in private and inserted in 
 the Gentleman's Magazine for that year (1786, pt i, 359 — 60). 
 It proposed the erection of a statue of Howard in com- 
 memoration of his efforts to help unfortunate humanity. The 
 proposal was adopted at once by Lettsom, the benevolent 
 physician, and John Nichols, the printer, and by the 
 22nd of November the subscription for the statue amounted 
 to £1418. 17. 6. The design was however checked by a 
 letter from Howard, penned at Venice on 15 December. 
 His modesty forbade the erection of such a monument and 
 the scheme was abandoned. 
 
 The list of subscribers printed at this date showed promises 
 amounting to £1512. 7. 6. Some of them withdrew their 
 offers but the balance, by far the larger proportion of that 
 total, was duly paid and invested in the funds, in the names 
 of Lettsom, Warner & Nichols. Various propositions were 
 put forward by which the money could be usefully employed, 
 and the sum of £200 was appropriated towards relieving 
 persons confined for small debts. Their liabilities were 
 small indeed, for with that sum no less than 55 debtors were 
 set free. On Howard's death the original scheme was 
 revived and an agreement for a statue of him was con- 
 cluded with John Bacon on 3 Feby. 1792. It was unveiled 
 on the 23rd Feby. 1796 and was the first memorial of that 
 kind placed in St. Paul's Cathedral. 
 
 This monument led to the friendship of Warner with the 
 Swan of Lichfield. Its erection attracted universal attention, 
 both in the journals of the day and the separate productions 
 of the industrious poetasters. Among these ephemeral pieces 
 was one printed anonymously and entitled " The Triumph of 
 benevolence occasioned by the national design of erecting a
 
 54 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 monument to John Howard " which Warner thought he had 
 identified as the composition of Miss Seward. This was an 
 error ; the lines were by Samuel Jackson Pratt, a still 
 more dreary bard in that generation, who sets out in his 
 "Gleanings" vol I p. 226 et seq. a long conversation with 
 Howard on the subject. As a consequence of this erroneous 
 belief the Swan of Lichfield and the Hermit of Barnard's Inn 
 were drawn together and soon became friends. " The 
 ingenious, benevolent and energetic Dr. Warner " the lady 
 required at least three epithets for an ally, passed a few days 
 in Lichfield in the autumn of 1786. From that year until 
 March 1791 they corresponded and Warner sent her some 
 " delightful letters," which no doubt contained many a 
 stratum of flattery. Silence then ensued but Miss Seward 
 still thought of her friend. She enquired of everybody about 
 him. " Nobody tells me where he is " was her exclamation 
 in November of 1794. 
 
 Through this friendship the Doctor was admitted into the 
 circle surrounding William Hayley, her colleague in the art 
 of puffery. Mr. Alfred Morrison was the proud owner of the 
 rough copy of a letter and notes, seven and a half quarto 
 pages in length, which that poet sent in 1786 to Warner on 
 the subject of John Howard's statue. This subject was the 
 beginning of their intimacy and as Warner loved to enjoy 
 the friendship of others he retained the acquaintance until 
 his death. In April of the following year Hayley came from 
 his retreat in Sussex to stay with his new friend in the rooms 
 at Barnard's Inn. The poet's favourite term for them was 
 the "cell"; the pet title for his host was "dear rambling 
 divine." At one time it looked as if this place of retreat 
 would be lost to him, but fortunately the fire caused by the 
 Gordon riots stopped at the next door. In these rooms 
 Warner every morning, between six and seven, made breakfast 
 for him and for Romney the painter. On one occasion Warner
 
 THE REVD. JOHN WARNER, D.D. 55 
 
 took lord Thurlow to Romney's studio and he proved a very 
 good friend to the artist. On another his eloquence brought 
 George Selwvn to see Hay ley who " was much pleased with 
 the courteous old man." 
 
 Later in that year of 1787 Hayley on another visit to 
 London took rooms, " airy and tranquil," immediately over 
 Warner's set. He was again under the same roof with his 
 friend during the winter of 1788 — 89, when the object of his 
 visit to London was to encourage and assist Romney. When 
 Hayley brought out in 1789 his novel of " The young widow 
 or the history of Cornelia Sedley," his agent with the book- 
 seller was Warner, who displayed such business faculty in the 
 transaction that the author received the sum of £200 for his 
 manuscript. Needless to say that the purchaser lost by his 
 bargain. 
 
 Warner, " the studious and sprightly," was in need in 
 June 1789 of a change to quiet country life and Hayley fitted 
 up a " cell " for him in a gardener's old quarters. " That 
 room having been cleaned and whitewashed makes a most 
 cheerful and quiet apartment for a studious hermit, and 
 there the good doctor" writes his host "is now settling 
 himself to read and write about ten hours a day." Unfor- 
 tunately for his health he abandoned the use of tobacco 
 and wine, in imitation of Hayley who remonstrated in vain, 
 for " both had contributed not a little to his excellent 
 health and to his florid and comely appearance." A " low 
 obstinate fever " was the result of this precipitate experi- 
 ment and the recluse speedily repaired to London to resume 
 his old habits. While sojourning in this retreat of Eartham 
 he was wont to preach in its parish church to an audience 
 augmented by the attraction of his sermons. Hayley's 
 experience of this intimacy emphasised his conviction that 
 " Warner was pleasant and useful in no common degree. 
 He was a good classical scholar, and perfectly master
 
 56 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 of the three attractive modern languages, French, Italian 
 and Spanish." 
 
 Warner went to Paris in 1790 to attend, in the position of 
 domestic chaplain, lord Gower, afterwards the marquis of 
 Stafford, who was then the english ambassador at Paris. He 
 had been recommended for the post by his old friends and 
 patrons lord Carlisle and George Selwyn and some of the 
 wits afterwards insinuated that this was a manoeuvre of the 
 opposition. Romney, too, may have taken part in the recom- 
 mendation, for lord Gower's father had been very friendly 
 with the artist and he had painted for the ambassador him- 
 self " that wonderful picture of his dancing children" which 
 formed the chief glory of the art-treasures at Trentham. 
 
 Warner pressed upon his friends his eagerness to see them 
 in the French capital. Three of them, Romney, Hayley and 
 the rev. Thomas Carwardine, met at Eartham in July 1790. 
 They crossed from Brighton to Dieppe and arrived by slow 
 stages at Paris on the 31st of that month. But they did not 
 go by themselves for the parson was the only member of the 
 trio " unaccompanied by a fair but unwedded companion." 
 Their friend received them most cheerfully in the rooms in 
 the Hotel de Modene which he had provided for their accom- 
 modation. They stayed for three weeks and Romney 
 through the kindness of Madame Sillery, afterwards Madame 
 de Genlis, was gratified by seeing the famous pictures of the 
 duke of Orleans, in the Palais Royal, in which establishment 
 she held the position of governess. They visited the studios 
 of David and Greuze and in their turn entertained those 
 artists at dinner. David also took them to the Luxem- 
 bourg to study the Marie de Medicis series of Rubens. 
 
 Carwardine's friends included Romney, Hayley, Cowper, 
 Opie and Richard Cumberland. His tastes were for art and 
 his sister Penelope, Mrs. Butler, was famous for her minia- 
 tures, but on the advice of Thurlow he was ordained in the
 
 THE REVD. JOHN WARNER, D.D. 57 
 
 english church. His wife was Ann Holgate, the heiress of 
 Colne Priory and he held the livings of Earls Colne and 
 Little Yeldham, in Essex and a prebendal stall at St. Pauls. 
 Romney's pictures of him and his wife are famous. Their 
 descendant was Mrs. Gilchrist whose husband wrote the lives 
 of Blake and Etty. 
 
 Selwyn had a letter from Warner on the 23rd of August, 
 1790, when he thought it probable that war might be 
 declared by France against England. Four days later he 
 heard that Warner might be expected in England in about 
 three weeks time. In September came the news that he 
 could not leave the hotel de Monaco until the 20th of that 
 month, and that he was full of chagrin at the course which 
 events had taken. Warner as a strong Whig in politics had 
 sympathised with the destruction of the Bastille and, unlike 
 a good many of his associates in politics, he did not allow the 
 excesses that followed to have a material effect upon his 
 opinions. Towards the close of October news came to 
 Anthony Storer, another of the little set that attached them- 
 selves to lord Carlisle, that he had been dismissed from his 
 post. " What was the ground of their misunderstanding " 
 he writes to lord Auckland, " I know not.' ; Definite news 
 on this point soon arrived. He had been deprived of his 
 office because he had delivered from the pulpit of the embassy 
 chapel in the rue St. Dominique a sermon in which he 
 justified the proceedings of the Revolution. 
 
 Through Selwyn's friendly offices, who knew them both, 
 Warner had long been on friendly terms with Robert Gem, 
 the english physician to the embassy. They were both of 
 them economical in their habits and careful in guarding 
 against the advent of evil days. They were rivals, but 
 friendly rivals, in serving the interests of Selwyn. So far 
 back as 1778 Warner was apprehensive lest Gem should 
 suspect him of endeavouring to divert the favour of Selwyn.
 
 58 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 In 1790 William Huskisson, the grand-nephew of Gem, was 
 staying with him in Paris for the purpose of studying 
 medicine. He was introduced by Warner to lord Gower 
 and a glowing account was given of his merits. Huskisson 
 was quickly appointed to the post of private secretary to the 
 ambassador, abandoned the study of medicine and went to 
 live in the house of his official master. Thus began a friend- 
 ship of 40 years, which proved of the highest use to Huskisson 
 in his subsequent career. 
 
 Hayley tried to use .Warner's influence in the French 
 capital for his literary advantage. He began in January 
 179 1 the composition in the French language of a comedy in 
 five acts " les prejuges abolis " which he hoped that his friend 
 might be able to get on the boards of the theatre francais, 
 but it was never produced. Warner's affection for Selwyn 
 led him in the following April to write to his old friend John 
 Nichols for insertion in the Gentleman's Magazine a long 
 letter stating that from his friendship with Selwyn for forty 
 years — this must be an exaggeration — he could contradict 
 the current belief propagated in the pleasantries of Sir Charles 
 Hanbury Williams and lord Chesterfield, that Selwyn 
 delighted in attending executions. He had never in his life 
 attended but one and that rather accidentally from its lying 
 in his way than from design. A subsequent communication 
 from P. T., the initials of the notorious Philip Thicknesse, 
 stated that the solitary execution was that of Damiens who 
 was broken on the wheel in March 1757 for attempting to 
 assassinate Louis XV. Later in life Warner seems to have 
 receded from this statement. Francis Grose, the Falstaff 
 among antiquaries, records in his " Olio " the doubt of 
 Warner whether Selwyn " ever purposely went to three 
 executions in his life." That a love of the gruesome existed 
 in Selwyn's mind is above dispute. 
 
 It was in the month of August 1791 that Thicknesse met
 
 THE REVD. JOHN WARNER, D.D. 59 
 
 the doctor in Paris. He was then on the point of returning to 
 England to take up his residence on the rectory of Stourton 
 which had been conferred on him by his warm friend sir 
 Richard Colt Hoare. He did leave Paris to cross to the 
 shores of Albion but an embargo was laid on him just as he 
 arrived at Boulogne and he prudently did not draw on him 
 the observation of the authorities by any attempt to depart 
 from France. He took up his abode " in a village about two 
 leagues from Boulogne " where he stayed in strict retirement 
 until the tyrannous days of Robespierre had passed over. 
 
 A glimpse of Warner under the Revolution is given to us 
 in a little volume entitled "leisure-moments in the camp and 
 in the guard-room, by a veteran British officer " which was 
 printed at York in 1812. The dedication to Francis 
 Wrangham is signed J. F. N. and a previous owner of the 
 copy in the library of the British Museum gives the author's 
 name as Neville. He was according to his daily custom 
 taking an early morning walk " on the memorable twenty- 
 first of June" in the Tuileries gardens when he met La 
 Fayette on his milk-white steed, attended by his usual crowd 
 of admirers in a state of more than usual excitement. Neville 
 hastened to convey to Warner the news that the Royal 
 Family had escaped from their jailers but it was not received 
 in the spirit that he expected. The doctor exclaimed " Damn 
 the Miscreants ! Have they escaped ? well, that they may 
 be brought back to Paris before evening and be guillotined 
 before to-morrow morning, are the two wishes next to my 
 heart." 
 
 Warner was introduced by this friend to the author Mercier, 
 presumably Louis Sebastien, and was taken by him to dine at 
 Mercier's rooms at Mont Rouge. Neville asserts that Warner 
 " could not speak a single word of French," a statement 
 which seems incredible considering the number of occasions 
 on which he had visited the continent, the testimony of
 
 60 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 other friends and that he had to act as interpreter. Guest 
 and host agreed admirably in their principles and prejudices 
 and the doctor " who was a great gourmet " was delighted 
 with the Burgundy which was set before him but alas ! he 
 was summoned back to the embassy before the repast was 
 over. For " three long English miles " did Warner and 
 Neville trudge back through the pouring rain, but " nothing 
 could damp the Chaplain's ardour " while he expatiated on 
 his new friend's " easy manners, refined ideas, and above all 
 his politics." Neville dwells on the doctor's subsequent 
 detention at Boulogne for eighteen months and declares that 
 he recanted his opinions. But this too cannot be accepted 
 without great reserve. It was during this enforced sojourn 
 in France that Warner sent to the Gentleman's Magazine 
 the two lively letters of portentous length, which open its 
 volume for the first half of 1792. He advocated a subscrip- 
 tion for the best English imitation of Juvenal's eighth satire, 
 and hoped that England and France would unite their efforts 
 to bless the world by the arts of peace. His conclusion was 
 a poem " When Reason now at heaven's command," a parody 
 of Thomson's Britannia. 
 
 Some years before this time Warner fell under the lash of 
 that once-famous satirist, Mathias. In one of his frank 
 moments he spoke of the anonymous author of the " Heroic 
 epistle [in verse] to Dr. Watson " as a vile poetaster and 
 imitator of his friend Macgreggor, the pseudonym of the 
 rev. William Mason, the poet and friend of Gray. This 
 reached the ears of the virulent Mathias who thereupon 
 in his " Heroic address in prose " to the same Doctor 
 spoke of the depreciator of his poetic merits as " commonly 
 
 known by the name of J k W r, a d — mn'd clever 
 
 fellow at college. The suspicion however has now subsided. 
 He affects to give himself airs because George Augustus 
 Selwyn . . . chose him for his companion in a tour to
 
 THE REVD. JOHN WARNER, D.D. 61 
 
 France and Italy." This did not exhaust the abuse. He 
 quoted as applicable to Warner, the sentence of Gray on 
 Eusden, once poet-laureate. " Eusden was a person of great 
 
 hopes in his youth, though at last he turned out a ." 
 
 The words in the original are " drunken parson," and the 
 reference seems to me a hit below the belt. 
 
 In 1797 our Doctor published without his name a little 
 work, issued at 3s. sewed, with the grand title of " Metro- 
 nariston, or a new pleasure recommended in a dissertation 
 upon a part of Greek & Latin prosody." He had been 
 drawn to a study of the subject by a chance walk with " a 
 learned ecclesiastic at Rome " in the Campo Vaccino, the 
 old Forum, and the Via Sacra. In the latter quarter the 
 priest naturally quoted the Horatian line " Ibam forte via 
 sacra, sicut meus est mos " and quoted it with a " quantity 
 too new and pleasing to my ear to be passed unnoticed." 
 Through his old friend, John Nichols, the editor of the 
 Gentleman's Magazine, the brochure was reviewed in that 
 periodical [March 1797 p. 232] as endeavouring "with 
 much good sense & great pleasantry wholly to explode the 
 present long-established doctrines of quantity and accent and 
 apparently with very great success." Warner wished, to use 
 his own words, that Greek and Latin verses should be read 
 " with a strict observance of the Measure, or as we commonly 
 call it, the Quantity of the syllables." The dedication, a 
 wordy dedication of twelve pages, to Jacob Bryant, the well- 
 known classical scholar, was signed " a disciple of Mekerchus" 
 and prefixed to the volume was a portrait of that worthy. 
 Thereupon the editor of that journal inserted in the April 
 number an account of Mekerchus and a reproduction of his 
 portrait. His name was Meetkercke, derived from an estate 
 almost half-way between Bruges and Blankenberghc. This 
 was possibly the estate with a glorious mediaeval barn, about 
 a mile from the station, and about the same distance from
 
 62 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 the famous church of Lisseweghe, the tower of which rears 
 itself aloft over the dunes of that coast. Meetkerke died in 
 London in 1591. 
 
 The question which Warner discussed in this tract was the 
 subject of much controversy in the reign of the third George 
 and this little treatise attracted the attention of that age's 
 chief classical scholars. Payne Knight, one of the Holland 
 House and Edinburgh Review set, wrote that he had perused 
 it " with equal delight and satisfaction " and bore witness to 
 the "learning and ingenuity employed upon so dry a subject 
 and enlivened by so much wit and humour." Uvedale Price, 
 a country gentleman and neighbour of Payne Knight, and 
 like him a devotee of classical literature, in his " essay on the 
 modern pronunciation of the Greek and Latin languages " 
 praised it for " many just remarks and apt examples and 
 illustrations which I have freely made use of" but censured 
 the absence of plan and its style "as diffuse and full of 
 singularities." George Dyer puts on record that Matthew 
 Raine, one of the greatest heads of Charterhouse, " adopted 
 much of this theory of Metronariston into the Charterhouse 
 school" and Thomas Green, the author of an obsolete "diary 
 of a lover of literature " which enjoyed abundant popularity 
 in its day confessed (p. 209) that the arguments of Warner 
 had convinced him, but that the book was " teasingly 
 written." The reviewer in the British Critic for Sept. 1797, 
 speaks of the style as defying " all description, rambling 
 beyond example, continually aiming at wit or humour, with 
 the unhappiest effect " and pronounces the dedication to 
 Jacob Bryant " written, if possible still worse than the book." 
 
 In our time, just two years ago, T. S. Omond, in a valuable 
 work on " english metrists " (pp. 83-84) refers to his prede- 
 cessor's volume as " ascribed to a Dr. John Warner, whom I 
 cannot otherwise identify," who pokes fun all round, even at 
 such venerable names as Bentley, Handel and Horsley. The
 
 THE REVD. JOHN WARNER, D.D. 63 
 
 book he goes on to say, " is a medley of sense and nonsense, the 
 latter largely predominating, since his fundamental position 
 is that we cannot accentuate a short vowel, without lengthen- 
 it ! But the wit and versatility of the writing make it unique 
 among the dreary tomes of this controversy." 
 
 Mathias again fastened on his old enemy. This time it 
 was in the fourth dialogue of the " Pursuits of literature." 
 The lines themselves were feeble, and stingless. The venom 
 was in the note and Mathias loved a lengthy note. His 
 point was that the Metronariston was dedicated " without any 
 permission and I think with considerable effrontery to Mr. 
 Bryant in a style perfectly new." He dubs each page of the 
 tract "sillier wilder and more extravagant" than the preced- 
 ing, and sums it up as a " farrago of learned nonsense." 
 
 Mrs. Thicknesse in her " school for fashion " (1800, 2 vols.) 
 quotes that "late worthy and most respectable character" 
 Dr. Warner as writing some lines of poetry on his return 
 to England, " a three years' stranger to my native land " on 
 the altered disposition of the ladies of his country. He had 
 left them behind in 1790 the " coyest and loveliest of the 
 female kind." They were then " as chaste and modest as 
 the unsunn'd snow " and they came in his view " To angels 
 nearest in this world below." When he came back to 
 Dover's strand in 1793 they were without waist and without 
 modesty. 
 
 Some of his observations on returning to England were 
 couched in prose and in satire. The country from which he 
 had escaped was depicted on this side of the channel as in 
 the direst straits of poverty, while England revelled in 
 affluence. " Bread " said Warner, writing in London, " costs 
 me fifteen-pence the quartern loaf, a beefsteak and a bottle 
 of wine drains my pocket of between five and six shillings — 
 for fifteen pence I had in this famished country on the other 
 side of the water, my soup, my fish, my gtgot, and my dessert,
 
 64 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 and tenpence more gave me an excellent bottle of claret." 
 This was not the conventional language of the time. But 
 the doctor lived and spoke on his own lines. He even went 
 so far, oh grievous offence against propriety ! as " to walk in 
 the streets without gloves." 
 
 Whatever the " British Fair " may have become, their 
 satirist was restored to them without a change. He was the 
 same genial, kind-hearted, honest old fellow. Hayley was 
 much attached to an illegitimate child, Thomas Alphonso 
 Hayley, a young sculptor and Warner also became fond of 
 him. He addressed the youth in a sportive billet and deter- 
 mined to devote himself to the private education, in a similar 
 manner, of another very promising boy. 
 
 When this young sculptor came to London to perfect 
 himself in his profession the doctor continued his kindness. 
 His intimacy with Hayley was unbroken. He seems to have 
 paid a visit to Eartham in the summer of 1795. He was 
 there again in April 1796 and had then been engaged to 
 attend the new ambassador to Denmark as his secretary and 
 chaplain. The date of departure was fixed for the 15th of 
 May but I do not find that the appointment was ever carried 
 into effect. 
 
 Warner's portrait in water colour was painted by Jeremiah 
 Meyer, R.A. the well known artist, particularly in miniatures, 
 who brought Romney and Hayley together in 1776 and as 
 the painter had " a lively friendship " with his subject it was 
 painted con amore. The original was exhibited at the Royal 
 Academy in 1776, and in order that it might be preserved for 
 the youth whom Warner was educating it was entrusted to 
 the keeping of Hayley. The young Hayley made a copy of 
 it, but as the picture was not to his satisfaction he made a 
 second attempt and this time succeeded completely. His 
 father took the work on his next visit to town to Warner's 
 rooms in S'- John's Square, and diverted himself in the
 
 THE REVD. JOHN WARNER, D.D. 65 
 
 absence of his friend by suspending it over the mantelpiece 
 in the place of an oval print. Before Hayley left the house 
 its owner had returned and the poet had the satisfaction of 
 seeing and hearing his friend's delight over his new acquisi- 
 tion. Warner was " a good looking man " but rather short 
 in person. 
 
 Two characteristic letters from him to George Cumberland, 
 poet and artist are in the Additional MS. No. 36498 at the 
 British Museum. That dilettante had sent him a copy of 
 his tale entitled " Lewina, the Maid of Snowdon " which he 
 had published with his etchings and in the same volume 
 with " a poem on the landscapes of Great Britain " in 1793- 
 They could not have been without favour in the eyes of the 
 public for the publisher paid no less than £56 for the profits 
 of the sale, and offered to buy the copyright for £50 more. 
 Cumberland declined this flattering offer, as he was dissatisfied 
 with his productions, and resolved never to republish them. 
 Warner, however, administered to him a strong dose of 
 flattery on the merits of " Lewina." He had never seen "in 
 so small a compass a happier mixture " — at this point his 
 fondness for drollery broke in with the parenthesis " not a 
 nappier mixture for that would make one sleep instead of 
 weep" — "of the Beautiful, Philosophical and Pathetic." 
 Cumberland at this time had never been outside the united 
 kingdom, but Warner put forward the pleasing surmise that 
 the Glen had been drawn "from the enchanting one near 
 Basle called Munster Dale, exalting its rivulet to a foaming 
 flood." These stimulants were effective. Cumberland 
 acknowledges in his memorandum prefixed to the presenta- 
 tion copy of "Lewina" to the rev. John Eagles which is 
 now at the British Museum, that through Warner's persua- 
 sion it was included, after correction, in the second volume of 
 his collection of Original Tales. This was not the only 
 piece by Cumberland that Warner took some pleasure in. He 
 
 f.g. i T
 
 66 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 was delighted with the " Captive." Nothing but Terrour 
 could restrain a patriotic publisher from printing it. But 
 this was what the reactionary followers of Pitt were aiming 
 at " nothing presently would be published beyond a Primer 
 or a Child's guide." So, with Warner's praise the " Captive " 
 occupied the whole of volume I. of Cumberland's collection 
 of Original Tales. 
 
 The last sentence of Warner strikes the keynote of his life 
 during the dying years of that century. The war with France 
 which ended after long years of a wasteful contest with the 
 return of the Bourbons to temporary power, and the repressive 
 measures of the Tory ministry to crush out the opposition of 
 their antagonists, were distasteful to the doctor who strenu- 
 ously advocated the cause of parliamentary reform and threw 
 himself with augmented zeal into the arms of the advanced 
 liberals. The claims of Home Tooke to public recognition 
 went home to his heart. He adjured Cumberland if he knew 
 " any opulent friend whose children do not call for all he can 
 spare in such times as these and has still, in spite of Mr. Pitt, 
 money enough to make a patriotic present, now is his time 
 by contributing to raise an annuity — too much wanted — for 
 the most meritorious Public man in the Kingdom . . . and 
 that man I need not tell you is our friend Home Tooke." 
 Warner and his colleagues in the movement hoped to make 
 the fund worth Home Tooke's acceptance. The subscriptions 
 ranged from £50 to £300. 
 
 Cumberland duly responded to the invitation and received 
 from Warner, who was then staying at Wimbledon with 
 Home Tooke, warm thanks for his letters " and for their very 
 agreeable accompaniments." His attention was also drawn 
 to Tooke's "tight little correspondence" with the clerk to 
 the income tax commissioners. The patriot at Wimbledon 
 had filled up the schedule of his income with great minuteness 
 of detail and had ended with the statement " I have been
 
 THE REVD. JOHN WARNER, D.D. 67 
 
 thus particular in order to shorten an Odious correspondence 
 of which we ought all to be ashamed." 
 
 A drawing of the Doctor hung on the wall of one of the 
 parlours in Home Tooke's house at Wimbledon. In his life- 
 time Warner had given a very handsome sum as a subscrip- 
 tion for the publication of the " Diversions of Purley," and 
 he did not forget, when dying, the patriot and philologer with 
 whom he had spent many happy hours. He left "to my 
 very old friend, John Home Tooke, the use of my Tankard 
 at his cheerful board during his life " as well as a mourning 
 ring. If the youth whom Warner had designated as his heir 
 died before the age of 25, Tooke was to receive the substantial 
 bequest of £500 but " if my old friend should go over to the 
 majority before me, his £500 is to be divided between Miss 
 Hart and her sister Charlotte." 
 
 This was the wording of Warner's will dated four days 
 before his death. Major Cartwright, the prominent reformer, 
 was the recipient of another ring, and one of the Doctor's 
 last literary productions was the memoir of him which 
 appeared in the volume of " Public Characters " for 1799- 
 1800. Warner's death was due to his fellow-feeling with 
 a politician who had suffered for his opinions. Benjamin 
 Flower, the editor of the "Cambridge intelligencer," a paper 
 which was conspicuous in denouncing the folly of the 
 governing class in 1799, had been imprisoned by the House 
 of Lords in Newgate for an alleged libel upon bishop 
 Watson. The proceedings, says Dr. Garnett ninety years 
 later, had been " of a very arbitrary nature." He married 
 soon after his release a lady who had been herself a martyr 
 for her politics, and Warner caught cold in carrying out 
 his promise of officiating at the ceremony. After a few 
 days' illness " and preserving his recollection and calmness 
 to the last," he died at his house, 14 S c John's Square, 
 Clerkenwell, on the 22nd of January 1800 and was buried 
 
 F 2
 
 68 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 in a vault under the church in the square on the 30th of that 
 month. 
 
 The date of the commencement of the new century was 
 an amiable weakness of the Doctor. He originated at a 
 convivial party the view that it began with the year 1800, 
 and boldly maintained his opinion in argument against all 
 comers. Oddly enough the bets were decided in his favour 
 by the two referees and, what is not odd to those acquainted 
 with Warner " many cheerful parties arose out of it." His 
 friends who held the contrary sentiment used jocularly to 
 say that he ought to lie "perdu for that year. They little 
 imagined that their raillery was to be converted into a fatal 
 prediction." The new-year came, and on the 22nd day of 
 its first month Warner lay dead. 
 
 Warner's will contains many points of interest. Two out 
 of the three executors and trustees were the rev. Dr. Raine, 
 of the Charterhouse, a very distinguished scholar, and his 
 brother Jonathan Raine, of equal eminence in the law. 
 Mourning rings were left to many illustrious persons. The 
 list included, besides Tooke and Cartwright, the names of 
 sir Richard Colt Hoare, Robert Fergusson, William Hayley, 
 William Bosville, William Frend, Thomas Wakefield and 
 his brother, Gilbert Wakefield and bore striking witness to 
 his friendship with those prominent in the cause of reform. 
 His sisters Frances Mary S l John, Louisa Henrietta 
 Warner and a third woman, Susanna Lambert, received 
 £100 a year for life " not to be under the control of present 
 or future husbands." 
 
 Warner as we have seen, had determined to apply the 
 bulk of his substance to the education and training of a 
 promising youth. His name is set out in the will as " Philip 
 Courtenay, now of the Charterhouse School, whom I have 
 chosen to be my heir and residuary legatee." The books of 
 Warner were to be kept in some place until the heir had a
 
 THE REVD. JOHN WARNER, D.D. 69 
 
 dwelling to receive them, and he hoped that the youth would 
 " have a partiality to them, though neither rich nor rare, 
 from my having first acquainted him with Letters by their 
 help." 
 
 Philip Courtenay was admitted pensioner of Trinity 
 College Cambridge on 3rd July 1799 at the age of 17 
 and was then described as the son of John Courtenay of 
 Bath. He became a scholar of his college on the 30th of 
 April, 1802 and graduated B.A. 1805, M.A. 1808. He went 
 to the bar, was admitted at Lincoln's Inn in 1803 and trans- 
 ferred himself to the Inner Temple in 1807. Next year he 
 was duly called and became King's Counsel in 1833, reader 
 of his Inn in 1840 and treasurer in 1841. He went the 
 northern circuit and died at Liverpool on 10 Dec. 1842. 
 For some years he was counsel to the mint. Romney 
 painted in January, 1792, a portrait of Madame de Sillery, 
 his kind friend in Paris, which he gave to Hayley. It was 
 bequeathed by him to Courtenay, by whose daughter it was 
 lent to the Grafton gallery in the spring of 1900 (No. 85). 
 
 Such was the career of the rev. John Warner, D.D. His 
 life was passed in a calling for which he had little liking and 
 his friends were allowed to know his feelings. But he 
 conscientiously held strong opinions in politics, which he 
 did not hide from view and they did not tend to his advance- 
 ment in his profession. He expressed them and he suffered 
 for them. For Selwyn's sake he may sometimes have 
 played a part which was not lofty in its character but 
 he liked his master and was liked by him. Forster and 
 Thackeray have brought out in passages which will never 
 be forgotten the defects of his life, but even they were not 
 blind to the elements of good in his character. To 
 Thackeray he was "kindly and good natured in secret" 
 and the more we know of him, the more cordially can we 
 endorse these words.
 
 7 o EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 A word of sympathy was expressed for Warner by G. S. 
 Street in his " miniatures and moods " (1893). A kindly 
 appreciation by Katherine Prence, of his character is in 
 " Temple Bar " for December 1897. And an account of his 
 life is inserted by Mr. John Fyvie in his pleasant volume of 
 11 Wits, beaux and beauties of the Georgian Era."
 
 JOHN TAYLOR OF THE "SUN." 
 
 "Jack " Taylor can pair off with " Jack " Warner. The 
 parson excelled his friend in possessing that natural gaiety 
 of disposition which bubbles up at every moment. The 
 journalist on the other hand had less flow of humour, but he 
 could draw on his memory for a more abundant wealth of 
 anecdote. They had in common the gift of attracting to them- 
 selves crowds of friends and acquaintances. Only one person 
 in that age could rival them in the field of friendship. This 
 was James Hare, the Whig politician known as, " the Hare 
 and many friends." His associates were found among the 
 fashionable set of London or the Whigs of high life who sat 
 in the House of Commons. Warner's friends were chiefly in 
 the ranks of the less exclusive and more advanced reformers 
 of the period. The Sun was a Tory journal and " Jack " 
 Taylor was reckoned among the adherents of that party in 
 the State. Not many political personages cross the pages of 
 his reminiscences, but he does record with pride that old 
 Eldon — a canny and not unkindly old gentleman who knew 
 the value of a newspaper on his side — often "favoured him 
 with his arm when we happened to be walking the same 
 way," and that in the tea-room, after "the last celebration 
 in 1829, of Mr. Pitt's birthday," the ex-lord-chancellor 
 greeted him with marked favour. Taylor's friends were 
 mostly among the celebrities who trod the boards of the 
 London theatres. He knew them all and had written 
 something as an extra attraction for all their benefit-nights. 
 With them he gathered around him many a veteran in 
 letters.
 
 72 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 His branch of the great family of Taylor came from the 
 city of Norwich. If its members were originally of the same 
 stock as the critic and philologer, known as " Taj- lor of 
 Norwich," they showed very different qualities in life. For 
 generations they were medical men and four of them were 
 conspicuous in the world as oculists. The progenitor of 
 these eye-doctors was John Taylor a general practitioner in 
 that capital of East Anglia. He lived amid the quiet 
 surroundings of a cathedral town, not courting the publicity 
 of life in London. Dr. Monsey who studied medicine at 
 Norwich and was afterwards the shrewd but loose-speaking 
 old physician of Chelsea Hospital, testified from local know- 
 ledge to his high character in his profession, and to his 
 reputation, acquired from a "grave and dignified" aspect 
 and demeanor, among his neighbours of supernatural know- 
 ledge, so that they consulted him as a conjuror. Great as 
 his knowledge may have been, he could not have formed 
 even a guess at the future career of his elder son, the second 
 John Taylor who called himself and was known to the 
 world as, the Chevalier Taylor. Probably no one was 
 more surprised than the father at his son's erratic course 
 in life. 
 
 The Chevalier who was born on the 16th of August, 1703, 
 studied surgery at S l Thomas's hospital in London under 
 the guidance of William Cheselden, the celebrated operator 
 but soon devoted his especial attention to the diseases of the 
 eye. He began life in the city of his birth, not disdaining 
 the scanty fee of the ordinary surgeon but still continuing 
 his study of the eye. This little society soon became too 
 hot for a man of his vast but wayward energy and he began 
 travelling in quest of practice through his native land. By 
 the time that he was 30 the greater part of the British Isles 
 was familiar ground to him. 
 
 Even this enlarged sphere of operations soon became too
 
 JOHN TAYLOR OF THE "SUN" 73 
 
 small for his adventurous spirit. He went abroad and 
 pursued his studies in the chief medical centres of Europe. 
 He visited Basle, where he took the degree of M.D. on 
 26 Oct. 1734 an d was made a fellow of its college of 
 physicians. Thence he hastened to the universities of Liege 
 and Cologne and received a similar degree from each of them. 
 To complete his investigations in medicine he rested at Paris 
 for a time and travelled through Holland. I do not find his 
 name in the printed list of the english students at Leyden, 
 but he no doubt paid a brief visit to the lecture-room of 
 Boerhaave. By November 1735 he was once more in 
 London. 
 
 Next year on the 21st of May 1736 the Chevalier had the 
 good luck to be appointed by the favour of the duke of 
 Grafton, then lord chamberlain, to the position of oculist to 
 George the second. The charge over the eyes of one 
 monarch however could not satisfy his restless ambition. 
 He obtained the same post in the household of Frederick 
 the great of Prussia. But that peremptory monarch declined 
 to allow him to practice within the limits of his dominions, 
 alleging as his reason that he would take care of the eyes of 
 his own subjects so that they might see " no more than 
 was necessary for the interest and glory of their country." 
 Taylor's grandson, while recording this jest prosaically adds 
 that the true explanation was the monarch's fear lest the 
 presence of a foreigner, practising his profession at Berlin, 
 might irritate the medical men who were natives of the 
 country under his rule. 
 
 Taylor's career at home was varied by frequent journeys 
 abroad. He undoubtedly possessed great skill in operating. 
 Sir Walter Farquhar who had often seen him perform 
 declared " that his manual dexterity appeared like the touch of 
 magic." But his methods did not do him justice in the view 
 of the profession. They savoured of quackery, and his long
 
 74 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 orations, with their pretensions to learning, exposed him to 
 the ridicule of his competitors. 
 
 A vulgar tract entitled " the english impostor detected, or 
 the history of the life and fumigation of the renowned 
 
 Mr. J T occulist" (sic) was printed at Dublin in 
 
 1732. A ballad opera "the operator," in which he was 
 dubbed " Doctor Hurry the oculist " exposed his pretences 
 to cure the blind for nothing and his looseness of living. 
 His eccentricities and his professional manner are depicted 
 in a coarse little publication of 42 pages, which was entitled 
 " a faithful and full account of the surprising life and adven- 
 tures of the celebrated doctor Sartorius Sinegradibus," and 
 professed to have been printed at Edinburgh about 1740. 
 On the other hand he had his partisans both in ballads and 
 in more extended defences. One of them, — it must surely 
 have been Taylor himself — produced in 1748 as " by a 
 physician" a tract with the alluring title of "a parallel 
 between the late celebrated Mr. Pope and Dr. Taylor, 
 occulist (sic) to the king of Great Britain." The other is of a 
 more genuine character. It was an " oratio publica " 
 delivered at Tubingen in 1750 in " D. D. Tayloris, Angli, 
 merita famamque " by Burcardus David Mauchart, which 
 was published in that year and reproduced some years later in 
 the second volume of Albrecht von Haller's " disputationes 
 chirurgicse." 
 
 Somewhere about 1762 the chevalier left London for ever. 
 His grandson records that he was a " tall handsome man 
 and a great favourite with the ladies." He dressed extrava- 
 gantly and lived expensively, and these pleasures eat up his 
 income, large as it was. His remarkable adventures with 
 men and women are set out in " the history of the travels 
 and adventures of the chevalier John Taylor, ophthalmiater, 
 pontifical, imperial and royal . . . written by himself . . . 
 addressed to his only son " (1761-2, 3 vols.) and, as he
 
 JOHN TAYLOR OF THE "SUN" 75 
 
 himself told them, they must of course be true. The sprightly 
 writer in the "Monthly Review" for February 1762 called 
 him "a coxcomb of parts" a " here-and-thereian oculist," 
 laughed at his travellers tales and ridiculed his linguistic 
 skill. He claimed in these volumes to have written 45 
 separate works most of which passed through the presses 
 of the continent. A catalogue of 43 of them was printed 
 abroad in Italian and German in the year 1757, and the 
 list in Mr. John Stirling Taylor's " addenda to Vol. I." of 
 his father's " Records of my life " runs to 59 entries. On 
 the title page of this tract (1757) was pasted an engraving of 
 his portrait and by its side are six lines of eulogy on him in 
 Latin. A print of another portrait of him forms the frontis- 
 piece to his " le mechanisme ou le nouveau traite de 
 l'anatomie du globe de l'ceil, Paris, 1738." 
 
 Within six months after his departure from England he 
 sent to his family a portrait of himself painted at Rome by 
 the chevalier Rosco. He was represented, as became the 
 man " in splendid attire and a dignified attitude, holding 
 the instrument for couching in his hand, with an artificial 
 eye for the illustration of a lecture which he appears to be 
 delivering." This portrait was in 1830 in the possession of 
 his grandson. After this the family had very little, if anv, 
 communication with him. Years passed away as he pursued 
 his changes of life from city to city. One day a continental 
 newspaper reached his relatives at home. It contained in 
 the language of its country the news — " having given sight 
 to many thousands, the celebrated Chevalier Taylor lately 
 died blind at a very advanced age, in a convent at Prague." 
 This is said to have been in 1772. 
 
 The chevalier's only son, the second John Taylor, oculist, 
 had intended to have published an account of his father's 
 life "simply detailing facts and wholly free from egotism." 
 He collected the materials, entered into an agreement with
 
 76 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 a publisher and then entrusted his papers to the revision of 
 a hack-writer, Henry Jones, the author of a then- popular 
 tragedy, The Earl of Essex. This disreputable character, 
 forced to decamp from his lodgings, left the manuscripts 
 behind and they were destroyed. Thereupon he hastily 
 put together, chiefly from his own invention, a collection 
 of discreditable anecdotes, which were published in 1761, 
 in two volumes, as " the life and extraordinary history of the 
 chevalier John Taylor . . . written from authentic materials 
 and published by his son John Taylor, oculist," a copy of 
 which is in the Grenville library at the British Museum. 
 The title page is followed by an address from the chevalier 
 Taylor, " Ophthalmiater, Pontifical, Imperial and Royal," 
 dated Oxford, Jan. 10, 1761, to his son, purporting to give his 
 consent to the publication, although he had not seen it, and 
 stating that he is employed in writing " his own life and 
 adventures." Then comes a pretended advertisement from 
 the son, John Taylor, dated Hatton Garden, 25 May, 1761 
 vouching that the "above is a true copy of the letter my 
 father sent me." All the answer that he could make was 
 that he had maintained his mother for 8 years and that about 
 two years since he had paid near £200 for his father. 
 The foul falsehoods of Jones and the advertisements which 
 they provoked from the chevalier may be read in the Monthly 
 Review, xxv. 106 et seq. (1762). The reviewer was naturally 
 puzzled. It was a strange, a venal performance, no son 
 could have been guilty of it, but after all " there may possibly 
 be some collusive dealing, in order to impose upon the 
 public." 
 
 This absurd production could not do the family of Taylor, 
 father or son, much injury. But acuter brains have damaged 
 the chevalier's reputation beyond recovery. Hogarth made 
 him a conspicuous figure in his picture of the physicians in 
 consultation, depicting him, notorious as he was for gallantry,
 
 JOHN TAYLOR OF THE "SUN" 77 
 
 as leering with one eye at Mrs. Mapp, the bonesetter. Dr. 
 Johnson on one occasion called him " the most ignorant 
 man I ever knew, but sprightly. ... he challenged me 
 once to talk latin with him ; (laughing) I quoted some of 
 Horace which he took to be a part of my own speech. He 
 said a few words well enough." When Topham Beauclerk 
 first heard this anecodote from Johnson's lips the doctor 
 added the epigram that " Taylor was an instance how far 
 impudence could carry ignorance." Foote introduced him 
 into his play, The mayor of Garratt, as a " pill-gilding 
 puppy" claiming the cure of Margery Squab of Ratcliff 
 highway, spinster, of squinting, and he was satirised by 
 Horace Walpole in a poetical epigram of which he must 
 have been proud as he gives it in two of his letters. Young, 
 of the Night thoughts, summed up his character in 1743. 
 " He is member of every university in Europe but his own ; 
 he talks all languages but his own, and has an extreme 
 volubility of tongue ... as well qualified to blind under- 
 standings, as his hand is to put out our sight " {MSS. of 
 Marquis of Bath (Hist. MSS. Commission 1904) I. 276). 
 
 The life of John Taylor, oculist, No. 2, the chevalier's 
 only son, is a descent to the commonplace when compared 
 with the sublime follies that attended his father's career. 
 He was born in London in 1724 and educated at the College 
 du Plessis in Paris, becoming a good French and Latin 
 scholar. About 1743 he returned to London with Parisian 
 gaiety and manners, assisted his father in his operations and 
 was introduced by him to the professional world of the 
 metropolis. It was even more important to him as a 
 struggling medical man with a family that Cheseldcn 
 generally recommended patients to consult him profession- 
 ally. An account of his " cure of William Taylor the blind 
 boy of Ightham in Kent " was published about 1752 by 
 William Oldys, the zealous antiquary whose annotations in
 
 7 8 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 many books and many lives of English worthies are now as well 
 known in literature as the story of his pecuniary necessities. 
 Oldys was an intimate friend of the oculist, usually passing 
 the evenings by the kitchen fireside at his house in Hatton 
 Garden. Long years afterwards the third John Taylor 
 enriched with anecdotes from his own knowledge and his 
 father's stories that life of Oldys in Isaac DTsraeli's 
 " curiosities of literature," which first introduced his name 
 to the world at large. 
 
 The great patient of the second John Taylor was the Duke 
 of Ancaster, then the lord great chamberlain, who nearly 
 succeeded in procuring for him the office of oculist to George 
 the Third. Another noble duke proved too strong for him. 
 This was the Duke of Bedford, the leader of the " Bedford 
 gang," upon whom an operation for the cataract had been 
 successfully performed by the baron de Wenzel. The 
 grateful duke rewarded the baron with the handsome fee of 
 five hundred pounds and by obtaining for him that coveted 
 post in the household of the r t King of England. The baron 
 died on the 4th of October 1790 aged 66, and was buried in 
 the churchyard of old S 1 Pancras. His full name was 
 Michael Joannes Baptist de Wenzel, and he was a baron of 
 the Roman empire, and oculist to the Queen of Hungary as 
 well as to George III. 
 
 The second John Taylor began his professional life too 
 extravagantly. He had a house at Hatton Garden, where 
 he practised, and a residence for his family on the heights of 
 Highgate. A friend recommended the practice of a stricter 
 economy, and the suggestion, strange to say, was adopted. 
 The suburban retreat at Highgate was dropped. We 
 recognize in him some of the traits both of his father and of 
 his eldest son. He was " always fond of the drama " and 
 many of his actor-friends, very few of them being in the 
 front rank of the profession, are described (I. 357 et seq.) in
 
 JOHN TAYLOR OF THE "SUN" 79 
 
 the first volume of his son's "records of my life." He 
 played skittles with Hugh Kelly and other personages of the 
 period, in such places of popular resort as White Conduit 
 house and Bagnigge wells. He frequented " Dobney's 
 Bowling green, then a popular place, at a part of Islington, 
 now called Pentonville." Altogether he seems to have led 
 for a good many years a happy life. He died at his house in 
 Hatton Garden on the 17th of September 1787 aged 62, and was 
 buried in the new burying ground of S l - Andrew's, Holborn, 
 on the 23rd of that month. The Memoir in the Gentleman's 
 Magazine (1787, pt. II. 932) tells the usual tale of such lives. 
 He was charitable in disposition and vivacious in humour 
 but reposed " too much confidence in false friends," poor 
 easy man, and so was led astray. 
 
 The third John Taylor, oculist, now enters upon the scene. 
 The eldest of eleven children, he was born at Highgate at 
 the time when his father's recklessness of expenditure elicited 
 the comments of his friends and was baptised, according to 
 his son's statement, on 27 August 1755. His education 
 was but slender. He went for a time to a school at Ponder's 
 End, in the parish of Enfield and then to a " respectable 
 academy" in Cross Street, Hatton Garden kept by a Dr. 
 Crawford, an establishment of such a dignified character 
 that at one time it kept " an usher for the foreign depart- 
 ment." This dignitary in pupillage, a Mr. Stirn, described 
 by Taylor as "a German and a scholar," subsequently was 
 executed for killing "an eminent dancing master" called 
 Mathews, at whose house in Brooke Street, Holborn, he 
 lived. In this majestic establishment Munden the actor 
 was his school-fellow for a brief period, and when they met 
 in after life affected to have remembered his associate in 
 the days of youth. 
 
 In this life, as in that of John Warner, the kindly person 
 of " Philip Champion Crespigny, Esq., King's Proctor and
 
 80 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 member of parliament for Sudbury" crosses the stage. 
 His third wife had been the playmate in their earliest 
 years of Jack Taylor, and the King's Proctor, knowing the 
 friendship of the two families, offered to take the youngster 
 into his office as an indentured clerk without the requirement 
 of a premium, which would have exceeded in this case 
 the sum of £1,000. Taylor's father requiring the assistance 
 of his son in his profession, and recognising that with 
 such an apprenticeship he would be compelled to support 
 the youth for some years, declined the glittering offer. But 
 in after years Jack looked back upon the incident with 
 anguish as an opportunity wasted. 
 
 " Jack " Taylor therefore became, and for some years 
 practised as an oculist. What his qualifications were he does 
 not record ; they must, I think, have been scanty. He does 
 however mention that he once performed with success " at 
 that old and respectable inn the Swan with two necks, in Lad 
 Lane near Cheapside " an operation on a boy who was born 
 blind. Jack on the 30th of June 1789 was appointed oculist 
 in ordinary to the Prince of Wales, whereupon a wag of the 
 period who was aware of the fact that the new placeman was 
 shortsighted, issued an impromptu, the point of which lay in 
 the line that in certain circumstances " the blind will lead 
 the blind." To the certificate of his appointment was added 
 the warning " N.B. No Fees to be given " and considering 
 the impecunious condition of the prince the words were not 
 unnecessary. The appointment was renewed on the 2nd of 
 September 1799, when his brother, Jeremiah Taylor, a 
 member of the college of surgeons, was associated with him 
 in the place, and the same warning was added to the cerificate. 
 On the 23rd of October 1790 Jack Taylor was made oculist 
 to George III. and he was continued in the office by the 
 next two monarchs. 
 
 About 1789 the oculist began to turn his attention to the
 
 JOHN TAYLOR OF THE "SUN" 81 
 
 more congenial paths of literature and soon was totus in illis. 
 He had been a stage-goer all his life, and before he had come 
 of age had seen Garrick in many of his best performances. 
 Devotion to the drama was the key-note of his life. He knew 
 everybody who trod the stage or wrote for it. It was there- 
 fore in the fitness of things that he should become the 
 dramatic critic for the Morning Post. There appeared in its 
 columns a rumour that " a lady in great favour with a high 
 personage and not merely connected by the ties of mutual 
 affection had determined to assert claims not sanctioned by 
 law,'' unless she were satisfied with the grant of a peerage 
 and £6000 a year. Taylor was on intimate terms of friend- 
 ship with a confidential servant of this high personage and 
 he was therefore requested to convey to the person who had 
 farmed the paper an assurance that the rumour was untrue. 
 He endeavoured to dissuade the Prince of Wales's friend from 
 making any such assurance, but could not effect his object. 
 The assurance was given, and produced the result that he had 
 predicted. A stronger allusion to this event appeared in the 
 impression of the next day. The Prince of Wales became 
 more and more alarmed at the publicity of his relations with 
 Mrs. Fitzherbert. The farmer was bought out, " received a 
 large sum for his share of the paper, another for the time 
 that he was to hold a control over it and an annuity 
 for life." Taylor was at once installed in the editor's 
 chair. 
 
 This incident occurred at the time when the political world 
 was agitated over the Regency bill, which seemed necessary 
 through the illness of the king. Taylor's editorship lasted 
 for two years and it seems to have been an amusing episode 
 in his life. The evening in the editor's sanctum passed 
 pleasantly away with copious libations of punch for his 
 friends. Dr. Wolcot, better known as Peter Pindar, was " a 
 constant visitor and generally wrote some whimsical articles 
 
 F.G. G
 
 82 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 for the paper." The proprietor would not engage the doctor's 
 poetic services constantly with a regular salary, and Taylor 
 in vain offered him half of his own pay. Peter's only reward 
 was " his favourite beverage " of punch. Robert Merry, the 
 chief poet of the Delia Cruscan school was another of the 
 party and a third was James Billington the first husband of 
 the celebrated singer. He supplied " anecdotes of the 
 musical and fashionable circles." 
 
 Taylor protests that the business of the paper was not 
 interfered with by these festivities. He often remained at 
 his post until three o'clock in the morning, engaged in giving 
 the final touches to the paper and in guarding against the 
 introduction of any libellous or injurious matter. His 
 services however failed to give satisfaction. The proprietor 
 complained that the editor " had not devil enough for the 
 conduct of a public journal." Taylor thereupon surrendered 
 his place to two young Irishmen, who soon landed the 
 printer in Newgate and involved the proprietor in the pay- 
 ment to a lady of quality of three thousand pounds, besides 
 enormous sums of money to the lawyers. 
 
 The Morning Post is still with us and has lately renewed 
 its strength like an eagle. But Taylor's next venture in 
 journalism, the True Briton, which he partly owned, though 
 a daily paper of some reputation in its time has long 
 been defunct. John Gifford whose real name was John 
 Richards Green, was the editor and for his indefatigable 
 exertions both in the columns of the newspapers and in 
 separate publications, in support of Mr. Pitt's government, 
 he was rewarded by an appointment as police magistrate. 
 Taylor supplied this journal with many dramatic criticisms 
 on the merits of his friends who wrote plays or performed in 
 them. Mrs. Inchbald was one of the chief friends in author- 
 ship whom he lauded in it and she repaid his services by the 
 legacy of £100. In 1799 a project, supported by the duke
 
 JOHN TAYLOR OF THE "SUN" 83 
 
 of Clarence, was set on foot for commemorating the naval 
 achievements of British seamen. Various suggestions soon 
 appeared in print. Flaxman, as a sculptor, recommended a 
 statue of Britannia 230 feet high, to be placed on the summit 
 of Greenwich hill, where it would be visible from the river 
 and from the Kent road. Alexander Dufour, an architect, 
 wanted a permanent architectural building, the sight of which 
 would preserve the recollection of their bravery. Opie, as 
 an artist, contributed to the True Briton in 1800 his plan 
 for the formation of a gallery of paintings recording their 
 victories. This scheme which would encourage art for many 
 years was afterwards re-published in " an inquiry into the 
 requisite cultivation of the arts of design in England," and 
 prepared men's minds for the erection of a national gallery. 
 Taylor and Opie had long been friends. Mrs. Opie inserted 
 in the Memoir of her husband some remarks on him by his 
 old friend, in which Taylor bore witness to his freedom from 
 envy, his strong sense of humour, his friendly and generous 
 disposition, and his taste for music. 
 
 In 1813 Taylor acquired a share in The Sun, and with 
 that daily paper his name is always associated in the biogra- 
 phies of that period. " Taylor of the Sun," or " Everybody's 
 Taylor " were the titles by which he was known. It was a 
 Tory evening paper, founded in 1792 by old George Rose, at 
 Pitt's instigation and in order to support his political views. 
 Walter, of the Times, was furious at the support which was 
 given to it by members of the administration complaining 
 excitedly at the injury done to his own paper but he did 
 not dread its rivalry for long. Peter Pindar used to say that 
 it was a " Sun without a ray of light," and that he hoped for 
 brighter days under the new management. They never 
 came, and Hazlitt, ten years after Taylor's accession, wrote 
 in the Edinburgh Review (1823) " The Sun is a paper that 
 appears daily but never shines. The editor, who is an 
 
 G 2
 
 84 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 agreeable man, has a sinecure of it, and the public trouble 
 their heads just as little about it as he does." Tom Moore 
 records in his diary the amazement with which he contrasted 
 " the politics of Taylor's paper with his conversation and 
 sentiments in private " and adds the sarcastic comment, 
 " How the public is humbugged ! " 
 
 Differences over the management of this paper afforded the 
 world of London much amusement in 1815. On 10 May 
 1813 William Jerdan, a well-known newspaper man for the 
 first half of the nineteenth century, received from the then 
 owners the post of editor, with a tenth share of the property 
 and an allowance if he could get it of about £500 a year for 
 his literary labours. The concern was divided into ten shares, 
 the previous editors held eight of them, Taylor and Jerdan 
 each one. For a short time matters proceeded amicably. 
 The two minor proprietors had many gifts in common. They 
 were of the same political school, loved jests and puns, and 
 delighted in the same class of society. Within two years, 
 however, the eight shares held by the old editors were sold to 
 Taylor who thereupon took upon himself to control the 
 working of the paper. Its readers were soon informed by the 
 combatants of their differences. On the 22nd of September 
 Jerdan inserted in it a notice to correspondents that all com- 
 munications should be addressed to him " the sole editor 
 and part proprietor." Next month on 15 October, Taylor, as 
 "the chief and the resident proprietor" inserted a rival noti- 
 fication that his friends should address their communications 
 to him. 
 
 A very distinguished name in literature was drawn into 
 this controversy in the autumn of 1815. This was lord Byron, 
 to whom Taylor had sent a volume of his poetry. It was 
 duly acknowledged on the 23rd of July in that year in the 
 ipoet's characteristic way as written " in the good old style ot 
 our elders and our betters," and the donor received in return
 
 JOHN TAYLOR OF THE "SUN" 85 
 
 four volumes of Byron's "poems, handsomely bound, all of 
 his works that had been published at that time." In the 
 following September Jerdan inserted in his paper Southey's 
 " languishing lyrics, or the lamentable loves of the lachrymose 
 lord and the lugubrious lady," a satire on Byron's poem of 
 Misanthropy. Taylor thereupon wrote to express his regret 
 at the occurrence and received the reply from Byron that 
 such things as these had " ceased to fright him from his 
 propriety." 
 
 Worse was yet to come. Taylor on a day of his ascendancy 
 in the columns of the Sun inserted in them a highly 
 eulogistic " sonnet to the right honourable lord Byron." 
 Next day Jerdan came upon the scene with a " Parody on a 
 sonnet to lord Byron in the Sun of yesterday," which was 
 signed " W. J. Extempore, Poet Laureate." This was too much 
 for his rival, and the following notice appeared : — 
 
 " To correspondents. Mr. John Taylor in justice to himself as the 
 chief proprietor of the Sun newspaper, deems it proper for his own credit 
 and that of the paper to inform the public that the attack upon the 
 Right Honourable Lord Byron which appeared in the Sun of yesterday, 
 in the form of a mock sonnet, was written by Mr. William Jerdan, late of 
 Old Brompton and is signed with the initials of his name. 
 
 P. S. The article in question was, of course, inserted without Mr. 
 Taylor's knowledge and during his absence." 
 
 Again Taylor sent to Byron an expression of regret at this 
 misadventure and again he received from him a courteous 
 letter of reply. This letter is printed in full in the privately- 
 printed " addenda, 1869," by Mr. John Stirling Taylor which 
 are included in the volumes of his father's " records of my 
 life " now in the library of the Reform Club, but not in the 
 copy in the library of the British Museum. He adds that many 
 other letters were written by lord Byron to his father during 
 succeeding years "but unfortunately this is the only one now 
 remaining in their possession." As only a fragment of it is
 
 86 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 printed in Mr. Murray's collection of Byron's letters, I 
 reproduce it here, although in itself its value is not great. 
 
 13, Terrace, Pic'y, 
 
 Oct. 27th, 1815. 
 Dear Sir, 
 I return you the enclosed for which I have no present occasion. 
 On the subject of your letter I can only say that I am obliged to you for 
 your compliment — and to Mr. Jor — (or Jer which is it ?) dan for his 
 abuse : — I wish him joy of his zealous Loyalty — but am sorry that you 
 and he should differ on my account. 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 Byron. 
 P. S. — Your best way will be to publish no more eulogies except upon 
 the "elect " — or if you do — to let him have a previous copy — so that the 
 compliment and the attack may appear together — which would I think 
 have a good effect. 
 To J no. Taylor, Esq., 
 
 112, Sun Office, 
 
 Strand. 
 
 Discord in the paper and litigation among the lawyers 
 continued in this manner for months but matters were brought 
 to a conclusion at last in the spring of 1817. Jerdan who 
 had settled in the editorial chair with high hopes of fortune 
 was glad to sell his share in the paper to his rival for the 
 insignificant sum of £300. In his own pathetic words he 
 " had the world to begin again." Taylor himself now began to 
 feel the pressure oi pecuniary trouble. At the end of 1818 
 he offered John Murray half the interest in the Sun " at the 
 price which he had given for it." The offer was not accepted. 
 
 For seven years more Taylor continued to own and to edit 
 this paper. Misfortune then overwhelmed him. He was 
 " ensnared by a false friend to accept bills which he was unable 
 to discharge " (records of my life II. 12). This is one account 
 of his troubles ; another version is " by the treachery of a 
 partner I was deprived of the property which I had employed 
 a great part of my life in acquiring and was thrown upon the 
 world at an advanced age without resource." The Sun was
 
 JOHN TAYLOR OF THE "SUN" 87 
 
 sold in 1825 to Murdo Young, a man of great energy, called 
 by Blackwood's Magazine " the flaming minister of the Sun" 
 in whose hands the circulation of the paper, now an organ of 
 the Whigs, was quadrupled in four years- 
 All his life Taylor coquetted with literature. It was 
 suggested in Notes and Queries (2nd ser. XI L, 473, 3rd ser I. 
 39) that a collection of " theatrical portraits epigrammatically 
 delineated by a Macaroni " the date of which is given as 1774 
 in the catalogue of the library of the British Museum, was 
 written by him a professed lover of the stage and all its 
 votaries. If this suggestion is correct and the year accurately 
 surmised it was the product of Taylor's youth, for his age at 
 the time was but nineteen. 
 
 His first acknowledged works were certainly connected 
 with the boards. One was a pamphlet entitled "a statement 
 of transactions respecting the King's Theatre at the Hay- 
 market 1791 " ; the other was " the Stage, a poem, 1795," in 
 which he described from personal knowledge the chief actors 
 of the time, the list including Garrick and John Kemble. 
 His next venture was singularly unfortunate. This was the 
 anonymous " Caledonian comet " (1810) in which he satirised 
 the ballads of sir Walter Scott and their popularity and 
 eulogised the poems of Jerningham and Martin Archer Shee. 
 A few years later the author was glad for it to die out of 
 memory. 
 
 Taylor wrote more prologues and epilogues than any man 
 who ever lived. His pen was always in requisition for such 
 occasions. Perhaps the best known of such pieces was 
 the poetical address which Charles Kemble spoke on the 
 first appearance of the young Roscius on 1 December 1804. 
 Most of these effusions were included in his poetical collec- 
 tions. If the reader wishes for a specimen of his skill in 
 rhyming he should glance at the poetical columns of the 
 Gentleman's Magazine from 1826 to 1832. Cyrus Redding
 
 88 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 testifies that he translated Anacreon with tolerable success 
 and that is the best that can be said of his effusions. The 
 first of his collections, " verses on various occasions, 1795," 
 was dedicated to Mrs. Robinson, " Perdita," who had 
 dedicated a poem to him, and had sent him the verses and 
 letters which are described in the catalogue of Mr. Alfred 
 Morrison's celebrated collection of autograph letters (V, 
 286 — 7). The next was entitled " poems on various occasions, 
 181 1 " and as by this time the author had become very 
 political, the volume was dedicated to the right honourable 
 Charles Long, a cultivated gentleman known as a strong 
 supporter of Mr. Pitt in whose honour many of Taylor's 
 pieces were written. 
 
 The third collection " poems on various subjects by John 
 Taylor, esq. 1827, 2 vols." was brought out for the relief of 
 his necessities. Mr. George Woodfall, the son of " Junius " 
 Woodfall suggested their publication and undertook to print 
 them at cost price. A committee was formed to promote the 
 subscription, the chief booksellers, new and second hand, 
 received the names of those willing to join in it and a goodly 
 list of subscribers was obtained. Had one volume only been 
 issued, the profits would have been considerable, but " vanity, 
 pride and folly which indeed all mean the same thing " says 
 Taylor " tempted me to bring forth all the trifles I had 
 written and extend it to two." Hence the profits were 
 greatly reduced. Taylor's prose productions were usually 
 penned on ephemeral subjects to make a guinea or two. He 
 supplied the Monthly Mirror (a buried periodical which gave 
 prominence to the stage) with an occasional article on an 
 actor or on some theatrical topic. 
 
 A bundle of his letters written from 1801 to 1818 to old 
 Thomas Hill the editor of that periodical is preserved at the 
 British Museum in the Addit. MS. 20,082, ff. 131 — 51. They 
 chiefly relate to literary subjects connected with Hill's
 
 JOHN TAYLOR OF THE "SUN" 8g 
 
 magazine and many of them show Taylor's unvarying 
 kindness to the distressed relatives of poor authors. An 
 engraving of a portrait by sir Joshua Reynolds of Garrick 
 which then belonged to Taylor is inserted in the May 1807 
 number of the Monthly Mirror. 
 
 Taylor's name is now remembered, if it is remembered at 
 all, by two works. He was the author of " Monsieur 
 Tonson," and of two most entertaining volumes of remi- 
 niscences. " Monsieur Tonson " is a tale in verse of an 
 impudent wag, called Tom King, who night after night 
 waked up a poor old french refugee in his house near the 
 Seven Dials and brought him half-naked and half-starved to 
 the street door, to answer the enquiry whether one Thomson, 
 perverted by the Frenchman into Tonson, lodged there. 
 After practising this jest for some time, the cruel jester went 
 for six years to an eastern clime and on his return with 
 unchanged wickedness went to the same house to put the 
 same question. The same poor old man answered the knock 
 at the door caught a glimpse of his ancient tormentor and 
 with a wild shriek of despair " away he ran and ne'er was 
 heard of more." 
 
 The story of this adventure was first told in conversation 
 by sir Henry Moore sometime Governor of Jamaica. From 
 him it passed to a well-known raconteur in London and then 
 to Taylor, who used to repeat it in prose for the amusement 
 of his friends. At the request of Fawcett, Holman and 
 Pope, three famous actors then giving readings and recita- 
 tions at Freemasons' Hall, it was versified by Taylor. Faw- 
 cett undertook to recite it and performed his part with 
 abundant character and humour. Its success was immediate 
 and unbounded, and Taylor was the first to acknowledge 
 that its popularity was chiefly due to the skill of the reciter. 
 For years it was read and reread at such entertainments, 
 being only second in popularity to John Gilpin. Then it
 
 go EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 formed the basis of the famous farce by William Thomas 
 Moncrieff (the stage name of William Thomas Thomas), 
 which was produced at Drury Lane on 20 September 182 1 
 with the same title, and often printed with a dedication to 
 Taylor. The play like the poem owed its reputation rather 
 to the skill of a performer than to the merits of the piece. 
 It was made famous at once by the truly characteristic acting 
 of Henry Gattie (the chief personator, says my old friend 
 and colleague Mr. G. C. Boase in his article in the Dictionary 
 of National Biography, of "old men, Frenchmen and Irish- 
 men ") in the part of the worried old Frenchman, Monsieur 
 Morbleu. George the Fourth much admired the play and 
 commanded its reproduction when he next visited the 
 theatre. Whereupon his loyal and faithful subjects followed 
 his example and witnessed its performance in thousands. 
 At a later date the piece was acted by Mathews in New York 
 and at the Lyceum. 
 
 The poem was published in London in 1796 by Laurie and 
 Whittle, of Fleet Street and for nearly seventy years " there 
 was always a copy hanging in their shop window." About 
 1800 it was printed at Glasgow. In 1830 it was again issued, 
 with illustrations by Robert Cruikshank, and the paternity 
 was assigned to Thomas King, the actor, but this was an 
 error. Taylor believed that the incident actually occurred 
 and that the Tom King of the tale was the son of a former 
 Archbishop of Dublin (records of my life, I. 58, 381). More 
 recently it was issued in " Routledge's comic reciter, edited 
 and selected by J. E. Carpenter 1867 " and it is contained 
 in the 1906 edition of that work. It was included in " The 
 Humourist " (1819) and when that periodical was reproduced 
 by Nimmo in four volumes dated 1892, there was inserted an 
 etching by George Cruikshank, of the polite and shivering 
 Frenchman answering the young blood's knock at the 
 door.
 
 JOHN TAYLOR OF THE "SUN" 91 
 
 Until misfortune befell him Taylor was famous as a diner 
 out, and as a member ot the convivial clubs which flourished 
 under the third George and the Regency. Crabb Robinson 
 records in his diary that he dined in June 1815 at a friend's 
 house in company with Sir James Smith of Norwich, the 
 botanical professor, Thomas Phillips, the painter, and Taylor. 
 The day passed pleasantly away. Sir James was well-bred 
 and his " amenity " supplied a charm to the conversation. 
 The artist was " very agreeable but the hero of the day was 
 Taylor . . . He has lively parts, jokes, puns and is very good 
 natured." Jekyll knew " the good natured old gossip who 
 cantered his pony about Parnassus in bad prologues and 
 epilogues " and has recorded for us one of his puns. Sheridan 
 said he preferred Lear to all Shakespeare's tragedies. Taylor 
 replied, " That's because you married an Ogle " (corre- 
 spondence pp. 302-3). 
 
 An amusing instance of Jack's hold over a mixed company 
 is told by Hazlitt in his essay "on the aristocracy of letters" 
 (Table talk, essay V.). A certain " contractor for useful and 
 ornamental literature " — the name is not given but the con- 
 tractor has since been identified with John Britton — offered 
 Hazlitt " two guineas for a Life and Character of Shakespear, 
 with an admission to his Conversations.'" He did not write 
 the essay but went once to the entertainment. " There was 
 a collection of learned lumber, of antiquaries, lexicographers 
 and other Illustrious Obscure" and Hazlitt was in despair at 
 the loss of a day " when in dropped Jack T. of the Sun. 
 (Who would dare to deny that he was the Sun of our table ?) 
 
 and the scene was changed. Mr. T knows most of the 
 
 good things that have been said in the metropolis for the last 
 thirty years and is in particular an excellent retailer of the 
 humours and extravagances of his old friend, Peter Pindar." 
 Jest upon jest, each rising above the other came from his 
 lips and the company was divided into two factions " of
 
 92 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 laughing and sour faces." T. recounted one more, a practical 
 joke by that satirist, whereupon one of the sour faced gang 
 objected to the moral of the story and to Taylor's facetiae. 
 The host then interposed and suggested that they should for 
 a change "talk of what is serious and moral and industrious 
 and laudable in character — let us talk of Mr. Tomkins, the 
 penman." This was too much for the party. They went 
 upstairs to tea. 
 
 Tom Moore strikes a different note. When he was 
 seeking materials for the life of Sheridan, he sought for 
 information from the survivors of Sheridan's intimate friends. 
 Among these was Taylor, who was asked by Longmans to 
 meet Moore at dinner and to impart his information over the 
 dinner-table. The future biographer was profoundly dis- 
 appointed. There was nothing in old Taylor's remarks 
 " except boring, deadly boring ; most of the company asleep." 
 The only consolation was that he brought " a letter or two 
 of Sheridan's, which may be of use," and that he showed " a 
 curious original letter from Churchill to his bookseller, asking 
 most anxiously for a guinea for which he said he was in 
 prison." Sheridan seems to have studied his friend's 
 character with deeper attention, as Taylor is said to have 
 been the original of " Sneer " in the Critic. 
 
 Taylor was a man of bright parts but his disposition was 
 too volatile for any profound study. Conversation was his 
 forte, and his delight was to dine with men ot note, when pun 
 and jest never ceased to pass his lips. His overflowing 
 coffers of ancedote were drawn from clubs and taverns, even 
 more than from the private houses of his theatrical and 
 literary friends. Tavern after tavern, club after club, meet 
 us in his reminiscences. Old Slaughter's coffee house in 
 St. Martin's Lane was a great place of resort for him and his 
 theatrical friends. One night in that place of sojourn they 
 badgered Arthur Murphy the dramatist almost out of
 
 JOHN TAYLOR OF THE "SUN" 93 
 
 endurance. Repentance soon came, and to escape tempta- 
 tion on the following evening they agreed to meet at New 
 Slaughter's in the same lane. Unfortunately poor Arthur 
 Murphy to escape a repetition of this worry had gone there 
 also. He avoided these jesters until bedtime when holding 
 a lighted candle in the candlestick he was on the point of 
 retirement. " Mr. Murphy," said the incorrigible punster, our 
 Jack, " you are treating us lightly." Their victim turned on 
 his heel and was heard repeating all the way up stairs, 
 " treating them lightly ! treating them lightly ! " 
 
 At the " Turks " coffee house in the Strand Taylor used to 
 meet night after night Porson, and his brother in law, Perry 
 of the Morning chronicle, and occasionally Jemmy Boswell. 
 He often supped with Peter Pindar at the Rainbow in King 
 street, Covent garden, and in one of its boxes he listened 
 with that satirist to the anecdotes of the venerable Macklin. 
 At the Bedford coffee-house he feasted with John Kemble 
 and Richardson, the theatrical colleague of Sheridan. He 
 consorted with a host of theatrical personages and literary 
 celebrities at the weekly club, very inappropriately called 
 " Keep the line." With John Bowles an official who 
 devoted himself to the cause of Mr. Pitt, and with Mr. 
 Justice Garrow, "a consummate advocate" in the same 
 interest he frequented the oratorical club, styled the Robin 
 Hood society in Butcher row, Strand. Once, and once 
 only, he was admitted to a little club which held its meetings 
 at the Globe in Fleet Street and there he met Cooke 
 (" conversation " Cooke, the friend of Dr. Johnson) and 
 " Mr. Akerman, the keeper of Newgate, a very worthy and 
 humane character," whose good qualities have been trans- 
 mitted to successive generations in the pages of Johnson's 
 biography. But he was regular in his attendance at the 
 gatherings of a club which met at the Packhorse tavern in 
 Turnham Green. John Kemble resided on the green and
 
 94 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 was invited to dine at the club, with George Colman as 
 another guest. These two worthies kept up the ball for 
 hours, the other diners gradually withdrawing as best they 
 could. " Kemble and Colman did not break up till twelve 
 o'clock the next day, having been left by themselves for 
 many hours." Colman composed the following " impromptu " 
 on Taylor: — 
 
 " Nine taylors (as the proverb goes) 
 Make but one man though many clothes, 
 But thou art not, we know, like those 
 My Taylor. 
 
 No — thou can'st make, on Candour's plan 
 Two of thyself — (how few that can) 
 The critic and the gentleman 
 
 My Taylor." 
 
 At such companies of men, and in the gatherings at the 
 private houses of his friends, Taylor met with an infinite 
 number of men and women, of all classes in life and with the 
 most varied characteristics. These persons are described by 
 him in the " Records of my life, by the late John Taylor, 
 esquire, 1832 " (2 vols.), which he compiled in 1830 after 
 pecuniary trouble had fallen upon him, at the instance of " an 
 eminent publisher," no doubt the " Edward Bull, Holies 
 street," whose name appears on their title pages. In the 
 " Dictionary of national biography," the work is described as 
 " full of redundant gossip and stories mostly discreditable to 
 the persons named," but that estimate, I venture to think, is 
 unduly severe in its terms. It is true that some of the anec- 
 dotes are set out more than once and that a few of the 
 characters are not such as would be tolerated at the present 
 day. But Taylor dwells on the bright, as well as the shady 
 side of life, and the repetitions and redundancies are due to his 
 weight of years and cares. I have often wondered that in these 
 days of reprints his volumes have not been reproduced. Prune
 
 JOHN TAYLOR OF THE "SUN" 95 
 
 them of their repetitions, pluck up by the roots the passages 
 in which he girds at Burke and Johnson, and the garden of 
 his anecdotes would still be considerable enough for any one 
 to ramble therein during many a passing hour. 
 
 Consider in detail the persons whom Taylor knew. The 
 theatre was his passion and in that section of the London 
 world he moved with ease. Quin was a name to him, but 
 Garrick he had seen many times in his chief impersonations. 
 With John Kemble he was acquainted from the first season 
 of his performance and worshipped him both on the boards 
 and in private life. The maiden name of Taylor's first wife 
 Catherine Duill, a widow whom he married on 27 March 
 1788 at St. James's Church, Westminster, and lost less than 
 a year later, was Satchell and his friendship with the Kembles 
 was augmented through the fact that her sister was Stephen 
 Kemble's wife. He asked the permission of Mrs. Siddons to 
 write her life, but she declined politely in a long letter. 
 Nevertheless he remained on close terms of friendship with 
 all the Kembles. 
 
 To Macklin many pages are devoted by Taylor. With 
 Tom King he was well acquainted. William Lewis he had 
 seen on the first night of his appearance on the London stage. 
 He witnessed the accident which drove poor Reddish, the 
 second husband of George Canning's mother, from the boards 
 to Bedlam. John Emery, the first of the family to come 
 upon the public stage, presented him with a picture. Mrs. 
 Crawford was, to his eyes, " the most perfect representation 
 of 'Rosalind,'" and "the most commanding and dignified 
 woman " whom he had then seen was Mrs. Yates. He 
 dined with the arch and vivacious Mrs. Abington at the house 
 of Mrs. Jordan and he met Miss Farren with lord Derby 
 at the house of Kemble. The cause of Madame Mara 
 was at her request defended by him in the public prints 
 and he saw Mrs. Billington perform a concerto on the
 
 96 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 pianoforte, her first appearance in public, when she was 
 seven years old. 
 
 Taylor considered the Shylock of John Henderson to be 
 excellent and was infinitely diverted by his reading of John 
 Gilpin. He was present when Tom Davies re-appeared on 
 the stage for a benefit-night, and thought his acting dull. On 
 the merits of Terry and Bensly he does not wax warm but 
 he admired Parsons, Edwin and Moody in their respective 
 types of character. He knew both the Palmers and both the 
 Bannisters. The epitaph in the churchyard of St. Margaret's, 
 Westminster, on Thomas Hull (d. 1808), actor, and founder 
 of the Theatrical fund, was a piece of his composition. 
 His lines on " gentleman " Smith are quoted by the new 
 master of St. John's College, Cambridge, in his volume on 
 its alumni. Finally, to conclude his connection with the 
 stage he who had witnessed Garrick tread the boards, lived 
 to behold the first appearance of Kean. 
 
 With many other representative persons between 1780 
 and 1820 Taylor was in the closest friendship. Sheridan, 
 Tickell (Sheridan's brother-in-law) and Richardson (Sheri- 
 dan's colleague in stage-management and in parliament), 
 were three of his principal associates. Dr. Bain, the physician 
 and friend of Sheridan asked Taylor to dinner to meet 
 Charles Sheridan. He made the acquaintance of Home 
 Tooke and was one of the band of friends that dined with 
 him during his residence from 1780 to 1792 in Richmond 
 Buildings, Dean Street, Soho. John Wilkes he knew, but 
 of him he formed a depreciating estimate. Through the 
 Woodfalls he heard much of Junius and in the additional 
 manuscript 27,781 at the British Museum are several letters, 
 not very valuable I must allow, from him to George Wood- 
 fall on that unrevealed potentate. He was present at the 
 dinner at the Guildhall given by the elder Alderman Boydell 
 on his becoming lord mayor. Pitt who not long before had
 
 JOHN TAYLOR OF THE "SUN" 97 
 
 become a member of the Grocer's company, was there and 
 Boswell was another guest. Boswell when the company 
 " removed to a room appropriated to sociality " contrived to 
 be asked to sing. He prefaced his song by descanting on 
 the great Europeans that he had known and confessing that 
 although he had often tried he had never obtained an intro- 
 duction to the great minister. Pitt listened to this and to 
 the song "a grocer of London" with its references to himself, 
 " with all the dignified silence of a marble statue " but when 
 Boswell, full of wine and vanity, sang it at least six times, 
 even this austere personage 
 
 " so stiff, you'd swear 
 Some statue just stepped down to take the air" 
 
 could not refrain from joining in the universal laugh. 
 
 Boswell and Taylor went away together from the banquet 
 in so convivial a mood that all the way to Hatton Garden 
 they roared out the song, waking the watchmen from their 
 slumbers but without finding themselves in the Round 
 House. 
 
 A triad of doctors meet us in these pages. Dr. Monsey, of 
 Chelsea hospital, the profane talker of his day may pair off 
 with Dr. Wolcot, whose daring wit spared neither the ruler 
 of the Kingdom nor the dominating sages of the literary 
 world. Dr. Warner, a pleasant figure everywhere, spends 
 long hours at dinner in company with Taylor, in the 
 hospitable rooms of an official of the British Museum, it 
 might be with either Penneck, Maty, Maurice, Harpur or 
 Planta, for all of these characters find mention in his pages. 
 Artists abound. He had dined with Sir Joshua on an 
 occasion when Boswell again made himself conspicuous, 
 often visited Benjamin West in his painting room and had 
 known Sir Thomas Lawrence for nearly forty years. With 
 Opie he was very intimate in the opening days of his fame 
 and had enjoyed the benefit of Northcote's conversation long 
 
 f.g. n
 
 98 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 before its merits were revealed to the world at large by Hazlitt. 
 In the early period of his life he knew the rev. William Peters, 
 the academician, who left him a legacy of 50 guineas, all his 
 days he was on the most friendly terms with Prince Hoare 
 of Bath, and he became very intimate with Ozias Humphry 
 in the closing years of his career. He knew many a distin- 
 guished musician, tells anecdotes of at least two bishops and 
 had studied every eccentric character of his day, from Mrs. 
 Cornelys who kept the dancing-rooms in Soho square to 
 " walking " Stewart, who went all over the habitable world. 
 Of his host of acquaintances in literature we will not now 
 speak. One name only shall be mentioned. It is that of 
 Wordsworth who sent him the two volumes of the " Lyrical 
 ballads" with a letter asking what impression the poems, 
 written in rural retirement, made upon a man swimming 
 in the full tide of human life. Well might Taylor, penning 
 his reminiscences in poverty long years afterwards, warm 
 himself with the gratifying thought that his name had become 
 " known to a poet of such original merit and residing at so 
 distant a place " ! 
 
 Taylor describes as an eye-witness the dying oration of 
 lord Chatham in the house of lords. He tells us on the 
 authority of John Kemble, that the modest expression, " a 
 certain gentleman" to whom Cibber's delightful "apology" 
 was addressed, concealed the famous name of Henry Pelham 
 and this knowledge gives a brighter lustre to its graceful 
 language. He claims that an anecdote industriously cir- 
 culated by him of an impecunious engraver originated the 
 character of Jeremy Diddler in Kenney's farce of Raising the 
 wind, and that he supplied Cooke with many of the jests of 
 Sam Foote which have now passed into general currency. 
 
 A delicious glimpse of Boswell is given to us by Taylor. 
 The life of Johnson is on the verge of publication. The 
 proof sheets have been passed by the author. Nought
 
 JOHN TAYLOR OF THE "SUN" 99 
 
 remains but the title-page. Full of expectations of success, 
 for in spite of bufferings from the subject of his labours and 
 discouragements from his friends, Boswell never doubted in 
 the excellence of his work, he passes absorbed in thoughts 
 of the forthcoming volumes, through the busy streets of 
 London. In his journey his eye rests on Taylor. It is the work 
 of a moment to stop him, to produce the sheet of the title 
 page and to ask his opinion on it. Taylor reads the words 
 "The life of Samuel Johnson LL.D. containing" etc. and 
 raises the objection that the word containing would be more 
 appropriate in an advertisement for the contents of a lost 
 trunk. What then would you suggest, cries Boswell, and 
 the critic replies, I would substitute the word comprehending. 
 Boswell hesitates, has doubts as to the advantage of the 
 change but at that moment he catches sight of his country- 
 man, Sir Archibald Macdonald at a little distance. " Stay " 
 shouts Boswell, as he rushes off, proof in hand, to a conference 
 on the subject with that distinguished Scot. The opinion is 
 given, it is favourable to the alteration, and Boswell speeds 
 back to his friend. " You are right, the word shall be 
 adopted." What Taylor failed to do for himself, this friend 
 did for him. One word of his suggestion has been read by 
 myriads of his countrymen in every clime. That word lives 
 for every generation in every age. 
 
 We part, but we must part, from Taylor with regret. His 
 days are ebbing fast and ere his book comes out they have 
 hastened to a close. Various dates for his death are given in the 
 papers but his son states that he died in Great Russell street, 
 London, on the 15 May 1832 and was buried at St. George's 
 Bloomsbury. His second wife, Mrs. Ann Hepworth, a 
 widow living in Cecil street, whom he married on 30 Deer. 
 1800 survived him with several children. She was described 
 as " a Scottish lady of a family very highly connected-" No 
 doubt it was for this reason that their son was sent to the 
 
 h 2
 
 ioo EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 high school at Edinburgh. Here the youth was noticed by 
 Raeburn the artist, who wrote to the father that he had 
 made a sketch of a young friend for him and soon after sent 
 to him a " finished and beautiful portrait of my son." Where 
 is the youth's portrait now ? 
 
 If any one desires to read more on John Taylor's associates 
 in life let him peruse Mr. Austin Dobson's paper in " Long- 
 man's Magazine " for January, 1898, which is reprinted in 
 the volume of his collected essays entitled " A paladin of 
 philanthropy."
 
 A FRIEND OF LORD BYRON. 
 
 A BRILLIANT little set clustered round Byron in his days 
 of residence at Trinity College, Cambridge. The poet 
 came from school at Harrow, as everyone who has visited 
 the churchyard that tops its hill will remember, but most 
 of his friends came from the level meadows of Eton. 
 Fullest of promise for the future was that " intellectual 
 giant " Charles Skinner Matthews, Matthews major of 
 boyish life, whose " infinite superiority " Byron stood in 
 awe of, but Matthews at the time that he contemplated con- 
 testing the representation of the university, was whelm'd 
 beneath the waters of the Cam (August 1 8 1 1 ) . Matthews 
 minor of Eton, "the image, to the very voice of his 
 brother Charles " left his contemporaries at Cambridge to 
 travel through the south of Europe in pursuit of health, 
 and produced the popular " diary of an invalid " which 
 Byron pronounced " most excellent " as one of the three 
 books " of truth or sense upon Italy." A stray reader or 
 two will perhaps even at this date remember the work for; 
 its passionate regrets at his change of life from warm rooms 
 on the shore of England to the stone staircases and starving 
 casements of Florence or Rome. A third of these friends, 
 William John Bankes, Byron's " collegiate pastor and 
 master and patron " penetrated the districts of Syria and 
 Mesopotamia, returned to visit Byron in Venice, and after 
 several years of parliamentary life in England died in that 
 city. Best known of all was John Cam Hobhouse, afterwards 
 lord Broughton de Gyfford whose " recollections of a long 
 life " printed for the entertainment of his friends in 5 vols.
 
 102 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 in 1865 and only known for many years by an article in 
 the Edinburgh review for April 1871 have within the last few 
 months been partially revealed to a larger circle of readers. 
 One more friend remains, Scrope Berdmore Davies, who ex- 
 celled them all in knowledge of the classics and in bright- 
 ness of conversation. An Eton boy, a Cambridge Don, 
 he wasted his resources in the gambling hells of London 
 and on the race -course of Newmarket. The second moiety 
 of his life he spent, an exile from England, in pacing the 
 digue of a Belgian seaside resort or in resting forsaken 
 and neglected, on a bench in the gardens of the Tuileries 
 or the Palais Royal. It is of Davies that I propose to 
 write . 
 
 The name of Berdmore was more prominent in the 
 eighteenth century than at the present day. One of the 
 family was a prebendary in Southwell minster in 1 743 ; a 
 second, called Scrope Berdmore, was the warden of Merton 
 college in 1 790 and his armorial bookplate sometimes 
 meets our eyes in the second-hand book catalogues. 
 Another of them Thomas Berdmore, a dentist, dwelt in 
 Racquet court, Fleet Street in November 1785. It was 
 probably in allusion to him that Byron spoke of his friend 
 as the " dens-descended Davies." In his profession this 
 dentist attained to distinction. His treatise on " the dis- 
 orders and deformities of the teeth and gums " came out 
 in 1768 and a new edition was issued in 1770. About 
 seventy years later it was deemed worthy of reprint in the 
 American journal of dental science. 
 
 The boy's father, the Revd. Richard Davies came from 
 Llangattock in Breconshire and graduated B.A. at 
 Worcester college, Oxford, in 1779, while an elder brother 
 matriculated from Merton college five years earlier . From 
 1777, two years be it noticed before he took his degree, 
 to 1825, the year of his death, Richard Davies held the
 
 SCROPE BERDMORE DAVIES 103 
 
 vicarage of Horsley in Gloucestershire, situate about four 
 miles from the town of Tetbury, and in the register of the 
 parish " Christianisings," to use his own word, are the 
 entries of seven of his children " by Margaretta his wife." 
 The names and dates are (1)9 May 1 779, John— the vicar 
 must have married while yet an undergraduate, (2) 10 Jan 
 1 78 1, Isabella, (3) 1 Jany 1783 Scrope Berdmore, (4) 
 7 April 1785, Thomas, (5) 24 May 1787 Maria, (6) 9 July 
 1 789 Genevova, born 30 March last, (7) David de l'Engle. 
 For some years to 1792 the father held the lectureship in the 
 parish church of Tetbury and he retained, with the living 
 of Horsley, the vicarage of Tetbury from 1792 until 1825. 
 
 Scrope Berdmore Davies was born towards the end of 
 the year 1782 and probably acquired the rudiments of his 
 classical knowledge in the grammar school of Tetbury. 
 It was founded in 1610 under the will of sir William 
 Romney, alderman of the city of London, who had been 
 born in and was a great benefactor to the town, and at it 
 were educated Oldham, the poetical satirist, and Trapp, 
 the unpoetical professor of poetry at Oxford. The worthy 
 cit had risen by commerce and to stimulate others in the 
 art of commercial calculation ordered in his will, that " the 
 schoolmaster shall be very skilful in arithmetick, which art 
 teacheth much wit unto all sorts of men and traders but is 
 too little known in our land, especially in our country towns 
 and cities." Alas for poor Davies, the art of adding and 
 multiplying his resources never became his ! Nor does 
 the ordinance of the school that the Master " shall not read 
 unto the schollars any of ye obscene odes, satyres, or epi- 
 grams of Juvenal Martial or Horace " appear if we may 
 judge by his after life to have contributed to his moral 
 edification. 
 
 Scrope Davies went to Eton and became one of its King's 
 Scholars. We find him in the upper school fifth form
 
 io 4 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 lower division in 1796, and in 1799 in the upper division. 
 The head -master was George Heath but the reins of com- 
 mand were held by him very loosely and the numbers in the 
 school declined from 489 to 357. Still many distinguished 
 names can be found in the lists and among them figure a 
 future prime minister and a future archbishop of Canter- 
 bury. The beaux and wits of after years were in great 
 force at Eton at this period. Brummell and Raikes paced 
 in Eton jackets its playing-fields and the two Matthews 
 boys were in their company . Flenry Matthews indeed made 
 himself conspicuous by driving a tandem right through' 
 Eton and Windsor. Scrope's younger brother, Thomas, 
 was also a King's Scholar at Eton and in 1802 was head- 
 boy of the fifth form upper division. His college was 
 Merton college at Oxford, no doubt selected on a'ccount of 
 the connections of the family of Berdmore with it and he 
 enjoyed a fellowship there from 1807 to 1840. Like his 
 better-known brother the last part of his life was spent 
 abroad. Let us hope that it was not for the same reason ! 
 In 1 80 1 Scrope proceeded to Kings College, Cambridge 
 and was elected a scholar in July 1802. Next year he 
 was awarded by the provost of Eton, the Belham Scholar- 
 ship, a gift bestowed upon the scholars of Kings who had 
 behaved well at Eton and he continued in possession of it 
 until 18 1 6. At that period the undergraduates at Kings 
 were not required to submit themselves to the University 
 examination for the degree of B.A. They took their 
 degrees and obtained their fellowships as a matter of course 
 without being compelled to face such an irksome ordeal 
 as that. Scrope became B.A. in 1806 and M.A. in 1809 
 and was elected to a fellowship in July 1805. The course 
 of time advanced him to a senior fellowship in 1822 and 
 upon its proceeds he lived abroad until 1852. Scholar- 
 ships and fellowships must have brought into his pockets
 
 SCROPE BERDMORE DAVIES 105 
 
 many thousands of pounds. Not a bad return for the 
 talents of a man whose life benefitted neither his college 
 nor his country. Once and once only is he mentioned by 
 the latest historian of his college, and then, not very 
 creditably. There was found one morning on the handle 
 of the Lodge door a game hamper directed to the Provost 
 with " Mr. Scrope Davies's compliments." It was opened 
 and " found to contain a dead cat and even less attractive 
 objects. Of course Scrope Davies was convened but he 
 coolly maintained that if he had sent the hamper his own 
 name was the last which he would have chosen to attach 
 to it ; and so he escaped." 
 
 Byron was introduced to Scrope at Cambridge by Charles 
 Skinner Matthews and their common tastes at once brought 
 them together in terms of intimate friendship. Davies ex- 
 celled in all athletic games such as boxing, cricket, tennis 
 and swimming. At cricket or tennis he was unconquer- 
 able and he could compete on favourable terms with Byron 
 in swimming. The pair united in depreciating the style 
 of Matthews in that exercise. He swam " with effort and 
 labour and too high out of the water " and Byron claimed 
 that Scrope and he had always predicted that their friend 
 " would be drowned if ever he came to a difficult pass in 
 the water." This prediction, if ever uttered, was verified 
 and after that event Davies became Byron's particular 
 friend. He was admitted to his rooms at all hours and 
 one occasion " found the poet in bed with his hair en 
 papillate." Davies was the best talker of them all in this 
 little coterie. Pie was "always ready and often witty." 
 Hobhouse and Byron invariably went to the wall in their 
 contests of wit with the other pair " and even Matthews 
 yielded to the dashing vivacity of Scrope Davies." 
 
 To Byron's eyes Davies appeared more a man of the 
 world than the other members of this little set and he did
 
 io6 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 not expect the death of Matthews to come home to a man 
 of that temperament so keenly as it did to Hobhouse. But 
 Davies was a true friend to Byron at all events, and did not 
 shrink from telling the poet to his face of the faults which 
 beset him and especially of his craze for desiring the world 
 to invest him with a reputation for lunacy. When Byron's 
 reckless speculations in thought used, as he himself ex- 
 pressed it, to suffer from " a confusion of ideas " and when 
 with his wonted vehemence of phrase and with the melo- 
 dramatic manner which captivated the youth of both sexes 
 he would exclaim " I shall go mad," it would be the part 
 of Scrope to pour ridicule on this affectation. Davies 
 possessed a " quaint dry manner of speaking " and was 
 numbered among the wits whose efforts were heightened 
 by the charms of an irresistible stammer. Very quiet and 
 cutting was his comment on Byron's conduct rather silliness 
 than madness. 
 
 One or two of Scrope's jests at this period in his life have 
 been preserved for us by his admiring associates. Their 
 sparkle has evaporated. They are as flat as a bottle of 
 Seltzer water the day after the cork has been drawn. 
 Picture to yourselves Byron and Davies sitting at supper 
 at Steevens's after the opera on a night in 1808 with their 
 third bottle of claret before them. There enters young 
 Goulburn, full of the praises of his horse, a forgotten 
 Grimaldi, which had just won a race for him at Newmarket. 
 "Did he win easy?" was the natural but not very in- 
 spiriting question of Scrope. " Sir " said Goulburn " he 
 did not even condescend to puff at coming in." "No" 
 said Scrope " and so you puffiov him." 
 
 The scene of the other witticism is laid at Cambridge. 
 Some amateur theatricals had been arranged and the hour 
 for the play's production had arrived, when one of the 
 performers called Tulk disappointed the company by
 
 SCROPE BERDMORE DAVIES 107 
 
 throwing up his part in a pet. Hobhouse made the 
 necessary explanation to the audience and referred to the 
 culprit as " a Mr. Tulk." This scornful allusion wounded 
 the pride of the aspiring Roscius who openly resented the 
 expression. "Perhaps" drawled out Scrope "you prefer 
 being entitled the Mr. Tulk." This suggestion irritated 
 him still more, but he knew that the lips which uttered it 
 were those of a man with the reputation of being a good 
 shot who had already fought two or three duels and he 
 retired muttering some empty threats. 
 
 The friends whom Davies attracted to his side at Cam- 
 bridge made easy for him the entrance into the inner life 
 of society in London. He became one of the most fashion- 
 able men of his day. Byron, Douglas Kinnaird and Hob- 
 house " formed one part of the chain," Brummell, Alvanley 
 and Davies another. Gronow no bad judge of a man's fit- 
 ness for the dining table and the drawing room, who " lived 
 much " with him and Wedderburn Webster called him 
 " one of the most agreeable men I ever met." The 
 rooms into which he entered once, were open to him always. 
 Quietness in style, the absence of anything showy, these 
 were the notes of his demeanour in social life. He had 
 read much of classical and modern literature and was 
 always ready with an apt quotation, which the man of Eton 
 learning could appreciate. Gronow used to delight in ob- 
 taining from Davies his opinion of Byron. The answer 
 was invariably the same. One unfailing expression came 
 from his lips. Byron was " vain, overbearing, conceited, 
 suspicious and jealous." 
 
 Davies on his way to taking the waters of Harro- 
 gate spent a week at Newstead Abbey with Byron in the 
 August of 181 1, when his host penned the comment on 
 his parting guest " his gaiety (death cannot mar it) has 
 done me service." It was arranged between them that
 
 108 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 Byron should in the following October pass a week with 
 Davies at Kings College. At one time Byron was under 
 heavy pecuniary obligations to his friend. Davies was a 
 daring gambler, blessed with the power of making shrewd 
 calculations on the play of the cards or the throw of the 
 dice and for some years fortune was on his side. It is 
 said that on one night, that of I o June 1 8 1 4, he won no 
 less than £6065 when playing macao at Watier's club. 
 At all events he was in a position before 1809 to lend his 
 friend several thousands of pounds. When the death of 
 Matthews brought home to Byron the uncertainty of life 
 he provided against accident by making his will and ap- 
 pointing Davies his executor. It embodied the necessary 
 arrangements for the payment of his debts, but events 
 proved that it was not necessary to wait for Byron's death 
 for the discharge of the sums due to his creditors. He 
 paid Davies the sum of £1500 in October 18 12 and £4800 
 in March 1 8 1 4 and expressed his satisfaction in the words 
 " a debt of some standing, which I wished to have paid 
 before . My mind is much relieved by the removal of that 
 debit." It was presumably when flush with this money that 
 Davies joined the Drury Lane committee, presented a 
 share to Edmund Kean and subscribed to the Testimonial 
 cup . Davies was the single friend from whom Byron seems 
 to have borrowed. 
 
 Davies in his younger days of life in London was an 
 inveterate drinker. One of his favourite sneers at Byron 
 was to depreciate his powers of absorption of strong drink 
 as good for a holiday drinker. But the draughts of Davies 
 generally ended in tipsiness and a quarrel. It was no 
 doubt on one of these occasions that he challenged lord 
 Foley to a duel, when it needed all the energy of his poetic 
 friend to reconcile their differences . One day (Sept . 1 8 1 3) 
 Byron wrote to Mrs . Leigh that between 8 and 1 1 on the
 
 SCROPE BERDMORE DAVIES iog 
 
 preceding evening Scrope and he had swallowed six bottles 
 of burgundy and claret. Scrope became unwell and he 
 was " rather feverish." On another night, 27 March 1 8 1 4, 
 the night before Byron moved into the Albany, Davies 
 and he dined tete-a-t6te at the Cocoa Tree. Their hours 
 this time were from six to midnight and they drank between 
 them one bottle of champagne and six of claret. The 
 effect of this dinner was to make Davies tipsy and pious. 
 Byron left him " on his knees praying to I know not what 
 purpose." On the night of the appearance of the number 
 of the Edinburgh Review containing the celebrated de- 
 nunciation of the " Hours of Idleness," Byron dined alone 
 with Davies. He acknowledged to have consumed three 
 bottles of claret. Medwin records in his conversations 
 
 (p. 95) that Davies, H and Byron clubbed together 
 
 £ 1 9, all the loose cash that they had in their pockets and 
 lost it in playing chicken hazard at a hell in St. James's 
 Street. The usual result followed. They all got drunk 
 together till H and Davies quarrelled. Scrope after- 
 wards wrote to Byron for his pistols so that he might shoot 
 himself, but Byron declined to lend them " on the plea 
 that they would be forfeited as a deodand." Attempts 
 at suicide under losses in betting afterwards became a 
 mania with him. 
 
 Strange people found themselves in the lodgings of 
 Scrope Davies in St. James's Street. It was there that 
 Byron came one morning in a towering passion and stand- 
 ing before the fire broke out with the exclamation " Damn 
 all women and that woman [lady Frances Wedderburn] in 
 particular." He then tore from his watch -ribbon a seal 
 which she had given him and dashed it into the grate. 
 Scrope also claimed to be high in her favours and when 
 Hodgson's letters were sold by Sotheby and Wilkinson 
 on 2 March 1885, lot 10 was a letter from him written in
 
 no EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 exile in 1828 descanting on her wondrous beauty. It was 
 typical of the man's tastes, for it contained a quotation from 
 Horace and references to the verses of Goldsmith. 
 
 Kaye, the learned and orthodox bishop of Lincoln, re- 
 minded Hodgson at the close of 1831 that their last meet- 
 ing had been many years previously in the rooms of Scrope 
 Davies. Byron and Dr. Clarke, the mineralogist and 
 traveller, of Cambridge, were present. They were joined 
 later on by Spencer Perceval, then engaged, says the 
 bishop, in a " harder task than any imposed on Hercules, 
 that of endeavouring to bring the house of commons to 
 a sense of religion." Perceval was anxious for an intro- 
 duction to Byron and they argued " the question deter- 
 mined by Locke in the negative, whether there is an innate 
 notion of the deity." By 1831, such was the bishop's 
 reflection, two of the party had gone to their account and 
 Davies was in exile. 
 
 Parisina was dedicated to Davies by Byron in the follow- 
 ing terms : — 
 
 "To 
 
 Scrope Beardmore (sic) Davies, Esq. 
 
 The following poem 
 
 Is inscribed 
 
 By one who has long admired his Talents 
 
 And valued his Friendship " 
 
 and the dedication was dated January 22, 1816. The " Siege 
 
 of Corinth " was published in the same volume with it and 
 
 the dedication ran : — 
 
 "To 
 
 John Hobhouse, Esq. 
 
 This poem is inscribed 
 
 By his 
 
 Friend." 
 
 Byron thought this sublime, but Hobhouse " would have 
 liked it better " if he had not dedicated the other poem to 
 Davies, and he told Byron of his feelings.
 
 SCROPE BERDMORE DAVIES in 
 
 Before the spring of the year had passed away Byron was an 
 exile. On 20 April 181 6 he presented to Scrope a copy 
 of the Philadelphia edition of his poems (1813 ; 2 vols.) 
 which had been given to him in the previous June by 
 George Ticknor. The volumes afterwards passed to sir 
 Francis Burdett. Three days later Byron at half-past nine 
 in the morning fled to the continent, just escaping the 
 bailiffs. " Polidori and Hobhouse went in Scrope Davies's 
 chaise ; Byron and Davies in Byron's new Napoleonic 
 carriage built by Baxter for £500." They arrived at 
 Dover by half-past eight and dined at the Ship. On 
 25 April Hobhouse was up to an eight o'clock breakfast but 
 Byron did not appear. The captain was impatient, " even 
 the serenity of Scrope was disturbed," but after some 
 bustle out came Byron and walked down to the quay. 
 Slowly the packet glided out of the harbour bearing the 
 poet, never again to return to his native shores. Discon- 
 solate and overwhelmed in gloom, Davies and Hobhouse 
 returned to London (Lord Broughton, recollections of a long 
 life, L, 334-6.) 
 
 Davies was entrusted at Dover with a parcel for Miss Mercer, 
 who afterwards married the comte de Flahault. He was 
 to give it to her with Byron's message " had I been fortunate 
 enough to marry a woman like you, I should not now be 
 obliged to exile myself from my country." The friends 
 had their portraits painted in miniature and on ivory by 
 James Holmes for presentation to one another. The por- 
 trait of Byron, an admirable likeness, was painted in 1815 ; 
 it afterwards became the property of Mr. Alfred Morrison. 
 That of Davies, 4| by 3^ inches, in gold frame, was among 
 the relics of the poet which were sold at Christie's on 
 5 Dec. 1906 and was subsequently on sale by Mr. Bertram 
 Dobell. On the back was the autograph inscription 
 " Painted by Js. Holmes 1816 for lord Byron — Scrope
 
 ii2 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 Davies." Byron described his own miniature as "a 
 picture of my upright self, done for Scrope B. Davies, 
 Esq." Prints of it were made about a year later. 
 
 Davies and Byron used to have boxing bouts in the latter's 
 rooms and sometimes " gentleman " Jackson, the pugilist, 
 was a third in these encounters. It was on one of these 
 occasions that Holmes made the acquaintance of Scrope. 
 When sitting for his portrait Davies told the story of a 
 jdangerous incident in his life. " A small thin man but 
 extremely handy with his fists," his appearance on one of 
 the wharves on the Thames attracted the attention of some 
 of the coal-heavers . They began to make fun of the dapper 
 little gentleman dressed in the height of fashion. Chaff 
 was returned with chaff, threats followed on retorts, and 
 Davies was soon confronted by a huge bargee, one blow 
 from whose fist would have settled the diminutive dandy. 
 He lunged, Davies warded the blow, and at once struck 
 him with all his force in the wind. " He instantly fell 
 all in a heap. His friends crowded round thinking 
 he was dead and I took to my heels " says Davies " and 
 ran for my life." {Life of Holmes, by Alfred T. Storey, 
 
 Pf>- 55> 59-) 
 
 Lady Morgan recounts an incident that happened in 
 Scrope's rooms. One fine morning " Mr. Lovett of Lis- 
 more of literary notoriety " sauntered into them and threw 
 himself on a sofa. The room was filled with books which 
 Davies explained were left by Byron on his departure and 
 had not yet been arranged. Lovett took up some of the 
 volumes and among them was Vathek. " Oh you must 
 lend me this, I have never read it " was his delighted ex- 
 clamation . Eagerly turning over the leaves he came across 
 a manuscript addressed to lady Caroline Lamb. It was 
 the poem, with the bitter lines, beginning 
 
 "Thou false to him, thou fiend to me."
 
 SCROPE BERDMORE DAVIES 113 
 
 A few hours before his flight from England in May 1 8 1 6 
 poor George Brummell sent to Davies the piteous appeal : 
 
 " My Dear Scrope, —Lend me two hundred pounds. The banks 
 are shut and all my money is in the three per cents. It shall be repaid 
 to-morrow morning. 
 
 Yours, 
 
 George Brummell." 
 
 The reply was as laconic and as true : 
 
 " My Dear George, — Tis very unfortunate, but all my money is in 
 the three per cents. 
 
 Yours 
 
 S. Davies." 
 
 One of Scrope's best -remembered jests was on the flight 
 of the " Beau," who bought at Calais a French grammar to 
 improve his French. Davies when asked what progress 
 the exile had made in his studies remarked that " like 
 Buonaparte in Russia, he had been stopped by the ele- 
 ments." Byron put the witticism into Beppo, " a fair ex- 
 change and no robbery," as he alleged. 
 
 A great crowd of persons distinguished in the inmost 
 circles of Whiggism became members of Brooks's Club on,' 
 1 1 May 1 8 1 6. Among them were Cam Hobhouse, Leices- 
 ter Stanhope, Raikes the diarist and Scrope Davies. Some- 
 what later in that year Hobhouse and he visited Byron at 
 Villa Diodati on the shores of Lake Leman. On 30 July 
 1816 they " crossed to Calais and supped with Brummell." 
 They travelled through the Belgian cities to Cologne and 
 then ascended the Rhine. Nearly a month after their 
 departure — it was on 26 August — the travellers arrived at 
 Villa Diodati, "a delightful house and spot." Next day they 
 walked to Geneva and two days later the party, including 
 Byron, set off on an excursion to Chamouni. Davies 
 returned to England on 5 September, when Hobhouse "took 
 
 f.g. 1
 
 ii 4 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 leave of my friend and fellow traveller, with whom I have 
 not had even a bickering upon a six weeks tour. Good 
 fortune attend him ! " (lord Broughton, II., I — 12.) 
 
 Davies returned to England with the statement that the 
 poet, although gloomy, was in good health and full of 
 spirit; he brought back also some trinkets for Byron's 
 nieces and the fair copy of the third canto of Childe 
 Harold. Whether this copy was ever delivered to John 
 Murray remains a matter of doubt. Byron wrote a letter 
 of enquiry about it in December 1 8 1 6, in which he dubbed 
 poor Davies a man " of inaccurate memory " and mali- 
 ciously adds that he " will bountifully bestow extracts and 
 transcriptions on all the curious of his acquaintance.'' 
 Ultimately this canto was printed from the transcript 
 brought to England by Shelley. Davies became more and 
 more associated in the public mind with the poet's friend- 
 ship. He gave evidence on 28 November 18 16 before 
 the lord chancellor in the case of Byron v . Johnson, when 
 an injunction was obtained to restrain Johnson from pub- 
 lishing a volume with the title of " lord Byron's Childe 
 Harold's pilgrimage to the Holy Land." He was among 
 those consulted on the propriety of publishing Don Juan 
 and he concurred with his associates, Hobhouse, Douglas 
 Kinnaird, Moore and Frere, in recommending that it should 
 be suppressed. Murray advised the author to " wrap up or 
 leave out certain approximations to indelicacy." This re- 
 minded Byron of George Lamb's quarrel at Cambridge 
 with Davies. " Sir," said Lamb " he hinted at my ille- 
 gitimacy." " Yes," said Scrope " I called him a damned 
 adulterous bastard." 
 
 Tom Moore chronicles in his diary the doings of many 
 of the fashionable members of the Whig party. He de- 
 scribes a visit which he paid in September 18 18 to Rams- 
 bury, the Wiltshire seat of Sir Francis Burdett. Scrope
 
 SCROPE BERDMORE DAVIES 115 
 
 was another of the guests, told many stories, and in the 
 evening music joined in the singing of Purcell's " Waters 
 of Babylon." Hobhouse was also of the party, and records 
 that " in conversation Moore beat them out of the field. I 
 saw Scrope was envious." Moore in the subsequent pages of 
 his diary repeats several of the jests of our friend, including 
 some which Hodgson, the provost of Eton, who had been 
 senior boy to Davies and Skinner Matthews in the school, had 
 told him. Davies called some person " who had a habit of 
 puffing out his cheeks when he spoke and was not remark- 
 able for veracity " The ^Eolian lyre." His epitaph on Lord 
 L. ran : 
 
 " Here lies L.'s body, from his soul asunder, 
 He once was on the turf and now is under." 
 
 Davies used to enjoy sailing in a boat called the Swallow, 
 but the waves at last proved too tempestuous for him. He 
 wrote lines on his troubles, two of which were : 
 
 " If ever in the Swallow I to sea 
 Shall go again, may the sea swallow me." 
 
 On the whole it must be allowed that Scrope's witticisms, 
 if amusing at the moment, were hardly framed for per- 
 manent wear. 
 
 After their meeting at the country house of Burdett, then 
 an ardent radical, his two guests, Moore and Davies, became 
 very intimate. Moore dined at Scrope's lodgings (29 Nov. 
 1 8 1 8) to meet " gentleman " Jackson the boxer, and in 
 less than a week afterwards breakfasted in his rooms at 
 seven o'clock, when they adjourned " to the fight at 
 Crawley, between Randall and Turner," two forgotten 
 pugilists. Moore went to the opera at Covent Garden and 
 in lady Oxford's box found " a rare set of reformers, Hob- 
 house, Douglas Kinnaird and Scrope Davies." Davies 
 made a lasting impression on Moore. Some years later, 
 
 1 z
 
 n6 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 it was in 1824, Washington Irving dined with him " near 
 the Park." They sat long at table when Fitzroy Stanhope 
 and their host repeated incessant anecdotes about Davies, 
 much to the annoyance of Kenney, who was also of the 
 party, who complained bitterly " it was nothing but Scrope 
 Davies this and Scrope Davies that ; they killed me with 
 their Scrope Davies." (Irving's life, II., 168 — 9.) 
 
 These reformers, who met in the public glare of the 
 opera had their little differences in private life. Among 
 the Hobhouse manuscripts at the British Museum (Addit. 
 MSS. 36457, ff. 408 — 9) is a letter from Scrope, written 
 from 1 1 Great Ryder Street in 1 8 1 9, complaining that 
 Hobhouse had used " offensive and vulgar expressions to 
 him yesterday," and demanding an apology. The request 
 was at once met in the frankest way. Hobhouse sent a 
 letter of regret stating that he had shown it to Kinnaird and 
 authorising Davies to bring it under the notice of 
 Bickersteth. 
 
 During all these years Scrope gambled in St. James's 
 Street and plunged at Newmarket. For a time success 
 crowned his ventures but then the tide of fortune ran 
 heavily against him. It was his habit, after a heavy loss 
 on the turf, to cut his throat. The cynics spread the 
 rumour that this was a device to gain time. At all events 
 it was practised so often that the surgeon declared his in- 
 tention of not answering any future summons . Oakes was 
 the name of this operator and he is reported to have said 
 " there is no danger : I have sewn him up six times 
 already.' 1 
 
 The fatal day, when he could face his creditors no more, 
 came in December 1820. No resource was open to him 
 save flight to the continent. Like Byron, like Brummell, 
 he crossed the channel. The comment of Byron was 
 " our friend, Scrope, is dished, diddled and done up."
 
 SCROPE BERDMORE DAVIES 117 
 
 Thenceforward his days were to be passed in those resorts 
 abroad which were mainly frequented by the impecunious 
 Englishmen who had brought themselves to penury. His 
 future lot was to dream of the white cliffs of England and to 
 dwell in imagination only among his old associates of 
 May fair. 
 
 His life in Belgium and in France is familiar to us 
 through the gossiping chroniclers of that age. Thomas 
 Colley Grattan has described him in the second volume of 
 " Beaten paths " (1862) in the chapter on " diners-out ; 
 Scrope Davies." For five or six years Davies had settled 
 at Ostend " the Magnus Apollo of a confined set " and had 
 become a trifle dictatorial. His life was varied by a change 
 to Brussels for a week's dining out, and it was on one of 
 these occasions in 1827 that Grattan first met him. At 
 the beginning of dinner he was confused in speech and 
 half -maudlin ; he wanted warming-up. That time came 
 and he " talked fluently, quoted freely " and evidently 
 remembered much. His conversation lacked method and 
 sequence but he brought into play the lives of Byron and 
 Porson and the celebrities of the university that he had 
 been brought up at. He could give " a repartee of Fox. 
 a saying of Pitt, a tirade of Burke, or a sarcasm of 
 Sheridan " as if he had heard them himself, and he showed 
 the possession of a " perfect facility for the light and easy 
 style of table-talk ." His hair was " close cut and grizzled " 
 and his forehead was poor. Pie had led a hard life and his 
 mental powers and bodily vigour had suffered decay. 
 
 They met at breakfast at the house of " Kit Hughes, the 
 American minister," when Scrope enlarged on the " fancy " 
 and probably recounted, the narrative of Tom Moore's visit 
 to the Crawley prize-fight. He had told Grattan at their 
 first meeting that he had completed " all but the last 
 chapter " of his life of Byron and that Murray had offered
 
 n8 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 him an excessive price for it. Some inkling of the inten- 
 tions of Davies must have reached Tom Moore ; possibly 
 it came through Grattan. For Moore wrote to John Murray 
 in 1828 that " Scrope Davies both from his cleverness and 
 the materials he must possess is rather a formidable com- 
 petitor and it might at least be worth your while to enter 
 into negotiations with him for his work." 
 
 The same jokes, anecdotes and quotations flowed from 
 the lips of Davies on their renewal of intercourse in August 
 1836. Grattan then noticed on this occasion his ignorance 
 of modern languages ; he talked " even French very im- 
 perfectly." But there was an improvement in his habits 
 of life and he walked on the digue at Ostend in the early 
 morning hours of 7 and 8 . He repeated " word for 
 word " the statement about his contemplated life of Byron, 
 adding that Moore had applied to him for information but 
 that he had refused to give any assistance. By next year 
 Davies had " a bachelor's residence " at Dunkerque, but 
 tfie friends met again at Ostend in August and next month 
 at Calais . Once more he spoke about his life of Byron and 
 Grattan saw John Murray about the book. His " papers 
 were a sort of chaos, without form and void." The com- 
 pleted pages were few and unconnected and he wanted a 
 library for his work ; but after this conversation with 
 Grattan he announced his intention, on returning to Dun- 
 kerque, to set to the composition in earnest. These good 
 intentions soon nickered out : nothing came of the enter- 
 prise nor indeed of that " account of Porson and other 
 literary friends " which Pryse Lockhart Gordon, another 
 refugee in Belgium, announced that " Porson's intimate 
 friend and associate Mr. Scrope Davies is preparing for 
 the press." 
 
 Another of these enforced sojourners on the un-English 
 side of the channel, Tom Raikes of diary-fame, makes
 
 SCROPE BERDMORE DAVIES 119 
 
 frequent mention of Scrope Davies both in his journals and 
 in his private correspondence. They dined together at 
 Versailles on 20 May 1835 and Raikes expected to see 
 him on 26 May but instead received a despondent letter. 
 " Lethargic days and sleepless nights " writes Scrope " have 
 reduced me to a state of nervous irritability," and he quotes 
 from Rasselas that " of all uncertainties the uncertain con- 
 tinuance of reason is the most dreadful. ... I would 
 much rather be accessory to my own death "—evidently the 
 
 unhappy man is still thinking of throat -cutting " than 
 
 to my own insanity. The dead are less to be deplored than 
 the insane. . . . Babylon in all its desolation is a sight 
 not so awful as that of the human mind in ruins. It is a 
 firmament without a sun, a temple without a god. I have 
 survived most of my friends : heaven forbid I should sur- 
 vive myself." Raikes wrote in reply recommending 
 " quiet and calomel " and entered in his diary his fear that 
 " the brandy -bottle has much to do with the excitement." 
 Next day he called on Davies and found him " well and 
 gone out." 
 
 In June 1837 Raikes and Davies passed two days in 
 the pleasant town of Gisors. Raikes was then busy in 
 composing the volume on Petersburg which was published 
 in 1838 under the title of " The city of the Czar." He 
 wanted some classical quotations for insertion in its pages, 
 The average reader of those days, like the average 
 country -gentleman in parliament, wanted his Latin tags. 
 He wrote to Davies as a fellow of King's for help and the 
 reply from Dunkerque (13 Dec. 1837) was " * nave ver y 
 few classical books here and no classical acquaintance ; 
 while my memory is as treacherous as a black-lead pencil." 
 
 Two months later Davies in a letter to Raikes from the 
 same seaside resort, then the quietest of the resorts on 
 that long line of dunes, challenged Ball Hughes— the, name
 
 120 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 will be familiar to all readers of Gronow as another of the 
 extravagant men of fashion who died on foreign soil — to 
 mortal combat at tennis . They met in fight in March 1840 
 and Raikes was a witness of the struggle. But now poor 
 Davies was ill . The influenza, in the familiar language of 
 that game, had u added half 15 to my years and taken 
 away from my play half 30." He was coming to Paris, 
 would show Miss Raikes " a French translation of Man- 
 fred of which I possess the copyright, and which should she 
 declare it to possess such merit as I am informed it does 
 I intend to publish, together with some other writings about 
 which I have no alarm." 
 
 A second letter in the spring of 1838 records " a second 
 attack of the grippe which had left him more dead than 
 alive." He had discovered, but the truth came home to 
 him somewhat too late in life " that a man can live on 
 very little." For nearly six months he had never but once 
 " drank more than one bottle of weak Bordeaux per diem. 
 This I solemnly declare. I have surprised myself." He 
 now had " impudence for a dinner-party and within a week 
 he intended to be in Paris tp get one." Indeed the French 
 translation of Manfred " is' already packed up in my trunk " 
 and there it seems to have remained. (Raikes, private 
 correspondence, pp. 70 — 83). 
 
 In September 1840 Davies wrote to Raikes from the 
 Hotel d'Angleterre at Abbeville. His companion was a 
 volume of Burke, and he was on his way to St. Germain 
 where he intended " to pass four or five days before 
 taking an apartment in Paris." Meantime he purposed 
 visiting Dieppe for two or three days and then proceeding 
 to Rouen to gratify his tastes as a gourmet. " The table 
 d'hote at Rouen is admirable. There are objections to all 
 but fewer to that at Rouen than to any I ever knew." His 
 chief reason for this praise was not complimentary to his
 
 SCROPE BERDMORE DAVIES 121 
 
 nationality. " There are rarely any English to be seen 
 there." The second argument was more original. "As 
 Paris is France, so at this hotel the table d'hote is the 
 kitchen. Each and every dish at a private dinner is a 
 rechauffe. " So he invites Raikes to drop down the river 
 and rest for two or three days at Rouen. 
 
 Colley Grattan came across him again at Boulogne in 
 August 1849. His appearance was quite changed and for 
 the better. He looked spruce, " so neatly-dressed, so 
 gentlemanlike in air, so lively and fresh in conversation." 
 His dining-out days were past and gone. But he had ac- 
 quired an unfortunate habit. He had taken to walk in 
 his sleep and had on one occasion " awoke finding himself 
 on the banks of a river." A year or two later he had ven- 
 tured to cross to England. Hawtrey met him at Eton 
 probably in the autmn of 185 1 but would not have recog- 
 nised him " had he not mentioned his name." He seemed 
 quite broken down. 
 
 The home of Scrope Davies was then in Paris ; he was 
 lodging at No. 2 Rue Miromenil and living on £80 a 
 year. There he died suddenly, on 24 May 1852. He 
 left this world " obscurely, but not quite deserted, or with 
 any ignominious circumstances of discomfort." One old 
 friend, Hopkins Northey, was with him. He had been 
 one of that brilliant little set of Englishmen at Brussels 
 that so warmly welcomed the visits of Davies. 
 
 His slight expenditure in living is corroborated by the 
 chronicler of the Gentleman's Magazine. He had become 
 " economical, almost penurious, and is supposed to have 
 accumulated a large sum of money." Another popular 
 belief was that he possessed some curious documents re- 
 lating to lord Byron. None, however, could be found, 
 " nor the ring which the noble lord sent on his death -bed 
 by his valet Fletcher and upon which Davies placed much
 
 122 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 value." The money was a myth. When letters of ad- 
 ministration of his estate were granted on 2 September 
 1852 to his sister, Isabella Wood, a widow, the estate was 
 sworn at something less than £450. 
 
 Hawtrey penned the general verdict on the character; 
 of Scrope Davies. He was a " most agreeable and kind- 
 hearted person. I shall not soon forget the pleasant hours 
 I have passed with him." His fault seems to have been a 
 disposition to quarrel. 
 
 One or two anecdotes connected with his name still have 
 point. He it was that on the strength of his intimacy with 
 the testy sir Philip Francis once ventured to say, " sir 
 Philip, will you allow me to put a question to you? " The 
 answer was " at your peril, sir ; at your peril." Another 
 of his sayings had its origin in the dinners of the Whig 
 club at Cambridge which Byron used to attend. At one 
 
 of them the youth who became the duke of presided. 
 
 He rose to give the recognised toast of Whiggism. 
 " Gentlemen, I will give you the noble cause for which "■ 
 (turning aside to Hobhouse in a whisper, " which of them 
 died on the field? " but no answer ; so the orator con- 
 tinued) " Sydney died on the field and Hampden on the 
 scaffold." 
 
 Few, very few, now remember much of Scrope Davies. 
 Mr. Walter Sichel asserted that Mr. Henley had forgotten 
 that " the sir Berdmore Scrope in the first novel [Vivian 
 Grey ] and the sketch of lord Scrope in the second [Venetia ] 
 are patently derived from Byron's witty friend, Berdmore 
 Scrope Davies."- Another admirer of lord Beaconsfield 
 was even less fortunate. Disraeli, addressing one of the 
 Runnymede letters to the then sir John Cam Hobhouse says 
 that some words of his in a recent debate seemed " not so 
 much the inspiration of the moment as the reminiscence 
 of some of those quips and cranks of Matthews and Scrope
 
 SCROPE BERDMORE DAVIES 123 
 
 Davies of which you were the constant and often the un- 
 conscious victim." The learned commentator when re- 
 printing these addresses committed the indecency of pen- 
 ning to the first name the note " Charles Matthews, the 
 elder," and to the second " a little doctor who attends lady 
 Burdett." Shades of Charles Skinner Matthews and Scrope 
 Berdmore Davies 1 Would you not come back to earth 
 again on hearing of this insolent ignorance ?
 
 LORD WEBB SEYMOUR 
 
 A SWARM of young men of keen ambition and con- 
 spicuous talents settled in Edinburgh in the closing years 
 of the eighteenth century. The long French war debarred 
 them from visiting the countries of the continent, and the 
 absence of any liberality of thought in the dons drove them 
 from the colleges of the English universities. Parents 
 whose views in politics were not opposed to progress in 
 liberalism and who desired some expansion of sentiment 
 for their sons, looked outside their native country of 
 England for more congenial training for their offspring. 
 This was found in the capital of the North and the favourite 
 tutor for such youths was Dugald Stewart, a man of 
 philosophic mind and eloquent expression of speech. 
 Literature and science ruled the circles of life in Edin- 
 burgh at this time. Its citizens lived simple and frugal 
 lives. The love of display had not eaten into their 
 minds, and in intellectual activity they were certainly not 
 inferior to the residents in the more populous city on the 
 Thames. 
 
 Some of these young men, who were destined to high 
 position in subsequent life, lived under Stewart's roof and 
 came under the personal charm of his second wife, familiar 
 to us now as " Ivy." The future lords Palmerston and 
 Dudley were two of these favourites of fortune. Others 
 were his pupils although not living in his house, and the 
 list included the future marquess of Lansdowne, and the 
 statesman best known as lord John Russell. Stewart had 
 early in life been imbued with the doctrines of Adam Smith 
 and his successive visits to France, in 1783, 1788 and
 
 LORD WEBB SEYMOUR 125 
 
 1789, had admitted him to the society of such illustrious 
 Parisians as Turgot, Necker, D'Alembert, Helvetius and 
 Marmontel . He was far and away the best instructor within 
 the United Kingdom for studious youth. 
 
 Stewart's lectures on " political economy " revealed a 
 new world to the majority of the residents in Edinburgh. 
 They created a marked sensation and were attended by 
 many genuine enthusiasts in that science as well, it is said, 
 by a few opponents who hoped to entangle the professor in 
 his speech. Among the audience there sat side by side 
 young students passing through their college course and 
 matured members of the bar. To those names already 
 mentioned may be added such conspicuous personages as 
 Sydney Smith, Francis Horner, Henry Brougham, Henry 
 Cockburn and the historian of a later date, sir Archibald 
 Alison. One student attended two sessions of these lec- 
 tures and his name has attracted my attention for many 
 years. This was lord Webb Seymour, the friend of such 
 men as Sydney Smith, Francis Horner, Henry Hallam and 
 John Playfair, the geologist, but a man without any record 
 in our great national dictionary of biography. His name 
 and qualities slumbered without disturbance for long years 
 after his death. They were " made known to the world 
 for the first time in the life of Horner" (Gent. Mag., 
 1844, pt. I., 457) but after a flickering period of existence 
 passed once more into oblivion. They were revived in 
 the volume of " correspondence of two brothers " the 
 eleventh duke of Somerset and himself, which lady Helen 
 Guendolen Ramsden, a member of the family brought out 
 in 1906. This very interesting volume contained some 
 fresh information about this distinguished student but more 
 remains to be revealed. It is the aim of this memoir to 
 bring more plainly into light the career of a studious re- 
 cluse, whose thoughts were absorbed in vast schemes of
 
 126 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 intellectual and moral improvement, doomed never to be 
 fulfilled. 
 
 Lord Webb John Seymour— the second name was soon 
 dropped — inherited from his father, the I oth duke of 
 Somerset, the christian name of Webb which had been 
 brought into the family in 1716 by Mary Webb, a Wilt- 
 shire heiress, and the wife of the 8th duke. He was born 
 on the 7 February, 1777, and commenced his life -long 
 course of education at the local school of Ramsbury in 
 Wiltshire, kept at that time by the rev. Edward Meyrick, 
 who after being vicar of the parish from 1786 to .181 1 
 died on 31 January, 1830. On the 29 January, 1794, 
 when a few days short of the age of 1 7, he matriculated 
 from Christ Church, Oxford, where his elder brother had 
 preceded him just two years previously, and at once entered 
 into residence within the walls of that House. During 
 the next three years he passed most of his time at Oxford, 
 declining all invitations to social life and devoting his 
 energies to studies. That was the keynote of his whole 
 life. John Kidd, the mineralogist, was a student at the 
 house from 1 793 to 1797, and the similarity of their tastes 
 may have drawn them together and inspired him with a love 
 for natural science. On 15 December, 1797, Seymour was 
 created M.A. and left the university. 
 
 A glimpse of his life in the autumn of 1797 is given to 
 us in a letter which Anna Seward, the " swan of Lichfield "• 
 wrote on 21 Sept. when she was staying with some friends 
 at Dinbren, a house overlooking the vale of Llangollen . 
 She had paid a visit, probably on the preceding day, to the 
 two Irish-born " maids of Llangollen," at their cottage 
 of Plas Newydd, above that little town, and lord Webb 
 Seymour came at the same time to pay a call on those 
 mysterious creatures. He was making a pedestrian tour 
 into the Principality, and the two marked characteristics
 
 LORD WEBB SEYMOUR 127 
 
 of his after years " devotion to natural history and ex- 
 ploring spirit " had already taken possession of him. Un- 
 bounded eulogies were poured upon him by the gushing 
 Anna. His qualities " exalt him far above the level of 
 idle, sauntering young noblemen whom nothing can 
 stimulate to rational research or manly exertion, nor does 
 it less exalt him above the frantic train 
 
 " Who never think, 
 All morning hunt, all evening drink." 
 
 Webb was accompanied on this expedition by a 
 " scarcely less juvenile preceptor," Christopher Smyth, 
 who had taken his degree of B.A. from Christ Church in 
 1794, and was studying for the law at Lincoln's Inn. He 
 was already numbered among the Swan's correspondents 
 and had done her the service of translating into Latin her 
 poetical monody on the unfortunate Andre, a production 
 which gave her some fame in the literary world. With them 
 was a third person, " a Mr. Booth, whose landscapes are 
 said to be of matchless skill, though he is not professional, 
 but a clergyman. He has most obligingly offered me (says 
 Miss Seward) one of his fine drawings, with liberty to 
 make my own choice from his portfolios." This obliging 
 gentleman was no doubt the rev. R. S. Booth, whose land- 
 scapes were exhibited, according to the catalogue of Mr. 
 Algernon Graves, in the rooms of the Royal Academy from 
 1796 to 1807. 
 
 These three gentlemen dined and supped that night at 
 the house of the friends of Miss Seward, lingering in such 
 pleasant society until two in the morning. The hours were 
 beguiled by " the syren strains " of a lady of the company 
 and " the manly harmonies of her father's son^s." This 
 party of three, with the addition of Miss Seward and her 
 friends, were to drink tea " at the Arcadian cottage " of
 
 128 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 the maids on the next day, and the Swan again dwelt on 
 the pleasure with which she would select one of Mr. Booth's 
 pictures. She had determined to choose "a Cambrian 
 scene," which would remind her of " many natives of 
 Wales and some who have built their nest amid its rocks." 
 Possibly too she had in her mind the chance of producing 
 at some future date an illustrated edition of the poem on 
 " Llangollen vale," which she had brought out in 1796 
 and inscribed to its two illustrious maids " the peerless 
 Twain " (15^ rep. hist., MSS., pt. VII., MSS. of sir T. H. G. 
 Puleston, hart., p. 343.) 
 
 Some time in the last months of 1797 lord Webb settled 
 himself at Edinburgh with the intention of training him- 
 self in moral and physical philosophy. " A stranger came 
 among us while these men " the chief lawyers that Scot- 
 land had produced, the thinkers who were soon to estab- 
 lish the Edinburgh Review, and such men as Walter Scott 
 and Leyden " were still here." Such are the words with 
 which Henry Cockburn introduces to us lord Webb 
 Seymour on his joining the eminent band of Scotch en- 
 thusiasts in that city. " He had left his own country and 
 renounced all the ordinary uses of rank and fortune for 
 study," and in Scotland he was destined to abide for the 
 greater part of his life, even from that time onwards until 
 his premature death . In that country were the books that 
 he loved and the literary friends whose society he delighted 
 in, by whom he was " respected and beloved. Slow, 
 thoughtful, reserved and very gentle, he promoted the 
 philosophical task even of Horner and enjoyed quietly 
 the jocularity of Sydney Smith and tried gravely to refute 
 the argumentative levities of Jeffrey." 
 
 Webb Seymour was not long in this delightful capital 
 before he joined some of the learned societies that 
 flourished in its midst. A few of the members of the
 
 LORD WEBB SEYMOUR 129 
 
 "Literary society" formed themselves in 1797 into a more 
 select association of thinkers and gave themselves the 
 grand title of the " Academy of physics." The object of 
 the association was the investigation of nature and they 
 proposed to themselves the especial study of the " laws 
 by which her phenomena are regulated and the history of 
 opinions concerning these laws." Brougham, Leyden and 
 Thomas Brown, the metaphysician, were among its 
 starters : Seymour, Horner and Jeffrey were numbered in 
 the ranks of its first recruits . The society proceeded for some 
 time with great spirit, its last -recorded' meeting being on 
 1 May 1800, when Seymour and Brougham were present. 
 From those societies are said to have proceeded the literary 
 and scientific associations which made possible the starting 
 of the Edinburgh Review, and Seymour attended some of the 
 consultations which ended in its starting. 
 
 On 28 January 1 799 Seymour was elected a member of 
 the " Royal Society of Edinburgh," and he was counsellor of 
 its physical class in Nov. 181 5, 18 16 and 18 17. About 
 1800 the " Chemical Society" was projected by Brougham, 
 when doctor John Thomson, and Horner and Seymour, 
 naturally joined it. The " Friday club " was the suggestion 
 of Walter Scott in 1803. It was a weekly meeting for supper 
 and conversation of the chief literary persons in Edinburgh 
 who had the instincts of social life. At the time of its 
 formation lord Webb was in England and Horner was in- 
 structed by Jeffrey in August of that year to inform him 
 of the new society and suggest that he should apply for 
 membership. The application was promptly made and in 
 1 804 the society was enriched by the addition of his name. 
 To the more famous " Speculative society of Edinburgh," 
 which was crowded with his friends and associates, I note 
 with some surprise, that he does not seem to have belonged . 
 
 These societies were in Edinburgh, but Seymour was 
 
 F.G. k
 
 130 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 also a member of several of London's leading bodies in 
 science. He was elected " by virtue of the privilege 
 granted by the charter to the peerage " a Fellow of the 
 " Royal Society" on n Nov. 1802, Lord Castlereagh receiv- 
 ing like honour on the same day, and his name appears on 
 the first printed list to 3 June 1808 of the fellows of the 
 " Geological society," the institution having been founded on 
 the 13 Nov. previously. When he desired to become a 
 Fellow of the " Linnean society " he was recommended 
 (19 Dec. 1797) for election " as a practical botanist and 
 mineralogist and as likely to prove a valuable member " 
 by such well-known men of science as William Wood, sir 
 Christopher Pegge, A. B. Lambert, W. G. Maton and 
 Charles Hatchett. 
 
 Henry Mackenzie, the author of the Man of Feeling, but 
 no " lily-handed " sentimentalist he, rather " a great 
 broad-shouldered genial " Scotchman, was the Nestor of 
 its literature at this period. His fame had its birth thirty 
 years before and he who had been an intimate friend of 
 David Hume and the other celebrities of about 1770 lived 
 to witness the rising glow and the sunset of Scott's fortunes. 
 His house was the resort of the best society, that which Mrs. 
 Grant of Laggan defines as the concourse of " people of 
 fashion with cultivated minds." This was the expression 
 which she used in a letter to Catherine Fanshawe, a dis- 
 tinguished representative among women of that class in 
 life, and at the head of the list she places the name of lord 
 Webb Seymour. 
 
 When Francis Horner, the young Marcellus of the 
 English whigs, returned to Edinburgh in the autumn of 
 1 797, he at once resumed the studies in which he delighted. 
 The study of equity he shared with Brougham ; in meta- 
 physics and political economy he read with Seymour. 
 Horner and Seymour kept diaries which have been printed
 
 LORD WEBB SEYMOUR 131 
 
 and we are able to follow their courses. They discussed 
 after each of Dugald Stewart's lectures, " the different 
 arguments or topics which it comprehended." They pro- 
 jected a joint-stock translation of Turgot's political and 
 philosophical writings and Seymour was to share in the 
 literary labour. On many occasions they read together 
 and analysed the works of Bacon. Horner, in his diary 
 for February 1799 supplies us with an analysis of his 
 friend's character. He did not possess a genius of high 
 order, but he was consumed by " an ardent passion for 
 knowledge and improvement." There was engrained in 
 him the habit of study " intense almost to plodding," and 
 it was combined with " a mild, timid, reserved disposition." 
 Three years later this estimate was strengthened and 
 deepened. Seymour was then pronounced " very slow in 
 apprehension, partly from ... a want of energy, or at 
 least imagination, partly too from principle and voluntary 
 habit ; but then he possesses, in an eminent degree, the 
 truly philosophic qualities of scrupulous caution, uncon- 
 querable patience, unclouded candour." The vision of 
 their future lives then rises before the eyes of the young 
 critic. Seymour's will be passed in " speculative labour 
 and scientific accumulation ; " his own is to be swallowed 
 up " in the passing ephemeral details of professional 
 activity." 
 
 Horner shared with John Playfair the distinction of 
 being Seymour's " particular friends," but it was for the 
 sake of the latter's society, a fellow-enthusiast in devotion 
 to geology and mathematics, that life at Edinburgh was 
 decided upon. They used to be called husband and wife 
 and " in congeniality and affection " says Henry Cockburn, 
 no union could have been more complete. Before he knew 
 this pair of friends he used to envy " their walks in the 
 neighbourhood of Edinburgh, and their scientific excur- 
 
 K 2
 
 132 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 sions to the recesses of the Highland glens and the summits 
 of the Highland mountains. Two men more amiable, more 
 philosophical and more agreeable there could not be." For 
 the study of the growing science of geology, then but a 
 child in years, Seymour made constant excursions into the 
 most fascinating districts of our national scenery. In the 
 middle of 1 799 Horner and he made an excursion of 
 twelve days to the Western Highlands, and Horner kept 
 in a special book a journal of their proceedings. Where 
 is that journal now ? 
 
 Playfair and Seymour travelled in Cornwall in 1 799 and 
 inspected a mine near Redruth, called Toll Carne. A long 
 account of the travels made by Seymour in the summer of 
 1 800 is printed in lady Ramsden's " correspondence of two 
 brothers." Playfair and a third devotee to geology, were 
 with him at the start. They departed from Edinburgh on the 
 1 4th of July, and after a visit to the three ruined abbeys of 
 Melrose, Dryburgh and Jedburgh made a detailed investi- 
 gation of the internal attractions of Naworth, heard the 
 roaring of the waters at the invisible bottom of the deep 
 ravine by which that castle stands, and admired the vener- 
 able oaks which harmonised with its sombre exterior. 
 
 After an inspection of Corby castle the party proceeded 
 to the lakes, and with Gray's epithets in their minds made 
 the proper observations on the charming prospects as yet 
 undestroyed by crowds of tourists. Seymour even spent 
 a night in the ascent of Skiddaw, leaving Keswick at 1 in 
 the morning, arriving at the mountain's topmost peak at 
 \ before 4, and staying there for an hour. In the " charms 
 of the varying prospect," he forgot, while descending, his 
 fatigue, and after breakfast went " to Hutton's Museum," 
 where the collection of minerals was " tolerable." A day 
 or two earlier he had looked at Crosthwaite's Museum at 
 Keswick, and he wrote favourably of the collection. " There
 
 LORD WEBB SEYMOUR 133 
 
 are several things in it really curious. The skeleton of a 
 Buffalo's head dug out of a moss near Keswick measures 
 2 feet 5 inches in length. Was this enormous animal the 
 Urus of Caesar ? " 
 
 The Lakes had not yet become associated in the minds of 
 men with the leading English poets of the day, but the 
 strangers became acquainted with their chief celebrities. 
 One of them was a " singular character " called Crichton 
 of Coniston. This man, a small farmer, cultivating the 
 soil with his own hands, " knew something of mathematics 
 and of mineralogy," and had speculated " on subjects 
 which seldom trouble the thoughts of men in his rank of 
 life," but he lived among men inferior to himself and was 
 consumed with the vain thought that he knew everything. 
 Hence it was that he fell into the mistake of explaining 
 with " formal gravity " to his betters in knowledge the 
 operation of volcanoes and the effects of the deluge. He 
 amused Seymour with the observation that " Todhunter, 
 who has a collection of curiosities at Kendal, was an 
 industrious little man, but the worst of him was he wanted 
 genius and was but a poor scholar." Some future historian 
 of the associations of the Lakes might tell us something 
 about such men as these. It is probable that their collec- 
 tions formed the nucleus of the museums now existing at 
 Kendal and Keswick. 
 
 When this little band of geological enthusiasts dined at 
 Colgarth with Watson, the bishop of Llandaff, they made 
 the acquaintance of a more distinguished resident. " He 
 was in high spirits and said many good things." His 
 guests encouraged him, for they were of his way of thinking 
 in politics and theology. So the bishop opened his mind 
 to them and expressed his views on a variety of topics 
 " with a liberality of sentiment that does him the highest 
 honour." Unfortunately he was not content to dwell on
 
 134 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 subjects which he had plumbed the depths of. He must needs 
 discourse on geology, when " he showed himself totally igno- 
 rant of all the late discoveries and doctrines on the subject." 
 His guests were sorry for him and could not but smile. 
 
 The three friends passed, ever lingering by the way, 
 through the dales of Yorkshire, " and over some tedious 
 hills " to Derbyshire. In exploring the beauties of that 
 county many days were passed and on three separate oc- 
 casions they examined the collections of White Watson at 
 Bakewell. He was a geologist of a different type, a scien- 
 tific student who might have found a place in the Dictionary 
 of National Biography. Webb Seymour puts on record 
 the pleasure of the party " with the clearness of Watson's 
 explanation and the candour with which he discussed geo- 
 logical topics." An account of this collection is given 
 under Bakewell in the Beauties of England and Wales. 
 Watson's house was on the site of the ancient bath and his 
 collection of fossils " attracted many visitors from Buxton 
 and Matlock during the summer season." The curiosities 
 were chiefly in mineralogy. One section contained 1350 
 specimens relating to the county ; a second consisted of 
 fossils arranged and described after the system of Werner ; 
 the third related to those minerals which are employed in 
 the arts and manufactures. Besides these divisions, Watson 
 owned many curious antiquities that had been found in the 
 county. His collections are said by Dr. Murray to be 
 contained in Bingham's Museum, in Bath Street, Bakewell. 
 
 The little party now diverged to Alderley " where we 
 found Mr. Stanley eager to see his friend Playfair," and 
 in that pleasant abode they lingered for several days . They 
 inspected the drawings made during the voyage of sir John 
 Thomas Stanley to Iceland in 1791. With him and his 
 family they descended a salt -pit at Northwich. His wife, 
 the vivacious Maria Josepha Stanley, daughter of Gibbon's
 
 LORD WEBB SEYMOUR 135 
 
 friend, the first lord Sheffield, remarked of Webb Seymour 
 that she " never met a more pleasing young man, in regard 
 to the universal knowledge he had acquired and the total 
 absence of conceit." Her husband renewed the acquain- 
 tance at Bath in the summer of 1804, and revived these 
 favourable impressions of his character. " The more I 
 have sounded Seymour's mind," says this Cheshire baronet 
 " the richer I have found it and strong on almost every 
 subject we have touched upon. Every branch of philosophy, 
 science, belles-lettres or taste, has dropped some of its fruit 
 for him. He kept up the conversation with as much ease 
 as I heard him converse on mineralogy at Alderley. If 
 his principles of conduct, moral sense and temper corre- 
 spond with what I have seen, and we should meet again, 
 from acquaintance we must become friends." {Early Married 
 life of M. J. Stanley, pp. 202—3, 273—4.) 
 
 The party now separated . Playfair returned to Scotland . 
 Seymour crossed country to West Bromwich to pay a visit 
 to Hallam, the historian, his contemporary in years and his 
 fellow undergraduate at Christ Church, and with him to 
 inspect some of the manufactories in the district. His 
 travels were not yet over. He spent some days with his 
 brother at his home of Farley, in Wiltshire, rode over to 
 Bowood to enjoy the conversation of lord Henry Petty, and 
 after a leisurely tour round the Isle of Wight returned to his 
 mother's house at Lymington. Here he read some of the 
 volumes of William Gilpin on English Scenery, allowed him 
 great taste but very little philosophical spirit, and went to 
 see the old parson, now aged yy, at his house of Vicars Hill 
 in his secluded parish of Boldre. His age precluded Seymour 
 from the discussion of any controversial topics, but he noted 
 that Gilpin's manners were " easy and polite." 
 
 The society at Lymington proved attractive to Seymour. 
 Here he met Arthur Phillip, founder of the convict
 
 136 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 assembly at Botany Bay and derived much information 
 from him not only on the colony of New South Wales 
 but also on the Brazils " where he passed four years as an 
 engineer in the service of Portugal." Colonel Mitford, 
 the author of the Tory history of Greece, lived at Exbury, 
 within a few miles of Lymington, and Seymour passed a 
 day with him. He notes with some surprise that neither 
 the Colonel's manners nor conversation would lead you to 
 accuse him of being a classical scholar and a historian of 
 reputation. He resembled a plain, good country gentleman. 
 "Not a single trait or expression indicated either brilliancy 
 of genius, or extensive reading or philosophical excursion." 
 
 When Sydney Smith arrived at Edinburgh in June 1 798 
 as bear -leader of Michael Beach, grandfather of the present 
 lord St. Aldwyn, not many days passed away before tutor 
 and pupil were introduced to the band of students sitting 
 at the feet of Dugald Stewart, and among them to Webb 
 Seymour. The religious set in unison with the English 
 church worshipped at Charlotte chapel, Rose Street, of 
 which Archibald Alison, the preacher of elegant discourses, 
 was the minister. Sydney Smith was often allowed to 
 occupy the pulpit and his more direct oratory proved an 
 agreeable change from the polished sentences of the in- 
 cumbent. Six of the visitor's sermons were published in 
 1800, in a small volume now very scarce, which was 
 dedicated to Seymour in the simple words of honest ad- 
 miration, twice -blessed, for giver and receiver : 
 
 " My Lord, — I dedicate these few Sermons to you, as a slight token 
 of my great regard and respect, because I know no man who, in spite 
 of the disadvantages of high birth, lives to more honourable and 
 commendable purposes than yourself, 
 I am, 
 
 My Lord, 
 
 Your most sincere well-wisher, 
 
 Sydney Smith.
 
 LORD WEBB SEYMOUR 137 
 
 When they were republished, with eight other sermons 
 by him in two volumes in 1801, the second edition was 
 dedicated to Seymour "with the same sentiments of regard 
 and respect with which I offered you the first." These were 
 Sydney's serious expressions of his views. A few months 
 later he wrote to Jeffrey in the jocular words " remember 
 me to the aged Horner and the more aged Seymour. I 
 love these sages well." 
 
 Marc Auguste Pictet, a savant of Geneva, who became first 
 the pupil, and afterwards the companion in travel, of 
 Saussure, visited Edinburgh in July 1801 with the object of 
 seeing Dugald Stewart. Much to Pictet's chagrin he was 
 absent from the city. The visitor then betook himself to 
 the house of Sir James Hall, a scientific enthusiast, and met 
 him in the street, searching for the Swiss stranger. Lord 
 Webb Seymour " jeune homme tres instruit " was with 
 Hall and during Pictet's stay at Edinburgh they did every- 
 thing they could for him. " On n'a jamais pousse plus loin 
 la prevenance, la complaisance, le devouement a ses amis, 
 qu'ils ne Ton fait ici pour nous, l'un et l'autre." When 
 Pictet was compelled to take leave of Hall there came to his 
 rescue lord Webb, his fellow guest at Hall's " chateau de 
 Dunglass," who introduced him to the curiosities, and to the 
 leading citizens in literature and science, of the Northern 
 Athens. Pictet made grateful acknowledgment of this 
 kindness in the work descriptive of his travels for three 
 months in the United Kingdom. 
 
 The years that followed were mainly passed by Seymour 
 either in social life with the best minds in London or Edin- 
 burgh or in country excursions with his sympathetic friends. 
 Hallam wrote to him from the King's Bench Walk in May 
 of 1802 suggesting that part of the autumn might be lounged 
 away at some of the watering-places with which south-west 
 England is stocked. The specific proposal was that they
 
 138 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 should make " a tour along the coast, from the Isle of Wight 
 to Mt. Edgcumbe." John Playfair was the chief companion 
 in his geological excursions. When that scientific explorer 
 published in 1802 his " illustrations of the Huttonian 
 theory," the first volume (p. 219 et seq.) commemorated their 
 travels in England and the assistance in the prosecution of 
 his studies which he had received from Seymour. To- 
 gether they had made scientific excursions from Torbay 
 round the coast to Banffshire, at the foot of the high 
 mountain of Ingleborough of Yorkshire, and round the 
 Lakes of Cumberland. Together they examined the 
 mineralogy of the country between Fort-Augustus and 
 Inverness, and their joint observations were communicated 
 to Robert Jameson and inserted by him in the second 
 volume (pp. 181 — 4) of his Mineralogy of the Scottish isles. 
 
 The names of Playfair and Seymour are inseparably con- 
 nected with the Huttonian theory of the earth's formation. 
 Two volumes on the subject were published by Hutton in 
 1795 ; a third "nearly ready for the press" remained in 
 MS. This came to Playfair, his friend and biographer, by 
 whom it was given to lord Webb. At his death it came to 
 his brother and was given by him to Leonard Horner, who 
 on 30 November 1856 presented it to the Geological Society 
 for preservation in its library. In 1899 a portion of it was 
 published under the editorial care of Sir Archibald Geikie. 
 
 Playfair and Seymour, the inseparables, made a very 
 delightful excursion together during the autumn months 
 of 1807. They spent a fortnight in examining Glen Tilt, 
 about 10 miles above Blair of Atholl, when the duke 
 allowed them to dwell at Forest Lodge for several days. 
 Seymour, moreover returned to it by himself for a short time 
 in 1808. The result of these investigations was " an ac- 
 count of observations made by lord Webb Seymour and 
 professor Playfair upon some geological appearances in
 
 LORD WEBB SEYMOUR 139 
 
 Glen Tilt and the adjacent country. Drawn up by lord 
 Webb Seymour " which was read before the royal society 
 of Edinburgh on 1 6 May 1814, published in the seventh 
 volume of its transactions, pp. 303 — 77, and printed 
 separately in 1 8 1 5 . 
 
 In this paper Seymour supports his theories by the ap- 
 pearances of the rocks " on the Malvern hills, in the cut 
 made by the road to Ledbury," which has long been known 
 as the Wyche. These studies engrossed his time. For 
 their sake he put on one side the alluring opportunities of 
 pleasure which were offered to him in the houses of his 
 equals in life. Not without a qualm perhaps was the 
 sacrifice made, but made it was. The caustic lady Holland 
 dissects in her journal the characters of Webb and his 
 brother. Webb is dismissed with the words " a great 
 mathematician and man of science." He would not come 
 to meet the Hollands at Saltram, preferring to solve " an 
 abstract problem with Mr. Playfair, which had occupied 
 him for some days." 
 
 One break did occur in this life of ardent study. This 
 was in 1803 when the fear of an invasion of our land by 
 the towering military genius of Napoleon seized on the 
 minds, timid and courageous alike, of most Englishmen. 
 Companies of volunteers were raised all over the country 
 and one was composed of the sturdy yeomen near Dart- 
 moor. The command was given to Seymour as the second 
 member in position of one of the leading families of Devon, 
 and he zealously carried out the duties of the position. 
 From August 1803 until early in 1805 he dwelt in a small 
 house of his choice at Torquay, drilling and redrilling the 
 recruits who came under his command, but still stealing 
 a few leisure moments for his philosophical pursuits. Here, 
 too, he strengthened his own physical power in exploring 
 the natural beauties and the geological formation around
 
 140 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 the slopes of Torquay. His exertions in science at Edin- 
 burgh had overstrained him but he was soon restored to 
 his beloved pursuits with zeal augmented by the necessity 
 for temporarily abandoning them. 
 
 Seymour had rooms in the Albany and in 1807 allowed 
 his old friend Horner to occupy them. In the autumn of 
 1808 he made a new acquaintance in the person of Miss 
 Berry. They met at Bothwell Castle where Seymour joined 
 in the amusements of the hour with unflagging zest. He 
 danced, performed conjuring tricks and played the fool 
 better than any of them. He was pronounced a " charm- 
 ing creature," and Miss Berry revelled in the fun. There 
 was, however, another side to the mirror. " Only if he 
 would not so doat upon disquisition ! upon mental dis- 
 sections, and above all upon accounting for everything 
 which it is only necessary to feel and feel he does on all 
 the great subjects of politics, taste, etc., exactly as he 
 ought." 
 
 This friendship was renewed in London in the summer 
 of 1809, and when Seymour left town on 10 July, Miss 
 Berry recorded in her diary that " his going is a loss. He 
 is rational and conversable, a lively fresh mind, and in 
 short very unlike other people." He left London for a 
 sojourn at the seaside at Worthing and within a week he 
 sends her a long letter on its surroundings. He had 
 recently spent some time by " the cliffs and the olive 
 groves and the mountains of Nice," but the recollection of 
 the Riviera did not debar him from enjoying the pleasures 
 of the coast of Sussex. He was " feeding on the purest 
 air and on pleasing dreams, inspired by the sea-breeze and 
 the murmur of the surge." The charms of the Mediter- 
 ranean could not blind him to the beauty " of the seas that 
 we have had within these few days, just ruffled by a gentle 
 breeze and reflecting the brightest azure of our climate."
 
 LORD WEBB SEYMOUR 141 
 
 A strange incident is recorded by Ward, afterwards lord 
 Dudley, in his letters to Ivy. He had gone to Worthing 
 to pay a visit to his parents, and on arriving at the inn in 
 the evening he was shown into a room in which he could 
 dine, although it belonged to another gentleman. While 
 dinner was preparing he examined some books on the 
 chimney-piece which were the property of this unknown 
 stranger. The first that he opened was the Edinburgh 
 Review. "The next, a small pocket volume, the Novum 
 organum:" He enquired the name of the visitor owning 
 " this light summer reading at a watering-place, and was 
 infinitely amused when I discovered it was my old acquain- 
 tance, lord Webb. If such are his recreations, what must 
 his serious studies be ! " 
 
 A week or two later Seymour was in town. He was off 
 to Scotland (18 Sept. 1809) and he bade farewell to Miss 
 Berry. She responded to his regret at departure. "He 
 parted with us kindly, almost affectionately. How my 
 heart thanks anybody for this sentiment and how much 
 more from one so distinguished by his intelligence and 
 amiable simplicity of manners." Two years after this 
 Webb, in conversation with Playfair suggested that the 
 manners of some age distinguished in the history of our 
 country would make a good subject " for Miss Berry to 
 study and describe." A similar remark made direct to her 
 probably prompted her volumes on the " Social life of 
 England and France " from the return of the Stuarts to 
 England in 1660 to the exile of the Bourbons of France 
 in 1830. He discussed with her for some hours in 18 13 
 " her work upon the manners of France and England." 
 
 Seymour cemented his union with Scotland by the pur- 
 chase in 1 8 1 o of a small property, about 60 English acres, 
 called Glenarbach, situate within a few miles of Glasgow, 
 on the Clyde. The house lay embosomed in woods on a
 
 i 4 2 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 slope between the foot of the ravine of that name and the 
 river, the waters of which almost washed his garden. The 
 details of his generous treatment of a poor graduate, begun 
 during his residence at Glenarbach, and continued through- 
 out his life, and of the ill-return which he received, are set 
 out in "Archibald Constable and his correspondents" II., 
 
 44—5- 
 
 This delightful place he kept for four years, when he 
 
 sold the estate at a trifling loss to a merchant of Glasgow 
 and leased from sir Thomas Carmichael the small but com- 
 fortable house of Hailes in pretty country about four miles 
 to the south-west of Edinburgh. In this agreeable neigh- 
 bourhood, within a reasonable distance of the city that he 
 loved, he lived for the rest of his life. 
 
 The eldest daughter of the first earl of Minto wrote in 
 1809 — 10 a letter to her father, then in India, describing 
 the ascendancy of Jeffrey over the society of Edinburgh. 
 Crabbe had just published a new volume, full, says the lady, 
 " of horrors of all kinds which Jeffrey chooses to admire," 
 and he was " very proud of himself because he has bullied 
 us all " into concealing the natural dislike of such produc- 
 tions. The first name which comes to her pen as hushed 
 into quiet was that of lord Webb, " the gentle and the 
 wise." Henry Cockburn dwells on the good nature with 
 which he resisted the attacks of Jeffrey. He even endured 
 some onslaughts on his " most cherished doctrines," and 
 some reckless laughter " at his grand philosophical de- 
 signs." But no one, not even the editor of the Edinburgh 
 Review, could escape from the spell of Seymour's char- 
 acter. " The very people in the streets reverenced the 
 thoughtful air and countenance of the English nobleman 
 who honoured the place by making it his home." 
 
 Macaulay in describing the triumphant progress of 
 William of Orange to Westminster in December i(
 
 LORD WEBB SEYMOUR 143 
 
 mentions that he retired for a day or two from the little 
 town of Hungerford to " Littlecote Hall, a manor house 
 situated about two miles off, and renowned down to our own 
 times, not more on account of its venerable architecture 
 and furniture than on account of a horrible and mysterious 
 crime which was perpetrated there in the days of the 
 Tudors," and for this tragedy refers the reader to " a very 
 interesting note on the fifth canto of sir Walter Scott's 
 Rokeby." 
 
 The crime was that attributed to " Wild " Darell, and 
 the legend ran that he threw a newly-born child into 
 the fire and when detected of the murder escaped, 
 with the assistance of sir John Popham, the judge, 
 to whom the estate of Littlecote afterwards passed, the 
 terrors of the law, but only to break his neck out hunting 
 a few months afterwards. The note was introduced by 
 Scott in the original edition of Rokeby as " by a friend, 
 whose account I will not do the injustice to abridge as it 
 contains an admirable picture of an old English hall." 
 Scott informed Mrs. Hughes of Uffington, that the author of 
 the note was lord Webb Seymour, and in later editions his 
 name was given to it. It was reproduced in the Beauties 
 of England and Wales by Britton and Brayley, summarised 
 in Murray's Handbook to Wiltshire, and repeated in speech 
 and in print for many a year. The legend was, however, 
 analysed in 1888 in Mr. Hubert Hall's Society in the 
 Elizabethan age, and through his investigations stripped 
 of its romance, Wild Darell being freed from the charge 
 of murder. 
 
 This was the only piece of composition by Seymour 
 that passed under the eye of the average reader, the 
 literary counterpart of the man in the street. But he 
 wrote, in addition to his account of Glen Tilt, a second 
 paper in the transactions of a scientific body. As a member
 
 144 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 of the Geological Society he presented it on 5 November 
 1 8 1 3 with an instrument for determining the position of 
 the plane of stratification, which is known as a clinometer. 
 His description of it was read before the learned members 
 of that body on 20 May 18 14, and duly printed in the 
 third volume of its transactions, pp. 385 — 91. He left 
 behind him a " considerable quantity of notes " on that 
 enormous subject, the Philosophy of the Human Mind, but 
 they were found too disconnected for publication. 
 
 Seymour's zeal for the interests of his friends never 
 nagged. When Thomas Brown was a candidate about 
 1800 for the chair of Rhetoric at the university of Edin- 
 burgh, no brother could have done more to advance his 
 interests " in personal applications, in letters, in fatigue, 
 in anxiety." Thomas Campbell in Feb. 1805 enumerated 
 to his sister his friends in high life, and gave a place 
 among them to lord Webb Seymour, " who once interested 
 himself to get me a small employment and failed." He 
 furnished Uvedale Price, the well-known writer on the 
 picturesque, with general advice and with criticisms in 
 detail which the recipient thoroughly appreciated. The 
 post of professor of anatomy to the Royal academy became 
 vacant in November 1808, and Charles Bell was a candi- 
 date for it. Seymour interested himself on his behalf and 
 appealed to Miss Berry for further support. 
 
 When William Allen, the quaker philanthropist, was in 
 Edinburgh in September 18 14 with some friends of like 
 views, endeavouring to raise the sum of £10,000 by sub- 
 scriptions of £100 a-piece to free the British and Foreign 
 school society from the debt which weighed upon it, they 
 were taken by Seymour to see the sights of the city and 
 he put his name down for one of the required subscriptions. 
 In the summer of 1 8 1 7 Washington Irving met him at the 
 house of Jeffrey. He entered into the visitor's plan, wrote
 
 LORD WEBB SEYiMOUR 145 
 
 down a route for him in the Highlands, and afterwards 
 called upon him in his rooms to supply any further par- 
 ticulars that might be necessary. Irving was delighted with 
 his new acquaintance and promised to renew their inter- 
 course on his return journey, "which promise I shall keep 
 as I like him much." 
 
 Many of his friends in the Scotch capital had at one 
 time anticipated a long life for Webb Seymour. They 
 knew the strength of his constitution in early manhood and 
 did not foresee the long decline which slowly undermined 
 his frame. About 18 10 his digestive organs began to fail 
 and in Oct. 181 3 it was noticed that although he looked 
 well he " neither eats nor drinks."- He gradually crumbled 
 away, and languor stole over his mind and body. His 
 last visit to England was in the winter of 1 8 1 6 which he 
 spent at 6 Cleveland Row, in London. It was then that 
 Canova mentioned to him Waterloo Bridge as " one of the 
 two finest things he had seen in England." 
 
 By the spring of 1819 there was no vigour left in him. 
 Each day he was carried out into the garden in a 
 sedan chair so that he might enjoy a few hours of fresh 
 air, but that was all that could be done for him. His 
 friends shrank from alarming him and he did not realize 
 his own danger. About the middle of April 1819 his 
 brother hastened to his side but the sands of the invalid's 
 life had all but ceased to run. He died on 19 April 
 1819, and five days later was buried in the chapel 
 of Holy Rood House. The duke was chief mourner. 
 The pall - bearers, the dead man's oldest friends, were 
 Playfair, though the day was bad and he himself was at 
 the point of death, sir James Hall, James Mackenzie, 
 Jeffrey, Cranstoun, Leonard Horner, Captain Hall and 
 another, with twenty more in mourning coaches and Alison 
 as the officiating clergyman. Letters of administration to 
 
 f.g. '-
 
 146 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 his estate, which was sworn under £50,000, were granted 
 to his brother on 27 June 1820. 
 
 A great mortality fastened on these Edinburgh friends 
 about this time. Francis Horner, the sedate and grave 
 politician, and Henry Erskine, the witty and eloquent law- 
 yer, both died in 1817 ; Dr. John Gordon, its leading 
 physician was struck down " in the prime of manhood and 
 the full vigour of talents and ability " (Gent. Mag., 1818, 
 pt. II., 89) in the following year, and Webb Seymour 
 with his bosom friend, Playfair in 18 19. These deaths 
 " clouded " the city. The true monuments of such men 
 " were in the hearts of their surviving friends, who to this 
 hour [1856] solve any doubt about science or life, by 
 recollecting what those men would have thought of it " 
 (Henry Cockburn, Memorials, p. 359). "Poor Seymour!" 
 writes Sydney Smith " every day thins the ranks of our old 
 friends. Those who remain must take closer order." 
 
 Seymour's life was one long intellectual training for 
 enterprises never accomplished. His days passed away in 
 the contemplation of " schemes noble to be formed but too 
 immense to be seriously attempted," and all dignified by 
 the purity of his character and the benevolence of his dis- 
 position. The slowness and vastness of his preparations 
 afforded much quiet amusement to his friends and he him- 
 self was conscious of them. I, he cried, " I, in retirement 
 am endeavouring to work out the distant good of man- 
 kind. Leave me exempt from the casualties of human life 
 and I am almost secure of my object." No, no, was the 
 answer of Henry Cockburn. Such an exemption would 
 not have brought the cautious Seymour to any definite 
 result. " Immortality itself would only have lengthened 
 his preparation." 
 
 For the world at large the names of Horner and Webb 
 Seymour soon passed into oblivion. Year after year passed
 
 LORD WEBB SEYMOUR 147 
 
 away without the publication of any record of their lives. 
 The duke of Somerset asked Thomas Brown to prepare an 
 account of his brother's life, but that metaphysician's health 
 and the variety of works which he had in contemplation did 
 not permit him to undertake the duty. At last a chronicler 
 arose for each of them. Leonard Horner, a man of con- 
 siderable distinction in more than one section of life pub- 
 lished in 1843 a memoir of his brother. It contained a 
 selection of the letters which had passed between Francis 
 Horner and his zealous friend, Seymour, and many of them 
 from their breadth of view and honesty of advice raised 
 the latter's character even in the minds of the surviving 
 friends who had grown up with him at Edinburgh. 
 
 Hallam had enjoyed Seymour's friendship through life 
 and possessed twenty or thirty of his letters " very illus- 
 trative of his character." At Leonard Horner's request 
 he drew up a " beautiful, affectionate and just " memoir 
 of his friend and at his own suggestion it was inserted in 
 an appendix to the first volume of Francis Horner's life. 
 By this notice the name of lord Webb Seymour was, to use 
 the sympathetic language of the Quarterly Review for 
 May 1843, " first made known to the general reader," and 
 restored to the memory of his friends. After an interval 
 of twenty-four years Dugald Stewart's daughter seemed to 
 hear his voice again . She, who like many others had come 
 under his " moral tuition," revelled in contemplating the 
 delightful picture of him " and his docile but very superior 
 pupil." Horner and Seymour differed slightly in political 
 sentiment towards the end of their days. But they had 
 one conspicuous characteristic. Each of them died with- 
 out an enemy. 
 
 A portrait of Seymour was made by John Henning in 
 1807, and a drawing of it was placed by Horner on the 
 wall of his chambers in the Temple, where it gave him " a 
 
 1. z
 
 148 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 shadow of company at breakfast," and by recalling many 
 of the most valuable hours of his life rendered him calmer 
 for the contemplation of the troubles of everyday life. A 
 reproduction of it by Samuel Williams faces the appendix 
 in the life of Horner. Seymour's bust by sir Francis 
 Chantrey is in the possession of lady Guendolen Ramsden 
 at Bulstrode. Illustrations of it will be found in her volume 
 on Seymour and his brother, 1906, and in Mr. H. St. 
 Maur's annals of the Seymours, 1902.
 
 LYDIA WHITE. 
 
 The literary salons of the London ladies attained their 
 highest fame in the reign of the third George. A marked 
 advance in the position of women was visible during the 
 closing years of the eighteenth century. This was in the 
 main due to the fact that parents had begun to think them 
 capable of discharging other duties in life than those 
 which were limited by household management, and that 
 considerable improvements had consequently been made 
 in their education. New ideas on their rights and their 
 characters were in the air and Mary Wollstonecraft gave 
 expression to them. Woman had shown that she could 
 vie with man in the realms of fiction. She was beginning 
 to excel in poetry and to gain applause in the description 
 of travel or in the regions of critical essay. 
 
 The first and the best -known of these salons was that 
 of Mrs. Montagu. A lady of great wealth and literary 
 enthusiasm, her education had been guided by the know- 
 ledge and counsels of one of the chief classical scholars 
 of England. She entertained the philosophers and fashion- 
 ables of London for fifty years. Her home was at first 
 in Hill Street, Mayfair, but afterwards she dwelt at 
 Montagu House, the stately mansion at the north - west 
 corner of Portman Square. Dr. Johnson was always .1 
 figure of suspicion at her gatherings and towards the cl< 
 of his days the link which bound together her guests was 
 undying hatred of the sage. 
 
 The parties of this great dame were rivalled by tho e 
 of Mrs. Vesey, the wife of Johnson's Irish friend. She
 
 150 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 was at home on Tuesdays and her entertainments were 
 marked by an absence of formality. In the words of the 
 poetess when she waved her wand, " away dull ceremony 
 flew." Her sister-in-law who lived with her was known 
 for her solid qualities by the nickname of " body." On 
 the sprightly Mrs. Vesey was bestowed the distinguishing 
 soubriquet of " mind." In the earlier period of her life 
 in London she dwelt in Bolton Row. Then she moved to 
 Clarges Street. She was celebrated in feminine song, for 
 Hannah More addressed to her, as " Vesey ! of verse 
 the judge and friend," the poem of " Bas bleu, or con- 
 versation." 
 
 A third but less conspicuous hostess, was Mrs. Bos- 
 cawen, of South Audley Street. By birth she was a 
 Glanville, from Ightham, in Kent, but a family connected 
 with Cornwall, and she was the widow of the sturdy old 
 Cornish admiral, whom she survived for 44 years. Her 
 great friend was Mrs. Delany, born a daughter of the 
 Cornish house of Granville, and in the pages of that lady's 
 diaries and letters frequent mention will be found of Mrs. 
 Boscawen. She received in 1762 the compliments of 
 Young, of the Night thoughts, and twenty years later was 
 flattered by Hannah More. 
 
 These three ladies passed away in the fulness of time, 
 the last of them, Mrs. Boscawen, dying in 1805, and their 
 social duties passed to others. Miss Monckton, the " you 
 dearest are a dunce " of Dr. Johnson has precedence in 
 time. She presided, as a spinster, at her mother's house 
 in Charles Street, Berkeley Square, and when lady Cork lived 
 in New Burlington Street. Her life was protracted from 
 1746 to 1840, its dominant note from youth to extreme 
 old age being that of lion-hunting. Her politics were 
 Whig, but at her reunions she knew no distinction of party. 
 She went out much in social life until past 80 years old,
 
 LYDIA WHITE 
 
 isi 
 
 and towards the end of her life developed a desire at the 
 dinner table of her friends for their property. The servants 
 were accustomed in the morning to restore to the legitimate 
 owner the spoons which she had transferred to her pockets 
 from the dining room of the previous night. Macaulay 
 must have had lady Cork in his mind when he penned the 
 line " You diners-out from whom we guard our spoons." 
 
 The Berry sisters lived as became their means in a tiny 
 house in 8 Curzon Street. A lamp burning over the door 
 told when they were at home, and many an eminent person 
 strolled there after dinner in the hope of obtaining ad- 
 mission to their rooms. Horace Walpole was their friend 
 and introduced them into social life. Lady Davy, with 
 ampler wealth, was the occupant, first as the wife and then 
 as the widow of sir Humphry Davy, of a house in Park 
 Street. Moreover, she was a " Scotch cousin " of Scott, 
 and she knew how to turn such advantages to a good use. 
 Talented, but sometimes whimsical, and occasionally 
 tyrannical, she was always entertaining, and when abroad 
 her " courier " English afforded infinite amusement. 
 
 All these ladies have had their bards and their 
 chroniclers. All with one exception— that of Mrs. Bos- 
 cawen, are described for the ignorant in the volumes of our 
 great national dictionary. But there lived another lady 
 equally conspicuous in the gay world of London life, who 
 passed away with only a fleeting record nearly 83 years 
 ago and has found no abiding monument since. This was 
 Lydia White, and it is to me an especial pleasure to 
 preserve for the gratification of the curious reader the de- 
 tails of her career. Strange to say her life, though un- 
 recorded in the compilations of the biography-hunu 1 , 1m 
 always interested the expert in literature. Sir William 
 Robertson Nicoll, in an article under his pseudonym <>f 
 Claudius Clear in the "British Weekly" for 29 Jan. ■
 
 152 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 and entitled " In an old library at Nice," recalled to mind 
 the characteristics of her life and the names of the illus- 
 trious personages whom she gathered around her. To him 
 she shone out in her social life as the load-star for 
 distinction in the English world. " If in a happier day I 
 am ever " he cried " appointed examiner for English 
 literature honours at a University, I should be content with 
 one question. What really tests knowledge is information 
 about the inconsiderable yet conspicuous people. Thus, 
 if I were examining on the literary history of the early years 
 of the last century, I should put but one question : ' What 
 do you know of Lydia White ? ' Whoever could answer 
 satisfactorily would have a full knowledge of the literary, 
 history of the period ." This paragraph attracted the atten- 
 tion of C. K. S. [Mr. Shorter], and in his weekly letter 
 (14 Feb. 1903) to the " Sphere " on English literature, 
 he recapitulated some of the special passages in our chief 
 volumes of biography relating to Lydia White, and told the 
 world that he felt an affection for her not less ardent than 
 that of Dr. Nicoll. In the issue of the following week 
 Mr. Shorter confided to his readers that Claudius Clear had 
 a great many additional references on the object of their 
 admiration. " I hope he will publish them ; the sub- 
 ject is a fascinating one, at least to me." Since then the 
 world has waited in vain for the fulfilment of this hope, 
 and now it has fallen to my lot to discharge the sacred 
 duty . 
 
 Lydia Rogers White — for such was her full name — has 
 sometimes been called an Irishwoman, but she came from 
 an ancient and wealthy family of Wales. Her uncle, the 
 head of the house, was William Basset, of Miscin, in 
 Glamorganshire, and her second name was derived from 
 his first wife, Anne, daughter of the Rev. John Rogers, D.D., 
 vicar of St. Giles, Cripplegate, and chaplain-in-ordinary
 
 LYDIA WHITE 153 
 
 to George II. On the death of this uncle in ; 
 without legitimate issue, the property came to his sister, 
 Cecil Basset, who had married Stephen White, a merchant 
 in the city of Bristol. Lydia Rogers White was their third 
 daughter and co -heiress. Her eldest sister Anne, became 
 the wife on 28 August 1778 of Francis Saunderson, of 
 Castle Saunderson in the county of Cavan, High Sheriff in 
 I 78 1 and M.P. for that county, and brought him the Basset 
 estates. The second sister Mary, who was alive in 1838, 
 was married to J. Bennet Popkin, of Kittle Hill, in Gowcr. 
 
 The earliest mention in print of Lydia White, which is 
 known to me, is to be found in the letters of Samuel Rogers. 
 Writing to his sister from Brighton on 9 November 179S, 
 he describes the gay world which revolved around him in 
 England's chief sea -side resort. Conspicuous in the crowd 
 of attractive visitors was the person of Lydia White, " a 
 most charming and elegant woman " who seemed, in the 
 eyes of Rogers to be about 35 years old. She had " long 
 excited the admiration of the Pump room [at Bath ] by her 
 wit and talents," but in the midst of such gaieties a change 
 came over her father's bodily condition. She withdrew 
 from her admirers at the morning waters and the evening 
 soirees to nurse her dying parent, and " shut herself up 
 in her father's sick-room for two long years." By 1798 
 he was dead and Lydia White was at that time living 
 at the house of sir Joshua Reynolds on the terrace at Rich- 
 mond " on an independency of £1200 per annum." Trust 
 a banker, even when a poet, for knowing the income of his 
 friends ! No wonder that he gives his sister the command, 
 u You must know her." 
 
 Lydia's connection with the Saundcrsons often carried her 
 across the seas to Ireland and led to the current belief that 
 she was Irish by birth. One of the favourite meetin 
 places of the " distinguished and the intellectual "- th
 
 154 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 are. the words of an Irish person and in dealing with Ireland 
 it is always safest to adopt their own expressions — in the 
 society of Dublin, was the house of Mrs. Tighe, in 
 Dominick Street. The physical condition of the hostess 
 resembled that of Lydia White in her last years. She was 
 so enfeebled by repeated attacks from some malady or 
 other " that she lost the use of her limbs and was obliged 
 always to lie on a sofa." Still she retained her old charms 
 of mind and still she gathered around her a circle of de- 
 voted friends . There came to her couch lord Charlemont, 
 Sydney Owenson, afterwards lady Morgan "with her care- 
 fully arranged scarf," Tom Moore and Lydia White, who 
 happily did not realise that twenty years to come her friend's 
 fate would be her own (Illustrious Irishwomen, by E. O. 
 Blackburne, II., 60). 
 
 In the August of 1811 Miss Berry gratified her love of 
 the country by a visit to Tunbridge Wells. This autumn 
 Mrs. Tighe had a house there and Miss Berry formed one 
 of her guests at dinner. Ward, afterwards lord Dudley, 
 Luttrell, the brightest of wits and Lydia White were the 
 other guests, and with such a quintet the hours must have 
 sped pleasantly away. They made excursions into the 
 lovely country around the Pantiles. One of them was to 
 Mayfleld, when Lydia was conspicuous on horseback. 
 
 Lydia White appears in more adventurous travel in the 
 spring of 1808. A glowing letter of eulogy from her to 
 Archibald Constable on Walter Scott's poem of Marmion is 
 given in Constable and his literary correspondents, II., 17 — 
 19. It was possibly through Constable that she made the 
 acquaintance of Scott. At all events on the 26th of April in 
 that year Scott abruptly ends a letter to lady Abercorn with 
 the remark that there appeared in sight " the carriage of a 
 crazy Welsh woman of our acquaintance, who is come (Lord 
 help hur !) to see our romantic scenery when it is ankle deep
 
 LYDIA WHITE 155 
 
 in snow." This was Lydia White, whom Scott called " nine- 
 teen times dyed blue, lively and clever, and absurd to the 
 uttermost degree but exceedingly good natured." With 
 a passing touch of cruelty he confesses to the feeling that 
 he " must let her run some risque in fording the Tv. 
 in order to realise her joy " at finding herself on dry land." 
 But his better feelings soon reassert themselves and h 
 checks the thought with the reflection that " the joke must 
 not be carried too far." The comment of the editor of 
 Scott's familiar letters on this passage is true. " Scott had 
 a real regard for this lady of whom he writes thus play- 
 fully." 
 
 Scott enjoyed the visit of this whimsical woman and 
 did not fail to divert more of his feminine friends in high 
 life with the incidents of her stay. Lady Louisa Stuart 
 was the next to receive his confidences . Lydia " a lioness 
 of the first order " was now blest " with stockings nine- 
 teen times nine dyed blue." A more extended acquain- 
 tance with her had confirmed him in the belief that she 
 was " very lively, very good-humoured and extremely 
 absurd," and he had delighted in watching " the sober 
 Scotch ladies staring at this phenomenon." 
 
 In a longer letter to the same correspondent Scott reverts 
 to the sojourn in his house of this fascinating spinster. 
 Lady Louisa had apparently indulged in some badinage at 
 his surrender to her attractions, for Scott appeals for mercy 
 on the point. " Pray don't triumph over me too much. . . . 
 I stood a very respectable siege ; but she caressed my wife, 
 coaxed my children and made, by dint of cake and pudding, 
 some impression even upon the affections of my favourite 
 dog :— so when all the outworks were carried, the main 
 fortress had no choice but to surrender on honourable 
 terms." 
 
 The visit was protracted for some weeks, ai with
 
 156 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 his wife accompanied the lioness on her tour as far as LocK 
 Catrine. By 16 June they had only just returned. The 
 weather was " most heavenly," and Lydia enjoyed to the 
 full her opportunities for sketching. Photographs and 
 picture post -cards were still in the dim and distant future 
 and all the ladies of taste were inspired with the desire of 
 perpetuating by their artistic skill the wonders of nature 
 that came under their view. This one sketched everything 
 that her eyes rested upon, " from a castle to a pigeon- 
 house."- Scott puts the question to lady Louisa Stuart, 
 "did your ladyship ever travel with a drawing companion ? 
 Mine drew like cart-horses, as well in laborious zeal as in 
 effect." He could not help hinting to their author " that 
 the cataracts delineated bore a singular resemblance to hay- 
 cocks and the rocks much correspondence to large old- 
 fashioned cabinets with their folding-doors open." These 
 drawings of the sprightly Welshwoman made an effect upon 
 him which time itself could not obliterate. More than two 
 years later he wrote to Morritt of Rokeby in praise of lady 
 Anne Lindsay's skill in painting. His praise of one lady 
 was the condemnation of another. " She does not indeed 
 place mountains on their apex, like that of Zarenta in 
 Bruce's travels or those of Selkirkshire in Miss Lydia 
 White's drawings, but what her representations lose in the 
 wonderful, they gain in nature and beauty." 
 
 Scott, in parting from this wandering lady had given 
 her three plans for a tour in the Highlands. He doubted 
 whether she would adopt any of them. He thought of 
 the posse of " postilions, landlords and Highland boat- 
 men " who would fasten upon her and suspected that her 
 English servant would be no match for them. " The dis- 
 tresses of the errant damsels will fall a little beneath the 
 dignity of romances ." But again his kindly nature asserted 
 itself, and this time there was a touch of gratitude in his
 
 LYDIA WHITE i 57 
 
 reflections. "All this nonsense is cntvc nous ; for Miss 
 White has been actively zealous in getting me some Irish 
 correspondence about Swift and is otherwise very obliging." 
 Scott's anxiety was unnecessary. Any sufferings that she 
 passed through were forgotten in her joy over Scotia's 
 magnificent scenery. She wrote to Constable from Inverarv, 
 that she was much delighted with " the glorious place — 
 indeed with all that we see, hear, feel or understand in 
 Scotland." Her only lasting distress was over the notice of 
 Marmion in the Edinburgh Review. It must have been 
 about this time and through the influence of Scott that she 
 purchased the volume of John Leyden's " Scenes of infancy" 
 which is now in the Dyce library at South Kensington. It 
 contains her autograph, and Dyce drew attention to it as 
 that of " a lady of great talents, who corresponded with 
 sir Walter Scott, madame de Stael, etc." 
 
 The zeal of Lydia White on behalf of Scott's edition 
 of Swift's works is referred to in a letter from Scott which 
 is printed in the Athenczum for 29th Feby. 1908. It nearlv 
 landed him into trouble. Some Hibernian wit had con- 
 cocted a set of " very clever verses " which through her had 
 been sent to Scott as an original poem by Swift. In cool 
 reflection the thought came to him that " Lydia White lies 
 rather open to be practised upon," and he made diligent 
 enquiries about them. She replied that all her efforts had 
 not resulted in any " feasible account of the authenticity 
 of the verses " and this made Scott still more suspicious. 
 Lady Melville, when in Ireland " had heard of the quiz." 
 and lady Abercorn bestirred herself in its investigation. 
 Finally the author of the imitation put Scott on his guard 
 and he was saved from the indignity of attributing to Swift 
 the composition of a later wit. Robert Surtecs had im- 
 posed upon him by fabricating a Scotch ballad called 
 " the death of Featherstonehaugh," which was dnl>
 
 158 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 inserted in Marmion and The Minstrelsy of the Scottish 
 border as a genuine survival from antiquity. Fortunately 
 for Scott the author of this Irish jest was foiled in his 
 attempt to deceive. Scott contented himself with putting 
 "the lines into the Register, by way of contributing to 
 a work, which I think very well of ." 
 
 Private theatricals ranked among Society's chief amuse- 
 ments at this age. Lydia White was staying at Brighton in 
 January 1814 as the guest of lady Westmorland and 
 another titled lady, viscountess Hampden wrote to Kirk- 
 patrick Sharpe [Letters, II., p. 1 1 1 ] on the " gay pas- 
 times " around her. In this fashionable circle that 
 amusement formed the chief attraction ; Lydia White 
 figured as " the fair heroine of the English pieces and lady 
 Westmorland of the French." The Wedding Day of Mrs. 
 Inchbald, a " lively and natural " comedy was performed 
 at the house of Miss Wykeham, who was created baroness 
 Wenman in 1834. She was lady Autumn ; Lydia was lady 
 Contest, the chief character in the play and the part, which 
 on the play's original production, was admirably taken by 
 Mrs. Jordan. Lydia must have displayed great talent for 
 the stage. Tom Moore records in his diary (III., 197) 
 that a " party at lady Cork's got up a reading of Comus." 
 The first names mentioned among the performers are those 
 of Monk Lewis and Lydia White. 
 
 During the Regency the parties of Lydia White obtained 
 an ascendancy which they never lost over London society. 
 Sir Roderick Murchison, the prince of geologists, dwells 
 with pride on the soirees that in his youth he frequented at 
 her house. He met there such men as Copley, lord 
 Dudley, Tom Moore, and Hallam, the historian. Sydney 
 Smith often came from his house in the adjoining Green 
 Street, Park lane. Washington Irving, another con- 
 spicuous guest, was described as " the Magnus Apollo of
 
 LYDIA WHITE i 5g 
 
 the bas bleus" (lady Morgan's Memoirs, II., 21 
 
 Sir Henry Holland, the courtly physician, described her 
 house as " the open and welcome resort of the best literary 
 society of the day." Many centres of society had found 
 fame in print, " though less deserving of it than the pleasant 
 open-hearted meetings at Lydia White's." 
 
 Abraham Hay ward speculated in one of his essays (77., 
 2ndser.,p. 261) on the means by which she had obtained this 
 supremacy. The Berry sisters were aided in their desires 
 to form a salon by the favours of Horace Walpole . Lady 
 Davy enjoyed the wealth of one husband and the unrivalled 
 reputation in science of another. Lydia White was not 
 endowed with great means nor was she connected with any 
 of the leading families in England. " It is not every one "• 
 he argued " however ready to give dinners to the elite of 
 the literary or fashionable world that can get the elite to 
 dine with them." How then did she attain success? To 
 my mind the answer to this question is not difficult. She 
 had calmly surveyed the various paths in which she could 
 rise to distinction in life, and had selected as her pursuit 
 the art of entertaining. Her means were not great but 
 they were sufficient with judgment for that purpose. She 
 trod her path to fame, looking neither to the right hand 
 nor to the left, and arrived at the goal . She could influence 
 by her manners and she could please by her conversation. 
 When new in the pursuit she must have met with many a 
 rebuff. But her heart was in her work and she obtained 
 the prize. Sir Walter Scott used the expression of her, 
 " she has set up the whole staff of her rest." It is an old 
 phrase in our literature, meaning that she had made it her 
 aim in life. Well might Lockhart describe her as " the 
 inimitable woman who so long ruled without a rival in the 
 soft realm of blue Mayfair." 
 
 The first mention of Lydia White's parties occu:
 
 160 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 the diary of another great entertainer of London society, 
 the accomplished Miss Berry. In May 1 8 1 5 lord and lady 
 Byron prevailed upon her to go to Miss White's. The 
 effect was instantaneous. " Never have I seen a more im- 
 posing convocation of ladies arranged in a circle than when 
 we entered." William Spencer accompanied them and he 
 was a familiar figure at her crushes. When the Rejected 
 addresses of the brothers Smith took London by storm the 
 indefatigable Lydia, ever prone to claim the presence in 
 her rooms of the lion of the moment, invited one of them 
 to dinner. Afterwards she recollected that William 
 Spencer was one of the company invited for that night and 
 that his poems had been parodied in that popular volume. 
 She Wrote him to put him off, adding that a man was to be 
 at her table whom he would not like to meet. Who is my 
 unknown enemy that I would not willingly meet, was his 
 question. " One of those men who have made that shame- 
 ful attack upon you," was the lady's answer. Let me meet 
 him, " he is the very man upon earth that I should like 
 to know," was Spencer's rejoinder. They met at her 
 dinner -table, liked one another, and remained firm friends 
 ever after (Rejected Addresses, 18th ed., preface). I wonder 
 whether one of the Smiths was present at her dinner- 
 table on the night when Scott avowed his impression that 
 he must have written the lines in the Rejected addresses, which 
 described the death of Higginbottom,the fireman (J.Hookham 
 Frere and his friends, by Gabrielle Festing, p. 186). 
 
 Much of the following years, the Continent being now 
 open to the English visitor, seems to have been passed by 
 Lydia White in the sunnier cities of Italy. Horner writes 
 in 1 8 1 6 that she was " in full force at Florence ." Ticknor 
 found her at Naples in Feb. 18 18. Their place of meet- 
 ing was in the rooms of " Benjamin Smith, son of the 
 member for Norwich," who championed in parliament the
 
 LYDIA WHITE 
 
 cause of Dissent. At Smith's hospitable table Tick: 
 " always had a plate and generally met somebody that in- 
 terested or instructed." The two or three days a w 
 that he dined there were always very pleasantly parsed and 
 Lydia White would not be the least amusing of the com- 
 pany. In the following May she was at Venice, when Byr< >o 
 wrote to Tom Moore that she had borrowed his copy of 
 Lalla Rookh. Moore himself when in Italy in iSx. 
 reverted in thought to her entertainments in London and 
 contrasted them, not unfavourably, with the fashionab!<- 
 gatherings that nightly thronged the reception rooms in 
 the Italian palaces. His comment on the assemblies of the 
 countess Albrizzi was " More disenchantment ! Th< 
 assemblies, which at a distance sounded so full of splendour 
 and gallantry to me turned into something much worse than 
 one of Lydia White's conversaziones." 
 
 Moore was a constant attendant at her reunions at 
 i 13 Park Street. They were old friends and he revelled 
 in the society which he met at her house. Once ind< 
 he upset Samuel Rogers by breaking up a dinner -pa 
 through his impatience to go there and Rogers no doubt 
 repaid him afterwards with a biting sarcasm. Sheridan. 
 Scott and Moore were the guests in the banker-poet's house 
 in St. James's Place. Sheridan, primed no doubt by some 
 of his host's most precious claret, was talking in his \ 
 best style, and would have continued without let or hin- 
 drance when Moore burst in, to the intense annoyance of 
 Rogers, with the question "isn't it time to go to Lydia 
 White's?" Their host afterwards explained to the 
 chronicler of his table talk that Moore was cursed with 
 " that sort of restlessness which never allows him to l>< 
 happy where he is." This may have been the occa 
 in May 18 19 on which Moore met at her house tin <i 1 
 of Sussex and her beautiful daughter. The attraction 
 
 F.G. M
 
 162 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 the evening was a little girl who acted in a French proverb. 
 " She was found amidst the conflagration of Moscow quite 
 an infant and not known whether French or Russian : now 
 seven years old and acted very archly." 
 
 Not long after this poor Lydia fell into bad health. Still 
 she fought the battle of life with undaunted courage and 
 for eight years more continued to gratify to the full her 
 longings for social success. Lady Charlotte Bury, the 
 duke's daughter who sullied her character by a malicious 
 " diary of the times of George IV." is represented as making 
 her acquaintance in July 18 19 and as paying a first visit to 
 her house on the 6th of that month. But these dates can 
 hardly be accepted as accurate. Whatever the right dates 
 were, Lydia White became a " melancholy spectacle " in 
 bodily circumstance. " Immovable from dropsy, with a 
 swollen person and an emaciated face, she is placed on an 
 inclined plane, raised high upon a sofa, which put me in 
 mind of the corpse of the late Queen of Spain at Rome, in 
 the church of the Santa Maria Novella," this is the expres- 
 sion of lady Charlotte. 
 
 One of the most accomplished men of that age, the 
 rev. William Harness, is chiefly known to us now from 
 his friendship with such women as Catherine Fanshawe 
 and Lydia White. They all, such was his phrase, 
 belonged to a society " not very extended but intimately 
 united by a common love of literature and art and 
 science . : . which perhaps taken for all in all has 
 never been surpassed." The biographer of his literary life 
 depicts Lydia White as " brave in paint and plaster, a won- 
 derful work of art," labour which she underwent not from 
 vanity but from feelings for others. " Were I," she ob- 
 served, presumably to Harness " to present myself, as I 
 naturally am, without any of these artificial adornments, 
 instead of being a source of pleasure and perhaps amusement
 
 LYDIA WHITE 
 
 163 
 
 to my friends I should plunge them into the pro- 
 foundest melancholy." Let us in all charity accept this 
 explanation and retain our admiration for a brave woman 
 who for long years fought bravely against death. 
 
 On her first visit to Park Street, lady Charlotte Bury met 
 at the evening assembly sir John Copley, afterwards the 
 famous lord Lyndhurst " and his beautiful wife, so like 
 one of Leonardo Da Vinci's pictures." A day or two later 
 she dined at Lydia White's. Catherine Fanshawe, " Con- 
 versation" Sharp, Tom Moore and major Denham, the 
 explorer, were among the guests. Moore and Sharpe dis- 
 coursed on the lives and characters of Sheridan and Curran 
 and the interest of their anecdotes was heightened by the 
 acumen of their comments . Denham described the scenes 
 which he had beheld in his travels through the interior of 
 Africa. The vividness of his descriptions of the scenery 
 and the savage life enthralled her. It was indeed " a 
 delightful dinner party." 
 
 A few months later she was once more dining under 
 Lydia's hospitable roof, but the party was less agreeable 
 "and the evening was dull." Learned and witty people 
 were seated around the table but the spirit of dulness settled 
 upon them and soon made its presence felt . The wits were 
 perhaps afraid of one another ; perchance " the first lion 
 thought the next a bore." At all events, though the in- 
 gredients of a " charming party " were present, they did 
 not rise to brilliancy. Once again lady Charlotte dined 
 there at a small party, the other guests being " Sharp, 
 sir John Copley and his beautiful wife." That lad) 
 mute and the diarist maliciously adds that she never con- 
 versed " except to gentlemen." The charm of the enter- 
 tainments in Park Street had now evaporated for this jaded 
 daughter of a duke. She notes in her querulousness that 
 "Miss White sat with the ladies in the dining-room till 
 
 M .'
 
 164 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 everybody was nearly asleep. I never saw any one follow 
 this system of remaining so long at table except the 
 Princess of Wales." Then she proceeds to denounce the 
 parties of her hostess. " Miss White's house, which is 
 reckoned so famous for its agreeable reunions, does not 
 frequently afford me the amusement it is supposed to give 
 all those who have the good fortune to obtain an entree 
 therein. At the dinner -table sometimes the wits and 
 mighty spirits collected round it display their conversa- 
 tional talents, but the evenings are often very dull." 
 
 Walter Scott came up to London in 1821 to see the 
 coronation and dined at lord Guilfords. He confided to his 
 old friend lady Louisa Stuart that he was " greatly edified " 
 with the conversation of the ladies who were seated around 
 the dinner table. No wonder ! For three of them were 
 lady Caroline Lamb who kicked over the traces both in 
 action and in words, Lydia White to the " whimsical 
 licence " of whose speech sir Henry Holland attributed the 
 " thorough freedom from constraint " which prevailed at 
 her entertainments, and Mrs. Coniers, " who never came 
 in sir Walter's way before and who is worth paying half 
 a crown to see at any time." {letters of lady L. Stuart to 
 Miss Clinton, I., 151.) 
 
 There was no limit to the distinguished women, grave 
 and gay, that met in the rooms of Lydia White. Mrs. 
 Somerville, the chief of astronomers among women, created 
 much amusement at one oi. her receptions by an uncon- 
 scious jest. The party consisted of fashionable dames, 
 popular poets and leading politicians, among the latter 
 being lord Dudley. On coming away he said to Mrs. 
 Somerville "you are going home to sleep and I to work.'" She 
 had never heard of the epigram of Rogers. To her the lines 
 
 " Ward has no heart, they say, but I deny it, 
 He has a heart, and gets his speeches by it,"
 
 LYDIA WHITE 165 
 
 were unfamiliar and she promptly replied " Oh .' you are 
 going to prepare your speech for to-morrow." In. 
 laughter prevailed. 
 
 At one of these parties, Mrs. Marcet, the feminine expert 
 in political economy, playfully seized on William Spencer 
 and preached Christianity — to use lady Morgan's phrase — 
 to him. He was to hasten to Geneva, where he would be 
 converted through the influence of its pretty women, 
 evidently a kind of argument that Spencer would ap- 
 preciate . 
 
 Miss Edgeworth dined with Lydia White on a visit to 
 London in 1822 and became through this introduction very 
 intimate with Mrs. Siddons, who was a fellow-guest. The 
 great actress recounted to them the circumstances attending 
 the great innovation which she introduced in her ren- 
 dering of the character of lady Macbeth. She had 
 resolved upon disobeying the precedents of Mrs. Prit- 
 chard in her version and upon running counter to all 
 the traditions of the stage. She determined, in the 
 sleep scene to lay down the candlestick " before she 
 began to wash her hands and say 4 Out, vile spot I ' 
 Sheridan heard of it and feared the consequences. 
 He knocked violently at her door during the five minutes of 
 seclusion which she had asked for, so that she might compose 
 her nerves before being called on the stage, burst into 
 the room and prophesied ruin. She persisted, was ap- 
 plauded and Sheridan apologised. Mrs. Siddons "des- 
 cribed well the awe she felt and the power of the excite- 
 ment given to her, by the sight of Burke, Fox. Sheridan 
 and sir Joshua Reynolds in the pit." 
 
 Lydia White had her poets to celebrate her and they 
 were not the least distinguished of the bards of the nine 
 teenth century, although their effusions in her honour can- 
 not be placed among the brightest productions oi the mu
 
 166 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 of poetry. One of them was no other than lord Byron, 
 whose satirical poem, entitled " The blues, a literary 
 eclogue " appeared in the second volume of that short- 
 lived periodical The Liberal. Lydia White figured as 
 Miss Diddle, not a very happy attribution of name . One of 
 the Blues reminds his fellows that " Miss Diddle invites 
 us to sup." Inkel, one of the critical frequenters of her 
 parties, thereupon exclaims 
 
 " Then at two hours past midnight, we all meet again 
 For the sciences, sandwiches, hock and champaigne." 
 
 and another of them, Tracy, adds the further attraction 
 " And the sweet lobster sallad." 
 
 The second of these bards was Bulwer Lytton. During 
 his first visit to Paris, (it was in the year 1825,) he printed 
 for private circulation and dedicated to his youthful friend, 
 Alexander Cockburn, a tiny volume with the romantic title 
 of " Weeds and wildflowers, four pages of prose and ninety- 
 eight of verse," which is not to be found on the shelves of 
 the library at the British Museum. The longest and most 
 important of its effusions was a satiric sketch of the delights 
 of Almack's. It began with the lines 
 
 " To lady S . . . for cakes and cards 
 
 Flock ancient lords on Wednesday nights ; 
 While darkest blues and lightest bards 
 
 ' Refresh their souls ' at Lydia White's. 
 But those who have the happier fate 
 
 To know the saints who guard its heaven 
 Pass on through Almack's holy gate 
 
 About three quarters past eleven " {Lytton's life, II., 27). 
 
 Tom Moore continued for years to visit and dine at her 
 house. Twice in the month of March 1824 did he attend 
 at her evening parties. On the first of them he heard
 
 LYDIA WHITE !0 7 
 
 three aristocratic amateurs singing duets and glees, in the 
 absence of a pianoforte, without accompaniment, and he 
 took a part in one or two glees. On the second occasion 
 he found a distinguished party, including Rogers, Tierney, 
 Wordsworth and Jekyll, who had dined there. In the 
 following July he met there at dinner Stratford Canning, 
 Hallam, captain Basil Hall, and lady Charlotte Lind 
 and there was a great deal of talk at the dinner table about 
 Burke. Next year at one of her parties he naively enters 
 in his diary, " I sung a good deal, which they seemed to 
 like very much." In Sept. 1826 he called on her and she 
 imparted some amusing gossip to him. Murray, the pub- 
 lisher, had been going backward of late. Lord Holland 
 would have a canto in Stewart W. Rose's next volume of 
 Ariosto, and this was imprudent of Rose for the peer's 
 talent in translation was much superior to his. Frere was 
 always very sleepy. " It did very well to say, Mr. Frere 
 dined with me yesterday," but that was all you had for it. 
 On 25 Oct. 1826 Moore dined at her house and apparently for 
 the last time. Luttrell was the life and soul of the party 
 which included Hallam, " Conversation " Sharp, and the 
 two army -travellers, Captains Head and Denham. In the 
 evening he met there " sir Walter, his daughter, and the 
 Lockharts (who were all to have dined with Miss White " 
 Sir Walter, as we know from his journal, had dined at the 
 house of a rival spinster, Miss Dumergue. 
 
 Year after year the stricken woman lingered on. Death 
 was near at hand but never threw his dart at her. Her 
 vitality was only exceeded by the force of her determina- 
 tion. Those gifts extorted admiration from some ; they 
 afforded amusement to others. Cyrus Redding in one oi 
 his volumes of recollections {Fifty years, II., 338) 
 that she " kept her friends so long in expectation that I 
 began to think death would be a hoax until they had
 
 168 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 themselves departed." Samuel Rogers made her continued 
 existence the subject of one of the jests. " How wonder- 
 fully," he exclaimed " she does hold out ; they may say 
 what they like, but Miss White and Miss-olonghi are the 
 most remarkable things going." 
 
 Sir Charles Morgan wrote to his wife, Sydney, on 29 May 
 1826 that he had been at Lydia White's on the previous 
 evening. She was " lying on the same sofa, in the same 
 drawing room, with the same blue furniture and blue 
 hangings as usual . She was precisely what you know her." 
 The end soon came : sir Walter Scott heard of her death 
 on the 28 January 1827. She had given a dinner party 
 on the previous Friday and had written with her own hand 
 the invitations for another, if not for two more such gather- 
 ings. Lord Albemarle, who fought at Waterloo in 181 5 
 and lived until 1891, had obtained admission to her 
 literary coteries through the success of his book, The 
 overland journey from India, and was to have dined at her 
 house the day on which she died . She had asked, says lady 
 Morgan, " a party to dine with her on Friday — on Wednes- 
 day she was dead ! From economy of eyes and lights she 
 used to sit when alone to a late hour without lights. Her 
 servant having placed candles on the table in the front 
 drawing-room waited for his mistress to ring to light them. 
 He thought he heard something fall, but as the bell did not 
 ring he did not go up, till surprised at her remaining so 
 long in the dark he entered and found her lying on the 
 floor. . . . When some of her party arrived to dine on the 
 Friday she was lying dead. Poor Lydia ! before she was 
 buried she was forgotten." For a woman so well-known 
 in the world, says lady Morgan's biographer thirty -five 
 years later " she has passed singularly out of remem- 
 brance." 
 
 To each of her sisters, Mrs. Popkin and Mrs. Saunderson
 
 LYDIA WHITE ,• , 
 
 she left £500 and the five children of the latter recci . 
 £1400 between them. She bequeathed £4000 to her 
 niece, Lydia Waller, wife of Gilbert Holmes, dean of 
 Ardfort. Her house in Park Street was to be sold and her 
 nephew, Hardress Saunderson, was the residuary I 
 By a codicil she left her plate and household linen to James 
 Saunderson, her diamonds and point lace to a ni< 
 Cecilia, wife of James Slater, of Newick Park in Sus 
 and her brown Sicilian cameos to lady Maria, wife of 
 Hardress Saunderson. 
 
 The testimony of all the witnesses agrees that Lydia 
 White was clever, witty and without restraint in her con- 
 versation. Bulwer Lytton introduces her name into the 
 eighth chapter of his novel of Pelham, which was published 
 anonymously in 1828, with a note that the passage was writt n 
 before her death. One of its characters, lady Rosevtlle 
 remarks " Miss White has not only the best command of 
 language herself but she gives language to other people. 
 Dinner parties, usually so stupid, are at her house quite 
 delightful. I have actually seen English people look ha 
 and one or two even, almost natural." Another chara 
 responds to this praise, " ah, that is indeed rare . . . but 
 Lydia White's soirees are indeed agreeable. I remember 
 the last time I dined there we were six in number . . .the 
 conversation was without let or flaw." 
 
 Two only of her jests are preserved to us in the lite 
 life 0/ the Rev. W. Harness, and both are flavoured with 
 a tincture of classical learning. On the return of Charles X. 
 — is this a mistake for Louis XVIII. ? — Talma was 
 to play the part of Scylla, but he looked so much like 
 Napoleon that he was ordered to put on a 
 " Why " said Lydia " were he to do that, we should I irdly 
 know Scylla from Charybdis." 
 
 At one of her small and agreeable dinners the « »m]
 
 170 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 most, if not all of them, except the hostess, being Whigs, 
 discussed the desperate condition of their party. Yes, said 
 Sydney Smith " we are in a deplorable condition, we must 
 do something to help ourselves. I think " looking hard 
 at his hostess " we had better sacrifice a Tory virgin." 
 Lydia White in the true spirit of a bright London lady at 
 once took up and applied the allusion to Iphigenia with 
 the remark " I believe there is nothing the Whigs would not 
 do to raise the wind." The last jest is remembered even 
 at this day. Mr. Mallock (new republic, 1877, II., 36) 
 quotes it as an exquisite instance how literary culture " en- 
 riches conversation, by enabling us to talk by hints and 
 allusions and to convey so many more meanings than our 
 actual words." 
 
 Very much the same reflections rose in the minds of two 
 very different persons over the career of Lydia White. One 
 of them, lady Charlotte Bury thought of her " comfortable 
 house and the attentions of the world " and mingled with 
 these reminiscences of her hostess the " pleasant recollec- 
 tion that the world, even the gay world, do not totally neg- 
 lect those who are about to leave it. Oh yes, there is 
 more of good mingled with the bad, even here below, than 
 this world and its inhabitants are often given credit for." 
 
 Sir Walter Scott thought of ner when she was dying and 
 after she was dead. He put on one side his recollection of 
 her " youthful affectations, her dressing like the Queen of 
 Chimney-sweeps on Mayday morning and a free turn in 
 conversation when she let her wit run wild." She had, 
 he knew, a feeling and kind heart, and she had attained her 
 purpose in life. " The newest lions about town " were 
 always to be found in her rooms. " In her case the world 
 was good natured and perhaps it is more frequently so than 
 is generally supposed." Her name is found in Scott's 
 journal on two later dates, and in the second of them
 
 LYDIA WHITE i 7 i 
 
 (18 Oct. i 831) it was to point out a like career for his 
 daughter. " If Sophia [Mrs. Lockhart] keeps to early hours 
 she may beat London for small parties as poor Miss White 
 did and without much expense. A little address is all that 
 is necessary." Alas ! This, like many other of Scott's am- 
 bitions in life, crumbled away.
 
 LORD JOHN TOWNSHEND. 
 
 THREE great families from East Anglia rose to distinc- 
 tion in the political world at the beginning of the eighteenth 
 century. These were the Walpoles, the Townshends, and 
 the Herveys, and the common link that bound them to- 
 gether was the sturdy figure of sir Robert Walpole . They 
 grew with his growth, when through his shrewd common- 
 sense and his vigorous speech he obtained the supremacy 
 in English affairs. There was eccentricity, to use no harsher 
 term, in all three. The life led by Walpole's successor in 
 the peerage of Orford was disfigured by many blots and 
 his wife's character was not different from his. Their 
 follies may be read throughout the volumes of Horace 
 Walpole's correspondence. The traits of the Herveys gave 
 rise to the witticism that mankind was composed of wise 
 men, mad men, fools and Herveys. Three of them during 
 that century have left in the world's memory the recollec- 
 tion of their peculiarities. One of them was the " Sporus " 
 of Pope's satire, the second was Augustus, the dashing 
 sailor, the first husband of Miss Chudleigh, and the last was 
 Frederick, the clever and whimsical bishop of Derry. 
 
 The third family was that of Townshend. The second 
 viscount was Walpole's colleague and brother-in-law. For 
 many years he exercised the leading influence in English 
 politics but Walpole gradually ousted him from his position 
 in the ministry and they quarrelled, drawing swords in a 
 lady's rooms in a royal palace. His heart was in agricul- 
 ture and his name is chiefly remembered now from his in- 
 troduction on a large scale into our national system of
 
 LORD JOHN TOWNSHEND 
 
 farming of that familiar root, the turnip. The third 
 viscount married Etheldreda, called among her friends 
 Audrey, Harrison, the heiress of Ball's Park, near Hert 
 Her indiscretions in act and speech, are written large 
 among the scandalous chronicles of the smart set of that 
 age. One of her sons was George, the brave soldier of 
 Quebec but the tactless viceroy of Ireland, incompetent 
 everywhere except at the dinner table. Another was 
 Charles, whose audacious and witty speeches in parliament 
 were the admiration of all the members whose minds could 
 not realise the disastrous effects which his blazing errors 
 in speech were certain to produce. He was chancellor of 
 the exchequer, a position which under a happy constitu- 
 tion has been held by many a brilliant and wayward member 
 of parliament, without even an elementary knowledge of 
 finance, and this was Charles Townshend's case. A third 
 member of the family was secretary of state in Mr. Pitt's 
 cabinet and presided over the administration of our colonies 
 when in their infancy. He became lord Sydney and gave 
 his name to the chief city in New South Wales. John 
 Townshend, at first the hon. John Townshend, then lord 
 John Townshend was of this race. Elizabeth, lady Holland 
 knew him well, his merits and his defects. She summed 
 up his characteristics in the phrase, " like the rest of his 
 family he is mad ; never enough to be confined, but often 
 very flighty." 
 
 The honourable John Townshend was the second son of 
 George, the first marquess Townshend, second in command 
 to Wolfe at the conquest of Canada. His mother was lady 
 Charlotte Compton, only surviving child of James, earl *>t 
 Northampton. He was Dorn in Audley Square, London, on 
 ic^Jany. i 757, and the King stood as his godfather. Like 
 many a Townshend before him he was sent to Eton and 
 St. John's College, Cambridge. He was admitted on
 
 174 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT. 
 
 24 February 1 773, at the age of 1 6, Ferris and Pearce, the 
 latter afterwards dean of Ely and Master of the Temple, 
 being his tutors and became M.A. in 1775 and LL.D. in 
 
 1 8 1 1 . In order to qualify himself for public life he went 
 to the bar and was admitted at Lincoln's Inn on 1 6 July 
 
 1774. 
 
 Townshend was in early life remarkable above his fellows 
 for his energy and for his supreme grace of manners. A 
 special feature that characterised him was his " pathetic 
 bow." While still very young he became a constant 
 associate in the daily routine and in the political sym- 
 pathies of Charles James Fox. He adopted the principles 
 of the Whigs with enthusiasm and stuck to them through- 
 out his life. His great desire was to represent the univer- 
 sity of Cambridge, and the opportunity came to him in 
 
 1779, when the marquess of Granby succeeded his grand- 
 father in the dukedom of Rutland and caused a vacancy 
 in the representation. The new duke gave him the support 
 of his influence, in spite of the scandalous story repeated 
 by Cole, the malicious old parson of Milton, of Town- 
 shend's conduct a few months previously to the marchioness 
 of Granby . The fight was remarkable in the history of the 
 university's representation in parliament. Three candi- 
 dates stood — James Mansfield, of King's College, then 
 solicitor general and afterwards chief justice of the com- 
 mon pleas, Townshend, who stood in the " independent 
 interest," and lord Hyde, both of whom were of St. John's 
 College, so that the interest of that powerful body was 
 divided. Every nerve was strained in the contest, the 
 marquess of Townshend even sent up an elector to vote for 
 lord Hyde and against his own son, but Cole allows that 
 had it not been for this unfortunate split in his college, the 
 superior address and management of John Townshend, 
 which far exceeded those of his two competitors, would
 
 LORD JOHN TOWNSHEND 
 
 i~ 
 
 i 3 
 
 have ensured him the victory. As it was the difference in 
 voting was but small, the numbers being Mansfield i 5 
 votes, Townshend 145 and Hyde 138. Had the election 
 been delayed for two or three weeks he would have won, 
 even with this division among the members of his college. 
 The younger members of the university were warm in his 
 favour and the accession, as Cole acknowledges, of "a 
 young flight of Masters of Arts - would have carried his 
 election. 
 
 Nothing daunted by this defeat, Townshend stood again 
 at the general election in 1780. There were now five can- 
 didates for the honour of representing their university in 
 parliament. The three old competitors were joined by 
 Richard Croftes, also a member of St. John's college who 
 had represented the university from 1 Jj 1 to the dissolution 
 in 1780, and William Pitt, who hailed from Pembroke 
 Hall. Mansfield was at the head of the poll with 277 
 votes, Townshend came next with 247 and lord Hyde was 
 a good third with 206 votes. The numbers of Croftes sank 
 to 1 50 votes and Mr. Pitt had only 142. What was most 
 of all remarkable in these contests was the extreme youth 
 of the candidates, all of them with the exception of Croftes 
 and Mansfield being under 30. 
 
 At 1784, the year of the next general election, the for- 
 tunes of the Whigs had ebbed out. There were now four 
 wooers for the honour of Granta's hand. Three of them 
 were ancient rivals, Mansfield, Townshend and lilt, and 
 the fourth lover was lord Euston, of Trinity college. A 
 complete change had come over the minds of the electors. 
 Pitt headed the poll with 351 votes and lord Euston came 
 next with 299. Townshend was a good third with 27S 
 votes, and the supporters of Mansfield, who hid been \\\ t 
 at the poll in 1780, dwindled to 181. The return ol hud 
 Euston was due to the preponderance of vote < 1 I lor him
 
 176 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 in his own college. At Trinity he polled 107 votes against 
 51 that were given to Townshend. At St. John's Town- 
 shend secured 91 and 48 were given to Euston. It was 
 a propos of this election that Paley was fabled to have 
 preached before the university in the presence of Pitt on 
 the text " There is a lad here, who hath five barley loaves 
 and two small fishes, but what are they among so many." 
 
 The comment of Wraxall over this electoral contest 
 summed up the situation with complete justice. " Few men 
 held a higher place in Fox's friendship than Townshend, 
 a place to which he was well entitled by the elegance of his 
 mind, his various accomplishments and steady adherence 
 throughout life. Though not endowed with eminent par- 
 liamentary talents, he possessed an understanding highly 
 cultivated, set off by the most pleasing manners. If party 
 could ever feel regret, it would have been excited by his 
 exclusion from a seat so honourable in itself as that of the 
 University of Cambridge, to which he had attained by un- 
 wearied personal exertions." 
 
 Townshend's friendship with Fox and his influence over 
 the Whig leader had by this time become known to the 
 world at large. When Fox paid a long visit to Dublin in 
 the closing months of 1777, Townshend accompanied him. 
 Tickell, the brother-in-law of Sheridan, published anony- 
 mously in 1779 — it passed through at least three editions 
 before the next year had run its course — a clever satire en- 
 titled " epistle from the honourable Charles Fox partridge 
 shooting, to the honourable John Townshend cruising." 
 Fox is represented as tired of pastime in the country and he 
 hopes that Townshend is in like case. He indulges in satire 
 over the peculiarities of his opponents in politics and ad- 
 jures his friend to return to life at Westminster. The young 
 Whig yachtsman is designated the " pride of fop alley 
 though a little tanned " and there is spread before him an
 
 LORD JOHN TOWNSHEND K: 
 
 alluring picture of the pleasures of life at Brooks's, a worthy 
 man " who blushes to be paid." Hare, the Hare of many 
 friends, complained a year or two later that he seldom saw 
 Fox " except at supper at Brooks's, with lord John Town- 
 shend." Lord John Russell, in quoting this passage calls 
 him a " young man of very lively parts, who by his talents 
 and devotion seems to have gained at this time an in- 
 fluence with Mr. Fox, the results of which were of great 
 importance." {life and times of Fox, I., 33J.) 
 
 Fox put his friend prominently forward in July 178S. 
 There was a bye - election for the city of Westmim 
 Admiral Hood had been made a lord of the admiralty and 
 sought re -election from the electors . Westminster was one 
 of the half - dozen populous borough constituencies in 
 England where the franchise was of such a nature that the 
 mass of the inhabitants could express their opinions at the 
 polling booths . All through the reigns of the four Georges 
 it was the centre of political attraction. The feelings of 
 the constituency had been roused to indignation by the ill- 
 advised attempt which Pitt had made to prevent through a 
 scrutiny his illustrious rival from sitting for the borough. 
 Fox determined upon a struggle for the complete repre- 
 sentation of the borough and Townshend was nominated 
 as the Whig opponent of the Tory Hood. Both sides 
 put forward their whole strength but victory after a 
 violent contest was on the side of the Whigs. They 
 polled 6392 votes against 5569 which had been given 
 to Hood and so two Whigs sat in parliament for 
 Westminster. The success was celebrated by every 
 proof of party exultation. Rioting occurred, as at the 
 previous election in 1784, and the windows in the houses 
 of the leading Tories were doomed to destruction. Gillray, 
 for once on the side of the Whigs, expre ed tin- 1 urr< 
 opinion on the lavish expenditure of the Tories in a 
 F.G. N
 
 178 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 caricature called " election troops bringing their accounts to 
 the Pay table Westminster," in which Pitt is depicted be- 
 hind the Treasury gate, blandly professing his own ignor- 
 ance of any promises of money and referring the clamorous 
 crowd of applicants to old George Rose. 
 
 Lord John retired from the representation of West- 
 minster at the general election of 1790 and never again 
 stood for a popular constituency, but he sat for the borough 
 of Knaresborough from 30 March 1793 to 18 18, when he 
 withdrew from public life. The right of election in this 
 Yorkshire borough was vested in the owners of between 
 80 and 90 burgage houses, and the duke of Devonshire 
 owned all but four. The constituency consequently re- 
 turned his nominees and it was his wish that one of them 
 should be lord John Townshend. He never became a con- 
 spicuous figure in parliamentary life, and never filled any 
 important position in office. From 30 March to 13 July 
 1782 and from 8 April to 30 Dec. 1783 he was a lord of 
 the admiralty and when the ministry of "all the talents" was 
 formed in Feb. 1806 he was created a privy councillor 
 and was joint paymaster of the army from that month until 
 the 4 April 1807. He contented himself for the most 
 part with voting silently, but consistently, for his friend 
 Fox and the political principles which he advocated. 
 
 Two special gifts were his. One was the art of mim- 
 icry. He could not only reproduce the manner of any 
 person but he could improvise a subject and talk upon it 
 as his victim would. Such was the testimony of the cele- 
 brated lady Holland. In her opinion he was " one of the 
 wittiest men there is ; his verses are excellent." That was 
 his other talent ; he possessed an unrivalled facility for 
 writing verses. That imperious lady's husband wrote to 
 Samuel Rogers about 1818, " I am as full of my own verses 
 as our friend Jack Townshend could be."
 
 LORD JOHN TOWNSHEND i 79 
 
 The opportunity for a display of his skill in versifying 
 came to him in 1784. Most of the wits of the day were 
 ranged on the side of the Whigs, and they soon found sub- 
 jects for their jests among the supporters of Pitt. A country 
 squire who represented Devonshire in parliament made 
 himself the object of satire by his ludicrous speeches in 
 the house against Fox and on behalf of Mr. Pitt. This was 
 John Rolle, a young man with large estates in and around 
 the two watering-places of Exmouth and Sidmouth, who 
 lived to be the old lord Rolle who stumbled at the steps of 
 the throne in 1838 when paying homage to the young queen 
 Victoria. His name gave the title to their chief satire 
 which first appeared as "criticisms on the Rolliad, a poem, 
 being a more faithful portraiture of the present immacu- 
 late young minister and his friends, than any extant." 
 Edition after edition poured from the press and into the 
 stream of satire, as it sped its course, flowed many tributary 
 poems. By 1795 it had become " The Rolliad in two 
 parts ; probationary odes for the laureatship and poetical 
 miscellanies." The jokes and allusions had their days of 
 life but have now passed into the grave. No one reads 
 these satires and if many did only a few would appreciate 
 the points. Speculation was long excited over the author- 
 ship of these effusions and gradually, through the testimony 
 of contemporary politicians, most of the pieces found their 
 parents. Lord John Townshend was certainly the begetter 
 of not a few of them. He wrote the " probationary ode 
 for Major Scott " the dullard that Warren Hastings chose 
 for his champion in Parliament, and the playful parody of 
 Horace's " donee gratus eram tibi," as well as numerous 
 odes to his political opponents, lords Barrington, Dart- 
 mouth, George Germaine and sir Elijah Impey. Perhaps 
 the most popular of his productions was Jckyll, a political 
 eclogue. The original draft, which bore the name of 
 
 N 2
 
 180 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 " Lansdowne " and was designed as a satire on that peer, was 
 wholly by Townshend and the piece was then more " terse 
 and classical," more in fact what it was intended to be, a 
 parody of one of Virgil's eclogues. But Richard Tickell, 
 now hand in hand with the leading wits among the Whigs, 
 took the poem up and expanded it into the form in which it 
 appeared. It contains some good lines. Jekyll himself was 
 credited with possessing a " book of sarcasms ready made " 
 and a collection of " stale seventies and pilfer'd spleen." 
 Speaking of the Temple, it is recorded that " the well-known 
 fountain babbles day by day." Was ever, I may ask, any other 
 fountain in the world, so plain and unpretentious as this, 
 honoured by such an army of pilgrims ? Yet the in- 
 hospitable benchers — inhospitable in this respect only — 
 have not even given their visitors a seat on which to rest. 
 The history of this fountain has never been fully told. It 
 was set up in 1680 — 81 in the treasurership of William 
 Whitelocke (calendar of Middle temple records, ed. C. H. 
 Hopwood, 1903, p. 179) and cost with pavement and rails 
 around it over £750. It was probably one of the improve- 
 ments resulting from the great fire in the Temple, which 
 broke out on Sunday night 26 Jany. 1678 — 9. It is mentioned 
 by George Farquhar in his " Love and a bottle" 1698 (Act IV., 
 Scene II.), by Charles Lamb in his essay on " the old benchers 
 of the Inner Temple " — he " made it to rise and fall how 
 many times ! to the astoundment of the young urchins, his 
 contemporaries" — and forms the subject of a poem by 
 L. E. L. But its fame has been spread far and wide through 
 its introduction by Dickens into the novel of " Martin 
 Chuzzlewit." 
 
 Beau Brummell was a bit of an author himself, but he 
 displayed more energy in collecting the poetical effusions 
 of others. All the fashionables of that day professed a 
 love of literature and dabbled in poetry, chiefly satirical,
 
 LORD JOHN TOWNSHEND 181 
 
 and circulated without their names. Moving as he did 
 in the highest circles of life, he knew the arcana of author- 
 ship which were concealed from others . He kept a pocket 
 book into which he entered all the odes and satires which 
 attracted his notice and the names of those to whom they 
 were assigned. Many of them are introduced into the 
 fifteenth chapter of Jesse's life of the " beau " and among 
 them are several by Townshend. One set by him was put 
 forward as composed by Robert Adair, and was addressed 
 to lady Hunloke, a coquette and a card player, who was 
 reputed to be in love with Adair. The lady's reply to these 
 verses which is given in the same chapter of the biography, 
 was the composition of the duchess of Devonshire. In the 
 following chapter are more verses by Townshend and these 
 were composed as written by a clergyman to the countess 
 of Blessington. If Adair had a share in the composition 
 of the Rolliad (but the evidence is not clear on that point), 
 he far outlived all his colleagues in its production. If he 
 were guiltless of the accusation, the last survivor of these 
 wits was lord John Townshend. 
 
 Townshend loved society and lived much in it. With 
 Fox and Sheridan, Hare and Fitzpatrick, he often repaired 
 to Whitbread's country house at Southill, in Bedfordshire. 
 The party used to delight in teasing the leader whom they 
 idolized. Fox, the sweetest-tempered of mankind, bore it 
 all with equanimity but if it became necessary, he put out 
 his paw and crushed them. After his retirement from active 
 life in politics Townshend divided his time between his 
 two houses, that of Ball's Park near Hertford, and his sea- 
 side retreat at Brighton. In Hertfordshire he cultivated the 
 friendship of the professors at the East India College. 
 Malthus, the Malthusian, was " my particular and most 
 amiable " friend. When at the seaside, Moore would call 
 upon him and have much talk about Sheridan. Much to
 
 182 EIGHT FRIENDS OF THE GREAT 
 
 lord John's surprise, the Prince Regent asked him in 
 January 1 8 19 to dinner at the Pavilion. Hitherto Florizel 
 had " cut me as one of the old Whig set " but now he put 
 forward all his powers of pleasing, " addressed his whole 
 conversation to me and talked of nothing but Fox and old 
 scenes." Nobody could be more agreeable than George 
 the fourth when he liked. Townshend loved to discourse 
 on Fox and the men around him. In Clayden's work on 
 " Rogers and his contemporaries " (I., 220 — 3) is a long 
 letter from him, mostly on Sheridan. There are many 
 letters to and from him in Dr. Parr's works (I., 355 — 6, 
 vii., 161 — 72, 630 — 6). 
 
 Townshend married on 10 April 1787 Georgiana Ann, 
 eldest daughter of William Poyntz, of Midgham, in Berk- 
 shire, and niece to the dowager lady Spencer. She was 
 divorced on Townshend's account from her first husband, 
 William Fawkener, clerk of the privy council and a son of the 
 gay old sir Everard Fawkener, whose varied life comprised a 
 residence of some years in Constantinople, the patronage of 
 Voltaire when in England, and the tenure of such official 
 positions as secretary to the duke of Cumberland and post- 
 master-general. Townshend and she met at lord Melbourne's 
 at Brocket Hall in the summer of 1785. A duel between 
 him and her first husband took place in Hyde Park in 
 May of next year. " Fawkener fired at and missed the 
 defendant who fired in the air." Townshend and his wife 
 lived happily together for many years . He died at Brighton 
 on the 25 Feb. 1833, she survived until 4 May 185 1, 
 when she was in her 89th year. Her funeral at Hertford 
 testified to the universal respect in which she was held. 
 She had lived down any accusation which could be brought 
 against her. 
 
 Three of their children died in early life, among them 
 was his eldest son, Charles Fox Townshend, who was
 
 LORD JOHN TOWNSHEND 183 
 
 named after his father's friend. He took the degree of 
 M.A. at Trinity College, Cambridge, in 18 16 and died in 
 the following year. Their daughter, Isabella Georgiana 
 Townshend was ill for " three long years " and died on 
 17 Sept. 181 1. Her father wrote some pathetic lines to 
 her memory. They are preserved in BrummeH's notebook, 
 are inscribed on a tablet on the south wall of All Saints 
 church, Hertford, over the pew of the manor of Ball's, and 
 were printed on a fly - sheet which was bound by Arch- 
 deacon Wrangham in a volume of poetical and classical 
 effusions now belonging to the British Museum. 
 
 Both father and mother were buried in that church at 
 Hertford. The tablet to lord John Townshend contains 
 the words : " For a period little short of thirty years he was 
 the friend and companion of that illustrious patron and 
 statesman, Mr. Fox. A distinction which was the pride 
 of his life and the only one he was anxious might be 
 recorded after his death." Marvellous indeed must have 
 been the fascination of the politician who during long years 
 of exile from office could retain the friendship and the 
 allegiance of nearly every member of the brilliant band 
 which had gathered around him under the brighter auspices 
 of his youth.
 
 INDEX 
 
 Abington, Frances 
 
 , Mrs. . 
 
 PAGE 
 
 95 
 
 Adair, Sir Robert. 
 
 
 181 
 
 Akerman, Mr. 
 
 
 93 
 
 Albemarle, George 
 
 Thomas, 
 
 
 6th earl of . 
 
 , , 
 
 1 68 
 
 Allen, William 
 
 # . 
 
 144 
 
 Arnall, William . 
 
 
 9 
 
 Astley, Jemima 
 
 . 
 
 15 
 
 Athenaum, the 
 
 
 157 
 
 Bacon, John (sculptor) . 19-21, 
 
 33, 53 
 Bain, Dr 96 
 
 Bakewell (Derbyshire) . . 134 
 Bankes, W. J. 101 
 
 Banks, sir Joseph ... 20 
 Barber, Francis (Dr. John- 
 son's servant) ... 19 
 Baretti, G. M. A. . . . 40 
 Barnard's Inn . . 45, 54-5 
 Basset family . 152-3, 168-9 
 Battoni, P. G. . . .28 
 Bell, Sir Charles . . . 144 
 Bensly, Robert ... 96 
 Benson, Martin, bishop . 9 
 Bentham, Jeremy . . 16,32 
 
 Berdmore family . . . 102 
 Berkeley, George, bishop . 6 
 Berry, Miss . 140-41, 151, 154, 
 
 160 
 Bessborough, William, 2nd 
 
 earl of .... 50 
 Betty, W. H. W. (young 
 
 Roscius) .... 87 
 
 Billington, Elizabeth, Mrs. . 96 
 
 ,, James ... 82 
 
 Birch, rev. Thomas, D.D. . 10 
 Bissons (distillers) . . 16 
 Blundeston (Suffolk) . . 48 
 Boase, Frederic . preface, p. v. 
 
 >> G. C 90 
 
 Booth, Rev. R. S. . . .127 
 Boscawen, Frances, Mrs. . 150 
 Boswell, James . 20, 21, 24, 93, 
 
 97-9 
 Bott, Edward . . . 42-3 
 Bowles, John ... 93 
 Boydell, John, alderman . 96 
 Brander, Gustavus . . 42 
 Brighton 16-18, 31-33, 158, 182 
 Britton, John ... 91 
 Brougham, Henry, lord . 129 
 Brown, Thomas . 129, 144, 147 
 Brummell, George 104, 113, 180- 
 
 81 
 Bryant, Jacob . . . 61-3 
 Burdett, Sir Francis in, 114- 15 
 Burke, Edmund . 17, 19,20,24-8, 
 
 32 
 
 ,, Mrs 21 
 
 Bury, lady Charlotte . 162-4, I 7° 
 Butler, Charles ... 32 
 
 „ Joseph, bishop . . 3 
 Byron, George Gordon, 6th 
 baron . 84-6, 100-114, 161, 166 
 
 Caledonian comet S7 
 
 Cambridge, King's college . 104, 
 
 171 
 ,, Pembroke hall . 175 
 
 ,, St. John's col- 
 
 lege . 173-5
 
 i86 
 
 INDEX 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Cambridge, Trinity college . 38, 
 69, 101, 175 
 Campazas . . . 39, 40 
 Campbell, rev. doctor 
 
 Thomas . 41 
 „ Thomas (the 
 
 poet) . . 144 
 Cannon, very rev. Robert . 7 
 Canova, Antonio . . -145 
 Carlisle, Frederick, 5th earl 
 
 of . . 50-52 
 
 ,, Isabella, dowager 
 
 Countess of . . 51 
 Carter, Elizabeth ... 5 
 Cartwright, John, major . 67 
 Carwardine, rev. Thomas . 56-7 
 Cater, John .... 3 
 Chantrey, Sir Francis . . 148 
 Christchurch (Hampshire) . 42-3 
 Churchill, Charles . . 92 
 Gibber, Colley ... 98 
 Clarence, duke of . . -83 
 Clarke, very rev. Alured . 2 
 Clarke, E. D. . . .110 
 Claudius Clear . . .151 
 Clinometer, a 144 
 
 Cockburn, Henry . 12S, 142, 146 
 Cole, rev. William (of 
 
 Milton) . . . .174 
 Collins, Anthony ... 5 
 Colman, George . . . 93-4 
 Coniers, Mrs. . . . 164 
 Constable, Archibald . 154, 157 
 Cooke, William (" conversa- 
 tion") ... 93, 98 
 Copley, Sir John (lord Lynd- 
 hurst) . . . 158, 163 
 
 • 98 
 . 68-9 
 . 18 
 
 • 30 
 
 • 95 
 
 • 79 
 46, 52. 79 
 
 Cornelys, Theresa, Mrs. 
 Courtenay, Philip, K.C. 
 Cowdray (Sussex) 
 Cradock, Mrs. Joseph . 
 Crawford, Ann, Mrs. . 
 
 Dr. . 
 Crespigny, P. C. . 
 Crichton, Mr., of Coniston . 133 
 
 Croftes, Richard . 
 Crosthwaite, Peter, museum 
 
 of (Keswick) 
 Cruikshank, George 
 Robert 
 Cullum, Sir John . 
 Cumberland, George 
 
 PAGE 
 
 175 
 
 132 
 
 90 
 
 90 
 
 16 
 
 65-6 
 
 Dallaway, rev. James . 13 
 
 Darell, " wild " . . . 143 
 
 David, J. L 56 
 
 Davies, rev. Richard . 102-3 
 
 ,, Scrope Berdmore 101-23 
 
 ,, Tom ... 96 
 
 ,, family of . . . 103 
 
 Davy, Jane, lady . . . 151 
 
 Decker, Henrietta Maria, 
 
 Miss 12 
 
 Denham, Dixon, Major 163, 167 
 Derry (Thomas Rundle), 
 
 bishop of . . . . 1-13 
 Derwentwater, 3rd earl of . 15 
 Dilettanti, society of . .29 
 Dobney's bowling green . 79 
 Dobson, Austin . . . 100 
 Dufour, Alexander . . 8^ 
 Duill, Catherine 95 
 
 Dumergue, Miss . . . 167 
 Durham cathedral . . 5 
 Dyce library . . . . 157 
 
 Eagles, rev. John . . 65 
 
 Edgeworth, Maria . .165 
 
 Edinburgh, life at . 124-6 
 
 ,, literary societies 
 
 of . . 128-9 
 
 Edwin, John .... 96 
 Elliot, hon. Miss . . . 142 
 Emery, John. 95 
 
 Emlyn, rev. Thomas . . 3 
 Erskine, hon. Henry . .146 
 Eton ... 2, 101-4, 173 
 Eusden, rev. Laurence . 61 
 Euston, George Henry, lord 175 
 Exeter 2
 
 INDEX 
 
 i\- 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Fagnani, Maria ... 49 
 Fanshawe, Catherine . 130, 162-3 
 Farren, Elizabeth ... 95 
 Fawcett, John ... 89 
 Fawkener, William . 52, 182 
 Fitzherbert, Maria A., Mrs. . 81 
 Flaxman, John ... 83 
 Flower, Benjamin . . 67 
 
 Forbes, sir William . 17, 21 
 Forster, John 35 
 
 Fox, Charles James . 174-83 
 Francis, sir Philip . . 122 
 
 Francisco de Isla, father 
 
 Jose 39 
 
 French clergy, distressed . 32 
 Frend, William . . 38, 40, 68 
 Frere, John Hookham . . 167 
 
 Gakrick, David . . 38, 95 
 Garrow, sir William . . 93 
 Gattie, Henry ... 90 
 Geikie, sir Archibald . . 138 
 Gem, Robert, physician . 57-8 
 Genlis, Madame de . 56, 69 
 Gerund de Campazas, friar 39-40 
 Gibson, Edmund, bishop . 7 
 Gifford, John ... 82 
 Gilchrist, Anne, Mrs. . . 57 
 Gilpin, rev. William . . 135 
 Gladstone, W. E. . . . 1 
 Glen Tilt . . . .138 
 Glenarbach .... 141 
 Glover, Richard (" Leoni- 
 
 das") .... 12 
 
 Goldsmith , Oliver, epitaph on 17 
 Gordon, John, M.D. . . 146 
 P. L. . . . 118 
 Goulburn, Mr. . . . 106 
 Gower, lord ... 56, 58 
 
 Grattan, T. C. . . 117-21 
 Grecian coffee house . . 5 
 Green, Thomas ... 62 
 Greuze, J. B. ... 56 
 
 Grose, Francis ... 58 
 Gronow, R. H., captain 107, 118 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Hackman, rev. James . . 45 
 Hailes (near Edinburgh) . 142 
 Hall, sir James . . 137, 145 
 Hallara, Henry 135, 137, 147, 167 
 Hare, James, M. P. . 71.177 
 
 Harness, rev. William . 162. [6g 
 Hart, Miss .... 67 
 Hawstead (near Bury St. 
 
 Edmunds) . . .15, 28. 33 
 
 Hayley, T. A. . . .64 
 
 William . 54-8, 64-5, 68 
 
 Hayward, Abraham . . 159 
 
 Hazlitt, William . . 83, 91 
 
 Heath, rev. George . .104 
 
 Henderson, John ... 96 
 
 Henley, W. E. . . . 122 
 
 Henning, John . . -147 
 
 Hepworth, Ann, Mrs. . . 99 
 
 Hertford, All Saints church . 183 
 
 Hervcy, Mary Lepel, lady . 3 
 
 Herveys, the. . . . 172 
 
 Hill, Thomas. ... 89 
 
 Hoare, Prince ... 98 
 
 ,, sir Richard . . 49 
 
 „ sir Richard Colt 59, 68 
 
 „ family of . . . 51 
 
 Hobhouse, John Cam, lord 
 
 Broughton 101, 105, 107, 110- 
 
 13, 122 
 
 Hockliffe (Bedfordshire) 
 
 Hodgson, rev. Francis . 
 
 Hogarth, William 
 
 Holland, Elizabeth, lady 
 
 ,, Henry 
 
 lord . 
 
 „ Sir Henry 
 
 Holman, J. G. 
 Holmes, James 
 Honywood, sir John 
 Hood, Samuel 
 Hood, admiral 
 Horner, Francis 
 
 „ Leonard 
 Howard, John 
 
 • 59 
 109-10 
 
 • 76 
 
 • 139. 
 178 
 
 173. 
 Richard, 
 
 . 167 
 
 • '59 
 . 89 
 111-12 
 
 • 30 
 
 Viscount 
 
 • '77 
 125-4S, 160 
 
 '., s > M5. 147 
 • 44- 53-4
 
 i88 
 
 INDEX 
 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Hughes, " Ball " . 
 
 118 
 
 ,, Mrs., of Uppington 
 
 143 
 
 Hull, Thomas 
 
 96 
 
 Humphry, Ozias . 
 
 98 
 
 Huskisson, William 
 
 58 
 
 Hutton's museum (Keswick] 
 
 132 
 
 Huttonian theory of the 
 
 
 earth 
 
 138 
 
 Hyde, Thomas, lord 
 
 174 
 
 Inchbald, Elizabeth, Mrs. . 82, 
 
 158 
 Inglesham (Wiltshire) . . 4 
 Irving, Washington . 144, 158 
 
 Jackson, John ("gentle- 
 man") . . . 112, 115 
 Jeffrey, Francis, lord 128-9, 142, 
 
 145 
 Jekyll, Joseph . . 91, 80 
 Jekyll, a political eclogue . 179 
 
 Jerdan, William . . . 84-6 
 Johnson, Samuel, Dr. . 17-21, 
 
 149-50 
 
 „ Joseph (publisher) . 114 
 
 Jones, Henry ... 76 
 
 Kaye, John, bishop . . 109 
 Kean, Edmund ... 96 
 Kemble, Charles ... 87 
 John . . 87, 93-5 
 ,, Sarah (Mrs. Sid- 
 dons) . . 95, 165 
 ,, Stephen 95 
 
 Kenney, James . . 98,116 
 Kidd, John .... 126 
 King, rev. John Glen, D.D. . 43 
 „ Tom, the actor . 90, 95 
 „ Tom, (" Monsieur Ton- 
 son ") . . 89-90 
 Kinnaird, hon. Douglas . 107, 
 114-16 
 Knaresborough . . .178 
 
 Knight, Richard Payne 
 Kraye, Lambert . 
 
 PAGE 
 
 62 
 22 
 
 Lakes, the . 
 
 Lamb, lady Caroline . 
 
 „ hon. George 
 Lamerton (Devonshire) 
 Langton, Bennet . 
 Latham, Ebenezer, M.D. 
 Lawrence, sir Thomas . 
 Lenox Gallery, New York 
 Letters of an uncle to his 
 
 nephew 
 Lettsbm, J. C. 
 Lewis, William 
 Leyden, John 
 Liberal, the . 
 Lindsay, lady Anne 
 Linnean society . 
 Littlecote hall (Wiltshire) 
 Llangollen, maids of 
 Lobon de Salazar, Francisco 
 Lockhart, J. G. . 
 Long, Charles, lord Farn- 
 
 borough .... 88 
 Lovett, Mr., of Lismore . 112 
 Low countries, Reynolds and 
 
 Metcalfe in the ... 22 
 Lyttleton, George (baron 
 
 Lyttelton) . . . .10 
 Lytton, Edward Bulwer 
 
 (baron Lytton) . . 166, 169 
 
 132-4 
 112, 164 
 114 
 2 
 19 
 36 
 97 
 27 
 
 37 
 
 53 
 
 95 
 
 157 
 
 166 
 
 156 
 130 
 
 143 
 126-8 
 
 39 
 159 
 
 Macaroni, theatrical portraits 
 
 by a . 
 Macdonald, sir Archibald 
 Mackenzie, Henry 
 Macklin, Charles . 
 Maddox, Isaac, bishop . 
 Mallock, W. H. . 
 Malone, Edmond , 
 Malthus, rev. T. R. 
 Mansfield, James, chief jus 
 
 tice .... 
 
 87 
 
 99 
 
 130 
 
 93.95 
 9 
 
 170 
 
 20, 24-7, 31 
 
 181 
 
 174
 
 INDEX 
 
 189 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Mara, Madame 95 
 
 Marcet, Jane, Mrs. . . 165 
 Mathews, Charles ... go 
 Mathias, T. J. . . 60, 63 
 Matthews, C. Skinner . 101, 105 
 „ Henry . . 101, 104 
 
 Mauchardt, B. D. . . . 74 
 Mawson, Matthias, bishop . 9 
 Meetkercke, Adolphus . .61-2 
 Mercer, Miss (comtesse de 
 
 Flahault) . . . .111 
 Mercier, L. S. . . 59 
 
 Merry, Robert • . . .82 
 Metcalfe, Gilbert ... 14 
 
 „ Philip . . 14-34 
 
 Roger . . 14-15 
 
 „ Walter C. 19 
 
 „ family of . 15 
 
 Metronariston . . .61 
 
 Meyer, Jeremiah ... 64 
 Meyrick, rev. Edward . . 126 
 Middleton, rev. Conyers 
 Mie Mie (Fagnani Maria) 
 Milton Abbot (Devonshire) 
 Mitford, rev. John 
 
 ,, William, colonel 
 Monckton, Miss (lady Cork) 
 
 Moncrieff, William Thomas 
 Monsey, Messenger, M.D. 
 Montagu, Elizabeth, Mrs. 
 Monthly Mirror 
 Moody, John 
 Moore, Sir Henry 
 ,, Thomas 
 
 More, Hannah 
 
 „ Sir Thomas (Utopia) . 
 Morgan, lady . .154 
 
 Morning Post . 
 Morrison, Alfred . 
 Munden, J. S. 
 Murchison, sir Roderick 
 Mure, R. J. . 
 
 49 
 2 
 
 40 
 136 
 30, 
 150 
 
 90 
 
 72,97 
 148 
 88-9 
 96 
 89 
 92,114-18,154, 
 158, 161, 163, 
 166-7, J 8i 
 
 37 
 
 168 
 
 81-2 
 
 i, in 
 
 79 
 158 
 20 
 
 54. 
 
 Murphy, Arthur 
 Murray, John 
 
 PAGE 
 • 92-3 
 
 S6, 118, 167 
 
 N. J. F. [Neville] . . 59 
 Nappa (Wensleydale) . . 14 
 Neville, J. F. . . -59 
 Nicholls, rev. Norton . . 48 
 Nichols, John . . 53, 5S, 61 
 Nicoll, sir William Robert- 
 son 151 
 
 North, lord Frederick (2nd 
 
 earl of Guilford) . . 52 
 Northcote, James ... 98 
 Northey, Hopkins . . 121 
 
 Oakes, Mr. (a surgeon) . 116 
 Oldys, William . . . 77-8 
 Omond, T. S. . . .62 
 Onslow, Arthur (the speaker) 5 
 Opie, John . . .56, 83, 97 
 Orrery, John (5th earl of) . 12 
 Oxford, Christ Church . . 126 
 „ Exeter college . 2, 3, 5 
 
 Parsons, William 
 
 . 96 
 
 Paul, cathedral of St. . 20- 
 
 21, 28, 
 
 
 53 
 
 Pelham, hon Henry 
 
 . 98 
 
 Pel ham .... 
 
 . 169 
 
 Penneck, rev. Richard . 38, 
 
 40, 45. 
 
 49 
 
 51.97 
 
 Perceval, Spencer. 
 
 . no 
 
 Perry, James 
 
 • 93 
 
 Peters, rev. William, R. A. 
 
 . 98 
 
 Phillip, Arthur 
 
 135-6 
 
 Phillips, Thomas . 
 
 . 9] 
 
 Pictet, M.A. . 
 
 • 137 
 
 Pitt, William. . 96-7, 1 
 
 75. 178 
 
 Plaj fair, John 13 »5. J 37 
 
 -8, [45 
 
 Pope, Alexander (poet) 
 
 9 
 
 ,, 11 (actor) 
 
 . 89
 
 igo 
 
 INDEX 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Porson, Richard . 93, 117, 118 
 Poulshot (Wiltshire) . . 4 
 Poyntz, Georgiana Ann . 182 
 
 Pratt, S.J 54 
 
 Price, sir Uvedale . 62, 144 
 
 Queensberry, William (4th 
 
 duke of) . . -50 
 
 Quin, James .... 95 
 
 Raeburn, sir Henry . . 100 
 Raikes, Thomas . . 118-21 
 Raine, Jonathan ... 68 
 „ rev. Matthew . 62, 68 
 Ramsden, lady Guendolen . 125, 
 
 148 
 Ray, Martha ... 45 
 
 Reddish, Samuel ... 95 
 Rennell, rev. Thomas . . 2, 3 
 Reynolds, rev. John . . 2 
 „ sir Joshua 2,19-29,89 
 
 Richardson, Joseph . 93, 96 
 Robinson, "the long" sir 
 
 Thomas 8 
 
 Rogers, Samuel . 153, 161, 167-8 
 Rolle, John, baron . . 179 
 Rolliad, the . . . 179, 181 
 Romney, George . . 54-7, 69 
 Roscius, the young . . 87 
 Rosco (an artist at Rome) . 75 
 Rose, George . . 30, 83, 178 
 „ Stewart, W. . . 167 
 Royal society . . 29, 130 
 Rundle, Thomas, bishop . 1-13 
 Russia, Catharine II., em- 
 press of ... . 25-6 
 Rutland, Charles, duke of . 174 
 
 S., C. K 152 
 
 Salisbury, cathedral . . 4, 5 
 Salons, London . . 149-5 1 
 Sandys, Barbara, Mrs. . . 13 
 
 Satchell, Catherine . . 95 
 Saunderson family . 153, 169 
 Savage, Richard ... 9 
 Scott, Edmund 33 
 
 ,, Sir Walter . 87, 129, 154-8, 
 160, 164, 167, 170-71 
 Scrivelsby (Lincolnshire) . 47 
 Seeker, Thomas, archbishop 3, 
 
 5. 9 
 Sedgefield (Durham) . . 5 
 Selwyn, George . . 41-58 
 
 Seward, Anna . 53"4> 126-8 
 Seymour, lord Webb . 124-48 
 Sharp, Richard ("conversa- 
 tion ") 163, 167 
 Sherburn hospital (Durham) 5 
 Sheridan, Charles . . 96 
 • „ R. B. . 17,91-6,165 
 ,, Thomas . . 39 
 Shorter, C. K. . . 152 
 Sichel, Walter . . . 122 
 Siddons, Sarah, Mrs. . 95, 165 
 Smith, Benjamin . . . 160 
 „ Sir James . . .91 
 Sydney . 136-7, 146, 158, 
 170 
 ,, William ( " gentle- 
 man ") . . . 96 
 Smyth, Christopher . . 127 
 Somerville, Mary, Mrs. . 164 
 Southey, Robert ... 85 
 Spencer, William Robert 160, 165 
 Stafford, Marquis of 56 
 Stanhope, hon. Fitzroy . 116 
 Stanley, J. T. (baron Stanley 
 
 of Alderley) . . 22, 154-5 
 
 Steele, sir Richard . . 13 
 
 Stewart, Dugald . . . 124 
 
 „ John (" walking ") . 98 
 
 Stirn, Mr 79 
 
 Stokesley in Cleveland . . 14 
 Storer, Anthony ... 57 
 Stourton (Wiltshire) . 42, 59 
 Strange, John ... 44 
 Stuart, lady Louisa . 155, 164
 
 INDEX 
 
 191 
 
 Stubbes, rev. George . 
 Stubbs, George (solicitor) 
 Stukeley, William 
 Sun, the . 
 
 Surtees, Robert . 
 Swift, Jonathan . 
 Sykes, rev. Arthur Ashley 
 
 3 
 
 19 
 
 7 
 
 83-7 
 
 157 
 
 9-10 
 
 9 
 
 Talbot, Charles, lord Chan- 
 cellor . . 3, 6, 7, 8 
 „ Charles Richard . 6 
 „ Edward . . . 3, 5 
 „ John . . 12, 13 
 „ Kitty ... 5 
 „ William, bishop . 3-6 
 Tanton, hamlet of 14 
 
 Tavistock (Devonshire) . 2 
 „ chapel (London) . 41 
 Taylor, Jeremiah ... 80 
 ,, John, Chevalier . 72-7 
 
 „ John (doctor, Nor- 
 wich) . 
 „ John, oculist, No. 2 
 „ John, oculist, No. 3 
 
 „ John Stirling . 
 
 „ Joseph 
 
 „ Thomas . 
 
 „ (blind boy) 
 Temple fountain . 
 Terry, Daniel 
 Tetbury grammar school 
 Thackeray, W. M. 
 Thicknesse, Ann, Mrs. . 
 
 „ Philip 
 
 Thomson, James (the poet) 
 
 „ Dr. John 
 
 Thrale, Mrs. . 
 Thurlow, Edward, baron 
 Tickell, Richard . 
 
 72 
 
 75-9 
 
 7i- 
 
 100 
 
 75,85 
 
 3 
 
 13 
 
 77 
 
 180 
 
 96 
 
 103 
 
 35 
 
 63 
 
 58 
 
 6,9 
 
 129 
 
 17, 18 
 
 55,56 
 96, 176 
 
 Ticknor, George . 40, in, 160- 1 
 
 Tighe, Mrs 154 
 
 Tindal, Matthew ... 5 
 Todhunter, Mr. (of Kendal) . 133 
 
 PACK 
 
 Tolcarne mine . . .131 
 Tomkins, Thomas (the pen 
 
 man) 91 
 
 Tonson, Monsieur . . 89-90 
 
 Tooke, John Home . 66-7, 96 
 Townley, Charles ... 45 
 Townshend [Charles ?] . 50 
 „ Charles Fox 182-3 
 
 „ Isabella Geor 
 
 giana 
 „ lord John . 
 
 family of . 
 
 True Briton 
 Tulk, Mr. 
 
 Venn', rev. Richard 
 Vesey, Elizabeth, Mrs. 
 Villagarcia 
 Volunteers of 1803 
 
 183 
 72-83 
 
 172 
 82-3 
 106-7 
 
 7-8 
 149 
 
 39 
 139 
 
 Wakefield, Gilbert . . 68 
 Wales, George, prince of 81, 182 
 Walpoles, the . . 1, 172 
 Walter, John ... 83 
 Ward, J. W., lord Dudley . 141, 
 154, 164-5 
 Warner, rev. Ferdinando . 36-8 
 
 „ George . 
 
 „ rev. John, D.D 
 
 „ rev. Richard . 
 
 „ family 
 
 Waterloo bridge . 
 Watiers club . 
 Watson, Richard, bishop 
 
 White . 
 Webster, sir Godfrey . 
 „ lady Frances Wed 
 
 derburn 
 „ sir James Weddcr 
 
 burn . 
 Wenzel, M. J. B. de . 
 
 • 47 
 35-70, 
 
 97 
 
 • 42 
 . 68 
 
 145 
 108 
 
 67. 
 
 133-4 
 
 134 
 
 3i 
 
 IOQ 
 
 107 
 78
 
 192 
 
 INDEX 
 
 West Ham . 
 
 PAGE 
 16,38 
 
 Williams, Samuel . 
 
 PAGE 
 . I48 
 
 Westminster, abbey 
 
 20-2I 
 
 Windham, William 
 
 19, 20,31 
 
 „ representation 
 
 
 Wolcot, John, Dr. 
 
 81, 83, 93 
 
 of . 
 
 . I78 
 
 Wood, Isabella 
 
 . 122 
 
 Whimple (Devonshire) . 
 
 2 
 
 Woodfall, George . 
 
 88, 96 
 
 Whiston, rev. William . 
 
 3-4,8 
 
 Wordsworth, William 
 
 . 98 
 
 Whitbread, Samuel 
 
 21, 181 
 
 Worthing, beauty of 
 
 . 140 
 
 White, Lydia 
 
 148-71 
 
 Wraxall, sir Nathaniel 
 
 3i> 176 
 
 Whitehall banqueting house 23 
 
 
 
 Wilberforce, William . 
 
 • 32 
 
 Yates, Mary Ann, Mrs. 
 
 • 95 
 
 Wilkes, John 
 
 . 96 
 
 Young, Murdo 
 
 . . 87 
 
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